Career Change

According to Moody and None (2005), career Is a Job that has been chosen to be accomplished during one's working life. Career Is the progress and actions of the person's occupations or sequence of Jobs held by someone throughout a lifetime which Is until that person end up the careers. Most of the situations, people do not lust referring to one position only but often looking for another Jobs which composed of the jobs held, titles earned and work accomplished over a long period of time.There is an increasing trend to employees changing jobs more frequently, while employees in some cultures and economies stay with one job during their career. For example, an individual's career could involve being an engineer, though the individual could work for several different firms and in several different areas of engineering over a lifetime. Consequently, this continuous process that involves the progression of an individual through many stages of life and every stage has its own issues, terms and tasks are called as career development (Decision Werner and Harris, 2008).This Is a major aspect of human development where it is the process how the Individual form their work Identity. The career development extents for inure Lifetime when It begins with a person's earliest awareness of the ways In which people make a living and continues as they explores the new professions. It may or probably will include changing the careers and jobs when people ultimately decides what career to pursue, prepares for it, applies for and gets a job and advances in it.Based on DRP. Donald Super which is one of the pioneers in the field of career development, argued that people pass through five career stages during their life span. Fundamentally, these sequential generalizations often provide a useful mainframe to understand the career transitions that people will face in adulthood. Once people mastered of certain tasks for each stage, that will allow them to function successfully for every s tages and make them to prepare well and move on to the next task.Each stage Is loosely affiliated with a chronological period and is characterized by work attitudes, types of relationships, behaviors, and the aspects of work that are valued. Stage 1 Is the growth process which the early years from 4 to 13 years old. This stage is a time when the individual first becomes aware of the future. People ill try to find ways to develop their competencies and increase control over their life. Meanwhile, for the exploration process at stage 2 that is from the early teens to mid- twenties, people begin to form, specify and implement an occupational choice.People will try to play deferent roles in various occupational options and will be explored though school, leisure, part-time work and volunteering. Before people firmly finding a more stable and appropriate fit for their jobs, â€Å"trial Jobs† may be tested by them. The third stage is the establishment process in between the mid- tw enties through mid-forties. In this stage, people typically select a suitable field in their professions area and efforts are made to secure a long-term place In the chosen career.Young adulthood tends to be a time for stabilizing, consolidating, building momentum and moving up. Obtaining certifications, credentials, and advanced degrees may be the norm (Worded). At the fourth stage which is the maintenance constancy which means holding on (stagnating or palliating), or keeping up (updating or enriching), continuity, stress, safety and stability tend to be the standard (Worded). Lastly, the final phase of career development is the disengagement recess which around mid-flies. It is typically marked by ready to retire, maintains the respects but still productive.This stage should be more appropriately named reinvestment as they are completely redesigning the notion of retirement preferring to work in some form while pursuing new or renewed outside interests. In later adulthood, people in this stage may be a need to assist or mentor younger members of society or try to seek self-employment to fulfill their free time. However, based on all of the stages been discussed earlier, people in the mid-forties to mid-flies are at different stage in their career and life than people that is at age 25 or 45.A career change after age 40 can be a tricky situation. In this stage, people will decide whether to continue along the same track because it is comfortable familiar and secure or change into the other career since there is an opportunity to pursue new personal or professional goals. This stage is called as middle career years or mid-career change. According to MUM textbook, mid-career means re-appraise early career and early adulthood, reaffirm or modify goals, make choices appropriate to middle adult years ND remain productive.Mid-career is a time in which one is more likely to consider leaving a current Job in order to take work in an organization that might indicate promise of greater career fulfillment or address a need for increased salary or benefits, intrinsic and extrinsic (Worded). After 40, many people begin to look at life differently which they often begin to feel that life really is too short to be stuck in a dead-end or unsatisfying Job.In this middle age situation, it is a time in which adults take on new responsibilities at the workplace and therefore, people of this age often eel a need to reappraise previous life structures with an eye to making revisions ‘while there is still time' (Yuck, 1997). Sometimes people feel risk adverse with various career options which may lead to frustration or even depression. It may also be boring, dull, and unsatisfying. People at this stage already have their own skills and the abilities in contributing a fairly good idea.There will be variety of reasons why people try to change their career. The four reasons why people change their career are due to the career plateau, obsolescence, career change and feeling undervalued. I. Career plateau By definition, a career plateau is a point in the career of an employee where the possibility of vertical promotion within the official hierarchy becomes very low or absent altogether (Worded). People will often reach career plateaus when they continue to work for the same organization for a long time and those who belong to the core of an organization.The feeling of boredom, frustration, tension, loss of On the other hand, career plateau also occurs when there is no further development of one's skills and abilities. One's personal development and growth are stagnating or people stop learning or even unable to upgrade the skills. A lack of technical skill or career skill may lead to an individual's lack of promotional opportunity or the desire to move into a higher-level position. Either for professional or personal reasons, many people experience the situation at one point during their career of becoming ‘stuck' with little o r no movement up the career ladder.It possibly occurs due to lack of opportunities within the organization when there is limited or no upward movement within the organization. It means that, there have fewer positions than aspirants at each higher level of the organizational ladder in the pyramidal structure f organizations. Sometimes, some people has the ability to perform effectively in a higher-level position, but a lack of Job openings may prevent their promotion. This is called as structural plateau. Frustration will arise when there is a lack of promotional aspects and lead them to look for other opportunities elsewhere. T. Obsolescence Obsolescence refers to a state of being no longer useful or limited in use, old- fashioned or that which can be easily dispensed with or discarded. Just like obsolete tools and equipment, employees also get obsolete (Goriest Kinsman, 2012). It means hat, people who are employed in organizations is lack up-to-date of necessary knowledge, skills, techniques, technologies and lack of new work processes to maintain effective performance in their current or future work role.The reason that causes of obsolescence are due to individual himself, his ability and ability to learn on the basis of continuous education and some reasons are due to the companies, which in their lack of ability to develop and implement a plan of action to reduce obsolescence phenomenon, and lack of facilitating the educational activities rather than Just approve them. It can be like a continuum if the people feel that they lack of awareness of change, complacency, lack of confidence, and resistance to change.Further, it could be affecting them at the affective level when it comes to behavior patterns. These could be in terms of an individual feeling lack of competence in self, lack of career progression opportunities or limited opportunities and the lack of initiative to update oneself (Chuan, 2009). When this habit eventually grows into an obsession, pe ople will feel no desire to work hard, improve or go out of their way to be felt at work. But sometimes, there are other reasons why people feel obsolete and it comes from the organization itself.It makes people have no interest to do their Job since there is a mismatch between the person and the Job, lack of autonomy or non- involvement in decision-making. Besides, the impediments from the boss as he is non-supportive, and the organizational policies and practices like ineffective performance appraisal system which lack of reward or recognition and inappropriate promotion policy. Iii. Career change In midlife career, there are some reasons to consider people leaving the current Job ND looking for a new opportunity.Some of them are really need to settle their lifestyle, career stability and professional challenges with minimum risks. Even there will be possible for them to have all of these needs, they have to try to relocate in order to gain promote, income and challenge. Normally employees change career due to personal dissatisfaction, or environmental factors such as Job loss, threat of in reward system or increased Job demands (MUM textbook). People will feel dissatisfaction when they feel the workplace culture becomes corrupted and begins to impact your performance and ability to advance.Besides, they feel that the Job are too stressful while the stress can become too much to handle. Some other reasons are due to financial stability, meaningfulness of Job, change in lifestyle and so on. ‘v. Feeling undervalued People working in a Job that fails to play to their strengths, in an environment where they are underused will have no gift to productivity rates. There is nothing more demoralizing in the workplace than feeling undervalued by the bosses. This misalignment in distributive Justice is a major contributor to Job dissatisfaction.When they feel undervalued and unappreciated at the workplace, regardless of what repression or industry that they are w orking in, they will begin to lack energy and commitment in their role. They also may leave to go to another Job where they feel that their work and input is more valued. Poor personnel management practices also be another cause such as people feel that they are Just cogs in a machine, are seen as children, feel ignored, or are not recognized, management needs to take the time to look at the system that is in place (Worded).What people need is the workplace culture has to change and managers will have to redirect their attention to fostering a team spirit. On the other hand, people will clearly not feel valued if their working area is in disrepair and the computers are unreliable and outdated. The best way to find out what may potentially cause employees to feel undervalued is to request feedback from the team members. Lastly, other signs that employees may suffer from feelings of being undervalued are inexpressive or abusive managers or, and a low quality in work environment or equ ipment (Worded).Below are the steps that need to be considered on mid-career change by Thee Debacle: Step 1 Analyze your current situation-specifically any changing desires, unanticipated vents, aging, expectations of others, burnout, and anything else that is affecting your current career. It is time for people make an analysis when they realize that they are no longer applicable to the organization. For example, people are no longer interested to that Job are, want to do something completely different, boredom, have high expectation and want to get new opportunities, financial freedom, obsolete in skills and techniques, undervalued and so on.Step 2 Assess interests, values and skills. Explore your passion, hobbies and any other interests that can be developed into potential career opportunities. If people really want to change their career, then they have to target a career that is aligned with interested in Malaysian history but they want to be a banker. Look deeply for points of relevance between the two. Take this example which Malaysia is a pioneer of Islamic banking, which is growing as a sector in Britain. A conventional British bank may be interested in their understanding of Malaysian heritage if it is looking to launch Shari-compliant financial products (Worded).Step 3 Identify the three most important priorities for changing your career. Obtain information about career opportunities and determine what kind of new career to start. The three most important priorities are maybe about the satisfaction or interested Job that people wanted to do, financial freedom which they try to find higher payment from the other organization and also the skills and abilities that is similar. For example, a manufacturer will always be a manufacturer, and he or she can manufacture almost anything, give or take a few differences in the nature of the production (Worded).Step 4 Develop a Re-career roadman to ensure a successful transition. Write down career Laos, gather i nformation about prospective careers and make necessary decisions to pursue opportunities that may arise. For example, write out on a piece of paper into two columns which are â€Å"what I like† and â€Å"what I hate† about the present situation. Do this exercise for all of the Jobs, internships, research assistantships, and volunteer and leadership experiences throughout the career to compare them to the current job (Liana G. Levine, 2011).Step 5 Establish an action plan that is built upon realistic expectations and which draws upon available resources. For example, by identifying what people loved and loathed bout each experience, they can map out exactly what it is they want to change, why now is the time they want to make the change, and where they want to go. Since they are the decision-maker, they have an incredible amount of power to make the decision. (Liana G. Levine, 2011). Step 6 Identify and overcome resources barriers. Do not be scared of doing something t otally different.Just because they worked in the private sector for 30 years, for example, does not mean people cannot shift to the public sector. They can teach old dog new tricks. Do not be boxed in by where they think the boundaries are. He age is not a boundary but a benefit as they have the experience and maturity you need to make and cope with major changes in your life (Worded). Step 7 Turn to personal contacts into career stakeholders. Before people make a change, they need to find out what the career and Job really involve.For example, many careers, ranging from interior design to financial planning, may involve selling services in addition to performing them. Or may be enticed by the high average salary of their dream Job, only to find that it is a field where a few people make a lot and most people make very little. To get the real story, elk to people who work in the field they are targeting. Mid-life can find them though in the field (Margaret Steen). Step 8 Experiment, learn, take risks and network to create new career structures.Try to make a contingency plan no matter how much time and thought people put into developing a detailed plan, they must also plan for when their plan does not come to fruition. For example, according to Liana G. Levine, 2011, â€Å"say you want to transition out of academia and into industry. You do extensive research to identify 10-15 companies where you would like to work, you transform your C.V. into an industry- roundly resume, you network, you apply for Jobs, you do informational interviews, and still you are not able to land a Job in the timeshare you outlined in your original plan. Step 9 Learn how to deal with doubt and uncertainty as the new career unfolds. Continue from the example above base on Liana G. Levine, 2011, muff must be flexible, and you must build that flexibility as well as contingencies into your strategy. So if you do not get a particular Job for which you aim, you can expand your search parame ters, and determine what else interests you, or research what additional skills and expertise is needed to get back on track. † Step 10 Implement actionable strategies to achieve new career goals.Make sure mid-life have to develop a plan that includes timeliness and deadlines, major goals and daily goals, and steps to take to achieve each milestone. For example, if your overall goal is to stay in academia but move to Japan and do your research there, then daily goals may include networking and contacting potential collaborators, exploring what are the right institutions and labs for your investigations, and researching the culture, language and funding opportunities available in the country (Worded). Step 1 1 Invest in re-training programs that will build on your existing expertise and knowledge.For example, people have to attend the workshop in order to upgrade their skills, techniques and also their experiences in order to get high Job expectations. Step 12 Look at the mid-c areer transition realistically to manage emotions such as fear, anxiety, or a sense of loss. For example, acknowledge the inner fear instead of ignoring it. Try to be confident in developing the new career since people in the mid- life already have their own capabilities of experiences, knowledge, skills and techniques. They no need to feel guilty once they shift their Job.PSYCHOLOGICAL AND SOCIAL EFFECTS AS A RESULT OF MID-CAREER CHANGE once people have confirmed changing their career, they may wonder about the effects a career change may have. It is true that, a career change represents a potential opportunity to pursue an interest you may have held for many years. However, the process of changing careers also involves potential consequences either in the psychological and also social effects that have to be considered. The effects are obstacle to self- management, additional education and training, income and Job status uniqueness, improved sense of well-being and retirement fund s. . Obstacle to Self-Management Midlife career change is defined as a change â€Å"when age is a factor. † Increasing in age inappropriateness in terms of age discrimination will occur since the career was change at age forties. Age discrimination is when a person is treated less favorably than another person in a similar situation, because of their age (Worded). For example, it could be ‘direct age discrimination' if an older applicant is not considered for a Job because it is assumed that they are not as up to date with technology as a younger person (obsolescence).It is also age discrimination when there is a rule or policy that is the same for everyone but has an unfair effect on people of a particular age. This is called ‘indirect discrimination'. It also will effect to the behavior of the mid-career shifter such as the behavior and also self-image. Sometimes, the employers Just pay a little attention to the mid-career worker. It. Additional Education and Tr aining Sometimes, as mid-career changers find that they need additional education or training to qualify for their new vocations even though they have a lot of experience about the previous Job before.As they becoming older, sometimes they are always lack of new changes like technologies, techniques and skills. For example, a lecturer may involve enrolling in a formal degree program to earn an associates, bachelors or master's degree, or even a doctorate or professional degree in order to meet the qualifications to teach. Meanwhile other mid-career changers involve vocational training, either within a vocational school program or as an apprentice, intern or trainee due to improve their skills and knowledge.Thus, due to these changes, the mid-career changers must finance all or part of their own training and education. Ii. Income and Job Status Consequences As mention at the second effect, professionals who pursue career changes at mid- career may suffer financial consequences that a ffect them and their families alike. Career changers who enroll in college or vocational school full time often suffer a dramatic decrease in income while they are enrolled in classes and until they find employment in their new careers.Career changers also frequently find themselves starting over in entry-level positions in their new vocations or professions. In addition, some career changes involve accepting dramatic salary cuts. For example, a career changes from a diploma lecturer to become a degree lecturer. Lb. Improved Sense of Well-Being Not all of the effects of switching careers are detrimental. In fact, many career changers enjoy an enhanced sense of well-being. Decreased stress on the Job is another beneficial effect many career changers enjoy.Others enjoy a boost in income or improved relationships with their spouses or partners and their families. Career changes also frequently involve using skills that the career changer had used in pursuing a hobby, and in such cases, the new profession can prove to be especially enjoyable. V. Retirement Funds Changing Jobs or careers may also mean dealing with retirement funds invested in the employer-based retirement plan. The options vary depending on the circumstances of the individual career changer.Some career changers roll over their funds into a retirement plan funded by their new employers or to an individual retirement account. Other career changers opt to cash out their employer-based retirement plans. Career is the progress and actions of the person's occupations or sequence of Jobs held by someone throughout a lifetime which is until that person end up the careers. Most of the situations, people do not Just referring to one position only but often looking for another Jobs which composed of the Jobs held, titles earned and work accomplished over a long period of time.This is a major aspect of human development where it is the process how the individual form their work identity. The career development extents for entire lifetime when it begins with a person's earliest awareness of the ways in which people make a living and continues as they explores the new professions. It may or probably will include changing the careers and Jobs hen people ultimately decides what career to pursue, prepares for it, applies for and gets a Job and advances in it.There are 5 stages in the career development which starts on growth process which the early years from 4 to 13 years old, the exploration process at stage 2 that is from the early teens to mid-twenties, the third stage which establishment process in between the mid-twenties through mid-forties, fourth stage which is the maintenance process is usually happens in the mid-forties to mid-flies and the final phase of career development is the disengagement process which around mid-flies. The issue here is about the fourth stage which is the situation for mid-career changers which begin from the age of 40.A lot of reasons have been discussed ab out the factors that influencing mid-career changers. Four reasons why people change their career are due to the career plateau, obsolescence, career change and feeling undervalued. Also, there are twelve steps need to be considered when making mid-career changers and has been discussed at the above explanations. Lastly, five psychological and social effects as result of mid- career changes been issued which are obstacles to self-management, additional education and training, income and Job status consequences, improved sense of well-being and retirement funds.In a conclusion, effective decision-making is necessary to the employer's peaceful mind before making mid-life career changes. Try to think which the best Job that will satisfy ourselves is, and what kind of Job that we like the most. Try to be considering what is good and what is bad if we change our career. At least we will never regret once we retire later. REFERENCES 1 . MUM textbook, Career Planning And Development 2. Wil liam J. Retells, (2008): Working Longer, New Strategies for Managing, Training, ND Retaining Older Employees.

