Hotseating evaluation Essay

I played Benvolio in the hot seating exercise. The majority of the questions were asked about my relationship with Rosaline. The first and the most challenging question that I has asked in role was: â€Å"If you’d have to chose between your family and Rosaline, which one would you chose?†. I found it very difficult to answer, because Benvolio does love Rosaline very much, but would he leave his family, who has raised him for all of his life, for a girl? I believed that at that point Benvolio would leave almost everything for Rosaline. He was blinded by love and his family wanted revenge, whilst the only thing he wished was peace. Benvolio had deep feeling towards Rosaline and he truly believed that he has the power to win her heart and erase the hatred, only if he would give her time. Another quite interesting question from Plub was raised â€Å"How did I know that Rosaline is not going to kill me in the elections of ‘The Prince of Cats?†. My answer was again referring to the fact that Benvolio was extremely in love with Rosaline – â€Å"It was in her eyes. She couldn’t do it.† This shows that Benvolio believed only the best of the girl. This hotseating exercise made me more optimistic that the peace can be achieved between the two families, because Benvolio showed strong feelings of love for Rosaline. Feelings that are strong enough, I believe, to destroy her hatred. Rosaline had already shown some moments of hesitation (she didn’t hurt Benvolio in the end of the elections of ‘The Prince of Cats’) of her dedication to revenge. Therefore if he keeps on trying to win the revolutionary girl’s heart, I am sure that he can achieve the aim. The fighters without the leader will fall apart and slowly the massive hatred between the families will disappear. But on the other hand, I believe that the oldest generation will try to continue the war, but they are too aged and tired to accomplish anything recognizable. During hotseating I discovered that Benvolio is very straight-forward and open-minded person, who is not afraid to talk about his feelings. His character is sweet and gentle. But on the other hand after diving into his mind, I learnt that he was more blinded by love towards Rosaline that I thought†¦ All the answers to the questions were about creating a better impression of Rosaline – that she is not a bad person by wanting revenge, just confused and hurt. I also wanted to put across Benvolio’s sense of hurt, because Rosaline is rejecting his love, by facial expressions and petite gestures. Reason of the choice of still images Still image one The first still image introduces the situation – the hatred and suppressed urge to fight with each other, which is also referring to the theme of the play. Furthermore the first two characters, Valentine and Rosaline, both lost somebody dear to them in Shakespeare’s play ‘Romeo and Juliet’, therefore are very revengeful. Even more significant is the fact that Valentine and Rosaline are representatives of the opposite families: Montagues and Capulets. This noteworthy detail and their violent movement suggest that there is really no truce existing between the two families. Still image two Benvolio is offering Rosaline his love, whilst she is still devastated because of the loss of Romeo. This as well is one of the main points of the play: Benvolio is trying to stop the endless fight by opening her eyes. But Rosaline is blinded and deaf by the dead love. The scene shows the levels of power to emphasize that Rosaline is the one who makes decisions whether to be on the same side of Benvolio or not. Still image three In the still image ‘Revenge vs. Passion’ the levels of power are greatly highlighted. The situation is similar to Still image two, but in this scene Rosaline’s feelings have developed from mourning to hatred and revenge. This darkness has filled her heart and she can’t even look at people who care for her, because they might distract her from the mission. From the mission of revenge. It is the ultimate theme of the play: Is Rosaline’s hatred strong enough to carry out the revenge or Benvolio will stop her with his passion full of love. Still image four Rosaline goes to the tomb to steal the sword that lies between Romeo and Juliet. It is the turning point of the play, because now Rosaline has dangerous weapon. As previous still images have shown, Rosaline is full of rage and wants to spill the blood. And now she has the right tools for it. There is high range of tension, because Rosaline is having a monologue with dead Juliet – her jealousy and disgust, as well as nasty insultings became more powerful with each sentence. This suggests that she is confident and ready to have the revenge. Still image five The election for Prince of Cats has commenced. We chose this still image to show the audience will officially peace begin or revenge takes its chance. People on Rosaline’s side represent the rage and eager to fight, while Petruchio’s side is full of peace. As well as we can see from the still images, there are more people on Rosaline’s side, which means that the revenge will continue. Alice is in between the two leaders. With that point we wanted to represent the fact that she loves Petruchio, but the urge to fight it too strong. Still image six The last still image signifies the testing of Rosaline’s love and revengeful feelings. She lays her sword on Benvolio’s chest. Rosaline does not cut nor hurt him; however she has the chance, which means that even though her heart is full of hatred, there is hope for it to cool down. There is hope for peace. But still the war hasn’t ended, because nobody laid their weapons down.

Types of Reinforcement

People have been using the theory of reinforcement even though they have not properly studied this theoretical concept. They have been employing this theory to strengthen the response for a particular stimulus or environmental event (Huitt and Hummel). Reinforcement theory generally states that the frequency of eliciting the same response will likely increase if it is followed by a reinforcer. The probability of repeating the same behavior in the future is dependent on what occurs after the individual engages in that behavior (Malala, et al. ). There are four types of reinforcement.Each type of reinforcement is distinguished by the kind of stimulus presented after the response. In positive reinforcement, for instance, a positive stimulus is presented after a certain response to increase the frequency of that response of behavior (Malala, et al. ,; Huitt and Hummel). The positive stimulus usually comes in the form of rewards. Positive reinforcement has been used in school settings to reinforce positive attitude towards studying. For example, academic awards such as medals and certificates are given to students who excel academically or in a certain field such as sports.While the previous example used a tangible positive reinforcer, it could also be intangible. To cite an example, according to Kobus and her associates (48), the praise, support, and encouragement of teachers and significant others (e. g. , parents) motivate grade school students to work hard and increase their self-efficacy (i. e, confidence in one’s capability). Positive reinforcement has often been used by parents as well. They reward their children with a reinforcer such as money for their hard work in school or for cleaning their room.The concept has also been applied by companies for their employees. Salary increase and promotion, for example, are awarded to hardworking employees for their outstanding performance. On the other hand, in negative reinforcement, the reinforcer, which is s omething negative, is withdrawn after the response. Repetition of this phenomenon will increase the occurrence of the response. This is usually observed when a person wants to avoid the negative reinforcer (Huitt and Hummel). For instance, children obey the house rules so that their parents will not get mad at them.In this example, the negative reinforcer is the anger of the parents while the response is the obedience of children. At work, employees meet their requirements and deadlines to avoid being reprimanded by their boss. Most people think that negative reinforcement and punishment is the same, which is a misconception. While negative reinforcement elicits a positive response due to the removal of the negative reinforcer after the response, punishment lessens the frequency of a response or behavior by presenting a negative stimulus after the response (Huitt and Hummel).Punishment has been used at home, in school, and in the workplace. For example, at home, parents ground their children when they do not come home at the time agreed. In school, punishment is imposed to discipline students. A simple example of this is reprimanding noisy students for disrupting the class. Punishment has been a system adopted in schools in the form of disciplinary policies where punishment for specific types of school offense are indicated (Gaustad 3). In the workplace, an example of punishment could be reducing the salary of employees when they do not report to the office without filing a leave.As punishment, they will not be paid for the days they did not come to work. The fourth type of reinforcement is extinction. In extinction, the frequency of a response or behavior is weakened when the reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior is removed (Huitt and Hummel). To cite an example, in the field of psychology, extinction learning has been used in treating disorders such as anxiety disorder. The goal of the treatment is to extinguish fear by teaching the patients that the stimulus they fear no longer results in harmful consequences (Anderson and Insel 319).For instance, the patient is exposed to a previously feared event associated with an unpleasant outcome to get him or her accustomed to the event until he or she does not fear it anymore. Extinction can also occur in a corporate setting. When a company stops giving bonuses to hardworking employees, they may lose motivation to work hard, resulting in a decline in productivity. Based on the examples stated earlier, it could be concluded that reinforcement affects the behavior of individuals, children and adults alike.Reinforcement can either increase or decrease the frequency of a certain behavior depending on the stimulus or reinforcer presented (or removed) after the behavior. Hence, it could be inferred that behavior can be modified according to the pleasantness of the reinforcement that can be experienced for doing a certain behavior. For example, an individual’s positive or desired b ehavior can be maintained with positive or negative reinforcements, while his negative or unwanted behaviors can be extinguished through punishment or extinction.

Explain dualism, materialism, and Idealism. Which is preferable and Essay

Explain dualism, materialism, and Idealism. Which is preferable and why - Essay Example nly measure of reality by disregarding other possible dimensions such as the mental, cultural, or spiritual as it is only material things that constitute the entirety of the universe including all other phenomena. This theory is alternatively termed as eliminative materialism because it disregards all the other possible mental states as probably inherently wrong and non-existent (Ramsey, 2013). 3. Idealism – this philosophy is basically the exact opposite of materialism by claiming that all forms of observed phenomena (or reality itself) are primarily ideal or mental in form only (as mental constructs and therefore immaterial by its very nature). It rejects materialism by and other forms of philosophical thought by saying all human experiences are mental in nature and the entire universal human existence is just like one giant â€Å"mental thought† and ultimate reality is nothing but just images or representations of what people observed (McQuillan, 2014). Dualism is a better philosophy because it more or less is consonant with what people are observing and experiencing in terms of their earthly human existence. In other words, there is a duality in human existence which is the physical or material world and then another dimension of a spiritual nature because the mind-body interactions are very real indeed (Kelly,

Political-Economic Resentments in Gulf Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Political-Economic Resentments in Gulf - Essay Example Oil costs rose drastically. Though Saudi Arabia was the uncontested largest producer of oil, its oil industry, located very close to the war face and sell overseas lines were affected by the persistence of the war2. In fact, the war overstated the oil production all over the Gulf area. The "Tanker War" was expanded to the extent of involving the tankers that were used to transport oil to the Gulf since 1987. The Iranian came up with this idea to stop Gulf being held up to Iraq. In its place, it led to the first enormous American military operation in the region to guard Gulf tankers against Iranian attacks3. The two countries incurred foreign debts. They were unable to pay off them after the war ended due to loans from other countries. The war shifted the worlds concentration in the Middle East from the Arab-Israeli clash to the Gulf section. That Lead to decrease in relation of this country with foreign countries in fear of damages; hence, decrease economically. If the Iranians are capable of having some of the economic sanction lifted they would turn into a chief opponent for Iraqs oil led developmental

Health Effects of Alcohol consumption Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Health Effects of Alcohol consumption - Essay Example Irrespective of what the studies that simply focus on the bad effects of alcohol, there is evidence that light drinking or consuming alcohol in very moderate quantities can actually have several health benefits. Alcohol produces both short as well as long-term health and behavioral problems, while on the other hand there has been experimental research which has highlighted the positive results that alcohol consumption might have on the health. Therefore in spite of the bad effects that consumption of alcohol might have on the drinker, there are also a few positive sides to drinking as well especially on diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. As soon as alcohol enters the bloodstream of the drinker it initiates certain reactions. Most of these reactions are however acute and short-lived such as slurred speech, motor impairment etc. However, it has been seen that regular intake of alcohol has several detrimental effects on the human body. Since different beverages have different alcohol percentages the risks posed by each beverage is different. Many researchers have drawn a relation between alcohol intake and risk of heart diseases. According to some studies conducted in Great Britain, regular and heavy drinkers had a higher risk of developing coronary heart ailments. In America, heart failure remains one of the major public health issues. Almost 500,000 American citizens die because of heart failure (Djousse et al, 2008). Alcohol drinking has been associated with heart failure since heavy drinking can cause cardiomyopathy.

