Diabetes Treatments Essay

Diabetes and Treatment Diabetes is a group of diseases that result from a defect in the body’s ability to maintain a homeostatic glucose level. The defect may be in insulin secretion, insulin action or both. Diabetes can be classified as Juvenile, Type 1, Type 2, or Gestational. Distinction between the different classifications is based on the circumstances present at time of the diagnosis. Defect in insulin secretion Type 1 diabetes is an absolute deficiency in insulin secretion in the pancreatic islets. Type 1 diabetes can be confirmed by serological evidence of an autoimmune process and genetic markers. Type 1 is the results from a cellular-mediated autoimmune destruction of the ÃŽ ²-cells of the pancreas. These patients are dependent on insulin to survive and have a high risk of being ketoacidosis when first diagnosed. Insulin resistance Type 2 diabetes or noninsulin dependent diabetes has a gradual onset and patients may take years to identify common symptoms. Autoimmune destruction of ÃŽ ²-cells does not occur. Insulin secretion is defective in these patients and insufficient to compensate for insulin resistance. These patients are usually obese or carry extra fat in the midsection of the body. Gestational diabetes Gestational diabetes (GDM) is recognized as any glucose intolerance that is diagnosed initially during pregnancy. â€Å"The definition applies regardless of whether insulin or only diet modification is used for treatment or whether the condition persists after pregnancy.†(â€Å"ADA,† 2004, para. 26) If a patient is diagnosed with GDM the patient may not continue to be diabetic after delivery or may develop Type 2 diabetes immediately after delivery or later  in life. Women who have had GDM have a 35% to 60% of developing diabetes in the next 10 to 20 years according to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet of 2011. Treatment for Gestational Diabetes The first line treatment for GDM is nutritional therapy and education. It is not recommended for pregnant females to lose weight. The current recommendations of restricting carbohydrate intake to 35 to 40% of dietary calories, there is debate about restricting calorie intake, due to the effects of reduce calories on the fetus. The recommendation by the American Diabetes Association for patient’s that have a body mass index greater than 30 kg per m2 is to decrease the calorie intake by 30 to 33% of daily intake. If the patient is unable to maintain blood glucoses 105 mg per dL in the fasting state and 120 mg per dL two hours after meals then either insulin or oral medications are recommended. There has been no documented evidence that either form is better at maintaining normal plasma glucose. Patients must be educated on taking her blood glucose often, usually at least four to five times per day. Initial treatment for GDM with insulin maybe either via multiple daily injections or continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion. Regular and neutral protamine hagedorn (NPH) insulin, both of which are classified as pregnancy category B, have been the classic initial therapy. Recently, rapid-acting insulin aspart has been approved for use in pregnancy, and lispro is considered a treatment option for patients, 70/30 aspart mix and 75/25 lispro mix are pregnancy category B. For basal insulin, detemir is recommended during pregnancy but remains a pregnancy category C.(Jodon, 2011) Short term effects of GDM The short term effects of GDM are usually seen in the fetus. In the early weeks of pregnancy it is thought that uncontrolled hyperglycemia may cause birth defects that include neural tube defects, cardiac malformations, and early loss of pregnancy. In later weeks there is evidence that the maternal hyperglycemia crosses the placenta and causes â€Å"fetal hyperglycemia, compensatory fetal hyperinsulinemia, and consequently increased adipose deposition of nutrients, resulting in macrosomia.†(Jodon, 2011, para. 7) The effects on the infant can last beyond the womb. The infant may have to be  delivered by c-section due to macrosomia. An infant that has been exposed to hyperglycemia levels in utero may need support after delivery for hypoglycemia due to the infant’s pancreas secreting large amounts of insulin. Long term effects of GDM The long term effects of GDM are currently being studied. In recent years there have been correlation studies between GDM and Type 2 diabetes diagnoses later in life. The long term effects of GDM on the infant include an increase in obesity and type 2 diabetes later in life. If a patient does not make modifications to lifestyle and diet choices then she may continue to need insulin to keep her blood glucose at a healthy level. The most recent recommendation from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology is to retest GDM patients six to twelve weeks after delivery for hyperglycemia; the recommendation was made to catch early indications of Type 2 diabetes. Summary Diabetes can affect any person, whether a fetus or an older adult. The long term effects of gestational diabetes are not just on the mother but can have long term effects on the child also. The diabetic mother needs to understand the changes she makes during her pregnancy can help her after pregnancy from becoming an insulin dependent diabetic and also lower the chances of her child developing diabetes. Educating the patient includes modifications to diet, exercise, glucose monitoring, and appropriate medication regimen. Education is the key to helping patients maintain good glucose control and decrease their future risk. References Arcangelo, V. P., & Peterson, A. M. (Eds.). (2013). Pharmacotherapeutics for Advanced Practice: A practical approach (3 ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus. (2004). Retrieved from dio:10.2337/diacare.27.2007.S5 Jodon, H. (2011). New Standards of Care for Gestational Diabetes. Retrieved from Clinicians Review: http://www.clinicianreviews.com/home/article/new-standards-of-care-for-gestational-diabetes/43f9e46f915c950c0d48257fbbe7bb52.html McCance, K. L., & Huether, S. E. (2012). Understanding Pathophysiology (5th Custom Edition

