The World of Work Skills Certificate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The World of Work Skills Certificate - Essay Example I am attracted to structural designing in light of the fact that I like the thought of molding my general surroundings to meet the requests without bounds. I seek after a testing profession which I will discover expressly compensating and have the capacity to feel that I have given something back to the society. Â  Scholastically, science has dependably been my primary intrigue and is the territory in which I am generally capable. I delighted in science, specifically finding out about human effect on nature. In any case, amid my grades in school, I understood that my advantage lay more profound in maths and material science. I delighted in the critical thinking included inside of my subjects and the way a genuine circumstance could be communicated and controlled scientifically. What I discovered especially fascinating was relating what had learned in the classroom to genuine circumstances, which is the thing that gave me more enthusiasm for structural building - the request of a testing profession where I would have the chance to hypothetically take care of issues and essentially apply answers for beneficially affect my general surroundings. Â  Amid my whole year, I have had a few work experience positions in different gifted exchanges, for example, building and joinery. Through joinery, I picked up energy about the requirement for precise outline and development, and in addition a learning of the employment of wood as a building material. In spite of the fact that a significant part of the building work I have attempted was in development, I observed it to be the priceless experience. For instance, whilst building a carport I learned about the significance of good outline and having so as to arrange to translate the plans keeping in mind the end goal to decide what number of blocks would be required.

ESSAY Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Essay Example One of the key reasons why television bears the blame is that women’s role and portrayal on television has remained constant although a few insignificant changes have been made. The reason for this is that one, the woman is depicted as an overly feminine object only capable of executing â€Å"female† roles in films, advertisements, and programs. For instance, men still play the hero roles in most films, mostly protecting, saving, or tormenting women. Additionally, advertisements portray women as attractive objects used to market things by use of their sexual appeal. The final evidence regarding preservation of cultural stereotyping is racial segregation in films. There is still white domination in most films, with the people of color playing mostly secondary roles, or being portrayed as inferior, unintelligent, criminals, or slaves. In short, an above average of television broadcasts places the white man above the black, or the black playing secondary to the white. One of the key examples is the film The Gods Must Be Crazy which portrayed a black man as being overly primitive. The 21st century has brought with it digitalization which has in turn given birth to digital networks and communities. Unlike in real-life communities where contact, communication, conflicts and all other aspects of life are done face to face, the same are virtually executed on these digital communities. This therefore presents a twofold scenario when it comes to socializing; it can either foster of degrade it. Again, there is a danger in that owing to its virtual nature, digital networking is easy to manipulate thus give rise to virtual creations which may not exist in reality. What this means is that digital communities allow people to â€Å"write† themselves, meaning they can create multiple personalities of who they are not. The idea of people writing themselves into being might be a conscious or

Childcare and Education Essay Example for Free

Childcare and Education Essay E1.Identify 5 pieces of current legislation and E2. Describe how each legislation will influence working practices in the setting. The Human Rights Act 1998 is broken down into 5 key principles which are; Fairness, Respect, autonomy, dignity and equality. Equality would influence working principles because the children would be treated fairly by having their individual needs met to ensure the same outcome is achieved as the other children. Settings can maintain fairness and respect by having the practitioners in the setting following the same policies and procedures. This would also avoid conflict between staff and would not confuse the children with knowing their expectations. Another way settings can have respect in the setting could be by following parent’s preferences such as their food preferences for their child. My current placement follows parent’s preferences by having meals that are suitable for children without specific food preferences and set meals to meet cultural and health needs. Settings can promote autonomy by encouraging children to build on their life and social skills. This can be done by the setting providing games such as a simple board game where the children have to choose their game piece and where they have to turn take. This would also build on autonomy because it would teach children how to share and how to treat other children or people with a positive attitude. For an example if a child is an only child, they may not know how to share with other children, so playing a game that engages their interest would gradually teach the child how to build on his turn taking skills and how to interact positively with other children. In the setting, dignity can be maintained by removing situations where a child may feel embarrassed or ashamed. If a child wets their selves, the practitioner in the setting should take the child into the bathroom and change them. The practitioners shouldnt draw the other children’s attention to the child who has had an accident. The child would need some comfort and reassurance as this situation is almost always v ery embarrassing and distressing. The Childcare Act 2006 focuses on adult to child ratios, qualification levels of staff and types of drinks and snacks available for the children and follows the early year’s foundation stage framework. This would influence working practices because it helps to keep the children healthy. This would influence working practices because it helps to keep the children healthy. Settings can follow the Childcare Act 2006 focuses by  providing fruit, milk and water at snack time. This can also be done by having playtime outside so that the children would get vitamin D and fresh air. Also the settings would provide meals with nutrition and are aware of dietary and cultural needs. The children act 1989 and 2004 aims to protect children by working in partnership with parents and by the every child matters which have five main principles: Be healthy, Stay Safe, Enjoy and achieve through learning, achieve economic well-being and make a positive contribution to society. The Enjoy and achieve through learning will influence practice because it allows practitioners to cater for each child’s needs whilst ensuring that the children are enjoying what they are doing or learning. The Equality act 2010 has been simplified from 9 separate acts into 1 act. The main is to end all forms of discrimination. The protected characteristic of disability will help to influence practice as this will help practitioners be able to differentiate activities and to re-create the same experience using other methods or activities. The health and safety at work legislation is about keeping yourself and others safe. This will influence practice because it will ensure the utmost safety for both the children and staff of the setting. This can be done by having regular risk assessments and by finding a solution to any hazards. For an example, if there is spilt water, a staff member should mop it up as soon as possible to avoid staff or children slipping and being injured. E3. Describe how policies and procedures will help safeguard children. One policy could be the safeguarding policy. The safeguarding procedure helps to protect children because the setting would have a safe recruitment method to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children or are qualified to work with children legally. For an example, before I could start my placement and working with the children, I had to show my CRB check to my nurserys placement officer. CRB checks helps to safeguard children because it would prevent anyone with a serious criminal offence or someone who could be a danger to children from working with them there for protecting the children from being mistreated or harmed. Another part of the safeguarding procedure that would safeguard children would be to have a designated person who has a clear and defined role and responsibility in regards to child protection. Having a designated person would help safeguard children  because they would be the person the practitioners should go to if there are concerns about a childs safety or welfare concerns about the actions of a staff member. This would safeguard children as the designated person would be able to decide what actions need to be done in order to resume the childs welfare or to decide what the disciplinary action is for the staff that has had the allegation made towards them. To avoid this, all staff should have regular child protection training. A separate policy could be the behaviour management policy. This policy would help safeguard children as it helps children to think about their actions and the consequences they may cause. When a child has behaved in an unwanted behaviour, the disciplinary guidelines should be taken. The disciplinary guidelines are Give verbal warning, Move the child away from the area and time out if the first two stages don’t work. The above verbal behaviour management methods should always only be used instead of physical contact. However, physical contact should only be used if you need to restrain a child if they are causing harm to their selves, other children and people or are damaging the settings property. It would help safeguard children because it would reduce the risk of the children being physically hurt and would maintain a safe learning and play environment. It is important that the setting