Research paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Research Paper Example This paper presents a detailed analysis of some of the important aspects and features of the web based systems. The basic purpose of this research is to discuss various issues those need to be considered by the enterprise web application developers while developing web based systems. This paper also discusses solutions and strategies to address these security threats. Information security remains an extremely significant concern throughout the system development life cycle. In other words, it is as imperative as the delivery of the overall system development according to a functional requirement. Through the identification of problems and issues near the beginning in the projects initialization phase the operating system, environment, system architecture and database can be designed and integrated with security included features. In addition, it also ensures that system development process followed the rules and regulations, legislation and standard application. This paper presents a detailed analysis of web-security issues which need to be considered by the developers of enterprise web-applications. This paper also outlines fundamental security features offered by database management systems and use of these features in securing the database from security breaches. Without a doubt, with the passage of time the use of web applications is growing in all the fields of life. These web applications encompass huge databases at the back in order to support various functions of an application. Additionally, these databases are used by the web applications to store web related data. However, with the growing usage of these applications, there are also emerging latest kinds of attacks that hinder the use of these applications. So the development of these enterprise web applications has established serious challenges for application developers. They need to take care of a wide variety of security issues while developing these systems (Halfond &

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

Argument - Assignment Example This is because as long as cannabis may have the best chemical components to cure such disease, its’ negative effects are far much greater to be used as medicine (Affeld, 2013). Marlene bases her arguments on several medical researches indicating that, when marijuana mixed with special oil and applied on to the cancer patient, then its potentials to mitigate the growth and spread of such diseases work out. She makes conclusion that, this method is far much better than the use of chemotherapy. However, she has not given specific scenario where accurate evidences can be found. Besides, there is no adequate statistics showing the number of survivor who have since used such methods and succeeded. Similarly, the article has indicated that marijuana.Com, a website that steer-head the use of this drug posted that marijuana contains ingredient that cure cancer. More to the contradiction in this report is that, researches only indicate the confirmation based on research organizations such as the National cancer institute and Virginia commonwealth university department of pharmacology. However, there is no appropriate evidence where it has been used as an extract for medicine (Affeld, 2013). The state research institute (NIC) is also supportive towards the use of marijuana for medicinal functions. I dismiss this point, as outdated research since the right procedure to launch medical research analysis such as government involvement was not followed. For this reason, the federal government has maintained its stand that cannabis is still illegal in the United States (Affeld, 2013). While I do not support Marlene’s research concerning marijuana medicinal value, I may not agree to the fact that there are better drugs that are better alternative to marijuana. Legalizing such drugs in the United States may lead to initiation of groups that are always credible avenue to criminal dens. If marijuana can

Red Bull False Advertising $13 million lawsuit Essay

Red Bull False Advertising $13 million lawsuit - Essay Example Although the company did not admit liability, I would like to fault its management for acting inappropriately. In my opinion, the decision of the company to use ‘Red Bull gives you wings’ as its marketing slogan was misleading. It is an unlawful action that violates Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C.A. Â § 1125(a) which considers such a statement as a violation of the law. According to the act, the slogan qualifies as a misleading advert because of its ambiguity and incompleteness that made it possible for the target clients to misunderstand and mistake it for something else. This is because the slogan did not provide all the facts about the product. Instead of disclosing all the facts that the targeted consumers should know, the slogan remained partial and incomplete. By merely stating that the consumption of the company’s brands, one gets wings, is quite complicated and can be misleading (Bangert, et al. 19).It is a very serious offense that can really affect the company sh ould any client file a suitcase for misleading advert as it happened. The slogan helped the company to appeal to and win the confidence of many clients. Besides, it capitalized on it by hiking the prices of its product since they were perceived to superior to those of its competitors. Therefore, to avoid such suitcases, the company should refrain from publishing misleading adverts (Bangert, et al. 19). In fact, all ads should comply with the Lanham Act, be simple, clear, complete and easy to comprehend.

The Townshend Duties refer Essay Example for Free

The Townshend Duties refer Essay The Boston tea party is seen as having played a gigantic role in providing impetus to the American Revolution. It refers to an incident that happened on December 16, 1773, pitting the colonists against the British. A group of Americans from Boston pretending to be natives dropped large consignments of tea in to the ocean as a form of protests against the selective and punitive taxation; it was a culmination of anger that had been building over the British policies. Earlier in 1770, the Townshend Duties had been done away with, following concerted protests by the colonists. The Townshend Duties refer to a number of taxes introduced by Charles Townshend aimed at the colonists to finance tax cuts in England. The Townshend duties were repealed but the tea duty still remained (Hawkins, 33). To circumvent such punitive charges, the American population boycotted the British tea opting to buy the one smuggled from Portugal. This resulted to huge losses and debts to the East India Company that was importing the tea. In response to this boycott and to help the company survive, the British introduced the Tea Act. This act sought to remove taxes on tea imports. The East India Company could now import the tea and sell it at a price below the smuggled one. The boycott though persisted with most colonists refusing the temptation of buying cheaper tea, as doing so would be bowing to the British and accepting the punitive tax. The smugglers were foreseeing a big dent in their ventures and were at the forefront with the boycotting campaigns. The call no taxation without representation took a new momentum (Ketchum, Richard, 19). The Tea Act was greatly opposed with most merchants opting to send it back. In Boston however, this was not the course of action taken. The building up protests and strong opposition to the brutish taxation regimes was rife in the air. Bostonians led by a liberalist Samuel Adams, could not allow the offloading of the tea shipments and were demanding that it be taken back to England. Thomas Hutchinson, who was the governor then, was adamant that the ships had to pay the duty first. This is what prompted a group of Bostonians to secretly board the ship, emptying the contents in the sea harbour. Over three hundred chests of tea were dropped in to the harbour sparking a huge outrage back in Britain with most politicians pressing for compensation. The colonists were unapologetic and the parliament vowed to introduce even more punitive policies and hence the Intolerable Acts. Intolerable Acts refers to a number of laws introduced by the British aimed at Bostonians, in retribution for the destruction of the tea imports. It is ironical for these laws were supposed to serve as a lesson to those states that wished to put up a defiant face. However, in the real sense, they intensified resentment towards the British and helped fuel the calls to the American Revolution. The Boston tea party helped coalesce the colonist resentment and defiance against the British repressive laws and came at a time when liberalists were intensifying their clarion calls against the British. Though aimed at the Tea Act, it had an overall effect of awakening interests towards a revolution that was to take place a few years later. Works Cited Hawkins, A Retrospect of the Boston Tea Party, pp. 31-39. Ketchum, Richard, Divided Loyalties, How the American Revolution came to New York, 2002,19

