Impact of terrorism on employee engagement of female educators in Dissertation

Impact of terrorism on employee engagement of female educators in peshawar, pakistan - Dissertation Example This is a major exogenous factor with enormous significance in under developed countries like Pakistan. Women potentially represent 50% of the workforce in any economy. Where women are barred from educational opportunity and subsequently from prospects of gainful employment the impact on economic growth and development is likely to be profound. Female illiteracy results in high birth rates, high infant mortality and high incidences of poverty. This situation is recognised by the Pakistani Government through its social policy of co-education. 1.1. ORGANISATIONAL BACKGROUND AND RELEVANCE The research focuses on the impact of an external factor on the engagement of female educators; therefore, it is not ideal to use one organisation’s data for any analysis. Hence, 4 different schools were used to conduct the research initially. The data gathered was used to make formulate some key propositions regarding the situation in the region. The schools were divided into two groups. One gr oup operates in the state financed co-educational system whilst the second group offers private education and focuses exclusively on educating females. The research will derive the trends of employee engagement within the 2 different settings of the 4 schools and explore whether there are differences and if there are in what ways they become manifest. In addition, an effort is made to ascertain the extent to which any differences are a result of institutional policies and practices. Further research that focused on one school only was then conducted . The school chosen for further research was the one most affected by terrorist activities. It also happened to be a school dedicated to the education of females and therefore a specific target. Staff behaviours and reactions in this context it was felt would provide deeper insights into the impact of terrorism on employee engagement . The Snowballing technique was used to identify specific schools and in particular the school that becam e the focus for in depth research. Snowball Sampling is commonly used when it is difficult to identify members of the desired population (Saunders et al 2009). Moreover, purposive sampling was used to identify four junior teachers for interviews in each school. It was also used to choose the school for further research. Purposive sampling enables you to select cases that will best enable you to answer your research question(s) and to meet your objectives (Saunders 2009). Due to ethical considerations, the names of the schools are kept anonymous. This reasons are revealed in later chapters. 1.2. Employee Engagement Employee engagement is defined as the passion and energy employees when giving their own best to the organization in order to serve the customer. It is all about the willingness and ability of employees to give sustained discretionary effort to help their organization succeed. (Sarah Cook, 2008). Employee engagement, also called work engagement or worker engagement, is a b usiness management concept. An "engaged employee" is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization’s interests. Ken Scarlett defines â€Å"employee engagement† as an individual’s degree of positive or negative emotional attachment to their organization, their job and their colleagues.

Level of Prevention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Level of Prevention - Essay Example ed person is treated and evaluated from the point of view of potential for future risk and (c) tertiary prevention, which includes the involvement of the family and community in ensuring that an abused victim is protected from further abuse and that the physical, psychological and emotional damages caused to the elderly person are addressed, treated and prevented from future occurrence. Rosalie Wolf categorizes primary prevention measures as the use of those screening tools that would help to identify elders who at risk to be abused in the future, while secondary prevention involves the evaluation of an elder who is already being abused in order to assess the risk of future abuse in order to devise appropriate measures to cope with it. (Wolf, 2000). The results of several elderly abuse assessment tools have been combined into one comprehensive test – the H-S/EAST Test (Hwalek Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening test). This test uses a set of 15 assessment criteria which are intended to measure three different levels of abuse (a) actual incidence of direct abuse or a violation of the personal rights of the elderly person (b) the extent to which the elderly person is vulnerable to abuse and individual characteristics that increase vulnerability and (c) the identification of potentially abusive situations. This 15 point assessment tool that is executed through a series of questions wherein the elderly person is asked to list any instances where harm or hurt has been caused and this test has been recently enhanced through the additional of additional questions such as â€Å"Are you afraid of anyone in your family? â€Å"Has anyone close to you called you names or out you down or made you feel bad recently?† (Scofield et al, 1999). The efficacy of this test was also tested in a study conducted in a city in Florida to assess abuse among the elderly living in public housing and the results of the study suggested that the test is useful in measuring various facets of abuse,

