Corporate Communication Strategy

Question: Discuss about the Corporate Communication Strategy. Answer: Introduction The purpose of the report is to examine the responsibilities taken up by Woolworths to protect the environment in the end and the communication strategy used by the company. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is the relationship between the companies in the countries in which they are operating with the citizens of the country (Hack, Kenyon Wood, 2014). To put it simply, it is the relationship between the company and the local residents where it operates. It also includes the relationship between stakeholders and the company. It includes the proper utilization of resources that are naturally available in its production process, the competitive factors in its own organization as well as with the market, creating employment opportunities in the local community where the firm is operating, distributing the profits of the firm amongst its workers and taking care of the employees (Pompper, 2013). The principles of CSR are sustainability, accountability and transparency. Sustainability is concerned with the actions that are taken in the present to preserve the resources for the future generation. Since resources are finite, every step must be taken in order to conserve whatever is left so that the future is not compromised (Rahim, 2013). Accountability is concerned with the organization recognizing its external environment and takes action based on it. It also reports the actions to its external stakeholders about the effects of the action that is being taken. It takes into account the developing, reporting and recording of the performances and the value added benefits that the organization gets out of these actions. Transparency is used in the information base so that the background details of the employees and knowledge is shared among the workers (Yoo Chon, 2013). Spatial externalization It helps to identify the costs that are incurred in order to transfer some other entities at a given time period. Some examples of this externalization are: Pollution causing agents add costs towards the society as whole; The disposal of wastes adds to the cost as the task is given to others to dispose the wastes; Firing of employees in a company also involves huge costs as the consumers have to wait in a queue for their time to come (Brock, Xepapadeas Yannacopoulos, 2014). Temporal externalization The cost is incurred to transfer the entities that are present in the current time in to the future. It leads to creation of values through accounting. Some examples of this type are: Failing to dispose of the wastes and keeping it as an investment for the future; Polluting agents that needs to be cleaned up are kept for the future; Unsustainable use of resources can leave the future generations wanting more the resource (Shroff, Verdi Yost, 2016). Company Background Woolworths Holding Limited started on December 5, 1924 as Woolworths Stupendous Bargain Basement in Imperial Arcade of Sydney, Australia. In 1927, the company opened a second store in Queen Street, Brisbane thus becoming a chain. During the Great Depression period all, the companies were having huge problems but Woolworths continued to grow for some reason. By 1955, the company opened its self-help stores where the customers could select their products and pay at cash, which was staged up front. The objectives of the company are to build a strong customer base and to have a store-led culture. To generate sales sustainably in the food section of the company so that the consumers can have access to products. The company has also diversified and provided assistance to the drinks business of the company ("The Woolworths Story - Woolworths Group", 2017). The strategies taken up the company is that they place their customers at the top of their priority list, listens to what the customers have to say and clearing out their queries and creating new techniques so that the customers can shop easily from their brand. CSR activities of Woolworths The year 2013 and 2014 proved out to be very useful for the company as they became the leader in food retailing sector according to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) and was the first Australian company to achieve that feat. The CSR activities of the company are: The company employs around 198,000 people and provide them job security and number of opportunities to identify the potential of the employees. The supplier-retailer chain of the company aims to work fairly and collaboratively thus maintaining a mutual respect and gain for one another. The company has around 441,000 shareholders, the company offers them long term, and value creating benefits (Corporate Responsibility - Woolworths Group, 2017). The environmental benefits in terms of CSR are: To reduce the emission of carbon globally by 40% by 2015 25% reduction of carbon emission due to the company trucks that deliver the products To ensure that the wastage of food in minimal or nil by 2015 To develop and sustain other policies such as ethical sourcing, paper reduction, pulp, timber, pulp and paper reduction and welfare of animals to decrease their input of fish and seafood ("Environment and sustainability - Woolworths Group", 2017). Stakeholders of Woolworths According to Young et al., (2014) the company gives a patient hearing and understands the problems and requirements of the key stakeholders in order to be successful in their venture. The customers and the shareholders are given priority because without them the company cannot survive and thrive in the cutthroat competitive market. The employees are well taken care of and the company the necessary boosts that are required by them to bring out their best in favor of the company. Employees of the firm The company employs around 198,000 workers from different cultural background. They all work in harmony and peace to serve the company at its best. They play a huge role in the decision process of the firm as they interact with the consumers on a regular basis. The valuable feedbacks provided by the workers ensure the firm to satisfy the consumers plying according to their needs and demands, which keeps changing on a daily basis. The company derives many benefits from this process and sees that the employees are satisfied with the security of the job that they are doing, as it will give them the motivation to work with a positive attitude (Employees - Woolworths Group, 2017). Consumers of the firm Woolworths Limited gives top priority to its consumers, as they are the ones for the success of the company. Without the trust of the consumers, the company would not have survived for so long. The company also does great things to ensure that the consumers are happy with their products and delivery system. They are constantly developing new things to satisfy the needs of its consumers so that the dealings can be made more easy, simplistic, and hassle-free. The management team of the company ensures that the feedbacks given by the consumers are looked in to very seriously and necessary steps be taken to make the consumers satisfied. Suppliers to the firm According to Arli et al., (2013) the reputation of Woolworths depends on the quality of the food that the consumers purchase from them. The chain cannot be complete without the suppliers who supply raw materials to the company. The interest of the suppliers needs to be managed by the company in order to procure the fresh products that are available in the market. Issue Management This type of management process deals with identifying and resolving of issues related to suppliers problems, technical failures and the shortage of raw materials. It has a negative impact on the company as they hinder the production process. The issue, if unnoticed can cause conflicts in the company, which results in delaying or failure in the process of delivery. It is very important to identify the issues and prioritize them according to the level of urgencies (AO Dos Santos, Svensson Padin, 2014). Identification of issue Identification of the issue is of major concern because it helps to prevent the disaster that is awaiting the firm. Issues can either be from outside such as social, economical, or political and can be from inside the company such as the business impact on the society or the result derived from a new product. These issues can be identified through numerous SWOT analyses and thorough planning process in the company (McDonald, 2013). Therefore, to identify the issues the company needs to keep certain things in mind. They are: The impact that is created by the product of the company, its processes and programs and the use of the product by the consumers that is available in the market. The expectations of the stakeholders regarding the way the company will perform