outlines the behaviour because management procedures because it will give consistency to the children as the practitioner within the setting will follow the same set of rules enabling children to know the rules and expectations clearly. E4. Describe how the policies and procedures promote fair, Just and inclusive strategies. A procedure that promotes fair, just an inclusive strategy is adapting resources to meet children’s needs. This can be done by having a range of equipment that helps children and their individual needs. This can be done by providing a range of different sized paint brushes and sponges for an example. This would allow children to develop their creative skills and interests whilst being able to develop their fine motor skills. A policy that promotes fair, just and inclusive strategy is the equal opportunities policy. This policy helps to include children because everyone in the setting has the right to be included in everything the setting does and every child has the right to education and developing their skills. Equal opportunities policy will also help children to feel valued and have their  progress and achievements celebrated. This can be done by displaying children’s artwork, creations and other outstanding work on a display board for all parents and staff to see. Another procedure that promotes fair, just and inclusive strategy is by showing awareness of different cultures and life styles. This can be done by having related activities or circle time celebrating different cultures, religions, life styles and things that challenge normal expectations. For an example; ‘all nurses are female’. This is inclusive practice because it involves every child’s cultural preferences and builds on children’s knowledge and understanding about the world we live in. Another policy that promotes fair, just and inclusive strategy is the Special Education Needs (SEN) policy. This policy allows every child to have the same care, attention and consideration as any other child in the setting, regardless of their disability or background. The policy states that every setting should have a SENCO worker and responsibility in adapting and adjusting the settings environment to help children have the same experience in the setting whilst having their individual needs met. This can be done by having braille books for children with a sight impairment or provide easy access in the building for wheel chair users. E5.Describe two strategies which can be used to empower children to develop independence and self-reliance One strategy that could empower children to become independent and self-reliant could be by having circle time regularly. Circle time should allow children to express their thoughts and feelings with the security of being listened to. Another strategy that would enable children to be independent and self-reliant would be to take part in food preparations such as choosing what fruit they’d like for snack time and cutting the fruit themselves. E6. Give examples of how settings may prepare children for transfer or transitions â€Å"transitions into reception classes was at best abrupt and worst traumatic† (Scott,(2005),P21) One way settings can prepare children for transfer or transitions could be by the child’s key worker taking the child to open days or visits. This would allow the child to familiarize their selves with the new teachers or key people who would be working with them as this would also make the child feel comfortable with going to the setting as they know somebody who they can talk to. Another way setting can prepare children for transitions could be by having learning partners or mentors who are older children from the setting where some of the children may be moving up to. This would help children to build relationships so that they feel confident in moving up to the setting because they’d know another child there. Final ways setting can help prepare children for transitions could be by having individual transition plans for each child. The setting would need to â€Å"make time to share previous information† (Scott,(2005),P21) to the setting that the child is transferring to because this would allow the teachers to cater and plan for the child’s needs and interests. D1. Explain the key issues relating to the practice which supports children to prepare for transitions One key issue relating to supporting children through transitions when starting nursery could be to follow a settling in procedure. The Settling in procedure often involves havin g the parent and child having a visit before the child’s official starting date. Having a visit before the child’s starting date will help the child to become more familiar with the setting. In time the child should feel more comfortable with going to the setting. The settling procedure also involves working in partnership with the parents. If the child sees the parent interacting with the staff members, it is more likely that the child will feel secure in the setting. Another key issue relating to supporting children through transitions when starting primary school would be to create a time where the children are involved. For an example, an activity could be to have a show and tell circle time, where the child brings in something from the weekend or something to do with the set topic and talks about it. This would help a child to settle in a primary school because it would give the child a chance to be involved with the class and have their discussions listened to. A third key issue relating to supporting children through transitions when starting nursery would be to find out what the child’s favourite toys are and put them out for the child to play with when they come into nursery. Also, to make the child feel welcomed, the practitio ner should also provide a range of appropriate activities for the children and always give the child an opportunity for them to participate in the activities as much or as little as they like. An alternative key issue relating to supporting children through transitions  when starting primary school would be to work in partnership with parents. This can be done by having notice boards around the school which has features such as â€Å"most improved child†, â€Å"Little stars† (Where children are placed here for good work or for doing something kind etc) and put the child who is starting in the primary school on the notice board. This would make the child and parent feel proud and would give the child a sense of achievement which hopefully would make the child want to enjoy and participate in the school more. An alternative key issue relating to supporting children through transitions when starting nursery could be by providing opportunities for the child to express their feelings. This can be done by having regular one to ones with the child and their key worker, Having areas for the children to independently draw and write in addition to having â€Å"End of the day† circle time where the children have the freedom to say what they liked about the day or what they didn’t like. This will help the practitioners in the setting know what the children really engage in and which activities they don’t like to participate in. Also It would help the practitioners learn more about the child who is starting in the nursery as it will help the practitioners provide more activities that the child is interested in. Hopefully in time, this will help the child to enjoy nursery more. A final key issue relating to supporting children through transitions when starting primary school would be to help the child develop self-help skills. This can be done by encouraging the child to take responsibility for their selves, such as putting on their coats or helping to tidy up the classroom. This would help the child settle in nursery because this give the child a sense of accomplishment and would also build on their self-esteem with the thought of â€Å"I can do that† and being able to try new things. Also helping to build on the child’s self-help skills will also help to â€Å"practice their large and small motor skills† (http://www.extension.org) C1.Evaluate one theoretical perspective which supports the development of strategies for empowering children I have chosen the constructivist theory. The theoretical perspective links in with strategies that empower children because it helps children become self-reliant. This theory also influences practice because it helps the child care practitioners to assist the children build on vital life skills such as  making decisions and communicating. For an example, at my placement during snack time, the children have a choice of milk or water. The children either has to point to or say the drink theyd like to have. This encourages children to language and encourages them to start to take responsibly for their own wellbeing. This theory also influences practice because it helps the childcare practitioners to define children who has specific needs or children who needs extra support as they may not be developing in the developmental areas as they should. The good element to this theory is that children learn to build on the childs life skills such as becoming more self-reliant. The theory is also good because play is important as it lets children use imagination and responsibility of the childs learning. It also helps to build on the childs fine and gross motor skills. However, the bad points about this theory are that children develop little without an adult although staff shouldnt allow the children to be too attached to them as the children wouldn’t interact very well with children their age as well as giving children adequate help and support so that the child can learn to be self-reliant so that in the future they, they would be able to achieve more without much support from the adult. The theory can be improved by ensuring that the staff should try and make sure that the sessions within the setting are 50% adult led and 50% child led as this would help the children to form knowledge and understanding of the world because of accurate information being shared by the childcare practitioner and will allow the children to take an active role in choosing what theyd like to learn. For an example, a child may choose to play with toy animals. To a person, the child is just playing but the child could actually be learning about the different types and sub-species of animals in a basic and simple form. In