Development of Agriculture in Nigeria

Since 1974 the Bank has committed $1. 2 billion for Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) to increase farm production and welfare among smallholders in Nigeria. OED reviewed five ADPs and a supporting Agricultural Technical Assistance Project (ATAP), all implemented between 1979 and 1990. Only two of the six projects had satisfactory outcomes. In general, rainfed agricultural production was far below projections. Macroeconomic conditions, some national policies, and particular design and implementation problems prevented a more significant impact. Low-cost irrigated development of lowland areas (fadama) was, however, quite successful. Village water supply components exceeded their targets. The ADPs have evolved to be â€Å"permanent† institutions for rural infrastructural development and agricultural services, but their role vis-a-vis the regular state departments needs to be reviewed. ADP concept The ADPs were designed in response to a fall in agricultural productivity, and hence a concern to sustain domestic food supplies, as labor had moved out of agriculture into more remunerative activities that were benefitting from the oil boom. Conversely, domestic recycling of oil income provided the opportunity for the government, with Bank support, to develop the ADPs. The projects provided agricultural investment and services, rural roads, and village water supplies. The government's adoption of the ADP concept put the smallholder sector at the center of the agricultural development strategy, and marked a clear shift away from capital-intensive investment projects for selected areas of high agricultural potential. The first ADPs in Nigeria were enclave projects each covering a specific region within a state. Their early results impressed both the federal and state governments, and there was pressure to replicate the approach across whole states. By 1989 all Nigeria's then 19 states had ADPs. (See Box. ) Two of the projects audited–Ilorin and Oyo North–were enclave projects, and were located in the â€Å"middle belt† of Nigeria whose main crops are rainfed cereals and root crops. The three other ADPs audited–Bauchi, Kano, and Sokoto–were statewide projects in Nigeria's northern zone. Cropping in his zone is based on rainfed cereal crops and pulses, with localized areas of fadama in drainage lines that can support higher-value crops. The northern ADPs applied an expanded version of the same model used in the earlier enclave projects in this zone. This model demanded large amounts of capital and services and intensive management. With hindsight, not enough thought was given to the implications of the large increase in scale–or indeed to the less fav orable production environment than existed in the smaller enclaves. Goals, content All the five ADPs sought to increase food production and farm incomes. In all of them it was assumed that productivity increases would come from the use of improved technology, especially planting material and fertilizer. The agricultural components of the projects were designed around systems for developing technology and transferring it to farmers, distributing modern inputs, and land development including small-scale irrigation of fadama areas and land clearing. Investments in infrastructure included an expanded feeder road network, construction of farm service centers for input distribution, and facilities for ADP staff and operations. All projects except that in Ilorin supported improvements in rural water supplies. To support its agricultural development goals the federal government introduced controls on food imports and continued its substantial subsidies on farm inputs, particularly fertilizer.

Implementation Failures

Misti Whitehead HCS/483 Week 4 IT Project Implementation Failures Jason Koller January 7, 2013 Similarities As I circle the date on my calendar of May 26, I am reminded of what needs to be done to prepare for my son’s 5th birthday party. I go over the theme of the party and figure out what activities will be played. I think about who will be invited and how many gift bags I will make. I also pick the location of the party and figure out how much money I will spend on this special occasion, even though I usually spend more than what I’m budgeting for.I plan out what foods will be served and where I will be getting the birthday cake from. I brainstorm on if I will have it outside or inside and determine issues that may arise on that certain day. I communicate with my parents to see if they will blow the balloons up before the party and help us with set up of the party decorations. Like party planning the implementation process for health care IT systems take a great deal of preparing, brainstorming, planning, budgeting, and communication to successfully implement new IT systems in a health care organization. Implementation ProcessThe implementation process is essential when adopting a new IT system into your health care organization. â€Å"Selecting the right system does not ensure user acceptance and success; the system must also be incorporated effectively into the day-to-day operations of the health care organization and adequately supported or maintained† (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2009, â€Å"Implementation Process†). Activities of implementing the new system includes organizing a team and identifying a system champion that is in charge of determining expectations and scope of the project and figures out a project plan.The team plans what task need to be completed, how much money should be spent on this project, how to manage the project until completion. The system champion needs to understand and recognize the needs of the organizat ion and have a passion for the new system being implemented. They should be someone who is easy to get along with and have great communication skills. They should also be a good listener and critical thinker when issues arise. Determining the scope of the project is super important and it lays out why the system is needed and how it will change the organization.Once the goals of the project are agreed on the next step of the project is to plan. Project planning includes listing tasks, estimating how much time will be spent on tasks, the sequence and coordination of tasks, and who will be performing these tasks. Evaluating the completion and success of the project has to be arranged to ensure accuracy on the project. The next step is to brainstorm on how to integrate the new system into the organization, through workflow process analysis. Making sure everyone is on the same page is essential when collaborating.Communication between groups and projects is a part of that collaboration to ensure success. Changes and setbacks need to be communicated through different groups so that everyone is aware of what concerns and issues need to be addressed. Identifying the reason for the new system is extremely important to improve workflow in your organization. Installation of hardware, software, and networks is the next step along with creating a manual for all staff to review so they have support when they cannot figure out how to work the new system.Testing the system for bugs and effectiveness is another essential process of implementation. Training staff is next and helps to ensure their understanding and of the new IT system. Training allows the trainer to â€Å"introduce fundamental or basic concepts† (Wager, Lee, & Glaser, 2009, â€Å"System Implementation & Support†) needed to operate the new system. Failed Fundamental Activities There are high rates of implementation processes fail due to not following through, evaluating, communication, or planning .This case study that I reviewed failed to organize, evaluate, determine expectations, or establish a plan for the implementation process. They lacked organization and lacked the responsibility of taking on the project. Expectations for each task were not defined and time boundaries were not evaluated after being set. The indicators that I noticed for failure of the process were organization was not ready to implement a new system, there was too much conflict within the rganization, there were unclear and unorganized projects, no one was evaluating these tasks, and concerns and issues were dismissed when brought up. If this were my organization I would have defined tasks, set deadlines, had someone evaluating success of each task, and addressed all issues in a timely manner in order to complete the implementation of the new IT system and ensure it was under budget. References Wager, K. A. , Lee, F. W. , & Glaser, J. P. (2009). Healthcare information systems: A practical approach for health care management (2nd ed. ). Retrieved from www. phoenix. com.