in a chosen market. The gap between the stakeholders and their expectations with that of the actual impact the company will have relating to the performance in the market (McDonald, 2013). Prioritizing the issue It is next to impossible to look into all the problems at the same time, so the company has to prioritize the issues and allocate resources accordingly. Four major factors fall in this category, namely: The problem arising from the perception of the customers affect the value of the company and the reputation of the brand name (Jones, 2016). The revenue section issues needs to be solved immediately as the profits of the company depend on this section. To operate in the open market and issues regarding the regulatory body actions, the fines and the penalties all needs to be sorted to make progress in the company. Issues regarding legality of the company such as the pending court cases and the litigations that are filed against the company. The reputation and financial criteria is further divided in to low impact, medium impact and high impact respectively according to the degree of impact the issue has on the company (Frederick, Hawryszkiewycz Kang, 2014). Issues of Woolworths The recent times have seen the downfall of the company due to the various activities the company has undertaken. It was not liked by the people because of which the company suffered a major setback. The chief executive of the company, Grant OBrien had a disappointment as he manipulated the figures of the quarterly reports that the company publishes. It is also facing stiff competition in the fresh food sector, which the company leads in the market, and for this reason consumers wanted more of Woolworths (Woolworths, 2017). One of the major reason for the failure of the company was to do the Cheap Cheap advertisement similar to the Down Down advertisement that was done by Coles. The ad was a huge flop in the market in spite of the ad educating the people about the price conscious and the low prices that they would be offering. The brand lost its image of the best fresh food produce available in the eyes of the consumers as they thought that the ad made the brand lacking in opportuniti es (Frederick, Hawryszkiewycz Kang, 2014).. The ad campaign had an impact on the sales of the company as well. The third quarter of the year 2015 saw an increase in the food and liquor sales y just 0.2 percent while in the fourth quarter of that same year the sales dropped to 0.7 percent respectively. The company had Jamie Oliver, a British cook as its brand ambassador as opposed to Curtis Stone for Coles as one of its models in business.. The company did not think it fit to include the cook in the portfolio and focused more on the ad campaign in order to compete against Coles. The experts felt that the company was keeping the prices very low in the market bargaining their own profit margins that were unsustainable to counter attack the competitions that the foreign companies were bringing to Australia. The Woolworths Company was even accused in bullying the suppliers to have their products discounted by the company so that they could fund their Cheap Cheap ad campaign. The suppliers were given a deadline to make the payments and many supplier companies paid from $70,000 to around $1 million (Hawthorne, 2017). Communication in Woolworths The company always has to report to its stakeholders about the things that the company is undertaking to make the communication process easy. The shareholders are reported via the annual reports that are being published by the company. The shareholders can share their grievances with the communication strategy taken up by the company directly with them. The company takes all the initiatives to make the communication process with the consumers very easy, as they are the reason for the survival of the company. They maintain a communications team to reach out to its customers and check for any grievances that might come in the mind of the customers. The company is also maintaining an online team of experts who take care of the complaints that are coming from overseas or distant customers. The online marketing activity that takes place for the company is often surrounded with many complaints, as the customers do not get their products on time or the right products. Recently, there has been an increase in the complaints, as the customers are not satisfied with the communication strategy that has been taken up by the company (Frederick, Hawryszkiewycz Kang, 2014). The communication within the company is very sound. The employees convey their daily interactions to the superiors if they need that some of the policies need to be changed. The company in turn listens to them very carefully and takes necessary steps so that the plan is meticulously carried out. The one message system is not prevalent in the company, as it does not fit the company well. Different sectors have different process of communication in the company so they need to be carried out properly (Hawthorne, 2017). The company is open to two-way type of communication where the messages are received and the feedbacks are sent to the superiors with the ideas that the employees put in to it. The company has to maintain an efficient system of communication in order to survive in the market. Miscommunications should not be allowed in the organization, as it will hamper the organizational structure that the company follows and due to which mishaps may happen which will hamper the company. The online portals are receiving many complains due to the wrong or delayed delivery. Proper communication needs to be maintained with the clients who are placing orders online so that the customer base of the company is broadened. All steps that are taken needs to ensure the proper communication in every channel inside the company (Jones Jones, 2017). Conclusion The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is being taken very seriously in the present world. About fifty percent of the companies in the world have CSR departments. The CSR experts manage this department but it also relies on the communication department to some extent. The two departments sometimes work in cooperation for the smooth running of the company. The board members are responsible for the communication and CSR department to work together (Frederick, Hawryszkiewycz Kang, 2014). The Woolworths Company that has been taken in to consideration for this report has vast CSR policies that help the company to maintain standards all over the world. The communication team is well versed and has a clear-cut concept of their tasks that is laid out in front of them. Owing to the stiff competition that is going on in the retail sector in the present world, the company is not doing well on the online portals and are receiving lots of complains due to the mismanagement of the products (Wu , Lin Lin, 2013). The recent news has shown the downfall of the company due to its rival company where the company followed the other in an ad campaign and lost the popularity. References AO Dos Santos, M., Svensson, G., Padin, C. (2014). A fivefold bottom line approach of implementing and reporting corporate efforts in sustainable business practices.Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal,25(4), 421-430. Arli, V., Dylke, S., Burgess, R., Campus, R., Soldo, E. (2013). Woolworths Australia and Walmart US: Best practices in supply chain collaboration.Journal of Economics, Business, and Accountancy| Ventura,16(1), 27-46. Brock, W. A., Xepapadeas, A., Yannacopoulos, A. N. (2014). Spatial externalities and agglomeration in a competitive industry.Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control,42, 143-174. Corporate Responsibility - Woolworths Group. (2017). Woolworthsgroup.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2017, from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/community-and-responsibility/group-responsibility/corporate-responsibility/ Employees - Woolworths Group. (2017). Woolworthsgroup.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2017, from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/investors/shareholder-information/employees/ Environment and sustainability - Woolworths Group. (2017). Woolworthsgroup.com.au. Retrieved 9 January 2017, from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/community-and-responsibility/group-responsibility/environment/ Frederick Rose, J., Hawryszkiewycz, I., Kang, K. (2014). When and how to facilitate the introduction of new knowledge processes in organisations.VINE: The journal of information and knowledge management systems,44(2), 210-227. Hack, L., Kenyon, A. J., Wood, E. H. (2014). A Critical Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Timeline: how should it be understood now.International Journal of Management Cases,16(4), 46-55.

