Case Study -- Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Case Study -- Report - Essay Example The paper is directly relevant to the case in which management of employee relations and commitment to the organization is the crux of all problems encountered at Ancol. (Wilde, 1985) The second paper is â€Å"Fostering an environment of employee contribution to increase commitment and motivation† by Geoffrey C Lloyd. This paper uses a case study to relay its point. It is in light of British Gas Company which succeeded after they implemented their chief executive’s suggestion. The paper emphasizes on various ways in which an environment of employee contribution can be cultivated in an organization. It lays focus on the importance of empowerment, speeding up of communication process between management and employees and offers advice to companies who are thinking of restructuring their organization. The paper is very relevant to Ancol. Even Ancol is struggling with encouraging work place productivity, curbing absteeniesm and establishing sound relations between management and employees. The paper will offer insight into ways of improving things at Ancol and has a rich literature that will give more room for critical thinking and analysis. (LIoyd, 1996) The third paper is â€Å"Work Structuring for employee motivation† by Lyndon Jones. ... This is a relatively small yet important paper that explains ways in which good healthy relationships can be fostered in a work place environment; on the kind of human resource policies that should be adopted. Analysis: Sims had been only recently appointed as the manager of the Sheparton plant of Ancol. This was a very important point in his career and he wanted to set things straight at Ancol by making effective use of his management expertise. When Sims entered Ancol, he realized that the management and employee relations were severely strained within the organization. There were some major tiffs between them and they were not eye to eye with respect to the organizational goals. Hence, the center of all his focus was improving ties between the management and employees. In this bid to improve ties between the management and the employees, he order the removal of time clocks from the plant. He felt that this gesture will bring about a new level of credibility and strengthen relation s between the employees and the management at the site. The impact of this move was not completely productive. It did prove to be fruitful initially but did not have far reaching positive repercussions. The gesture was appreciated initially and many felt that was a positive effort by the plant manager. But the problems began cropping up two months later. Absteenism in the plant rose, productivity levels declined and other issues started emerging. This problem had to be tackled. Sims tried to solve the problem by giving additional responsibilities to supervisors of looking after emplolyee entrance and leaving problems and discussing it with them. but the supervisors had no prior experience at all this and did not have the

Generation & people Essay Example for Free

Generation people Essay It is interesting to study what makes a generation, before we go into whether generational factors play a key role in making one more willing to do or successful. It is generally accepted that a generation does not necessarily mean the same age people. It is rather the set of influences that worked on them during their formative years that makes their generation distinct. What is more important is that they share the same formative experiences. The whole theme of ‘generation factor’ is based more on observation and theories than on any dependable evidence. Our common sense tells that it is not so much the person’s date of birth that defines them it is rather what influences they were exposed to during their formative years and some time thereafter that is important. According to Rhode and Platteel, formative experiences produce powerful symbols from which arises a sense of a new generation. The plasticity of our brains, besides responding to the people and training to which we expose it, also responds, for good or for bad, to the technology all around us: television, movies, mobile phones, e-mail, laptop computers and the Internet (The New Brain Dr Richard Restak. 2003) The strongest influences on the ‘generation –y’ are the well known world brands and their products. They have successfully created a generation which is prosperous, happy and well adjusted. (By David Plotz. 1999). These influences play a key role in making the minds of the generation. Undoubtedly, all these will create openness in their approach resulting in willingness to do what think right. They are quite different from the previous generations which were more skeptical lacking the much needed information and guidance, reserved and unwilling to take risks. Now, â€Å"the brand touches the mindset and the heartstrings of a large proportion of VG by offering the attitude for living: ‘Just do it†. (David Plotz. ) References David Plotz (1999). The American Teenager. Why Generation Y? http://slate. msn. com/id/34963/ Richard Restak. ( 2003) . The New Brain. Rodale Ltd Rhode Platteel. (1999). Symbol Soup, Thames Hudson, ,

