Strategies Essay Example

Systems Essay There are numerous systems that help advance changes however it is hard to go over procedures that take a shot at a long haul and perpetual premise. Kotter’s methodology in regards to the 8-phase process for authoritative change works because of its simplicity in reasonability and unmistakably characterized objectives. The primary stage entitled, â€Å"establishing a feeling of urgency† identifies with looking at the market and what might work best just as analyzing the emergency also. This guarantees there are less mishaps after a cautious assessment of the circumstance subsequently conveying a positive culture in the condition of progress. The second and third stage entitled, â€Å"creating the directing location† and â€Å"developing a dream strategy† help in explaining the goals and a group is assembled for a total exertion. The fourth and fifth stage entitled, â€Å"communicating the change in vision† and â€Å"empowering wide based actionsâ⠂¬  generally identify with instigating constructive outcomes in the association by helping the group comprehend the substance of progress and its need. The 6th stage entitled, â€Å"generating present moment wins† really energizes the group towards remunerations of any achievement that the association may accomplish through the change that has been consolidated by the association. The seventh stage entitled, â€Å"consolidating gains and creating more change† is planned for employing faculty who can viably work with the change in this way making the points of the hierarchical change perpetual and further reviving the procedure with the new ventures. The last stage entitled, â€Å"anchoring new methodologies in the culture† primarily targets supporting the adjustments in the association by following up on all the above stages in this manner improving the authority advancement and progression on the loose. Subsequently, Kotter’s eight-phase process instigates a constructive outcome on the authoritative change along these lines helping the association accomplish its objectives. We will compose a custom article test on Strategies explicitly for you for just $16.38 $13.9/page Request now We will compose a custom exposition test on Strategies explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer We will compose a custom exposition test on Strategies explicitly for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Recruit Writer REFERENCE: Mackinnon, Lauchlan A. K. (2007). Book Review: John Kotter on Change Management. Recovered online on the tenth of July, 2007 at http://lauchlanmackinnon.blogspot.com/2007/06/book-audit john-kotter-on-change.html

Computer supported collaborative learning Literature review

PC upheld community learning - Literature survey Example The rise of new advances in the 21st century is driving instructive organizations to turn out to be new examples of realizing where PCs can assume imperative jobs. So as to adapt to the cutting edge world prerequisites Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) frameworks focus on refining, encouraging and joining the learning procedure with the help of collective accomplices (Kobbe et al, 2007). CSCL has now become a fundamental part of the learning condition. CSCL could be characterized as a framework promising advancements and apparatuses for rebuilding instructing learning procedures to get ready understudies for the rising information society (Stahl et al, 2006, p409). CSCL has mean to improving the way toward educating and learning using present day correspondence innovation. CSCL is an instructional innovation that urges understudies to learn together and mutually take care of issues. It is something contrary to the customary idea of realizing where students are lone collectors of information. CSCL guarantees that understudies are learning in a vivacious, invigorating and socially advanced system (Nelson and Ketelhut, 2008). CSCL innovation centers around collective learning support, to improve peer collaboration and working in gatherings; to encourage sharing and dispersing information and ability among network individuals. CSCL address the issues of idea learning, critical thinking and structuring (Ioannidou et al., 2010). The framework capacities to convey thoughts and data as well as attempts to confer input on critical thinking exercises. The innovation depends on the conviction that PC bolstered frameworks can successfully work to accomplish targets which may not be conceivable in eye to eye correspondence. CSCL focuses on refining and fusing the learning procedure of cooperative accomplices in an innovation based condition. It permits understudies to

Strategies for Learning from Failure

Strategies for Learning from Failure WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO FAIL?Failure: 1) Lack of success or 2)  the neglect or omission of expected or required actionThis article will mostly focus on failures in the primary meaning of the word and the ways in which one can learn from failures, hence, profit from the lack of success.Success and failure go hand in hand and this applies to all aspects of life.Ask any successful person and they will surely tell you that their failures in fact proved to be a big part of their success and how they got there.One cannot know everything immediately, things need to be learned and learning involves making mistakes.And let’s say you already mastered the theory, practice still makes perfect. You can hardly reach great successes, be it in sports, arts or science, without any practice.Once again, practicing and doing almost always involves making mistakes. Many mistakes!Finally, remarkable success cannot be achieved by doing what everybody else is doing, you need to play innovative. Look at Steve Jobs or Bill Gates.They both dropped out of college to then engage in extremely innovative projects and achieve gigantic success. They did something completely revolutionary and did not allow fear of failure or actual failures, stop them on their paths.Being innovative means experimenting which ultimately, almost inevitably, includes mistakes and, hence, failures.So why is it that people fear and despise failures so much?Why do we have such troubles accepting the fact we failed, move on, learn from that experience and try again?WHY ARE FAILURES SO DIFFICULT TO DEAL WITH?Well, my first (very basic) answer to this question is that failure does not feel good.To fail means not to succeed, hence, it means to miss out on the feeling of success, victory, pride and self-worth.Being aware of the fact we are missing out on these positive feelings already suffices to feel miserable.And humans, imperfect as we are, have a tendency towards avoiding negative emotions, unpleasant experiences and anything that may hurt.The second answer can be found in the correlation between failure and fault.To fail does not only mean to not succeed but it also involves a presumption one has done something wrong.In many households, schools, companies and systems, to accept and admit failure still means to accept and admit the blame for it. And in such blame oriented environment, it