addition to this, having a balanced adult and child led setting will help children to get an equal opportunity to interact with both adult and children. E7.Exaplain the cause and effects of discrimination on children B1.Discuss  how the causes and effects of discrimination may affect practice in the setting. The staff attitudes and values can affect the atmosphere because the childcare practitioners may unintentionally teach children that it is okay to discriminate people. For an example, if a member of staff said â€Å"all ginger children are violent and aggressive†, this could influence children because it may make the children tease or leave out other children who have ginger hair during play time. It also may affect the way the practitioners work and teach because the practitioners might interact with a group of children and leave out a child because of their views. This affects the children because it â€Å"children can quickly pick up the signs given out and they can sense if there is tension† in addition to making the child feel undervalued and not accepted which can make the child withdraw from activities and communicating with other adults and children or could trigger bad behaviour. Settings should show respect for the parents and families by respecting the parents or families’ choices and requests within reason as this would show inclusion. For an example, if a parent prefers their child to be vegetarian the setting should provide vegetarian food whereas if a parent asks for a child not to play with a toy/or do an activity, the staff should challenge it every child has the right to have an equal opportunity. This can affect the practice within the setting because the practitioners may have a stereotypical view about children such as girls should wear dresses and play in the home corner whereas boys should only play with construction activities. This affects the child because it would make the child feel like they are not unique as they may become fearful of doing new activities as they have been told off or been influenced to only do what the adults say. In my nursery they avoid being discriminative by providing food options suitable for a range of cultural preferences, the setting will make sure that the child will have a vegetarian meal. Discrimination can affect children because it can make them feel awkward if there aren’t many posters, books, toys or other resources that would help other children learn about diversity, different cultures and different lifestyles that may challenge the ‘norm’. For an example not all men go to work and not all women stay at home to look after the children. Note: This answer is wrong A .Reflect on the influence of legislation on working practices within early years settings. One policy could be the behavior management policy. This policy would help safeguard children as it helps children to think about their actions and the consequences they may cause. When a child has behaved in an unwanted behavior, the disciplinary guidelines should be taken. The disciplinary guidelines are Give verbal warning, Move the child away from the area and time out if the first two stages don’t work. The above verbal behavior management methods should always only be used instead of physical contact. However, physical contact should be used if you need to restrain a child if they are causing harm to their selves, other children and people or are damaging the settings property. It is important for the setting to outline the behavior management procedure to ensure adults know the limits and boundaries so that staff doesn’t receive allegations about harming children. Another legislation that influences practices within early year settings could be the safe guarding policy. This policy ensures that all children are safe and are kept from harm or neglect. The safeguarding policy and procedure influences practices in the early years setting because it is the staff within the settings role because they take on the parental responsibility to take care of the child. There should always have a designated person who staff can go to when there are concerns for a child’s welfare or if the staff member needs advice on their role within the setting or to provide safe guarding inductions for new staff. This influences settings because the designated person makes sure that the children’s welfare is paramount as well as ensuring that the child protection policy is updated yearly. This would help to make sure that the settings child protection policy is following the current laws about safeguarding children. [quote here] . Another role of the designated person would be to make sure the staff members within the setting has child protection training every two to three years and is recorded to make sure that the staffs is complying to the law. (2012 ). Ways to Encourage Self-Help Skills in Children. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.extension.org/pages/26436/ways-to-encourage-self-help-skills-in-children. [Last Accessed 29 November 2012 ].

KFC and McDonalds: Western Country And China

KFC and McDonalds: Western Country And China This chapter describes the background of the two typical western fast food companies in china, which are KFC and McDonald. It also provides research questions along with the purpose of the thesis and corresponding primary and secondary research methodologies. In addition, there is a brief introduction of the theoretical Frameworks used thoroughly within the thesis. Background The KFC and McDonalds are the two major entities operating in Chinese market in western fast food industry. McDonalds is one of the famous brands of restaurant in the world, owning more than 30000 outlets in 120 counties, generating US$ 24.075 billion revenue in 2010 while KFC has more than 10000 stores in 80 countries with the US$ 520.3 million revenue in 2007 (en.wikipedia.org).Howbeit, McDonalds trails behind its competitor KFC in china, although in other countries, such as USA, UK, the business of McDonalds is more successful than that of KFC. McDonald was founded by Ray Kroc in 1955 in the United States. On October 8, 1990, the first McDonalds restaurant in China opened in Shenzhen. On April 1992, Wangfujing outlet in Beijing was opened, which was the worlds largest area of McDonalds restaurants. At the same day, the total income was over a million RMB. At present, McDonalds only has approximate 200 outlets. In addition, the numbers of McDonalds delivery service outlets are more than 480. There are more than 1,000 dessert stations, more than 280 wheat coffee shops, and more than 1,000 24 hour restaurants. In 2012, McDonalds in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, will open online order services to expand its business scale in E-business market. For KFC, since 1987, when its first outlet opened in Beijing, china, 24 years passed. During these years, KFC china always dedicates to create new fast-food concept for China Market and has been trying to explore the most attentive service to Chinese consumers (Bell and Shelman, 2011.P3). Till 2012, KFC China has opened 3200 outlets in more than 650 cities and town. It is the largest and fastest growing fast chain company. In China, KFC plays a much more dominate role than that of McDonalds. In July 1987 the first KFC outlet opened in Beijing which is regarded as the first step into Chinese fast food industry. Since then, KFC has achieved the leading position in fast food industry in china, which has alr eady formed its unique cooking style, especially tailoring to the tastes of specific regions within China. Research questions and aim The specific objectives that are researched in this thesis are: Comparing difference market strategy KFC and McDonald used to improve their market position in Chinese fast food market. The analysis of cross-cultural management strategy adopted in KFC and McDonald The challenges that KFC and McDonald will encounter in China in the future. Our aim is to research and analyze about the key factors for foreign fast food companies running successful business in China. We want to find out what changes western fast food companies should make in order to achieve the sustainable growth. . Contribution: From the result of this case-study the organization will be able to identify the root cause of their successful business and also reveal their potential weak point. By using our result, they can improve their further overall business strategy. Research methodologies To achieve the target of doing deep analysis between KFC and McDonalds s business strategy, the primary methodology chosen is a mixed-method approach (Bryman, 2004). The qualitative research method will be introduced into this case study. By doing so, a series of random selected questions will form a questionnaire. The answer of each of the questions will determine each consumers attitude toward each well designed topic relating to their reaction to various business strategy adopted by KFC and McDonald. The secondary research methodology is applied to gather the evidence from other aspects and sources (Bryman and Bell, 2007, P28). One part of these materials include KFC and McDonalds annual report, revenue report that will reflect and reveal their finical positions in the Chinese market so as to determine whether their current business strategy generate a positive impact based on the reaction from the consumers. Whats more, the press and journals published in China, for example, Chin a Daily, 21 century, will also be considered for the reference. For those collect data, a statistics analytic method will be carried to conclude what aspects KFC and McDonald should improve to increase their marketing margin in Chinese Market from consumers perspective. Disposition Chapter 2: Introduce the Theoretical Frameworks, which are composed of cross-culture and 4P marketing strategy. The discussion is divided into two parts. At first, the components of culture which could form the key elements of cross culture strategy such as the different values, languages and customer behaviors will be chosen and they are combined with the analysis of 4P marketing strategy to illustrate how cross-culture strategy interacts with 4P marketing strategy and vice-versus. Secondly, illustrate 4P marketing strategy individually. In addition, we present different views of the relationship between society structure and consumer behavior such as service