Human Resources Planning for Hospitality and Tourism

Graduate School Trisakti Institute of Tourism Final Assignment (Problem Solving) Course : Human Resources Planning for Hospitality and Tourism Lectrurer : Prof. Syamsir Abduh, PhD Case Study 1 Brunt Hotels, PLC, owns more than 60 hotels throughout the United Kingdom. They recently acquired a small hotel chain headquartered in France. Brunt’s chief executive decided that half of the new hotels in France would be retained and rebranded as part of the Brunt Hotels Group; the other half will be sold.This will support Brunt’s strategic objective of growing the organization slowly to make sure that new ventures are well supported and opened on time and on budget. Brunt’s hotels are considered budget accommodations; they are functional, clean and reasonably priced. Additional information about UK hotel standards is available at Most guests stay for one to three nights and are a combination of business and leisure travellers. The hotels are typically situated in downtown locations that are easily accessible by mass transit. Relevant materials: Hospitality and Tourism RelationshipTourists are attracted to these hotels in popular visitor destinations where the many local attractions mean that they will not be spending much time in their hotel rooms. The organization has decided to use an ethnocentric approach and send some of their existing UK-based managers to France to lead the changeover of the new hotels and then manage them after they re-open. If this new overseas venture is successful, Brunt may decide to acquire other small hotel groups in other European countries. The organization would like to own 150 hotels in the next five years. Their 10-year plan is to own 300 hotels across Europe.This is an ambitious target, so it is important that the organization finds an effective formula to operate successfully in other countries. The management team decides to select only one of the three proposed training programs, confident that it will be useful and informative for the new expatriates. However, they would also like to provide external support for the new expatriates to make their transition to a new country as smooth as possible. They are aware of some of the services that can be offered to support employees on both a personal and professional level, but do not have a comprehensive overview.Question: The management team asks you to conduct Internet-based research to find out what expatriate support services are available. Case Study 2 (see the case study 1: Brunt Hotels) The management team liked your recruitment advertisement, but realized that they did not consider the salary for these new positions! Since the organization has never hired managers to work outside the UK before, they do not know how to start determining the compensation. They provide you with the following information that they found on the Internet: * Existing salary for managers is ? 0,000 (45,000 Euros) plus bonuses. * Surveys show that the average salary for hotel managers in France is 60,000 Euros with no opportunity to earn bonuses. The directors want to have a consistent approach as to how they compensate expatriates because they expect their overseas business to expand in the future. They also want existing employees to be enticed into working abroad and want to have a good range of incentives. Question : Design a compensation package for the hotel management position. Explain the rationale for your design.You may also include non-financial benefits. Case Study 3 This is a case of two competing hotels, Sunrise Hotel and Beachside Hotel that are both located in a medium sized, tourism based town in the Northeast U. S. The hotels are both competing for the same set of guests, as well as the same set of potential employees. They are both budget hotels, right next door to each other, with 60 guest rooms each and a view of the beach. The occupancy during peak season for the Sunrise Hotel is 98%, but during the winter months goes down to 65%.The Beachside Hotel has peak season occupanc y of 90% and off peak occupancy of 50%. Joe is the General Manager of Sunrise Hotel and has been in his current position for 5 years. He has been with Sunrise Hotel for a total of 10 years. He worked his way up at Sunrise Hotel from front desk agent to front desk supervisor, and finally to Assistant General Manager before he became the General Manager. He does a good job of screening potential employees for his front desk area of the hotel because he realizes the importance of that area of the hotel, especially in tourist areas.He also has incentives set up for excellent performance of the front desk agents and training and development programs designed to give everyone information that will help them do their job better. There is a sense of teamwork at Sunrise Hotel and that helps everyone want to do a good job. His guest satisfaction ratings for his hotel are overall excellent. On a rating scale of 1–10, his hotel averages a 9. The average length of tenure of his employees is 4 years, and his current front desk supervisor was promoted from within, along with his Assistant General Manager.Because of the small size of the hotel, Joe is actually involved with all of the hiring decisions and helps to give training programs himself, along with his leadership team. The employee turnover at the Sunrise Hotel is 25% overall and that is primarily when hourly employees graduate high school or college and leave the Sunrise Hotel for a career somewhere else. Brian is the General Manager of the Beachside Hotel and deals with a very different situation. Brian was brought in from another hotel in the same hotel group about 6 months ago.He was told by his boss that he needed to â€Å"fix† this hotel so that it would start having better customer satisfaction ratings and more return guests. Despite the fairly high occupancy noted during peak seasons, the off peak season occupancy is only 50%. Also noted by his boss, the occupancy should be as good as the Sunrise Hotel. Brian has been with his hotel group now for 2 years and he came out of the accounting and finance department in his old hotel. He has a great understanding of the numbers in the lodging industry, but has not been involved with the human resource aspects of the job.The turnover of hourly employees at Beachside Hotel is 120% and that means that Brian is constantly running the hotel short handed and with new employees. The Beachside Hotel has been doing the hiring through a human resource practitioner in the hotel that was put in the position because she really could not handle serving guests at the front desk very well. Mary was promoted to human resources a year ago after she had one too many altercations with the guests at the front desk. The owner of the hotel wanted to make sure that she would not make any of the other guests angry, so he promoted her to a human resources practitioner.Since that time, she has been busy trying to keep up with hiring and she has had no time for training employees. Because she is so busy, paychecks often come out to employees late, there are no policies written down for employees to use as a guide for performance, customers are treated badly by new and poorly trained employees, and the departments of the hotel do not communicate very effectively and therefore everyone blames everyone else when things go wrong. The average length of tenure of the front desk agents at the Beachside Hotel is 3 months and the customer satisfaction rating at the Beachside is a 6 out of a 10 possible rating.Most of the front desk agents that are hired come from other hotels in the area after they quit or are fired. Brian is not involved in the hiring for the hotel at all, and does not get involved with training and development. He spends most of his days looking at the financial reports for the hotel and analyzing average daily rate, occupancy rates, and REVPAR. Brian knows that he has many problems to deal with and so he goes to the Sunrise Hotel to observe things over there for a while. He sees a happy crew and talks to Joe about how he is making that happen.Joe is happy to help, but wants Brian to go back and observe his employees first and come up with ways that he specifically can help guide Brian. Questions: 1. What could Brian learn from Joe in terms of the human capital aspects of running a hotel? 2. What human resource planning initiatives could be undertaken by either the Sunrise Hotel or Beachside Hotel in order to help with the overall performance of their respective organizations? Available from:| Monday, 3 December 2012, 07:00 AM| Due date:| Monday, 3 December 2012, 12:30 PM|