Effect of imperialism

Imperialism is when a mother nation takes over another nation and become its colony for political, social, and economical reasons. Imperialism is a progressive force for both the oppressors (mother country) and the oppressed (colony), majorly occurring during the late 19th and early 20th century. It had more negative effects than positive effects due to its domination to other nations. Documents 1 and 5 show how imperialism should work over politics and their benefits over the colonies while documents 2 and 7 show some beneficial effects of imperialism for the colonies.Documents 3, 8, 10, and 12 are different from the other documents in that they show the unfair way that the Englishmen treated their colonies, which can be described as one of the negative effects of imperialism. Documents 4 and 6 demonstrate how racist the â€Å"white men† were to their colonies, leading to another negative effect. And last, documents 9 and 11 explain why a nation must be controlled by another nation. And additional document that show the negative effects of imperialism of how the mother country exploited the colonies would be an article about why the Taiping rebellion occurred and the causes of the Boxer rebellion.Imperialism had some positive effects regardless of how strict and unfair it was. Some positive effects can be seen in documents 2 and 7, which talks about what the mother nation gave to their colonized nations. These oppressors built them roads, canals, railways, and gave them education. They also introduced to them telegraphs, newspapers, and overall made them economized. Another positive effect can be read on documents 1 and 5.These documents show how both the oppressors and oppressed benefit from getting new resources such as raw materials and food from one another, excluding what is said on document 1 about the white man’s rule over the â€Å"inferior races†. Imperialism experience negative effects too. As for the negative effects, some can b e read on documents 3, 8, 10, and 12. As you can see, in these documents the oppressors’ hard work did not really civilized the oppressed, just as shown on document 3, instead, they were put to work as cheap labor, like shown on document 8 and 10.They were tricked by the mother country, they had no freedom, they were exploited and were taken advantage of, and they had to do just as told, just like as shown on document 12. On document 4, another negative effect is seen. In this quote, the author talks about how the whites came and killed the innocent, which later on had many negative effects on the people of Africa. Document 6 describes the â€Å"Britons racism† and power by saying that the white race from Britain is the finest and most honorable race the world possesses.The last negative effect is illustrated on documents 9 and 11, which share a common idea that a nation can only be colonized for their better good. This is a negative effect of imperialism because just as shown on document 11, if the U. S has the right to hold onto the Philippines, then they are just imitating the basis of imperialism and can lead to an outcome similar to the one shown on document 9 â€Å"the white man’s burden†. Imperialism can’t be considered as a good cause and effect because, at first it may be seen as a positive effect, but in the long run, just like in this case, it ends becoming more of a negative effect.All Africans and Asians were exploited and were given no rights to do anything even thought the mother countries gave them modern culture. Colonies would have to fight wars for independence and to have their own rules. The mother country just took over other nations just to get a few things, which unfortunately they did. They wanted raw materials, markets for goods, national glory, balance of power and they also felt as though they needed to help smaller nations like if it was their burden, which Europeans called it the â€Å"white man ’s burden†. Mother countries were destroying ethnic groups and causing civil wars between smaller nations.Modern imperialism can be described that is was never good. When a nation took over a smaller nation for economic, political, or social reason, they were imperialistic, creating the oppressors and oppressed system of the mother and colonized nations. As expected they changed the modern world plenty and pretty much made it a harder world to live during that time. It depends on a person’s point of view. Some may think it was positive overall, but it only led to things in this world that were negative. Even though modern imperialism occurred more than 100 years ago, it still affects us on how our nations were broken down.

