Analysis Of Sharon M. Drapers Copper Sun - 1144 Words

In the novel, Copper Sun, Sharon M. Draper quotes a fictional auctioneer: â€Å"Do I hear more than ten pounds for this fine example of African womanhood? Hardly a scratch on her. Bright enough to be taught simple commands, like ‘Come here’ and ‘Lie down’† (52). Amari, the terrified teenager the auctioneer was talking about, was recently taken from her home, chained, and crammed into a slave ship set for America. While on the slave ship, people underwent hunger, sickness, thirst, rape, and death. Though Sharon M. Draper wrote these characters as fictional, they correctly portray people that have lived during that time period. Because of this, Copper Sun is historically accurate and correctly depicts the story of an African girl, as well as the†¦show more content†¦According to FMM in an article titled Francisco Menendez, this was true because in the 1740’s, England attacked Fort Mose, but most of the citizens there were already moved t o the protection of St. Augustine. Sharon M. Draper was able to accurately depict the characters, while also giving them their own story. Although most of the characters in the novel are fictional, many of the places they go to are real. Towards the end of the story, Amari, Polly, and Tidbit escape the Derby’s and head for Fort Mose, a place in Florida where slaves can be freed, which in fact, is true. In an article by PBS, called Fort Mose, Fort Mose was a society of laborers and growers who integrated approaching fugitives, slaves, and Indians from nearby places into an involved family chain. Fort Mose was located two miles north of St. Augustine, and was controlled by the Spanish at the time (PBS). Another major setting in Copper Sun is the Derby Plantation. Though the plantation is not a real place, it resembles what a plantation was like back then. For instance, the hut Polly and Amari lived in was a single room with little outside light and made of rough wooden planks. Like the other huts, the floor was dirt, but other huts around them were made of mud and clay (Draper). SciWay supports Draper’s por trayal of the huts in their article, The Lives of African-American Slaves in Carolina During the

PGs Pert Plus a Pan-European Product - 1141 Words

PGS Pert Plus: A Pan-European Product? QUESTION 1 How attractive is the pan-European market for Pert Plus in terms of demand potential? Competition? Any cannibalization problems? PG is an international supplier of consumer goods it is a global leader in health and beauty care products, detergents, diapers and food . PGs presence in the hair care market in the U.S has been strengthened by innovative technology BC-18 and the replacement of an old brand Pert with Pert Plus- a mild shampoo with a fully effective conditioner. PG decided to introduce BC-18 in Europe. Traditionally, the European market is highly competitive the main rivals are Colgate, Unileaver, and LOreal. The European market is segmented (i.e. value based) and†¦show more content†¦Brand choice? Should the BC 18 technology be introduced with a pan European name, or with local brand names, or even with a mixture of both approaches? Research indicates in Europe there are large price differences among hair care products. PG has decided that it should place the new shampoo in the premium-priced segment; this is done in order to keep up the image of the shampoo as a high quality and innovative product. PG should charge premium price in each country to be sold for 4.99 DM for the 200 ml bottle and for 5.99 DM for the 250 ml bottle in all the countries which had had been accepted during the consumer tests. The company cannot charge a price very few people can afford, this will also not be profitable for the company. PG is to become a leader in the European market of two in one hair products. The first year objective is to attract new European customers from competing brands to shift to the use of shampoo to BC-18. The aim is to exert a pull on the population in order to create a new market niche inside the shampoo market and encourage the people to use the new BC-18. In effect BC-18 technology serves the core need of washing hair and therefore it has to compete with the different national brands which are often well established. As I see, the BC-18 technology should be introduced with a mixture of both approaches—with a pan-European name and local brand names. If we just introduceShow MoreRelatedPGs Pert Plus: a Pan- European Brand?636 Words   |  3 PagesQ1. How attractive is the Pan- European market for pert plus in terms of demand potential? Competition? Pan- European market is quite attractive for pert plus    in terms of demand as the consumers test results showed that the product concept of wash go their (time-saving benefits) 28% consumers said that they would definalty buy the product that was only 1 percent less then already established bran there Vidal Sasson. Also because they are gradually accepting the idea of 2-in-1 shampoo more

Defining Terrorism Free Essays

string(69) " a military and most importantly the terrorist goes after civilians\." If people around the world were surveyed and asked to define terrorism, the answers would be seemingly endless. It has been said, â€Å"one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. † From culture to culture, people view terrorism in a different way. We will write a custom essay sample on Defining Terrorism or any similar topic only for you Order Now An inherent definition of terrorism would be the act of creating terror, but not everyone is terrified of the same thing. So how then is it possible to come up with one definition for the word? â€Å"A 2003 study by Jeffrey Record for the US Army quoted a source that counted 109 definitions of terrorism that covered a total of 22 different definitional elements. [1] In the book Understanding Terrorism, the author Anthony Marsella comes up with â€Å"four problems associated with efforts to define terrorism today: (a) there have been historical changes in the definition, (b) media