African Americans Essay Example for Free

African Americans Essay African Americans have a unique history as well as culture. Their history in the United States is greatly influenced and shaped by the events in the last three centuries. A period that would shape their destiny, their interactions as well as their orientation to most important events in life. The United States census figures put the number of African Americans at over thirty-eight millions in 2005. Of this population, over 55% of them reside in the metropolitan areas with cities like Chicago and New York being the homes to a huge majority of African Americans A close look at the African Americans in relation to the rest of their white counterparts reveals that they are disadvantaged in various aspects. This can only be understood by focusing at the underlying causes of this, key being the century’s discrimination and oppression meted out against the blacks by the successive regimes up to the period that the civil rights movement stepped up its calls for equality and political rights. African Americans had been for long subjected to slavery especially in the southern states. The end of slavery brought forth systemic discrimination where they were treated as second class citizens especially after the introduction of the Jim Crow laws that institutionalized racism. This is what is seen to be the cause behind the impoverished lot amongst the African Americans with 24. 7% of this population living in abject poverty. The group also remains disadvantaged in the education sector, health, housing as well as having the highest crime rates in the United States. Since the enactment of civil rights legislation, the African Americans population has made considerable steps towards improving their economic status largely narrowing the huge discrepancies that exist. This has been marked by the expansion of the African American middle class. Unlike in other ethnic groups like the white; there is parity across the gender amongst the blacks. Income levels in America are tilted to the disfavor of African Americans. This is largely seen as being linked to the inability to access other vital resources such as education and jobs. Speculative figures have it that over three quarter of African Americans aged above the age of 25 have not gone to college and hence do not possess college diplomas. By the turn of the century, over a third of the African American population living in the big cities was without employment compared to their white counterparts; this figure has not changed much (Brandon S, 1984). Life expectancy of the African American group compares unfavorably with that of the whites a fact exacerbated by the lack of medical and proper provision of health facilities. With a significant proportion of African Americans lacking medical care and proper provision of health facilities; with a significant proportion of African American having a low level of income and being unemployed, and with the united states lacking a universal health care system , African Americans are badly placed in terms of health facilities access. They are also at a higher risk of succumbing to chronic diseases as well as pandemics such as HIV aids. Statistics have it that of all people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS between 2001 and 2005, over half of them were African Americans. Cities that contain large populations of African Americans such as Washington DC contain the highest rates of HIV infections. African Americans have maintained a deep sense of religiosity this has been passed on from the days of slavery. Known as black churches, they have played a pivotal role in the struggle for blacks to acquire and consolidate civil and political rights. Majority of the evangelists have ended up as political figures playing a crucial role in the American civil rights movement.

Reflection Of The Movie Dead Poets Society Education Essay

Reflection Of The Movie Dead Poets Society Education Essay The report is a work assigned to deal with the reflection of the movie Dead Poets Society. These couples of pages are based on the organizational culture and different groupings of the boarding school in this movie. Finally evaluate culture of the school and identified group which influence each other and linked to each other. Dead Poets Society presents a representation of an English teacher that is curiously inspiring and at the same time disturbing. This is the story of students as the respected Welton Academy. The plot centers on the influence of Mr. Keating, a young and exciting English and poetry teacher who is determined to teach his students to live life with absolute passion. Mr. Keating was moved his students to a love of poetry and learning that transcends their otherwise structured and controlled academic existence. He perhaps crosses boundaries that probably should not be crossed by someone in a position of authority and respect. This movie is about what happens when these students decide to pursue their own desires and to live life with the passion that Mr. Keating encouraged. Actually it is about what happens when a few idealistic students find themselves confronted against conservative forces that resist all change including the drive for personal self- determination. Source: Carpe Diem; Lessons about Life and Management from Dead Poets Society in the Journal of Management Education, Vol. 16. The organizational style of the boarding school is very traditional, reflecting one of the most significant principles of the school, namely tradition. The idea of the campus along with typical features like the twin-bedded rooms strongly resembles college and therefore hints at where the school finally leads. As a preparatory school, the basic aim is to prepare the pupils for college in the most excellent way. One detail that contributes to this goal is the class size of 16 boys only. The background of the boys is clearly upper class. On the one hand, the school fees demand for an upper class-income. Features like clothes and speech of the boys and their family point to an upper class background. Moreover the culture of the school is closely bound to the student families. Usually, generations and generations of their forefathers have attended the school, which is why the boys automatically have to follow this tradition. The family seems to be obliged to the school both by financial support as well as by sending their sons to the school. Thus, the boys do not have any choice; their career is determined from birth. The school organizational style restricted and directed the behaviors of the boys in one path. Any demonstration of a free thought is strictly prohibited by the school authority. Sense of worth becomes one of the centers of the school. For example Neils low self-esteem reveals itself only in the relationship with Neils father, but leads Neil to his tragic end. On the other hand, Todd, with the help of Professor Keatings, was able to build up his self-esteem. John Keatings wasnt a regular professor: his teaching methods were very different from those of others in the school. The relationship between Todd and professor Keatings is quite interesting because we can see the transformation that Todd went through from being afraid to answer teachers question to being the first one to show his appreciation for Mr. Keatings when doing so could lead to expelling from the school. Considering the facts mentioned above, one can regard the boys as forming a separate society from the school organizational culture, defined by particular principles, location and background. If the emphasis in the definition of class lies on the idea of the same social position, the notion of school as a class of its own can thus be justified. SHEINS LARYERED CONCEPTUALIZATION ON DPS Basic Assumption in the school and Mr. Keatings class The school in the movie is a formally organize settings and all of the student are made to conform to this settings which are classified as tradition, honor, discipline and excellence. This formality is strictly adhered by the authorities of the school and never taking for granted. On the other hand in Mr. Keatings class, it is contrary to the laid settings of the school. He made the student to believe in their self and also walk the path of individualist. Values and Beliefs The values and beliefs in any society is the instrument that shapes individual in that society according to the movie, students are expected to be guided by the beliefs and value of the school. Every Welton students are required to trust the doctrine of the school without any defiant, these have been the normal tradition of the school since its inception. Mr. Keatings in a way did not only help his student with the values and beliefs of the school but he guided his students into an expended awareness of lifes possibilities Artifacts and Creations The school in the movies maintained its old edifice, this kind of depict