Ethical Issues with Research on Lack of Parental Involvement and Essay

Ethical Issues with Research on Lack of Parental Involvement and Childrens Education - Essay Example This essay stresses that teachers can decide to fail students who provide negative feedback, or the parents can punish their children, who are the most helpless of the three and need protection. The researchers must ensure the protection of privacy but at the same time inform subjects of the limits of confidentiality. There are risks involved that the researcher must realistically minimize, especially when using e-mail or keeping digital files, or when these channels are used to send or receive research data which could be compromised and affect the study’s objectivity. This paper makes a conclusion that ethical issues of accuracy affect the whole study, from establishing parameters for measuring parental involvement and school performance to the interpretation and publication of the research findings. How would parental involvement be measured? This would require both objective (such as attendance to school activities or parents’ meetings) and subjective (degree of attention or participation in these gatherings) measures, and direct (tutoring for so many hours each day) and indirect (cooking nutritious meals and taking them with the children) methods of involvement. To add to the complexity of the topic, can a full-time parent who can tutor his son for an hour or two a day be ethically and objectively compared to a working parent who may not have the time and whose involvement is limited to sending her child motivational mobile phone messages a few minutes each afternoon?

Alternative Suggestion Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Alternative Suggestion - Article Example The chapter is quite comprehensive but as an alternative, some sort of activity should be designed which would send a clear message to the children that these are the words or phrases that have to be used while indulging in a conversation. A list of such words should be made and time should be given to children to understand the meaning of using these words, a whole session or more should also be dedicated to teaching to children the usage and importance of using the appropriate words in such kinds of communication. After these activities have been carried out there should be an assignment designed not to check how much the children have really understood but it should be really more of a help to the children in cementing the ideas that they have already grasped in the session during which these concepts or rather ideas were given to them. After all this activity has taken place a final assignment should be given to the children, it is imperative that the objectives of this assignmen t are clear so that the children would know what exactly is expected of them. The idea of this alternative is to give children a solid understanding of how communication needs to take place while it involves time because it is one of the most basic requirements that one needs. As mentioned before the chapter covers all the aspects of conversing in relation to time but it lacks that basic requirement of making everyone understand, it is definitely practical, reliable only to the extent that the most intelligent children will grasp it.

Disscusion and analusis on Rimskii korsakov golden cockerel Research Paper

Disscusion and analusis on Rimskii korsakov golden cockerel - Research Paper Example The story centers on making the audience happily laugh after seeing the entire opera. One such satiric scene is the small fragile powerless Golden Cockerel easily killing of the strongly overpowering king. Another satiric scene is king’s being late to save his sons from the deadly onslaught of the enemy army. A third satiric opera scene is disloyal astrologer’s forcing his superior king to turn over the Shemakha queen to the astrologer. The king was right to kill the astrologer. Viewing the Youtube Video, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=gva90C_7NeQ, Olga Trifonova played the important musical parts of the play, as the lead singer. Olga is the soprano of the Rimksy-Korsakov tragedy. Music, text, etc. of Nationalism and Exoticism. The opera musical score is excellently orchestrated. The characters are assigned different singing voice levels. King Dodon sings the bass tone. Prince Guidon sings using the tenor tone. Prince Afron sings using the barito ne tone. General Polkan sings using the bass tone. Armelfa, the royal housekeeper sings using the contralto tone. The Astroloer sings using the tenor tone. The queen of Shemakha sings using the soprano tone. Lastly, the Golden Cockeral sings using the soprano tone (Osborne 2007, 362). ... Vocal ranges. In addition, the opera includes singers who surpass the required vocal ranges. Further, different singers were hired to add color to the exciting orchestra play (www.youtube.com) Nationalism Satire (Nationalism and Exoticism). Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel (Le Coq D’ Or) musical masterpieces centers on the fairy tale satire of Alexander Puskin (http://www.youtube.com). The opera piece combines several themes that include the themes of nationalism and exoticism. The themes include brutality, romance, and mild fantasy scenes. The story also includes romance scenes in the violence-tainted operatic masterpiece. The story revolves around King Dodon. As in other fairy tale stories, the king is old and tired from the daily grind of one’s kingly duties. The fantasy includes the astrologer’s offering the King a golden cockerel. The cockerel is trained to crow whenever danger approaches (Ackart 1992, 88). Nationalistic mockery theme: Untimely d eath of the King’s sons.vThe musical play shows a nationalistic statement that the Russian King Czar’s children are weak and cannot defend themselves. In the Golden Cockerel Opera, King Dodon’s sons are not successful in their desire to defend the kingdom from the approaching enemy’s army (Goodman, 1992, 101). The king did not arrive in time to save his sons from the marauding enemy army. The king failed to fulfill his duty to ensure his children are not killed in battle. Likewise, the astrologer is not successful in persuading the king to give the Queen as payment for the golden cockerel bird. The king represents the theme of mistrust. The astrologer should not have trusted the king. The king broke his promise to grant the astrologer anything the astrologer

Respiratory assessment of patients presenting with COPD(chronic Essay

Respiratory assessment of patients presenting with COPD(chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) including subjective and objective data gathering- history takin - Essay Example It is a long term condition that leads to damaged airways, causing them to become narrow, making it harder for air to get in and out of the lungs† (COPD National Service Framework, 2008). There are â€Å"currently 300 million people have asthma; 210 million people have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) while millions have allergic rhinitis and other often under-diagnosed chronic respiratory diseases† (World Health Organization, 2008). Therefore, a sound knowledge of respiratory disease and skills to effectively manage these patients are essential in the delivery of care. In line with this, I have chosen two pieces of evidence regarding COPD. For the first piece of evidence, we will be looking into the subjective and objective respiratory assessment of patients with common respiratory disorders such as asthma and COPD. Furthermore, on the second piece of evidence, I have chosen to deal with acute breathlessness due to exacerbation to COPD as well as its possible medical interventions. I will also take into consideration the psychosocial impact/s of this disease to the patient and also about patient education for self-management initiative. â€Å"Respiratory diseases kill one in five people in the UK and has a mortality rate higher then coronary heart disease† (British Thoracic Society, 2006a). Respiratory diseases accounts for a large part of the total medical admission to the hospital, wherein the most common is asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) (Roussos & Koutsoukou, 2003). It is estimated that there are about 600,000 patients in the UK with diagnosed COPD and there may be as many again who remain undiagnosed. Nearly one in three (29%) episodes of finished consultant episodes for patients over 60 years and one- fifth (21%) of bed days used for respiratory disease treatment are for chronic obstructive lung disease (British Thoracic Society, 2006b). These figures give us a clear picture as to how

International management Report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

International management Report - Essay Example The challenges were also due to difference in the economic structures of various countries, their different legal frameworks and policies, social and cultural issues and many other things. Organisation tried building their strategies to deal with it. The company discussed in this paper is Toyota Motor Corp which rank 7 in the Fortune Global 500 list 2005. This is one of the largest automotive manufacturers in world, a trusted brand name and worldwide-admired company. It is known for its JIT and Quality programs and altruistic approach towards people working for it. Globalisation has provided many business opportunities to organisations worldwide. These opportunities to grow profitably in the worldwide market have come with some complications. These changes have raised various issues. There have been various debates on the global marketing mix strategies for the international market. Lots of studies and opinions have been developed. (For example, Ghoshal, 1987; Jain, 1989; Levitt, 1983; Quelch and Hoff, 1986)1 The communication process for the different market focusing on advertising issues, its objectives, message, presentation and various decisions related to advertising has gained attention and interest of most of the researchers. It was early 1960 when the issue of advertising standardization in foreign markets was first discussed. (Elinder, 1961; Fatt, 1964)2 These complications are due to the differences and diversity of the various parts of the world. The companies operating in various countries have several issues to ponder upon before starting its business and throughout its operations. These factors can be broadly grouped into two main groups. External Factors: These include the issues are related to the socio-cultural, political-legal, economic and various other issues. The parent country of the firm and the operating company can be different in various social and cultural aspects. These issues are

Comparison paper between Forest Gump the book and Forest Gump the Essay

Comparison paper between Forest Gump the book and Forest Gump the movie - Essay Example Forrest Gump, the protagonist of Groom’s book is born in a family of modest financial background. His father worked at the docks as a longshoreman and his mother was an unassuming wife and mother. However, Gump’s loss of his father at an early age and his development as an individual with an IQ below the accepted levels of average intelligence, did little to add a cheerful backdrop to his growing up years. However, being the â€Å"half-wit† that he believed he was, he â€Å"ran† through every phase of his life, absorbing the opening and closing of events with the passive interest of a by-stander. The movie ‘Forrest Gump’ directed by Robert Zemeckis is a near-adaptation of the book by the same name and brings the character of Forrest to a virtual reality. Released in 1994 in U.S.A, this movie drew the attention of critics by the virtue of its unpretentious story-line and range of historical events that were instrumental in crafting a nation’s character. The movie thus became the peddle-pusher for the book and even though the book had earned a name for itself as a mantle-piece must-read, the film fuelled a collective societal interest in the phenomenon called ‘Gump’ in particular and 20th century American history in general. Even though the movie seems to follow the book’s story line in terms of character development and event sequence; however, there are several discrepancies between the original work and the adaptation. Whether, these dissimilarities occurred owing to the requirements of artistic adaptation or it was the handiwork of an astute director to cater to the masses, remains to be discussed. The main character, Forrest Gump, in the book is described as a six foot six inch strapping young lad at 16 who weighs 242 pounds. However, in the movie, Gump comes across as an individual with average height and a rather scrawny built as a young boy. The young Gump’s leg braces as shown in the movie are never

Reason in Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 4

Reason in Philosophy - Essay Example In the Twilight of the Idols, he describes the problem of the early philosophers such as Socrates and he says, "you want to know what the philosophers' idiosyncrasies are?... Their lack of historical sense for one thing, their hatred of the very idea of becoming, their Egypticity. They believe that they ought to be showing respect for something when they dehistoricize it, sub specie aeterni,- when they turn it into a mummy." He believes that for the past decade or so, philosophers (attempting to define why society is the way it is, or why someone behaves as they do), have lost touch. They use concepts that have been mummified, meanings that they kill the idea as it is and instead, stuff it with their beliefs. When they are faced with questions they cannot handle or that is beyond their reasoning, they look for reasons to criticize it (NIETZSCHE). The irony in his way of reasoning enables the reader to understand why he completely differs from every other philosophers explanations. It is his interpretation of what reasoning ought to be. This guides the themes he discusses in his first book where he rejects God and Christianity and sees them only as generalizations and a point whereby the philosophers confuse the idea of causal from effect. As a result, they take the obvious truths - the last idea, which is Christianity that ought not to be included, and criticizes what they accept as good since for him it is evil. According to Nietzsche, good people are great liars. As such, the society has embraced this morality to Christians who, in essence, are reasonable. A reasonable person, in this case, refers to an individual who embraces alternative truths. Thus, the society tends to criticize people by morally generalizing them. His justification for this argument, is that a strong person has learnt to put his personal desires for p ower that brings happiness to most humans under control, instead of being caught in crossfire of trying to justify themselves (Nietzsche).

