Objectives of a School simularities to other organisations

Schools, like any other organisations, are aggregations of interconnected human and non- human resources working together to accomplish a common end within structured relationships. But they differ from any other industrial, commercial, governmental or military organisation as it require a alone manners of leading, ways of thought and an attack to disposal. This is because the mission of schools is non to increase net incomes but to raising and develop people to go to the full functional persons foster the acquisition, personal growing and development of all participants, the staff and the pupils.Literature reappraisalOrganizational Behaviors and saying the relevancy in today ‘s contextA school is a universe in which people live, grow and work. Like any other societal organisation, the universe of school has power, construction, logic and values. The behaviour of people at work in a school, separately every bit good as group is non simply a contemplation of their single alone personalities but is strongly molded and molded by the societal norms and outlooks of the civilization that prevail in the organisation. Therefore the person and societal influence creates alone organisational behaviour of people in the school organisation. A school is an extraordinary powerful environment which form and mold behaviour of the people through its civilization and clime. This web of interactions between people and the organisation and its deductions for leading is determining the behaviour of people at work in educational organisations. The ends of any educational organisation are academic accomplishment, effectual work wonts, civic values, societal behaviour, self esteem and self trust. In order to accomplish the ends of schooling, the outlooks that instructors have for the accomplishments of pupils, the relationships between pupils and instructors, the motive of pupils, clip spent on instruction and acquisition and the equal relationships affairs. Besides how schools are managed, how pupils are grouped, how parents and the community are involved, how work is assigned and the determinations made in school. The widespread credence as the preferable manner for exerting control and coordination in schools is the bureaucratic mechanism. The present twenty-four hours acceleration in the development of engineering, political relations, economic sciences and society has by and large left stiff bureaucratisms staggering and unresponsive. To boom in today ‘s quickly changing universe, schools must nimble, adaptative to alter and invariably germinating ( Peter Senge – a learning organisation ) . They are non merely adaptable to new challenges emerging in the universe but are besides adaptable to the worldwide rise in outlooks for increased democracy, personal freedom, single regard and self-respect and chances for self- fulfilment. Administrators who tactically or explicitly embrace the non bureaucratism affect a good trade of persuading. The instructors who are underlying behavior form of theory X or Y who are in the non bureaucratic environment Theory Ten Theory Yttrium Needed to be belonged, liked and respected. Want to experience utile to the school and tend to corporate volitionally and to follow with school, section and unit ends if the above demands are fulfilled. In add-on to the demands of theory X, desire to lend efficaciously and creatively to the achievement of worthwhile aims. Majority are capable of exerting far more inaugural, duty and creativeness than their present work fortunes allow. Administrators ‘ basic undertaking is to do each instructor believe that they are utile and of import portion of the squad. They should be willing to explicate determinations and discuss instructors ‘ expostulations. Besides to affect instructors in planning and determination devising. Teachers should be encouraged to exert self way and ego control Administrator works to bring out the originative resources of the instructors. Teachers participate in determination devising and develop. Information is shared and instructors involve in determination devising. This helps to increase the demand of belongingness and single acknowledgment. It will increase the morale and cut down opposition to formal authorization. Administrators and instructors make usage of the full scope of experience, penetration and originative ability to better the public presentation in school. Accomplishment of aims will increase the self-control and self way. Schools in the island were officially introduced during the colonial epoch. Education is largely delivered through a spiritual background, either through temples or the church. The priests followed the regulations defined through the faith to set single behaviour. Many described such schools as oppressive. But traditionally such schools emphasized powerful societal norms and outlooks that support and wages such behaviour. The norms of such schools discourage behaviour that inquiries the established the order and proposes alterations. With the educational reform in 1947, schools in the state were managed under one organic structure known as Education section of Sri Lanka and new theories and constructs of instruction being introduced to the school web. In order to understand the acquisition abilities and features of kids and grownups in the educational environment, behavioural psychological science applied theories of development. B.K Skinners ‘ methodological analysis of behaviourism had hence embraced by instructors and they used the programmed instructions, scripted instruction, diagnostic-prescriptive instruction and behavior alteration in learning. Educationists decide on ends ( marks ) , all right supports to bring forth those responses ( lesson programs ) , a plan that will bring forth the coveted behaviours ( category room activity ) and eventually mensurate the support methods ( tests, all schoolroom, term and public ) and alter them carefully ( twelvemonth terminal reappraisal and preparation Sessi onss ) . These methods are non developed to â€Å" develop the head † but to set up the very behaviours which are to be taken to be grounds of acquisition. The pupils learn in such an environment retained the cognition and accomplishments they learn in school and so applied in state of affairss in existent life. Therefore unlike in the colonial instruction system, there were 1000s of people adding into the work force every twenty-four hours. They retained a ample sum of the cognition for many old ages and mastered that cognition. For the last decennary or so Sri Lankan authorities instruction system, including the universities were based on behaviourism and as a consequence, there are 1000s of unemployed school departers and alumnuss who are unable to suit into the current competitory market. As a consequence Educationists considered the cognitive psychological behaviour ( Chomsky ) had adopted the method of learning which will authorise the critical thought and originative thought ( with 2009 course of study alterations ) . This is besides the construct of left- encephalon and right-brain orientation of thought. Cognitive psychological science has a batch of impact on the pattern of learning and larning in the schoolroom. The results are emphasized and the solutions are being motivated to be reached by the pupils in assortment of ways. The schoolrooms are now larning environments which promote survey accomplishments, societal accomplishments, job resolution and organisational accomplishments along with the capable affair command. The instructors create motivated schoolroom environments harmonizing to Weiner and the expression for self- regard, when pupils show internal/ability property, supplying challenges to larn and developing them to keep self – regard when fa ilures occur. When they show internal/effort property to hold high outlooks for success as they will remain motivated in malice of impermanent reverses. There are assortments of specific actions that the instructors are in the ways and agencies of ways to increase motive in schoolroom undertakings. The intrinsic motive to be practiced through explicating or demoing why larning a peculiar content or accomplishment is of import, create and maintain wonder, supply a assortment of activities and centripetal stimulations, provide games and simulations, set ends for acquisition, associate larning to student demands and assist pupil develop program of action and the extrinsic motive through supplying clear outlooks, giving disciplinary feedback and providing wagess. The outlooks of a instructor in such an environment demands the instructors to alter radically with the technological alterations the passage of inactive acquisition content to electronic integrative tools. The instructor ‘s function remained mostly as a facilitator at the same clip to be a co-learner in technological cognition and accomplishments. The current demand from a instructor is to hold are, hypertext transfer protocol: //thejournal.com/articles/2008/06/30/the-future-of-instruction-teacher-as-colearner.aspx # Learning and creativeness – instructors use capable affair expertness to ease and animate creativeness in pupils, including ingeniousness, job resolution and reflecting through the usage of digital tools collaborative tools and co-learning experiences. # Assessment – Use appraisals for ratings so that the pupils set their ain ends for acquisition, engage in individualized acquisition and are evaluated based on multiple, varied formative and summational appraisals aligned with content and engineering criterions. # Digital age skills – instructors exhibit eloquence in digital tools, engage on a regular basis in engineering – based coaction and usage information resources to back up research and acquisition. # Digital citizenship: Teachers promote â€Å" safe, legal, and ethical usage of digital information and engineering, † promote etiquette, and work to further a planetary position in pupils # Professional development: Educators adopt a theoretical account of womb-to-tomb acquisition and exhibit professional leading through engagement in larning communities, rating of research into the latest digital tools for instruction, parts to the â€Å" effectivity, verve, and self-renewal of the instruction profession, † and presentation of leading in instruction engineering. The ministry of Education with NSB and selected providers took enterprises to supply Personal computers for instructors at a sensible monetary value through Teacher PC Drive plan and to supply developing through reputed private institutes such as IDM Computer Studies and Gateway in 2006. The ‘Innovative Teachers National Competition 2008 ‘ conducted by the Ministry of Education ‘s Secondary Education Modernization Project ( SEMP ) II and Microsoft Sri Lanka assessed the advancement of this plan. In â€Å" The Skills for life † launched in 2009, provides specialised plans for instructors in Sri Lankan instruction system plays a critical function in this scenario. Programs such as ICDL, CTP straight on ICT making and LTCC, IPICT as an instruction tool for non ICT instructors. hypertext transfer protocol: //www.skillsforlife.lk/index.php? option=com_contentHYPERLINK â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //www.skillsforlife.lk/index.php? option=com_content & A ; view=article & A ; id=9 & A ; Itemid=16 † & amp ; HYPERLINK â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //www.skillsforlife.lk/index.php? option=com_content & A ; view=article & A ; id=9 & A ; Itemid=16 † view=articleHYPERLINK â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //www.skillsforlife.lk/index.php? option=com_content & A ; view=article & A ; id=9 & A ; Itemid=16 † & amp ; HYPERLINK â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //www.skillsforlife.lk/index.php? option=com_content & A ; view=article & A ; id=9 & A ; Itemid=16 † id=9HYPERLINK â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //www.skillsforlife.lk/index.php? option=com_content & A ; view=article & A ; id=9 & A ; Itemid=16 † & amp ; HYPERLINK â€Å" hypertext transfer protocol: //www.skillsforlife.lk/index.php? option=com_content & A ; v iew=article & A ; id=9 & A ; Itemid=16 † Itemid=16 Photo caption: Kithsiri Abeysinghe – Nikawewa Dewanampiyatissa Central College, Chithrangani Karunasekera – Katuwana National School, Premawathie Henayalage- Project Manager, Department of Education North Central Province, Ranjith Tharukaratne – Sujatha Balika Maha Vidyalaya hypertext transfer protocol: //www.digit.lk/09_sept_slteachers The instruction leader inevitableness faces a calling in which new resilient responses are invariably required to run into the challenges that will ineluctably and unremittingly originate in the hereafter. These challenges are likely to happen in rhythms as they have for over a century. The jobs that seem overvelming to us now will in clip recede into the background as new an seemingly more demanding challenges emerge in the hereafter. In position of this dogged patterned advance, educational leaders non merely necessitate to develop responses to the urgencies of the minute but besides to develop a set of values, beliefs and principals to steer them in developing effectual schemes and actions in the unsure hereafter. Take together these values, beliefs and principals cast and determine the educational leaders vision of what the school ought to be like the way in which it should be traveling, and the terminal province for which it should be like, the way in which it should be travelin g and the terminal province which it should be endeavoring. A nucleus component in such vision