and states have been inconsistent in their use of the term, (c) there are multiple definitions across agencies even within a single country such as the United States, and (d) there is international disagreement on the definition of the term. †[2] Some views of terrorism say that it must have political goals, while other do not believe this. Some views state that it must be innocents or civilians who are the victims, while other definitions do not believe this. Another argument is whether or not the terrorists must be non-state actors. Definitions are different based on whether they were created for legal purposes or international agencies. In this paper, I will go through some of the different arguments in order to provide a clearer sense of what terrorism truly means in this day in age. Most books written on terrorism begin by giving a definition of the word in the author’s opinion in order to put it into context for the remainder of the book. The entire first chapter of Bruce Hoffman’s book Inside Terrorism is dedicated to trying to define terrorism. Terrorism now seems to be a part of our everyday life. It appears as though every act of violence is perceived as being ‘terrorism. ’ Every time violence occurs people immediately think terrorism. The term terrorism is so hard to define and there is so much controversy about how to define it that it is easy to make the assumption that all violence is terrorism. At the same time, because of the controversy, many media sources are reluctant to use the word. Instead, they give attacks different titles. The Oxford Canadian Dictionary defines terrorism as the â€Å"systematic employment of violence and intimidation to coerce a government or community, especially into acceding to specific political demands. †[3] This definition might satisfy Hoffman because he believes it must be stressed that terrorism is the use or threat of violence to achieve a political aim. [4] Without a political aim, there cannot be terrorism. Nor can there be terrorism without the threat or use of violence. Hoffman believes it is difficult to define terrorism because of its ever-changing meaning throughout history. A factor that makes defining terrorism difficult is that the definition has changed over time. The original definition of the word is no longer the definition used today. The word originally gained support during the French Revolution as part of the â€Å"Reign of Terror. † The purpose was to scare people in order to prevent further revolutions from occurring. The terror was created by the state. Although the definition has changed since the â€Å"Reign of Terror,† there are two points that are similar in today’s definition. First, the regime de la terreur was neither random nor indiscriminate, as terrorism is often portrayed today, but was organized, deliberate, and systematic. †[5] Terrorists plan out their attacks, they are not random or spur of the moment. Targets in present day are often chosen based on what will receive the most media attention. â€Å"Second, its goal and its very justification was the creation of a â€Å"new and better society† in place of a fundamentally corrupt and undemocratic politically system. †[6] Simply put, terrorist attacks occur in order to achieve a political goal. Later, during the Industrial Revolution, Carlo Pisacane argued that the most effective way to publicize his cause was through violence, and that no other means would generate the same amount of attention. [7] This revolutionary-style terrorism remained up until the First World War. â€Å"By the 1930s the meaning of â€Å"terrorism† had changed again and was used to describe the practices of mass repression employed by totalitarian states and their dictatorial leaders against their own citizens. †[8] After the Second World War, the term returned to the original connation of a revolutionary type act. Up until the 1960s, terrorism was largely considered to be domestic. In the late 1960s and 1970s, terrorism began to become more international. It is important to discuss the three types of terrorism: international, domestic and â€Å"new terrorism. † Domestic terrorism is terrorism that takes place against people within your country. International terrorism is terrorism that takes place against people by a group that is not native to the country. New terrorism may have no political aims, but instead are more religious based and mainly concern themselves with destruction. The textbook The Globalization of World Politics states that there are â€Å"three factors that led to the birth of transnational terrorism: the expansion of air travel; the wider availability of televised news coverage; and the broad common political and ideological interests. †[9] These terrorist attacks initially took form in airplane hijackings, but as security tightened up, the terrorists instead chose American targets in foreign countries. Since the September 11th attacks on the United States, international terrorism is mainly what people think of when they think of terrorism. Those attacks were very publicized and had a huge impact on international relations. As well as understanding the different types of terrorism, it is also important to distinguish the difference between a terrorist, a guerrilla and a ‘freedom fighter. ’ â€Å"The freedom fighter conducts a campaign to liberate his people from dictatorial oppression, gross disarmament, or the grip of an occupying power. †[10] A guerrilla is fighting against a military and most importantly the terrorist goes after civilians. You read "Defining Terrorism" in category "Papers" Any group can use terrorism to achieve their goals. In the book Terrorism: The New World Order, Fotion et al explain that there are narrow and broad views of terrorism. The narrower views insist that victims of terrorism must be innocent. A problem with the narrower view is that although it is most often innocents who are targeted by terrorists, they did not see a distinction. Whether they target a military organization or innocent civilians, they are performing