quality, customer expectations, perceived service quality and the relationship between customer expectations, perceptions and satisfaction in different countries. Finally we describe 4P marketing strategy that is used for analyzing the result and its relationship with cross-culture strategy. Chapter 3: This chapter describes the methods that were used for making the survey. The questionnaire structure as well as the method for choosing the sample of sources to support the evidence is also described Chapter 4: The empirical material is presented. The analysis is based on the 4P Marketing strategy. Product Strategy, Price Strategy, Place Strategy and Promotion Strategy are discussed together with the example of KFC and McDonald. In addition, cross culture analysis is combined with 4P analysis in order to support the results that KFC and McDonald as western fast food company are performing well in Chinese market. Chapter 5: In this chapter we present conclusions for KFC and McDonald respectively. Then we compare the disadvantage and advantage of western fast food companies with traditional Chinese food restaurant and then provide recommendations for western fast food companies to improve. In addition, we outline what aspects could be enhanced in the further research and the limitation of our studies. Literature review (Theoretical framework): The theoretical framework of this study is based on a number of relevant theories that are discussed in this part. The model which authors constructed in this study integrates cross-culture and 4P marketing strategy. Cross-Culture Management The process of cross-cultural management, in general, is divided into two steps. Cultural analysis and evaluation are considered as the first step. For the second step, culture then is regarded as a resource that could be controlled through the effective integration in management level. In the study of cross-cultural management, how to analyze the culture is the key that could directly and effectively reflects the current achievement of cultural management within the enterprise. Hofstedes model is generally accepted as the most comprehensive framework of national cultures values which comprise the difference in performance of the managers and employees on the four dimensions of national culture: power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoid index, masculine vs. feminine as the reference model to analyze the cultural differences. In addition, Kluckhohn and Strodbecks values orientations theory proposes that cultures differ in terms of how they approach the six basi c dimension which are relationship to nature, time orientation, views of human nature, activity orientation, Relationships among People and Views of Personal Space. Furthermore, there are some other cultural measurement theories, such as the Denisons model, which is a relatively newer and more detailed model, is used in order to understand the organizational culture of the Karun Oil Gas Production company. According to this model, organizational culture has four dimensions: involvement, consistency, adaptability and mission. Moreover, Kim S. Cameron and Robert E. Quinns competing values theory develops a series organizational culture assessment scale (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument, OCAI) aiming to assess organizations current views and expectations through a questionnaire usually take 5-10 to complete. Culture Difference between western country and China: The purpose of the cross-cultural management is to create a not only accepted by the host country employees, but also conducive to the development of corporate culture in multinational company. Cross-cultural management is the core measure to resolve cross-cultural conflicts due to globalization. The culture is a double-edged sword. On one hand, cultural confliction will evitable happen within the corporation and the original corporate culture will face the challenge. On other hand, it will bring opportunities which can take full advantage of the international market and competition, therefore enhancing corporations competitive advantage. With regard to the cultural comparison between Chinese and western business management, hofstedes four-dimensional framework model is adopted. The four dimensions are power distance, individualism vs. collectivism, uncertainty avoid index and masculine vs. feminine. Based on Hofstedes analysis of the surveys from 53 countries or regions, the following table illustrates the major difference: Table 2-1 Comparison result of hofstedes four-dimensional framework Country Power distance Individualism Masculine Uncertainty avoid USA Low High High Low China High Low Low High Power distance: Power distance is the most typical feature of the national and cultural differences. The meaning of empowerment in each country is not exactly the same, thus there are also significant differences. Cross-cultural management consulting firm ITLM latest research results show that power distance indicators, China and the United States score is 80 and 40 (the world average is 55) at rank 5 and 40 among the 56 countries respectively. Such significant difference indicates that the staffs relatively paying more attention to pursuit power within Chinese company. In Chinese business management, the higher position the more power and the more positive the employees performance have. Comparing to the United States, individuals abilities, and actual performance is considered in the first place. Individualism / collectivism. In Hofstedes study, individualism index is used to measure societys tendency with regard to individualism and collectivism. Individuals in countries with a high level of the index value personal freedom and status, such as the United States, while individuals in countries with a low level of the index value harmony and conformity, such as China and Japan. According to Hofstedes study of 53 countries or regions, with regard to the individualism, the United States ranked first, while Hong Kong ranked 36, Taiwan was ranked 43 with score 91,25,17 respectively. From the score, it is obvious that there is a large discrepancy between individuals attitude to individualism and collectivism in different countries. As a matter of fact, the culture of the United States and China is highly different in various areas including values à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¹orientation, the habits and thoughts. In China, people consider more about and pay more attention to the spirit of solidarity and collective strength while in the United States, the Americans emphasis the importance of freedom meaning that everyone needs control their own destiny, desire and ability of individuals should not be subject to the government, church or other organizations and individuals restrictions and interference, which is a core concept in American culture. Bread is everything is regarded as the most comprehensive conclusion of Chinese diet culture while the other countries may not follow the same rule. Different regions have different eating habits, even in the same country. Therefore, it is understandable that different countries have their own eating habits which are caused by regional, national and ethnic, cultural differences between countries. Western food has a rational diet concept, regardless of the colour of the food, flavour and shape balanced diet, nutrition must be ensured. The food is always viewed from the aspect of nutrition therefore does not have excessive pursuit of the taste. However, Chinese has an emotional diet concept always believing diet as a significant part of life, which cannot be ignored. First, Chinese tries all the way to pursuit the taste of the food by combing the flavour during the cooking, the flavour after heating and the flavour of the ingredients, as well as the flavour of spices altogether. Secondly, the way of dining is the most obvious difference between the Chinese and Western food culture meanwhile it demonstrates how Chinese culture effluences the diet. In dinner party, Chinese people usually shares dishes on the table. Hosts greet and encourage everyone to work together to eliminate all dishes and also every guest will strongly desire to become the first one who pays the final bill. All of above acts emphasize cooperation. Westerners believe the eating habits are varied by person thus each guest orders their own meals and there is no need for the host to consider the tastes and preferences of others and when party finishes, each guests pay what have been ordered from menu by themselves. In summary, the major differences between Chinese and Western cult ures cannot be ignored and should be seriously taken into consideration in international enterprises when implementing the business strategy in global market. 1. Cultural innovation strategies Cultural innovation strategy provides effective ways and various channels for the parent company to integrate the local culture of the foreign subsidiary branch into its main stream corporate culture in order to promote mutual understanding, adaptation as the basis for the management of the foreign branch. During the process of cultural integration, localization strategy is a guide for cultural innovation, which does not only retain the parent companys original corporate culture characteristics and also is able to adapt to the local cultural environment. Western Fast Food Company, for instance, the integration process for Chinese culture in KFC experiences three stages, which are product culture, brand culture, and corporate culture. Product culture: KFC China has always been following the high quality standard required by its parent company, such as quantization process, the cooking process including the tools that are used for combining the raw materials as well as the cooking temperature and cooking time through quantified production process to ensure product quality. Furthermore, Because of the correct understanding of the Chinese culture, KFC is able to reasonably develop localized products suitable for Chinese tastes, accepted by Chinese people to a large extent. KFC China devotes to the product development, including the taste expansion in existing product and also new product innovation. In order to change the impression, which are limited products and monotonous taste, Chinese people towards to western food; it specially develops spicy flavour suitable for north China market and also introduces new products for whole china market, such as soup and Chinese-style breakfast. Brand Culture Brand culture refers to a specific brand name or mark, or a combination of these two elements. It represents the emotional cognitive, cultural traditions and image of the personality that are conducive to consumers to identify and distinguish the particular sellers of products or services. 