Unit study guide

You will be able to enter this Exam only once. There is a 2-hour time limit for this type of Exam. Make sure to complete the exam by the end of Unit 6 on Tuesday evening. For each Item listed below, make sure you understand what the Item Is referring to, owe the textbook defines it and how it applies to business organizations.Planning ? Chapter 5 Strategic Planning & Decision Making Strategic Planning -Strategic Goals Tactical Planning – Specific Goals & Plans Operational Planning – Specific Procedures & Processes Mission ? Organization's Basic Purpose Strategic Vision – Future Perspective SOOT Analysis Organizing – Chapter 7 Organizing for Action Organizational Chart Differentiation & Integration Dillon of Labor & Specialization Vertical Structure Authority Span of Control Delegation – Responsibility, Accountability Centralization Horizontal Structure Line DepartmentsStaff Departments Differentiations Functional, Divisional, Matrix, Network Central ized vs.. Decentralized Organizations Leading ? Chapter 10 Leadership Vision Leading & Managing Supervisory Leadership & Strategic Leadership 5 Sources of Power: Legitimate, Reward, Coercive, Referent, Expert 3 Traditional Approaches to Leadership Approach – Task Performance Behaviors & Group Maintenance Behaviors, ELM Theory, Autocratic Leadership, Democratic Leadership, Laissez-fairer Situational Approach – Broom Model, Fielder's Contingency Model, Task-motivated Leadership, Relationship-motivated Leadership, Hershey & Blanchard Situational Theory ( JobMaturity, Psychological Maturity). Charismatic Leaders * Transformational Leaders * Transactional Leaders Controlling ? Chapter 14 Managerial Control Control – a process that directs the activities of individuals toward the achievement of organizational goals Bureaucratic Control Market Control Clan Control 4 Steps of Control Systems Setting Performance Standards Measuring Performance Comparing Performance Again st Standards & Determining Deviations Taking Action to Correct Problems & Reinforce Successes 6 Sigma Six Sigma is a quality management concept that has the goal of eliminating defects room a company's product or service.It involves adjusting various aspects of and around the product or service until it is consistently what the customers want and need. The term â€Å"sigma† refers to how far a product or service is from being â€Å"perfect†, free of defects (relative to customers' wants and needs). This state of â€Å"perfection† or being as free of defects as possible is believed to be achieved at Six Sigma. Internal Audits & External Audits For the Internal & External audit information, refer to your textbook definitions and make sure you understand the differences and specific purpose of each one.

Despite ongoing changes in society, sexism still remains a burning issue

â€Å"Discriminating in favour of members in one sex; assuming a person's abilities and social function are predetermined by his or her sex.† – Definition of sexism taken from the Oxford English Dictionary. Sexism today is everywhere. Our society is extremely sexist. â€Å"1, an organized community; a system of living in this. 2; people of the higher social classes. 3; company, companionship. 4; a group organized for a common purpose.†(also taken from the Oxford English Dictionary), the definition of society, meaning simply states the society as it would be as if it is ideal, but it is far from it if we looked at it from a gender researchers point of view. Times are changing; our society is not as stereotypical as it has been in the past. There have been many changes in society to reduce sexism. In 1918 women finally won the right to vote after fifty-two years of campaigning. In the end women had to resort to methods of violence just to fight for the same rights as men. â€Å"In Victorian times writers (mostly men) were fascinated by the idea of an ideal woman. She was a very desirable creature innocent but sensual, passive but alert, and always obedient to men. Her aim in life was to be a patient and attentive wife, a loving and affectionate mother. Family was everything to her.† (taken from Hodder English 4, Victorian Women.) This shows us just how narrow minded the society was back in Victorian times. Also women's achievements in history are not publicised as much as men's if atall; they are now, but not as much as they should do In the English language there are lots of sexist words, for example the word ‘history'. This word ‘history' implies that all of the past is to do with men and not women. ‘Human' is also a sexist word and so is ‘woman', both of those words contain ‘man'. Here is a list of some sexist words in the English language: ‘human', ‘history', ‘woman', ‘mankind', ‘Walkman'. As we can see the English language is very ‘man' dominated. When people talk of God, ‘He' is wrote about and not ‘She' or ‘It'. ‘He' is always referred to as a male. The Bible itself is sexist, â€Å"And God said, let us make MAN†¦Ã¢â‚¬ . With women appearing as â€Å"an helpmeet†. All the sexism in language which is used to offend the same sex is of an opposing sex nature. For example men call other men ‘girls' if they are not as capable as they are in something, for example sports. There is a video about sexism and at the beginning of it the words ‘girls don't swear' came up in big bold lettering, which is clearly not true, society thinks females cannot be as grotesque as men but obviously they can. It seems to be acceptable for men to swear but if a women does it, she is sinned upon. On television programs which have swearing contained in them, mostly all of it is scripted to the males, and the women do not have hardly any swearing scripted to them. It also seems that women are not treated with as much respect as men are. If a woman is blonde they are thought to be ‘dumb', whereas a blonde man would not even be thought to be ‘dumb'. In the past women were not even entitled to the right to a free education, this changed in the middle of the nineteenth century, but black women were not entitled to a free education until the middle of the twentieth century. This shows us that women did not have as much respect as men and that still carries on today, but not as severely. Women are thought to stay at home and cook while the husband is at work. This is changing now partly because there is a considerable amount of male chefs on television. Young girls are thought to be very delicate, and are described as food, whereas young boys are thought to be rough and dirty and are described as animals: Girls â€Å"Sugar and spice and all things nice, thats what little girls are made of!† Boys â€Å"Slugs and snails and puppy dog's tails, that's what little boys are made of!† Clearly whoever wrote these little sayings had a very narrow mind, and the time in society in which these were wrote was very narrow-minded. When women are described as food they are described as sweet foods such as; crumpets and honey. When women are described as animals they are described as animals which are thought as to be ugly and medalling: cow, minx, dog. Men are never described as food, but they are described as animals which are thought to be dirty and slimy: slugs, snails. Men are very rarely described as sexuality but women are quite commonly. Some of the words which describe women as sexuality are: ‘tramp', ‘dyke', ‘lesbian', ‘slag', ‘tit', ‘slut', ‘whore', ‘hooker'. There are no words that describe men as sexuality, but it offends men to be called a ‘woman'. This implies that women are thought to be considerably weaker than men. Even middle-aged men call each other ‘little girls' if they are not as strong as another, for example. You cannot call a man the same names as a woman can be called e.g. ‘slag' which is very sexist. Men brag, gender is about power. Many people think when baby boys play with cars and when baby girls play with dolls it is nature. It could be nature but most things which are input into babies are from their parents, so it is most likely to be nurture. Also with babies it is expected that boys where blue and girls wear pink, if a boy wears pink people automatically think it is a girl and visa versa, it just shows how predigest our society is. The same applies for older males and females. Girls can wear trousers but boys cannot wear skirts, that is extremely sexist. Children's books mainly aim themselves at the different genders simply by their titles. ‘Ms Muffet' is â€Å"supposed† to be for girls, and ‘Fireman Sam' is â€Å"supposed† to be for boys. The media is extremely sexist, first of all starting with newspapers. At the beginning of every issue of â€Å"The Sun†, there is a half naked woman. Never a man, always a woman. Also the whole newspaper is aimed at men, the newspaper concentrates on women, and male dominated sport. Women's sport is never publicised on television, radio or in the newspaper. This could be because, it does not have an interest in people's lives. Newspaper articles are sexist in many ways, and in mostly all the newspapers which are sold. An article in ‘The Daily Mail' publicised on Thursday, February, 24th, 2000, was about women making men redundant i.e. women working instead of staying at home doing housework. The article also comments on how men are taking women's roles', â€Å"Everywhere we look these days, we see the complete feminisation of men.† The ‘Daily Star' newspaper is also aimed at men. It has countless pictures of women (clothed and un-clothed), male dominated sports and adverts for men's magazines. In one particular issue, (Saturday, September, 28, 2002), there was an article supposed to be about a golfer, but was mostly about his girlfriend, â€Å"Tiger Woods' gorgeous girlfriend Ellin Nordegren.† Another article in ‘The Evening Echo' publicised Wednesday, February, 2nd, 2002, was about a woman who worked in a post office who had to battle just for the right to wear trousers, â€Å"they can wear trousers and will not now be facing a disciplinary hearing.† This quote shows just how sexist our society is, women having to battle just to wear trousers. On television there are mostly male newsreaders though sometimes on the odd occasion there might be a man and a woman reading it together. The news on television, again only reports on male dominated sports with a female presenter, which shows who the sports are aimed at. I think our society is extremely sexist, but it is getting better, we have moved on very far since the Victorian times. But some people live their lives in the past and are a lot more sexist than others.