The international business environment is shaped by a wide variety of Essay

The international business environment is shaped by a wide variety of Political, Economic, Socio-Cultural and Technological ('PE - Essay Example The internationalization of businesses is normally shaped by macro-environmental factors which impacts hugely on their operations. Therefore, it is advisable for managers to ensure that a thorough analysis is conducted on the macro-environmental factors before making a move to go global. The macro-environmental factors that shape the international business environment include political, economical, social, legal, and technological factors (Blythe 2006, p.21). These factors must be considered because failure to do so might lead to sub-optimization of the strategies and resources invested by the company. This paper will examine how the political, economical, socio-cultural, and technological factors shape up the international business environment. Political/legal factors Political factors that shape a company’s internalization strategy include laws, groups and agencies that impact and limit individuals and organizations in society (Viswanathan and Dickson 2006, p.26). The areas that must be evaluated by managers include the attitude of the government toward foreign businesses, political stability, government bureaucracy as well as the financial policies of the country in which the company wants to establish its operations. The legal and political forces are very crucial and need to be considered by any manager because they cover several aspects of policies adopted by a company. For instance, the policies adopted by the government affects the entire industry through its regulatory bodies such as Trade and Industry Departments and Environmental Departments (Morrison 2009, p.16). These bodies affect the industry in which the company operates through their policies on trade and standards and restriction within their areas of controls. Policies developed by these bodies can affect businesses in a number of ways including the products produced, sold, or promoted by a company. It is very important for multinational companies to acknowledge the fact that political backgrounds differs from one country to another. For instance, the political environment of the U.K. may be quite different from that of China. This implies that a multinational company in the U.K. wishing to set businesses in China must first be conversant with the political and legal issues in China before making any move set business in the new environment. Morrison (2009) notes that a majority of economies that were formerly centrally planned still receive protection from their governments. This implies that a move to have a joint venture can easily be accepted in such economies. At the same time, it is reported that legal implications pertaining to the marketing of a product globally is very complex (Daniels and Radebaugh 1998, p.51). This is because every country has its legal system which implies that global companies must adhere to such legal systems in order not to find themselves on the wrong side of the law. McDonald’s is one of the most famous Americas fast food restaurants with an international presence in several countries such as the U.K., Japan and Russia, just to name but a few. However, reports indicate that McDonald’s was hugely affected by a legal challenges in Russia in 1993 when a law was passed in Russia compelling all stores (both local and international) to have Russian names. The same law,

Level of Prevention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Level of Prevention - Essay Example ed person is treated and evaluated from the point of view of potential for future risk and (c) tertiary prevention, which includes the involvement of the family and community in ensuring that an abused victim is protected from further abuse and that the physical, psychological and emotional damages caused to the elderly person are addressed, treated and prevented from future occurrence. Rosalie Wolf categorizes primary prevention measures as the use of those screening tools that would help to identify elders who at risk to be abused in the future, while secondary prevention involves the evaluation of an elder who is already being abused in order to assess the risk of future abuse in order to devise appropriate measures to cope with it. (Wolf, 2000). The results of several elderly abuse assessment tools have been combined into one comprehensive test – the H-S/EAST Test (Hwalek Sengstock Elder Abuse Screening test). This test uses a set of 15 assessment criteria which are intended to measure three different levels of abuse (a) actual incidence of direct abuse or a violation of the personal rights of the elderly person (b) the extent to which the elderly person is vulnerable to abuse and individual characteristics that increase vulnerability and (c) the identification of potentially abusive situations. This 15 point assessment tool that is executed through a series of questions wherein the elderly person is asked to list any instances where harm or hurt has been caused and this test has been recently enhanced through the additional of additional questions such as â€Å"Are you afraid of anyone in your family? â€Å"Has anyone close to you called you names or out you down or made you feel bad recently?† (Scofield et al, 1999). The efficacy of this test was also tested in a study conducted in a city in Florida to assess abuse among the elderly living in public housing and the results of the study suggested that the test is useful in measuring various facets of abuse,