Lunenburg, Fred C. Organizational Structure Mintzberg Framework

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY VOLUME 14, NUMBER 1, 2011 Organizational Structure: Mintzberg’s Framework Fred C. Lunenburg Sam Houston State UniversityABSTRACT Henry Mintzberg suggests that organizations can be differentiated along three basic dimensions: (1) the key part of the organization, that is, the part of the organization that plays the major role in determining its success or failure; (2) the prime coordinating mechanism, that is, the major method the organization uses to coordinate its activities; and (3) the type of decentralization used, that is, the extent to which the organization involves subordinates in the decision-making process.Using the three basic dimensions —key part of the organization, prime coordinating mechanism, and type of decentralization—Mintzberg suggests that the strategy an organization adopts and the extent to which it practices that strategy result in five structural configurations: simple s tructure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy. Organizations exist to achieve goals. These goals are broken down into tasks as the basis for jobs. Jobs are grouped into departments. Departments in organizations may be characterized by marketing, sales, advertising, manufacturing, and so on.Within each department, even more distinctions can be found between the jobs people perform. Departments are linked to form the organizational structure. The organization’s structure gives it the form to fulfill its function in the environment (Nelson & Quick, 2011). The term organizational structure refers to the formal configuration between individuals and groups regarding the allocation of tasks, responsibilities, and authority within the organization (Galbraith, 1987; Greenberg, 2011) Very early organizational structures were often based either on product or function (Oliveira & Takahashi, 2012).The matrix organization structure crossed thes e two ways of organizing (Galbraith, 2009; Kuprenas, 2003). Others moved beyond these early approaches and examined the relationship between organizational strategy and structure (Brickley, Smith, Zimmerman, & Willett, 2002). This approach began with the landmark work of Alfred Chandler (1962, 2003), who traced the historical development of such large American corporations as DuPont, Sears, and General Motors. He concluded from his study that an organization’s strategy tends to influence its structure.He suggests that strategy indirectly determines such variables as the organization’s tasks, technology, and environments, and each of these influences the structure of the organization. More recently, social scientists have augmented Chandler’s thesis by contending that an organization’s strategy determines its environment, technology, and tasks. These variables, coupled with growth rates and power distribution, affect organizational 1 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY 2_____________________________________________________________________________________ tructure (Hall & Tolbert, 2009; Miles, Snow, Meyer, & Coleman, 2011). Henry Mintzberg (1992, 2009) suggests that organizations can be differentiated along three basic dimensions: (1) the key part of the organization, that is, the part of the organization that plays the major role in determining its success or failure; (2) the prime coordinating mechanism, that is, the major method the organization uses to coordinate its activities; and (3) the type of decentralization used, that is, the extent to which the organization involves subordinates in the decision-making process.The key parts of an organization are shown in Figure 1 and include the following. Strategic Apex Technostructure Middle Line Support Staff Operative Core Figure 1. The key parts of an organization. ? ? ? ? The strategic apex is top management and its support staff. In school districts , this is the superintendent of schools and the administrative cabinet. The operative core are the workers who actually carry out the organization’s tasks. Teachers constitute the operative core in school districts. The middle line is middle- and lower-level management. Principals are the middlelevel managers in school districts.The technostructure are analysts such as engineers, accountants, planners, researchers, and personnel managers. In school districts, divisions such as instruction, business, personnel, public relations, research and development, and the like constitute the technostructure. The support staff are the people who provide indirect services. In school districts, similar services include maintenance, clerical, food service, busing, legal counsel, and consulting to provide support. ? The second basic dimension of an organization is its prime coordinating mechanism. This includes the following: FRED C.LUNENBURG _________________________________________________ ____________________________________3 ? ? ? ? ? Direct supervision means that one individual is responsible of the work of others. This concept refers to the unity of command and scalar principles. Standardization of work process exists when the content of work is specified or programmed. In school districts, this refers to job descriptions that govern the work performance of educators. Standardization of skills exists when the kind of training necessary to do the work is specified. In school systems, this refers to state certificates required for the various ccupants of a school district’s hierarchy. Standardization of output exists when the results of the work are specified. Because the â€Å"raw material† that is processed by the operative core (teachers) consists of people (students), not things, standardization of output is more difficult to measure in schools than in other nonservice organizations. Nevertheless, a movement toward the standardization of output in schools in recent years has occurred. Examples include competency testing of teachers, state-mandated testing of students, state-mandated curricula, prescriptive learning objectives, and other efforts toward legislated learning.Mutual adjustment exists when work is coordinated through informal communication. Mutual adjustment or coordination is the major thrust of Likert’s (1987) â€Å"linking-pin† concept. The third basic dimension of an organization is the type of decentralization it employs. The three types of decentralization are the following: ? ? ? Vertical decentralization is the distribution of power down the chain of command, or shared authority between superordinates and subordinates in any organization. Horizontal decentralization is the extent to which non administrators (including staff) make decisions, or shared authority between line and staff.Selective decentralization is the extent to which decision-making power is delegated to different units within t he organization. In school districts, these units might include instruction, business, personnel, public relations, and research and development divisions. Using the three basic dimensions—key part of the organization, prime coordinating mechanism, and type of decentralization—Mintzberg suggests that the strategy an organization adopts and the extent to which it practices that strategy result in five structural configurations: simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy.Table 1 summarizes the three basic dimensions associated with each of the five structural configurations. Each organizational form is discussed in turn. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY 4_____________________________________________________________________________________ Table 1. Mintzberg’s Five Organizational StructuresStructural Configuration Simple structure Machine bureaucracy Professional bureaucrac y Divisionalized form Adhocracy Prime Coordinating Mechanism Direct supervision Standardization of work processes Standardization of skills Standardization of outputs Mutual adjustment Key Part of Organization Strategic apex Technostructure Operating core Middle line Support staff Type of Decentralization Vertical and horizontal centralization Limited horizontal decentralization Vertical and horizontal decentralization Limited vertical decentralization Selective decentralizationSimple Structure The simple structure has as its key part the strategic apex, uses direct supervision, and employs vertical and horizontal centralization. Examples of simple structures are relatively small corporations, new government departments, medium-sized retail stores, and small elementary school districts. The organization consists of the top manager and a few workers in the operative core. There is no technostructure, and the support staff is small; workers perform overlapping tasks.For example, teach ers and administrators in small elementary school districts must assume many of the duties that the technostructure and support staff perform in larger districts. Frequently, however, small elementary school districts are members of cooperatives that provide many services (i. e. , counselors, social workers) to a number of small school districts in one region of the county or state. In small school districts, the superintendent may function as both superintendent of the district and principal of a single school. Superintendents in such school districts must be entrepreneurs.Because the organization is small, coordination is informal and maintained through direct supervision. Moreover, this organization can adapt to environmental changes rapidly. Goals stress innovation and long-term survival, although innovation may be difficult for very small rural school districts because of the lack of resources. Machine Bureaucracy Machine bureaucracy has the technostructure as its key part, use s standardization of work processes as its prime coordinating mechanism, and employs limited horizontal decentralization.Machine bureaucracy has many of the characteristics of Weber’s (1947) ideal bureaucracy and resembles Hage’s (1965) mechanistic organization. It has a high degree of formalization and work specialization. Decisions are centralized. The span of management is narrow, and the organization is tall—that is, many levels exist in the chain of command from top management to the bottom of the organization. Little horizontal or lateral coordination is needed. Furthermore, machine bureaucracy has a large technostruture and support staff. FRED C.LUNENBURG _____________________________________________________________________________________5 Examples of machine bureaucracy are automobile manufacturers, steel companies, and large government organizations. The environment for a machine bureaucracy is typically stable, and the goal is to achieve internal effi ciency. Public schools possess many characteristics of machine bureaucracy, but most schools are not machine bureaucracies in the pure sense. However, large urban school districts (New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago) are closer to machine bureaucracies than other medium-size or small school districts.Professional Bureaucracy Professional bureaucracy has the operating core as its key part, uses standardization of skills as its prime coordinating mechanism, and employs vertical and horizontal decentralization. The organization is relatively formalized but decentralized to provide autonomy to professionals. Highly trained professionals provide nonroutine services to clients. Top management is small; there are few middle managers; and the technostructure is generally small. However, the support staff is typically large to provide clerical and maintenance support for the professional operating core.The goals of professional bureaucracies are to innovate and provide high-quality services. Existing in complex but stable environments, they are generally moderate to large in size. Coordination problems are common. Examples of this form of organization include universities, hospitals, and large law firms. Some public school districts have many characteristics of the professional bureaucracy, particularly its aspects of professionalism, teacher autonomy, and structural looseness. For example, schools are formal organizations, which provide complex services through highly trained professionals in an atmosphere of structural looseness.These characteristics tend to broaden the limits of individual discretion and performance. Like attorneys, physicians, and university professors, teachers perform in classroom settings in relative isolation from colleagues and superiors, while remaining in close contact with their students. Furthermore, teachers are highly trained professionals who provide information to their students in accordance with their own style, and they are usually flexible in the delivery of content even within the constraints of the state- and district-mandated curriculum.Moreover, like some staff administrators, teachers, tend to identify more with their professions than with the organization. Divisionalized Form The divisionalized form has the middle line as its key part, uses standardization of output as it prime coordinating mechanism, and employs limited vertical decentralization. Decision making is decentralized at the divisional level. There is little coordination among the separate divisions. Corporate-level personnel provide some coordination. Thus, each division itself is relatively centralized and tends to resemble a machine bureaucracy.The technostructure is located at corporate headquarters to provide services INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY 6_____________________________________________________________________________________ to all divisions; support staff is located within each division. L arge corporations are likely to adopt the divisionalized form. Most school districts typically do not fit the divisionalized form. The exceptions are those very large school districts that have diversified service divisions distinctly separated into individual units or schools. For example, a school istrict may resemble the divisionalized form when it has separate schools for the physically handicapped, emotionally disturbed, and learning disabled; a skills center for the potential dropout; a special school for art and music students; and so on. The identifying feature of these school districts is that they have separate schools within a single school district, which have separate administrative staffs, budgets, and so on. Elementary and secondary school districts that have consolidated but retained separate administrative structures with one school board are also examples of the divisionalized form.As might be expected, the primary reason for a school district to adopt this form of structure is service diversity while retaining separate administrative structures. Adhocracy The adhocracy has the support staff as its key part, uses mutual adjustment as a means of coordination, and maintains selective patterns of decentralization. The structure tends to be low in formalization and decentralization. The technostucture is small because technical specialists are involved in the organization’s operative core. The support staff is large to support the complex structure.Adhocracies engage in nonroutine tasks and use sophisticated technology. The primary goal is innovation and rapid adaptation to changing environments. Adhocracies typically are medium sized, must be adaptable, and use resources efficiently. Examples of adhocracies include aerospace and electronics industries, research and development firms, and very innovative school districts. No school districts are pure adhocracies, but medium-sized school districts in very wealthy communities may have some o f the characteristics of an adhocracy. The adhocracy is somewhat similar to Hage’s (1965) organic organization.Strategy and Structure The work begun by Chandler and extended by Mintzberg has laid the groundwork for an understanding of the relationship between an organization’s strategy and its structure. The link between strategy and structure is still in its infancy stage. Further research in this area, particularly in service organizations like schools, will enhance school administrators’ understanding of school organizations (Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2012). In the meantime, school leaders must recognize that organization strategy and structure are related. FRED C.LUNENBURG _____________________________________________________________________________________7 Conclusion Henry Mintzberg (1992, 2009) suggests that organizations can be differentiated along three basic dimensions: (1) the key part of the organization, that is, the part of the organization that plays the major role in determining its success or failure; (2) the prime coordinating mechanism, that is, the major method the organization uses to coordinate its activities; and (3) the type of decentralization used, that is, the extent to which the organization involves subordinates in the decision-making process.Using the three basic dimensions—key part of the organization, prime coordinating mechanism, and type of decentralization—Mintzberg suggests that the strategy an organization adopts and the extent to which it practices that strategy result in five structural configurations: simple structure, machine bureaucracy, professional bureaucracy, divisionalized form, and adhocracy. References Brickley, J. , Smith, C. , Zimmerman, J. L. , & Willett, J. (2002). Designing organizations to create value: From strategy to structure. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Chandler, A. D. (1962). Strategy and Structure. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Chandler, A. D. (2003). Strategy and structure: Chapters in the history of the American industrial enterprise. Frederick, MD: Beard Books. Galbraith, J. R. (1987). Organization design. In J. W. Lorsch (Ed. ). Handbook of organizational behavior (pp. 343-357). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Galbraith, J. R. (2009). Designing matrix organizations that actually work: How IBM, Procter & Gamble, and others design for success. New York, NY: Wiley. Greenberg, J. 2011). Behavior in organizations (10th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Hage, J. (1965). An axiomatic theory of organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 10, 289-320. Hall, R. H. , & Tolbert, P. S. (2009). Organizations: structures, processes, and outcomes (9th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kuprenas, J. A. (2003). Implementation and performance of a matrix organization structure. International Journal of Project Management, 21, 51-62. Likert, R. (1987). New Ppatterns of management. New York, NY: Garland.Lunenburg, F. C. , & Ornstein, A. O. (2012). Educational administration: Concepts and practices. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Miles, R. E. , Snow, C. C. , Meyer, A. D. , & Coleman, H. J. (2011). Organizational strategy, structure, and process. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. Mintzberg, H. (1992). Structure in fives: Designing effective organizations. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Mintzberg, H. (2009). Tracking strategies: Toward a general theory of strategy formation. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Nelson, D. B. , & Quick, J. C. (2011). Understanding organizational behavior. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SCHOLARLY, ACADEMIC, INTELLECTUAL DIVERSITY 8_____________________________________________________________________________________ Oliveira, N. , & Takahashi, N. (2012). Automated organizations: Development and structure of the modern business firm. New York, NY: Springer. Weber, M. (1947). The theory of social and economic organization. (t rans. T. Parsons). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Child challenging behaviour