An Analysis of the Dramatic Impact of the Restaurant Scene in Death of a Salesman Essay

Death of a Salesman was first performed in 1949 and was seen to be a powerful and moving piece of drama. I will now be going through the appeal and the impact of the play. First of all, the book of Death of a Salesman can be said to be a universal book, in the sense that it has broad range of themes and is a book for everybody. It has all sorts of aspects, and real life situations that one has to take in mind. Lets first look at the characters. Willy Loman is an insecure and self-deluding travelling salesman. Despite him desperately searching through his past, he is not the typical tragic hero that we have come to depict. He is rather a man who doesn’t achieve self-realization and self-knowledge. He fails to realize his personal failure, and an emotional and spiritual understanding of himself. Willy’s crucial problem is the failure to understand the anguished love that is offered to him. This is the real problem, and tragedy of the play. In the end, he is forced to making the most extreme sacrifice to allow Biff to follow the American Dream. In the end, we remember him by his quote that he made to Charley, â€Å"after all the highways, and the trains, and the appointments, and the years, you’re worth more dead than alive†. Biff Loman essentially wants to seek the truth about himself. While the father and brother alike, are in their self-delusional selves, and are unable to accept the miserable lives that they have, Biff accepts failure and confronts it. Essentially, Biff’s discovery of Willy’s affair drains him of all the faith he had in Willy. Willy sees Biff as an underachiever, and a person that could rise to the top, but Biff on the other hand sees himself trapped in his father’s unrealistic ambitions. Biff’s general identity crisis is a major aspect in the drama. In order to find it, he must expose his father’s delusions. Happy Loman is seen as Willy’s incarnation but with all his worst aspects. He is a difficult character to emphasize. He is a one-dimensional and emotionless character in the play. His empty vow at the end, which says he will â€Å"beat this racket†, is the full embodiment of the lie in which is the American Dream. He has blind ambitions, and is swallowed up by his lies that he is the assistant buyer, when in fact he is just an assistant to the assistant buyer, and is a no body. He is also depicted in this quote, â€Å" My own apartment, a car, and plenty of women, and still, goddamit, I’m lonely†. This idea represents that in fact, Happy has not got such a delightful life, as we have come to conclude, but in fact, he has an inner-emptiness. He feels as though he is a failure, and knows it, just like Willy, but never admits it. Linda Loman is one of the more reasonable characters in the play. She symbolises the need for patience and reason, as well as being the most realistic. She is practically the emotional core of the play. Well, the analysis of these characters should give an idea of what the play portrays. Here is the impact and the appeal, along with the major themes. The play is very much a mix of all sorts of different things, tragedy, social commentary and family drama. The American Dream is one of the most talked about issues in the entire play. Essentially, Willy depicts the American Dream very well. He believes wholeheartedly in what he considers its promise. He believes that a â€Å"well liked† and â€Å"personally attractive† man in business will indubitably possess all the material wealth and possessions that the world has to offer. However, his constant obsession with the vision of a superficial man with the qualities of being well liked and personally attractive is farfetched. Rather, a more understandable man would have depicted the American Dream as being identified as, hard working and positive approaching that leads to success. Eventually it is this very denial of how life works that destroys Willy. He approaches Bernard as a nerd because he studies hard and tries for success. Yet when he finds that Bernard reaches promise and success, and when he looks at his own life, he is left in a disparity, as he realises what a blind and fake kind of vision he lived for. It is actually this very idea that can be very appealing. It teaches a lesson about life, success and failure. How a man, fixed on a blind vision, realises that it is not superficial values that create a successful man, it is the desire to be the best, to want to learn, to strive for success, rather than wait for it. It is this very concept, in which we see a man crumble to a grinding halt. It is actually a truly remarkable aspect, as in it makes you think about life’s goals, and it is the educated people that prosper, not the fake. Another major issue in the play is betrayal. In the play, Willy constantly believes that Biff has betrayed him, in the sense that Biff hasn’t followed his ambitions and dreams that he had for him. Willy believes Biff has to follow his dreams and his path, and the moment Biff tries to reject this, he takes it personally, and says it’s spite. Overall, Willy fails as a salesman, to ultimately, sell the American Dream to his son. Then, Willy assumes that Biff has betrayed him because of his discovery of his affair with The Women. Whereas, Biff, who called Willy â€Å"a phoney little fake† believes Willy, with his unending ego-stroking lies, betrays him. What interests here, is the relationship between father and son. Here we have, a son dying for the truth and being realistic about what and who he is, confronting a father, surrounded by his own self-delusions about the American Dream, and to force it upon his son. This is a very interesting concept, which puts up the idea that Willy has really betrayed Biff, firstly because of his affair, which hurt Biff so much, as he loved his father and mother dearly, and also the fact that Biff is not given the chance to be realistic about himself and his family. I think it is the relations between father and son that are most interesting here. Another issue in the play, that the audience will notice, is abandonment. When Willy is a child, his father, leaving him and Ben alone, abandons him. Ben eventually leaves for Alaska, and Willy is left pondering over his warped vision of the American Dream. Thus, he tries desperately to prove it to his family, and Biff, who Willy loves dearly and has great ambitions for, drops Willy with his dreams when he finds out his betrayal to Linda. Finally, in the restaurant scene, which will be mentioned later, Willy finally believes his American Dream is coming to light, but all his illusions are shattered, and he is left babbling in the washroom. It seems that every abandonment causes great despair over Willy. It actually quite saddens the audience when they see this lonely figure of a man, living up to his fake dreams, to be shattered and let down by those dearest to him. What is interesting, is that how we come about seeing this. His abandonment by his sons can be seen to be his incapability of being realistic about life, and that is one of the main reasons why Biff is uneasy towards Willy. The fact that he is always in unrealistic dreams. So generally, it can be interpreted in different ways. One interesting point I would like to make is that Willy has this tendency to mythologize figures. In the play he has a very important quote, â€Å" And when I saw that, I realized that selling was the greatest career a man could want. Cause what could be more satisfying than to be able to go, at the age of eighty-four, into twenty or thirty different cities, and pick up the phone, and to be remembered and loved and helped by so many different people?† Willy speaks of Dave Singleman here, as a legend and the embodiment of the American Dream. Here is his mistake. His failure to understand his own life, leads to his demise. Willy fails to realise the loneliness, and hopelessness of Singleman’s job. It is that very failure to realise this, that sees both his sons abandon his fake Dream. It is also the fact that he mythologizes Biff and Happy. He is quoted as saying Biff is like Adonis and Happy like Hercules. This is because he believes Biff and Happy to be the absolute embodiment of the American Dream. He sees them as being perfect in every way required, but the reality is extremely different. Moreover, the fact that there includes many different types of symbols also makes you think. It can be said that the rubber hose is an important symbol in itself, as it constantly reminds us of Willy’s desperate attempts to commit suicide. Here, the rubber hose represents the attempts at killing himself with gas, which is, the supplier of his families basic needs. This very idea of inhaling gas is the concept that Willy thinks, is a crucial battle to afford such simple necessities. Diamonds are what I find, extremely puzzling. These diamonds represent two things to Willy. They are, the validation of ones labour, and the ability to pass actual material goods to children. They are both what Willy is craving for. On the other hand however, they are a representation of the discovery of Ben in Alaska, and Willy’s desperate failure as a Salesman. The mistake of Willy, essentially what he feels as well, is that he didn’t go with Ben to Alaska and peruse the American Dream for which he craved so much. Instead, he stayed for what the Dream promised, financial security. So, at the end Ben encourages Willy to enter the Jungle and obtain the diamond, thus, to kill himself for the insurance money to make his life meaningful in at least one sense. So, these ideas were the key concepts of the play. This is exactly what makes it a fantastically interesting and complicated piece of drama. The fact, that so many lessons are learned, so many ideas are played, so many themes and genres are come across. These are what make Death of a Salesman, a truly magnificent piece of writing. It is the fact that it takes the audience into a whole bundle of new ideas and aspects to consider that makes it remarkable. The fact also, that it is set in the 1980’s makes it even more interesting. It depicts the typical nature of the American Dream. Arthur Miller (the author) tries to get the idea across that the American Dream is nothing but an illusion; it is hard working that really matters. Maybe some time ago it was the case, but not now. This idea is clearly implied throughout the book. For example there is Biff’s struggle to get the concept of realism across to his father, there is Happy’s lies and failure, also Bernard’s excellent success, and also Charley’s success even when he was not well liked, and finally, Willy’s failure in life. It is all these ideas that make the play truly astonishing. Now, after describing the play as a whole, I will move on to the restaurant scene, one of the most important scenes in the entire play. It is the climax of the whole Drama. I will first describe the scene then explain and comment on it with quotes. It starts of with the scene in Frank’s Chop House. After Happy meets a particular girl, Miss Forsythe, Biff explains to Happy that he waited six hours to see Bill Oliver, and Oliver didn’t even remember him. He quotes after that, â€Å" I even believed myself that I’d been a salesman for him! And then he gave me one look and- I realized what a ridiculous lie my whole life has been. We’ve been talking in a dream for fifteen years, I was a shipping clerk.† Biff asks where he ever got the idea that he was a salesman for Oliver, he was only a shipping clerk. However, it was Willy’s lies and exaggerations that led him to believe he was a salesman when he actually wasn’t. Then Biff accounts how he stole Bill Oliver’s fountain pen and was disgusted with himself. Happy tells Biff to go tell Willy lies, and say he is thinking about the preposition and then Willy will eventually forget the whole matter. When Willy arrives, he reveals the shocking news, â€Å"I’m not interested in stories about the past or any crap of that kind because the woods are burning, boys, you understand? There’s a big blaze going on all around. I was fired today†. After that he states he needs some good news to go back to Linda with, because he is essentially in disparity, and his life is wrecked. Then everything goes off. Willy says to Biff that he can’t blame him because he is the one who failed math. Young Bernard appears in Willy’s flashback, telling the news to Linda, that Birnbaum flunked Biff. Biff gets completely confused at his father’s crazy statements, and tries to calm him down and explain the truth to him, but it reaches a stage where Willy refuses to listen to Biff’s story. In an absolute frenzy, Willy goes into a state of delirium and has a semi-daydream about the discovery of The Woman in the Boston hotel. Biff backs down, and then desperately starts to lie in an attempt to save his father, â€Å"Oliver talked to his partner about the Florida idea. You listening? He-he talked to his partner, and came to me†¦ I’m going to be all right, you hear? Dad, listen to me, he said it was a question of amount!