Cultural Awareness in Counselling Practices Essay Example for Free

Cultural Awareness in Counselling Practices Essay I have chosen to focus this assignment on the Aboriginal and Vietnamese cultures. I hope to be working in an area which will have these two cultures as the dominant groups. The reason I have focussed on Vietnamese refugees instead of the culture of Vietnam as a whole is that the facility I hope to work in has refugees as its main client group. I will give an overview of my research into how best to work in a counselling relationship with people from Aboriginal and Vietnamese cultures, ensuring that I am as culturally sensitive and aware as possible. Aboriginal culture and counselling: Most research indicates that cultural barriers are the major reason why Aboriginal people are discouraged or dissuaded from using the mental health service. As practitioners, counsellors have often failed to identify, acknowledge and recognise the central role of Indigenous culture. Historically, there has been a long period of mistrust among the Aboriginal people and white Australians. Federal governments for much of the twentieth century developed paternalistic policies and practices that regarded the removal of children from Aboriginal families as essential for their welfare. Continuing statutory responsibilities for the protection of children have made many Aboriginal women fear approaching the Department of Family and Community Services for assistance, especially in domestic violence and child abuse issues. It is a fact that Aboriginal people have and continue to experience being discriminated against by white Australians. A large socio-economic gap exists between white Australians and Aboriginal people. Despite there having been recorded experiences of both Aboriginal counsellors and non-Aboriginal counsellors attempting to keep Aboriginal clients engaged in the mental health service, it is evident that some Aboriginal clients may only turn up for one or two sessions but drop out of the system. The possible factors behind their lack of motivation to keep engaging in counselling service may lie in the means of assistance they are looking for. The problems of engaging Aboriginal clients in mental health services exist mainly because mainstream services have not provided relevant responses to their crisis situation. Aboriginal clients would first seek practical assistance such as refugee accommodation and food, and they would also seek assistance from their families, extended families or their own communities. Aboriginal people have retained strong kinship ties and extended family commitments. As in traditional times, Aboriginal people feel a great obligation to their kinship ties. The extended family will always be first in helping if there is a crisis or even a slight problem. Only when they cannot get enough or suitable help from their extended family or their own community, will they turn to outside help or support. There are particular issues to be aware of when working in a counselling role with Aboriginal clients. For example, it is not suitable to refer to a dead person by name and Aboriginal people view hallucination or delusion as spiritual experience not necessarily as symptoms of mental illness. Eye contact is considered offensive to Aboriginal people. Making eye contact (particularly with some one of the opposite sex) is shaming. Gender rules within Aboriginal cultures are important and must be respected whenever possible regarding intervention. Ideally, women staff should work with women and male staff should work with men. Women may feel embarrassed talking to male staff and men may feel shame if helped by female staff. In building a trust with Aboriginal people, most Aboriginal people would prefer to work with an Aboriginal worker regarding their problems. However situations may arise where clients may know or be related to an Aboriginal worker. They may feel shame or be restricted through kinship rules in discussing personal problems with them. Fear that the worker will breach confidentiality with the local community may be another concern. Where possible, clients should be given the choice of both Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal workers. Aboriginal clients will usually take the initiative in seeking assistance when a crisis emerges, such as domestic violence or services being disconnected, or having no money to buy food and other essentials for their children. Aboriginal people would first consider practical forms of assistance, such crisis care, financial assistance, medical services, accommodation, food when a domestic problem arises. This sort of assistance is what they really need and want, not just â€Å"talk therapy†. Before they can sort out their basic living problems, they may not have the capacity or attention to deal with other psychological issues. Once Aboriginal clients have settled down and can take a calmer approach to their predicament, it still does not guarantee they will stay with the mental health service. It is not uncommon that once they have solved a problem, they will feel it not necessary to remain a part of the service but may come back a few months later for help when another issue arises. If mental health service workers, for example, have patiently developed a good relationship or rapport with them, counsellors can take advantage of this by reminding their clients of the good they can do when relationships or domestic situations are at risk. The ability of counsellors to invite clients to talk about their problems may make it possible to explore other problems. Aboriginal clients’ particular issues or crises may be linked to other problems, such as child abuse, alcoholism, mental health, unemployment and parenting problems. It is crucial for counsellors to build a trusting relationship with the Aboriginal community. A relationship that is simply based on â€Å"talk therapy† will not work for Aboriginal clients. Counsellors need to know where to get practical assistance for Aboriginal clients. Otherwise, Aboriginal clients may only turn to those services that they feel can really assist them. A counselling service that provides support and practical assistance can become a meaningful referral point within the Aboriginal community. Vietnamese refugees and counselling: My research found that there are three recommended points of entry for developing trust and rapport with Vietnamese refugees. These are: Self- presentation of the Counsellor; Approaching the problem and Working through an Issue. Self Presentation of the Counsellor: The style and presentation of the counsellor could be described as ‘being a friend’ to the traumatised client. ‘Being a friend’ does not at all mean shedding the professional counselling role with boundaries and ethics, but rather means that counsellors dealing with these clients should be caring, sharing and acting as a true friend would normally be. Communicating caring to Vietnamese clients is being friendly, warm, interested in family, attentive to concerns raised, being an empathic listener, trying to understand and respond to non-verbal communications, and being ready to assist with practical matters. Presenting ‘as a friend’ also means that counsellors may initially have to share, or disclose, a little more about themselves than usual. This is often necessary to put Vietnamese clients at ease and win their trust. Another dimension of being a ‘friendly’ counsellor is being a ‘friend in need’. Many counsellors of Indochinese refugee clients have found it vital to assume multiple helping roles and to be actively involved in providing them with practical assistance or concrete services that provide immediate results, before engaging them in dealing with past trauma or in making important self-disclosures. Approaching a problem: The success of establishing trust and rapport with Vietnamese clients is not only dependent upon the way that counsellors present themselves as described above, but also upon the way they approach a problem. Within Vietnamese culture there are distinct ways of dealing with problems. Prominent features of the Vietnamese style include indirect expression of feelings, reluctance to confront conflictual situations, preference for allowing time to work out seemingly insoluble problems, and reliance on personal inner strength in facing difficulties. Given the quite different ways of dealing with problems in Vietnamese culture, we would like to suggest that non-Vietnamese counsellors have to move slowly and gently and approach with the right timing. Following a respectful, slow pace suitable to the client is important, especially during the rapport building stage, to avoid jarring or offending the client. The timing of approaching the problem is important for maintaining the relationship and for resolving the problem. If the counsellor takes the initiative to bring up an issue, it is important to do this gently, keeping in mind the cultural norm of ‘saving face’ and the risk of confrontation. Working through an Issue: As issues begin to be worked through, there are three suggested ways of continuing to build rapport and trust with Vietnamese clients: working with somatisation, working from here and now and working through the family. A great number of Vietnamese refugees express their experience of emotional distress under the guise of physical symptoms such as headache, fatigue, insomnia. As somatisation is a culturally acceptable way of presenting mental problems, counsellors can work with these problems first, before moving onto deeper levels. Most Vietnamese refugees are concerned with day-to-day survival. Offering them practical assistance is seen as offering much needed help and assisting to set up a trusting relationship and also an external environment in which emotional issues can be more safely worked through. For Vietnamese, the family plays an important role, in a resettlement country as well as in their country of origin. It appears to be present and influential in many issues, which the Vietnamese client discusses in the session. The family can support or sabotage the relationship between the therapist and the patient. Therefore, in post-trauma counselling with Vietnamese clients, dealing with the family dimension is crucial for the building of trust and understanding and for the success of the intervention. As in all counselling interventions, it is essential to build trust between Vietnamese-born clients and their counsellors. Points of entry rather than barriers have been referred to in the three aspects of counselling refugees. Credibility and giving are seen as being crucial in this process. Counselling can be of great benefit to helping Vietnamese refugees on the road to recovery from trauma. Vietnamese refugees have a great need for company, because they have suffered multiple losses, including faith in the goodness of humanity. Through a counsellor establishing a trusting relationship with them, they could regain this faith, so as to enable them to live the life that they have made huge sacrifices for. Prior to undertaking this assignment I had felt that my cultural awareness of both the Aboriginal and Vietnamese communities was very high. I have travelled extensively in Vietnam and had the opportunity to teach English there. My research into trauma and Vietnamese refugee status in Australia has certainly changed a lot of my views. I could almost say that with my basic Vietnamese language and extensive travels I had been feeling almost complacency about dealing with Vietnamese clients. I have learned that there are many parallels between the Aboriginal and Vietnamese refugee cultures. Both are in trauma; both need to have their immediate needs met before effective counselling can take place. My research into Maslow’s hierarchy of Needs has certainly given the actual practice of counselling clients in trauma an effective framework to work within. As does Erikson’s Stages of Development. Traumatised clients will have interrupted stages of development. These will need to be addressed after the initial and immediate needs are met. I had also felt that I had a particularly good understanding of the Aboriginal culture, having worked in Indigenous education. My research for this assignment highlighted that there are many gaps to my understanding. I had not taken into account that many Aboriginal people are actually in severe crisis when they do seek help. Similar to the Vietnamese people in trauma, they would first try to find support within their kin, tribe or immediate family. When a breakdown of this occurs, outside help is sought but this is fraught with fear, shame and often misunderstanding. This has been a vital assignment for me to undertake and I will continue to seek current research and counselling developments in the areas of Aboriginal mental health and refugee trauma counselling. References Armstrong, T. (2002). Counselling Interventions and Indigenous mental health. Medicine Australia,http://www.medicineau.net.au/clinical/abhealth/abhealt1345.html. Blagg, H. (2000). Crisis Intervention in Aboriginal Family Violence, Summary report. Crime Research Centre, University of Western Australia. Chambers, A. (1990). Responding to Domestic Violence: Spouse Abuse. Guidelines to Practice. Department for Community Services, Western Australia, September 1990. Nguyen Robin Bowles authors, published in the Journal of Australian Social Work, June 1998.

