Native Son by Richard Wright Essay

Richard Wright was determined to make a profound statement. In his novel, Native Son, he endeavors to present the â€Å"horror of Negro life in the United States† (Wright xxxiii). By addressing such a significant topic, he sought to write a book that â€Å"no one would weep over; that would be so hard and deep that they would have to face it without the consolation of tears† (xxvii). Native Son is a commentary on the poverty and helplessness experienced by blacks in America, and it illustrates the abhorrent ways that blacks were treated, describes their awful living conditions and calls attention to the half-hearted efforts offered by white sympathizers. Told from the perspective of his character Bigger Thomas, Wright crafts a story depicting the oppressive lives endured by Negroes and makes it so despicable that it grabs the attention of the reader and forces him to reevaluate the state of society. There is much in this novel that would cause a reader to cry, but, to W right’s point, the topic is so significant that it resonates more deeply and elicits a deeper response. Bigger Thomas is the protagonist of the novel, but, to Wright, Bigger also exemplifies African Americans of the time. He is barely educated, struggling to find meaningful work and living in an overcrowded slum with his family; just like many others around him. Bigger is frustrated with his place in life and finds it difficult to understand why the opportunities that are available to whites are not available to him. During an exchange with his friend Gus, Bigger exclaims, â€Å"Goddammit, look! We live here and they live there. We black and they white. They got things and we ain’t. They do things and we can’t. It’s like living in jail† (23). Bigger and Gus have no outlet to express their individuality or emotions. Their feelings towards whites are ingrained in them. Bigger states, â€Å"[Whites live] right down here in my stomach†¦Every time I think of ‘em, I feel ‘em†¦It’s like fire†¦That’s when I feel like something awful’s going to happen to me†¦Naw; it ain’t like something going to happen to me. It’s†¦It’s like I was going to do something I can’t help† (24). This statement summarizes how the everyday black man feels about his station in life and the opportunities available to him. Additionally, it foreshadows the heinous events that will unfold later in the novel. A turning point in Wright’s story comes when Bigger is offered a job as a chauffeur for the Dalton family. Mr. Dalton is a white real estate mogul that prides himself for being a member of the NAACP. He employs young black men in an attempt to rehabilitate them. On the surface, this is an ideal opportunity for Bigger because it provides room and board and pays well enough to allow him to take care of his mother and siblings, but Wright is looking to emphasize how the trivial the actions taken by the white sympathizers do not actually address the challenges faced by the African American population. Bigger is not overwhelmed by this opportunity or impressed that the last chauffeur had gone to night school. Moreover, this job ultimately places Bigger in a situation that he cannot control, and he accidentally smothers Dalton’s daughter, Mary. Bigger realizes, â€Å"Though he had killed by accident, not once did he feel the need to tell himself that it had been an accident. He was black and he had been alone in a room where a white girl had been killed; therefore he had killed her† (101). This is the â€Å"awful† event that Bigger alluded to earlier in the story. Killing Mary elicits feelings in Bigger that he had never experienced before. Bigger acknowledges, â€Å"He was more alive than he could ever remember having been; his mind and attention were pointed, focused toward a goal† (141). Bigger embraced these feelings and continued with a scheme to make everyone believe that Mary had been kidnapped. With the assistance of his girlfriend Bessie, he plans to escape with $10,000 in ransom money. Wright uses Bigger’s emotions and his heightened sense of awareness at this point in the novel to comment on society at the time. Wright is stating that the act of murder is one of the only ways for young African American men to express themselves, to exert any independence and to get out from under the oppression of their daily life. When the authorities realize that Bigger is the killer he flees to avoid being captured, but he realizes that â€Å"all his life he had been knowing that sooner or later something like this would come to him† (207). Survival becomes paramount to Bigger, escaping the law is his only priority, and Bessie becomes a liability. While attempting to hide from the police, Bigger realizes that it will be easier to escape without traveling with Bessie. In a tense scene, Bigger first rapes Bessie, lets her fall to sleep and finally bludgeons her. His actions are methodical as  Ã¢â‚¬Å"he lifted the brick again and again, until in falling it struck a sodden mass that gave softly but stoutly to each landing blow. Soon he seemed to be striking a wet wad of cotton, of some damp substance whose only life was the jarring of the brick’s impact† (222). Ultimately this second murder is unnecessary, as Bigger is soon apprehended. Bigger is arrested and indicted for the murder of Mary Dalton, and the character that Wright chooses to defend him is a white, Jewish attorney, named Boris Max. In the novel, Max takes the time to talk to Bigger and understand the actions in his life that have influenced him. For the first time in his life, Bigger has someone interested in his thoughts and feelings, which result in Bigger beginning finding hope. Max does his best to motivate Bigger to fight to save his own life. Max pleads, â€Å"Listen Bigger, you’re facing a sea of hate now that’s no different than what you’ve faced all your life. And, because it’s that way, you’ve got to fight. If they can wipe you out, then they can wipe others out too† (320). Throughout this section of the book Bigger undergoes a transformation. By explaining his actions and feelings to Max, he finally emerges from the shell he has created around himself. Max works hard to understand the issues in Bigger’s life that culminated in his actions and the violence he exerted against Mary and Bessie, and he uses this information to form his defense. Although the crimes that Bigger committed were horrific, the reader begins to sympathize with him as he describes more about himself and his feelings to Max as the story comes to a conclusion. Wright’s goal with this novel was to evoke empathy for Bigger and to make a statement regarding the treatment of blacks at the time. Wright uses Max’s closing statement to the judge to summarize all of the points he wants the reader to contemplate. Max combines everything that he learns about Bigger and weaves it together with the plight of the blacks during the time and eloquently argues that Bigger should be sentenced to life in prison, rather than to execution. Max argues, â€Å"This man is different, even though his crime differs from similar crimes only in degree. The complex forces of society have isolated here for us a symbol, a test symbol† (354). Through Max’s monologue, the reader more clearly understands all of the factors that  have contributed to the creation of Bigger and others like him, and he pleads with the judge to understand that there are larger forces in play, other than the specific crime that Bigger committed. Unfortunately, despite Max’s valiant attempts, the â€Å"sentence of the Court is that you, Bigger Thomas, shall die on or before midnight of Friday, March third, in a manner prescribed by the laws of this state† (381). Initially, it would appear that with Bigger’s execution, Wright fails in his attempt to move people to reevaluate the racial injustice of the times, but the conclusion is actually Wright’s acknowledgement that society was not quite ready to change.