† Then, when Biff can’t lie anymore, because he is afraid that Willy will get hurt, Willy is insulted by Biff, thinking it is spite and lashes out at his son, he quotes â€Å"You rotten little louse, are you spiting me?† whereas Biff would never do that, because he loves his father and only wants to help him. Then Willy goes off into the washroom and talks to himself. Biff returns to Happy in the Chop House, and accuses Happy of not caring about his father. Essentially Biff reveals the real character that Happy is. Biff tells him in a crucial quote, â€Å" I sense it, you don’t give a goddam about him.† Happy says he should go out with the ladies. Biff leaves in guilt and anguish. Happy claims to the ladies that Willy is not his father, â€Å"he’s just a guy† and then he frantically asks for the bill, Stanley doesn’t respond, so they all leave, and Willy is left babbling in the washroom alone. So, before I get on to the scene with The Woman, I want to explain this. First of all, as Willy has encountered Howard, Bernard and Charley, and has seen their success, his dreams are seriously dented. His illusions and constructed reality is falling apart. Biff wants to essentially leave behind all the lies and fake illusions and start a new beginning, one with his father relating to honesty. Willy, however, wants his sons to aid him in constructing a false truth. One that includes reliving the American Dream for him. Willy takes Biff so far, as to produce a false report of the interview with Bill Oliver and Happy is very willing to accept. When Biff starts to produce a negative report, Happy jumps in with positive remarks to keep the talk going, he quotes, â€Å"Sure pop, sure, he told him my Florida idea†. He comes up with false information about the interview, and here, it is absolutely clear that he has only his own interests in mind, however the damning evidence comes la ter. After a moment of weakness and defeat, Willy’s ultimate fear is lived in the restaurant. He is in an emotional breakdown, and needs Biff and Happy to give him confidence, as he knows he is not liked anymore, and he knows it better than anybody. Eventually we see the state of abandonment as before, when Biff and Happy reject him. Willy’s dream is coming apart, and Happy and Biff have dented it more than any other. For Biff, the experience of finding out the truth about himself and the fact that he is not a salesman for Bill Oliver, makes him even more determined to crack the lies that surround him, at any cost. Willy refuses to hear out Biff because he wants to stay in delusions. He doesn’t want the truth, because he realises how bitter it is, and he knows it. Essentially it can be said that he can’t handle the truth. On top of that Biff doesn’t want to hear Willy’s lies because he is tired of them, he doesn’t want them repeated and repeated. He wants his Dad to realise him. Biff believes, that he must conquer the heavy lies put on him, and realise the truth about his personal degradation. Both Willy and Biff know the differences between the death of a salesman in Singleman and Willy’s own pathetic vision of death. The basis here is that Biff understands that behind the American Dream lies a lonely, and terrible death, one that Singleman himself had. Happy and Linda want Willy to die as he is, in delusions and false truth, but Biff is determined to reach the real truth. Now, this is essentially what is going on in this scene. Biff tries desperately to uncover the lies about himself and Willy, but Willy won’t let him explain. It’s as almost if Willy doesn’t want to hear. Another point to add is that before Biff tries to explain things, we find out he is slightly on alcohol and nervous, and it is essentially because he wants to say he is worthless, a no body, and a bum, something that his father will not accept. Biff tries to explain but Willy won’t let him. This implies Willy is saying, I want to stay in illusions, I’m empty, I don’t want to know the truth. Biff then quotes, ‘His answer was- Dad you’re not letting me tell you what I want you to hear!’ This is very interesting, because Biff is about to tell a half lie, but that’s not what he wants to do, because he wants to get straight. He wants to come out with the truth, and he also loves his father, and doesn’t want to hurt him. With the key line of ‘he’s just a guy’ Happy shows himself as a distorted, thinner image of Willy. However, Willy has a good side to him, his love for his family, and his sense of humour are his good sides. Overall, this scene where we see Biff and Happy, can be said to be the emotional climax of the whole play, as many different ideas and concepts are revealed. Now, I will be describing the scene where Willy is left alone in the rest room, and is in a flashback. When his sons have departed from the Chop House, Willy is left alone in his daydreams and flashbacks about Biff’s visit to Boston. In his daydream he is in a hotel room in Boston with his mistress. After telephoning repeatedly, Biff is knocking on the door. The Woman pesters Willy to go answer. We learn something new about her, as she quotes, â€Å" You know you ruined me, Willy? From now on, whenever you come to the office, I’ll see that you go right through to the buyers. No waiting at my desk any more, Willy. You ruined me.† She doesn’t ‘t actually mean Willy ruined her, but it is just a sort of joke. However, this means, that Willy met her in a buyer’s office and she was presumably, the secretary. Willy is clearly nervous about the surprise visitor, and he orders her to stay in the washroom because it might be a clerk investigating their affair. Willy answers the door and Biff is there. He tells Willy he flunked maths and asks Willy to persuade the teacher, Mr. Birnbaum, to pass him. Then Willy quotes, â€Å"Come on, let’s go downstairs and get you a malted.† Willy is clearly trying to get Biff out of the room quickly. When Biff imitates the maths teacher, The Woman laughs in the bathroom. Willy insists that it is nothing. The Woman suddenly enters the room. Willy quickly pushes her out into the hall way and says that she is a buyer staying in a room next door who needed to shower in Willy’s room, because her room was being painted. Biff then, astonished, sits on his suitcase, crying silently, and not buying his father’s lies at all. Willy says he will go talk to the math teacher, but in tears, Biff says he should forget it. The most harmful blow was when he quoted, â€Å" You-you gave her Mamas stockings!† Then he quotes, â€Å" You fake! You phoney little fake! You fake!† Biff leaves in tears, and Willy is left on the floor quoting, â€Å" I gave you an order! Biff, come back here or I’ll beat you! Come back here! I’ll whip you!† Stanley pulls Willy out of his daydream. Willy is still on his knees yelling and ordering Biff. Stanley pulls him back up, and Willy attempts to tip him, but Stanley sneakily puts it back into Willy’s pocket. Willy asks him frantically where a seed store is, he must plant something, he quotes, and â€Å"Nothing’s planted I don’t have a thing in the ground† So, what did this all mean? Well, Biff discovers the affair of Willy and calls him â€Å"phoney little fake†, so, this means that he suddenly, at that moment, realises what’s beneath Willy’s facade and despises the man behind it. This is what saddens Willy the most, to be exposed in that way. From then on, Willy decides that the reason for Biff rejecting his illusions and the reason for his failure in life is because of what he found out. Of course, in logic, Biff hated Willy for his affair, and therefore hated his ambitions and dreams as well. In this way, Willy mixes up professional with personal. Willy, in his understanding of the American Dream, believes that it has no need for professional success; rather, he thinks that one can derive happiness without these things. Essentially, he thinks success derives from immaterial and ephemeral concepts, of being â€Å"well liked† and having â€Å"personal attractiveness†. Willy believes, that because Biff doesn’t respect him anymore, as a father or person, he automatically rejects the American Dream. However, Willy is correct. This knowledge of the crime that Willy has committed tarnishes any emotional aspects, so therefore Biff rejects the whole idea of the fake American Dream, that Willy is so desperate to sell. Another aspect is the symbol of Linda’s stockings. Earlier in the play, Willy was preoccupied with the state of Linda’s stockings and her mending them. Until the restaurant scene, which is the most climatic scene where Biff tries to uncover all the lies surrounding the Loman household, the only subconscious trace of Willy’s adultery is the complete and utter persistence to throw away Linda’s stockings. These stockings are the ultimate symbol of betrayal and guilt, which overpowers Willy. When Biff then rejects his ambitions for him and the American Dream, his Dream also starts to crack. Willy’s delirious interest in the seed shop and the end reveals a lot about him. At that moment Willy is a failure. He is poor, unemployed and has nothing to give to his sons. He tries to give Stanley a dollar to portray to him at least that he does own something. However, it was a pretty pathetic and feeble attempt. Stanley though doesn’t accept it, because at that time he feels dear to Willy since both sons have left him. In addition, the failure to raise Biff the way he wanted means he has to plant some vegetables at least, to prove his labour and to raise something successfully. The quote at the end, â€Å"Nothing’s planted. I don’t have a thing in the ground†, is implying how Biff was able to break free of his American Dream, and the traditions of his family. Finally, the metaphor represents Willy’s natural preferences to do manual labour, and that being a salesman, was definitely the wrong choice to go with. So, I have come to an end and the only conclusion that I can make of the play, is that it is a fantastically good idea. The themes have an extraordinary range. These include betrayal, the American Dream, material success, commerce, truth vs. lies/fantasy, family, instinct, work, death and ‘dying well’. I’ll end with a quote made by Biff, which summed up Willy very well, â€Å"He had the wrong dreams. All, all wrong.† Background Information: The whole play addresses many painful conflicts regarding the American national values. It offers a post war personal tragedy reading. I think mostly; Miller is concerned with America revolving around the false myth that is based on capitalism and materialism constructed by the post war economy. A type of view, which was held highly by the founders of America. The challenge of the American Dream was very radical at the time of World War II. Radical as it was, many of the artists and philosophers took up the idea of realistic views and personal meaning. At that time this was unusual, and the government didn’t like the idea, they had confusion already in the country. However, many people, even then, had so many conflicts, which included racial and economical, that they couldn’t take up the idea of a social reformation. Many people still kept their ideological interests in hand. However in this day and age, it is obvious that the ideas of people like Arthur Miller have been put into practise, and now, the emphasis is of the American Dream is that it only works if you want to succeed and get to the top by working hard and being positive that you will do well. So, as a final comment, I think that Arthur Miller’s ideas and concepts managed to change the way people think about how society and families work, and what are the values to keep in mind.