conformity with the early doctrine of the school. This also explains that even with the dynamic trend in the society, the school authority still cling to the old doctrine of the school. However the style of communication or language exercise by the teachers in the school was more of an authoritative style in which student were not free to challenge or question the authority of their teachers. The dead poets society was formed Mr. Keating in his days at Welton, this group then was against the norms of the school that was why its memory was never to be revisited or talked about in the school. Keatings actually made this clear to his student, when he told them not to say or talked about the dead poets society. It is very interesting to see how John Keating establishes the relationship with his students in classroom and outside the classroom. He is quite open with his students about his attitude towards the world and his ideas about the purposes of life, and other general things, however, at the same time he doesnt reveal his personal life. This is very understandable due to the fact that he is a teacher and his role as a teacher prevents him from getting too personal with his students. Moreover, in our opinion, it was very important to keep this barrier between the professor and his students because otherwise they couldve lost their respect for him as a teacher. At the same time, Keating was eccentric and open enough to make his students be interested in him which helped in getting their attention to poetry. A) The different groups in the movie are as follows; I) Teachers these were responsible for the day to day teaching and providing guidance to the students of welt on academy. Ii) Students These were basically teenage boys aged 15-17 who were going to Welton academy as a preparatory school for college. The school was portrayed as being one of the best for producing intelligent students. Iii) DPS abbreviation for dead poets society, this was a literary club formed by eager students who wanted to draw meanings from what life really is all about by reading and reviewing poetry. The DPS recited poetry in two different contexts, romanticism and realism. iv) Parents/guardians these constituted parents who brought their children to welt on academy preparatory school, hoping to prepare a better future for their kids taking into account the reputation the school had. V) Board of regents/ school administration This was a governing body of the school concerned with all matters regarding the affairs of the students and teachers and the organizational protocols of the school. vi) Affiliates these were other people in the movie whom in one way or another made the boys lives what they are or what they ought to become and accomplish. Example Todds brother who was a lawyer what his parents wanted Todd to look up to, Knoxs crush Christine whom in a way helped Knox build his confidence and the list goes on and onà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ vii) Study groups These were studying groups for the students categorized depending on the area of study example Latin, chemistry etc. B) The groups do differ basically in the way they are formed and the purpose from which they were created. Some of them are what are called formal groups while other is informal groups. Starting with the formal groups, these were created by the structure of the organization basing on task needs and were usually involuntary. In this we can include the students themselves, teachers, board of regents/school administration and the parents. The students and the teachers are the key groups in forming the school environment were the actual educating/learning process is takes place. Parents role in all this is to ensure their children get proper education by addressing to their basic needs and wants. Board of regents/ school of administration were there to ensure that the learning process runs smoothly and that the rules and regulations of the school are adhered to by both students and teachers. The informal groups on the other hand were created by the members themselves to cater for particular needs in this case social needs and they were voluntary. In this we can include the dead poets society (DPS) group, affiliates and study groups. The DPS was created by its members led by Neil to try and find true meaning to life and to seize the day making the boys lives extraordinary as inspired by their teacher Mr. Keating. The affiliates existed because in one way or another are what the characters looked up to or tried to associate them with themselves in conquering day to day life challenges as teenage boys. Study groups were formed by the students for the sole purpose of striving to achieve both academically and socially in line with the schools four pillars which were honor, discipline, excellence and tradition. C) As mentioned above, the groups similarity basically lies in whether they are formal or informal groups. Formal groups were created by the structure of the organization and were involuntary while informal groups were created by the members themselves and they were voluntary. Dissimilarity of these groups can be observed in the roles each group plays. The basic roles of each group are as follows; Teachers these played a role of conveying the knowledge they had acquired through training and experience to the students and provide guidance in the learning process. Students these were in search of knowledge and enrolled to the preparatory school to learn and prepare themselves for college. Parents these were the providers for the students needs and wants and also provided guidance. Board of regents/schools administrators ensured that the learning process runs smoothly DPS This group was in search of giving meaning to life through reciting poetry inspired by their teacher. Study groups formed for the sole purpose of co operating in studying and learning among students. Affiliates these acted as references or catalysts in either shaping or making the students behave in a certain way or achieve particular goals in their lives. Evaluation In the movie of Dead Poets Society, we see the culture of the Welton academy had very traditional and reflecting one of the most significant way which was influenced to the student and other social group. However the movie showed that Welton Academy was closely bound to the students families which were usually provided generation to generations of their forefathers had attended the school so that students automatically had to follow their tradition and principle like tradition, honor, discipline and excellence. According to the movie Dead Poets Society, there are some strong groups where culture of the school and those groups are influence each other. Welton Academy was an interdisciplinary foundation where some elements of culture were illustrate to the teachers, students, parents or guardians group, school administration group and affiliates group to symbolic perspective of thinking, established guidelines and structures in their attempts to motivate and inspire each other. At the beginning of the story hallways, dormitories and class room are steadily introduced to the group of students that are at the center of the story. Students group has leadership abilities like Neil, self-confident and about to discover the inspiring power of poetry like Charlie Dalton are individually influences by the teacher group and administration group. Mr. Keating, English literature teacher was explored and motivated some elements of culture and illustrate to the students to desire for charismatic leadershi p, change raises question concerning about literature and real life. In parents group, we see most clearly in the value tight spot faced by Neil Perry and the opposition to his father. Neil and his father relationship were a struggle for control of all disagreements like battles with win-lose outcomes. Neil had wished to be an actor and knew that it would definitely be against his fathers wished. Another linked between parents and students group was Todd and his family. Todds parents had given him the same desk set which he got two following years and that was upsetting him. Instead to administration group, it was encouraging conformity through seduction to the students group. In this movie Students made a group name Dead poets society (DPS) which was insolence and penalize the deviant by the administration. But this group would be continued of some students to take part by all kind of persuade, pressure and negotiate. Neil was a leader in that group activity who praises his accompl ishments and shares personal secrets with others. Moreover, In our view of Dead poets society movie, the dissimilarity of above mention groups like teachers, students, parents, boarding of regents or schools administrators, dead poet society, study groups and also affiliates can be observed in the roles each group plays and we can see they are linked to each other.