Privatization Study Essay

Privatisation can be defined as ‘the partial or total transfer of property of responsibility from the public sector (government) to the private sector (business) or private persons. Privatization can include the transfer of responsibilities and not solely change of ownership. Privatisation consists of simply ‘the transfer of all or any of three kinds of property rights from the state to the private sector; ownership rights, operating rights and development rights since these constitute the most common type of privatisation. In general privatisation has been undertaken as one of the reform measures to reduce government role in the economy and broaden the role of the private sector. Privatization can also be said to be a process of asset divesture. It is seldom asked, what does privatization seeks to accomplish in the Caribbean? It must be understood that privatization is seen as an instrument working towards supply side improvement by the promotion and allocation of more e fficient resources and short term stabilization through expenditure reduction. Privatization initiatives are now a current occurrence in most Caribbean countries such as Belize, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Guyana to name a few. It has shown that most privatization activities took place in Latin America & the Caribbean; between the period 1988 and 1993 this region accounted for more than half the total privatizations in the Third World. Most privatization initiatives take place in the utility companies of the Caribbean. In case of Belize (electricity, water, port authority and the sugar cane factory). Government in many of these Lesser Developed Countries embraces privatization as an attachment to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. These institutions stress and maintain that privatization is the main driving force towards economic liberalization and self-sustained growth. The objectives of Privatisation can happen either directly or indirectly. The main objective of privatization is placing emphasis on improving the efficiency of government owned/ semi-owned establishments, whether retained or divested. Some objectives are to Improve the operational efficiency of enterprises that are currently owned or semi owned by government, and their contribution to the national economy in terms of reliability of delivery,  quality and price; introduce competition in areas under monopoly; Reduce the burden of semi/owned government enterprises on the Government budget (direct) an example is stated in the re- privatization of Air Jamaica by the Government. (The Government of Jamaica initiated re-privatization process due to the airline’s increasing financial losses and the restructuring needed to face the challenges of new market conditions. The privatization of the airline was a top priority and engaged the International Finance Corporation as its Lead Adv isor)(The KED Group Research); raise revenue opposing to increase taxes on citizens (direct);Expand the private sector’s role in the economy, permitting the Government to concentrate more on its public resources and roles; Encourage wider public population in the ownership and management of business; encourage industrial growth; attract foreign investments Some other objectives can be classifies as secondary objectives such as creating a more market-oriented economy; to gain access to the foreign markets and technology while promoting the development of the capital market; and preserving self-reliance. There are said to be three major areas which privatization is expected to impact. Firstly there’s Efficiency, secondly there’s reduction of financial burden of the government and thirdly the ability to enhance private sector growth and activity to promote economic democracy through the participation of national assets ownership. In the Caribbean, privatization is expected to have a positive impact on productive efficiency. This is a result of the in-efficiencies that have plagued the public enterprises. It is said that as a result of non-competitiveness these enterprises misuse production inputs, they enjoy privileges of subsidiary capital and some social welfare. Shareholders do not scrutinize management performance so there is no incentives to maximize profit and minimize cost. Some problems that leads to privatization of government enterprises being in-efficient are over- staffing, management incompetence and low employee productivity. These are made into undesirable situation due to the intervening of government’s non-economic ends such as non-competitive pricing and employment maximization. When privatized efficiency is expected to yield better management operations. In order to meet the other area of maximizing revenue and reducing the financial burden on government enterprises; Privatization is considered one of the most directive and effective ways whereas government sells public enterprises. Not all asset sales is indeed a reduction in budget deficit, it is a short term measure of correction. It was in the early 1980’s in the Caribbean that revealed most countries found it difficult to provide counterpart funding for projects. Due to governments commitment to provide funding for these projects resulted in the economy to fluctuate and cause a burden on government resources. The growth of the expenditure exceeded the growth of revenue resulting in some countries to privatize. Privatization stimulates private sector growth. It seems to be beneficial as the private sector is constantly evolving. Privatization also sparks development of entrepreneurship by promoting economic democracy by participation of ownership of national assets. This can be seen in Belize with the telecommunication provider BTL. This company was bought and shares were sold to the public, giving them some ownership in the company. In the Caribbean, public enterprises were established because the pr ivate sector fell short to supply and demand because they weren’t willing to take the risk of high investment. Privatization of these public assets took place to attract foreign investment, government had to remove the restrictions of market access and the protection of state owned enterprises so that private investors would have been encourage to invest and avoid monopoly. This increased the foreign investment in the Caribbean. In Belize a similar situation of taking a risk and some monopoly to an extent can be seen in the privatization of the water company. CASCAL the foreign investor had problems when government had already invested in the utility company but was said to have not express the overvaluing of the company which yielded a more long term debt. Nevertheless CASCAL invested over $70 million USD into the company. Privatization of an enterprise or government own entity can be done in many ways. Some organizations use not only one method both sometimes several means for privatization. These methods of privatization are adopted based on the objectives of the enterprise such as financial position or the structure of the market. Some forms or methods of privatization can be stated as Sale of Equity, Sale of Assets, Concession/ Lease Agreement, Management Contracts, Franchising. In Belize the most common form is Sales of Equity and Sale of Assets. Sale of Equity refers to the transfer of equity usually done by the selling of shares. The government usually decides on what percentage to keep and what to sell. Once government decides on the  issue, the form of public offering or private placement of these shares can take place. Usually in large financially sound enterprises the public offering method is more attractive to government. The Belize Telecommunication privation is a great example of how g overnment took the public offering method and offered the Belizean public to buy shares into the company. Belize Telecommunication Ltd was the first privatization in Belize 1989 when British Telecom bought 25% of the shares. In 2001 Carlisle Holdings committed and increase BTL shareholdings to 52% with a $50 million investment. In 2004 Carlisle Holdings sold its shares back to the Government, which then resulted in the government to sell its shares plus the shares acquired from Carlisle to Innovative Communication Cooperation. Innovative communication Cooperation couldn’t pay for its share in 2005 which caused the government to take back 52% majority shares and sold it to private entities. In 2007 all rights and assets were transferred to Belize Telemedia Limited and the Government became the owner of majority of shares, the remaining shares were offered to the public which builds up 908 small shareholders. This is one company that basically use the sale of equity method. When using method of sales of assets, the basic concept is the direct sale of a public enterprise’s assets to a private investor or a group of investors. This would occur in a very competitive manner where government would try to receive the best price through an auction or tender process. Belize’s only sugar cane processing facility Belize Sugar Industries Limited was under negotiations for privatization due to BSI running into financial problems following allegations of mismanagement and bad investments in an allied electrical generation project BELCOGEN Ltd. The government first attempted to promote the sale of BSI to Honduras’ Banco Atlà ¡ntida but this failed. A purchase offer was made by the Belize cane farmers, who is the major suppliers of the factory’s sugar cane, was not entertained with much interest by the government. The sale was offered to the U.S. Company American Sugar Refin ery. This privatization was solely the sale of asset; no shares were offered to public and the factory is solely managed by a foreign company but still retains the employees being Belizeans. American Sugar Refinery, assuming the entire debt of BSI, will become the beneficiary of additional shares issued by BSI so that at the end of the day there will be something like 78 to 22 per cent ownership. ASR will in fact hold the  majority shares and the other 22% representing the actual workers of BSI. This act of privatization in Belize was a direct result, as BSI was in debt of 30 million and couldn’t repay. The government was forced to privatize at the same time act in best interest for the 90% of cane farmers that is the driving force for the sugar industry in Belize. There are other methods such as contracting/ franchising. This mostly happens when the government cannot take on the responsibility in services such as road construction and maintenance, machinery repair garbage collection (Belize Waste Control) and health services (such as Belize Dry Cleaners contract to heat wash all hospitals bedding etc.) this relinquishes all duties and services from the public sector to the private sector. This was also evident in The Jamaican privatisation programme which began in the early 1980s with the divestment of public services; which were burdening on fiscal resources of the government. These services were garbage collection services, parks and markets, and public cleansing. There is also the management contract method which solely involves hiring private sector to manage government enterpr ises for a special fee. This method entails the management responsibility only and does not involve the transfer of personnel. The final method is concessions and lease agreement; this method is used when government does not want to transfer complete ownership of an entity. Privatization of enterprises would be mostly natural resources or infrastructural. While government retains ownership, the private operator is responsible for desired improvement and management. Private investors may have an option to purchase the company after the agreements end. Privatization in the Caribbean countries was said to be influenced by the deteriorating financial state of the countries except for Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago which privatized their enterprises to undergo a structural adjustment program with the International lending Institutions. As in example with Grenada and Dominica which privatized for their own structural reform to reverse the deteriorating financial state. In Grenada their reform was organized by the Caribbean Development bank and aim was to privatised state owned enterprises to reduce the arrears of debts and contributions and focus on fiscal reform. In Dominica privatization was through the public sector enterprise reform that was based on the privatization of the Dominica electricity Services. In Jamaica privatization came into act in the 1980’s when the government at  that time, wanted to reduce their role in the economy. On board with privatization efforts were the International Monetary Fund and The World bank which disbursed several loans to the government of Jamaica divestment agenda. Some divestments included cleaning public facilities, operations of public markets which was done through the lease agreement and management contract method which gave private entities control. Privatizati on took flight in 1985 when shares offering was done by the National Commercial Bank acquiring 51 percent of the government’s equity. Privatization in a whole is said to have both positive and negative impacts depending on the way it is carried out and for the purpose the governments seems deemed. Advantages or potential benefits of Privatisation are that it improves efficiency. Private companies have a profit incentive to cut costs and be more efficient. When working for an industry that is managed or run by government, managers do not usually share profits. However, a private firm is interested in making profit and so it is more likely to cut costs and be efficient. A simple example of this is the British Airways have shown degrees of improved efficiency and higher profitability. Privatization also allows for the lack of political interference. It is said that most governments are motivated by political pressures rather than sound economic and business sense. They may employ too many workers which is inefficient and might be government may be reluctant to get rid of the workers because of the negative publicity involved in job losses. Therefore, state owned enterprises often employ too many workers increasing inefficiency. There may be instances when it’s beneficial for government when there just thinking in terms of until the next election. This is called the short term view. Government may be unwilling to invest in infrastr ucture improvements which will benefit the firm in the long term because they are more concerned about projects that give a benefit before the election. Shareholders apply pressure to private entities if they are inefficient. These companies could be threatened by a takeover. Another beneficial aspect is increased competition; privatisation of state owned monopolies allow more firms to enter the industry and increase the competitiveness of the market. One of the major competitions in the Caribbean would be telecommunication. In Belize, the Belize Telecommunication Limited was under monopoly which gave rise to a new competitor namely Speednet (SMART). However, privatisation doesn’t  necessarily increase competition, it depends on the nature of the market. The last advantage is that government will raise revenue from the sale. This could be seen in the water and sewerage authority in Trinidad & Tobago, the flour mills, the steel company and assets of PETROTRIN which raised over $542.4 million USD for the Trinidadian Government in 1999. Also in Trinidad the British West Indian Airline under privatization had a profit of 2.04 million USD as compared to the previous loss of 25.6 million USD. In Jamaica about 50% of public enterprises has gained overall benefits of privatization. According to the National Investment Bank of Jamaica from since the privatization process from 1981, the government proceeds have been over $300 million USD. Privatization also increased the employment in the agricultural field, hotels which have increased by 85% due to aggressive market strategies and telecommunications as a result job losses were le ssened. Also public cleaning and garbage collection has improved. (Stone 1992). This also shown that by 150% employment was increased. In Guyana, the privatization of the Telephone & Telegraph Company Ltd. Has increased the number of subscribers from 21,000 to 53,600 and have improved services and quality. (Tyndall 1995) Privatization may also have its disadvantages which can mostly occur when there is a monopoly in an industrial firm. It is better to have a public monopoly rather than a private monopoly which can exploit the consumer. Some disadvantages are when privatization happens for public interest. Many industries which perform an important public service such as health care, education and public transport is not profit driven. In these industries, the profit motive shouldn’t be the primary objective of firms and the industry. In the case of health care, it is feared privatising health care would mean a greater priority is given to profit rather than patient care. The Problem of regulating private monopolies, such as the water companies and rail companies (as in Jamaica) is another disadvantage of privatization. Regulation is needed to prevent abuse of monopoly power. Therefore, the government still need to have regulatory power or state ownership. As in the advantage of short term view when government is looking only towards the next election and trying to minimize public investment; the private entity can swing this around and do the same. This would be called short termism of firms which would be also a disadvantage. Private owned entities would or may seek to increas e short term profits to shareholders  and avoid long term investment. In privatization of a company it’s not always in the best favour of the public citizens. In some case privatization of a utility company have caused price increase in the service they provide. It is always hard for government to reacquire these companies after privatization. A typical example in Belize of a privatization went wrong was under the PUP government. They privatized the Port of Belize to a so call crony of the party. This was clearly not in best interest of the people or country. Under government ownership the port was serving Belize as well as Southern Mexico. Today not even Belizeans are fund of using the port due to the lower prices and services offered by neighbouring ports as Honduras and Guatemala. Privatization was been around in the Caribbean from the early 1980’s and has gain over ten years solid experience and now evolving as the learning process continues. What is clear is that government has been more interested in the economy rather than letting the private sector take over. Is has shown that through studies in Jamaica and proper consultation, privatization has caused a very beneficial change in the country. A consensus must be must be initiated with the society at large for any privatization program to be successful or beneficial. Privatization has its pros and cons and any government in the Caribbean should consider if privatization is the best option, not just for political gain; but for the benefit of its people. Although sometimes some countries are driven or force into privatization to help the rescue them from the ir financial burdens, there must be a privatization structure and team in place so as to have the government not selling out and causing its people to suffer. With the proper assessment and consulting privatization can be a way forward for developing Caribbean countries. REFERENCES siteresources.worldbank.org richardbernal.net/Privatization_in_the_English-Speaking_Caribbean dbankjm.com/privatisation pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNABL654 ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/cgi/viewcontent. economictimes.indiatimes.com westernbelizehappenings.blogspot.com https://www.kcl.ac.uk/sspp/departments/geography www.guardian.bz/index www.belizetelemedia.net www.internationallawoffice.com/newsletters www.caricom.org/jsp/community/donor_conference†¦/preferences.pdf