Discuss the motives underlining M&A and compare the outcomes of the Essay

Discuss the motives underlining M&A and compare the outcomes of the different methodologies used to analyse M&A - Essay Example There are two types of acquisitions; â€Å"private and â€Å"public†. This depends on whether the company acquiring is or is not listed on a public stock market. The difference between Merger and Acquisition is that Merger deals with two companies joining to become one while Acquisition has one company, which is doing the buying (Sherman and Hart, 20016:11). The work that follows discusses the motives underlying M&A, and compares the outcomes of the different methodologies used to analyze M&A. All companies that engage in any business are under one rule: grow or die. Those companies that plan to grow take away market share from their competitors look for the creation of economic profits and provide returns to shareholders (Sherman and Hart, 2006: 1). Those that lack plans on growth are stagnant, do not plan any growth strategies, they end up losing customers and market share and lose shareholder value. Mergers and Acquisitions contribute a lot to these two conditions. It help s the stronger company to grow faster than the competition and ensures quick swallowing of the weaker companies or them making irrelevant through exclusion (Sherman and Hart, 2006:1). Motives underlying M&A Different business enterprises and companies have used Mergers and Acquisitions as a means of growth strategies. ... The three differ according to the ideas behind them (Schmidt, 2010: 67) Economic motives Different authors have devised different theories to explain economic motives that encourage people to engage in Merges and Acquisitions; Efficiency theory This theory presents the motive of benefiting shareholders and managers of the acquiring company (Farschtschian, 2012:18). According to this theory, companies plan and execute Mergers and Acquisitions to achieve financial, operational and managerial synergies (Faulkner, Teerikangas and Joseph, 2012). The shareholders with this motive aim to benefit from net gains through synergy. Monopoly theory Under this theory, companies engage in Mergers and Acquisition with the motive of achieving market power. Mergers and Acquisitions under this motive may allow companies to cross-subsidize products, at the same time limit competitions in more than one market, and discourage potential entrants from the market. All of this result to monopoly power for the company. The shareholders under this motive aim at the wealth transfers from customers. Managerial Motives Theories that explain managerial motives include; Empire/Agency building theory This theory shows the motive aimed at benefiting managers. In this motive, managers plan for Mergers and Acquisitions aiming at maximizing their own utility instead of shareholders’ value (Karenfort, 2011: 9). The managers, according to this theory, plan to engage the company in mergers and Acquisition aiming at benefiting or creating their own reputation. Another motive is the need to transform to a corporate identity or recognition. This is where companies merge to gain popularity (Sherman and Hart, 2006:13). Financial motives The following theories explain the

Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 30

Case Study Example The simple mistakes by the company were the major causes of data breaches. The pretexting attempt of the data breach impacted the business conducted by ChoicePoint negatively as the company was forced to disclose what had transpired and inform residents about their personal, informal being compromised. The federal level charged the company with many negligence counts for failing to make use of realistic information security customs. At the same time, the Federal Trade Commission also charged the firm with violation of giving credit reports to subscribers without permissible reasons to obtain them. The company saw a decline of income and increase of expenses after the incident. At the same time, there were fines imposed on the firm by FTC fines (Otto, Anton & Baumer, 2007). ChoicePoint’s paid a $10 million fine and $5 million to compensate their customers for the losses that stemmed from the information breach. Legal expenses amounting to $800,000 were incurred during the first quarter of the year 2006 related to the falsified data access. The compan y decided to restrict information product sale, which contained sensitive customer data. The first governance step that ChoicePoint made was employing of a chief privacy officer who reported directly to the board to govern privacy and public accountability. The briefings are done quarterly to ensure improvement of privacy and security with another detailed oversight roles. ChoicePoint has also come up with many divisions to tackle privacy and security from various angles like corporate credentialing centre. It is a conformity and privacy division, which also undertakes internal auditing (Conger, 2009). The second step is the distinct definition of the expected behaviour and offer tools to employees to make compliance simple. ChoicePoint implemented various practices to scrutinize potentially fake customer behaviour such as investigating firms, which abruptly increase their background