Childhood Obesity Essay

Obesity can be defined as the condition in which the body is characterized with excess fat by a body mass index of 30+ (Snell, et al, 2007). It is often characterized to have a genetic link i. e. it is a hereditary disease (Carol Torgan, 2002). However, families have common dietary, physical exercise, attitude and other lifestyle habits, which normally are the contributing factors to obesity. These factors sometimes are not easily from the purely genetic factors through statistical or diagnostic task. Albeit obesity is the case of children was once considered as a rare occurrence, it ahs rapidly become an epidemic with medial implications in the United States, as well as other developed states. The number of these obese children is projected to rise even further if stringent measures are not taken to curb this problem. Thus, child obesity is an issue that poses one of the greatest health challenges in the contemporary American society. The effects it has on a child’s life are generally profound, coupled with the fact that other than having to contend with overweight issues, there are numerous health issues that a child is exposed to. This is in addition to both the social and emotional problems that it creates. Once the children become adults the overweight problem does not seize, it continues and even poses other greater risk to the child in form of such conditions like stroke and heart disease. One of the possible root causes of obesity still remains as over consumption of food. When children consume too many calories for their energy needs in most cases has resulted in many modern obesity cases. When the children get to eat too much high fat food or the refined sugary foods, research suggests that they always stand a high percentage of becoming obese. According to researchers there are many metabolic as well as digestive disorders that are brought about by over consumption of refined white carbohydrates together with little or no fiber intake (Vincent Iannelli, 2007). These eating patterns in children are known to interfere with the body metabolic rates thereby causing too much fat storage within their bodies. Some of the related disorders linked to obesity include; insulin resistance, diabetes of type 2 and obesity itself. The effects of all these diseases are still a major concern the world over. Although under these circumstances the diagnosis would reveal that a child has metabolic or even digestive disorder that might be easy to treat parents do have a role to play to ensure that their children are not obese. The level on number of kids suffering from obesity has reached one that is characterized as an epidemic. Fr instance experts estimate that about fifteen percent (15%) of children are suffering from overweight problems, while another 15% one said to be at high risk of becoming overweight (Vincent 2007). Eventually, about two thirds of these current overweight children would end up as obese adults. Fast food is another risk factor that is characterized as a major contributor to overweight in children. Due to its high calorie as well as its high fat ultra sized meals. The contribution that the fast foods make toward the excess fat content within the body of the child is enormous (Gary & Juliet, 2005). The excess fat accumulates within the body tissues as well as the high sugar content that would in effect affect the body’s metabolic and digestives rates. Nevertheless, the role played by parents cannot be down played. As much as the manufactures of the fast foods are to partially be blame for this growing problem, the parents too have their tasks cut out for them. For instance, if they have learned and at least are sensitive enough to know what the effects of the fast foods have on the health of their kids. Parents have the ability to monitor the kind of food that their kids eat. In addition, the kids do not have the money to purchase these fast foods, as well as sensitizing their children’s health (Summerfield, Liane M 2007). Equally, since the dietary habits are common in almost all families it must be that either a child who is getting hooked into the various fast foods could just be picking a habit from his/her parents or from the family. It is also very hard for young children to pick up eating habits or any dietary habits that his or her parents do not approve of least of all are not practiced with the family. Many children who suffer from obesity and other related health problems often are less active. This may be due to such issue like addiction to television as well as such other activities as video games. When kids stay up all day or all night and on a frequent basis, the chances of them become obese increases. This risk factor is another contributor to obesity. Due to the inactivity that characterizes sitting down watching TV and the video games. A lot of people including parents have tended to blame the media as a whole laying a blanket condemnation and particularly directed their anger at the people who design the TV and video games programs for the kids. Much as it is admissible that the designers of these programs have a crucial role to play both in ways to help bring down the addiction aspect of the children to their games, and also to help limit the number of children suffering from obesity but with links to video or TV games. The role played by the media would only be supplementary. The program editors should also at least try to put such warming messages that would forewarn children against the dangers of excessive indulgence and addiction to their games. Once the program editors and the designers of these games have done their part then parents too have the bigger role to play. Another cause of obesity is genetically factors. Obesity as a disease is hereditary and as such runs with the family. A child who has an obese parent or someone in his or her lineage stands high-risk chance of becoming over weight. The genes from the parents or the grand parents are carried down to the child. However, genetics alone does not cause obesity, this is a condition that is only made possible to affect a child if the child eats excess food. The genetic link only makes it highly likely for the child to become obese. Nevertheless, when the child engages in eating or dietary habits that would make his or her consume large amounts of calories that he or she is not able to expend of in her body system then she will definitely develop obesity. Dietary habits mostly children’s eating lifestyles have away from the traditional healthy foods that includes fruits, vegetables as well as whole grains to new an to a larger extent, much reliance on fast food, sugary drinks together with processed snack goods as well as many other foods that are high in fat content and sugar. Due to their high gat content and/or high calories while remaining low on fiber content. Eating patterns such as having a meal while listening to radio watching TV, watching video games as well as eating while doing homework have also been identified as risk factors for the causes of obesity. Another factor which is socio-economic status ahs also been cited as risk factors for the cause of obesity. Families with lower income and with parents who are non-working have been linked to greater calorie intake for activity level. This is because the poor families cannot be able to afford health and low on fat content foods. Laziness Often defined as physical inactivity. The growing popularity among children with computer, television, video games among other activities that are found in electronic media has transformed to a growing sedentary lifestyle for many of the children within the United States of America. It has been established through research that within the United States alone, children spend a minimum of 3 hours watching TV in a single day. This habit encourages laziness and ensures that the child expends very little of energy that he or she has consumer. Further this habit encourages others acts like snacking. Due its nature, it is high in calories and since the child would spend most of the time sited, fact is she or he will not find time to release the calories consumed Brian Wansink, 2006). It is estimated that less than half of the children within the united states have parents who do routine physical exercise, and that just one third of children within the united states can access physical education facilities at school on or daily basis. The () busy schedule by parents and constant fears about the safety of their children has made it almost impossibility for kids to engage in any sports or other programs of activity after school, as they have to rush home in time. If the parents can cut down on the number of hours that children watch TV, video games and play computer games then the risks associated with media would come down as the level of laziness would be eroded if not eradicated. When parents get involved in regular exercises most likely their children too may develop interest and thus burn off excess calories and keep physically fit. The parents should also ensure that their kids are enrolled in schools where they can access physical education facilities regularly as is designed in the curriculum. If the parents took their time and organized their schedules as well as ensuring safety for their kids so as to allow them ample time to have to engage themselves in after school sports activities. During infancy, parents too can help the cause of preventing obesity through the continued breast feeding of the baby and delaying of the introduction process. Older children can be helped by their parents to develop good dietary habits, by eating healthy, nutritious food while at the same time engaging in regular exercise. In view of all these factors, from the genetics, environment to the physical activity of the child there is no particular point when the parent does not have role to play to prevent the child from being obese. As such I do believe that all the parents are to be blamed for the problems that obese children have. Reference: 1. ^http://www. obesity. org/subs/childhood/prevalence. shtml 2.   http://www. ausport. gov. au/aasc/about_aasc/facts. asp 3.   Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think (2006), Brian Wansink New York: Bantam-Dell.

