Case Study Charles Schwab in 2008

Case Study Charles Schwab in 2008 Introduction Investor confidence is one of the major factors that determine the funds that investors are willing to invest in various sectors of the economy. The current economic conditions determine the confidence of the investors. In addition, the future economic outlook also determines the investor confidence. Favorable future economic outlook increases the confidence of investors.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Case Study: Charles Schwab in 2008 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Prior to the global financial crisis, investor confidence was very high. Investors were willing to invest huge funds in the financial markets. This led to the growth of companies that specialized in the provision of financial services. These companies include stock brokerage firms, insurance companies, and banks. Charles Schwab is one of the companies that existed during this period. Charles Schwab was one of the most profitable comp anies that provided financial services. The company specialized in the provision of discount brokerage services. This helped in differentiating the company from other companies that provided financial services. However, the company also faced several problems. These problems necessitated the company to undertake several strategic decisions to improve its competitiveness. History, Development, and Growth of the Company One can trace the history of Charles Schwab to 1963. Charles R. â€Å"Chuck† Schwab was one of the founders of the company. In 1963, Chuck Schwab formed the Investor Indicator newsletter with the help of two other partners. They incorporated Investor Indicator on April 1971 as First Commander Corporation. First Commander was a subsidiary of the Commander Industries. The main business activity of First commander was to conduct a broker-dealer business and publish an investment magazine. Chuck Schwab and four others partners decided to buy back the stock of the co mpany from Commander. This facilitated the formation of Charles Schwab Co., Inc. The company has its headquarters in San Francisco. Brokerage transactions were the main services that the company offered. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) helps in the regulation of companies that engage in brokerage services. The SEC is one of the major bodies that determine the growth of brokerage firms. From time to time, the SEC implements various regulations that affect companies that provide financial services. Soon after the incorporation of Charles Schwab, the SEC implemented several changes that affected brokerage firms. In 1975, the SEC enacted regulation that that increased the flexibility of charges that companies that offered financial services charged its customers.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Several brokerage firms took advantage this directi ve to increase their commissions. However, Charles Schwab took advantage of this directive to increase its competitiveness. The company established discount brokerage. This was a new type of brokerage. This move enabled the company to attract more customers. In the financial services sector, service hours determine the number of customers that an organization may serve. Therefore, it is vital for companies to have long service hours. This would enable them to serve more customers. Throughout its history, Charles Schwab has used service hours to increase its competitiveness. The company has prolonged its service hours on several occasions. In 1978, Charles Schwab prolonged its service hours. This was the first time that a company in the industry had prolonged its service hours. This strategic move enabled the company to attract more customers. This strategic decision helped in increasing the number of customers of the company to more than 40,000. In 1980, Charles Schwab formed a 24-h our quotation service. This was the first time that a company had established a 24-hour quotation service in the industry. This strategic move enabled the company to increase its customers significantly. It enabled the company to increase its customers to approximately 150,000. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is one of the major stock exchanges in the world. Therefore, it was vital for Charles Schwab to become a member of this renowned stock exchange. Charles Schwab joined the NYSE in 1981. This enabled the company to trade on various stocks and securities in the stock market. When Charles Schwab became a member of the NYSE, its clients were more than 200,000. The company was on its way to becoming one of the most popular companies that offered financial services in the U.S. Technology enables companies that provide financial services to create a network that helps in supporting the activities of companies in this sector. Charles Schwab realized the importance of technology in it s growth. In 1979, the company made huge investments in a mainframe that used modern technology. This system enabled the company to automate its transactions.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Case Study: Charles Schwab in 2008 specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In addition, the system helped in improving the record keeping of the company. In the 1980s, the company launched several technological solutions that helped in improving the competitiveness of the company. In 1984, the company introduced the ‘Mutual Fund Marketplace.’ In addition, the company launched the ‘TeleBroker’ in 1989. Launching several technological products helped in establishing the company as a leader in the online investment revolution. Charles Schwab used mergers and acquisitions to maintain its growth. In 2000, the company merged with U.S. Trust. During the same year, the company acquired CyBerCorp, Inc. This enable d the company to improve the quality of services it offers to online traders. Training Americans on how to be financially fit is one of the most recent campaigns of the company. The company collaborated with the Boys Girls Clubs of America to teach young people about money management. This helped in improving the visibility of the company in the industry. In addition, it guarantees the future growth and profitability of the company. This is because the teens are the future customers of the company. Various strategic decisions have enabled Charles Schwab to become a leader in the provision of financial services. The company has more than 300 offices and 7 million client brokerage accounts. In addition, the assets of the company’s clients are approximately $1 trillion. Various subsidiaries of the company enable it to offer a wide range of financial services to its customers. Internal Strengths and Weaknesses Engaging is discount brokerage is one of the factors that has improve d the competitiveness of Charles Schwab. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that offered discount brokerage. The company offered discount brokerage instead of increasing its commission fees due to the SEC regulations that facilitated the negotiation of commission rates. Other companies took advantage of this directive to increase their commission rates. Therefore, this move helped in improving the image and reputation of the company.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More People associate the company with discount brokerage. It is a fact that Charles Schwab is not one of the cheapest discount brokerage in the industry. However, being among the first companies that engaged in discount brokerage has improved the reputation of the company. It is vital for companies that provide financial services to focus all their efforts on their customers. They should strive to improve the welfare of the customer while making handsome profits. Availability of information determines the investment decisions of customers. It is vital for companies that offer financial services to provide customers with all the information they may need to make sound investment decisions. Charles Schwab strives to provide their customers with all the information that they may need to make investment decisions. In addition, the company offers its customers various technological tools that enable them to make sound financial decisions. Empowering customers helps in improving the image and reputation of the customers. It reduces the likelihood of customers making the wrong financial decisions. This improves customer loyalty. It is vital for companies to strive to form good relationships with their clients. Customer relationships determine the competitiveness of companies. Companies that provide services use several strategies to improve the relationships with their customers. Forming personal relationships enables these companies to gain the trust of the customers. Charles Schwab strives to form personal relationships with its customers. This enables the company to increase customer loyalty. Companies in various industries strive to reduce their operating costs. This helps in increasing the profitability of the companies. Companies may use several strategies to reduce their operating costs. Technology is one of the major tools that enable companies to reduce their operating costs. Charles Schwab is one of the companies that use technology to reduce their operational costs. Throughout its history, the company has implemented various technological tools that have reduced its operating costs. In addition, these technological tools improve the quality of services that the company offers. Using an online platform is one of the strategies that have enabled the company to reduce its operating costs. It enables customers to place orders without having to visit the company’s offices. Online processing reduces the costs of maintaining the staff of the company. The perception that people have on a certain company determines its competitiveness. Since its inception, people have perceived Charles Schwab as a discount brokerage firm. This has made it difficult for the company to attract the high-end customers. High-end customers usually prefer full brokerage firms. This is because they offer personalized services. Despite being a discount brokerage firm, Charles Schwab also offers services that resemble those in full brokerage firms. Therefore, it is vital for the company to use various strategies to attract the high-end customers. However, the company should ensure that it does not shed its image as a discount brokerage firm. This is because the low-end customers are the major clients of the company. Therefore, losing these customers may have devastating effects on the company. It is vital for companies that would like to guarantee their future growth and profitability to improve their presence in emerging markets. Saturation of companies and services in developed countries reduces the growth potential of companies in these countries. Charles Schwab does not have a good presence in emerging markets. The company concentrates its activities in developed countries. Saturation in these markets reduces the growth potential of the company. Therefore, it is vital for the company to improve its presence in emerging markets. Nature of the External Environment Online trading holds the key to the future growth of companies that offer fina ncial services. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that realized the importance of online trading in financial services. However, the revenue that the company gets from online trading has been declining. Increased competition is one of the major factors that have reduced the revenue from online trading. Companies can easily open online trading platforms. This has increased the number of companies that offer online trading services. Retirement packages account for a sizeable percentage of the products of companies that offer financial services. The U.S. population is aging. This would increase the demand for various retirement services. Therefore, it is vital for companies that offer financial services to take advantage of the changing population patterns. This would improve the profitability of the companies. Companies should create several products that target people who are retired. The global and domestic economic conditions affect the profitability of companies that p rovide financial services. Slowing of the economy has a negative effect on the growth and profitability of companies that provide financial services. Slowdown of the economy necessitated Charles Schwab to undertake several strategic decisions to safeguard its position. Investor confidence also determines the profitability of companies that offer financial services. Reduced investor confidence reduces the amount of money that investors are willing to invest in financial markets. In 2008, there was a significant reduction in the investor confidence. People were not willing to invest in the financial markets due to the revelations of problems in the subprime market. Most people withdrew their investments in the financial markets. Reduced investor confidence had a negative effect on the financial markets. It led to the steady decline of market indicators in various regions. This reduced the profitability of Charles Schwab. Market volatility also determines the profitability of companies that offer financial services. During the global financial crisis, the financial markets were on a steady decline. Companies that offer financial services operate in a highly regulated environment. The SEC is one of the major bodies that regulate companies that provide financial services. Regulation helps in safeguarding the investments of customers. It ensures that companies do not engage in illegal activities. In addition, it ensures that companies do not exploit their customers. In 2008, the SEC implemented various regulations to help in safeguarding the investments of customers of companies that offer financial services. However, these measures did not increase the investor confidence. Increased regulation may jeopardize companies that offer certain financial services. Regulation