Laboratory Report

DISCUSSION Microorganism are organism that are too small and cannot be seen with naked eyes. The phrase of ubiquity of microorganism refers to the concept that microorganism are everywhere in our daily life surrounding. In our everyday common life ,microbes are virtually ubiquitous. They are in the air we breath,the foods we eat and as well as the skin of our fingers. Aseptic transfer is the transference of bacteria or other microbial cultures fromone container to another while maintaining purity of the culture. Pure cultures–consistof only one type of bacteria ideally the descendants from a single bacterial cell.Because microbes are present everywhere – in the air, the work area, clothes, bodies,etc. , – it is important to follow the rules for aseptic transfer at all times. This is the onlyway of controlling Contamination–Maintaining purity of culture is essential in microbiology if the biologist is to beable to identify bacteria, test for antibiotic sens itivity, or maintain stock cultures. Oftenin nature a pure culture is impossible to come by because species live together. Thescientist is left working with mixed cultures.Pure cultures can be derived from mixedcultures through isolation of cultures and this also requires that sterile (aseptic)techniques to be used. Normally transference is done from colonies. A colony consists of usuallyseveral million cells that are assumed to be the descendants from one cell. Inoculations from one media to another, therefore, is usually done by removal of a fewmillion cells from one colony into a new environment. This must be done with theintegrity of all colonies remaining intact. Through the use of sterile techniques, this canbe accomplished successfully.There are a number of tools that are used for inoculation procedures. Inoculating loops are used when transferring members of a broth culture to another broth, platedmedia or an agar slant. Inoculating needles-are used when inoculating a broth culturefrom a colony on plated media or when making a stab in an agar deep or agar slantfrom broth or solid media. Forceps -are used to place sterile disks containing sometesting agent in a broth culture or on a solid media culture. Pipets-are used when transferring liquids into other liquids or onto solid media.Flaming-is used to incinerate any microbes left on loops and needles. Alcohol flaming-is used to sterilize forceps. When flaming inoculating loops and needles, careshould be taken avoid burning the plastic handle at the end of each. The metal of theloop or needle should glow red hot and then be allowed to cool before dipping it into any cultures – if the metal is too hot it will kill the organisms that are to be used for inoculation. Alcohol flaming for the forceps is done by dipping the forceps into a smallamount of alcohol and then burning the alcohol off.The forceps should be dipped andburned three times. Care should be taken to avoid alcohol running up toward the hand. The flame will follow the alcohol and burns will result. Pipets normally used in lab are prepackaged, sterile, disposable pipets. Sometimes glass pipets are used and these are stored in cans. The glass pipets arediscarded into a pipet jar filled with disinfectant. Disposable pipets are deposited inbiohazard bags. It is important that pipettors are always used and pipetting by mouth isprohibited.

Jaguar Manufacturer

Explain the advantages and disadvantages for jaguar of using just in time production rather than the more traditional just in case stock system. Just in time is a manufacturing method based on pull system which means the raw materials are only delivered only when needed which reduces waste due to overproduction and lowers the storage rent e. g. warehouse storage. Advantages: * Reducing set up times * Goods from warehouse to the production line flow much smoother which saves time. * Increases supplier quality * Consistently supplying the plant with the raw material for production * Workers are used more efficiently Scheduling and planning is improved * Reduces space requirements for raw materials Disadvantages: * Relying on a limited amount of stock so there is a chance of running out and interrupting production * Change in the culture of production can take time to get used to so it could be less control in the beginning * Need trustful and reliable suppliers who can deliver on time * The suppliers have to be very flexible because the demand for raw material could come up at any time. * The machinery is at risk to breaking down and slowing down the production.Using appropriate motivation theory, analyse how jaguar has managed to increase the pride and commitment of its employees. Jaguar has managed to increase the pride and commitment of its employees by implying continuous improvement. This type of motivation required entrustment and empowerment from the workforce. The fresh start to this new implication meant that the workforce had to be trained in order to perform and improve. Team work has to be implemented because this way everyone is involved and the ideas can be shared for enhancement of the production.Also because the work is in teams no one is left out and each member feels more valuable in the workplace which then motivates them further. Once more the team working leads the workforce to a new level on Maslow’s hierarchy where the employees are social and esteemed. Being valued and cared for is a great motivator especially in a big workforce such as Jaguar. Targets and objectives are set for the employees and it is something to strive for, this will give them a some sort of a bonus or a pay rise.Once there is a target and a bonus at the end it will motivate the worker to reach that target as Taylor said money is a motivator in a workplace. The bonuses don’t just have to be set for individual employees they could be set for the whole team and if a target is met the whole team will enjoy a reward at the end, again this will motivate not only individuals but the whole group of workers. Evaluate methods for achieving a total quality culture in large organisations like Jaguar.Total quality culture is based on the involvement of all employees in the organization in improving processes, products, services and the mores in which they work and it is also based on meeting the customer’s requirements with the right stan dard of quality. It is essential to work in teams to share ideas and to advance the quality by setting objectives such as zero defects. Every member of the organisation can take action if a certain product is not up to a set standard. Quality circles or kaizen can be a part of team work where employees can share their skills and ideas to improve the quality of their products.If the skills are not at a fine quality then certain training regimes can be set also in the training the employees can be taught to have prevention rather than cure which would aim at zero defects. Kaizen cannot be relied up one because it doesn’t cover all aspects of improving so things like identifying the consumer needs and having cell production will certainly be covering more of the objective such as the zero defects. If the manager takes up the total quality management and seeks the best quality not only out of the products but the employees who make these products.The workforce has to always be co mmitted to what the manager has set as an aim or an objective and be ready to reach and fulfil that aim. The high motivational skills of the manager will definitely make reaching the target much easier than if the employees are not motivated. Describe the organisational culture of Microsoft as identified by Steve Ballmer. The recent culture in the Microsoft organisation can be described as an innovative culture where Microsoft are trying to develop something brand new and something that no other organisation has.Explain the meaning of business aims, and use in managing large organisations such as Microsoft. An aim in an organisation can be seen as a direction in which the business can move on this path certain objectives and targets can be set to further improve the organisations structure. The objective and targets that may be set can aspire and motivate the workforce. Aims could look at the company’s weaknesses and strengths, the weaknesses can be reduced in the future by c hoosing appropriate objectives and the strengths can be further strengthened by setting targets which once again will motivate the workers.Having an aim will set order in the work place which will lead to sharing among staff and more accountability cooperation. An aim is like a mission which the business is striving to achieve and complete as many objectives along the way as possible. Microsoft has four aims and they are building industry trust, building customer loyalty, altering structure of the company and devolving power from the top. Analyse four practical strategies Microsoft could implement to help it achieve its aims. First of all Microsoft needs to build its trust with the industries based around them.One way could be to merge or to have joint ventures with other computing companies but this is not the best way to recover trust because Microsoft are very competitive and they will prefer to be a single organisation with control. Other ways can be to provide employment in the company because Microsoft is a large organisation and it needs skilled workers to continue improving. It can also provide income for local communities for example universities where better ICT training courses can be implemented. Another strategy is to build customer loyalty which will give strong ideas on what the customers want.Primary research methods such as focus groups where direct opinions can be gained from the customers even though it is only a very limited number of people surveyed. Secondary data can definitely give more of a bigger picture of what the customer wants even though sometimes it may not be as honest as having focus groups. This way of researching will show new trends in the customers taste and choice. This can be improved by creating departments which will concentrate only on the customer relationships this way online help can be more supportive towards the customers.Changing or altering the way the organisation is structured is another aim for Microsoft. Te am working is very important in this type of organisation and the teams in the company should often be rewarded for their efforts. Individuals shall not be rewarded because this will tend to break the team up into individuals and this means there would be some sort of competition between the workers. Matrix structure is very appropriate for Microsoft especially when a company tends to have many different departments.This would team working on another level, the teams will be very flexible and will cooperate with workers from other departments. This way a culture of team working and collaboration is created in the organization and the ability to work on different projects gives a huge variety to the work which will increase staff motivation. Microsoft are always looking to find the best way to improve their products by keeping up to date from the customer surveys but when you have the experts from each department the product will tend to be much more improved and up to date.Making de cisions is often very difficult especially when you are in control of a huge organisation such Microsoft. Devolving the power or decision making from the top will certainly take a lot of pressure off the top management team. Creating another layer in between of the hierarchical orders of company’s structure will involve and motivate other workers who will be motivated because they get to make important decision in certain areas of the organisation. Another motivator in this is that whoever makes the decision a team or an individual will always think that the top managerial team is relying on his/hers or their decisions.This not only motivates workers but it makes them communicate and improve communication skills in the procedure of this. This would be a great way of splitting important decisions in the company because the pressure is taken off the managers and shared with the rest of the workforce, of course the more important decisions like putting the company as stake or so me sort of risk will always be down to the highest ranked people but this is an effective way to motivate and at the same time take pressure off the main people in the company.

Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 195

Assignment Example Political Advertisements: Political advertisement is a way of the political party to connect to the voters to deliver their political messages. The advertisement is a part of campaigning strategy. It acts as a marketing tool for the party (Foster, 2010). Electoral College: Electoral College consists of group of electors or representatives of the state who elects the president. The significance of such system is that the system brings the cohesion of the country by ensuring that the elected president has distributed popular support and is not selected on the domination of one or two region support (Kimberling, 9-10). Political Ideology: Political ideology is the set of ideas and belief that a group of individual possess regarding the interpretation of social and economic environment around them. It is argued that the members of public are ideological in the sense that they hold logical, coherent, sophisticated attitude. The significance of ideology is the fact that it helps in rationalizing the way things are or whether there is any better option for improving the existing social order (Jost, et al, 307). Public Financed Elections: Public financing is the way of financing campaign where the public provides money and other resources to the favorite and qualified candidates to run their office and election campaign. The significance of public financing is that it reduces the dependence on private sector for funds which thereby reduces the distortions in governmental process and public financing also encourages the qualified candidates to come forward to take part in elections who earlier were prohibited in election campaigns due to lack of funds (Levin). Attentive Public: Attentive public is a small group which is more of a representative of general public and consists of best educated persons who are interested in current political trends and are politically involved. They

Integrating Ethnographic and Quantitative Research Essay

Integrating Ethnographic and Quantitative Research - Essay Example By providing this insight into communication they are able to point out the deficiency seen in Kleinfeld’s work, as she has failed to include this aspect in her work effectively. The study is mainly based on previous works in the field which are either descriptive or analytical in nature. The authors argue about some of Kleinfeld’s ideas related to the extent of impact of cultural differences on educational attainment of learners; especially among the minority students. They also argue that cultural differences are essential factors that might influence the learning processes, to which Kleinfeld does not appear to be paying attention. Thus, studying and understanding the real situation of cultural differences might improve the learning conditions and ultimately learning outcomes by affecting the cognitive process of the learners. This impact reflects the need to study and address the educational needs. The issue of cultural differences reflects the need for a change in educational practices to improve education achievements. The authors also stress the importance of using appropriate methods in studying cultural issues because personal attitudes of teachers in schools cannot work as evidence for studying minority students. Ethnographic studies can be taken as an example in this case, but there are other quantitative methods that may help in communicative and non-verbal studies. Thus, it will become clear that non-verbal differences are more obvious than the spoken language. A lack of existence of a common language of communication between two individuals may result in unclear signaling of expressions. The authors further argue that Kleinfeld in her work has assumed that it is lack of ‘motiviation’ that affects the learning of minority students. This implies their unwillingness to learn about the cultural values of the majority

Who is responsible for My Lai Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Who is responsible for My Lai - Essay Example Nonetheless, the nation was polarized and soon after he was celebrated in a patriotic pop song. President Richard Nixon, sometime later, ordered that he be transferred to a better and comfortable apartment under house arrest. Eventually, his sentence was reduced, and he served three years only. The fact that there were so many other people to hold responsible yet he was the only one convicted, however, elicits so many questions. Looking at the whole episode, even if they really should, it is unlikely that the American people stand in the larger dock of human conscience and guilt. Calley, on the other hand, had the responsibility to look after the civilians in Mr. Lai from the Vietcong not the one murdering them meaning that he was to blame. Upon realizing that the Vietcong had already retreated back into the mountains, it was prudent to have left the villagers alone to go about their daily lives. Secondly, there is evidence that Calley was responsible for the massacre. Pearson’s Keene et al textbook on page 800 In Competing Vision Given to Army investigators states that Calley said to Dennis Conti and to Private Paul Meadlo to â€Å"Take care of them†¦.I mean kill them† (Pearson 800) Wars are very expensive, not only economically, but they undermine the value of humanity. The massacre in Mr. Lai and that that World War II brought are examples that depict how inhuman people can sometimes be. The innumerable atrocities that were committed in Mr. Lai are in the slightest of sense related to the killing in world war. Killing innocent people, mothers, children, and infants in Mr. Lai was unwarranted. The causalities that result from World War II were

Sports Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Sports Medicine - Essay Example If any question is answered in the affirmative in the first stage questionnaire then the person can start the exercise program or aerobic testing only after getting medical clearance. Though, in some cases the experienced exercise specialist may use his judgment to allow the person affecting certain problems to start an exercise program. People who are not at high risk can begin low or moderate level physical activity without the need for medical clearance. These people are also eligible for the stage 2 of the screening program if they wish to increase the intensity levels of their exercise or exercise testing. Stage 2 identifies people with moderate risk as those with age more than 45 in case of males and more than 55 in case of females or those with 2 or more than 2 risk factors for heart diseases (SMA,2005). People at moderate risk can do only moderate exercise without medical clearance. Those who are young and have less than 2 risk factors are at low risk and can undergo high intensity of physical exertion without a need for medical clearance. 2. ... This is unadvisable as it puts undue strain on the heart and lungs and poses risks of complications in the individual; also if the level of exertion is increased it is likely to deter people from taking the test, especially those leading sedentary lifestyles. 3. Which if any, of the energy pathways is fully utilized during the Wingate test If not, why not A. Adenosine triphosphate and phosphocreatine energy pathways are fully utilized during the Wingate Test. The ATP stored in muscle cells are broken down into ADP and phosphate. ATP molecules are quickly exhausted in the muscle cells. More ATP are produced by combination of ADP and Phosphate molecules but it takes a long time. Finally glucose is broken down in the absence of oxygen to produce pyruvic acid. 4. What factors contribute to fatigue during the last 10 seconds of the Wingate test A When pyruvic acid is formed from glucose by process of glycolysis, the absence of oxygen leads to the conversion of pyruvic acid to lactic acid which has a corrosive action on muscles causing fatigue hence bringing down the performance. Also the energy produced by this anaerobic process is much lesser (2 ATP) than that by aerobic respiration in which complete breakdown of glucose molecule takes place leading to fatigue. 5. Explain in your own words what the fatigue index is and why it is relevant to performance A. Fatigue index is decrease is power divided by time interval between the peak power and minimum power. In athletes it's of utmost importance as it determines the nature of their performance. Many factors contribute to fatigue index like functioning of heart and lungs, muscle

HCA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

HCA - Essay Example Considering the availability and application of various growth and expansion strategies in the health sector, strategic planning is paramount to help in monitoring the progress of implementation and evaluation of different stages as a directive measure of success. Objectives In a bid to improve its productivity in terms of service delivery and improve its competitive advantage in the health sector, HCA intends to improve its economies of scale in areas of management, purchases, production and marketing. In addition, it intends to incorporate new growth and expansion strategies such as telemedicine, mergers and joint ventures and improve on employee satisfaction in a bid to restore clients’ confidence and enhance good governance/organization culture within its institutions. This will improve on resource allocation and enable the management in monitoring the progress of the institution in line with its core objectives of quality delivery of medical services, maintenance of its b usiness position/market share, reputation and profit maximization. Implementation Plan To achieve the above mentioned objectives, the organization requires conducting an intensive environmental scan to ascertain the internal functioning of its institutions, evaluation of its position in relation to the industry’s tasks environment and evaluation of the external macro-environment factors. This will call for evaluation of its technological advancements in the field of nursing and medicine, and analysis of its preparedness to incorporate/absorb the competitive aspect of other stakeholders in the health sector. To achieve and overcome the social aspect of its programs, the organization will analyse health consciousness, population growth rate, and emphasis on career safety and attitude among the employees (Harrison & A.U.P in Health Administration, 2010). To achieve the growth and expansion objective, the organization will look into political and economic factors such as tax poli cy, employment laws, economic growth, inflation rates and environmental regulations of different states and economies where they intend to expand their services. This will be coupled by independent programs by its affiliate institutions through effective budgeting and allocation and mitigation procedures in the respective institutions. There will be funds set aside, from the affiliate institutions, to help in financing new ventures that it intends to open within the United States and abroad. This will be guided by the SWOT analysis in which the organization will evaluate its strengths and weaknesses in relation to forthcoming opportunities and threats. Functional Tactics In order to achieve an effective implementation plan, HCA intends to combine several tactics which will comprehensively meet the needs of stakeholders in the industry. Policy/strategy formulation will rely on the information from the environmental scan which will be matched with the SWOT analysis to evaluate the opt imum strategies. To achieve profitability and competitive advantage, the organization will apply product and services differentiation so as to attract clients from all economic and social backgrounds. This will feature strategies such as lowering costs of medicines and therapies in line with regional needs, differentiating products through mechanization and application of science and technology to promote client satisfaction, and customization of nursing services to be governed by an in-depth understanding of the

How a peace inititative started from private american university can Case Study

How a peace inititative started from private american university can save nigeria - Case Study Example Students are advised to spend sometime away from normal class hours, to research on the impact of terror on the society and the prospects for peace. This case-study requires students to come up with peace strategies. These strategies should reflect a growth-based university that serves the needs of the society. The university’s president is charged with the responsibility of developing a plan of five years that will see the university attain its target. The faculty will cooperate with the students to contribute to the growth of the university into what its founder desired it to be. The results of this case study will have an impact on northern Nigeria, whole of Nigeria and Africa at large. The university has developed a strategic plan to run for five years, beginning in 2011 with the approval of the board. The main goal of the university is to become an institution that promotes development in Nigeria and Africa at large. In this way, the faculty and students are motivated to work towards attaining this goal. In particular, students are encouraged to take up leadership courses that can prepare them to lead the community and the country in future. By taking up these classes, students will use the knowledge acquired to transform the society and bring about peaceful co-existence. The university has come up with a peace initiative, the first of its kind in Nigeria, to bring about peace and harmony in northern Nigeria. This peace initiative was occasioned by the rise in terrorism and violence among communities living in this region. Nigeria is situated in Africa to the west and is one of the largest countries in that region. Today, Nigeria is reported to be the most highly inhabited country in Africa. Nigeria has had its fair share of challenges since independence. Governance and the fight against poverty have proved to be an