takes a lot more effort to continue perceiving failures as learning opportunities.The third reason lies in the extremely general idea of failures.We tend to look at all failures from the same perspective: We did something wrong, we failed to succeed, full stop.And so many people still hold on to this superficial perception regardless of it being genuinely wrong. There are a lot of diverse ways in which one can fail and it is important to take a moment to reflect on this.Different types of failures can have different causes, consequences and ultimately, different learning potential. DIFFERENT TYPES OF FAILUREA fi rst step towards effective learning inevitably involves understanding sophisticated nuances between different types of failures.This prevents blame oriented behavior, strengthens the learning environment and enhances development of prevention mechanisms to avoid future failures of the same kind.Even though there are hundreds of things which can go wrong, especially in large organizations and systems, Amy Edmondson (professor at Harvard Business School) roughly divided all mistakes into three broad categories: preventable, complexity-related, and intelligent.Preventable mistakesMistakes from this category usually happen due to deviance from rules or procedures, inattention or the lack of ability. They are easily preventable and do usually entail a percentage of individual fault.Realizing you should follow relevant rules and procedures or pay more attention next time is not exactly a spectacular finding. Thus, the learning potential of this type of mistakes is not that all too grand.C omplexity-relatedThis category entails mistakes which occur due to complexity of a system itself.Regardless of the application of  best practices for safety and risk management, small or bigger errors remain inevitable, especially when complicated organizations and procedures are involved, and to think that these could ever be avoided completely would be ridiculous.Intelligent mistakesSo called intelligent mistakes, may even be considered good. These occur when experimentation is necessary and are frequently  condition precedent for successful innovations and progress.As already mentioned, it is crucial to distinguish between several types of mistakes and let me clarify why on a couple of examples:Imagine a case of misinterpretation of a machine manual. You will soon realize this mistake was preventable, you will pay a lot more attention when dealing with this or similar machines in the future and this way, you will probably avoid similar mistakes which would otherwise occur due to recklessness or insufficient diligence.Now, imagine an innovative product placement strategy a company is planning to conduct. This is a risky move which will probably result in many mistakes, especially during test phase.Furthermore, the whole strategy may turn out unsuccessful and result in big losses. Nevertheless, even if they occur, mistakes resulting from this move can be considered “intelligent”.The knowledge we could derive from such an experience could have great significance for the future business strategy and operations of a company.If a current market situation and customer needs must be inspected, there is no better way to do this than to test out different and creative strategies.And successful companies know this!They all try to predict customer behavior, avoid mistakes and hit good figures but they also know that mistakes and losses can and do happen when playing big.Frequently, intelligent experiments, even if unsuccessful, prevent future unintelligent mistakes and losses of a much bigger scale.And although we all understand intelligent failures are preferred, every failure entails knowledge we can utilize in the future.Take a look at a few strategies which can help you unravel learning moments from your failure.STRATEGIES FOR LEARNING FROM FAILURESDetecting and preventing failuresIt is not difficult to detect big, obvious failures but in many cases, those large-scale failures could have been easily prevented by detecting and solving minor mistakes at the root.How do you detect potential failures and ongoing mistakes?You must observe carefully, listen to your intuition and most importantly, you must not be afraid of mistakes.The reason why so many mistakes go unnoticed to turn into massive failures later is because people decide to ignore them until they become too big to ignore. Mistakes are ignored due to fear, because people are not sure how to react and even, due to laziness.Companies tolerate bad management and bad sales numbers, peo ple ignore symptoms of a potential sickness, parents ignore the feeling that something may be wrong with their child…People prefer to wait for a problem to disappear, invest massive energy into ignoring it and miss out on the opportunity to solve it while that option still exists.Unfortunately, this is a frequent mistake we’ve all made at some point of our lives.The trick is to try to control your mind and not ignore your intuition telling you something is wrong.Next time you feel a strange pain in a sensitive body part, try visiting a doctor.When going through your books and seeing numbers do not match, do not postpone dealing with this. Investigate what happened and whether your business may be experiencing a problem even if this thought terrifies you!But let us approach this in a more practical manner…Two instruments which can help you follow and check where you stand are: “to do” lists and checklists.I have a daily, monthly and even separate, private and professional â €œto do” list. Apart from the obvious benefit of these lists keeping me organized, they also serve as constant reminder of tasks I wish to avoid the most.I keep them in a form of notes on my monitor and this method really works for me. Even if I finish all other tasks and manage to avoid the one I dislike, I will ultimately be forced to face it, even if at the very end of the day.To see your “to do” list empty is a great feeling and once you realize all benefits of getting your stuff done properly and on time, you will get addicted to it.Ultimately, you will come to refuse having your obligations and troubles pending, hence, will start dealing with them earlier and in a more efficient manner. This will inevitably include dealing with tasks most challenging to you, hence, will eventually result in discovering many mistakes at a very early stage.As for checklists, I am a huge fan! I have checklists for anything remotely relevant and I write them down everywhere.An example of my personal Travel checklist looks something like this: Accommodation booking, flight booking, train or taxi bookings, things I need to get, PTO request approval, vaccines visa (if necessary), get a guide book, buy things I need, do not forget medications, check and prepare travel documents and whatever I consider necessary etc.I also have professional checklists which can look something like this: Do the pre-read, get some first-hand info from colleagues who had similar cases, deliver a draft version, feedback talk with supervisor A, revise the draft version, submit