1. Create a standardized Brand image KFC launches the CHAMPS champion plan that is standardized services in the global market, successful initiatives to create a brand strategy. Its specific contents include: C-cleanliness (to keep clean and beautiful restaurant); H-Hospitality (sincere and friendly reception); A-Accuracy (to ensure the accuracy of supply); M-Maintenance (maintain excellent equipment); P-product Quality (adhere to the high quality and stable products); S-SPEED (pay attention to the fast and quick service). Such plan has been conscientiously implemented in every restaurant in the world, and all KFC All employees must strictly enforce the uniform standard. 2. Build brand affinity. KFCs slogan of In China, as China becomes and KFC integrates family , love emotional world into product advertisement as its unique characteristics to create a new image of the brand to adapt to the emotional culture in the Chinese diet culture, thus to some extent, it improves Chinese impression on the fast meal, then gradually, KFC restaurants are also be considered as the place where family or friends party usually takes place. 3. High degree of social responsibility KFC is enthusiastic in public welfare and actively assist the vulnerable groups, in particular, devotes to Chinese children and young peoples education. According to the statistics, it shows that in nearly 10 years, KFCs direct and indirect contribution to the public welfare has reached more than 6500 million. Kendall China Youth Development Foundation in September 2002 set up a total of 38 million Chinese Yuan program China KFC dawn Fund aiming to provide long-term funding for poor college students with good academic performance in school. Currently, the fund has been implemented in 42 colleges and universities across the country, nearly 860 students have received assistance. The China KFC dawn Fund is one of the largest foundation program since the implementation of the Hope Project to aid the poor college student by China Youth Development Foundation. KFCs social activities does not only establish a good brand image, but also exerts a subtle influence on their own potential consum ers and employees. What KFC does match an old Chinese saying goes: Never forget a generous act and grasp every opportunity to return the hospitality that youve received. Corporate culture: KFC China realizes that Human Resource is the most significant strategic resources and the importance of the establishment of people-oriented corporate culture. 1. The human resource localization: KFC China make efforts to train promote local staff because they are familiar with national policies and have a depth understanding of the local competitive environment and market characteristics. Of all 16 market segments in KFC China, 8 local leadership teams with extensive industry experience are formed in order to make the correct judgments within the shortest time. At the same time, it can also reduce the communication barriers between cultural differences. 2. Staff training Annually, KFC china makes investment covering various areas in order to strengthen employees expertise and support employees personality development from the restaurant waiter, restaurant manager to top corporate management personnel. Furthermore, Management staff conducts a series of management training while for the junior staff, the training will last three hours on every 2 weeks include on-the-job training and examination. When there is new product to be launched, all junior staffs are required to participate a relative short period training in order to raise the profession quality of staff to adapt to the change of existing products. In addition, the aim of training restaurant managers is to make sure them be familiar with all the operational processes in the local restaurant, from the introduction of products, inventory management, personnel management, crisis management, and quality control and labour costs, although the training process could potentially increase their variab le cost. Marketing Strategy Jerome McCarthy, professor at the University of Michigan, for the first time, introduces the 4P theory in his book basic marketing, including product (Product), price (Price), distribution (Place) and promotion (Promotion) four elements. Within the theory, product factors is the combination of performance, quality, colours, varieties, specifications, models, trademarks, packaging, services and other small factors. Price factors are composed of cost, price, price discounts, payment terms, and credit terms. Distribution factors includes the choice of marketing channel structure, mode of transport, storage location, wholesalers and brokers, as well as the retailers selection and control. Promotional factors contains advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations. Thus, 4P marketing mix theory instructs how companies should do, as what Philip Kotler has mentioned is if the company is to produce the appropriate product, set the appropriate price, the use of appropriate d istribution channels, and paved the appropriate promotional activities, the company will be successful. The marketing mix can be adjusted on a frequent basis, to meet the changing needs of the target group, and the other dynamics of the marketing environment. They are as follows: product, price, place, and promotion. Product is a tangible object, or an intangible service, that is mass-produced or manufactured on a large scale, with a specific volume of units. Intangible products are often service-based. Price is the amount a customer pays for the product. The business may increase or decrease the price of a product if other stores have the same product. Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet. Promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. Promotion has four distinct elements advertising, public relations, word of mouth and point of sale. Advertising covers any communication that is paid for, from cinema commercials, radio and Internet adverts through print media and billboards. Public relations are the communications that are not directly paid for and include press releases, sponsorship deals, exhibitions, conferences, seminars or trade fairs and events. Word-of-mouth is any apparently informal communication about the product by ordinary individuals, satisfied customers or people specifically engaged to create word-of-mouth momentum. Sales staff often plays an important role in word-of-mouth and Public Relations. Cross-culture and Choice of 4Ps When a firm enters into a new market, especially a foreign market, which strategies should be chosen is very important to managers. Focusing on this, Doole and Lowe discussed about the standardization and adaptation in their study. They mentioned that firms adopt a combination of standardization and adaptation of the various elements of the marketing management programs and processes by globalizing some elements and localizing others, and they thought the cultural factors are the balance between standardization and adaptation. Culture differences can be seen as the usage factors and legal factors. In their opinion, marketing objectives and strategies are more readily standardized than operational marketing decisions. Therefore, when firms enter into a new market which has a different cultural context, the market managers must think over the alternative strategies, such as the global strategy, multi-domestic strategies and so on. In this study authors suggest to choose the 4P marketin g strategy model help to analyze the effect of cross-culture. Mooij considered that the managers of transnational corporations should provide appropriate products according to the local consumer values and buying behaviors of a certain market. The product strategy owing to cultural factors, usage factors and legal factors. Hall described some countriesculture is high-context culture. He meant that in this kind of country, most of the information is shared by members of a society. In this kind of country, people often do the same things as others did, especially as those around them. For instance, to most families in China, members share the similar values with each other. In other words, China is a society with relatively high collectivism , and where people have a high sense of identity to the traditional culture and food. Moreover, according to Doole and Lowe, pricing decisions in international markets can be very complex. Many factors can influence the pricing strategy in different markets, including internal and external factors. From the l evel of company and product, factors such as corporate and marketing objectives, firm and product positioning, product range, life cycle, substitute, product differentiation and unique selling propositions, cost structure, manufacturing, experience effect and economics of scales will influence the pricing decision of a company. Market factors like consumersperceptions, expectations and ability to pay, need for product adaptation and market servicing, market structure, distribution channels, discounting pressures, market growth, competition objectives, strategies and strength can also affect the pricing strategy of a company. According to the Hofstedes culture dimension model, China ranked in a relatively high position in power distance. From the perspective of cross-culture, therefore, many people in China consider the relationship between the prices of consumer places and the personal appearance seriously. Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet. Similarly, place strategy can be influenced by both internal factors and external factors. For instance, internal ones like company size and product positioning are main factors influencing the place strategy. In addition, social-cultural factors such as local law and government policy, religion, language, customer buying behavior also affect this strategy obviously in different ways. When it comes to the promotion strategy, decisions in international markets are even more complicated than the pricing decisions, because promotion represents all of the communications that a marketer may use in the marketplace. It often includes several distinct elements, such as advertising, public relations, word of mouth and point of sale. Promotion activities play a role of introducing the product and service, motivating and leading the demand of the customers and also facilitating the products and services easily sold. When implementing the promotion strategy, the marketing managers of a transnational corporation should take many factors into consideration. Language, adaptation ability of customers, values, life style and attitudes, different kinds of customs and other culture factors of a certain nation are all very important which will influence different promotion activities. Methodology: This chapter consists of an introduction to the research approaches and strategies we chose and how to collect valuable data and analysis data to find the answer to research questions. The reliability and validity of our collected data also discussed below. Research Approach We have chosen to use both quantitative and qualitative research method. Bryman and Bell (2005) describes that a quantitative method means that data is collected with the aim to try theories. The difference between making a qualitative or quantitative study is that the qualitative study goes to the heart of the problem and has an inductive approach. The quantitative research design reaches a broader part of the problem and has a more deductive approach. Quantitative research focuses on measurement, causality, generalization and replication. Quantitative research is rather a lot of interpretation. With regard to qualitative approach, it is able to get a deeper understanding of how different cultures influence the marketing strategy in multinational companies. Using a qualitative methodology will let the researcher have the opportunity to be flexible in the research, and to get a clear and broad view about the cultural aspect (Jacobsen, 2002). The methodology will also develop the rese arch, test the theories and explain the researched phenomenon in a new way (Bryman, 2006). Data collection: When collecting the data, the researchers often used primary and secondary data to gather the empirical finding. Primary data is information that especially has been collected for a specific purpose from a primary source. According to the research purpose, data about marketing strategies in Chinese market need to be collected. Thus, the primary data in this paper has been gathered through the phone interviews and the employees for the questionnaire survey which was carried out in Beijing KFC branch. The following requirements were made clear to the subjects: Participators would be expected to read each statement carefully before ticking the choices Participators would be expected to tick the choices as realistically as possible according to what they would actually do in their real daily lives Secondary data is the data or information that has already been recorded and collected by others for other purposes (Cooper et al., 2005, p.315). Secondary data is often of good quality, and it can therefore be useful for another purpose than the primary reason. We can collect secondary data from the course books, article, newspaper papers, Internet Website and other publications. Interviews and Questionnaires: It is widely recommended to use interviews to collect information for evidence as a source (Cooper et al., 2005, p.378). We utilize two types of methods to collect the primary data. The first is survey research in which we use a questionnaire with an emphasis on fixed response categories and systematic sampling and loading procedures combined with statistical methods and quantitative measures (Ghauri, 2002, p.100). The second type is unstructured interviews in which the informant is given almost full liberty to discuss reactions, opinions and behavior on a particular issue. After some answers we decided to give the question about how and why to continue the dialogue. The questions and answers are often unstructured and are not systematically design beforehand (Ghauri, 2002, p.100-101). We decided to do the interviews by telephone with the Beijing KFCs Training manager and Finance manager. We also e-mailed the questionnaires to the managers for them to deliver them to the employees to answer. The telephone interview was tape recorded because audiotapes can provide a more accurate rendition of the interview. The managers questionnaire includes 31 questions that were made with information and theories from the marketing and cross-culture area. The questionnaire of employees includes 22 questionnaires according the theoretical framework provided by Hofstedes cultural dimensions theory and marketing mix 4P theory introduced by McCarthy. To find out the appropriate interviewees, we sent E-mail to KFC Beijing Br

Enlightenment and the Death of God Essay -- Philosophy Religion Essays

Enlightenment and the Death of God Intellectual thought since Nietzsche has found itself one way or another addressing the death of God. Most of this thinking, however, has taken place from an atheistic starting point and has not considered its own presuppositions. It strives to find consistent outworking from these presuppositions and to eradicate the shadow of God carried over from the Enlightenment tradition because of its grounding in a theistic worldview. However, the outcome and implications of thinking after the death of God has been found hideous and many attempts have been made to transcend the absurdity there. THE DEATH OF GOD   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nietzsche proclaimed in The Gay Science, "God is dead: but given the way men are, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown.-- And we -- we still have to vanquish his shadow, too."[1] The death he witnessed was the tide of atheism that has dominated science and philosophy since his time. This atheism invariably comes from one of two different backgrounds: Enlightenment science and Enlightenment morality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the major products of the Enlightenment was science. As humans were deprived of their previous significance as children of God in the center of the universe, human knowledge was elevated and empirical science became enthroned as the greatest realization of human knowing. As a result, metaphysical knowledge was pushed aside in favor of strict empiricism. God and Christianity were not so much denied as pushed aside, first into deism, which removed him from the world without clashing too much with Western culture, and then all the way into atheism. For the most part, atheism that comes from this perspective has not been bothered b... ...but it has for the most part been unable to completely escape Enlightenment rationalism with its presupposition that metaphysics can be known objectively and exhaustively by human beings. The pragmatic rationalism of Habermas provides an auspicious postmodern beginning for discussing the problem of God again. FOOTNOTES [1] page 191 in our book. [2] see Psalm 13, Ecclesiastes 8:14, Job 21:7-21. [3] James says, "we consider blessed those who have persevered" (James. 5:11a, NIV). [4] The Brothers Karamazov, p. xiii. WORKS CITED Nietzsche, Friedrich. On The Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo. New York: Vintage/Random House 1989. Camus, Albert. The Plague. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1980. Sartre, Jean-Paul. Nausea. New York: New Directions 1969. Habermas, J. Class handout. Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. New York: Bantam 1981. Enlightenment and the Death of God Essay -- Philosophy Religion Essays Enlightenment and the Death of God Intellectual thought since Nietzsche has found itself one way or another addressing the death of God. Most of this thinking, however, has taken place from an atheistic starting point and has not considered its own presuppositions. It strives to find consistent outworking from these presuppositions and to eradicate the shadow of God carried over from the Enlightenment tradition because of its grounding in a theistic worldview. However, the outcome and implications of thinking after the death of God has been found hideous and many attempts have been made to transcend the absurdity there. THE DEATH OF GOD   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nietzsche proclaimed in The Gay Science, "God is dead: but given the way men are, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown.-- And we -- we still have to vanquish his shadow, too."[1] The death he witnessed was the tide of atheism that has dominated science and philosophy since his time. This atheism invariably comes from one of two different backgrounds: Enlightenment science and Enlightenment morality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the major products of the Enlightenment was science. As humans were deprived of their previous significance as children of God in the center of the universe, human knowledge was elevated and empirical science became enthroned as the greatest realization of human knowing. As a result, metaphysical knowledge was pushed aside in favor of strict empiricism. God and Christianity were not so much denied as pushed aside, first into deism, which removed him from the world without clashing too much with Western culture, and then all the way into atheism. For the most part, atheism that comes from this perspective has not been bothered b... ...but it has for the most part been unable to completely escape Enlightenment rationalism with its presupposition that metaphysics can be known objectively and exhaustively by human beings. The pragmatic rationalism of Habermas provides an auspicious postmodern beginning for discussing the problem of God again. FOOTNOTES [1] page 191 in our book. [2] see Psalm 13, Ecclesiastes 8:14, Job 21:7-21. [3] James says, "we consider blessed those who have persevered" (James. 5:11a, NIV). [4] The Brothers Karamazov, p. xiii. WORKS CITED Nietzsche, Friedrich. On The Genealogy of Morals and Ecce Homo. New York: Vintage/Random House 1989. Camus, Albert. The Plague. New York: Alfred A. Knopf 1980. Sartre, Jean-Paul. Nausea. New York: New Directions 1969. Habermas, J. Class handout. Dostoevsky, Fyodor. The Brothers Karamazov. New York: Bantam 1981.