Novelty Preferences in Infants: Effects on Infant Cognition

Novelty Preferences in Infants: Effects on Infant Cognition Discuss the method of ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ and consider its contribution to psychologists’ understanding of infant cognition. One of the keystones in an infant’s development is the ability to group similar items and experiences together. This, on the surface, may seem a trivial skill but it forms the basis for much of the infant’s cognitive development in the first months of life. Once similar things are identified into groups, structure and order can form around them. This process is referred to as ‘categorisation’. In fact, the development of the process itself provides a useful insight into the developmental progression of an infant more generally. One of the major tools psychologists have used to study this phenomenon is that of the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ technique: Fantz (1963) noted that infants showed a strong tendency to pay attention to novel objects, compared with those they had previously encountered. If an infant is presented with an object for an extended period of time, that infant will gradually reduce the attention it bestows upon the object. The baby will begin to look away, until eventually it no longer pays the object attention at all. This process is known as familiarisation (or ‘habituation’). Subsequently, if the infant is presented with the same object as before, alongside a new object (with which the infant has had no previous experience), then vastly more attention will be paid to the novel item. This is called ‘novelty preference’. Presumably this pairing of phenomena (familiarisation and novelty preference) comes about from a biological tendency (genetically hard-wired) which ensures an infant experiences as much of its environment as possible, in order to learn at an optimum rate. Psychologists have produced a lab-based version of the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ phenomenon in order to examine its effect on the cognitive development of infants. The technique has two stages: In stage 1 an infant is shown a number of different objects belonging to the same category (e.g. Siamese cat, Persian cat, Tabby cat). In the second stage the infant is presented with a pair of novel stimuli. One of the stimuli belongs to the category the baby has just encountered (e.g. Manx cat), the other belongs to an entirely new category (e.g. Labrador dog). The infant is then graded on the preference they pay to each stimulus. The infant normally shows a greater preference for the stimulus from the novel category. This is because they have formed a representation of the familiar exposed category (i.e. cats) which became habituated, so more examples of this category will hold less attention. When a new category is encountered (i.e. dogs) more attention is due to th is novel item since it has not been seen before. This process is used to examine many aspects of infant development which relate to categorisation, for example: how do infants form categories? How are these categories remembered? How are they organised? Also, since categorisation and language formation are so strongly linked the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ technique is used to understand the development of language in infants. In order to examine this process simply some of the first studies of infant cognition resorted to using very basic stimuli. Younger and Gotlieb (1988, see also Bomba and Siqueland, 1983; Quinn, 1987) used simple dot patterns, known to be effective in examining adult categorisation. Infants were familiarised with six pairs of distorted dot patterns, which had been derived from a single (undistorted) prototype (and hence were considered to belong to the same category). The infants were then shown a test pair which included the prototype of the exposed category, and a prototype of an entirely different dot category. The amount of time the infants spent looking at the novel dot pattern was recorded. When the prototypes were very simple patterns the infants (aged 3-7 months) spent a significantly larger amount of time observing the novel prototype than the familiar one. This indicated that they had all formed a representation of the dot category, without ever seeing the pattern which defi ned the category (the prototype). As the prototype patterns became more complex only older infants (5 months and above) showed this significant trend. So, older infants appeared to be better at forming a prototype from the series of distorted examples, although all showed evidence of category formation. Younger and Gotlieb (1988) went on to use this finding to examine how infants actually store their category representations. They hypothesised two possibilities for category storage: 1. all possible exemplars are stored in memory and are available for comparison with new instances (‘exemplar memory’); 2. an average of all observed exemplars is stored as a prototype (‘prototype memory’). Initially it would seem plausible that prototype memory is the more likely as this is the most efficient form of storage and retrieval. Comparing an example with all previous examples would be very time-consuming. Once another cohort of Younger and Gotlieb’s (1988) infants had been exposed to the distorted dot pattern exemplars (see above) they were then shown the prototype paired with one of the previously seen distorted exemplars. If the infant produced a prototype when it was exposed to the exemplars earlier (by averaging the features of the distorted patterns) then the prototype the infant formed should look much like the actual prototype. In this case the infant should perceive the distorted pattern as less familiar (and thus attended to for more time) than the prototype. If the infant was in fact just remembering each and every pattern it was presented with then the distorted exemplar should be more familiar (and attended to less) than the prototype, which was not seen until this point. However, it seems that infants use both of these category storage mechanisms, depending on the exact parameters of the experiment (i.e. if there are a few simple exemplars then it is more efficient to encode each one, when there are many complex exemplars a prototype is more appropriate). More importantly, infants use the same mechanism as adults performing the equivalent test. This not only indicates that