Communication in Nursing Essay

The importance of communication is the essential foundation of nursing practise; it is primarily dependant upon verbal and non-verbal communication. Encompassing both speech and behavioural aspects, efficient delivery and receiving of the nurse-patient messages initiates advantageous relationships, or contrarily, generates significant repercussions if applied ineffectively, thus affecting the quality of the nurse-patient relationship. This essay will discuss how effective verbal and non-verbal communication in nursing practice will facilitate a mutually satisfying therapeutic nurse-patient relationship. It will firstly discuss verbal communication, followed on by the complementary non-verbal communication and lastly listening. However, for communication to succeed properly it must be reciprocal. This work has illustrated some examples of verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication primarily entails the conscious use of the spoken word, and although accounting for only fifteen percent of all interpersonal communication, is the principal means of expressing factual information in relations between nurse and patient (Ellis, Gates & Kentworthy, 2002). Whilst verbal communication is an imperative part of building the relationship between nurse and patient it is also just as important between nurse and colleague. A good relationship is vital to quality patient care, clearly both nurse and colleague have the same agenda, to care for the patient, improve and speed up recovery (Boal, Burke, & Mitchell 2004;Gasparis, 2004). Boal, Burke and Mitchell (2004) believe â€Å"better communication among providers can be a tremendous boon to older patients and their families; thus, improved nurse-physician communication is not only a remedy for diminished job satisfaction, it is also an elixir for improving patient care†. Clearly the use of verbal communication between the nurse and colleagues affects the relationships with patients, yet there are many factors involved in the way verbal communication is expressed. The effectiveness of this form of communication is however dependant upon several fundamental factors (Stein-Parbury, 1999). Certainly, the use of language reflecting age, gender, culture, and developmental level, is imperative in positively affecting the patient’s trust and understanding.  For instance, the vocabulary used when communicating with a child, will no doubt differ from that of an adult due to age difference and developmental stage. Similarly, when interacting with patients from different cultures, consideration of dialect and often-contrary meanings is a priority in nursing practice to avoid patient misinterpretation (Creasia, 1996). Whilst vocabulary content is of great consequence, the manner in which it is applied specifically intonation, clarity and timing can affect the nurse-patient relationship (Crisp & Taylor, 2003). To illustrate, a friendly, informal warm welcome in the initial communication can establish trust (Stein-Parbury, 1999). McCabe (2004) suggests that a patient centered approach is of most importance when attending a patient. Encouraging words can give the client a sense of purpose; it can encourage interaction, gives the opportunity for self expression and can strengthen the patient’s problem solving skills (Crisp & Taylor, 2003). Indeed initial verbal exchanges are critical to the establishment of a therapeutic nurse-patient relationship engendering sincerity, respect, empathy and understanding (Crisp & Taylor, 2001). Despite the undoubted ability of verbal skills affirming the nurse-patient relationship, it is non-verbal communication which comprises the majority of interpersonal relationships in nursing practice (Arnold & Blogg, 1999). While both forms of communication are of equal significance Argyle (Chambers, 1998) suggests that â€Å"the non-verbal component ofCommunication is five more times more influential than the verbal aspect†. Bensing, Caris-Verhallen and Kerkstra, (1999) believe that there are five non-verbal behaviors found to be essential to the nursing care, eye gaze, head nodding, smiling and body positioning. These styles of non-verbal communication can be grouped together to form body language. Chambers (2003) also adds â€Å"touch, physical appearance and passive listening†. Through careful consideration of those non-verbal signs, nurses are able to gain a more profound insight into the emotional needs and experiences of patients, thus encouraging additional patient investigation (Stein-Parbury, 1999). Clearly these signs of non-verbal communication together with appropriate use  will endeavor to enhance the nurse-patient relationship. According to Caris-Verhallen, Kerkstra & Bensing (2002, p. 809) â€Å"to express warmth and empathy the nurse need to make eye contact with the patient†. However, eye contact is a special exception in non-verbal communication (Vernallen, Kerkstra & Bensing, 2002). It can reveal some hidden and profound feelings that cannot be expressed in another manner that will serve as a role in emphatic connection (Benjamin, 2005). For instance, in western culture, looking people in the eye is assumed to indicate honesty and straight forwardness, in Latin and Asian cultures it represents aggression and/or disrespect (Le Roux, 2002). Certainly in these circumstances, the importance of limiting eye contact and touch in appropriate cultures and regarding them as culturally dissimilar ensures patient misinterpretation is avoided. Additionally the use of touch can in some cultures be a sensitive issue for example in the Muslim culture, even in an Australian hospital it is inappropriate for a male midwife or nurse to touch or deliver a baby of an Muslim patient (ICE, 2001). However, touch can have a very positive outcome in the healing of patients, emotionally and physically. Weiss (Bush,2002) established that touch can slow heart rate, lower the incidence of cardiac arrest, decrease blood pressure, and reduce anxiety. Touch is often replaced by gestures and verbal responses. In spite of this, when patients are unwell or injured; their feelings may be enhanced by a friendly, warm touch (Duldt 1998). Furthermore whilst touch is of great consequence, physical appearance is a powerful aspect of non-verbal communication (Bensing, Caris-Verhallen, & Kerksra, 2002). A nurse should communicate with his/her appearance that he/she is dedicated and professional. Crisp & Taylor (2001) believe â€Å"it helps to establish the nurses’ trustworthiness and competence†. If a nurse’s appearance is not portrayed in a professional demeanor it could harm the nurse-patient relationship from the beginning. Whilst physical appearance is also of great importance listening is probably the most effective therapeutic communication (Sundeen, 1998). Listening is a non-intrusive way of sharing patients’ thoughts and feelings,  it requires the nurses’ whole attention and in return the patient would recognize that the nurse is paying attention and thus will give them a feeling that they are of some significance and importance (Stein-Parbury, 1999).  Accordingly, through this critical listening process, compassionate understanding of patient distress enhances their ability to confide in the nurse and further open the lines of communication (Balzer-Riley, 2004). Therefore while listening is essential part of daily communication in nursing practice, active listening requires the ability not only to hear what the patient is saying but to reflect feeling or intent behind the words (Klagsburn, 2004). Furthermore, active listening can also encourage further interaction between nurse and patient (Stein-Parbury, 1999). For instance active listening to a new bereaved widow and responding with a simple â€Å"I hear you† may be all that is required to give her a sense of empathy (Stein-Parbury, 1999). Active listening does allow for patients to simplify and express their internal thought process in a period comfortable for them, though through this critical active listening process, compassionate understanding of patient distress is imperative in achieving a mutually satisfying nurse-patient relationship. While there are advocates for both verbal and non-verbal forms of communication, it appears that the two are mutually beneficial. As evidenced by Cohen, Rankin, Stuart and Sundeen (1998), the accuracy of verbal expression relies heavily on the support of its non-verbal counterpart. Indeed, as Stein-Parbury (1999) claims, this challenging practice of communication requires a significant degree of self-awareness, or, the ability to reflect inwardly at personal reactions, responses, and feelings regarding a situation, thus enhancing wisdom for the benefit of circumstances. In essence, when communication involving vocal content and emotion do not correspond, they exhibit obvious inconsistencies thus calling for further inquiry to enable accurate validation of patient concerns (Duldt, 1998). For example, a patient who verbalizes an absence of pain, yet displays obvious signs of discomfort through contradictory facial expressions and body language, imposes additional questioning by the nurse  to gain clarification and therefore assist with appropriate care (Stein-Parbury, 1999). In Concluding, the multifaceted verbal and non-verbal styles of communication are extremely significant elements of nursing practice. This essay describes some important points and examples of different forms of communication, in particularly verbal and importantly the supportive non-verbal communication. Evidently, both verbal and non-verbal methods have inherently unique roles in nursing. However, it is when these methods are utilised in a complementary manner, that they most effectively denote empathy, trust and understanding. This essay also describes how listening is a big part of communication. Accordingly, the productive delivery and construal of both these communicative modes, contributes to the establishment of mutually satisfying therapeutic nurse-patient relationships, with the ultimate goal of assisting in patient recovery. References Arnold, K., & Blogg, E. (2003). The interpersonal relationships (4thed.). Missouri: Saunders. Balzer-Riley, J. (2004). Communication in nursing (5th ed.). Missouri:Mosby. Benjamin, L. (2005). Gaze, The American Journal of Psychiatry, 4, p. 664. Bensing, J., Caris-Verhallen, W., & Kerksra, A. (2002). Non-verbalbehaviour in nurse-elderly patient communication. Journal ofAdvanced Nursing, 29(4), 808-818. Boal, J., Burke, M., & Mitchell, R.(2004). Communicating for bettercare: Improving nurse-physician communication. American JournalOf Nursing. (104)12, p. 40. Bush, E., (2002). The use of human touch to improve the well-being ofolder adults: a holistic nursing intervention. The Journal ofHolistic Healing, 19, p.256. Chambers, S. (2003). Use of non-verbal communication skills toImprove nursing care. British journal of nursing, 12, p.874. Cohen, S., Rankin, A., Stuart, G., & Sundeen, S. (1998). Nurse clientinteraction (6th ed.). Missouri: Mosby. Creasia, J. (2001). Conceptual foundations : the bridge toprofessional nursing practice (3rd ed.). St Louis: Mosby. Crisp, J., & Taylor, C. (Eds) Potter and perry’s fundamentals ofnursing, australian adaptatio.(2nd ed.). Melbourne:Elsevier. Dongen, E., & Elma, R. (2002). The art of touching: the culture ofbody work in nursing. The Journal of Anthropology and Medicine,8, 149-162. Duldt, B. (1998). Interpersonal communication in nursing. Kansas: FADavis. Ellis, R., Gates, R., & Kenworthy, N. (Eds) Interpersonalcommunication in Nursing (2nd ed.) Edinburgh: Churchill. Friedman, N. (2003). Focusing. Xilbris corporation. Retreived march25, 2007, from http://www.focusing.orgGasbaris, L. (2004). Get real!: servants or colleagues?. R.N.Registered Nurse RN magazine, (67)9 p.92. (ICE), Information and cultural exchange. (2001). Retrieved 20 Marchfrom http://www.ice.org.auKlagsburn, J. (2004). Listening and focusing: holistic health caretool. Journal of Professional Nursing, (20)3, 141-142. Le Roux, J. (2002). Effective educators are culturally competentCommunicators. Journal of Intercultural Education, 913)1, 37-48. McCabe, C. (2004). Nurse-patient communication: an exploration ofpatients’ experiences, Journal of Clinical Nursing, 13, 41-49. Stein-Parbury, J. (2000). Patient and person (2nd ed.). Sydney:Elsevier.

