Hofstede Cultural Difference Critiques Essay

Arguably, Hofstede’s work (1980, 1997) represents a pioneering approach of culture as a way of comparing international management frameworks. First of all, prior to offering any evaluations in regards to McSweeney’s criticism (2002a/b), it is crucial to identify the nature of Hostede’s work within the entire sphere of the culture approach itself. In contrast to the guarantors of the emic approach , whose main concepts tend to discard the equalization and standardization of dimensions in national cultures’ comparisons, the pillars of Hofstede’s work, which belong to the etic approach , are based on 5 dimensions whereby national differences are then measured. In other words, from the emic standpoint it is also arguable that the etic research methodology, as aiming to identify equalities among national differences, would risk throwing out the baby with the bath water . On the other hand, from the emic perspective, dividing the culture into a set of defined scopes stands as the only way to actually enable researchers to compare cultures . Having briefly introduced the shortcomings related to both approaches, McSweeney’s critiques can now be narrowed down to a specific scope, which is mainly encompassed with Hofstede’s research methodology. Research Validity  In light of the importance for any researches to provide clear definitions on the specific research concepts and key words, the first part of this essay will evolve on contextualizing the meaning of culture within Hofstede’s work, thus, giving ground to McSweeney’s relevant sources of criticism. Geert (1980) has defined culture as â€Å"the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from another†. McSweeney essentially critiques Hofstede’s adoption of nations as means of cultural comparisons, scorning the territoriality uniqueness of culture in primis. In regards to this issue, Hofstede in a second stage (2002: 1356) acknowledges that nations are not the ideal elements for studying cultures, yet this is the only way researchers could have access to comparable units. Predictably, thousands of other author’s contributions in regards to the definition of culture would make this argument even more complex. For the sake of this analysis, emphasis would be given to the arguments in regards to the research methodology. Research Reliability: Research Sample The first criticism which may arise is likely to involve the representativeness of Hofstede’s research sample. In more details, he argues that 117,000 questionnaires for two surveys, covering 66 countries would be enough to ensure the research reliability. From my point of view, McSweeney’s critiques result founded when analysing the sampling framework in more details. CountryNumber of Respondents for Each Country Belgium, France, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and Sweden (6 countries)More than 1000 Chile, Columbia, Greece, Hong Kong, Iran, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Turkey (15 countries)Less than 200 [Tab. 1] As it can be seen by the table (Tab. ), in 15 countries the sample size is composed by less than 200 respondents, which results to be extremely small compared to other countries with over 1000 respondents. To couple this argument, McSweeney discusses about the narrowness of the population surveyed as respondents were all IBM employees, mainly involved with the marketing and sales departments. Hofstede’s reply ( 2002), stating that this sample’s framework had only been used in order to isolate the national culture differences from both the organizational and occupational culture, seems however to give rise to other arguments. As McSweeney’s (2002a: 95-99) argues, respondents’ cultural framework is made up by three non-interacting and durable levels of culture (Tab. 2). At the first level, the assumptions which would free this model from any shortcomings would be that there is only one IBM culture and that there is also a common worldwide occupational culture for each job (Hofstede 1980a: 181). What are these assumptions based on? According to McSweeney (2002a: 96), these assumptions are â€Å"too crude and implausible to underpin Hofstede’s emphatic empirical claims† . Following the thread of his argument we come across a situation where assuming that an IBM employee, whether in a developed USA head office or a new opened branch office in Pakistan, will possess the same identical organizational and occupational culture does become hard to encompass. In response to this argument, Hofstede acknowledges that considerable differences exist at the â€Å"organizational level† (1991: 93), yet it redefines the entire organizational culture as a mere set of â€Å"shared perceptions of daily practices† (1991: 182-3), therefore distancing from the early-stage value-based definition. According to McSweeney (2002b), this is only a failed attempt to deliver a straightforward concept and definition of organizational culture. Back to Culture Hofstede’s vision of culture is often linked to two different concepts, unique national tendency and central tendency, respectively. In the first case, as pointed out by McSweeney, the national uniformity which Hofstede claims to have found, results to have no valid grounds as it derives from a very specific micro-level (IBM). Secondly, in regards to the claimed average tendency, the heterogeneity of questionnaires’ responses completely contradicts this conceptualization at the first place. As cited from Jacob (2005), â€Å"if exceptions to the rule are as numerous as the rule itself† to what extent could predictions based on that rule be reliable? In many countries, McSweeney argues, the typical IBM employee would at a high extent diverge from the general population. That is to say that an IBM employee in Taiwan would not necessarily reflect Taiwan’s population average individual, especially when we are talking about someone who holds a managerial position in a multinational firm. This concept brings us to another aspect of McSweeney’s criticism (2002a:92), â€Å"culture treated as a mere epiphenomenon, completely casual†, as conceptualized by Hofstede, it would look like something which moves along the history â€Å"enduring†, yet it is not subject to radical changes due to fluctuating social, economic and institutional trends (Tab. 3). Questionnaire and Dimensions Arguably, the questionnaire itself also presents some limitations. Firstly aimed to investigate the employees’ morale at IBM, it also resulted to reflect some values that, for Hofstede, could have been used to unveil the national cultural differences’ myth. Citing one of his research questions, â€Å"How long do you think you will continue working for this company? †(1980 Appendix 1) , it is obviously clear there would be differences in whether this question is being asked in a country, say, the USA, with plentiful employment vacancies, or in a country, say Thailand where at the time of the research the unemployment rate was comparatively high. Under these circumstances, it is extremely hard to assume that the respondents were not influenced by other social, political and institutional factors (See Tab. 3). Therefore, his research’s entire reliability could be easily questioned on this basis. Despite ensuring the confidentiality of respondents’ answers, employees’ foreknowledge of the end objective of the survey might have easily encouraged them to assume a more positive attitude in order to support their divisions’ reputation. Arguably, the responses analysed by Hofstede were situationally restricted (McSweeney, 2002a: 107). In more details, the questions only reflected values related to the workplace, furthermore the surveys were exclusively directed within the workplace and were not tested in non-work place locations for both same respondents and others. In light of the first purpose of the questionnaire, it is spontaneous to raise a question in regards to the validity of the dimensions found by Hofstede. Could it be possible that a specialized study in cultural differences would have delineated different dimensions? In his response, Hofstede acknowledged that, although there may be some other dimensions equally important for the structuring of a comparative cultural analysis, relative questions were simply not asked. McSweeney with reference to Triadis (1994) argues that bi-polar dimensions of national cultures should not be comprised of opposite poles (for example: Individualism – Collectivism), but depending on the situations they could coexist. Under these principles, the work of Schwartz (1992) appears to give a comparatively dynamic dimensions’ disposition. History and Research Validations In the last section of his book, Hofstede (1980: 326- 331) includes some historical and contemporary events which he states would validate his research findings. However, McSweeney (2002b) argues that these stories reveal nothing but justifications, leaving out the basics for an accurate confirmation. According to his analysis, Hosfstede’s assertion, â€Å"the more masculine a culture the more antagonistic are industrial relations, is flawed as the trends for working days lost in industrial disputes , in both Spain and the UK, result to vary enormously over time. In other words, we could argue that these fluctuations are highly influenced by political, economic and institutional changes. In the case of industrial relations’ disputes in Spain, after the death of Spanish dictator Franco in 1975, the level of working days was subject to a huge increase. Hofstede’s findings have also been validated by other studies, reflecting the same national cultural differences . This is one of the reasons why Hofstede’s work has so far been used in many disciplines as pioneer of the cultural approach in the sphere of comparative international management. Under these circumstances, as Hofstede states (2002 p. 1358), it is just not all about faith in his research, but it is the willingness of the society to accept his work as something which could be taken to a step further. In some cases, institutional factors, history, politics and economy do provide better explanations in this field, yet as Hofstede would argue, the cultural perspective does have his validity as it offers a complete different view on values embedded by people which do have an influence on their daily lives. Conclusion Arguably, some of Hofstede research framework’s features, especially the ones related to his research methodology, do present various shortcomings. However, the overall importance of cultural approach for national differences should be seen as undeniable (Koen, 2005). Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that after all, the main argument merely evolves on Hofstede’s claims to have â€Å"uncover[ed] the secrets of entire national cultures† (1980b: 44). Despite his book title narrowing the scope of its findings down to the work-place, â€Å"Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Place Values†, Hofstede, in many of his publications, seems to overestimate his findings. It is extremely important to acknowledge and appreciate the enormous contribution that Hofstede has made to the entire society’s understanding of international cultural differences. On the other hand, it is also crucial to stay away from the â€Å"taken for granted† approach when coming across such a complex topic. As mentioned in the preface, etic and emic approach despite having a different vision on how to measure and analyse culture, they could still be seen as two complementarities which could be extensively used for a more thorough research. In addition, although admitting that limitations in research methodology do hamper the objectivity of findings, the etic approach still stands as the unique way to allow researchers to obtain comparable quantitative data. I do also appreciate the contributions made by McSweeney, whose criticisms have enabled me to adopt a more critical line of thought in analysing this interesting topic. At some extent we could assume that Hofstede’s research is still a â€Å"work in progress†, eventually other advocates of the etic approach will take it to a more universal level, as some of other authors in this field have already done. I would like to conclude this essay with a quote from McSweeney (2002a: 90), when he states that Hofstede’s work could be dismissed as a misguided attempt to measure the unmeasurable .