Biometric System at Blackadder Recruitment-Free-Samples for Students

Discuss about the Biometric System at Blackadder Recruitment. Blackadder Recruitment is a Sydney based recruitment firm. They are known in the industry for providing best manpower services across industries. At this point of time, the organization is using the old register method to record the attendance of the employees. With increasing number of employees, this is b ing a difficult task for the HR as well as the payroll department to record the in-time, out-time, leaves and half-day work of the employees. Due to this, the HR team at Blackadder recruitment has proposed to implement automated system (Blackadder Recruitment 2018). Blackadder recruitment would be implementing biometric system to record the attendance. The biometric system would be directly linked to the payroll software. This will help the HR department to track the attendance of employees efficiently and also the salaries can be processed accordingly. Initially, the team size of the organization was just 12 employees and hence, the HR department was easily able to manage the attendance, in-time and out-time of all the employees, but now, the team size has increased to 60 and it is expected to increase more with acquisition of new clients. To have a proper system in place, the organization should implement biometric system. The employees will swipe their finger as and when they walk-in or walk-out and hence, attendance tracking would b e easy and at the same time, the employees cannot cheat. The system can a modate up to 3000 employees and hence, the organization can implement this once and it. The cost of the system is $5000 to $7000 and this is a one-time investment. The maintenance can be easily taken care by the existing IT department in the organization (Oh 2013). Blackadder recruitment can consider the below two organizations for the implementation of biometric system. PeopleKey and Biometix have shared their quotation with the HR department at Blackadder recruitment. The organization will have to make a sound decision based on their requirement. Upgrade (as and when new feature es up) After much thought and consideration, the organization decided to proceed with PeopleKey and few of the reasons are discussed below. It is merely impossible for the HR department to implement the system all alone. All the team leads and managers would be called for the implementation and they would be municated about the problems that the HR department is facing due to the register method which is currently used to record attendance. The employees are forging their in-time and out-time and also their leave record. The team leads and managers will accept to the fact that this is creating an impact on their productivity as well (McGorry 2015). All the team leads will municate to their respective team about the implementation of new biometric system and also the advantages of the same. In the meantime, a team from PeopleKey would meet up with the employees to understand their queries and sort it. There are possibilities that the system may be down sometimes and may not record the attendance so in such situations, this can be rectified by the HR team so this training was also provided to them. The HR department municated to employees about the problem with the old system and the benefits that they would reap by implementation of this. The organization will be paying overtime bonus to employees as an incentive and this motivated the employees to accept the change with open arms (King 2015). An implementation plan would ensure that the system is implemented successfully and it is as follows: - All the employees in the organization will have to follow the below procedure for usage of the system. All the employees in the organization should be involved in implementation process and hence, the below munication would be shared with the employees. We are growing and its proud feeling for each of us. With growth, the organization’s dependence on technology grows. To fulfill our requirement, we are implementing a biometric system for the purpose of recording the attendance. For the same, you need to meet up with the IT department to register your fingerprint. Once your fingerprint is registered, you just need to swipe your finger in the biometric system rather than that of being dependent on the old register method (Javalgi 2013). All the employees in the organization will be trained by the PeopleKey officials on how to use the system, the advantages and also the benefits that other similar organizations have found with the usage of this biometric. The IT employees in the organization will be hand holded for the first 2 months while they do the registration, this will make them feel confident. Similarly, the HR department will also be trained to make modifications from the backend. If there are any technical glitches, the IT or HR department can raise a service request on the portal and the same would be addressed by the concerned person in maximum of 48 working hours (Huggins 2015). Risk with implementation of biometric system and also the risk management plan Risks associated with implementation of this biometric system and also the risk management plans are as follows. Demotivation among employees as they may feel that the management doesn’t trust them There are possibilities that the system may not work due to technical glitches or power concern The criteria to monitor the performance of the system are as follows: - To ensure that the system is safe, the registration rights would be present with the IT department alone. Similarly, the right to rectify in-time and out-time in the system would lie with the HR alone. These credentials will not be shared with anyone else. Blackadder recruitment is growing continuously and hence, the organization would be soon implementing payroll software. At that point of time, the attendance software would be synced with the payroll software. The attendance will directly move to the payroll system so that the manual work can be reduced to a great extent. The biometric system is already synced to the existing intranet and it is capable enough to hold the attendance record of 3 years. To be on the safer side, the attendance of all employees would be recorded in the file on monthly basis (Hemphill 2013). With the implementation of biometric system, the below aspects of business has improved. The changing business needs which needs to be addressed by the management are as follows: - To start with, the management should allow the employees to regularize their attendance (Herciu   2013). The munication that would be shared with the employees is as follows: - The employees can regularize their attendance rather than sharing an email request to the manager and then the HR. Please visit the pany’s portal, login and click on regularize option. Over here, you will see your existing time and you can enter the new time. Once done, click on submit. This would go to your manager for approval. Once approved, the revised time would be visible on your portal (Hunseok 2013). The HR department will give face-to-face training to all employees so that they can understand the regularization process. After that, a video would be recorded and this video would be shared with all the employees so that they can view it, as and when required. The implementation of biometric system at Blackadder recruitment will help the employees to view their actual attendance at all point of time. The payroll department can also easily plete the payroll without any errors. Blackadder Recruitment, 2018, Multi Specialist, Cross Sector, Viewed on March 14, 2018, https://blackadder .au Biometix, 2018, Consult, Viewed on March 14, 2018, https://www.biometix /consult/ Hunseok, O, 2013, How can we assess and evaluate the petitive advantage of a country’s human resource development system? Asia Pacific Education Review, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 151-159 Herciu, M,   2013, Measuring international petitiveness of Romania by using porter’s diamond and revealed parative advantage, Procedia Economics and Finance, vol. 6, pp. 273-279 Hemphill, T, 2013, China’s National Champions: The evolution of a National industrial policy – or a new era of economic protectionism? Thunderbird International Business Review, vol. 55, no. 2, pp. 193-212 Hiziroglu, M, 2013, An investigation on petitiveness in services: Turkey versus European Union, Journal of Economic studies, vol. 40, no. 6, pp. 775-793 Huggins, R, 2015, The petitive advantage of nations: origins and journey, petitiveness review, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 458-47 Javalgi, R, 2013, Strategies for sustaining the edge in offshore outsourcing of service: the case of India, Journal of Business & Industrial marketing, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 475-486 Ketelhohn, N, 2015, The central American petitiveness initiative, petitiveness Review, vol. 25, 25, no. 5, pp. 555-570 King, K, 2015,   A disadvantaged advantage of walkability: findings from socioeconomic and geographical analysis of national built environment data in the United States, American journal of epidemiology, vol. 181, no. 1, pp. 17-25 Mallya, S, 2014, Block Building Corporate and Nations: Global Strategy, SCMS Journal of Indian Management , vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 11-19 McGorry, P, 2015, Australian early psychosis research network: National collaboration, international petitive advantage, vol. 202, no. 4, pp. 170-178 Oh, H, 2013, parative analysis of OECD member countries’ parative advantage in National Human Resource development system, Asia Pacific Education Review, vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 189-208 PeopleKey, 2018, Time and Attendance, Viewed on March 14, 2018, https://www.peoplekey /time-attendance/ With a decade's experience in providing essay help, The management will explain the concern that the HR department and the payroll department is facing due to the manual way of attendance recording The employees will be paid overtime whenever they work for long hours If the employee wants to leave 2 hours early for personal work or due to no work in office then the manager can approve the same and no salary would be deducted for the same The employees will have to record attendance in the register for few days The attendance record would be updated by the HR department from the The IT department would be trained to address the technical glitches so that the dependency on PeopleKey technicians can be reduced to a great extent (Hiziroglu 2013).

Effective communication Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Effective communication - Assignment Example The process of conveying information from the source, say an individual or group of people to a destination, which may be a person or group of people, is a complex process that may encounter a myriad of hindrances such as prejudice or noise from hecklers, for instance.   Communication is a complex â€Å"give and take† process (Antos, 2011). Thus, barriers to communication are elemental factors that blocks or obstructs the delivery of information as intended from the source to/by the receiver (Eisenberg, 2010). Listening and communication skills are part of effective communication and may well form the basis of information content distortion. Preconceptions (prejudice), for example, are barriers to listening capabilities that often come with inbuilt preformed opinions that dictate how an individual communicates with another party. In particular, pre-conceived notions are recipes for selective hearing and retention with a hampering effect to screening out statement of facts (Antos, 2011). Noteworthy, effective communication requires open-mind speaking and listening from both parties (information sender(s) and receiver(s)). Such a strategy is not only a show of respect to others’ unique perspectives but a deviational tactic from confrontational side-bars at the

How a Person should be Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

How a Person should be - Essay Example Since, what is practical for our group is in turn useful for each of us. We observe that people in flourishing, euphoric neighborhoods are usually more blissful themselves, there is a path in which giving returns to profit the provider. This reaction circle is eminent; however I accept that people's cause to give is attached in their longing to find importance through environs, not the trust that completing so will profit them. Â  As of late, much research has kept tabs on how our brains are hardwired to synthetically remunerate us for demonstrations of giving. To some, the thought that giving might trigger this kind of reaction intimates a level of narrow-mindedness behind the demonstration of philanthropy. Anyway this rationale certainly proposes that breathing, consuming, and falling in love is all "narrow minded" too, since our mind science compensates us in comparative courses for these movements (Giving USA, 2005). As opposed to inferring that giving is self centered, I suppos e the examination indicates that giving is a focal need/desire for people. This is in actuality truly noteworthy, since rationale might manage that giving is something we accomplish for others, and that we should lose something for others to augment. Rather, the examination infers that giving is a cause much like consuming and relaxing. It is something we should do to survive and flourish. The causes of every particular supplier are obviously novel. Anyhow, exactly as we consume to fulfill our longing to live., we give to fulfill our yearning for meaning. Observation and Analysis Singer observes that on the planet today, there are numerous individuals facing a great number of hardships, heading towards complete hopelessness, prone to catastrophe at whatever point common debacles or wars or other destructive emergencies strike. Numerous individuals lead a miserable life, living well below the poverty line and not being able to afford or have access to even the most basic amenities of life. Singer presents a moral solution and says that, if we can anticipate and prevent something dire from happening, without as a result relinquishing anything of similar ethical essentialness, we should, ethically and morally, to do it. He illustrates that this ought to be done without relinquishing anything of similar ethical vivacity, without bringing about other possibilities equivalently awful to happen, or doing something that is wrong in itself, or neglecting to advertise some ethical debacle, practically identical in worthiness to the awful thing that

Sin in The Kite Runner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sin in The Kite Runner - Essay Example He has the protective umbrella of his culture, his religion Islam, for all his evil deeds. The immediate action may be brutal, intentional killing but it has been committed to serve a greater cause of religion. But that is acceptable as per a particular culture and will not have universal acceptance from the point of view of humankind as a whole. The pages of human history are daubed, drenched and soaked in the blood of such evil deeds and attempts have been made for ethnic cleansing through mass killings. This is comparable to the mass demolition operations of residential and commercial properties by an authorized government agency in compliance with the laws of the land, howsoever bad may be the law in the ordinary parlance. So the concept of theft elaborated by Baba in the novel, needs to be understood along with the concept of property. Property is something owned and also the right of ownership. Baba propounds this view when he elucidates, "There is only one sin, only one. And t hat is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft....When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband; rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness." (18) But Baba does not stand up to his professed conviction in his own case. Amir comes to know that Hassan is his half-brother which means Baba has stolen Amir’s right to truth throughout his youth and till this fact comes to his notice. The issue has further serious dimensions. Baba’s sexual relationship with another man’s wife is equivalent of committing the universal sin... The novel â€Å"The Kite Runner,† the author discusses whether atonement of sins is possible. One of the ways to atone the sins of the past is to challenge them. Amir tries to do the same. It is not possible for anyone, Amir included, to escape from sins committed in the past, as they have already happened. Amir has no way to escape his guilt. He must be suffering for it every day, in his every thought and in every type of societal disposition. Each and every molecule of his mind and body must have been surcharged with the negativities generated out of his sins.   It must be haunting at all times, in all situations. The author explains about Amir’s social position thus: â€Å"Amir, the socially legitimate half, the half that represented the riches he had inherited and the sin-with-impunity privileges that came with them.† But Amir is not to be blamed for what is inherited by him, for he is in no way responsible for that action. Two important observations about sin at the end of the novel set the reader thinking. The author writes, â€Å"I pray, I pray that my sins have not caught up with me the way I’d always feared they would. A STARLESS BLACK NIGHT falls over Islamabad† and something more is in the store about America. He writes, â€Å"America, you don’t reveal the ending of the movie, and if you do, you will be scorned and made to apologize profusely for having committed the sin of spoiling the End.† By now the reader must be feeling bewildered to know the vast dimensions of sin.