infants are able to form prototypes (an essential mechanism for category formation), but are capable of adult-like cognitive tasks from a very early age (ED209, Child Development Course Team, 2008). Experiments like those described above have been criticised for their lack of environmental validity. In order to address whether or not infants can actually categorise items that are relevant to their surroundings a number of authors have used the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ technique. Quinn, Eimas and Rosenkrantz (1993, see also Eimas and Quinn, 1994; Quinn and Eimas, 1996) gave infants exposure to pictures of domestic cats from different breeds and in different orientations. Subsequently, the infants spent less time viewing novel cat pictures (as they considered them familiar) than pictures of animals from other species (which belonged to novel categories). These experiments show that infant categorisation is reproducible outside of the ‘lab’. Moreover, the experiments indicate that infants can produce categories that are both environmentally valid and useful, without the assistance of a vocabulary. Knowing that similar things go together is the first stepping stone to producing useful categorical knowledge. The next step than an infant makes is to organise their categories into hierarchical structures. This step brings the child closer to forming a strong basis for a lexical framework (i.e. towards speech). To illustrate: A Siamese cat belongs to the super-ordinate category of ‘cats’, which in turn are ‘animals’. Construction of this categorical framework is commonly investigated using the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ technique: Behl-Chadha (1996) set out to discover if infants were truly able to form hierarchical structure. Infants aged between 3 and 4 months were familiarised with a set of twelve photos of chairs (which included sub-ordinate categories like desk chairs and rocking chairs etc.). Following this the infants were shown pictures of novel chairs along with other items of furniture. This infant paid more attention to the novel items than the chair-related items. This standard ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ effect showed that the babies had successfully formed the category ‘chair’. However, when the infants were familiarised with a set of ‘couch’ pictures they subsequently treated new ‘couch’ pictures as familiar, but pictures of other chair-types were treated as novel, attracting more attention (indicating the babies knew couches were an individual category, whilst at the same time knowing that chairs were a category also). This experiment proved that infants are in fact able to ‘nest’ categorical information into a hierarchical structure, needed for the formation of a vocabulary. Another aspect of categorical grouping that is a pre-requisite of early speech formation is that of spatial relation. This form of categorisation is more abstract than the types summarised above as it cannot rely on perceptual features. Quinn (1994, see also Quinn et al., 2003) showed that infants can categorise abstract spatial relations, grouping objects that are ‘above’ or ‘below’. If an infant was familiarised with stimuli that were all of the same spatial relation they would subsequently show preference for stimuli in another spatial relation. These kinds of experiment show that infants produce seemingly complicated categorical information without the a priori powers of speech and vocabulary. Infants therefore have the cognitive ability to form many complex representations of their environment. In fact, many authors believe this forms the basis for communication and language development. Waxman and Markow (1995) suggest that language acquisition is promoted due to the ability it provides the infant in referring to objects. In fact the onset of speech and the so-called ‘vocabulary spurt’ have both been attributed to categorisation. Gopnik and Meltzoff (1992), for example, note that children who are better at categorisation on the ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ test are those who also use more words and names for items in their first months of speech production. Goldfield and Reznick (1990), note that half of all early words spoken by infants were object names, further strengthening the link between object category and cognitive development, and language in particular. The ‘familiarisation/novelty preference’ method is therefore key in understanding the building-blocks of infant cognition and speech. Bibliography Bomba, P. C. and Siqueland, E. R. (1983) ‘The nature and structure of infant form categories’, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, vol. 35, pp. 294–328. ED209 Course Team (2008). Cognitive and Language Development in Children, Milton Keynes: The Open University. Eimas, P. D. and Quinn, P. C. (1994) ‘Studies on the formation of perceptually based basic-level categories in young infants’, Child Development, vol. 65, pp. 903–17. Fantz, R. L. (1963) ‘Pattern vision in newborn infants’, Science, vol. 140, pp. 296–7. Gopnik, A. and Meltzoff, A. N. (1992) ‘Categorization and naming: basic-level sorting in eighteen-month-olds and its relation to language’, Child Development, vol. 63, pp. 1091–103. Quinn, P. C. (1987) ‘The categorical representation of visual pattern information by young infants’, Cognition, vol. 27, pp. 145–79. Quinn, P. C. (1994) ‘The categorization of above and below spatial relations by young infants’, Child Development, vol. 65, pp. 58–69. Quinn, P. C. and Eimas, P. D. (1996) ‘Perceptual organization and categorization in young infants’, Advances in Infancy Research, vol. 10, pp. 1–36. Quinn, P. C., Eimas, P. D. and Rosenkrantz, S. L. (1993) ‘Evidence for representations of perceptually similar natural categories by 3-month-old and 4-month-old infants’, Perception, vol. 22, pp. 463–75. Quinn, P. C., Adams, A., Kennedy, E. et al. (2003) ‘Development of an abstract category representation for the spatial relation ‘‘between’’ in 6-to 10-month-old infants’, Developmental Psychology, vol. 39, pp. 151–63. Younger, B. A. and Gotlieb, S. (1988) ‘Development of categorization skills: changes in the nature or structure of infant form categories?’, Developmental Psychology, vol. 24, pp. 611–19. Waxman, S. R. and Markow, D. B. (1995) ‘Words as invitations to form categories: evidence from 12-to 13-month-old infants’, Cognitive Psychology, vol. 29, pp. 257–302.