Moral nihilism Essay

When determining the status of morality there is three different options. Morality may be the different between objectives, relativistic, or it may be a complex set of rules. Moral nihilists are like relativists by denying ethical objectivism however, relativists believe in moral goodness, duty and virtue and nihilists don’t. Error theorists and expressivism are both forms of moral nihilism. Error theorists believe â€Å"our moral judgments are always mistaken†. Expressivists don’t agree and also deny that our moral claims can ever offer an accurate take on reality. (307) Error theory and expressivism are two forms of moral nihilism. Error theorists believe â€Å"our moral judgments are always mistaken†. (307) While expressivists deny those beliefs and deny, â€Å"that our moral claims can never offer an accurate take on reality†. (307) The error theory is made of three doubts/claims. The first is â€Å"there are no moral features in this world†. Error theorists believe that nothing is morally good or bad, or right and wrong. Exemplified in the book many scientific qualities in the world (liquids, being three feet long, carbon based chemicals) but none of them contain moral features. The next doubt of error theorists is no moral judgments are true. There are no moral facts so certain statements made cannot be true. The third corresponds to the second doubt, â€Å"our sincere moral judgments try, but always fail, to describe the moral features of things†. Since there are no moral truths for moral decisions, all of our moral claims are mistaken. These three principles used by error theorists lead to the conclusion of no moral knowledge. The fourth claim counteracts and answers the third point. â€Å"There is no moral knowledge† when means knowledge requires truth. (307) If no moral truths are given there can be no moral knowledge. Error theorists want it to be known that all moral thoughts are wrong. They believe that moral thoughts are not believable and people who believe in them are lies. Error theorists stand by there main point â€Å"morality is nothing but a fiction†. Error theorists are kind of like atheists. The example in the book is â€Å"error theory is to morality as atheism is to religion. † They both deny truths of widely populate views. Atheists don’t believe in god yet a very large percent of the population believes in god even if there are many different gods. Error theorists deny morality even though many people live life off of their â€Å"moral beliefs†. You can think of atheists are error theorists about religion. Atheists think there are no religious beliefs in the world and when religious people try to preach, atheists believe they never speak the truth about â€Å"god†. Error theorists have agreed that the main disbelief of morality is the assumption of objective moral beliefs. These beliefs â€Å"supply us with an excellent reason for obedience, regardless of what we care about†. (309) Morality is objective and provides the ones who believe in morality with â€Å"categorical reasons†. If you don’t agree with categorical reasons then this proves error theorists true that there is no such thing as morality. To prove that error theorists are right they have to convince people of how they came out with the thought that morality is a lie. Error theorists must first prove that morality is a commitment to categorical reasons. If morality doesn’t rely on these and they can prove a different way to live off of moral reasoning’s, then error theorist are wrong. The second point is that error theorists must show that at least of the moral assumptions are false. Its good that many people haven’t heard of the error theory because if error theorists can prove the moral theory wrong, there would be terrible results. People would now believe they have been living a lie their entire life. If morality is proven wrong, people will do whatever they want and everyone will soon go crazy. If error theorists are correct, they must defend themselves that morality is objective. Expressivism is like error theory with a few changes in certain places. Expressivists accept the first two beliefs of error theorists. The first â€Å"there are no moral features in this world†. The second belief â€Å"no moral judgments are true†. The beliefs that separates error theory and expressivism that expressivists think they are not trying to speak the truth while making moral judgments. Error theorists believe â€Å"our sincere moral judgments try and always fail to describe the moral features of things. (312) Expressivists vent their emotions and are known to make others act certain ways by making a plan of action. Expressivists want to have confidence in morality while also denying ethical objectivity. Expressivists say â€Å"moral claims cannot be true, then this makes it very difficult to understand how moral argument is possible†. An argument to this theory is that a conclusion must be true provided that its premises are true. My opinion would be that expressivists theory cannot be true. The other claims they make cant be used. If the first two parts are true then the third cannot be true. If the two parts of the argument are true the conclusion will be as well. Expressivists warn to â€Å"not be fooled by the superficial similarity between factual claims and moral ones†. (315) Moral claims are known as nihilism that would mean†¦ Moral claims are nothing essentially. They express our personal feelings. That’s how expressivists express people’s moral judgments. Concluding with all that I have learned with the different theories and morality. Morality is a set of objective tasks and rules to oblige by, giving us specific reasons to do everything that we do. Error theorists believe there is no such thing as morality. Moral beliefs are all lies in other words. They think out moral thinking is about assumptions in our head that is a lie. Expressivists are the same as error theorists and believe that â€Å"denying moral duties supply us with categorical reasons†. (317) Error theorists believe morality is all fake in peoples heads. I believe with the error theorists about morality.

