Tool Control

So, it’s about 1700 and my flight has just landed and everything went pretty well. We are closing up the bird and getting ready to go home. The helicopter is all tied up and wiped down and everything is start to look good. Then some last minute maintenance comes up and the VELOs need to be tightened an blade pins need to be safety wired. Shortly thereafter, about 2 hours because I’m a retard and safety wired the VELOs instead of tightening them, but that’s another story. We finish the job I come in to sign off the MAFs and BAM!I set my cranial down on the floor or desk I don’t recall and I didn’t see it again until the next morning about 70ft above the hangar floor. Now I know the importance of the tool control program I am about to, in detail, explain to you. Hopefully my mistakes will not be repeated. There is a tool control program active in every shop. This program is very important to the safety of the helicopter and the men and women that main tain them and fly them. This program is the responsibility of each and every mechanic, avionics man, air framer, flight equipment men and women, pilots and crew chiefs.Basically, the tool control program established in the United States Marine Corps is the responsibility of every member of the squadron. This program depends on each individual to perform their jobs carefully with the safety of themselves, their fellow marines and the aircraft always in mind. This program cannot afford small mistakes, and definitely no big mistakes. My experience with tool control is a little closer than most would want to come. I have terrible short term memory and it shows in my work.Whether it be in replacing the number one boost reservoir cap after I serviced it, before a flight, or it be in remembering to not leave my cranial just lying around on the shop floor and then never coming back to pick it up or put it in its proper place. My experiences have been numerous and cannot be tolerated on the Flight line, in the squadron or in the Marine Corps. My actions could have in a direct or indirect way been the reason another marine or myself are not here alive today. Thankfully my actions were being closely monitored by the NCOs and other members of the shop .No one was hurt because of my actions and I have to say I am not surprised. The tool control program is also designed to prevent anything awful from happening in the case that a young inexperienced crew chief in training loses two or three rags, his cranial or any other tool he may have while performing a Daily and turnaround inspection or just signing off MAFs. Then never coming in to pick his cranial up and put it in the correct place. The way the tool control program in the Marine corps is set up, it makes it almost impossible to lose tools.It is dummy proof. Almost. Once that tool is lost they have a very effective way of retrieving that tool. The first step in insuring that tools do not get lost is an inventory list. I t is a list of individual items in a tool container. It identifies the tool location within the container by panel and item number. Each tool is etched with a number. When tool sizes do not permit etching the inventory list is noted to draw attention to those small tools. These tools are checked out via a log book kept in each shop witch is updated and checked three times a day.Once in the morning prior to starting any maintenance, again during shift change and again before securing night crew the logs are checked. Too make it easy to identify each tool the Navy and Marine Corps have set up a standardized way of labeling (etching) each individual tool that is large enough to etch. The order the numbers etched on each tool goes like this: First number is the organization code, the second number is a work center code and the third number is the Tool Container number.When the work center is authorized more than one of a certain type of tool container (ie: Pre Flight Kits) the number wi ll be extended to identify the container. The tools that are too small to etch are kept in a special container with a special label affixed to it saying â€Å"CONTAINS TOOLS TOO SMALL TO MARK†. Tool issue is not an issue taken lightly because accountability of all tools is absolutely necessary to ensure none are lost. Special and common tools alike fall under this rule that all tools are accounted for.Even things as small as goggles and sound suppressors to things as big as Ladders and Hydraulic Servicing Units need tool tags from specific boxes to be checked out. Hand tools and common tools fall into two groups. They have the Eighty percent (80%) group which consists of tools required to complete eighty percent of the maintenance tasks. These tools are found in the checkout boxes for the shop. They also have the 20 percent (20%) group which is consist of tools not so commonly used inside a box in the shop. These tools can only be checked out individually and a tool tag is re quired for each individual tool.Another reason why the tool control program in the Marine Corps is so successful is because of the thorough methods we have in place that prevent us from completely losing a tool. If ANY tool is found to be missing or lost at any stage of the inventory process, an immediate search of the area will be conducted. We look everywhere we had been with the tool and everywhere we might have been. Once that has been done and the tool is still missing after extensive searching you notify your work center supervisor and another search, probably with a few more marines will be conducted.If the tool still can not be located your work center supervisor will notify Quality Assurance, Maintenance Control and the Aircraft maintenance Officer (AMO). In the mean time you will initiate a lost or missing tool report and give it to your work center supervisor. You will give a detailed statement of what happened all the way up until you realized the tool was lost and you w ill sign the statement for Quality Assurance. Maintenance Control puts a hold on all Air Traffic until the tool is found or Quality Assurance gives the good to go for flights to continue.The AMO is notified by Maintenance Control. You just standby and wait for the hammer. The meticulous tool check out procedures are another way to keep track of all tools in a shop. The procedures are as follows: You open the tool container and do a thorough inspection of the tool container to be checked out, the condition of the tool container and missing or broken tools in the container are what you are looking for. You want to sure all devices used to secure tools in the tool container are not worn out or broken or missing.Inspect the tool container for FOD. You will be looking for things like safety wire, cotter pins, pieces of attaching hardware and pieces of broken tools. You want to ensure that all tools are wiped clean of any foreign fluids or grease. Also, very important, ensure that every t ool is marked and belongs in that particular tool container. After inspecting the container you take it to an authorized member of the shop to inspect again and sign out in the tool container log book. When you bring the tool container back after maintenance is inished you do the process all over again. Including inspections, and signing the tool container back in to the shop. If at any point in your inspections you find a discrepancy in the condition of a tool there are steps you need to take. First of all you do not accept the tool container from the shop. The tool room will initiate a broken or missing tool report. The unserviceable tool should be replaced by a new one almost immediately. If a tool should break while performing maintenance there are also steps you need to follow.First you do an immediate search of the area and collect all the broken pieces of the tool. You initiate a broken tool report. The broken tool will be replaced by a new one and that tool will be marked ap propriately. Tool Control saves lives by preventing numerous hazardous situations from ever happening. It saves time by keeping track of all tools which aids in finding lost or missing tools. The tool Control program saves money by keeping a close eye on all the tools in a shop preventing lost and missing tools from ever occurring.

Reduction of Demand for Drugs by Incorporation of Elasticity

Prohibited drugs have been one of the major concerns of the federal government for the past decades. Various negative effects of prohibited drugs not only on the user itself but also on the immediate community of the latter have been identified. Due to this, various programs has been launched by the federal government just to regulate and prevent citizens from drug addiction. One of the said government projects to minimize drug addiction would be the intensification of drug treatments aside from the border patrolling etc. The question now would be which of the identified two governments program will be more effective?Since prohibited drugs are addictive, users will continue to buy the said good even if there is a high risk involving its usage, not to mention that it is expensive (Kuehlwein, 2007). In other words, drug users will continue to buy as long as their will be someone who will supply them with those prohibited drugs regardless how much will it cost. Therefore, the intensific ation of drug treatment programs would be more effective as compared to the border patrolling since the former will reduce the addiction of the drug users which will eventually shifts its demand elasticity towards elastic demand.On the other hand, border patrolling will only lower down the supply of prohibited drugs in the market which only further increases its price level due to possible shortage as authorities on borders confiscate more prohibited drugs. At the end of the day, the root of the problem will not be solved by only patrolling on borders since drug users will always find ways on how to get marijuana or cocaine on the streets.This makes the intensification of drug treatment programs more effective since this attacks the root of the problem by minimizing the drug dependency of users which eventually leads to quitting drug usage. At this point, it is already clear that through reducing the demand of drug users to prohibited drugs will solve the said problem of the governm ent more effectively than with the border patrolling. It would be better on the part of the federal government to concentrate more on the drug treatment programs than with border patrolling. AppendixWith the drug treatment program, the elasticity of demand of drug users will shift from being inelastic to being elastic. The good thing with this will be, under the elastic demand; by the time drug users will quit using prohibited drugs, there is a big possibility that they will no longer go back into being drug addicts since they are no longer drug dependent. Whereas, border patrolling will do only no harm on the demand of the drug users and at the same time will only boost the prices of prohibited drugs on the streets as shown by demand curve1.Demand curve 1 is inelastic while demand curve 2 is elastic and the latter is the end effect of the intensification of drug treatment programs. Reference Kuehlwein, M. (2007). Cocaine and the Elasticity of Demand. Retrieved February 21, 2008, fr om http://images. google. com. ph/imgres? imgurl=http://www. unc. edu/depts/econ/byrns_web/GreatIdeas/ART/GI05-12. gif&imgrefurl=http://www. unc. edu/depts/econ/byrns_web/GreatIdeas/02-CoreMicro/GI-05. htm&h=411&w=909&sz=10&hl=tl&start=13&um=1&tbnid=wBaZSi2QPBBJ3M:&tbnh=66&tbnw=147&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dinelastic%2Bdemand%26ndsp%3D18%26um%3D1%26hl%3Dtl%26sa%3DN