Policy and practice in the education of bilingual children Essay

Policy and practice in the education of bilingual children - Essay Example Educators must observe the following key principles in teaching foreign children. First, bilingualism is an asset instead of a liability for children who know more than one other language other than their mother tongue or primary language. Baker (2006) contends that evidence supports that there are cognitive and performance advantages in being bilingual over being monolingual. Another principle to be remembered by educators is that language learners should be kept cognitively challenged with the continuous provision of linguistic and contextual support. Lastly, the acquisition of another language should go hand in hand with the student’s cognitive and academic development within the same school environment and the student would not need outside support. This implies that the school curriculum is already embedded with these language learning principles. School Observation One school was observed regarding its adherence to the policies set by the â€Å"Rationale for Planning fo r Children Learning English as an Additional Language† document as well as analyse its practices with theories on bilingual education. The school looked like a typical one when one enters it. No welcome procedures were observed nor signs around the school seen in relation to the cultural composition or languages of the students or teachers. However, towards the entrance of the main building, a bulletin board on Black History Month was on display. This was the only piece of evidence in the campus that showed recognition of another culture. As one enters the Year 1 Key Stage 1 classroom, the same generic ambience was observed. Children were grouped into various groups according to their ability levels. On the wall near the teacher’s desk is a list of pupils’ literacy levels indicated with pictures of fruits. For example, the low ability group belonged to the grape group. The middle ability group belonged to the banana group and the high ability group belonged to th e apple group. The same was done with numeracy levels. However, these were represented by shapes. For example, the low ability levels for numeracy belonged to the triangle group, the middle ability level in the square group and the high ability level in the circle group. These groupings were for the mainstream students. The EAL learners and SEN learners belonged to another group. A special corner for learning another language featured pictures of different body parts with words in Spanish. For example, a picture of eyes with the Spanish word eyes, â€Å"Ojos† underneath. Also, there were words displayed in Spanish and translated in English such as â€Å"Good morning†, â€Å"Good afternoon†, â€Å"Hello†, â€Å"Goodbye† and so forth. However, there were no EAL books nor books with any other language except English seen in the book corner. Other adornments on the walls include different pictures of children’s actions with the words indicating the actions such as good listening, eyes looking, lips closed, sitting with their legs crossed. These pictures represented good behaviour as indicated with a thumbs-up picture. For EAL students, such visual aids are graphic

The Emergence of Euro Companies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Emergence of Euro Companies - Essay Example This is quite astounding, particularly in regards to the United States, as the U.S. has, for quite some time now, been considered and known as being the most profitable and economically stable nation in the world. The issue of the emergence of Euro Companies as being significant global economic entities over the past few years is one which is of incredible importance and significance, and in order to be able to better understand about this matter overall, there are several factors that need to be thoroughly addressed and discussed. The aim of this paper is to not only discuss the issue of Euro Companies, what they are and their primary purpose, but as well to discuss the fact of how they emerged and became considered as being significant global economic entities, particularly over the past few decades. Therefore, here being discussed will not only be the topic of how Euro Companies have emerged and become significant global economic entities, but as well in regards to how operating a cross European culture and institutional boundaries may constitute as both a challenge and an opportunity for such organizations, as well as any and all other key and related issues. This is what will be dissertated in the following. In order to understand about Euro Companies in regards to any issue, you need to first recognize and understand about what Euro Companies actually are. Basically, and quite simply, a Euro Company is a company that is located or was begun in Europe or surrounding areas of Europe, and although they certainly do have many similarities to those companies that are in other areas of the world, particularly North America, there are many differences as well, of which are just as important, if not more, to take notice of. There are two constitutional principles in particular which are reflected with Euro Companies, which are subsidiarity and integration in the European Union, which clearly force the system overall to be one of jurisdictional competition. One of the core elements of the structure of European Company law consists of disclosure rules, and these rules are quite clearly dominant in European Company law in general, whether that is speaking in regards to accounting law, the law of capital markets, or in traditional EU Company Law Directives. The structure of Euro Company law is incredibly important to the issue of how these companies in particular have emerged as significant global economic entities however there are many other reasons that need to be taken into consideration as well. One incredibly important and significant issue that needs to be raised here is that of European oil companies in particular, as they have had a great impact on the overall emergence of European companies in general. Especially with the war in Iraq which has been going on for the past few years now, there has been an increasing need for oil, and it has been European companies more than any which have been able to produce this. North America particularly by far has been more in need than any other area in the world, as they have suffered the most from this lack of oil, and thus they have been creating a popularity with the Euro Companies because they have needed to import their oil from here. Global market forces in general, in fact, have truly created a dynamic and

Smoking in the Workplace Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Smoking in the Workplace - Essay Example Although the rationale behind non-smoking was almost always health reasons, these non-smokers were unjustly exposed to smoking through their addictive peers or customers. The effects of second-hand smoking are also adverse. However, when these non-smokers were forced to work in smoking conditions, they really had no choice but to conform. Like any other workplace, where health and safety are the responsibility of an employer, restaurants and bars also have an obligation to provide a healthy and safe working environment for all their employees. Taking an example of a construction worker, the employee is aware of the risks involved in working for a construction company. However, it is the responsibility of the construction company to provide safe working conditions, so that these risks can be minimized; and sufficient protection against accidents, so that the resulting injuries can be avoided. Similarly, for a restaurant/bar employee, the risks of working in such an environment will be known, but the protection against those risks is the responsibility of the employer. Here, the restaurant owner will face a dilemma in deciding between satisfying its customers by allowing them to smoke and providing his employees with a safe working environment. The employer should safeguard the interest of his employees, although some smokers will be forced to boycott the restaurant. However, in the long run, people will get used to it and will start visiting the restaurant again for its quality of service and food (Frumkin, 2003). By banning smoking, the employer will not have to worry about the health and safety requirements related to second-hand smoking. Second-hand smoking may also affect the productivity of employees. For smokers, smoking provides a sense of comfort and delight. However, for non-smokers, it can be a source of constant irritation. This, in turn, may affect

Unit 2 - Business Resources, Unit 20 - Managing Physical Resources in Coursework

Unit 2 - Business Resources, Unit 20 - Managing Physical Resources in a Business Environment, Unit 16 - Human Resources management in Business - Coursework Example skills, attitude and formalities to work in the conerned company, physical and technological resources of the company and their associated management to improve upon the existing performance, the importance of emplyability, skills and staff retention, sources of external and internal finance and budgetary control, financial state and a discussion on the same and finally calculation and discussion of some important financial ratios along with their limitations. Virgin Atlantic (UK) requires an initial documentation of either a valid EU Passport, or a UK Birth certificate along with a valid NHS Insurance proof or a valid passport with the necessary permits to work in the UK. (Virgin Atlantic, 2012)These documents must be submitted to Virgin Atlantic (UK) even before the selection process has begun. (Virgin Atlantic, 2012)It has to be sent it along with the application for the relevant job opening a candidate is applying to. (Virgin Atlantic, 2012). The application involves attaching an updated CV along with a covering letter and the necessary document which validates a candidates eligibility to work in the UK (discussed above). Under no circumstances the person should have any criminal record or any pending criminal case (Virgin Atlantic, 2012) Virgin Atlantic employs approximately 9000 people all over the world in various countries, with roughly 4000 cabin crew and 700 Pilots. (Virgin Atlantic Airlines, 2014). The main requirements for working at Virgin Atlantic include: â€Å"intelligence, responsibility, initiative and support† (Virginia Airlines Ltd, n.d.)for a candidates fellow workers, this is irrespective of which field of work the candidate would apply to, whether it be Finance, Marketing, Human Resource or Operations. (Virgin Atlantic Airlines, 2014).These requirements enable Virgin Atlantic to identify key personnel and assign them strong roles in order to build on the â€Å"Virgin† brand. (Virgin Atlantic Airlines, 2014) Virgin requires all its