Social Networking Sites

PROJECT SYNOPSIS Project Title: Study on how social networking sites effect lives of people Project Guide: Group: Introduction The social networking sites are gaining a lot of popularity these days with almost all of the educated youth using one or the other such site. These have played a crucial role in bridging boundaries and crossing the seas and enabling them to communicate on a common platform. It has become a popular and a potential mean for them to stay friends with the existing ones and to grow up their social circle at least in terms of acquaintances. The question regarding the safety, privacy and the legal issues have been cropping up all this time. Through this research we try to find out the impact of these networking sites on the personal and professional lives of people using them. It is a very subjective question to answer and is very opinion based and the same is reflected in the research methodology adopted by us. The report is initiated with the definition of the objective followed with the research methodology used along with the research design, sample size, methods used for the purpose of conducting survey. It also incorporates the sampling frame and the data collection procedure. Subsequent to this is the Introduction to the networking sites along with a brief description of the most popular sites. Then the issues of concern which have come up along the way in all these years since these sites gained popularity are discussed. The various issues and concerns of the respondents are also incorporated there. The next part of the research has the literature surveys which are the articles we took up from the published reports. We then analyzed and interpreted the data at length. The last part deals with the suggestions and recommendations that the group has come up with after carefully analyzing and incorporating the opinion of all concerned. Objective of the study In this age of globalization, the world has become too small a place thanks to the electronic media and portals. Communication has become effective as never before thanks to the advent of internet. The social networking sites have also played a crucial role in bridging boundaries and crossing the seas and bringing all people at a common platform where they can meet like minded people or find old friends and communicate with them. It has become a potential mean to relation building and staying in touch with all known. Hence the objective that we wanted to achieve through our research is to: Find out the influence of social networking sites on the personal and professional life of the people- how it affects their relations, what are its uses for each individuals and how have they been influenced by these sites. Methodology The primary methods of data collection that is questionnaire technique was used to collect the data required. Respondents include both male and female. Convenience sampling method has been adopted under the non-probability sampling technique and about 100 samples have been collected for the study. Statistical Tools For Analysis The collected data has been analyzed using percentage analysis and diagrams. LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 1) The study has been conducted over a period of 3 months & respondents have been restricted to 100. CHAPTER SCHEME Chapter I It gives a brief introduction about the study, objective, methodology & limitation of the study. Chapter II This chapter includes the literature review Chapter III It covers the analysis and interpretation of the collected data. Chapter IV It covers the various findings and suggestions of the study along with the conclusion. Social Networking Sites There's Something Missing We communicate with family and friends on Facebook, Myspace, and follow people on Twitter, email, texting, but we never stop to think that there is something that is just not there. Social Networking has become our main source of communication. What ever happened to picking up the phone or going over to your loved one's homes to ask them a question? Instead we send them a message via a social network and wait for a response. We have the ability to see what is going on in the lives of people we would never really talk to face-to-face.Why should it matter what they are doing and why, above all, are we so addicted to it? You may have 1000 friends on Facebook, but how many of those friends would be there for you if you really needed them? It is a lot to think about, especially since social networking rapidly evolved. So what is missing? The sound of the voice, facial expressions, hand gestures, are all things that we use to set the mood of the conversation. Why does any of this even matter? Why Does it Matter?Why does it even matter if you can't hear a persons voice, see the expressions on their face, or see any hand gestures that may be going on, when you are having a conversation with them? One word, confusion. When you conmmunicate through a social network you are not really connected ot dedicated to the conversation you are in. You can't give off any emotion to the other person. Misunderstandings and arguments can easily arise this way. For example, someone in the family passes away. You get a message on Myspace informing you. You send a message back and say I am so sad.You get a message back saying it doesn't seem like you are that sad, while you are posting pictures on your profile. Of course to get your message across you could have said, with a tear in my eye, I will never forget that family member, I loved them so much, now sobbing, but not everyone writes like that. Even if they did, the visual effect would give off a more comfor table feeling. You can't really let anyone know that you are truely there for them if you are not face-to-face. What if someone just needs a hug after a long sentimental conversation? You wouldn't be there to do that.Social networking can be good but we don't need to forget our values that we grew up with, and we don't need to forget to pass them on to our children. How can we Increase Face-to-Face Time? Social Networking can become an addiction. It can be a good source for information or sending mass messages or even keeping in contact, on a regular basis, with people who live far away. Social Networking does take away from interacting with others. Some people like that and it's why they do it. Some people don't like to be face-to-face with others, especially when it isn't the best of times to talk to someone.We should all try to increase our face-to-face time though. Put the phone or computer down and go out for lunch with friends and family and talk about your lives. Doing this k eeps your social life active and lets others know you care enough to give them more than a message. When something important happens speak to someone face-to-face. It will make you feel better faster and you will realize that it will help to see emotion on someone face once in a while. Don't completely cut your real social life out and remember to pass that n to your children and this world gets more technology based everyday.Remember what matters. Pick up a phone and call someone instead of texting them. What Do You Think? Any feedback? I would love to know if people agree or disagree with this. It is a big part of life and some people would agree and some are going to disagree. Feedback on a hub like this will show exactly what this is about. Try not to take any of this the wrong way and see how hard it actually is. Arguments are the worst way of communicating online or in text. You really don't know if the other person is upset or just stating an opinion. Don't let Social Network ing substitute for your real social life Social Networking Sites There's Something Missing We communicate with family and friends on Facebook, Myspace, and follow people on Twitter, email, texting, but we never stop to think that there is something that is just not there. Social Networking has become our main source of communication. What ever happened to picking up the phone or going over to your loved one's homes to ask them a question? Instead we send them a message via a social network and wait for a response. We have the ability to see what is going on in the lives of people we would never really talk to face-to-face.Why should it matter what they are doing and why, above all, are we so addicted to it? You may have 1000 friends on Facebook, but how many of those friends would be there for you if you really needed them? It is a lot to think about, especially since social networking rapidly evolved. So what is missing? The sound of the voice, facial expressions, hand gestures, are all things that we use to set the mood of the conversation. Why does any of this even matter? Why Does it Matter?Why does it even matter if you can't hear a persons voice, see the expressions on their face, or see any hand gestures that may be going on, when you are having a conversation with them? One word, confusion. When you conmmunicate through a social network you are not really connected ot dedicated to the conversation you are in. You can't give off any emotion to the other person. Misunderstandings and arguments can easily arise this way. For example, someone in the family passes away. You get a message on Myspace informing you. You send a message back and say I am so sad.You get a message back saying it doesn't seem like you are that sad, while you are posting pictures on your profile. Of course to get your message across you could have said, with a tear in my eye, I will never forget that family member, I loved them so much, now sobbing, but not everyone writes like that. Even if they did, the visual effect would give off a more comfor table feeling. You can't really let anyone know that you are truely there for them if you are not face-to-face. What if someone just needs a hug after a long sentimental conversation? You wouldn't be there to do that.Social networking can be good but we don't need to forget our values that we grew up with, and we don't need to forget to pass them on to our children. How can we Increase Face-to-Face Time? Social Networking can become an addiction. It can be a good source for information or sending mass messages or even keeping in contact, on a regular basis, with people who live far away. Social Networking does take away from interacting with others. Some people like that and it's why they do it. Some people don't like to be face-to-face with others, especially when it isn't the best of times to talk to someone.We should all try to increase our face-to-face time though. Put the phone or computer down and go out for lunch with friends and family and talk about your lives. Doing this k eeps your social life active and lets others know you care enough to give them more than a message. When something important happens speak to someone face-to-face. It will make you feel better faster and you will realize that it will help to see emotion on someone face once in a while. Don't completely cut your real social life out and remember to pass that n to your children and this world gets more technology based everyday.Remember what matters. Pick up a phone and call someone instead of texting them. What Do You Think? Any feedback? I would love to know if people agree or disagree with this. It is a big part of life and some people would agree and some are going to disagree. Feedback on a hub like this will show exactly what this is about. Try not to take any of this the wrong way and see how hard it actually is. Arguments are the worst way of communicating online or in text. You really don't know if the other person is upset or just stating an opinion. Don't let Social Network ing substitute for your real social life

Statistics for Managers Individual Work wk5 Essay

Statistics for Managers Individual Work wk5 - Essay Example Generally, the list sale price for Gulf View Condominiums seems to be higher than No Gulf View Condominiums. The mean for list price for Gulf View Condominiums is $474010 while for No Gulf View Condominium is $212810. Also, on the same variable Gulf View Condominiums seems to be higher, it has a standard deviation of $197290 while No Gulf View Condominiums is $2395640 Out of the variables listed above, the one that can help a real estate agent understand the Condominium market is the standard deviation. Standard deviation is very critical because it shows how the prices are stable. Therefore, if the standard deviation is high then it means the prices fluctuates very much. When the significance level is increased then the critical area is reduced as a result you are likely to reject the null hypothesis. Hence, one is less likely to accept the null hypothesis when it is false thereby reducing type 1 error but type 1 error will

Speaking to Inform ( Speech 100 level Class) Essay

Speaking to Inform ( Speech 100 level Class) - Essay Example In the third paragraph the article uses comparisons between Orthorexia and individuals with conditions such as anorexia or bulimia. The article includes a contrast in how the condition or Orthorexia could affect not just an individual’s body but the relationships an individual forms or has formed. The only examples in this article were statistical from a study. The article here on Orthorexia was very well written and easy to understand. In my opinion all points were covered. Not only was the condition defined and explained but the comparison to what we know as severe disorders were compared here. Comparing anorexia and bulimia to Orthorexia shows the seriousness of this condition. In preparing a speech on this topic for class there are only a couple steps I would include change to make sure the article was fully understood. I would begin the article with the definition instead of a description. The name of the condition itself would probably cause complexity; I would want to c larify right away. Next I would put in the comparison so that individuals would understand the severity of the condition. By doing this I would get their minds on a more serious aspect in understanding and wanting to know how to prevent this seemingly innocent condition from occurring. Finally I would find more than a statistic for an example.

Should American Football be banned from Highschool Research Paper

Should American Football be banned from Highschool - Research Paper Example The issue has been met with opposing opinions from those who support the sport and want such an activity to continue, while there are those that strongly oppose the same. In this section, I shall discuss why school administration boards across the country have been considering the prohibition of the sport on their grounds. Unsurprisingly, supporters of the stand that American football should be banned come from adults who are mostly parents of the students. American Football as a Discriminating Sport According to David (105), American football is a gender discriminating sport. The parties particularly interested in playing the sport and those who enjoy the same the most are the males. The sport has been described as a â€Å"masculine† activity and female students are not likely to benefit from the sport in the same way that their male counterparts can. It is also thought that female students are not likely to benefit from the sport. They are not likely to hone any beneficial s kills from playing the game, at least not physically. The Injuries Suffered by Football Players One of the obvious injuries that may be suffered by American footballers would be head injuries. The seriousness of the risk faced by these players has lead the District of Columbia to ban sports that result in concussions, or at the very least, expose the youth to such threats (between 2009 and 2011). While suffering concussions may not seem to be that serious to some, because head bumps can be helped with a pack of ice, the threat of head injuries can definitely lead to really serious health conditions that can affect a player for life. The trauma however, can manifest later on in the life of the injured player and can be the explanation of â€Å"neurodegenerative disease similar to Alzheimer’s† (Trotta and Ingles). Health conditions related to head injuries include dementia and Alzheimer’s itself. Problems such as fractures to the skull are also highly likely and t he presence of the skull itself and its ability to cushion the brain from injury is not enough. Serious brain damage is possible (Reed). There has also been research to suggest that the more concussions a player suffers, the more likely would depression kick in. Other injuries to be suffered by such football players include â€Å"cervical spinal cord injuries.† It has been known that in the United States, players from Louisiana suffer mainly from this kind of injury (Lawrence et al) Because of the alarming health risks that football may bring, fifteen states have issued laws banning such dangerous sports (Trotta and Ingles). It has been suggested that the best way to deal with preventing such serious injuries would be to invest in the sports equipment. Supporters of the sport should look into providing improved designs of head and mouth gear for the players, to ensure that the players’ gear could withstand injuries to be encountered on the field (Trotta and Ingles). An other solution to the problem would be to educate the players themselves on â€Å"safe tackling† methods in order to prevent injury and how these players can best use their head gear in the safest way possible. Unfortunately, according to a study by Lawrence et al., a significant number of players use the top of their helmets in tackling their opponents. This is one of the most dangerous tackling methods, and is actually illegal. However, an alarming majority of player participants in the