The primary signs of a great preschool Essay Example for Free

The primary signs of a great preschool Essay The use of Learning Center Approaches (LCA) in early education has for long been the subject of ardent debate. Teachers still lack unanimous agreement as for the relevance and usefulness of LCA’s in classroom. LCA’s have a number of advantages and are also characterized by a set of serious pitfalls; however, these types of learning activities can be rationally used to enhance the overall quality of the learning process at school, offering children a unique opportunity to integrate their personal experiences with the curriculum-based objectives. Statistical research suggests that â€Å"in 1965, just 5% of 3-year-olds attended preschool or nursery school. Today, 41% of 3-year-olds regularly attend a center-based program† (NAEYC, 1995). As a result, the process of developing more effective curriculum strategies becomes more responsible and requires teachers to satisfy individual needs of children. When dozens of children are divided into several learning groups, it is always difficult to organize the learning process in a way to account their individual peculiarities and needs; that is why teachers have come to realizing the importance of LCA’s as the effective tools of individual preschool and school learning. One of the primary signs of a great preschool is when children spend most of their time playing and interacting with other peers (NAEYC, 1995); furthermore, for a kindergarten and preschool to be an effective tool of learning, children need to have â€Å"access to various activities throughout the day such as block building, pretend play, picture books, paints and other art materials, and table toys such as legos, pegboards, and puzzles† (NAEYC, 1996). In these difficult learning contexts, the LCA’s may supply teachers with an opportunity to develop an unlimited number of individual tasks and activities that will engage children into active learning. In general terms, â€Å"learning center refers to a place (usually a small area) within the classroom where children interact with materials and other children to develop learnings and skills† (Bickart Jablon, 1999). Thus, LCA’s facilitate the process of achieving the two basic goals of effective education: delivering knowledge to children and satisfying their individual learning needs. LCA’s allow teachers to organize the classroom space in a way that makes children interested in what they are doing, and integrates their personal experiences and talents with the need to achieve the basic curriculum objectives. An LCA classroom looks like a space divided into small areas defined by shelves and tables; materials are attractively displayed so that children are able to make a reasonable choice. Self-directing charts help children find the area of interest and decide where children would like to work. In these classrooms, children are usually divided into small groups, with each group focused on a particular activity and moving on to the next center as soon as the activity is finished. The use of LCA’s is advantageous in several ways: 1. LCA’s promote the sense of autonomy among children. Piaget states that autonomy is the ultimate goal of education (Bickart Jablon, 1999). â€Å"Autonomy is developed because children are active; they learn at their own pace; they make choices; they are self-directed rather than teacher-directed† (NAEYC, 1995). 2. In LCA’s, children learn by interacting with real objects; regardless whether the child participates in a table game, or chooses to be an actor in a dramatic play, all these activities move children closer to the real world, providing them with objective and truthful knowledge about reality. 3. In LCA’s, children are required to verbalize their oral experiences, to speak, to communicate, and to express their needs and concerns to teachers and other children. As a result, LCA’s become indispensable elements of effective reading, writing, and literacy education. The use of LCA’s is particularly important to enhance children’s reading and writing skills. NAYEC (1998b) suggest that â€Å"with the increasing variation among young children in our programs and schools, teaching today has become more challenging. [†¦] Classes include both children with identified disabilities and children with exceptional abilities†, and all groups of children should have equal access to the learning opportunities in class. LCA’s provide children and teachers with a chance to minimize literacy-related disparities in learning, and to guarantee that all children regardless the specific level of their reading and writing proficiency are able to achieve standard curriculum objectives. The use of LCA’s helps align the standard requirements to early childhood education programs with the benefits of the individualized learning process: LCA’s combine developmentally appropriate curriculum and instruction with responsiveness to cultural diversity and strong professional development opportunities (NAEYC, 1998a). Ultimately, LCA’s are extremely flexible in addressing the changing requirements to instruction and maintaining stable organizational relationships between teachers, families, and children. The problem is in that LCA’s may not always be easy to organize; teachers and education professionals require extensive knowledge and skills to guarantee that LCA’s address specific educational needs of children in class, and help them develop reliable communication linkages with teachers and other children. LCA’s represent a kind of education