Conflict Identification and Resolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Conflict Identification and Resolution - Essay Example The clinic has been sold to a new owner who decided to improve business efficiency and to increase sales. The newly appointed CEO has set the sales targets for the company and informed about these targets two categories of employees: sales and marketing department and doctors. Both sales department and doctors were expected to achieve the new sales targets, while doctors had to sell themselves, and marketers had to sell the clinic’s products and visits to doctors. The crux of the conflict was in an increasing confrontation between the sales department and doctors. On the one hand, doctors were blaming sales and marketing (S&M) department that they do not cope with their work as their work is to sell. On the other hand, marketing and sales department believed that doctors should be actively involved in sales process, as they were people who had direct access to the patients and the power of word of mouth was a good practice in healthcare sector. On the weekly meetings held by t he CEO and devoted to discussions and analysis of the sales progress the conflict between two parties (doctors and S&M) has been growing in result of mutual accusations and insults. It is also important to take into consideration the specific tough character of majority of doctors who often are tough people in result of the nature of their work. Doctors are special category of employees as they are used to make serious decisions quickly in order to save human live. Therefore, they don’t like when management or other employees do not make efficient decisions. The conflict described above is the intergroup conflict between S&M department and clinical department (doctors) (Deutsch & Coleman 2000). The major source of the conflict is obvious – lack of proper communication between different departments. Effective communication is especially critical during quite a challenging time of changes (new owner and newly appointed CEO) in

Analysis of the deviation of prices on grocery products before and Essay

Analysis of the deviation of prices on grocery products before and during economic crisis - Essay Example In all recent global downturns, commodity prices declined sharply (see table), suggesting a disconnect between commodity prices and the ongoing slowdown of the global economy. Much of the apparent disconnect reflects the fact that emerging and developing economies, which have been responsible for the bulk of recent commodity demand growth, have so far been less affected by the slowing growth in advanced economies. More recently, the price momentum was reinforced by financial factors" (International Monetary Fund). An article from the IMF says that "In the advanced economies, headline inflation accelerated to around 4 percent in July, driven mainly by oil price rises. However, underlying or core inflation has remained contained and, with commodity prices now in retreat, inflation is expected to moderate quickly, notwithstanding the recent-probably temporary-oil price increase" (Lipsky). Theinflation resurgence has gone much further in emerging and developing economies, although risks have receded recently. Headline inflation climbed to about 9 percent in the aggregate by mid-year, and a wide range of countries are experiencing double-digit inflation. Underlying inflation has increased markedly in these economies, underscoring their less well anchored inflation expectations and the capacity pressures stemming from still-rapid growth. But the balance of risks between inflation and growth is shifting for many emerging economies" (Lipsky). The surge of prices is felt around the world; however it is felt more extremely in the emerging markets. In particular focus to commodity prices, "they have retreated recently, but are expected to remain high and volatile. The prices of major agricultural commodities have moderated, although the pass-through to food prices may be more drawn out than for oil and energy prices. Nevertheless, if the trends in commodities prices are sustained, this would help create new space for countercyclical monetary, and in some cases, budgetary policies" (Lipsky). The prices of commodities are observed to be volatile, meaning they are expected to fluctuate through the course of time. Although volatile, the figure will remain to be high compared to the normal prices. This is observed in the data above, with particular reference to the Russian commodity market. One significant factor in the determination of commodity prices is the prevailing price of oil. "Oil prices have moved off their highs, but uncertainty remains high. Crude oil prices have declined about 25 percent from the mid-July peak, but they are still about 10 percent higher, on average, than at the beginning of 2008 and oil prices have risen in recent days. Increasing signs of weaker global growth, indication of some demand response to

Biography of school principal Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Biography of school principal - Essay Example The researcher starts that his school principal Mr. X joined the school management some five years ago. Apparently, he was a very strict person with serious looks. He was a retired army officer who served the nation for more than 40 years. He was at the post of Major when he was retired and before his retirement, he had planned about his future career and that was to join some educational institution. He was Masters in Business Administration and therefore he was fit for the job requirements of a principal. When the author first saw him the researcher found him to be very sturdy, stringent, yet elegant and of course very disciplined. Despite his complete soldier looks and attitude, he possessed a very attractive and decent personality. But now when the author met him for the sake of interview he found him very different from what he was previously probably the Erikson’s development theory was working its way. He was born in a family who was closely affiliated with the services in army, navy and air force. His father was also an army general. He had five siblings and he was the third child of his parents. He was completely looked after by his mother in his infancy and childhood since his father was usually on his duty. According to the Erickson’s developmental stages, he was at the first stage when he started developing mistrust about his father as he was not available to give him care and affection that an infant requires. In his early childhood when he was around 2.5 years old his toilet training was started.

International Production and Trade Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

International Production and Trade - Essay Example The author in the chapter sought to identify the basic features and issues forming the international production and trade structure. While discussing the changes taking place in the production of goods, the author uses the case of Thomas Friedman to explain the post-world war II changes that have taken place. Technology is arguably one of the most significant steps that man has discovered so far. As such, it has revolutionized both the production process and the communication channel. While the internet connects people in a previously un-imaginable way, new products such as cars and clothes go through mass production. Another notable change in the production process is the level of fragmentation and specialization taking place. With the increased level of interdependence between different countries and regions around the world, production methods have spread in all parts of the globe. Statically, the World Bank demonstrated the effects of this growth and increase in production throug h the 2005 world’s gross domestic product, which was approximately $44.3 trillion. Of this, 78% came from the developed countries, while the middle and low income, countries contributed only 22 percent. Five years earlier, the level of production was fives lower as it was in 2005. McGrew, an expert observes that there have been changes in the trends of FDIs, which have subsequently contributed to the capital mobility. In this mobility, firms now migrate from the industrialized countries and set up production plants in less developed countries due to labor issues as well as environmental issues. International trade, which is trade that takes place between different countries, help in the unification of countries. Since trade ties countries together, it generates significant political, economic, as well as social interdependence between countries. As such, many states use it as a means of gathering income, opting to regulate it in an effort to safeguard their interests. The int ernational trade structure, by pulling international leaders, IO and the NGO officials, pulls three perspectives of trade at the same time. Despite their conflicting arguments, these perspectives have contributed to the understanding of the development of trade in the international front. International trade rules came into effect in the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Tariffs and quotas existed back then, as there was a restriction of importing intermediate goods. This aimed at protecting local industries from unfair competition. One of the international trade policies launched in the eighteenth century advocated for a laissez-faire type of policies. Proposed by Adman Smith and David Ricardo, the liberal trade policy still applies in the case of the Britain markets. These were the developers of the comparative theory, which advocated for opportunity cost of production. Proponents of opportunity cost theory pointed out that for a country to produce a particular commodity ; it had to forego a particular commodity that was rather expensive to produce. As such, introducing trade restrictions was an unjust way of treating other nations. However, the mercantilists challenge the arguments of comparative advantage, even currently. They argue that states can

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Report Essay

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Report - Essay Example Keep it simple when it comes to developing the content. Keep it non-legal. When writing the assignment, assume that you are talking to the CEO of software or manufacturing company. Thus, including only important aspects of IPR that are useful for them. For each of the following aspects of your report, decide which statement best describes your achievement of the criteria and use this to determine a mark. A range of marks is associated with each statement. For example, if you think that ‘The overall structure of your report is logical. Information is for the most part organised in well constructed sections and paragraphs.’ best describes your achievement under Organisation of material, the range of available marks is between 60 and 69. If you think you have fully achieved at this level you can award yourself a mark of 68 or 69. If you feel that you have mostly achieved at this level, you might give yourself a mark of 64 or 65. And if you have only just reached this level of achievement give yourself a mark of 60. Please note that this self-assessment does not affect the actual marks that will be awarded by the tutor. The purpose is to discover how far your perception of your achievement matches the marks that are assigned by the

Interview 335 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Interview 335 - Essay Example few Indians among other members from the European continent together making a total of about forty two tribes with the Kikuyu community being of the largest group occupying the central parts of the country and the El- mole people living around the shores of one of the great rift valley lakes, lake Turkana, are the smallest tribe. Kenya is among the few in the world which houses the Great Rift Valley, a broad natural feature which laterally transect the country into two on the eastern and the western sides of the rift valley. This paper will present the findings of an interview I carried out with one of the Kenyan citizens in America on how far they have gained the awareness and skills in dealing with global diversity and cultural variances as well as my development in understanding of technologys impact on the development of world societies and cultures based on the interviews. Kenya is among the developing countries of the world just emerging from the fierce throngs of economic dismay since independence. Most people in the country therefore have poor economic backgrounds with only a few rich families dotted amidst the poor majority. Like any other poor countries in Africa and the world, wealth in Kenya is contained just in the hands of a few people who are considered rich while the rest are languishing in abject poverty with a majority of the populations living under the wages which are below one dollar per day. The main economic activity carried out in the region and from which most families earn their daily wages is agriculture, mostly sedentary, which forms the backbone of the country’s economy. Most people therefore depend entirely on their farm produce as the sole source of their everyday food and which supplement their meager income sources. Most of the needs in most families are therefore met from the sales of agricultural produce. A few peo ple practice business as an alternative source of income, mainly among the Indians who depend entirely on business

Critical Comparison between Questionnaires and Focus Groups Essay

Critical Comparison between Questionnaires and Focus Groups - Essay Example This research will begin with the definition of research as a systematic or scientific way of searching for knowledge. Research provides answers to questions by uncovering hidden truths. An individual can conduct a research to familiarise with a certain phenomenon or discover new insights on a familiar phenomenon. Research can also be conducted to test formulated hypothesis on a phenomenon or describe the characteristics of the object under study. Therefore, the kind of research approach that an individual utilises is based on the purpose and objective of the research. Research can be categorised in many ways. One such way is descriptive versus analytical research. Descriptive research is conducted to investigate various aspects of a phenomenon. A researcher in this case aims at finding out facts about research objects. It may include surveys and enquires on the current situation in the researcher’s area of interest. In a descriptive research, the researcher simply reports fac ts about variables. The researcher has no control of over variables and cannot manipulate them in the study. Therefore, the researcher gives a description of variables as they exist in their natural environment. Descriptive research is useful in measuring objects. In this kind of research, different methods are used depending on the nature of the study and the researcher’s preferences. Comparative and correlation research methods are used in descriptive research. Analytical research involves using the facts collected on a phenomenon to evaluate that phenomenon. Therefore, the researcher does not just gather facts about research objects but also uses those facts to analyse or make judgements about the objects under study (Kumar 2008, p. 6; Kothari 2008, p.2). Research can also be categorised as fundamental or applied research. Applied research differs from fundamental research in that it seeks to provide an immediate solution to an existing problem. Fundamental research will g eneralise a problem and develop theories of how the problem began or how it can be solved. Thus, multiple solutions may be generated and analysed in fundamental research but the researcher gives his or her recommendation on the ideal solutions. Fundamental research is often referred to as basic research because an individual gathers facts for the sake of adding to their level of knowledge. Applied research is conclusive and provides solutions to research questions or actual problems in the area of study. Therefore, basic or fundamental research adds to the existing body of scientific knowledge while applied research provides solutions to problems (Ethridge 2004, p. 20). Research can be categorised as conceptual or empirical. Conceptual research is based on theories and is used to develop new concepts about a phenomenon. This research can also be used to reinforce or interpret existing concepts and theories. Empirical research does not consider the existing theories but relies on obs ervation. This type of research is based on data collected and conclusions are drawn based on observations. Empirical research is experimental and a researcher collects firsthand information on phenomenon. The research may manipulate things in an environment to achieve the desired results. Empirical research in most cases starts with a hypothesis or expected results from an experiment. The data collected in this case will be used to test hypothesis. Empirical research is used to describe relationships between two or more variables (Kumar 2008, p. 8; Burns 1992, p. 195). Research can be categorised as either quantitative or qualitative. This is the most common categorisation of research. Quantitative research is based on measurable variables. The main objective in quantitative research is to generalise collected data. Qualitative research focuses on collecting information on immeasurable variables such as human behaviour, emotions and feelings among