Citizenship and Human rights in Australia Essay

Citizenship and Human rights in Australia - Essay Example (Freckelton, 1991) The colonial masters imposed a police force amongst the Australians in the year 1834. The force was poorly received because most people thought they were inefficient and that they were performing duties which should be exclusive only to the military. Fifteen years later, an ordinance for the Police was passed and Police responsibilities and powers were laid out. Chain of command and powers of its members was clarified in the year 1861. This was closely followed by the Police Act of 1892. Some elements of this Act are still in force today. (Lewis, 1999) During the 1970s and 60s, there were cases of people engaging in demonstrations from all parts of the world. (Australian Law Reform Commission, 1978) Most of these images became quite disturbing when they depicted police conducting themselves in an inappropriate manner. Similarly, within the country, there were some accusations against police with claims that some of them were engaging in corrupt acts. (Wood, 1997) This necessitated a sort of measure to correct these insufficiencies. However, one should not make the assumptions that the entire police force was corrupt at that time. There were a few cases that were tainting the image of the entire force. One of the major efforts that were directed towards curbing these malpractices was through the formation of the Australian Law Reform Commission. It was formed in the year 1975. The Commission was supposed to deal with the latter mentioned cases as required by Federal Law. However, this commission was replaced by other bodies that were similar in function but different in name due to loss of power by the federal government. In 1982, there was the Police Integrity Commission. The purpose of this group was to ensure that there is equality in the enforcement of law within the country. (Australian Law Reform Commission, 1975) Currently in Queensland, power has been placed in the

Addressing International Legal and Ethical Issues Simulation Summary Essay

Addressing International Legal and Ethical Issues Simulation Summary - Essay Example While taking legal action against a foreign business partner based in another country, there often exists certain practical considerations that need to be taken into account. Contextually, the laws prevailing in the host country may not be the same as in the domestic environment and may vary drastically. Moreover, the culture of the host nation as well as the ethical values possessed by foreign business partner may not place the same degree of importance to the aspects such as trust and belief (Aliment, 2009). Consequently, it is necessary for the guest business partner to consider and get acquainted with local values, norms and ethics for seeking legal action against a foreign business partner. With respect to CadMex Pharma company, its partnering company i.e. Gentura is located in Candor country. There are certain factors that may work against CadMex’s decisions to grant sublicensing agreements. It should be noted that a company having a number of sublicensing agreements is vulnerable to face lawsuits, if the third parties such as workers are involved in any kind of property damages or related activities. In other words, CadMex will be liable for any damages occurring due to any third party negligence. When, the local customs and laws conflict with the customs and laws of an organization operating abroad, essentially the local customs and laws of the particular country in which the company is located prevails. A company operating abroad has to abide by the laws, value the ethics and respect the culture of the host nation, failure to do so may render the company to attract legal actions against for not abiding by the rules and the regulations of the host country. Such legal actions may hurt the business relationship immensely and create misunderstanding against each other. I believe that local laws, ethics and cultural aspects are closely related with each other. If the

Security findemental (contract security guard service selection Essay - 1

Security findemental (contract security guard service selection exercise) - Essay Example ve been conducted on certain security regulating agencies for the understanding of their professional approach, dedication to services and the reputation of the company. The research was conducted on three reputed companies in the US and after intense scrutiny, the company selected for making contract with our company is the ‘US Security Associates’. The security guard contract company is selected based on certain criteria, which included revenue, medical benefits, company’s reputation, its strength and the years of experience it had in the particular field. The US Security Associates is selected because of its excellent success in the field of security services. The first and foremost reason was the company’s experience in the field. It was established in 1955, and currently, they are the fourth largest providers of security services in the country. The company has strength of around 46000 employees, 160 offices worldwide and clients of about 4700 including clients from various areas like the manufacturing industry, financial institutions, office building, retail, residential, energy and the utility services. The company also provides risk analysis as well as consulting advices. It is also the first company with an ISO 9001:2000 certification. The salary identified was $29000, annually, which is an affordable amount compared to other companies, and the company offers full time benefits for their employees in health care. The selection of the employees by the US Security Associates is based on the educational qualifications as well as certain qualified standards. The people recruited by them are based on the minimal education qualification, that is the high school diploma, and also each employee should posses the BSIS certificate. After going through the vision and mission of the company, it is crystal clear that they are the number one compared to the rest of the companies chosen for the bid and they are also capable of providing the best services for

Introduction to management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Introduction to management - Essay Example Basically, the company is owned by the employees since every partner’s main responsibility is to help and succeed in every endeavour that is set within its course. With the complex structure of the corporation, it is important to study and to analyze the corporate social responsibility which is often neglected but can be considered one of the most important aspects of a company (John Lewis Partnership, 2011b, About Us). In terms of CSR, the company believed in the importance of achieving goals while being a good corporate citizen. Their goal in terms of CSR is sustainability through civic responsibility as a method of establishing long term relationship with customers and suppliers. Specifically, JLP is employing environmentally sound policies, local community participation, and responsible sourcing and trading (JLP, 2011b, Our Responsibilities). One of the boldest moves undertaken by the company towards its CSR objectives is the implementation of CSR governance which is defin ed as the Partnership-wide action. In this project, Workplace Steering Group was established to concentrate solely on the planning, implementation and assessment of the CSR programs of the company. Also, the most important duty of the group is to mobilize the different departments and committees within the company to implement and to inculcate CSR perspective in every business practices. Thus, there are four major departments within JLP structure namely: the Employment Working Groups or the workplace composed of the people; the Divisional Steering and/or Working Groups or the marketplace steering group composed of customers, products and suppliers; the Divisional Community Investment Committees which are composed of the different communities; and the Environmental Steering Group which is composed of the company’s environment (JLP, 2011a, p.4). Tesco Plc and Its Views Telco Plc is a company focused in the retail service. It has a chain of groceries and general merchandise outl ets. The company is focused on the goal of creating value for the customer to achieve lifetime loyalty from them. Thus, the different aspects of the company is focused on the improvement of the retail business specifically the increase in number of branches, the expansion to international sites and the inclusion of different marketing interface such as online selling (Tesco Plc., 2011, About Us). In terms of CSR, Tesco Plc have clear objectives and path to achieve them. Included in the CSR aspect of the company are: the focus on the environment, the communities, the responsible buying and selling of products, the provision of healthy choices to the clients, and the people comprising the whole company structure (Tesco Plc., 2011). Comparison between John Lewis Partnership and Tesco Plc. Based on the study on the CSR policies of the two companies, there are similar and varying policies and views. Both companies have clear focus on the importance of CSR in the business operation. But t here are significant differences in the process of implementation of the policies. One of the main different between the two companies is the structure for CSR implementation. In JLP, an independent department

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Care Delivery & Management Essay Example for Free