Gustave Courbet and Edouard Manet - the Rise of Modernism Essay

Gustave Courbet and Edouard Manet - the Rise of Modernism - Essay Example As Gustave was a radical so the subjects of most of his paintings compromised of the most ordinary and humblest of people (Discover France: Online). Though Gustave was devoid of any formal training in art and painting, yet he made immense efforts to acquire the varied techniques requisite for a realistic portrayal of his subjects (Discover France: Online). In consonance with many of the Realist masters, Gustave always attempted to capture something plain in many of his works. He used a very limited palette to achieve this impact (Discover France: Online). The paintings of Gustave are marked by thick layers of paint giving way to compositions that seemed to be simplistic (Getty Museum: Online). The artist confined most of his innovation to the choice of subjects rather than on the painting technique. Actually, Gustave hit hard at the Romantic ideals by painting common people like workers and peasants (Getty Museum: Online). Gustave was a bohemian artist who resented the views of conte mporary critics and used to exhibit his paintings in pavilions constructed at his own expense (Discover France: Online). Gustave preferred a dark palette and a rough style to reject the conventional notions of Salon finish (Getty Museum: Online). ... Edouard Manet was born in a typical Parisian bourgeoisie family in 1832. Very much like Gustave, the real interest of Manet lied in the world of art and not in academic pursuits. Actually, it was his uncle Charles Fournier who nurtured and encouraged his interest in art. It is Edouard Manet who is credited for facilitating the transition from Gustave Courbet’s realism to French Impressionism (MacDonald: Online). Manet, unlike Gustave, believed in a formal exposure to the old and contemporary art and art techniques. This is why he travelled extensively across Italy, Germany and Austria to study the works and techniques of the masters of the yore. However, such an endeavour failed to satisfy the curiosity and zeal of Manet and finally, it was in the works of Goya and Velasquez that he found the requisite answers to his queries (MacDonald: Online). Not to mention, Manet was also inspired by the works of Gustave. Though Manet appreciated the works of the old masters yet he quintes sentially believed that the purpose of art in any era is to reflect the contemporary ideas and concepts by using techniques that are current and up to date (MacDonald: Online). It is no wonder that the subjects of Manet, unlike Gustave who opted for the French country life, were predominantly selected from the urban life of his age and times (Art History: Online). However, like Gustave, his subjects were common and simple and rebelled against the prevalent concept of class. Like Gustave, Manet did reject the conventional modelling and perspectives and showed now predilection for the traditional emphasis on illusionism (Art History: Online). Manet’s painting technique avoided tight details and the panache for an accurate pictorial duplication (Art History: Online).  

Business Plan for the coffee shop Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business Plan for the coffee shop - Coursework Example Direct competitors include Starbucks, Pref A Manger, Costa, and other coffee shops in the London region. Indirect competitors include bars and restaurants who sell milkshakes and coffee. Saturation in London has prompted key coffee chains to expand regionally. Despite retaining their outlet growth, this has resulted to downward pressure on sales and increased competition. The year 2004 witnessed key coffee shop brands picking off major high traffic sites thus leveraging their powerful brands to compete with other independents and formats. Caffe Nero, Costa, and Starbucks remain to be the dominant players in the United Kingdom coffee shop markets. In 2004, the main competitor was Starbucks and it has more than 400 outlets.2 However, in 2010, Costa Coffee became the market leader and it is the current UK’s preferred coffee shop.3 The coffee shop has competitive advantage over the competitor’s coffee shops. This is because of its good customer service, good location, and g ood product quality and various choices in terms of the interior. Industry Analysis After oil, coffee is the second most traded product in the world. The milkshake and coffee market is highly competitive. The coffee and milkshake market is dominated by international brands such as Starbucks and Costa. Project Cafe10 UK research has revealed that the UK coffee shop market sales have grown by 12 percent in 2010 and branded coffee shop segments such as Pret, Caffe Nero, Costa, and Starbucks recording 1.94 billion Sterling pounds in revenue. Venue choice among the consumers has increased and these venues include non-specialist operators, independents, and branded chains; in 2010, the venues comprised over 14,022 outlets. The market,... The report intends to examine short term and long term aims and objectives such as to make the coffee shop known in the area and gain competitive advantage; to increase customer awareness by 30 percent within a period of three months; to achieve sales worth  £85,000 within a period of one year; to open over 10 shops around the united kingdom within five years; to gain at least 3 percent share of the market within a period of seven years. In order to analyze the business environments, various business analysis tools such as SWOT, competitor analysis, industry analysis etc will be included in the paper. The focus of the coffee shop is on quality and price of the product. The main forms of advertising to be used include online advertising and brand advertising. Online advertising makes use of the internet to advertise the product. Mass media has not proved to be an effective method of advertising. Online advertising is used by most corporations because of its efficiency and cost effec tiveness. On the other hand, brand advertising entails gaining the confidence of the market about a particular product. Its aim is to manipulate demand for a particular product. Unique selling proposition will also be used to advertise the product. Unique selling proposition makes use of a unique ‘slogan’ for a particular product in order to differentiate it from the competitor’s product. The unique selling proposition for the coffee shop is â€Å"Quality and Service to Suit Your Tastes.†

Is speech recoding necessaryfor reading Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Is speech recoding necessaryfor reading - Essay Example Triumphant readers can be carved up with the help of tutors specialized in psycholinguistics. The tutors need to adopt sophisticated and analytical approach with respect to their training to read. What is the basic framework that help these tutors build up an advanced perceptive of the cognitive growth that happens as a child enter into the process of reading? The cognitive psychological domains listed with the framework may prove to be important to develop reading acquisition. However, it is important for every teacher to assess the development of every child with respect to the cognitive domains. Different children may hold diverse talents, backgrounds and weakness. Therefore, it forms a necessity to provide the instructions knowing their mode of grasping. To find out the reading instruction requirement of a child, the teacher needs to conduct ongoing evaluation. Is their any special group who require special attention and instructions to develop reading skills? What are the tactics induced to help these groups to emerge as successful readers. Children with reading disability or complete deafness need more attention compared to the normal group. How can speech recording help this group? Children with attention disorder and hyperactivity disorders also require more attention to learn the basic process of reading. You may find ideas, techniques and successful instructions to help develop winning readers from these categories also. According to certain researchers, reading is a habitual process, which does not require much psychological effort. However, we need to find out how this habitual process is connected with speech coding. According to experts, there are two vital components necessary for reading comprehension. The initial one forms the capability to transform wording to speech, so called the decoding. The next vital component forms the capability to comprehend verbal language referred as the

Reading Responses 11 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading Responses 11 - Assignment Example Neighbours as well as strangers all came together to assist in donating blood and in whatever way possible. The military also responded fast in assisting the injured. The investigation for those responsible for the evil acts became put in place so as to bring them to law. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 will though become arched in the cultural life of Americans. The president through the speech appreciated members of congress who had also condemned the attack. The president mentioned the unity, and the partnership of America and its friends and allies in the struggle to ensure peace and security as well as condemning the terrorist attacks. The speech by President Bush following the 9/11 attacks evokes a few questions; will terrorism ever be brought to an end? How best can the government deal with the issue of terrorism as well as ensure the best possible protection to its people? Does terrorism bring the best of out of people, the unity, the care and the

Work life balance is increasingly used as a strategy to attract and Essay

Work life balance is increasingly used as a strategy to attract and retain employees. Argue the business case for and against implementing Work Life Balance initiatives - Essay Example This is where work-life balance steps in. Work life balance has many facets. Wood describes this as the adjustments that need to be made to ‘working patterns’ in order to allow people to manage other facets of their lives along with the work (2001). Furthermore, the same term is used by other experts to denote the difficulties or the problems that arise in the efforts to carry work life and personal life simultaneously. The ideal, actually, is to achieve a balance between the two. This balance should be unique for every individual as the work priorities and personal priorities of everyone are unique to him or her. However, companies offer a standard set of programs that fall in the work life balance initiative which may or may not satisfy an individual. Therein lies the dilemma that upends this balance and raises the question: is work life balance important after all? This is discussed in detail in this paper. The emergence of this concept has been resulted from a variety of factors which are described by Tausig and Fenwick: â€Å"The notion of a perceived time bind between work and family/personal life (an implied imbalance between them) stems from the changing nature of work and families—e.g., longer work hours, the proliferation of non-standard work schedules, flexible schedules, part time work, increased participation of women in the labor force and the increasing number of â€Å"non-traditional† families.† Having taken a look at the need for this balance, lets take a look at the pros and cons. Companies that offer work life balance are able to attract a growing pool of men and women who are actively seeking a balance in their work and personal lives. This is manifested through a range of work life balance initiatives that come in many forms and offer something to every age group and gender including work that is part time, telecom-enabled or adjusted working days. Furthermore, many companies now make a block

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ON ALTAVISTA VS ASKJEEVES Assignment

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ON ALTAVISTA VS ASKJEEVES - Assignment Example When so many websites have come and gone without leaving a trail of their disappearance, AltaVista and Ask have quite successfully held on to the tide so far, with plans for further growth in the near future. The operations system of an organization is the part that produces the organization's products - in case of manufacturing organisations and that polishes the service operations making them more user friendly - in case of service oriented organizations. In fact operations management has its origins in the study of 'production' or 'manufacturing management'. In some organizations the product is a physical (tangible) good like a television, computer system, furniture item etc. while in others, the 'product' is a service like health care, insurance, telephone services, internet searches, tourist services etc. What is common in both these types of operations is the 'conversion process.' Resources are used by the system in the 'input' chain, which gets converted into valuable 'outputs' after passing through this conversions process. This is where the role of operations management comes into picture. ... e essence of operations management comes into play; it calls for making rational decisions in difficult circumstances with limited, imperfect information. Operations management can therefore be defined as1 'the design, operation and improvement of the internal and external systems, resources and technologies that create and deliver the firm's primary product and service combinations' Problem Statement In this study we'll be trying to study the operational strategies of AltaVista and Ask Jeeves. During the course of study, we'll be taking a look at how both these companies have evolved over the years. Both these search engines have had differing amounts of successes during the course of their journey. We'll try to compare some of operational aspects of these companies and comment on their success or failures. Analysis Internet has indeed established itself as a potent source of information. There are innumerable numbers of sources of information, which tend to prove detrimental for the information seeker. As per the latest available figures, more than a billion users have been using the internet worldwide. But to take the desired piece of information out of the huge information databank, search engine prove very useful. Search engines appeared on the scene during the early 90s. Since then there have been many evolutionary changes in the search engine technologies. The market is led by the likes of Google and Yahoo. This study is carried out to analyze the market position of AltaVista vis--vis Ask (formerly known as Ask Jeeves). The search engines started to provide a list of web sites where we were supposed to find responses to our search terms. The websites appearing in response may have answer to our query or might prove to be irrelevant. Search engines like Ask