Opposing Viewpoints Abortion Essay Example

Opposing Viewpoints: Abortion Essay Appendix E Critical Analysis Forms Fill out one form for each source. Source 1 The â€Å"Necessary Evil† Argument Does Not Justify Abortion Forsythe, Clarke D. The Necessary Evil Argument Does Not Justify Abortion. Opposing Viewpoints: Abortion. Ed. Mary E. Williams. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Apollo Library-Univ of Phoenix. 9 Jan. 2010 . 1 Identify the principal issue presented by the source. The myths behind â€Å"Necessary Evil† of abortions and how referring to these abortions as â€Å"necessary evils† attempts to put minds at ease from a moral standpoint. Identify any examples of bias presented by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I believe no bias exist; he appears to show both sides of the abortion topic Example 1: â€Å"The myth of abortion as a necessary evil has serious implications for future public debate. First, it means that abortion opponents have won the essential debat e that the unborn is a human being and not mere tissue. † Example 2: he states â€Å"Second, it means that the ideological arguments of both sides (â€Å"choice† versus â€Å"child†) often miss the much more practical concerns of Americans. There are other examples but these are just two 3 Identify any areas that are vague or ambiguous. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I feel Mr. Forsythe was very to the point in his paper; I feel he made strong clear points. 4 Do you find the source credible? Explain your reasoning. Yes, I believe the source to be credible. He stated his opinion but stated both sides of the argument and used good research. 5 Identify and name any rhetorical devices used by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. No I feel there was no rhetorical devices used due to the fact he kept everything on the level and only gave to the point facts. 6 Identify and name any fallacies used by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. If any fallacy was used, I believe it would be Begging the Question due to the way he used what he called myths to make his argument 7 State one argument made by the author. â€Å"First, it means that abortion opponents have won the essential debate that the unborn is a human being and not mere tissue. We will write a custom essay sample on Opposing Viewpoints: Abortion specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Opposing Viewpoints: Abortion specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Opposing Viewpoints: Abortion specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer In fact, the whole thrust of the choice argument admits this and seeks to sideline Americans moral qualms by telling Americans that, even if it is a human life, the most that can be done is to persuade women not to have abortions. † 8 Identify the premises and conclusion of the argument. Premises – â€Å"Instead, many Americans, therefore, may see abortion as necessary to avert the back alley. In this sense, the notion of legal abortion as a necessary evil is based on a series of myths widely disseminated since the 1960s. These myths captured the public mind and have yet to be rebutted. Conclusion – â€Å"But a renewal of the public dialogue wont mean much if the people are not allowed to express the public will on this issue, as they usually do in our democratic republic. In 1973, the Supreme Court claimed hegemony over the issue and created a nationwide rule of abortion on demand, preventing democratic debate and solutions. The public policy dictated by the S upreme Court collides with majority opinion and reflects the views of only the 20 percent who are committed to abortion on demand. More than twenty-six years later, that is the main reason the pot keeps boiling. † 9 Is the author’s argument valid or invalid, sound or unsound, strong or weak? Explain how you determined this. Valid – Conclusion is proven Sound – Premise is true Strong – Conclusion is supported 10 Does the author use moral reasoning? If not, explain how you determined this. Yes his whole basis and reasoning behind the project is due to his moral beliefs. I believe he used sound judgment, strong points, and stated his facts well. Source 2 Title and Citation: Partial Birth Abortions Should Be Banned Deem, Rich. Partial-Birth Abortions Should Be Banned. Current Controversies: The Abortion Controversy. Ed. Emma Bernay. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Apollo Library-Univ of Phoenix. 9 Jan. 2010 . 1 Identify the principal issue presented by the source. Arguing against Partial Birth Abortions and the ethics behind it, whether or not the babies feel pain and if its truly murder 2 Identify any examples of bias presented by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. There is definite bias in this article. The author definitely states his side by clearly stating how the partial births take place and his views on it. Identify any areas that are vague or ambiguous. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I found no areas vague but I had a hard time reading this so absolutely nothing appeared vague to me. All arguments seem to be very clearly and strongly presented. 4 Do you find the source credible? Explain your reasoning. Yes I find it credible. Rich Deem, the author has worked in basic science research for years and is c urrently working at Cedars-Sinai MC as a researcher/specialist; therefore, he has the experience and documents statistics and credible sources. 5 Identify and name any rhetorical devices used by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. Using the word â€Å"gruesome† plus the way he discussed the procedure I believe is rhetorical. 