Back Pain Causes And Effects Biology Essay

Back Pain Causes And Effects Biology Essay According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke (NINDS) back pain is considered one of the most common disabling conditions, being the second most common neurological disorder after headache in the USA and affecting almost 60% of the general population. The essay discusses in details and aided by the latest studies, the various causes of this disease including obesity, occupational hazards, pregnancy, sports and the natural aging process. Also, utilizing the best diagnostic approaches to reach to the proper cause of the back pain and therefore the appropriate modality of treatment. Finally and to sum the issue, I would like to emphasize on the best line of treatment in back pain which is the prevention, elimination of the potential causes, risk factors and the need of more research and for better management of back pain. Back Pain: Causes and Effects Back pain is considered to be the second most common neurological disorder after headache in the United States of America (USA) according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorder and Stroke (NINDS) in USA (2003). Nearly everybody had experienced the episode of back pain in different severity, timing, age and with variety of associated causes. Prevalence estimates suggests that 70-85 % of adults will experience low back pain during a given year and 30% will seek treatment for this problem. The health institutions are paying a large number of money treating back pain all over the world because of the high incidence of the complains and the various degree of disabilities caused by acute and chronic back pain (Andersson, 1999). To fully understand back pain, a glance of the back anatomy will be of great help. The back is a complex structure consisting of 24 small bones (vertebrae) that support the weight of your upper body and form a protective canal for the spinal cord which carries nerve signals from the brain to the rest of the body. Between each consecutive vertebra are found the shock-absorbing discs (intervertebral discs) that cushion the bones and allow the spines to bend, held all together by Ligaments, Tendons and Muscles. The lower part of the back is known as the lumbar region, which is made up of five vertebrae, known as L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5. The lumbar supports the entire weight of the upper body (plus any extra weight that you are carrying), and it is under constant pressure, particularly when bending, twisting and lifting (Smeltzer, S Bare, B, 2000). Though the presence of huge number of literatures and researches has been conducted to discuss the causes and effects of back pain, there has still been a matter of controversy among medical researchers. However, the causes of back pain were categorized according to the effects with the associated signs and symptoms the victims describe, as well as the physical fitness of the targets. In fact, most back problems are probably the result of a combination of factors. Some factors, such as family history, arent preventable. You can control other factors, such as weight, fitness and flexibility, by changing your lifestyle. This essay will discuss the main causes and effects of back pain, but it will also put on the light on the associated signs and symptoms, as well as the most common treatments used. Obesity is one of the leading causes of back pain. According to the American Obesity Association (AOA), 64.5% of adult Americans (about 127 million) are categorized as being overweight or obese. The unfortunate truth is that obesity is becoming an epidemic affecting adults and children (Silveri). Extra abdominal fat and weight on the pelvis pulls the body forward and puts strain on the lower back muscles. Over time, obesity causes the spine to carry the bodys weight and distribute the loads encountered during rest and activity. When excess weight is carried, the spine is forced to take in the burden, which may lead to structural injuries. Hence, this burden on the spine may lead to poor flexibility and weak muscles in the back, pelvis, and thighs, as well as pain over other regions of the spine for example, the neck. Being overweight poses a lot of health risks associated with back pain. It puts added stress on muscles and joints pain and causes degenerative disc disease, spinal sten osis, osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, hernia, ruptured disc, heavy burden on the spine and unhealthy posture. Many occupations à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬such as nursing, construction and industrial work à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ may place significant demands on the back. Even routine office work can worsen back pain. The associated factors that may contribute with work load related back pain may be caused by three elements. The first element is the strain and exerting too much force on the back may cause injury. If the job is physical in nature, a person might face injury with frequent lifting or moving of heavy objects. The second element is the posture and position of the employee when sitting, standing or performing a task at work. Sitting for prolonged hours in front of a computer, for example, usually causes occasional pains from sitting still. The third and last element is stress. Pressures at work will increase stress level and lead to muscle tension and tightness, which eventually leads to back pain. The third main cause of back pain is pregnancy. Back pain, unfortunately, is an expected symptom during pregnancy in most of women. In most cases, back pain in pregnancy will cause disturbance of daily living activities, as well as resting time and sleep disturbance. (Palmer, 2001) stated that there are a number of physical reasons for back pain in pregnancy, some of which include: increase of hormones à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ hormones released during pregnancy allow ligaments in the pelvic area to soften and the joints to become looser in preparation for the birthing process of your baby; this shift in joints and loosening of ligaments may affect the support your back normally experiences. The center of gravity associated with pregnancy will gradually move forward as the uterus and baby grow, which causes the posture of pregnant women to change. Furthermore, additional weight during pregnancy and baby will create additional weight that back must support. Poor posture, excessive standing, and bending over can trigger or escalate the pain. Lastly, stress usually finds the weak spot in the body, and because of the changes in the pelvic area, pregnant women may experience an increase in back pain during stressful periods of pregnancy. Back pain can be a natural part of getting older (Hainline, 2007). Getting older always has degenerative effects on the body. Aging causes minor as well as major backaches. Some pain can be tolerable to some extent, where it causes disabilities in other conditions. Thus, getting older cannot be prevented, but being prepared on the consequences of aging is the key in controlling the age-related back pain. Osteoporosis creates weak and porous bones. Vertebral fractures are a common result of osteoporosis in elderly patients. On the other hand, osteoarthritis can create pain in many areas of the body including the spine. Degenerative disc disease is a normal part of aging. It is often asymptomatic but can create pain in some patients. Spinal Stenosis is common in elderly people. Stenosis may or may not cause pain. Spinal stenosis can also cause neurological impairment. CompressedHYPERLINK http://www.cure-back-pain.org/pinched-nerve.html nerves can be caused by spinal stenosis, spondylol isthesis, bone spurs, or spinal curvature. Adult scoliosis is often a result of aging and osteoporosis. Cauda Equina Syndrome the compression of a bundle of nerve roots that serve the lower back, legs and vital pelvic structures e.g. bowel and bladder, can cause weakness in the legs, numbness in the saddle or groin area, and loss of bowel or bladder control. This syndrome should be recognized due to its devastating neurological impact if not identified and treated promptly. All those factors can be a natural part of getting older. The last main cause is the sport related back pain. Up to 20% of all injuries that occur in sports involve the lower back or neck. Sports that use repetitive impact e.g., running, or weight loading at the end of a range-of-motion e.g., weightlifting are commonly cause damage to the lumbar spine or lower back. Sports that involve contact like football, place the spine at risk of injury, (Hyde, 2000). Thus, Injuries to the lower back can be the result of improper conditioning and warm-up, repetitive loading patterns, excessive sudden loads and twisting activities. With all those causes and effects, the end result pain comes with the classical signs and symptoms. The pain might be intermittent, sudden, gradual, or sometimes without reason. Pain is classified accordingly to severe pain that last for more than a few days without improvement and may require medical attention. Severe pain comes with difficulty passing urine; numbness in the back or genital area; numbness, pins, or weakness and pain in the legs; or unsteadiness when standing. Another type of pain is the localized pain which is often described as aching, tight, stiff, sore, burning, throbbing, or pulling. Localized pain may worsen while bending, sitting, walking, or standing too long in one position. Other signs and symptoms of pain may accompanied with a compressed nerves that cause numbness and weakness in the muscle associated with the nerve. The muscle may atrophy if the compression is not relieved. Diagnostic tests arent usually necessary to confirm the cause of back pain. However, after a thorough physical exam including the range of movements, ability to carry on simple daily tasks and testing reflexes with a reflex hammer, it is the decision of the doctor to either treat conservatively or the need of further investigation to rule out more serious causes of back pain in the form of X-Rays, MRI, Bone scan and Nerve studies.. The NINDS and other institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conduct pain research in laboratories at the NIH. Currently, researchers are examining the use of different drugs to effectively treat back pain, in particular, chronic pain that has lasted at least 6 months. Other studies are comparing different health care approaches to the management of acute low back pain (Standard medical care versus chiropractic, acupuncture, and acupressure or massage therapy). These studies are measuring symptom relief, restoration of function, and patient satisfaction. Another research is comparing standard surgical treatments to the most commonly used standard nonsurgical treatments to measure changes in health-related quality of life among patients suffering from spinal back pain. In the treatment of back pain, people may decide to choose the alternative treatments than to see a doctor. In many cases, doctors may advise their client to seek for those alternative resources. Acupuncture or acupressure is a type of therapy developed in China. Practitioners believe that people have an energy force. When this force is blocked, person can develop physical illness, such as back pain. Other therapy is using the herbal remedies which may be having side effects that could interfere with a prescribed medicine. Other alternative option of medicine is massage. A massage can help release muscle tension and relieve muscle inflammation and pain. Medical treatment will be focusing on the relive of the pain and treat the possible inflammation, as well as reducing the side effects of this pain. Acetaminophen is a type of medication that has proven to be a good pain reliever. Over-the-counter NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) will help reduce swelling (or inflammatio n) while relieving the pain; thats how NSAIDs differ from acetaminophen other prescription medications like muscle relaxants if the cause of pain was muscle spasm and opioids in the extreme cases, and only under careful supervision. Lastly the treatment may be by eliminating the causes of the pain, like loosing of extra weight, exercising, physiotherapy and surgery for severe cases. In conclusion, back pain is still considered to be a rich topic for study. Americans spend at least 50 billion dollars each year on low back pain, the most common cause of job-related disability and a leading contributor to missed work (NINDS). Luckily, most types back pain relived within a few days, where other conditions needs more time to cure and may lead to more serious conditions. Most of back pain causes cannot be completely prevented, but thought they can be modified in order to decrease the severity of the effects. Obesity can be modified with regular exercise and consumption of healthy food. Work related back pain as well as sport injuries can be prevented by accurate posturing and stretching of spine and muscles. Good back-strengthening exercises may include walking, swimming, bike riding and yoga could be beneficial to overcome aging back pain, where carful lifting, housekeeping and relaxing exercises will help pregnant women in controlling the incidence of lower back pai n. Signs and symptoms of back pain differ from person to another according to the severity of the injury to the spin and in the most of the cases, seeking for medical advice is important. The type of treatment to choose may be optional for people suffering of pain. Many people may seek to alternative therapy like Acupuncture, herbal medication and massage. On the other hand, many patients will seek for medical treatment for the severe pain by using prescribed pain killers and regular physiotherapy, exercise and weight reduction. Unfortunately, most of the literatures stated that attempts to prevent the occurrence of back pain have been unsuccessful. Proper health education can increase the health awareness of population regarding back pain and its prevention tips might be the key to solve this problem.   

The Unique relationship between God & Mankind in Genesis Essay

The relationship between God and his creations humans can be said to be a very complex relationship. Genesis shows us many examples of God's interaction with humans and human's interaction with each other. From the creation of Adam and Eve and all the events that follow afterwards, I shall show what the relationship tells us about the nature of God and mankind. When you read chapter one of Genesis you have the feeling that God is perfect. God holds all power and control. God turns chaos into order. "God said 'Let there be light.' And there was light, And God saw the light, that it was good" (Gen 1. 3). God's word is action, God's word is law in the universe. When God creates something, he ends it with God seeing that's its good. This is in effect giving support to the perfect nature that is God and the creations God has made. "God does not play dice" (Armstrong 9), God has order and a purpose for what he makes. An important aspect to God is seen while he is creating the world. He separates water from land. Light from Darkens, Day and Night, Male and Female. This shows that boundaries are important to God. We see examples where God put boundaries on mankind with their language by mixing the language up so confuse man and killing off the evil from the good. With the creation of man and woman God forms them out of his image. ?And God created the human in his image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them? (Gen 1.27). Alter says ?him as in the Hebrew is grammatically but not anatomically masculine?. So in interpretation the first human had no gender. Then on the third line ?male and female he created them? implies the creation of gender. The importance of this is that the first form of ?man? had n... ...ed a part to him. First we see God as omnipotent then we see God asking where Adam and Eve are hiding (Not being omnipotent). With the creation of mankind God loses some part of his Godliness and he gains some humanity. God has a little human in himself and we have a little God in us. But the main point still is the same, God is the authority over man and will remain this way. I also feel that the God in the bible is truly no different than the Gods of Greece for example. The God of ancient Greece acted just like humans, the only difference was that they were immortal. The God of the bible seems to act just like humans, shows love, anger, regret, learns from mistakes and so forth. So in the end God shows flaws and learns from mistakes. God is like humans, maybe this is why we don?t understand God sometimes because we can?t understand other people and their actions.