International Marketing Research Challenges Essay

INTRODUCTION Due to global financial issues in the recent months, consumer confidence is low in the more developed markets such as Japan, the US and Europe (AFP, 2012). Therefore developing markets, such as the Australian market, are looking towards emerging markets where the markets have remained dynamic and rich in growth opportunities. This is because emerging markets â€Å"have reached a minimum level of GDP and are in the growth phase of the development cycle† (Pearson Education, 2012), however due to this growth phase these markets are still vulnerable to both internal and external forces. With many companies world-wide seeking global growth opportunities, it has never been more important for international marketing research to be conducted in order to fully understand the consumers of these markets (Greenland, 2011). This growth of emerging markets has presented a number of challenges for international marketing researchers including differences in research costs and also environmen tal differences such as differences in culture and even difficulties in communication and technology. CHALLENGE 1 – RESEARCH COST VARIATIONS Conducting research in a different country, especially one that is classified as an emerging market, can create many issues for international market researchers. For example, Greenland (2011) talked about how the expense of conducting research in emerging markets, such as Africa, is usually much higher than when compared to projects conducted in developed countries. Even though some of these issues may be catered for at the planning stage, many of these issues are unpredictable and can occur at any stage throughout the research project, creating a high chance of the project going over budget. Many factors including travel costs, currency fluctuation and availability of technology can affect the price of market research. However due to the fact that creative research approaches are needed in emerging markets, these higher prices may not be able to be overcome without a lot of research and understanding of the cultural and economic norms of the emerging market country (Craig and Dougla s 2005). As well as culture and economics being a factor in the high cost variations associated with research on emerging markets, the fact that infrastructure and technology is significantly limited also creating many issues to market researchers. This is because limited technology significantly limits the number of options the international market researchers have access to in order to conduct their research. No or limited technology means that most market research will need to be conducted face-to-face. Having to conduct research face-to-face in emerging markets can introduce extra expenses in the form of travel and extra staff when compared to virtual interactions such as online surveys. This is because in many of these emerging markets, for example Africa, â€Å"poor road networks, lack of direct flights, and the vast distances involved† (Greenland 2011) make it extremely difficult to reach these rural areas. As well as being time consuming, this is also a costly process with both transportation and accommodation needed to be taken into account. With these face-to-face interactions comes the problem of being able to communicate with participants who are likely to speak a different language. On suggestion to overcoming this problem is to train local people within the emerging market to conduct the research on behalf of the international market researchers. However, this approach is only a viable option if there are no time constraints due to the fact that it is likely to take a lot of time to train these new people and make them understand what the researcher is trying to find out. International market research can cost a lot more than when conducting research in a developed market, however businesses that are wanting to invest in emerging markets must plan for these extra costs if they want their new venture to succeed. CHALLENGE 2 – CULTURAL DIFFERENCES Every country has their own distinct cultural rules which can cause great confusion and problems when trying to conduct market research in a country that differs so greatly to your own country. For example, in Middle Eastern societies where women have very different roles to those women living in more western societies. This is why â€Å"the marketing research process should be modified so that it does not conflict with the cultural values† (Malhotra 2010) of the country in question. In countries such as the Middle East, women are more likely to experience lower education and literacy rates than their western society counterparts. For this reason and many others, face-to-face interviewing seems to be the most viable option for conducting marketing research in these countries (Greenland, 2011). However, even with face-to-face interviews this illiteracy can lead to the respondents not able to formulate their own opinions and all information gained could be biased or non-existent (Malhotra 2010). Furthermore, the cultural differences in these countries can extend further than just lower education rates, with many other factors affecting the way research must be conducted in these emerging countries to be effective. For example, many Arab cultures prohibit their women to have contact with non-family males, which can cause problems with allowing male researchers to conduct face-to-face interviews (Greenland 2011). A solution to this problem could be training female researchers to conduct the research when female interviewees are needed. However as well as this being possibly dangerous and deadly to the female, in many developing countries females are the bottom class and are seen to only do household duties, therefore a job would be against cultural beliefs. The extent of the products currently available in the emerging markets is another cultural issue that researchers must face when wanting to introduce a product. Malhotra (2010) suggests researchers need to look at the public’s attitude towards advertising, the government’s control of the media and the behaviour of consumers when conducting research. All of the previous factors change within different cultures which furthers heightens the need for specific research methods and ideas for different emerging markets. CHALLENGE 3 – COMMUNICATION AND TECHNOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES Communication challenges in emerging markets not only relate to language barriers but also differences in technology and cultures. Market researchers may find it very difficult to communicate the more complex ideas of their business to research participants in emerging markets where the language barrier is high. There has been a lot of research been into trying to find a way to overcome this problem. Greenland (2009), looked into using visual cues, such as photographs, to aid the research participants in obtaining a greater understanding of what the researcher was trying to convey. Craig and Douglas (2001), suggest the idea of videotaping people and analysing the behaviour observed to try and identify consumer buying habits. This however can pose many issues from whether it is legal or ethical to tape people without their knowledge and even whether cultural differences change what we would think a particular behaviour conveys. Greenland (2009), also talks about the language barrier when it comes to translating information from English to Swahili in the form of a questionnaire. The Swahili version of the questionnaire was notably longer than that of the English version which impacts the time taken to conduct the research. While Malhotra (2010) talks about translation from English to German and how the particular meaning of questions were altered when translated, which confused the final results. This is a problem that the researchers tried and failed to overcome at the time of the research being conducted. Also tying into communication issues is the challenge of conducting research without the technology that developed markets rely so heavily on. According to Malhotra (2010) the lives of everyday citizens, particularly those in rural areas, of countries such as India, South Korea and many Latin American countries, are yet to be impacted by advances in science and technology.† This, therefore, has an impact on how information is collected and stored and can also have an impact on the type of information a market researcher can collect. These non-existent advances in science and technology not only eliminate internet surveys or discussions but in many countries also eliminate the ability to conduct telephone interviews, with researchers unable to find complete telephone directories if the households have access to the telephone at all (Malhotra 2010). With the amount of challenges facing researchers regarding technology, it is often much more efficient to conduct face-to-face interviews. CONCLUSION â€Å"With the accelerating pace of market globalisation† (Craig and Douglas 2005), emerging markets are gradually becoming of greater interest to larger businesses all around the world. To efficiently sell products in these emerging markets a lot of research needs to be done to fully understand the consumers in these emerging markets in order to effectively market and sell their product. There are many factors that make emerging markets different to sell products in when compared to developed markets including, political differences and even variations in currency. This is why it is so important to understand how to efficiently conduct research in these countries prior to selling goods. However, there are many challenges that face researchers in these emerging markets, including the different costs of research, cultural differences and communication difficulties. These challenges can cause the research to take a lot longer and cost a lot more money than researchers would be used to. However, much research is being done to come up with solutions to combat these challenges which will hopefully make it increasingly easier for businesses to invest in emerging markets in the future. REFERENCES AFP 2012, Nestle sweet on emerging markets, The West Australian, viewed on 22nd June 2012, Craig, C. S. and Douglas, S. P 2005, Future Directions in International Marketing Research, Chapter 15 in International Marketing Research, 3rd Edition, John Wiley & Sons, viewed 22nd June Craig, CS and Douglas, SP 2001, Conducting international marketing research in the twenty-first century, International Marketing Review, Vol. 18 Iss: 1, pp.80 – 90 Greenland, S. J 2011, Challenges of researching consumers in emerging markets. Marketing in the age of consumerism: Jekyll or Hyde?, Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Greenland, SJ 2009, Visual Research for Segmenting Emerging Markets, Proceedings of ‘Sustainable Management and Marketing’, Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (ANZMAC), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 30 November – 02 December 2009, viewed 19th June 2012

Evaluate Sainsbury plcs financial strategy Essay - 1

Evaluate Sainsbury plcs financial strategy - Essay Example In spite of these speculations, it has risen to be the leader for the last two decades. Sainsbury has relied heavily on equity capital to finance its operations in the recent past. The management consists of the contributors of the needed capital. Being a company based in United Kingdom, where a company with more than 50% of its capital is considered highly geared, the management made a move in the year 2006 to incorporate high level gearing for the following reasons: This is another significant source of funds for Sainsbury Company. This dividend reinvestment plan allows stakeholders to reinvest their cash dividends through purchasing more shares in the market through a significant prearranged share dealing service. No new shares are allotted under this plan. It involves adding more value to the existing ones through a systematic way in order to achieve a balanced portfolio. The price and value of these shares fluctuate in response to the market waves. Stakeholders are fore warned of this possibility because the reinvested dividends in the form of shares may end up with a value or price that is less than the anticipated. Shareholders may then end up getting less than what they invested. Past performance is a guide to clear shareholders doubts and for those who are not sophisticated enough to understand the fir past performance are advised to seek the assistance of professional financial advisors. To aid in understanding of Sainsbury dividend policy, this paper acknowledges the importance of reviewing theories on dividend policies. With empirical research continuously being conducted by scholars on dividend policy, no consensus has ever emerged has scholars continuously keep disagreeing about the same empirical evidence. They all agree that dividend policy refers to management practices in making decisions on the criteria and amount of dividends to be paid to shareholders overtime. However, three dividend policy

English court hierarchy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

English court hierarchy - Essay Example There are two main questions that need to be asked and answered in this case; (i) whether Edward's acceptance of David's offer is binding on David, and (ii) whether David's revocation of his offer is effective against EdwardAn offer is made when a person makes a definite promise to do or to abstain from doing something and it becomes binding when it is accepted by whom it is addressed to An offer may be either verbal and written. In this case, David's action by writing to Edward on 1st December offering to sell him a range of office supplies would constitute a written offer.An acceptance is where the offeree indicates his assent to the offer by words or conduct. The general rule is that an acceptance must be communicated to the person making the offer1. If the person making the offer prescribes the specific manner in which the acceptance must be conveyed, then the acceptance must follow such prescribed manner2. David had not indicated in his offer of the manner that the acceptance is to be conveyed and as such Edward's action of writing to David on 14 December accepting his offer would tantamount to a valid acceptance.Communication of acceptance is binding on the offeror when the acceptor puts his acceptance in a course of transmission to the offeror in such a manner that is beyond the acceptor's control. When Edward puts his acceptance letter in the post at 3.00 p.m. on 14 December, this would tantamount to an act of communicating his acceptance to David of his offer. Once the acceptance letter is in the post, it is no longer within Edward's control and the Postal Rule would be applicable in this case i.e. where acceptance by post is an appropriate and reasonable means of communication between the parties, then acceptance is complete as soon as the letter of acceptance is posted, even if the letter is delayed, destroyed or lost in the post so that it never reaches the offeror3. The postal rule applies to communications of acceptance by cable, including telegra m, but not to instantaneous modes such as telephone, telex and fax. It is submitted that acceptance by Edward of David's offer is completed upon Edward putting the acceptance letter in the post. However, the facts of the case also state that David had in fact revoked his offer to Edward by sending him a telegram at 3.00 p.m. on 14 December. A revocation is one of the ways to terminate an offer and it is the withdrawal of an offer before acceptance. The offer may be revoked by the offeror at any time until it is accepted. However, the revocation of the offer must be communicated to the offeree. Unless and until the revocation is so communicated, it is ineffective4. When David sent a telegram to Edward at 3.00 p.m. on 14 December, this would tantamount to an action of communicating the revocation of his offer to Edward in a manner that is beyond David's control and in the case of telegram, as mentioned above, the Postal Rule would also be applicable. In this case, both communication of acceptance and communication of revocation were sent at the same time and on the same date. The issue would be which of these two would prevail. It is submitted that this would depend on which communication would come to the knowledge of the intended party first. If the acceptance so communicated by Edward comes to the knowledge of David before Edward knows that David has sent a revocation notice, Edward's acceptance would be binding on David. On the other hand, if the revocation notice so communicated by David reaches Edward before David knows about the acceptance, David's revocation notice of the offer would be effective against Edward. Part III - Tort Speedy-Fit's potential liability for the injuries suffered by Jennifer, Toby and Molly would depend on whether it can be established that Speedy-Fit owes a duty to take care5 and that the injuries suffered by the victims was caused by breach of Speedy-Fit of its duty. The burden of