Online Dispute Resolution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Online Dispute Resolution - Essay Example This paper will explain some of the advantages and disadvantages to the ODR scheme. One of the advantages of ODR over other dispute resolving methods, such as face-to-face arbitration, mediation and litigation is the cost factor.2 This factor is especially important, as many of the cyber disputes involve small dollar amounts. Many online problems would never be resolved if it were not for cost-saving. Inherent in this analysis is that the parties involved in the dispute do not have to hire attorneys, nor do they have to travel, which can add up to considerable costs in traditional dispute resolutions.3 Therefore, ODR has a great social implication, in that it ensures that everybody in the on-line world has access to justice. The prohibitive expense of litigation is a hindrance to this basic principal, because individuals without financial means cannot afford traditional litigation. But in the wonderful proletariat world of on-line dispute resolution, everybody has a fair shot in getting their disputes resolved, as the costs are minimal and attorneys are not necessary. It might be the great equalizer. Two different entities exemplify the cost-benefit analysis examined above: one is the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, which is the dominant dispute resolution service provider with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN) under its Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).4 This entity is basically the go-to service for individuals with a domain name dispute, and has resolved some 9,000 such disputes since its inception in 1999. The other method examined is the SquareTrade, which is an ODR method that predominantly assists buyers and sellers on Ebay.5 In the ICANN and UDRP systems, a complaint by a trademark holder is deemed served upon the holder of the domain name if it is sent to his registered e-mail address. If the holder of the domain name

Swot Analysis for Keystone Bank Essay Example for Free

Swot Analysis for Keystone Bank Essay Keystone has a few strengths looking at its present financial condition financial statements. However, the bank is willing and able to pay higher competitive rates compared to other banks in the area. This is likely to send a strong signal to potential customers who may wish to take advantage of the rates by increasing their core deposits at Keystone Bank. Also, increasing local economic activities can also be viewed as strength to keystone. This is because if the local people are making more money than they need, they will be willing to save some especially at high rates of return which would benefit them and Keystone at the same time. It will increase their core deposits and decrease their dependence on other sources for loanable funds. Commercial and consumer loans are also strength of keystone looking at the two year period compared to their peers. They need to capitalize on that and see if they offer some commercial loans to the new company’s coming into town at competitive rates. Weakness: Keystone Bank has a wide range of weaknesses compared to its peers. Some of their weaknesses are a result of their high exposure to credit risk, interest rate risk and liquidity risk. Credit risk can be defines as the risk of a corporation not being able to pay its debt as they become due. Keystone has a lot of CD’s on its books and need to pay the holders of the CD as they become due. This is going to put a lot of financial stress on the bank considering the fact that interest rates are low and the national economy is slowing down. Liquidity risk can be defined as a company’s ability to convert its assets into cash at fair market value. Keystone Bank’s liquidity measures are below the average of its peers. If you consider its temporary investments to assets for 1990 and 1989, they were 10. 64% and 11. 02% compared to 15. 07% and 16. 15% of its peers. This means that Keystone Bank is investing in products that cannot be quickly converted into cash at fair market price. They are also offering CD’s at a high rate compared to its peers. Other liquidity measures such as volatile liability to assets, is more than 11 % above the average of its peers. This means that Keystone has huge liabilities on its balance sheet which can easily be defaulted on. Net loans leases to core deposits also show an even high trend. There is over 25% difference between Keystone Bank and its peers. In the last two years Keystone’s funds for lending to its customers have mainly come from borrowed money instead of core deposits. This means that the bank make interest payment on the money it lends to its customers which has put it at a disadvantages in terms of offering competitive rates to its customers. It also indicates that in the case of any liquidity crises Keystone bank will not be able to convert its investments into cash at fair market value as quickly as it may want. A banks largest asset is its loans or loanable funds which is not the case for Keystone bank. Lack of clear written policies regarding liquidity and interest rate management by the bank has made it difficult for managers to make good asset and liability decisions. This could be part of the reason why instead of loaning funds to customers, the bank is selling CD’s and increasing their liabilities. Opportunities: Design of the new information system of financial reports will help management make informed decisions on how best to use the banks resources and also meet the examiners criticisms. An increase in the population in the area provides a great opportunity for the bank. The bank can capitalize on this and help it propel into the future. The establishment of new facilities by three national firms in the area – an electronics company, automotive parts and accessories manufacturer and the building materials supplier – is expected to flood the local economy with about 2700 jobs. This is great news for Keystone since it can use incentives such as free checking accounts to bring in new customers and increase its deposits. It can also find new and qualified customers who might be interested in real estate, consumer and other types of loans. The establishment of the new interest rate sensitivity and liquidity reports will help management monitor and understand changes in interest rates and liquidity and how they affect the bank. Keystone can take advantage of the current low interest rates and borrow money from the Federal Reserve Bank. With interest rates expected to rise in the near future, Keystone can increase its adjusted rate mortgages to customers instead of fixed rate mortgages in hopes to increasing their returns when interest rates rises. Threats: There are numerous threats that Keystone faces as a bank. First there is the threat of other banks and thrifts in the area who will also take advantage of the expected increase in the local economy. Most of the banks in the area may be able to offer relatively high interest rates to lure in new customers. If these banks are in a better financial position compared to Keystone that will put them at an advantage over Keystone. Also, the thrifts will also compete for the same 2700 people who will be acquiring the new jobs moving into the area. The bank need to work hard to decrease it CD’s and increase its loans if it wants to survive in the long run. Lastly, even though the local economy might be booming the thought of an economic slowdown in other parts of the country may have a negative impact on the spending practices of the locals. This may result in people saving all their monies instead of spending or avoiding loans all together.