6 Identify and name any fallacies used by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. An Appeal to Belief would be the only fallacy I might would agree to due to Rich Deem stating as strongly as he has the facts. 7 State one argument made by the author. This procedure is closer to infanticide than it is to abortion. 8 Identify the premises and conclusion of the argument. Premise – â€Å"A description of the procedure and why it is never medically necessary follows† Conclusion – â€Å"Intact DX (partial-birth abortion) should not be performed because it is needlessly risky, inhumane, and ethically unacceptable. This procedure is closer to infanticide than it is to abortion. † 9 Is the author’s argument valid or invalid, sound or unsound, strong or weak? Explain how you determined this. Valid – Conclusion is proven Sound – Premise is true Strong – Conclusion is supported 10 Does the author use moral reasoning? If not, explain how you determined this. Yes, Rich Deem uses moral reasoning showing why Partial Birth Abortions should be banned through stating the steps of these abortions and how the babies feel the pain and it is dangerous for the mother. Also stating how it could not be used for mothers’ lives being endangered due to the pregnancy because of the length of time it takes to perform this practice due to the dilation process needed to take place. Source 3 Title and Citation: A Christian Group Finds Its Place Luo, Michael. A Christian Group Finds Its Place in the Public Schools. (Metropolitan Desk). The New York Times. May 24, 2006): B5(L). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Apollo Library-Univ of Phoenix. 5 Jan. 2010 . 1 Identify the principal issue presented by the source. The conflict between Separation of Church and State and how some people are offended by Christianity. 2 Identify any examples of bias presented by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I saw absolutely no bias what soever by the author; the author appeared to have no feelings on this subject whatsoever and was only reporting a story. 3 Identify any areas that are vague or ambiguous. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I saw nothing vague or ambiguous. I saw absolutely nothing but an article reporting the facts and only the facts. 4 Do you find the source credible? Explain your reasoning. Yes, the author spoke to the sources involved in the case and reported their story. 5 Identify and name any rhetorical devices used by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I saw nothing rhetorical and not sure how to explain it other than I just really saw nothing period in the story. 6 Identify and name any fallacies used by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I found no fallacies, again I’m not sure how to explain this other than the fact this article was written as a report and nothing more. I saw no true feelings in this story. 7 State one argument made by the author. School administrators must also wrestle with difficult questions about where the right to religious expression ends and the separation of church and state begins. 8 Identify the premises and conclusion of the argument. Premises – â€Å"But evangelism in a public high school, especially in New York City, can be complicated. In a school like Stuyvesant, full of people with different beliefs and some with none at all, belonging to an evangelical group like Seekers can make members the objects of scorn from classmates and even teachers. † Conclusion – â€Å"The event drew to a close with a final musical number. But by then there were mostly only Seekers members remaining. Gone were the unbelieving friends many had invited. Gone were those on the fringes of the group who had come. The people left were family. They danced and sang together. † 9 Is the author’s argument valid or invalid, sound or unsound, strong or weak? Explain how you determined this. Invalid – A good premise not stated Unsound – Not a good, valid premises Weak No strong premises or conclusion 10 Does the author use moral reasoning? If not, explain how you determined this. The author used no reasoning whatsoever; he author only used comments made by others in the article and from the Separation of Church and State. The author appeared to have no real opinion in this article at all. Source 4 Title and Citation: School Prayer Threatens Religious Liberty Americans United for Separation of Church and State. School Prayer Threatens Religious Liberty. Current Controversies: Civil Liberties. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2003. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Apollo Library-Univ of Phoenix. 5 Jan. 2010 . 1 Identify the principal issue presented by the source. Has Religion truly been thrown out of schools completely due to Separation of Church and State. 2 Identify any examples of bias presented by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I saw no bias as it was hard at times to tell which side of the fence the author was on. Identify any areas that are vague or ambiguous. If none exist, explain how you determined this. I saw no vague or ambiguous areas; all topics were clearly stated 4 Do you find the source credible? Explain your reasoning. Yes, various sources were mentioned and quoted 5 Identify and name any rhetorical devices used by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. Some Religious Right activists charge that the courts have misinterpreted the First Amendment to remove all traces of religion from the classroom. 