A Thousand Splendid Suns

It made me forget about the real world and dragged my mind into the world of Miriam and Leila. Miriam is a girl who was â€Å"born a Hiram, a source of shame to her father and his family' (60). Her father Jail is of the upper-class men of Kabul, and her mother a lowly woman cast out of her home by her master Jail. Every Thursday, Jail would visit Miriam and tell her of the wondrous stories of her past, and Miriam, a naive little girl, would eat up all the Lies he feeds her. Her mother would warn her against It all, but Miriam chose to believe the happy version of events Jail told her.He was a rich man telling rich lies. Why would Marls own father be so cold-hearted to pretend to love her and aka up stories that arena even true? I think he does this because â€Å"[he is] ashamed of [her]† (50); but he doesn't want her to know his true personality or else she wouldn't respect him since he is her father after all. Social appearances told society whether you were worth their time or not, so Jail wanted to save his face and keep his good reputation. Nowadays, we are still Judged by our social status and appearance though it isn't as severe and open as back then in the late asses.Maria's mother once warned her that there was â€Å"only one skill† she had to perfect, â€Å"[a]ND it's this: tamale. Endure† (17). We can observe how obedient Miriam Is, because she did endure. She â€Å"quietly endure[d] all that [fell] upon [her]† (82) through the good times and the bad – especially through the bad. If I had to live Maria's life, I doubt that I would have endured through everything that came my way as well as she did. Miriam is like a coconut: she has a hard shell, and nothing can break her. But on the inside, her heart is so big and generous, yet she sometimes feels like she can't keep up the brave face any longer.The first few days of Maria's forced marriage were tough on her. She wasn't used to the new surroundings and she was oilin g â€Å"adrift and forlorn† (56). But little by little, chore by chore, with each smile and connection she made with her new husband, she thought to herself â€Å"that they would make good companions after all† (77). After losing her first child, Miriam returns to her state of misery and loses the connection she had with her husband Rehashed. His temper goes out of control, and everything she does has this sense of dreariness and to her â€Å"life †¦ [seems] so exhausting† (83).I can feel Maria's despair and grief as If It were almost my own even though I have no Idea what It feels like to have lost a child. This Is an example of Chalked Hussein's power In writing: he draws me In with his vivid words painting a clear picture in my mind. Chapter 16-25 (Part TWO) Journal #2 In Part Two of A Thousand Splendid Suns, the narrator takes us down the path of life of Leila. When she was only nine years old, the Soviet Union had already invaded Afghanistan. Some peop le, like Laic's teacher, said that â€Å"the Soviet Union was the best nation in the world†¦ Mind to its workers, and its people were all equal† (101). But others disagreed strongly with this statement. Laic's father believes firmly in education, especially for women. He thinks that education should come before marriage â€Å"because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated† (103), which is quite the opposite of what most other parents with daughters think. Leila has been â€Å"the top-ranked student† (103) for the past two years, but she feels that she cannot tell her friends Hessian and Gist as they do not have the same perspective on education as Leila and her father.Ever since Laic's two older brothers have went off to war, her mamma has been depressed and feels like there is no point in life. She is an â€Å"unmoving blanketed mound† lying in bed everyday. From this, I inferred that mamma prefers her sons to Leila. This is a great example of how in some cultures parents favor sons over daughters. Why is this so? I think this is because of the stereotype that boys are better than girls. I see no reason why a girl cannot be as strong or smart or talented as a boy in any way. Nowadays, we try to ban this way of thinking but some people still have this belief.One afternoon, â€Å"a stranger with news† (122) came knocking at her door. He came to tell her parents that Laic's brothers, Nor and Mad, have died triumphantly, fighting for their beloved country's sovereignty. Many people the next morning arrived at their funeral, but all Mamma did was â€Å"sway back and forth and stare at the rug with a remote, spiritless look† (125). Contrarily, it was hard for Leila â€Å"to summon sorrow, to grieve the deaths of people [she] had never really thought of as alive in the first place† (125, 126) because her brothers had left for war when she was a very young girl.Even though the last of the S oviet convoys left the city in 1989, Mamma swore she would not celebrate nor rejoice until the Unexamined win the war against Incunabula and â€Å"hold a victory parade right here in Kabul† (138). Three years later, unexpected happened. Incunabula surrendered ! From that day on, â€Å"Mamma rose from bed a new woman† (145) and resumed her motherly chores. Unfortunately, around a week later everything unraveled and instead of having a common enemy, the Unexamined found the enemy in each other. They fired rockets at the mountains, and â€Å"the mountains fired on Kabul† (157).One day after school when Gist was walking home with her friends, a stray rocket struck them. It was only during the funeral the next day the information finally started to sink in and â€Å"[a]t last, Leila began to weep for her friend† (161). For Leila, the bad news Just kept coming like an ocean's waves. This time it was her best friend and lover, Atari, who was moving to Pakistan. She felt betrayed and heartbroken, but at the same time she knew he had to go. Almost everyone in her neighborhood had packed their belongings and left, but Mamma refused.She said it was an â€Å"affront, a Dearly, These two women were similar; they were both compassionate and kind-hearted. One night, when Rehashed their husband was in a foul mood, Leila talked back to him. He immediately assumed it was Miriam who taught her to do this, even though they weren't exactly friends at that time. He took out his leather belt, and that meant a beating for Miriam. Just as he brought the belt down, Leila lunged at him, pleading him to not beat Miriam. Even though Miriam was Jealous and reluctant to befriend Leila at first; she soon learned to accept and appreciate the other woman's companionship.The beginning of their friendship sparked when Leila first asked Miriam to have tea, after a long weary day doing chores around the house. â€Å"l know it's chilly outside, but what do you say we s inners have us a cup of chaw in the yard? † Leila asked. Miriam protested weakly at first, but gave in to the thought of a break from all the work. From then on, they had daily chaw and were no longer enemies, but n understanding came across the two of them and they started to do their chores together. I don't relate at all to the lives of Leila and Miriam, so why did I feel their pain and their happiness like I was experiencing it?It was because Chalked Hussein wrote this book with such emotion and depth; he wound my mind carefully into the life of these two women. CONNECTIONS Chalked Hussein wrote this book with hope in his heart and a mind-blowing story to tell. He used many literary devices to spice up his book and to add more pizzazz. When Nana told Miriam â€Å"To Jail and his wives, I was a poker. A muggers. You too. † This is a powerful metaphor describing how others looked down on them because they were from a lower caste. Another device would be â€Å"early e vening† and â€Å"badly out of breath†.They are examples of alliteration for emphasis on the time of day and the condition of the character. He also used similes. Some examples of that would be â€Å"She could make out the minarets in the distance, like the dusty fingers of giants†¦ † Which compares the distant towers to the fingers of a giant and â€Å"She had a mouth that ran like a sewing machine† which compares tells us that Hessian not only talked a lot but also very fast. Lastly, one example of personification is â€Å"They are not friendly countries. † A country cannot be friendly, it is the people living in the country that are friendly or not.This book was written in two perspectives: Maria's and Laic's. It was a bit confusing Jumping back and forth from these points of view, but it showed the opinion of these two women and laid out the two sides of this story. ANALYSIS One part of the book that was very touching was when Miriam accept ed her punishment for killing Rehashed to save Leila, so that Leila can live the rest of her life peacefully and without fault. It shows owe big Maria's heart is, how willing she was to give up her life for someone she loves. Leila wanted Miriam to run away with her, but Miriam refused.She said, â€Å"Eve killed our husband. Eve deprived your son of his father. It isn't right that I run. I can't. Even if they never catch us, I'll never escape your son's grief. † It broke my heart to see Leila leave Miriam behind, but it was decided. Miriam said Leila and her children have given her the happiness she was looking for – there was nothing else she wanted. RESPONSE The other part that moved me so much was the letter Jail wrote to Miriam to apologize Tort now en treated near, Ana now en wasn't a good Tanner to near.He wrote, â€Å"l dare, I dare allow myself the hope that, after you read this, you will be more charitable to me than I ever was to you. That you might find it in your heart to come and see your father. That you will knock on my door one more time and give me the chance to open it this time, to welcome you, to take you in my arms, my daughter, as I should have all those years ago. It is a hope as weak as my heart. † This paragraph in his letter stood out to me the most, and it shows how sorry Jail was for not being there for his daughter all those years. For giving her away to marriage, for treating her like she wasn't good enough for him.RESPONSE After reading the letter, I think that Jail has changed, that death's open arms have given him a change of heart. It brought tears to my eyes, because Miriam didn't have the chance to forgive her father and make everything right again. Why didn't Miriam visit Jail after receiving his first letter? I think it was because she was scared of seeing him after so long, of what he would think of her, and mostly importantly she was scared of him not opening the door for her again like the day of he r birthday years before. RESPONSE The message the author tried to convey was as clear as a summer sky to me.It is that friendship is something we should all treasure. It shows us that sometimes teamwork is essential to win even though sometimes we have to sacrifice. Leila and Miriam won the war against Rehashed, but in this case Miriam had to give up her life for it. It was a beautiful but heart-breaking deed: Miriam sacrificing herself for her sister and only friend Leila; she was so humble to put others before herself. In conclusion, Chalked Hussein gave the readers a very powerful image of his home country Afghanistan and showed us how strong a true friendship can be. A Thousand Splendid Suns Khaled Hosseini is one of the most admired Afghani authors of the 21st century. He is best know for works such as The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns that explore the hardships of living in Afghanistan during the Soviet Invasion and Taliban regime. This paper will discuss the life and work of Khaled Hosseini with special emphasis on the effect on women in Afghan society in the novel A Thousand Splendid Suns. Khaled Hosseini was born on March 4, 1965. He is the eldest of five children, and was born in Kabul, Afghanistan where his father worked for the foreign ministry and his mother taught Persian literature.Hosseini’s father was relocated to work in Tehran, where Hosseini’s passion for Persian literature grew and inspired him to write short stories of his own. In 1973 the Afghan King, Zahir Shah was overthrown by his own cousin, Daoud Khan, in a bloodless coup. In 1976, Hosseini’s father was again relocated to Paris where Khaled and his family moved. Onl y two years after Daoud Khan’s reign, he was overthrown by a communist faction, and killed. Hosseini’s family, now wary of the Soviet impact in Afghanistan, were granted political asylum in the United States.Although Hosseini struggled with English in his first year of high school, he was greatly inspired by John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, to continue his passion for writing. Determined to make ends meet for him and his family, after graduating high school in 1984 he enrolled in Santa Clara University to study biology, and later earn a his bachelor’s degree in 1988. Hosseini became a practicing internist after he gained his Medical degree at the University of California.Hosseini joined the Kaiser Permanente Health Maintenance Organization and settled in Mountain View, California with his wife, Roya, to start a family. Throughout Hosseini’s medical studies he felt it was his responsibility to tell the world about the country he knew, before it was consumed with war, so he published his first novel The Kite Runner. He told the story of two Afghan boys who’s lives undertake different paths with the events of the war. â€Å"The Kite Runner spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list, and returned to the list five years after its initial ppearance† (Khaled Hosseini Biography). In 2003, following the success of his first novel, Hosseini returned to Afghanistan after twenty seven years. Where he felt devastated and shocked the remains of his country. In 2006 he joined the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees, from war zones around the world. Since 2003 Hosseini had been working on his second novel which focuses on the effect of women during the Soviet Invasion and under the Taliban dictatorship. A Thousand Splendid Suns, like the first novel became an international bestseller, while The Kite Runner became a highly acclaimed motion picture.Khaled Hosseini gave up his medical practice t o write and continue his work for the United Nations. (Khaled Hosseini Biography; â€Å"Khaled Hosseini | Biography) A Thousand Splendid Suns is divided into four parts. In part one we meet Mariam. Mariam lives with her Nana in a kolba and is the illegitimate child of a wealthy cinema owner from Herat. Mariam praised the ground her father, Jalil walked on. But when her mother kills herself and she’s sent to live with her father, she realizes that she’s the personification of shame to her him.Jalil marries Mariam off to Rasheed, a shoe make from Kabul who turns out to be an abusive husband. In part two of the novel we meet Laila. She was born on the same day the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. Due to the fact that her older brothers are off at war with the Soviets, Laila’s mother is in deep depression. Laila tells about her best friend Tariq, who she later falls in love with, and about her days during and after the Soviet Invasion. The day Tariq tells Laila that he ’s leaving Kabul due to the bombs reigning down on the city, they spontaneously end up having sex.Then two weeks after Tariq’s departure, Laila’s family also decides to leave, but a bomb hits her house and kills her parents. In part three Mariam and Rasheed take Laila in and nurse her back to health. When Laila finds out she is pregnant with Tariq’s child she decides to marry Rasheed so that he believes the child is his. Mariam and Laila are enemies at first, but Rasheed’s abusive behavior manages to bring them together. In an extreme act of self-sacrifice Mariam kills Rasheed in order to save Laila’s life, and turns herself in to the authorities.In part four Laila runs away with Tariq, who comes back after so many years where they manage to make a living in a hotel where they also work at. In order to pay tribute to Mariam, Laila decides to visit Herat where she sees the kolba that Mariam and her mother lived in, she reads the letter Mariam ’s father had left her, and when she finds out that she’s pregnant with her third child, she decides that if it’s a girl she’ll name her Mariam. A Thousand Splendid Suns tells of the relationship of two unlikely women who are brought together by the events taking place in their country. It’s our lot in life, Mariam. Women like us. We endure. It’s all we have† (19). Mariam didn’t heed the words of her mother back then in the kolba, but she did learn throughout her life that women in general had to endure the many hardships that life presented. The Soviet Invasion and Taliban regime has had a lasting effect on the women of Afghanistan. They have struggled with the Taliban’s political reign in government as well the the â€Å"cultural contraints†¦of tradition and religion†(Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in men’s power struggles).Through the lives of Mariam and Laila one sees the disastrous events that have ta ken place in Afghanistan as well as the sturggle that women have endured to gain independence. One can see where the â€Å"notions of honour and shame†¦emphasise female modesty and purity†(Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in men’s power struggles) through Mariam’s birth. Mariam’s mother was cast out of the house she lived in as a servant for having a passing affair with the owner of the house who was wealthy and of high class. Mariam thus considered herself â€Å"an illegitimate person who would never have legitimate claim to the things other people had†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (4).Furthermore, in a poor excuse to rid himself of the shame and dishonor he brought upon his family, Mariam’s father marries her off. [He] â€Å"didn’t have the [heart] either†¦to stand up to his family, to his wives and in-laws, and accept responsibility for what he had done†(7). When Laila was rescued from the remains of her house and Rasheed claimed that her liv ing in his house would â€Å"look dishonorable†(214) shows that a women’s honor and purity means everything in Afghan society, and to ruin those things means bringing shame upon oneself and one’s family.That is why Laila agreed to marry him, because she knew that if anyone were to find out she was pregnant and unmarried, she would be thrown out into the streets, and plenty of unimaginable things were to happen it to her then. Sura 4:34 â€Å"Men stand superior to women in that God hath preferred the one over the other †¦ Those whose perverseness you fear, admonish them and remove them into bed chambers and beat them, but if they submit to you then do not seek a way against them; surely Allah is High, Great. † (qtd. in Legacy of the Prophet)This quote suggest that male relatives have the authority to beat their wives if they disobey them. They are many incidents in A Thousand Splendid Suns where Mariam and Laila are beaten into submission. Mariam is f orced to chew on pebbles as a demonstration of how her food tastes to her husband, and is left spitting â€Å"out pebbles, blood, and the fragments of two broken molars†(104). The Quran also states that women are to be beaten if they deny their husbands bed; Mariam is threatened to be beaten because Rasheed (her husband) claims that she is influencing Laila to not sleep with him.Mariam and Laila were tortured after they tried to escape Rasheed’s home by being locked in separate rooms, where they went without water and food for days. Laila is severely beaten, almost to the point of death, when Rasheed finds out that she allowed Tariq into his home and allowed him to see her without a burqa. Male relatives in Afghanistan also have a right to honor killings, if a women is not a virgin on her wedding night her male relatives have the right to kill her