General nursing skills Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

General nursing skills - Essay Example I will also be discussing them in this assignment how important the skills I garnered will be in my future profession. The purpose of reflection is basically looking back at an event or time and analysing the emotions, feelings and other things involved at that point in time. Reflection usually involves questions such as â€Å"What went well?† and â€Å"How did I feel at that time?† Normally, reflection is done spontaneously, not based on formula. It normally occurs when feelings, emotions and thoughts about a particular event gradually surface (Atkins & Murphy 1994). However, there is no use in reflecting upon an activity if I the skills that I acquired during the activities and others that I improved upon will be going to waste. This is where the NHS framework is important. NHS knowledge and skills framework provides a comprehensive and consistent framework for review and development of a staff member. It determines and describes which knowledge and skills are important for staff to apply during at work and to deliver excellent services (Agenda for Change Project Team 2005). The NHS knowledge and skills framework has several purposes. NHS knowledge and skills framework is based on good people management. It is involved in looking at how people would like to be treated and more importantly, how they should be treated. Because of these, one of the purposes of NHS knowledge and skills framework is to check on the development of services by investing in staff members. This is done so that the service provided has good standards and it meets the needs of the public (Agenda for Change Project Team 2005). Another purpose of the NHS knowledge and skills framework is to support the learning process of the staff members, whether as a team or as an individual. It promotes effective learning and development. It aims to support the learning process of the members of the staff by letting them grow in various ways and

Business Ethics Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Business Ethics Paper - Essay Example A business is considered as a subsystem of society. Business ethics implies the profit making is not at all unethical but the company should discharge their social responsibility towards the society. The social obligation of a company towards the society is very complex and unlimited. But if the company wants to flourish it has to contribute to social welfare. The company which makes losses is considered as a unethical because it misuses the national resources, promotes inefficiencies, cannot pay back creditors, upsets the economy and is not able to discharge social responsibilities. Such a loss making concerns are burden to the economy. The business ethics dictates the responsibilities of a business which generate the revenue to the investors and society. It is the relationship between the business and social responsibility. All individual has a mode of behavior whether in business or in non- business. The standardized form is ethics. Ethics is thought of moral principles and set of values about what conduct ought to be. Therefore it does not specify what is good or bad, right or wrong. Business ethics is based on the behavior of a businessman in different business situations. They are concerned with the impact of decision that they have taken within or outside the organization. How strictly they are following the ethical rules in economic and financial decision making. It is often seen that the businessman has to obey the law, even though he feel it is injustice or immoral. If he feels the law is unjust, he takes remedy through a proper procedure. Human values are the core of ethical behavior. Values are the part of the culture and culture are the ideas, attitudes which shape the behavior of the person. Each individual has a culture adapted from the society and family in which he is grown up. Every org anization has there own culture in which the every person in that business works or takes decision. Values are adaptive, and subject to change over the period of time. In the olden days the business are considered as the profit making concerns but now the views are changed. The business is the part of society and if a business has to flourish it has to discharge its social obligation. The welfare of society is the social responsibility of the firm. The business which does not give importance to the social welfare will not survive. 1. Define what is power and leadership in your own words Power is the authority of a position to rule and achieve success by influencing the behavior of people at work. Power has both positive and negative aspect. When power is used in ethical and purposeful way we can say it is positive, which lead the organization to development. But when power is used for self serving, manipulative and corrupted way it is negative. Leadership is the process of using power to get work done by others. It is the ability to get men to do what the leader wants to do. The degree of authority or power used by leader is based on his leadership style. 2. Define what is the theory of Fiedler's contingency Fiedler's contingency theory of leadership explains that the group performance is a result of interaction of two factors- leadership style and situational favorableness. Leadership style depends upon the leaders personality. Fiedler has developed an index called the least-preferred coworker (LPC) scale. LPC is based on the liking and disliking of working with other individuals in the group. Low LPC suggests that leader

Creativity And Innovation In The Workplace Commerce Essay

Creativity And Innovation In The Workplace Commerce Essay So in this context, what is creativity and what is innovation? Often they are not distinguished. They are simply seen as part of the process by which knowledge is developed and transformed into business value. This is a perfectly acceptable definition, but again like the failure to differentiate between information and knowledge it is not very useful for the purpose of discussing the subject area.. . It is important to distinguish between creativity and innovation because the processes are different, the risks are different, the starting points are different, and the climates needed for achievement are different, and there are consequences of these differences. To support this argument, the author has divided this essay into three main parts. First of all creativity and innovation is defined according to different researchers. Then the some basic differences between them is discussed. At the end, the author has described process of creativity and innovation to support his arguments. Creative thinking, creativity and innovation are separate and distinct things. Creative thinking is a process that can be taught, creativity is a phenomenon about which can be taught, and innovation is more than creativity. Creativity is the production of novel and useful ideas in any domain whereas the innovation is the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization.(stein 1974, woodman, sawyer and griffen 1993). West and Farr (1990) consider creativity as the ideation component of innovation and innovation as encompassing both the proposal and applications of the new ideas (p. 10). In this view, creativity by individuals and teams is a starting point for innovation; the first is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the second. Amabile and shermaine montefalco et al. (1996) Creativity is the production of novel and useful ideas in any domain whereas the innovation is the successful implementation of creative ideas within an organization.(stein 1974, woodman, sawyer and griffen 1993). West and Farr (1990) consider creativity as the ideation component of innovation and innovation as encompassing both the proposal and applications of the new ideas (p. 10). .Successful innovation does not only depends upon the idea coming from inside the organization but can also comes from outside the organization. Many researchers have argue that the innovation is not a linear process (Drazin and Schoonhoven, 1996; van de ven, 1986; Scgroeder et al 1986; Van de ven at al 1999) it may be conceived of as cyclical with periods of innovation initiation, implementation, adaptation and stabilization. Creativity is likely to be most evident in first stage of innovation. (iainchalmers  , 2007) from Human Motivation, 3rd ed., by Robert E. Franken: Creativity is defined as the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others. (page 396) Three reasons why people are motivated to be creative: need for novel, varied, and complex stimulation need to communicate ideas and values need to solve problems (page 396) Creativity is any act, idea, or product that changes an existing domain, or that transforms an existing domain into a new oneWhat counts is whether the novelty he or she produces is accepted for inclusion in the domain. Creativity is the ability to produce work that is both nove,(i.e, original, unexpected) abd appropriate(i.e, useful, adaptive concerning task constrains)(lubart, 1994: Ochse 1990; Sternberg 1988; Sternberg and lubart 1991, 1995, 1996) Components of creativity: Expertise encompasses everything that a person knows and can do in the broad domain of his or her work. Creative thinking, as noted above, refers to how people approaches problems and solutions- their capacity to put existing ideas together in new combinations. The skill itself depends quite a bit on personality and as well as on how a person thinks and works. Expertise and creative thinking are a individuals raw materials- his or her natural resources, if you will. But a third factor- motivation- determines what peoples will actually do. If an individual have outstanding educational credentials and a great facility in generating new prospective to do a particular job, but if he lacks the motivation to do that job, he will not do that; his expertise and creative thinking will not give him any advantage. People will be more creative when they feel motivated primarily by the interest, satisfaction, and challenge of the work itself- and not by external pressures. There also exists the enormous graveyard of innovations that have never been adopted and not necessarily because they are the results of repetitive, foolish, or simply reproductive processes(Paolo Legrenzi, Creativity and Innovation, http://www.iuav.it/Ricerca1/Dipartimen/dADI/Working-Pa/wp_2007_02.pdf) I believe that there is a difference between creativity and innovation and agree with Robinson and Sterns explanation:10 †¢ Creativity the results of creativity in companies are improvements or changes to what is already done. †¢ Innovation the results of innovation in companies are entirely new activities for the company The key words, improvements and new, help define the difference in these terms. However, creative thinking is part of the innovation process. Another way of explaining this comes from the late management consultant, Richard Byrd, who defined innovation as creativity times risktaking. Japan railway east is the largest rail carrier in the world. When they decided to construct a new bullet-train line through the mountains north of Tokyo, they never anticipated that this would open the doors of a new business horizon for them- the beverages. JR east have to construct many tunnels, and water causes problem there. The JR plans to drain this water away. But the crew inside the tunnel found a new solution of this problem; they were using to drink that. One of the workers liked it taste so much that he give suggestion to the JR to bottle this water and sale as premium mineral water instead of draining that into runoffs. His idea was implemented and soon the water was marketed with the brand name of OSHIMIZU. Within a short period of time it become so popular that JR plants vending machines at most of its platforms and establish a subsidiary company who only deals with this water. This idea turns so profitable that in 1994, sales of Oshimizu beverages were $ 47 million and its also started to sell juices as well as iced and hot teas and coffees.( Corporate creativity: how innovation and improvement actually happen   By Alan G. Robinson, Sam Stern) Most researchers and managers recognize that creativity at the individual level represents only part of the challenge. Organizations must create environments that allow and encourage employees to engage in creativity. Most organizations have developed layers of rules, procedures and bureaucratic processes that stifle creativity (MacKenzie, 1998).To be creative, the management has to tolerate the mistakes and accept the degree of risk involved with this. It also requires the long term commitment of time and resources whereas; the risk of failure is also there to be considered (Yukl, 2006). Creativity is the long term investment of any organization, which cant be start or stop any time. Firms commonly encourage employees to use their creativity and judgment through empowerment (Gandz and Bird, 1996). Hence, the management culture of an organization is the major factor which initiates the creativity in an organization. On the other hand, much lower degree of risk is involved in the innovation. In innovation the success is ascertain, so the process can be terminated