6 Identify and name any fallacies used by the author. If none exist, explain how you determined this. Fallacy Begging the Question – truth of conclusion is claimed 7 State one argument made by the author. ‘Has the Bible been excluded from school curriculum? In reality, the answer to these questions is no. ’ 8 Identify the premises and conclusion of the argument. Premises . â€Å"Some Religious Right activists charge that the courts have misinterpreted the First Amendment to remove all traces of religion from the classroom. Conclusion – â€Å"Indeed, most religious denominations, ranging across the theological spectrum, have issued formal statements supporting the Supreme Courts prayer and Bible-reading decisions. These people of faith value the hard-won freedom of conscience that belongs to all of us. † 9 Is the author’s argument valid or invalid, sound or unsound, strong or weak? Explain how you determined this. Valid – Conclusion is proven Sound – Premise is true Strong – Conclusion is supported 10 Does the author use moral reasoning? If not, explain how you determined this. Yes I believe the author uses moral reasoning behind his facts

Cousin Kate Rossetti Essays

Cousin Kate Rossetti Essays Cousin Kate Rossetti Paper Cousin Kate Rossetti Paper Exploring the Loss of Innocence in Christina Rosettes poem Cousin Kate The poem Cousin Kate written by Christina Rosettes signifies a story of the speaker which explains what happens to a cottage maiden once she has been sullied by a man which consequently leads her to lose her innocence. Cottage maiden creates a rural simplistic image of the speaker who has a low status. Due to the Victorian era in which the poem was written it is clear that the poem is based around the fact that women were not treated fairly as there was a patriarchal society. The poem is directly addressed to Cousin Kate, which fundamentally reflects how in society, blame was blamed on women. The poem is written as a dramatic monologue; moreover Rosettes has used a traditional ballad structure to convey a narrative. The speaker says Not mindful I was fair, this adds to the image of her being innocent, she had no intentions to raise her status therefore shes stressing that she was less deserving to what happened to her. Rosettes then introduces a new character, the Lord, who brings anger, frustration and despair to her. It is evident in Why did a great lord find me UT and To fill my heart with care? this signifies the lords powerful status as he has made her care for him, which in turn brings trouble upon her. In the next stanza Rosettes uses the word lured which creates an ominous feeling. He lured me to his palace home indicates his status. Also in this stanza it appears that Rosettes has used assonance where she has repeated the sound of o in woe and moan. These emphasis the speakers sense of grief. Rosettes has used an oxymoron; this conveys the speakers confusion thus showing her conflicting state of mind, it is evident in shameless handful life the words are contradicting each other therefore may be showing confusion. Furthermore, Rosettes uses sibilance in the sound SSH, which gives the impression its a secret. The simile like a glove, suggests that she was easily changed and not an integral part of his life. Also, Glove often appears as a symbol of lost innocence in 1 9th century literature and art. The third stanza then shows that the speaker is directly accusing Kate as she says He saw you at your fathers gate, / Chose you, and cast me be the repetition of the word you shows her jealously as she is, in essence saying its al about you Kate. The third stanza explores her feelings of abandonment and jealousy whereas in stanza four the speaker is questioning Skates qualities. In Stanza four the speaker says the lord bound you with his ring this verb choice implies he has captured her or contained her in some way. Rosettes then repeats so good and pure which connotes her bitterness. Once again her bitterness is evident in l sit and howl in dust whereas it is in contrast with you sit in gold and sing which implies Kate is now wealthy but is a possession captured by the lord. Stanza five the reader can see that the speaker believes that Kate does not deserve the lord as the speaker relates Skates love as writ in sand which implies it will get washed away. In turn this shows the speakers bitterness. The next few lines in stanza five show that the speaker is putting herself in Skates shoes however in Hd not have won me with his love and l would have spit into his face In essence she says she would have not done the same to Kate. Shes showing violence in her language although shes being content which may be due to her having something that Kate can never have. In the last stanza the speaker appears to be providing some sort of ammunition against Kate by saying Kate is not perfect. The last stanza begins with Yet Ive a gift you have not got this suggests she has one thing she can hold onto that is better than Kate; also it is a traditional metaphor of a child being a gift. The reader can infer the tension in the poem, underlined when Rosettes uses the antithesis of my shame, my pride. Her son is her pride because she loves him, but he is her shame because he is a visual reminder of her relationship with the Lord. By the end of the poem the reader can suggest that the speaker has a fear of her son being taken away as that is all she has left to herself, evident in cling closer, closer yet the alliteration emphasizes the love she has for her son and the fear that he could be taken away. Lastly, the poem ends with To wear his coronet. This metaphor implies that if the Lord were to die, his son would inherit everything of his father therefore the speaker is saying Kate would have no share in anything of the Lords. The poem underlines how the speakers innocence has been sullied; on the other hand the Lord just moves on, this shows the inequalities between the two genders.