Amul Chocolates | Marketing Plan

Amul Chocolates | Marketing Plan Amul has been a market leader in dairy products for decades however Amul Chocolate is the only product which is not doing so well. Amul Chocolates was the market leader in 1970s but lost its place to Cadbury in the last 10 to 20 years. Amul has successfully extended its milkman image to ice cream, butter, cheese and other dairy products, but has made no headway in chocolate. The main reason behind the decline of the product is lack of promotion and concentration on other dairy products. Marketing Plan to increase the Sales of Amul Chocolates. Since Amul Chocolate as a product is declining incurring losses to Amul we now make a marketing plan to improve the performance of the product. We will concentrate on the domestic performance of Amul Chocolate which means we will make a plan to increase the sales of Amul chocolates in India. We would be using the SOSTAC model to describe the market plan for Amul to improve the sales of Amul Chocolates. SOSTAC is the abbreviation for Situation Analysis, Objective setting, Strategy Development, Tactics, and Action Control. Situation Analysis Situation Analysis is the study of trends within the economy and a comprehensive analysis of market, competitors and the company itself. Now, we will analyze the situation of Amul chocolates using Porters five forces framework which was developed by Mr Michael Porter of Harvard Business School in 1979. This framework helps us to identify forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore attractiveness of a market. Porters Five forces framework for Amul Chocolates 1. Bargaining power of the suppliers: In order to produce chocolates the materials required are cocoa, milk, sugar, butter, milk powder, fruits etc. Amul is a market leader in India in products like milk, milk powder and butter so it does not require any other supplier. Other materials like cocoa , fruits and sugar can also be bought easily as there are many suppliers considering that India is a land of farmers where Agriculture is the backbone of the economy. Also there are millions of farmers who supply fruits and sugar so the bargaining power of the supplier is very less. 2. Bargaining power of the buyers: India is a fast growing nation and buyers have a lot of options when it comes to deciding which chocolate they want to buy. Hence the bargaining power of the buyers is high. 3. Threat of substitute products: In the last few years, Indian sweets have been substituted by chocolates. So there is possibility that people can go back to sweets because nowadays sweets manufacturers have introduced different varieties of sweets like fat free sweets, sugar free sweets etc. Also lot of people these days prefers power bars and protein bars which are also delicious like chocolate but healthier as well compared to chocolates. Also there can be other substitutes like waffers, cakes etc. India is well know for making duplicate products of big brands like Daily Milk for Dairy Milk(Cadburys ace product) Kir Kat for Kit Kat(Nestlà ©s ace product).Chocolate manufacturers need to make sure they differentiate their products well make consumers aware of the difference because a large number of people in India are illiterate. 4. Threat of potential entrants: In the Indian chocolate market there are 3 major players namely Cadbury who is the market leader, Nestle Amul. These 3 companies have been sharing 99% of the chocolate market in India for many years which clearly explains that there is no real threat of new entrants. However, in the last 5 years, foreign brands like Mars have entered the market with products like Mars bar, Bounty Snickers which have become quite popular in major cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi. 5. Competitive Rivalry: The biggest factor that is affecting Amuls market share in India from last 10 to 20 years is the growth of its competitors like Cadbury Nestle. Now, with the entry of foreign players like Mars its getting tougher for them to increase the sales. Objective Setting Objectives are the motive of the companys operational activities. It is basically what the company wants to achieve. Nothing happens until we plan and good plans have goals and objectives. Setting objectives lays the foundation for the companys operations. It shows us the path to follow. Objectives can also be called as battle plans, the stepping stones on the path towards achieving our goals. Objective of Amul Chocolates The objective of Amul as a company is to give Value for money to its customers. Amul has a range of superior products, consumed by every age group. Since Amul chocolates is not doing well like Amuls other products like milk, yoghurt and cheese the objective of Amul Chocolates as a Business Unit would be to increase its market share in India from a 5% in 2010 to 15% in the next 5 years by carrying out proper promotion activities and to produce variety of chocolates to give consumer more options. Strategy development Now that we have set our objectives we need to make a strategy to attain the objective of increasing the market share by 10% in 5 years which is difficult because of the declining trend and competition however possible because of the Brand strength. We would be using the Ansoff Matrix, Market segmentation to describe the strategy of Amul Chocolates to increase its market share in India. Ansoff Matrix Market penetration: Market Penetration means when a company sells its existing products to the existing market. Amul can use this technique to increase sales in India. They also need to advertise and carry out lot of promotional activities to inform the consumers that they still exist and can provide them with what they want. Its been years that Amuls chocolate advertisement has been telecasted on Indias major television channesl like Start Zee. Sales promotions like discounts and free samples can help them to increase the Brand awareness and attract customers to switch brand from competitors. This is the Celebrity age and every big company uses a celebrity as a Brand Ambassador for its product. For example Amitabh Bachchan (Greatest Indian Actor) for Cadbury Rani Mukherjee (Indian Actress) for Nestle, Amul also use a brand ambassador for the promotion of its chocolate. Market Development: Market development is a situation where a company is involved in expanding into new markets with existing products. Amul as a company needs to target rural areas of Northern India like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttaranchal because most of the people in these states are farmers who have many children. Also one more benefit of supplying chocolates in these places is that its competitors like Nestle and Cadbury do not have a big market in these places. Amul has a strong brand name in rural areas because of its other dairy products and also has a strong supply chain and logistics to reach these places. The Indian Government will also provide them subsidy or lower taxes because they would be contributing socially by entering into rural markets. Product Development: Product development means a company modifies its product i.e. improves it to appeal to the existing market. Amul needs to make changes to its product (chocolates) like introduction of more flavours and attractive packaging because the wrappers Amul uses is not at all attractive compared to those used by Cadbury and Nestle. Packaging is very important because of majority of the consumers are kids and youngsters who like attractive packages. Many kids buy chocolates not because they like it but because of attractive wrappers. This would keep them in competition with competitors like Cadbury and Nestle. Currently there is a trend for low calorie and fat free food because people want to be fit; introducing low calorie and less fat chocolates would be a strong recommendation. Amul must into market alliances with various portals to offer products (on those portals that were developed for festive occasions such as Valentines Day and Friendship Da0y. Market Segmentation Market Segmentation is a process of dividing a large market into identifiable segments having similar wants, needs or demands. The objective of market segmentation is to design a marketing mix that matches the expectations of customers in the targeted segment. Every product is produced with a target in mind. Amul must divide its market using 2 bases of segmentation. 1. Demographic Segmentation 2. Geographic Segmentation Demographic Segmentation: Demographic segmentation is segmentation of market on the bases of factors such as age, gender, income, occupation etc Amul must divide its target market on age factor. Age 2 to 15 Age 16 to 35 Age 35 above For children up to 15 years old, Amul should produce chocolates like plain bars filled with chocolate in other words high on energy and sweet. The product should be rich in chocolate, nuts and milk. For children they must have a lot of variety because children have the tendency to try different chocolates. This is the most important target group for Amul considering the product. Hence, major focus should be on the products targeted to this market. For the market in the age group of 16 to 35, Amul should produce chocolates which are low on calories and less fattening as this market segment is diet conscious. Before taste they think about calories and putting on weight. For this segment Amul should also introduce protein bars which have become a trend these days. Youngsters who work out and are fitness conscious consume lot of such items to keep them full and away from high calorie food products. For the market in the age group of above 35 years, Amul should produce sugar free chocolates because at this age many people in India are diabetic or have been asked to consume less sugar. Geo-demographic Segmentation: Geo-demographic segmentation is a segmentation technique that classifies people according to where they live. The concept is based on the presumptions that people who live within a particular area exhibit common purchasing behaviour. Amul should divide its market in to 2 segments Developed cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune, Kolkata and Delhi Under Developed states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand etc. People in developed cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi have a high purchasing power compared to other places in India. The literacy rate is high in these cities, people have access to different mediums of advertising and infrastructure is developed. Amul should produce and supply high quality products in these cities with no compromise on price. However, they must keep in mind that their competitors are already enjoying a great amount of market share in such places. Cadbury to some extent enjoys a monopoly in such cities because of its quality of products, availability and immensely strong brand name. Amul must match Cadburys quality to excel in the market. States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are not developed like Mumbai and Bangalore. The literacy rate is less than 50% with poor infrastructure. Many people dont even have access to electricity. Majority of them are poor farmers. Amul has an advantage here because their competitors like Nestle dont have easier access to such places. Amul has a strong network because of its ace products like Butter, Cheese and Milk which are available all over the country. Amul should introduce chocolates which are cheaper but high on energy in these places. Tactics Tactics are the measures that help in achieving strategies. Tactics generally include the use and manipulation of the 7 Ps of marketing. In this case we would be using four Ps. Product: The major reason why Amul chocolate as a product is declining from the last 10 years is because of not meeting the demands of the consumers. Cadbury Nestle who are doing well in the chocolate market have continuously launches new products and have been successful. Every product has a life and it gets over one day. No product can live forever. Innovation is the key to survive in modern day. Companies need to modify and improve their product time to time. Innovation also led consumers to think that the company cares about their needs and changes time to time to meet their demands. For example, When Nestle launched Kit Kat in India it was a big hit. People just loved the taste of the chocolate its packaging. However after a few years it started losing its share then Nestle introduced couple of flavours Orange and Mint which increased the market share. Amul also needs to introduce new varieties of chocolates and improve its existing ones. They should introduce milk chocolates like Nestlà ©s Milky Bar, Chocolates with fruits and nuts like Cadbury has its Fruit and Nuts, Mint chocolates like Nestlà ©s After Eight etc. Introduction of power bars low calorie chocolates will also be a decent step to increase the variety of products. Also the packaging is a crucial factor because majority of the consumers are kids who are easily attracted by attractive and colourful packages. Amul has the history of unattractive packaging. If we compare the wrappers and boxes of Amul chocolates to Cadbury Nestle, the packaging of the competitors is far superior. Amul has to stop their ancient method of packaging and adopt modern methods. Amul must also spend a good amount of money on reaserch and development to identify the demands of the consumers and strategy of their competitors. 2. Price: Pricing is an important strategic issue because it is related to product positioning. Furthermore, pricing affects other marketing mix elements such as product features, channel decisions, and promotion. The objectives of pricing are to maximize profits, to signal high quality and also to survive in many cases. Pricing must take into account the competitive and legal environment in which the company operates. From a competitive standpoint, the firm must consider the implications of its pricing on the pricing decisions of competitors. For example, setting the price too low may risk a price war that may not be in the best interest of either side. Setting the price too high may attract a large number of competitors who want to share in the profits. Factors like cost of production, demand, competition, availability of substitutes and inflation should be considered while setting prices. Majority of people in India live in villages and have low disposable income. With such a heav y competition in the chocolate market, Price plays a very important role. In India, Brand loyalty is very rare. People will change their loyalty if they can spend less. Amul must produce high quality goods and sell it at a competitive price. Amul will have to follow competition based pricing technique which implies that they would need to set prices on the basis of what its competitors do in order to compete with them. Its said that India is a rich country of poor people. Since the sales are going down, in order to lift them they can sell at a comparatively lower price to boost their sales. For example, If Cadbury sells its Fruit and Nut for Rs 20 Amul can sell it for Rs 18. Place: Place in marketing is referred to the channels of distribution through which products flow from the manufacturer to the consumers. The channels of distribution mean intermediaries or middlemen who act as a link between the manufacturer and the consumers. Factors that need to be considered when choosing the place are the characteristics of the product, characteristics of the buyers, control and competitors channels. Since chocolate is an edible product, Amul should adopt an intensive distribution strategy where in they will manufacture products and make it available at various shopping malls, food joints, local stores, Chocolate parlours etc. Amul has a big brand name because of its dairy products. They can easily use it to increase the awareness of its chocolates using various distribution channels. Amul Chocolate Parlour Promotion: Promotion refers to exchange of information between an organisation and the consumer of its products. Consumers here include Customers, shareholders, employees, government and other parties related to the products like trade union and media. The aim of promotion is to inform the consumers, differentiate from other products and to persuade them to buy. There are many techniques of promotion like Advertising, Sales promotions, Direct Marketing Personal selling. Amul has been criticised for lack of promotion. Amul has a strong brand name because of its dairy product leadership. Amul must advertise its chocolates using media like newspaper, television and internet to inform the public about the quality the price of its product. Consumers have a short memory and its important for companies to remind them about the products. Amul has totally shifted its focus from chocolates towards milk and other milk products and have totally ignored chocolates. Using the mediums like Television and newspaper the company needs to remind the public that they are back with improved products at an affordable price. In order to survive in the competitive market where players like Cadbury Nestle enjoy the market share Amul has to be different. They need to give the customers a reason why they should buy their products. Amul has to use Sales Promotion effectively to announce their comeback. They can give price discounts, more for less offer free samples to increase their sales. Amul must also provide free chocolates to municipal schools where majority of children come from a low income family. Free gifts like pencils or Books can also attract their target market i.e. kids. Amul also has to focus on Business to Business customers. They can give special discounts or free samples to major retailers like Big Bazaar D-Mart to sell their products. Action Now that we have set the objectives marketing strategies, it becomes necessary to turn them in to action plans. Action includes 3 activities. Allocating tasks and responsibilities: Since our strategy is simple i.e. to innovate our product and promote heavily, we would allocate the task of product development to the manufacturing sector where they will check the products of successful competitors and manufacture chocolates in line with them. The manufacturing sector will be responsible for the quality of the product. The promotion of the product would be the responsibility of the marketing sector where they will advertise and provide special offers. The above Gantt chart shows the scheduling of activities of Amul Chocolates. $50 million would be the budget for product development and research related to production the activity will be carried from September 2010 to December 2010. The budget for Promotion would be $50 million (including Advertising Sales promotions). Here we have used the Objective and Task method technique of budgeting by estimating the cost of the production and sales activities. Control Control means taking corrective measures when anything doesnt go according to the plan. Amul must use the Sales Control method. They would be monitoring their sales every 3 months to check if they are meeting the set target. If anything goes wrong then they can take corrective measures. Advertising Sample as per the Marketing plan Value offered by Amul 1. Value for money: Amuls believes in giving value for money to its customers and it has always followed that principle. Its products are of high quality and available at affordable prices. Customer Driven: Amul as a dairy product manufacturer has always focused on customer satisfaction. Amul has consistently produced and supplied quality dairy products like milk, butter and cheese in India and other countries. Adapt quickly to the changing environment: Amul has always met the ever changing customer needs by being innovative in its dairy products. This is a major factor why they have been a market leader in dairy products for many years. Customer feedback: Amul has taken regular feedback from the customers worked upon the negative aspects to improve the quality and increase customer satisfaction.