may increase the bureaucracy of the companies. This may reduce the number of customers who are willing to invest in the companies. In addition, regulation may limit the ability of companies to venture into various markets. This is because companies that offer financial services have to meet stringent requirements to receive licenses to operate in various regions. These requirements prevent companies from engaging in illegal activities. SWOT Analysis Strengths The presence of Chuck Schwab in the management of Charles Schwab is one of the major strengths of the company. Schwab has undertaken several strategic decisions that have helped in developing the company. In addition, he has invaluable experience in the stock brokerage industry. Schwab offers visionary leadership that helps in improving the current and future growth of the company. Charles Schwab is one of the most popular discount brokerage companies. The company has a very strong brand name. Charles Schwab was one of the first companies that offered discount brokerage services. Charles Schwab empowers its customers by offering them all the information that they would need to make investment decisions. This helps in improvi ng the image and reputation of the company. Charles Schwab has very low operating costs. The company uses technological tools to reduce its operating costs. The technological tools also enable the company to improve the efficiency of its activities. Charles Schwab forms personal relationships with its customers. This enables the company to retain its customers. In addition, it helps in improving customer satisfaction. Charles Schwab has efficient marketing strategies. The company launches advertising campaigns regularly. These advertising campaigns help in improving the visibility of the company Weaknesses Charles Schwab has been unable to shed its image as a discount brokerage firm. This has reduced the ability of the company to attract customers who have a high net worth. Therefore, customers who have a low net worth form the bulk of the company’s customers. Charles Schwab does not have a large presence in emerging markets. Most of the company’s operations are in dev eloped markets. This limits the future growth and profitability of the company since the developed markets are already saturated. Charles Schwab engages in expensive advertising campaigns. These advertising campaigns increase the operating costs of the company. Opportunities The aging of the American population provides the company with many growth opportunities. This is because it would increase the amount of retirement services that the company offers. This would improve the profitability of the company. Charles Schwab is one of the largest companies that provide financial services. This is despite the fact that the company focuses on developed markets. Therefore, venturing into the emerging markets would help in improving the future growth and profitability of the company. Threats Slowdown of the global economy would reduce the growth and profitability of the company. Reduced investor confidence threatens to lead to the total collapse of the company. During the global financial c risis, few investors were willing to commit funds to the financial markets. Technology has revolutionized the provision of financial services. Therefore, it is vital for the company to undertake several changes that would incorporate new technology regularly. Failure to do so would make the company become irrelevant. There is increased competition in the financial services sector. Various companies provide online financial services. The ease of opening platforms that enable companies to provide online financial services have increased the number of companies that provide financial services. Corporate-Level Strategy Corporate-level strategy guides the strategic decisions of a company. Companies use their corporate-level strategies to create value in their activities. The corporate-level strategy helps in coordinating different activities of the company. Companies use the corporate-level strategy to determine the direction that the organization should follow in the long term. The corp orate-level strategy enables companies to gain a competitive advantage. The corporate-level strategy enables an organization to determine the businesses that the organization to concentrate on to improve its long-term profitability. A company may decide to concentrate on a single business to improve its long-term profitability. In addition, a company may use vertical integration or diversification to improve its long-term profitability. Charles Schwab uses vertical integration to improve its long-term profitability. Throughout its history, the company has used mergers and acquisitions of other companies in the industry to improve its long-term profitability. Charles Schwab acquired companies that provide online services to improve its ability to provide online financial services. In 2000, the company acquired CyBerCorp. CyBerCorp was a company that provided online financial services. In 2001, Charles Schwab renamed the company to Cyber Trader. In addition, Charles Schwab enhanced th e software of the company. This helped in improving the quality of services of the company. The inability to capture customers who have a high net worth was one of the major problems of the company. In addition, most customers of the company left the company after their assets reached $500,000. This reduced the profitability of the company. Charles Schwab used vertical integration to capture the high net worth customers. The company merged with the U.S. Trust. The U.S. Trust was a company that focused on managing the wealth of high-end customers. This strategy enabled the company to increase the number of high-end customers. In addition, it enabled the company to retain customers whose assets reached $500,000. This strategy enabled the company to shed its image as a discount brokerage firm that served low-end customers. Charles Schwab later sold the U.S. Trust to Bank of America. Advances in technology enabled the company to retain high-end customers. The company used various techno logical tools to generate model investment portfolios. These portfolios helped in personalizing the financial services of the company. Technological tools enabled the company to reduce the number of forms of advice. This helped in improving the quality of services that the company offered its customers. In addition, it enabled the company to offer sound financial advice to customers in various locations. Vertical integration enables Charles Schwab to take advantage of the capabilities of other companies. Retirement-plan services are some of the major products of the company. However, the company would not have been able to increase its retirement products if it had not acquired other smaller companies that provided retirement services. In 1995, Charles Schwab acquired Hampton Co. Hampton was a company that specialized in the provision of retirement-plan services. Charles Schwab uses diversification to increase its long-term stability. The company offers a wide range of financial ser vices. These include brokerage of securities, mutual funds, investment advisory services, and banking. In addition, the company also provides retirement services. The growth of online financial services has helped in the growth of the company. In 2003, the company launched the Charles Schwab Bank. The bank provided home mortgage loans. Schwab Retirement Plan Services, Inc. enables the company to provide retirement services. Subsidiaries of the company enable it to provide a wide range of financial services effectively. Business-Level Strategy Business-level strategy helps in identifying the methods that a company would use to compete in a certain industry. Therefore, the business-level strategy determines the competitive strategy of the organization. One of the major differences between business-level strategy and corporate-level strategy is that business-level strategy focuses on only one business. On the other hand, corporate-level strategy focuses on a wide range of businesses wi thin an organization. Therefore, the business-level strategy enables an organization to manage its business effectively. The business-level strategy ensures that the activities of the business units conform to the corporate-level strategies of the organization. In addition, business-level strategy enables an organization to develop capabilities that would help in improving the competitiveness of the organization. Business-level strategy also helps in monitoring the industry environment of the company. Some business-level strategies include cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. Cost leadership is one of the major business-level strategies of Charles Schwab. The company strives to organize its activities in a method that enables it to provide various services at a lower cost. This enables the company to offer various services at very low prices. This strategy enables the company to gain a competitive edge in the provision of financial services. Use of information technology is one of the major methods that the company uses to reduce its operating costs. Technological tools enable the company to automate various activities. In addition, technological tools enable the company to improve the quality and efficiency of its activities. Online trading platforms enable companies to reduce their operational costs. They eliminate the need to open branches in various locations. Customers only need an internet connection to access the financial services. E*Trade is one of the major competitors of Charles Schwab. It was one of the first companies to offer its services via the internet only. This strategy enabled the company to reduce its operating costs significantly. Reduced operating costs enabled the company to offer its services a lower price. The threat posed by the company necessitated Charles Schwab to launch an online trading platform. The company launched ‘eSchwab’ to counter the threat posed by E*Trade. This product enabled the company to provid e real-time personalized financial information to customers. It enabled customers of the company to undertake financial transactions via the internet. In addition, it enabled customers to access financial information via the internet. This strategy enabled the company to reduce its operating costs significantly. Therefore, it could afford to reduce the prices of its services. Charles Schwab strives to empower its customers. The company offers financial information that helps customers to make sound investment decisions. Offering financial help helps in increasing customer loyalty. In addition, offering financial help enables the company to increase its interaction with customers. The company uses various strategies to show that it is willing to offer financial advice to its customers. The ‘Talk to Chuck’ campaign is one of the recent advertisements that highlight the willingness of the company to offer financial advice to its customers. In addition, this advertising cam paign showed the transparency of the company. It enabled customers to access information about the company. Organizational Structure Charles Schwab specializes in the provision of financial services. The company has operations in the United States, Hong Kong, and various European countries. In addition, the company offers online financial services to people around the globe. The company manages financial assets that are worth more than $1 trillion. Charles Schwab offers a wide range of financial services. These services include banking, mutual funds, and retirement-plan products. Therefore, it is vital for the company to use an organizational structure that would help in managing its activities efficiently. Charles Schwab uses a matrix organizational structure. This organizational structure enables the organization to coordinate its activities. Charles Schwab has various managers that oversee various functions of the organization. These functions include networking, engineering, sal es and marketing, and communication. This organizational structure enables the organization to benefit from the talent of its employees in various functions. The size of Charles Schwab makes it difficult for the company to use only the functional organizational structure. In addition, the company offers various financial products. Charles Schwab employs a divisional organizational structure to help in the management of various products of the company. This organizational structure enables the company to manage its banking services, retirement-plan products, and online financial products effectively. In addition, this organizational structure enables the organization to fulfill the needs of various stakeholders quickly. Charles Schwab uses teams to accomplish various tasks within the organization. This helps in improving the quality of the products of the organization. In addition, the company empowers employees to develop various innovative products that would improve the competitiv eness of the company. Empowering employees helps in improving the quality of their services. Conclusion Charles Schwab is one of the most popular companies that offer financial services in the U.S. The company has more than 300 offices in various regions around the world. Investing in technology is one of the major factors that led to the success of the company. Investing in technology enabled the company to reduce its operating costs. This enabled the company to offer its services at very low costs. Charles Schwab is renowned for its discount brokerage services. This image limits the ability of the company to attract high-end customers. The company merged with U.S. Trust to shed this image. The growth of the internet poses several risks to the company. This is because it has increased the number of the companies that provide online financial services. These companies have very low operating costs. This enables the companies to offer various financial services at very low costs.