terrorist acts. Their objective does not change based on who they are attacking from one day to the next. Their goal is to demoralize their opponent. It is very hard to differentiate the difference between a guerrilla and a terrorist. Although a guerrilla would be attacking military personnel, they could be labelled differently based on their intentions. They could be attacking merely to kill and weaken their opponents or they could be attacking in order to scare the opponents into possibly retreating. By defining terrorism as only attacking civilians, it makes analyzing terrorism a lot more difficult. Fotion et al discussed the paradigmatic scheme, which represents the most generally accepted view of a terrorist attack. [11] â€Å"An attacking group (or individual) victimizes some group of people by harming or killing them. The attackers then escape either before, during or after the victimizing event. Others, seeing what has happened to the victim group become terrorized (frightened, anxious, etc. ). We will call this the immediate effect or result of the process of creating victims. While in their state of terror, they pressure their government to change its political outlook in a way that satisfies the goals of the attackers and, most likely, displeases the government and many of its people. This pressure and resulting changes count as the secondary effect or result of the victimization process. [12] The book Terrorism: The New World Order points out that the word terrorism is seen as having negative connotation, so those who are often labelled as such, would try and find a definition that does not apply to them. [13] â€Å"Those labelled â€Å"terrorists† by their opponents rarely identify themselves as such, and typically use other terms or terms specific to their situation, such as separat ist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerrilla, rebel or any similar-meaning word in other languages and cultures. [14] In the past, people did not hide behind these labels and proclaimed themselves as terrorists and their tactics to be terrorism. [15] This inability for people to acknowledge they are terrorists makes coming up with a definition near impossible. Robert Keeley wrote an entire article about trying to define terrorism. In this article he pointed out that freedom fighters and terrorists are two different things, however freedom fighters often use terrorism. [16] Keeley believes aims of terrorism include â€Å"to advertise for the terrorists’ cause and to weaken morale on the attacked side and build up morale on the attacking side. [17] Because of the pejorative connotation of the word, during warfare, groups often label their opponents as ‘terrorists’ in order to gain more support for their own side. Thi s furthers the difficulty of defining terrorism, as everyone wants to say their opponent is a ‘terrorist,’ which makes everyone a terrorist. At the end of his article, Keeley did not seem to be any closer to finding a true definition than at the beginning. In the book Terrorism: Origins and Evolution, Lutz and Lutz say there are six main parts to defining terrorism. They believe that violence is directed to political ends and that there must in fact be violence or a serious threat of violence. Terrorism must affect a wide range of people, not just the victims of the action. People need to be aware when a terrorist act has happened; there must be an audience. If no one is aware of an occurrence, then the attack has failed. Terrorism is organized and it is performed by a non-state actor. It is important to note the difference between war and terrorism. In simplest words, a war is a conflict between two organized groups. The difference between a war and terrorism is that terrorism occurs by a non-state organization. In recent years, with the availability of the Internet, it has become much easier for terrorists to spread their ideas. It is now simpler to gain the audience that is required to be a successful terrorist. Finally, they believe that terrorism is a weapon of the weak. Terrorist acts occur when the terrorists have no other options in order to achieve their political goals. [18] Though there are many definitions for the word terrorism, it seems that all the definitions stressed that it is political in nature. The act is used to achieve a political aim through the means of violence. Terrorists do not require extensive supplies and the goal is to gain support and demoralize their opponent. As long as those who may be seen as terrorists find other names to describe themselves, unwilling to admit that they are a terrorist, I believe it will continue to be difficult to agree on a specific definition. With no one willing to admit to being a terrorist, the word becomes completely subjective. There will always be controversy over finding one definition, especially with the â€Å"new terrorism† in which religion plays a huge role. These terrorists want nothing, but to create terror and cause destruction. They do not fit in the accepted definition of violence with a political motive, yet what they are doing is creating terror and therefore should be considered terrorism. People will find ways to describe themselves as anything but, and their opponents will try to stress that they are in facts terrorists. â€Å"Terrorism is ultimately a form of psychological warfare, nd it is designed to induce fear. †[19] BIBLIOGRAPHY Baylis, John, and Steve Smith. Globalization of World Politics an Introduction to International Relations. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Bisset, Alex, ed. â€Å"Terrorism. † The Canadian Oxford Paperback Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000. Fotion, Nicholas, Joanne K. Lekea, and Boris Kashnikov. Terrorism The New World Dis order (Think Now). New York: Continuum International Group, 2008. Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press, 2006. Jackson, Robert, and Georg Sorensen. Introduction to International Relations: Theories and Approaches. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Keeley, Robert V. â€Å"Trying to Define Terrorism. † Middle East Policy IX. 1 (March 2002): 33-39. Lutz, James Michael, and Brenda J. Lutz. Terrorism Origins and Evolution. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. Moghaddam, Fathali M. , and Anthony J. Marsella, eds. Understanding terrorism psychosocial roots, consequences, and interventions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2004. Terrorism Research Center, What is the Definition of Terrorism? (n. . ) Available from: Charles Townshend, Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002). Whittaker, David J. Terrorists and terrorism in the contemporary world. London: Routledge, 2004. ———————– [1] Fathali Moghaddam et al. Understanding terrorism psychosocial roots, consequences, and interventions. (Washington: American Psyc hological Association, 2004), 14. [2] Fathali Moghaddam et al. Understanding terrorism, 15. [3] Alex Bisset, ed. â€Å"Terrorism. † The Canadian Oxford Paperback Dictionary. (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000), 1085. 4] Bruce Hoffman. Inside Terrorism. (New York: Columbia University Press, 2006), 3. [5] Hoffman. Inside Terrorism, 4. [6] Hoffman. Inside Terrorism, 4. [7] Hoffman. Inside Terrorism, 5. [8] Hoffman. Inside Terrorism, 14. [9] John Baylis et al. Globalization of World Politics an Introduction to International Relations. 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), 482. [10] David J Whittaker. Terrorists and terrorism in the contemporary world. (London: Routledge, 2004), 4. [11] Nicholas Fotion et al. Terrorism The New World Disorder (Think Now). New York: Continuum International Group, 2008), 4. [12] Fotion et al. Terrorism The New World Disorder, 4. [13] Fotion et al. Terrorism The New World Disorder, 1. [14] Hoffman. Inside Terrorism, 20. [15] Hoffman. Inside Terrorism , 21. [16] Robert V Keeley. â€Å"Trying to Define Terrorism. † Middle East Policy IX. 1 (March 2002): 34. [17] Keeley. â€Å"Trying to Define Terrorism,† 36. [18] James M. Lutz et al. Lutz, James Michael, and Brenda J. Lutz. Terrorism Origins and Evolution. (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 9. [19] Lutz et al. Terrorism Origins and Evolution, 8. How to cite Defining Terrorism, Papers

The Roots Of Affirmative Action Can Be Traced Back To The Essay Example For Students

The Roots Of Affirmative Action Can Be Traced Back To The Essay passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act where legislation redefinedpublic and private behavior. The act states that to discriminate inprivate is legal, but anything regarding business or publicdiscrimination is illegal (Affirmative 13). There are two instanceswhen opposing affirmative action might seem the wrong thing to do. Even these two cases dont justify the use of affirmative action. First is the nobility of the cause to help others. Second,affirmative action was a great starter for equality in the work place. The most promanite variable in deciding affirmative action as rightor wrong, is whether or not society is going to treat people as groupsor individuals. Affirmative action is a question of morals. Thesimplicity to form two morals that are both correct but conflicting isthe reason for the division of our nation on affirmative action. Affirmative action is very noble when looking at who benefitsfrom the outcome. Take a closer look at affirmative action. Thepeople that are involved and the damage it takes on our societysurfaces many doubts. Taking a closer look also stirs up a questionof nobility that needs to be answered before making a decision onaffirmative action. Does affirmative action simply change who isdiscriminated against and makes it legal for the new discriminators?Coming from my point of view, the view of a white male, thisis a serious question. One example of this came to my attention fromDave Shiflett who once worked at Rocky Mountain News wrote RockyMountain Hire. In this article he tells about a new hiring strategyused at the Denver news paper Rocky Mountain News. A memo was sentout stating, The job reviews of supervisors and others involved inhiring should address race and sex. Each review should have a hiringgoal of at least half of our hires being women and at least halfnon-white (Shiflett 45). Lets put this strategy to work. We haveten positions to fill, these positions can be filled following theabove guidelines by hiring five black women. It can also be met byhiring five white women and five non-white men. Obviously to meetthis goal successfully would mean to not hire a white male (Shiflett45). I strongly disagree with my white fore fathers and society todaywho both address race and sex when hiring. Using a persons skin colorin hiring is discrimination no matter how society looks at it. At St. Bonaventure University the potential for reversediscrimination became a reality. In May 1994, 22 faculty members werefired, all were male. The president of the university was very bluntabout his motive, to protect the small number of women on theuniversity staff (Magner 18). This was purely a discussion based ongender not qualification. No matter how efficient these men were somewere fired for not being part of a certain minority. Gary A. Abraham,who was fired as a tenured associate professor stated, It seemsludicrous that the university can rectify its failure to engage inaffirmative action on the backs of its male faculty. Twelve of themen took their complaints to the US Equal Employment OpportunityCommission. The commission sided with the men and are even planningto bring the university up on charges themselves (Magner 18). Givingan employer the power to discriminate only towards minorities isunfair and unethical. Now the question is who will the government protect? Societycan not consider its self fair when we are still forming decisionsbased upon gender or race. It is not noble to protect the jobs ofwomen at Bonaventure University simply there are not enough women onthe roster. We should protect the jobs of the experienced. We cannot form a new society from affirmative