Counseling And School Counselor Roles

Counseling And School Counselor Roles This literature review is divided into six subjects which started with the historical overview of counseling and school counselor roles, then followed by the American School Counselor Association National Model, ASCA National Model and Education Trust, self-efficacy, self-efficacy theory, and lastly research on school counseling and school counselor self-efficacy Historical Overview of Counseling and School Counselor Roles Within the educational framework, counseling and guidance are relative novel concepts, having developed in early 1900s with vocational guidance as its origins (Lambie Williamson, 2004). Instituted in 1915, the Department of Vocational Guidance was considered an education entity in the public schools of Boston. In connection, certification of school counselors also began in this same year (Smith, 1951). Pioneering efforts in the field of school vocational counseling were done by Frank Parsons (Nugent, 1994; OBrien, 2001). Parsons motivated career counselors to work towards social justice and social change prompting the youth to explore careers (OBrien, 2001). This same time period also coincided with Parsons work on vocational counseling which Adolf Mayer coined as mental hygiene which became the thrust of school guidance counseling. Smith (1951) described mental hygiene as the process school counselors were trained to better understand and work with individuals in coping with day to day stressors. Following the death of Parsons comes the emergence of vocational guidance; however, guidance in schools disappeared by the early 1930s (Nugent, 1994). By the later part of the 1930s, EG Williamson developed trait-factor theory of vocational and educational guidance along with the reappearance of guidance and counseling, and the 1940s saw the publication of the research of Carl Rogers (Gysbers Henderson, 1997; Gysbers Henderson, 2001; Lambie, 2004; Nugent, 1994). Since the time that school guidance and counseling emerged professionally during the 1940s, there were already efforts to have a clear definition and develop the standards set for school counselors (Gysbers Henderson, 1997; Nugent, 1994). The National Defense Education Act (NDEA), which took effect in 1958, rapidly affected school guidance and counseling through training and funding of individuals who are desirous in becoming school counselors. The advancement of school counseling as profession only began in the 1960s with the emergence of developmental guidance, the terminology utilized in describing how programs in school guidance and counseling needed to be developed (Gysbers, 2004). Ten years after the movement towards developmental guidance comes the movement for accountability (Gysbers Henderson, 1997; Lambie Williamson, 2004). During the 1980s, school guidance have become more integrated into schools slowly becoming a unique field of specialization then a foundation of education from the point of view of guidance-as-education and classroom teachers as teacher counselors (Gysbers Henderson, 1994, p. 11-12). As stated by Myrick (1997), there were numerous instances that the terms guidance and counseling are constantly interchanged in describing the roles and functions of a professional school counselor adding confusion between their roles and functions. Myrick (1997) clarified that guidance are program-based initiatives while counseling is founded on counselor-counselee relationship and provides a supportive net against anxieties and concerns. In the history of education, the school counselors role has evolved with each passing decade. During the first few decades of the 20th century, the focus of school counselors is the provision of academic placement, assessment and vocational guidance to students. Towards the middle, school counselors are responsible for providing social and personal counseling services at the same time support holistic student development. The recent years has seen the integration of student academic program coordination, teacher-parent consultation and special education services (Gysbers Henderson, 2002) into the responsibilities of a school counselor. Over the years, these changes in a school counselors role have resulted in ambiguity and confusion in practice. Development of this role evolution started with service-oriented traditional school counselors who assist students with their class schedules, employment preparation and college admission guidance to more contemporary data-driven role. In di scharging their contemporary role, school counselors made use of professional national standards so that student outcome competencies would be obtained, work in collaboration with teachers in the preparation of lesson plans and present and model teaching strategies that promote student success. Instead of school counselors taking control over how they define their roles, it is the local district level school administrators. As a matter of fact, Sears and Coy (1991) stated, School counselors appear to be reluctant or unable to convince principals that they should perform the duties for which they have been trained (p. 3). Roles of school counselors defined by school administrators include non-guidance-related activities like clerical staff members, detention room supervisors, testing coordinators, and master schedule builders. Moreover, school counselors likewise defined the responsibility of school counselors as the personnel providing students individual counseling services on both college and academic placement and a family liaison. While school counselors do not hold to these perspectives, conflict results in defining school counselor roles. Lambie and Williamson (2004) explained that role ambiguity likely occurs when the individual does not have sufficient information about his or her role at work, lacks clarify about his or her work objectives, and lacks understanding on how their work peers expect of them with their job responsibilities. The study of Burnham and Jackson (2000) compared the actual and prescribed responsibilities of school counselors. Very often, school counselors spend most of their time in bus duties, keeping records, attendance records, testing coordination, and multiple clerical tasks. School counselors are yet to come up with a concrete definition of what their roles are and how they will apply these roles to their jobs. The constant question has always been What do school counselors do?. To remove role ambiguity, it is necessary for school counselors to be provided with process data that describe practice and effectiveness. Gysbers and Henderson (1997) said, the purpose of evaluation is to provide data to make decisions about the structure and impact of the program as well as the professional personnel involved (p. 263). Research provides support for the implementation of counseling interventions in curriculum, counseling, coordination and consultation (Scarborough, 2005). Through available counseling task information, student success is promoted by school counselors in achieving the competencies described in the National Model for School Counseling Programs of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA, 2003). The American School Counselor Association (2002) supports the roles and standards of school counselor practice and describes that school counselors are involved in systematic, development, and preventive methods of counseling. As insiders in the educational system, school counselors are advocates of families, students and teachers in enhancing the psychosocial, academic, and employment-related well being. The ever-changing formation of professional school counselors is described in 2004 by the American School Counselor Association in the following literature: Professional school counselors are certified/licensed professionals with a masters degree or higher in school counseling or the substantial equivalent. Professional school counselors deliver a comprehensive school counseling program encouraging all studentsacademic, career and personal/social development and help all students in maximizing student achievement (p. 23). The American School Counselor Association National Model The American School Counselors Association in 2005 enumerated the standards for appropriateness in school counselor activities. Generally speaking, ASCA has greatly specified how counselors should be utilizing their time in school based on Gysbers and Hendersons model of distribution of school counselor time (ASCA, 2003; Gysbers Henderson, 2006). Enumerated are activities considered to be appropriate as follows: planning of individual academic program, interpretation of scores obtained from achievement, aptitude, and cognitive tests, counseling students who are always absent, tardy or having discipline problems, counseling on appropriate school attire, collaborating with teachers in the presentation of guidance curriculum lessons, analysis of grade-point average in association with student achievement, interpretation of student records, provision of suggestions and recommendations to teachers on how to better manage study halls, ascertaining the maintenance of student records in adh erence to both state and federal regulations, working closely with students in providing counseling services for both small and large groups, and supporting students in their individual education plan meetings and student performance. On the other hand, the following activities are inappropriate according to ASCA: scheduling and registration of new students, coordination or administration of achievement, aptitude, and cognitive tests, signing of excuse slips for absent or tardy students, implementation of disciplinary measures, sending home students who violated school dress code, holding classes when the teacher is absent, computation of grade-point averages, maintenance of student records, supervision of study halls, clerical record keeping, assistance in the duties of the principal, working with one student at a time in a clinical, therapeutic setting, preparing individual student education plans, teams for student study, and school review boards, and entry of data. As earlier mentioned in the historical background, the role of school counselor is somewhat blurred because of the lack of clarity of what is proper and expected of the position (Huffman et al. (1993). Myrick (2005) asserted, history shows that unless the role of the school counselor is clearly established, the whims of the times can threaten the very existence of counselor positions (p. 6). Hatch (2002) pointed out that despite the listing of inappropriate activities by the ASCA, school counselors feel a great amount of frustration on their actual function and role. One respondent in the study mentioned that her daily school tasks as school counselor are those that are not related to counseling that she finds it difficult to change her role since she has become an expert in these tasks and showed concern over who would likely take over her position after her tenure. Dahir and Stone (2007) emphasized that it is the ASCA National Model that contemporized the expectations of 21st century centers of education with reference to how they will be founded, managed and how services will be delivered to their stakeholders along with accountability. The model provided the mechanism wherein school counselors and their teams can help in designing, coordinating, implementing, managing and evaluating their programs geared towards academic achievement. When the four components of the program starting with foundation, management, delivery system and accountability are integrated with skills in data usage, teaming, collaboration, leadership and advocacy along with the art and science of counseling, the school program of the 21st century is created. The ASCA National Model (2005) provided for a counseling program that is comprehensive in scope, preventive in design, and developmental in nature (p. 13). By comprehensive, ASCA meant that the counseling in school should be able to tackle healthy social/personal, career, and academic development of students from grades pre-K to 12. Preventive measures aim at proactively fostering adaptive skills and disseminating vital information through a curriculum in classroom guidance. Lastly, counseling in school should also be developmental as it is sensitive to the needs unique the student population being served a delivers programming that meets competencies and content standards specific to the age group of students. These competencies and content standards are summarized in the ASCA National Standards. These national standards provide the framework in the design of school counseling programs. Likewise the ASCA model listed down standards in the content of classroom discussion specific to age presenting what students ought to know and do after completion of the school counseling program and provide learning objectives designed to help students reach their highest potential. There are nine ASCA National Standards subdivided to three domains namely: academic, career, and personal/social development. Under academic are the standards that students should be able to: (1) acquire attitudes, knowledge and skills that impact effective school learning and in his or her lifetime, (2) complete school equipped with the necessary academic preparation in choosing from a variety of post-secondary school options which covers college, (3) understand the association between the workplace and home and community life. For career development, ASCA listed another set of standards: (1) acquire skills of investigating the workplace and relate these skills to the self so that informed decisions on career would be derived; (2) utilize the strategies in achieving career goals in the future successfully and satisfactorily; and (3) correlate personal characteristics and qualities, training, education, and the workplace. In the domain, personal/social development, the standards are the following: (1) acquire the knowledge base, attitudes, as well as interpersonal skills in respecting and understanding the self and others; (2) decide, set personal goals, and act upon those goals; and (3) understand survival and safety skills. A frequent way school counselors address the national standards defined by ASCA and emulate the national model in their schools is the adoption of guidance programs that are comprehensive and developmental in nature (Galassi Akos, 2007). Though these counseling programs are described to be efficacious by several authors like Lapan, Gysbers, and Petroski (2001), Lapan, Gysbers, and Sun (1997) and Sink and Stroh (2003), there is no outline constituting these programs. The ASCA National Model and National Standards set the direction in program structuring but the specific details and components of the program are left to the discretion of the school counselors. The ASCA National Model and the Education Trust The Education Trust, in coordination with the DeWitt Wallace Readers Digest Fund, provided support for a group of counselor educators and school counselors to reorganize school counseling training and practice. One aim of the DeWitt Wallace-Readers Digest Fund is the promotion of significant achievements on educational quality and career development among the youth. In addition, the funding is aimed at increasing access of disadvantaged communities to improved educational and social services (DeVoss Minnie, 2006). Areas of interest cover improvement of services delivered to individuals in the elementary and secondary levels as well as community-based organizations through the collaborative efforts of the school and the community. The contemporary role of this initiative defined school counseling as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a profession that focuses onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦reducing the effect of environmental and institutional barriers that impede student academic success. The profession fosters cond itions that ensure