it, feedback talk with supervisor B etc.These checklists may result from your previous experiences, where you may have missed something or noticed how relevant a particular step is. Only after receiving a very bad feedback on my report and being forced to alter it after a month of hard work, have I realized the importance of regular feedback sessions and started including those on my professional checklists.You will freq uently discover mistakes in your work or modus operandi and this may be upsetting at the moment. Still, do try to utilize knowledge derived from that mistake practically (e.g. update your checklist) and remember that noticing mistake at an early stage may have spared you a much bigger failure in the future.Nevertheless, you will still have failures in your life and there is hardly any instrument or strategy which can help you prevent or minimize those entirely. Therefore, following the identification of a failure, your next step should be…In-depth failure analysisFailures are painful. The experience itself is emotionally-loaded.Following a failure, it is advisable not to conduct any premature actions.Give yourself some time to realize what happened and get a hold of the situation again.However, following that first (shock) phase, you should engage in detecting learning moments from a failure.Try to disregard  negative emotions surrounding that experience and reflect on all relevan t steps you undertook, meaning: Go back to your planning, preparation and execution and try to realize what exactly went wrong!Reevaluate your planningDo not beat yourself up for doing something wrong but go back and revisit all relevant steps in your planning.What was your plan in the first place?What were the exact steps?Did you try to predict all relevant hurdles which may occur and conduct a plan in accordance with those anticipated obstacles?Did you think about alternative strategies?Was there a problem with the plan or was it something else that caused the failure?I always try to have at least two alternative plans for every important move I decide to make.I try to figure out where my plan could potentially fail (or has already failed in the past) and then think of alternatives in case this scenario occurs.Try with putting it down in writing (or even drawing) with the main alternative and all other options presented on paper.This is a great way to visualize your goals and this will surely give you a clearer perspective on what you actually want and how you can get there.Speaking of which, it is crucial to be honest with yourself when planning. If you know you cannot pull through a diet with absolutely no carbs, why are you even trying?Try thinking of a plan better suited for you (e.g. some carbs, more proteins) and be persistent to see it through. And this includes asking for help if you cannot do it alone.In this specific case, if you’ve been struggling with losing weight for a while now, why don’t you consider visiting a nutritionist?This way, you will get a perfect plan conducted just for you, you will get a professional support and finally, you will know you put a lot of money and time into those visits and this will probably add up to your motivation.Do not be afraid to invest into good planning! The more effort you put into it, the better the plan will be and the more motivated you will be to see it through.Reevaluate your preparationDid you pr epare everything necessary for the proper execution of your plan? Did you think all of it through and really invest enough time, money and energy into your preparation?After a failure, people tend to justify themselves and place undue blame on external or situational factors.Common phrases here are: “I did everything in my power” or “There was really nothing else I could do” but these justifications are rarely true.There is always something you could have done differently and the thing you can do immediately is stop excusing yourself.The attempt to try to explain our failures by external, situational factors is known in psychology as fundamental attribution error. Don’t go down this road! Find the actual cause of your failure.Preparation can be crucial and I will try to demonstrate its importance on the basis of a few concrete examples.You applied for a job for which you thought you’d be a great candidate for. You got invited to an interview but despite your conviction e verything went smoothly, didn’t get the job offer.Now, you can say you did everything perfectly, blame the higher power, curl up and despair Or you may decide to profit from this overall unpleasant experience, analyze all relevant steps you undertook and especially focus on your preparation for the job interview.Did you practice? Did you try predicting questions which may come up? Did you practice for case studies they presented you with? And even if you still consider your interview preparation was impeccable, try going back even further.Was your job application, CV, cover letter flawless? Is there really nothing at all you may consider doing differently when applying for a job next time?You will surely reach the conclusion there were more than a few soft spots in your preparation and by improving those spots, you will be able to improve your chances for similar situations and possibly succeed in the future.Another example includes unsuccessful dieting attempts: You conducted a g ood plan and were determined to kick off your diet successfully but again, you snapped a few days later due to being hungry and reached out for the chocolate you still had “hidden” somewhere.Now, we may discuss this back and forth but the main question you should ask yourself is: Why was this chocolate even there? Why didn’t you get rid of it while conducting preparations for your diet? If you did, you’d probably reach out to a banana and still be on a good track…Reevaluate your executionFollowing these two, you should continue and evaluate the very execution of your plan. Execution is the tricky part. Even with perfect planning and preparation, execution may go wrong in so many ways, one can hardly imagine.But let’s focus on things you can predict and those mistakes you can identify looking back. Can you spot some obvious mistakes in the execution of the plan? Did you follow all steps of your plan accordingly? Did you maintain your focus and motivation throughout it all ?One example for a faulty execution of a good plan: How many times have you started a diet, made a great plan, conducted preparation accordingly, just to give up again a couple of days later?In this example, the problem with the execution does not appear to be anything else but the lack of motivation. And there are plenty of strategies one can use to deal with lacking motivation but to do so, one must first realize and own up to the challenge.I find lacking motivation to be a very good example because people tend to perceive motivation as something spiritual, abstract or as something beyond their control.Personally, I am not a fan of such an attitude.You should always bear in mind that mindset and psychological stability can be improved the same way as physical execution. Next time this or some similar situation happens, ask yourself, what usually helps when you lack motivation.Is it a vision board (I make one every year!)