The Parallels Between Animal Farm and Soviet History Essay -- George O

The Parallels Between Animal Farm and Soviet History Prior to writing Animal Farm, George Orwell had stated: "History consists of a series of swindles, in which the masses are first lured into revolt by the promise of Utopia, and then, when they have done their job, enslaved over again as new masters" Together this statement and Soviet History provided a basis for a political allegory which is depicted through Animals and tells of the tribulations which surround certain political ideals. In many ways, the story parallels to an era of soviet history from the revolution in 1917 to the Teheran Conference in 1943. When many critiques review this book they fail to realize how each significant detail parallels to an entity in soviet history. The story, Animal Farm, begins with a speech by Old Major. Old Major believes that 'man' is taking from the 'working' animals and he feels that the animals should unite and commence a rebellion to overthrow man. Similarly, Major's speech is an accurate account of Marxism and it is very similar to the last paragraph of the Communist Manifesto (1848): The communists openly declare that their ends can be attained only by the forcible over throw of all existing social conditions. Let the ruling classes tremble at the Communistic revolution. The proletarians have nothing to lose but their chains; They have a world to win. WORKING MEN OF ALL COUNTRIES, UNITE! After the Animals had overtaken the farm and the Animal Farm was established, "Everyone worked according to his capacity," (pg 27, Orwell). The similarities between Russia and Animal farm are well noted here, "From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"; were the words used by Marx in his c... ...mal Farm is a brilliantly allegorized political tale and the significance of the story becomes much clearer when compared to the actual political history. It tells the story of Russian history but at the same time it can be compared to other countries in their struggle for power. The struggle is not restricted to governments but people as well. Animal Farm is just simply about power in different political ideals and what it does to those that yield it. Lord Acton once said in a letter that: "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, good men are always bad men. George Orwell did an excellent job in portraying this reality through the animals of Animal Farm. BIBLIOGRAPHY Orwell, George; Animal Farm (Great Britain: Martin Secker & Warburg, 1945 Meyers, Jeffrey; A reader's guide to George Orwell (London: Thomas & Hudson, 1975)

ICT in The Local Community Essay

I will be report I will be writing about how ICT has an affect on my local community which is Bradford, West Yorkshire. I will also include the good things and the bad about each part of ICT as it is used by the local community and laws that effect the way things are done in the local community. Booking tickets on-line. You can book tickets online for many events but the most popular is booking for the Alhambra theatre in Bradford. People often go to the Alhambra to see live shows that range from comedies to dramas and being able to book a ticket online is useful for many people in the local community. To book a ticket on-line is easy just follow the instructions on the site, here is an example: The good points about it are that to book a ticket the community doesn’t even have to move from their seat, and they can also take their time choosing when and what they want to see. The bad points about this is that the local community’s request might not go through although they have thought it has, or the system of the theatre may have gone down and then in that case they have to go to the theatre themselves. There is also a lack of human contact and they can only book into an area and not a specific seat, there also maybe a charge for tickets booked on-line and a further charge if you would like them posted to a home in the community. Another bad point is that the site may not be secure from credit card fraud. I think it could be improved by a confirmation being sent to their e-mail address so you know whether or not your booking has gone through. You can also book a ticket over the phone which is a little harder because rather than taking your time as on the web, The good points about booking a ticket over the phone is that time can be saved even if anyone in the community doesn’t own a computer. There are also some bad points for the local community about booking online and they are: they have to give credit card details over the phone and other people may be listening in to take your details without permission, although you are talking to someone there is still a lack of contact, you can book your ticket for most Bradford theatres like the Alhambra in Bradford city centre and the Imax cinema also in Bradford city centre at the times of Monday – Saturday 9:00am – 8:00pm except Thursday 11:00am – 8:00pm, one final thing is that they have to be clear on what they want to see and when they want to see it. There are always a variety of shows on at these popular places. People can be reassured when it comes to give out there personal details over the net because of the Data Protection Act, this law stops the Alhambra giving out any information about the customer purchasing a ticket over the net. This law is effective because it reassures people that any infor mation given out will be safe and stops credit card fraud. ICT in Libraries The library in Bradford uses ICT a lot of the time. They use it for booking books in and out of the library where they have a quick find system which allows them to locate any book whether it is in their department or another. Bradford Central library is the most popular library in Bradford and it has 8 floors each with 1 or 2 hone lines. They also have internet access which can be use by the local community. This is where the internet code of practice comes into play here, it is an agreement that protects internet users. This isn’t really effective because it is an agreement not a law. People still pay a small fee to register with this practice although there is no need to. The library also has access to other ICT appliances on all floors of the library which can be used by the puff called James by the public any time during opening hours. They also have bigger screen with bigger text which meet the needs of the visually impaired. Software packages available are: Word 2000, Excel 2000, Publisher 2000 and Power Point 2000. To get these programs the library has to be licensed which it is otherwise they would be breaking a Copyright Law called Software Copyright Laws which came into force in the year 1988. This law states that software can not be used if it is not registered. The Computer misuse act also comes in to consideration here because this law states that unauthorised access to computer programs or data is an offence. This also protects the library from hackers, hacking into their computers. This law is not really effective because there have been so few prosecutions because many organisations dislike to admit their security procedures have been breached. There are also 2 lifts installed in the library which help the disabled people get from floor to floor and also to help move large quantities of books or other things. The good points for the local community are that when you ring up you can go directly to the place you need to be rather than having to be transferred through the phone lines. Staff is always available if you should have a problem on the PCs. If you need somewhere quiet to come and do some work then you can do it here. There are also bigger screens if you are visually impaired which are extremely useful not just for the visually impaired but also for any detail which needs to be done. They also have a kurzweil personal reader which is the name of a cassette player which recognizes words on the screen and reads them which is ideal for a blind person There also some bad points to the libraries and they are that the library is not always open so you can’t go on them any time you like. There is a set amount of time you are on the PCs so if you have a large amount of work that needs to be done you may have to make several visits if you also need to do research at the same time. I think ways that this could be improved are a bigger variety of brail printers throughout the library and more cassette players so they do not have to keep going to the top floor just to get access to one. Traffic lights All traffic lights use ICT, some have sensors on them and some have timers. There is a variety of technology which is used to detect whether a car has arrived at an intersection ranging from lasers to rubber hoses filled with compressed air. The most common is an inductive loop which is a coil of wire embedded in to the road. There is an example of laser traffic lights on Hammestrasse junction on Valley Parade. The good points about this are that it reduces the build up of traffic around junctions. The bad points about this are that some may get vandalised and when there is too much traffic the lights are always changing and that leads to build up on one side of the lights and there will not be as much on the other. Also these are good for pedestrians because they have the advantage, when the button is pressed the lights change within 30 seconds. The bad points however are that if there is loads of traffic, lights are constantly changing which can be a pain if you are in a rush. Also if you are the only car at one point of the junction and many at another the green light will stay with the majority of the traffic so you could be waiting there for up to 5 minutes. There are also some lights on Wakefield Road near the end of Lister Avenue and those are in between 2 schools, which are BCCC and Lower Fields Primary, these are extremely useful for the many kids that use them many times throughout the year. These light work on a timer so even though there may not be any pedestrians there vehicles will have to stop anyway which can be stressful because it is on a main road.

Pampered Child Book Review

Mamen also identifies he â€Å"symptoms† of the pampered child that mimic those of genuine emotional, behavioral, and psychiatric disorders and explains the dangers of misdiagnosis. While reading this book many things were brought to my attention, it connected to many related topics that were discussed in my child development course. Some topics that were related were; how to care and nurture children, disorders in children, and mainly how to control children's emotions.In my child development course my professor made it very clear to us that when caring for a child â€Å"parenting† is a very important factor in a child's life. It has also been suggested that parents most definitely matter. â€Å"In fact we are the most powerful instruments of change in a family. † There was only a small section the book where it talks about parenting. Which I thought was a little downfall for parents reading this book. There is a bigger section in the book about disorders. In my child development course we took quite a decent time going over several disorders.One specific disorder that was mention in the book was anxiety. When reading over this section of the book I was very connected to what I have learned in my course about anxiety. In the book, Mamen entions that there are three compents to anxiety which include; physiological which deals with your autonomic nervous system, cognitive which is through yours thoughts and behavioral which is related to avoidance. When looking back to my notes from class these 3 components are also mentioned.Mamen also talks about different types of anxiety, which was also talked about in my course. Stranger anxiety and separation anxiety are very common in infants and toddlers. Another topic in the book that I connected to my child development course was the section about temper tantrums. â€Å"Temper tantrums are not fun! As Mamen states that temper tantrums are not fun I can relate to my professor stating the same. The book mentions that there are two types of tantrums one being a temperamental and the other manipulative.Mamen states how to react to each of these tantrums. Just as I was reading I remembered my professor stating to â€Å"never give in† during a manipulative tantrum. The book states the same. Mamen states in her writing when dealing with manipulative tantrums, â€Å"that you must stay consist, if you're not consist you will never see the end to these tantrums. † One negative that I thought while reading about isorders she didn't explain how to deal with temperamental tantrums as well.She discussed the differences but when looking back to my notes, I noticed that my professor stated that you must â€Å"remove the cause† when dealing with temperamental tantrums. I thought Mamen could have had something along those lines while discussing temperamental tantrums. I thought that these two topics, anxiety and tantrums is where I felt connected to what I have learned th roughout my child development course. I believe that the book correlated very well with the information that I learned about each of these two topics.All in all, Mamen is very descriptive in her writings about each topic that she discusses. While reading I was very engaged in each of her topics. I did find that her topics about tantrums and disorders were very affected on how to cope with each of them. I would definitely rate this book as being useful. I would recommend it to any parent or professional trying to cope with â€Å"pampered child syndrome. † Mamen does an effective way on not only how to recognize this syndrome but also how to manage it.