Leadership and management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Leadership and management - Assignment Example ......................... 6 3.0 Application of Theory and Analysis ................................................................ 7 4.0 Conclusion ............................................................................................................. 8 5.0 Recommendations .............................................................................................. 8 References ................................................................................................................ 10 Abstract There is no denying the fact that conflicts tend to be the integral aspects of organizations that are given to performing in team scenarios (Pammer & Killian 2009). People do enter into conflicts with each other over a range of issues and differences. However, it is possible to manage conflicts in a way that does not lead to jeopardizing of the personal and organizational relationships and that optimizes the organizational performance (Pammer & Killian 2009). Yet, it is also a fa ct that organizational conflicts if mishandled could lead to the vitiation of the organizational environment and could seriously harm the organizational productivity and efficiency. The given report tends to analyze a conflict scenario at the Reindeer Solutions. The particular conflict situation pertains to the issue being faced by the management, HR and the senior accountant Julia in an organization named Reindeer Solutions. ... The particular situation is associated with a senior accountant, Julia, who has been working at the Reindeer Solutions since the past five years. Of late the senior manager Anthony has noticed many mistakes and flaws in the work submitted by Julia. Anthony tried to discuss things with Julia, but the situation still remained the same. On deeper enquiry, Anthony learnt that Julia is right now facing some domestic issues that demand her time and attention and thereby she is not able to focus on her work. Anthony does not want to lose Julia as she is an immensely experienced and skilled employee, yet he also wants to improve the things at the office. Anthony discussed the issue with HR Administrator Victoria. They agreed that the situation was serious as any serious flaws on the part of Julia could harm the business. So they decided to bring the HR Assistant Murphy and HR Officer Noel on board. These four administrators discussed the issue and came to the conclusion that losing Julia wou ld be a serious mistake. Hence, they decided to offer Julia a junior post on a temporary basis, so as to allow her to focus more on the home front. The whole objective of this step was to place Julia in a relatively soft position till she tides over the rough patch on the domestic front, and then restore her to her original position. These four administrators organized a meeting with Julia and offered to her the contrived plan. However, Julia got extremely disturbed and annoyed at this proposal. She got really angry and said that this solution practically amounts to be a demotion and that her pride forbade her from agreeing to a junior post. This gave way to a conflict scenario between the management, HR and Julia. The manager and the HR personnel tried to