? Writing down your wishes and goals on paper? Talking with a friend who always transfers you great energy?Finally, you may also want to ask yourself when and why you tend to eat excessively.Could it be that there is something you wish to compensate by eating too much? Dealing with the cause of your failure may include silly methods, a lot of talking and writing and possibly, rather drastic measures, e.g. seeing professional help.Note that there is always a way to deal with faulty or imperfect execution but one must be committed enough to identify and deal with all weak spots, regardless of how long or complicated this process may be.Focus on variables in your controlFailures tend to leave us feeling defeated and helpless and that is why they are so dangerous.It depends on the stakes, it depends on the effort you undertook and it depends on how much you wanted something but if all those categories hit high, chances are that you will end up feeling miserable and demotivated if you happen to fail.Going back to fundamental attribution error, thi s is a point when we start thinking there was really not much we could have done and that external factors got in the way of our success. And this is the attitude you should not allow yourself to have after a failure!You should never allow yourself to believe your success does not depend on you, hence, that it will never happen.Take a deep breath and reflect on a situation where you failed. Which variables worked against you? Which variables do you consider to be beyond your control? Was there really no way to impact some of them? Going back to that job example…You tried your best, you wrote the best possible application and did great in the interview. Still, you failed to get a job offer and actually, HR specified a concrete reason. One other candidate had a better profile and skills, hence, matched the profile better than you.Many people would consider this to be an external factor over which one has no control over but such thinking would be only partially true. You can’t rea lly hope to be a perfect match for every job opening. There will always be things other people can do better and a category where you won’t come first and that’s a fact. But don’t deceive yourself there are not plenty of things you can do to make yourself a better candidate and improve your chances for the future!You can work harder, study more, take courses, seminars, even enter additional education and obtain another degree. You can work on your networking skills, focus on your client and colleague’s relations and dedicate energy to further develop your personality and people skills.I will give you just one example to clarify how a shift in perspective can affect your perception completely: Has it ever happened to you to look at some of your old works (papers, exams, project, doesn’t matter) and notice how many things you’d improve or simply do different if doing this now? Yet, at that time, you thought that was the best you could do and that no changes whatsoever were required. This happens to me all the timeBut instead of despising my imperfect efforts, I learned to look and cherish them carefully as an evidence of my progress and improvement which will only stop if I let that happen.There is so much one can learn, change and improve and when looking at the world from this perspective, there are hardly any variables completely outside our reach.Significance of encouraging a learning environment  and promotion of experimentsSpeaking of failures and learning from them in the context of corporations and big organizations, this has become quite a hot topic in the past few years. We are talking about encouraging individual but also systematic learning and mistake analysis on an organizational level.Why, how and with what purpose has a person or a team did this or that?What was the trigger?Was there an alternative?How would different people react in the same situation?Every time a business or an organization experiences a failure, there are hundreds of questions which can be asked and just as much useful information which can be derived from this experience.This new paradigm shifts to the idea that mistakes are inevitable and that those who notice, correct, and learn from them before others will be those who succeed.Furthermore, there are also examples of exceptional businesses and organizations which do not only develop expertise in noticing and analyzing failures but go further to create “intelligent” failures with the goal of accelerating learning and development.You may say this is nothing else but experimenting in a real life setting but try looking at it from a different perspective.Would you be ready to experiment in real life, with real numbers, facing poor chances of success with the sole purpose of obtaining potentially useful knowledge? You probably wouldn’t.But it is this liberty to try anything and fail that separates unique and exceptional individuals and organizations from everyone else. And this brings me to my final point… EMBRACING THE LIBERTY “TO FAIL” AND LETTING GO OF THE IDEA OF SUCCESS“Victory is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.”  I am quoting famous words of Winston Churchill, for I think they sum up the message I wish to convey quite nicely.You will have times when you’ll feel like you’re winning at life, everything will be adjusting to accommodate your wishes and needs and your path will be smooth.Unfortunately, there will also be times when you’ll feel like luck abandoned you and like a complete failure. You will feel like you are not enough and as if you are not worthy of the success you desire.This is nothing extra ordinary, most of us experienced such periods at some point of our lives. And in such periods, you’ll need to remind yourself that failure, indeed, is not final and it is not personal.Do not let it get to your self-esteem and make you feel unworthy of the life you want and dreams you pursue.It is ext remely important not to be afraid of failures for you will surely experience them as long as you live. Fearing something inevitable does not help you. It can only leave you handicapped and vulnerable. You cannot hope for the perfect successes in life so the best thing you can do is embrace failures as inevitable steps on your path and try to profit from them.Once you realize failures are inevitable, do also try to embrace the liberty to fail. Do not beat yourself up and worry in advance about the mere possibility of failure. Do not deprive yourself of amazing opportunities and chances just because things may not work out! Yes, you may fail but it would be better if you’d focus on your goals and development rather than the possibility of failure.Also, try letting go of the ideal idea of success!Ever wondered where the famous WD-40 spray got its name from? The name of the product, reflects its history of failures: It took 39 unsuccessful tries for the company to perfect the formula and ultimately, reach a sky high success! So don’t fool yourself thinking one simply succeeds or fails…You work for what you want, you learn, improve and grow. Often, a successful journey consists of many failed attempts which occurred on the way. Does it even matter at the end?Dust yourself up, try harder, fail better, you may even realize you succeeded in the meantime…