philosophy, with commitment to individualization and loyalty to constructed knowledge in its center. However, to turn this philosophy into a relevant tool of child’s education, teachers should be prepared to working with room arrangement and room organization, to monitoring center choices and governing children in the process of their interaction with LCA materials. While teacher roles in LCA’s are limited to those of facilitators, that does not mean that teachers are no longer responsible for the learning outcomes. On the contrary, assessment, planning, set-up, interaction, and arbitration turn into the five central teacher responsibilities while children are making their choices and are trying to integrate their personal experiences with the learning needs in class. LCA’s can promote effective learning through the variety of educational strategies, including art, blocks, discovery, dramatic play, library, muscle, music, and table games. Art centers help children express themselves; art centers teach children to evaluate their art skills and the art skills others. Art centers successfully combine cognitive skills with aesthetics and language, helping child develop several cognitive skills simultaneously. Blocks provide children with the constructive vision of reality; in blocks LCA’s, children are offered a chance to explore their experiences and perceptions about reality.. Discovery LCA’s are integrally linked to science: children make scientific solutions and have almost unlimited opportunities for exploring the major scientific discoveries. Dramatic play learning centers are the relevant tools teaching children to socialize and interact on the scene. In other words, dramatic play is an art of pretending. Pretending is the link between the abstract and real that further leads children to realizing the difference between their realities and their fantasies. Literacy LCA’s are the central elements of effective education. Literacy is the key to the child’s success in all major disciplines, and literacy LCA’s provide children with immediate access to reading, writing, communication, and discussion. Library centers are integrally linked to literacy circles: â€Å"many children are not exposed to literature in their homes, severely limiting their print knowledge. The library center provides these children with regular and active interactions with print† (Bickart Jablon, 1999). Muscle center helps children balance their physical and mental activities. Music centers organize children into small listening groups, where young learners are actively engaged into various types of group activities (e. g. , singing). Finally, table games teach children to follow the already established rules. Table games form a new vision of discipline and help children realize the importance of discipline in other subjects and centers. Table games are used to develop logical thinking and teach children to use their analytical skills. Objectively, LCA’s may become less effective due to the fact that teachers are not always able to evaluate their roles and potential in various group activities. While teachers are expected to facilitate the process of learning, children may not adequately react to independence and autonomy they have in LCA’s. The boundaries of autonomy may often be blurred, turning independence into chaos. Games should be reasonably combined with discipline; teachers should be able to monitor all learning centers at once; ultimately, the structure of LCA’s should be changed at least once in several weeks, to guarantee that children are able to reveal their full learning potential. Despite these difficulties, LCA’s remain an effective tool of learning, promoting autonomy of the child’s decision-making, and providing children with unlimited opportunities for applying their skills and knowledge in practice. LCA’s reflect the need for giving children sufficient freedom of choice, with this freedom being closely tied to and reasonably limited by a set of predetermined curriculum objectives. Conclusion The use of learning center environments is justified by the need to provide children with more autonomy during the class, and to help children use their talents in studies. The design and construction of LCA’s may be time consuming, and teachers require extensive knowledge and skills to promote continuous learning. Although public school teachers frequently lack sufficient space and are not always able to develop structured LCA’s, learning center approaches foster creativity and encourage the child to explore the hidden facets of knowledge in class. LCA’s promote unlimited opportunities for communication, socialization, and interaction between children; as a result, children become better prepared to applying new knowledge in various real-life contexts. References Bickart, T. Jablon, J. (1999). Building the primary classroom: a complete guide to teaching and learning. Teaching Strategies, Inc. NAEYC. (1995). 10 signs of a great preschool. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www. naeyc. org/ece/1996/01. pdf NAEYC. (1996). Top 10 signs of a good kindergarten classroom. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www. naeyc. org/ece/1996/12. pdf NAEYC. (1998a). Guidelines for developmentally appropriate practices. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www. naeyc. org/ece/1998/05. pdf NAEYC. (1998b). Learning to read and write: developmentally appropriate practices for young children. Retrieved November 15, 2008 from http://www. naeyc. org/about/positions/pdf/PSREAD98. PDF