Religion Christianity Essay

In relation to Mark 8:34, the teachings of Martin Luther, combined with the Sacrament of Baptism and the ethical application of Church teachings on bioethics, all represent the above sentiment. Significantly, Martin Luther, a fifteenth century German monk, set to right the path the church was leading its’ adherents – to help the members of the Church â€Å"take up [their] Cross† to â€Å"follow [Jesus]†. One of the major sacraments he fervently believed was necessary to â€Å"come after† Jesus is the Sacrament of Baptism, which is still applicable in the lives of Christians today. This sacrament, which invites the adherent into the ethical guidelines of the Church, is essential for the adherent as it enables them to â€Å"come after† Jesus through the practical application of his teachings through their lives. Thus, a combination of significant people, sacraments and ethics of Christianity all link to represent the sentiment in Mark 8:34. In the 15th Century, Martin Luther, a German Christian monk at the time, visited Rome and saw the corruption of the Church, denying adherents to â€Å"take up [their] cross†. Revolted, Luther wrote his first significant doctrine, the Disputation of the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences (1517), nailed to the Church door, was revolutionary in righting Church doctrine to allow adherents to â€Å"come after† Jesus. In the document, Luther preached that indulgences were a way by the corrupt Church to steal money of already poor people, for the already wealthy Papacy. Stating that the Church was manipulating the population by putting themselves between an individual of God, he preached against the corruptness, â€Å"In the absence of justice, what is sovereignty but organized robbery? (St Augustine). Instead, he preached his new theology, one which stuck a chord with many people as the writings spread due to the printing press. The teaching of, â€Å"The upright man finds life through faith† was the start of core teachings that would usurp Church doctrine by enabling the adherent to â€Å"deny himself, take up his cross and follow [Jesus]†. However, perhaps Luther’s most important document of all was conceived in 1522 – The German Translation of the Bible. This single document enabled the ordinary Christian adherent to follow Jesus as laid out in Mark 8:34. Through this, people could achieve â€Å"justification by faith alone† and was the medium through which an individual’s relationship with God could be achieved. The clergy and Church doctrine were no longer needed to guarantee the individuals advancement into heaven. The corrupt influence of the Church could be ceased as common people could now read teachings for themselves, instead of the illegible Latin text. By giving people the tool to follow Jesus into everlasting life, personal relationships with God could grow. This final text was the catalyst for the now known Protestant Reformation, inciting a rift against Protestants and Catholics that would shape the church doctrine and development up until the present day. One sacrament that Luther encouraged the Church to keep was the Sacrament of Baptism. This Sacrament essentially gives encouragement for the adherent to follow Jesus – to â€Å"take up his Cross† – through the promise of Salvation. This tool to heaven for adherents positively impacts upon adherents as it encourages them to live a life and â€Å"follow† the way Jesus preached it and develop a positive relationship with God and the community ad embrace the Grace they will receive. Significantly as well, the statement in the Bible by Mark, â€Å"he who believes and is baptised will be saved† (Mark 16:16), gives evidence to this sacred link between the sacrament of Baptism and salvation. This link, then, provides reason for adherents to live a good, fulfilling life in the eyes of Jesus and to â€Å"follow [Jesus]† teachings. Baptism is furthermore representative of Mark 8:34 as it initiates adherent rebirth into the Church to become part of the Body of Christ. The Christian community is the living Christ whose job is to spread the ‘good news’ – thus to â€Å"come after† Jesus and what he preached in his Ministry. The baptismal vows ask the candidate to ‘ever remain faithful to His Church’ and in doing so, one takes on the responsibility of being an active member of the community and to nurture the faith of others. Similarly, the community is sked to help foster the faith of those baptised and to reflect on their own beliefs and the way they â€Å"follow† Jesus. Candidates must live according to the laws and practices of the community in which they have been baptised into. In baptism, one affirms their faith in the principle beliefs of Christianity – essential in allowing the adherent to â€Å"deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow [Jesus]. † This ideal of following Jesus, as communicated in Mark 8:34, is practiced in many ways by adherents; importantly through taking a Christian ethical stance on bioethical issues. The ethical teachings of Jesus not only guide the adherent to make the right decision about bioethical issues, but they also allow the adherent to choose the right path and â€Å"come after† Jesus. Agape, the love for friends as well as enemies, is one of the most influential ethical teachings. Exhibited in the Scripture in Matthew 5:43-44, â€Å"Love your enemies and pray for those whom persecute you† is a huge deciding factor in ethical decision making, taking into account this love for all humans – the application of which allows the adherent to â€Å"and take up his Cross, and follow [Jesus]. This application is evident through the Christian ethical stance on euthanasia. Very simply, the stance taken by Catholic, Orthodox and Uniting is influenced by a single Commandment, â€Å"Thou shalt not kill† (Exodus). There is a unified belief that euthanasia is wrong, as it breaches the guidelines of agape, and violates the other major ethical teachings of human dignity and humans made in the image of God. By applying this teaching of Jesus onto these bioethical issues, such as euthanasia, the adherent is allowed to â€Å"come after† Jesus and to follow him. Thus, the practices, teachings and significant idols of Christianity definitely represent the Mark 8:34 sentiment. From Luther’s righting of Church doctrine to allow adherents to â€Å"come after† and â€Å"follow† Jesus, to the encouragement to follow Jesus through the Baptism sacrament and the application of Jesus’ ministry through bioethics, the practices and teachings of Christianity fervently represent the above sentiment.