Current Topic in Ethics Essay Example for Free

Current Topic in Ethics Essay The article speaks about a recent incident that took place in Brazil, which brought in to light the ethical and moral values of humans. The story had a two sided approach the first one being from the church of Brazil and the second one from the government side. The incident is regarding a step father raping her 9 year old daughter. The girl confessed that she was under a sexual assault from her step father since the age of 6(Yahoo News, 2009). The man was also convicted of sexually abusing the girl’s 14 year old handicapped sister. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, head of the Catholic Church’s Congregation for Bishops said that the abortion carried out by the doctors under the decision of the girl’s mother was totally wrong and the twins that the girl carried had a right to live. On the other hand President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva had other views on the matter. He said that according to the law of Brazil where abortion is illegal and allowed only in case where the health of the child bearing women is endangered the Bishop is totally wrong. The girl had actually been brought to the hospital after several stomach cramps and it was found that she is pregnant and carrying twins. At the age of 9 doctors commented that it was impossible for the girl to bear the children and an abortion was the only viable option left. As the doctor involved in the abortion Rivaldo Albuquerque said that it was important for us to save the life of the girl(Yahoo News,2009). Ethical Issues The article raised several ethical issues regarding human rights and social rights. Firstly the rape case as the man had committed was illegal and should be punished according to the government law of the country. Secondly the issue of child abuse as an ethical issue is also being raised by this incident which is another offense of the law and needs to be punished. Third and the most important issue which has been raised by this incident are of abortion which according to the law of Brazil is illegal. The fourth issue has been raised to contradict the third one which is another face of the same law of abortion which is banned. Abortion is only allowed in case the health of the child bearing women is endangered. The fifth ethical issue is the sexual assault of the other handicapped girl sister of the girl which was actually sexually assaulted. All these ethical issues have come forward due to this incident and need to be taken care of by the Brazilian government. Ethical Theories There are many ethical theories and fields of ethics that are present but only some that are relevant would be applied to this case. We will consider each theory one by one and apply it on the case to deduct a result. Greek Philosophy Socrates emphasized that a person to be ethically correct needs to realize the importance of human life and existence. A person would act rightly and correctly if he or she is self aware and knows the importance of life. Bad deeds or evil deeds are a result of ignorance and if the person knows the consequences of doing wrong he or she would never commit that act (MacKinnon, 2008). According to the theory of Socrates the man who committed the assault was unaware of the consequences of the act to be specific he thought that he would get away with his actions but only the pregnancy of the girl brought up the matter. The case of abortion according to this Greek philosophy is a bit controversial as the importance of human life needs to be considered and in this case whether to save the girl or the twins she was carrying was a decision to be made. Normative Ethics This field of ethics focuses on the rightness and wrongness of actions to judge whether they are ethical or not. The theory says that actions were mainly judged by the intentions of a person as in whether they are right or wrong (Kagan, 1997). According to this theory the man in the case is found guilty of committing a crime and should be punished accordingly as his intention was truly wrong and hence his actions also become wrong. Then the abortion of the child was also morally ethical as the life of the girl was endangered by her pregnancy, hence according to this theory the decision of abortion is also ethically correct. Meta Ethics This approach of ethics is a bit different from other approaches as it looks at the reasons for the truth and decides up on the validity of the reasons as to whether the actions that led to the truth were ethical or non ethical (Miller, 2003). According to this theory the actions of the man were totally unethical as the man had committed an immoral act, which is the truth. The reason for this act was his uncontrollable desires, which were unethical. Abortion was performed because it was the only option through which the girl could be saved. The reason for the abortion was the fact that the doctors had to save the life of the girl and could take no risks, hence the act of abortion was morally ethical. Descriptive Ethics This is a newer field of ethics than normative ethics and focuses on the choices that were available to the person and the one he or she picked according to that his or her actions are judged to be ethical or not. According to this theory the man is still found to be guilty and should be punished as the choices he made were ethically incorrect and on the other hand the abortion done by the doctors was also morally ethical as they had limited choices and needed to save the girl. The doctors agreed on the fact that the girl who was only 9 years old could not carry the burden of pregnancy and hence had to be saved through abortion. Conclusion During this paper we looked up on different theories and fields of ethics. These fields and theories were applied on the case and the deduction of whether this ethical issue were correctly dealt or not was focused. The conclusion is not merely my own decision but the result of applying the ethical theories on the case. These theories when applied clearly highlight the fact that the man should be punished according to the law of Brazil and the decision of abortion made by the mother of the girl and carried out by the doctors was a correct one in the circumstances that were presented. References: Kagan S. (1997) Normative Ethics, Westview Press. MacKinnon B. (2008) Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues. Wadsworth Publishing. Miller A. (2003) An Introduction to Contemporary Metaethics, Polity. Yahoo News (March 8, 2009). Vatican defends Brazil excommunication. Retrived on March 10, 2009 from http://au. news. yahoo. com/a/-/world/5375029/vatican-defends-brazil-excommunication/