Socio Cultural Impact Of Television On Youth Media Essay

Socio Cultural Impact Of Television On Youth Media Essay This study has analysed Socio-cultural Impact of Television on Youth. The purpose of this study is to find out the impact of television programmes on youth. As a communication technology, television has a great acceptance and is being used extensively in India. Television viewership is no more restricted to the upper and upper-middle class of India as it used to be a few years back. Being inexpensive and easy to access, television spread rapidly in India. It has become one of the common household commodities. Therefore, this study attempted to understand whether demography influenced the viewership patterns of respondents or not. Television provides a variety of local and foreign channels and helps people in selecting programmes according to their taste and choice. Therefore, the first part of this study explored respondents preferred channels and kinds of programmes, reasons for watching television, preferred time of watching and control over the remote. It justified the application of Uses and Gratification Theory. This theory identifies television consumption patterns according to needs and satisfaction of targeted segment. The gratification factor leads to the exposure of programmes which in turn can generate impact. Main part of the present research comes under the impact tradition. It demands discussion on theories based on observational learning and information processing emphasize lasting impact of exposure to media contents. Thus, the study also applies Cultivation Theory in terms of impact through exposure and Social learning Theory which says that viewers attend and learn from models which are attractive, powerful, rewarding and similar to themselves. They do not act immediately on what they learn from television. Instead, they store such knowledge to be used when their own circumstances elicit it. Hence, the framework of this research is based on the set of three theories i.e. Uses and Gratification Theory, Cultivation Theory and Social Learning Theory. These theories are discussed below in relation with the present study in brief. 2.1Uses and Gratification Utility Theory, often known as the Uses and Gratification Approach offers another way of explaining why people expose themselves to some communications and not others; why they perceive a fraction of these to which they are exposed and why they remember- correctly or incorrectly. Blumler and Katzs Uses and Gratification Theory suggest that media users play an active role in choosing and using media. Users take an active part in the communication process and are goal oriented in their media usage. Theorists say that media users seek out source that best fulfils their needs. Uses and Gratification Theory assumes that users have alternate choices to satisfy their needs (Griffin. 2000).55 Uses and Gratification Theory takes a more humanistic approach to looking at the media usage. The theory takes out the possibility that media can have an unconscious influence on our lives and how we view the world. The idea that we simply use media to satisfy a given need does not seem to fully recognize the power of media in todays society. 2.2 Cultivation Theory Cultivation Theory in its most basic form, suggests that television is responsible for shaping or cultivating viewers conceptions of social reality. The combined effect of massive television exposure by viewers over time subtly shapes the perception of social reality for individuals and, ultimately for our culture as a whole. Thus, cultivation research is in the effects traditions. Cultivation research looks at the mass media as a socialising agent and investigates whether television viewers come to believe the television version of reality the more they watch it. Gerbner and his colleagues argue that television drama has a small but significant influence on the attitudes, beliefs and judgement of viewers concerning the social world. The focus is on heavy viewers. People who watch a lot of television are likely to be more influenced by the ways in which the world is framed by television programmes than are individuals who watch less, especially regarding topics of which the viewer ha s little first-hand experience. Light viewers may have more sources of information than heavy viewers. 58 This study has used Cultivation Theory by George Gerbner as a guide in exploring the consequences. Under guidance of this theory, this study may be able to emerge as a new theory. Essentially, the theory states that heavy exposure to mass media namely television creates and cultivates attitudes more consistent with a media fabricated version of reality than with what actual reality is. The cultivation theory asserts that heavy viewers attitudes are cultivated primarily by what they watch on television. Gerbner views this television world as not a window on or reflection of the world, but a world in itself (Mc Quail. 1993: 100).59 Cultivation theorists are best known for their study of television and viewers and in particular, for a focus on the topic of violence. However, some studies have also considered other mass media from this perspective and have dealt with topics such as gender roles, age groups, ethnic groups and political attitudes. Cultivation theorists argue that heavy viewing leads viewers (even among high educational/high income groups) to have more homogeneous or convergent opinions then light viewers (who tend to have more heterogeneous or divergent opinion). The cultivation effect of television viewing is one of the levelling or homogenizing opinion. Gross considered that television is a cultural arm of the established industrial order and as such serves primarily to maintain, stabilize and reinforce rather than to alter, threaten or weaken conventional beliefs and behaviours (Boyd. Barrett. Braham. And Peter, B. 1987: 100).60 2.3 Social Learning Theory The principle understanding of social learning theory is tied the social context of learning. According to Bandura, behaviours and responses that are repeated, perceived as real, distinct, functional and salient are more likely to be attended to, thus more likely to be learned. When observing an event, which receives some kind of reward like social approval, pleasant experience and when the observer feels confident to perform, its symbolic imitation is facilitated. The social cognitive principle has been widely employed to explain in television effects on a variety of social issues such as aggression, ethnic stereotypes, alcohol, attitudes and behaviour. It also stresses the importance of viewers cognitive activities when consuming television messages (Bandura. 1977). 63 Socialization process of person is influenced by innumerable factors such as family, school, environment factors etc. Direct experience and participation are important parameters which shape the youths impressions of the perceived structure of their environment. Mass media, particularly television plays a crucial role in bringing the outside world into homes. As an important institution, mass media enters the socialization process of an individual. De Fleur and Sandra (1989) stated despite general in nature, social learning theory is particularly relevant to study the impact of mass communication because the description and portrayal of social life is a frequent subject in media contents. The most common (and pervasive) examples of social learning situations are television commercials. Commercials suggest that drinking a certain beverage or using a particular shampoo will make us popular and win the admiration of attractive people. Depending upon the component processes involved (such as attention or motivation), users may model the behaviour shown in the commercial and buy the product being advertised. Actions of characters in the audio-visual media can serve as a model for others to imitate. Modelling Theory is also useful for describing the application of general Social Learning Theory which explain how new behaviours are acquired by people from media portrayals. An individual observes a character, identifies him/her as a mo del and remembers actions of model and performs them when confronted with similar circumstances (DeFleur and Sandra. 1989).64 In light of all these theories stated above, it is important to mention that the researcher has formulated a combination of the three theories in order to assess what is the main reason of their watching, their preferred channels and programmes. While on the other hand, it has also measured what kind of impact are taking place in the lives of the sample under study? If there are some affects that are changing attitudes of youth under the study. Are these effects long-lasting or short term. Hence, the researcher intended to explore all this for which the base of above mentioned theories was most suitable and required. It was also assumed that the youth (aged18-25 years) are vulnerable to influences and tend to be inclined towards change. Youth would serve as a barometer to assess the influence of television. Hence, youth of age 18-25 were selected for the study to determine the degree to which their attitudes were influenced by television. Now, with the availability of the foreign channels, an important question arises: does a youths behaviour reflect what his/her has watched on the television screen? The impact of foreign television programmes on youth involves a number of indispensible factors such as interest in the programmes, viewing pattern, reasons for watching, attitude towards programmes and models of social reality that these programmes promote. The study aimed at finding out whether and to what extent television affect youth in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts. The researcher aimed at finding answers to questions such as what youth think about these programmes in terms of their preferences and relevance. Is there any restriction on youth for watching television channels? Whether they experience an impact of these programmes on their attitudes or not?