Tanglewood Stores

1. Answering this question demonstrates that processes underlie all of our jobs. What might be surprising is how many students would put their job in the category of â€Å"other,† suggesting that many jobs do not fall neatly into any one functional area. Perhaps many in the â€Å"other† category might best be called â€Å"operations† on further reflection. Customers, both internal and external, are part of each process, and the goal is to manage the processes to add the most value for them. 2. Amazon. com offers a very broad range of services and products at competitive prices.Its competitive priorities would include fast delivery time, on-time delivery, customization, variety and low-cost operations. As a business, Amazon. com is actually assembling a customized basket of goods that must be delivered in a short window of time in a dependable fashion. Low-cost operations are needed to remain competitive. To remain in business, Amazon. com needs to maintain high v olumes of traffic. Operations strategy must focus on stock availability and quick, economical, and dependable delivery. 3.The hospital’s commitment to provide attention to patients arriving to the emergency unit in less than 15 minutes and never to turn away patients who need to be hospitalized implies that the facility must be designed to have extra capacity in both beds and emergency room facilities. It must plan on having extra personnel in the emergency room and also plan on having additional emergency personnel on call to take care of unprecedented heavy loads. In line with the mission statement, maximum utilization of the facilities (i. e. beds and emergency room personnel) would not be one of the performance objectives for the hospital.4. FedEx traditionally has competed on the basis of fast, dependable delivery. Before the boom in Internet applications, many businesses relied on FedEx to get things to other businesses overnight. Now, this need is beginning to diminish as sophisticated systems are being installed to assist companies in planning operations better. And, the internet based companies are adding more demands for low cost ground deliveries to specific customer doors.FedEx, in order to remain competitive with companies such as UPS, has moved into the door-to-door delivery business, perhaps through acquisition. Nonetheless, it will require changes to this company’s competitive priorities. 5. Technology Management. To identify a market segment, we need to determine answers to questions such as: Which colleges and departments currently offer the subject? What do instructors desire in the way of textbook support? Is there a trend toward Technology Management courses? Are there other Technology Management texts? Some needs assessment can be accomplished by survey, but the response rate may be low.A high-investment strategy would be to ask or hire instructors to review and critique a list of topics, then an outline, then a draft. Expli cit services include supplying information about the subject in the form of a textbook and instructor support in the form of ancillary publications. 6. It is often not a good idea for a company to try to excel in all of the competitive priorities because it is generally impossible to do so. Mediocrity is a predictable result. The choice and the minimum level of one or more of the competitive priorities are set by the order qualifiers for the particular product or service.The choice of the competitive priorities that the company should emphasize is usually governed by the company’s strategy driven by its mission statement and the core competencies that the company wants to harness to seek the best competitive advantage. 7. Core processes should link to a firm’s core competencies. Core processes are those processes that provide the firm the best competitive advantage. Essential to the definition a firm’s core processes is the concept of â€Å"interaction costs. à ¢â‚¬  These costs include the time and money that are expended whenever people and companies exchange services, products, or ideas.If the transaction costs are higher to retain a process within the firm’s organization than to outsource the process, the process should be outsourced. 8. Wendy’s assembles hamburgers to order. When materials are held at the stage just before final assembly, they can be used to complete a wide variety of different sandwiches. Because no finished-goods stock exists, when customers say, â€Å"Hold the sauce,† there is no delay or waste of materials. Service clerks specialize. One clerk takes orders and payment. Others fill portions of the order.Orders are processed in single file. Throughput is normally restricted by transactions at the cash register. At busy times, throughput is increased by splitting the bottleneck operation. One clerk takes customer orders, another receives payment. The Wendy’s operation has some characteris tics of assembly. Therefore, the impact of new menu items on the production operations must be carefully considered. 9. Grandmother’s Chicken. a. Kathryn Shoemaker’s strategic plans include the following: Product and service plans: Should the new location offer a new mix?Competitive priorities: If the product mix and service mix are different at the new location, the thrust could be on low volumes and high quality. Quality management: Should the goal be reliability or top quality? Process strategy: What processes will be needed to make chicken dinners in the addition or new facility? New technologies: Is it time to automate? Is this why there is a problem in service times? Capacity: How large should the addition or new facility be? Location: Should we locate in Uniontown or expand in Middlesburg? b. Attitudes toward nutrition could change the demand for chicken.Competitors such as Boston Market may be planning to move to Uniontown or even Middlesburg. There may be a tr end toward demands for ever-faster service, which cannot be supported by the processes specified in the â€Å"unique recipe. † The economy of Uniontown might not be supportive of restaurant services. Shoemaker should also consider the availability of key resources, such as servers, whole chickens, spices, and cooking oil. Will Uniontown labor organize?c. The possible distinctive competencies at Grandmother’s Chicken Restaurant include the â€Å"unique recipe,† the homey atmosphere, and friendly, prompt service. 0. Wild West, is recognizable as US WEST, which was bought out by Qwest in a hostile takeover in June, 2000. But many other â€Å"Baby Bells† are in a similar position. a. Strategic plans include reducing overhead, reengineering operations, and investing in new technologies to meet competition. The â€Å"do-nothing† option of remaining a local monopoly telephone company is not viable because of competition from cable systems and wireless sys tems that are capable of business and personal communication. If the mission is too broad, Wild West should sell its financial services and commercial real-estate businesses.Those businesses do not match their distinctive competencies. b. One environmental issue is whether communication, like health care, will be viewed as a â€Å"right† and therefore should be free. A significant portion of Wild West’s business is governed by regulatory agencies. Customer service in their core business is essential to maintaining a favorable regulatory environment. Other business opportunities, such as manufacturing and providing information services, are prohibited by the same court order that formed the â€Å"Baby Bells† from AT&T. c.Wild West’s distinctive competency is in connecting people (or machines) for the purpose of communication. A weakness is high overhead inherited from the era of telecommunication monopoly. 11. Although the answers may vary depending on the â€Å"niche† elements of the business, the competitive priorities would include on-time delivery, low-cost operations, and customization. The latter competitive priority comes from the capability to assemble unique â€Å"baskets† of food items for each customer. There may be a need to coordinate a given basket between two different stores.Capabilities to develop would include information systems and Web page design, efficient scheduling of delivery trucks (which must first collect the items in the basket and then deliver them to the customer’s door), and an adequate fleet of trucks with drivers. PROBLEMS 1. Boehring University a. Value of output: [pic] Value of input: labor + material + overhead [pic] Multifactor Productivity ratio: Productivity [pic] Compared to Solved problem 1, multifactor productivity has increased from 1. 25 to 1. 76. b. Value of output is the same as in part a: [pic] Labor-hours of input: pic] Productivity ratio: Labor Productivity [pic] The $192 season ticket price is not used in this calculation. It is a â€Å"red herring. † 2. Suds and Duds Laundry a. Labor productivity | |Number of |Input |Output |Output/Input | |Week |Workers |(Labor-hours) |(Shirts) |Ratio | |1 |2 |24 |68 |2. 83 shirts/hour | |2 |2 |46 |130 |2. 83 shirts/hour | |3 |3 |62 |152 |2. 45 shirts/hour | |4 |3 |51 |125 |2. 45 shirts/hour | |5 |2 |45 |131 |2. 91 shirts/hour | b. Output per person does not vary much whether it is Sud, Dud, or Jud working. Productivity declines when all three are present.Perhaps there isn’t enough work to keep three persons occupied, or perhaps there is not enough work space or equipment to accommodate three workers. 3. Compact disc players Value of Output: $300 Value of Input: Labor + Materials + Overhead Productivity [pic] 10% productivity improvement [pic] Given productivity[pic], and the value of output [pic] we solve for the cost of inputs: Productivity [pic] Input [pic] or $136 The cost of inputs must decrease by[pic]. a. A $14 reduction in material costs is [pic] b. A $14 reduction in labor costs is [pic] c. A $14 reduction in overhead is $14/$50 = 28. 00% . The output of a process is valued at $100 per unit. The cost of labor is $50 per hour including benefits. The accounting department provided the following information about the process for the past four weeks: | |Week 1 |Week 2 |Week 3 |Week 4 | |Units Produced |1124 |1310 |1092 |981 | |Total Value |112,400 |131,000 |109,200 |98,100 ||Labor ($) |12,735 |14,842 |10,603 |9526 | |Labor (hrs) |254. 7 |296. 8 |212. 1 |190. 5 | |Material ($) |21,041 |24,523 |20,442 |18,364 | |Overhead ($) |8,992 |10,480 |8,736 |7,848 | |Multifactor Productivity |2. 63 |2. 63 |2. 75 |2. 75 | |Labor Productivity |4. 1 units/hr |4. 41units/hr |5. 15 units/hr |5. 15 units/hr | a. Use the multifactor productivity ratio to see whether recent process improvements had any effect and, if so, when the effect was noticeable. Value of output [pic] Value of i nput: labor + material + overhead $12,735 + $21,041 + $8,992 = $42,768 Productivity ratio: Labor Productivity [pic] Week 1Productivity [pic] Week 2Productivity [pic] Week 3Productivity [pic] Week 4Productivity [pic] [pic] Improved 4. 45% – noticeable in Week 3 b. Has labor productivity changed? Use the labor productivity ratio to support your answer.Labor-hours of input: Labor $50/hour Labor costs Week 1 = $12,735/$50 = 254. 7 Week 2 = $14,842/$50 = 296. 84 Week 3 = $10,603/$50 = 212. 06 Week 4 = $9,526/$50 = 190. 52 Productivity ratio: Labor Productivity [pic] Week 1 = Labor Productivity [pic] Week 2 = Labor Productivity [pic] Week 3 = Labor Productivity [pic] Week 4 = Labor Productivity [pic] [pic] Improved 16. 68% 5. Alyssa’s Custom Cakes a. [pic] [pic] Solve for x = $850/1. 25 = $680 Total costs = $680 Average cost per cake = $680/10 = $68/cake b. Labor productivity Birthday cake = $50/ 1. 5 hours = $33. 30/hourWedding Cake = $150/ 4 hours = $37. 50/hour Specialty Cake = $100/1 hours = $100/hour c. Based on labor productivity, Alyssa should try to sell specialty cakes the most. d. Yes, Alyssa should stop selling birthday cakes. Based on answer a, she loses $68 – $50 = $18 everytime she sells a birthday cake. advanced PROBLEMS 6. Big Black Bird Company The Big Black Bird Company problem is based on a product made by Raven Industries. None of the numbers are representative of actual costs or volume. a. Multifactor Productivity Original Situation: Value of output: [pic] Value of input: [pic]Productivity ratio: Productivity [pic] Overtime Situation: Value of output: [pic] Value of input: [pic] Productivity ratio: Productivity [pic] Productivity decreases by: [pic] b. Labor Productivity Original Situation: Value of output (from part a) is: $500,000 Labor-hours of input: [pic] Labor productivity [pic] Overtime Situation: Value of output (from part a) is: $800,000 Labor-hours of input: [pic] Labor productivity =$800,000 / 7200 hours = $111. 1 1/hours Labor productivity decreases by: (125/111. 11) / 125 x 100% = 11. 1% c. Gross profits Original Situation:[pic]Overtime Situation:[pic] Weekly profits increased. 7. Mack’s Guitar Company a. Labor productivity = output/input Output = 100 guitars x 80% completion rate x price/guitar = 80 guitars/ month x $250/guitar = $20,000 Input Labor = 10/hours per guitar x 100 guitars = 1000 hours Labor productivity is $20,000/1000 = $20/hour Multifactor productivity ratio = output/input Output = 100 guitars x 80% completion rate x price/guitar = 80 guitars/ month x $250/guitar = $20,000 Input Labor = $10/hour x 10/hours per guitar x 100 guitars = $10, 000 Material = $40/guitar x 100 guitars = $4, 000Overhead = $4,000 Multifactor productivity ratio = $20, 000/$18, 000 = 1. 11 b. Option 1. Increase sales price by 10% Output = 100 guitars x 80% completion rate x ($250 x 1. 1) = $22,000 Input Labor is same as in part (a) = $10,000 Material is same as in part (a). = $4,000 Overhead is s ame as in part (a) = $4,000 Multifactor productivity ratio = $22,000/$18,000 = 1. 22 Option 2. Improve Quality Output = 100 guitars x 90% completion rate x $250/guitar = $22,500 Input Labor is same as in part (a) = $10,000 Material is same as in part (a). = $4,000 Overhead is same as in part (a) = $4,000Multifactor productivity ratio = $22,500/$18,000 = 1. 25 Option 3. Reduce costs by 10% Output = same as in part (a) = $20,000 Input Reduce costs by 10% yields 90% of the input costs from part (a). = $18,000 x 0. 90 = $16,200 Multifactor productivity ratio = $20,000/$16,200 = 1. 