Summative Assessment Essay Example for Free

Summative Assessment Essay 1.1/1.2/1.3 – Requires me to describe what is employee engagement and how does it differ, if at all, from related concepts like employee involvement, employee participation and employee consultation? Also how far is employee engagement something which is genuinely new and distinctive, or is it merely a repackaging of old and well-established ideas? Chiumento (2004) defined employee engagement as a positive, two-way, relationship between an employee and their organisation. Both parties are aware of their own and the other’s needs, and the way they support each other to fulfil those needs. Engaged employees and organisations will go the extra mile for each other because they see the mutual benefit of investing in their relationship. One of the first challenges presented by the literature is the lack of a universal definition of employee engagement. Kahn (1990) defines employee engagement as â€Å"the harnessing of organisation members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances†. The cognitive aspect of employee engagement concerns employees’ beliefs about the organisation, its leaders and working conditions. The emotional aspect concerns how employees feel about each of those three factors and whether they have positive or negative attitudes toward the organisation and its leaders. The physical aspect of employee engagement concerns the physical energies exerted by individuals to accomplish their roles. Thus, according to Kahn (1990), engagement means to be psychologically as well as physically present when occupying and performing an organisational role. Most often employee engagement has been defined as emotional and intellectual commitment to the organisation (Baumruk 2004, Richman 2006 and Shaw 2005) or the amount of discretionary effort exhibited by employees in their job (Frank et al 2004). Although it is acknowledged and accepted that employee engagement is a multi-faceted construct, as previously suggested by Kahn (1990), Truss et al (2006) define employee engagement simply as ‘passion for work’, a psychological state which is seen to encompass the three dimensions of engagement discussed by Kahn (1990), and captures the common theme running through all these definitions. The existence of different definitions makes the state of knowledge of employee engagement difficult to determine as each study examines employee engagement under a different protocol. In addition, unless employee engagement can be universally defined and measured, it cannot be managed, nor can it be known if efforts to improve it are working (Ferguson 2007). This highlights the problems of comparability caused by differences in definition. Furthermore, whilst it is acknowledged that employee engagement has been defined in many different ways, it is also argued the definitions often sound similar to other better known and established constructs such as ‘organisational commitment’ and ‘organisational citizenship behaviour’ (Robinson et al 2004). Thus Robinson et al (2004) report 408, IES defines engagement as: ‘A positive attitude held by the employee towards the organisation and its values. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation. The organisation must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.’ As a result, employee engagement has the appearance of being yet another trend, or what some might call â€Å"old wine in a new bottle†. An engaged employee is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about their work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organisations interests. Employee Engagement is a measurable degree of an employees positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, colleagues and organisation which profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform at work. Thus engagement is distinctively different from employee satisfaction, motivation and organisational culture. Employers require an investment from their employees and in return employees need a similar investment from their company. †¢ The physical things are at the conscious level. They tend to be noticed by management ie an employee’s willingness to ‘go the extra mile. †¢ The emotional things such as caring, commitment and concern occur often at the unconscious level and as a result are not always as visible. †¢ Cognitive engagement means that employees are sure about their job requirements and role expectations. When managers say ‘I want my staff to be caring, pleasant, happy and enthusiastic’, you would ask, ‘what are you giving them so they will do all of this?’ The reply is usually, ‘They get paid.’ If you want your staff to do all the above then they need a return in the appropriate dimension the emotional one. This means creating an atmosphere where the staff passes on to your customers what they get from you. For example: †¢ If you want employees to display initiative and come up with new ideas (Intellectual) you must give them responsibility and provide interesting work and opportunities for promotion. †¢ If you want your employees to adhere to the safety and health regulations at work you must provide them with good equipment and safe working conditions. †¢ If you want them to show respect and empathy for other staff members and customers you in turn must show them respect and have empathy for them. Organisational commitment is the relative strength of an individual’s identification with and involvement in a particular organisation, Armstrong (2006). It consists of three factors: †¢ A strong desire to remain a member of the organisation. †¢ A strong belief in and acceptance of the values and goals of the organisation. †¢ A readiness to exert considerable effort on behalf of the organisation. Work engagement is positively related with, but can nevertheless be differentiated from, similar constructs such as job involvement and organizational commitment, in-role and extra-role behaviour; personal initiative, and workaholics. Moreover, engaged workers are characterised by low levels of burnout, as well as by low levels of neuroticism and high levels of extraversion. Also they enjoy good mental and physical health. Most recently, Christian et al (2011) meta-analyzed over 90 engagement research studies. They found that engagement is distinct from job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and job involvement. If we are to understand how engagement might be managed in organisations, it is essential that we look at how it operates at the level of individuals and groups. A number of commentators in the academic literature have equated engagement with well-established psychological concepts. For example, it has been linked to the notion of ‘flow’ where the worker becomes totally immersed in an activity (Csikszentmihalyi 1990). The military is a great example of employee engagement as they work together going forward to be operationally focused. Learning outcome 3 3.1/3.2/3.3 Requires me to find out why is employment engagement a ‘hot topic’ for many organisations? And what are the benefits to be gained from creating a culture of employee engagement and an ‘engaged’ workforce? Over the past decade, and particularly in the past three years, employers and employees have faced human capital challenges and an uncertain economy. The economic downturn that started in 2008 has had a significant impact on companies and the resulting decisions made by management. These decisions have impacted employee engagement levels and perceptions globally, leading to changes in leading drivers of employee engagement. In uncertain times, organisations need to focus on harnessing the discretionary effort that engaged employees deliver. This makes the difference in how companies are affected during the economic downturn, how quickly they emerge from it, and how strong they are in the future after the downturn passes. Employee engagement/communication is one way to ensure the balance of the psychological contract is maintained throughout change. During an early CIPD Podcast (03 Apr 2007), the CIPD Adviser of Employee Relations, Mike Emmott describes employee attitudes throughout the public sector as ‘bottom of the heap’ He goes on to say ‘I think there is an endemic problem in getting an engaged workforce in the public sector and until they’ve cracked it, efforts at public sector reform are going to be hamstrung’. In an article by Ritu Mohanka (2011) in the British business publication, Management Today he highlighted the rapid emergence of Employee Engagement as a hot topic in company boardrooms and sought to educate its readership on the basics of Employee Engagement. However, though the author was impressed by the power of Employee Engagement as a lever for tapping into an organisations potential, he was still sceptical. They were right to highlight employee engagement as a hot topic. Human Capital Management (HCM) research clearly demonstrates that if your employees arent engaged, then theyre unlikely to be doing a particularly good job, and so probably wont be keeping your customers all that happy and therefore might be laying the seeds for your own downfall in the future. Because you can be sure that somewhere, someone else covets those very same customers and will be doing their utmost to poach them from you. Or to put it another way, if your horses are sleeping, whos pulling your carriage? Finding out just how awake, how hard and in which direction those horses are pulling is the centrepiece and focus of all good Employee Engagement. The challenge, of course, is educating both management and employees, whilst fitting a sound conceptual model to the individual context, values and environment of each and every company. To continue the analogy, its finding the right horses for courses. And then making sure that the management has the right information and benchmarks to understand; how fast theyre going, if theyve actually employed thoroughbreds or work-horses, and whether their horses are all pulling in the same direction. In an ideal world, all of a companys employees are sufficiently gifted and striving towards a unified goal, while advocating their companys values and championing their services to the external world. Common sense, and the real world, tells us that this isnt always the case. This makes it paramount for company leaders to know the reality of the situation and seek sufficient information to develop an action plan, putting both appropriate remedies in place and providing a route to increased employee buy-in, commitment and Engagement, and hence future performance improvements. So, how can they get the horse before the cart? Well, one way would be to start finding out, through their own customised Employee Engagement survey. If properly devised and carried out this will provide an up-to-date and in-depth understanding of their employees: Motivation, Commitment, Belief in the companys leaders and managers and Understanding of company (Values, Goals (vision, mission, strategic priorities etc.), Actions, and their part as a cog in the greater machine, probability of staying with the employer)). In a study by CIPD (2011) it was stated that the key to employee engagement is to create a meaningful job with variety and autonomy. It was also suggested that a positive relationship with managers and feeling able to voice any concerns were also key to maintaining a motivated workforce. Learning outcome 4 4.1/4.2 Requires me to find out what is the empirical evidence to support the claim that these benefits can be realised in practice? An article on engagement in People Management, Mark Butler (2008), Director of the People Organisation and an associate of Edinburgh HR Academy suggest that ‘valuing the views of the people is beyond dispute’. This was further reinforced in People Management, Tim Smedley (2008) when he interviewed Tony McCarthy, Director, People and Organisational Effectiveness, British Airways. Tony McCarthy described it very succinctly, ‘we need to listen to people more than we do’. Also in April 2008, the success of Birmingham City Council’s ‘Best’ initiative a values-based change programme intended to improve performance and empower employees, demonstrated how learning from past performance and involving staff in the design of a programme rather than imposing it had a dramatic positive effect on the mood of the workforce. The Military Covenant (2000), which forms part of the Army’s Doctrine, underpins the ethos of the military’s psychological contract with its serving soldiers. An extract of the Army Doctrine Publication Military Covenant (2000) relevant to this report is as follows ‘soldiers will be called upon to make personal sacrifices, including the ultimate sacrifice – in the service of the nation. In return, British soldiers must always be able to expect fair treatment, to be valued and respected as individuals, and that they (and their families) will be sustained and rewarded by commensurate terms and conditions of service. In a case study by PlasticCo (2007) they described their leaderships as ‘from the top–down’ with an autocratic approach to problem-solving. However, changes in their senior management led to a new strategic direction for the company. A new managing director