in order to avenge the family honor.If a wife is accused of adultery she is stoned to death, and if a woman is caught with a man who is not a relative, she is given a hundred lashes and a year in prison (Islam and Women’s Rights). Men are not greatly punished for the same â€Å"crime† that women commit since many of them can have multiple wives and concubines. This shows the injustice between men and women in Afghanistan and how tradition and religion is used to control their everyday lives. The Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan in 1978 gave woman a better sense of independence.This new governmental reform encouraged woman to a better education, teach in schools, work in hospitals, and permitted them to not wear a burqa. This reform also included the prohibition of forced marriages and also raised the marriage age to sixteen. â€Å"Women have always had it hard in this country†¦but they’re probably more free now, under the communist, and have more rights than they’ve ever had before†(135). According to the Commision on the Status of Women one must fight against the u se of tradition in order to eliminate the discrimination of women (Women in Afghanistan).But such reforms were not taken lightly and were deemed un-Islamic, and thrust Afghanistan into a civil war between Soviet troops and the Mujahideen. â€Å"Of course, women’s freedom is also one of the reasons people out there took up arms in the first place† (135) The next ten years resulted in millions of Afghans leaving the country due to the fighting in many rural areas where men, women, and children became targets of the war at their doorstep. After the Soviet retreat in 1989, the Mujahideen were in a political power struggle that resulted in mass hysteria and the rise of the Taliban.Before the Soviet Invasion and Taliban regime, men and women were declared equal through God. They were given the right to vote, choose their own partners, and a right to an inheritance. But under the Taliban all of these rights were taken away, and many of their laws favored men over women (The P light of the Afghan Woman). â€Å"Attention Women: You will stay in your homes at all times. It is not proper for women to wander aimlessly about the streets. If you go outside, you must be accompanied by a male relative.If you are caught alone on the street, you will be beaten and sent home†¦Girls are forbidden from attending school. All schools for girls will be closed immediately. Women are forbidden from working. If you are found guilty of adultery, you will be stoned to death†(278) Although female health professionals were still given the liberty to work under strict rules, they had harsh woking conditions. Many hospitals weren’t provided with the necessary tools in order to work on patients. â€Å"They had no clean water,†¦no oxygen, no medication, no electricity†(286).Women were segregated from men in every aspects of life, but wouldn’t it be fair to provide them with the necessities they needed in order for survival? Not only did these h ospitals not have the equipment needed, they were probably too far to travel to if someone was at risk of dieing. It is because of these reason’s that Afghanistan has the â€Å"second highest infant mortality rate as well maternal mortality rate in the world†(Afghanistan: Mortality Rates Remain High For Mothers, Newborns). The Taliban’s interpretation of Islamic law has reduced women to poverty, worsened their health, and deprived them to an education.Even though they have taken away basic individual rights, the Taliban’s laws against women were particularly inhumane. [Mariam] remembered Nana saying once that each snowflake was a sigh heaved by an aggrieved woman somewhere in the world. That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below. â€Å"As a reminder of how women like us suffer†¦How quietly we endure all that falls upon us† (91). The women of Afghanistan have e ndured a lot in these past 33 years. They have struggled between life and death, poverty, and hopelessness.Through the connection of two unlikely friends one learns of the hopes and despairs people face in times of war and dictatorship. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini has managed to portray the events that have taken place in Afghanistan and the injustice, suffering, and endurance that women face in everyday life. Works Cited Esfandiari, Golnaz. â€Å"Afghanistan: Mortality Rates Remain High For Mothers, Newborns – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. † Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – Free Media in Unfree Societies. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. rferl. rg/content/article/1068295. html/content/article/1068295. html. Freeman, John. â€Å"A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini | Book Reviews | Chron. com – Houston Chronicle. † Houston News, Entertainment, Search and Shopping | Chron. com – Houston Chronicle. Web. 14 Mar. 201 0. http://www. chron. com/disp/story. mpl/life/books/reviews/4834205. html. Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns. Bandung: Qanita, 2007. Print. â€Å"Khaled Hosseini | Biography. † Khaled Hosseini | A Thousand Splendid Suns. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. khaledhosseini. com/hosseini-bio. html. Khaled Hosseini Biography — Academy of Achievement. † Academy of Achievement Main Menu. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. achievement. org/autodoc/page/hos0bio-1. â€Å"The Legacy of the Prophet. † Dhushara. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. dhushara. com/book/zulu/leg. htm. Papas, Voula. â€Å"Islam and Women's Rights | Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc. † Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc | Founded 1970. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. atheistfoundation. org. au/articles/islam-and-womens-rights. Qazi, Abdullah. â€Å"The Plight of the Afghan Woman. † Afghanistan Online. Web. 14 Mar. 010. http://afghan-web. com/woman/. â€Å"Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in Men's Power Struggles. † PeaceWomen Project. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. peacewomen. org/resources/Afghanistan/AIAfghanWomen. html. â€Å"Women's Human Rights Resources – Women in Afghanistan. † Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. . Bibliography Esfandiari, Golnaz. â€Å"Afghanistan: Mortality Rates Remain High For Mothers, Newborns – Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty. † Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty – Free Media in Unfree Societies. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. ferl. org/content/article/1068295. html/content/article/1068295. html. Freeman, John. â€Å"A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini | Book Reviews | Chron. com – Houston Chronicle. † Houston News, Entertainment, Search and Shopping | Chron. com – Houston Chronicle. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. chron. com/disp/story. mpl/life/books/reviews/4834205. html. Hosseini, Khaled. A Thousand Splendid Suns . Bandung: Qanita, 2007. Print. â€Å"Khaled Hosseini | Biography. † Khaled Hosseini | A Thousand Splendid Suns. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. khaledhosseini. com/hosseini-bio. html. Khaled Hosseini Biography — Academy of Achievement. † Academy of Achievement Main Menu. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. achievement. org/autodoc/page/hos0bio-1. â€Å"The Legacy of the Prophet. † Dhushara. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. dhushara. com/book/zulu/leg. htm. Papas, Voula. â€Å"Islam and Women's Rights | Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc. † Atheist Foundation of Australia Inc | Founded 1970. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. atheistfoundation. org. au/articles/islam-and-womens-rights. Qazi, Abdullah. â€Å"The Plight of the Afghan Woman. † Afghanistan Online. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. ttp://afghan-web. com/woman/. â€Å"Women in Afghanistan: Pawns in Men's Power Struggles. † PeaceWomen Project. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. peacewomen. org/resources/A fghanistan/AIAfghanWomen. html. â€Å"Women's Human Rights Resources – Women in Afghanistan. † Bora Laskin Law Library, University of Toronto Faculty of Law. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www. law-lib. utoronto. ca/diana/afghanwomen. htm. Yardley, Jonathan. â€Å"Jonathan Yardley – Jonathan Yardley – Washingtonpost. com. † Washingtonpost. com – Nation, World, Technology and Washington Area News and Headlines. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. A Thousand Splendid Suns It made me forget about the real world and dragged my mind into the world of Miriam and Leila. Miriam is a girl who was â€Å"born a Hiram, a source of shame to her father and his family' (60). Her father Jail is of the upper-class men of Kabul, and her mother a lowly woman cast out of her home by her master Jail. Every Thursday, Jail would visit Miriam and tell her of the wondrous stories of her past, and Miriam, a naive little girl, would eat up all the Lies he feeds her. Her mother would warn her against It all, but Miriam chose to believe the happy version of events Jail told her.He was a rich man telling rich lies. Why would Marls own father be so cold-hearted to pretend to love her and aka up stories that arena even true? I think he does this because â€Å"[he is] ashamed of [her]† (50); but he doesn't want her to know his true personality or else she wouldn't respect him since he is her father after all. Social appearances told society whether you were worth their time or not, so Jail wanted to save his face and keep his good reputation. Nowadays, we are still Judged by our social status and appearance though it isn't as severe and open as back then in the late asses.Maria's mother once warned her that there was â€Å"only one skill† she had to perfect, â€Å"[a]ND it's this: tamale. Endure† (17). We can observe how obedient Miriam Is, because she did endure. She â€Å"quietly endure[d] all that [fell] upon [her]† (82) through the good times and the bad – especially through the bad. If I had to live Maria's life, I doubt that I would have endured through everything that came my way as well as she did. Miriam is like a coconut: she has a hard shell, and nothing can break her. But on the inside, her heart is so big and generous, yet she sometimes feels like she can't keep up the brave face any longer.The first few days of Maria's forced marriage were tough on her. She wasn't used to the new surroundings and she was oilin g â€Å"adrift and forlorn† (56). But little by little, chore by chore, with each smile and connection she made with her new husband, she thought to herself â€Å"that they would make good companions after all† (77). After losing her first child, Miriam returns to her state of misery and loses the connection she had with her husband Rehashed. His temper goes out of control, and everything she does has this sense of dreariness and to her â€Å"life †¦ [seems] so exhausting† (83).I can feel Maria's despair and grief as If It were almost my own even though I have no Idea what It feels like to have lost a child. This Is an example of Chalked Hussein's power In writing: he draws me In with his vivid words painting a clear picture in my mind. Chapter 16-25 (Part TWO) Journal #2 In Part Two of A Thousand Splendid Suns, the narrator takes us down the path of life of Leila. When she was only nine years old, the Soviet Union had already invaded Afghanistan. Some peop le, like Laic's teacher, said that â€Å"the Soviet Union was the best nation in the world†¦ Mind to its workers, and its people were all equal† (101). But others disagreed strongly with this statement. Laic's father believes firmly in education, especially for women. He thinks that education should come before marriage â€Å"because a society has no chance of success if its women are uneducated† (103), which is quite the opposite of what most other parents with daughters think. Leila has been â€Å"the top-ranked student† (103) for the past two years, but she feels that she cannot tell her friends Hessian and Gist as they do not have the same perspective on education as Leila and her father.Ever since Laic's two older brothers have went off to war, her mamma has been depressed and feels like there is no point in life. She is an â€Å"unmoving blanketed mound† lying in bed everyday. From this, I inferred that mamma prefers her sons to Leila. This is a great example of how in some cultures parents favor sons over daughters. Why is this so? I think this is because of the stereotype that boys are better than girls. I see no reason why a girl cannot be as strong or smart or talented as a boy in any way. Nowadays, we try to ban this way of thinking but some people still have this belief.One afternoon, â€Å"a stranger with news† (122) came knocking at her door. He came to tell her parents that Laic's brothers, Nor and Mad, have died triumphantly, fighting for their beloved country's sovereignty. Many people the next morning arrived at their funeral, but all Mamma did was â€Å"sway back and forth and stare at the rug with a remote, spiritless look† (125). Contrarily, it was hard for Leila â€Å"to summon sorrow, to grieve the deaths of people [she] had never really thought of as alive in the first place† (125, 126) because her brothers had left for war when she was a very young girl.Even though the last of the S oviet convoys left the city in 1989, Mamma swore she would not celebrate nor rejoice until the Unexamined win the war against Incunabula and â€Å"hold a victory parade right here in Kabul† (138). Three years later, unexpected happened. Incunabula surrendered ! From that day on, â€Å"Mamma rose from bed a new woman† (145) and resumed her motherly chores. Unfortunately, around a week later everything unraveled and instead of having a common enemy, the Unexamined found the enemy in each other. They fired rockets at the mountains, and â€Å"the mountains fired on Kabul† (157).One day after school when Gist was walking home with her friends, a stray rocket struck them. It was only during the funeral the next day the information finally started to sink in and â€Å"[a]t last, Leila began to weep for her friend† (161). For Leila, the bad news Just kept coming like an ocean's waves. This time it was her best friend and lover, Atari, who was moving to Pakistan. She felt betrayed and heartbroken, but at the same time she knew he had to go. Almost everyone in her neighborhood had packed their belongings and left, but Mamma refused.She said it was an â€Å"affront, a Dearly, These two women were similar; they were both compassionate and kind-hearted. One night, when Rehashed their husband was in a foul mood, Leila talked back to him. He immediately assumed it was Miriam who taught her to do this, even though they weren't exactly friends at that time. He took out his leather belt, and that meant a beating for Miriam. Just as he brought the belt down, Leila lunged at him, pleading him to not beat Miriam. Even though Miriam was Jealous and reluctant to befriend Leila at first; she soon learned to accept and appreciate the other woman's companionship.The beginning of their friendship sparked when Leila first asked Miriam to have tea, after a long weary day doing chores around the house. â€Å"l know it's chilly outside, but what do you say we s inners have us a cup of chaw in the yard? † Leila asked. Miriam protested weakly at first, but gave in to the thought of a break from all the work. From then on, they had daily chaw and were no longer enemies, but n understanding came across the two of them and they started to do their chores together. I don't relate at all to the lives of Leila and Miriam, so why did I feel their pain and their happiness like I was experiencing it?It was because Chalked Hussein wrote this book with such emotion and depth; he wound my mind carefully into the life of these two women. CONNECTIONS Chalked Hussein wrote this book with hope in his heart and a mind-blowing story to tell. He used many literary devices to spice up his book and to add more pizzazz. When Nana told Miriam â€Å"To Jail and his wives, I was a poker. A muggers. You too. † This is a powerful metaphor describing how others looked down on them because they were from a lower caste. Another device would be â€Å"early e vening† and â€Å"badly out of breath†.They are examples of alliteration for emphasis on the time of day and the condition of the character. He also used similes. Some examples of that would be â€Å"She could make out the minarets in the distance, like the dusty fingers of giants†¦ † Which compares the distant towers to the fingers of a giant and â€Å"She had a mouth that ran like a sewing machine† which compares tells us that Hessian not only talked a lot but also very fast. Lastly, one example of personification is â€Å"They are not friendly countries. † A country cannot be friendly, it is the people living in the country that are friendly or not.This book was written in two perspectives: Maria's and Laic's. It was a bit confusing Jumping back and forth from these points of view, but it showed the opinion of these two women and laid out the two sides of this story. ANALYSIS One part of the book that was very touching was when Miriam accept ed her punishment for killing Rehashed to save Leila, so that Leila can live the rest of her life peacefully and without fault. It shows owe big Maria's heart is, how willing she was to give up her life for someone she loves. Leila wanted Miriam to run away with her, but Miriam refused.She said, â€Å"Eve killed our husband. Eve deprived your son of his father. It isn't right that I run. I can't. Even if they never catch us, I'll never escape your son's grief. † It broke my heart to see Leila leave Miriam behind, but it was decided. Miriam said Leila and her children have given her the happiness she was looking for – there was nothing else she wanted. RESPONSE The other part that moved me so much was the letter Jail wrote to Miriam to apologize Tort now en treated near, Ana now en wasn't a good Tanner to near.He wrote, â€Å"l dare, I dare allow myself the hope that, after you read this, you will be more charitable to me than I ever was to you. That you might find it in your heart to come and see your father. That you will knock on my door one more time and give me the chance to open it this time, to welcome you, to take you in my arms, my daughter, as I should have all those years ago. It is a hope as weak as my heart. † This paragraph in his letter stood out to me the most, and it shows how sorry Jail was for not being there for his daughter all those years. For giving her away to marriage, for treating her like she wasn't good enough for him.RESPONSE After reading the letter, I think that Jail has changed, that death's open arms have given him a change of heart. It brought tears to my eyes, because Miriam didn't have the chance to forgive her father and make everything right again. Why didn't Miriam visit Jail after receiving his first letter? I think it was because she was scared of seeing him after so long, of what he would think of her, and mostly importantly she was scared of him not opening the door for her again like the day of he r birthday years before. RESPONSE The message the author tried to convey was as clear as a summer sky to me.It is that friendship is something we should all treasure. It shows us that sometimes teamwork is essential to win even though sometimes we have to sacrifice. Leila and Miriam won the war against Rehashed, but in this case Miriam had to give up her life for it. It was a beautiful but heart-breaking deed: Miriam sacrificing herself for her sister and only friend Leila; she was so humble to put others before herself. In conclusion, Chalked Hussein gave the readers a very powerful image of his home country Afghanistan and showed us how strong a true friendship can be.