The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb - Article Example Recommendations made by Stimson to presidents Roosevelt and Truman were based on consultation with the people concerned with the issue. One of the sources that Stimson relied on for information was General Grove. This person was to provide information on the progress of the project design for making the atomic bombs. The other source of information that Stimson relied on was the secretary of state and secretary of naval forestall. Moreover, Stimson relied on information from other members of the interim committee as well as members of the scientific panel. All these sources provided him with information that assisted him in arriving at the recommendations to both President Roosevelt and President Truman. Air of uncertainty indicated no proof that any given bomb would explode when dropped from an airplane. This resulted to a problem of exploding a bomb at predetermined height in air. However, the atomic bombs had a higher chance of exploding when dropped from a plane than the other types of bombs. This made them to be preferable to the other types of bombs. Therefore, the â€Å"air of uncertainty† influenced the choices made by revealing that other bombs had a lower chance of exploding when dropped from a plane compared to the atomic bomb. Several people influenced the reached decision. Participants who had most influence on the reached decisions were President Roosevelt and President Truman. Other individuals who had most influence on the reached decisions were the members of the interim committee including Stimson. Moreover, General Grove had a very great influence on the decisions of using the nuclear bombs in the war against Japan. This is because he was the one who provided the information on the progress of the project initiated to create the bombs. The other people who had most influenced on the reached decisions were the members of the scientific panel since they provided

Teaching Critical Awareness Essay Example for Free

Teaching Critical Awareness Essay Jane Mayer begins the article by bringing out the important part in teaching sociology which is ensuring that the students have understood the various types of social structures and their relationship with each other and to individuals. In order to achieve the above objective, integration of various processes and learning experiences is important. They involve an integration of both passive and active models of collective and active learning. The use of various teaching devices such as films, lecture and student seminars enhance the critical understanding because they give students more opportunities to be actively involved in the subject-matter (Jane, pp. 253). According to Jane, (pp. 253), when using critical teaching, one is supposed to look for a way through which the problem of apathy and self-involvement in students can be overcome. This is: stimulation of a critical understanding of the social structures. In the choice of tutorial framework to be used in the course: it should include academic sociology, commonsense and journalism. Children should be encouraged to analyze the day to day occurrences from different perspectives. She explains that although lecturing is important in teaching, it does not trigger critical thinking because it puts more emphasis on memorizing. Video is an affective mode of teaching when combined with audio devices. They help open sensory avenues which promote learning. Self learning also provides an opportunity for analytical skills to develop while reading and writing. Collective learning like student seminars provides a collective way of learning. This provides the students with skills necessary to deal with contemporary social issues (Jane, pp. 253). Because of the various elements in the different types of teachings, they are supposed to be combined together for one to achieve maximum results. Self-learning, passive, active and collective learning have a part to play and therefore should be integrated. Works cited Jane, Mayer. Teaching critical awareness in an introductory course. Teaching sociology, vol. 14, No. 4(Oct. 1986), pp. 249-256.

Examining the gender inequalities at work

Examining the gender inequalities at work Many feminists concentrate on gender inequality, particularly inequality in paid employment. Postmodernists place little emphasis on paid work, but both Marxist feminist and liberal feminists see employment opportunities as crucial to understanding gender inequalities. Liberal feminists have argued that a combination of legislation and changed attitudes can open up economic opportunities for women. Equal opportunity legislation In 1970 the Equal Pay Act legislated that women should be paid the same as men for doing the same or broadly similar work. In 1984 an amendment stipulated that women should get equal pay for work of equal value. The 1975 Sex Discrimination Act made discrimination on the grounds of sex illegal in employment, education and the provision of goods and services. Legislation was further strengthened by the 2006 Equality Act required all public bodies to take an active role in removing illegal discrimination against women. Despite these changes in the law, and considerable increases in recent years in the proportion of women who work in Britain, women remain disadvantaged at work: The proportion of the labour force who are female has risen considerably. In 1971 92% of men of working age were employed and 56% of women. By 2005 80% of men were employed and 70% of women (Social Trends 2006, p.52). In 2005 42% of women were part-time workers and 10% of men. In 2004 67% of women with dependent children worked (Social Trends 2006, p.54). Gender and earnings Women continue to be less well paid than men. In 1970 women working full-time earned 63% of the average full-time male wage; by 2005 they were still only getting 82% of the average male wage (EOC, 1997, 2002a; New Earnings Survey 2005). Horizontal segregation where men and women tend to have different types of job also continues. Women tend to be employed in areas such as personal services, administration, hotels and restaurants. Most routine clerical and secretarial workers are women, as are most primary teachers. Men tend to dominate in areas such as manufacturing, construction and transport. The proportion of women managers and professionals has increased recently. The Women and Work Commission (2006) found 75% of pharmacists, 40% of accountants, almost 50% of lawyers and over 30% of doctors were women. The Equal Opportunities Report (2006) reveals the absence of women in elite positions across a number of occupations, and comments that at the present rate of progress it would 50 years before half of top directors were women and 200 years before women were equally represented in the House of Commons, whereby as many female MPs as male MPs. Vertical segregation continues i.e. men predominate in higher paid jobs whilst women predominate in lower paid ones. For example, in 2005 83% of directors and chief executives were men, 74% of waiting staff were women. Men predominate in all the higher paid lobs except personnel, training and industrial relations managers; while women predominate in all the lower-paid jobs except sports and leisure assistants, where the number of men and women are equal. Generally, the more senior the position, the lower the proportion of women. According to the Equal Opportunities Commission report Sex and Power: Who Runs Britain? (EOC, 2006), women are under-represented in elite positions. In 2004 only 9% of senior judges, 10% of senior police officers and 13% of national newspaper editors were women. Women held only 10.5% of the directorships of the FTSE 100 companies and 19.7% of MPs and 27.3% of cabinet ministers were female. Although most teachers are female, in 2004 only 31.8% of head teachers were women. In 2005, less than 1% of senior ranks in the armed forces and only 10.2% of senior police officers were female. The report notes some improvements in the representation of women but calculates that at current rates of change it would take 40% before 50% of top directors were female, and 200 years before there were as many female as male MPs. LINK SOCIAL WORK TO ABOVE.+REPHRASE MUCH OF ABOVE/SUMMARISE/CUT+CARE SECTOR STATISTICS Explanations for gender inequalities Textbook pp. 124-131 Functionalism Human capital theory suggests that women are less valuable to employers than men because they are less committed to work and more likely to take career breaks to raise children. This gives employers less incentive to promote women and invest in their training. However, a study by Peter Sloane (1994) found that gender continued to influence pay even when qualifications and experience were taken into account. Catherine Hakim preference theory Hakim (2004) argues that women now have more choice, and inequality stems from personal preference. Women have better labour market opportunities than ever before due to amongst others the contraceptive revolution from about 1965. The equal opportunities revolution and the expansion of white collar occupations as well as the expansion of jobs for secondary earners. This has led, according to Hakim, to the emergence of three types of women: Adaptive women who combine both paid work and family. This group is about two thirds of women who seek flexible or part-time work. Another type is described as work-centred women, these women are a minority who focus on career and fit family life around it, this group is less than 20% of women, so men will continue to dominate the workplace. Finally, home-centred women are women who prefer not to work. This group is about 20% of women, including some who are well qualified. Crompton (1996), however, found no evidence of clear-cut categories among women working in banking and pharmacy in Britain and France. Houston Marks (2003) found many factors other than personal preference influenced womens attitude towards paid employment. Abbott et al (2005) criticize Hakim for ignoring structural constraints which limit and shape womens choices. ***CONTINUE FROM HERE -P126 (P121-130) The dual labour market theory The dual labour market theory developed by Barron Norris (1976) distinguishes between: The primary labour market of well-paid, fairly secure jobs with prospects; The secondary labour market of poorly paid, insecure jobs with few prospects. Employers try hard to attract and retain primary workers, who are seen as key to the success of their enterprises, but secondary workers are seen as easily replaced. It is difficult to transfer from the secondary to the primary labour market, and women tend to be concentrated in the secondary sector. This is due in part to employer sexism but also to factors such as lack of unionization. Beechey (1986) sees women as a cheap reserve army of labour, brought in during economic booms but thrown out during slumps. This creates flexibility for capitalists and depresses overall wage levels. Women tend to be in the reserve army because: they are often not in unions; they may be prepared to work for less if their wage is a second income; they are seen as combining work with domestic responsibilities. However, this theory cannot explain horizontal segregation. Also, the continued growth of female employment suggests that women are not being used purely as a temporary, reserve army of workers. McDowell (1992) applies post-Fordist theory to female employment. Post-Fordism suggests that there has been a move away from mass production to more flexible production of specialist products. Businesses keep a core of highly skilled workers, but most other workers are temporary or part-time, or work is contracted out to other firms. Women tend to be concentrated in the more flexible jobs, particularly part-time work, although some have benefited from gaining core jobs. Research by Lovering (1994) found evidence to support this theory in some companies but not in others, suggesting that post-Fordist trends affect only some workers. Some feminists stress the role of male trade unionists in restricting womens opportunities. Walby (1986) argues that in some areas (for example, engineering) trade unions have used exclusion to disadvantage women, while in industries such as textiles, women have been disadvantaged by confinement to certain lower-paid areas of work. Low-paid work ensures that women are more likely to take on domestic responsibilities than men. Radical feminists see patriarchy rather than capitalism as the main cause of female disadvantage. Stanko (1988) argues that sexual harassment in the workplace is used to keep women in their place. Men use their power in the workplace to protect their position. Women in jobs such as bar work and secretarial work are sexualized, and are not taken as seriously as workers or considered for promotion. Adkins (1995) goes further, arguing that sexual work has become integral to many womens jobs. In service sector jobs where women have contact with men they are expected to engage in sexual servicing: looking attractive, engaging in sexual banter, tolerating sexual innuendo and so on. The Women and Work Commission (2006) argues that reform, legislation and tackling sexist socialization can solve the problem of unequal pay. They argue that: Gender stereotyping in schools, in careers advice, and in work experience programmes, is based on traditional roles. This results in the concentration of women in lower-paid occupations. The Commission pointed out that the media could challenge these cultural expectations two thirds of forensic science students are now women. Combining work and family life leads to women taking career breaks and working part-time. Gosling (2005) found a single year working part-time before returning to full-time work led to a 10-15% reduction in pay, largely due to the quality of the part-time work available. Women need more opportunities for lifelong training. Workplace practices often disadvantage women. Job evaluations which rank male-dominated jobs more highly than female ones, even though these jobs have a similar skill level, need to be challenged. 1302 ADD GENDER ROLE AND STEREOTYPES AS PROHIBETER OF SEXES CROSS OVER TO DOMINENT SEX CAREER ROLES. 1605-1626