was appointed, bringing a more participative vision. With full board support, a business case was made for a three-year transition towards an involvement-oriented culture. At the heart of this approach were people development, teamwork, communication and a more open leadership style. The new management team made it clear that the company was profitable and performing well and that the change was part of a new strategy of continuous improvement towards greater performance. PlasticCo joined the Kingston Business School Employee Engagement Consortium to help assess the levels of engagement in their company and identify potential avenues for improvement. Truss et al (2006) conducted a survey of working life in the UK, of which engagement was a core consideration. Using a cross-section of UK workers from various industries, they concluded that only 35% of people are engaged overall. These studies suggest there is much scope for increasing engagement in UK companies and public bodies. GovDep is a large government department, which in 2007 underwent considerable changes as a result of a merger between two previously separate agencies. This led to a new management structure and ‘head office’ rationalisation and provided an opportunity for headcount efficiencies. The department and agencies have been involved in working towards increased employee engagement for some time, although this has only been branded as ‘employee engagement’ latterly. This interest stems from a drive to renew employment practices and processes as part of a wider agenda of government modernisation. The department and agencies conducts annual staff survey’s, which feeds into improvement activities, which has increased the focus on employee involvement initiatives. The majority of the agency’s employees work in an office/contact centre environment. There is an emphasis on employee development, coaching and teamwork. There is also careful attention to diversity and equal opportunities. Sickness absence rates were high, compared with the private sector organisations, and with a new performance standard for sickness in place the aim is to reduce sickness absence to below 8.3 average working days per year. This work is beginning to provide the reduction required. To assist in the development of their employee engagement they have joined the Kingston Business School Employee Engagement Consortium. Learning outcome 6 6.1/6.2/6.3 Requires me to find out what is the future of employee engagement so far as tomorrow’s organisations are concerned? There are many theories about how to do change. Many originate with leadership and change management guru, John Kotter (1995) who created eight steps that are required to transform an organisation: 1. Establishing a sense of urgency. †¢ Examine market and competitive realities. †¢ Identify and discuss crisis, potential crisis, or major opportunities. †¢ Provide evidence from outside the organization that change is necessary. 2. Forming a powerful guiding coalition. †¢ Assemble a group with enough power to lead the change effort. †¢ Attract key change leaders by showing enthusiasm and commitment. †¢ Encourage the group to work together as a team. 3. Creating a vision. †¢ Create a vision to help direct the change effort. †¢ Develop strategies for achieving that vision. 4. Communicating the vision. †¢ Build alignment and engagement through stories. †¢ Use every vehicle possible to communicate the new vision and strategies. †¢ Keep communication simple and heartfelt. †¢ Teach new behaviours by the example of the guiding coalition. 5. Empowering others to act on the vision. †¢ Remove obstacles to the change. †¢ Change systems and / or structures that work against the vision. 6. Planning for and creating short-term wins. †¢ Plan for and achieve visible performance improvements. †¢ Recognize and reward those involved in bringing the improvements to life. 7. Consolidating improvements and producing still more change. †¢ Plan for and create visible performance improvements. †¢ Recognise and reward personnel involved in the improvements. †¢ Reinforce the behaviours shown that led to the improvements. 8. Institutionalising new approaches. †¢ Articulate the connections between the new behaviours and corporate success. †¢ Developing the means to ensure leadership development and succession. Within the military they have various ways to get feedback and then action employee’s requests if deemed necessary and if budgets allow. Two of these are the Armed Forces Pay Review Body (AFPRB) and the Armed Forces Continuous Attitude Survey (AFCAS). These surveys are conducted annually, meaning that changes for future employees are a role on thing. Changes will happen, but only through consultation with its employee’s. Due to the volume of this document the full report for the AFPRB can be found at: http://www.baff.org.uk/201103191103/armed-forces-pay-review-body-afprb-report -2011.html Also the same goes for the AFCAS, which can be found at: http://www.baff.org.uk/armed-forces-continuous-attitude-survey-2011.html My personal feelings are that employee engagement will become even more critical as the economy and job market begins to steadily rebound from the trenches we have seen over the last couple of years. With this being said, you will begin to see those key players within organisations, being targeted by competitors. And, with companies still reluctant to offer incentive based increases and tightly controlling their cash flow; there will need to be some form of non-tangible incentives available to these aforementioned key individuals. This is where employee engagement comes into play. Companies will need to identify areas that are important to the retention and development of their employee base and really focus their energy in those areas. Such as identifying key moments in an employee’s life or career and leveraging those to inspire others through communication. HR has a key role to play in implementing engagement initiatives. This will generally include designing and carrying out employee surveys, testing the findings through focus groups and advising senior managers on their significance. HR personnel will also have the job of helping line managers to raise their game. They may also need to liaise with marketing to develop the ‘employer brand’ or incorporate the findings of employee surveys within performance management processes. References Armstrong, M. (2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice 10ed. London: Kogan. Baumruk, R. (2004) ‘The missing link: the role of employee engagement in business success’,Workspan, Vol 47, pp48-52. BCC. (2008) The Change Agent Project, ‘Best Initiative’. Birmingham: BCC. Available at: http://www.birminghambest.co.uk/changeagents [accessed 09 Mar 2012). Butler, M. (2008) Why engagement is set to revolutionise public services. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2008/09/why-engagement-is-set-to-revolutionise-public-services.htm [accessed 09 Mar 2012). Chiumento. (2004) Get Engaged, Chiumento, London. Christian, M. S., Garza, A. S., Slaughter, J. E. (2011). Work engagement: A quantitative review and test of its relations with task and contextual performance. Personnel Psychology, 64, 89-136. CIPD (2007) Employee Engagement: Podcast episode 6. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/podcasts/_articles/article6.htm [Accessed 08 Mar 2012]. CIPD (2008) Employee Engagement in Context: Research Insight. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6D7D52C8-6E51-4539-A189-1E2D6EBEF01F/0/employee_engagement_context.pdf [Accessed 09 Mar 2012]. CSIKZENTMIHALYI, M. (2008) Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics. Ferguson, A. (2007) ‘Employee engagement: Does it exist, and if so, how does it relate to performance, other constructs and individual differences?’ Available at: http://www.lifethatworks.com/Employee-Engagement.prn.pdf [Accessed 07 Mar 2012]. Frank, F.D., Finnegan, R.P. and Taylor, C.R. (2004) ‘The race for talent: retaining and engaging workers in the 21st century’, Human Resource Planning, Vol 27, No 3, pp12-25. Kahn, W.A. (1990) ‘Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol 33, pp692-724. Kotter, J. (2011) The Heart of Change. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NKti9MyAAw [Accessed 10 Mar 2012]. Mohanka, R. (2011) Employee Engagement is a Hot Topic. London: Europe Office. Available at: http://events.kenexa.com/newsletter/oldver/05041.asp?uid=1tbl=test [Accessed 09 Mar 2012]. Richman, A. (2006) ‘Everyone wants an engaged workforce how can you create it?’ Workspan, Vol 49, pp36-39. Robinson, D., Perryman, S. and Hayday S. (2004) The drivers of employee engagement. Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies. Available at: http://www.wellbeing4business.co.uk/docs/Article%20-%20Engagement%20research.pdf [Accessed 07 Mar 2012]. Shaw, K. (2005) ‘An engagement strategy process for communicators’, Strategic Communication Management, Vol 9, No 3, pp26-29. Sims, R R (1994) Human Resource Management’s Role in Clarifying the New Psychological Contract, Human Resource Management, 33 (3), pp, 373–82. Smedley, T (2008) We need to listen to people more than we do. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2008/09/we-need-to-listen-to-people-more-than-we-do.htm [accessed 09 Mar 2012). Spindler, G S (1994) Psychological contracts in the workplace: a lawyer’s view, Human Resource Management, 33 (3), pp 325–33. Truss, C., Soane, E., Edwards, C., Wisdom, K., Croll, A. and Burnett, J. (2006) Working Life: Employee Attitudes and Engagement 2006. London, CIPD. Bibliography Arkin, A. (2011) ‘Is Engagement Working’, People Management, November 2011, pp.22-27. Armstrong, M. (2006) A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice 10ed. London: Kogan. Baumruk, R. (2004) ‘The missing link: the role of employee engagement in business success’,Workspan, Vol 47, pp. 48-52. BCC. (2008) The Change Agent Project, ‘Best Initiative’. Birmingham: BCC. Available at: http://www.birminghambest.co.uk/changeagents [accessed 09 Mar 2012). Brearley, M. (2009) ‘Fully Charged’, People Management, June 2009, pp.20-23. Butler, M. (2008) Why engagement is set to revolutionise public services. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2008/09/why-engagement-is-set-to-revolutionise-public-services.htm [accessed 09 Mar 2012). Chiumento. (2004) Get Engaged, Chiumento, London. Christian, M. S., Garza, A. S., Slaughter, J. E. (2011). Work engagement: A quantitative review and test of its relations with task and contextual performance. Personnel Psychology, 64, 89-136. CIPD (2007) Employee Engagement: Podcast episode 6. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/podcasts/_articles/article6.htm [Accessed 08 Mar 2012]. CIPD (2008) Employee Engagement in Context: Research Insight. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/6D7D52C8-6E51-4539-A189-1E2D6EBEF01F/0/employee_engagement_context.pdf [Accessed 09 Mar 2012]. CIPD (2011) Employee Engagement: Factsheets. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/employee-engagement.aspx [Accessed 07 Mar 2012]. CSIKZENTMIHALYI, M. (2008) Flow: the psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics. Ferguson, A. (2007) ‘Employee engagement: Does it exist, and if so, how does it relate to performance, other constructs and individual differences?’ Available at: http://www.lifethatworks.com/Employee-Engagement.prn.pdf [Accessed 07 Mar 2012]. Frank, F.D., Finnegan, R.P. and Taylor, C.R. (2004) ‘The race for talent: retaining and engaging workers in the 21st century’, Human Resource Planning, Vol 27, No 3, pp. 12-25. Kahn, W.A. (1990) ‘Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work’, Academy of Management Journal, Vol 33, pp. 692-724. Kotter, J. (2011) The Heart of Change. Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NKti9MyAAw [Accessed 10 Mar 2012]. Mohanka, R. (2011) Employee Engagement is a Hot Topic. London: Europe Office. Available at: http://events.kenexa.com/newsletter/oldver/05041.asp?uid=1tbl=test [Accessed 09 Mar 2012]. Pickard, J (2009) ‘A Healthy Constitution’, People Management, January 2009, pp.20-23. Richman, A. (2006) ‘Everyone wants an engaged workforce how can you create it?’ Workspan, Vol 49, pp36-39. Robinson, D., Perryman, S. and Hayday S. (2004) The drivers of employee engagement. Brighton: Institute for Employment Studies. Available at: http://www.wellbeing4business.co.uk/docs/Article%20-%20Engagement%20research.pdf [Accessed 07 Mar 2012]. Shaw, K. (2005) ‘An engagement strategy process for communicators’, Strategic Communication Management, Vol 9, No 3, pp26-29. Sims, R R (1994) Human Resource Management’s Role in Clarifying the New Psychological Contract, Human Resource Management, 33 (3), pp, 373–82. Smedley, T (2008) We need to listen to people more than we do. London: CIPD. Available at: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2008/09/we-need-to-listen-to-people-more-than-we-do.htm [accessed 09 Mar 2012). Spindler, G S (1994) Psychological contracts in the workplace: a lawyer’s view, Human Resource Management, 33 (3), pp 325–33. Truss, C., Soane, E., Edwards, C., Wisdom, K., Croll, A. and Burnett, J. (2006) Working Life: Employee Attitudes and Engagement 2006. London, CIPD.