23 Darren should choose Option 2 and improve quality because it yields the greatest improvement in multifactor productivity. CASE: CHAD’S CREATIVE CONCEPTS* A. Synopsis This case describes a small furniture manufacturing company that has gained a reputation for creative designs and quality by focusing on producing custom-designed furniture.As its reputation grew it began to sell some standard furniture pieces to retail outlets. The overall growth in sales volume and the diversification into the production of standard furniture pieces have caused a number of issues to arise concerning both the internal manufacturing operations and its relationship to the other functional areas of the company. B. Purpose This case is designed to be used as either a â€Å"cold-call† case for class discussion or an assigned homework reading. Major points to be brought out in the discussion include: 1. The range of decisions that are made in designing and operating processes 2.The impact that these operating decisions have on the organization as a whole, such as on marketing and finance 3. The impact that decisions made in other functional areas of the organization have on the operating function 4. The need to go beyond the â€Å"functional silo† mentality and manage in an integrative manner C. Analysis Question 1: What types of decisions must Chad Thomas make daily for his companyâ€℠¢s operations to run effectively? Over the long run? The students should be able to discuss a number of short-term-oriented decisions that are facing Chad Thomas.These should include: a. How to set priorities and schedule different orders. Chad is receiving orders for both custom-made, low-volume furniture pieces and higher-volume, standard pieces. Sales have increased, but the amount of equipment and the production capacity of the company have not. Different orders with different manufacturing requirements are now competing for the same productive capacity. b. What orders to accept and how long of a lead time to plan for in promising a delivery date. c. What type of work policies should be maintained for his employees?Decisions such as the number and type of employees to employ, the number of hours to work per day, and the amount of overtime to allow are all work policy decisions that impact the available capacity level. d. The allocation of resources, equipment, labor, and money t o each product line. e. The level of inventory to maintain at various stages of the production process for both the custom and standard furniture lines (i. e. , raw material, WIP, finished goods). These decisions are linked to the longer-term, total inventory-investment decision.Examples of longer-term decisions that face Chad Thomas include: . Amount of money to tie up in the total inventory investment. b. The type of equipment to invest in to support efficient production. At what point should more specialized equipment be purchased to manufacture high-volume, standard furniture pieces more efficiently? c. What should be the overall workforce level to maintain, and what should be the proper mix of skills and capabilities? d. How should the facilities be laid out to accommodate the two different product lines? This gets the students into a whole range of capacity and equipment allocation decisions including size, type, and configuration.In these decisions it is important that the st udents see the significance of consistency of both strategic and operating decisions across functional areas. Question 2: How did sales and marketing affect operations when they began to sell standard pieces to retail outlets? Standard furniture pieces compete on a different set of competitive priorities than custom-designed pieces. Timely delivery and low costs are much more important than product flexibility. Quality may also be defined differently. The existing facilities are set up to provide flexibility with its job-shop orientation and general-purpose equipment.By introducing a standard line that should be manufactured on a flow line with some dedicated, more specialized equipment, a conflict has developed, and scheduling problems have resulted. Question 3: How has the move to producing standard furniture pieces affected the financial structure of the company? Inventory investment and operating costs are rising because of the frequent changeovers to accommodate the two differe nt product lines and their scheduling conflicts. Profit margins for the standard line are smaller, which puts pressure on manufacturing to increase productivity and reduce costs.There may also be an issue concerning the assignment of overhead costs to each product line. Finally, the potential need to rent warehouse space to store either WIP or finished-goods inventory cuts into the profit margin for the standard furniture line. Question 4: What might Chad Thomas have done differently to help avoid some of these problems? Chad needs to address issues relating to functional areas. Make sure the student is able to identify decisions that relate to more than one functional area. Examples include the following: Operations Function 1. Monitoring capacity and utilization of facilities 2.Formulating inventory policies—dollars, items, and unit levels 3. Setting scheduling policies and priorities 4. Maintaining product line quality Marketing and Sales 1. Accurately forecasting orders f or standard pieces 2. Defining market segments and customer needs 3. Determining what delivery schedules can be promised to customers Finance 1. Deciding level and type of investment 2. Investigating the effect of capacity investment decisions on ROI Distribution/Logistics 1. Managing distribution and pipeline inventory 2. Comparing cost and advantages of various transportation modes 3. Meeting delivery lead timesThree possible avenues that students may focus on are: Thomas might have a. Established a plan for a more controlled growth. Part of this plan would be the development of the appropriate infrastructure to manage a controlled growth as to what markets to enter, what product lines to develop, and how to develop the proper manufacturing capabilities. b. Maintained the company focus on custom-designed furniture only.This alternative presents a whole different set of issues and decisions pertaining to future growth, but it would have avoided the issues of mixed competitive prior ities and scheduling conflicts. . Realized the different requirements for each product line and focused the manufacturing facilities into two separate sets of production facilities designed to cater to each product line’s specific needs. D. Recommendations This case is not designed to be a decision-making case per se but rather a vehicle to get students thinking about the types and the integrated nature of decisions that operations managers face. The students may, indeed, have suggestions as to what should be done to help out Chad Thomas.These recommendations will more than likely follow the alternatives already discussed. As recommendations are provided by students, make sure you push them to understand the implications of their recommendations with respect to the company as a whole and the other functional areas. E. Teaching Strategy This case can be effectively discussed in 20 to 30 minutes by following the discussion questions provided at the end. The questions are interc onnected and somewhat redundant on purpose to reinforce the interrelatedness of decisions made in various functional areas of the company.The intent is to have the students understand the range of decisions that face managers in the operating function and to realize that different types of products competing in different markets place different demands on the operating function. Therefore, productive systems will take on a variety of configurations. Exhibit TN. 1 lays out a sample table to be written on the board displaying important issues in the class discussion. Each column can be used to compare and contrast the differences in the requirements imposed by custom versus standard furniture for each area.|EXHIBIT TN. 1 |Board Plan | |Important Issues |Custom Furniture |Standard Furniture | | | | | |Marketing | | | | | | | |Quality level and quality control | | | | | | | |Process equipment | | | | | | | |Process flow | | | | | | | |Production scheduling system | | | | | | | |Purchasi ng | | | | | | | |Type of inventory and inventory control system| | | | | | | |Type of engineering | | | | | | | |Type of labor and supervision needed | | | | | | | |Wage/reward system | | | | | | | |Layout | | | CASE: BSB, INC. : Pizza Wars Come to Campus * A. Synopsis BSB, Inc. resents the situation where launching a pizza service at a food service operation on a college campus turns out to be very successful. As the manager of the food service operation is contemplating an expansion of the service, an announcement by the university that a new food court will soon be opening in the new student union causes some concern. The new food court will contain, for the first time on campus, other food service companies, including a new Pizza Hut kiosk. This causes the manager of BSB, Inc. to reevaluate the competitive environment and her own competitive priorities.B. Purpose BSB, Inc. provides the students an opportunity to discuss a number of strategically focused issues to include the fo llowing: 1. Mission statements: Mission statements describe the fundamental purpose for which the organization exists. The university decided that a focus on food service operations was not part of its primary mission, so it contracted the service out to BSB, Inc. Students should be able to describe a mission statement for BSB, Inc. This statement will help in discussing the second major focus of this case. 2.Comparison of competitive priorities: When the pizza service was launched a year ago, the competitive priorities were to expand the product line to offer pizza that could be delivered quickly at a reasonable price. Costs were kept low, and turnaround time was short due to the limited combination of toppings available. With the addition of the food court and Pizza Hut on campus, competitive priorities may change. Delivery may still be a differentiating competitive priority, but product flexibility (variety) and volume flexibility (large order sizes) may become more important. BS B, Inc. ay not be able to compete on low cost when compared to Pizza Hut’s operations. 3. The impact changing competitive priorities has on operating decisions: Students need to discuss the potential impact that different competitive priorities have on process design and operating systems. If product flexibility and volume flexibility become more important, then there are implications for: a. Equipment needs—conventional oven versus continuous chain drive b. Capacity requirements—order size and delivery cycle c. Inventory issues—inventory needed to support product flexibility 4. Product life cycles: Demand for pizza on campus has leveled off.Why? Has it reached its mature, steady state? What will be the impact of new competition? What can be done to reposition pizza into a growth stage? These are questions that should be asked of students to get them to think about pizza’s product life cycle. C. Analysis A good analysis of the situation can be perf ormed by going through the five questions at the end of the case. The following is what you can expect from a first-year MBA student given the case as a take-home assignment to read and to respond to the questions at the end. Question 1: Does BSB, Inc. enjoy any competitive advantages or distinctive competencies?BSB’s competitive advantage is close proximity to the customers. Though 43 percent of meals are eaten off campus, 57 percent of meals are still eaten at BSB’s facilities. For pizza delivery the close proximity is critical, as it allows for quicker delivery. In addition, delivery can be done at a lower cost because bikes can be used. BSB’s distinctive competencies are the location of facilities and market know-how. Being on campus, BSB can provide delivery service quicker and at a lower cost. In addition, by being on campus, BSB is closer to the customer base, which allows Kershaw, the manager, to be more knowledgeable of her customer’s needs.She e mploys environmental scanning, such as the customer surveys, to keep abreast of her market. Question 2: Initially, how did Renee Kershaw choose to compete with her pizza operations? What were her competitive priorities? Initially, Kershaw chose to compete on delivery service and price. She used quick delivery as a key selling point. In addition, without a reasonable price, she could not compete with the off-campus pizza companies. In effect, her order qualifier was price, and her order winner was service.Her initial competitive priorities for pizza were delivery speed and price. Her on-campus location and limited standard toppings make these priorities possible. Unfortunately, this policy limits the variety of pizzas available. The increased requests for additional topping combinations and the leveling of sales suggest this policy may be hurting BSB. Question 3: What impact will the new food court have on Kershaw’s pizza operations? What competitive priorities might she choos e to focus on now? The new food court introduces new competition that has the same on-campus advantage as BSB.In addition, these companies can also provide products at reasonable prices, but unlike BSB, they have brand names. Her direct competitor, Pizza Hut, can probably provide a similar price. Most likely Pizza Hut will also have limited varieties; however, BSB still maintains its delivery advantage. The most likely new competitive priorities for BSB will be expanded product variety and longer service hours. The increased requests for alternate toppings show a customer interest in variety, and the expanded hours will enable BSB to offer service when the Pizza Hut is closed or when students are in their dorm rooms.Question 4: If Kershaw were to change the competitive priorities for the pizza operation, what are the gaps between the priorities and capabilities of her process? How might this impact her operating processes and capacity decisions? An increase in product variety will a ffect both service and cost. Kershaw probably cannot have as many premade pizzas ready to throw into the oven. She will also need to stock additional toppings. If she wants to maintain service, she will need to hire additional workers. She will inevitably have some trade-off between service and price if she adds product variety.Kershaw will also need to add capacity. At present, she is near capacity with her pizza ovens. She may even have to consider a new location, as there seems to be limited space at the grill location. Clearly she will need to determine the viability of pizza service before she takes this step. Question 5: Can you outline a service strategy for Kershaw’s operation on campus? If she chooses to stay in the pizza business, delivery will remain important. Food, most likely pizza, delivered from off campus, is a significant competitor. These competitive companies likely offer many pizza combinations.Therefore, BSB will need to increase variety to remain compet itive. The key to this strategy is to maintain quality and to innovate on product offerings. Kershaw must use her proximity to the customer to maintain her competitive advantage in determining their pizza delivery needs. The other strategy would be total price competition. This would require her to keep the limited menu and to push to keep costs at a bare minimum. Unfortunately this means maintaining the same basic strategy she has now. However, this strategy will most likely lead to an inevitable decline in market share.This strategy seems best if she decides to exit the market, but it gives her the opportunity to milk the market before exiting. In reviewing the student responses the instructor should note the following: 1. On question three, the student overlooks the continued importance of convenient, quick delivery. The other food services do not provide this service. 2. Students tend to hedge on question five. They should be pressured into putting together a service strategy as opposed to describing alternative choices only. There are a number of positions Kershaw may take.What is important, however, is to look for consistency in the strategies that students provide. D. Teaching Strategy This case is best assigned as a take-home assignment. Have the students focus on responding to the questions at the end of the case. Tell them to pay particular attention to the last question. The first four questions all lead up to the last one where students should describe a service strategy for pizza operations of BSB, Inc. Tell students you want them to settle on a specific strategy they can support. In class, start with the first question and cycle through to the final question, which describes their service strategies.It is helpful to try to get two or three different strategies on the board to compare and contrast approaches. It is important that students see that there are a number of good alternative strategies and not just one best one. A thorough discussion of this case will take 45 minutes to an hour, especially if alternative strategies are discussed. *This case was prepared by Dr. Brooke Saladin, Wake Forest University, as a basis for classroom discussion. *This case was prepared by Dr. Brooke Saladin, Wake Forest University, as a basis for classroom discussion.