This would be done over a few weeks to see if there is a regular pattern or thing that sets this behavior off and to ensure you know what the nouns person needs to help them stop this challenging behavior. Strengths To find out what that something is that sets off the behavior, and to find ways Of dealing with it. TO understand the needs Of the young person and put into place the right support and get the right specialized professional involved and ensure that they work together to create a plan so that the young person behavior develops in a short time as possible.To use good strategies to ensure that the behavior is improved and if the young person is being Hellenizing make sure that there is somebody to help the person working with the young person that they have support to help them and that he gets the right punishments and rewards put into place to make the behavior change. To also ensure the professional work together and follow the rules, guidelines and put a care plan into p lace that all professionals working with the young person are followed. Weaknesses- The young person might not have a pattern of when the trigger sets off the behavior.The young person may not feel able to talk to anybody so professionals can't provide the right purport and care to help make the young person's behavior improve. Approach to the behavior used would be cognitive behavior therapy as it helps to change the way you think, behave and deal with the behavior. It will help the young person look at the negative behavior, the regular patterns that set the behavior off and ways that you can overcome this bad behavior. This could be the way to talk about how the person thinks about themselves, the world and other people and how what you do effect your thoughts and feelings.It helps you learn skills for the rest of your life to cope and deal with difficult situations that you may have be in and may be in again. Cognitive behavior therapy helps to overcome their difficulties throug h changing their thinking, behavior, and emotional responses. It's to try and help a person think more positively however it's not just to make them think positively it's to help them to change the behavior to help them improve how they feel. â€Å"Cognitive behavioral therapy (CB) can help you make sense of overwhelming problems by breaking them down into smaller parts. NASH. ELK) people who can benefit from this are people with anxiety and panic disorder, depression, phobias (including agoraphobia and social phobia), suspicious thoughts, stress, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder, psychosis, anger issues, low self esteem and pain and fatigue. (Craven clinic, 201 2) Strengths- This therapy can help the young person let out there feelings and what is going on in their head but mostly to change how they feel to make them become more positive.To ensure the young person has somebody to turn to and trust as if he is challen ging he may feel everybody is against him and to make sure the young person understands what they have done wrong. Weaknesses- The young person might not attend the sessions as he might not want any help so finding other options to support the young person's wishes to help him and his behavior change. Evaluating the problems and turning to different methods of approaching the young person's behavior such as providing active support for the young person, ensuring partnership working or even behavior modifications programs.Methods of intervention used would be applying medication. The young person has ADD and has to take a medication called Rattail, this helps calm them down as the chemicals in this drug effect there brain and the way they think. The young person must be monitored On a regular basis to ensure the medication is helping and if it is not the must assess the situation incase they need a higher dose. Strategies must be put into place to ensure the young person has the righ t help and support to make sure the young person can try and change their behavior to come appropriate.People with ADD can have poor organization skills, trouble to start and finish things, frequent forgetting things such as appointments, frequent interruptions of others, have poor self control, blurt out things that are rude and inappropriate, have addictive tendencies egg: tapping on the table which distracts others, have trouble behaving in socially appropriate ways egg: such as talking to someone when a teacher is talking to them. These could be improved if the young person has a support worker to be with them to tell them what's right and wrong so they know.They also have emotional difficulties such as sense of under achievement, trouble staying motivated, don't deal well with frustration, easily stressed out, irritable, lots of mood swings, hypersensitivity to criticism, short temper and low self esteem this could also be overcome by a councilor or somebody they trust that the y can talk to. (Help guide, 2012) Strengths – The medication can control the young person's behavior to a certain point, ensuring they have the right support put in place helping them get through all the emotions and feelings they may encounter.To ensure the young person has a dedicated worker to talk to about any concerns or worries that they may have. Weaknesses – if the medication does not work then his behavior could maintain at an inappropriate level. The young person would have to be assessed on a regular basis to see how the medication helps and if there is no progress in the behavior assessing if the doctor needs to give the young person a higher dose of the medication and to also make sure the medication doesn't cause any serious problems with the young person's mental, emotional and physical state of mind.

Barack Obama Impact on the American Society Essay

Barack Obama Impact on the American Society - Essay Example As such, the â€Å"Nigrescence Model,† a model for the acquisition of Black identity created by William E. Cross Jr., does not quite fit his life, and in some ways his life shows that the Nigrescence model is something of an over-simplification. While he does identifiably go through every stage of the Nigrescence model, Barack Obama demonstrates that this model is also an incredible over-simplification of African American life. Barack Obama’s experience of racial identity though his early life mirrors aspects of Cross’s Nigrescence model relatively closely. He clearly experienced stage one, the â€Å"Pre-experience† stage, wherein a person is not quite aware of the existence or importance of racial identity. He discusses how when he was a child, he â€Å"barely registered† the fact that his â€Å"father looked nothing like the people around [him] – that he was as black as pitch† (Obama, 10). At this very early stage of his childhood he was barely cognizant of skin color, much less race as a social construct and what the difference between his mother’s skin â€Å"white as milk† and his father’s â€Å"black as pitch† skin could mean (10). This clearly represents the first stage of Nigresence as described by Cross’s model. ... ant to take on identifying features of ‘blackness.’ He said that his white friends â€Å"treated us [Obama and a black friend named Ray] any differently from how they treated each other† (82). In this passage Obama clearly shows both that he is aware of his race and that he understands it is supposed to have identifying features. Following that, however, things get more complicated. In the third stage of Nigresence a person is supposed to take on the identifying elements of his or her race, and Obama did show that he did this to some degree. He talks about enacting a â€Å"bad-assed nigger pose† around his white friends, but also thinks that maybe he should â€Å"give it a rest† because his friends seemed to treat him no differently because of his race (82). Barack, as a bi-racial person, was trying to acquire and enact two different sets of racial identities, two â€Å"worlds that each possessed their own language and customs and greetings† b ut that he hoped would â€Å"eventually cohere† (82). So even though Obama did enact elements of the third stage, even though he was consciously aware of the performative aspects of them, he also was in the fourth stage simultaneously. In the fourth stage someone is supposed to break out of their individual group and start noticing characteristics of other groups, and start to take on the ones that suit one’s personality. Obama never had the luxury of purely immersing himself in one group, because he was always â€Å"suspect† to both white and black friends; he would sometimes feel too white for black people and too black for white people. He clearly spent a long time struggling with his own race and identity, but more often with what perceptions of his race and identity meant to others. By the close of Dreams from my Father,

The role of technology in global crime Research Proposal

The role of technology in global crime - Research Proposal Example Just like when youve bought the latest model of cell phone, before you know it, its obsolete. Okay, that was quite an exaggeration, but you get the point. Alongside its being fast-paced is price cutting, which is probably the reason why technology became so conventional, of course next to its main purpose—that is, to make mans life easier. However, though men are said to be good in nature, we always had the weakness for wealth, luxury, power, etc. Also, another sad fact that we have to put up with is that, technology cant choose its user, good or bad; it would facilitate his or her life all the same. Looking on both edges of the sword, "in the right hands, technology has the power to transform our lives in ways that only a generation ago we could never have imagined, but, in the wrong hands, technology can lead to identity theft, online auction fraud, child abduction, and many other crimes" (NCPC 2008). Yes, in a worse case scenario, technology could bring about such felony. The question is whats the role of technology in global crime? Does it resolve crime or only make it worse? Well, according to the Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA), technology played an increasing role in the serious crimes they handled, that groups of criminals worldwide are collaborating over the web (Heath 2008). In line with SOCAs view, last August 11, 2008, Brad Stone of The New York Times reported on "Global Trail of an Online Crime Ring" that Albert Gonzalez, 27, and his two Miami-based accomplices, Christopher Scott, 25, and Damon Patrick Toey, 23, were storing millions of stolen credit and debit card numbers on servers in Latvia and Ukraine, which they got from a server-breach of a Dallas-based restaurant chain together with other members of a ring that extended from Ukraine to Estonia, and imprinting some of those numbers on blank A.T.M. cards supplied by collaborators in China for use in cash machines. Furthermore, this

Quantitative and Analytical Techniques for Managers Coursework Essay

Quantitative and Analytical Techniques for Managers Coursework - Essay Example This indicates that some of the provinces may be very poor while others may be very rich although we still have to validate this when the data are transformed into gross regional product per capita. A standard deviation of 759,648.2 million yuan which is very close to the mean value of 892,031.93 million yuan. This indicates a very high variability. The high variability is also indicated by the high variance of 5,770,653,964 million yuan. From the perspective of the manager, the mean as measure of central tendency is very useful. However, the mean can mask a situation in which some of the provinces or cases have actually very high or very low variable values. The mode can be almost useless for ratio data but is very useful for nominal data or variables. The median is extremely useful to identify at what value the population is divided into 2 equal parts: half below the median while the other half is above the median. For instance, in the data above, the median is 609,110 million yuan versus the mean value of 892,031.93 million yuan or that the median is lower than the mean. This indicates that a few provinces with high values of the gross regional product are raising the mean to be above the median. Given a poverty figure, for example, we can determine through the median whether at least half of the population are below or above the poverty figure. Another option is to use a measure of living standard. A median above the living standard would indicate that at least half of the population are above the living standard. For ratio data, it is the belief of this writer that the using both the median and the mean simultaneously would be useful. However, for nominal variables, the identification of central tendency through the mode will the one useful. 1.2. The Pearson correlation coefficient between the gross regional product and gross capital is positive 0.97408077 versus the perfect correlation of positive 1.