The relationship between ethics and politics Essay

The relationship between ethics and politics - Essay Example Your duty is to weigh the benefits and the harm of your actions. For example, the majority believes that it is entirely wrong and unacceptable to take the life of another. But if you saw a child’s life in danger and the only way that you could save the child was to take the life of another, it would not be unethical to do so, although standards of behaviour dictate that taking the life of another is wrong. Barak Obama: I believe that taking the life of another to save a child does not set a bad example and it reinforces our responsibility to protect children. However, stealing when you can easily ask for food or work for it sets a bad example and would not be acceptable by any standards of conduct. Socrates: Again it is about knowing what is good for you. I cannot be good for you to fail to save a child from eminent harm. Nor can it good for you to steal to feed a child. Moral realism dictates that ignorance is the only form of unethical behaviour. Rational man determines what he thinks is best in each situation. In this regard knowledge motivates action that is appropriate and false perceptions and beliefs motivate inappropriate conduct. Socrates: Not necessarily. There is a human inclination to be corrupted by power so that political institutions tend to be susceptible to timocracy, oligarchy, democracy and tyranny. None of these political institutions are capable of being impartial and are vulnerable to corruption. Socrates: Democracy gives that unsuitable ruler certain rights that permit him to remain in office longer than he should be. He has the right to insist upon a thorough investigation and he has the right to confront his accusers. Socrates: I would have thought that that fact that he was unsuitable would have already been a matter of public record. Still, I would have to say that democracy is the lesser of all the evils of politics. For instance, timocracy is authoritarian and can be compared to military

Adverse Occurrence Root Cause Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adverse Occurrence Root Cause Analysis - Essay Example At the same time, it communicates the lessons learned from the problem solving activities (Decision Systems, 2012). REASON integrates the need to perform RCA on both sentinel events and the routine analysis of everyday counter-quality problems for ongoing activities. This cuts down on the amount of time needed for  scheduling, required number of personnel as well as training (Decision Systems, 2012). It does this by providing a scalable process that matches the analysis time and effort to the weight of the crisis. They are summarized as REASON  FrontLine  for small issues, REASON  Express  for significant issues, and REASON  Pro  for serious and sentinel event issues (Decision Systems, 2012). These steps are simplified further by a wizard that asks the attendant to name the problem, the causes, and a business process that will rectify it.   This will focus on describing what is seen happening. It will lay down the symptoms observed in the patient. The problem is defined factually including the qualitative and quantitative properties of the dangerous outcomes. It additionally includes detailing the nature, the degree, the locations, and the timings of the occurrence. This stage will avail proof of existence of the problem. It will also specify the period the problem has existed up to the final crisis, including the impact it has had on the patient. For each behavior, situation, action, or inaction it will be specified what should have been and how it differs from the actual one observed (Andersen & Fagerhaug, 2006). The best suited tool here is the CATWOE. It involves using different perspectives to view the same situation. In it are the customers (patients), the actors who implement the solutions, the transformation process which is affected, and the world’s view, the owner of the process and finally environmental limitations (Hardy, 2010). This stage examines the sequence of events that led to the problem, and

Promoting Cognitive Development Essay Example for Free

Promoting Cognitive Development Essay The best thing my family said about me when I was young was how smart I appeared to be. I had been a participant in the elementary school science fair; it always takes place in the spring time of the school year in May- It is a traditional school event. I was only in third grade, I had to be creative and come up with a science project for the science fair. My teacher suggested that all of the students go to the library and research some science books to pick a project. I remember not having a lot of self-esteem, so I did not think I could accomplish the task. I found a short story in a book about a plant without a root, so I decided to grow a plant without a root in an egg shell, my mother helped me put the project together and she was very encouraging and helpful for my self-esteem. My science project was a success and I won first prize. This was one of the best days in my life and my family was so proud of me, they all told me I was very smart and to keep up the good work. They were especially proud because I found the book and made the decision on my own do the project that made me a winner. According to Vygotsky, education should focus on activities that involve interaction with others. Both child–adult and child–child interactions can provide the potential for cognitive growth† (Feldman, page 301). Children develop a sense of competence roughly around age 6 to 12, in their elementary school years; theorists Erik Erikson believes these years are the industry-versus-inferiority stage; these years are very important for children to understand concepts and challenges that are prepared for them by their peers, parents and school. My mother was the person that made me feel so great about myself, as she often did. She put my plant without a root science project on display in our home for all to see, and she just bragged to everyone that came to the house and she was calling people on the phone telling whoever called the house; she was would brag and tell them how smart I was and how proud she was of my winning first place in the school science fair. I had and still have the strangest nickname, my mother named me Toby Margo Barr. But my nickname is Trisha. The story behind having two real names is because my godmother wanted to name me Patricia. My mother decided that Trisha could be my nickname, she really liked Toby and she promised to name me after a Jewish woman that she knew way before I was conceived. She said the woman looked the spitting image of Elizabeth Taylor. I actually very much disliked the name Toby and wished my real name was Patricia; everyone thought Toby was my nick name anyway because it sounds more like a nickname. My family members never told me what I would end up doing or becoming, they valued the fact that I just had to work. My mother wanted me to have an office job, because I took up office practice in high school. I wanted to work in an office setting, but it was hard to accomplish in the small town I grew up and lived in. It was predominately white and there was a lot of prejudices in the town back them. My family would have described me as a good kid; I was mannerly and respectful to others, very disciplined as well when I was a child and adolescent. I remember being afraid a lot and having low self-esteem. I did not like being a dark-skinned person especially in an all white town and school- it also seemed if you were light-skinned life was a little better, I was bullied and teased by both blacks and whites. I started to rebel as a teenager and did what teens do when they are insecure, like smoking pot and cigarettes. This is when my parents would say I gave them grief. My family was concerned I would get in trouble and end up dealing with the law. Elementary-school-age children begin to follow the same sort of reasoning when they seek to understand how able they are. When they were younger, they tended to consider their abilities in terms of some hypothetical standard, making a judgment that they are good or bad in an absolute sense. Children begin to use social comparison processes, comparing themselves to others; Vygotsky‘s approach has been particularly influential in the development of several classroom practices based on the proposition that children should actively participate in their educational experiences. In this approach, classrooms are seen as places where children should have the opportunity to experiment and try out new activities.