Communication Theory Has Emerged Media Essay

Communication Theory Has Emerged Media Essay Different schools of thought have defined communication in many ways. Renowned scholar, G.G. Brown defines communication as: transfer of information from one person to another, whether or not it elicits confidence. But the information transferred must be understandable to the receiver. On the other hand, Fred G. Meyer defines communication as: the intercourse by words, letters or messages. Nonetheless, the central theme in all these definitions is the exchange and flow of information between two or more parties. This may result to the use of both verbal and non-verbal cues. Evidently, communication affects human livelihood and its behaviour and there is need to demonstrate how it affects individual actions. Thus, an introspection of how communication theory has emerged from the pre-christian era to modern times responds to the need of explaining individual actions. The history of communication dates back to time immemorial, with significant variation in communication technologies evolving in tandem with shifts in socio-political and economic systems. Various modes of communication have subsequently emerged with the passage of time and technological advancements. On the other hand, we are still able to trace the history of communication to oral and written speech. An insight into how communication theory came into being is demonstrated in the Holy Bible. In the Old Testament book of Genesis chapter one, verse three, it reads: And God said, Let there be light, and there was light This expression of communication serves to show that communication existed since time immemorial. God was able to undertake creation through His speech. Again, further credence to the foundation of communication theory presents itself in the New Testament through the book of John chapter one, verses one to two; In the beginning there was the Word. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Once God created man, He was able to connect with him by words. This is revealed through the stories of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Noah, Moses and many others in the bible. Further, God communicated with prophets, and his people through visions, dreams, words, signs and symbols. Notably, the Old Testament portrays the usage of communication through figures of speech, especially through metaphors. Metaphors were widely used to intimate deeper meaning in speech and writing. This attribute is well observed in the books of Proverbs and Psalms. As such, the pre-christian era was well founded in communication through language use and its mastery. The same applies to the Christian era as well which derives much of its communication foundation from language mastery. This is well exemplified through Jesus parables. Aside from the religious views of communication theory, there is also the philosophical basis for communication theory. The proponents of this school of thought are mainly Greek philosophers and historians ranging from Aristotle, Isocrates, Socrates and Plato. From their insights emerged the theory of rhetoric. Despite both Isocrates and Sophists maintaining that rhetorics objective is persuasion, Isocrates promoted its use for human improvement while Sophists held the view that rhetorics purpose was for self-praise and thrift. Given the divergent views on the purpose of rhetoric, Plato also weighed in on the matter showing favour to dialectic than to the manner of oral presentation. As such, he favoured the use of reason and rationality in arguments. On the other hand, Aristotle sought to chart a defining measure to communication theory as the mode by which a person interacts with his/her audience. Due to the insights of the aforementioned philosophers, rhetorical theory has developed to become a solid basis by which communication is defined in many sectors. Persuasion of individuals by communication extends beyond politics, media, journalism and even religion. This is achieved through the use of Aristotles Rhetoric principles which include invention, arrangement, style, persuasion and memory. Despite there being many classes of communication theories, including the seven traditions (classical rhetoric, semiotics, phenomenological, cybernetic, social psychology, sociocultural communication, and critical traditions), thee major classifications can be adopted by mode of influence; Rhetoric theory as a result of the influence of oratory speech; social communication theories resulting from socio-political changes; and theories of mass communication as a result of journalism spread. In its modern form today, rhetoric theory is interrelated with traditional forms of communication theory, e.g. semiotics. Through the propagation of text in print media or images in visual media, which are both sign elements, the mass audience is able to be persuaded along cultural lines. As such, signs and symbols are continually employed in oratory speech to move masses and influence their perception of issues. On the socio-political scope, theories such as Authoritarian, Free press, Commmunist and Social responsibility are notable. These theories help explain communication theory evolution in the wake of various social-political changes in the society. Significantly, these theories focussed on the beginning of information dissemination to large population groups and the accompanying influence on the political class e.g. the governments. Again, they pronounce some of the social plights and classification within society attributed to information access. As authoritarian leadership was the norm before the widespread prevalence of print media, governments took it upon themselves to restrict flow of information to the common people, and as such, freedom of expression was strictly guarded. Consequently, the elite class would deprive the common people the right to information and access through controlling media sources. As a result therefore, print media was in low circulation and only accessibl e to the few due its then high price. Nevertheless, with the clamour for free will in the 17th century, Libertarianism/Free press took over. This was significantly influenced by the emergence of print media which in time became affordable to the common populace and reflective of their views which were previously gagged under authoritarian leadership. On the other hand, as free press offered an avenue for expression of free will, it was noted to be devoid of social responsibility. This necessitated the need for checks and balances, especially with the development of other communication media such as radio, television and film. Social responsibility therefore advocated for accountability through government and self regulation in order to promote social welfare and equity. Free press was further limited by the communist theory which promoted media control in the guise of effective press freedom. Consequently, the medias role was to educate but not to inform the general populace. In addition, the population was expected to post opinion on issues covered by the media so as to foster the so-called greater press freedom and institute greater audience participation. In effect therefore, the Communist theory was associated as a counter to capitalism trend where the media was in the control of a few media elites and only serving their inte rests. However, the 20th century marked a dramatic shift in communication theory evolution. This was brought about by advancement in communication technology to spur the spread of journalism. Notable events that defined this spread included the occurrence of the World Wars which depicted the strength of information pre-, during, and post war. Information was a tool in itself during the warring period and as such, theories were formulated once validated. This was articulated through stimulus response theory, propaganda and many more theories. Stimulus response theory took note that mass media has a significant effect on individuals perception of issues and in response, people would normally subject themselves to viewership that conforms to their beliefs and attitudes. Propaganda theory on the other hand was used to great effect to spreading rumours and falsehoods either in favour or disfavour of a certain person or group of persons. Evidently, it was during the World Wars and in the politica l sphere that propaganda is commonly used. Derived from rhetoric theory, propagandas main objective is persuasion in order to influence peoples perception of issues at hand. Nonetheless, in the modern day setting, propaganda is also employed in advertising, marketing and socio-economic conflicts. Again, technological advancement brought with it new media of communication e.g. television, computer, mobile phones, radio and other forms such as internet and social networking. These media served to spread journalism through provision of information of news and information for public consumption. A number of theories were hence formulated to describe this phenomenon, viz: Agenda setting theory, two-step flow theory, diffusion of innovation theory and uses and gratification theory. Agenda setting theory explains a very highly effective impact of the media the ability to inform the population about essential issues. Agenda setting hypothesizes that communication consists of information and awareness. Therefore in community discussion, media interaction has an influence on community understanding of various issues. These may range from state policies, economic system, and other community issues. As a result, a classification of agenda-setting emerges; Policy-agenda setting, Media-agenda setting and public agenda-setting. Under public-agenda-setting, the publics viewpoint shows the key issues of concern; Media agenda setting shows the significance and depth of news items being covered in relation to their coverage in various media stations; Policy agenda-setting points to the influence that a reported issue has on policy makers. In effect therefore, Agenda setting has led to the prominence of the CNN Effect whereby 24-hour news channels set the international news agenda. In fact, locals in the developing nations view their news items captured in these channels as being of very prime importance. Nonetheless, Agenda setting is based on thinking that media does not necessarily indicate reality; they narrow it down and shape it; media focus on a few problems and topics bring the community to understand those problems as more essential than other problems. For this reason, agenda-setting helps individuals comprehend the role of the media in shaping news items and issues for public consumption. This is well exemplified by how media stations, publishers and news anchors set the news agenda and consequently, viewers affix much significance to the amount of broadcasted information and its position in the broadcast. The two-step theory theorizes how casual relationships play a part in changing the way in which individuals take up relevant information from media campaigns. Consequently, the primary source of information for the public is normally the newspaper and radio segments, whose information bits is adopted by opinion leaders who further relay the information to the less active segment of the society. In effect therefore, informal social groupings have some influence on society information uptake and dictate which information is worth sharing. Diffusions of Innovations theory explains the mode by which a new concept or exercise is conveyed to individuals through certain communication programs over time. Consequently, the selected mode of transfer assists in explaining the aspects that impact individuals ideas and activities. Therefore, the media selected as well as cultural interaction provide information that impacts common or well-known viewpoints. The diffusions process is therefore the procedure by which technological advancement is conveyed through certain media over a certain period among individuals in a social system. An illustration of how diffusions of innovation theory is prominent is through social media e.g. the youth accessing information and news in the internet mode via facebook. Another notable viewpoint of journalism spread mass communication in the modern times is the Uses and Gratification theory. This concept describes the uses and features of the press for diverse user groups ranging from the people, and the community in general. In order to describe how people use mass journalism to please their needs, the theory: seeks what people do with the medial; identifies their intentions for particular media use; and examines the individual effect of a particular media use. The main underlying factor of the theory is the supposition that individuals constantly seek a media channel to fulfil personal needs. Consequently, a medium is frequently used when the current purposes to use the medium results in more gratification. In light of the evolution of communication theory from pre-christian era to the modern times, it is definite that communication has evolved over time. Its mystery is captured in Gods creation act and its complexity has been researched by various scholars. The Greek philosophers made wise attempts in its definition which apparently form the cornerstone of todays knowledge. On the other hand, global socio-political events and transformation have further shaped communication theory development. And yet, as technology continues to advance, further definitions of communication shall continue to be formulated to track its changes with time.