History of Standards Of Beauty

History of Standards Of Beauty We live in a consumer culture and we are bombarded with advertising, retailing and entertainment industry. It is forcing us to buy and consume products, promising us happiness and self-transformation. Media is ever present in our lives. We look to the media to help us define, explain, and shape the world around us (Kellner, 2003). We make comparisons of ourselves, those close to us, and situations in our lives after seeing images in the media. And as a result, after these comparisons we are motivated to try to achieve new goals and expectations. In the contemporary world, messages about goods are all pervasive- advertising has increasingly filled up the spaces of our daily existenceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ it is the air that we breathe as we live our daily lives (Jhally, 1990: 250). The important thing is that we cannot avoid comparisons of ourselves to the images which we are surrounded with from media and most of us will find ourselves inadequate when we do this (Kellner, 2003). How many times have we after seeing some beautiful woman in a magazine or on TV, thought: I want hair, lips, body, breasts or something else like she has?! Media is our most important information source. But I think we are not educated by it. We believe in everything that media serves us. This essay seeks to address so many women who feel they just dont measure up when it comes to their looks. Women who believe their thighs are too big, their breasts too small, their hair boring, their skin flawed, their body shaped funny, or their clothes outdated. We are surrounded with women who believe their life would improve if they could only lose 15 pounds; if they could afford contact lenses, that new perfume or anti-cellulite lotion; if they got a nose job, a face lift, a tummy tuck, etc, women who feel shame or unhappiness when they think about some part (or all) of their body. In other words, every day we see there is a great majority of women who feel this way. We all want to be beautiful. But I want to write about what lies behind that, behind that beauty myth. In this essay I will try to explore and to explain, how media plays a dominant role in influencing females perceptions of the world around them, as well as helping them to define their sense of self. I will try to examine the influences that media has on females feelings towards their place in society, sexuality, self-esteem and body image. I hope will give some answers to some questions. What media does in terms of imposing the beauty myth? How standards of beauty changed over time and yet beauty for women is still compulsory? What can we say about pressure on women as opposed to men when it comes to looks? How is beauty being sold to women and what the consequences of these issues are? I will try to show you who is getting the profit in this non-ending battle. In other words I will try to answer these questions that at one point we all should ask ourselves. STANDARDS OF BEAUTY THROUGHOUT THE PAST The cultural standard of beauty, when it comes to body shape, is always changing. Womens bodies is not what changed, it is the ideals (Kilbourne, 1995). Advertising, retailing and entertainment produce notions of beauty that change over time. These notions place pressure upon women who try to be in vogue (Wykes and Gunter, 2005). Between 1400 and 1700, a fat body shape was considered sexually appealing and fashionable (Attie and Brooks Gun, 1987). By the nineteenth century, the fat shape was replaced by voluptuous figure, centered at a generous breasts and hips and narrow waist (Fallon, 2005). The voluptuous shape for women persisted through the early part of the twentieth century, and eventually was replaced by the slender shape of the 1920s (Mazur, 1986). The curvaceous ideal continued through the 1940s and 1950s (Mazur, 1986). By the mid-1960s, however, fashions shifted once again towards the idealization of slender body shapes over curvaceous ness. Since then the only slight shi ft from extreme thinness as the feminine ideal was the muscularization of the still very thin body during the 1980s (Mazur, 1986). We are bombarded today with images of the perfect woman. She is usually a gorgeous blonde, although brunettes, redheads and exotic women of color are also shown. She is tall and skinny, weighing at least 20% less than an average woman weighs. She rarely looks older than 25, has no visible flaws on her skin, and her hair and clothes are always immaculate (Kilbourne, 1995). In other words, one perfect woman looks pretty much like the next. Like Kilbourne (1995) said in Slim Hopes it is likely that these women we see are not real. BEAUTY AND WOMEN The beauty myth tells a story: The quality called beauty objectively and universally exists. Women must want to embody it and men must want to possess women who embody it. This embodiment is an imperative for women and not for men, which situation is necessary and natural because it is biological, sexual, and evolutionary: Strong men battle for beautiful women, and beautiful women are more reproductively successful. Womens beauty must correlate to their fertility, and since this system is based on sexual selection, it is inevitable and changeless. None of this is trueà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Wolf, 1990: 12) In the near past as the new wave of feminism emerged women have broken trough many of the material and legal obstructions. And finally they got out of their houses and became emancipated. But then more strictly and heavily and cruelly images of female beauty have come to burden upon us (Wolf, 1990). And now we are in the middle of a strong reaction against feminism that uses images of female beauty as a political weapon against womens advancement and success. According to Wolf (1990) beauty is a money system. Like economy it is determined by politics. It is not about women at all, it is about institutional power. I will show you later where the money goes. It seems like we are a good way to make money. We are vulnerable when it is about our self-worth and self-esteem. The ideal of womens beauty contradicted womens freedom and power by moving the social limits to womens lives directly onto our faces and bodies ( Wolf, 1990). And the consequence is that we now ask the questions about our bodies, skin, hair, clothes etc, which women a generation ago asked about their place in society. After so many years fighting to get our rights to everything, we are now prisoners of our body. And beauty image presented in time is our tormentor. Once again we have to fight for our rights and freedom of choice. Throughout the years, there have been forces in culture that attempt to punish women who tray to succeed in their lives, in other words to get control over their lives and environment (Wolf, 1990). There is a strong cultural reaction against women that uses images of female beauty to keep women in their place. And we have to ask ourselves where men in that strong reaction against women are. MEN AND WOMEN Media pressures women to strive for the very thin look. For example, magazines for women celebrate the very thin look, but magazines for men do not do that. In fact, there are not so many that skinny women in mens magazines. Women have low self-esteem because they are surrounded with male idea of beauty that is linked with media representations. We all think that men want to possess the beautiful women we see every day in magazines or on TV. That is the thing that Wolf (1990) claims to be the beauty myth. We all have to strive for beauty because men want to possess women who have it. In other words women are being sold to themselves in order to achieve a self whom the men in the future might choose. But Loaded magazine said that women do not have the difficulty of living with the male idea of beauty shown on the catwalk. John Perry in Loaded magazine stated: No, men fancy models because they have beautiful faces, not because they look like theyve been fed under a door. Sleeping with a supermodel would be about as pleasurable as shagging a bicycle. The truth is it is women themselves who see these freaks as the epitome of perfection (2002: 79). We all think that men want to possess beautiful women like the ones shown on TV and in magazines. And the key point is that a womans sense of her body actually has not been hers but mans view of her body. Women see themselves trough mens eyes. But Berger (2005) notes that this is not an equal and opposite phenomenon. Men are pressured to be thin and well-toned too. But they can get away with imperfection as long as they have charm and humor (Gauntlett, 2002). Levels of skinniness are irrelevant. Almost all of the beautiful women in both womens and mens magazines are thin, not fat, and this must have an impact. Magazines impose us standard of beauty and women feel inadequate after seeing men longing for some perfect woman represented by media with flawless face, big breast, narrow waist, long legs, beautiful tan etc. Our culture teaches women they cant be happy unless they are beautiful, but I have to emphasize that it also teaches men they cant be happy unless they are rich and/or powerful (Wolf, 1990). But the difference is that rich and powerful men come in all shapes, sizes, and ages. Men can get away with every small imperfection. But when Julia Roberts was seen to have armpits at the premiere of Notting Hill in 1999, the worlds press went crazy with excitement over this (wholly natural)  ´outrage ´ (Gauntlett, 2002). So we have to face the fact that there is a difference between media representation of women and the one of men. We all are pressured because media does not just reflect our world but also shapes it. And it sells us all kind of solutions to improve ourselves. SELLING BEAUTY We are all bombarded every day with messages from television shows, movies, advertisements, magazine articles that we need to look a certain way in order to be accepted (Kilbourne, 1995). For many of us, these images are neither realistic nor achievable. The result is that we feel bad about ourselves if we dont measure up. This gives a sense of insecurity among women, and this drives sales in the beauty industry. In Slim Hopes Kilbourne (1995) argues that some could say we cannot blame only advertisements, but they are the most persuasive aspect of media power to influence us culturally and individually. Girls are extremely desirable to advertisers because they are new consumers, are beginning to have significant disposable income, and are developing brand loyalty that might last a lifetime (Kilbourne, 1999: 259). Girls of all ages get the message that they must be flawlessly beautiful and thin. They get the message that with enough effort and self-sacrifice, they can achieve this ideal. And the result is that young girls from the early start to feel bad about them. Kilbourne (1999) argues that these images of perfect women that surround us would not influence us so much if we did not live in a culture that imposes us the belief that we can and should remake our bodies into perfect ones. These images play into the American belief of transformation and ever-new possibilities, no longer via hard work but via the purchase of the right products (Kilbourne, 1999: 260). Magazines represent a strong insistence that women of all ages must do their best, and that they must spend their money in order to look as beautiful as possible. Some of their content is the fashion and beauty material, which takes up many pages in the magazines. But womens magazines today construct women in a social way too. As Beetham and Boardman say, magazines not only address women as consumers but also as readers, as in search of entertainment or in need of instruction in various social roles ( 2005: 41). We can say that magazines for women took the task of defining what it meant to be a woman, or what it meant to be a particular kind of woman. Through advertising women are told clearly what women should be, and what particular product they could use/buy to help. Women are suggested an identity and told they are not good enough being natural. We can say that women are asked to buy themselves. As Berger puts it, the publicity image steals her love of herself as she is, and offe rs it back to her for the price of the product (2005: 43). A massive worldwide industry is eager to tell women that there are products for sale which can improve their looks. And we all buy them, dont we!? And the worst part is that identity is understood as something that could be reworked, improved upon, and even dramatically changed. There are so many magazines that promised every girl the chance to get a stylish and attractive look that fashion models and famous women have. Spending money on clothing, cosmetics, and accessories are presented as necessity if we want to construct a desirable self (Ouellette, 1999). How many times have we as we read some magazine or watch TV advertisement and thought I have to have that? We all have products in our homes that we bought because of some add on TV or magazine article that told us that it is the best product for our hair to be astonishing , for our face to be immaculate, our figure to be fit, our lips to be attractive etc. And the important thing is that it seems like women get the messages/promises from magazines full of articles telling us that if women use these product they will improve their looks and, theyll have it all-the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. But actually there is no link between these things. I think that it does not mean that we will be happy in our life if we try to change our looks using some product. One of the most powerful disciplinary practices for women is that of dieting. By dieting women are disciplining their bodies to only consume a certain amount of food. By doing this women feel they are becoming more like the image of the perfect (properly feminine) woman. Media activist Jean Kilbourne concludes that, Women are sold to the diet industry by the magazines we read and the television programs we watch, almost all of which make us feel anxious about our weight (Kilbourne, 1995). Many women tend to over diet which leads to anorexia and women who dont diet are mocked by society or they feel guilty for not doing that. After filling up the women audience with images of super-thin models, television networks then proceed to show hours and hours of commercials on weight-loss, dieting and fitness programs (Kilbourne, 1995). We can se that this is a marketing strategy. Firstly, media makes us feel bad about ourselves by showing us stereotypes of beautiful women that we are not and then they offer us the best solution to improve ourselves, to change our looks into prefect commodities of beautiful women. Another disciplinary practice that is given by the media is that of skin care and make-up. A womans skin must be soft, hairless, and smooth and ideally it should not show any sign of wear, experience, age, or deep thought. Magazines can give you page upon page of makeup tips and skin care strategies that women should follow in order to conform to the universal feminine standard (Wykes and Gunter, 2005). Cosmetic products are being sold to women to achieve those attributes that makes a women desirable. An unwrinkled face, thighs without cellulite, and large breasts have become the metaphor for female success because reaching these female symbols needs a lot of sacrifice, hard work, and self-control ( Wykes and Gunter, 2005). But I have to mention one thing that could lead us women to a completely different era when it comes to beauty. Theres a very different approach from Dove with its revolutionary campaign for real beauty that has received enormous publicity by using women of all shapes and sizes wearing white bra and pants to advertise their products. The whole point is to make beauty more accessible, as accessible as it can be, explains Alessandro Manfredi, vice president of Dove. So by widening the definition of beauty, we believe that more women will gain the confidence, because they will see beauty is closer to them than the beauty of a supermodel that is so far, and people could give upà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦We dont want women to give up, we want to tell them; beauty, its at your reach (Austen, 2006). Dove is launching a major initiative in order to encourage discussion and debate about the nature of beauty. The Campaign for Real Beauty asks women to give serious thought about beauty issues such as societys definition of it, the quest for perfection, the difference between beauty and physical attractiveness, and the way the media shapes our perceptions of beauty.  [1]  Dove has established the Dove Self-Esteem Fund to raise awareness of the connection between beauty and body-related self-esteem.The Dove Self-Esteem Fund in the US helps build self-confidence in girls ages 8-14. The Dove mission is to make women feel more beautiful every day by challenging todays stereotypical view of beauty and inspiring women to take great care of themselves.  [2]  But we have to face the fact that Dove, is the No. 1 personal wash brand nationwide. One in every three households uses a Dove product.  [3]  That includes bar cleansers, body washes, face care, anti-perspirants/ deodorants and hair care. Dove is available nationwide in food, drug and mass outlet stores. So we must ask ourselves, is it really about women or again some beauty industry is manipulating us and making money from our pockets?! BEAUTY AS PROFIT All this beauty selling leads us to the question: who benefits from this beauty market! Is it really about women or are we tricked by those who have the power? Media and beauty industry including diet, surgery and cosmetic industry is manipulating us by making us throw our money on reworking our looks. That leads me to one conclusion that it cannot be about women, for the ideal is not about women but about money. We should ask ourselves how much money we spend on the best thing that will make us desirable and beautiful. The cosmetic surgery industry in the United States takes $300 million every year, and is growing annually by 10 percent (Wolf, 1990). One reason why media is so influential is that advertising is 130 billion dollar a year industry. The average American watches 30 hours of TV a week and spends 110 hours a year reading magazines (Wolf, 1990). It is very unfortunate that the media influences society to the point that it defines the ideal woman. Advertising is a powerful force in our culture that informs us but does not educate us. Economics is also a significant factor in the development of the ideal image. There is a wealth of businesses that depend upon the American desire for thinness to survive (Wolf, 1990). Exercise and diet companies are an example. In order to create a market for their product, they attempt to make women feel inadequate about their own bodies through advertisement. According to Wolf, the diet industry has tripled its income in the past 10 years from a $10 billion industry to a $33.3 billion industry. When we compare some results with UK we can see that there is also a lot of profiting going on. The UK beauty industry takes  £8.9 billion a year by selling products to women. Magazines are financed by the beauty industry (Greer, 2002). They start with young girls and teach them how to use the right product and they establish loyalty that lasts a lifelong (Greer, 2002). We all probably have one cosmetic product that we use for so many years. Cosmetics for teenagers are relatively cheap but within a few years more cultured market will persuade the most rational woman to throw her money on the right product that promises to defend women from their own weakness So we can see that the economy depends on manipulating consumers to buy as much as possible. And we can link the beauty industry and mass media, it is as Wykes and Gunter say symbiotic relationship, because beauty industry depends on mass media and vice versa. It seems there is no limit in how one can be beautiful, or how much money can we spend in order to feel beautiful, completely disregarding our health. And the consequences are harmful or sometimes even devastating. CONSEQUENCES OF MEDIA REPRESENTATION Women learn to reconstruct themselves. It is second nature to disguise them, dress them and decorate themselves with a huge range of materials. Over the past 30 years they have gone further than ever before in this process. They can re-arrange some of the organic material that is their body-sometimes without any harm, sometimes with devastating consequences.(Wykes and Gunter, 2005:48) A research by the British Medical Association has shown that eating disorders have one of the highest mortality rates of all psychological illnesses, and that the level of skinniness enforced by fashion models is both unachievable and biologically inappropriate and gives a wrong picture of an ideal body to young women (Gauntlett, 2002). However, we cannot blame media influences to directly cause eating disorders. There are some others components that play an important role with these consequences. Report notes that eating disorders are caused by genetics, family history and cultural environment (Gauntlett, 2005). But for those who are psychologically and genetically predisposed to anxiety when it comes about body image, media plays an unhelpful role. The American research group Anorexia Nervosa and Related Eating Disorders, Inc. reports that one out of every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of dieting, including fasting, skipping meals, extreme workouts, laxative abuse, and self-induced vomiting.  [4]  The Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute notes that girls even at age of nine are trying to control their weight. Research in the US gives similar results. In 2003, Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent of girls aged 6 to 12 are using at least one kind of dieting, and that 50 to 70 per cent girls of normal weight girls think they are overweight.  [5]   Cosmetic surgeons are making a lot of money with women doing cosmetic surgeries for every imperfection that we can imagine (Wolf, 1990). Women get the message that normal, round womens bodies are too fat; that soft womens flesh is really cellulite; that women with small breasts arent sexy; that women who dont have the perfect face arent attractive; that a women over 30 who in their faces have sings of their ageing are ugly. No wonder women are thinking about or doing cosmetic surgeries in order to be beautiful. In conclusion, what is the result of this sought for perfection? One out of every 4 college girls has an eating disorder. A psychological study in 1995 found that 3 minutes spent looking at models in a fashion magazine caused 70% of women to feel depressed, guilty and shameful. 50% of American women are dieting and 75% of normal weight women think they are too fat (Wolf, 1990). All these arguments lead us to one conclusion: to view ones body from the outside, that is, to put center onto physical attractiveness, sex appeal, measurements, weight, face characteristics has many harmful effects- feelings of shame, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, development of eating disorder. CONCLUSION The traditional definition of beauty, based only on physical appearance, is powerfully communicated through the mass media and has been assimilated through popular culture. It is this ideal that many women measure themselves against and aspire to attain. According to the narrow-minded society we live in, there just doesnt seem to be a limit on how beautiful one can become.Well, someone has given us a definition of beauty that is superior to our mind. Can we hope for a day when mind in body will be a notion of beauty? I hope I have showed that by media presentation of an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. I hope I have proved that in our society media has created an environment so image obsessed that those with power( and by those I mean beauty industry and media) have caused emerging of a generation of women so self conscious about their body image, that it is affecting their health. However, women around the world would like to see media change in way it represents beauty. We have to face the fact that wearing makeup, losing weight, having surgeries, dressing up etc, will not change who we are. Our identity is what makes us unique. We should not want anymore to look like someone else. There is nothing wrong in doing things that makes a woman feel good about her as long as we have a choice of doing that because of ourselves not because someone told us it is proper thing to do for a woman in order to be beautiful. So I have to emphasis that I in this essay I did not try to attack wearing make up, having surgeries, working out, dieting etc, as long as we do not feel shame, guilt or anxiety when we dont do these practices. We have to speak out for ourselves. It is wrong to use our looks as our voices. It is not the look that should do the talking. Beauty shouldnt be our weapon for success in life, but also it shouldnt be media and beauty industry weapon against women themselves. Media is always going to be present in our lives, but we have to realize that not everything we are exposed to by the media is real. So what can we do? We can take their power. We can reject political manipulation. Like Wolf (1990) said, we should turn away from them, and look directly at one another. We should look for the beauty in female subculture; try to find music, films, biographies, plays that illustrate women in three dimensions. And perhaps then we will unveil the beauty myth and find the truth about beauty.