Models of Inclusion in Education

Models of Inclusion in Education Introduction This paper focuses upon inclusion as an international issue. It is structured in three basic topics. Firstly, there is a description of models of inclusion mainly implemented in the U.S.A. Then, there are presented the barriers for greater inclusiveness with some examples of schools from New Zealand, from the States and Northern Ireland. Finally, there are described some solutions, proposed by recent literature, aiming to overcome the barriers and achieve education for all. Main Body Defining Inclusion Searching through the literature, numerous authors describe the term inclusion via different definitions. This explains the various ways inclusion can be seen. A large amount of information has been provided through definitions for its purpose, its philosophy, its emergence as a rights issue as well as a social one. In this paper, inclusion will be examined as an educational issue and the terms inclusive school, inclusive system, inclusive education are used alternatively. As such an issue, it could be claimed that inclusion is about a philosophy of acceptance; it is about providing a framework within which all children- regardless of ability, gender, language, ethnic or cultural origin- can be valued equally, treated with respect and provided with equal opportunities at school (Thomas, Walker and Webb, 1998 :15). Inclusive education stands for an educational system that includes a large diversity of pupils and which differentiates education for this diversity (Pijl, Meijer, Hegarty, 1997: 1). Inclusive education is an unabashed announcement, a public and political declaration and celebration of differenceIt requires continual proactive responsitiveness to foster an inclusive educational culture (Corbett and Slee, 2000: 134). Inclusive schools are defined as those that admit high proportions of pupils with SEN (Dyson et al.2004: 10). The definitions above are just a small sample of the different approaches to inclusion estimated as an educational aspec t. Models of inclusion Changing a school into a more inclusive one is not an easy case. It constitutes a whole reform in order to have a lasting meaning for everyone engaged. This reform has been presented through some models of inclusion, which do not appear as panacea. They do have both advantages and disadvantages but tend to lead to a more reconstructed education. We could categorize these models to the ones promoting part-inclusion and the ones promoting full-inclusion. I will describe below models from both categories, which have been implemented in schools in the U.S.A. According to Zigmond and Baker (1997), self-contained classes and resource rooms in regular schools constitute models of part-inclusion. The first one depicts mainly a tendency for integration that has to do with the placement of children with SEN. The perception that they are in need of a different curriculum from their peers restricts their participation only to lesser activities. The teacher of the regular class needs a professionals guidance but the model still seems to be ineffective due to the low expectations the teacher has from pupils with special educational needs. The second one detaches from the regular classroom the children who need support in order to receive it from a special education teacher, who will teach them on obtaining basic academic skills or also on acquiring learning strategies. The results are dual because on the one hand the students self-esteem tends to follow an upward trend but on the other hand (s)he not only misses the opportunity to attend what the rest of the class is being taught during his/her absence but also there is incompatibility between the methods followed in the two classrooms. Having as a target to incorporate both special education and the pupils to whom it refers in the mainstream school, the two authors above suggest two full inclusive models: the Collaborative Teaching Model (CTM) and the MELD one (Zigmond and Baker 1997). In the classroom where the CTM model takes place, there is collaborative spirit between the teacher of general and special education. Through their daily contact they decide who will teach what, they teach together and they both aid all the pupils. As a result, the teaching procedure becomes more productive due to the fact that each teacher is responsible for a smaller number of children. Apart from this, a classmates support is also available to the child with SEN through the study- buddy system. As far as the MELD model is concerned, it is a broad reform as it engages the whole school in the inclusion effort. It encourages all children with learning difficulties to attend the general school no matter their performance. The special education teacher has a peripatetic role but the time he will spend in a class depends on the number of children with learning difficulties. There are weekly co-planning meetings but the disadvantage of the model is that the special education teacher has so many duties that (s)he has no much time left to pay the essential attention to pupils who really strive to attend the mainstream school. That is why their parents have to pay for extra tutorials or to choose another school environment for their child. Montgomery (1996) describes six of the several full inclusive models that can be implemented in a classroom framework. The first one reconstructs the traditional tension according to which interdisciplinary support was given in a separate class. Now all this personnel is an integral part of the class but can still offer more individual assistance when needed. The second one is a collaboration of coexistence of a general education class with a special education one of the same age. When that happens, two or more teachers share their experience and skills, one around curriculum and the other around support and vice versa so co-teaching becomes a fruitful process. The third full inclusive model encourages liaison mainly among general education teachers. There can be in a class a variety of special education needs, so the teacher can receive help from the rest of the staff teaching the same grade. Moreover, there is a timetable designed by paraprofessionals, who itinerate is it mostly needed. So, the last ones do not need to be there in a continuous basis but instead cooperation among teachers and group teaching can be a really helpful combination. Consistency is the key in this group. That means that when children move to next grade, it is essential the same function to be adopted so as to assure that there will be an alignment in the teaching method. The fourth model refers to older children especially ones of secondary education. Compared to the rest of the children, pupils with SEN have the opportunity of making three choices instead of two. So, apart from core and elective modules they can also attend support centre. The aim of this model is equal support to be offered both during core and elective modules and not let a child restricted in the resource room with just some visits to the regular one. To continue with the fifth model, there is a student support centre in the school, the scientific team of which not only offers support on an individual basis but also collaborates with teachers of regular class. This model offers extended contact between special educators and children as support is not only provided in the centre but also in the class or on a group basis but the criteria for success for success is trust among personnel members as each child is not one professionals duty but a whole teams responsibility. The last model according to Montgomery (1996) refers to adolescents with special educational needs who will attend for four years courses in a campus with students without special needs. There are meetings offering advice and guidance to general educators while the special ones remain close to the child by providing support for developing skills to achieve better contact with peers and participation to extracurricular activities. The key to success is the heads assistance. Barriers that prevent schools from promoting greater inclusiveness By proclaiming that every child has unique characteristics, interests, abilities and learning needs and that education systems should be designed and educational programs implemented to take into account the wide diversity of these characteristics and needs ( UNESCO,1994, p.p. viii) it is represented a tendency for promoting inclusion. Not only international declarations but also government documents and educational acts elucidate the multilevel importance of inclusive practices. To support this, emphasis is given on h3 educational, social and moral grounds (Tilstone, Florian and Rose 1998, p.2) of inclusion through the issue of equal opportunities and human rights one. The values of acceptance and limitation of discrimination of disabled people have given rise to the debate around their belonging in ordinary environments, and more specifically, for the case examined here, in an ordinary school. Despite the dialogue among governments, ministries of education, organizations, legislations, educators, (SENCOs), parents, specialists there still remains a significant gap between theory and practice. Prohibiting factors are social as well as practical aspects. When examining the barriers for promoting inclusion and more specifically within a social context, one should take into consideration the medical model and the individuals perceptions, which come as its consequences. In order to understand the impact of medical model on exclusionary discourses, it is of essential importance to think about the progress of medicine during the past century. The fact that a doctor has the ability and the privilege to diagnose, prescribe, cure and rehabilitate raises him in the sphere of authority. Vlachou (1997) states that the medical model is extremely dominant and it demonstrates its strength through labeling and its policy around disability. The medical ideology boosts its prestige through its success to penetrate in the social system and leaves people no opportunity for questions but instead it accepts the professionals judgments as they are. Moreover, it uses the principle of normalization in an ambiguous way. On the one hand, the use of normalization is similar to cure but a disability cannot be treated. A child with Autistic Spectrum cannot overcome it and become some day an adolescent or an adult without Autism. On the other hand, medical model tries to use normalization alternatively to equal treatment forgetting that equal: does not always mean same. (Vlachou 1997). Direct effect of the model above is the creation of tensions of considering disabled people as heroes because they manage to live in such an inhospitable society despite their difficulties. This decreases their self-esteem and their self-image and may lead to internalized oppression. Furthermore, another consequence related to this is the establishment of perceptions of each individual about what is normal or abnormal, superior or inferior. This has mainly been affected by socially constructed norms and values dealing with appearance but undoubtedly family plays a major role. Different ideologies, ways of upbringing and environments have a different impact on each person. Within a school environment, there is another significant challenge. Labeling is a situation that both disabled people and the advocators of human rights ask to be demolished. Even if a student is has a formal diagnosis or not, his observable behavior could ridicule him in his peers eyes. As far as teachers are concerned, their attitudes can also be a barrier for managing inclusion. They usually expect less from the pupil; they underestimate his abilities so he has a tendency for underachievement. (Vlachou, 1997). Teachers duty is not only to teach the curriculum. They represent one of the most substantial and crucial factors and have a key role in the school reform and its change into a democratic one. What was described above is what literature characterizes as social barriers for achieving inclusion at schools. In other words, the medical model, its effects of heroic images and labeling, individual perceptions based on predominance of beauty and educators attitudes are the social struggles for inclusive education. Apart from the social barriers there are also some practical aspects which arise in daily practice and obstruct inclusion. Pauline Zelaieta (2004) conducted an investigation and found some difficulties faced by mainstream practitioners on the way to inclusion. Firstly, teachers of general education are afraid of lacking the expertise and confidence to work on issues relating to special educational needs. Secondly, teachers in general schools lack time. They have a strictly structured teaching in order to provide curriculum, so this pressure permits no flexibility of re-instructing the lecture in a more suitable and supporting way, which can appeal to every pupils differences and needs. Other inhibitive factors were found to be the lack of leadership, organizational difficulties and financial constraints (Zelaieta 2004: 43). A review of the relevant literature has revealed that there are many commonalities among the schools regarding their unsuccessful efforts of promoting inclusive education to all their children. Purdue, Ballard and MacArthur (2001) raise the issue of warrior parents through their research. As such, are defined those parents who make any endeavour to incorporate their children in a mainstream school but they run up against the exclusionary attitudes of the staff who see these children as different and as belonging elsewhere (Purdue, Ballard and MacArthur 2001: 40). Indicant of the excluding practices is the unwillingness of the school to accept a child with disability and other parents attitudes. The authors mention that the evidence they collected about what happens in New Zealand at both public and private pre-school level is disappointing especially for those parents whose only choice is a rural kindergarten. In some cases the heads of the centre claim that they are not obliged to take these children in the school. In some other cases children with special educational needs were accepted but under certain conditions or provided their parents presence. Furthermore, they describe how the centre can exert control over the childs attendance of the school. The staff will not welcome any child with disability unless he has his personal assistant teacher. In case the teacher aide is unable to go to school, the child has to stay at home. It is also argued the need for resources such as materials, supportive staff and measures for accommodating physical access. That is why many children are excluded either directly (by telling the parents that they cannot accept him in the school e nvironment) or indirectly from the school (by informing the parents that they are positive about him but there is lack of resources). The research criticized as additional exclusionary factors the teachers limited knowledge about disability and other parents not welcoming behavior. So, the importance of parents advocacy is very vividly highlighted in order to ensure that their child will receive the expected education like the rest of the same-aged ones. Very frequently parents need to advocate even for the most obvious services to be offered to their child. But on the other hand parents face the dilemma of how the teachers will treat their child if they will put a lot of pressure on them and be too strict with them. (Purdue, Ballard and MacArthur 2001). Moran and Abbott (2002) examined through their investigation how eleven schools develop inclusive practices in Northern Ireland. Their findings acknowledged the invaluable help of teacher assistants but a significant