Economic analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Economic analysis - Essay Example This paper assess a year by year economic indicators from the year 2012 to the year 2014 Economic growth is the measure of the change in gross domestic product, abbreviated as GDP. On the other hand, GDP is defined as the market value of the goods and services attributable to labour and property located in the economy. The gross domestic product measures the national income (sum of factor incomes) and output for a given country’s economy. It is equal to the total expenditures for all the final goods and services produced within the economy for a given time frame. The United States GDP in the year 2012 was worth 16, 244.60 Billion dollars1 and this value it was the worlds highest and over 25 % of the total value of the world’s economy. This was a growth from 15, 533.80 Billion dollars recorded in the previous year. This signaled a growth of 2.8% on the GDP recorded in the year 2011. Economic theory asserts that an economy’s GDP consists of total consumption, total investments and net exports; the latter is the difference between the total value of exports and imports. The estimated value of the decomposed components of the GDP were as follow; household consumption -70.9%, government consumption-19.5%, investment in fixed capital-12.8 %, investment in inventories-0.4%, net exports of goods and services negative 3.6 %.2 At the estimated percentage of more than 70%, indeed consumers are the engine of the US economy. Consumers spending have grown rapidly out of confidence in the 2011 economic growth. In the United States, the country has grown to be an imported consumer oriented goods and services shown by the negative value of the net exports, which means that the value of imports exceeded the value of exports. Consumer spending at percentage of 70.9 out of the GDP is the single largest piece of spending. During the period that transverse the dip and the recovery,

Human Resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Resources - Essay Example Since the organizational set up of every collective human effort requires meeting the needs of the workforce, factors other than monetary benefits are of prime importance in the successful implementation of management plans. This essay focuses on a comprehensive evaluation of job satisfaction as a relationship with performance enhancement in workplaces from the perspectives of both employees and employers. According to studies, job satisfaction is related to a number of factors ranging from job productivity, stress levels, retention, absenteeism, and overall quality of life. To illustrate, according to the study by Colquitt et al (2011), satisfied workers are less prone to accidents at the workplace as compared to dissatisfied workers. Thus, the scholars managed to prove that accidents at the workplace are very closely linked to job satisfaction levels of the employees. Also, the study revealed that the connection can be the other way too. That means if there are less numbers of acci dents at a workplace, the employees tend to be more satisfied. Job Satisfaction and Performance Enhancement The more analytical as one goes with the experimental angle of job satisfaction, it becomes a point to remember that the neoclassical utilitarian approach in the community life demands higher amount of moral and emotional stability apart from the financial security for better performance. The economic angle of the organization is secured only with the continuous effort of the entire workforce with their result oriented attempt. Some studies related to the performance evaluation (Motowildo & Scotter, 1994) refers to the fact that behavioral patterns of the employees are the prime factors considered for the performance appraisal for comparative evaluation of the economic value of the work with the happiness of employees. Hence, it becomes a prime requirement of the business to keep the regular attendance of the employees. In a social point of view, the regularity of employees at workplace is a managerial achievement possible only with the right motivation and continuous appreciation of inter-personal relationships. A grownup individual is normally bound to several expectations at workplace and the community where he belongs to in various ways. The paramount ones among those expectations is the consistency to stay with the chosen career and the financial stability of the employee by doing the job. Some observations also reveal the factors supporting to the co-existence of the two elements – performance volume and job satisfaction – as a relationship with executive trials of the employers in meeting self-esteem needs of the workforce through the reduced implications of work pressure and reciprocal approach; and the new mechanism for implementing these factors based on interim meta analyses meant for ascertaining the satisfaction levels of employees (Lapierre & Hackett2007). Evidently, most people are driven by the passionate feelings of love, r espect, care and attention; these emotional factors usually reflect in the individualized performance patterns each day. In this regard, a badly tuned emotional treatment perceived by the individual can result in his inferior performance at workplace. Modern

HUMAN DISEASE Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

HUMAN DISEASE - Essay Example However, recent studies suggest that enteroviruses, specifically Coxsackie B enteroviruses (CVB) and an enteroviral capsid protein, vp1, may be contributing to the onset of Type 1 diabetes. Following up on the said studies, Richardson et al. (2) collected 72 pancreatic autopsy tissues from patients with recent-onset Type 1 diabetes mellitus along with 161 controls. These samples were immunostained for insulin, glucagon, vp1, double-stranded RNA activated protein kinase R (PKR) and MHC class 1. VP1staining was restricted to insulin-containing beta cells (Ibid 1). The results of the experiment showed the presence of vp1-immunopositive cells in multiple islets, 44 out of 72, from young, recent-onset, Type 1 diabetic patients, compared with just three islets out of 50 specimens from neonatal and paediatric normal controls. Dako antiserum in vp1 immunostaining was used because of its specificity in labeling vp1 immunopositive cells, especially when it comes to Islet of Langerhans cells. A nother consideration was that polyclonal antisera raised against enteroviruses often cross-react with tyrosine phosphatase (IA-2) and heat shock protein (hsp-60). However, the study results show that cross-reaction does not occur with Dako antiserum as IA-2 is present in both alpha cells and beta cells. As well, the results showed no minimal alpha cells were stained. PKR immunostaining was also done since PKR is a protein upregulated in response to enteroviral infections like CVB4. A strong correlation was found between PKR and vp1 immunopositivity which supports the findings that Dako antiserum is indicative of a persistent enteroviral infection. Two other antisera were used but the results using these were not conclusive. Results of the experiment have also linked vp1 infection to type 2 diabetes even if there is no autoimmunity. Since PKR production is a response of the infected endocrine cells to the disease, the outcome may be decreased insulin secretion. Reckoning with obesity as a predisposing factor, one may then expect adult-onset, Type 2 diabetes as a result. The paper presented a major diagnostic breakthrough that contrasted sharply with the longstanding notion about genetic predisposition being virtually the only explanation for the onset of Type 1 diabetes. The study revolutionizes the way diabetes will henceforth treated and preventive measures can now be taken. A development of a vaccine for enteroviral infections can lead to a reduction of juvenile diabetes cases worldwide. A breakthrough like this may well be worthy of a Nobel prize. Works Cited International Diabetes Foundation. â€Å"What is Diabetes† 13 June 2010. International Diabetes Foundation. 2 May 2011 Richardson, S. J. et al. â€Å"The Prevalence of Enteroviral Capsid Protein vp1 Immunostaining in Pancreatic Islets in Human Type 1 Diabetes.†

Management of Organisation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Management of Organisation - Assignment Example This journal article will show clearly that team work is directly proportional to the performance of any organization. The article is having clear purpose of showing that good team performance can enhance performance of organization and at the same time poor team performance can be a serious problem for organization. Team work is having both positive and negative effects on the performance of the organization. This journal article will show all different positivity and negativity of team work. Managements of different organizations are giving lots of importance towards team work. Organizations are trying to build super performing team for enhancing performance of organizations. This journal will give them a clear picture about the importance of team work. Generally it is being noticed that a team consists of people coming from different cultures and different backgrounds. They stick together for achieving a common goal. As the culture, language and back ground are different it poses lots of challenge for organization to stitch them into a common fabric. Lots of issues can be there. This journal will help to understand all those issues and will provide support by discussing different remedies for those issues. Day by day managing a team is getting more and more complex. Issues are getting more and more deep rooted. In this scenario this journal will play an important supportive role for every organization to enhance their performance through team work. In modern day organization team work is an unavoidable aspect. The article is having very clear and obvious purpose of enlightening organizations about different contributions of team work in organization performance (Youngkyun, 2008, pp. 145-149). In team work it is often being noticed that individual performances are decreasing. People work less in groups than individuals. It is called social loafing. One of the issues is that it is very difficult to measure an individual

Sophocles Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sophocles - Research Paper Example It is known that he wrote around on hundred and twenty tragedies in his life. However, only seven of those writings are available in the present times (Sophocles, iv-vi). The present study makes a detailed research on the admirable tragic writer and discusses on his writings that are available and thus reflecting his excellence and talent. Sophocles: About the Man and his Writings: Sophocles had written several plays and he always used to remain present during the performances of his acts and received appreciations from his audiences. He had been crowned for his plays for around twenty times. It was Sophocles who had introduced the concept of a third person in speaking the dialogues of the plays. This concept had greatly contributed to the industry of drama. His plays had a soft and harmonious grace accompanied by his dialogues. The people of Athens had created a monument on his account that reflected the use of bees as could be associated with the softness and harmony of his plays. An understanding of his feelings, his selection of plots for his plays, and his style could be analyzed from the plays that are available till date. It has been observed that Sophocles presented his plays with simple and natural incidents, his emotions being gracious and inspirational, and reflecting his moral values to the public. The description of his writings revealed his power of thoughts being mirrored through his evaluations. His style of presentation involved a significant art of mastery in it. He lived his life from 497 till 406 before Christ and contributed significantly in the field of plays and drama (Sophocles, vi-xi). Writings of Sophocles: The tragedies written by Sophocles as available in the present times include Azax, Electra, Philoctetes, Antigone, Trachinle, Edipus Tyrannus, and Edipus Coloneus. The play of Ajax involves the death of the character called Ajax as a result of disappointment resulting from not receiving an honor after Achilles’ death which in stead was received by Ulysses. The story reflects disappointment, murders, and Ajax killing of own life. Other characters in the play also had significant roles to act on like Teucer who was the half-brother of Ajax. Sophocles significantly presented through this play the concerns for a master and the consequent disappointments from failure. The characters of the play had been created with great thoughts with their names having appropriate Greek meanings and presentation (Sophocles, x-22). Electra was another play written by Sophocles that represented the death of a character named Agamemnon by his wife. Electra saved her brother from the incident and let him grow up under the care and guidance of Strophius who was the king of Phocis. Years later when the child grew up and came to know of his father’s murder, he took revenge with the assistance from his sister (Sophocles, 53). Thus this presents a talent of Sophocles presenting another tragedy where there is pain, there is re venge and yet a tragic story to tell a tale of a lifetime. Similar to the above mentioned plays, the writer of his times successfully completed the other dramas, many of which are no more available. Of all his writings, Oedipus the King is known as one of his master piece. It contains surprising contents. The story reveals a tragedy where Oedipus kills his mother and gets married to his mother with intention to avoid circumstances he analyzed

Beer in Mesopotamia Essay Example for Free

Beer in Mesopotamia Essay The first origins of beer are unknown, but beer was a very important drink in Mesopotamia. Beer was shared with two straws as it was a symbol of hospitality and trust. This carries on today, not in the form people sharing a drink with straws, but common drinks are still offered from the same pot or same bottle. Beer also had religious purposes in Mesopotamia. The Egyptians believed that beer was accidently discovered by Osiris. He then passed on his knowledge to humans, which is why the Egyptians believe that it is a gift from God. This is why Beer was used as an offering during religious ceremonies, and still is. Beer may have also caused the switch from hunting and gathering to farming. After beer became more prominent as an important drink, many may have switched to farming, in order to farm grains. eer, with a lower alcohol content, was also very healthy (and often healthier then the contaminated water because it was boiled) which would sustain the farming lifestyle. After the first cities arose, beer became much more prevalent. The first forms of writing began to keep track of the amount of grains, textiles, and livestock and the world’s first recipe was the recipe of Beer. Later, beer began to be used as a form of currency. The workers who created the pyramids were even paid in beer. Lastly, bread and beer were symbols of good fortune and good luck. The Egyptians believed that the amount of bread and beer affected the afterlife. The term bread and bear was used to wish good fortune on to someone. This carried on today in the form of giving a toast before wishing someone good luck is very common.