Successful Corporate Diversification Strategies

Successful Corporate Diversification Strategies Study of rationale behind corporate diversification, its implication and implementation falls under the subject of Strategic Management. Strategic management deals with the long term goals of the corporation. Managers take strategic decisions to react to the changes in the market place and the competitive environment. Decision making at this level is highly unstructured and are generally considered on case by case basis. The cost of corporate diversification is very large hence managers have to make an informed decision to ensure the continued success of their business. Introduction Statement of purpose An attempt will be made to identify the factors that motivate companies to diversify. Using historical data and examples we will try to understand the different diversification strategy, companies employ. However, is it that particular set of strategy more effective than others? Is diversification more common in a particular industry sector? Should a company diversify when it is successful and have surplus wealth or should they diversify when their business is not doing well? Should all the business eventually diversify? Does diversification help companies to minimize risk? These are some of the questions that will be tacked in this final management project. Globalization has brought about new challenges and opportunities for the companies around the world. Phenomenon such increase in competition, softening of trade barriers and advancement in technology and transportation has forced companies to come up with strategies to position them on the path of sustained growth. Despite being acknowledged as an important topic, very few researches have been undertaken to explore the key drivers behind successful diversification decisions. Literature Review The idea of corporate diversification is not new, over the last few decades there have been quite many companies which have diversified its business, some succeeded while others failed. Due to the lack of any influential ideas and frameworks, it is still a puzzle for many general mangers as to what constitute a successful diversification strategy. Academic researchers have also divided themselves in two opposing schools of thought. There are some who describe corporate diversification as a value destroying practice whereas others consider it as a value creation process. According to Michael Porter (1987), diversification records of thirty three large, prestigious U.S. companies from 1950 to 1986 show that most of them had divested many more acquisitions than they had kept. Instead of creating value, it has led to dissipation of shareholder value. Establishment of business school in 1950s and 60s provided manager the necessary general management skills, basic management principles applicable to all kinds of enterprise was the prime focus. Acquisition of unrelated business and growth of conglomerates, served as an opportunity to experiment new ideas and business models. Success of U.S. conglomerates such as Textron and ITT encouraged other European and Asian companies to try out diversification strategy. However instead of applying management principles and following a process of thoughtful evaluation, emphasis was more on the acquisition of companies whose assets were worth more than their stock price. During this period, popular view suggested that managers of the large conglomerates possessed the skills to manage their extensive business operations. Effective application of key management principles like managerial accounting, rigid financial control, detailed budgets and frequent interaction amongst managers were thought to be mantra for successful diversified business. All these seem to justify the fact that diversification, if managed properly would lead to corporate success. As we approach the 70s, things started looking quite different. Stock prices of conglomerates begin to fall; in some cases it was as high as fifty percent as compared to only nine percent decline in the Dow Jones Industrial Average over the same period. Even General Electric who pioneered in developing and using sophisticated management practices to manage their diverse portfolio encountered a period of profitless growth from 1965 to 1970. Continued trends illustrating the failure of diversified business forced conglomerates to divest and think about new ways to manage their diversity. Suddenly it was becoming very difficult to manage such diversified business. Managers were confused as to which part of their business should they concentrate. The senior managers began contemplating about on their corporate strategy. By late 1970s formal strategic planning systems and frameworks were put in place, the irony was that it was focused at business unit level and did very little to guide ma nagers handling different business. However Andrews (1980) listed identification of the businesses in which the firm would compete as the main task of corporate strategist, and this became the convention of corporate strategic management. Consulting Groups such as Boston Consulting Group came up with new techniques of portfolio planning that helped executives in allocation of resources amongst different business. Growth/Share matrix and attractiveness/business position matrix etc are still the most widely used strategic frameworks, used to assess the corporate position and opportunities in a particular business. However the problem with portfolio management was found soon. Philippe Haspeslagh (1982) found that organizational framework was an important variable explaining the corporate performance. Different kinds of business had to be managed differently and most companies were missing the right organizational mix/integration/adaptation to run their diversified business efficiently. During 1980-90s, weak performance of many conglomerates drew harsh criticism from prominent management strategists and thinkers like Michael E. Porter. In a bid to restore the faith in diversified businesses, executives turned their attention to Value based planning, motivating them use financial tools such as discounted cash flow, ROE and hurdle rates to improve the stock price and deliver the stockholder expectation. It still did not answer how managers can add value to diversified portfolio. Peters and Waterman (1982) ushered a new wave of corporate view on diversification Stick to the knitting. They observed that successful conglomerates never diversified widely. They specialized in particular sector and focused on building knowledge and skills in those areas. As we fast forward to 1990-2000s the main issues for corporate manager were organizational restructuring, identification of core portfolios and adding values in them. Three philosophies have received support in current management thinking: 1. Limit diversification to business with synergy 2. Diversification should be able to exploit the core competence 3. Build a portfolio that fit within the organizational structure and that has compatible management style at all levels. Methods The research topic will first be explored from an academics point of view, facts and data about diversified conglomerates will be collected from the business/management databases. Management frameworks will be applied to test the hypothesis whether diversification strategy is in line with current academic thinking and whether companies diversified in the right business. List of both successful and unsuccessful diversification will be considered. Websites of the companies can be used as a reliable source to collect information about their different portfolios. Attempts will be made to contact the researchers and academician, who can provide us an updated view on the current diversification scenario.