Business integration Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business integration - Research Paper Example Additionally, they support the integration of the processes and rules that allow the web service and systems interoperability and smoothen the capability metrics that are operational to the Department of Defense Management plan. The IT and business integration main aim is providing standard framework of the end to end processes to all the necessary stakeholders that include the military department, the defense business council, the principal staff assistants, functional process owners and including non-military departments. The development of a common framework is in order to improve processes of business that are supported by IT. The other goal pertains to describing and classifying end to end business processes and investigating how they can decompose to provide support for unique operational activities. The end to end framework is used to assist in filling the gap between the enterprise solutions and the enterprise resource planning, recording the systems’ primary contributions and aiding with boosting business integration defense, business systems and business processes. The end to end framework also provides a framework that helps with updating and organizing the content in the DoD while also acting as a mechanism for evaluating the alignment of business systems for evaluation. The framework provides a methodology for management that aids the DoD to align its individual defense business systems in a strategic manner in order to correct redundancies in the system and obtain standardization in the department. Additionally, the framework is useful in simplifying business rules in the entire department and streamlining the business processes in order to meet the needs of the business and support the capabilities of the business. The military departments and the DoD agencies arrange their standard capabilities in the manner described above in accordance with the end to end capabilities of a business for the

Compare the causes of European, African, and Asian emigrations to Essay

Compare the causes of European, African, and Asian emigrations to North America - Essay Example Pulling factors include job opportunities, religious and political reference. The essay will try to discuss the causes of different races to North America and the reasons for immigrations. â€Å"Migration is not always voluntary† (Dahlman and Renwick 235). For instance, Africa America migration to the North America was due to conflict in South America. African Americans migration was suffering under the Jim Crow laws that segregated blacks from the white. After the civil war, cotton prices depreciated in the South as the weevils destroyed most of the crop that highly affected the economy causing African America to migrate to the North. Some countries got rid of unwanted prisoners by taking them to other countries, the prisoners however settled in these areas, as they could not go back to their countries. Millions of people left Europe during the time of empire and colonies and settled in North America. â€Å"This emigration was driven by the rapid growth of the European population during its demographic transition† (Dahlman and Renwick 241). Harsh living conditions in their original homes contributed to the migration. There was unending famine in some parts of Europe due to harsh weather conditions and this highly contributed to the migration. Asian birthrate and poor economic growth pushed more people to North America where the economic was booming. Most Asians relocated to North America looking for peace because of the World War 1. North America changed rapidly due to the migration. â€Å"European exploration and settlement had a devastating effect on the indigenous peoples, meaning native populations† (Dahlman and Renwick 244). For instance, they natives had a low immunity to diseases carried by the immigrants, which cause a high death rate in the first century. The immigration causes intolerance attitude from the natives and this caused immigrant is put in smaller reservations. Many native intermarried with the immigrants,

Segmentation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Segmentation - Essay Example Despite this, there are no restaurants in Victoria, BC that serve Saudi Food. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the marketability of opening a Saudi restaurant in Victoria BC by focusing on three potential market segments for this business venture. Three market segments will be analyzed which include Single Saudi students in Victoria, Married Saudi students in Victoria and Muslim non-Saudi. These will be analyzed based on demographic, psychographic, behavioral attributes. Evaluation of the profitability of the restaurant will be based on the analysis and finally recommendations would be offered for the business. The segment consists of Saudi students including both genders male and female. According to Saudi club in Victoria â€Å"Victoria now has more than 860 Saudi students male and female are divided among between University of Victoria, Royal Roads University, and Camosun College as well as other English institutions in the city; 67 per cent of the students are single and the rest are married† (N. Daheher, Personal Communication, 12 February, 2013). This means 576 are singles. The percent of single Saudi females in Victoria are 17% of 576 (98 females). The percent of single Saudi males in Victoria are 83 of 576 (478 males). These students usually lead a very busy lifestyle. They are involved in a myriad of activities which apart from taking classes includes homework, taking English Language classes and also socializing. Saudi students, especially men, come from a culture where they have little experience of household chores including cooking. Also their busy schedule in Canada does not allow them to take out the time to cook food. While they consume mostly Western fast food, they are still nostalgic about their Saudi food which is quite different from the food that is available in Victoria BC. As mentioned before, there are more than 860 Saudi male and female students; of these 23 percent are married. The married are further divided into male

The Emerald Forest Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The Emerald Forest - Essay Example This cleaning of forests angered the tribes living in the forests known as the Invisible people and The Fierce People (â€Å"The Emerald Forest†). The story gets its real essence when one-day Markhem takes his family for a tour of the forest and his son Tommy gets abducted by the Invisible people (â€Å"The Emerald Forest†). The invisible people are environmental friendly people, who are very close to nature considering it as their friend and living happily in their forest in their own community unless Markhem comes to destroy their peace and take away their home (â€Å"The Emerald Forest†). They kidnap his son because they assume that Westerners or termites as they call them are the destroyers of the world, but the child is innocent and so should not live with these murderers. Tommy is adopted by the chief of the tribe Wanadi who loves and brings him up as his son. Markhem searches a lot for Tommy but does not find him until after ten years when Tommy rescues hi m while fleeing for his life from the Fierce People (â€Å"The Emerald Forest†). Markhem asks Tommy to return to him and his world but Tommy refuses and says that now his world is this forest and his people are his tribe. Markhem even asks their chief Wanadi, who is the authority of the Invisible People to convince Tommy to return but Wanadi says that â€Å"If I tell a man to do what he does not want to do, I may no longer be the chief.† Meaning that even being the authority there he has no right to force people to do something they don’t want to do.... The chief does not give any command or order to his people, not even his son to follow, rather he understands that it is the basic right of every human being to follow his will and wish (â€Å"Proyect†). However in the modern western world, lives of humans are ruled by orders and commandments given sometimes by their parents, sometimes by teachers, later by their employees, and overall by the governments, policemen etc (â€Å"Proyect†). It was not just that there was a wide gap between the authority structures of these two societies but their entire life style, culture, norms, traditions etc all were opposite. The people of the traditional societies still use artillery, spears and arrows to fight and they walk to cover long distances (â€Å"The Emerald Forest†). The use of technology is very limited or almost nonexistent in their lives as they are closer to nature and lives together. In contrast to them, modern western society uses technology to a large extent (à ¢â‚¬Å"The Emerald Forest†). There are modern methods of fighting like machine guns and bombs, aero planes, railways cars etc to travel to far away distances in just hours, large machines are used for construction and to cut off forests. This advancement in technology has both its benefits and costs (â€Å"The Emerald Forest†). With technology comes the easiness to do things and time gets saved in travelling. As Wanadi says to Markhem â€Å"When I was a boy, the edges of the world was very far away, but it comes closer each year.† However with benefits comes the cost too. As more vehicles are produced, so have the pollution from air, land and water increased as well (â€Å"The Emerald Forest†). This pollution is destroying our respiratory system by going inside us

Involvement and Young Adults Sexual Health Knowledge Article

Involvement and Young Adults Sexual Health Knowledge - Article Example Particular emphasis has been placed on social media artifacts because they are so heavily used by adolescents and young adults. In addition, individuals within this age group receive a large amount of their information from such sources. Prior to this study, researchers viewed the social media as negatively impacting the sexual decisions of young adults. Although there is the valid support for this supposition, the authors of this article suggest there may also be some positive effects of social media artifacts on this population. These effects include educating young adults about sexually transmitted diseases and offering the possible outcomes of premarital sex. Pointedly, the authors state that the majority of earlier research concentrated solely on the television as the primary source of information—there was no focus on magazines. Due to the broad range of sexual topics discussed in modern day magazines that are read by young adults, researchers postulate that these magazines may assist young adults with making decisions about sex such as discussing contraception options with a partner or choosing to refrain from sexual activity until marriage. Consequently, it can be correlated that an increase in magazi ne reading may lead to an increase in condom/contraceptive and more positive decisions concerning sexual health. Therefore, this article aims at understanding how magazines serve as constructive sources of information and enable young adults to make informed decisions about their sexual health. Throughout Studies 1 and 2, the authors hypothesized that â€Å"because of the coverage of sexual health issues in magazines †¦ reading certain genres of magazines (women’s lifestyle, teen, and men’s lifestyle) would be positively correlated with sexual health knowledge, safe-sex self-efficacy, safe-sex intentions, and contraceptive use† (p. 287).