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Community Based Tourism Tourism Essay

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Community Based Tourism Tourism Essay The information contained within this literature provides a complete analysis of The Travel, Tourism and Hospitality Sector. It clearly outlines the importance of quality service delivery, the differences between service in the hospitality industry and service in other business, community based tourism, the advantages and disadvantages of community based tourism, diversification of Jamaica through community based tourism and the effects of technology on the tourism industry. The Travel Tourism and Hospitality Sector Definition of key terms What is hospitality? Dictionary.com, 2012.Hospitality is the friendly and generous reception and entertainment of guests, visitors or strangers. What is Community Based Tourism? Responsibletravel.com, 2012 asserts, Community Based Tourism is tourism in which members of a community, local residents (often rural, poor and economically marginalized) invite tourists to visit their community with the provision of overnight accommodations. Pearson Education 2010 online, Community managed and owned sustainable tourism that aims to share local ways of life and the communitys natural and cultural resources with visitors. What is an advantage? Farlex, The Free Dictionary, 2012, An advantage is a beneficial factor or combination of factors. What is a disadvantage? Farlex, The Free Dictionary, 2012, A disadvantage is an unfavourable condition or circumstance. What is Service? Farlex, The Free Dictionary, 2012, Service is work done for others as an occupation or business.The Importance of Quality Service Delivery in the Hospitality Industry. As tourism plays a major role in the economic development of most countries, it is imperative that impeccable services are provided at every given opportunity. A guest or visitor needs to feel welcomed and appreciated to the point where by the end of their trip they have begun planning their return. The industry is also extremely competitive i.e. a lot of products and services offered are similar hence from the customer service perspective providing excellent service is the best option for getting ahead of the competition. A five star hotel may possess the luxurious furniture, the spas, the sporting facilities and all the trimmings that go along with it but because the verbal and physical delivery is lacking in personality and respectfulness, a guest would be willing to settle for the lesser amenities of a three star hotel in which they are made to feel welcome and appreciated as well as treated with the respect they deserve. Providing the service is one thing, however, the method of delivery is another. People tend to pick up on body language, gesticulation as well as facial expression through careful observation. It is best when providing quality hospitality services in the tourism industry to do so with a genuine and honest disposition, anything less will seem as a faà §ade and is unacceptable. Service in the hospitality and tourism sector is delivered in mostly on a one on one, verbal and or physical manner. This exposes the visitor or guest and the service provider to a range of differences in one or the other which the service provider must handle in a professional manner regardless of his or her personal preferences to secure the longevity and integrity of the business. These differences may include but are not limited to one or more of the following: Religion (Christianity versus Atheism, Islam, Buddhism etc.), Language which causes a barrier (English versus Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese etc.), preferences in entertainment (an older crowd who is more conservative versus a younger crowd who is more into the party scene), race and cultures (African American and black versus Caucasian), Cuisine and dietary preferences (Asian versus Italian). These differences must be treated with genuine respect rather than disdain as it will undoubtedly create an instant rift betwee n the parties involved and subsequently result in a decline in the return rate of visitors and affect the arrival of new comers. This occurs due to the fact that a bad experience is never forgotten and will most definitely be shared with others to warn them of the possibility of being treated in a similar manner and as individuals tend to believe what is communicated to them by a known acquaintance whether it be friend or family, the end result will mean less business being operated, loss of profit, loss of jobs and subsequently loss of the entire industry. It is widely accepted within the hospitality and customer service industry that a customers good experience will be shared with only a few close friends and family while a bad experience will be told to everyone willing to listen. This is proven on a daily basis on websites such as Trip Advisor and it has such far-reaching effect that most progressive companies in the sector have their marketing or public relations teams scouring the internet to respond to all concerns raised and to ensure their reputation remains untarnished. The Difference between Service Delivery in Hospitality and Other Businesses. Regardless of industry every business relies on hospitality and customer service to not only retain its current customer base but to also increase it through customer loyalty and positive word of mouth advertisement. Failing to fulfill the needs of a customer through effective and admirable customer service methods is the reason a lot of businesses are failing as their employees are sometimes lacking in the appropriate training, experience and patience required to ensure a satisfactory and memorable experience for the client. There are however differences in the service delivery, in the hospitality industry the service being delivered is geared towards the visitors/tourists and much emphasis is placed on the level of training it requires in order to perfect the necessary skills it takes to get the job done. Due to the fact that the Hospitality industry in Multi- culture there must be a certain level of appreciation for the vast amount culture and cultural diversity, meal preparation, entertainment, dress and rituals of Tourists. The importance of service delivery is stressed more so in the hospitality industry because of the diversity of the consumers and their varying cultural backgrounds. The services must be delivered perfectly to each and every customer in ordered for the guest to have an unmatched experience which will guarantee excellent reviews, return customers, new business opportunities and the survival of the industry which is the fuel of our economy.. The hospitality industry survives due to prompt convenient service which is value for money. In other business the service is mostly geared towards locals (Mono- cultural), who are already a part of the existing community and are familiar with the business. Though some level of customer service is involved it is not as demanding of the service provider to be as vigilant in ensuring that staff provides the best service possible at all times. This is mainly as a result of there being fewer options. For e xample a Kentucky Fried Chicken (K.F.C) being operated in the down town Montego Bay area, the customer service is extremely lacking however customers return because the location is convenient and they do need to eat, but for no other reason. Some customers do divert their business elsewhere to either Pizza Hut or Island Grill but return after a while because these other entities do not provide what it is they really want. In the hospitality industry it is not the same, there are endless options and if one location fails them, they either find another location within the same country or travel to another country. This now means a loss of business not only for that establishment but also for the country as a whole. The advantages and Disadvantages of Community Based Tourism Community tourism has both its supporters and its detractors as does every other type of business venture. Both sides bring across very important concerns which can prove to be either helpful or harmful to the environment based on the implementation methods used and the scale of operations. Advantages: Supporters will posit that community based tourism is beneficial and important in that it, transfers decision making to a community level, provides employment, infrastructural development (roads, water, electricity, telecommunications, internet, etc.), superstructure development (buildings and structures covering area),cultural preservation, foreign exchange and development of health care facilities. Disadvantages Detractors on the other hand will advance that there will be cultural destruction, environmental destruction, the host country fails to benefit as government is unable to withdraw taxes, marginal employment, low benefits, development of illegal and/ or destructive economical activities, seasonal employment, unrealistic expectations, anti-democratic collusion, land controlled by the elite, negative lifestyles as well as diverted and concentrated development. The implications of the pros and cons of Community Based Tourism on the country as a Whole. The effects of the advantages of community based tourism on the country as a whole may prove to be widely beneficial to the economy, wherein the unemployment rate is greatly reduced because as more people become exposed and educated the higher percentage will endeavor to become involved. Communities which were considered marginally poor become developed and are more appealing to visitors and other locals alike, its pushes the use and exchange of foreign currency which boosts the economy giving the local dollar more value but most importantly it educates as locals are introduced to varying cultures and are forced to learn their own history, and culture as well as that of the visitors in order to communicate effectively.That is a limitless opportunity as visitors have varying backgrounds and orientations. Locals make valiant efforts to learn their languages as well as cuisine, religion, preferences in entertainment, day to day living and rituals. This in its entirety equates to a more tourist friendly, economically stable, market aware destination which is more appealing to visitors. The result of the disadvantages of community based tourism on the country as a whole also brings to light some valid points which must be handled with much consideration in mind as it relates to the long term repercussions. The loss of culture as it pertains to age old rituals, language, art, dance, food, religion etc., through modernization, the destruction of natural habitats as a result of infrastructural and super structural changes by building roads and architecture, employment would become limited to members of the community and result in outsourcing whereas businesses would seek to employ the more educated, the question of job security arises, negative changes in the lifestyle would come about where unscrupulous characters engage in the trade of illegal drugs and endangered and exotic wildlife, drug abuse, prostitution, fraudulent practices and new found get rich quick schemes come into existence and causes young people to divert from school and higher education. Compile all t hese issues and it would result in a lack of order, an upsurge of crime and violence and finally the consequential loss of previous business with a significant decline in any interest from new customers or the hope of creating new opportunities. Diversifying the Jamaican Tourism Product Through Community Based Tourism. Communities must go through a process of empowerment and development before tourism becomes the focal point.The first area of focus is to build a sustainable wealth creating community with organized productive activities. These activities would create economic and social benefits for its members through employment and financial stability. After this has taken root, tourism can be introduced to communities, to create even greater wealth, and this will ultimately diversify the jamaican tourism product. There are many resources which may be enhanced and marketed to give Jamaica a more diverse and competitive edge over other tourist destinations. These include; culture, heritage, Cuisine, natural flora and fauna, landscapes and human resources. It is known world wide that Jamaica is very different from other countries even those located in the same region. In order for Jamaica to diversify and maintain a competitive advantage in the hospitality industry we need to capitalize on these opportunities and the best way to go is from a community level as every community possesses a different amenity which makes it unique. There are quite a number of these locations in jamaica such as; Maroon Town, Outameni Experience ,Croydon Plantation,Accompong, The Bob Marley Museum, outdoor activities i.e ( horse back riding, dune buggies, canopy tours, zipline tours, ect ), the wonderful blue Mountains and Cockpit Country ,rafting on the Martha Brae river and health spas such as Bath Fountain Hotel an d Spa in St. Thomas and Milk River Bath in Clarendon. The jamaican culture and heritage are unlike any other anywhere on earth, it is essential to get jamaicans more educated in culture and heritage as a means of being able to extend the offering of a richer quality cultural and heritage experience to adventure seekers who travel to our destination. A high percentage of travelers are more than interested to learn our language, dance, music and cuisine in their purest forms, however not many get the full on experience as there is a lack of manpower in these areas. Much more use can be made of the abundance land, sunlight and water to aid in the development of Jamaicas tourism product in the area of agricultural tourism. The Blue Mountains are currently used as a source of adventure tourism and farming ground for the infamous Blue Mountain Coffee, should this be expanded into the Cockpit Country and other products introduced it would become a more wide scale operation, in that, it would create more employment, attract more visitors and th ere would be a greater demand for those areas as tourists would seek to discover whatever new adventures there are. Another avenue that could be enhanced in order to create a greater demand of Jamaica as a tourist destination is our ancillary services in terms of transportation (comfort and luxury of vehicles and condition of roadways), banking ( the exchange rate), accommodations (the quality and value for money they receive by staying in hotels),upgrading the equipment in hospitals in order to have better healthcare facilities and render enhanced medical services to both locals and tourists, providing travel insurance at competitive rates and so forth. Should the quality of these services be improved then it would give Jamaica a more competitive edge in the tourism market. The impacts of Technology on the Tourism Industry. Technology and Transportation. Tourism is quite as old as time itself, from the earliest days when man would travel for long distances on foot, until the evolution of tools of trade and man themselves gave birth to new technological inventions that made traveling gradually easier to the point where what used to take months has been shaved down to mere hours, a day or two being the maximum for travel to the lesser percentage of destinations. Throughout the ages traveling has been developing more and more with each generation. It all began with traveling by foot; however man soon learned to domesticate animals such as mammoths, horses, donkeys, elephants, camels etc. Ever inventive man created the wheel around 3500 BC, then came the joining of the wheel and some animals to form, horse drawn carriages, chariots and wagons, which made travel easier and faster than foot but nothing close to what was coming next. Boats were the next mode of travel and the earliest type was the dug out canoe where a fire was lit on a log then put out and the burnt part was dug out leaving a hallow space for passengers. As with time they too evolved into ships which were large wooden structures built to travel long distances across oceans and seas and then there were mainly two types, the sail and the later invented steam engine, the powerful and fast railway was next to be developed in the 19th century, closely following was the invention of the first cars which were made in 1865 and 1866 respectively by Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler, however cars only became more common in the 1960s and 1970s after the first and second world wars as there was mass production companies which made them cheaper. The largest, most used, talked, about and technologically advanced type of travel began in the 20th century, December 17th 1903 to be exact, with the flight of the Wright brothers. This spearheaded the aviation standards which eventually led to the building of larger more elaborate types of aircrafts such as; Zeppelins, blim ps, Boeing 700 series airplanes as well as other makes and models, the air balloon, jets, rockets and other spacecraft. It is clear that technological development has greatly impacted travel and tourism in the field of travel as without these developments the industry would exist but the rate of turn over would be extremely low and slow. Travelers, regardless of net worth would be discouraged as the amount of time it took to get from one place to the next would be so great it would seem a burden and more than likely only destinations that are relatively close to the country of origin would be visited, causing it to become congested, repetitive and eventually boring and uninteresting. Thanks to the inventors and founding fathers of the different types transport, traveling has been made easy and allows for people to travel in large groups in comfort over immense distances within a tolerable time frame. This helps to increase the revenue of the economy for destinations travelled to. Technology in Research and Communication. Before anyone thought of how do I get there?They first asked, Where do I go? In order for one to have gotten an answer to this question he or she spent long periods of time mulling over all sorts of printed media ranging from, newspaper articles,maps,magazines and the like firstly to find a destination, then to garner as much knowledge about the place before deciding to embark on the journey. This was a rather tedious task, very time consuming and exasperating and this combination proved to be a natural deterrent. This was not to remain so as a slew of inventors starting with Konrad Muse and his freely programmable Z1 computer in 1936 began the invention of the computer. It continued with John Anatasoff and Clifford Berry in 1942, Howard Aiken and Grace Hopper in 1944, amongst many others up until 1985 when Microsoft windows became known globally and still is the world leader in computers and computer software. A computer by itself was just another machine. It was the invention of th e internet that revolutionized the use of the computer as a means of communication, research and advertisement.According to the Internet, unlike the light bulb and telephone the internet didnt have any one inventor. Over fifty years ago lt got its start in the United States of America as a weapon In the Cold War and for years scientists and researchers used it to communicate and share data with each other. This technological advancement has made traveling and the tourism industry significantly more developed as it makes life easier for the client and business alike. Instead of spending extended periods of time to get all the necessary information required to travel, everything is now readily available at your fingertips. It has significantly minimized the amount of time its takes for booking travel and accommodation as it offers the option of immediate pricing and confirmation as opposed to waiting for a travel agent which could take hours or even days, encourages the use of credit cards as opposed to having to visit a bank to withdraw cash, allows for simultaneous and immediate response in terms of emails and the instant messaging rather than writing letters or sending telegrams. Technology enables tourists to communicate with their family members back home via video chat, instant messaging and emails. Not only has technology benefitted tourists, it has also affected the way in which business is conducted in todays tourism industry, stakeholders utilize this medium for marketing themselves and their respective companies as well as to communicate with clients before the actual service delivery, communicate with employees and with other business owners as an avenue to conduct business meetings online through video conferencing which has proven to reduce the cost of traveling. Another technological advancement which has greatly affected the growth of the tourism industry is the telephone, an electronic device invented by Mr. Alexander Graham Bell. This device in not only beneficial for tourists for communication with family and friends but also for the tourism industry as it is a means of instant communication between the directors, shareholders and employees within organizations as well as other entities outside the tourism industry which are crucial to the operation of the business. Without both the computer and telephone, communication would be slow and it would cause decision making to be a much delayed process which affects the industry negatively. Other technological advancements which have greatly affected tourism and the tourism industry are the simple machines (lever, pulley, wedge and incline plane etc.) which have been integrated into the design of countless machines used in the building oh hotels to house tourist, roads to travel on, water filtration and plumbing for safe hydration, cooking and bathing purposes, installation of electricity used for lighting and the operation of machines and other electronic devices and in the d esign of all modes of transportation( ships, airplanes motor vehicles etc.). Without all of these, simply put the tourism industry would not be what it is today and with consistent and continuous modifications being made there is no doubt that in years to come the industry will become a more immense operation. Conclusion In conclusion the options must carefully be weighed and careful and contingent planning has to take place before any advertisement or production can manifest. This will allow for smooth and fool proof execution of procedures, hence, the guest/ visitor can have extraordinary and remarkable experiences, the community capitalizes on the opportunities afforded and the country as a whole and its economy can flourish.