Substance Abuse On The Family - 1825 Words

Introduction Substance abuse is an issue that continues to grow in America at an alarming rate. Families are an important factor for the onset of substance abuse as well as the sustainment of the addiction (Gruber Taylor, 2006). The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines substance abuse as â€Å"A chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences† (â€Å"Understanding Drug Use and Addiction,† 2016). In order to prevent relapse, success is found in the formation of familial and social relationships (Baharudin et al., 2014). Substance abuse is a major stressor in the family system and it not only impacts the family’s relationships with those outside of the family but†¦show more content†¦Statement of Problem Recent literature has noted the impact drug use has on the family system and the many diverse relationships that occur within the family. However, research surrounding drug use and its impact on sibling relationships is lacking. Sibling relationships are an important dynamic of a family system, therefore it is important to research how drug use impacts these relationships as well. Purpose of The Study The present study wishes to describe the impact that general opiate drug use has on sibling relationships as a qualitative level. While literature surrounding the impact of drug use on the family system is prominent, the present study wishes to bridge the gap in substance abuse literature and family relationships by extending the research to focus solely on sibling relationships. Research Question How does general opiate drug use impact sibling relationships? Literature Review Substance abuse within the U.S. is growing at a fast pace with 100 people dying everyday from drug overdoses, a rate that has almost tripled in numbers in the last 20 years. (â€Å"Addiction Statistics,† 2017). While research is extensive surrounding substance abuse in its most general sense, in recent years research has expanded to the family members of individuals with substance abuse issues and the toll that substance abuse takes on the family (Selbekk, Sagvaag, Fauske, 2015). Literature on this topic notes that alcohol orShow MoreRelatedSubstance Abuse And The Family2399 Words   |  10 PagesSection 1 Substance abuse, the abuse of drugs or alcohol, is known to have a lasting impact on members of the abuser’s family (Crosson-Tower, 2013). Ultimately there are two ways in which a family can experience the detrimental effects of substance abuse within the family system itself, and those ways are through either substance abuse on the parent’s behalf or substance abuse by the adolescents or children in the family unit (Crosson-Tower, 2013). Substance abuse can have many negative impactsRead MoreFamily and Substance Abuse Paper1230 Words   |  5 PagesRunning head: FAMILY AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE PAPER Family and Substance Abuse Paper Launita J. Grand Canyon University March 11, 2013 Family and Substance Abuse Paper When an individual has a disorder with substance abuse and how family is involved, it can be a very uncomfortable situation for both the abuser and family members. When the abuser is an adolescent, the program may need consent from the adolescent before communicating with the parent, whether the communication is over the courseRead MoreFamily Therapy And Substance Abuse1524 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract Family therapy is needed in so many aspects whether its trauma, substance, abuse or marital counseling. It doesn’t matter if it’s for adolescents in the family or adults. It’s important that a clinician is knowledgeable about family therapy and the best approaches to assist the family in becoming functional. 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As a recovering addict I know firsthand how my addiction affected my family. Addiction to alcohol or drugs is a disease; it affects everyone in the family, not just the substance abuser. Effects may vary depending on family structure, manifesting differently in individual family members; According to theRead MoreHow Substance Abuse Affect The Family Unit Essay2021 Words   |  9 PagesHow Does Substance Abuse Affect the Family Unit? A Closer Look at What the Implications are and Treatment Options. Rebecca Sullivan Missouri Baptist University How Does Substance Abuse Affect the Family Unit? A Closer Look at What the Implications are and Treatment Options. Introduction Past research has shown that there is a correlation between substance abuse and mental illness. Some clinicians believe that the addiction should be treated first. Other school of thought believesRead MoreSubstance Abuse And Smoking, And How It Affects Family Relationships1463 Words   |  6 Pagesfocus on the issues of addiction; in specific, substance abuse and smoking, and how it affects family relationships. Living with someone who struggles with substance abuse is a very difficult battle amongst many families worldwide. When we were brought into this world, we were not born with a set of values and expectations, but rather, that is something that we learnt over our years of development. Primarily, we spend most of our time with our families, who are the ones that influence our values andRead MoreA Substance Abuse Recovery Home1498 Words   |  6 PagesThe need for a substance abuse recovery home in Starke County, Indiana is a need that is unmistakable in the county based on the hefty number of individuals that suffer from substance abuse and dependency in the county which is clearly displayed by the recent number of crimes that are related to or involve illicit and prescription drugs. In attempt to meet this need and create an opportunity for individuals suffering from substance abuse and dependency to receive local substance abuse treatment inRead MoreSubstance Abuse and the Elderly Essay example1705 Words   |  7 PagesSubstance Abuse and the Elderly Substance abuse in the elderly exists just as in any other population. Many seniors develop substance abuse problems due to circumstances or situations due to the aging process. A report by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration indicates that 17% of adults age 60 and older are affected by alcohol abuse and abuse of legal drugs. The report also states that a third of those seniors who abuse substances didRead MoreSubstance Abuse Counselors Should Follow The Four Ethical Principles1181 Words   |  5 Pageswhich include: hiring competent substance abuse counselors, effective assessing guidelines, appropriate Evidenced Based Treatment Plans, case management services, programs for Change, family services, and promoting prevention programs. The treatment program being designed will offer a warm and inviting atmosphere that welcomes all clients. Hiring competent substance abuse counselors will be beneficial for designing a successful treatment program. The substance abuse counselors will be unbiased, knowledgeable