My Baby - A Cute, Fat, Difficult, and Unexpected Blessing :: Personal Narrative essay about myself

My Baby - A Cute, Fat, Difficult, and Unexpected Blessing "You are going to have a baby" seven words that changed my life. On April 14th, I woke up and didn't want to go to school because I wasn't feeling well. My mom came into my room and asked me if I was going to get out of bed and go to school. I told her that I needed to go to the doctor. "Why, are you sick?" she asked. "No, I think I'm pregnant." We both just sat there and cried together. I knew then what I should not have done that night. A baby would take up all my time, the time that I needed to grow up myself. I got up, dressed myself, and didn't bother putting any make-up on because I knew I would probably be crying. We went into the doctor's office and found out that I was a little over three months pregnant. When the nurse said those seven words, I started to cry. I looked over at my mom and she had tears in her eyes. I didn't know what to think. I wanted it to be a dream, that I would wake up from and everything would be okay. We then listened to the heartbeat, which was really fast. It was really neat and it made us cry some more. The nurses asked me a whole bunch of questions, gave me on some prenatal pills to sample, and then told me to schedule an appointment to come back sometime next week. They acted like it was no big deal. Well, it was, didn't they realize that I was only seventeen years old, a senior, and not even out of high school yet. I could no longer be the carefree cheerleader, who had fun with her friends every weekend, and played beach volleyball at her cou sin's house. Now I was going to have a baby of my own, a little person that would be totally dependent on me. I was really scared; I didn't know what I was going to do. Many different questions popped into my mind on what I could do. Do I really want to keep this baby? Should I give it up for adoption? My Baby - A Cute, Fat, Difficult, and Unexpected Blessing :: Personal Narrative essay about myself My Baby - A Cute, Fat, Difficult, and Unexpected Blessing "You are going to have a baby" seven words that changed my life. On April 14th, I woke up and didn't want to go to school because I wasn't feeling well. My mom came into my room and asked me if I was going to get out of bed and go to school. I told her that I needed to go to the doctor. "Why, are you sick?" she asked. "No, I think I'm pregnant." We both just sat there and cried together. I knew then what I should not have done that night. A baby would take up all my time, the time that I needed to grow up myself. I got up, dressed myself, and didn't bother putting any make-up on because I knew I would probably be crying. We went into the doctor's office and found out that I was a little over three months pregnant. When the nurse said those seven words, I started to cry. I looked over at my mom and she had tears in her eyes. I didn't know what to think. I wanted it to be a dream, that I would wake up from and everything would be okay. We then listened to the heartbeat, which was really fast. It was really neat and it made us cry some more. The nurses asked me a whole bunch of questions, gave me on some prenatal pills to sample, and then told me to schedule an appointment to come back sometime next week. They acted like it was no big deal. Well, it was, didn't they realize that I was only seventeen years old, a senior, and not even out of high school yet. I could no longer be the carefree cheerleader, who had fun with her friends every weekend, and played beach volleyball at her cou sin's house. Now I was going to have a baby of my own, a little person that would be totally dependent on me. I was really scared; I didn't know what I was going to do. Many different questions popped into my mind on what I could do. Do I really want to keep this baby? Should I give it up for adoption?

Osteomyelitis Essay -- Health, Diseases

Osteomyelitis: Osteomyelitis is a common bone infection caused by bacteria or in some cases, fungus [1]. Osteomyelitis generally occurs by infection of bacteria in several different ways, including via the bloodstream, from neighboring areas of infection, or due to non-sterile joint replacements and internal fixations such as fractures [2]. In 90% of cases, an S. aereus bacterium is the microbial culprit responsible for osteomyelitis [3]. In the cases of open would fractures, osteomyelitis can interfere with normal bone healing and regeneration [4]. Symptoms of osteomyelitis include bone pain, fever, malaise, swelling, redness, chills, excessive sweating, and joint pains [5]. It is reported that in 20% of the cases, the infection is hematogenous, or spread by the blood [6]. The incidence of spinal osteomyelitis was reported to be 1 in 450,000 in 2001 [7]. The incidence of vertebral osteomyelitis is reported to be 24 cases per 1,000,000 and the incidence in children is approximately 1 in 5,00 0 [8]. Approximately 10-15% of people with vertebral osteomyelitis develop spinal-cord compression and approximately 30% of patients with long bone osteomyelitis develop deep vein thrombosis (DVT) [9]. Mortality rates are generally low unless sepsis occurs [10]. The overall incidence of osteomyelitis was found to be higher in developing countries compared to developed nations [11]. Current Clinical Standard of Care: The current gold standard treatment for osteomyelitis is gentamycin or vancomycin impregnated poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) beads [12]. These beads are surgically implanted at the site of bacterial infection, and the antibiotic will diffuse from these beads [12]. Both vancomycin and gentamycin inhibit bacterial g... ..., the in vivo studies show that the effectiveness of the delivery system in terms of bacterial growth inhibition is comparable to the clinical standard of care, the PMMA beads. Further studies would include determining the compressive strengths of the PUR scaffolds to decide where they could be placed in a load-bearing setting, systemic toxicity studies to ensure that neither the vancomycin nor PUR is present in toxically high concentrations in the serum after implantation, and a prolonged study to show that the PUR scaffold is in fact biodegradable, thereby by-passing the second surgical step which is required for the PMMA beads. Li et al [21] also did not do any studies comparing the PUR-LTI and PUR-HDIt scaffolds under the same experimental conditions. These studies would also be critical to determine which scaffold formulation should be pursued long-term.

Struggle between Romantic and Enlightened Thought Essay -- Enlightened

We are often presented with potential explanations or answers to current philosophical dilemmas through temporally relevant works of literature. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, or the Romantic Era, is characterized as a time in history in which aristocratic social and political norms of the Enlightened Era were radically questioned and investigated. For Enlightened thinkers, the idea of â€Å"being† was composed of three essential parts, the true, the beautiful, and the good. Isaac Newton’s contributions to scientific method were fascinating in the respect that they seemed to provide truths regarding quantitative matter. Yet his science failed to provide us with knowledge of all qualitative matters, such as morals and aesthetics. With Newton’s laws held in such high regard, the model of being was decomposed to simply the â€Å"true,† or scientific knowledge which is recognized and confirmed through his laws of motion, proceeding to exclud e all matters which Newton’s lens could not be pointed. It is apparent that problems would arise as a result. Qualitative matters could not be explained through Newton’s science, which created a sense of bewilderment. People began to question whether certain quantitative matters actually pertained to all aspects of life. Rousseau, whose writings contributed immensely to Romanticism, proposes a new model of â€Å"being,† which is later confirmed by Kant and Schiller. His new model strengthens the enlightened ideas of being, and allows for the application of â€Å"being† to both the quantitative and qualitative. Mary Shelley’s â€Å"Frankenstein† provides an explanation to the struggle dealing with â€Å"true being† between Enlightened and Romantic thinkers while exemplifying Romantic thought on happiness. ... ...nize the monster as more then a hideous being. Instead Walton understands the morals and ethics that lie beneath the monsters flesh, eventually appreciating his true goodness, in a similar fashion that Schiller and Kant propose. The significance of the philosophical dilemma between Enlightened and Romantic thinkers is exemplified through Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. This symbolic literary work provides readers with insight to the problem philosophers of the time faced when dealing with the idea of true being. Through the monster, the townspeople and Walton, we are able to gain a complete understanding of the situation Rousseau, Kant, and Schiller dealt with. In the end, it is clear that in order to experience true being and beauty one must not rely solely on Newton’s scientific lens, but must also understand the quantitative matters such as morals and ethics.

Creative writing about George and Lennie Essay

Stumbling through the wet grass the two came frantically running, looking behind them at every few strides, breathing hard, disturbing the green grass and disrupting the harmony of the birds sitting in trees chirping and whistling the final songs of the day, while dogs barked and people shouted far behind them. A voice could be heard shouting above the crowd â€Å"They’re headed for the fields, com’on! † George grumbled, breathing frantically â€Å"Damnit!†¦ com’on you crazy bastard, they near got us! † â€Å"I’m trying George, I swear but I’s tired† Lennie wheezed. The two were passing fields, when they came to an irrigation ditch, George thought about it and he pulled lennie into the ditch with him. â€Å"Get your head down! † George shouted but lennie didn’t do a thing, George annoyed, shoved him under the murky water, they could hear the shouts getting closer and the dogs growling. A man said â€Å"Where the hell did they get to? † another close to him said â€Å"The dog’s ave lost the scent they musta went thru that ditch and off into the woods, no way we could get them now† â€Å"Damn†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ok everyone back to the town for a head count then we can all go home, its getting late† With these words saw George give a sigh of relief as he gently surfaced bringing lennie with him, George taking his hat began to wring out the water, lennie copying his movements did the same, George set his crease and made his way quietly up the bank of the ditch, peering over the edge he watched torch light and man slowly disappear toward weed under the setting sun, he turned back to lennie, â€Å"Now why the hell did you touch that gals dress? Com’on you better have a good excuse or I’ll clobber ya! † Lennie was whimpering like a fearful puppy â€Å"Honest George I dint mean no wrong, I jus wanted to feel her dress† George yelled â€Å"why? Lennie? Hmm? What so good about that dress? † lennie cowered in his jacket his shoulders covering his cheeks â€Å"It was so purty George, it was red colored and soft as a rabbit, you know how I likes rabbits George† Seeing the glow in his face when he said it made George calm down, he remember who lennie was, he settled down do a smile â€Å"Ya big lummox, one day your gonna get us some real trouble, but you’re my responsibility so we gotta stick close† lennie returned a half hearted grin still slightly frigtenened â€Å"Ok George† George got up to look around once more, he spotted an old barn not far from the ditch they were in. â€Å"Right com’on now we get us some shut-eye then try and get us some work, some place† Lennie’s face lit up remembering what this all lead up to â€Å"An I get to tend the rabbits George! Huh? Huh? † â€Å"Yeah, yeah but we gotta get us a stake first† George replied George and lennie had settled down in the old barn, its walls were white with paint peeling, the roof was held up by 3 beams across the top and toward the ground, the winds outside made the barn creak eerily and lennie was having trouble sleeping, the ground was scattered with straw and the only thing in the barn was some sacks, tools and a work bench, it was less a barn than a shed. â€Å"George? George you asleep † â€Å"What? † â€Å"George cant you do somethin’ about the wind? † â€Å"No, now go to sleep, have to wake up early tomorra'† George said still half asleep â€Å"Sorry George† lennie said, eventually the morning came. â€Å"lennie! Lennie! Wake up! Com’on we gonna miss the damn bus! † â€Å"ok George, ok† lennie said as he packed his bindle and sorted himself, and hurried off with George They had gotten to the stop just in time, they paid their fare, and were on their way to get some work at.