action and believe the rightsof all United States citizens will be upheld. Thomas Eliot (1328 words) EssayGuadalupe Quintanilla, the assistant Vice President forAcademic Affairs for the University of Houston, stated, Affirmativeaction has been distorted and abused. We need to take a second lookat it. I think affirmative action has opened a lot of doors, but ithas been misrepresented. Im for opportunity, not special treatment. The majority of people in this country are open-minded and willing towork with people without considering their sex or color. So I thinkwe could do away with set asides (Dunkel 42). Problems with equality in our work force and universities cannot be blamed completely on discrimination. The problem today iscolorblind poverty. Affirmative action actually hurts the lowerincome individual of any minority group. Thomas Sowell, in his 1990book, Preferential Policies, used an international survey ofaffirmative action programs to show the consequences. The benefitsof affirmative action went overwhelmingly to people who were alreadybetter off., while the poorer members of the same groups either didnot gain ground or actually fell further behind (Richardson 4C). Thewealthier neighborhoods have better school systems, which in turnoffer greater resources. If we bring equality to our school systems,a rise in minorities in the work force will soon follow. Some universities here in the United States have basedenrollment on College Boards and SATs or ACTs, none of which showintelligence levels. These tests rather show the standards ofeducation that the individual has encountered. The gap between meanSAT scores for black and whites is 938 for whites and 740 forblacks(Shipler 16) These test scores sometimes become thediscrimination against minorities. Another form of evaluatingstudents is where the Universities and government need to focus, toestablish a standard in education that spans across all levels ofincome. Affirmative action is definitely not the answer for equalityin this day in time. Affirmative action has balanced for thirty years on a moralthreat. It is now time to apply new moral threats, not towards theemployers and colleges but towards the government. For it is thegovernment that needs to change its polices. The government needs totake action towards the real problems of equality: poverty, not thebad white man from the past. Affirmative action is simply the sameold discrimination in reverse.

Gender Issues in the Workplace free essay sample

One of the keys to leadership is good communication. According to the 2011 Catalyst Censuns: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors, Executive Offers and Top Earners, women held 16.1% of board seats in the United States. This statistic contradicts the fact that women are excellent communicators. The contradiction of this statistic suggests that women communicate differently than men, which has huge impacts on women advancing up the corporate ladder. For a woman named Tanya at my workplace, differences in way men and women communicate leave her feeling insignificant; more importantly, she has been passed up many times for a promotion. Describe the situation In my department, there are five male managers. I hear their constant picking on Tanya. They ask why she gets up from her desk to talk to technicians. They avoid conversations with her in the hallway for fear of being â€Å"chatty†. They don’t invite her to meetings that she should be part of. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Issues in the Workplace or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She has been passed up for promotions by men who have been at the company for a shorter time. All of these behaviors are due to Tanya’s extremely friendly communication style and lack of assertiveness. Tanya is the customer liaison for our department. When customers have a problem, they go to Tanya. She is excellent at communicating with upset customers. Her communication is reflective of Wziatek-Staceko’s theory that women use communication to make stable contacts and cooperation to reach a common goal (2008). She has a way of making friends with the upset customers. They enjoy working with her because together they reach the goal of completing service requests. Tanya is a breed of her own in the male dominated department. Not only is she good with customers, but she is also good with the technicians. When someone on the team has not completed their tasks, she uses open communication to understand the problems. This is supportive of Mueller’s theory that women make decisions based on subjective values, allowing emotion, sympathy and the desire for harmony to enter in the equation (2007). Meanwhile Mueller states that men prefer logic, objective values, and standards in making a decision (2007). A male would be far less understanding about someone not completing a task on time. However, Tanya is open to hear teammate’s issues. This evokes a collaborative team environment where technicians are not afraid to tell Tanya if they are running behind. She then works with technicians to find a solution. Everybody except managers feel comfortable talking to Tanya. The very trait that makes her effective at being an amazing customer liaison sets her back from getting higher positions. Tanya, like most women, has a soft voice and high pitched tone. Buttner explains the high tone of a women’s voice is perceived as a submissive quality to men (n.d.). In addition, Tanya, like most women, does not use powerful language. Women tend to speak more politely and use more tag questions (Lakoff, 1975).This is why people are comfortable talking to her. The managers view nonassertive communication as a sign of being inferior and submissive. This is due to the fact that men and women use communication for different things. Men use conversations as a means towards establishing power and dominance (Maltz Borker, 1982). Women use communication to restore unity and reduce tension (Sterkel, n.d.). Because the manager’s view Tanya’s communication as a sign of being inferior, they shun her because they know she won’t respond assertively. They exert dominance and power by locking Tanya out from being a future manager. By mimicking the fact that she talks to technicians rather than emailing them, the managers are using communication as a means to downplay Tanya’s role and increase the power of their own role. Simply not using assertive language has plagued Tanya’s rapport with the male managers. The managers demean Tanya by telling her to â€Å"Go get those people!