Rationale of the Study Essay

Computers can be scary. At least that is what many people used to think, until computers became a regular part of their lives. The fact is, computers have become more â€Å"friendly†Ã¢â‚¬â€easier for the average person to use. In addition, they are becoming more and more important and useful in many areas of our lives—including the Church. A good church provides many services to the community through outreach programs, service projects, food pantries, and youth activities. And of course, they teach the community about salvation through Jesus Christ. The Church is using computer technology to solve problems, to save money, and to better serve the Church members on the local level. Computers have also been very useful in handling the impact of Church growth over the past few years. The staff at Church headquarters would be growing much faster than it is without computer solutions. Today, many churches and other religious organizations have jumped into the technological age. Churches have found new and inventive ways to keep in touch with people and it’s community through the use of technology. Many of the religious charitable institutions have also realized the potential of this modern communication to help raise funds, awareness and get help to where it is needed faster and easier than before. With the ever evolving world of social networks, churches need to constantly redefine and be ready to adapt connection points with their community whether online or in person. Understanding how the live and virtual worlds can most effectively support each other will help in defining how your church can connect. Technology is definitely cool and it is important tool for reaching people today. It makes so many things easier. That is how technology can help your church. The reason why this study is conducted is to provide online information and the power to manipulate all information and processes in the most convenient and reliable way. The researchers proposed newly improvised Online Church Information System in order to help the individuals in meeting their needs.

Biodiversity Conservation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Biodiversity Conservation - Research Paper Example Biodiversity is very critical to the development of the human species due to food provision, ecological balance and other developmental benefits. However, there are continued threats posed on biodiversity leading to extinction of species. Due to this, scientists have emerged with various strategies to conserve biodiversity and reduce species extinction. This paper will analyze the major causes of biodiversity loss as well as the strategies for conservation based on current scientific and anthropogenic knowledge. Introduction Most scientists argue that the present immense deprivation of environment and extinction of many of the Earth’s species is unparalleled and is occurring on a terribly short timescale. They argue that loss of biological diversity is occurring at very high rate due to the many ecological disturbances affecting ecosystems functioning. Currently, there is a widespread massive degradation of rainforest ecosystem, which is posing a substantial threat to biodiver sity. In addition, there is rampant destruction and degradation of the marine ecosystem leading to extinction of the variety of marine species, which were once dominant and vital to such ecosystems. Scientists feel that if the present global extinction of species continues at the current rates, then it will drastically alter the species evolution in the future. It is due to this evidence of the massive biodiversity loss that scientists have embarked on a serious mission of conservation of the biodiversity1. In a global scale, there is increased action of conservation of biodiversity due to an increasing reality and evidence of species extinction. There are numerous global, national and local organizations trying to formulate policies and strategies to mitigate biodiversity loss. These organizations are both governmental and non-governmental. In audition, many scientists are currently undertaking extensive research in order to come up with winning measures for curbing species extinct ion2. Causes of biodiversity loss There are several causes of loss of biodiversity ranging from anthropogenic factors, genetic factors, to environmental factors. Anthropogenic factors are purely human-induced causes of biodiversity loss. These include overexploitation of the natural resources, industrial actions causing pollution, which poses a threat to the health of species as well as overharvesting of fish. On the other hand, environmental factors include climate change, habitat and ecosystem disturbance and invasion of alien species. Recently, there is increased evidence that emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are causing species extinction. There is a lot of concern among scientists regarding the multiplicity of EIDs afflicting wildlife, and the fear that an augmented occurrence of outbreaks will take place in the future. In fact, infectious diseases can mediate community dynamics of species, minimize host variety and extirpate local populations3. Amphibians comprise 30% of gr avely endangered species and over 75% of the gravely endangered species vulnerable to infectious disease. The infectious fungus chytridiomycosis is a causative factor for over 40% of these. Even though chytridiomycosis is the most noteworthy threat to gravely endangered amphibians, it only occurs as an assumed or possible future threat for the majority of these4. Destruction of habitat and habitat fragmentation are some of the most central causes of loss of biodiversity. Habitat fragmentation influences several aspects of species that may pose a threat to species hence increasing chances of their extinction. These aspects include rates of gene flow, migration and spreading of species and invasion by alien competitors. In the interim, because of fragmentation, species become more