Violence as Displacement: The Erotic Gaze in Gladiator and Fight Club :: Essays Papers

Violence as Displacement: The Erotic Gaze in Gladiator and Fight Club On the screen, two men writhe and grapple on the cold concrete floor. One man on top, holding the other from behind in a chokehold that causes the man on the bottom to succumb to the more powerful man. The dialogue by the narrator states that, â€Å"Sometimes all you could hear were the flap, hard packing sounds over the yelling, or the wet choke when someone caught their breath and sprayed† (Fight Club). The soundtrack consists of a few notes repeated over and over again in a steady rhythm to the action that is happening on the screen. The camera focuses on a close-up of the face of the man on bottom as he contorts into an expression of both pain and pleasure and moans loudly. Finally, the two men get up after the action is finished and embrace. Panting and moaning, the last shudders of pleasure leave their bodies as the scene fades out and begins again with another couple struggling on the cold concrete floor. The scene described above sounds as if it should be found in a pornographic video displayed on the shelves of a sex shop located in the back alleys of Soho in London. However, this scene is taken from director David Fincher’s widely popular film Fight Club. Even though the scene has an intense air of the homoerotic, the characters in the film are actually fighting and not having sex. Steve Neale addresses this phenomenon in his article â€Å"Masculinity as Spectacle†. He upholds the view of feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey by maintaining that the spectatorial look in mainstream cinema is always male. A problem arises when the look of the spectator is forced upon an erotic shot of a male figure. The article states, â€Å"that in a heterosexual and patriarchal society, the male body cannot be marked explicitly as the erotic object of another male look: that look must be motivated in some other way, its erotic component repressed† (Neale 14). The e rotic component is repressed with violence or with mutilation of the male body. This repression is often found in the action genre in such films as Gladiator and Fight Club where the female object of the spectator gaze is replaced with male figures.

Computer Repair :: Essays Papers

Computer Repair At Ford Motor Company, we have a passion for Better Ideas. Whether pushing the limits of technology and design, or bringing people together within a community, we work to approach every challenge with ingenuity and caring. Explore opportunities for doing business with us, visit the Investor Center, or learn more about us. Environmental Initiatives Learn what we're doing to build vehicles that are better for the environment as well as promote conservation in communities, schools, and our very own facilities. Corporate Citizenship Explore what corporate citizenship means at Ford Motor Company and how we are striving to make the world a better place. Safety & Security The safety of our vehicles and the families who rely on them is essential to Ford Motor Company. Read about our latest safety enhancements and how we're educating motorists to buckle up and drive smart. Design & Technology We're researching in Asia, partnering with NASA, and innovating in our plants and offices around the world every day. Get a preview of what's new and what's next at Ford Motor Company. Partnerships & Alliances We want you to know about the partners we work with and the programs we support. Our professional network includes some of the most exciting companies and collaborations in the marketplace today. Suppliers Ford Motor Company relies on strong relationships with suppliers and we welcome new suppliers with great products and ideas. Investor Information Access investor news, stock updates, and company reports. Heritage Trace the history of Ford Motor Company—learn more about Henry Ford and 100 years of innovation. Newsroom Get news, read press releases, and review our company policies on topics such as air quality and the Firestone recall. Global Sites Check out the websites, vehicles, and services that are available in over 120 countries. Careers Our success has been achieved through the concerted efforts and collective vision of a diverse workforce in the US and abroad. Find out about career opportunities with us. Site Map Privacy FAQs Contact Us Note: leads to an external site  ©Copyright 2001 Ford Motor Company. All rights reserved. Computer Repair :: Essays Papers Computer Repair At Ford Motor Company, we have a passion for Better Ideas. Whether pushing the limits of technology and design, or bringing people together within a community, we work to approach every challenge with ingenuity and caring. Explore opportunities for doing business with us, visit the Investor Center, or learn more about us. Environmental Initiatives Learn what we're doing to build vehicles that are better for the environment as well as promote conservation in communities, schools, and our very own facilities. Corporate Citizenship Explore what corporate citizenship means at Ford Motor Company and how we are striving to make the world a better place. Safety & Security The safety of our vehicles and the families who rely on them is essential to Ford Motor Company. Read about our latest safety enhancements and how we're educating motorists to buckle up and drive smart. Design & Technology We're researching in Asia, partnering with NASA, and innovating in our plants and offices around the world every day. Get a preview of what's new and what's next at Ford Motor Company. Partnerships & Alliances We want you to know about the partners we work with and the programs we support. Our professional network includes some of the most exciting companies and collaborations in the marketplace today. Suppliers Ford Motor Company relies on strong relationships with suppliers and we welcome new suppliers with great products and ideas. Investor Information Access investor news, stock updates, and company reports. Heritage Trace the history of Ford Motor Company—learn more about Henry Ford and 100 years of innovation. Newsroom Get news, read press releases, and review our company policies on topics such as air quality and the Firestone recall. Global Sites Check out the websites, vehicles, and services that are available in over 120 countries. Careers Our success has been achieved through the concerted efforts and collective vision of a diverse workforce in the US and abroad. Find out about career opportunities with us. Site Map Privacy FAQs Contact Us Note: leads to an external site  ©Copyright 2001 Ford Motor Company. All rights reserved.