Binding of QNB and Atropine to Muscarinic Acetylcholine

Binding of QNB and Atropine to Muscarinic Acetylcholine Cholinergic relates to the responses in various systems to the neuro-transmitter molecule Acetycholine (ACh). They are the protein that are permanently attached to the biological membrane or the integral membrane protein (IMP). If the set of response is seen where Ach is a normal transmitter it is seen that they are grouped based on nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR) that respond to nicotine, and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChR) that bind muscarine. These Nicotine and muscarine are extrinsic molecules that get the same response but with different sensitivity. Drugs that bind to muscarinic receptors are classified based on Agonists (which activate the neuronal receptor and produce a response) Antagonists (which do not activate the receptor and block the agonist binding site) Antagonists are now used to study the drug-receptor binding as they bind with a higher affinity (i.e lower dissociation constant kd) when compared with agonists Pharmacology studies have shown that antagonists have higher affinity but no efficacy to their cognate receptors. They intervene their effect by going and binding to the active site or to allosteric sites on the receptor. They can also go and bind to unique binding sites that do not participate in biological regulation of any receptor activity. The activity that antagonist causes may be reversible or irreversible, depending on the long life of the antagonist-receptor complex. Studies have shown that 3-Quinuclinidyl benzilate (QNB) is a potent muscarinic antagonist in CNS (central nervous system) and peripheral tissues. QNB shows specific binding to the receptor of interest it binds. It can also bind to other sites of the membrane and these can cause changes. We can measure specific binding by filtering radioactive 3H-QNB and then measuring the amount of QNB. To measure non-specific binding, Atropine is used to displace QNB from the specific sites, while the non-specifically bound QNB remains and can be quantified by measuring radioactivity. (Source: Yamamura et al. May 1974) Overview of the experiment QNB is carried out in a radioactive binding assay where the concentration of QNB that is specific bound without atropine and QNB that is non-specifically bound with atropine is measured over successive interval of time. It is allowed to incubate so as for binding site to reach saturation is allowed where the equilibrium is reached. After this any further increase incubation time does not cause the amount of QNB bound to change. This QNB bound to the membrane is measured. By calculating the incubation time, IC50 of atropine is measured by measuring the atropine at which 50% of bound QNB is displaced. Amount of free QNB when 50% of bound QNB is displaced is used to measure the dissociation constant (Kd). Materials and Methods Determination of QNB specific and non-specific binding Two bulk assays was carried out To measure QNB binding (in the presence of water) To measure non specific binding (with the presence of atropine) There were two conical flask taken A and B. Tube A was added with 30 ml of 1.3 nM 3H-QNB and 6ml water. And to the flask B flask B, 30 ml 3H-QNB and 6ml atropine was added. S filter tower is then set with 6 GF/C filters and 4.0 ml of rat membrane was added to each flask and the flask were swirled to mix well. 2ml aliquots from A flask (A1, A2, A3) and (B1, B2, B3) from the B flask were produced and were run through fresh GF/C filters. Each of the filters was then washed to remove mini-vials, and then 5 ml scintillant was added and was left for at least an hour. After a hour the radioactivity was counted in the scintilliant counter. This protocol was repeated for a couple of more time to produce triplicates at the time interval of 10, 20, 30, 45 and 60 min. Determination of IC50 for atropine Five glass test tubes having 1200 ÃŽÂ ¼l of distilled water in each was taken. To the test tube 1, 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l of 10 10 ÃŽÂ ¼M atropine was added and was mixed well. 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l of the solution was added to tube 2 and mixed well. The same method is carried out for a series of dilutions to be done in tube 3 to 5. Atropine concentration in each tube is calculated. Seven triplicate tubes (A1, A2, A3à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦G1, G2, G3) are made each containing 1500 ÃŽÂ ¼l of 1.3nM QNB assay and the tubes are mixed well. 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l of 10 ÃŽÂ ¼M atropine was added to the three tubes of A and three B tubes were added with 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l of solution from tube 1. The dilution process was carried out for tubes C, D, E, F from tube 2, tube 3, tube 4 and tube 5 respectively. To tubes G, 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l of distilled water was added instead. 200 ÃŽÂ ¼l membrane was then added quickly to all the tubes. The 21 tubes were then left for incubation for 45 min and the radioactivity was then measured. Determination of concentration of protein using Lowry Assay Test tubes were prepared that contained 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 ÃŽÂ ¼g BSA (Bovine serum albumin) made up to 1 ml with water. A 6th tube was taken that had 50 ÃŽÂ ¼l of membrane that was made up to 1ml with water. 1.5ml of reagent 1 that contains 0.5 ml copper tartrate + 50ml alkaline carbonate was added and mixed well and let to stand for 10 min at room temperature. Then 0.3 ml of reagent 2 that contains Commercial Folin-Ciocalteau reagent was added to the tubes and mixed well. The tubes were then left for incubation for 30 min. Absorbance or optical density was read at 660nm. Determination of kd for QNB Eight test tube was taken, four containing low QNB concentration (1.3nM QNB mix) and four tubes containing high QNB concentration (6.5nM QNB mix). Tubes 1 to 4 were added with 7.50 ml, 2.50 ml, 5 ml and 3.2 ml of 6.5 nM QNB mix respectively. Lower concentration of QNB is made by diluting the standard QNB assay mix with NaKP solution. These tubes are labelled 1-8. The solution of tube 1-8, of about 1500 ÃŽÂ ¼l each was added to the triplicate tubes (A1, A2, A3, H1, H2, H3) respectively. Solution of tube 1 is added to tubes A, Tube 2 to B tubes till tube 8 to tubes H. 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l water + 200 ÃŽÂ ¼l membrane was then added to all tubes. For tubes A4-H4, 300 ÃŽÂ ¼l Atropine plus (Tube 1-8) respectively plus 200 ÃŽÂ ¼l membranes was added. Radioactivity was measured in all tube. A lowry assay was also carried out. RESULT AND DISCUSSION Here in the graph the values are plotted for QNB bound with atropine (with as show in the graph), QNB bound without atropine (Without as shown in the graph) and Corrected vales are obtained by subtracting QNB bound with atropine from the QNB bound without atropine (corrected as shown in the graph ) against time. Here QNB bound without atropine is total amount of QNB bound to the receptor; QNB bound with atropine is the Non-specific binding of QNB to the receptor and corrected is the specific binding of QNB to the receptor. After a particular time of incubation receptors reach equilibrium, where no more binding of QNB takes place to the binding sites. At this point when no more binding of QNB takes place the plateau is formed in the graph showing saturation. This incubation time is approximately 45 min as shown by the graph reaching the plateau. The graph shows us that with and corrected points of the graph forms a plateau after reaching incubation time of approximately 45 min. If an addition incubation time was taken after 60 min we would have got a plateau for without graph also showing us a plateau. The graph shows that the cmp value increase over time after which when reaching a particular time no more binding occurs thus forming a plateau showing the saturation or equilibrium has reached. Small decline in the graph can be seen at time 30 to 45 min, this could have been due to experimental errors. The errors could have been caused during pipetting, in proper vacuum, formation of bubbles, adding samples properly between time intervals etc. This can be avoided by more careful handling of the instrument and doing a initial check up for errors so as to not cause changes in the experiments result. Taking the above data into consideration we have chosen 45 min as incubation time for determining IC50 of atropine. This is because, saturation of binding sites is achieved and no further unbinding of QNB also occurs, as the off-rate or reaction constant of QNB unbinding is very low. So there is no further change in the amount of bound QNB and hence this incubation time is considered appropriate. By serial dilution different concentration of atropine was prepared. The graph shows us that the amount to QNB bound to the receptor of the membrane reduces with increase in concentration. This happens because atropine is a competitive binder and binds competitively with specific sites to the receptor. The amount of QNB specifically bound will be inversely proportional with atropine concentration. Half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50)  is a measure of how effective a compound is in inhibiting biological or biochemical function. This is a quantitative measure that let us know how much concentration of the drug or biological substance (inhibitor) is required to inhibit a given biological process by half. So we are calculating the IC50 of atropine to determine its potency. It is calculated by taking atropine concentration at which 50% QNB is displaced. The IC 50 value was found to be 0.0008912 ÃŽÂ ¼M. This shows that atropine is a drug with good potency. Ic 50 does not directly discuss the binding constant so we cannot compare the binding affinity of QNB and receptor. Lowarys assay Lowrys assay was carried out for determining the concentration of membrane protein. First different concentration of BSA was used and we generated a graph for it, taking concentration and OD. The membrane protein was then checked for absorbance and was found to be 0.322. Using the linear regression equation and the absorbance, concentration of the membrane protein was found to be 0.803 mg/ml. This test was done for another membrane protein sample. The absorbance of the membrane was 0.27. Again using the regression equation and the absorbance, concentration of the membrane protein was found to be 0.293529412 mg/ml. Determination of Kd: Kd is -1/m and was the equation was used is y = -8499.6x 1.3669. the kd is used to define the affinity between the drug and the protein . the value of Bmax was 0.001161 nm.