number of them had scrappy education and knowledge about how to work with children with special educational needs. Some other had no qualification. Instead, they had significant experience. As a result they needed to be retrained and this policy was followed by all the schools participated in the research. This happened either in the school context or with a distance learning program. Moving on with the aspects stated as barriers for inclusion through their research, low degree of team work can be mentioned as one. Assistants role was defined mainly by the heads through the things they should not do, such as avoid being overprotective or playing a discreet role during the breaks. The results of the investigation above are in accord with the findings of a research (Gibb et al. 2007) which showed that barrier factors in the inclusion practice seem to be among others the personnels lack of knowledge, childs limited social participation and academic ability as well. Teachers interviewed admitted firstly the short of knowledge about what kind of teaching strategies to implement on children with special educational needs and secondly the fact that they were not skillful enough to exploit their potential. It is reported that it is of great importance their needs to be met. That is why the authors highlighted the essentiality of partnership between mainstream and special schools. Collective work and giving feedback for improvement can diminish the barriers. The curriculum can also be an additional factor, which in practice resists inclusion. It would be a wrong judgment to assume that certain teaching methods are accessible only to children with specific abilities or needs. There are no strategies to use as panacea, but creativity is essentially useful to promote a curriculum that all students will benefit from it. It is crucial not to perceive curriculum as means of promoting knowledge but as a chance to interact with others (Thomas, Walker and Webb 1998). Armh3 (1999) indicates another dimension of curriculum. The one that it portrays what is accepted through social practices and through the philosophy of each module that is taught. The curriculum creates a cultural space which is obvious from the language used to teach a specific subject, from the books, from peoples appearance and this underestimates their identities. The development of creative pedagogies can control what is being taught and destroy the authority of norms and tensions, which some institutions and teachers impose. Black- Hawkins, Florian and Rouse (2007: 15) define inclusion as the process of increasing the numbers of students attending mainstream schools, who in the past would have been prevented from doing so because of their identified special educational needs. Basic assumption to promote inclusion in regular schools is the buildings and facilities suitability for children with disabilities. Even though unobstructed access to school is a precondition for the child to attend it, it is very frequently too far from reality and this is another barrier for promoting inclusion. First and foremost, it is important the school to be adapted to pupils needs and accommodate its routine and not vice versa. So, a school needs to have an a priori inclusive policy- to put it differently, school has to provide for children with disabilities since its construction. The inclusive philosophy of a school is clearly important to be obvious and substantial not only in the classrooms but in every facility of the school environment (Thomas, Walker and Webb 1998). Black- Hawkins, Florian and Rouse (2007) describe some schools efforts while trying to change their image into an inclusive one. Kingsley Primary School was the first case study to be examined. This school had approximately 650 children when visited by the authors above, but provided no full access to the total building for children with motor difficulties as there was no elevator. As far as Amadeus Primary School is regarded it had by 2005 411 pupils. Although it is a really attractive school with light classes and colourful walls, it does not offer access to children with physical disabilities. The third school was a secondary one called Harbour Community. 1,200 children was the total number of pupils in 2004. This school, as happened with the other ones before, could also not assure the accommodation of children with physical or hearing difficulties as there was no provision for them. The small size of the classrooms was a prohibitive factor for wheelchair users and the acoustics of rooms did not help in order to attend a suitable teaching within a welcoming environment. Finally, the last case examined was the Chester Community School, a secondary school as well. It had a population of 1,300 adolescents, of whom 5% were diagnosed as having special educational needs. Comparatively to the rest of the schools inspected, this was the most inclusive one, but although there is a general tendency for promoting inclusion it has restrictions as far as accessibility is concerned. Some parts of the building are open to access but the unaffordable cost for the renovation of the school remains the main barrier. Judging from the data collected from a small sample of buildings, we are able to conclude that four out of four schools are unable to implement inclusion (even up to a point) and this is a frustrating rate. It is easy to consider that no matter how inclusive services a school may offer, the first and foremost that has to provide is unimpeded access. (Thomas, Walker and Webb 1998). Inclusion is discussed and suggested in an extended degree through national and international documents, for instance the Salamanca Statement, the Framework for Action on Special Educational Needs, the Index for Inclusion. The obstacles that prevent it from being established in school environments need to be removed. To sum up what was described above, we can categorize the barriers referred in literature into social and practical issues. The medical model is mentioned as social because of its impacts on disabled peoples life. Not only this, but its consequences do also have a negative effect on them, owing to viewing them as heroes or as deviant. Finally, teachers opinion can also be an obstacle to promoting inclusive education. On the other hand, as practical difficulties we can characterize these ones, which rise in the daily routine. More specifically, general teachers perception of lacking knowledge about special education, lack of time to deliver the curriculum as well as the curriculum itself, restricted access to school buildings, limited team work on the part of teachers and unwillingness of some schools to accept disabled children are the practical aspects, which promote exclusionary instead of inclusionary philosophy and practice. Overcoming the barriers Solutions Moves towards inclusion involve abatement of the struggles for inclusion. Overcoming of the social barriers can be fulfilled if changing the societys function by letting disabled peoples voices to be heard. Another direction that can be taken is the one of intervening to the social field of school. A radical change of the general attitude of the school is indispensable and needs to take place. The school is useful to act as a collaborative community, which sets no restrictions to its members to be part of it. (Thomas, Walker and Webb 1998). Segregation based on the criterion of ability needs to be eliminated and this can happen through teachers and peers attitudinal change (Pijl, Meijer and Hegarty 1997). Inclusion can be developed within a framework of assistance and support on behalf of teachers. Students can deconstruct the philosophy of exclusion by working into small groups to do in-classroom activities or by peer- tutoring. Strategies like these ones or as circles of friends or buddy-systems (Thomas, Walker and Webb 1998) promote an accepting philosophy in the classroom context and help collaborate under the partnership spirit. These actions are not by themselves the direct solution to the problem of inclusion in school level. The dimension of cultural change is the basic one to be reformed. The Index for Inclusion, which is a material based on the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child and UNESCOs 1994 Salamanca Statement and Framework for Action, specifies the dimension of creating inclusive cultures. This dimension is about creating a secure, accepting, collaborating, stimulating community in which everyone is valued, as the foundation for the highest achievements of all students. It is concerned with developing inclusive values, shared between all staff, students, governors and parents/ carers that are conveyed to all new members of the school (Booth et al. 2000: 45). As a result, new cultures affect society in general and school community in particular. In that way teachers are willing to design new teaching approaches so as to respect every pupils needs, differences and abilities and st udents are willing to respond to that pedagogy. This is the first step to move on providing solutions for the practical barriers which were analyzed before. Taking the attitudinal and cultural change for granted, this can positively affect alternative ways for the curriculum delivery. For instance, students arrangement into groups, use of innovative materials, brand-new lesson format and interesting tasks differentiated by activities can create an active learning environment. The achievement of goals can happen through supportive relationships and mixed groups in which ones abilities will accommodate others needs. Focus on the whole classroom instead of individuals separately can promote the delivery of an inclusive curriculum (Thomas, Walker and Webb 1998). If educators plan their teaching, if they offer group activities employing curricular differentiation and if there is mutual respect inclusion can undoubtedly be promoted. (Gibb et al.2007). Producing inclusive policies is a second dimension mentioned in the Index for Inclusion, which is about securing inclusion at the heart of school development, permeating all policies, so that they increase the learning and participation of all students. All forms of support are brought together within a single framework and are viewed from the perspective of students and their development rather than school or local education authority administrative structures (Booth et al. 2000: 45). A school for all is the one, which can firstly offer physical access to its pupils. Then, it supports them not only by making the use of buildings comfortable but also by offering psychological support. For instance, by aiding new students to adapt to the new environment or by representing their educational needs and create small peer-groups during teaching so that everyone can benefit from it. Inclusive policy supports diversity in multiple ways. That can happen by supporting activities for students w ith special needs or for those whose native language is not the same as the rest of the pupils. (Booth et al.2000). After examining the theoretical part of what is inclusive policy, it is essential to discuss how a sample of schools implements those policies. Kingsley Primary School had a high level (60%) of children for whom English was an additional language and about 15% of pupils with special needs. The school had a clearly admission policy and tried to respond to pupils needs. For that reason, the school had some facilities corrected and removed some of the barriers regarding participation and access. Implementing inclusive policy according to the Index, urged Kingsley School to support all children needed aid in learning. To do it successfully, they arranged some teaching groups. Gifted children, pupils with discipline problems or with problems on using the local language attended some lessons in separate classrooms and finally they had the ability to attend the curriculum in their class with their peers. (Black-Hawkins, Florian and Rouse 2007). Although the policy of Amadeus Primary School regarding accessibility is not that inclusive, the school provides low dado rails to support children with visual impairments and a hearing induction loop system (Black- Hawkins, Florian and Rouse 2007 :72). It embraces all new children and a peer mentor is responsible for each one of them especially for the first-day-difficulties. As far as children identified as having learning difficulties are concerned, their needs are met by planning their homework. The last dimension of inclusion explored by the Index is about developing inclusive practices and is defined as reflecting the inclusive cultures and policies of the school. It is concerned with ensuring that classroom and extra-curricular activities encourage the participation of all students and draw on their knowledge and experience outside school. Teaching and support are integrated together in the orchestration of learning and the overcoming of barriers to learning and participation. Staff mobilizes resources within the school and local communities to sustain active learning for all (Booth et al.2000: 45). So, barriers discussed above such as lack of time or lack of leadership and tem work can be removed. The Index for Inclusion suggests the creation of a coordinating group, the head of which will raise staffs knowledge about its purposes. Acting not as an expert but as a consultant s/he can collect information about staffs and parents opinion on what are the real priorities and aspects for change. After the collection of evidence, further discussion follows on arranging a development plan, which will be monitored via meetings, councils, debates. (Booth et al.2000). After that, everyones duties will be reassigned. The teacher will know what s/he has to do, the teacher assistant will have a clearer idea about his/ her role and his/her performance within the classroom, the SENCO, the planning team, the senior staff and the head teacher will be able to work in a new, much more organized and closely monitored context. In that way, lack of leadership and organization and lack of time stop acting restrictively against inclusion. Collaborative work is highly promoted in the framework of inclusive culture. Moving towards inclusive practice, team work acts as a basic assumption, not only among staff members but also among them and the parents/ carers. Good interaction of those involving in inclusion and respect to each others knowledge and experiences are the keys for their efficient partnership (Armh3 and Moore 2004). Lack of specialist knowledge was referred to a great extent as a prohibitive factor for inclusion. Liaison of special and general schools seems to be really effective. The first ones can train the general educators and provide them suitable material for using while teaching children with SEN. They can also equip them with strategies and ideas for adapting the curriculum to their diversities and the teaching time can be better administered (Cheminais 2003). Collaborative engagement, value others opinions, active listening and working with a plan in a monitored context, as proposed by the Index, can be the right solutions to the barriers for inclusion. In a school that finally decides to implement and promote inclusive practices there is an atmosphere of collaboration, students learn from each other, children support one another regardless of the group activities and they have attitudes of respect and acceptance. Children use their resources as well as staffs expertise to reinforce inclusion. (Booth et al.2000; Black-Hawkins, Florian and Rouse 2007). After having discussed the three dimensions for achieving inclusion (inclusive cultures, policies and practices), it is difficult to say which comes first. None of these separately can provide that high results as when co-existing and acting as one. To p