Successful women share their best career advice

Successful women share their best career advice Everyone- women, men, old, young- can use some guidance in their careers. Mentorship has long been established as a huge difference-maker, especially for people just starting out or people embarking on a new professional path. This level of support has proven especially beneficial for professional women, who do best when they’re able to get insight and advice from other professional women. Yet according to a study of professional women by talent scouting firm Egon Zehnder, only 54% of women have access to that kind of mentorship by other women. That doesn’t mean that those of us without those resources have to go it alone- rather, we can take inspiration from successful women who have been willing to share some of their hard-won knowledge and insights. Let’s look at some of the most inspiring career advice out there, from women who’ve made it.Be open to opportunities.â€Å"Be prepared to spot growth opportunities when they present themselves- because they are the key learning opportunities. You’ll know because they make you uncomfortable, and your initial impulse may be that you’re not ready. But remember: Growth and comfort never co-exist.†- Ginni Rometty, chairman, president, and CEO of IBM  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Always take on new challenges- even if you at not sure you are completely ready.†- Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook  Ã¢â‚¬Å"If a job’s not scary, it’s not worth doing.†- Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive at London First  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Don’t cut off your career branches too early. Don’t step away from your career based on what ‘might’ happen.†- Mary Barra, chairman and CEO of General Motors  If you wait around for the exact right opportunity, you might find yourself waiting around while your skills and experience go to waste. If you’re a new grad, or looking for a new job, it can be tempting to not go for opportunities that aren’t exactly like you envisioned your career, or that feel like a stretch for the experience and skills you have. But really, what do you have to lose by stretching a little? The worst possible outcome is the word â€Å"no,† which is rarely fatal. And in the best case, you could be hired for a job that challenges you and makes you grow as a professional.Be resilient.â€Å"Life’s a marathon, not a sprint. When things go wrong, dust yourself off.†- Kate Grussing, Founder and Managing Partner at Sapphire Partnership  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Take criticism seriously, but not personally. If there is truth or merit in the criticism, try to learn from it. Otherwise, let it roll right off you.†- Hillary Clinton, former U.S. Senator and Secretary of State  Failures and disappointments are going to happen occasionally, no matter who you are and what industry you’re working in. Sometimes these will be your fault, and sometimes they won’t. The one thing that all failure scenarios have in common is that you can move on from them. No matter how embarrassing it may feel, or how dire, all you can do is accept that things happened the way they did, understand why things happened what they did, and learn what you can do next time to help avoid the same kind of catastrophe.Build your team wisely.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"You are only ever as good as the team you build, so be a talent magnet and surround yourself with the best and the brightest.†- Marianne Lake, CFO of J.P. Morgan Chase  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†Never be afraid to recruit people brighter than you are, and never be afraid to recruit people who are different than you. That is sometimes hard to do, but incredibly powerful if you want to create a team that is really effective.†- Judith McKenna, COO of Walmart  Think of it as career #squadgoals. Every successful person has worked as part of a team at some point in their careers- and in fact, teamwork is one of the qualities most prized by employers. The important part is making sure that your team is able to support your goals. That may mean being a more engaged and supportive colleague yourself, or if you’re in a management role, it means recruiting the best possible people to help you grow achieve your own goals.Everyone has his or her own career goals in mind, and it can feel like we need to step on others to achieve those, but things will go much more smoothly- not to mention more easily- if you focus on building ways to work together instead of taking everything on yourself.Be yourself.â€Å"Be who you are. You’re unlikely to be first or last- your journey is your journey.†- Desiree Clarke-Noble, Director, Head of Brand and Marketing at Royal Bank of Canada  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Sit down and ask yourself, ‘What is the most important thing to me?’ What grosses me out the most? What makes me the most upset - is it healthcare? Is it so many people being hungry in our culture? Is it sexual abuse? Mix that with doing somet hing you love, something you could keep doing forever and ever. For me, it was ending violence against women, and I mixed it with music. And I’ve had a 25-year career. So that’s my advice: Find something you really care about and mix that with something you love doing.†- Kathleen Hanna, musician and activist  If your professional self is more aspirational than authentic, you’re likely to find yourself dissatisfied with the career path your persona has chosen for you. Whatever choices you make- job, relationships, skill-building- should be ones that fit with who you are, not necessarily who you think you should be.Find your focus.â€Å"The thing people want most is your focus and attention. You destroy that when you think you’re multitasking, because you’re not accomplishing either.†- Wendy Clark, president and CEO of DDB North AmericaMultitasking can be seen as a prized skill, in a world where there are about 40 digital distractions every minute and ever-increasing demands. Instead of focusing on the number of things you can do this minute, try thinking about the quality of what you’re doing and learning in the moment. Being able to send an email while half-listening to a colleague and compiling a report will get more things checked off on your to-do list, but how many of those things are you actually doing well? If you try to bring mindfulness and thoughtfulness to your to-do list, you are upping the quality factor of your work.Project confidence in all you do.â€Å"Speak slower; be more executive and more authoritative. When you speak quickly it’s hard to distil big messages and put a good case forward to your customers and your team.†- Helen Sutton, Vice President of Enterprise in Northern Europe at DocuSign  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Don’t be afraid to ask questions; that’s one thing that differentiates women from men.†- Claudia Palmer, Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Offi cer at ReutersOne of the best things you can do for your career is to take control and ownership of your professional path. That means expressing yourself clearly, and being an advocate for your own interests. Whether it’s negotiating a salary increase or trying to get ahead, being timid or hesitant is unlikely to get you what you want. The more you can project confidence and competence, the more you’ll be able to build confidence in your abilities.If you have any of your own favorite pieces of career advice for or from women, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Discussion 3 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Discussion 3 - Essay Example The surgical package is therefore designed to help physicians make safe and appropriate choices for their patients as part of the general surgical procedure. Evidently, the surgical package is used when a patient needs or wants to have a particular surgical operation, and applies to all types of surgical procedure. Each stage of the package will be delivered by a physician at the appropriate time; anesthesia would therefore be delivered immediately pre-surgery, whereas taking a history or performing a physical may be done further in advance. The surgical package is used to ensure that the surgical procedure runs as smoothly as possible and that the patient feels safe in the hands of a physician, particularly as anesthesia and surgery can be a daunting experience. It is also aimed at ensuring that there are less complications involved in a surgical procedure; anesthesia is used to prevent pain, whilst post-operative examinations are performed to help prevent infection and to identify complications. The surgical package is therefore necessary to make good decisions with respect to surgical

Criminology - Gangs (MS-13) Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Criminology - Gangs (MS-13) - Essay Example However, the stiff affiliation to the group led to the eruption of criminal activities in the American region as the group’s majority members were poor, and executed any criminal act in order to achieve their perceived lifestyles. The perception that the cultural theory influenced the gangs formation emanates from the evidence presented by the video that presents different interviews sourced from the former gang members. It is known that many of the gang members are teenagers while others are as young as eight years old (Siegel & Welsh, 2014). The argument accrued from the information provokes the understanding that the gang embraces the use of criminal ideologies to rob, assassinate, and vandalize properties at the expense of the rival people in the American community (Strippas, 2014). Therefore, the use of the cultural theory is the influential aspect that has led to the rise of illiteracy levels amongst the highly connected criminal organization that has been a menace in the Northern Virginia region amongst other American states (Baumeister & Masicampo, 2010). The Mara Salvatrucha- 13 Gang started in Los-Angeles from the Pico-Union, an organization that comprised Salvadorans who had migrated into America following the Central American civil wars. The 13 numerical sign emanated from the M alphabet, which is the thirteenth alphabet. Arguably, a notorious gangster called Eme initially used the alphabet. It is evident that the social environment influenced a majority of the Salvadorans to embrace the movement as they lived under poor conditions. In the present, the MS-13 Gang’s membership is estimated to comprise a population exceeding 100,000 members who are spread in over 42 states in the U.S.A. The notorious gang is renowned for its use of subculture codes in communication. Further, the gang members bear tattoos on their