Assignment 13 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assignment 13 - Essay Example With regards to the case studies within our textbook, factors that tend to bring up an excellent organization include monitoring of the staff activities, ongoing coaching as well as a quality supervisory system (Wiles & Bondi, 2004). A high-service quality will only be achieved based on the level of coaching and training that the supervisors undertake. The supervisors that were assigned to each district school had undergone adequate professional development training that enabled them to have the relevant skills to carry out their supervisory duties. One of the major roles of a supervisor based on the case studies is to facilitate the staff so that they are able to share information through interactions among each other. This role is quite significant as it enables staff members to provide quality services that are geared towards meeting the organizational goals. The supervisors that were selected for the district schools had to ensure that they were aggressive in carrying out this role effectively (Wiles & Bondi, 2004). Therefore, the success of having quality performance and service in the district school was dependent on this role. Quality supervision simply includes monitoring people, tasks and processes. In order for an organization to prosper there is need for it to ensure that the set goals and objectives are attainable. Therefore, based on this assumption supervisors must focus on various staff relationships as well as constant assessment of the tasks that are meant to achieve the goals and mission of the organization. The administration of the district schools gave more attention on quality supervision in order to ensure that the performance goals of the schools were attainable. Based on the case studies within our textbooks, supervisors conduct their duty so that they are able to achieve their own set professional goals as well as

Republic of China Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Republic of China - Essay Example What makes all of this even more amazing is how little the average westerner knows about the lives, economic, social, and political, of 1.6 billion people. Every now and again, we read in the news about how China offers a great vacation, we see a "Free Tibet" sticker on the back of a car, or we notice that our newest gadget or piece of clothing was made in China. If one reads the right newspapers, they might think that Communist China is on the verge of collapse and massive democratic reforms are just a few years away. Upon closer inspection, however, this is clearly not the case. This paper will argue that the prospects for massive democratic reforms in China are very poor. It will do this by arguing that there is very little internal economic or social impetus for political change and Chinese leaders are unlikely to be swayed by Western Nations into instituting democratic reforms. Despite the fact that the Communist Party in China will remain relatively stable into the foreseeable future, there are still many problems that the party needs to address if it is to maintain it's stronghold in China. One of the primary reasons why one may think that the Communist party is likely to become more democratic in the near future is the success of the economic reforms, which began in 1978. According to Tony Saich, the Chinese government did three very important things in 1978 which would allow for future the future growth of the economy and allow for greater interaction with the rest of the world. First, economic modernization was made central to all party work. Ideology and class struggle were down-played and policy-making became more pragmatic, summed up in the slogan 'practice is the sole criterion for testing truth' and corresponding policy line of 'correcting mistakes wherever they are discovered.' Second, despite the plenum's decision to forget about the past and concentrate on the future, the new 'practice' slogan was used both at the plenum and subsequently to reverse a whole series of previous political judgmentsThird, the plenum formed the source for a new policy direction that gradually increased the influence of market forces in the Chinese economy.4 Of course, the economic reforms were very complex and continue to evolve to this day, and include entry into the World Trade Organization. Whole books have been written about this single process, needless to say, the economic reforms have had a major impact. Author Andrew Walder writes that, China's post-Mao economic reforms have generated rapid and sustained economic growth, unprecedented rises in real income and living standards, and have transformed what was once one of the world's most insular economies into a major trading nation.5 In a speech to the Fourth International Investment Forum, Gregory Chow said Since economic reform started in China in 1978, there has been a remarkable growth in GDP, to the order of 9.5 percent per year on average. What accounts for this tremendous success To answer in one sentence, the Chinese government has adopted institutions and policies that enable the resourceful Chinese people and foreign friends to unleash their energy to develop the Chinese economy. The farmers became energetic and productive since the 1979. The township and village enterprises were the most dynamic element for growth in the 1980s and early 1990s. Many private and foreign

HealthCare Reform in the United States Research Proposal - 1

HealthCare Reform in the United States - Research Proposal Example Based on the study conducted by the Pacific Institute on Research and Evaluation (PIRE) in 1999, almost 3,500 deaths are caused by drinkers of below the age of twenty one every year (STATS, 2005). In fact, the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy (2001) reports that approximately 70% to 80% of road accidents occur due to alcohol consumption amongst youngsters below the age of 25. Thus, evaluation needs to be conducted to review the existing policies and come up with sound measures that would cut across the policy criteria effectively to address the teen drunk-driving fatalities problem. According to the Ministerial Council on Drug Strategy (2001), alcohol product pricing has an effect on the rates of the consumption of alcohol in the society. Studies have demystified that if all other factors are held constant, alcohol price increase in general results in a decrease in alcohol consumption, and the opposite is true. The regimes of taxation are a platform from which alcohol price can be influenced. Most governments use their political autocracy for raising revenue to fulfil its goals of protecting the freedom and wellbeing of the citizens. Generally, the revenue comes from taxes. Alcohol is a significant source for raising government revenue in most countries. The benefits of increasing taxation on alcoholic beverages lie on the basis of public health view. Taxing alcohol as a measure of policy is relatively elementary and acceptable by the government who obtain revenue from it to fulfil its mandate of satisfying public needs. Through making the alcoholic drinks more expensive, there would be a decrease in per capita consumption and this would in turn reduce the problems associated with it. From a public health perspective, taxing alcoholic drinks would prevent both social and health problems and minimize alcohol-based burden on society. Thus, aside from just curbing drunk-driving

The Definition Of Community Development Sociology Essay

The Definition Of Community Development Sociology Essay In the last chapter, the researcher introduced the research background, stated the research aims and described the research problem. This chapter starts with the definition of community development, general concepts of community development and explores the community development framework. It also discusses community development in Belfast, Northern Ireland and links it to the basis of the study, which is the perception of residents on community development in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The Definition of community development, general concepts of community and community development Community as a unit of action can play the lead in development of Belfast communities. The basic process of planning community development is to identify needs of communities in Belfast, establish mutually agreeable goals and objectives, and implement plans by mobilizing accessible resources and community coalitions for community betterment. Accordingly, a variety of community planning strategies and actions can be created and actively implemented with the involvement of Belfast residents. The definition of community has been discussed in a variety of ways for many decades. Hillery (1955); Kaufman (1959); Bell and Newby (1972); Wilkinson (1972) agreed that the three general components of a community include a shared territory, a local society, and a process of locality-oriented collective actions. Belfast as a city or community is made up of inner