Standardized Testing :: Standardized Testing Essays

Standardized Testing The truth is, white students continuously outperform black or Hispanic students in terms of proficiency test scores in every subject. For years, people have been trying to change this. Some blame the tests as being unfair and discriminatory, and seek to have them abolished. Perhaps the fault doesn’t lie in the tests and the discrepancy in scores lies elsewhere in the public education system. What the opponents of standardized testing need to understand is that this type of assessment is essential in having a public school system. The government implements standards for the student of the public school system to achieve by a certain grade level. Standardized tests are the most fair and effective way of measuring student achievement level. These tests are administered to everyone, regardless of sex, race or ethnicity. Just because white students typically perform better than minority students doesn’t mean that the testing is biased. Standardized testing is too important and too deeply entrenched in the public education system to deem unfair and have abolished. The tests that are being administered to students are used to determine the child’s proficiency in subjects such as mathematics and language arts - the building blocks of learning. This is to insure that all students are performing at or above their expected level. If a child is falling behind the rest of their class in these core subjects, these tests are a sure indicator of this. The student can then be looked after to insure that they progress along with the rest of their class. If not, then they can be held behind to insure that they gain adequate skills to perform at their required level of knowledge before proceeding to the next. It is important to â€Å"Leave no child behind† because inadequate preparation can be devastating for future education. If a student is not retaining this required knowledge, then the teachers must be aware, to insure the student a proper education. Students who cannot read or write should not be graduating from high school. Herman Badillo, chairman at the City University of New York, states firmly â€Å"the university should not have to be in the business of teaching basic reading, writing and English† (Blaming).