An investigation of the role of SIS in The (Especially, In A Rural Part Of Our Planet)expand Health Servicing

Introduction Strategic information systems are concerned with aligning information systems with a firm’s business strategy to achieve competitive advantage (Arvidsson, Holmstrom & Lyytinen, 2014). Strategic alignment between information systems and the business involves a timely and appropriate fit between the business strategy, processes, and infrastructure and the IT infrastructure, strategy, and processes to achieve harmony in the management of information systems and the business (Gerow, Thatcher & Grover, 2014). Through such alignment, the performance of a business is positively affected (Yayla & Hu, 2012). The overarching argument for this is that firms perform well when IT resources including knowledge assets, managerial and technical IT skills and physical IT infrastructure elements are aligned with the business strategy, and when suitable structures are employed in effectively managing the IT resources and supervising their deployment (Coltman et al., 2015). This alignment is ever important in the current environment where new information technologies continue to fundamentally alter conventional business strategies by allowing firms to function across the boundaries of function, time, and distance by leveraging these technologies (Bharadwaj et al., 2013). This report discusses the role of strategic information systems in expanding the health service in rural areas. Specifically, it focuses on the implementation of a telemedicine program for managing diabetes for patients in rural areas by a hospital in an urban centre. The investigation focuses on the planning and the implementation of this technological solution by considering the perspectives of different stakeholders. The report starts by discussing literature on telemedicine in diabetes management. Telemedicine and Diabetes Management The management of diabetes and its associated complications is quite costly. Targeted glycaemic control is necessary for minimising the complications of this chronic condition. Conversely, less than 70% of individuals with diabetes are attaining targeted glycaemic control, showing that effective management of the disease continues to be a challenge (Fatehi et al., 2014a). Patients in rural areas are unable to attain targeted glycaemic control partly because of poor access to specialised healthcare providers. Because of the increasing need for quality healthcare and the declining availability of clinicians, information and communications technologies have demonstrated the potential for improving access to healthcare services and reducing the costs of delivering healthcare (Fatehi et al., 2014a). Telemedicine involves providing health and medical services remotely using ICT. Telemedicine facilitates the expansion of healthcare by bridging the physical gap between consumers and healthcare providers thus reducing costs. Synchronous telemedicine entails consumers and healthcare providers interacting in real time by relying on communication technologies. For instance, video conferencing, where there is exchange of image and voice in real time, is increasingly becoming popular in telemedicine in the delivery of various healthcare and clinical services at a distance (Fatehi et al., 2014b). Verhoeven et al. (2010) systematically reviewed asynchronous and synchronous teleconsultations in diabetes and reported that these offer a reliable, cost-effective, and feasible solution for the delivery of diabetes care. Video conferencing is used in collaborative goal setting, nutrition counselling, self-management training, and diabetes education for patients (Siriwardena et al., 2012). According to Faruque et al. (2016), telemedicine is helpful in the provision of care t o individuals with diabetes especially those in rural areas who are unable to travel to healthcare facilities due to large distances. Therefore, telemedicine, especially teleconference, is a technological solution for managing diabetes for individuals in rural areas who are underserved by specialists. The next section explains the methodology used to obtain stakeholders’ views on the adoption and use of teleconferencing for diabetes management. Methodology This report collected data using interviews to understand the implementation of telemedicine for expanding access to healthcare services for people with diabetes in rural areas. The report included the views of various perspectives including patients, healthcare providers at the hospital, and in the rural areas to understand the adoption and implementation of this information system. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with these stakeholders in locations and time that were convenient for the stakeholders. The interview was based on the interview schedule found in Appendix 1. These interviews were digitally recorded followed by verbatim transcription. After transcription, the interviews were analysed using coding (Vaismoradi et al., 2016). The coding led to the identification of various thematic categories including the strategic intent of adoption of telemedicine, benefits of telemedicine, and challenges during implementation as explained in the section below. Findings and discussion Strategic intent of implementation of telemedicine The telemedicine intervention was adopted by the hospital after it was discovered that some of the patients from the rural areas were not coming for the follow- up appointments to get information on ongoing management of their diabetes. An endocrinologist at the hospital stated that: I noticed that some of my patients were not coming for their appointments†¦ I looked at their records and realised that they were unable to do so because they came from rural areas. Therefore, we had to find a way of ensuring they got the much-needed information and support to manage diabetes at home The hospital identified the need for providing cost-effective care for their diabetes patients in rural areas who were unable to access specialised care in their communities. The hospital considered the adoption of telemedicine as a way of providing quality care while minimising unnecessary patient admissions due to diabetes complications. Thus, this was a critical component of the hospital’s strategic intent. According to Coltman et al. (2015), having a strategic intent involves the allocation of resources and engaging in activities to assist in achieving their objectives. In line with this, the stakeholders at the hospital had to consider how the telemedicine program will improve access to healthcare for patients with diabetes in a cost-effective manner. The CEO of the hospital said that: We recognised that the telemedicine would provide us with an opportunity for providing the required care to our patients†¦ However, we had to consider the overhead costs to set-up the telemedicine infrastructure both on our side and the rural side. Additional funding was required for this initiative. The implication of this is that the hospital had to set aside funds for the telemedicine infrastructure and this entailed working with managers from the finance and IT departments. The manager from the IT department determined the costs of using telemedicine intervention in terms of initial costs and ongoing upgrades to achieve a sustainable system. The IT manager identified a cost-effective technological solution provider for the information systems that was required for the provision of diabetes care and support to patients from rural areas. The manager from the finance department and the CEO worked together in determining how to get the funding for this initiative. The initiative was funded using funds from the hospital’s contingency budget. Furthermore, the CEO of the hospital had to talk with administrators and nurses, and pharmacists in the rural areas to participate in the project as they critical to its success. This is captured in this statement â€Å"we realised th at we needed professionals on the ground to provide some aspects of the care. We approached healthcare providers to get their buy-in into this initiative’’ (hospital’s CEO). Therefore, the strategic intent of the hospital in the implementation and use of video-conferencing in reaching individuals with diabetes in rural areas and providing them with the necessary care reflects a strategic alignment between IT and business, particularly, strategy execution. Specifically, the hospital adopted a strategy execution alignment where the business strategy influenced the IT infrastructure, but this was constrained by the business infrastructure (Gerow et al., 2014). In other words, the hospital’s business strategy was to provide quality care in a cost-effective way to individuals with diabetes in rural areas. In turn, this strategy influenced the IT infrastructure in terms of the kind of technological solution required to meet the business strategy. Therefore, the hospital ended up selecting videoconferencing as the appropriate IT infrastructure. However, this was constrained by the hospital’s business infrastructure in terms of skills and processe s in the provision of diabetes care and support to individuals in rural areas. The telemedicine initiative involved using interactive video-conferencing between a multidisciplinary diabetes care team from the hospital and the patients in the rural homes. The multidisciplinary team consisted of diabetes specialists including diabetes education experts, nurses, endocrinologist, and ophthalmologist who provided personalised care to diabetes patients based on their clinical status. The patients were provided with tablets that allowed them to engage in video conferences with the multidisciplinary team on a daily basis. The patients shared with the specialists about their psychological, emotional, and physical health during the interactive video conferences. Furthermore, the patients’ health data including glucose levels, blood pressure, and weight were automatically captured by the tablets and transmitted on a daily basis to the clinicians. The outcomes of the consultation between the specialists and the patient were then communicated to the physician in the rural area to facilitate care coordination. According to a local physician, â€Å"the implementation of this initiative required a change in how care was delivered to individuals with diabetes†¦the hospital’s care team got in touch with me and communicated their daily consultations with patients to ensure that I was prepared to provide the necessary care at the local level†. This approach to the implementation of video-conferencing reflects strategic information systems planning to achieve alignment between the business and IT. In particular, this planning was characterised by the identification of the required IT applications together with the necessary change management, resources, and infrastructure for implementing the technological solution (Maharaj & Brown, 2015).Benefits of telemedicineThe diabetes specialists were positive on the potentiality of video-conferencing in enhancing and expanding access to diabetes services to individuals in rural areas to prom ote self-management of the disease. A diabetes education expert said that: This technology increased my ability to provide education on exercise and diet modifications to my patients by talking to them via the video-conference, and this has empowered our patients to manage their diabetes in their homes. Patients were enthusiastic that the telemedicine would support the clinical needs even though they had no or limited experiencing in using video-conferencing. Some of the patients stated that: I didn’t have experience when it comes to telemedicine. But, I knew that it would be benefit me by providingwith ongoing support and information for diabetes management at home (patient 1) I had never used video conference before, but it provided me a way to talk with the physician and get timely advice and guidance on managing my diabetes (patient 2) In recognition of the limited experience that patients had in video-conferencing, the hospital’s IT department together with the external technological solution provider offered the required training. According to the IT manager at the technological solution provider: We collaborated with the hospital’s IT department in sending out individuals to provide training to the patients. The patients were taught on how to use the video conference system and provided with the necessary equipment. The stakeholders highlighted the benefits of video-conferencing for diabetes management for the patients in the rural areas. The statements below capture some of the stakeholders’ perspectives. During the video-conferences, we used the daily clinical status reports of the patient, and we were able to discuss appropriate interventions to implement with the patient. This benefitted