† referring to employees who may be slacking on their tasks. This makes Tanya feel like she isn’t doing a good job. It makes her feel like they don’t appreciate all the good liaison work she does. The emotional response from Tanya is even further viewed as weakness by the managers. According to Wziatek-Stasko, female emotionality is perceived as not only a weakness, but also a lack of professionalism (2008). Because the male managers speak more assertively and Tanya speaks more tentatively, it gives the impression that she is not confident and capable as a leader. This is contrary to the fact that Tanya enables the smooth operation of services provided between the customers and the IT Department. If the customers weren’t kept happy, and technicians were not happy working for the customers, the whole operation would fall apart. Essentially Tanya is already managing technicians and their work output for customers. It just goes unrecognized and underappreciated due to her interpersonal communication style. Analyze the differences in communication, problem solving, and leadership styles of the men and the women in the situation. The leadership style of the male managers is very dominant and conquering. It seems as though leadership is a competition to them. They take every opportunity to outsmart others or down play other’s efforts, even when it is for the good of the team. According to Wziatek-Stasko, men perceive people via prisms of positions (2008). This stems from behaviors learned in adolescence. Typical males played sports growing up where they learned how to be aggressive, play to win, strategize, and mask emotions (Norton, n.d.). The leadership style that Tanya displays represents a flat feminist style; she protects employees by negotiating differences and seeking win-win situations. This is known as a â€Å"flat† leadership style (Norton, n.d). Tanya’s emails tell employees if they do a certain action, she will help them with another task. Because Tanya attempts to equalize power, the men take this an opportunity to seize power leaving Tanya without career advancement and not viewed with management potential. When it comes to problem solving, Tanya asks team mates what they think the best approach would be . This creates a team atmosphere where everybody is willing to help solve the problem. Meanwhile, the male managers tend to dictate. When someone does not do as they say, this is a sign of being insubordinate. While neither problem solving method is more right or wrong, it does not absolve women from understanding the hierarchical communication approach from men, not does it relinquish men from learning the communal communication style of women. According to John Gray’s book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, the reason for such communication differences is due to the fact that women and men have different needs, goals, and values from their communication. According to Mr. Gray, men are goal-oriented and their sense of self is defined through their ability to achieve results (1992). Meanwhile, women are relationship-oriented. Therefore, they use communication to establish relationships and create win-win situations. Differences in what men and men value create differences in how they communicate. Identify best practices. By employing some best practices Tanya could dissolve her soft image and gain respect from the male managers. Tinsley, Cheldelin, Schneider Amanatullah suggest that women work within the core feminine stereotype to capitalize on society’s stereotype of the nurturing female (2009). One suggestion is having customers and team members praise Tanya’s accomplishment to the managers. This avoids the backlash that could occur if Tanya self-promoted herself. Another tool Tanya could use is reframing her position during dialogues as one on behalf of the larger group. This makes her role seem more important and is consistent with the nurturing stereo-type of women. As Tanya becomes more assertive in her role, it is important that she explains where the behavior is coming from so that this â€Å"out of the norm† behavior is not seen as emotional or erratic behavior. With a little more assertiveness, teammates that promote her, and re-positioning herself to represent the en tire team, Tanya can re-define her position and shed her previous un-important image. Displaying masculine communication techniques in combination with feminine communication techniques is known as being â€Å"androgynous†. Using a combination of both gender communication styles is promising for women (Kent and Moss, 1994). The balance of typical gender behaviors is important. This is based on the fact that stereotypical male behaviors are considered important for leadership roles. According to Wziatek-Stasko, the following communication behaviors are masculine: talk to give information; focus on facts; use assertive language; user order, rules, and structure (2008). By employing some of these male behaviors, Tanya will reduce the image that she is a typical female which will help her to gain rapport with the male managers. Identify challenges and differences. The challenge and differences of gender communication styles lies in the premise of biologically determined character traits. Gender is simply a predecessor of behavioral traits that affect communication. Due to biological differences, women are brought up differently than men. Young ladies play dolls where they learn it is never good to be the â€Å"boss† doll or to boss people around. Young boys play