Care Delivery Management Essay The purpose of this assignment is to reflect upon my personal and professional development. It will consider the quality of the care I provided, the skills I developed in my specialist placement, plus my learning since the commencement of my nurse training. Personal learning and self-reflection will be identified. I shall be using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle to consider my practice. Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle looks at six aspects which include the following; what happened, what were my thoughts and feelings, what was good or bad about the experience, what sense can I make out of the situation, what else could I have done and if it arose again what would I do? Findings will be supported or contrasted by relevant literature. A conclusion will be offered to evaluate findings. I shall also include an action plan, which will address future professional and personal development needs and any factors that may help or hinder this. I will also consider why I have selected these issues for my action plan, what my goals are and how I aim to achieve them. At the beginning of my nurse training we were asked to write on a piece of piece what our definition of nursing was. I wrote ‘It’s about being human’. At the time these words were based on my gut feeling and personal belief. Now, two and a half years later, I would write the same thing, but this time my definition would be based on the skills, knowledge and experiences I feel privileged and grateful to have had during my training and not just on gut feeling and personal belief. How does this knowledge impact on me in terms of practice? I can now put my definition of nursing into a framework and relate the theory of it to practice, for example I can identify when I am actively undertaking anxiety management with a patient. This is quite an achievement for me. What else have I learnt? I have gained knowledge of illnesses and understand how bio-psycho-social aspects of mental illness impact on the individual, their family and their life. I have also developed a good basic knowledge of practical skills such as: counselling, anxiety management, assessment, nursing and communication models, problem-solving and psychotherapy. This knowledge and development of practical skills has enabled my self confidence and self esteem to grow. What things have had the most influence on my personal and professional learning? These things are what ‘It’s about being human’ means to me as a nurse. They include a humanistic care philosophy. Evidence suggests that patients have found the humanistic care philosophy to be positive and helpful to their well-being (Beech, Norman 1995.) Humanistic care believes in; developing trust, the nurse-patient relationship, using the self as a therapeutic tool, spending time to ‘be with’ and ‘do with’ the patient (Hanson 2000,) patient empowerment, the patient as an equal partners in their care (Department Of Health 1999,) respect for the patient’s uniqueness, recognition of the patient as an expert on themselves (Nelson-Jones 1982, Playle 1995, Horsfall 1997). Equally important to me is person-centred care, Roger’s (1961) unconditional positive regard, warmth, genuineness and empathy, recognition of counter-transference, self-reflect ion and self-awareness. I was on placement with Liaison Psychiatry also known as Deliberate Self Harm. The team consisted of my mentor and myself. In this placement we would assess patients who had deliberately self harmed. Patients would be referred via AE only. We would see patients whilst they were still in AE or after they had been transferred to hospital wards for medical treatment for their injuries etc. We would only see patients once they were medically fit to have a psychiatric assessment. The purpose of the assessment was to find out what was happening for the individual and see if we could offer any help via mental health services to the individual, this is done via implementing ‘APIE’ the nursing process (Hargreaves 1975). The main focus was to consider what degree of risk we felt the patient was in. Therefore we needed to establish what the individuals intent was at the time of the deliberate self harm, and if suicidal, whether they still had suicidal intent after the incident. We also held a weekly counselling clinic. I considered Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle. How did I feel about this placement? At first I was apprehensive as to how I would feel dealing with patients who do not necessarily want to live. I belong to a profession that saves lives, so I felt an inner conflict. This is an anxiety that is recognised in most nurses (Whitworth 1984). In my first few weeks I felt distressed by the traumatic events that these patients were experiencing. I felt guilty that I have a family who love me, a fulfilling career, a lovely home and no debts, then each day I talk to people who may have no home, no money, no one to love them and no employment. It was hard for me to make sense of these things when life circumstances, such as class, status, wealth, education and employment create unfairness. I felt a desire to help try and improve the quality of these patients’ situations. Midence (1996) has identified that these feelings are a normal response when dealing with others less fortunate that oursel ves. Patients’ who attempt suicide have lost hope (Beck 1986). I felt more settled and positive once I was able to make sense of the situation (Gibbs 1988). I realised that could help by listening to these patient’s and help to restore hope, develop problem solving ideas to tackle some of their problems or referring them to gain the emotional help and support they needed from appropriate mental health services. Patients find help with problem solving extremely valuable and can help them feel able to cope (McLaughlin 1999). Generally, after most assessments, I learnt that listening, giving emotional support and problem solving helped restore enough hope in the previously suicidal patient enable them to feel safe from future self harm. In only a handful of cases did my mentor and I need to admit patients to any inpatient facility under the Mental Health Act (1983). This was because they still felt at risk of future self-harm. Through using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle to consider my special placement area I feel I have been able to change my nursing practice in a positive way, initially from feeling anxious, guilty and helpless when dealing with suicidal patients to feeling useful, constructive and positive. I’ve learnt that by confronting my own feelings of guilt and discomfort I was able to help in a very positive, practical, constructive and empowering way. My mentor identified that one of my strengths is that I can generally combine common sense, logic and practicality in terms of risk assessment and problem solving and still build up a sensitive and caring, therapeutic relationship when dealing with patients whose circumstances are in crisis and complicated and they themselves are emotionally and mentally vulnerable. Nurses not only need good communication skills (Faulkner 1998) but they also need to have an environment conductive to open communication (Wilkinson 1992). Social barriers such as environment, structure or cultural aspects of healthcare can inhibit the application of communication skills (Chambers 2002) Utilising Gibbs (19988) Reflective Model, in retrospect; I feel our interview with some patients could have been done differently. On occasions when my mentor and I were in the A E department the two rooms that we had available for our use were occasionally both in use. This meant that we would conduct our assessment interviews in the Plaster Room, if it was empty. This room was where medical patients would have plaster-casts applied. This was a very clinical room. However, due to limited room availability this was sometimes the only option we had at the time, it was not a welcoming or appropriate setting and would not have helped patients feel relaxed or valued. In reflection, I believe it was actually demeaning as we were asking patients who had attempted suicide to sit on a hard chair in a clinical workroom and share their despair with us. I am sad that this happened and I feel as though we were giving the patients the impression that a cold clinical work room is all they were worth. If this arose again (Gibbs 1988) I would suggest to my mentor that we wait for one of our allocated rooms to become available, where the rooms were relaxing, with soft armchairs and a feeling of comfort. Using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Model I shall describe a situation with a patient to highlight my learning. What happened (Gibbs 1988)? Neil had been bought to AE by his son after he made an attempt to take his own life. His son explained that Neil’s wife had terminal cancer and had died the day before. Neil was unable to engage in conversation other that to repeat over and over again â€Å"I don’t want to live without my wife.† However the more disturbed and difficult to communicate a patient is the less interaction they receive therapeutic or otherwise from nursing staff (Cormack 1976, Poole, Sanson-Fisher, Thompson 1981, Robinson 1996a, 1996b). I found this too be true in Neil’s situation as some A E nurses did not wish to approach him because of his disturbed state and unresponsiveness to verbal cues. What were my thoughts and feeling (Gibbs 1988)? After spending twenty minutes in the assessment interview Neil had remained unresponsive to our approaches and had remained distressed, distant and uncommunicative for the entire time. I had past experience of recent bereavement within my immediate family and I realised that counter-transference was at play and was a reason for my strong emotional reaction to Neil’s distress resulting in me having an overwhelming desire to ease his suffering. Even though another part of me understood the need for him to experience this extreme pain as a normal part of grieving. What was good or bad about the experience (Gibbs 1988)? This was not a good experience for me because as a compassionate person, I found it extremely hard to suppress my own feelings of wanting to protect him from such devastating distress, although I recognised that I was over-identifying with him due to my own grief. I considered that he might have been embarrassed by the emotional state he was in and his inability to control his grief; he could not speak, maintain eye contact or even physically stand. What sense could I make of the situation (Gibbs 1988)? We adjourned for a few minutes so that my mentor and I could assess the situation. I thought it might be appropriate to utilise Heron’s Six Category Intervention Analysis (1975) cathartic intervention as a therapeutic strategy to enable the patient to release emotional tension such as grief, anger, despair and anxiety by helping to (Chambers 1990). I hoped it would facilitate the opportunity for Neil to open up and express his full feelings in a safe and supportive environment. I initially planned to sit quietly with him and briefly put a reassuring hand on either his hand, arm or shoulder. My mentor supported this action. I was aware that I ran a risk of misinterpretation by choosing therapeutic touch. Therapeutic touch may be criticised because it is open to misinterpretation by the patient and abuse of power by staff. The patient may view holding another’s hand as a sexual advance, violation or abuse, so nurses should always consider patient consent, appropriateness, context and boundaries. Clause 2.4 of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (2002) Code Of Professional Conduct says that at all times healthcare professionals must maintain appropriate boundaries with patients and all aspects of care must be relevant to their needs. Therapeutic touch appeared acceptable given his situation and seemed appropriate to the context it would be performed in, given that my mentor would supervise me. As per Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle I considered what else I could have done especially if the situation arose again and mentor not been there. I would may have chosen to utilise Hanson’s (2000) approach of ‘being with’ whereby I use therapeutic use of self through the sharing of one’s own presence, and not involved any form of touch, avoiding any misinterpretation or breach of boundaries. I was anxious because I felt concerned that my nursing skills would be inadequate to address his needs due to his acutely distressed state. In reflection my mentor helped me acknowledge that this was about my own anxiety rather than being accurately reflective of my nursing ability. I approached Neil and explained that if it was acceptable with him I would like to sit quietly with him so that he was not alone in his distress. â€Å"It is likely that the nursing process is therapeutic when nurse and patient can come to know and to respect each other, as persons who are alike and yet different, as persons who share in the solution of problems† (Peplau 1988). I gently placed my hand onto his. Neil reacted by given the impression that he physically disintegrated, he become extremely distressed and crying loudly, squeezing my hand tightly. This continued for several minutes. Neil became calmer and started to talk about his situation. This was a good outcome. I was able to utilise Herons (1975) cathartic strategy with positive effect via empathising with Neil’s situation and using myself as a therapeutic tool through the use of touch, thus enabling Neil to express his emotions and activate a nurse-patient relationship. Studies have shown that nurses can express compassion and empathy through touch, using themselves as a therapeutic tool (Routasalo 1999, Scholes 1996) and this has a cathartic value, enabling the patient to express their feelings more easily (Leslie Baillie 1996). The therapeutic value of non-verbal communication and its harmfulness is overlooked (Salvage 1990). Attitudes are evident in the way we interact with others and can create atmospheres that make patient care uncomfortable (Hinchcliff, Norman, Schoeber 1998) On one occasion, one nurse privately referred to Neil as a â€Å"wimp† because he was having difficulty coping with the death of his wife. I wondered whether her body language had transmitted her bad attitude towards Neil, contributing to his distress and difficulties in communicating with staff. Again using Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle, I shall provide another example to highlight my learning in practice. What happened (Gibbs 1988)? Cycle On one occasion my mentor and I received a phone call from A E asking us to review an 18-year-old girl called Emma who had taken an overdose. They said she was medically fit to be assessed. When we arrived they claimed that she was pretending to still feel unwell and described her as â€Å"milking it†. We found her to be vomiting and discovered she had been left in a bed in the corridor of A E for 8 hours. McAllister (2001) found that patients who had self-harmed were ignored, had exceptionally long waits and suffered judgemental comments. What were my thoughts and feelings (Gibbs 1988)? I felt very angry towards A E staff as I felt that she was being unfairly treated because she had caused harm to herself, she had been labelled as a troublemaker by staff and I do not believe she had received good quality care. Emma explained that in the last month her father had died, she had miscarried her baby, discovered that her partner was having an affair, and she had been made redundant leaving her with debts that she couldn’t pay. As I looked at her, I saw a vulnerable young woman at the end of her tether. I felt saddened and disappointed by the judgemental attitudes of the A E staff who had not even taken the time to talk to Emma or ask her why she had taken an overdose, instead they describe her as an â€Å"immature and attention seeking kid†. As per Gibbs (1988) Reflective Cycle, I felt this was a very bad experience of poor care, bad attitudes and unacceptable moral judgement being made by A E staff. Cohen (1996) and Nettleton (1995) identify that social status; age, gender, race and class contribute to stereotyping and judgemental attitudes. I noticed that people who self-harmed were judged differently dependent upon their age and the younger they were the worse the attitude of A and E staff. Interestingly ageism towards youth is an area that I could find no research on. I believe ageism towards younger people is overlooked and is really only identified in the elderly. During the assessment I was aware of how my physical presence can impact on the care given. However, I have learnt about the importance of considering how one can communicate to the patient via body language. By attending to patients in a non-verbal or physical way it is another method of saying, â€Å"I’m interested, I’m listening and I care.† To do this during Emma’s assessment I utilised Egan’s (1982) acronym S.O.L.A.R. This meant that I sat facing Emma Squarely, with an Open posture, Leaning towards her, whilst making Eye contact and Relaxing myself, to give her the feeling of my willingness to help. This client centred care recognises her equality in the nurse-patient relationship. What sense did I make of the situation (Gibbs 1988)? I was very unhappy about the attitude of A E staff but recognised that they had a lack of understanding and knowledge. In one study looking at self-harm admissions it was discovered that patients who deliberately self-harm are often deemed as unpopular patients, being labelled and judged as time wasters by A E staff. Apparently 55% of general nurses perceived these patients as attention seekers and disliked working with them, 64% found it frustrating, 20% found it depressing and almost a third found it uncomfortable (Sidley, Renton 1996). What else could I have done (Gibbs 1988) After reflecting upon the experience with my mentor, I was able to realise that part of my role is to act as a representative for mental health. If this happened again what would I do (Gibbs 1988)? If staff were to make judgemental comments again it is part of my role to educate and inform them so they can have a positive understanding of the needs of the mental health patient and learn to address any judgemental comments made. This is a view supported by Johnstone (1997), who says that if we are made aware of our actions when we are judging and labelling people it is our responsibility to correct this. Medical staff need to be aware of mental health promotion, and need further training and education in respects of helping to care for and understand of this vulnerable patient group (Hawton 2000). This is a view supported by the Department of Health (DOH 1999a) who have recommended closer liaison between mental health and A E services in an effort to address the poor understanding and negative attitudes of A E staff. I have also learnt that I must look at both sides of each situation and should show more understanding towards the A E staff’s feelings, as they are often confronted with shocking and distressing acts of self infliction which can make them feel despair, helpless and unskilled to deal with these sort of patient. I believe nurses negative attitudes develop because we all intuitively apply own our values and views to everyday situations, people, experiences and interactions. It may be the staff member’s own coping mechanism to keep their distance from the patient or to label them as attention seeking in order to make sense of the situation for themselves. This is a view supported by Johnstone (1997). In reflection, following the assessment and planning of care for Emma my mentor and I reflected upon the care I provided for her. I recognised that I felt nervous because it was my first experience of conducting an assessment. Having my mentor there to observe me made me feel secure because I trusted my mentor and could rely on her expertise to ensure that I provided safe practice for Emma. However, I still felt anxious as I was faced with an unknown situation. This made me realise how difficult and intimidating the assessment process may have felt to Emma. I had the security of feeling safe in the relationship with my mentor. Emma didn’t know either of us. This highlighted the huge value of the nurse-patient relationship and how the importance of utilising Rogers (1961) theory of client-centred care involving unconditional positive regard, warmth, genuineness and empathy towards patients. My mentor said that I provided evidence based care and I appeared to have a good humanistic approach, sensitively providing client centred care. She joked that I was so keen to ‘get it right’ that I was practically sat on Emma’s knee in my efforts to non-verbally show to Emma that I was attentive and listening to her. I think that whilst this was a joke, I will endeavour to continue to be keen but will relax a bit more, hopefully as I gain more experience myself. I will also use the insight and understanding from these experiences to benefit my future practise and the care I provide for patients. Boyd Fales (1983) suggest, â€Å"Reflective learning is the process of internally examining an issue of concern, triggered by an experience, which creates and clarifies meaning in terms of self, and which results in a changed conceptual perspective.