the patients because they got personalised interventions, information, and support (Hospital endocrinologist). I got e-prescriptions from the healthcare team, and when the patients picked their medications, I talked to them about complying with their medications. By collaboratively working with the healthcare team, the quality of care of patients improved in terms of medication compliance (Rural Pharmacist) The use of video conference has contributed to preventing unavoidable admissions for diabetes for these patients. The daily support and education they got from us has improved care coordination and connections between the patients and us to minimise the use of emergency departments (Hospital ophthalmologist) A few months after the implementation of this project, we had seen a reduction in the admission of patients with diabetes in our area (Rural physician) I had problems before in controlling my diabetes because I did not have access to the kind of doctors who provide the necessary care†¦ but this changed with the daily video conferences (Patient 3) I am satisfied with information and guidance I get from the consultations with the doctors each day in managing my diabetes. I no longer need to travel to the hospital to get the care I need (Patient 4) The stakeholders’ perspectives highlight the impact of teleconferencing on the delivery of healthcare services to diabetes patients in rural areas. These perspectives have received support in literature. For instance, patient satisfaction is highlighted in the study by Fatehi et al. (2015) in an assessment of patient satisfaction levels with remote consultations for diabetes via video conference in a virtual outreach clinic using a cross-sectional survey. The results revealed that the patients were generally satisfied with remote consultation as they had no problem with building rapport with the clinical specialists over video conferences (Fatehi et al., 2015). Furthermore, the positive impact of telemedicine on the management of diabetes has been shown in the literature. Specifically, Huang and colleagues (2015) carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials on the impacts of telecare intervention on glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes. I t was demonstrated that patient monitoring by telecare demonstrated significant improvement in glycaemic control in comparison with patients monitored by routine follow-up (Huang et al., 2015). Weinstock et al. (2011) also found that improvement in glycaemic control related to telemedicine was sustained over a period of five years among medically underserved patients with diabetes. In their randomized controlled trial, Steventon et al. (2014) discovered that telemedicine led to modest improvements in glycemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes over 12 months. Self-management as a critical aspect of diabetes management in telemedicine has been investigated by Young et al.(2014) who focused on the effect of person-centred health behaviour coaching model delivered through telehealth with patients with diabetes living in underserved, rural communities was assessed. The results showed that the interventions led to significantly higher scores in self-efficacy, which supported self-management of the disease (Young et al., 2014). According to Steventon et al. (2014), the greater self-care and oversight related to telemedicine might lead to fewer unplanned hospital admissions.Challenges during implementationImplementation of the technological solution was accompanied by some challenges. One of the major challenge identified by the stakeholders was unanticipated technical issues. This is explained by the IT manager at the hospital: Sometimes the video conferences failed because of a drop in the internet connection. This meant that the encounter could not take place. When this occurred, communication occurred via cell phones to address important issues. The technical issues had a negative impact on the interactions between the patients and diabetes care team. According to the endocrinologist, Sometimes in the middle of the video-conference, the connection dropped. I could wait till past the time I had allocated for that specific consultation. Mostly, by the time the connection was up again, I would be consulting with a different patient at the hospital, and I missed my encounter with the patient in the rural area. In those cases, I worked with the rural nurses via a cell phone to communicate important information about the patient. Technical difficulties in teleconference are due to problems with accessing broadband in rural areas, which is still lagging behind urban areas. Patients’ homes might lack high-speed cable internet that has more bandwidth capabilities and a highly reliable signal, and this causes connection problems during video conferencing (Batsis, Pletcher & Stahl, 2017). Schulz et al. (2014) reported in their study that 25% of all video conferences consultations experienced a drop in internet connection. Consequently, it is suggested that unanticipated technical issues with implementing teleconferencing should be anticipated and this highlights the importance of providing strong IT support with ongoing updates in protocols for patients in rural areas (Slusser et al., 2016). Another challenge reported was issues with reimbursements. This was identified by the finance manager at the urban hospital. She said that: I had problems with suitable billing of encounters between the patients and the doctors and capturing this. Sometimes, I billed an encounter, but the insurer failed to pay or took longer to do so. I had to go through convincing them [insurers] that the consultation actually occurred by talking with the patient and pharmacists or nurses in the rural areas for confirmation. One of the patients also talked about this issue by stating that, â€Å"after talking with the doctors on the video conference they tell you to pick up the drugs at your pharmacy and when you get there, you are told there are problems with your insurer in terms of payment. I had to call my insurer to follow up and address this issue’’ (patient 5). According to Batsis et al. (2017), low reimbursement is a problem for the lasting sustainability of telemedicine systems in a fee-for-service model. This problem is due to limitations that are placed on the type of telemedicine covered by health insurers. Conclusion In conclusion, this report has focused on the strategic information systems in expanding the health service in rural areas. This has been achieved by examining the implementation of video-conferencing between individuals with diabetes and diabetes specialists in the provision of diabetes care to patients in rural areas. This report has highlighted how the hospital ensured alignment between its business strategy of providing cost-effective diabetes care to individuals with diabetes in rural areas and the use of the video-conferencing as its IT infrastructure. The hospital had to plan for its strategic information systems by identifying the appropriate IT infrastructure, processes, and changes to how care was delivered to the targeted population in rural areas. The analysis revealed how the implementation of video-conferencing addressed the interests of the different stakeholders including the hospital, diabetes specialist care team from the hospital, the patients, and healthcare pro viders at the local level. Thus, the implementation of this technological solution was beneficial to all the stakeholders. Overall, this report highlights how strategic information systems are vital in the expansion of health service in rural areas. References Arvidsson, V., Holmstrom, J., & Lyytinen, K. (2014). Information systems use as strategy practice: a multidimensional view of strategic information system implementation and use. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 23, 45-61. Batsis, J., Pletcher, S., & Stahl, J. (2017). Telemedicine and primary care obesity management in rural areas-innovative approach for older adultsBMC Geriatrics, 1-9. Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O., Pavlou, P., & Venkatraman, N. (2013). Digital business strategy: toward a next generation of insights. MIS Quarterly, 37(2), 471-82. Coltman, T., Talon, P., Sharma, R., & Queiroz, M. (2015) Strategic IT alignment: twenty-five years on, Journal of Information Technology, 1-10. Faruque, L., Wiebe, N., Ehteshami-Afshar, A., Liu, Y., Dianati-Maleki, N., Hemmelgarn, B., Manns, B., & Tonelli, M. (2016). Effect of telemedicine on gylcated haemoglobin in diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials. CMAJ, 1-25. Fatehi, F., Armfield, N., Dimitrijevic, M., & Gray, L. (2014b). Clinical applications of videoconferencing: a scoping review of the literature for the period 2002-2012. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 20(7), 377-83. Fatehi, F., Martin-Khan, M., Gray, L., & Russell, A. (2014a). Design of a randomized, non-inferiority trial to evaluate the reliability of videoconferencing for remote consultations of diabetes. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 1-7. Fatehi, F., Martin-Khan, M., Smith, A., Russell, A., & Gray, L. (2015). Patient satisfaction with video teleconsultation in a virtual diabetes outreach clinic. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, 17(1), 1-6. Gerow, J., Thatcher, J., & Grower, V (2014). Six types of IT-business strategic alignment: an investigation of the constructs and their measurement. European Journal of Information Systems, 1-27. Huang, Z., Tao, H., Meng, Q., & Jing, L. (2015). Effects of telecare intervention on glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. European Journal of Endocrinology, 172, R93-R101. Maharaj, S., & Brown, I. (2015). The impact of shared domain knowledge on strategic information systems planning and alignment. South African Journal of Information Management, 17(1), 1-12. Schulz, T., Richards, M., Gasko, H., Lohrey, J., Hibbert, M., & Biggs, B. (2014). Telehealth: experience of the first 120 consultations delivered from a new refugee telehealth clinic. Internal Medicine Journal, 44(10), 981-5. Siriwardena, L., Wickramasinghe, W., Perera, K., Marasinghe, R., Katulanda, P., & Hewpathirana, R. (2012). A review of telemedicine interventions in diabetes care. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 18(3), 164-68. Slusser, W., Whitley, M., Izadpanah, N., Kim, S., & Ponturo, D. (2016). Multidisciplinary paediatric obesity clinic via telemedicine with thin the Los Angeles metropolitan area: lessons learned. Clinical Paediatrics, 55(3), 251-9. Steventon, A., Barsley, M., Doll, H., Tuckey, E., & Newman, P. (2014). Effect of telehealth on glycaemic control: analysis of patients with type 2 diabetes in the Whole Systems Demonstrator cluster randomized trial. BMC Health Services Research, 1-12. Vaismoradi, M., Jones, J., Turunen, H., & Snelgrove, S. (2016). Theme development in qualitative content analysis and thematic analysis. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 6(5), 100-110. Verhoeven, F., Tanja-Dijkstra, K., Nijland, N., Eysenbach, G., & Van Gemert-Pijnen, L. (2010). Asynchronous and synchronous teleconsultation for diabetes care: a systematic review. Journal of Diabetes and Science Technology, 4(3), pp.66-84. Weinstock, R., Teresi, J., Goland, R., Izquierdo, R., Palmas, W., Eimicke, J., Ebner, S., & Shea, S. (2011). Glycaemic control and health disparities in older ethnically diverse underserved adults with diabetes: five year results from the Informatics for Diabetes Education and Telemedicine (IDETel) study. Diabetes Care, 34, 274-9. Yayla, A., & Hu, Q. (2012). The impact of IT-business strategic alignment on firm performance in a developing country setting: exploring moderating roles of environmental uncertainty and strategic orientation. European Journal of Information Systems, 21(4), 373-87. Young, H., Miyamoto, S., Ward, D., Dharmar, M., Tang-Feldman, Y., & Berglund, L. (2014). Sustained effects of a nurse coaching intervention via telehealth to improve health behaviour change in diabetes. Telemedicine and E-Health, 828-34. Appendix 1: Interview Schedule Please explain why the hospital decided to implement videoconferencing in providing diabetes care to individuals in rural areas What was involved in the planning for the implementation of the technological solution Did the hospital work with external stakeholders in the implementation process How did the implementation of the technological solution affect the aims of the hospital and its specialist clinicians How has the use of videoconference affected your (patient) access to diabetes care Were there any challenges that were experienced during this processIf so, which ones To obtain answers to these questions and/or get a Custom Essay for you research, feel free to reach out to us and place an order today.