Television Start Thinking About Your Favorite Tv Series

Start thinking about your favorite Tv series. You are used to watch it every Saturday at 8.15pm, but sometimes it isn t possible because you’ve already planned something different. Some years ago, it would have been quite annoying, because you didn t have the possibility to watch it another time. But these days, you can search for this certain episode online on Netflix or just watch it next day, because you recorded it with your DVR. Sounds practical, but which impacts does this have on television? Is there a demand for it, when you can watch everything whenever you want anyway, or is it dying step by step? Below, I want to make clear that television isn t dead but still alive today, by defining television, explaining the differences†¦show more content†¦Then, to find out if television is already dead or still alive, it’s necessary to figure out the changes, which television has made during the last decades. In the late 40s, most people watched television in public, because it was too expensive to buy a TV. But then, a few years later, television became something personal and homelike, because it moved into the living rooms of the people (Gerbarg 2009, p.116). These days, television is also watched in homes though, but it became really commercial, too (Turner and Tay 2009, p. 1). There are so many platforms of delivery and chances to have access to television like Online Platforms (e.g. YouTube), Pay-TV and Video-on-Demand (e.g. Netflix) (Kaufmanns, Siegenheim and Sjurts 2008, p. 431). Furthermore, when there were screens everywhere in the 70s, they are now quite smaller and more privatized (Turner and Tay 2009, p. 1) - you can recognize this especially when everybody is staring at their own phones and watching short clips or similar things online. Also the channels have changed, because there were only the common ones in the past like ABC and now you have a channel for each topic, so that it could be hard to decide what to watch. But with introducing remote controls, you already had more control of TV and the different channels and could change them more often anyway. As a

Bollywood and Gender Free Essays

Research Proposal Aim: To study and compare the role of women in some of the women centric Hindi films released between 1980 to 1990 and 2000 and 2010. Objective: To study the issues of gender, caste, development that were perceived in Indian cinema then and now in women centric films. A comparative study about the representation of women in Indian cinema then and now in women centric films. We will write a custom essay sample on Bollywood and Gender or any similar topic only for you Order Now Scope: There are a numerous women centric films that are created in diverse languages around the world. When we focus even on one specific type, we get to know about the culture and thought process of that specific region. Also, a strong statement emerges out of the analysis which is a reflection of the prevailing ideologies in the society. This paper will be mark a statement on the thought process, beliefs of the people especially for the women. These beliefs systems and ideologies will be compared through women centric Bollywood movies that were released between 1980’s to 1990’s and 2000 to 2010. The scope can be extended to many women centric movies made in various languages other than Hindi. One can also include the earliest of the eras for a detailed comparison and in-depth study. Not only a comparison on the issues like gender and caste but also a comparison on other issues like lifestyle, costumes, movie posters etc can be done. Limitations: This paper is limited only to Bollywood films because of the language constraints. Also, only two decades have been chosen since the comparison and study would be possible with a limited number of films to study. Also, from each decade four women centric films are chosen and then studied thoroughly. Followed by is a detailed analysis of the movie based on the issues of Gender, caste, development, ideologies. Research Question: What is the difference in the representation of women portrayed earlier (1980-1990) and that which is shown now (2000-2010)? †¢ What are the factors that have affected the change in the representation of women in Hindi cinema esp. between the 1980- 1990 and 2000-2010? And how is the transition identified? †¢ Was the image of women shown in the movies of 1980-1990 stronger, bolder than tho se shown now (2000-2010)? Introduction: Confirming Aristotle’s view of art as an imitation of life, gender discrimination in the Hindi film industry does indeed reflect the bias that exists in Indian society. The gender ratio in India is heavily skewed in the favor of males (1. 08 male(s)/female) (from CIA’s publication). Thus, Indian moviegoers are presumed to be mostly men—roughly between the age of 15 to 34 years. These moviegoers, according to an all-India survey by a research organization, enjoy mindless comedies. Such thinking dominates cinematic expression in one of the world’s largest centers of film production. The Indian entertainment industry stands at $10 billion today and is expected to grow at 18 percent per annum compounded annually over the next two years (Economic Times). An average Indian spends approximately 4. 6 percent of disposable income on movie watching in theaters. And because issue-based films are not a favorite with the masses, a producer opts for subjects with more appeal so that he or she can recuperate the huge investments involved in film production. Even female filmmakers do not risk funding for their films by focusing on women-centric subjects. At New York’s iView Film Festival held in 2009, which explored gender and sexuality issues, filmmakers and actors on the panel were asked to comment on the presentation of social issues through Indian films. Zoya Akhtar, the filmmaker of  Luck By Chance (2009), and a panel member commented on the female protagonist in her film saying that, â€Å"The character could have been any; the fact that she is a woman is a coincidence. † But because the film ends up centering on the story of a woman, the director struggled for six years to make the film—apparently because numerous male actors turned down the costarring role. She had a difficult time despite her insider status in the industry as the daughter of renowned Indian scriptwriters, Javed Akhtar and the sister of an accomplished film director, actor, producer and singer, Farhan Akhtar. The absence of female centric scripts in main stream Hindi cinema is partially to be blamed because of its commercial viability. Also, commercially super-hit films like Jab We Met(2007) and Paa(2009) are termed as female centric films, but on observing closely, we realize that both the female characters in the end need their male counterpart to overcome their grief or are heavily relied on them to ensure a happy ending to their story. Hindi