† Self-reflection helps the practitioner find practice-based answers to problems that require more than the application of theory (Schon 1983). I have discovered this to be true, especially in mental health nursing where problem solving may be in the realm of religious, spiritual or cultural beliefs, emotional or intuitive feelings, ethics and moral ideals, which sometimes cannot be theorised. With one patient I couldn’t understand his unwillingness to engage in therapy even though he turned up for a weekly appointment. Once I reflected on this with my mentor I realised that I was not considering his strict religious and cultural background, which complicated his care. I realised that I had been completely ignorant of his needs and had in-fact lacked self-awareness otherwise I would have recognised these issues sooner. According to Kemmis (1995) a benefit of self-reflection is that it helps practitioners become ‘aware of their unawareness’. I have learnt that there are barriers to reflection. On occasions after seeing a patient my mentor may interpret events in a slightly different way to myself. Newell (1992) and Jones (1995) criticize the idea of reflection arguing that it is a flawed process due to inaccurate recall memory and hindsight bias. Another criticism of refection is that it aims to theorise actions in hindsight therefore devaluing the skill of responding intuitively to a patient (Richardson 1995). I considered that my thought to hold Neil’s hand may have been intuitive but because we must use evidence based practice and appropriate frameworks of care, I theorised my care and utilised Heron’s (1975) framework. I believe self-reflection helps me to become self-aware. Self-awareness is achieved when the student acknowledges there own personal characteristics, including values, attitudes, prejudices, beliefs, assumptions, feelings, counter-transferences, personal motives and needs, competencies, skills and limitations. When they become aware of these things and the impact they have on the therapeutic communication and relationship with the patient then they become self-aware (Cook 1999). I have learnt through these experiences that reflection can be a painful experience as I have recognised my own imperfections and bias. I have felt angry with general nursing staffs attitudes towards mental health patients and have now been able to realise that this emotion is unhelpful and instead I should be more tolerant and understanding and help them to understand the patients needs. It is also difficult especially if one is experiencing strong emotions such as anger, frustration and grief (Rich 1995). At times I have over-identified with my patients and personalised their situation to similar situations of my own. This is known as counter-transference and has blinded my ability to address their care needs. Counter-transference is the healthcare professionals emotional reaction to the patient, it is constantly present in every interaction and it strongly influences the therapeutic relationship, but is often not reflected upon (Slipp 2000). Counter-transference can be defined as negative as it can create disruptive feelings in the clinician, causing misguided values and bias (Pearson 2001). I have learnt that it is crucial for me to consider how my reactions to a patient’s problem can impact on the care I provide. Whilst I endeavour to always give 100% best and unbiased care to each patient, I have realised I respond more favourably to patients that I like or identify with. For example I was extremely compassionate and biased towards both Emma and Neil and I feel that my personal life experiences influenced me because I could really empathise with them both. However, I realised that I am only human and that as long as I recognise the impact of counter-transference then I can use it positively as my self awareness of the fact that the process is occurring will enable me to address and challenge my own thoughts, feelings and responses. To conclude, I have been able to highlight my learning over the last two and a half years, both personally and professionally. This has enabled me to look at the areas that I am good at and the areas that I can improve on. I have been able to look at the quality of the care I have given patients and considered what I have achieved, how I felt, how I could have done things better, what was successful and unsuccessful, what issues influenced me and what understanding I had of the experience. I have also been able to recognise my role as a representative for mental health nursing and how I can promote it to other healthcare professionals. I have also identified the value of the role of my mentor in helping me to develop as a nurse. I will use the insight and understanding from these experiences to benefit my future practice and the care I provide for patients. ACTION PLAN Word Count 1086 What are my goals? My mentor and I discussed the areas that I want to improve on. We identified that my stronger points are common sense, logical approach and practical ability in terms of things like risk assessing and problem solving. I am also competent in the building of a therapeutic relationship, utilising a humanistic care philosophy, person centre approach, empathy, genuineness, unconditional positive regard and honest. I also have a good knowledge in respect of mental health promotion, anxiety management, basic counselling skills, understanding of the fundamentals associated with nursing, assessment and communication models and the basic principles of psychotherapy. I feel I have come a long way in two and a half years and have accomplished a lot. However, there are areas that I recognise that I can improve on and I am happy that I can address these as I hope this will improve my learning, skills and competency as a nurse in the future, providing better patient care. The areas I need to gain more knowledge and experience of include: understanding the religious, cultural and spiritual needs of the patient and how this impacts on their care and quality of life, recognising and working with counter transference and my tendency to feel the need to over protect patients as this does not help the patient to utilise choice, be responsible for themselves or empower themselves. I want to continue developing my own self awareness through self reflection. Finally I wish to develop my academic abilities and to train further so that I have more knowledge. Why have I chosen these issues? I have chosen to improve my knowledge and understanding of patients religious, cultural and spiritual needs and how this impacts on their care and quality of life, because by doing this I hope to be able to address their needs holistically. To successfully undertake a thorough assessment the healthcare practitioner needs to identify the holistic needs of the patient, failure to do so would neglect the patients physical, psycho-social and spiritual needs (Stuart and Sundeen 1997.) At present I feel I am unable to fully comprehend or provide best care as I feel I lack the skills and knowledge to do so. I also wish to further consider the impact of counter transference and my tendency to feel the need to over protect patients. I feel that if I gain more understanding and recognition of how counter-transference can change my reaction to a patient then I will be able to address it and have more control and choice over my nursing and my responses. In practice, I have experienced strong emotional reactions to some patient’s, perhaps because I could identify with some of their issues. However, this can result in my wanting to over protect them, which may disempower them, and this is unhelpful. Different characteristic in patients can influence the emotional reaction of the nurse (Holmquist 1998). I need to be able to recognise these characteristics in the patient and be self aware of the way I am responding. I want to continue developing my own self-awareness through self-reflection, as I will need to be able to exercise autonomous and expert judgement as a qualified nurse. The ability to use self-reflection as a learning tool to becoming self-aware will help me achieve this. This is a view supported by (Wong 1995). Boud, Keogh Walker (1995) believe self reflection is an important human activity, essential for personal development as well as for the professional development of the nurse. By being able to mull over my experiences will help me challenge my beliefs and behaviour as an individual and a nurse. Finally I wish to develop my academic abilities and to train further so that I have more nursing knowledge. Experience alone is not the key to learning (Boud et al 1985). I wish to gain further qualifications so that I may further my career and knowledge, as this will provide a sense of achievement and fulfilment for me. How am I going to achieve my goals? I intend to develop my portfolio and keep an open reflective diary (Richardson 1995) to show evidence of my learning and prepare for my PREPP. Portfolios are seen as a collection of information and evidence used to summarize what has been learnt from prior experience and opportunities (Knapp 1975), and acknowledges professional and personal development, knowledge and competence, providing nurses with evidence of their eligibility for re-registration every three years (NMC 2002). I believe maintaining my portfolio helps with one’s self-assessment and will help me to develop my strengths, plus identify and critically evaluate my weaker areas, this is a view supported by Garside (1990). However in contrast Miller Daloz (1989) suggest there is no evidence to suggest that self assessment contributes to enhance self awareness. A barrier to one’s ability to self-reflect may be time constraints and socio-economic factors such as high staff and management turnover, low staff morale and staff illness (Bailey 1995) I hope to overcome this by being a supportive team member to my colleagues and maintaining a positive mental attitude. I am happy to work on my portfolio and diary in my own time as I think it is a valuable learning tool. I will use my preceptorship, learning in practice, observation in practice and clinical supervision to help achieve my goals. Reflection on action is considered to be an essential part of clinical supervision (Scanlon Weir 1997). I will continue to use Gibbs (1988) Reflective Model to help me develop my learning through reflection. I will need to feel confident that by sharing my portfolio, diary, reflection or seeking advice via preceptorship and supervision that this will not reflect negatively on me and effect my ability to feel able to trust my mentor. Students and staff sometimes feel unable to fully express themselves or belittled by the power relationship if supervision is not in a trusting relationship feeling it could be open to bias, personality clashes, counter-transference or could disadvantage them in terms of career development (Richardson 1995 Jones 2001). However, good clinical supervision enables nurses to feel better supported, contributing to safer and more effective nursing (Teasdale 2001, Jones A 2001). I hope to continue with life long learning and would like to be able to study for a degree in nursing. I shall do this by apply for funding once I am employed and hope that whoever my employers are they will support me in my goal to become better qualified. 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Low Birth Rate in Hong Kong