Models of Decision Making Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Models of Decision Making - Essay Example Although, the offshore firm was willing to do revisions, there were issues of quality control, language barrier, distance and timing to contend with. Maybe it was partly because it was the first time we use outsourcing service, but the foray was certainly disastrous. In line with the normative model, I have tried the outsourcing initiative with the idea that I am doing whatever yields the best consequences for the company in the future. I have asked myself several times, if by outsourcing I am displaying some form of personal bias and have found that maybe I am, in an effort to cut cost for the current year. I was working now on descriptive model grounds. It never occurred to me to dig deeper on this area in the course of my judgment. If after identifying this bias, I could have tried to correct it by analyzing further what others would have done and by doing some research in order to be objective with my decision. This would have been the prescriptive decision making model and I have missed to comprehensively use it. When I decided to outsource service, it was a decision in the area of the normative model as I am concerned with cost-cutting and the profit for my company. However, when I arrived at the decision of choosing an Indian firm to outsource our database revision, I was working within the descriptive decision making model. Prescriptive model would have required me to explore the judgment, beliefs and preferences of decision makers in relation to issues before them (Rios 1994, p. 25) and would lead me to choose a better outsourcing destination or simply hire an additional staff to work on the database in-house. According to Grunig and Kuhn (2005 p. 8), a decision can be approached: 1) purely intuitively, 2) through routine recourse to procedures used in the past, 3) by adopting unquestioningly the suggestions of experts, 4) by choosing at random or 5) by systematic rational thought supported

Economics for managers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Economics for managers - Essay Example 246). This is the reason why the national governments of most of the nations attempt to enhance the GDP level of their respective economies. Some of the reasons why GDP of any nation could not be used to evaluate the standard of living prevailing in a nation and hence, its well-being, have been depicted underneath. Firstly, GDP takes no account of the distribution of wealth or income among the residents of a given nation and thus, does not portray a true account of the standard of living among various strata of the society. One appropriate example of a lack of discreteness of GDP, in measuring the well being of any nation could be derived from the terrorist attacks in USA in 2001. The attacks left the nation distraught and its citizens at a worse-off state. Many people lost their lives and among those who lived, many lost their jobs. Yet, the GDP of the nation was hiked primarily due to the fact that the statistic included the sums injected in the economy in the form of aids and fund reliefs (Baumol & Blinder, 2009, p. 474). Furthermore, the instance with that of the developing nations or rather the ones passing through the transition phase often record very high GDP values which does not go with the actual living standards prevailing in these nations. China and India are regarded to be the fastest developing nations in the world. These nations record one of the fastest economic growth rates even though the degree of well being in both of them are quite low with only a handful of the population base experiencing a betterment in their living standards. The primary reason behind this is the huge population bases in both the nations, which respectively are regarded as the ones endowed with the largest and second-largest populations in the world. A lion’s share of the population bases in both these nations live in utter poverty with dwindling resources. Though both these nations are associated with an economic growth rate of about 8 percent and more, the Gin i coefficient in these nations are evident of the deteriorating living standards. While it is 33 for India that for China as measured in the year 2006 was, 44.7 (Gehring & Kulkarni, 2006, p. 12). Hence, though China is slightly better off than India, none could be regarded in a highly good social condition. But income inequality and prevalence of poverty in a nation are not the only factors which indicate towards a nation’s standard of living. There are certain other aspects such as environmental concerns which are equally essential in evaluating the same. Secondly, GDP does not deduct the used up values from its account which is why it gives a wrong impression about the true economic picture in a nation. It includes the values depreciated through usage of capital, natural resources depleted on account of deforestation or excessive deployment, reduction in mineral and fuel resource endowments, as well as loss of fertilisation of land. Thirdly, the extent of environmental poll ution and degradation in a nation often hampers a variety of production processes in an economy which is why it is often counted as a drawback

Colonization of Asia and Africa from the 19th Century into the 20th Essay

Colonization of Asia and Africa from the 19th Century into the 20th - Essay Example Colonialism was thus a very important element during the late centuries and in which different nations had been colonized. Having been colonized, there were great chances of having a change of nationalism, and hence it was upon the people of such countries to manage to over the colonialists through their nationalism. In this paper, we will examine how and Western European nations began colonizing Asia and Africa from the 19th century into the 20th. This is achieved through responding to various questions on the subject. There are several steps that Europeans took in order to keep colonized people under control in Africa. History has been able to give a number of developments which have been able to give the steps that Europeans used to keep colonized people under control. From a literal perspective, it is clear that colonialism in the past years was known to take a varied number of forms. These forms included the political aspect, the legal approaches, the cultural structures, the ec onomics, and even the social structures (Pouwels & Adler, 2007).This saw a number of people being influenced by their colonizers. This resulted in a number of issues and differences which saw a great change. The Europeans employed different strategies and policies to maintain colonized people under their control. For instance, the policy of assimilation guaranteed that the colonies were obedient to their masters, thus being able to put them under control. Moreover, the divide and rule strategy ensured that all colonized people remained with no unity, and therefore promoting easy control by the Europeans. Following the Treaty of Versailles, England and France made various claims about colonized people and had a certain plan for eventually giving colonized people their independence. With reference research, the Treaty of Versailles was coiled to create peace between the five countries; that is, the U.S, Germany, France, Australia, and Britain after WWI (Pouwels & Adler, 2007). Buildin g on research, it is clear that France and England made various claims about colonized people. Such claims were that the colonized people deserved acquiring their freedom and restoring their lost glory and resources. Based on the fact that France and England did not focus on obtaining resources from the colonized nations, they decided that giving the colonized people their independence was the most beneficial thing that would define their development. Despite the above point of view, France and England had ideological differences with other colonizers. Such ideological differences defined their stand to fight for freedom for all people regardless of their color, race, and ethnicity. Undeniably, there was an effort that the European made between WWI and WWI to start moving colonies toward eventual independence. The continued oppression and slowly engraving of understanding that their resources and freedom were being compromised saw the great need of coming with movements through whic h they would safeguard their sovereignty and be able to achieve a great deal of freedom which had been greatly suppressed by the colonialist powers (Pouwels & Adler, 2007). In most of the countries that were being colonized, it has been shown that there was a great connection when it came to colonial attributes and the need of fending for the people’s nationalism. In order to be able to restore their once glory and become free once again, majority of the colonists decided to employ diverse means of engagement which would play a big role towards maintaining their freedom and nationalism. However, it is worth noting that all the above was founded on the efforts of the Europeans. The Arabs

Nursing theory Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Nursing theory - Research Paper Example Nursing research and practice involve providing proper clinical care and also care that is concerned with coordination (Roe & Webb, 1998). It is defined as the study of a problem in the field of nursing. It is essential in terms of development in the sector, and also creates the basis for nursing practice. When it comes to nursing research and practice, those involved in providing the proper medical care have a role of ensuring that the participant of the research is catered for in terms of safety and maintenance (American Nurses Association, 2010).  They also make sure that there is proper consent involved and that the data collected is correct since it will be utilized as a reference at one time or another. They also ensure that data collection, recording and storage is done well, and the process followed up. There are certain factors that are involved and relate to nursing research and practice. They include; client, environment, health and nursing. The client or the person who is involved needs to give consent before the research begins, when it comes to nursing research and practice. Proper consent from an individual is required since it gets the researchers one step closer to figuring out the main cause of the problem in the medical field and also to figuring out the best way to deal with the current problem. It is also essential that consent be given before the collection of data is done. In order for the research to bear fruit, then there is a need to be cooperation, both from the researcher and the individual being researched. A willing client gives much better results than an unwilling one. Another factor that relates to nursing research and practice is the environment (Roe & Webb, 1998). The proper environment should be present for a better chance of collecting the required results. Suppose the problem is within a certain area, then the best approach is to