Essays --

Bipolar disorder is classified as a chronic illness that may require a life-long treatment plan to keep under control. Bipolar disorder is also known as manic-depressive disorder. A person that has bipolar disorder can experience drastic variations in their moods ranging from manic highs to depressive lows. Bipolar experiences can vary all depending on the individual. Through this paper we will look at the influences, causes, symptoms, and treatments of this disease. Over two million Americans are diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This rise in diagnosis of bipolar disorder is contributed to the inaccurate diagnosis of this disease. To begin to understand bipolar disorder, knowing the two main categories Bipolar I and Bipolar II is a must. Bipolar I disorder is the state of this disease where the individual diagnosed has high depressive manic cycles. The individual displays feelings of increased socialization, talkativeness, self-importance, and impulsivness. People experiencing this manic-depressive state often sleep for a few hours. This sleep deprivation can cause these individual's depression to spike causeing them to be very angry and irritable. Patients with Bipolar II display a form of mania called hypomania. Unlike Bipolar I, individuals diagnosed with Bipolar II have low energy levels, hypersomnia, and fatigue easily. Bipolar disorder is extremely dynamic in the sense that it does not just affect the individuals mood. Bipolar disorder affects patient's ability to manage feelings, it takes a toll on their mind and body, and bipolar disorder makes it extremely difficult to cope with everyday life. This disease causes major psychological pressure. Bipolar disorder does not discriminate among race, ge... ...isodes. In other cases, episodes can be directly related showing seasonal patterns. These cases are called "rapid cyclers" meaning four episodes within twelve months. In patients with Bipolar I the disease usually starts with a manic episode. The manic episodes that the individual has outweighs the depressive episodes. In Bipolar II patients suffer from sever depression. They might undergo slight manic episodes, but depressive episodes do outweigh them. In mixed states depressive and manic symptoms occur simultaneously in rapid successions. Bipolar disorder can be life threatening due to the extreme mood swings between the sense of hapiness or despair and grief. The continuous alteration between episodes makes it profoundly difficult to deal with everyday normal life and situations. This can cause an increased risk of suicide in bipolar disorder patients.

Parenting Styles in the Family Crucible

The Family Crucible: The Intense Experience of Family Therapy In The Family Crucible, a unique way of looking at family therapy is used. This approach probably would not be something that would be done by therapist now. The more that we study systemic approaches the less I believe that there are any individual problems. With that being said there is a long reach that effects of parenting has on a child. * . Describe how Carolyn and David fit in terms of authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive forms of parenting. * Authoritative parents set clear and consistent limits for children.They are flexible but firm, whichs leads to children who are responsible, cooperative, and self reliant. * There are almost as many parenting â€Å"styles† in the world as there are parents. However, most experts have classified parenting styles into three main categories: authoritarian, permissive and authoritative. If you are aiming to raise a self-reliant, pleasant, well-behaved child, the aut horitative parent will generally have the most success. * What is Authoritative Parenting? * Authoritative parents exercise control over their children, without being controlling.They set rules and guidelines that they expect children to follow. But they also recognize that sometimes flexibility is called for. Authoritative parents often express love and affection to their children, without fear that such expressions of emotion may affect their ability to discipline. As their children get older, authoritative parents encourage more responsibility and freedom, within well-outlined rules. The American Academy of Pediatrics and other children's health organizations state that children of authoritative parents usually grow up to be independent, socially successful, and respectful of authority. This style is sometimes also referred to as an indulgent or non-directive parenting style.* The inconsistency of the permissive parenting style often leaves devoted parents grieving for their pare nting mistakes. * Permissive parents have the belief that really showing their child love and feeling their love, in return, is their ultimate goal in parenting. * They do love their children and are highly bonded to them. But their relationship is one of equals rather than as parents to children. * To gain compliance from their children they will often resort to gift giving and even out right ribery, rather than setting boundaries and expecting obedience. * Permissive means to be lenient, liberal, lax and hands-off. During the 1960s, developmental psychologist Diana Baumrind described three different types of parenting styles based on her researcher with preschool-age children. One of the main parenting styles identified by Baumrind is known as the authoritarian parenting style. Authoritarian parents have high expectations of their children and have very strict rules that they expect to be followed unconditionally.According to Baumrind, these parents â€Å"are obedience- and statu s-oriented, and expect their orders to be obeyed without explanation. † People with this parenting style often utilize punishment rather than discipline, but are not willing or able to explain the reasoning behind their rules. Characteristics of the Authoritarian Parenting Style Authoritarian parents: * Have strict rules and expectations. * Very demanding, but not responsive. * Don't express much warmth or nurturing. * Utilize punishments with little or no explanation. Don't give children choices or options. The Effects of Authoritarian Parenting Parenting styles have been associated with a variety of child outcomes including social skills and academic performance. The children of authoritarian parents: * Tend to associate obedience and success with love. * Some children display more aggressive behavior outside the home. * Others may act fearful or overly shy around others. * Often have lower self-esteem. * Have difficulty in social situations. Understanding Authoritarian Pare ntingBecause authoritarian parents expect absolute obedience, children raised in such settings are typically very good at following rules. However, they may lack self-discipline. Unlike children raised by authoritative parents, children raised by authoritarian parents are not encouraged to explore and act independently, so they never really learn how to set their own limits and personal standards. While developmental experts agree that rules and boundaries are important for children to have, most believe that authoritarian parenting is too punitive and lacks the warmth, unconditional love and nurturing that children need.References Baumrind, D. (1967). Child-care practices anteceding three patterns of preschool behavior. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 75, 43-88. Baumrind, D. (1991). The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal of Early Adolescence, 11(1), 56-95. Maccoby, E. E. (1992). The role of parents in the socialization of children: An hi storical overview. Developmental Psychology, 28, 1006-1017. Santrock, J. W. (2007). A topical approach to life-span development, third Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. I believe the authors’ were instrumental in providing a clear example of what the family really needed and searched for. The family needed to realize that in order for the family to make a real change they need to utilize a structure that included the entire family. They also needed to know that the therapists were completely serious and in control. Their stance was something I could completely agree upon. However, I do not agree that the family was trying to question their authority or provide a strategy to defeat the new system in which they were beginning to enter.Barring this, the authors’ posed a series of questions that they strongly believed the family was thinking. Did Don really wonder â€Å"will the family undertake changing the whole family without me? † Therefore, I did not agree with the as pect of â€Å"we know what you’re thinking†. I felt that this was too deep of an approach. The basic underlining problem of the family was that they did not know how to communicate and could not establish their own structure to allow their family system to operate in harmony.Another aspect of the text that I thought was fundamental and provided me with a different outlook on approaching a perceived problem was the way in which the two therapists began the therapy. The family entered into therapy by