cinema is divided into ‘trends’ or ‘eras’. Starting from the silent ra in 1920s, Hindi cinema has evolved tremendously in terms of technique, story telling and the stories that were told. The period from late 1940s till 1960s is considered as the ‘Golden era’ of Indian cinema. Bollywood witnessed a new wave in form of content, where earlier movies focused mainly on mythological stories, after independence, their focus shifted on development issues (Do Bigha Zameen- in 1953), gender (Bandini-in 1963), caste di scrimination (Sujata-in 1959), etc. In the early years of Indian cinema, it was Bimal Roy who made a host of films in which his heroines had the lead part to play. Commercial cinema then had female centric scripts and Nutan, Meenakumari, Madhubala and Waheeda Rehman have portrayed some of the most powerful female characters in Hindi cinema and delivered super-hit films. The role played by Zeenat Amaan in the movie (Qurbani-in 1980) was much ahead of its time. It was bold and headstrong unlike of the characters that we seen in the movies of late 90’s. One of the outstabding commercial hits Seeta aur Geeta concentrated more on the heroines rather than the two heroes. Besides such mirrored plots, some movis have focused exclusively on the heroine and woven the script around a central female character. In such films, the woman has no prototype. Jaya Bhaduri’s Guddi was one of the early hits where the innocent girl next door image of a star struck teenager became representative of each school going girl for years to come. In other films like Aandhi, an educated wife changes course midway from a happily married woman to a leading politician. When we compare those films with the films produced during 1990s and later, we can see stark contrast in the way female leads were being portrayed. Not only in their portrayal of the character, but also in the way the content of the movie that was generated. At times or rather most of the times, they were meant to accomplishments to their male counterparts. Shridevi in Lamhe(1991), Madhuri Dixit in Hum Aapke Hain Koun-(1994), Karishma Kapoor in Dil to Paagal Hain-(1997), Fiza-(2000) ,Kajol in Dushman-(1998) and Aishwarya Rai in Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam-(1999), Taal-(1999) and Guzaarish-(2010) were some of the most popular leading ladies during this era. Though they were brilliant performers, they hardly were part of a movie where they were not shown adhered to the wishes of the male lead, society and family. It becomes mandatory to ultimately create an image of an ‘ideal’ girl/woman for the audience (here consumers) because that’s how our society works and secondly it becomes easy for that the idea to sell; hence increase in numbers and popularity. Films like â€Å"Dor† (2006), â€Å"Silsilay† (2005), â€Å"Tehzeeb† (2003), â€Å"Pinjar† (2003), â€Å"Chameli† (2003), â€Å"Satta† (2003), â€Å"Filhaal† (2002), â€Å"Zubeidaa† (2001) â€Å"Lajja† (2001), â€Å"Chandni Bar† (2001) and â€Å"Fiza† (2000) brought the woman into the spotlight – all these films got critical acclaim, but they didn’t turn out to be a commercial hit. Surprisingly, in recent times, No One Killed Jessica was the only ‘women centric film’ that sort of worked at the box office. All said and done, it shows that we lack on ideas. We as audience are treading backward as we choose to accept only a specific image of woman being shown. Hence, I would focus on a comparative study of two different bollywood era. This will not only comment on the techniques and style of film making, but it will also comment on the kind of cinema accepted by the masses then and now. It will clearly showcase the image of a girl or a woman being shown by the film makers and its acceptance by the audience. It will talk about how issues of gender, caste, development were perceived in Indian cinema then and now. Hence, it will become a cultural comparative study of two different decades from Indian history and will help us understand that how the term ‘Indian Culture’ has evolved over a period of time. A Tentative Bibliography: †¢ Criticisicm and Truth by Roland Barthes |   | |Television commercials and rural women as audience in India by Ila Patel | | | | | |Ways of Seeing by John Berger | | | | | |About Looking by John Berger | | | | | |Women and Art contested Territory by ChicagoJudy | | | | | |Bollywood in Posters by Ausaja. S. M. M. | | | | | |A Thinking Eye by Paul Klee | | Reference Links: www. indianetzone. com www. indianlink. com www. altlawforum. org www. expressindia. com www. semionaut. com www. sebsteph. com www. slideshare. net Heta Vyas MAJ 0310 How to cite Bollywood and Gender, Papers

Krispy Kreme Essay Example

Krispy Kreme Essay Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. FIN Professor XXX XXXX Month xx, xxxx History Krispy Kreme was founded by Vernon Rudolph after he purchased the famous secret recipe of yeast-raised doughnuts in 1937 from a French chef in New Orleans. Rudolph began to sell these doughnuts wholesale to supermarkets. The demand for his doughnuts grew quickly, and by cutting a hole in the wall of the factory to sell directly to customers the concept of Krispy Kreme retail stores was born. The retail concept for Krispy Kreme doughnuts allowed Rudolph to grow his factory stores to 29 shops in 12 states by the late 1950’s. When Rudolph died in 973 Beatrice Foods bought his company and expanded it to more than 100 locations and expanded the menu to include soups and sandwiches. Beatrice tried to reduce costs by changing the appearance of the stores and using cheaper ingredients. This negatively affected the company and Beatrice sold the company to a group of franchise owners. This group of owners was led by Joseph McAleer, who was the first Krispy Kreme franchisee. The leveraged buyout was completed for $24 million in 1982. The new group brought back the original recipe and logo. By 1989 the group was almost debt free and they were beginning to expand. The company CEO, Scott Livengood, took the company public in April of 2000. The share price after the first day was $40. 