Social Work and Looked After Children | Book Review

Social Work and Looked After Children | Book Review Cocker, C. Allain, L. (2008) Social Work and Looked After Children. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd. (This is number 8 on the list) The area of looked after children have received considerable attention within the social work and policy discourse over recent years. The book Social Work and Looked After Children by Christine Cocker and Lucille Allain was chosen for this review because it is not just another addition to the discourse, it represents a comprehensive and definitive submission which navigates the system of state care for children from the moment they enter the system until the moments they leave. The area of looked after children is an important aspect of social work, entailing the care of extremely vulnerable young people usually suffering from trauma. Social work students usually approach the area with some level of fear and trepidation and there was a definite absence within the discipline of a comprehensive simple to use guidebook. This book is simple, but not simplistic and addresses the core concepts within the area of looked after children robustly. It addresses complex issues from legislation a nd policy to minority issues, disability, and theoretical debates deftly. While the book was seemingly created for the student practitioner, comprehensive span, research summary tables, bullet point tips and summaries of key frameworks and policies within each areas makes it a must have for any serious student and social work practitioner committed to working with vulnerable children and young people. The book starts by outlining the relevant policies that direct work with looked after children. It offers a comprehensive summary of the history and ethics of working with looked after children and the values which underline the policies. In tandem, it presents a statistical trajectory mapping the number of looked after children in the care system in recent years to set the foundation for the discussions within the book. The second chapter is an excellent accompanying foundation chapter which identifies the main legal frameworks guiding work with looked children e.g. The Children’s Act of 1989 and the Every Child Matters policy document of 2003. Central to the thesis in this chapter, was the emphasis that work with looked after children should attempt to remove labels of exclusion and reinforce the entitlements of the child, according to the United Nations Convention’s Rights of the Child document. The various pathways by which children entered the system was examined and these were considered in relation the existing legal frameworks and how the conditions surrounding their entry into care, should be of vital importance to social workers whose main aim to support the child by understanding the entirety of their cases. The navigation from entry to exit of the care system, highlighted its strengths and weaknesses and in so doing zoomed in on areas where social workers need to be especially alert, for example, in their support and assessments of foster parents and the conditions of residential care homes for vulnerable children. The examination of the child assessment process, presented a chronological and in-depth look at one of the core tools of the social worker. Cocker and Allain focused on the important skills such as observation, reflection and empathy needed by the social worker to deliver best practice meeting the needs of the child and also to build the future client pra ctitioner relationship. The authors emphasized the importance of planning the assessment by studying the child’s files and reflecting on your own judgments regarding the issues emerging before beginning the assessment in order to avoid projecting your own values and stymie the future client relationship or create barriers to getting information which may best support the client. The book considered the importance of communication skills to the social work practitioner and in work with looked after children. It examined the impact of language on culture, the various types of communication patterns both verbal and non-verbal and highlighted how being able to engage the looked after child to participate in their own recovery through expression was central to successful practice. It also highlighted the need for practitioners to recognize that their language is inclusive and does not make the looked after child feel as if they are being controlled. It implores the practitioner to be aware of the power in language and to ensure that the way they communicate does not impart discriminatory undertones about the looked after child’s vulnerable position. While the issue of ethnicity and disability is often examined on the fringes of the mainstream work, this book dedicates two rigorous chapters to both areas. The chapter identified the importance of cultural awareness in working with looked after children especially considering the high numbers of minority children in looked after facilities. Cocker and Allain underline the need for practitioners to be vigilant in ensuring their practice is anti-discriminatory and impressively, they also link communication with ethnic minority looked after children as one are which is usually affected by cultural ignorance. They argue that looked after children from ethnic minorities are usually very aware that are sometimes treated differently because of not only being in care but because of their ethnicity and are therefore very attuned to individuals who are culturally ignorant of their needs. They highlight the dangers this can pose to developing trust within the client practitioner relationship and encourage vigilance in this area. Also considered was how attachment issues must be interrogated within social work assessments and interventions with look after children. The authors acknowledged the debates about using attachment framework with looked after children and acknowledged that while there is a risk of using attachment theory in a deterministic manner with looked after children who are constantly in transition between carers, it can also be useful to build problem solving skills, coping strategies and to build self reliance and resilience. Also addressed were the mental health needs of looked after children and implored social work practitioners to seek out inter-agency collaboration with other specialist for such children. They also address the importance of education in the lives of looked after children and explore the disjointed and inconsistent educational experiences they usually experience. Social work practitioners are encouraged to support the educational experience of looked after children as this can help to improve their self esteem and outlook. Finally, the book looked at the issue of adoption and permanence and discussed how this process can be emotional and confusing for the looked after child. It provides great advice on how to support both adoption parents and the looked after child through the process of change for example in working with them on how to display empathy and how to communicate with the child. In conclusion, there was a need for a comprehensive text on looked after children and as is demonstrated in this review, the areas interrogated by Cocker and Allain in this text, provides a first-rate resource with which to study, debate and get guidelines on current issues within the subject. 1 What is the Most Credible Justification of Punishment? What is the Most Credible Justification of Punishment? What is the Most Credible Justification of Punishment? Punishment has been a part of the human society ever since the beginning of civilization. Throughout the history, wrong doings or wrong acts have simply stood out like sore thumbs, greatly affecting the very emotions of man. These wrongful acts, which have been later termed as crimes, are as noticeable as kind acts but the only difference is that the former harbours condemnation than praise; punishment than reward. Man sees such crimes as condemnable especially those that are heinous such as rape, murder, arson, genocide and other types that puts humanity into shame and the community into disarray. Wrongdoers who have been accused of committing crimes would be brought into trials to give them the chance to defend themselves. However, if they fail to do so, then the hands of justice will strike them down and cast down on them the necessary punishment they deserve according to the legal laws created by the governing bodies. When this happens, people will say that â€Å"justice has bee n served† or that the criminal â€Å"got what he deserves†. Some will feel that the punishment is necessary to avenge the man or the woman who have been seriously wronged by the offender. Other people will see that this type of action is necessary in order for the criminal to realize the sins he has committed. Greek philosophers of the past realized this too early when Socrates stated that â€Å"to serve as a corrective measure that would be of benefit to the criminal by helping him to overcome his evil tendencies† (Patterson, 1985, p.44). There would also be those who will acknowledge punishment because they will see it as something that benefits the whole community or the country. For instance, when a corrupt president is ousted and sentenced with capital punishment, people will rejoice because they will see it as something beneficial not only to a certain individual, but to the whole country as well. These are just some of the common views toward punishment th at can be observed in our everyday lives, from commentaries in newspapers, news on the television and the radio, to simple informal conversation with acquaintances, friends and relatives. It seems that punishment is already deeply embedded within the very core of human civilization and most have accepted this act without question. However, in a philosophical sense, punishment in all its form has many loopholes, problems and questions that need to be resolved. Existing punishment theories such as Consenquentialism and Retributivism have tried to defend the importance of punishment to human society – how it can benefit the society, the victim, and the offender or the criminal. According to Duff, cited in Hart (1968, pp.1-27), â€Å"there are three justificatory issues that must be addressed in order to justify punishment. The first thing that should be asked is the ‘general justifying aim’ of a system of punishment. We should identify what justifies the creation and maintenance of such a system what good does it achieve and what duty does it fulfil. Next is to identify who may properly be punished. It this case, the principles or aims that should determine the allocations of punishments to individuals should be identified†. Finally, the theorists should know the appropriate amount of punishment needed and the factors that would affect the severity a sentence the sentencers should impose. Duff (2004) added that â€Å"philosophers should also know which concrete modes of punishment are appropriate, in general or for particular crimes†. These four main questions should reveal an acceptable justification of punishment. Unfortunately, each type of punishment theory offers a different type of answer to all of those questions. In this sense, the values of one may clash with the other, creating more doubt and confusion than realization. Basically, the Retributist and the Consequentialist or a Retributist-consenquentialist all compete in providing most justifiable explanation of punishment. Among these three, there could be a normative account of punishment that is morally acceptable to society. After all, it is the responsibility of theorists to provide an acceptable explanation of this human act. However, as Duff (2004) stated, â€Å"philosophers must be prepared or must be open to the startling and disturbing possibility that this â€Å"pervasive human practice cannot be justified.† Now, with all these issues at hand, is there a theory that best justifies punishment or is there hardly any? Is there a credible j ustification of punishment? Understanding Punishment and its Purpose To have an understanding of which type of punishment offers the most credible justification of such pervasive human act, we must first have an understanding of the concept of punishment. Punishment is always coined as legal because of it is written in the legislation. Generally, it is defined it as â€Å"†¦first a cultural process and secondly a mechanism of particular institutions, of which criminal law is but one† (Simon, citing from Newman, 1983, pp. 2-3). In a non-general specific account of legal punishment, Hart’s â€Å"five elements of legal punishment† offers an interesting explanation: the involvement of pain or other consequences that are unpleasant; the involvement of an offence against legal rules; an act that is of an actual or supposed offender for his offence; administered intentionally; and finally, only the authorities can impose and administer such an act or in the old clichà © â€Å"nobody is above the law† (Hart, 1968, pp.4-5; Zaibert, 2005, p.225; Gottschalk, 1999, pp.195-196). On the other hand, ideologies such as retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation offer some alternative definition of punishment (Wilson, 1975, pp.6-12; Allen, 1981, p.1; Gottschalk, 1999, pp.195-196; Hoffman, 2002, pp.1-2; Jiang et al, 2007, p.85). The different views basically shape the current application of punishment in today’s world as it encompasses from an individual to a broader cultural belief. Further, these different views have their own justification of punishment. Within the definitions of punishment also come the two types laws specifically mandated for punishment: civil and criminal law. Duff (2004) explains that â€Å"civil law deals in part with wrongs which are non-private in that they are legally and socially declared as wrongs, but at the same time, private in that it is up to the person who was wronged to seek legal redress†. On the other hand, a criminal case refers to a case† between the accused criminal and the whole political community, the state or the people, and the defendant† (Duff, 2004). Nonetheless, Duff (2004) explained that â€Å"it is difficult to distinguish the civil from the criminal law†. The problem is to determine which crimes should be accepted as public and which crimes should be accepted as private ones. Should it be that all crimes are both public and private in a sense that it has wronged both the norm and the individual? Should the crime committed against the society be the ultimate j ustifiable explanation of punishment or should it be more focused on the crime committed against the individual? It can be argued that none of these accounts are credible enough to justify punishment since from every angle, it is also an act that the society detests and it is a horrifying gruesome act if not mandated by law. McDermott (2001, p.403) stated that â€Å"punishment is morally troubling because it almost always causes human suffering†. For instance, throughout the history of punishment in the United States, those who had committed the most severe forms of crimes have suffered in cruel and painful methods such as â€Å"hanging during 1853, the electric chair, the gas chamber, and the latest most humane type of capital punishment, the lethal injection† (Turley, 2008, p.13a). â€Å"Means of punishment have changed over time but the ends have always been the same – bringing pain to the sentenced. Even though the government claims that new forms of punish ment are less painful such as the lethal injection, cases of botched executions are still taking place causing much more pain to the punished† (Turley, 2008, p.13a). Basically, the cries of the society to abolish the death penalty or to lessen the pain that is involved with it also shows that humans can instinctively feel uncomfortable that such acts are nearly as heinous and horrible as the acts