Scientific method Essay Example for Free

Scientific method Essay Policy and practice impacts of research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council A case study of the Future of Work programme, approach and analysis Steven Wooding, Edward Nason, Lisa Klautzer, Jennifer Rubin, Stephen Hanney, Jonathan Grant Policy and practice impacts of research funded by the Economic and Social Research Council A case study of the Future of Work programme, approach and analysis Steven Wooding, Edward Nason, Lisa Klautzer, Jennifer Rubin, Stephen Hanney, Jonathan Grant Prepared for the Economic and Social Research Council. The research described in this report was prepared for the Economic and Social Research Council. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. R ® is a registered trademark.  © Copyright 2007 RAND Corporation All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from RAND. Published 2007 by the RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street, P. O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202-5050 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665 Westbrook Centre, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 1YG, United Kingdom RAND URL: http://www.rand. org/ RAND Europe URL: http://www. rand. org/randeurope. To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact Distribution Services: Telephone: (310) 451-7002; Fax: (310) 451-6915; Email: [emailprotected] org Preface This report, prepared for the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), examines the impact of the ESRC’s ‘Future of Work’ programme on policy makers, professional practitioners and other groups outside academia. It also explores the applicability of the ‘Payback Framework’, a conceptual model for research evaluation, to social science. The Future of Work programme was an initiative that aimed to bring together leading researchers in the United Kingdom in an investigation of the future prospects for paid and unpaid work. The first phase of the programme started in October 1998, followed by a second phase in January 2001. The report is presented in two volumes. This volume presents the conclusions of the research and summarises the methods and results. The second volume includes a brief literature review of the evaluation of social science and the influence of research on policy; an overview of the Future of Work programme; detailed analysis of a survey of Future of Work PIs (Principal Investigators); and four complete case study narratives of projects from the programme. The report will be of interest to the ESRC and policy makers in the wider social science and policy community who are interested in how social science informs policy and practice. It will also be of interest to those developing methods to evaluate research. The research was led by RAND Europe in collaboration with the Health Economics Research Group (HERG). RAND Europe is an independent not-for-profit think tank and research organisation that serves the public interest by providing evidence for policy making and public debate. HERG, a Specialist Research Institute of Brunel University, has as one of its main research themes, methodological and empirical studies of the impact of research. This report has been peer reviewed in accordance with RAND’s quality assurance standards (see http://www. rand. org/about/standards/) and therefore may be represented as a RAND Europe product. For more information about RAND Europe or this document, please contact Steven Wooding Senior Policy Analyst Tel: +44 1223 273897 Email: [emailprotected] org RAND Europe Westbrook Centre, Milton Road Cambridge. CB4 1YG, United Kingdom Jonathan Grant Deputy to the President Tel: +44 1223 293 893 Email: [emailprotected] org [emailprotected] org iii Contents Preface iii Overview of impact vii Executive summary ix Acknowledgments.. xiii CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1 CHAPTER 2 Methodology and project structure .. 3 2. 1 The analytical framework . 3 2. 2 Initial tasks .. 5 2. 2. 1 Brief review of social science impacts literature . 5 2. 2. 2 Review of FoW documentation 5 2. 2. 3 Key informant interviews. 5 2. 2. 4 Output of initial tasks 5 2. 3 Payback survey .. 6 2. 4 Interim report 7 2. 5 Case studies. 7 2. 6 Analysis workshop 9 CHAPTER 3 Results . 11 3. 1 Key findings from the literature review and key informant interviews.. 11 3. 2 Summary of results from survey.. 13 3. 3 User interviews 26 3. 4 Case study summaries.. 27 3. 5 Case study A. 27 3. 6 Case study B. 30 3. 7 Case study C 33 3. 8 Case study D 35 3. 9 Concluding comments 37 CHAPTER 4 Discussion.. 39 4. 1 Impact of the FoW programme .. 39 4. 1. 1 The FoW programme has had significant wider impacts on policy and practice 39 v Policy and practice impacts of ESRC funded research RAND Europe 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 4. 1. 2 What impact has the FoW programme had? 39 4. 1. 3 Why has the FoW programme had an impact? 40 4. 1. 4 What affects the impact of projects .. 41 Applying the Payback Model to wider impacts of social science .. 42 4. 2. 1 The Payback Framework can be applied to social science .. 42 4. 2. 2 Generalisation of categories.. 42 4. 2. 3 General points about assessing impacts of social science . 43 Further research.. 45 Concluding comments. 46 REFERENCES. 47 Reference list.. 49 vi Overview of impact The Future of Work (FoW) programme succeeded in bringing together an interdisciplinary group of academics, stimulating constructive discussions and providing access to policy makers to ensure the wider impact of the research. The FoW programme had significant academic and wider impacts. There was substantial output from the programme in the area of knowledge production. To date this has included 11 books and 69 book chapters; four journal special issues and over 100 peer reviewed articles, alongside over 200 conference presentations. Six of the researchers felt they had changed the direction of their research field. In terms of capacity development, involvement in the FoW programme was seen as a moderate or considerable contributor to 20 academic promotions, and the most common benefit of the programme cited by researchers were the opportunities to meet other researchers and in providing fora for discussion. In our survey of Principal Investigators (PIs) they reported 50 policy impacts, across a range of organisations including national government, political parties, employers and unions. Contributions to the policy debate included more than 60 working papers and official reports; seminars for the DTI, Low Pay Commission and Cabinet Office. More directly there were nine secondments, which placed the researchers in a policy environment, including a senior role in the DTI Women and Equality unit, where the researcher was able to influence strategy and policy decisions relating to equality. Further specific examples of policy impact were: the chairmanship of the TUC Partnership Institute by a researcher, allowing him to impact on employer/union relationships; the drafting of guidance notes on complying with employment legislation for the DTI by a research group; direct input into the Work and Families Bill (2003), which introduced new legislation on maternity and paternity leave; and citation in a House of Lords judgement on pay and conditions, specifically looking at unfair dismissal. Outside the government sectors our case studies identified a number of impacts on employers, including changes in workload policies and career structure; effects on maternity and family friendly working practices in a large consulting organisation and the negotiation of union-employer partnership deals. vii Policy and practice impacts of ESRC funded research RAND Europe Dissemination Almost half of the PIs felt the extensive networks of the Programme Director, and steering committee, had provided them with direct access to policy makers. These policy makers included those in the Work Foundation and a government agency. In addition, the FoW Media Fellow enhanced the impact of the research on more distant policy makers. He achieved this by producing research summaries set in the context of current policy and other research findings. Crucially, he worked to timescales suitable for policy makers rather than those of researchers. Evaluation methodology This evaluation used the Payback Framework as a conceptual structure and showed that the framework is useful for evaluating the wider impacts of social science. We used a number of techniques to collect data for the study: document review; key informant interviews; an on-line survey; and case studies. However, we found that some impacts are inaccessible to evaluation, because of political sensitivity or anonymity guarantees. viii Executive summary We examined how the ESRC Future of Work (FoW) programme influenced policy and professional practice. While doing so we reflected on the methods used to assess and identify impacts. Specifically, we considered whether the Payback Framework, a conceptual model for research evaluation, was appropriate for social science. Here we summarise the key findings. The FoW brought together an interdisciplinary group of academics, stimulated constructive discussion and provided access to policy makers. This may be especially significant given the view expressed by key informants that employment policy and management practices may be especially hard to reach with evidence as they are heavily contextual and apt to be influenced by fashion and ideology. Impacts The FoW programme had significant impacts on knowledge and research. This was evident in the numerous publications and conference presentations attributed to the programme. Most Principal Investigators (PIs) attributed incremental changes in their field of research to their projects, and some attributed a clear change of direction in their field of research to their projects. Most of the projects also influenced other researchers. The FoW programme had significant impacts on public policy. Although some PIs could identify specific impacts of their research, many found it difficult to identify actual policies they had influenced. PIs generally thought they had influenced policy in an incremental way and informed the policy debate. PIs also gave many presentations of FoW research to policy audiences. The FoW programme had significant impacts on career development. More than 75% of PIs thought the FoW programme had helped them to form networks with researchers, policy makers and practitioners; nearly half of PIs attributed career development for researchers to their FoW projects, including nine secondments to government. The FoW programme impacted on the policies and practice of organisations. There were many presentations given in organisations; PIs thought organisational practices were influenced by the research, but only some were easily identifiable. The policy environment determines policy impact. In one case the heightened awareness among policy makers of issues around maternity leave and women returning to work ix Policy and practice impacts of ESRC funded research RAND Europe provided fertile ground for research on how women make these decisions. In a second case the waning interest in union-employer partnerships was thought to have reduced the impact of a TUC institute chaired by a former FoW researcher. In general, the FoW research seldom caused major changes in policy but often resulted in impacts such as stimulating debate, fine-tuning policy, dispelling myths and providing confirmatory support. Dissemination The FoW programme provided access to policy makers. It effectively combined the networks of the Director and steering committee, and provided the researchers access to these networks which included key policy makers in the DTI, Low Pay Commission (LPC) and Cabinet Office. The FoW Media Fellow enhanced the impact on policy makers. This was achieved largely for two reasons. First, because his summaries of the FoW research were produced to a timescale suitable for policy makers, rather than researchers. And second because they were accessible to policy makers: setting the FoW research in the context of other research and current policy discussions. Researchers and policy makers differed in their views on how best to disseminate to policy makers. The two groups consider different channels to be important: researchers favouring academic publications, policy makers favouring the Media Fellow’s publications. The Payback Framework is a useful model for evaluating social science research. The Payback Framework provides a structure for research evaluation. It comprises a logic model of the research and dissemination process and a classification scheme for the immediate and wider impacts of research. This consists of five categories: Knowledge; Impacts on future research; Impacts on policy; Impacts on practice and Wider social and economic impacts. Both the literature review and fieldwork showed that the Framework could be effectively applied to social science research. Impacts and attribution Some impacts may be inaccessible to evaluation, for example some impacts were politically sensitive, so participants requested that they were not discussed. Also, subjects of the original research may have been influenced by their participation in that research, but their identity could not be revealed to the researchers in this evaluation. A confluence of inputs and incremental ‘knowledge creep’ make it difficult to attribute policy change to a given input. The Payback Framework provides a structure in which to explore the context within which projects are developed. However, the incremental nature of policy remains a difficulty in assessing impact at the project level. There are few mechanisms in social science to codify and synthesise research. In contrast to biomedical science, in the fields covered by the FoW programme there are fewer formal mechanisms to systematically review research; these mechanisms can offer tracers of policy influence. x RAND Europe Executive summary Timing Research on impacts may happen too early or too late. If research on impacts occurs too early, some impacts may not yet have occurred. If it occurs too late, certain impacts may have already come and gone. This possibility of transience makes it harder to investigate the impacts, as they may not be captured by a current snapshot of policies and policy debates. In order to provide a comprehensive view of the wider impacts of research this project suggests it would be important to warn