Human Energy Use

Human uses of energy over 10,000 years are explained in Changing Environments (Morris et al, 2003a). Until 10,000 years ago humans lived as hunter gatherers in small groups, this changed in the current interglacial stage or Holocene with the introduction of agriculture. Figure 2. 19 page 82 of (Morris et al, 2003b) indicates that during the early agriculturalist period humans had begun to domesticate animals that could be used for carrying and pulling. Energy use increased from 0. 24 W (calculations – Morris et al, 2003c, p 81-82) per day per capita in the previous period to 0. 8 W per day as it was realised that extra somatic energy obtained from food could be assisted by the use of tools made from metals such as bronze and iron. Energy use advanced by using tools, and as we moved to the advanced agriculturalists period energy consumption more than doubled to 1 W. The industrial society brought major changes in the use of energy with agriculture, transport and mining. There w ere increases in the use of fossil fuels as workplaces and homes were heated and the steam engine was introduced. (Morris et al, 2003d p 83). We can see in Figure 2. 9 page 82 of (Morris et al, 2003b), that during the period energy consumption rose to 4 W. The greatest increase of energy is 11 W in the technological society this was 10 W more than the early agriculturalists. This period sees energy increases in home, commerce, industry, agriculture and transportation. It is also during this time that we begin to see the use of fossil fuels to create electricity, gas and oil and also the introduction of nuclear fuel. There is a large increase in oil use during this period due to the increased use of transportation. (Morris et al, 2003d p 83).

Marketing Mix of Amazon Essay

One of the most difficult tasks for an organization is creating an all-around environment that allows a group of customers to feel comfortable purchasing a specific product or service from them. This strategy requires the organization to determine the ideal product or service at the right price, getting sold in the correct location, within the proper time frame. This paper intends to describe how Amazon. com uses the marketing mix to ensure an ideal environment for consumers, and displays how each of these sections are implemented. Amazon was founded in 1994 and is considered the largest e-commerce retailer in America. In 20 years this organization has become a fortune 500 company that has dominated the e-commerce market and displayed unique growth and understanding of the market and client needs. Although Amazon is a very successful organization, they experience many threats from competitors, market fluctuations, and basic uncertainties within the market. However, the firm intends to handle these issues by looking toward their future and addressing the initiatives and long-term goals of the organization. Understanding and controlling the variables in the marketing mix allows this organization to overcome many of these objectives so they may be successful in their future. The marketing mix has four basic areas also known as the four P’s that consist of the; product, place, promotion, and price. These four areas can be researched, evaluated, and controlled to the point of creating that ideal environment for the consumer because this effort is done to target the customer. The Product Variable The product section of the marketing mix helps the organization determine what customers want out of the product or service being offered and what specific needs of these customers will be satisfied. Other areas will be addressed such as, how this product is different from competitors, how the customers will use the product, the price rang customers would be willing to spend on the product, the color size or specific features offered, and what the product looks like. Amazon is unique in the products they offer to the public because it is so broad of a category. They provide their customers with the ability to choice from a wide variety of products, brand names, and designs. Amazon can be looked at as a one stop website because it allows the customer to compare all the statistics or features of a product with others that are offered. The Place Variable The place section of the marketing mix will help the organization determine how customers will access the products or services from the company, or understand where they initially will look. Knowing where customers will look gives the company the advantage of choosing the proper distribution channels, and staying ahead or on par with competitors with their advertising methods. The location to find the products and services Amazon offers is online, or at the convenience and comfort of the consumers home, office, coffee shop, library or any other location you can access the Internet from. All of the information on Amazons website is categorized by group, brand, features, color, and other selections, depending on the category that is being searched. Merchandise is ordered online and then shipped to the customers chosen location, normally their home or business. Many of Amazons customers are small business owners so this set up is ideal for these individuals because there is less shopping around to do, and the merchandise can be sent to them directly. However, a disadvantage of developing just an online e-store is that customers cannot view items or products in person that may be necessary for specific things such as clothes, makeup or furniture. Also consumers may not want to wait for an item to be shipped to them, they may need to get a product immediately and at that point customers will have to go to Amazon’s competitors.