committed by the criminal. Nonetheless, it can be strongly argued that to detest punishment as much as to detest the crimes committed by the criminal is a selfish act that is against order. Detesting punishment for its moral grounds can be argued as something that is on the side of social disorder rather than order simply because there is no alternative means to instigate order other than punishment. The utilitarian nature is perhaps the most credible justification of punishment since it is not bounded by individual feelings or emotions, but rather by a cluster of feelings and emotion s. Allowing criminals to roam free in the streets may be a moral act of compassion but it does not remove the fact that these criminals are dangerous and there is a very real risk that they may cause further damage to the society. Of course, this characteristic is also evident within the retributivist principle but its aim is more on the individual rather than the â€Å"good of the majority†. Kant stated that â€Å"even though it is not for the good of all, a wrongdoer must still be punished for the benefit of the wronged† (Kant and Hastie, 1790, p.82; Barber, 1994, pp.246-250). For Kant, the moment an individual does an unjust act; â€Å"he already gives himself the right to punished† (Kant and Hastie, 1790, p.82; Barber, 1994, pp.246-250). The Retributivists’ View Retributivism is a theory of punishment that argues â€Å"people should always and only be treated as ends and never as means, and that are the actions of government legitimate only to the degree to which they are consistent with this model of citizenry† (Clear, 1994, pp.8-9). The belief that the state should inflict harm in order to confirm the moral order established by the laws of the state is the purist view of retributivism. â€Å"Retributivism puts more importance on the moral grounds compared to the classic utilitarian view, which more on the political side† (Clear, 1994, pp.8-9). The retributivist believes that â€Å"punishment is necessary because it is simply deserved by the offender† (Walker, 1991, Clear, 1994, pp.8-9). The main theme of this theory is the old clichà © â€Å"eye for an eye†, within which it promotes revenge, just deserts and practices fairness and proportionality. The retributivist belief is the backbone of the levels of punish ment that our society currently has – from the petty illegal parking fine to the severe capital punishment. The theory shows that â€Å"the harshness of punishment should be proportionate to seriousness of the crime† (Hoffman, 2000, p.1). However, if this is the case, then punishment is nothing more than a mere personal vendetta executed with the help of the state. This reasoning basically limits punishment’s benefit to the victim alone. But in contrast to this generalization, Ten (1993, p.43) argued that: â€Å"Retributive punishment is only inflicted on the wrongdoer, whereas revenge is sometimes inflicted on an innocent person close to the revengee, either because this is an easier target or because it is thought that this would hurt the revengee more.† Retributivism has some serious problems that are not evident in some punishment theories like utilitarianism. â€Å"Retributivist has the hard job of explaining why it is more than mere vindictiveness to punish offenders rather than use these seemingly more humane alternatives† (Bennett, 2004, p.325).As Dewey pointed out in his theory of punishment â€Å"when we are concerned with morality, we are concerned with developing the future responsible agency of a person, and thus moral education is the relevant practice involved† (Dewey cited In Shook, 2004, p.69). Retributivism is not concerned with the future responsible agency of the offender because its objective is to end it by inflicting the same amount of damage inflicted on the offended. In this case, critics can strongly argue that retributivist offer a non-credible explanation on why punishment is necessary, both morally and politically. According to its critics, its moral flaw lies in its lack of regard to the huma nity of the offender; while its political flaw lies in its lack of regard for the society at large. However, the stance of this paper is against those views simply because a consequentialist can inflict the same amount of punishment as a retributivist could inflict if the situation grants it. For instance, a state that punishes an angry soldier marching down the street for protest just because it can promote sedition can also have the same weight as punishing an important public figure who has wronged the public in many possible ways. The soldier can be subjected to torture and imprisonment as forms of punishment, and these acts can basically strip off the soldier any possible future possible agency of change since to his belief, the State tells only lies and teaches its beliefs that are a sacrilege to its own (as when corruption and bribery within government is accepted as reality and the norm). In other words, humane is a complex word that is yet to be defined by both the consenqu entialist and the retributivist. What may be humane to another person may not be humane to another and so on. The point is that no matter how some scholars defend the idea of punishment as a mere tool for control, its methods of punishment can be as inhumane as those of the retributivists’. The Complexity of Consequentialism Consenquentialism seems to be just an excuse for those are in power to demonstrate their power without any regards to its citizens. Its first component is that â€Å"an action or institution is right if it maximally achieves whatever are intrinsically good states of affairs while minimizing whatever are intrinsically bad states of affairs† (Katz, 1999, p.64). The other component stresses that â€Å"welfare is the only sort of thing that is intrinsically good† (Katz, 1999, p.64).Thus, this theory claims that â€Å"together and alone, people only act to maximize happiness† (Kunz, 1998, p.10). However, maximizing happiness simply means minimizing those who suffer. In other words, consenquentialism does not aim for the equality of justice but more on the biased side of favouring those flocks of people who think that â€Å"this† is the way to maximize happiness. Aside from being biased, it also puts those in power untouched by this so-called punishment since they can easily reason out that ousting or punishing them will have a negative impact on, say, the economy. Bell (1993, pp.118-122) supports this rationale when he stated that â€Å"consequentialism promotes abuse in power of authority figure because they can easily justify that what is done is for the good of the majority. Basically, these people in power can develop an unsympathetic stance for reformists and revolutionists as it mutes the critique of society and restricts possibilities of action by beginning with the way things and people are†. Further since to consenquentialists’ claims about maximizing happiness, they then refer to digits results that can be statistically tested. However, it seems that statistical tests were not in their favour. It was found that â€Å"the calculation of net social welfare that utilitarianism demands often cannot be equated with the intuitive demands of justice† (Moore, 1999, p.64). Furthermore, it has been argued that â€Å"sometimes; innocence is sacrificed for the general welfare, while the guilty are freed in order to meet what is perceived as â€Å"good for all† â€Å"(Moore, 1999, p.64). Comparison of views in justifying punishment Consenquentialism is far too complex to justify punishment as compared to the simplicity and straightforwardness of retributivism. Because of the larger and more general claim of consenquentialism, it is in a position where it has to prove its claims of maximized happiness through generalized means. However, according to Katz (1999, p.64-69), â€Å"consenquentialists are yet to prove this†. Even the concept of deterrence, a claimed benefit of consenquentialism, has its share of loopholes that are difficult to explain†. In a specific study that tried to prove the impact of deterrence, â€Å"data on state homicide rates were employed and execution rates between 1976 and 1997 were examined across 50 states and the District of Columbia were estimated. The study found that that the death penalty indeed helps (to) deter criminal acts† (Yunker, 2001, p.310). Further, the relationship between deterrence and homicide rates was also criticized because â€Å"only relatively few supportive data exists† (Simson, 2001, pp.306-307). Simson (2001, pp.306-307) stated that â€Å"most case studies failed to emphasize the relationship between the two variables†. Also, Walker (1991, p.52) supports the claims that â€Å"deterrence is unsupported statistically†. On the other hand, retributivistic punishment only limits its case within the offender and the victim. If the victim becomes satisfied after he or she heard or witnessed the punishment of his or her offender, then the goals of retributivism have been achieved. Deterrence is basically not the aim, rather, the restoration of the dignity of the victim by inflicting the same level of punishment to the offender. The individual’s happiness, although not the main cause of happiness of the country as a whole, is a beginning that may produce more ripples of happiness that externally affects others in society. For instance, it may signal the development of a fair and equal justice system where all who have committed serious crimes will be punished no matter how powerful he or she might be. Retributivism also is more ethical because it answers to individual sins and crimes rather than on a questionable and complex common good that consenquentialists claim. It does not disguise itself as justice because it is in fact justice to victim unlike consenquentialism that can be used as a mask to hide the truth or to twist and distort the beliefs of those who are weak. Conclusion On the whole, retributivism is more honest and more transparent than consequentialism since it only concerns giving legal retribution to those who are victimized. However, Retributivism still needs to explain several points, such as â€Å"proving why wrongdoers deserve to suffer† (Shafer-landau, 2000, p.210). Further, it needs to emphasize and justify how the level of punishment metered out to the offender can possibly equal that of the crime inflicted on the victim. For instance, how would a retributivist punish a rapist? â€Å"Sexually violating the rapist may not be a good idea and the retributivist must find another alternative punishment to somehow level it with damaged caused to the victim† (Waldron cited in Shafer-landau, 2000, pp.197). Others might argue that â€Å"the retributivist principle is one that is â€Å"cold-hearted† and has no concern for the welfare of the criminal† (Bennett, 2002). Finally, retributivism has been interpreted as a backw ard belief that has no regard for the common good (Bennett, 2002. p.148). Basically, retributivism receives as nearly as much criticism as the less favoured theory in this paper, consenquentialism. However, the consenquentialist must answer on how it could actually give justice to the victim without inflicting too much punishment on the criminal. There is perhaps no answer to this since the very core of punishment is inflicting pain on the offender as a form of justice for the victim. Considering the welfare of the offender may take away the feeling of satisfaction from a justice-thirsty victim. Consenquentialism seems like a â€Å"wolf in sheep’s clothing† where it pretends to be the better alternative but the reality is it is just as lacking as retributivism. It presents an almost perfect view that happiness may be maximized, but in reality, ends up providing the retribution the victim needs but with less weight or more humane as they claim. Duff (2000) even stated t hat â€Å"the utilitarian principle of maximizing happiness is only a ‘fantasy’ because the consenquentialist should figure out â€Å"how much pleasure, and how much pain, various possible practices and policies are likely to produce  and then somehow add the pleasures, add the pains, and weigh them against each other† The acceptance of the consenquentialist’s method of punishing the innocent for the benefit of good is also morally unacceptable. Again, Duff (2000) explained that â€Å"even if we would, in some extreme situation, recognize that an innocent ‘must’ be punished, we would also realize that this involved a significant moral cost, a significant wrong done to the innocent person, which the utilitarian cannot recognize.† (i.e. that the end justifies the means). They cannot recognize the intrinsic wrong of injustice that is done to an innocent scapegoat for what it is. Ironically, scapegoat can also be considered as an evil ac t given the circumstances, which may promote corruption and disregard for justice. Bibliography Allen, F.A. (1981).The decline of rehabilitative ideal. New Haven: Yale University Press. Barber, K.F. (1994). Individuation and Identity in Early Modern Philosophy: Descartes to Kant. Albany State University of New York Press Bell, L.A. (1993). Rethinking Ethics in the Midst of Violence: A Feminist Approach to Freedom. Md. Rowman Littlefield, Lanham. Bennett, C. (2002). The Varieties of Retributive Experience. The Philosophical Quarterly, vol.52, no.207, pp.145-163 Bennett, C. (2004). Punishment. UK: Blackwell Publishing. Clear, T.R. (1994). Harm in American Penology: Offenders, Victims, and Their Communities. University of New York Press, Albany NY. Duff, R. (2000).In Defence of One Type of Retributivism: A Reply to Bagaric and Amarasekara. Available from: [2 [21>0 February, 2008] Duff, A. (2004).Legal Punishment. Available from: [20 February, 2008] Gottschalk, M. (1999). Monkeywrenching as Punishment? CJPR, vol.10, no.2, pp. 193-211 Hart, H. L. A. (1968). Punishment and responsibility. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hoffman, D.E. (2000). Criminal Justice. Cliffs Notes, CA: Foster City. Jiang, S., Lambert, E.G. Wang, J. 2007. Study among College Students Capital Punishment Views in China and the United States: A Preliminary. Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol, vol.51, no.84 Kant, I. (1790). The Science of Right. W. Hastie (Trans).Raleigh: Alex Catalogue. Katz, L, Moore, S Morse, S. (1999). Foundations of Criminal Law. New York: Oxford University Press. Kunz, G. (1998). The Paradox of Power and Weakness: Levinas and an Alternative Paradigm for Psychology. Albany State University of New York Press McDermott, D. (2001). The Permissibility of Punishment. Law and Philosophy, vol. 20, pp.403–432 Newman, G. (1983). Just and Painful: A Case for the Corporal Punishment of Criminals. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co. Patterson, C.H. (1975). Plato’sEuthyphro, Apology, Crito Phaedo: Notes. Lincoln: Neb John Wiley Sons, Inc. Shafer-landau, R. (2000). Retributivism and Desert. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, vol.81, pp.189-214 Shook, J. (2004). Dewey’s Rejection of Retributivism and His Moral- Education Theory of Punishment. Journal of Social Philosophy. 35 (1), pp.66-78. Simson, S. (2001). Does Capital Punishment Deter Homicide? A Case Study of Epistemological Objectivity. Metaphilosophy, vol.32, no.3, pp.293-307. Ten, C.L. (1993). Crime and Punishment. In P. Singer (ed) A companion to Ethics. Blackwell Publishing. Turley, A. (2008). The punishmentfits the times. USA Today, 16, Jan, p.13a, Available from: Academic Search Elite [26 February, 2008] Walker, N. (1991). Why Punish? Oxford University Press. Wilson, J.Q. (1975) Thinking about Crime. New York: Basic Books. Yunker, J.A. (2001). A New Statistical Analysis of Capital Punishment Incorporating US Post moratorium data. Social Science Quarterly, vol.82, no.2, pp.287-311. Zaibert, L. (2005). Prolegomenon to a Theory of Punishment. Law, Culture and the Humanities, vol.1, pp.221- 246 Zaibert, L. (2006). Punishment and Revenge. Law and Philosophy, vol.25, pp. 81–118