Hardware and software report Essay Example for Free

Hardware and software report Essay In this report, I will be discussing what hardware, software, operating system, and how this would be benefiting the company. I will also state how I used the hardware and software, which helped the company. Once that I done, I will describe the advantages and disadvantages of the hardware and software that I used, and compare them to the hardware and software that I could have used. Definitions of hardware, software and operating system: Computer hardware typically consists chiefly of electronic devices (CPU, memory, display) with some electromechanical parts (keyboard, printer, disk drives, tape drives, loudspeakers, floppy discs) for input, output, and storage, though completely non-electronic. A package/application is a complete, self-contained program that performs a specific function directly for the user. This is in contrast to system software such as the operating system kernel, server processes and libraries, which exists to support application programs. The operating system is Software designed to control the hardware of a specific data-processing system in order to allow users and application programs to make use of it. The hardware that I used was:   Tulip monitor: low emission   Tulip CPU: E85-00970   Tulip mouse: M-S48a   HP LaserJet 2200d   HP LaserJet 4200n   Floppy disc   Internet modem The software that I used was:   Microsoft Excel Microsoft Word   Microsoft Paint   Windows Xp Microsoft Word Pad   Internet explorer   Windows Me The advantages of the hardware that I used were:   My work was saved on a CPU, and so my work wouldnt get lost. My work was save on a floppy disc as backup.   The laser HP LaserJet 2200d and HP LaserJet 4200n was very fast in printing my work. The advantages of the software that I used were: Microsoft excel is the easiest package to use a spreadsheet.   Microsoft word is easier to use, then any other writing package. Microsoft paint is the easiest image package to use. The disadvantages of the hardware that I used were:   The computer monitor might freeze, causing me to not do my work.   The printer might not work, so I will not be able to print my work.   The printer might only have black ink, not coloured ink. The floppy disc might be full so that I cannot store any more work on the disc. The disadvantages of the software that I used were:   The Microsoft package might be out of use due to a failure in the computer.   Windows might not have the new updates on the computer, as there might be an old package on the computer, rather then the new one, I. e. Windows 95 instead of Windows Xp. There might not be Internet explorer on the computer to help you with you research. The other hardware that I could have used was: Scanner Zip disc   Different Internet modem, I. e. Blue yonder one-megabit modem. The other software that I could have used was: Microsoft spreadsheet.   Microsoft word processor Microsoft publisher   Microsoft PowerPoint (if I was doing a presentation) When you compare ICT with non-ICT you can see that ICT is so much easier than hand writing something. One reason is that your handwriting might be very bad and as a result, people will not be able read your handwriting. Secondly, when you write pages and pages of information concerning the company, then your hand tends to become tired. With the use of ICT, you wont get tired as you will just be typing, and will eventually feel tired, but not as quickly as you would have done. Another point, which makes ICT much better than any Non ICT, is that if you make a mistake while you are working with non-ICT, you will not be able to make a change very easily, but with ICT you com press the delete or key to get rid of the mistake. Other uses of ICT within Future Fashions are that you can use a mainframe or a midrange, which are unique operating systems. What this would allow you to do is to do better work, as there is better equipment and better facilities to use in a mainframe and in a midrange. Future fashions were not that efficient as they had a lot of problems in the company. One of which was that they didnt even have a logo or a slogan. That just showed how efficient they were, as they didnt even have a log and slogan, and they are meant to be a clothes company. Other problems that they had were; they had no spreadsheet to show how all the employees records were like, no graph to see how much they ware getting paid and no wage slip to show how much the employees would get paid. So in the end, what I did to solve these problems were to actually make the logo, slogan, spreadsheet, graph and wage slip. I think that all the solutions that I can up with very well in the end. The logo was colourful and eye catching, and the slogan was very catchy. The spreadsheet was very easy for the owners of Future Fashions to read from and the graph was also easy for the owners of Future Fashions to see how much each employee gets paid, and could compare the money that the employees get by the other employees. Lastly, the wage slip was successful as the owners of Future Fashions could see how much the employee was getting paid, how much tax there was, how much National Insurance there was, etc. Eventfully, as a result of my work, the problems of future fashions disappeared. The company will now become very successful, in my opinion, as most of the problems have been solved, and Future Fashions can now really take off. A summery of what I have said in the 3-4 pages is just that the hardware and software that I used was very successful for the owners of Future Fashions as it helped the owners of Future Fashions when they needed it most, and as a result, this will benefit the owners on Future Fashions in the long run. The problems that I came across whilst doing this project to help Future Fashions were:   Sometimes the printer wouldnt print in colour because it was a black ink printer. The computer froze a few times, so I had to do it again.   When the computers were getting rebooted after the power cut, all of my work got deleted. Overall, I have found out that the solutions that I came up with really helped the company named Future Fashions. I also found out that all the solutions that I came up with improved the image of Future Fashions, making it a very successful company.