Who was Adam Smith Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Who was Adam Smith - Essay Example This historic distinction later became an anthropological and historical interest for those who would visit Edinburgh (Smith (b), n. d.). Smith was born in Scotland and got education in Glasgow. He also spent his academic life in Oxford and gained extensive knowledge on literature there. He became the tutor of the Duke of Buccleuc in 1752 and travelled with him a lot around France and Switzerland. This experience gave Smith an opportunity to get acquainted with Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau,  Francois Quesnay, and Anne-Robert-Jacques Turgot--his contemporaries (Smith (a), n. d.).   He spent his earning paid by the Duke to write The Wealth of Nations, which was published in 1776, the year when the American Declaration of Independence was inked (Smith (a), n. d.).   In 1778, he was appointed as the Commissioner to the Custom and this experience sharpened his understanding on trading. He fought against smuggling with much enthusiasm, according to historical accounts. He had rema ined single during his entire life and died in Edinburgh on July 19, 1790 (Smith (a), n. d.). ... d.). He published the book on the Wealth of Nations to reveal the nature and cause of a nation’s prosperity from the increasing division of labour to systematize its production (Smith (a), n. d.). He professed that individual would invest resource e.g. land and labour, to earn the highest possible return of investment but such must yield to the equal rate of return (Smith (b), n. d.). For other economist, this was the core of Smith’s proposition of economic theory. Smith advocated equality of returns to explain the differences of salaries based on the knowledge, skills, expertise and skills of workers (Smith (a), n. d.). Those difficult jobs to do would be bit higher in compensation – and this explicated the notion of human capital. Hence, the differences of the nature of work are compensated differently (Smith (a), n. d.). The Wealth of Nations likewise discussed the high cost of British imperialism and substantially—about the relation of supply and deman d (Smith (a), n. d.). He observed that economic inequities are caused by monopoly that burdened consumers of the whole expense of maintaining and defending that empire (Smith (a), n. d.). Smith opposed  mercantilism because it artificially maintained a trade surplus on the erroneous belief that doing so increases wealth (Smith (a), n. d.). Although trade opened up new markets for surplus goods offer access to commodities from abroad at a lower cost but comparative advantage of the products from the outside will weaken the price of the goods from within ((Smith (a), n. d.). Akin to most modern believers in free markets, Smith believed that the government should enforce contracts, grant patents and copyrights to motivate

Project management week4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Project management week4 - Essay Example Perhaps the most important element of a communication plan is the audience, which receives and responds effectively to the message conveyed (Pritchard, 2014).   According to Taylor and Dow (2013), some critical audiences must be involved in effective communications plan in order for the message to gain wide acceptance. Pritchard (2014) states that the audiences vary greatly and they may include the project sponsor who is the main audience, professional groups, opinion leaders, employees, media, local community, and government. All the audiences differ greatly in opinion and they may respond variedly depending on their mood and the nature of the message in the communication plan (Ramsing, 2009). Essentially, the project sponsor, media, and the local community are the major stakeholders that will especially receive the full communication (Taylor & Dow, 2013). When it comes to the information that the audience will receive the project sponsor is entitled to full information including the confidential information while the local community ought to receive partially classified information (Tennyson & Ray, 2005). On the other hand, the media must only receive the general information to protect the project secrets. Concerning all the information, the communication plan will consist of verbal, written, and audio-visual information (Pritchard, 2014). It will apply to all the three groups of audiences, as comprehensively understand the info being communicated (Pritchard, 2014). The frequency with which the information will be shared will depend on the prevailing circumstances, as it will not be possible to gather all the stakeholders at once. Therefore, the project sponsor will receive the full copy of the communication plan while the public and the media will be kept updated daily (Ramsing, 2009). If the audiences do not receive the message effectively, then they will be separated into groups so that each group receives more attention

Reflection paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Reflection paper - Essay Example In addition, such a culture will attract investors that keep the share price high thus protecting the business from takeover (The Times 100, 2002). The biggest challenge that financial planners are primarily faced with is selecting the mode of compensation, this is where financial planners are categorized into two, which are commission-based planners and fee-based planners. The main difference between the two is that commission-based planners are subject to a constant commission for every transaction, whereas fee -based planners are entitled to a commission based on the assets for which they have been made responsible. The ethical dilemma for commission-based planners arises from the temptation to generate additional transactions regardless of there being no actual sales done. This is because their income is independent of any gains made on the overall portfolio of a business. As for fees-based planners, their ethical dilemma stems from the fact that their income comes from their abi lity to grow an investment. This implies that they would be motivated to make use of aggressive investment strategies that may be unethical (Cussen, 2012). Therefore, it is evident that financial planners require a tool to guide their actions and develop a relationship of trust with clients. This is because they have to make their own benefits a secondary concern to that of clients. On the other hand, they are faced with responsibility of ensuring their clients make financially sound decisions regarding their investments rather than basing their decisions on emotions. In this case, the ethical dilemma arises where the financial planner has to insist on a particular investment choice, all for the benefit of the client, but in so far as, it does not come out as fear-induced. The financial planner has to illustrate to the client the benefits of an investment decision as realistically as possible without striking fear in them. Many investment companies have resulted in making their fina ncial planners sign a disclaimer in order to protect them from clients who may come up and say that they were not given sufficient advice regarding a particular investment choice (Cussen, 2012). Nevertheless, financial planners are bound to act according to the seven ethical principles established by Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards and the Financial Planning Association. They are Integrity, Objectivity, Competence, Fairness, Confidentiality, Professionalism and Diligence; therefore, upholding these principles will create a relationship of trust between financial planners and their clients. This is because the client will be assured that their best interests will be paramount to any procedures employed or proposals made. The client does have the burden of looking into a financial planner’s prior relationships with other clients in order to evaluate their performance properly and behavior (Gambone, n.d). There are ten must-do’s for developing a financial p lanning practice that include: Selecting a practice structure- this refers to a mode of operation which may either be a sole proprietorship, corporation or partnership; depending on the financial pla

Petition for extension of deferred standing Essay

Petition for extension of deferred standing - Essay Example I am deeply concerned about my grades. I had prepared a schedule and was preparing for the exams according to it, but to control my illness during the exams was beyond my control and was something completely unanticipated. I would be very grateful to the committee if it could allow me to reappear in the exam. This course is extremely important to me. This can be estimated from the fact that this is the second time I am taking this course. I take complete responsibility for the fact that I did not make the best use of my time during my previous semesters, but I was under the effect of interplay of a range of personal factors and family issues that deterred me from focusing my mind on studies. I was determined that I would take a fresh start from this semester but my unexpected illness compromised my ability to do my best in the exam. These circumstances have had a very unfavorable impact on my academic record. Considering my past circumstances and my determination to do my best, I sin cerely request the petition committee to grant me a second chance. This is evident from my past grades as well as the grade I will secure after evaluation of my performance in Econ 2400. You may have a look at the physician’s statement that accompanies this petition letter to have a proof of my illness and serious headache from 10 May 2015 till almost a week later. My physician has consented to be available on phone call should it be necessary for the school nurse to talk to him. Moved by the realization of my poor academic record and the causal factors for it most of which were beyond my control, I request you to approve my

Recharch in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Recharch in business - Essay Example In general these people are called or considered as leaders within their particular field of operation. The term leadership simply means the method of influencing a group of people & guiding them towards the accomplishment of a common objective. Our present topic of discussion is the effect of leadership within a workplace and its application within the management of an organization. Generally the organizations get highly benefitted by the implementation of proper leadership approaches as it results in improved quality of goods & services produced by the organization (Maslanka, 2004). What is leadership? Leadership refers to the way by which an individual organizes a group of people so as to achieve a common goal. Leadership is a process of social influence in which an individual attempts to gain the support and help of a group of people to accomplish a common goal (Northouse, 2010, p.4). â€Å"Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined b y results not attributes†-Peter Drucker (RAUP, 2012). â€Å"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way†- John C. Maxwell (Akbarzadeh, 2011, p. 123). ... A leader must be reliable, and must be able to offer trust and confidence to his or her followers. A leader must be able to communicate to his or her followers clearly and efficiently. Proper supervision is essential. A leader must be modest, helpful and co-operative as because he or she have to lead a team of followers. Dictatorship is an important characteristic of a leader, but it needs to be fair and just. Overconfidence and ruling attitude has a negative impact. A leader must be capable of handling responsibilities and take strategic decisions as per requirement (Maxwell, n.d). Leadership styles 1. Transformational Style- in this style the leader guides and transforms the staff. The leader makes continuous efforts to address the grievances of the employees and motivate them for improved performance. Here open communication between the staff and the leader is always encouraged and the leader follows participative style of management. The staff gets highly influenced by the leader in Transformational Leadership Style. (Lai, 2011) 2. Transactional Style- Here the main focus of the leader is on management’s objectives. In this style the leader constantly motivate his followers by offering rewards for completed tasks. These leaders are mostly work oriented; they usually follow a particular structure and practice directive style of management. In this style of management, innovativeness and creativity are ignored and people are often motivated by the use of extrinsic motivational factors like incentive and holiday trip (Hood, 2007, p.16) 3. Laissez-faire Style- This is also termed as Passive Leadership which exercises least control on the staff. The managers avoid the responsibility of setting objectives and