Essay on Homers Odyssey - Comparing Odysseus and Telemachus :: comparison compare contrast essays

The Parallel between Odysseus and Telemachos in Odyssey      Ã‚     In Odyssey, Homer creates a parallel between Odysseus and Telemachos, father and son. The two are compared in the poem from every aspect. One parallel was the quest of Telemachos, in correlation with the journey of his father. In this, Odysseus is developed from a childish, passive, and untested boy, to a young man preparing to stand by his father's side. This is directly connected to the voyage of Odysseus, in that they both lead to the same finale, and are both stepping-stones towards wisdom, manhood, and scholarship.    Through these voyages certain parallels are drawn concerning Odysseus and Telemachos: the physical journeys, the mental preparations they have produced, and the resulting change in emotional makeup. These play an immense role in the way the story is set up, due to the purpose of each character's journey, their personal challenges, and the difficulties that surround them.    As Homer makes it apparent, there are other underlying themes embedded in the story that would just confuse the reader if they were not there. An example of this is the emotional aspects of both characters. If one does not understand this key element, their is no way that the sequence of events would cohere. "Why didn't Telemachos look for his father earlier? Why did Penelope wait twenty years to consider remarrying? How did this affect Odysseus in his journey?".    These are questions that would go unanswered unless the reader reaches within the emotions of the character. In the case of Telemachos, his emotions shaped his well being. For example, had it not been for Athene giving him confidence, by no means would he ever have thought of taking such a voyage, hence, Telemachos would have never participated in his "final test" against the suitors either. His sorrow and anger from the loss of his father and his mother constantly being attacked and proposed to by piranha-like suitors were also driving forces towards his journey.    Some of these are brought out in different situations, both positive and negative, such as Menaleus's mention of his father, which caused a sudden out-burst of tears, and the proud and accomplished feeling he received from leaving Sparta.. Odysseus's situation was only slightly different. He, like Telemachos had his worries about family-life, and his kingdom at stake, but also had concerns about his wife, possibly triggered by the mention of Agamemnon's by Proteus, who was killed by the hands of his own wife.