Factors Affecting Average Spending Power Marketing Essay

Factors Affecting Average Spending Power Marketing Essay Introduction: Krajewski Ritzman (1987) Operation management is the systematic direction and control of the process that transforms inputs into finished goods and services. Operations management involves the responsibility to ensure that business operations are efficient in terms of resource use as little as a necessary and effective in terms of customer requirements. At this current age, hospitality has grown up much bigger than even it was expected in last couple of decades. It is one of the most leading business sectors in the business world but in many different forms where efficient service is being offered to the clients using as little resources as possible to gain the client satisfaction. Throughout this report we will be finding how the hospitality operations management performs in the practical business market and necessary theoretical evident discussion will be done to emphasis the aspects of the topic. Part A Factors affecting average spending power (ASP) The average spending power is a compromise or could be called as a joint decision between equal partners in the pricing process such as between the hotel or restaurant and the customers. In the context of hospitality, the customers are usually offered with a wide range of food and beverage items of different price labels which actually brings about average spending power. Generally the average spending power is very much depended on the customer or guests whims or impulse. The spending power could be affected by the following factors Size of income Status Socio/cultural influences Economic situation Key Stages in Product and Service Development There are number of stages in product and service development process, the key stages are follows Market research, Market segmentation, Idea evaluation, Concept development Product development Advertising objectives Create Desire Create awareness Sell Increase market share Develop brand loyalty Customer awareness (http://churchill.ac/moodle/file.php/52/Stages_of_Product_Development.ppt) The features, contribute towards customers perception of product and service The features, contribute towards customers perception of product and service are follows Marketing Research The market research is a systematic way to meet, to store and to analyze of data in markets, competition, future tendencies and other factors affect the business operational process. It is done generally to be to more clients oriented and in other way to advance the efficiency and the effectiveness of the whole operational process. Market segmentation Market Segmentation could be defined as the identification of a subset of consumers, so that a combination of the marketing thinks up to satisfy specifically its demand. Advertising and Merchandising Advertising are generally a paid way of non-personal form of presentation and promoting the idea or ideas, goods or services by a particular company or sponsor intended to reach their desired set of customers. It is the leading marketing weapon in the market place. This process requires objectives like other marketing elements. Advertising Objectives The advertising objective varies for individual organisation depending on the time of advertising. Using this process advertiser expect short or long time benefits. Competition, consumer behaviour, revenue and profits will all influence the advertising objectives from time to time. Opportunities and Constraints Affecting Product and Service Development The following issues are affecting the product and service development Availability of resources; human, financial, and physical resources standardisation, style of service, space utilisation A range of Merchandising opportunities for Hospitality Products and Service The opportunities are Persuade customers to patronise the hotel or restaurant often. Create desire for product/service in the winds of potential customers Emphasise benefits and advantages of the products/ services (http://churchill.ac/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=665) Create an awareness of the product Increase the market share Improve revenue Influence the attitude of the public towards the product Improve brand loyalty Confirm in the minds of customers that they have made the correct choice Enhance the desired image of the hotel or restaurant (http://churchill.ac/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=665) Methods of Pricing and additional Pricing considerations Methods of Pricing Cost-oriented Cost-oriented pricing involves the determination of all fixed and variable costs associated with a product or service. After the total costs attributable to the product or service have been determined, managers add a desired profit margin to each unit. Cost-oriented pricing method could be summarized as Cost + Fixed profit percentage = Selling price Market-oriented Market-oriented pricing determines Pricing at the same level as the competition. The organization has to assess how its product relates to a competitive product and set its price at a comparable level to stay competitive in the market place.   Additional Pricing considerations Service Charge, Cover Charge, Minimum Charge A system. (http://churchill.ac/moodle/mod/resource/view.php?id=744) Factors in Hospitality Operations affect Revenue Generation and Profitability The following factors affect Revenue Generation and Profitability in Hospitality Operations Factors affecting revenue generation Sales mix It is a way of mixing the relative set of products together and setting up a comparatively lower price than the sum of individual products together as promotion to raise the organizational total sale, but it is actually less than the total amount it could be if it was sold as individual, therefore it affect the revenue generation at the end. Customer turnover Revenue generation depend on customer turnover, if the customer are not attracted by the product or satisfied with the service, they would not come back to organization again and therefore sales will be very badly affected and revenue generation at the same time. Average spending power (ASP) Average spending power is completely depend on the customers will; customers are free to decide whether to spend extra or not. If the average spending power of the customer or guests lower down, the sales will go down as well therefore the revenue will be affected as where there is no sales there is no revenue. Factors affecting profitability Labour intensity To produce goods or to delivered service large amounts of human effort is required specially the industry like hospitality where they are very much people oriented. The larger the human effort against the product or service the larger the amount would be paid and would lower the profitability. Shelf-life Self-life determines the length of time a product may be stored or preserved without deterioration; the length of time it remains usable. If the product or service is not suitable to use it will be left as waste and therefore it will affect the profitability very badly. Elasticity of demand If the availability against demand is not met properly the profitability will go down as sales will go down. The aspects of hospitality operations which are commonly appraised Structuring the discussion Building trust and rapport Objectivity Balancing praise and criticism Setting objectives Getting buy-in Making them motivational Career plans Follow up and action (http://churchill.ac/moodle/file.php/52/Appraisal_and_improved_performance.ppt) Two of the aspects of hospitality operations which are commonly appraised Structuring the discussion The organizations take decisions time to time to carry on developing their products or to improve the service they usually offer. This sort of decision should be taken based on their management and development strategy set by the organisation earlier. The set of decisions has to be structured or arranged in a sorted manner so that they can be used in the future to keep their standards of the product or services. Setting objectives In order to produce or offer a quality service the organisation must set the objectives targeting the goal which they are intended to achieve. The objectives could couple in numbers depending on the organisation and the label of their product and services. After setting up the objectives the organisation will follow the production or operation strategy to achieve the objectives for that particular stage. Reasons for Appraising To identify areas for improvement on operations. Identify areas where products and services are thriving as well as areas of failure. To improve on performances To identify constraints and capitalise on opportunities (http://churchill.ac/moodle/file.php/52/Appraisal_and_improved_performance.ppt) Definition and Description of Pricing Method adopted by a firm to set its  selling price. It usually depends on the  firms  average costs, and on the  customers  perceived value of the product in  comparison  to his or her perceived  value  of the competing  products. Different pricing  methods  place varying degree  of emphasis on  selection, estimation, and  evaluation  of costs,  comparative analysis, and  market  situation. See also  pricing strategy. (http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/pricing.html) In other word, Pricing is a fundamental aspect of financial modelling, and is one of the four Ps of the marketing mix. The other three aspects are product, promotion, and place. Price is the only revenue generating element amongst the four Ps. Pricing is the manual or automatic process of applying prices to purchase and sales orders. (http://churchill.ac/moodle/file.php/52/price_and_profitability.ppt) To develop the price for a new product the following strategy would be followed Developing marketing strategy perform marketing analysis, segmentation, targeting and positioning. Make marketing mix decision define the product, distribution, and promotional tactics. Estimate the demand curve understand how quantity demanded varies with price. Calculate Cost include fixed and variable costs associated with the products. Understand environmental factors evaluate likely competition actions, understanding legal constraints etc. Set Pricing Objective for example, profit maximization, revenue maximization, or price stabilization. Determine Pricing Using information collected in the above steps, select a pricing method, develop the pricing structure and define discounts (http://churchill.ac/moodle/file.php/52/price_and_profitability.ppt) Part B In this part of the report, I will be discussing the relevant practical issues required by the project and presenting some evidential information found throughout my individual research on TESCO PLC, Hancock Road, Broomly -By Bow, London E3 3DA. Background: Tesco  plc  is a British international grocery and general merchandising retail chain founded by  Jack Cohen  in 1919. The brand first appeared after Cohen bought a shipment of  tea  from  T.E. Stockwell  and he used those initials and added the first two letters of his own surname. The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in  Burnt Oak,  Edgware, Middlesex. During the 1950s and the 1960s Tesco grew organically, and also through acquisitions, until it owned more than 800 stores. Originally specialising in food and drink, it has  diversified  into areas such as clothing, electronics,  financial services,  telecoms, home, health, car and dental  insurance, retailing and renting  DVDs, CDs,  music downloads,  Internet  services and  software. It is the largest British  retailer  by both global sales and domestic market share, with profits exceeding  £3 billion, and the third largest global retailer based on revenue, after  Wal-Mart  andà ‚  Carrefour  and second largest in profit behind Wal-Mart. (http://www.thefree4all.com) Figure and information extracted from (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesco) Figure: The Current information about TESCO PLC Nature of the Product Tesco Broomly-By-Bow offers Food, Beverage, and quality services. They also offers non-food items including holiday accessories, travel insurance etc. The food range comprised with frozen, chilled, regular item. Fresh produce (Fruit, Vegetable) items are even offered there. Range of Product: Clothes, World Foods, Asian, Halal, Afro Caribbean, Greek, Polish Different Influences affecting Patterns of Demand There are number of influences affecting the patterns of demand External Factor Several National customers Several different expectation Religious aspects on foods Halal Food Competitive price offered by the competitor Range of product Current financial crisis etc. Internal Factor Product Packaging Competitive Price offered by Tesco Multi buy product mix offered Product design Value product to attract the customer with low spending budget Tescos backlog Policy Customer expectations and requirements The profile of the client could be defined as description of client that includes demographic, geographical, and characteristics of psychographic, buying guideline, the reliability, and the history of purchase. A complete survey been done to the TESCO Broom-By-Bow branch among the customer and the details are bellow Research Method Primary research (Field research, fresh data) Questionnaire survey (Close ended) Sampling (Selecting set of customer from a larger number of customers) Location: Broomly-By-Bow Secondary research (Existing data) Internet After surveying 100 customer of different age group the following result is been found Figure: Top chart describes the likings on different age group; Bottom Chart shows the overall product expectation to the TESCO Broomly-By-Bow.