Abu Dhabi Polymers Company Limited Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Abu Dhabi Polymers Company Limited - Essay Example Borouge currently has headquarters located in both the United Arab Emirates and Singapore. Worldwide, Borouge has a workforce of 1,600 people, who represent over 40 nationalities and serve customers in more than 50 countries throughout the Middle East, the Asia-Pacific region, the Indian sub-continent, and Africa (Company Facts, 2010, p. 5). The company’s vision is simply shaping the future with plastics, while its mission statement is value creation through innovation (Company Facts, 2010, p. 2). Borouge has divided business responsibilities into three departments: Executive Team – Borouge’s Marketing Company, Executive Team – Borouge’s Production Company, and Support Functions. The Chief Executive Officer for Borouge’s Marketing Company is Wim Roels, who is based in Singapore and was only recently handed the role in July of 2011. On the other hand, the Chief Executive Officer for Borouge’s Production Company is Abdulaziz Alhajri, a U AE national who was appointed in the role back in 2007 (Executive Biography, 2008). Borouge has developed four key strategies to help drive the company forward: respect, exceed, create, and focus. Respect is all about caring for the environment and all the people that live in it. The value of exceed promises to go the extra mile and leading by example. The third value, create, demands continuous improvement through encouraging openness and allowing new ideas to flourish. Lastly, focus helps build partnerships with customers by anticipating their requirements and operating the business with strong ethical principles. Social Responsibility As of today, over a billion people can’t drink clean water, and more than twice that number do not have suitable sanitation facilities. Because of this fact, the United Nations set a Millennium Development Goal to cut in half the number of people who do not have access to clean drinking water before the year 2015 (Company Facts, 2010, p. 4). The strategy of this plan was to better manage and preserve the water resources that are already available. In response to this, Borouge created the Water for the Worldâ„ ¢ initiative in 2007. This global programme aims to use local expertise in conjunction with Borouge professionals to help provide suitable solutions for accessing safe water and sanitation facilities. Borouge plans to make a difference through implementing its new technological skills with the home country’s leadership. Products Borouge has developed a wide variety of distinctive products that include water, gas, and industrial pipe systems, medical devices, and automotive components (Bourouge, 2011). In order to give itself a competitive advantage over its rivals, Borouge utilizes Borstar technology to produce high-value plastic products at its modern petrochemical complex, which is situated in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. This Borstar technology is the key to Borouge’s success because it enables the constr uction of high-performance products that are crucial in today’s modern living (Borouge, 2011). The four key products that are marketed to consumers are energy and communication cables, pipe systems, automotive components, and advanced packaging (Company Facts, 2010, p. 3). For the first line of products, Borouge supplies insulation, semi-conductive, and jacketing to the wire and cable industries. In terms of communication cables, Borouge has the solutions for low, medium, and high voltage energy transmission and distribution cables, data and communication cables, and building and automotive wires (Borealis AG, 2011). The next set of products that Borouge supplies are pipe systems. These systems are used in water and gas

People, Organizations and Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

People, Organizations and Management - Essay Example The organization structure depicted narrowed perspectives due to the separateness of the different divisions. Horizontally it was separated in to divisions the two main ones being electronics and sales. Managers must have had difficulties and used a lot of time to relate to sales for instance which is an exclusively different division from product development. Consequently the reactions of the company in response to consumer demands were made more challenging. The organization structure was professional bureaucratic. In addition internal cooperation and effective communication may have been an issue. Oticon’s basic organizational design and structure differs from hotel easy due to its larger size and hence structural concepts likely to be more formal, decisions more central, experience more specialized and operations more complex. Initially, the organization vertically had a tall hierarchy with six levels of management. Easier communication and Decisions made are impeded since these processes become very slow in a company with many layers of hierarchy. The authority is mostly centralized and there was a lot of formalization. This structure does not expose the managers to other fields apart from their own. The managers have not the opportunity to observe how the all the departments interact and collectively perform. Previously option’s executives did not understand the interrelationships and the interdependence between the departments and hence ultimately what results is that the executives are only equipped with experiences in handling top management responsibilities hence the company’s goals and market needs do not mingle as they should. However the structure’s advantages are that it had well defined channels of authority and the structure minimized duplication of personnel and equipment than the one he later adopted. Functional structure makes it easier to monitor. The new C.E.O attempted to change this initial structure to

How to Redesign a Classroom to Optimize Learning Experience Essay Example for Free

How to Redesign a Classroom to Optimize Learning Experience Essay The overall learning goal for us students is to grasp what the instructor teaches in class and gain extra knowledge and abilities through class discussion and interaction. To that end, it’s best to study in an optimal learning environment, so as to keep focused in class and avoid distraction from externals. We pay for the service – our learning experience, hoping to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of this kind of service. An optimal learning environment is beneficial to building a cohesive team in which members could communicate with each other, and to encouraging interactions among all the students and the professor. Through observation of major students behaviors, I find that the current physical environment in our classroom was somewhat defective. The following key points are summarized as major gaps or pitfalls in the current environment. Late Arrivals: I find that most of the students arrive in the classroom ahead of or on time. However, some may be late and walk in across the stage, thus distracting other’s attention in class. Uncomfortable Chairs: The pad on each seat can make annoying noise when we unfold it. This will distract other students’ attention, especially those who sit near the moving pads. Various Seating Preferences: students are seated randomly, most of students like to seat in the front row, and the outer of rows, leaving some seats in the middle empty, so the best capacity in the room isn’t fully utilized. Randomly seating also results in inconvenience for some group members to sit together. Inconvenient Seating Arrangement: the space between rows is narrow, so it’s not convenient for students to walk through and it’s always noisy to move the small pads connected to the seats. Moreover, it’s such a long row that it would be inconvenient and a waste of time to walk through one side to the middle or the other end. Less Efficient Equipment Blackboard and Projector: For those seating in the side areas and in the rear, the visibility of the projector isn’t so good. Similarly, when the professor writes on one side of the blackboard, those who seat in the other side have difficulty in reading the handwriting. Dim Lighting: the lighting in the classroom is a little dark that it’s easy for us to fall asleep. The arrangement of lights in the roof isn’t so rational that sometimes we can’t see the blackboards because of light reflecting. Insufficient Ventilation: The windows in the back are closed all the time and the air conditioning always creates an environment that is too cold or hot and dry. Students usually don’t feel very comfortable when there’re too many students in the classroom. Difficult Access to the Classroom: More often, only one door is open to the classroom, thus restricting students’ access to the classroom to only one way. Those who can’t find a seat near the door can only go the other side, and this would distract other’s attention. Besides, once the door is locked, the students can’t open it from outside, requiring help from those in the classroom. The above-mentioned points about the seating and facilities in the classroom would present unfavorable impacts on our learning experience. So a new layout of the classroom is required to help enhance our learning environment. Here I categorize the objectives into four points as the conceptual design principles. * To make full use of the 75 minutes in class, which means there’s no or little disruption during class. * Perfect seating arrangement to facilitate easy access and smooth movement. * Minimum discipline required relating to seating arrangement so that everyone will feel comfortable when in class. * Make facilities, such as blackboard and projector, lighting, acoustics, and walls, conducive to learning experience. (b) What specific improvement would your proposed redesign help accomplish? Generally speaking, students will learn best in a clean, comfortable, and quiet environment where there are no external disruptions and noises. So we need a positive classroom climate to allow us to meet the basic needs of physical and mental health. The following session is about the recommendations I make to help alleviate the gaps and thus enhance the learning experience. Physically Comfortable Chairs: We could improve the quality of the chairs by signing contracts with those chair-makers who could provide user-friendly chairs. That is to say, the activity space for writing and putting stuffs would be larger, and it’s best for the chairs to be soundless when we unfold the pads with them. Easy Access Seating Arrangements: I will redesign the current layout of the seats by dividing all these seats into four columns and four rows. There could be four seats per column for the middle two columns, and the other two sides columns could have five or six seats each. The distance between each row could be larger so as to allow sufficient space for individuals to learn. This kind of design could enable students to access to the seats easily without disturbing others much. The professor could also make minimum requirements that those who come early seat in the middle, thus those who are late for class could seat in the sided columns without distracting others. More importantly, since a team is usually composed of four persons, it’s also convenient for groups to sit together. Additionally, in this way, students will seat together more compactly, facilitating discussion among teachers and students. Larger Projector Screen and High-tech Handwriting: It would be best to widen the projector screen in this rectangular room. As I mentioned above, for those seat in the sides and rear, it’s hard to recognize some important contents in the slides projected on the screen (e. g. numbers, charts). Enlarging the projector screen would surely enhance the visibility of projector and hence improve our learning experience. Meanwhile, I noticed that sometimes the handwriting of the professor is hard to read. And those sitting aside couldn’t see the notes in the blackboard clearly. So I recommend that the professor use high-tech product such as the pad or IBM’s tablet-based pen, by which the professor could write on the screen of the laptop and it could then be projected in the blackboard screen. With enlarged screen, the visibility of handwriting could also be enhanced. Bright Lighting and â€Å"Audiovisual Scenario†: We need to add more electrical lights in our classroom and rearrange the light distribution. However, the lights couldn’t be too bright to harm the eyes and result in reflecting. More importantly, we need to consider the illuminance levels according to daylight, glaring and uniformity. Another thing we need to take into account is the lighting requirements for video images. So it’s best for us to have two distinctly lighting setups: a â€Å"bright† classroom with appropriate illuminance throughout the classroom, and an †audiovisual† scenario that limits light on the screen to a suitable level when we see vedios in class. Warm Color of walls: Choosing the right color for classroom walls is conducive to learning experience. The right pain color of the wall can transform a distracted environment into a focused space. White is a traditional color, but it could undermine the learning environment of the classroom. It reflects most of the lights that hits it, and could be harsh and exhaust our eyes. While taupe and cream colors of wall would be warmer, and could help students more focused. Evidence also shows that warm colors such as taupe and cream can stimulate creativity. Using different colors on the wall where there’re some facilities so as to remind the professor and students of the purpose of them. For example, the background color of the walls on which there are hangers could be light blue or purple, colors which can also help you relaxed and calmed. Optimized Ventilation: The method of distributing outdoor air in classroom has a positive impact on indoor air quality and thermal comfort of students. So it would be better if students could open the windows in the back wall when the class is finished. And students who come for the next class could close the windows before class, letting fresh air come in for 15-20 minutes. Moreover, It’s best to leave the two doors to the classroom open. On the one hand, it could expedite the flow rate of air and enhance the ventilation and exchange effectiveness. On the other hand, leaving two doors open would facilitate those late arrivals to find seats in the sides, so that they don’t need to go straightly in front of the teacher, thus diminishing distraction. External Diminished Noise and Distraction: Since the walls in the classroom are already sound proof, we don’t need to worry about the noise from outside. The major noise created by late arrivals to move through seats could be addressed through the new layout of seats and improved seat quality. Hence, students would be more focused in class. Clean Environment and Safety Facilities: Basically, a clean environment in the classroom is a must for students to gain the best learning experience. Students should be required to take with them the trashes after class, and the cleaners also need to tide the classrooms more frequently. Furthermore, It’s best to check the safety facilities in the classroom such as the fire alarm on a regular basis, say, twice a month. Because students will be relieved when they know they are learning in a safe place. In sum, the above-mentioned rearrangements are all considered to be physically, emotionally and academically favorable to the learning experience in this classroom. Once students are physically comfortable with the environment they are in, they will be emotionally focused on what they are learning and talking. Moreover, the academically improved learning equipment could maximize the learning experience the students would go through.