communities or neighbourhoods. A shared territory refers to a geographic location, such as a neighbourhood, town, city, county, region, country, and so forth. A local society is an integrated union in which the daily activities of people and a complement of social structures embody all aspects of a common life. A process of locality-oriented collective actions can be understood as the local residents exerting effort collectively on behalf of their common interests. In this research, I specifically focus on the town/city community levels in Belfast to better understand whether this level of community forms a strong sense of belonging, thereby binding its residents together and joining their inner effort in response to external social and economic changes, as well as the demands of community development in general. Fawcett et al. (1984) emphasized on local residents self-motivation to establish their development agendas for the community. The last element mentioned here is the opportunity of community members to participate in public discussion. It is important for community development to involve many individuals, segments, classes, and groups within the community, and that each member has an equal chance to speak up and take part in the public forum. In addition, democracy, rationality, and the orientation toward accomplishment of community development agendas in which Belfast residents participate are key factors. Communication and power structure within the community are also important aspects. Since a community is understood to be a living place manifesting the physical characteristics of a setting and a social and historical context, community development should be considered in terms of the meaning of locality through personal activities, experiences, shared values, and the common historical memory. As a result, the concepts of community and community development adopted in this study consist of a shared territory, a local society, and the process of community autonomy and empowerment for a general purpose of community betterment. 2.3 Community Development Frameworks The main focus of community development has been the normal concept of solving problems and betterment of quality of life in rural communities. The way to improve rural life and life in Belfast is to identify problems and then solve them by enhancing community empowerment and advancement. Sanders (1958) considers the importance of social organizations in Community development, which are in charge of certain missions within communities. Sanders identified the role of hierarchical structure in communities in terms of detecting problems, setting agendas, and implementing plans. His view of development emphasizes social channels through which community programs can be carried out. The social channels refer to a well-developed organization with a clear division of labour, resource accessibility, and members sharing common values and pursuing the same objectives. Social organizations are the primary agents participating in community process and mobilizing resources to implement plans for their common goal. Community development, according to Sanders, is equivalent to development of organizations in Belfast that effectively implement subject-matter specialties such as health, welfare, agriculture, industry, recreation, etc across all levels from groups and associations to communities and regions (Sanders 1958:5). *Rothman (1979) identified the social planning approach as one of the ways to understand community development. He argued that the social planning approach is a technical process with regard to a certain community problem and emphasized rational, deliberately planned, and controlled change within communities (Rothman 1979:27). The rationality approach helps to manipulate the process of community development into standard phases of identifying problems, mobilizing resources, and setting agendas to implement programs for the goal of social betterment. There must be a constant interaction between identifying a problem, making a decision, and taking action to share and express concerns or community problems for communities in Belfast to experience change. Community development provides a good opportunity to explore issues of poverty in Belfast. The emphasis is on the opportunity for creating jobs, thereby raising the real incomes of residents. Hence, Belfast as a community is seen as a collection of micro units, and these units, their interactions, and their relationships with external units comprise the community economic system. Since communities in Belfast have increasingly engaged in their economic development, there are at least two different strategies adopted: community-oriented self-development and exogenous industrial recruitment (Summers and Branch 1984). Exogenous industrial recruitment refers to a form of development that encourages outside investors and firms to locate their businesses in the rural communities where local residents might expect to have the power to set substantial management strategies to promote the communitys common benefit. Self-development has come with the awakening of community empowerment because the strategy of industrial recruitment for facilitating development has been criticized. The main factors that spur self-development were the exodus of factories and the stagnating economy in communities. Still, the effect of the flourishing grassroots movement cannot be ignored. For many communities in Belfast, self-development strategies offer potential benefits for maintaining or improving their economic activities. According to Flora et al., community-oriented self-development strategies involve cooperation between the public and private sectors to create locally-controlled jobs and new sources of income (1991:20). These authors also identified three characteristics of the self-development model: (1) involvement by a local government, (2) investment of substantial local resources, and (3) the control of enterprises or activities locally (Flora et al. 1991). As such, broad community involvement revitalizes local economic activities by financing and organizational effort. At the same time, local residents can choose businesses according to characteristics that fit their demand closely and that will not damage their natural resources permanently, alter their landscape irrevocably, or change their lifestyle dramatically. For example, Flora et al. (1991) categ orized community-oriented self-development projects based on major activities and found that the most popular projects involve tourism, arts and crafts fairs, and recreational or cultural activity. Following that, existing business retention and expansion and downtown revitalization are also seen as important projects (Flora et al. 1991). In other words, by developing clean/hospitality industry and revitalizing/individualizing their hometown, communities in Belfast can re-launch local economic activities with the goal of sustainably utilizing their natural resources and community assets. Since economic considerations that are dominant in modern societies have also been prevalent in community development studies, Belfast residents demand for a certain level of economic expansion to improve their economic conditions that reflects the core theme of this economic development approach. Since areas that depend on a single source of income are vulnerable to economic restructuring, the key is to provide them with diverse sources of economic sufficiency. Studies of community economic development illustrate how the structural disadvantages of community economic development influence the ways community members respond to local development paths and what strategies they adopt to solve problems. For example, according to Blakely (1994), communities have faced difficult and overwhelming circumstances in local economic development, and must be aware of the problems affecting the local economy and its consequences; local economic development and employment generation should be initiated at the community level to deal more effectively with these local problems facing the community (Blakely 1994:27). 