Listo Systems Essay

Listo Systems management decide to implement â€Å" Black Box†, a new anti theft data security system to tackle recent increase in data theft. The new anti theft system will influence the movement of data as well as the working style of entire staffs. Cami Machado, an experienced staffs of Listo system who was handling â€Å" traffic† project and technical staff trainings and support is chosen to lead â€Å" Black Box† installation project. Seeing her excellent track record to implement new hardware and software, company chose her to lead the project. She is excited about the business opportunities going to create by installation of new â€Å" Black Box† project. However, the installation process will not be easy, as it seems. She is confident about her ability in successfully installing â€Å" Black Box† but worried about the staffs opposing the process of installation. Most of the technical staffs are against this project. Further, artists’ staffs believe that the great impact of this project will be on creativeness process. In addition to this, installation of this project will increase the risk of loosing creative staffs to rivals who do not have â€Å" Black Box technology†. Causal variables â€Å"Causal variables are those factors that influence the course of developments within an organization and its results or accomplishments. These variables are within the organization’s control and can be altered by the organization† (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2008). In this case, â€Å"Black Box† is the causal variables. This project has ability to influence Listo development process as well as the end results or accomplishments of Listo. Further, â€Å"Black Box† implementation decision is totally under control of Listo management and the decision of installation can be changed by the Listo management if they want to. Intervening variables The human resources that are affected by the decision of Listo System of implementing Black Box (Causal variable) are intervening variables (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2008). The current condition of most of the Listo’s technical staffs and artists’ staffs who are resisting the installation of Black Box are intervening variables in this condition. Most these intervening variables (technical and artists staffs) will opt to leave the Listo for competitors if there demand is overlooked. Potential output variables Potential output variables are the dependent variables that reflect the achievements of the organization (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2008). The extends to which the â€Å" Black Box† can control the hacking and data theft of Listo system will be the potential output variables. The output variables in this will depend on the proper installation of â€Å" Black Box† and the commitment and motivation shown by intervening variables (technical and artists staffs) towards the objective of this project. If I were Cami After thorough analysis of casual, intervening and end result variables, I have found that casual variable is central of three variables. Casual variable create situation of intervening variables, which will have great impact on end results variables. Trying to change intervening variables will not change the end result variable by much rather trying to change casual variables will be effective on both intervening and end result variables (Hersey, Blanchard & Johnson, 2008). In this case, trying to change the attitude of technical staffs and artists staffs will be much less effect on end results variables. Instead, I would rather request suggestion (help) from those apposing staffs on how to implement this new project to satisfy their complain. Modifying Black Box installation project according to their request will improve end result variables. If I were boss If I were Cami boss, I would focus my time on motivation and controlling. The planning to install â€Å" Black Box† and organization require to install â€Å"Black Box† is already finished. Now, I have to focus all my attention on controlling that everything is going according to the plan. If not, what controlling measure should I need to take to bring project on track. Further, to enhance efficiency, employees’ motivation is necessary. Being boss, it is my responsibilities to motivate employees to move forward to accomplishment of organization goals.

CTV Newsnet Case Analysis

Chapter 3 CTV Newsnet [pic] 1. Abstract In January 2000, the CTV Newsnet was confronted with a threat to its reputation and growth. A tape with offensive remarks made by the News broadcaster Avery Haines’ were aired mistakenly, and it aroused great public indignation. By means of OB analysis, we found that Haines’ dispositional characteristics such as low emotional stability and lack of conscientiousness, heavy workplace stress, and different attribution processes conducted by the anchor, her coworkers and the audience may all be causes of that crisis.Therefore, we suggest that CTV Newsnet could deal with its reputation crisis and prevent the similar technical and behavioural mistakes in the future as the following: 1) communicating effectively with the viewers about the company’s value and attitude toward this incident, 2) setting up positive reinforcers and punishment rules to encourage desirable behaviour and eliminate undesirable behaviour, 3) holding periodi cal seminar to strengthen employees’ awareness of work ethics, 4) doing job redesign to verify job tasks and reduce working pressure, and 5) providing proper training programs to improve employees’ cognitive abilities and professional skills. Table of Contents 1. Abstract 2 2. Introduction 4 3. Case Analysis 4 3. 1 Personality 4 3. 2 Stress 5 3. 3 Actor-observer Effect7 4. Solutions8 4. 1 Operant Learning Theory8 4. 2 Coping with Stress 9 4. 3 Attribution Theory 10 5. Conclusion 11 6. Bibliography12 7. Appendices13 2. Introduction The news channel, CTV Newsnet, had been playing important role in practicing the CTV Inc. ’s philosophy which emphasizes the social commitment, such as caring about farming issues. However, in January, 2000, CTV Newsnet had faced a severe challenge to maintain its reputation.This incident started with the CTV Newsnet anchor Avery Haines, who had stuttered and flubbed while recording a report introduction on farmer issues. In order to c over her own embarrassment and ease the tension for other co-workers in the studio, she made a private self-deprecating joke which included inappropriate remarks about various minorities. Of course, they retaped this part, but later that day, a CTV technician mistakenly aired the wrong tape which included the error and the offensive comment to the public. Soon after, mountains of criticism and suspicions about CTV’s professionalism and integrity flooded into the company. The happening of this fatal mistake indeed had adverse impacts on the company’s reputation as well as its further expansion plan.Thus, the purpose of our report is to decrease the possibility of making small but fatal mistakes among employees and to improve their sense of responsibility. 3. Casa Analysis 3. 