Religious Movement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Religious Movement - Essay Example Within this concept is the idea of what Wallace calls a â€Å"revitalization movement† in the structure of the religions society. According to Bartleby’s definition of a revitalization movement, a revitalization movement can be defined as: political-religious movements promising deliverance from deprivation, the elimination of foreign domination, and a new interpretation of the human condition based on traditional cultural values, common in societies undergoing severe stress associated with colonial conquest and intense class or racial exploitation. Thus, within this concept, a religious culture undergoing this type of transition would experience the stages of a steady state, a period of increasing individual stress, a period of cultural distortion, revitalization, routinization, and then a new steady state. By taking a close look at how the religion of Christianity developed, we can see these transitions through the stages of revitalization in action, and can hence gain a better understanding of Wallace’s theory. Christianity, like every other religion, has passed through these stages and experienced these transitions. The first stage of this process that applies to Christianity is the steady state. When the birth of Christianity first took place, it occurred during the Roman steady state period. Rome was the strongest Empire in the world at the time, and thus, was undergoing a period of prosperity. The Empire was increasingly expanding, becoming more powerful, and winning even greater conquests. The power of the Romans, at the time, was vast and limitless, and as they continued to conquer, they continued to gain. At the time, it seemed like the Roman power force would be never-ending, and Rome was perhaps the greatest Empire of all time. This would perhaps even put Rome beyond the point of the actual steady state. At the same time, another country affected