Dawn by Elie Wiesel Essay -- Dawn Elie Wiesel Essays

Dawn by Elie Wiesel In this report you will see the comparisons between the novel Dawn and the life of Elie Wiesel, its author. The comparisons are very visible once you learn about Elie Wiesel’s life. Elie Wiesel was born on September28,1928 in the town of Hungary. Wiesel went through a lot of hard times as a youngster. In 1944, Wiesel was deported by the nazis and taken to the concentration camps. His family was sent to the town of Auschwitz. The father, mother, and sister of Wiesel died in the concentration camps. His older sister and himself were the only to survive in his family. After surviving the concentration camps, Wiesel moved to Paris, where he studied literature at the Sorbonne from 1948-1951. Since 1949 he has worked as a foreign correspondant and journalist at various times for the French, Jewish, periodical, L’Arche, Tel-Aviv newspaper Yediot Ahronot, and the Jewish daily forward in New York City. Francois mauriac the Roman Catholic Nobelest and Nobel Laureate convinced Wie sel to speak about the Holocaust. Wiesel wrote an 800 page memoir which he later edited into a smaller version called "Night". In the mid 60’s Wiesel spoke out a lot about the Holocaust. Later on Wiesel emerged on as an important moral voice on Religious Issues and the Human Rights. Since 1988 Wiesel has been a professor at Boston University. Some of Wiesel’s greatest novels has been "Night", "Dawn", "The Accident", "The Town Beyond The Wall", "The Gates Of The Forest", "The Fifth Son"...

Computer Direct-Sellers :: Internet Technology Essays

Computer Direct-Sellers Computers and computer sales have evolved rapidly over the past few decades. Purchasing computers no longer has to involve an intermediate sales person. You can order your computer direct from the manufacturer through the Internet. Although there are many computer direct sellers, I am analyzing three of their web sites, Dell, IBM and Gateway. I chose these based on their similarities. They are all large manufacturers that use Intel processors and they allow the buyer to select the exact specifications of the computer they wish to purchase. The first thing I would like to compare is the overall appearance of the web pages. It is important because this is how customers receive their first impression. All three web sites are attractive and have good use of color and pictures. The home pages contain many links but not enough to be overwhelming. The sites do not contain any outside ads or annoying pop ups to distract viewers. All three companies sell computers for home, small and large business, industry, government and education. Although they do sell to all different types of purchasers, each appears to be targeting a different audience. Gateway’s site has a large picture that would likely appeal to the common person. The web site’s home page alternates the use of three different pictures. One picture is of a person holding a notebook computer and refers to the notebook as a friend. Another picture shows a man sitting on the floor working on the notebook. The pictures on Gateway’s web site all contain notebooks and are showing the use of computers beyond the normal business setting. The last picture is of a man outside and refers to the office as a state of mind. Dell appeals to those looking for personal computers but focuses more on the business world. Their home page contains two pictures at a time; one with people and one of a product. These pictures change consistently when you return to the web site, most are pictures are of business or professional setting. For example, one picture portrays Dell as a way to expand a strategic partnership. IBM’s main target is industry. It provides services the other two web sites do not offer. This web site is focused more on these services rather than their products.

Does your environment shape you? Essay

Does your environment shape your personality and the way you act? I completely agree with the fact that, one’s environment is the main factor of shaping one’s personality. I find that many teenagers including myself are very easily influenced by what they see and hear. For example, some teenagers are different and are more interested in the material they read on the Internet and the newspaper. Television adds for make up or clothes can easily attract our attention. Although many of us teenagers live up to a standard so they can fit into a crowd at school. The newspaper articles and stories we read and hear about can grab our attention very easily. Big titles on articles catch our attention. We don’t try to look at them we just see them. An interesting title for an interesting article about your favorite music group or an even that you attended steals your attention and just be reading the first few lines makes you want to keep on reading and reading. When I flip open the newspaper section, I immediately turn to the entertainment section knowing that there must be an article of amusement that will give me something to think and talk about. Same with the stories that we hear from friends. Gossip. You hear a bit of a story being told to another and you immediately jump in asking the questions â€Å"who? What?† These types of things get our attention and just the way we hear about it changes our thoughts and feelings. What good is a section of a story when you must know the whole thing to spread on the story? Hearing two different stories makes you change your mind back and forth until you are too confused to care or another hot new story arrives to the ears of a fellow friend who will pass it down to you. Even the television affects they way we think about events in life. I know that for a fact because I remember when I had never even heard of the small city of Walkerton, Ontario until the story came on the news. I never really gave a damn about Walkerton before, why should I now? Just because it’s a story to talk about! The interviews they broadcast on television and the facts given to you keep on getting you more and more interested until it becomes a common subject to talk about. T.V. adds are the exact same. The colors and the music provided in the background attract our attention very easily. We’re interested to see what’s hot and what’s not. Since everything  in the media involves sex to attract our attention, a lot of us are very easily. I remember watching my favorite show (The Simpsons) when the commercial came on. A gorgeous young lady planting seeds that tears off the lab coat revealing her bikini suit. Next thing I see, a built, muscular man grows from the ground from the seeds planted. And in the end, what was the commercial trying to sell you? A pair of jeans. Just a fashion statement. The commercials make you want to have that exact same product.