The Bmw Mini Brand Marketing Essay

The Bmw Mini Brand Marketing Essay According to the book Strategic brand management by Kevin Lane Keller, Identifying and creating brand positioning is the first and important stage of the strategic brand management process. Positioning effects on a founding benchmark and works toward building a strong brand by helping marketers to design, to implement, to solidify or to sustain brand associations. Aaker ( ) also supports the idea that the brand position can offer clear direction to a communication program implementation. To establish the position of a brand, the concept of it should be clearly defined. Criticism of the literature reveals numerous meanings and clarification of positioning. Sekhar, (1989) states that the concept of positioning developed from research on market segmentation and targeting. Kotler (2003, p. 308) defines brand positioning as the act of designing the companys offering and image to occupy a distinctive place in the mind of the target market. The end result of positioning is the successful cr eation of a customer-focused value proposition, a cogent reason why the target market should buy the product. Arnott (1992, 1993) parallels the idea by stating that positioning is, correlated to the rivalry, management attempt to adjust the tangible features and the intangible views of a marketable contribution. Furthermore, Kapferer, (2004, p. 99) emphasises on the distinctive characteristics that make a band different from its competitors and alluring to the public. In addition, Sengupta (2005 ) enhances the term of perception that indicate the core of the brand in terms of its functional and emotional benefit in the decision of customer. Also, it is shown as points in perceptual space and think up a product class. In essence, Keller outlines the idea behind the concept of brand positioning that involves four aspects; target market identification, the nature of competitors, the ideal of points of parity, and the points of difference. Identifying target market is crucial part in establish a robust positioning because dissimilar segment may have diverse brand knowledge structure or perceive the same brand in different way vary by own attitudes, beliefs, and experience. The target customer can be classified as descriptive (customer-oriented), which associated to the kind of customer or behavioral (product-oriented), which related to how customers consider of or utilizes the brand or product. The behavioral side is more significant to comprehend brand position due to stronger strategic implication. Decided type of target can, then, implicitly sketches the nature of rivalry because businesses usually target that same segment in terms of category membership. Once the appropriate competitive frame of reference for positioning has been formed, the correct points of parity (POPs) and points of difference (PODs) are able to make.  Point of parity (POPs) are characteristics or benefits that may mutual with other brands separated into two forms: category and competitive. Category point of parity is a standard association expected by customers to show the credibility of companies. Competitive Point of parity are associations designed to abolish rivalry Point of difference. It is used when firms want to break even the area that competitors are attempting to seek an advantage and achieve advantages in some other areas. To illustrate, to enter in the fast food industry, there are key elements that help customers to label a brand as a fast food restaurant such as quick service, good taste, and low prices. These are fundamental features and benefits of product category that it belongs to. Point of difference, on the other hand, comprises of strong, favorable and unique associations for a brand based on attribute or benefit association in the mind of customer. It is associations that customers believe that they couldnt find in the competitive brand. It is considered by functional basis, performance-related consideration and imagery related criterion, which are competitive strengths and insight about consumers motivations. Reeves and Ted Bates advertising agency (1950) also support the common concept of PODs in terms of unique selling proposition (USP) that promoting use to compel customers to buy product that competitors could not race. For instance, fast-food chain Subway uses the healthier benefit as PODs compared with other quick-serve restaurants that supported by less fat attribute. Nike, for another example, claim of superior performance in athletic shoes. Nowadays, business environment is becoming more intensively competitive. Marketers must certify that their brands constantly amend to stay s, at the same time as keeping on the true core values (Aaker, 1991; Keller, 1999). There are many reasons that make a firm to reconsider about its brand position which could be environmentally driven, Consumer driven, Competitor driven, and company driven. The environmentally driven can cause by economic issue, political issue, or the green movement. Consumer driven is able to be the change of consumer needs and lifestyles or the attractiveness of alternative target markets . Moreover, the driven from internal of company usually be a change in company strategy or gaining of new technology or other asset that provides the brand a competitive advantage and valuable differentiator. Finally, the essential reason that affects a brand to reposition is the competitor movement. Markets are shredded and full with proposition that rivals try to display the ir point of different and superior positioning. Then, the brand may be faced by a new stronger positioning. Often, competitive advantages survive for only a short period before competitors attempt to match them, which may harm the brand positioning in terms of building satisfactory distinction benefits over their contenders (Clancy and Trout, 2002). Thus, brand should react by using repositioning strategy to change and stay contemporary and fresh in the eyes of customers. Trout and Ries () propose an idea of the repositioning that involve with competition, change, and crisis issues. Firstly, repositioning can compete the rival by discriminate the brand or product and add value to it. Secondly, since time pass by, brand should update itself and make connection to target customer by using technology and communication and multimedia assets. Finally, repositioning can cure the crisis especially the cost issue. Ryan et al ()also gives the meaning of repositioning that is the way to re-ad apt brand position the consumers thought to change the way in which a firms product or service is apprehend. Basically, positioning and repositioning are the same; they are both process of getting  ownership of a place in the thoughts of the target market that is proper, differentiating and fascinating. These two activities are , likewise, bases on the Customer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Model settled by Keller in 1993 which defined as the different effect that consumer knowledge has on the customers response to marketing activity. To clarify, this paper will show the illustration of two repositioned brand of the automobile industry in both successful and fail way. Begin with brand that succeed in repositioning that is MINI, The MINI (original named Mini) is one of the most well known brands in the car industry, and indeed the most prosperous British car in terms of volume sold (Birmingham Mini Owners Club, 2002). It was launched in 1959 by British Motor Corporation. It was originally designed for four people seat, in a small size, practical, easy to park and economical. Also, priced was inexpensively. This reacted to a fuel scarcity, and the increasing demand for proficient urban cars. The Mini Cooper was designed and commercialized as a faster and sporty version of the Mini that would allow the car to compete successfully in rallying. Moreover, in 1969 the Mini was placed on the film The Italian Job. Due to the combination of the Minis rallying success and celebrity style reputation so it became a necessary fashion accessory. It gained the cultural status that considered as a British icon. The Mini Coopers status was variable between the 1970s and the 1980s as the license for the brand was sold to Span ish and Italian companies. In 1994, BMW bought the Rover Group, the owner of the Mini and launched the line in 2000. BMW still used the Mini brand to unite old and new to form explicit and consistence profile, but a bit change in name from Mini to MINI. Launching the New MINI had task to preserve the MINI from becoming a fad. Therefore, business strategy of BMW is to position the MINI as a symbol. It target young groups of customers that are urbane, stylish, individualistic or characteristically take their own path, value and quality consider, love to drive, and a trendsetter. To meet the target market need, characteristic, and lifestyle, Mini brand came out the repositioning strategy that tried to attract customer in both logical level by the products performance and insurance of quality, and at a sensational level by the value of the brands image or product aesthetics. At the rational level, MINI keeps the perception of a small premium car. It emphasized in practical and brand heritage about being an economy small sport car that have a different and new technical base. There are three main competitive advantages that support the aspect; custom design, modern quality technology, and outstanding safety. Firstly, MINI has an extensiv e variety of equipment along with paintwork choices, applications on the external and rare materials for the internal that make MINI customizable and can be differentiate. As a result, it offers customers to choose their own style MINI to express and show their own brand personality. Secondly, the quality dimension, it involves; body structure setting new standards, the powerful engines, the most progressive suspension technology, which makes driver feel a go-kart experience. Thirdly, the safety system guarantee excellent safety airbag system, which makes the MINI one of the safest and the most reliable cars in its category. At an emotional level, the MINI stressed on the fun facet, play with the slogan fun to drive. Thus, MINI attempted to create brand personality of it as fun loving, outrageous, cheeky, trendy, sporting and attractive. Figure 1 : The perceptions of the BMW Mini brand: the importance of historical associations and the development of a model : Figure from Simms and Trott (2006) The victory of the MINI brand repositioning can be analyzed in many aspects. Firstly it achieved in clearly defined its target market so it could offer the brand attributes or benefits that meet the target needs and, also, was able to compete with the relevant brands in the sporty compact cars market such as Honda and Volkswagen. Likewise, MINI did not forget to offer the Category points-of-parity; it provided essential and credible attributes that a car should have to customers. Additionally, MINI can prove strong superiority on its attribute and benefit and, too, consumers can be swayed. MINI brand associations met three criteria that can correctly be good at a point-of-difference; desirability, deliverability, and differentiability. First of all, the MINIs target customer was given a persuasive motive to believe by MINIs pose on exclusive design, up-to-date quality technology, excellent safety, plus fun emotion. Accordingly, they can feel the relevance in both performance and emot ion. These advantage associations are hard to compete. Also, MINI got benefit from the combination of two legacy advantages; British heritage and BMWs German heritage that effected to customer perception. The former British heritage included construction in England, iconic scheme, fun and sporty sensation. The later German heritage BMWs consisted of the certifying in excellence of production and technology along with the premium car segment. Moreover, the company can really deliver favor attributes and benefits, in the other words, MINI could sent the promise unique joy at an attainable price to its consumers. The product design and its marketing campaign supported the desired associations. Their unique, specific and complete forms of advertising resulted to minis repositioning accomplishment. The customer was underlined that possessing and driving a MINI is fun, at the same time, also promoting brand personality and the idea of smaller is better. In every touch points, from the bil lboards to the showrooms, everything is branded that pararell with the set position. Finally, associations of MINI brand are strong in differentiate about history related, product related, and emotional related that can claim distinctiveness and superiority against relevant competitors. Whilst MINI brand repositioning has been very successful, Oldsmobile brand, contrastingly, had left customers confused. The Oldsmobile brand is a case of the failure brand in repositioning. Oldsmobile is one of the brand legends in US car history. It was in the portfolio of General Motors (GM) same as Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick and Cadillac. It was a pioneer brand that launched the first car with chrome plated trim and front wheel drive. Besides, it was an original of an automatic car called Toronado model. The brand was popular for many decades until there were problems that shake the strength of brand and have to end the production in 2000. The reason behind the brand failure can be divided in terms of positioning in three parts. First of all, around 1980s onwards, when GMs technology had cutting edge begin with the Chevrolet engines were substituted ad diesel engines were given as an option, it, afterward, stopped maintaining and emphasizing the unique selling proposition of Oldsmobile and make the brand to be uniform like others. Consequently, Oldsmobile is devalued its positioning in advance automobile in sportiness and innovation .It lost its advantage edge and considered very alike to other brand of GM. Additionally, due to its brand name, there is an effect of the name old to the perception of customer that mislead to be perceived as outdates brand specially among teenage segment. As a result, marketers of Oldsmobile tried to reposition the brand and adjust the brand image with Its Not Your Fathers Oldsmobile slogan and ran advertising to describing the point. Unfortunately, this customers couldnt recognize reasonable about age association and still perceive that Oldsmobile is old-fashioned (Levinson,2005). One Brand Week article, published in February 2001 gave a recommendation to the Oldsmobile that instead of attempt to be younger, it should better accept the exist brand, with its older profile, search for older customers insight and give them a communication that fascinated to their needs. It could be possible, as the Oldsmobile had been seen as a trendsetter in its field, even though it had never been a youth brand. Also, the process of this repositioning was rather impulsive operation. The customer perception should proceeding adjust for example, from old brand to adult brand to, eventually, younger brand. Moreover, Oldsmobile had endeavoured to lift its position to be a luxury brand by changing logo and make many product variations to enter European market. However, the principal notion of Oldsmobile was to manufacture a low-priced car for the masses and discounting strategy to sales was still used that against the repositioning aim, thus, consumers were confounded. Again, their memories with the earlier brand image still ran deep. Ultimately, General Motors shut down its Oldsmobile section. Refer to the case, there are many factors that make Oldsmobile incapable to success in repositioning. Begins with the target market, it attempted to target younger consumers and affluent market without finding those customers insight. While there were overwhelm of competitors that pierced in the same target. Thus, introducing trendy new Olds cars were too late. Oldsmobile did not carry on the brands new promise; it just created the tag line Its Not Your Fathers Oldsmobile but did not do anything on product or service programs to stress the claim. The product reforms did not meet wishes of new clients. By reason of deficient product development plus inconsistent brand communications, it did not have power enough to change the targets perception that Oldsmobile is a youthful, modern brand. Sharfman(2001) states that this slogan excluded both newer and elder purchasers. The reason that might be it had not done enough through its designs, contemporary images, and marketing mix, especiall y to the customers who do not have high involvement in the brand. They saw no advantage and no distinction, and no emotive association. In addition, it abandoned their competitive advantages which are a sporty and innovative, based on its heritage. Consequently, the trusted and believable personality of Oldsmobile was destroyed. In addition, to be in the upper market, Oldsmobile did not do well on credibility. Price levels did not represent the new willing position. Also, it was not able to form a unique emotional advantage or identity component of brand equity that is related to its customers. For these reasons Oldsmobile turned people off. In a nut shell, brand positioning is a strategic concept that marketers make a band image to sit in a unique room in the mind of the target market by a customer-focused base value correlated to competitors. Furthermore,There are factors require brand managers to reconsider about their brand position such as altering customer needs, increasing competitive pressures and changing of the company own structure. The BMW MINI case shows an example of how a brand cans success in repositioning. It created effective brand associations that consumers perceive a brand dwell in a favourable, differentiated and credible location in the minds of consumers. Thus, MINI gained trustworthiness of the product position by information given by brand. Although many brands are desired to become resurrected and famous again, often, repositioning brand fail in changing the image in the mind of customer as the mentioned case of Oldsmobile. It underwent from a lack of strong positioning since targeted goal that it did not have ability to send the promises or new benefits. Also, elements of marketing mix did not go along with new position such as the product improvement and the price. As a result, marketers should carefully redefine brands target market, stick on their needs and expectations, then, find the right and available place to be in their minds, which unique, certifiable, and satisfactory. Finally, the new position should be communicated properly and consistency.