researchers at the start of the project about likely evaluations; provide researchers with a mechanism to capture early impacts; and then evaluate research after further impacts have had time to develop, probably 5-10 years after completion of the research. The literature suggests that for research relating to ‘hot topics’ in policy, initial impact is likely to occur earlier and that 2 years post completion may provide the best time frame for evaluation. Implementation of evaluation There was widespread cooperation in the evaluation. The majority of PIs (including all case study PIs), 80% of nominated research users, and others nominated by PIs, agreed to participate in the research when approached. Researchers and users may prefer structured interviews to written surveys. Our experience also suggests that such interviews would provide more useful information for evaluation. Our on-line survey required significantly more of most participants’ time than predicted. xi Acknowledgments This study would have been impossible without the generous support of those involved with the Future of Work programme – we thank them for their constructive criticism and for sparing their time for interviews and to fill in our survey. We would particularly like to thank those researchers whose grants were selected as case studies. We would also like to thank Veronica Littlewood of the Economic and Social Research Council for her help and advice, including at the analysis workshop. Finally, we would like to thank Professor Martin Buxton and Stijn Hoorens who acted as the quality assurance reviewers. xiii CHAPTER 1 Introduction This report explores the wider impacts of social science research: how research affects policy, practitioner behaviour and public opinion. It does this by examining the Economic and Social Research Council’s (ESRC) Future of Work (FoW) research programme. The ESRC is the UK’s largest research funder and training agency addressing economic and social concerns. As such it aims to provide high quality research on issues of importance to business, the public sector and government. The FoW programme set out to bring together leading UK researchers, across a wide range of disciplines, in order to investigate the future prospects for paid and unpaid work. The programme was shaped by a consultation exercise involving 140 policy makers, academics and practitioners, carried out by Professor Peter Nolan in 1997. The first phase of the programme started in October 1998, followed by a second phase in January 2001. The total funding of the programme amounted to ? 4 million and attracted 221 applications for the first phase, of which 19 were supported. A further eight projects were supported in the second phase. The aims of the programme are shown in Box 1. †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ To create the evidence base that would then ground theories of work To enhance public understanding of the critical developments most likely to impact on people’s working lives To deepen accounts of the future of work by systematic mapping of past and present shifts and continuities To foster interdisciplinary and comparative perspectives To use innovative methods to engage with research users To act as a focus for debate within and between the academic, practitioner and policy-making communities Box 1. Aims of the FoW programme. Peter Nolan, Montague Burton Chair of Industrial Relations at Leeds, went on to direct the programme. He encouraged interaction between the research groups, promoted dissemination of programme findings and raised the programme’s profile. The Director was assisted by a programme advisory committee of senior representatives from government, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), business and academia. The advisory group attended meetings, participated in site visits to meet researchers, and provided access to policy networks. The written dissemination activities were led by Robert Taylor, a 1. Policy and practice impacts of ESRC funded research RAND Europe former journalist at the Financial Times, who was appointed as the programme’s Media Fellow. He wrote a series of seven booklets, aimed at policy makers, that described FoW research and set it in context. The output of the programme has been substantial: its outputs so far include 11 books, 69 book chapters, over 100 refereed articles and over 400 media mentions. This study explores the wider impacts of the programme in more detail. Over the past decade there has been an increasing culture of accountability affecting government spending. This climate has led ESRC to investigate the most effective ways to evaluate social science research, and to demonstrate the wider impact of its research on society. This report builds on experience of evaluating research in the health services and biomedical settings and seeks to apply it to social science. In this work we take the Payback Framework, originally developed by the Health Economics Research Group (HERG) at Brunel University, and test its applicability to social science. The Payback Framework was initially developed to examine the payback of health services research (Buxton et al., 1994; Buxton and Hanney, 1994; Buxton and Hanney, 1996). It was further developed in an earlier ESRC analysis of non-academic impact from research (Cave and Hanney, 1996) and subsequently extended to examine basic and clinical biomedical research (Wooding et al. , 2005; Wooding et al. , 2004). This study tested whether the Framework could be applied to examine the payback of social science research. To do this we briefly reviewed the literature on social science evaluation and the common models for examining the impact of evidence on policy, and concluded that they could be aligned with the Payback Framework. We then used the Payback Framework to examine the research projects in the FoW programme. We used the Payback Framework to structure a programme-wide questionnaire and a series of four case studies. Finally, we used these three streams of evidence to summarise the wider impacts of the FoW study and to see what can be learnt from the programme. We also used the evidence to develop a refined Payback Framework and consider its applicability for evaluating the wider impacts of social science research. 2 CHAPTER 2 Methodology and project structure. This project set out to examine the wider impacts of the FoW programme and to test the applicability of the Payback Framework to social science. It used a number of data collection methods (shown schematically in Figure 1). First we conducted a brief review of the literature concerning the ways in which social science affects policy and how the impacts of social science can be assessed. To develop our understanding of the FoW programme we reviewed documents from the ESRC and interviewed key individuals. We then surveyed all the Principal Investigators (PIs) who held grants from the FoW programme  to investigate the wider impacts of their grants, and asked them to nominate a user of their research for follow up via a telephone interview. To examine the pathways to impact in more detail we carried out four case studies of FoW PIs. The data collected throughout the study were then analysed in a one-day workshop. More detail on each of these stages is provided in the sections that follow. Figure 1. Project schematic 2. 1 The analytical framework The analytical framework for the study was based on the Payback Framework. The Payback Framework consists of two elements: a logic model representation of the complete research process (for the purposes of research evaluation), and a series of categories to classify the individual paybacks from research. The logic model and categories of the Payback Framework that served as the starting point for this study are presented below in Figure 2 and Box 2 respectively. The logic model provides a framework for analysing the ‘story’ of a research idea from initial inception 3 Policy and practice impacts of ESRC funded research RAND Europe. (Stage 0) through the research process (Stage 2) into dissemination (Interface B) and on towards its impact on people and society (Stage 6). The model is meant as a research tool to facilitate cross-case analysis. It does this by providing a common structure for each case study thereby ensuring cognate information for each study is recorded in the same place. The model is not meant to imply that the research process itself is linear. If necessary, individual pieces of information can be recorded in more than one place in the Framework to ensure they are picked up in the relevant cross-case comparisons. Figure 2. The version of the Payback Framework used as a starting point for the study1 Knowledge production Journal articles; conference presentations; books; book chapters; research reports Research targeting and capacity building Better targeting of future research; development of research skills, personnel and overall research capacity; staff development and educational benefits Informing policy and product development Improved information bases for political and executive decisions; development of pharmaceutical products and therapeutic techniques Health and health sector benefits. Improved health; cost reduction in delivery of existing services; qualitative improvements in the process of delivery; improved equity in service delivery Broader economic benefits Wider economic benefits from commercial exploitation of innovations arising from RD; economic benefits from a healthy workforce and reduction in working days lost Box 2. The payback categories of the Payback Framework used as a starting point for the study (Source: Hanney et al. , 2004) The categories of the Payback Framework are considered in the Discussion section of this report where the applicability of the model to social science research is discussed. 1 Source: Hanney et al. , 2004 4 RAND Europe Methodology and project structure 2. 2 2. 2. 1 Initial tasks Brief review of social science impacts literature A brief review of the literature, presented in Volume II, examines frameworks of evaluation previously used to examine the impact of social science research as well as models of research impact. The review was intended to identify lessons from the literature that would inform the current study, but was not intended to be comprehensive. 2. 2. 2 Review of FoW documentation At the outset of the project we also reviewed the ESRC records covering the FoW programme. This informed our interview protocol for the key informant interviews and provided the basis of our overview of the FoW programme, which was used as background information throughout the study. This overview is presented in Volume II. 2. 2. 3 Key informant interviews To gain a deeper understanding of the overall context and impact of the FoW programme we carried out interviews with six key informants. Suitable key informants were identified by ESRC and by the Director of the FoW programme: o o o o o o Professor Peter Nolan (FoW Programme Director) John Hougham (Chair of Advisory Board) Professor Toby Wall (Member of panel that appointed the Programme Director and Member of Advisory Panel) Bill Callaghan (Member of Research Priorities Board and Chair of Commissioning Panel) Professor William Brown (PI on two grants, one in each phase of the programme) Robert Taylor (Programme Media Fellow). These interviews were written up and examined for themes relating to the wider impact of social science and the FoW programme. These themes were then clustered and used to inform the refinement of the Payback Framework. We also carried out a second follow-up interview with Peter Nolan late in the project to examine various issues that had been raised in the survey and case study phases of the project. 2. 2. 4 Output of initial tasks The findings of the initial tasks suggested that the logic model aspect of the Payback Framework was generally appropriate for the social sciences. However, the categories needed some generalisation; our initial revision of these categories was presented in our interim report to the ESRC and are shown in Box 3. 5 Policy and practice impacts of ESRC funded research RAND Europe Knowledge production Journal articles; conference presentations; books + chapters; research reports Research targeting and capacity building Sparking new research proposals; providing research training; supporting career advancement Informing policy and product development Raising the profile/awareness of existing research among policy/practitioners makers; dispelling/resisting myths; providing policy options; prioritising areas; designing management assessment tools; developing benchmarking protocols Employment sector benefits. Improved working conditions; higher participation in workforce; more effective regulation Societal and broader economic benefits Lower stress among workers; improved public health; improved mental health through decreased unemployment; greater productivity; improved equity Box 3: Draft Payback Categories for the Social Sciences afer initial tasks. 2. 3 Payback survey To examine the range and types of payback produced across the FoW programme we invited all the PIs to complete an online survey. The survey concentrated on the wider impacts of the projects, but also asked some questions about the initiation of the research. The survey questions were based on those used in previous payback studies and modified in light of the key informant interviews and literature review2. PIs were invited to participate in the survey using personalised emails which contained a direct hyperlink to their questionnaire. PIs who had grants in both phases of the FoW programme received two emails linking to two separate surveys. The survey was implemented using MMIC web questionnaire software. 3 Data were downloaded from MMIC and analysed using SPSS version 14 and Microsoft Excel version 2000. 4 The questionnaire was originally drafted on paper. The paper draft was reviewed by the ESRC and by both of the project’s quality assurance reviewers. After incorporating their comments it was converted into a web questionnaire and again reviewed by the ESRC. We also asked a RAND researcher from outside the project team to test the questionnaire by talking us through their thoughts as they filled it in. This helped us to identify misunderstandings and confusing questions. 2 Payback questionnaires first used in Buxton et al. , 2000 and subsequently refined for payback analysis of the NHS Research Implementation Methods Programme and the Dutch and UK Health.