Transcultural Nursing Reflective Essay

Transcultural Nursing Reflective Essay Rose Bonanno ‘Transcultural nursing is a comparative study of cultures to understand similarities (culture universal) and difference (culture-specific) across human groups’ (Leininger, 1991). Introduction Transcultural Nursing is an area in nursing practice that focuses on how the ideals and principals of particular groups influence their behaviour when they are sick. Diverse cultures may express dissimilar kinds of needs when they are ill, (Gulbu, 2006). Clients will be more willing to accept their treatment when the health care professional can understand their cultural rules, (Pagliuca, Rodrigues, 2012). Being cultural competent is having the approach, awareness and ability to provide appropriate care to different populations, (Loftin et al., 2013). A patient’s perspective has to be seen within the whole context. Community dynamics such as social status and knowledge, distinguish individuals within racial groups, (Weiner et al., 2013). Whether we are French or Canadian, African or Norwegian, straight or gay, Catholic or Muslim, we are a mixture of cultures. Nursing students need to cultivate social skills to care for patients in a multi-cultural world, (Torsvik, Hedlund, 200 8). Both the views of others and ourselves are equally essential in the understanding of illness (Simon et al., 2010). Incident Since I was a very young child I have always been aware that there are ‘different’ people. This was due to the fact that I always remember the British soldiers that used to roam the street and I could always realise that they spoke a language which at the time I did not understand, they wore shoes and clothes which were much different than the few that me or my family had. However in my child’s mind I always associated them with the good things, because although they were different they were of the same skin colour that I was and so it was no big deal if they stopped to talk to me or one of my friends. My parents would not mind when they would stop to say hello or to offer us sweets. As I grew older I realised that although there were differences between the way that we spoke and behaved there were also a lot of similarities. But seeing a coloured soldier was all too different. I would not even lift my eyes to talk to them let alone smile at them. This was due to the fact that my parents used to tell us dramatic stories where the bad guy was always black and so this implanted in me a certain fear of black people. Growing up and travelling around made me aware of the different races that inhabit our world. In time I became used to seeing different coloured people, different races. However they were just a part of the world around me and I would never give it much thought until the first boat of immigrants started to come to our shores. Since most of them came from African countries, they were mostly dark coloured and ‘different’. And then the unthinkable happened. I had to nurse a ‘black’ patient. The first time that I walked on the ward and saw this black person, sitting in bed, between two white sheets, the first thing that comes to mind is the contrast. And then the problems start coming to mind. He must be dirty, he must carry a lot of infectious diseases, and he must smell. Secondly come the more rational questions. How am I going to communicate? How is he going to communicate back? How can we understand each other? So I did my best to ignore him all day. Luckily I was allocated duties in another part of the ward and so I could continue working without any bother. But my ‘luck’ ran out when one of my colleagues needed to go home early. And so it was now my turn to care for the patient. At some point he needed some water and since he had nothing on his bedside table he had to ring the nurse call. I remember walking up to him a little cautiously as if he might jump on me. I still remember that feeling of adrenaline rush that causes the fight-or-flight reaction after all these years. And then I arrived at his bedside and in low quiet voice, without raising his eyes, he asked for some water. Although I tried not to show it I was surprised. He had spoken to me in English!! That was the first surprise that I had from this thin-looking dark-coloured man. In return I voiced my surprise and asked him where he had come from. He told me that he was from Ethiopia. Although I had met the country in my geography lessons, way back when I was still at school, I hardly knew anything about the country. All that I knew was there somehow there was always a war there and that its capital was called Addis Ababa. I remember recalling Addis Ababa when he told me that his name was Addis. Addis was a quiet man, softly spoken and of course by himself most of the time. He did not eat me, he did not kill me, and he did not smell foul. Seeing that we could communicate in English, I asked him about his story. He told me that he had run away from his country and that he had left a wife and two sons behind him. He said that he intended to find some work so that he could send money back to his family. He said that he was Orthodox Catholic, which again was another surprise for me. He always bowed his head when I would approach him and I thought that this was because he was shy. Another surprise was that he never ate meat on Wednesday, (and on Fridays as well, I got to know later). I was curious to know whether he missed his family and of course he did. He said that he usually phones them once every month, which again was a surprise to me, and he started telling me the how his wife travels a long distance to go to the city so that he can talk to her. Reflection Encouraging logical reflective thinking is stressed in studies emphasising the benefits of using nursing stories in the course of learning (Torsvik, Hedlund, 2008). The first experiences that I had with this patient made me stop and think. Why do we think that being somehow different in colour, beliefs or behaviour makes us superior? All in all if we think about people, no-one is really as different from one another as we make out to be. The trend for people to classify others on the basis of their ethnic group, or perceived physical appearance, and then assign social or educational importance to them – whether they are of high class or sub-standard status- is a fact that is well known in the Western culture,(Naylor, 1997). All people have feelings and families who they love. We all bleed when we are hurt, and no matter what colour we are, black or white, yellow or blue, our blood is always red. The idea that had been installed in me when I was young was very wrong and it is alright to accept diversity. Diversity makes the world a more colourful, richer place. However I remember vividly that I did notice at the time that I had never been taught anything about other cultures. The subject was sort of taboo. I feel that we are not prepared about different cultures and different religions. It is very important to know about these different cultures so that we become aware of how we can see to their needs if ever we are nursing them. I used to feel embarrassed when Addis used to bow his head to me. I thought that it was funny; I never knew at the time that it was a sign of respect. When we used to play and pretend that we are the queen did we not bow our head? Adding everything up now, it does make sense. Just like we bow to the queen, Addis was showing me a sense of great respect. Analysis I feel that we are not prepared about different cultures and different religions. Studies show that although transcultural nursing studies and knowledge has been increasing, there still remains an absence of proper schooling methods in regards to this subject,(Mixer, 2008). It is very important to know about these different cultures so that we become aware of how we can see to their needs whenever we are nursing them. I used to feel embarrassed when Addis used to bow his head to me. I thought that it was funny; I never knew at the time that it was a sign of respect. When we used to play and pretend that we are the queen did we not bow our head? Adding everything up now, it does make sense. Just like we bow to the queen, Addis was showing me a sense of great respect. Some sort of national background can help evade misinterpretations and assist help-care professionals to deliver improved care, (Galanti, 2000). Action plan. In my opinion there is a need for a Cultural Consultancy Committee. Members would constitute a representative of the ethnic groups which are mainly found on the island. This committee would meet and discuss issues pertaining to their groups. They could also set up policies regarding the issues of communication and other problems that may arise whenever a person from their group is in hospital. The committee might also be able to organise an annual conference in which information, maybe even in the form of leaflets in given to stakeholders. They could also create a strategy, to have faith and community centred voluntary groups to whom a person can turn to in case of difficulty. In its Action Plan to Reduce Health Disparities, (2010), the American Department of Health and Human Services, (DHHS) suggested that ‘activities may include language services, community outreach, cultural competency training, health education, wellness promotion, and evidence-based approaches to manage chronic conditions’. Conclusion ‘Racial and ethnic minorities often receive poorer quality of care and face more barriers to seeking care, (DHHS, 2010). Language and lack of education could be a strong barrier to communication. Perception and generalisation might also be tough obstacles. Respect and concern for people who are diverse from us will only be likely when people cultivate a better consciousness, compassion and empathy to others who are unlike us (Nayler, 1997). In a world where working with so many different people is no longer something out of the ordinary, it helps to have an ability to perceive the difference in cultures. Stimulating one’s awareness about gesticulating, the meaning of touch and private space, especially between different sexes and individuals with diverse beliefs, conceding that the quality of voice tone and facial expressions can either scare or comfort a person, will have a positive healing effect on people who are culturally different,( Papadopoulos,2012). Diversity can also be beneficial. It is a store for different ideas on how things are done and a chance to meet people with different thoug hts and answers. Culturally experienced health care professionals guarantee patients fulfilment and optimistic outcomes, (Maier-Lorentz, 2008). For health care providers and specifically nurses, the necessity to make suitable and expert care available is acknowledged as vital l in view of the increasing variety among persons that they care for, (Loftin et al.,2013}. References; American Department of Health and Human Services ; A Nation Free of Disparities in Health and Health Care, 2010, PG 17, http://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/npa/files/Plans/HHS/HHS_Plan_complete.pdf Galanti, G.A., 2000, An introduction to Cultural Differences, West J. Med; 172(5): 335-336, Retrieved June 18thfrom; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1070887/ Gulbu,T., 2006, The implications of Transcultural Nursing Models in the Provision of Culturally Competent Care, Icus Nurs Journal, Issue 25, Jan.- Apr, 2006, Pg 1 Leininger, M. Culture care diversity and universality: A theory of nursing. New York: National League for Nursing Pres; 1991. Loftin, C., Hartin, V., Branson, M., and Reyes, H., â€Å"Measures of Cultural Competence in Nurses: An Integrative Review,† The Scientific World Journal, vol. 2013, Article ID 289101, 10 pages, 2013. doi:10.1155/2013/289101 Loftin, C., Hartin, V., Branson,M., Reyes,H., Measures of Cultural Competence in Nurses: An Integrative Review, Scientific World Journal Volume 2013 (2013), Article ID 289101, 10 pages ,http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/289101 Maier-Lorentz, M. (2008). Transcultural nursing: its importance in nursing practice. Journal Of Cultural Diversity, 15(1), 37-43. Mixer, S. (2008). Use of the culture care theory and ethnonursing method to discover how nursing faculty teach culture care. Contemporary Nurse: A Journal For The Australian Nursing Profession, 28(1-2), 23-36. doi:10.5172/conu.673.28.1-2.23 Naylor, L., 1997, Cultural Diversity in the United States., Chapter 11, Race, Ethnicity and Culture, Pg 49., Publishers, Bergin and Garvey, Westport, CT., http://www.questia.com/read/15586236/cultural-diversity-in-the-united-states Naylor, L., 1997, Cultural Diversity in the United States., Chapter 11, Race, Ethnicity and Culture, Pg 25., Publishers, Bergin and Garvey, Westport, CT., http://www.questia.com/read/15586212/cultural-diversity-in-the-united-states Pagliuca, L. M. F., , Rodrigues, M. E., (2012). Competency to provide cross-cultural nursing care for people with disability: a self-assessment instrument. Revista Brasileira de Enfermagem, 65(5), 849-855. Retrieved June 19, 2014, from http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttextpid=S0034-71672012000500020lng=entlng=en. 10.1590/S0034-71672012000500020. Papadopoulos, I. (2012). Transcultural nursing. British Journal Of Nursing, 21(14), 838. Simon, M., Chang, E., Dong, X. (2010). Partnership, reflection and patient focus: advancing cultural competency training relevance. Medical Education, 44(6), 540-542. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03714.x Torsvik, M. Hedlund, M. (2008) Cultural encounters in reà ¯Ã‚ ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å¡ective dialogue about nursing care: a qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing 63(4), 389–396 doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04723.x Weiner,L., Grady McConnell, D., Latella,L., Ludi, E., 2013, Cultural and religious considerations in pediatric palliative care, Palliat Support Care. 2013 February ; 11(1): 47–67. doi:10.1017/S1478951511001027.