Critical Incident – Preconceived Ideas

No names are used in this writing to maintain patient confidentiality and conform to the data protection act 1998Critical incidents originated in the United States, Colonel John C Flannagan was a psychologist who worked closely with the Air Force and their procedures for reporting evidence concerning effective or ineffective behaviour within different situations (Ghaye 2006:64-65). Tripp (1993: 24-25) claims that â€Å"critical incidents appear to be ‘typical’ rather than critical at first sight, but are rendered critical through analysis†.Critical incidents can be either positive or negative; They â€Å"are usually experiences that make you consider the events that have happened to try to give them some sort of meaning† (Hannigan, 2001). Using a critical incident as a way of reflecting helps individuals identify practice that has been helpful or unhelpful in a situation. The value of a critical incident can differ from person to person; it is usually a per sonal experience with meaning to an individual, however critical incidents can be useful for a range of people for example, students, lecturers, service users and the general public.They give an insight into the feelings of the person writing and are often relatable to others. In appendix 1 I have described my critical incident. Following this I will explain the importance of a critical incident and the effect on practice, in particular how it has influenced my practice as a student nurse. This experience has greatly influenced my training in a number of ways. As a student nurse I believe it is hard to avoid having a preconceived judgement of a patient.After receiving a brief description of the patient’s diagnosis from my mentor, I believed this patient would possibly be frail and sedentary, laid in bed with a poor quality of life. However what I was greeted with was the total opposite. This is affected by the patient’s own judgement of her illness, often receiving a p rognosis such as this prompts a dramatic change in the patient’s lifestyle. It can be argued that this is the hardest part in ‘accepting’ a diagnosis is the need to change. ‘In accessing readiness to change, we need to look at the individual’s state’ (Broome 1998:31).If a particular patient is not ready to adapt their lifestyle it can become difficult for them to come to terms with their diagnosis. Patients unable to come to terms with their diagnosis or patients finding their illness difficult after a period of time are likely to suffer from depression or anxiety (Reid, et al 2011). However upon visiting this patient it was clear to me that this patient was able to accept her diagnosis and had readily accepted the challenge to adapt her lifestyle. To me this seemed like a phenomenal act for her to achieve in such a short space of time following the diagnosis.Communication is a key aspect of any type of care, in particular terminal care as the patient in question is likely to feel scared and anxious about their prognosis. There are a number of different reasons for this;â€Å"Including diagnosis and treatment of their disease, long-term physiological alterations, fears of relapse and death, dependence on caregivers, survivor guilt and negative effects on families†. (Groenwald et al 1992: 580)Communication should be an equal conversation that allows both the nurse and patient to include what they need to say.For a nurse it is important to listen to a patient as developing a therapeutic relationship will often make the patient feel more open to discussion about their feelings and concerns. The therapeutic relationship facilitates the ability for a patient to achieve their desired state of maximum health (Brooker, and Waugh, 2007:236; Kozier, et al 2012:95-97) Patients should be able to â€Å"freely express their beliefs, values and concerns in a non-judgemental and supportive way† (Barker 2010:31).A therapeut ic relationship is essential in developing trust between a patient and nurse and is fundamental for care with service users such as my patient. A therapeutic relationship can be described as â€Å"one that allows for the meeting of nursing needs to the mutual satisfaction of a nurse and patient† (McQueen 2000:9). This should reduce anxiety and may allow the patient to feel more comfortable in addressing any concerns surrounding the prognosis. This incident has made me think about the barriers to communication and the effects they can have on other staff members, patients and their families. Understanding the potential problems allows us to better understand how something might be able to work more efficiently† (Ellis 2011:88). There are a number of barriers to communication for example; physical barriers such as a door being closed, perceptual barriers for example going into a conversation thinking that the person isn’t going to understand or be interested in wha t you are going to say. Emotions can also be barriers to communication as well as cultural, gender, interpersonal and intellectual (Kozier et al 2012:46).I believe my patient may have had emotional barriers to communication with the nurse and myself. She had already accepted her diagnosis and her decision not to converse with us about her condition may indicate that it was difficult for her to discuss it with others, despite being comfortable with it herself. The fact that the patient was comfortable with her illness made me think about the definition of health. My patient had said she felt healthy and therefore to her, despite having an illness, she didn’t consider herself as ‘unhealthy’.The World Health Organisation (WHO) describes the definition of health as â€Å"a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity† (WHO 1948; Kozier et al 2012:6) although this is the most commonly used definitio n for health, seeing this patient led me to review its significance. The patient I saw clearly didn’t view this definition to be the same as her meaning of health. Health differs for every individual, my patient felt well and therefore in her opinion she was healthy.It is understandable that she didn’t want to be continually reminded of her cancer, it was enough that her independence had been reduced due to the fact the nurses were coming into her home in the first place. My mentor and I decided to respect the patients wishes and allow her to come to us when she felt she would like to talk rather than forcing her to speak to us, we arranged to keep nurse interaction with this patient to a minimum so she could retain some ‘normality’ in her life. â€Å"Patients are made aware that they have the right to choose, accept or decline treatment and these decisions are respected and supported. (NICE Guidelines 2012) It was at this point I began to understand the value of concordance. McKinnon (2011:69) states â€Å"a partnership of equals on which care plan is negotiated†, concordance enables patients to not only make decisions about their care, but to work in parallel with the health care professionals towards a mutually agreed outcome. It could have been easy for my mentor to disregard the patient’s wishes and focus solely on her wound care and expect her to simply comply as the nurses are considered to be the experts, however her feelings were recognised and her autonomy wishes were responded to.My mentor displayed an excellent example of holistic care according to Linsley (2011:273), who states that nurses have to be aware of the social, environmental and psychological aspects of health and not just physical signs and symptoms of an illness. Before meeting this patient, I didn’t realise how daunting the experience of health care professionals can be, I had always wrongly presumed people would be happy to receive car e to make them feel better, however in this instance it has proved to me that not everyone has this view.It has enabled me to think about my role as a student nurse and it has made me reflect on so many different aspects of good nursing care, from communication and concordance to holistic care. Before my interaction with this patient, I didn’t understand just how important it was for patients to have their say. I couldn’t help but wonder if I had been the registered nurse in that situation, would I have been task orientated and wanted to get the job done rather than taking into consideration the patients wishes? As a first year student I am aware of my limitations and understand that I have a lot to learn.I thought about how I would feel if I was in the patient’s situation and of course I’d want to be involved in the decisions made concerning my care. The experience with this patient has enabled me to develop as a student nurse, and will inform my practic e throughout the whole of my career. Seeing first hand such a good example of concordance and holistic care from my mentor has given me a great platform to base my learning experiences on. References Barker, J (2010) Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses. London: Sage Publications Ltd. Berman, A. Erb, G. Harvey, S. Kozier, B.Morgan-Samuel, H. and Snyder, S (2012) Fundamentals of Nursing: Concepts, process and practice. Harlow: Pearson. Broome, A. (1998) Managing Change. Hampshire: Macmillan Press Ltd. Ellis, P. (2010) Evidence-based practice In Nursing. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd. Ghaye, T. and Lillyman, S. (2006). Learning journals and Critical Incidents. 2nd ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Groenwald, S. Goodman, M. Hansen Frogge, M. and Henke Yarbro, C (eds. ) (1992) Comprehensive Cancer Nursing Review. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlet publishers Inc. Linsley, P. Kane, R. and Owen, S. eds) Nursing for Public Health: Promotion, Principles, and Practice, Oxford: University Press. McKinn on, J. (2011) ‘The nurse-patient relationship' in Linsley, P. Kane, R. and Owen, S. (eds) Nursing for Public Health: Promotion, Principles, and Practice, Oxford: University Press, pp. 64-74. McQueen A. (2000). Nurse-patient relationship and partnership in hospital care. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 9 (5): 723-731. Reid, A. Ercolano, E. Schwartz, P. and McCorkle, R (2011) ‘The Management of Anxiety and Knowledge of Serum CA-125 After an Ovarian Cancer Diagnosis. ‘Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing’ 15 (6), [online], Available from: http://web. ebscohost. com. proxy. library. lincoln. ac. uk/ehost/detail? sid=7e50352a-778c-4db4-be37-388bb618120d%40sessionmgr114&vid=1&hid=103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=c8h&AN=2011371794 [Accessed: 26th February 2013]. Tripp, D. (1993) Critical Incidents in Teaching, Developing Professional Judgement. Routledge: London. NICE Guidelines (2012) Supporting patient choice [online] National Health Service online. Availab le from http://www. nice. org. k/guidance/qualitystandards/patientexperience/SupportingPatientChoice. jsp [accessed 3rd February 2013]. Nursing Times (2004) Reflective thinking: turning a critical incident into a topic for research [online] London, Nursing Times online. Available from: http://www. nursingtimes. net/reflective-thinking-turning-a-critical-incident-into-a-topic-for-research/200145. article [Accessed 3rd february 2013]. World Health Organisation (1948) World Health Organisation Definition of Health [online] New York, World Health Organisation Online. Available from: http://www. ho. int/about/definition/en/print. html [Accessed 1st March 2013]. Bibliography Barker, J (2010) Evidence-Based Practice for Nurses. London. Sage Publications Ltd. Barrat, D, Wilson B, and Woollands, A (2012) Care planning A guide for nurses. Second edition. Harlow. Pearson Education Ltd. Benner, P. (1984) From Novice to Expert, Excellence and Power in Clinical Nursing Practice. Menlo Park Addiso n Wesley. Berman, A. Erb, G. Harvey, S. Kozier, B. Morgan-Samuel, H. and Snyder, S (2012) Fundamentals of Nursing: Concepts, process and practice. Harlow: Pearson.Brooker, C. and Waugh, A. (eds. ) (2007) Nursing Practice: Fundamentals of Holistic Care. Philadelphia: Elsevier. Broome, A. (1998) Managing Change. Hampshire: Macmillan Press Ltd. Ellis, P. (2010) Evidence-based practice In Nursing. Exeter: Learning Matters Ltd. Ghaye, T and Lillyman, S. (2006). Learning journals and Critical Incidents. 2nd ed. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Groenwald, S. Goodman, M. Hansen Frogge, M. and Henke Yarbro, C (eds. ) (1992) Comprehensive Cancer Nursing Review. Sudbury: Jones and Bartlet publishers Inc. McQueen A. (2000).Nurse-patient relationship and partnership in hospital care. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 9 (5): 723-731. Tripp, D. (1993) Critical Incidents in Teaching, Developing Professional Judgement. Routledge London. (Appendix 1) During placement I have managed to gain experience with t erminal cancer patients. When you go into a patient’s house, I feel you can’t help but have a preconceived idea of the type of patient you are about to meet. I was surprised when visiting one patient, as I was told before I entered the home that the patient had terminal epithelial ovarian cancer. This type of ovarian cancer arises from a malignant transformation of the ovarian surface epithelium, how this transformation occurs is unknown. † (Groenwald et al, 1992: 466-467) When I met this patient I was unsure of what I would discover. I expected a woman that was going to appear physically ‘ill’ and I imagined her to be like all the other patients I had seen with terminal cancer. To my surprise we found her sitting in her conservatory reading the newspaper looking well, she was dressed appropriately and had her hair and makeup done.The patient seemed genuinely happy and didn’t meet any of the previous preconceptions I had when I was originally told about her. We were there to change a fluid bag from the patient’s abdomen and support the patient if she had any concerns about her illness. This is the only thing the nurses do for this patient, her partner, with some help from the Macmillan emergency care team complete the rest of her care. This patient had a persistent disease that couldn’t be controlled. She had previously been treated with chemotherapy to try and eliminate the cancer however this had been unsuccessful.The patient had then decided along with the healthcare professionals, to withdraw treatment and only accept pain relief and support. â€Å"The staging of ovarian cancer is based on surgical evaluation and forms the basis of subsequent therapy†. (Groenwald et al, 1992: 466-467) The district nurse has only just become involved in her care, currently she is 5 months into her diagnosis. When the nurse and I tried to speak to the patient about her illness and how she was feeling, she seemed re luctant to talk about it. The patient decided she felt well in herself and didn’t want to be reminded of her illness, she went on to explain that she had already