1 Personality and the Big Five Personality can be described as the individual’s personal style to deal with the world. For Haines, there is a whole mixture of features that describe her perso nality. When hiring Haines as a â€Å"Hostess† for CTV, Kowalski, the CTV News senior vice-president and general manager was applying one of the key concepts of OB: the fit concept (textbook P41). Indeed, Kowalski felt immediately that Haines is the right person to fit in the fast-paced and demanding milieu of TV. Kowalski was impressed by her personal and professional qualifications.At the professional level, Haines had won many awards, shown a high level of performance, and earned wide popularity. At the personal level, and according to the five-factor model of personality, Haines showed her openness (she was creative and eager to move forward from radio to television), agreeableness (she humbly accepted criticism and advice, and completely committed to the job) and extraversion (she was interested in everything and had quickly gained the support and affection from her co-workers) (Ng, et al. , 2005). However, her lack of emotional stability (self-confidence) and consciousn ess (responsibility) didn’t appear to Kowalski until the fatal errors occurred.In fact, Haines’ self-depreciating joke to cover her embarrassment and hide her vulnerability and awkwardness is a display of the lack of confidence and consideration of the consequences. According to the intereactionist approach, organizational behaviour is a function of both dispositions and the situation (George, 1992). Indeed, Haines was facing a weak situation where there are loosely defined roles and few rules, so it’s hard to define appropriate behaviour (Adler & Weiss, 1988). As a result, personality tends to have most impact in weak situations, which was the case of Haines behaviour. 3. 2 Stress It was a very long day in CTV, they were preparing for a show talking about the farmers’ story which attracted growing attention all over Canada, and Haines due to being stressed made her famous mistake.Stress can be defined as a psychological reaction to the demands inherent i n a stressor that has the potential to make a person feel tense or anxious (McGrath, 1970). In our case, the viewers of the broadcasting on the farmers’ issue were the potential stressors to Haines, whereas Haines was also the potential stressor to her co-workers. Haines’ personality which was discussed earlier can mainly determine the extent to which the potential stressor becomes a real stressor, and it also determines how she reacted to stress behaviourally, psychologically, and physiologically. This can explain why Haines can be a potential stressor who exerted in turn stress on the work environment in which employees actions were affected and the wrong tape mistake was made.In terms of Locus of control (which is a set of beliefs about whether one’s behaviour is controlled by mainly internal or external forces), Haines reacted in this way since she was an external person. This type of people are more likely to feel anxious in the face of potential stressors (Ng, et al. , 2006), and that’s the case of Haines when she made her famous mistake; she was stressed and started making jokes to overcome her mistake, unlike if she was an internal person (which internal factors determine her personality) she would have confronted her stressors. Furthermore, Haines suffered from managerial and executive stress, since she had a work overload on the day of the incident.Also, Haines has a heavy responsibility and her work carried considerate significance to CTV’s philosophy which addresses social commitment; thus, not only she was under great pressure but also her co-workers, which increased the possibility of the occurrence of the tape mistake. Finally, other general stress factors such as work-family conflict, Job insecurity, and role ambiguity might affect the level of stress among CTV employees and led to the problem in the workplace. 3. 3 Actor-observer Effect According to Attribution theory, people’s behavior can be attribut ed to dispositional and situational causes though they are not always accurate. When people are forming attribution to explain others’ behavior, biases and errors are hard to avoid.Thus, in the CTV Newsnet case, Haines and her colleagues in the studio did not perceive her joking as a big problem  ; on the other hand, viewers were more likely to attribute her comments to her real disposition. The fact that viewers and her co-workers had different perceptions of Haines’s joking reflected the actor-observe effect in attributing process (Watson, 1982).. In this case, Haines tended to attribute her making joke to some external factors. They may include her extreme tiredness with the heavy workload, the attempt to ease the embarrassment, and the certainty of a second recording. This is because Haines as an â€Å"actor† is more sensitive than â€Å"observers† (the audience) of the pros and cons that the environment offered (Textbook, p83).Moreover, she knew ex actly her own thoughts and intentions which is to get herself and her co-workers relaxed. In general, people know better anout how and why their behavior varies by situations, while the observers tend to guess. In terms of the perspectives of Haines’ co-workers, they would also attribute Haines’ behavior to the external causes because they understood Haines’ motivation and thoughts in that specific situation, and they also know her personality well. They usually saw Haines as a talented, reliable and unbiased person. Thus, coworkers might perceive her making improper joke as an accident due to the low consistency and high distinctiveness of her this behaviour (Medcof, 1990).As the observer of Haines’s behaviour, CTV viewers had high possibility to commit the fundamental attribution error through overemphasizing dispositional causes and ignoring the possible environmental factors that may incur her joke making (Jones, 1979). Because viewers lacked the know ledge about the constraints, private thoughts, feelings, and intentions regarding Haines’s behaviour, they intuitively assumed that the anchor’s making discriminatory remarks reflected her real thoughts. Hence, they inevitablly felt horrified and annoyed. 4. Solutions: 4. 1 Operant Learning theory What happened to the CTV Newsnet indicated two main problems that threatened the maintenance of its reputation and integrity, less professional broadcasting and inferior technical error. Both behavioural mistakes should be eliminated for the sake of the entire company.According to the operant learning theory, two approaches could help CTV newsnet to improve their operationing effectiveness. One approach is to use appropriate positive and negative reinforcement to stimulate desired behaviour. The other is to use extinction and punishment to stop undesired behaviour (Textbook P49-55). In order to avoid such basic technical misconduct on the short-term basis, the CTV managers co uld adopt positive reinforcement by establishing periodical employee recognition programs. They include offerring financial rewards quarterly or annually to error-free employees and employees who made significant progress in their work.Moreover, a long-term training and development program can be conducted for technicians to learn how to operate the broadcasting equipment properly and efficiently as well as to adopt new technologies and upgrade their professional knowledge. To minimize the similar mishap made by Haines, CTV should create clear communication channel between company and employees to encourage a more direct feedback. It will give help the organization find out their employees’ personal or work-related difficulties so that their