The Environmental Importance of Office Paper Recycling -- Papers Envir

Office Paper Recycling I. Introduction Environmental science is concerned with the global impact of human activity on the planet. Indeed, at the dawn of this new century, close to 25 percent of the earth’s usable water is contaminated. In addition, during the last hundred years, we have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, by burning fossil fuels, such as coal and petroleum and in so doing we have increased the amount of gases in the atmosphere. The result is that more heat is trapped in the system, increasing the global temperature by 1 ° C (about 1.8 ° F). Because the earth is a closed system, these issues are of major concern to environmentalists. As the â€Å"Gaia Hypothesis† states it, we are sustained by a single living system, meaning that we rely on it for our survival, in which all the parts are interconnected and everything we do affects it globally. For instance, as more heat is trapped in the atmosphere, the temperature increases, affecting precipitation, the rain becomes acid, which in turn affect our food production and our fresh water supply, ultimately it affects all the living system on the planet. Basically, in such a system there is no â€Å"away† in â€Å"throwing away,† hence, over the last decade people and companies started being aware of it and therefore acknowledged the need to â€Å"recycle.† II. Recycling Recycling refers to collecting and reprocessing resources into new products. The resources on earth are not all renewable, and recycling means that we could create systems where wastes become resources again, which is called closed-loop recycling. â€Å"Recycling paper involves removing its ink, glue, and coating and reconverting it to pulp that is pressed again into new paper.... ... that only SIS and the Physical Plant department use some and that it is not mandatory. Apparently, increasing the demand for recycled paper would spare a lot of energy in terms of bleaching paper with chemicals over and over again. The point is that A.U.’ s effort is definitely a step toward a more self-sustained system, but as long as it rely on outside providers to bring and collect the paper, the loop is not 100 percent closed, nor efficient. Bibliography: Consevatree Greenline. Available at: http://conservatree.com Environmental Protection Agency. Available at: http://www.epa.gov Miller, Tyler G. Jr. "Living in the Environment", (Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole publishing company, 2000). Microsoft Encarta 98 Encyclopedia, (1993-1997 Microsoft Corporation) National Recycling Coalition. Available at: www.recycle.net/index.html

Arlington National Cemetery :: American History, War, The Tomb of the Unknown

One of the most sacred places in America is the Arlington National Cemetery. Each year heroes are laid to rest here. Families from across the nation visit Arlington throughout the year to pay respect to their love ones. Many American hero families who visit the Arlington Cemetery may have been mourning at the wrong grave. Arlington was once the home of George Washington’s adopted grandson, George Washington Parke Custis (â€Å"Arlington† 4). Custis adored Washington so much that he wanted to make the house a memorial to him. Upon Custis’ death, Arlington was left to his daughter, Mary Ann Custis. Mary Ann was married to Robert E. Lee. They lived in the house until the Civil War began. During the war, the house was used as a Union army camp (Stein 7-10). The Union government declared Arlington a national cemetery on June 15, 1864 (Reef 27). In order to be buried at Arlington, a person has to qualify for burial. Ones who have died on active duty and those who served for twenty or more years are permitted to be buried at Arlington. Others who qualify for burial at Arlington are veterans who suffered 30% or more disability and were honorably discharged from the military before October 1, 1949. Recipients of decorations such as The Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, or the Purple Heart also qualify for burial at Arlington. Burial for members of the president’s cabinet, other nationally elected officials, and Supreme Court Justices who served honorably in the military are also allowed. Burial is permitted for Presidents of the United States, who are also referred to as the Commander and Chief of the military (Reef 64). Not only are military heroes buried at Arlington, but memorials have also been built to honor others who have given their lives for America. The memorials that are located throughout Arlington tell a story about people throughout American history (Reef 43). Each year families walk the endless rows of white head stones at Arlington in order to pay their respects to the ones that have given their lives for America. One of the most visited graves at Arlington is that of President John F. Kennedy. President Kennedy traveled the world to promote friendship between the United States and other nations. Americans were shocked when he was shot and killed in Dallas, TX in 1963. His grave is marked with an eternal flame that will burn forever, reminding people of his accomplishments (Reef 44-46).

Culture Difference Essay -- Essays Papers

Culture Difference The first culture difference that many Japanese find in America is their greeting customs. Although the greeting is one of the simplest human communications, both countries have different methods of greeting each other. Three differences include introduction, self-introduction, and departure. In addition, the main reason for the difference is that Americans use verbal greetings and the Japanese use nonverbal greetings. First, the order of introduction in the U.S. is the reverse of the Japanese way. In America, generally elderly people are introduced first. For example, one of my friends invited me to his house, and he introduced his father first, then his mother, his older brother, and his young sister. After that he introduced me to his family. In contrast, the traditional rule is the opposite in Japan. In other words, young people have to be introduced first in Japan. This rule is the sort of manner in Japan, and the people who do not follow this regulation are considered rude. The methodology of self-introduction varies between America and Japan. Ameri...