educational equity, access, and academic success for all students k-12 (Education Trust, http://www.edtrust.org). The Trust also solicits proposals that develop new training models in training school counselors from refurbishing the criteria in selecting candidates eligible for counselor education programs to the revision of the content in the curriculum, professional development, and field experience. It is crucial that education departments in states make sure that training programs are abreast with present changes and demands in society (ASCA, 2003; Education Trust 1999). The changes are now referred to as New Vision Counselor (DeVoss Minnie, 2006; Education Trust). In 2003, the Education Trust began with the movement transforming school counselors role from merely providing services to one that is more oriented towards student achievement and learning. During the same year, Reese House, the director of the National Center for Transforming School Counseling explained, This new Center will arm practicing school counselors with the data and knowledge to lead schools efforts to raise achievement of all students and close the gap between groups once and for all (Paragraph 6). When the teachers were surveyed by Clark and Amatea (2004), they had definite ideas regarding the services they wanted their school counselors to discharge. It was likewise noted that the school counselor is a valuable and significant player and resource not only to the student body but to the faculty force as well by giving support in their instructional endeavors. The teachers believed that the role of the counselor is the provision of direct services to students through the conduct of classroom guidance and individual student counseling. When their recommendations were asked, the students and teachers said they need additional school counselors so that the programs of the school counselors would be better communicated to the student body. Dahir (2004) mentioned that school counselors are continuously working toward adequately defining their roles and establishing program standards in the delivery of counseling services. In1990, Ginter and Scalise found that teachers classified the roles of elementary school counselors into two dimensions: first is the helper role and the second is the consultant role. In the former, the school counselor provides counseling for individual students, guidance for classroom and resolving concerns affecting students while the latter requires his or her professional expertise and guidance in helping teachers implement strategies that impact curriculum planning, classroom assessment, and student behavior. According to Stone and Clark (2001) and Ponec and Brock (2000), principals regarded school counselors as integral to the school system as they are collaborators and values formation advocates resulting in a more holistic academic school program. Beale (2003) expressed the need for school counselors as they aid principals in fulfilling their primary responsibility of helping their students achieve their full potential. So that this is achieved, counselors must directly serve the interest of students by working with small groups in counseling and in-service coordination with teachers at the same time, collaborating with the school and the community (Beale, 2003; Beman, 2000). Both principals and counselors shared the belief that if there is mutual respect and understanding towards the role of the counselor, the school counselor would be most effective. However, school counselors must continuously educate principals and teachers regarding their role as well as tasks which are appropriate and inappropriate for them (Beale, 2003; Perusse, Goodnough, Donegan, Jones, 2004; Ponec Brock, 2000). Numerous times has the school principals job involve the selection of a guidance counselor and it has also been the principals assignment to define and delineate the level in which the school counselor dictates the type of counseling program that will be implemented (Beale, 1995; Dahir, 2000). Though principals did not include specific administrative tasks in the manner with which they perceive the school counselors role, they have for numerous occasions regarded there is an overlap between the duties of a principal and a school counselor. These included coordination of the master schedule, teaching the class where a teacher was absent and acting as assistant to the principal in some instances (Fullwood, 2004). Myers (2003) described the presence of role confusion among school counselors since its foundation and has been compounded many times by school principals who misunderstood the role and function inherent of a school counselor. As stated by Stone and Clark (2001), school counselors occupy a distinct position of exerting their unique leadership style and take part in the leadership team that work in collaboration with the principal in driving a collective vision of student achievement and success. School counselors and principals can act as powerful allies in school r eform focusing on helping students access and be successful in more rigorous academic standards (Stone Clark, 2001, p. 46). All are in agreement with the observation that how the school counselor perceived his or her role in school is not in sync with his or her actual role; therefore much needed work has to be done for the school counselor to function in consonance with the professions guidelines (Myers, 2003). Feller et al (1992) expressed that although ambiguity is evident in the school counselors role, they stated: While it is unwise to assume that there is one right role for school counselors, it is clear that a stronger relationship between the tasks of the school counselor and the educational priorities of the nation will support the continuing evolution of the profession(p. 46) The American School Counseling Association and Education Trust advocated the enactment of comprehensive and consistent standards for school counselor training and teamwork among stakeholders in education consisting of leaders in the community, parents, school administrators, teachers, school counselors, and the departments of education together with university training programs and professional organizations (Dahir, 2004; Galassi Akos, 2004). For instance, some investigators revealed the need of counselors playing the role as consultants and advisors in leadership (Colbert et al., 2006; Amatea Clark, 2005; Martin et al., 2003). On top of universities the priorities seemed to be promoting professional accountability among school counselors and equip them with the required skills in support of each other while simultaneously encourage academic achievement among students in their school (DeVoss Minnie, 2006). Baker (2000) summarized these priorities of Education Trust and advised that for a university training program to be more viable, experts should trace back to the grass roots emphasizing on the following: (1) development and promotion of models specifically on collaborative training models tailor fitted to school counselors so they can better prepare in their function in the multidisciplinary team; (2) education on the significance of school counseling to the community and school personnel; (3) assessment of specific needs of the school or district; (4) development and implementation of programs addressing these concerns; and (5) conduct of regular and periodic assessments basing on the feedback of community partners, school personnel, students and parents to fine tune services offered. These are lofty yet essential goals. Literature has shown that school counselors should possess leadership skills in the school scenario and follow the standards set by the state and federal goverment . Universities and several boards of education have placed the New Vision school agenda as their first priority (Education Trust, 1999). Conversely, counselor educators should keep in mind that the greatest resources in a school rests in the efforts currently employed by the school counselors (Loesch Ritchie, 2004). Self-Efficacy Self-efficacy denotes to peoples beliefs about their capability to exercise control over their own level of functioning and over events that affect their lives (Bandura, 1991, p. 257). Belief of individuals regarding their self-efficacy is considered to be the result of deliberating, synthesizing and assessing information regarding individual capabilities, and consequently regulate choices and the total effort applied on a specific task (Gist, 1987). A persons judgment on his or her self-efficacy differs across time as he or she is exposed to new experiences and information (Gist, 1992). Therefore, the concept of self-efficacy is dynamic. Beliefs on individual self-efficacy are correlated with the conditions of specific tasks though it will be noticed later that there individual could generate generalizations on these beliefs in related tasks on the basis of the persons sense of efficaciousness in general (Bandura, 1991). Gist (1987) identified the three domains of self-efficacy: generality, strength, and magnitude. Generality is the level in which a self-efficacy belief applies in a variety of tasks; strength is the conviction that a specific task performance level is achievable; and magnitude is the extent of difficulty in a task that a person can accomplish. Of these three, generality is not measurable. Naturally, when an individual is asked what they feel towards the attainability of various task performance levels, he or she can answer it by a yes or no and when inquire about whether he or she is confident in reaching a certain degree of performance by assigning a number to it on a scale of 1 to 100. Thus, determination of magnitude is the aggregated sum of yes responses while strength is aggregated responses on confidence. Wood, Bandura, and Bailey (1990) described the four primary sources of self efficacy judgments and each is particularly significant when applied in work environments in an organization. The first source referred to as enactive mastery experiences implies that self-efficacy judgments become strengthened resulting from the accomplishment of tasks. According to the triadic reciprocal causation model, there is association between enactive mastery experiences and impact of behavior on individual perception of self-efficacy. The implication is that when there is a higher resilience in the persons sense of self-efficacy, it signifies that the person has overcome obstacles by being perseverant. This experience provides assertion of the individuals capabilities allowing the person to tolerate failures and setbacks without losing his or her confidence. Quick successes are the result of expecting short-term results which lead to fast discouragement when failure comes. It will be observed that w hen self-efficacy beliefs are strengthened or weakened by their experiences, it will have a major effect on their work especially with success or the lack of it in a person in his or her present position and conditions in the task which may be modulated and adjusted to facilitate success. Vicarious modeling or experience is the second source of beliefs pertaining to self-efficacy (Gist, 1987) and is mainly influenced by environmental factors. Modeling is the process of observing another person or the model who is performing a specific task. If a model is successful in his or her efforts, he or she is able to effectively convey to the observer plausible task strategies providing the basis for comparing and judging their individual abilities, and encourage the observer in believing on him/herself that with persistent efforts, in spite of setbacks, the task is accomplished successful. The effect of modeling is linked to the likeness of both model and observer in terms of age and capabi lity. Emulating models is a powerful desire. Modeling first started during childhood when the child tries to imitate significant others like parents or older siblings. In an organizational setting, the desire to model immediate supervisors or superior performers is likely strong in some. Definitely, when roles are taken in and previously observed behavior, these illustrate social learning (Vecchio Appelbaum, 1995). The impact of vicarious modeling or experience in an organization has repercussions in both daily uninhibited situations when a person examines another performing a similar task as part of normal routine work and with reference to training activities using modeling as a method of learning. Social or verbal persuasion though less efficacious than enactive modeling or mastery is regarded a significant source of self-efficacy judgments. The aim of verbal persuasion is communicate to the individual confronted with the activity of using his or her capability to succeed in the task at hand and not set high and unrealistic expectations which negatively affect the person if the task is a failure. Social persuasion is used widely on an ad hoc basis as if one is encouraging another; however, utilization of the form of persuasion would be strategic in a skill development context because it promotes higher task-directedness in the effort and this is useful during the initial phases of skill development. Another source is the physiological state perceived by the person. When the individual is in a state of fear, anxiety or tension, he or she may judge him/herself to be less competent in accomplishing a specific task. Pain or fatigue will adversely affect the individuals perception of his or her self-efficacy especially in tasks requiring physical strength (Wood Bandura, 1985). Efforts of improving either the psychological or the physical state of the individual by means of stress reduction interventions can potentially enhance self-efficacy judgments. Self-efficacy Theory The self-efficacy concept lies at the heart of the social cognitive theory of Albert Bandura. His theory highlights the role of reciprocal determinism, social experience, and observational learning in personality development. The theory defined the self-system is an individuals cognitive skills, abilities, and attitudes and it is said that this system plays a significant role in perceiving situations and behaving in response to various situations. An important element in the self-system is self-efficacy. Bandura (1995) defined self-efficacy as the belief in ones capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations (p. 2). This means that self-efficacy is the belief of the individual regarding his or her capability to successfully accomplish a specific task. Bandura believes that self-efficacy determines the thinking, behavior, and feelings of people. Since the publication of Banduras seminal work entitled, Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change, self-efficacy has ever since the talk of psychologists the world over. Why is self-efficacy considered an important subject matter in education and psychology? Bandura and other investigators have established that self-efficacy affect state of mind to behavior and motivation. School Counseling Research and School Counselor Self-Efficacy Young (2004) described the perceptions of the leadership of school counselors and the practices of a large university in midwestern US. The specific objective of this study is to answer how participation in The Ohio State University Transforming School Counseling Initiative (OSUTSCI) program affected the leadership perceptions of graduates in the said university. Qualitative approaches were employed in the collection and analysis of data. A purposive nonprobability sampling procedure was done where 19 graduates of the program were considered. The sources of data were field notes, structured individual interviews and focus group discussion. The team of researchers who were experts in analyzing qualitative data using the grounded theory gathered the data. There were four major and multiple sub-themes that emerged and indicated that program participation led to leadership practices and perceptions that positively change the servi