Gun Controls Do Not Control Criminals Essay -- Argumentative Persuasiv

Gun Control Does Not Control Criminals    "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed" (Bill of Rights, Article II). This seemingly simple phrase is probably the source of more debate and argument than any other single sentence in American history. The argument is not black and white, rather, it encompasses many shades of gray. At the one end of the spectrum you have the National Rifle Association (NRA) which currently views any type of gun control as an infraction against the Second Amendment of the Constitution ("What is the NRA" 1). At the other end of the spectrum you have groups like the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence (CSGV) and Handgun Control, Inc. seek to make most firearms accessible only to law enforcement and the military("CSGV" 1). In the middle there are organizations such as the American Firearms Association, who seek compromise regarding our rights (Lissabet, "Return" 2). Some organizations that one would expect to participate in this debate are noticeably quiet. One such group is the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). In "The ACLU on Gun Control", the national ACLU policy is neu trality (1). All factions in this debate have some merit, some more than others. All use a mixture of facts, figures, and emotions to express their views. I will be presenting some of their history, their views, and how they make their cases. The NRA is perhaps the most well known of the participants. They were formed after the Civil War, in 1871, as an organization dedicated to the rifle marksmanship of the state Militias. This was due to Union Army's lack of marksmanship. Following World War II, many returning veterans joi... ... Works Cited Cloud, David. "Anti-Gun Study Highlights Failure of Gun Control." Fundamental Baptist News Service 3 May 1996: 1 Lissabet, Ernest. "Anti-Federalism and the Second Amendment."   American Firearms Association WWW Site: http://www.firearms.org/afa/federal.html. Lissabet, Ernest. "The Return of the Old Guard."   American Firearms Association WWW Site: http://www.firearms.org/afa/return.html. "The ACLU on Gun Control." ACLU WWW Site: http://www.aclu.org/library/aaguns.html. "The Facts of Gun Violence_"   Coalition to Stop Gun Violence WWW Site: http://www.gunfree.inter.net/csgv/basicnfo.html. "What is the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence?" Coalition to Stop Gun Violence WWWSite: http://www.gunfree.inter.net/csgv/csgvsumm.html. "What is the NRA and how does it work?"   National Rifle Association WWW Site:http://www.nra.org/nra-precis.html.

The Federal Reserve System: Modern Fascism And Absolute Power Essay

Most Americans feel the United States of America is a beacon of democracy and raw capitalism, the leader of the â€Å"free† world. The founding fathers had every intention of turning the new world into a full fledged democracy, devoid of any monarchy or source of totalitarian power. The constitution itself demands that our government be â€Å"of, for and by the people†, and be divided into complex units of checks and balances, designed to thwart any potential power struggle by one specific branch. In essence, the constitution of the United States is a perfect blueprint for democracy in its purest form, with power and control in the hands of its citizens. Unfortunately, this is not the case today. By giving up the right to print its own currency in 1913, the US Government bequeathed its powers to a select few, who have owned and operated this country ever since. They are the true masters of US domestic and foreign policy. Just like a corporation issues shares of stock to function as a productive entity, a country has to issue currency in order to fund its operations. This currency is the lifeblood of a nation, creating wealth for its citizens by fostering economic development and providing public infrastructure and services. In a true democracy, the government is owned by the citizens and operated by representatives of the population as a whole, who control and more importantly regulate the issuance of this currency. This is a critical point to remember. Just like a public company [that issues too much stock] can be punished by the public markets for diluting its share structure, a nation’s currency can suffer the same effects through inflation if the government prints too much money relative to the value of the economy. This can be co... ...al well into the 21st century and beyond depends on it. Thanks to innovations like the Internet, the public’s ability to access information that was once kept hidden from view is now possible. This instills the hope that much like the Fellowship in LOTR was eventually able to thwart the efforts of Sauron, we as citizens of the United States can succeed in abolishing the Federal Reserve System and help restore this nation to the democratic vision of our Forefathers. http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/frseries/frseri.htm Delaware Corporation No. 0042817, https://sos-res.state.de.us/tin/GINameSearch.jsp http://www.lib.umich.edu/govdocs/jfkeo/eo/11110.htm DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 1994. Economic Fascism, The Freeman DiLorenzo, Thomas J. 1994. Economic Fascism, The Freeman http://www.house.gov/paul/legis/106/hr1148.htm http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/