Low Birth Rate in Hong Kong Nowadays, the world population just over 6 billion and consistently estimate to increase to 9 billion in the next 50 years. The growth rate is mostly come from those developing countries, especially from Africa. Nevertheless, the birth rate which we would call it as population growth rate is decreasing in Hong Kong. The local birth rate reached the lowest level in the world. According to the report from the Census and Statistics Department, around 30,000 babies will be generated by mainland couples while 69,000 will be born in Hong Kong each year. In 2006, 984 babies were produced each 1000 expectant mothers. The estimation of the following 30 years, the birth rate will be lower than 900 babies would be born with each 1000 expectant mothers. We can use the graph from Census and Statistics Department to indicate the change by birth rate. In the fig. 1.1, the lines are representing the population in 1996 while bars are representing the 2006s. We would see that the population in Hong Kong is going to form a reverse triangle as fewer are born in the base. Moreover, we would see that the birth rate was continuing decrease from 1981 to 2006. Basically, the government has been put aware on the issue. In one of a meeting of legislative council, the councilors have put out this as one the items of agenda. The decrease in birth rate may help to save the sustainable resources in the world, but it would cause out many society problems as well. Actually, aging problem is a serious issue happening in the society. And, this would cause out many consequences to make the society become poor. Aging problem will lead the tax payer having a heavy tax. As the decreasing birth rate cause out, fewer tax payers will need to fall into the tax system. While the number of elderly would increase to form an unhealthy population, the Government would have a financial problem on subsiding them. The government need to bear heavy costs on medical services, elderly health care and retirement such as social security allowance. On the other hand, the education system may need a reform. The demand would decrease as fewer children entering the education system. Those schools will be terminated by a low birth rate, and employers like teachers will be being unemployed. This is already happened in the society in 2006. Many schools are warned to shut down by insufficient students. As a result, encouraging the birth rate is a must. Recently, the government noticed that the importance of having a good birth rate and formed a committee to put concern and finding out solutions in low birth rate issue. The effective way is the government encourage the citizens to improve the birth rate. 1.2 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE In this study, we would like to help to find out the reason of causing low birth rate. Besides, we would not only want to know the causes but also want to find out solutions and the ways of government would able to give a hand. Therefore, our research objectives will be set as the followings: Understand the reason of low birth rate occur Evaluate the effectiveness of various methods to increase birth rate Understand the value of having baby (promotion purpose) Evaluate the impact of various media on the decision to have a child Obtain the demographic of response 1.3 CONTRIBUTION Through this marketing research, we would define clear why the low birth rate was caused out. Afterwards, we can find out the most effective solution to improve the birth rate, in order to prevent the next generation to pay the heavy tax to the government which is our generation and beyond. On the other hand, we would the report will be indicated out that the effective way of promotion by the government which he citizens would thinks it does work. It is beneficial to the government whether the aging problem is solved, the financial burden will reform. The government is able to put the subsidies on the other ways that make Hong Kong becoming a most successful city that people would like to live. 2.1 EXPLORARATY RESEARCH To begin our research, we may need to use exploratory research to provide the insights of the low birth rate problems. From the various types of exploratory research technique, we have used secondary data analysis and focus group when doing this project. Secondary data Low birth rate which is a big issue for the Hong Kong government, so there are plenty of data about this issue on the website of the Census and Statistics Department and also the newspaper. The reasons why we are using the secondary data are because they are low cost and useful as background information. Also, some of the data are realistic as those data are collected from the official department of Hong Kong Government. As the government highly concern about the low birth rate, there are policies and promotions about how to improve low birth rate, which helps us on creating the questions for our questionnaire. Focus Group Focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement or idea. And there will be a moderator to introduce the topic of discussion and to encourage the group to discuss. Using focus group can allow the participants to discuss their true feeling and convictions, fast to collect data, easy to execute and flexible with low cost. Forming this focus group, our purpose is to understand the reason of low birth rate, evaluate the effectiveness of various methods to increase the birth rate, understand more the value of having a baby, evaluate the impact of various media on the decision to have a child, obtaining the demographic of response. After doing the focus group, we can combine the observations to understand the culture, the social group, sampling the sites to study, and creating news issues or topics we didnt think of. We would form 2 focus groups which consist of 6 respondents each. Besides, we need to hire a professional analyst to lead the focus group on the discussing track. Then, we need to book a one-way mirror room to observe the progress of the focus group. The most important is we should jot down the discussion by notes as an alternative way if the video recording devices does not work. The topic of discussion was focus on five main issues we focused on reasons affecting the birth rate, methods to improve birth rate, value on birth rate, ways to promote generation, demographic. To acquire the information we need, an analyst is needed to lead the focus group to discuss on the aspects. We did set the suggest questions: How do you think to generate a child? What are the costs to generate a child? What do you think the consequence to generate a child? Which ways do you suggest to encourage generation? How do you think the policies of government promotion? Summary of Findings Section We have been held focus groups in the March. After the focus group, we were given out some ideas of the low birth rate issue. In the focus groups people are all agree the late marriage is the trend in Hong Kong, many ladies are become focusing on their work. But they conclude that the cost of having a baby is the main cause of low birth rate. They need to quit their job, after the baby growth, their job opportunities will be probably lower as they disconnected with the society. They discussed that the birth rate from the middle class is important to improved. Later, they discuss that the method to improve the birth rate. Most of them thought that the government subsidies are the ways to help. Education allowance is the most effective as most of them agreed. It is because they think it is a long-term subsidy that their children need to study nearly 10 years. It is benefit if it would save their cost. However, no one concern on public housing because they thought that it is relate to the marry cost, not related to having a baby. They would think that the value of having a baby is to generate their breed. Most of them think that the TV commercial is the effective way to encouraged by government. It is because animation and sound would give them memorized. 2.2 QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH To choose a suitable method to fit with our case, we would like to use the mall intercept personal interviews for collecting primary data. The process involves stopping the targets, screening them for appropriateness, and either administering the survey on the spot or inviting them to a research facility located in the mall to complete the interview. And, we decided to set up in Women Health Centre and the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong etc, therefore we are able to get the result that related to our expectation and purpose. The characteristic of the method is confined place to conduct the survey but speed of data collecting is fast, and conductors are easier to reach the assigned quantity with a specific time. It will have the highest degree of interviewer influence of answers. Although geographical flexibility is confined in a selection place, we can poll a large number of target respondents with a successful planning. There will have low anonymity of respondents however, the respondents may not actively to cooperate. It is difficult to follow up or call back but it is not an actual problem. Essentially, interviewers can provide clear explanations for the questions asked, respondents will be clearer to answer the questions through face-to-face interview. So, the possibility of respondent misunderstanding will be the lowest. On the other hand, if the respondent cooperation is not enough to meet the planned quantity, we may also use phone survey to back up mall intercept personal interview. The advantages of using phone survey is competitive reduce cost and the respondent cooperation are good. So, it is a good back-up proposal for anything goes wrong in the mall intercept personal interview. There are some measurements guiding us in design our questionnaire. We should concern that each questions should have a reason behind asking and the type of answers you would like to receive y open-ended or close-ended. Later, we should concern on the questionnaire wording. In designing our questionnaire, we have avoided long questions that will give people confusing by using short and clear wording. Secondly, we avoid emotional and socially desirability response by loaded and assumption questions. So, the validity will be increased. Be sure all answer choices are mutually exclusive, check for ambiguity in wording the question, and ensure if the respondents can interpret the meaning of words differently. We also put aware on the personal pronouns (gender references) never use only him (his) or her (her) unless you are referring to a specific gender. Be specific, rather than general questions and word them so that they communicate uniform meaning. Avoid using double negatives, especi ally possible when using Agree/Disagree. 2.3 RESEARCH INSTRUMENT Scale There are several scale in setting questionnaire, interval scale, nominal scale, ordinal scale and ratio scale. We used Interval Scale in Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 in our questionnaire. An interval scale is a measurement scale in which a certain distance along the scale means the same thing no matter where on the scale you are, but where 0 on the scale does not represent the absence of the thing being measured. The Fahrenheit and Celsius temperature scales are examples. It is uniquely classifies, in preserves order and equal intervals. We used Nominal Scale in Q.5B, Q.5C, Q.5D, Q.5E in our questionnaire. A nominal scale is really a list of categories to which objects can be classified. For example, asking the gender and give Male and Female, for asking status, given Single Married and Divorce. The data so classified are termed categorical data, which are reflecting the classification of objects into different categories. We used Ordinal Scale in Q.5A, Q.5F and Q.5G in our questionnaire. An ordinal scale is a measurement scale that assigns values to objects based on their ranking with respect to one another. For example, Q.5G, we are asking about the monthly income of each target ordinance, from [1] Less than $5000 to [5] above $30,000. While you know that [5] is having more income than [1], but there is no implication that [5] is twice times more than [1]. All we know is that there are 5 categories, with obviously that [2] are having more income than [1], [3] are having more income than [2], etc. The higher the value assigned, the higher the category. 2.3.2 Pretest Procedure It is very important for us to do the pretest before the questionnaire being publicized; the aim of pretesting questionnaire is to ensure that it can be clearly understood. Since the questionnaire may have a lot of mistakes, therefore, we need to conduct and find out the information on that issue. Correct all the mistakes in the questionnaire are necessary, if the survey did not properly set, the purpose will not be achieved to conduct the accurate information what we looking for. For our questionnaire, in order to achieve the effectiveness of pretest, we are going to read the questionnaire for at least 15 times after setting. Besides, we are also going to ask for 15 respondents to test our questionnaire. Finding correct and relevant respondents can help to increase the efficacy of pretest. The varieties respondents would be desire for our Low Birth Rate questionnaires are the professionals, such as English teachers; lecturers, schoolmates from universities, and also our parents. We chose them for the questionnaire pretest procedure, since some of them have sufficient knowledge to state out our problems, for example, English teachers can correct our grammar and spelling mistakes, rectify the question wording into more format type. Lecturers can check the flow of questions and give suggestions on the question, ensure that we are using the multiple-grid format and have been separated them into variety of groups before conducting. And, some of them are easy to re ach, like our schoolmates, their feedbacks help us to predict our target ordinance reaction to the questionnaire, they also may help to estimate the time-taking. After all, we can rearrange the follow up and one by one. Use our questionnaire as an example, after the pretest procedure; we rectify the question wording to make the questionnaire become more clarify. Such as, using Very Unimportant and Very Important to replace Most Important and Least Important. Use full sentence, Are you working now? (If yes, please continue to answer the following questions. Otherwise, jump to à ¯Ã‚ ¹Ã‚ Hà ¯Ã‚ ¹Ã… ¾) instead of a single word Occupation etc. (Appendix fig. 2.2, fig. 2.3) 2.4 SAMPLING Sampling is the simple way to reach out targets with a subset of the population instead of reaching the entire population. Compare with reaching the entire population, sampling will help to save time, cutting cost for budgeting and manpower. Firstly, we should figure the target group out. Our target group is men and women who have visited Women Health Centre and the Family Planning Association. It is because they will have a brief concern and knowledge on the birth rate issue. To reach our target group, we would use the convenience sampling indeed. There is no sampling frame while it is actually a non-probability sampling method. Those respondents are unknown member form our target group because of using the non-probability sampling. Our interviews will select the most available targets arbitrary. However, we would set the 200 respondents as our sample size. As the mall intercept personal interview is suitable to associate with our research, it has many advantages indeed. First, the mall intercept personal interview can be conducted faster and inexpensive. Also, the mall intercept can poll a large number of respondents and control the speed of the survey. As we want to poll a large number of respondents in target group, we decided to interview in Women Health Centre and the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong within 3 days. As the mall intercept is a face-to-face contact with the interviewees, it will lead us easier follow-up and make corrections of the unclear or misunderstanding answers. These advantages will encourage us to conduct a better survey. Unfortunately, there is no perfect method existing in the world. We would just choose the method which consist the least disadvantages. In the mall intercept, we would require a lot of labour force to conduct. This will lead the research cost climb higher by hiring cost for interviewers. Furthermore, low accuracy of the survey is also a disadvantage of this method. It is difficult to follow up if we find out any problem while analyzing the answers. Further, the result sampling may not represent the entire population in a place. Therefore, we would find out some solutions to fix them. We would not employ volunteers as our group members can be the volunteers in the research. Perhaps, cost of the employment will be relatively lower. In order to improve the accuracy, setting up more intercept places for interview can enhance the representative level of the results. Also, after conducting the survey, interviewees would politely to ask the respondents to leave their contact information if they are willing to do that. Hopefully, it may improve the disadvantages of the survey method. We would do the survey over 3 selected places within 3 day. On 28th April, we would conduct in the Family Planning Association at Wan Chai while conducting in the Women Association in Tuen Mun in the following day (29th April). Finally, we would reach the Family Planning Association at Wong Tai Sin in 30th April. These 3 locations will be assigned a team to play the role as interviewers. Each team will consist of 3 member do stay within the place in the operation hours. The selection of those 3 places is due to improving the accuracy of the sampling over territories. In addition, easy to reach who concern birth rate, prepare to have a child or even avoid having child as well.