How attitudes towards studying children have evolved Essay -- Childhoo

This assignment intends to identify how attitudes towards studying children have been evolving over time, whilst also identifying three key principles which should be aspired to when implementing such research. A range of theoretical perspectives and methodologies shall also be explored with examination on children’s roles and their involvement being evident throughout. Researching children is in no way a new phenomenon however there has been a considerable shift in paradigm which has led to increasing amounts of research being carried out ‘with’ children rather than ‘on’ children (Christensen and James, 2008). This could be because of the growing interest in children’s rights to participate (James and Prout, 1997), which as suggested by O’kane (2008) occurred in the late 1980’s. However it is difficult to determine whether this shift in paradigm occurred as a result of natural changes in researcher’s attitudes or as a direct result of new legislation (2008). As at a similar time, in 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) (UNCRC ) was enforced, giving children the right to participate and be heard in matters affecting their lives. This difficulty is evident by Schaffer (1990) suggesting developmental theories have strongly influenced policies thus indicating, as res earcher’s knowledge on children and childhood develop attitudes and policy change. In contrast O’Kane (2008, p.125) states â€Å"changes reflect an acknowledgement of children’s rights†. Views on childhood have and still continue to change (Waller, 2009). The contemporary view that children are empty vessels (Skinner, 1974) is being disregarded as children are no longer perceived as passive recipients in an adult world (O’Kane, 2008... ...exist as if the researcher were to allow the cost to the individual to be weighed out by the benefit towards society (ref) the whole study would be compromised with both the researcher and their research losing validity in the eyes of others (Green, 2003). In conclusion this assignment has identified that attitudes towards studying children have and still continue to change, although it is evident attitudes are still dominated by a western perspective and some changes have been more embraced than others. The findings within this assignment support the view that children now have a participatory role within research, however it also identifies that participation is only possible if the researchers fully embrace children as competent beings and aspires to the key principles of consent, listening and responding to children and adheres to ethical codes of conduct.

Merits and Accomplishments of Educational Leaders Essay

It is datum of experience that every field of knowledge is inspired by some leaders whose efforts work as the guiding fundamentals. It is through their shared vision of continuous amelioration that education systems enjoy their success better than ever before. Although many thinkers have enlightened the philosophies behind modern education system, some have relatively excelled in the extent of their research and devotion to the field. In the contemporary world, any field without the intervention of IT is unimaginable. So is the case with the field of education where the work of IT starts from the concepts like Webinars and Distance Learning to the doctoral research works being carried out on IT dimensions like Netspeak. With his books like ‘Classic Writings on Instructional Technology’, Donald Ely is reckoned as one of the most prominent educational leaders regarding the use of technology in the contemporary world. Apart from his achievement of bringing IT into instructional fields, the merit of Ely’s studies lies in the inoculation of creative ideas for instruction while using IT as a medium of instruction. With an acknowledgment of latest approaches being introduced in the dynamic field of IT everyday, Donald Ely is also known for inviting the perspectives of novices in the field as a reflection of his development philosophy (Anderson, 2005). When it comes to the assessment practices of learners to the students in an online interactive environment, Ely has not deviated from the fundamentals of assessment used in the real life instructional environment. However, he has modified the very principles to mould the ideas into a more viable shape that fits the IT involving education. The cynosure of Gene Hall and Shirley Hord’s studies lies with the development and training of instructors if any change in the current education system is to be achieved. In this concern, a major merit of the two educational leaders’ approach is the systematic aspect which starts from a gradual inculcation of vision inveterate in the philosophy of change. Once the vision is adequately communicated, required resources to plan on it are provided to the instructors. From the stage of planning, the model suggests a gradual move towards the practical aspect of training and development of necessary skills. This practicality is followed by a constant evaluation and control technique through monitoring. As a result of evaluation, proper reinforcement is made possible. By considering teachers as the major tools of change, the two educationists have laid enormous amount of importance on instructors’ concerns and feelings about the nature of change. Another unique plus point of Hall and Hord’s studies is the level of pragmatism attached to their studies by identification of stages to trace the actual level of implementation of the change. These levels of use range from ‘no use’ to ‘renewal’ marked by complete shift towards the concerned change (Hord, 1994). Gerald Zaltman and Robert Duncan’s area of research can be considered as a furtherance of Hall and Hord’s work as the former educationists focus on the obstacles in the way of successful implementation of changes proposed for an education system. By attempting to trace the causes of resistance towards the change, Zaltman and Duncan propose a logical course of action in the pursuit of eradicating the impeding forces as they may arise due to the well established beliefs or insecurities attached to the adoption of change (Ellsworth). An importance merit of their work is that it is not just confined to the identification of problems and their causes, but is also associated with the strategies to overcome them. These strategies involve modification of the change process according to the context. Where the changes are unalterable, the experts propose a strong communication in favour of change. By proposing four types of strategies based on the level of opposition to the change, Zaltman and Duncan provided a framework for the educationists in order to plan a suitable change keeping in mind the extent of agreement and willingness to the change. By providing Facilitative, Re-educative, Persuasive and Power strategies, they have added a pragmatic aspect to their research thereby making it more lucrative for implementation (O’Brien, 1999). To express succinctly, the efforts and research works of all contemporary leaders in the field of education cannot be denied. However, the works of the educational leaders discussed above provide the most critical of all dimensions touched by the educationists today. References Anderson,T. J. (2005). Dr. Donald P. Ely. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from: http://doctja. com/docs/edd8008/DonPEly. ppt. Ellsworth, J. B. A Survey of Educational Change Models. ERIC Digest. Retrieved May 22, 2008, from ERIC Digests Website: http://www. ericdigests. org/2001-2/survey. html Hord, S. M. (1994). Staff Development and Change Process: Cut from the Same Cloth. Issues †¦ about Change, 4(2). Retrieved May 22, 2008, from Southwest Educational Development Laboratory Web site: http://www. sedl. org/change/issues/issues42. html O’Brien, R. (1999). Social Change Activism and the Internet: Strategic Online Activities. Retrieved May 22, 2008, from: http://www. web. net/~robrien/papers/netaction. html