sports where they learn to play their role in the hierarchy by obeying the coach and conquering other teams. The behavioral tendencies due to sex-differentiated experiences at a young age eventually effect why genders communicate differently. Studies show that women tend to interrupt less and weaken their statements (Thorne Henley, 1975). These actions derive from the fact that women perceive themselves to be of a lower status than males. The reason is also attributed to the fact that women are afraid to be wrong. Women attach their emotions to the conversation while men remain unemotional. Because men are less emotional, they take more risks in being dominant. When resolving a crisis, men create solutions while women give unsolicited advice (Gray, 1992). In the business world, this increases the opinion that women are inferior to the solution-driven male. When faced with a difficult situation, men are more prone to withdrawing themselves; women want to talk about their cause of stress (Gray, 1992). This communication difference furthers the stereotypical opinion that women are emotionally unstable. Interesting, communication between males is centered on doing something; communication between females is created for the sake of communication and intimacy (Tannen, 1990). According to Szell Thurner, women have more communication partners than men, but this does little in the hierarchal corporate world where respect and power are needed for advancement (2012). While men live in the world of status and women live in a world of connections, it is no wonder men easily climb up the corporate status ladder. Stereotypes seem influencing behaviors of the women and the men Stereotypes influence the way performance is perceived, interpreted, and evaluated. Traditional sex stereotypes depict women as deficient in the attributes necessary become a leader (Martell Block, 1995). Long standing stereotypes of women are that of a care giver, not a manager at an important cooperation. Traditional stereotypes of men include being the primary bread-winner for the family, dominant, independent, and emotionally stable (Chapman, n.d.). These stereotypes drive actions which further embed believes. Because it is stereotypical of males to be leaders, females often feel subor dinate from the stereotype alone. All of these pre-defined beliefs are grounded in biological differences and long standing history which have programmed people to act out stereotypes. By age 4, children understand the attributes of their gender and try to abide by these roles (Eddleston, Veiga, Powell, 2003). This is why girls play dress up, and boys play war. Because gender roles are embedded at such a young age, by the time people reach adulthood stereotypical gender roles subconsciously control how people communicate and behave in the workplace. According to David Scheider, stereotypical characteristics for females are affectionate, emotional, and sympathetic (2005). Typical traits for males are aggressive, dominant, rational, and unemotional (Scheider, 2005). Because the stereotypical feminine characteristics do not match up with common leadership trait, there is an underlying belief that persists in society in which women are deemed unfit for leadership positions. Women and men both belief the stereotype leading to women communicating in a submissive manner to men. The biological and physiological gender differences in communication enhance the stereotypes for men and women in the workplace. Develop recommendations to strengthen the behaviors of both the women and the men. The key to effective communication is listening. Both genders need to understand what the other person is saying before they reply. A good rule of thumb is waiting 3 seconds after someone else is done before responding. Although interrupting is viewed as a masculine behavior aimed at increasing dominance, this behavior is not a practice of good communication. Being clear and direct on the intent of communication is another recommendation for both genders. Rather than m anagers telling Tanya to â€Å"Go Get Em†, they should tell her all technicians are to be accountable for their actions. Being clear and direct ensures the receiver understands the intended message. Lastly, both genders need to stay positive. When a manager says something upsetting, Tanya should stay focused on performance and long term implications rather than getting upset. The managers also need to focus on being positive in regards to Tanya’s performance. Listening, being direct, and staying positive will strengthen communication of both genders. Identify three to five personal action plans that you will implement to strengthen your behaviors in the workplace. I have already implemented masculine characteristics in the work place to exhibit more androgynous behavior. First, I am more assertive. Instead of saying, â€Å"Shouldn’t all service requests have a ticket?† I say, â€Å"All service requests should have a ticket. If there are any questions, please see my manager.† The ability to be more assertive stems from the fact that I no longer see myself as a subordinate to males. Second, I use my relationships with people to gain rank or influence. When an issue arises with a male, I get other managers on my side to respond rather than me responding directly. This indirectly increases my rank and increases my value to male man ager who are happy to be my dominant voice. Thirdly, I am more goal-oriented. Instead of waiting for someone else to take the lead on a project, I gladly take charge in an  effort to accomplish goals like improving processes. Finally, I am flexible in my communication style. I use both male and female approaches to communication. In one meeting, I will give information and collect information. I thrive on competition and relationships simultaneously. I am assertive, yet still cooperative. I understand and empathize. By using a combination of communication improvement techniques, I have already strengthened my place in the workforce and accomplished many new projects.