Innovation, Change and Enterprise in the UK

Innovation, Change and Enterprise in the UK Craig Rhodes 1 (a) Critically evaluate why innovation and enterprise is so important for the UK and global economy and what can be done to encourage it? Developing an innovation strategy requires a clear definition of what is meant by innovation. Innovation is the effective commercial utilisation of new ideas. It refers to the scientific, technological, organisational, financial, and business accomplishments that lead to the introduction of new or substantially improved products, practices, services or entire business models. Innovation can be incremental or extreme. It ranges from small improvements in existing products, processes and services at one end of the spectrum to extreme changes associated with breakthrough products, disruptive change and brand new ideas at the other end. A great deal of innovation takes place in the middle of the scale where organisations develop and produce new products, processes and services for existing markets and consumers. Innovation is not always determined by new technology. An organisation can develop completely new products such as Apples iTunes and iPad platform using recognised technologies. Innovation involves varying degrees of risk and needs different resources and processes for its successful implementation. Incremental innovation encourages less risky enhancements by extending existing processes, products or services. Innovation almost always involves change. The word enterprise describes the actions of someone who shows some initiative by taking a risk by setting up, investing in and running a business. (http://www.tutor2u.net/business/reference/starting-a-business-what-is-enterprise). This person can seem to be willing to take a risk and making things happen. The person will show initiative by seeing a potential business opportunity and tries to make it work. This can be seen as a bold or risky move for example investing in an opportunity with the potential of losing the investment should it all go wrong. Most of the time it will be a decisive person that shows enterprise. There is a need to innovate especially in UK/Global public service organisations due to their importance and size in developed countries. In the past century public service organisation have grown at a great pace. Such organisations as the NHS and American Education for example have grown and to survive its vital that they take the lead in innovation. Drucker (2007) expresses that pubic service institutions face similar situations, the knowledge is there and the need to innovate is clear. They now have to learn how to build the entrepreneurship and innovation into their own system. Otherwise they will find themselves superseded by outsiders who will create competing entrepreneur public service institutions and so render the existing one obsolete Drucker (2007) There is an increasing attention or support to Innovation, that innovation development is key to create/maintain/improve economic/organisation competitive advantage and secure organisation sustainability growth. Innovation is driven by the ability to see connections, to spot opportunities and to take advantage of them Tadd, Bessant (2009, p1). The key link between Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Change is that you cant really do one without involving the other is some form.An Innovation is the main source for an entrepeuneur, and its usally an innovation or entrepenuer that forces change within an organisation. Importance of Innovation and Enterprise Drucker (2007) refers to innovation and enterprise as a venture that can result in the creation of new wealth from making effective use of existing resources. Innovation commences with analysing opportunities, systematically reviewing these and exploiting these to gain maximum economic returns for organisations. Drucker (2007) has identified seven sources of opportunity that can lead to innovation. These include the enterprises own unexpected successes and failures and of its competition, incongruities (particularly in a process, for instance, production, distribution, or incongruities in customer behaviour), process needs, changes in industry and market structures, demographic changes, changes in meaning and perception and new knowledge (Drucker, 2007). Schumpeter (1934, 1939) classified innovation into five types; new products, new manufacturing processes, new sources of supply, exploration of new markets and new methods of organising business activities. Product innovation is the invention and commercialisation of completely new products and services. Process innovation involves bringing considerable improvements in the way products are made. Process innovation takes place by adopting new technologies (Schumpeter (1934, 1939). Inauen and Schenker-Wicki (2012) innovation has become essential for companies as it is resulting in the availability of knowledge, is facilitating technology transfer and fusion and is reducing innovation cycles. It is helping organisations in developing and maintaining their competitiveness and achieving success. It is assisting companies in exploring and exploiting new opportunities for commercialization. Innovation is a critical driver of economic change (Inauen and Schenker-Wicki, 2012). The views of Inauen and Schenker-Wicki (2012) are consistent with Joly et al (2010). According to Joly et al (2010) innovation is essential for organisations as it helps them in the creation of new products that can solve their customers everyday life problems. Innovation creates wealth and is a major driver of economic growth and development. Von Schomberg (2011) research also states that innovation is the key driver for organisational improvement and success. Niu et al (2013) believes that innovation and enterprise helps organisations in effectively exploiting new opportunities and using their resources to transform innovative ideas into successful outcomes (Niu et al, 2013). Whilst there is no doubt that innovation and enterprise is important for the growth of companies, national and international economies, yet it does suffer from some risks. The key risks of innovation and enterprise are that it requires considerable investment in financial and human resources. There is the risk that innovation can be copied by competitors. Innovation can be risky and lead to uncertain commercial returns (Hayes, 2014). Innovation and enterprise can be encouraged by understanding and applying the principles of change management in organisations. Furthermore, using open innovation, understanding national cultures, customers needs, crowdsourcing, user innovation, recruiting and training people, developing leaders can greatly assist organisations in effectively encouraging innovation. To compete effectively in intensely competitive business environments, organisations need to treat innovation as an essential part of their corporate strategy and not as a one off event. Continuous and consistent innovation is the key to organisational success in the global economy. Change Management Change Management is key to effective innovation and enterprise. It can be used to help employees go through the transition of accepting and implementing change within an organisation. Successful change management enables employees to understand the reasons for change. Part 2 of this essay goes into depths of why Change management is so important. Types of Change Harvard Business School (2003) states that businesses respond to challenges of new technology, new markets new competitors and consumer demand with four programs to overcome these obstacles. These four categories of change are: Structural Change Where the business is treated as a machine style model that are set up of different functions. During this change high level managements usually with the help of external consultants attempt to change these functions so they are able to accomplish a greater overall performance. Examples of previous endeavours for structural change have involved company mergers, acquisitions of other businesses and closure/reduction of operating units. Cost Cutting The main motivation for this type of change is the removal of areas of the business where there are less important activities and functions of a business where the company can squeeze extra cost out of operations. This may involve in department closures, redundancies or cuts in budgets when companies are going through tough times. Process Change The aim of this change is fundamentally a way of making operating processes quicker, more effective, more reliable and less costly, so basically an emphasis on changing how things get done in the business. Cultural Change This change concentrates on the human aspect of the business, where an organisation focuses on the relationship between the management and employees and look at the methods of how they do business. A shift from command and control management to participative management is an example of cultural change. Harvard Business School (2003) Process of Change Kurt Lewin a German-American psychologist introduced a straight forward model of process change which involves three stages that helps to understand the change process. The first stage is unfreezing which includes helping an organisation and its employees accept that change is required. Examining old processes, systems, employees and ways of thinking can show employees how important it is that the organisation changes. Communication in this part of the process is extremely important as it allows the business to inform the employees of the reasons for change, how it will benefit them and when the change will go ahead. The second stage is the Change Step, the transition period, where the implementation of the change takes place. This will be the point in the change process where reality hits the organisation that change is definitely happening, this is where it is key to continue clear communication as people will struggle to adapt to the idea of change, from this there will be resistance, panic and uncertainty. The final stage of Lewins model is Re-Freezing. This is the stage where the organisation looks for reinforcement and stabilisation after the implementation of change. This step was highlighted by Lewin as particularly important after Implementation to ensure that people do not revert back to previous ways of thinking or doing. The organisation has to attempt to guarantee the change is not lost and is reinforced into the Culture of and thinking of the organisation moving forward. Theories of Change The theory of change is a method that can help organisations in successfully achieving their change objectives and outcomes. The theory states that every change proposal needs to be carefully planned, requires the participation of others and needs to be evaluated to ensure that the planned activities are achieved. The theory states the long term goals of change and then maps these backwards to identify required preconditions (Brest, 2010). Organisations can successfully innovate through careful planning, seeking the participation and engagement of their employees and evaluating the degree to which innovation has been effective in improving organisational performance. Recognise and diagnosing the need for change. Recognising and diagnosing the need for change can be done by analysing the types of change, the context of change, using the cultural web model and forcefield analysis (Johnson et al, 2010). Encouraging Innovation and Enterprise Conclusion Innovation and enterprise is very important for the growth, development and survival of organisations in the UK and in the global economy. Innovation and enterprise enhance organisations competitive advantages and improve performance and productivity. However, innovation and enterprise suffers from the risks that it requires considerable financial investment and generate uncertain commercial returns. For businesses, innovation means sustained or improved growth. The innovative company or organisation delivers higher profits for its owners and investors. For employees, innovation means new and more interesting work, better skills and higher wages. Equally, an absence of innovation can lead to business stagnation and a loss of jobs. For the economy as a whole innovation is the key to higher productivity and greater prosperity for all. Innovation and enterprise can be encouraged by understanding and applying the principles of change management in organisations. Furthermore, using open innovation, understanding national cultures, customers needs, crowdsourcing, user innovation, recruiting and training people, developing leaders can greatly assist organisations in effectively encouraging innovation. To compete effectively in intensely competitive business environments, organisations need to treat innovation as an essential part of their corporate strategy and not as a one off event. Continuous and consistent innovation is the key to organisational success in the global economy. 1(b) Using relevant examples consider why innovation and change is often difficult to manage within organisations and how this can be overcome? In todays competitive business world change is the most critical factor in business. With heavy competition, technology and demographical forces pushing towards business change. There are not many businesses that can escape from change. The reasons for a business to adopt change is to maintain employee engagement, increase productivity and improve their performance to new levels. Sometimes change can be implemented due to a change in strategic direction. Change is brought in to make a difference from the past to the present. Change in the organisation can also mean embedding new technologies and creating new work practices into sections of the business. Technological change and new work practices in the organisation shows an impact on the way the business going. If a Business decides on implementing change within the organisation, they will need a team of members to encourage and manage the change. Charles Darwin once said It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones who are most responsive to change The Change process can be a very complex problem and managing it is equally as complex. This is why change is a process that must be carefully planned and executed. So, why is it difficult to manage? Well you can start with the fact that Change can sometimes arrive unexpectedly. A business may not be ready for change. One way of overcoming difficulties when managing change is by having effective Leadership during the change process. The leadership approach has to be focused towards increased and continuous communication. Â   Â