What is the Gospel?

The gospel means â€Å"good news†. But good news of what? The key Old Testament word with reference to the gospel is the verb â€Å"basar† which generally means â€Å"proclaiming good news†. The good news may be news of the death of an enemy or the birth of a son. In the New Testament words with reference to the gospel denote â€Å"good tidings† or technically it is a term for â€Å"news of victory†. Most people understood the gospel as about giving hope and salvation to sinful sinners through the work of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This paper will discuss the content of the gospel, the fallacies in the presentation of the gospel and the fallacies in stating the content of the gospel. II. The Gospel The message of the gospel is the heart of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His church. Jesus is not only the author and messenger of the gospel but that in fact, He is the subject of it. Paul, after Christ ascension to heaven aggressively preached the gospel. Although Paul does not provide a single complete detailed statement of the tenets of the gospel, nevertheless there are many New Testament passages that when put together indicate what it includes. In Romans 1:3-4 he speaks of the gospel â€Å"concerning God’s Son who was descended from David and resurrected from the dead†. In I Corinthians 15, Paul stated that he delivered a message â€Å"that Christ died for our sins†¦that he was buried and raised on the third day. † Other New Testament passages clearly indicates that Paul viewed the gospel as centering upon Jesus Christ and what God has done through Him that resulted in the salvation of man. To summarize, the essential elements of the gospel are the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ, his humanity, his death in the cross for man’s sins, his burial, resurrection and future coming. II. Fallacies in the Presentation of the Gospel A. The Fallacy that the Gospel primarily concerns Other than sin The good news or the gospel concerns itself with the solution of man’s basic problem: sin. However, a person may not sense that he needed this good news unless he is aware of the presence of sin in his own life. More often than not, he only feels the lack of peace or joy in his life or the overwhelming problems that confronted him, which are symptoms of his condition of being alienated from God as a result of sin. Unfortunately, some presentations of the gospel may focus on these three areas. But man does not need the gospel just so he can be happy or have peace or find solutions to his problems, he needed it in order to be forgiven of his sin. B. The Fallacy That There Are Different Gospels for Different Age-Groups It is wrong to advocate to the idea that the gospel is not the same for all people. That is, there is a separate gospel for the children, young people, adults, unchurched people or those who go to church. The truth is, there is only one gospel for all, though its ways of explaining may not be the same for all age groups, nevertheless the content should be the same. C. The Fallacy that the Truth is in Other than the Word of God Obviously, this means that truth can be found not only in the word of God. Experience, archeology or fulfilled prophecy may be pointed out as other sources of truth. However, though these three may be a valuable source of denying or confirming truth, it does not create infallible truth. Only the word of God provides absolute truth and all reasoning should be based on it. D. The Fallacy that cleverness will convict In presenting the gospel others may falsely rely on one’s own cleverness of presentation in order to convict a person regarding the truth of the gospel. However, well prepared and well presented gospel presentation does not guarantee salvation or understanding of truth for the Bible clearly states that conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit. It is only the Holy Spirit who can bring successful conviction to acknowledge the truth whether or not a man chooses to believe it. E. The Fallacy that charm will assure results The Bible clearly warned that as bearers of good news, a person should see to it that he does not offend anyone with regards to his manner of dressing, speech or culture especially in view of the fact that the message of the gospel in itself is already an offense or stumbling block for most people ( Gal. :11). But even if man takes this warning to heart, his charming disposition still does not guarantee that the gospel will be accepted. F. The Fallacy that Procedures produce Conversions There is no argument that procedures do produce results such as the hypnotizing effect of music, the intoxicating effect of setting and the moving effect of stories. However, these results cannot be appropriately equated to resulting to conversions. What is important in the presentation of the gospel message is that whether the people were given words that they can believe in and not only to give them something to do. III. Fallacies in Stating the Content of the Gospel A. The Fallacy of adding baptism Some may wrongfully think that in order to be saved one should be baptized. However, baptism is not part of the gospel for if it is then work is added to the gospel of grace. The beliefs that baptism is required for salvation are usually taken from the following verses: . Mark 16:16. Bible Scholars debated on the original ending of the gospel of Mark so in this basis it is unwise to make verses 9-20 as an absolute guideline. But just in case these verses are originally part of the gospel of Mark, it is more safer to assume that Christ may have referred here to the baptism of the Spirit for it is most likely that these words were spoken at the same time that He was talking in Acts 1:5 about the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit. 2. Acts 2:38. Baptism regenerationists hold on to the belief that this verse means that both repentance and baptism leads to salvation. However, it must be understood that in Bible times the act of baptism is a public sign of one’ sincere conversion may it be to Judaism, Christianity or other sects. Therefore, this verse clearly shows that Peter told the people to repent and to follow the tradition of baptism as a proof of one’s sincerity of conversion, so that no one will doubt it. On the other hand, this verse can be also interpreted to mean that baptism follows as a result of the forgiveness of sin and not in order to be forgiven of sin. 3. Acts 22:16. This verse may be analyzed by connecting a particular participle to its imperative like the participle (a) â€Å"arise† (which is a participle, arising) with (b) â€Å"be baptized† (an imperative); and (c) â€Å"wash away your sin† (imperative) with (d) â€Å"calling on the name of the Lord† (participle). To make baptism a requirement of salvation, it would require connecting (b) and (c) which could then be read as â€Å"be baptized and wash away your sins†. But this is not to be so, for as shown, both imperatives are in fact connected to each of their own participle, therefore, it means â€Å"to arise from baptism† and to â€Å"call upon the name of the Lord to wash away your sins†. Calling on the name of the Lord would then necessitate forgiveness of sin and not baptism. B. The Fallacy of misunderstanding Repentance In Christianity, to acquire salvation means to repent. Repentance means one should not only be sorrowful about specific sins being committed and stop doing it ( as most understood about repentance ) but it must involve a change of mind about Jesus Christ and trust (have faith ) and acknowledge Him as savior. C. The Fallacy of making surrender of life a part of the gospel Many Bible scholars argue that in order to be saved one should surrender one’s life or make a commitment to the Lordship of Christ. Arthur Pink further stressed that it is a lie of the devil to think that one is saved unless he makes Christ Lord of his life. However, the Bible provided many examples of person who were saved but do not show any commitment such as Lot and the believers of Ephesus. Lot was declared in the new testament as a righteous man even though his life does not show as such. The believers in Ephesus were still regarded as born again even though it took them two years after accepting Christ to burn their magic arts and forsake their superstitious practices. The Lordship problem lies in the failure to â€Å"distinguish salvation from discipleship and makes requirement for discipleship prerequisites for salvation†. Christ in his discourse with the Samaritan woman does not ask her to put her sinful life in order for her to be saved nor does He lecture on her the changes that is expected of her in case she believed but that He simply inform her that she needed to know who He is and ask for His gift of eternal life. It may look so easy to be saved just by believing, but in a much closer introspection , it is not so, for it is hard to believe in someone that is only known through the Bible much more stake one’s own eternal destiny based on that knowledge. II. Conclusion A. The gospel is the good news of man’s forgiveness from sins through faith in the complete work of grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is therefore of necessity that man hear and understand this message. However, as with other works of man, the presentation of the gospel and stating its content may be flawed with fallacies. In the fallacy of presentation, it includes the fallacy that the Gospel primarily concerns other than sin, the fallacy that there are different gospels for different Age-Groups ,the fallacy that the Truth is in Other than the Word of God ,the fallacy that cleverness will convict ,the fallacy that charm will assure results, the fallacy that procedures produce conversions. In the fallacy of stating its content, it includes the fallacy of adding baptism, the fallacy of misunderstanding repentance, the fallacy of making surrender of life a part of the gospel.