Corruption in Colombia Essay Example for Free

Corruption in Colombia Essay There has been a four-decade long conflict between government forces and anti-government groups, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) who are funded by the drug trade, has escalated over the years. Since about 2002 the violence has decreased a slit amount because of the lack of the military and popular support necessary to overthrow the government. However these groups of insurgents have continued to attack civilians. Large areas around Columbia are under the revolutionary influence. By the end of 2006, more than 31,000 former governments’ officials had ceased to function as long as the formal organization the United Self Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). When this occurred criminal groups arose and members included former government officials. The Colombia Government has made efforts to advance government control throughout the country. In order to understand how corruption is affecting Colombia, we must first examine concrete economical statistics. The Colombian Peso exchange rate depreciated 6. 64 percent against the US Dollar during the last 12 months. The Colombian Peso spot exchange rate specifies how much one currency, the USD, is currently worth in terms of the other, the COP. While the Colombian Peso spot exchange rate is quoted and exchanged in the same day, the Colombian Peso forward rate is quoted today but for delivery and payment on a specific future date. Colombian pesos (COP) per US dollar: 1,869. 9 (2010) 2,157. 6 (2009) 2,243. 6 (2008) 2,013. 8 (2007) 2,358. 6 (2006) According to the CIA World Factbook, Colombia is ranked 59th in exports and 54th in imports. In May of 2011 Colombia exports were worth 4704 Million USD and imports were worth 4931 Million USD. Their major exports are petroleum, coffee, coal, nickel, gold and, nontraditional exports. Their major imports are industrial and transportation equipment, consumer goods, chemicals, paper products, fuels, and electricity. The total population in Colombia was last reported at 45. 9 million people in 2010 from 16. 0 million in 1960, changing 187 percent during the last 50 years. Colombia has 0. 67 percent of the world? s total population which means that one person in every 150 people on the planet is a resident of Colombia. The unemployment rate in Columbia from 2000 until 2010 averaged at 14. 7 percent. The highest percentage was in January of 2001 when it was 20. 99 percent. The lowest percentage was in November of 2007 when it was 8. 91 percent. Labor force is the number of people employed plus the number unemployed but seeking work. The non-labor force is those who are not looking for work, those who are institutionalized, and those serving in the military. According to the World Bank, the Colombia Gross Domestic Product is worth 288 billion dollars or 0. 46% of the world economy. Colombias average GDP was 60. 55 billion dollars and reached the highest dollars in December of 2010. Colombia is a free market economy with major commercial and investment ties to The United States. Transition from a highly regulated economy has been underway for more than 15 years. Colombias average annual economic growth rate was of over 5% from 2002 to 2007. The inflation rate in Colombia was last reported at 3. 3 percent in August of 2011. Inflation rate refers to a general rise in prices measured against a standard level of purchasing power. The most well-known measures of Inflation are the CPI which measures consumer prices, and the GDP deflator, which measures inflation in the whole of the domestic economy. Corruption’s negative impact on Colombian Foreign Direct Investment is reflected by the poor image of Colombian government by its citizens. The Colombian government, although less developed and more corrupt, is structured similarly to the United States’ government. However unstable it may be, it is a republic and consists of three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. Also like the United States, Colombia is dominated by two major political parties, the Colombian Conservative Party and the Colombian Liberal Party. Because of the natural radicalism of the two parties, two major civil wars have resulted from their existence, The Thousand Days War and La Violencia. The Thousand Days War is a prime example of how the corruption of the Colombian government has made Foreign Direct Investment a very difficult achievement for Colombia. The Thousand Days War was a civil war fought between the Conservative Party of Colombia and the Liberal Party of Colombia, sparked by corruption. In 1898, Conservative Party member Manuel Antonio Sanclement, was elected president of Colombia. This was very controversial because it was believed that significant election fraud had made this possible. As Sanclement was an adamant Liberal Party oppose, the Colombian Liberal Party waged war. The war, which lasted 4 years, claimed an estimated 100,000 lives. As devastating of a loss as 100,000 people is, the worst outcome of The Thousand Days War may be that it did little to resolve the extreme differences between the Liberal and Conservative Parties of Colombia. The Thousand Days War was soon followed by a second civil war more commonly known as La Violencia. La Violencia was also a war founded on corruption. It was sparked by the assassination of the Liberal Party leader Jorge Eliecer Gaitan. After the assassination in 1948, Conservative Party leader Laureano Gomez, was the uncontested elected president in 1950. Under Gomez’s power, there was an increased rate of violence, specifically by the liberals of Colombia who were very upset about Gomez’s rise to power. Gomez was overthrown by a military coup led by General Gustavo Rojas Pinilpla in 1953. However, Rojas proved to be just as corrupt his predecessor and was soon overthrown by the Colombian military, with the support of both the Conservative and Liberal parties. La Violencia, a time properly named after and extreme period of violence and conflict, lasted from 1946 to 1957. Within that timespan it claimed an estimated 300,000 Colombian lives. The following chart shows the number of Colombian citizens who are murdered per 100,000 people by year. What is more concerning than its high rates, is that it continued to increase even after La Violencia. These extreme rates of murder and frequent conflicts are heavily dependent on the poor image citizens have of the Colombian government. There is a lack of trust in the Colombian government. Historically, governmental corruption is common practice in Colombia, just as it is a frequent occurrence that violent rebellions and civil wars take place in order to transfer power between the two political parties. This poor government infrastructure and lack of control allows corruption to run wild in Colombia making it a very difficult place for Foreign Direct Investment. This poor image of government in Colombia did not see much improvement after La Violencia. Another violent problem emerged with narco-terrorism. Colombia has become notorious for its cocaine production. In 2008, Colombia was the sources of 50% of the world’s cocaine. It is an industry which is very frequently held out violently, leading to what is known as narco-terrorism. In 1990, three presidential candidates were killed by narco-terrorists. With the rise of drug trafficking in Colombia, it appears that narco-terrorists have more control than the Colombian government. Although Colombian government has always struggled with corruption, there have recently been many signs of improvement towards a better country for Foreign Direct Investment. Within the past decade, several laws have been passed to weaken drug cartels and strengthen governmental control. From 2002 to 2008 Colombia has seen a decrease in many historically struggling areas. Its homicide rate dropped 44%, its kidnapping rates dropped 88%, its terrorist attacks dropped 79% and its attacks on country’s infrastructure dropped 60%. These tremendous improvements show an increase in governmental authority in Colombia. If Colombia can continue to improve in these areas and demonstrate that its government can have more control over its people, without corruption, it will become a much better candidate for Foreign Direct Investment. In August 2010, President Santos, introduced a legislation that would distribute industry incomes to Columbians who have lost their land due to violence. He also is trying to make improvements through domestic security. Columbia is third largest exporter of oil to the United States. Foreign direct investment from 2008 to 2009 went from $10 billion to $7. 2 billion. Even though records show that it has dropped $2. 8 billion, in 2010 it began to recover their losses through the oil sector. Because of their financial crisis the economy didn’t grow significant amount till 2010 then it grew 4. %. Before that the growth was a low percentage. With the challenges that Colombia’s faces it requires major improvement to sustain economic expansion. The outrageous amount of corruption in Colombia is hindering its economy and stopping it from becoming a safe and stable country. Although it is one of the oldest democracies in Latin America, Colombia has some of the most corrupt elections. An estimated 130,000 candidates are running for election at the local, regional, and national levels. 10% of these candidates have proven criminal records. About a third of their senate is currently under investigation for parapolitics and many of which are already in jail. The corrupt election are stopping Colombia from having a stable government which is stopping foreign investors from taking the risk of putting money into Columbia, meaning less jobs and poorer quality of life for the average Colombian. In 2005 the parapolitics scandal was uncovered and left the Colombian senate in chaos. The Colombian senate seats 102, and with 51 senators now being investigated and 29 in jail, they are virtually paralyzed. As each senator is arrested, it delays the agenda for legislation even more. Paramilitary leaders have confessed to hundreds of thousands of crimes including murders, abductions, rapes, narcotics, and extortion. They have also confessed to backing many politicians in an attempt to be protected outside of the law. Many members of the former president of Colombia, President Alvaro Uribe’s party were arrested for parapolitics showing the world how unstable the Colombian government is. One of the arrested politicians includes the president’s cousin Mario Uribe who has had very close ties to the president both family-wise and politically. This influenced the United States greatly and in 2007 a package of military aid destined for Colombia from the United States was blocked in the U. S. senate because of fear of election corruption. Colombia depends on the U. S. greatly, as it is number 3 in the world for U. S. military aid. The aid is used to assist in fighting the drug war and without it; more violence and corruption will take place. Paramilitary has a huge effect on the elections conducted in Columbia. There are around 20,000 paramilitary fighters in the country all growing from their creation in the 1980’s. In 2010 armed groups killed over two dozen candidates running for election and at the same time they invested large sums of money to fund their own candidates’ campaigns. Along with bribing people to run for them, these armed groups will also pay the public for individual votes. This can be as much as $40 per person in some places. Other times they will also use sheer military force to intimidate the public into voting for them. Many of the jailed parapoliticians have others running in their place as puppets while they are still in jail. Caracol news agency reported that 18 of the candidates in 2010 were â€Å"political front men† for ex-senators. There was an increase in the amount of women running for election which usually is considered a good thing. The truth is that the ones with the best chance for election were being backed by paramilitary families in an attempt to keep seats lost by jailed parapoliticians. The other big problem in Colombia its enormous drug trade and the negative effect it has on the economy. Columbia is the world’s largest cocaine producer and accounts for 43% of coca cultivation (the crop used to make cocaine). 0% of the cocaine found in the United States is Colombian. Combined, Colombian and Mexican drug cartels make an estimated $4. 6 billion exporting to the United States per year. Overall Columbia’s drug trade is about $10 billion / year which is equivalent to 25% of the countries legal exports. In 2008 81,000 hectares of land were being used for illegal coca cultivation. These are staggering numbers and makes you wonder, how is all of this being allowed to happen? If Colombia was not as corrupt as it is, this wouldn’t happen. Many of the drug lords use their influence and resources to pay off politicians, police, and military to turn a blind eye to their drug trade. Attempts have been made to stop this massive drug trafficking but so far it has only slowed it down. Colombia’s defense spending is now at $12 billion per year which is triple the average defense budget of other South American countries. Along with an increased defense budget, the United States has also committed an additional $6 billion since 2001 to help crackdown on the coca production. These are large sums of money that could be spent in other more productive ways. Such as, creating a better national infrastructure and creating jobs. $18 billion is a lot of money to invest in an economy, and currently they are losing all of that potential production because drugs are such a big problem. Drug trafficking and election corruption are both hurting the Colombian economy. Billions of dollars are being spent to stop the corruption but to this point there is still a great deal going on. In order for Colombia to have better production in a global economy, they must prove to the world they have a stable government, and reduce the risks associated with investing in them. Over the past few years, foreign direct investment in Colombia has been gradually increasing as their country has been fighting the corruption and violence that had been prominent. Some of the most advantageous areas for FDI are technology, fuels – such as coal, oil and natural gas and infrastructure. One reason that fuel is a wise choice for FDI is because Colombia has much more oil than is being used by its population: This excess would allow foreign companies access to enough oil to run more plants at a cheaper cost. Infrastructure is also important because Colombia’s current ease of transportation leaves much to be desired. If a company decided to invest in Colombia’s transportation, it would draw more investors in as said transportation costs decreased. The Colombian government has been actively working to encourage local companies to develop the roadway systems across the country to attempt to make Colombia more attractive to foreign investors. While several countries are investing in Colombia, the United States is the lead investor by over 30%. It is certainly beneficial to have a strong investor, however it can be problematic for one country to control so much of Colombia’s foreign direct investment. Having investments in Colombia is helpful for the United States because Colombia is a relatively close population of cheap labor without many of the highly-regulated working conditions that are found in more developed, less corrupt countries. As a surprisingly strong investor, Anguilla contributes 20% of Colombia’s foreign direct investment. For a country whose economy is largely based on tourism, it is interesting to see their commitment to a local country that has very little tourism because of its reputation for violence, drugs and corruption. Foreign direct investment has been increasing in the recent years due to Colombia’s higher regulation of corruption and desire to control the violence in the streets. Many businesses are beginning to trust Colombia to protect their product rights and property, although Colombia is still far from stable and dependable. While crime rates are slowly decreasing in Colombia, most businesses still avoid investing in Colombia because of its reputation for extensive riots and drug wars. If Colombia can decrease their reputation for instability and corruption, they have every opportunity to successfully draw in investment and provide a safer, better future for their citizens. As stated throughout this extensive research paper, corruption can cause a country many problems. One aspect that it affects the most is trade. Countries and corporations are less attracted to corrupt governments opposed to more stable governments. According to Mauro, who analyzed 94 corrupt countries, GDP increased by four percent with a decrease of 2. 38 on his teen point scale; GDP per capita increased by . percent. Mauro contributed to the book, The State in a Changing World, World Development Report 1997. Columbia has had corruption problems for an extended period of time now. Parts of the government have tried to stop such corruption but cooperation from all parts is needed to progress. In order for Columbia to progress they must start at the root. They must analyze what causes corruption and approaches other countries took to successfully start eliminating corruption. A few of the reasons corruption is practiced are to avoid penalties for illegal actions or to get around legal regulations. One overwhelming problem in Columbia, that is no secret to most, is drug trade. Drug cultivating and trade in Columbia is evident due to its geological location and ideal climate. In order to transport these drugs and have farms some drug lords may need to pay off government officials so they can â€Å"turn their eyes† on such activities. In this case both the drug lords and government officials benefit. Corruption will be hard to fight in Columbia due to the fact that the drug industry is estimated to be valued in the billions and whenever there is such a significant amount of money on the line, people are willing to do anything. Regardless of the reason, usually it is for an individual’s personal gain, companies included. Institutional corruption usually arises when government officials have a significant amount of power but little accountability. Most of the time, the officials must have their own financial incentives in order to partake in the corruption. The more control government officials have to regulate corporations the more corruption is likely to occur. If the probability of being caught or punished is low, people will tend to risk dealing with corruption. There are two approaches that must be taken to fight corruption, the first approach must be an institutional approach and the other must be a social approach. To begin an institutional reform towards corruption, Columbia must limit authority. Columbia has a questionable democratic government. With all the corruption going on, the polls could be altered. This is where the social approach comes into play later on. There most prominent branch is the executive branch. This supports the fact that Columbia’s authorities may have too much power. Privatization is believed to be able to reduce corruption by limiting the amount of government interaction with companies. In order to be successful there must be certain regulation put into place. The only problem with this approach is that it has already been taken by Columbia, and while it did improve corruption, it was not notable enough. Columbia has gone as far as privatizing its water supply and while it had many critics at first, it turned out to be a good decision by their part due to the correct regulations put into place. Other suggestions are to increase liberalization by reducing tariffs. This will lead to officials having less access to 1bribes. Competition among public services can also reduce corruption by eliminating monopoly type organizations. By increasing accountability, corruption can be decreased. Accountability includes stricter enforcement and easier detection mechanisms. Accountability can be increased through many ways. Freedom of information legislation can help. To better explain freedom of information legislation, and example would be the Ugandan government began posting prices for services and activities such as registering a car or starting a small business. This eliminates questionable pricing and increases transparency. Another tactic to increase transparency is to implement financial disclosure among government officials. This tactic makes government officials income and assets public. Some South American countries have already began this practice; countries such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Government expenditures and income can also be made public for transparency purposes. This way money won’t go missing and if it does the people will know; this is known as an open budget process. Legislative oversight can benefit Columbia greatly in terms of eliminating corruption. Since Columbia must give more power to its legislative branch rather than its executive branch. A recent example has been one of Columbia’s neighbors, Brazil. The congressional impeachment of President Fernando Collor de Mello demonstrated the strength of the legislative branch. The Brazilian senate has also set up a special committee to investigate potential fraud in selling government bonds. Columbia’s senate should take initiative and also set up some sort of committee to investigate corruption charges. These methods won’t completely eliminate corruption and none will come close to even making an impact if it’s the only method used but if they are combined corruption and decrease considerably. An incentive to avoid corruption would be stricter sanction. By increasing the severity of the punishments people face a higher risk factor when participating in corrupt actions, thus leading them to think twice about their actions. Sanctions may include but are not limited to minimum sentences for taking part in corrupt activities or denying public services for any entity offering bribes, this includes people or companies. Columbia was already on somewhat of a right track when it comes to strengthening their judicial branch’s power. In 1991 Alfonso Valdivieso was appointed attorney general. In Colombia the Attorney General cannot be dismissed or reappointed and he is given investigatory powers. Valdivieso gained world recognition for prosecuting high ranking drug lords and government officials. I would recommend Columbia to ask Valdivieso for help, knowing that he is a reliable source when it comes to corruption. He can’t be Attorney General again but if special unit is formed to combat corruption, he is definitely a guy that should be taken in mind. This concludes possible ways to avoid and reduce corruption from an institutional view point, reducing corruption from a social approach is rather different. The way people are raised and their surroundings affect their views on many things including corruption. If children are raised in a corrupt environment, they will view it not only acceptable but almost necessary. It’s a top down effect where government officials and corporation leaders are at the top. They must set an example for the public to look down on corruption and not endorse it. Public Relations Campaigns can be put into effect to better inform people on the consequences and harm done by corruption that is not too clear. Campaigns can be executed through mass media, community activities or school programs. A few key points that should be emphasized are the effect that corruption has on things such as public services, investments, and inequality. All of these aspects are affected in a negative way. Columbia’s unemployment rate is 11. 8% and its Gini index is 58. 5. These numbers could improve with by decreasing corruption but this fact isn’t evident to most of the population. If people feel like they have a say in the situation and can make a change, they will be more actively supportive. These campaigns should aim towards making people feel as if every little bit of help counts. In Argentina a non-government organization was formed to inform the public about corruption. The organization consists of television and radio ads. Another positive use of media to combat corruption is investigative journalism. Investigative journalism increase transparency greatly. It helps uncover corrupt officials and acts. The truth is what drives investigative journalism rather than just a story. Investigative journalism poses a threat of being exposed towards anyone that is participating in corrupt acts. It is a risky job due to the fact that people being uncovered may have a lot of power. Workshops should be set up to train such journalist. Countries such as Uganda and Tanzania have just that. In a country like Colombia with all the guerilla forces and drug cartels, this is a very important part to investigative journalism. Journalist run the risk of being targeted, so they must be careful and smart in the ways they go about reporting and accessing their findings. Lastly Columbia could search for outside help. Help can come from individual countries or organizations. Organizations such as the United Nations and the World Bank could offer guidelines to help. Both organizations are pretty much powerless but they can help establish treaties that could improve anti-corruption efforts. Individual countries that wish to invest in Columbia could also take initiative and further influence Columbian anti-corruption movements. To recap corruption is mostly if not solely negative towards Columbia’s economic development. It makes Columbia look risky to outside investors hoping to make a Federal Direct Investment. Investors prefer stability rather than turmoil. Due to its geological position, Columbia has faced drug problems for a few decades now. In order to transport these drugs and grow them, bribery and corruption is needed. Columbian citizens and officials should notice that corruptions cons outweigh the pros when it comes to the Columbian economy as a whole. Officials must lead by example and the power of the executive branch should be reduced.