Why are Nursing Home Jobs Getting Tougher to Find

Why are Nursing Home Jobs Getting Tougher to Find There’s constant buzz about the shortage of healthcare providers and bustling job market as we enter an era in which people over the age of 65 will account for nearly 20 percent of the population by the year 2030, according to the Administration on Aging. Picturing a society full of nursing homes overflowing with white-haired seniors? Think again. Nursing homes have been steadily on the decline in this county for years, and there’s no indication of a reversal in sight. Declining along with them? Nursing home jobs. Let’s take a closer look at this phenomenon, and what it means for nurses and other nursing home professionals.The 411 on Nursing Home JobsNursing home and residential care facility jobs fell by a whopping 4,800 jobs this past March, continuing a trend in that sector. The majority of these jobs were in nursing homes - the sole sector that’s seen a decline over the past year.However, health care overall added 22,300 jobs last month, largely drive n by outpatient care options, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. While jobs for nurses and physicians continued to experience growth, nursing homes positions remained the one stagnant area.Why the Decline?Today’s seniors want different things for their retirement, and the stigma of nursing homes weighs heavily upon them. Because people want care that’s closer to home and less â€Å"institutional† in feel, outpatient settings are experiencing significant growth. While this increases the demand for healthcare professionals in ambulatory roles, it decreases jobs for nursing home workers.It’s not exactly a surprise that the decline in nursing home jobs corresponds to other related declines, both in terms of nursing homes as well as older patients in nursing homes. Many healthcare professionals hoping to land nursing home jobs are finding themselves in an unexpected predicament: without job prospects in one of the most sought after sectors.This doesn’t mean they have to settle for the unemployment line, however. Instead, it may mean expanding their search parameters to different settings which offer similar care to older patients.The â€Å"New† Nursing HomePartly in response to demand from patients and partly due to the shrinking of Medicaid financing, many nursing homes are turning to a new model: Managed Care at Home programs. Also referred to as PACE (â€Å"Program of All-INclusive Care for the Elderly,†) this option includes many responsibilities that overlap with those in traditional nursing homes while allowing patients to stay at home. In short: long-term care no longer must take place in a nursing home; rather seniors can now gain access to 24-hour care at home. Many believe that patients can not only gain access to equally quality of care with these Managed Care at Home programs, but will also pay less. It’s no surprise, then, that these programs are expected to continue to grow.While n ursing homes are unlikely to ever disappear completely, competition for nursing home positions will grow steeper. Meanwhile, new career options will skyrocket thanks to a number of factors, including the increasing senior population, the influx of patients into the American healthcare system due to the Affordable Care Act, and the rise in managed care at home programs designed to meet financial concerns and patient needs alike. Trained and flexible healthcare workers will have plenty of options from which to choose.

Current Macroeconomic Situation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Macroeconomic Situation - Research Paper Example A problem that the global recession created which the U.S economy has not been able to manage well is an explosion in the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate in the U.S. traditionally used to be under 5%. The unemployment rate reached double figures in 2010 for the first time in decades. During the last few months the U.S. has gone down a bit which is a positive sign. The creation of jobs is very important for the economy because it provides much needed income to many American families. The graph below shows the movement in the U.S. unemployment rate during the past nine months. The United States population has not had any problems with inflation in recent history. Economies that suffer from inflation are problematic because inflation diminishes the purchasing power of money. A rise in inflation is also bad because it increases the cost of acquiring money from banks and lending institutions. Investors are not attracted by economies that suffer from inflationary tendencies. During 2009 and 2010 the inflation rate in the United States was a very low 0.92% and 1% (Countrywatch, 2012). A problem the U.S economy faces which affects the long term well being of its entire population is its overall deficit. The deficit of the Unites States is growing every year due to three factors. The three factors that are increasing the total debt of America are budget deficits, trade deficit, and a lack of savings. During the past 40 years the U.S has only been able to achieve a budgetary surplus five times. The deficits keep accumulating themselves year after year. The U.S also has the largest trade deficit in the world. In January 2012 the U.S economy generated $180.6 billion in exports and $233.4 billion in imports (Tradeeconomics, 2012). The end result was that the U.S. started the year by accumulating a trade deficit of $52.3 billion in January 2012. The United States fiscal policy should focus on expansionary policies. The