performance can be enhanced (Peterson & Luthans, 2006). If employees’ problems were incurred by too much workload, managers should consider hiring extra staff or enhancing the efficiency of management to cut the workload for employ ees.If making mistake was due to the lack of job interest and enthusiasm, the company could offer employees the opportunity to rotate among different positions or grand employees more controling power over their tasks to raise their sense of involvement. Meanwhile, through the negative reinforcement, the upper management may also monitor employees’ job performance and behaviour. Building up a more strict set of operational rules helps prohibit undesirable behaviours in the studio. Any breach of the rules could lead to disciplinary actions such as a verbal warning, a written warning or an ultimate dismissal. Employees’ attemppt to eliminate these unpleasant outcomes (warning and dismissal) can motivate them to obey the rules (textbook, p50).Although punishment might cause unwanted impacts on employees’ working enthusiasm, it is a effective way to prohibit seriously adverse behaviour sometimes. It also serves as a sound warning for other potential mistake-makers a nd a necessary compromise for easing the public anger. In CTV case, Haines should be fired for her unprofessional behaviour though unintentional since it already incurred a huge wave of public irritation. The technician who played the wrong tape should also be punished for his or her carelessness. However, using punishment should always be careful. 4. 2 Coping with stress In order to reduce and overcome the stress which could occur in the work place now and in future, CTV should start implementing concrete actions.For example, doing job redesign that changes the job depth and breadth can rebuild the job tasks with more diversity and authority. CTV could socially support its employees by planning events and activities which can improve the employee’s social life. The human resource department could establish a family friendly policy for the employees, which will allow the staff to balance better between their job duties and family responsibilities (Grant & Parker, 2009). Final ly CTV could also introduce stress management programs and work balance programs to allow its employees to arrange their time and tasks effectively with a wisely designed working schedule. . 3 Attribution theory Concerning the above analysis, some work-related attitudes among employees in CTV Inc. should be modified or reinforced. Since attitudes can be modified through persuasively changing people’s beliefs and values (Textbook, p120), holding seminars and developing training programs can indeed help improve the work-related attitudes of CTV workers. First, employees should improve their awareness of the limitation of viewers’ knowledge about the journalists’ or broadcasters’ personal conditions. Interactive activities involving CTV employees and CTV viewers can be conducted to help them establish better mutual understanding.Then, mangers can hold discussion panels to reinforce the belief that working in CTV requires rigorous work ethics and extensive se nse of responsibility, especially as journalists and broadcasters. And through these trainings, the employees will be encouraged to ponder internal factors for their own behavior and be more aware that their self-perceived minor mistakes could be fatal to the further growth of their company. Besides, CTV Newsnet should enhancee its employees’ personal skills to maintain its professionalism and reliability. According to the concepts of job performance, individual job performance is heavily affected by his or her general cognitive ability, which refers to intelligence (Textbook, P149).Training programs can be conducted to refine speaking skills of the anchors so that they can be more careful and thoughtful about wording when broadcasting the public information. Moreover, periodical seminars can be held to retain employees’ proper consciousness of political, religious and ethnic issues and to enrich their storage of the relevant knowledge. 5. Conclusion About decade ago, CTV Newsnet anchor Avery Haines’ offensive remarks were aired mistakenly and caused great controversies in the public. The management was facing a severe challenge: the news station’s reputation and growth were threatened. Through OB analysis we have found that certain traits of Haine’s personality, i. e. low level of emotional stableness and ack of conscientiousness, workplace stress from too much workload and pressure, as well as different attribution processes conducted by the anchor, her coworkers and the audience may all causes contributing to the problem. CTV Newsnet could deal with its reputation crisis and avoid these technical and behavioural errors in the future by taking the right steps: communicating effectively with the audience about the company’s value and attitude toward this incident, setting up positive reinforcers and punishment rules to encourage desirable behaviour and eliminate undesirable behaviour, doing job redesign to clarify rol es and reduce workload, and providing proper training programs to improve employees’ cognitive abilities and awareness of work ethics. Bibliography 1. Adler, S. , & Weiss, H. M. (1988).Recent developments in the study of personality and organizational behaviour. In C. L. Cooper & I. Robertson (Eds. ), International review of industrial and organizational psychology. New York: Wiley. 2. George, 1992; Weiss, H. M. , & Adler, S. (1984). Personality and organizational behaviour. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds. ), Research in organizational behaviour (Vol. 6, 1-50). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. 3. Grant, A. M. , & Parker, S. K. (2009). Redesigning work design theories: The rise of relational and proactive perspectives. Academy of Management Annal, 3, 317-375. 4. Jones, E. E. (1979). The rocky road from acts to dispositions. American Psychologist, 34, 107-117; Ross, L. (1977).The intuitive psychologist and his shortcomings: Distortions in the attribution process. Advances in Expe rimental Social Psychology, 10, 173-220. 5. McGrath, J. E. (1970). A conceptual formulation for research on stress. In J. E. McGrath(Ed. ), Social and psychological factors in stress. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston. 6. Medcof, J. W. (1990). PEAT: An integrative model of attribution processes. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 23, 111-209. 7. Ng, T. W. H. , Eby, L. T. , Sorensen, K. L. , & Feldma, D. C. (2005). Predictors of objective and subjective career success: A meta-analysis. Personal Psychology,58, 367-408. 8. Ng, T. W. H. , Sorensen, K. L. ,&Eby, L. T. (2006).Locus of control at work: A meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 27, 1057-1087. 9. Parasuraman, S. & Alutto, J. A. (1981). An examination of the organization antecedents of stressors at work. Academy of Management Journal, 24, 48-67. 10. Peterson, S. J. ,& Luthans, F. (2006). The impact of financial and nonfinancial incentives on business-unit outcomes over time. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91, 156-165. 11. Saks. A. M. , Gary. J. (2011). Organizational Behaviour. Toronto: Pearson Prentice Hall. 8th edition. (textbook) 12. Watson, D. (1982). The actor and the observer: How are their perceptions of causality divergent? Psychological Bulletin, 92, 682-700.