Mental Health Groups: Theories and Methods

Mental Health Groups: Theories and Methods Constance Ballew All over the world the issue of mental health is a rampantly growing problem. With budget cuts both statewide and federally since the 1980’s by President Ronald Reagan, our country has had to create more cost efficient ways to meet the needs of our mental health crisis. Because of these budget cuts the need for more mental health services has grown and our county has responded to the outcry from those with mental health issues. Tulare County has come up with a way to help meet these needs locally through the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA), which was voted for in November 2004 and became effective January 2005. From August 2009 to October 20011 MHSA has helped over 16,000 Tulare county residents with mental health issues. This is possible because of a 1% tax surcharge on those who make $1 million or more per year. Mental health groups in Tulare County treat a broad spectrum of problems. From Bipolar Disorder and depression to schizophrenia, there are support groups to help c lients deal with the difficulties associated with mental illness (HHSA, 2012). In California the rate mental illness vary from county to county. Over all the rate of those with mental health issues in California are 16.3% that equals to about 4 million Californians. This percentage is a scarce comparison to that of all Americans who need mental health services. These figures which are 20-28% are alarming. Mental health affects everyone, even those who don’t have mental illness are affected by the mental health crisis in our county and country. Mental illness does not choose its victims by color, race, gender or age. Mental illness also does not prefer certain social or economic status. (Lund, 2001) Before 1956 many patients were not open to the idea of group therapy, almost two thirds of the patients in fact. And of those who entered group therapy 15% dropped out within the first 5 weeks of therapy. It is also shown in the study done by DeSchill that patients who had already received individual counseling did not increase their likely hood of staying in group counseling over those who had not. (DeSchill, 2014) The creation of mental health groups came from the need for more patients to be seen at a more economic and less time consuming. This is due to the introduction of Managed care into the mental health care system. Managed care has brought some limitations into treatment of mental illness as well as other groups. These are that managed care will pay for a certain amount of group sessions. There is a price cap on some of the sessions and therapist are often limited to the quantity and quality of care they provide group members. The Goal of mental health groups is to help people cope with the disabilities they face in life. It is this such support that helps many people around the U.S. live their lives in more fruitful ways than they would if they did not had the support of the mental health support groups. Mental health support groups provide an end to isolation. The isolation that people suffer who have mental health issues is debilitating and leads to early death rates for the mentally ill. According to Marla Szalavitz, in a study done by researchers at University College London, 6,500 people over the age of 52 where studied. The most isolated of those had a 26% higher chance of earlier death than those who were not isolated. Mental health groups have a valuable role in the part of treating those with mental illness, not just mentally but also physically (Szalavitz, 2013). The group members would be screened prior to entering the group. This is to ensure safety within the group and also to allow the maximum effectiveness for the group. The screening process would be done by a physician who would then refer the member to our group. This would help the therapist to focus on the members in the group who are able to do work and participate in their own change process. The roles of the members in a group are important to study. Each member role help to establish a flow for the dynamic and solidifies norms. The challenges of the leaders in a mental health group can be somewhat different from a leader in other groups. This is because the dynamic could change more often than that of other groups due to the challenges that face those with mental illness. The treatment models used to treat mental illness in group therapy according to Sara Battista, groups can be psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral psychotherapy and psychosocial. The purpose and goal of a mental health group is dependent on the type of model used. In psychosocial groups, the goal is to sustain a balance of norms in the clients life, change if it happens is slow and not expected with the psychosocial model of treatment. In a Cognitive behavioral model led group, the leader is an example for the group. The group is made of people with the same sorts of issues who seek the same goal. Psychodynamic groups focus on the role each member has had in their families or in society and now have in the group. (Battista, 2013) In addition to the generalization of the treatments used to treat mental health issues, there are more in depth tools used in groups for the treatment of mental illness. Depression for people who have a mild or moderate level has been treated with cognitive behavioral along with interpersonal psychotherapies. While patients who have a disorder such as schizophrenia have been shown to benefit from cognitive behavioral psychotherapy. (Lehman et al, 2004) Psychoanalytic groups or psychodynamic groups settings usually have anywhere from 5 to 10 people. In this type of setting there is a gender heterogeneity and the ages are usually within the same developmental stages. This is also a group which is cost effective and would benefit the members in financial hardship. The meetings are generally and 1  ½ long or longer depending on the group. This type of group would meet a couple of two to three time per a week. This model is used because of its effectiveness to deal with group issues such as resistance and transference. Because of the heterogeneity in the group, members are able to work out other emotional reactions they might have opposed to that of a homogeneous group. Group members use their interactions with each other to help them work out problems in their lives. There is a sense of self-awareness that is gained by this type of therapy in group and the individual is able to do work more efficiently than on his own (DeSchill, 1974 ). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy used in group sessions is cost and time efficient. This type of therapy helps the group members to focus on life issues such as relationships, matters of their health and are aims to help correct dysfunctional issues with the clients. The goals for this type of group would be to help the group members realize that they can have more choices than the ones that have had in the past. Also to replace faulty behavior with healthy emotions and behaviors. This group would be a smaller group of about 5-10 people and also heterogeneous. This group would most likely meet about twice a week for about 2 hours to help promote the necessary change needed in the group (Cowdry, 2012). Psychosocial group settings are settings in which the group members talk out their problems, this is an effective type of treatment for people who have various type of mental health disorders. The setting would also be gender heterogeneous and include different ethnic backgrounds. The cultural differences in the group may prove to be an issue of resistance but if the therapist is trained with a multicultural background it can be a learning experience for the rest of the group. This group much like the two previous types of groups I have mentioned would be smaller groups and would meet more frequently to help the process of change. (Cowdry, 2012) The group duration is ongoing for those with more serious mental health issues and can be more time limited for those with anxiety or depression issues. Since the goals for the groups are different. The duration would also be different. Meaning that people with schizophrenia will need a group with a longer duration, maybe 2 years while someone suffering from anxiety and depression may only need 16-18. This is because for those with serious issues the goals are more about maintaining their lives and with anxiety or depression it is to help produce change. The goals of each group would be depending on the degree of mental health issues in which the members have. For instance, the goals for group members who are more seriously mentally ill would more tailored to adapting or maintaining mental and physical health and not towards a cure or getting better. While the goals for groups that are for depression and anxiety are focused on cognitive and the behavioral changes for members. It is also focused on helping the group members see more positive ways to manage stress and coping skills to manage negative thoughts. (Corey et al, 2014). Group rules for mental health members should be clear and easy to understand. They should set limits on behaviors and encourage the members to share. Rules should also help to ensure safety and confidentiality within the group. Rules would be as follows; please allow people to finish sharing before speaking. Respect others thoughts and feelings. Please keep what has been shared in group inside group. Please share any thoughts or concerns you may have in group. The tools that can be used in the forming stage of the group can be activities used to create safety and trust. This would be for the first few sessions of the group. The next few sessions would be activities to confront resistance in the group so that the members can get through to the second stage of tuckmans model which is storming. Then a few team building exercises to help the group cohesion and encourage the norming stage. The next few sessions would be based on tools to increase performing within the members and the final stage and for the last few weeks group members and therapist would be focused on the ending of the group-termination. This final stage would be to help the member talk about any issues that they feel haven’t been addressed and also deal with the closing of the group. These last sessions will also be used to go over what has been learned by the group members, what they will do after group and help them with crisis plans. There are some ways in which a group can be evaluated to see if it has been an effective form of treatment. One way is to ask the clients to complete a pre group and post group questionnaire. This would ask questions asking the group member to rate their feelings toward themselves, their mental illness, their current abilities to function inside and outside of the group and also would ask them how willing they are to join the group. The post group questionnaire would also ask the client to rate their feelings based on how they felt after receiving the treatment in group. Another way to evaluate the effectiveness of the group would be to ask the group members to share with each other how they feel in group during the first few sessions about the effectiveness. This would be charted. The therapist can also ask members to come to a meeting after termination of the group in which they are asked their thoughts and feelings again about their time in the group. This would also be charted. T he comparisons used in the feeling checks before and after group can help the group leader determine the effectiveness of the group. A therapist can also evaluate the effectiveness of the group by research. The therapist can study how many people need more help, how many terminate early and for what reasons and also what changes need to be made to enhance the effectiveness (Corey et al, 2014). In doing this research, I found that mental health groups are a vital part of treating those with mental health issues. At times people feel alone, with group such as mental health treatment groups, members don’t have to feel alone and can relate to each other. References Battista, S. (2013) New Trends in Mental Health Treatment, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Retrieved From http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Top_Storytemplate=/contentmanagement/contentdisplay.cfmContentID=158934 Corey et al, (2014) Theories and Techniques of Group Counseling, Groups Process and Practice, Ninth Edition, Brooks/Cole, Cengage Learning Cowdry, R (2012) Treatments and Services, National Alliance on Mental Illness, Retrieved From  http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=About_Treatments_and_SupportsTemplate=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfmContentID=10510 DeSchill, S (1974) Introduction to Psychoanalytic Group Psychotherapy Part 1, The Challenge for Group Psychotherapy, Retrieved From http://americanmentalhealthfoundation.org/books/introduction-to-psychoanalytic-group-psychotherapy-part-1/ Health and Human Services Agency (2012) Tulare County Mental Health Services Act, Five Year Report, HHSA, Retrieved From http://hhsawebdocs.tchhsa.org/questys.cmx.hhsawebdocs/File.ashx?id=2819v=1x=pdf Lehman et al. (2004) Evidence-Based Mental Health Treatments and Services:  Examples to Inform Public Policy, Millbank Memorial Fund Retrieved From http://www.milbank.org/uploads/documents/2004lehman/2004lehman.html Lund, L. E. (2001) Mental Health Care in California Counties: Perceived Need and Barriers to Access, Center for Health Statistics, Retrieved From http://www.cdph.ca.gov/pubsforms/Pubs/OHIRmentalhealthCareCA2001.pdf Szalavitz, M. (2013) Social Isolation, Not just feeling Lonely May Shorten Lives, Time, Retrieved from http://healthland.time.com/2013/03/26/social-isolation-not-just-feeling-lonely-may-shorten-lives/