Historical Background Of Foster Care In Ireland Social Work Essay

Historical Background Of Foster Care In Ireland Social Work Essay In order to fully appreciate the present situation of foster care in Ireland, an insight into the past history of foster care will be told. There has been a long tradition of fostering in Ireland. Foster care was present in the past, it was known as fosterage. It can be seen during the Brehon laws. Children from families of all classes were put into care of other families. This form of care was to lighten somewhat of the pressure for space in the home. This may have been as families were quiet large in the past and also financial difficulties. It also included children who were abandoned and needed the support and protection (Robins). The Brehon laws acted as the legal laws in Ireland and created two types of fosterage on where no remuneration was given and the other where a few is given (Shannon, 2005). Foster parents in both cases were to maintain their foster child to there rank. It was under a legal contract to keep and for the child until the period of was fosterage was not being cared for sufficiently, the chid was to be returned to there family home (O Higgins, 1996). Foundations of the present law around foster care were developed with the introduction of the Poor Law Amendment Act 1862. This provided children being boarding out to families who were not in work houses (O Higgins, 1996). The Infant Life Protection Act of 1897 presents where our recent system has originated from. This involved the appointment of females to inspect the conditions in which the children lived in, it also gave power that if not up to standards the child could be removed and placed in with families. Under the Health Act of 1953, health boards were empowered which provided for a major shift towards foster care. The arrangements that were introduced in boarding of childrens regulations in 1954, included provisions around the issue of being boarded out, placement in an approved school or if over 14 placed in employment (Task Force, 1980). Providing to be an important piece of legislation was the childrens act of 1908. It stated that a child who was neglected or abuse could be placed in the care of a fit person (O Higgins, 1996) Foster Care Foster care as previously discussed was a main expression towards the need for recognition of the rights of the child. Development in this area for acceptance that the child has needs of their own has led to the system of foster care that provides personalised family care that the workhouses and institutions could not provide. (Kelly and Gilligan, 2000, pg 7-8) Offers care in family setting Offers care in communication Offers opportunity to make attachment relationship to committed foster parents It can permit children to be attached and identify with family of origin It can include the childs family in care of child It can provide care and support into adulthood It can channel extra support from the agency for the child and carers (Kelly and Gilligan, 2000, pg 8) Modern child protection procedures are not sufficient as to make up a childs placement plan alone. It is more complex, as child care professionals now see the importance of individualisation and providing not only the physical care but the attachment and emotional needs ought to be provided for also (Kelly Gilligan, 2000). Children need to be placed in an environment where there needs are met, wishes can be supported and they can make individual choices for the future (Coakley, Cuddleback, Cox, 2007) Foster care is not a simple method of caring for a child; most children have experienced some form of trauma, may have been hurt or may have health or behaviour problems (Task Force, 1980). This calls for foster carers to be understanding and accept their emotions through being sensitive and caring. This can be a basis for the start of developing a relationship with the child (Fahlberg, 2004). The emergence of relative care in Ireland has proved beneficial to families. Keeping in with familys tradition and connection helps the development of childs identity, the surfacing of partnership as a key principle in child care (Broad, 2001). Legislation in Foster Care Firstly the researcher will examine the legislation in relation to relative foster care in Ireland. Child Care A ct 1991 There is a clear promotion for the welfare of children in the Child Care Act 1991. The health board has a statutory duty to identify children who are not receiving adequate care and protection (RWGFC). The welfare of the child is paramount and where appropriate the board is to give consideration to the wishes of the child based on their age and maturity (RWGFC). If social services are to meet the needs of children going into foster care then they must, among other things, listen to the child and include the children where possible in the decision making process (Kelly Gilligan, 2000). A plan is made which outlines aims and objectives for the placement and detailed guidelines for support to be given to the child, foster parents and natural parents (Shannon, 2005). UN Convention on the Rights of the Child The UN Convention was ratified in Ireland in 1992. It includes articles providing rights that relate to the childs life. It involves protection of the child from any form of discrimination and states the best interest of the child shall be held where possible when action is being considered which involves the child. It recognises the childs right to be protected and provided for. Foster care is mentioned in Article 20, stating that it is a substitute care provider when the parent or guardian fails to do so. This shows that foster care is a recognised as a suitable and appropriate form of care. Children Act 2001 The health board as stated in Section 23P requires at least 30 days notice for a private foster care placement to be arranged ad for an emergency foster care arrangement the health board requires notice within 14 days according to Section 23P2 (Shannon, 2005). At the time of notification, the health board has to be provided with the sufficient information around the foster placement (Shannon, 2005). It is said that the welfare of the child should be a primary concern to the foster parent. Section 23U allows for three interventions which the health board are obliged to use if the following occur. If it comes to the health boards attention that a private foster care arrangement has been arranged without notification to them or that the carers are not providing for the safety and welfare of the child then the interventions which can be implemented include a supervision order, an order to take the child and put into care or an instruction to terminate the order (Shannon, 2005). National Standards of Foster Care The national standards for foster care were devised following concerns around the quality of foster care services. These concerns were highlighted by the Report of the Working Group on Foster care, Foster Care: A child Centred Partnership (NSFC). The standards were developed by a committee who gathered information from experiences from individuals and organisations who work in the area of foster care and from a representative group of young people currently in foster care (NSFC). The National Standards for Foster Care 2003 provide guidelines on the provisions of quality foster care within the existing legislative framework (Shannon, 2005) There are 25 standards in all; the first 13 standards take into consideration the standard of care of the child including quality of response to factors around the childs needs and services required, whilst sticking to the relevant legislation (NSFC). The 2nd section involving the standards 14 to 17 are in relation to the assessment process of possible suitable foster carers and the training and support they require to provide for successful foster placements (NSFC). The final 8 standards are aimed at the duties and responsibilities of the health board. These standards provide guidelines which aim to promote the quality of services provided by the foster care professionals and Health Board (NSFC). The Child Care (Placement of Children with Relatives) Regulations The Regulations where put in place in 1995 as section 39 of the Child Care Act 1991 requiring the Minister for Health and Children to make regulations in relation to foster care. These regulations are directed at children who have been placed with a relative. The health board must pay attention to the rights and duties of the parents but the board must consider and consult with the child on his or her preferences (Shannon, 2005). Certain procedures must be implemented and fulfilled prior to the placement of a child in a foster care setting (Shannon, 2005). In relation to the welfare of the child needing to be considered, being placed in a family members home can cause conflict between relative carers and the birth family, so if this conflict cannot be settled then other placement should be considered (Shannon, 2005). Once the relative carers have lawful custody of the child, Article 16 of the regulations directs that the relatives take all reasonable steps to ensure the promotion of the childs health, development and welfare. In addition to the above many other factors contribute to the regulations. A relative intending to care for the child, must in according to Article 5 give in certain information regarding their health, two referees, examine into the relatives background such as criminal charges and any other relative information to the Health Board (Shannon, 2005). According to Article 12, the Health Board has to keep records of the children in foster care, including personal details of the child, an up to date case record containing certain documents (Shannon, 2005). In addition to this, the health board may visit the child as stated in the care plan. Whatever the arrangements made, Article 17 calls that the foster placement has visitation from an authorised member of the health board at least once every three months for the first two years (Shannon, 2005). To ensure the above aims of the childs placement, it is recommended that the case should be reviewed in terms of the successive of the placement and the possibility of the childs return to their natural familys home (Shannon, 2005). A foster care arrangement will end when the child reaches 18 years. Other possible reasons are that the child returns to their family home or at the request of the relative carers (Shannon, 2005). Assessment Process in Relation to Relative Foster Carers There are certain issues around the assessment process that are a cause for concern. Certain developments and amendments need to be applied to provide the best opportunity for foster care placements to be successful. In traditional foster care the assessment process lasts for a length of nine months usually, this process has to occur before the child is placed in the foster home. In comparison relative care, this process of assessment usually occurs after the child is placed with relatives due to the rapid movement of the child (Kelly Gilligan, 2000). A decision for the child to be placed with relatives is usually in the midst of a crisis. The family can be approached by the agency or the family themselves may contact the agency. As there are different regulations for traditional foster care and relative foster care, and the placement of the children occurs at different times, then it is questionable that there should be different assessment criteria (Kelly Gilligan, 2000). In recent studies, it shows that birth families themselves had preference to relatives caring for their children rather than with a home outside the family. Depending on the route to which the child entered relative care, either by agency approaching the relatives or the relatives approaching the agency, this can cause conflicting tensions between families (OBrien in Broad, 2001). The decision to take on the care of a grandchild is not an easy one. If the birth parents are not happy with the Health Service Executives decision to place their child in care, it can become a dilemma (Climo et al, 2002). The model of assessment of relative care is the same used for traditional foster parents. This is not right for relative carers as they have a connection with the child and family, the process is different to which they become known to the agency and the fact the placement is already made (OBrien in Broad, 2001). The assessment process of placement of a child with a relative usually occurs in two stages. The first is a preliminary assessment of the relatives; if the agency is content with the outcome then they proceed with the placement of the child. When the child is residing in the relatives family home the formal assessment process occurs (Kelly Gilligan, 2000). The following issues were found in a study done by David Pitcher assessing grandparents. The grandparents felt confused when being assessed and feared giving aware giving certain answers would result in their grandchildren not being placed with them. The process needs to be explained and the grandparents informed on the reason behind it to allow the process to be carried out in an honest manner (Pitcher in Broad, 2001). As grandparents have not planned to take on the full time care of a child, the can feel