A Beautiful Mind: The Case of John Nash Essay

John Nash was a Princeton University graduate student that begins to loose touch with reality. The movie begins with John’s days in college as a bright mathematical student focusing on creating a thesis. Upon this journey he is he develops schizophrenia and it begins to worsen. He is able to acquire a job at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is here where he meets his future wife Alicia. Alicia is not aware of John’s condition at the time but soon learns. John is admitted into treatment for help and is eventually released. He then continues his life, partially recovering from the disease and is honored the Nobel Memorial Prize. John Nash is a young college student in his adult years. He is in his mid to late twenties he begins to develop schizophrenia. Information about immediate was not given, though he later marries his student, a MIT graduate student, Alicia Larde and has a son. As John ages his symptoms begin to worsen. He starts off by hearing voices and then eventually progresses to hallucinations and delusions. He often created friends and event scene by actions in his head that he believed was happening. According to the DSM, Schizophrenia is a mental illness of the mind. Its sub-types include paranoid, catatonic, hebephrenic and simple. Symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech and bizarre behavior. Patients also commonly hear voices. Though the voices may vary there are many categories. They can comment on present actions and well as previous thoughts. Another feature is a â€Å"command hallucination† which can tell the patient what to do. In these scenarios the patient must obey the voice. While in college John Nash began to hear voices. He then begins creates friends of them. Those included Charles, whom he believed was his roommate and William Parcher an agent for the United States Department of Defense. Charles would be an example of a voice (or person) that comments of present actions, and Parcher is a command voice because he displays authority and directs John on what to do. While teaching at MIT, John believes he is on a mission to solve Soviet codes to assist the United States in stopping Soviet plots. While giving a lecture he believes Soviet spies captured him. He also endured in incident where he left this young son in the bathtub while running water. He claims he has a friend that was going to turn the water off. He almost drowns his son. These occurrences clearly identify John as a schizophrenic. He displays the symptoms needed to be considered a schizophrenic. There are no specific causes of schizophrenia. However schizophrenia can be affected by genetics and environmental causes. Medically a cause of schizophrenia is higher levels of dopamine receptors in the brain. There are also abnormal behaviors that occur in the frontal cortex, amygdala, and thalamus. Younger patients with this disease tend to lose me brain tissue compared to those that do not have the disease. Another factor that could potentially lead to the development of schizophrenia is the contraction of any viral infection of the mother while the fetus is still inside of her. Improper nutrition and a lack of oxygen to the brain while in the fetus state can play a part in leading to this disease. Other factors may include the birth month (winter v. summer), the birth place- rural areas compared to urban areas, maternal depression, as well as family history. Though the movie did not give information about John’s childhood nor family history, his schizophrenia could have possible developed from many of the factors previously mentioned. Schizophrenia is a disease that cannot be fully cured but can be treated. When a patient is treated for schizophrenia it is not removed from their brain but the symptoms associated with the disease are treated. For example a patient may still have schizophrenia but the common everyday signs such as hallucinations or delusions may be cured for an amount of time. In the film, John was admitted to a mental facility in which he was treated. He left on medication that treated his delusions. However once he decided to discontinue his medications the symptoms reappeared. He was then treated with insulin shock therapy. During this therapy patients are treated with insulin for about eight days to two weeks. Observations have recorded that it speeds up the reduction of the intensity of the disease. Most patients have recorded no relapses after this treatment. Other treatments are psychotherapy and regular medicine are offered. Psychotherapy is a great choice to get individuals assimilated back into â€Å"normal society†. However I would not recommend this for John because he did not isolate himself of loose social skills, he simply had to deal with the balancing of what was actually happening versus what was occurring in his mind. I also would not offer regular medicine because as seen in the movie, patients can simply stop taking it for what ever person reason they have, which defeats the purpose. As done in the movie, I would prefer the insulin treatment for John. Because he is such an intelligent man I believe it would be possible for him to almost return to a normal lifestyle if this medicine is going to decrease his symptoms. He will eventually learn to ignore and small and non-significant reoccurrences of his symptoms. Works Cited A Beautiful Mind. Dir. Ron Howard. Perf. Russel Crowe. Dreamworks , 2001. DVD. Donahue, Time. Psychological Disorders [PDF document]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web site: https://blackboard.vcu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fcontent%2FcontentWrapper.jsp%3Fattachment%3Dtrue%26navItem%3Dcontent%26content_id%3D_3130818_1%26course_id%3D_88979_1%26displayName%3DDisorders%2BVCU%2BSpring%2B2011%2Bstudent%2Bcopy.pdf%26href%3D%2F%2540%2540%2FA351CAB57C41453726BD6BBA28AA5DBA%2Fcourses%2F1%2FPSYC-101-901-2011Fall%2Fcontent%2F_3130818_1%2FDisorders%252520VCU%252520Spring%2525202011%252520student%252520copy.pdf Grohol, John M., and Psy.D.. â€Å"Psych Central: Schizophrenia Treatment.† Psych Central – Trusted mental health, depression, bipolar, ADHD and psychology information .. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2011. . â€Å"Insulin shock therapy – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.† Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Dec. 2011..

The Conflict between the Individual and the Society in A Rose for Emily

One of Faulkner’s most famous short story, A Rose for Emily is based on the theme of the stark conflict between the individual and the impersonal voice of the community. To emphasize this idea, the story is rendered through the collective point of view of the community that includes Miss Emily.Not accidentally, the plot of the story is set in a small town, where the relationship between the individual and the society is a very tight one. Moreover, the narrator of the story locates himself or herself among the people in the town and even speaks in the first person plural, maintaining therefore a collective view of the events.The heroine of the story appears therefore even more singular and isolated, when regarded through the inquisitive lens of the community. The complex relationship between the individual, Emily Grierson, and the society, is emphasized in several ways.This conflict arises because Emily, an aristocratic woman of a high social standing, rejects all the social no rms and conventions and enshrouds herself in her own fantasies and obsessions instead of actively participating in the social life.The psychotic mind of the main character is therefore opposed to the gossiping community, which is limited to the role of a witness in this story. The reason for Emily’s power is precisely her madness which also gives her an absolute and lawless freedom of action.What is striking is that Faulkner draws the portrait of a disturbed and obsessive individual, by setting it at a distance from the reader’s immediate perception.If, in most of his novels, Faulkner employs multiple point of views and the technique of the streams of consciousness to narrate the events, in A Rose for Emily the protagonist is analyzed from the point of view of an entire community.The perspective that the townspeople offer on Emily’s story is, however, equally unreliable. Miss Emily is described from the point of view of the community as a very haughty person, re spected by everyone on account of her nobility but largely misunderstood.The gossiping, ghostly voice of the town is left outside the premises of the house where the woman isolates herself.   Her refusal to pay taxes as well as all her other whims and peculiarities are accepted by everyone without argument, merely because she is part of the upper, aristocratic social class.When she dies however, the same community is shocked when they realize Miss Emily had entertained a perverse obsession during her secluded life, and had slept with the dead body of her former lover, whom she had poisoned herself.Thus, the struggle between the woman’s desires and the opposing forces is now apparent: she stubbornly holds on to the memory of her father and to the body of her dead lover, unwilling to relinquish her feelings for them. Emily’s obsession first with her father’s corpse and with that of the lover is at the core of a morbid marriage fantasy that is the motif of the st ory.Therefore, Emily violates all the basic principles of her community, beginning with the laws of social interraction–she isolates herself and rejects all human contact- and continuing with tax evasion and even with the concealment of the corpse of her lover, Homer Barron in her own room.She is therefore a murderer or in any case an obsessive or mad individual who nevertheless manages to evade social punishment. Through her, Faulkner draws a vivid portrait of madness and the way in which an individual manages to literary live out the most psychotic fancies in the middle of a normal small-town community. By definition, madness is characterized as a serious deviation from the accepted human behavior.Without being openly irrational or incontrollable, Emily Grierson has a definitely obsessive mind which leads her to react against the laws of society. Her purposeful self-incarceration in her own house and her obvious withdrawal from the normal life of the community points to the conflict between the individual and society.Emily revolts against social norms and chooses to live in her morbid dream instead. She prepares for a ritualistic marriage that she feels she cannot fulfill otherwise than through death.Her seclusion from society is also significant, as she withdraws in the safety of her own fantasy and rejects the assumption of a pre-established social role. The morbid gesture of violence that Emily performs is a poignant rejection of social conventions related to gender and marriage.However, her rejection of social existence does not point merely to the ongoing tension between individuality and community: Faulkner represents here the gap between the individual consciousness and the collective voice.Although the impersonal narrator would seem to forbid psychological inquiry in the story, the voice of the community itself creates psychological tension. Despite her willful isolation, Emily’s madness can therefore only be understood as a reaction to social constraint.The author emphasizes the obsessions that consume Emily as part of her response to social pressure. While the woman lives her obsession is silence and solitude, the society watches all her movements keenly and with undiminished interest.The most curious phenomenon in the text is actually her existence as an individual among the other ordinary people of the community, and the way in which she manages to evade the control of society over her own life.The community described here by Faulkner has a gossipy and even haunting voice that hovers over the household where Emily lives in complete isolation.As the story is told from the point of view of this inquisitive and restless community, the reader gets a glimpse of the way in which Emily Grierson moves quietly on, from one generation to another, closely watched by the members of her social environment.What is curious is that, with all its regulating force, the community fails to control Emily and her madness: â€Å"Th us she passed from generation to generation–dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse† (Faulkner 1970, p. 179).Faulkner emphasizes this fact by referring to Emily’s oddly strong and pervasive influence as a conquest of the social power.In this story, the individual seems to triumph over society and madness triumphs over norm. Interestingly, the murder of the lover is in itself an anti-social act as well as a token of Emily’s obsessive nature. However, the fact that Emily manages to escape social control to a certain extent does not make her a free person.Her marriage fantasy is the token that her behavior is determined, at least partially, by her response to social influence.