Race and Ethnicity in South Africa

Race and Ethnicity in South Africa The apartheid government believed that South Africa should be represented predominantly by the beliefs and cultures of the white race group, diminishing the others. Tutus speech directly challenges this by saying that the South African nation is a rainbow nation, with its national identity involving the different cultures, religions and beliefs of any and every group. This goes against the apartheid belief of a white supremacist state, saying that South Africa is a home to a diverse population, all of which share equal rights. It clearly states that, as a rainbow nation, South Africa embraces diversity in any form, whether it is racial, cultural, religious or ethnic. This means that anyone can be anything they desire and still be considered an equal citizen with equal rights. At the same time, however, it says that the countries people will rally together against any opposition, united by the common understanding that we are all South Africans. This one common plateau is what makes South Africa a unified nation, while at the same time celebrating its diversity in its people. No, he says the something completely different. He clearly says that different cultural groups must exist, but that there must be a common and mutual tolerance and respect for each group. This differences in society need to remain, and a mans views must stay intact, but people need to understand that we all fall under the title of South African, and it is this that will unite us and make us a peaceful and tolerant nation. If this understanding can be spread, according to Sparks, this is what will inspire our national identity. Rainbow nation is the concept that South Africa accepts all races and beliefs, viewing them as equal under a legal constitution, thus making South Africa a nation of many colours, with the identity of a diverse country, i.e. a rainbow nation. Mosaic society is a metaphor that compares the national identity of South Africa with a mosaic, a piece of art (usually a picture) made up of many differently shaped and coloured pieces of slate, slotted together. In the same way, each different culture, belief, religion, ethnicity, etc. must be accepted as part of society, but be separate from other groups (like the slate pieces). Melting pot refers to the opposite of what is considered to be the national identity. It suggests that like a pot in which ingredients are melted together into one entity, so is the South African society brining in its diverse people to be melted together to become the same, with the same beliefs and understandings. According to Source C, the hope was that a new South Africa would bring about racial integration and the enjoyment of wealth by all, as seen by looking at the image provided by the advertisement. This is clearly a false representation of reality, as today it is well known that those who were oppressed by apartheid (mainly black people, but also Indians and coloured people) found it hard to recover in terms of education and finance after apartheid ended, resulting in the persisting divides we see in this country today, in which the vast majority of wealthy people are white and therefore live separate from the economically underprivileged. This proves that the idea of a national identity provided by the source is completely artificial. Source D also explains to us an important fact; that the divides created by apartheid, across religion, race, ethnicity and gender, meant that people experienced very different ways of living during the apartheid era. These differences and divided experi ences are not something that can be broken down over years, let alone over night, resulting in what has previously been explained as different groups preferring to exist in their own comfort zones of society, making the notion of a national identity almost absurd. Finally, Source E shows us that the concept of a national identity is one that belongs to the starry-eyed idealists, i.e. not something that could happen in reality. It also provides another take on this, by suggesting that South Africa was never really a unified country, but rather the product of hundreds of years of colonialism, meaning that because this land was influenced so drastically by the external imperial powers, that the groups and social divides created by this influence resulted in the present idea of a unified and nationalistic South Africa being non-existent. A national symbol needs to be at least one of the following three things. Firstly, it must be created from the hearts of the people, from something that they feel strongly about and can therefore rally behind. Secondly, it needs to be created with regard to the experiences and suffering of those it will represent, as people who need to back this symbol must feel that it stands for everything they have gone through in order to make it possible to have such a symbol. Lastly, it must be something that people identify with, something easily recognisable and universally accepted so as to appeal to a diverse population. I would support the third approach, which says that a national symbol should be something that every person can identify with fully, as this encompasses the other two approaches. In order for someone to identify with a representational symbol, they must accept it into their hearts, as it needs to be something that they feel close to and that reaches them on a emotional and personal level, while still standing for their political persuasion. As well as this, it needs to be something that represents the experiences and suffering that one has been through in order to insure the creation of the symbol itself. This means that it must reach them on an external, physical level, as well as a personal one. Therefore, we understand that in order for something to be identifiable to a person, it needs to encompass all the three approaches mentioned above, which are brought together by the third approach. The fact that Thabo Mbeki implies that every group in our culturally diverse country stems from the same source and should therefore have the same belief and understanding of a national identity that represents every South African. This is most definitely not the case, and hence completely idealistic. To claim that every black man and women has the same interpretation of what it means to be South Africa as the average white South African is absurd, as the formative experiences of these different groups during both the apartheid and post-apartheid eras are, the vast majority of the time, completely different. This idealistic and hyperbolic tone of the speech also emphasises its forced nature. It almost seems as if he is trying to convince both himself and others of his preferred reality rather than affirm what the true reality. This speech was made during the creation of the South African Constitution, widely considered to be the best in the world on an idealistic level, while being difficult to uphold in practise. This means that the speech fits with the constitution in terms of the belief that all South Africans feel united by the common nationhood, but also falls in line with the constitution in terms of being unrealistic. In other words, the context of the speech emphasises the idealistic nature of the content. It reveals that heritage is constructed from the history. While history is the historical fact of what happened and how it happened, heritage is not as straight. It is built on the basis of history, but on a more subjective and interpretive level. An example is given by the speech, by how Thabo Mbeki chose to use certain historical facts as a foundation for his construction of a so-called common South African heritage, also implying that heritage can be about choice, what you want to be and how you want it to be. Therefore, while history is about the compilation of factual events, heritage is about the creation of what we feel represents us from our past. Source K suggests that the problem with the use of the term African as a form of national identity is that nobody seems to know what they it truly stands for, whether its blacks, people born in Africa or those committed to the African continent. This is a well identified problem, as it is not possible to use a term to unify a country when one cannot clearly define those who the term represents. It is not possible to allow anyone to create a definition, neither a person nor a government, as this may conflict with the definition of another person or group and it will be impossible to compromise. It therefore stands to reason that Source L should bring up the argument that those who choose to bestow Africanness on others are out of place and should first try to come to terms with what it means before labelling it as an honorary title and using it to create a national identity. It also brings up the fact that the continual use of the term as a means of national identification will only l ead to further confusion of those who dont understand its significance (if any). If we look at the holidays celebrated during the apartheid year of 1986, we clearly see that they are predominantly white/Afrikaner, Christian holidays. There is nothing that celebrates any kind of equality or democracy, nothing to commemorate the anti-apartheid struggle. However, when we look at post-apartheid 1996, we immediately see the change. There are now days that celebrate human rights, freedom, workers, women, heritage, etc. and days such as 16 June that remember those who died to bring about the end of apartheid. Therefore, the types of holidays celebrated changed drastically over the decades, between 1986 and 1996. The change in holidays shown between 1986 and 1996 also shows us the change in national identity in South Africa. The identity starts in 1986 being clearly white, Christian, Afrikaner, promoting only the beliefs that one would expect from such a person. This shows the narrow-mindedness of the apartheid identity, which neglects the cultures and rights of other racial, religious and cultural groups. Then in 1996, it changes to incorporate the celebration in womens rights, freedom, human rights, workers rights, etc. therefore showing us a more diverse cultural, religious and political identity that fits closer with the post-apartheid South Africa. The day that most resembles independence day from 1986 is Republic Day, as this celebrate the day South Africa became a republic and hence a independent country, and from 1996 is Freedom Day, a celebration of South Africas first non-racial elections and thus of a new kind of liberation and independence emerging, as well as a new South African identity. Therefore, we can say that the most important thing, the one aspect that has been preserved over the decade, is the feeling of independence from external forces, whether it is your own government or that of another country. The eight episodes referenced refer to pivotal areas of South Africas history. They are all conflicts which shaped the nature of the future South Africa and as such need to be given a place in the celebrating of a freedom that is supposed to be at the core of modern South Africa. Their commonality is illustrated by the fact that each one of these events is characterised by violence stemming from injustice of one sort or another, be it racially charged as in Genocide and slavery or politically and nationalistically motivated as in the Anglo-Boer and world Wars. In each of these there is the fight for freedom from some threatened or real form of repression. They differ in the nature of their fights- some are internal fights for freedom dividing people within borders- Slavery, Wars of resistance, The struggle for liberation and some are external, usually uniting different people within the country against a common enemy as in the World Wars. Together they represent an opportunity to pul l people together by inspiring a common sense of pride and identity by emphasising that the country as a whole has defeated so many forms of brutality and repression to ultimately gain its freedom and as such the freedom of each and every one of its citizens across all ethnic barriers. The Freedom park was created for one specific purpose, as stated in the source: to help South Africans reconnect with the lost spirits that died in war, who fell for South Africa, in the way that their culture dictates, i.e. a ground for the mutual respect of the dead by all South Africans, regardless of cultural belief. Therefore, according to the logic provided by the source, it stands to reason that such a place would be perceived to play an important part in the restoration and rejuvenation of the indigenous, South African cultures that were diminished by the apartheid area, not to mention helping to rebuild the bridges between culture burnt away during the long years of apartheid separation. The 2 sources discuss the purpose of Freedom Park, that is the need to create a place of remembrance which will allow people to remember the fallen, those that have shaped the country, and therefore inspire a deeper feeling of commitment to building it in the future. In doing this they show how invaluable it is to delve into the complex cultural belief systems of different groups within the country. If one honours these appropriately e.g. by fastidiously allowing the visiting of the places of death and carrying out relevant rituals and therefore ensuring the return of the spirits of dead combatants, the experience of the living is resolved and completed and their ability to have a positive outlook on a South African future restored. It is therefore vital that one have a deep understanding and sensitivity towards each different groups particular understanding and rituals surrounding death and remembrance, as if you validate and honour these individually you allow each group dignity an d this will in turn foster respect of each other and a common wish to build a country where the future can be shared by all.