unprepared. Placement of the child usually occur mid crisis so it can cause the grandparents to feel stressed as they face meeting the criteria that is expected of them (Coakley et al, 2007). Social workers need to work with the grandparents in preparing them to cope with the challenges to promote successful placement and to alleviate these pending placements (Coakley et al, 2007). If the process is not explained properly this can lead to difficulty between the social worker and the grandparents. The grandparents can feel overwhelmed by the depth their private lives are being looked into. They can find this process negative and very intrusive and also it can be a frightening experience for them (Kelly Gilligan, 2000) As the process begins the grandparent should be given a written copy of the format of the interview. The social worker needs to give an honest explanatory description to the grandparents to prepare them for the process ahead. The aim of the social worker is to get an idea of the carers personality, to look at practical issues i.e. housing schools and to discuss together the perceived length that the placement will be (Broad, 2001) It can be of some reassurance for the birth parents that the child is going to live with people they know and may trust. The child can have different feelings of moving homes as in a study by Terling, 2003; found that trauma can be reduced when the child knows the person that will care for them rather than a stranger. Although the grandparent must acknowledge that while the child does know the grandparent, it does not reduce all of the stress and trauma that the child may experience when moving into another form of care (Broad, 2001). Also, the relationship between the grandparent and child must be looked at, questions need to be asked by the social workers such as does the grandparent actually like their grandchild and is there a sense of belonging for the child (Broad, 2001). Training should be specific to the carers needs. Parenting the Family Cycle The individual life cycle takes place within the family life cycle which is the primary context of human development (Carter Goldrick, 1988, pg 4). In early adult hood it can be expected that a couple will become parents of the younger generation, this can be an exciting period in a persons life. This new role that they adopt can involve responsibility in the childs developmental process and having authority in acting out parental roles to their children (Carter Goldrick, 1988). Perspectives of the role in later life are viewed as having less responsibilities and more time to reflect and relax. An older person is thought to experience retirement, dependency of others preferably their children or younger relatives, a sense of financial insecurity, possible loss of friends through death and the difficult time when a spouse dies (Carter Goldrick, 1988). Although this is a much generalised view, these experiences do occur. Grandparenthood can offer a person a sense of being and bring joy to their life. Becoming a grandparent can create new motivation and add fulfilment to an elderly person life. It creates opportunities for them to experience a new role and to develop a special close relationship (Carter Goldrick, 1988). Grandparents have a good position in their family network because they are not the parents of the children but they have a caring and considerate interest in their grandchilds development (Brubaker, 1985, citied in Bernades, 1997). A grandparents role has no clear guidelines, they can adopt rules but in remembering that they do not have the same authority that they had with their own children. Instead, grandparents can spoil and indulge in their grandchildren (Bernades, 1997). There are different styles of grand parenting involving different characteristics. The types of relationships they hold with their grandchild can vary from being distant to authoritarian and being involved in their life with assuming responsibility but having love and care (Hammer Turner, 1990). This can have an effect when a grandparent becomes a full time carer for their grandchild. If the grandparent was distant then it can be harder to develop a bond that has been absent. In comparison if a grandparent has been involved and caring, then to gain authority and create rules it can take some time and adjustments (Hammer Turner, 1990). It involves a lot more responsibilities than previously needed. They will have to set routines, assume responsibility in daily tasks and educate the child with essential skills and attend to the needs of the child (Hammer Turner, 1990). Grandparent hood can be seen as a second chance at parenting. This can be seen for grandparents when their own child has failed at their duty of parenting, the grandparent can become the main carer due to the fact that they feel part to blame. They may feel that in helping, they can fix the problem that they may have blame in (Hammer Turner). Another possible reason presented by Climo, 2002, seen that grandparents felt a commitment to the value of family continuity, they agreed to take care of the family. Their commitment to both generations their child and grandchild meant they felt it was their responsibility to step in (Climo, 2002). Also grandparents may not want their grandchild to be placed with strangers and fear that they may lose contact with their grandchildren (Climo, 2002). Factors Attributing to Relative Care It may be hard for the grand parent to deal with conflicting issues between themselves and the birth family so by introducing skills this can assist in managing family dynamics. This can essentially result in ensuring the best outcome for the childs welfare (Coakley et al, 2007). These include boundaries with birth parents, adopting care plan and following guidelines around maintaining a good relationship with the birth family (Coakley et al, 2007). If the grandparents allow continuous contact with the birth family, it can have a negative effect. This can be said when the reason for placement was abuse, if constant communication is occurring then the child may be put in danger. Also, the grandparents will never be able to gain responsibility, authority or develop a routine if the parents are interfering and not sticking to access plans that have been drawn up (Terling, 2001). Some argue that relative carers are not capable of meeting the childs needs (Sparr, 1993, Dubovitz, 1994 citied in Terling, 2001). There are assumptions that a child experience of parenting from their parents can be transmitted from one generation to another (Pugh De Ath, 1985). The grandparents capability needs to be questioned, looking also at their suitability of caring for their grandchildren, as they are the ones who raised the troubled parent (Gladstone Brown, 2007). Parental failure can be seen as a result of learnt behaviour from previous generations poor parenting (Davidson, 1997, citied in Climo, 2002). As characteristics run through the family, it can prove that the relative carers might have similarities in parenting to that of the birth parents. Especially in this case considering that the grandparents raised the birth parents. It can be said that if the reason for placing the child in care is due to abuse or neglect this can be a worry and should be considered (Terlin g, 2001). Implications can occur when a grandparent takes their grandchild into care. They can find it hard dealing with the childs emotional, behavioural, physical problems, issues of attachment or loss, perceived agency inadequacy, dealing with authority of the child welfare system and dealing with birth parents (Coakley et al, 2007, pg 93). A custodial role can affect the grandparents health as they need to alter their routine and plans, they can feel physical tired, have less time for themselves and have extra duties to do around the house with the addition of a new person (Gladstone Brown, 2007). As they are then busier, relationships can be affected. They have less time to interact and enjoy doing things with their friends, this can cause them to become socially isolated (Broad, 2001). Other relationships include the grandparents other grandchildren who can become jealous at the thought of their grandparent being closer to one grandchild and providing them with more attention (Jendrick, 1993, citied in Climo, 2002). Depending on the grandparents employment status, they may have to quit their job as they will be responsible for the child, this can have an affect on their financial income. They will have more to payout as an extra person, with less money to do this with (Gladstone Brown, 2007). It was found that grandparents can become to resent the situation they are in and it showed they felt they were incapable of keeping up with the child (Climo et al, 2002). Role of the Social Care Worker Relatives who foster care tend not to receive as much support, can ask for less help and it is believed that social workers feel they need less help than traditional foster care workers. The worker and grandparent need to draw up a support plan that will ensure the above do not occur (Broad, 2001). The social worker needs to assess what it was like for the grandparent when they were parenting their own children. They need to reflect on what worked for them when raising their children, try to identify possible mistakes they made and acknowledge how it will be different raising their grandchild (Broad, 2001). They need to understand it may be difficult in altering their role towards their grandchild, possibly identifying their idea of discipline as it may not be appropriate in terms of child welfare, for example corporal punishment was norm years ago but times have now changed. Also as the hope is that the child can one day return to their birth family, the parents own beliefs in raisi ng a child has to be made aware to the grandparent so they do not confuse the child (Broad, 2001). The grandparent may find parenting hard if they have to deal with social services monitoring them. It can be difficult for the grandparents as now there are many factors to be considered which put increases in the demand of them (Pugh De Ath, 1985). In comparison to parenting in the elderly persons time, the knowledge around the needs of the child in terms of physical, intellectual, social and emotional development has become more recognised. All of these will be monitored by officials in the case of relative foster care. As before a parent would not receive this type of pressure to ensure that their child is constantly receiving care and having there needs met (Pugh De Ath, 1985). Grandparents can feel inadequate under the high expectations of their role in the childs development. It can be quite a comparison as when the grandmother was parenting there was little demand to satisfy social demands. The importance was to run the household and the saying mother knows best was the pare ntal ethnic (Pugh De Ath, 1985). In comparison to traditional foster care, relative carers are said to not receive as much support as needed. Possible reasons for this are because the social care workers may have the idea that the relatives do not require the same level services (Dubowitz, Feigelman Zuravin, 1993, citied in Mc Coakley, 2007). According Schlonsky Berrick citied in Mc Coakley, social workers may be influenced by the relationship that is already present within the family. As the child is under the care of their family, the social worker may feel it is the families right to raise the child without the intrusion of them (Coakley et al, 2007). Another possibility is that the grandparents themselves either refuse or do not request support from services (Coakley et al, 2007). Grandparents may feel that asking for help or showing a need for help may be perceived as a weakness in their ability to cope. In the findings conducted by Mc Coakley 2006, it can be seen that mutual goals should be drawn up in the a ssessment process so that the best possible care for the child can be achieved. In addition to this, if the agency can show how committed they are in tailor making the families intervention and meeting the needs specific to the child and family then the family may welcome support more openly (Coakley 2007). Gladstone Brown (2007) identified the following factors which contributed to a positive relationship between the social worker and grandparent. It was found that firstly if a social worker presented as a friendly, considerate personality and the grandparents felt that they could connect and talk to them then they were more likely to open up to them. Social workers need to show an understanding to the situation, and allow the grandparents to feel appreciated for the contribution they are making (Gladstone Brown, 2007). Grandparents appreciate when a social worker responds to their needs and offers them informative advice and support on child management issues and referrals of other services that could offer support (Gladstone Brown, 2007). For a grandparent being informed can help them with their new role of parenting. As they are monitored and assessed, receiving feedback can allow them to know where they stand and how they can improve and also know what they are doing right. Also as their situation changes they need to know about entitlements that they can receive (Gladstone Brown, 2007).