Research Methods Essay -- Research Analysis

Research Methods 3 Introduction E-business is an issue that has been extremely popular for the past couple of years; after introduction of the internet, many corporations were undecided on whether to use the opportunity. However, this concept has slowly been accepted and many companies are using the opportunity to expand the popularity of their brands. However, E-business has a couple of challenges that need to be tackled in order to make internet business safe and reliable. The following research proposal will look into the possible methods of investigating into the vulnerability of consumers of online products. Background information Many corporations have gone online to market and sell their products and consumers are increasingly engaging in E-business. Business has shifted from the traditional over-the-shelf method to the contemporary internet based businesses, with consumers and companies communicating and carrying out transactions online. This has however created an opportunity for hackers and other online criminals who create replicas of genuine websites by altering a single digit for hosting to be possible; these fraudsters have managed to rip off unsuspecting consumers of their money pretending to be the genuine companies. Hacking of credit card details online and taking massive cash from the consumers illegally using rogue technology, creates a question of how vulnerable the consumers are and the amount of personal information the consumers should provide to avoid this vice from taking place. Research Questions and Objectives The following research is meant to develop an understanding on the level of vulnerability of online consumers. In addition, the research is meant to rate the level of preparedness of onlin... ...easing or decreasing and statistical tools used to eliminate errors in the findings. Works Cited Arora, K. (2011). How to protect online content from theft. Retrieved from http://www.quickonlinetips.com/archives/2011/05/protect-online-content-theft/ BBC. (2010). E-crime police arrest 19 over UK online bank theft. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11431989 Identity Theft Technology Council. (2005). Online identity theft: Phishing technology, chokepoints and countermeasures. Las Vegas, NV: Identity Theft Technology Council. Mccurry, M. (2011). Congress must combat online theft. Retrieved from http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/56984.html Onguardonline. (2011). Identity theft. http://www.onguardonline.gov/topics/identity-theft.aspx Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2009). Online identity theft. Washington, DC: OECD.