2.4 Community as a field for development The community should be seen as a whole, rather than as the sum of its parts, wherein the interconnections among individuals, groups, associations, and organizations form concrete social forces to cope with external and internal changes facing the community (Fawcett et al. 1995). Kaufman (1959) argued that development must go beyond planned economic programs and place more priority on improving and increasing community residents identification with the locality in order to get them involved in the process of local development. This process empowers the local community. To carry out such identification with the locality, collaborative action and mutual identity are emphasized prominently in this theoretical orientation. Elaborating extensively on Kaufmans interactional perspective on community, Wilkinson (1970) tied social structure in to the context of community development. He claimed that social structure is defined in an interactional context as observable relationships built up through an action process by members. The role and position of members in a given interactional network are identified and classified to evaluate the pattern of the structure, which determines the continuity of social processes and the direction of social change. It is a network structure-building orientation of community development that focuses on integrative and generalizing networks in the local society (Wilkinson 1970, 1972). This interactional orientation of community development argued that the instrumental orientation of development sees project achievement as the ultimate goal of community development, but, in fact, development should be seen as a dynamic, ongoing process. There are inherent problems behind mate rial demands and physical construction, and there are no substantial, permanent solutions for them. Planned programs for community development are only one of many solutions to achieve social betterment and should focus on building the community field in which the collaborative capacity to pursue locality-oriented common interests is more crucial to the process of community development than solving the immediate physical problems. Wilkinson (1986) argued that empowered collective-oriented community action is the fundamental basis for community development and that community attachment plays an important role in fostering such processes of empowerment. Therefore, exploring the determinants of local residents attachment to their communities becomes an essential step to building up local capacity to deal with community development issues. It is not urbanization or industrialization that directly changes the relationships among local residents or their sense of community. It is the different opportunities and contexts for social interaction leading to different social dynamics that alter the connections between individuals and the society. Beggs et al. (1996) used a name generator method to gather information on respondents social networks and analyzed how closely the respondents interacted in daily life, as well as the strength and duration of their social ties in order to define community attachment. Others, like Brehm, Eisenhauer, and Krannich (2004), adopted multi-dimensional methods to measure community attachment via collective action indicators (including land-based production and conservation involvement, social involvement, and economic/development involvement) and natural environment attachment indicators. By considering two dimensions of community attachment, they found the concept of community attachment cannot be seen as simple social interaction, but as well-developed community cohesion through the linkage between individuals, organizati ons and their locality. Rothman (1979:26) contended that locality development should focus on the broad participation of a wide spectrum of people at the local community level in goal determination and action. According to Rothmans (1979) argument, such broad citizen participation is not only instrumental in solving specific community problems, but also for more general activities, such as democratic procedures, voluntary cooperation, community empowerment, and development of indigenous leadership. This locality development approach emphasized the whole local systems capacity for building and maintaining in which a fundamental network structure should be built up by establishing cooperative relationships among groups by creating a self-help community problem solving system and stimulating residents interest and participation in community affairs. These goals of locality development emphasized community organizations and the harmonious interrelationships among them. To integrate the arguments of community development as a process of interaction, community fields where the community capacity for collective action can be created for the common good and social betterment. Forms of interaction include formal and informal social contact within organized and unorganized social activities. Through such purposeful and non-purposeful interactions, social forces are raised to respond to local issues. Specifically, a community field is manifested in the interactional structure among local residents, groups, and organizations contributing together to the accomplishment of specific objectives of community projects. The central focus of community field theory is on structurally oriented interactions through which communication occurs and fosters positive and cohesive relationships among community members. In addition, Sharp (2001) analyzed community by for examining the concept of community field perspectives in the relationships between network structure and development. He found that these network structures can help community members to cooperate with local organizations, to access resources, to get information flowing among them, and to identify attributes of the community that enhance general capacity for local action. Pavey et al. (2007) contends that the ultimate goal of community development is to build the communitys capacity to manage its own world based on members own meaning systems. They focused on exploring whether sound social relationships were a driving force to stimulate community capacity and strengthen self-governance on community issues. In their findings, interactional field theory was confirmed by the positive relationship between the community field and economic development through horizontal linkages among community members. The changes of social distance and degrees of community attachment among local residents influence the potential community cohesion and collaborative action that can be taken to approach the community common good. Some empirical studies have examined this argument. Sharp (2001) focused on selected features of small-town social structure and its relationship to the community capacity for local action. Drawing on the interactional perspective, community network analysis, and community power research, he proposed an approach to measuring and evaluating the community field to understand more clearly the relationship between community structure and the capacity for local action. His findings complement the thinking on community social capital and social infrastructure and reveal that social relationships and local residents interaction structure are importantly associated with the community capacity for local action. Development should be focused on the community itself, rather than relying solely on neo-classical economics individualism and political-economics macro structuralism. Community development is as a means to an end, a process of guiding for a particular purpose that is eventually helpful to the local community. Furthermore, community development has been realized as a social movement, a process of empowering community that tends to build up its own organizational structure, accepted procedures, and active practitioners within its territory. It stresses and promotes the idea of community development as interpreted by its local residents. In response to such an argument, we might ask that, in the process of building horizontal network ties, hierarchical inequality of power within class, gender, or other social structures could be minimized in order to pursue empowerment of each individual. Traditional community researchers simplify community development as the process of community empowerment in which community capacity is crucial for a better life in the community. 2.5 Research focus from the framework Community development obviously has a variety of meanings to local residents and their personal attitudes toward the vision of their community future are influenced by their attitudes and opinions on issues facing the local community. This research primarily focuses on individuals attitudes toward their local community development through the five models. By examining the research hypotheses, this study analyzes rural residents experiences in local community life to determine preferences for community development alternatives as guided by the five elements of the model. In order to examine the research hypotheses in terms of the relationship between local residents general attitudes toward the current conditions and local community attitudes toward development alternatives, as well as individuals socio-demographic characteristics logistic regression modelling is applied. In five logistic regressions, individuals major concerns with regard to community development issues are used as the dependent variable. Independent variables are used to examine the dependent models through five research hypotheses. Resident attitudes towards community development preferences form the core theme in this research. Therefore, the significance of research is to examine observable changes that shape towards local community circumstances in response to developments their own expectations and attitudes toward future community development alternatives.