63. Holes in Doughnut Accounting Practices In May of 2004 Krispy Kreme announced to its investors that they should expect earnings to be 10% lower than predicted. It was at this time that the low-carb diet had taken the U. S by storm, and Krispy Kreme blamed this low-carb diet for their low wholesale and retail sales. We will write a custom essay sample on Krispy Kreme specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Krispy Kreme specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Krispy Kreme specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer They also announced the sales of a the Montana Mills bakery chain of 28 bakery cafe’s that had been acquired in January of 2003 for $40 million in stock. Krispy Kreme also announced that the Hot Doughnut and Coffee Shops were falling short of expectations and three of them were closing at a cost of $7 to $8 million. Krispy Kreme (KKD) stock price closed down 30% that day. Shortly after on May 25th, 2004 when the Wall Street Journal published a story about how Krispy Kreme handled is accounting for franchise acquisitions. According to the article Krispy Kreme recorded the interest paid by the franchisee as interest income for immediate profit, except that Krispy Kreme booked the purchase cost of the franchise as an intangible asset and did not amortize it. In the repurchase agreement of the 7 stores in Michigan, they allowed one of the franchises top executives to stay on with the company after the repurchase. This executive left the company shortly after closing the deal, and had to pay him $5 million in severance which Krispy Kreme also rolled into the unamortized-asset category. Krispy Kreme claimed it followed GAAP standards and had done nothing wrong. The final shoe to drop as on July 29th, 2004 when Krispy Kreme announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had launched an informal investigation related to â€Å"franchise reacquisitions and the company’s previously announced reduction in earning guidance†. Krispy Kreme (KK) shares fell another 15%. The revelations about the companies accounting practices and showing interest as immediate income and not amortizing the repurchased franchises but rather showing them as intangible assets alone could justify the devaluation of their stock price by approx. 45%. Couple their earnings decline and the announcement of store closings and it easily can be justified. Couple that with the fear of the unknown. If Krispy Kreme was treating their interest and reacquired franchises as they were which seems to be blatantly wrong, what else might the SEC find during their investigation? This fear would certainly drive investors away and their share price down. The facts along with its ratings being dropped by 50% of analysts to â€Å"Hold† from â€Å"buy† a few months earlier. Krispy Kreme Deep Fried and Possible Deeper Issues Krispy Kreme grew incredibly quickly in the years leading up to the nvestigation (as shown in the chart below) and then may have tried to meet Wall Street expectations through some questionable practices such as shipping more product or pulling ahead product orders, then allowing the orders to be returned shortly after for credit. â€Å"Testimony by a former sales manager at a Krispy Kreme outlet in Ohio, said a regi onal manager ordered that retail store customers be sent double orders on the last Friday and Saturday of the 2004 fiscal year, explaining that Krispy Kreme wanted to boost the sales for the fiscal year in order to meet Wall Street projections. The witness said the manager explained that the doughnuts would be returned for credit the following week once fiscal 2005 was under way† (Chin, 2005). It seems pretty clear that Krispy Kreme was using questionable methods to inflate profits. Investors also later found out that Scott Livengood (CEO), the former COO John W. Tate, and the former CFO Randy Casstevens, â€Å"unloaded more than 475,000 shares of Krispy Kreme stock for proceeds of $19. 8 Million†, (Chin, 2005) while they were fully aware sales were declining since January of 2003. During this investigation, Scott Livengood, Krispy Kreme’s CEO announced his retirement. It would seem to me that there may be some deeper issues with Krispy Kreme and if I were a shareholder I would want out, or to be certain that Krispy Kreme’s accounting mess was cleaned up. The chart below shows Krispy Kreme’s performance during the years leading up to the investigation. Krispy Kreme Re-made Fresh Today Krispy Kreme’s stock has not fully recovered, (see chart below), but as of the end of 2012 Krispy Kreme seems to have made a comeback. â€Å"Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, Inc. Krispy Kreme) is a retailer and wholesaler of doughnuts complementary beverages and treats and packaged sweets. The Company’s principal business is owning and franchising Krispy Kreme stores, at which a variety of doughnuts, including the Company’s Original Glazed doughnut, are sold and distributed together with complementary products, and where a broad array of coffees a nd other beverages are offered. As of January 29, 2012, there were 234 Krispy Kreme stores operated domestically in 38 states and in the District of Columbia, and there were 460 shops in 20 other countries around the world. Of the 694 total stores, 292 were factory stores and 402 were satellites. The Company operates in four segments: Company Stores, domestic franchise stores, international franchise stores, and the KK Supply Chain† (Krispy Kreme Doughnuts). As of close of business on Friday last week KKD traded at $14. 80, way below its heyday when the stock traded in the $40’s but it is double its all-time low. Krispy Kreme doughnuts (KKD as of March 22, 2013 When compared to its competitors Krispy Kreme’s P/E is 49. 33. This is much higher than the others but its P/S is in the middle. Krispy Kreme’s competitors are listed as Dunkin’ Brands Group, Einstein Noah restaurant Group, and Starbuck Corporation. Below is the direct competitor comparison. Direct Competitor Comparison| | | KKD| DNKN| BAGL| SBUX| Industry| Market Cap:| 989. 57M| 3. 94B| 253. 09M| 42. 99B| 384. 28M| Employees:| N/A| 1,104| 6,912| 160,000| 10. 87K| Qtrly Rev Growth (yoy):| 0. 16| -0. 04| -0. 04| 0. 11| 0. 30| Revenue (ttm): | 435. 84M| 658. 18M| 427. 01M| 13. 66B| 453. 84M| Gross Margin (ttm):| 0. 17| 0. 79| 0. 21| 0. 57| 0. 31| EBITDA (ttm):| 47. 93M| 304. 86M| 48. 46M| 2. 46B| 47. 5M| Operating Margin (ttm): | 0. 09| 0. 38| 0. 07| 0. 14| 0. 07| Net Income (ttm):| 20. 78M| 108. 18M| 12. 74M| 1. 43B| N/A| EPS (ttm):| 0. 30| 0. 93| 0. 74| 1. 86| 0. 78| P/E (ttm):| 49. 33| 39. 95| 20. 01| 30. 87| 29. 99| PEG (5 yr expected):| 1. 02| 1. 58| 0. 98| 1. 43| 1. 50| P/S (ttm):| 2. 24| 5. 96| 0. 59| 3. 13| 1. 04| | | | | Suggestions for a Krisp/Klean Future Making Doughnuts I three things I might suggest if I were the CFO for Krispy Kreme doughnuts would be to insure open communication with investors and insure them that internal auditing systems are in place. I’m sure that investors lost all trust in the previous management because of the questionable practices that were followed. Krispy Kreme needs to rebuild that trust by having open lines of communication with its investors. I would take a serious look at closing unprofitable stores, and research other markets to open more stores. Some areas may still be underperforming while others are booming. Concentrate on the areas that show better potential and take advantage of that market while it is supporting growth. Because their competitors seem to offer expanded menus I would concentrate on healthy choices for the lunchtime crowd. Everyone is aware of Krispy Kreme’s doughnuts, but I’m not so sure their other menu items are well known as an option for lunch/brunch. Other than the morning rush for doughnuts, they could make their stores more profitable with being the †go toâ€Å" spot for lunch also. References Chin, N. (2005). Krispy Kreme Dougnuts: Empty calories or empty profits? Retrieved from http://www. corporateconflicts. com/index-sb-cases-kk. html Krispy kreme doughnuts. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. google. com/finance? client=obq=NYSE:KKD