How do firms penetrate an existing market? Essay -- Business and Manag

How do firms penetrate an existing market? Cadburys have to improve their levels of market penetration and also make more sales customers. Cadburys have improved their penetration which helps them to improve market share. It can increase in there market share which can create significant sales. Market penetration suggests a further penetration of existing markets with existing products. This will involve a strategy of increasing market share within existing segments and markets.  · Market development is a strategy requires the producer to develop raw market segments for products.  · Product development is the process of researching market needs, creating products to meet the identified needs.  · Diversification means going into new market with entirely new products.  · Market penetration is increasing the % of sales in present markets by taking sales from competitors. To improve their market penetration there are six district stages in the development process for new products are; - Ideas All Cadbury products start from ideas. These ideas may come from the following sources: Research and Development -This is where product development and market research working together. Mindstorming -This is where it involves few people developing ideas from words and concepts. Suggestion box - Here Cadburys is working close to the customer and the sales forces understand their needs and requirements. Forced relationships -At times one or more products can be joined together to form new product concepts. Competitors - Monitoring the actions of competitors may provide a rich source of new ideas. Screening of ideas -Once Cadburys ideas have been generated. It is important to screen for the ideas likely to be successful. Considerations may include how well the product fits in with others in the product range the unique element of any idea that makes it competitive. They are likely to demand for the product and whether or not it could be manufactured economically. The two main errors Cadbury needs to avoid when screening ideas are;  · They must not reject new ideas  · They must not develop poor ideas or Cadbury will loose money Market analysis Once Cadburys ideas have been screened market analysis begins. It involves analysis of the product market potential. This he... ...ment consultants in the USA. Stars These are products with a high market share like Cadburys in a rapidly growing industry. Unless Cadburys chocolate bar has not achieved this position through heavy discounting, it should be generating high profits. For Cadbury to remain a star in a competitive environment its chocolate bean will continue to need heavy marketing expenditure. Cash cow Cash cows have a high market share in a slow growing, but mature market. Cadbury could fall into this because there competitors do have higher cost slightly. But Cadbury benefits from high economic of scale. It can generate high profits which could be used to finance ‘problem children/question marks’. Question Marks and problem children This product has a low market share in a rapidly growing market. The business has to decide whether to with draw the product or to support it with heavy marketing, which could be difficult if it is not generating funds elsewhere. Dog This product has a low market share in markets where there is little or no growth. At this stage a product is at the end of its life cycle. The product is best if it is dropped out of its portfolio.

Females and Technology :: Computers Electronics Learning Essays

With technology rapidly changing as fast as we blink our eyes, it is important for people to learn as much as possible about the computer world if they want to maintain a decent lifestyle because the world we live in revolving around those technologies. As McKee points out, â€Å"most jobs now require intelligence and technical skill† (1). Each year, there is something either added or modified to computers, which forces people to learn computer literacy at a steady pace. While some love computers, others despise them. When comparing people’s attitudes towards computers, statistics show a gender gap that proves most females’ attitudes are drastically different from the attitudes of males. Several studies prove that women not only lack an interest in technology, but they also chose not to enroll in computer classes. Since computers and technology play an enormous role in the world today, more technology professionals are needed. It is extremely important for more w omen to become knowledgeable in these areas. Swain and Harvey argue, â€Å"This technology gender gap is affecting half our population and causing it to be unprepared to contribute to the demands of a high-tech twenty-first century† (17). While this may not seem like a serious issue to some, it is an issue that will ultimately lead to a bigger problem if not handled immediately. So why are there so few women in the technology field? To answer that question, I must first find out why are there so few women in the technology and computer classes, considering that this atmosphere is the most common place where the interest for computers is born. The purpose of my research is to examine the shortage of females in the technology field. I will also research reasons why females chose not to take computer classes. I will support my theory with several examples from various studies. Furthermore, I will give several strategies that can be beneficial to female students and possibly increase the number of females in future computer classes. By the end of my research, the goal of encouraging young women who are interested in the technology field to pursue technology and succeed in the computer classes and world. This research will help me attempt to motivate other female students to at least gain more confidence and enough courage to learn more about the technological world we live in today. REASONS FEMALES MAY AVOID COMPUTERS AND TECH CLASSES

Mastering Teacher Leadership Business Research Essay

This case presents a situation that is quite common in the education field and addresses the responses by institutions to new legislation imposed upon them. As is often the case, the legislators do not address the impacts to organizations, leaving the actual implementation to the end user (i.e., public and private schools). In this particular case, Wittenburg University (WU) is faced with the decision of whether to develop and deliver a Master of Arts degree in classroom leadership. 1.) Build the management-research question hierarchy for this opportunity. The initial step in the research is the creation of a management-research question hierarchy, to formalize the process. For this case study, the management-research hierarchy is presented in Appendix A. The purpose of this hierarchy is to examine the various stages of the research question and present a logical sequence of increasing focus that will allow the development of a survey instrument that can be delivered to potential pro gram applicants. The initial stage is to identify and state the management dilemma, which in this case is the impending new legislation. The State of Ohio intends to require all licenced teachers to have, or complete, a master’s degree before obtaining their second licensure to teach. Given that this is new legislation and WU is not obligated to offer a program, the â€Å"management dilemma† actually presents an opportunity for WU to develop a new degree program, thereby increasing revenue for the university. The second stage of the process is to identify the management questions. In this case, WU needs to decide what purpose would the new program serve?; would this program duplicate teacher development courses?; what format should the new program utilize (e.g., part-time, distance)? The third stage addresses the particular research questions: Does WU have the faculty/administrative capacity to offer the full program?; is there sufficient return on investment to offer the program?; and if all is positive, should WU develop and offer the program. Investigative questions, as part of a survey instrument should examine the demand for the program, what is the potential market, what other competition exists, and what would the program-costing model look like. One other variable that should be explored is the potential of Ohio teachers moving to  another state to avoid the legislation. On a similar scale, movement within the policing industry is often impacted by similar factors, so this question should be examined. The final stage of the process is that actual measurement component, whereby researchers will examine the demographic information, correlate and analyze the data collected from the surveys. In order to increase the confidence level of the analysis, survey questions should utilize appropriate ranking/rating scales, and ensure open-ended questions are avoided. Once the data has been analyzed, researchers will be able to provide WU administrators with sufficient information upon which to base a decision on whether to pro ceed with the program. 2. Evaluate the appropriateness of the exploratory stage of the research design. As noted earlier, the new State of Ohio legislation presents an opportunity for WU to implement a new graduate study program, and increase their enrollments. Before proceeding to the program development stage, however, WU needs to conduct exploratory research to guide their decision making process. An initial step in the process is to conduct secondary research, utilizing available resources, to identify similar programs (i.e., competition) and responses to similar legislation in other states. Given that the majority of this secondary data will be discovered via internet searches, the researchers should conduct a source evaluation. The course text identifies five factors to evaluate secondary data: â€Å"Purpose – the explicit or hidden agenda of the information source Scope – the breadth and depth of topic coverage, including time period, geographical limitations, and the criteria for information inclusion. Authority – the level of data (primary, secondary, tertiary) and the credentials of the source author(s) Audience – the characteristics and background of the people or groups for whom the source was created Format – how the information is presented and the degree of ease of locating specific information within the source.† (Cooper & Schindler, 2008, p. 109) Sources of appropriate data could include alumni surveys from WU, State of Ohio statistics related to post secondary institutions, national data bases, and a study of existing Master of Education (MEd) programs. By utilizing the above noted filters to secondary information, the researchers will be able to ensure they have considered all variables and factors in making a  decision. 3. Evaluate the sampling strategy. In this case study, WU mailed the survey to all of the 1,600 identified teachers residing in Clark County, which is the home county of WU; essentially this is not a sample, but rather a census. The remaining 400 surveys were then mailed to â€Å"systematic sampling† to teachers in the surrounding counties. I see an issue with this, as the parameters of the systematic sampling are not detailed; for example, were teachers who already completed a MEd degree included in the sample? I would suggest that the 400 surveys were mailed to a convenience sampling rather than a proper probability sample. Factors such as these may have contributed to the low response rate from the survey. Given the implementation time line of the new legislation, it would have been valuable to survey potential teachers (i.e., those currently in an undergraduate program), as they would likely form the WU MEd cohort. This would give a clearer picture of the market potential of the program. 4. Prepare a preliminary analysis plan for this study. Which variables do you want frequencies on? Why? The initial stage of the data correlation and analysis would be the proper coding of the data and entry into an appropriate software database. For this case study, the data was presented as an Excel file, so the exploratory data analysis would include a complete descriptive statistical calculations and frequencies for applicable questions. I would suggest questions that create nominal or ordinal data are the most appropriate for frequency tables, and provide a clearer picture of the survey respondents. The data sets may be utilized to confirm if the teacher sample is representative of the overall population, and cross tabulations conducted to draw correlations between categories. I would suggest that data specifically addressing respondents who require a master’s degree, or those contemplating pursuing higher education would be of particular interest, as they represent the p otential student market. Researchers will also need to account for non-response errors and missing data within the coding and analysis stages 5. Which variables do you want to cross-tabulate? Why? Given the nature of the research questions, it would be beneficial to identity, through crosstabulations, those teachers who have not yet applied for their second licensure to teach and what level of education those teachers currently have. This would clarify the potential  market for the WU program. In addition, cross-tabulations to identify potential teachers relative to their home counties would give a clearer picture of those teachers who could/would realistically attend the WU program over another program closer to their homes. A final cross tabulation that may prove beneficial is the number of teachers who currently are not impacted by the new legislation, but may look to the WU MEd. program for professional development courses. As noted earlier, the new legislation presents an opportunity for to expand upon their graduate level programs, but given the costs to initiate a new program, the decision to proceed  must be based upon valid and credible research data. Therefore, the exploratory research undertaken is critical, as it will form the foundation for any decisions made by the university administration. References Cooper, D. R., & Schindler, P. S. (2008). Business research methods. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Practical research planning and design. Upper Saddle River, NY: Pearson Education Inc. 6