Free Essays on Charlotte Corday

Charlotte Corday (1768 – 1793) Charlotte Corday was born in Saint-Saturnin, France on July 27, 1768, and was educated in the Roman Catholic convent in Caen. She considered herself devoted to the â€Å"Enlightened† ideals of her time, but was a supporter of the monarchy when the French Revolution began in 1789. As the Revolution progressed, factions arose within the national convention. Corday favored the more moderate Girondins rather then men such as Marat and Robespierre who wanted to destroy the monarchy. The Girondins were expelled form the convention in May and June of 1793, after which they gathered at Caen hoping to organize against their opponents. Corday, devoted to their cause, went to Paris. She was convinced that their primary enemy was Marat, and devised a plan to gain access to him under the pretext of wanting to tell him of the events at Caen. On July 13, 1793 she stabbed him through the heart while he was in his bath. Corday was immediately apprehended, and was sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, Charlotte wrote a letter to her father, asking forgiveness for â€Å"having disposed of my existence without your permission.† Corday refused the ministrations of a priest in the moments before her death; her last request was that a National Guard officer named Hauer paint her portait. As a token of thanks for his work, Coorday presented Hauer with a lock of her hair. She was executed on july 17, 1793, at the young age of 25.... Free Essays on Charlotte Corday Free Essays on Charlotte Corday Charlotte Corday (1768 – 1793) Charlotte Corday was born in Saint-Saturnin, France on July 27, 1768, and was educated in the Roman Catholic convent in Caen. She considered herself devoted to the â€Å"Enlightened† ideals of her time, but was a supporter of the monarchy when the French Revolution began in 1789. As the Revolution progressed, factions arose within the national convention. Corday favored the more moderate Girondins rather then men such as Marat and Robespierre who wanted to destroy the monarchy. The Girondins were expelled form the convention in May and June of 1793, after which they gathered at Caen hoping to organize against their opponents. Corday, devoted to their cause, went to Paris. She was convinced that their primary enemy was Marat, and devised a plan to gain access to him under the pretext of wanting to tell him of the events at Caen. On July 13, 1793 she stabbed him through the heart while he was in his bath. Corday was immediately apprehended, and was sentenced to death. While awaiting execution, Charlotte wrote a letter to her father, asking forgiveness for â€Å"having disposed of my existence without your permission.† Corday refused the ministrations of a priest in the moments before her death; her last request was that a National Guard officer named Hauer paint her portait. As a token of thanks for his work, Coorday presented Hauer with a lock of her hair. She was executed on july 17, 1793, at the young age of 25....

Proconsul Facts and Figures

Proconsul Facts and Figures Name: Proconsul (Greek for before Consul, a well-known circus ape); pronounced pro-CON-sul Habitat: Jungles of Africa Historical Epoch: Early Miocene (23-17 million years ago) Size and Weight: About 3-5 feet long and 25-100 pounds Diet: Omnivorous Distinguishing Characteristics: Monkey-like posture; flexible hands and feet; lack of tail About Proconsul As far as paleontologists can tell, Proconsul marks the time in primate evolution when the old world monkeys and apes diverged from a common ancestor - which means, in laymans terms, that Proconsul may (or may not) have been the first true ape. In fact, this ancient primate combined various characteristics of monkeys and apes; its hands and feet were more flexible than those of contemporary monkeys, but it still walked in a monkey-like way, on all fours and parallel to the ground. Perhaps most tellingly, the various species of Proconsul (which ranged from a smallish 30 pounds or so to a largish 100) lacked tails, a distinctly ape-like trait. If Proconsul was, in fact, an ape, that would make it distantly ancestral to humans, and perhaps even a true hominid, though its brain size indicates that it wasnt much smarter than the average monkey. However it winds up being classified, Proconsul holds a special place in hominid paleontology. When its remains were first discovered, back in 1909, Proconsul was not only the oldest ape yet identified, but the first prehistoric mammal ever to be unearthed in sub-Saharan Africa. The name Proconsul is a story in itself: this early Miocene primate wasnt named after the revered proconsuls (provincial governors) of ancient Rome, but after a pair of popular circus chimpanzees, both named Consul, one of which performed in England and the other in France. Before Consul, as the Greek name translates, may not seem very dignified for such a remote human ancestor, but thats the moniker that has stuck! Many people mistakenly believe that Proconsul was one of the immediate predecessors of Homo sapiens. In fact, though, this ancient primate lived during the Miocene epoch, from about 23 to 17 million years ago, at least 15 million years before the first recognizable human ancestors (like Australopithecus and Paranthropus) evolved in Africa. Its not even a sure thing that Proconsul spawned the line of hominids that led to modern humans; this primate may have belonged to a sister taxon, which would make it more of a great-great-great uncle a thousand times removed.

Economics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Economics - Essay Example Because of rationality in making economic decisions people often consider the cost and the benefit of their decision. In most cases, people will make an economic decision anticipating a gain (Hirschey, 2009). When purchasing a house I will expect a gain of value, my decision will therefore be based on the difference between the cost incurred to obtain the house and its value. This essay will give a discussion on the economic implication on my decision to purchase a house. Several principals among the ten economics principals will directly influence my decision towards buying the house. Firstly, people face tradeoffs. This is the first principal that I will encounter in the process of making the purchase decision (Slembeck, 2007). This principal implies that one has to give up something in order to acquire something else. According to this principal, I will need to give up my money in exchange to the house. I will also need to give up the purchase of other items that I need most such as a new car in order to acquire the house. Lastly, after acquiring the new house I will have to give up living in my old house in order to occupy the new house. Rational people think at the margin, this is the second economic principal that I will encounter when analyzing my decision to purchase the house (Slembeck, 2007). This principal implies that a rational decision is based on the difference between marginal benefits and cost. ... When buying the house I need to evaluate how the cost of the house compares to the cost of missed opportunities. Finally, people respond to incentives, this principal will be major influence when making the decision (Slembeck, 2007). This means that my decision will tend to follow incentives offered by the different sellers in the market. According to the principal, I will consider purchasing the house from the seller who offers the best discount. Marginal benefits are the additional utility or satisfaction that a person derives from the consumption of an additional unit of a particular commodity. On the other hand, the marginal cost refers to the opportunity cost of acquiring an additional unit of a particular commodity. In the cases of purchasing the house, marginal benefits will refer to the satisfaction derived from a second and subsequent consumption of a commodity (Hirshleifer, Glazer, & Hirshleifer, 2005). The marginal benefit of a house diminishes steadily after acquiring the first unit this is because a person cannot live in two houses simultaneously. This implies that people will tend to spend their money to acquire other items after acquiring their first house. Similarly first time homebuyers will consider their first house as an additional unit. In this case, the house will have a higher marginal benefit that compares well with the missed opportunities. The marginal cost of an item refers to the opportunity cost incurred from acquiring an extra unit of a particular commodity. The opportunity cost of a house is therefore the cost of missed opportunities resulting from acquisition of a second and subsequent house. The marginal cost of a house increases steadily after acquiring the first house since a person can only live in one

Access Health Care in the UK Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Access Health Care in the UK - Research Paper Example In this paper, the current health care policy of UK will be analyzed critically along with mentioning of key suggestions and recommendations in encouraging further improvement. In UK healthcare is mainly facilitated by a publicly financed service called National Health Service (NHS), which is funded by general taxation and national insurances. Most of the mainstream primary and secondary health services (such as Hospital services, preventive services, prescribed Hospital drugs and physician services) are provided free of cost to all permanent UK residents. (Siciliani & Borowitz et al., 2013) However, treatments for infectious diseases like AIDS/HIV and emergency visits are free for visitors or illegal residents. Restricted co-payments are taken for dental care, mental healthcare, palliative care and vision care. Senior citizens, children, pregnant women and lower-income families are kept devoid of these payments. General practitioners are used for provision of primary healthcare and necessary future referrals in NHS. Specialist outpatient care including primary dental care, mental care and eye services are based on private sector contracts. Long-term care such as residential care and continued services are quite restricted in NHS. (Harrison, 2014) In UK, NHS is provided under National Health Service Act 1946.It covered England and Wales while Scotland and Northern Ireland were provided with separate legislations. According to this Act, NHS was to be availed freely by all citizens irrespective of race, gender, marital status, age or disability. However, reforms in the initial policies led to the invention of Health and Social Care Act, 2012. It focuses more on health care improvement and quality of services provided. Maternity and Childcare policy: Pregnant women are provided with best available health services and maternity care at NHS hospitals. Provision of a midwife for labor, birth, pre-and-post-delivery care is ensured. In case of miscarriages and