believing that Claudia was their entire problem and that her actions alone were the root of their dilemma. However, she was just the perceived problem. And in order for the parents to see that Claudia was only the perceived problem the therapists reversed the blame that the parents had projected on to their daughter.I believe this technique was most attractive. Through the art of helping the family to view their situation differently, the therapists initiated a second-order change allowing the family to step outside their norm and see that their failure in marriage was affecting their parenting. Thus, the therapists gave Claudia meaning while reducing her feeling of failure and at the same time proposed the more serious problem that the parents had slowly began drifting away from each other and suffered the impasse of a deadening marriage.In my view, once the fundamental problem of the marriage was introduced and the family began to realize that each had a role in a family system that was failing, many changes began to take place. Most importantly, I saw the problems associated with scapegoating the children fall by the wayside that allowed the parents to confront the hard issues they had so skillfully avoided through the dynamics they developed among themselves. It was good to see that confronting the parents with their underlining problem helped to reduce the polarization effect they were projecting on the family members around them.Now, this is not to say that all the issues disappeared instantly. There was still the fact that the parents triangulated the children in order to get reacquainted with their true feeling about one another. Likewise, a considerable amount of blame lingered throughout the entire therapy. And when the therapists tried to work the issues of blame, I had to disagree with there methods. It seemed as if they were constantly trying to evoke a confrontation between the two blaming individuals in order to get the family to surface their real feelings and issues.Consequently, when the confrontations turned into physical fights the therapists seemed surprised that such emotional distress took place. What more did they expect. I completely understood what they were trying to accomplish, however, I had a hard time understanding their methodology. As I look back through my notes, I noticed many of the same underlining factors that seemed to keep surfacing. First, both parents were consumed in the self. The father was constantly consumed with his work and the mother seemed completely bored with her life and wanted a change.Here is where I had difficulty in understanding the authors’ point of view. They thought that the parents were not consumed in the self, but just had difficulty showing affection toward the other. Now, I believe the there was a lack of affection, however, if they were any more consumed in doing what the self wanted this may lead to more difficulty when confronting the Other's’ wishes and the Self’s wants. I really got lost with this aspect. Another difficulty I have with the authors’ view on family therapy is the fact that they seemed to think that every issue was rooted in past family issues.This is a great aspect to try and tackle. However, trying to find out which issues in the past are the cause of the present problems can be very time consuming and expensive. I agree that this type of therapy can be revolutionary, but I do not believe that family therapy would be for everyone. Subsequently, I would also agree that this book did a great job illustrating why sometimes family therapy and not individual therapy can be the right solution. Maybe, this mixed message is why I still have opposing emotions about this very intriguing approach.Developmental psychologists have long been interested in how parents impact child development. However, finding actual cause-and-effect links between specific actions of parents and later behavior of children is very difficult. Some children raised in dramatically different environments can later grow up to have remarkably similar personalities. Conversely, children who share a home and are raised in the same environment can grow up to have astonishingly different personalities than one another. Despite these challenges, researchers have uncovered convincing links between parenting styles and the effects these styles have on children.During the early 1960s, psychologist Diana Baumrind condu cted a study on more than 100 preschool-age children (Baumrind, 1967). Using naturalistic observation, parental interviews and other research methods, she identified four important dimensions of parenting: * Disciplinary strategies * Warmth and nurturance * Communication styles * Expectations of maturity and control Based on these dimensions, Baumrind suggested that the majority of parents display one of three different parenting styles. Further research by also suggested the addition of a fourth parenting style (Maccoby & Martin, 1983).The Four Parenting Styles 1. Authoritarian Parenting In this style of parenting, children are expected to follow the strict rules established by the parents. Failure to follow such rules usually results in punishment. Authoritarian parents fail to explain the reasoning behind these rules. If asked to explain, the parent might simply reply, â€Å"Because I said so. † These parents have high demands, but are not responsive to their children. According to Baumrind, these parents â€Å"are obedience- and status-oriented, and expect their orders to be obeyed without explanation† (1991). 2. Authoritative ParentingLike authoritarian parents, those with an authoritative parenting style establish rules and guidelines that their children are expected to follow. However, this parenting style is much more democratic. Authoritative parents are responsive to their children and willing to listen to questions. When children fail to meet the expectations, these parents are more nurturing and forgiving rather than punishing. Baumrind suggests that these parents â€Å"monitor and impart clear standards for their children’s conduct. They are assertive, but not intrusive and restrictive. Their disciplinary methods are supportive, rather than punitive.They want their children to be assertive as well as socially responsible, and self-regulated as well as cooperative† (1991). 3. Permissive Parenting Permissive parents, sometimes referred to as indulgent parents, have very few demands to make of their children. These parents rarely discipline their children because they have relatively low expectations of maturity and self-control. According to Baumrind, permissive parents â€Å"are more responsive than they are demanding. They are nontraditional and lenient, do not require mature behavior, allow considerable self-regulation, and avoid confrontation† (1991).Permissive parents are generally nurturing and communicative with their children, often taking on the status of a friend more than that of a parent. 4. Uninvolved Parenting An uninvolved parenting style is characterized by few demands, low responsiveness and little communication. While these parents fulfill the child's basic needs, they are generally detached from their child's life. In extreme cases, these parents may even reject or neglect the needs of their children. The Impact of Parenting Styles What effect do these parenting styles have on child development outcomes?In addition to Baumrind's initial study of 100 preschool children, researchers have conducted numerous other studies than have led to a number of conclusions about the impact of parenting styles on children. * Authoritarian parenting styles generally lead to children who are obedient and proficient, but they rank lower in happiness, social competence and self-esteem. * Authoritive parenting styles tend to result in children who are happy, capable and successful (Maccoby, 1992). * Permissive parenting often results in children who rank low in happiness and self-regulation.These children are more likely to experience problems with authority and tend to perform poorly in school. * Uninvolved parenting styles rank lowest across all life domains. These children tend to lack self-control, have low self-esteem and are less competent than their peers. Why Do Parenting Styles Differ? After learning about the impact of parenting styles on child development, you may wonder why all parents simply don't utilize an authoritative parenting style. After all, this parenting style is the most likely to produce happy, confident and capable children.What are some reasons why parenting styles might vary? Some potential causes of these differences include culture, personality, family size, parental background, socioeconomic status, educational level and religion. Of course, the parenting styles of individual parents also combine to create a unique blend in each and every family. For example, the mother may display an authoritative style while the father favors a more permissive approach. In order to create a cohesive approach to parenting, it is essential that parents learn to cooperate as they combine various elements of their unique parenting styles.