at any desired stage. Innovation does not require a long term commitment of time and resources. Innovation is more likely to occur in groups where there is support for innovation, and where innovation attempts are rewarded rather than punished (Amabile, 1983; Kanter, 1983) In modern age, creativity is considered as a science which can be learnt. Several universities offer courses and degrees in the field of creativity and creative problem solving where as there are only a few offer coerces in the field of innovation. For organizations it is easy to train their employees more creative and effective in their work. On the other hand, innovation is much more informal field. No specific body of knowledge serve a basic of teaching and learning for innovation. Most of innovative techniques are derived from the basics of creativity. Conclusion: Chances are that the very successful leaders of the future will be more likely to make creativity and innovation a strategic priority in their organizations if they better understand the reality of what they really are rather than an unsubstantiated myth. How they are different. Why they are both needed, and how to make them both happen in the right way at the right time in the business cycle. Referances: (iainchalmers  , 2007) Creativity vs Innovation the ugly truth, http://blogs.holstgroup.co.uk/greenhat_thinking/2008/03/07/creativity-vs-innovation-the-ugly-truth/ The innovation process may be divided into three areas: the fuzzy front end (FFE), the new product development (NPD) process, and commercialization, as indicated in Figure 1-1.1 The first part-the FFE-is generally regarded as one of the greatest opportunities for improvement of the overall innovation process.2 Many companies have dramatically improved cycle time and efficiency by implementing a formal Stage-GateTM (Cooper 1993) or PACE_ (McGrath and Akiyama 1996) approach for managing projects in the NPD portion of the innovation process. Attention is increasingly being focused on the front-end activities that precede this formal and structured process in order to increase the value, amount, and success probability of high-profit concepts entering product development and commercialization. The comparison was complicated because there was a lack of common terms and definitions for key elements of the FFE. Without a common language and vocabulary, the ability to create new knowledge and make distinctions between different parts of the process may be impossible (Krough, Ichijo, and Nonaka 2000). Knowledge transfer is ineffective or unlikely if both parties mean different things, even when they are using the same terms. These insights led us to believe that we could improve understanding of the FFE by describing it using terms that mean the same thing to everyone. The front end of innovation, or what us often called fuzzy front end , presents one of the greatest opportunities for improving the overall innovation process. New concept development model: The NCD model, shown in figure below, compromises of three key elements: The inner area defines the five key elements compriseing the front end of innovation The engine or Bulls Eye portion which drives the five front-end ekements and is fuelled by the leadership and culture of the organisation. The influencing factors, or environment on the periphery . consists of organizational capabilities, business strategy, the outside world(i.e., distribution channels, customers and competitors), and the enabling science that will be utalized. FIVE FRONT END ELEMEENTS: OPPORTUNITY IDENTIFICATION. This is where the organization, by design or default, identifies the opportunities that the companu might want to pursue. Business and technological opportunities are explicitly considered so that resources will eventuallu be allocated to new areas of market growth and/pr operating effectiveness and efficienscy. This element is tupiucally driven by the goals of the business. The opportunity might be a totally new direction for the business or a minor upgrade to an existing project. 2. opportunity analysis: Additional information is needed for translating opportunity identification into specific business and technology opportunities and making early and other uncertain technology and marlet assessment. Extensive effoert may be committed for focus groups, maeket studies and sceientificn expertise. However, the amount of effort expended is dependent upon the attractiveness of the opportunit. 3. idea genesis: Genesis is the development and materation of the opportunity into a concrete idea. This represents an evolutionary process in which ideas are built upon, torn down, combined , reshaped, modified,and updated. Ideas may be generated by anyone with a passion for a particular idea, problem, need, or situation. Ideas may be generated or enriched by others through the efforts of a key individual or champion (Markham 1998; Markham and Griffin 1998). Idea selection: In most businesses there a re so many products/process ideas that the critical activity is to choose which idea to pursue in order to achieve the most business value. Selection may be as simple as an individials choice amoung many self generated options or as formalized as a prescribed portfolio method. More formalized project selection and resource allocation in the FEI is difficult die to limited information and understanding at this point. Concept and technology development: The final element of the model involves the development of a business case based on estimates of market potential, customer needs, investment requirements, competitor assessments, technology unknowns, and overall project risk. The environment: The FFE exists in an environment of influencing factors. The factors are the corporations organizational capabilities, customer and competitor influences, the outside worlds influences, and the depth and strength of enabling sciences and technologyThe outside world, government policy, environmental regulations, laws concerning patents, and socioeconomic trends all affect the FFE as well as the new product development or Stage-GateTM part of the innovation process. Some of these factors are indicated in Porters five force model (1987). THE ENGINE (LEADERSHIP, CULTURE, AND BUSINESS STRATEGY) The element of leadership, culture, and business strategy sets the environment for successful innovation. Proficiency in this element distinguishes highly innovative companies from less innovative ones (Koen et al. 2001). Continuous senior management support for innovation has been shown in numerous studies to be critical to new product development success (Cooper and Kleinschmidt 1995; Song and Parry 1996; Swink 2000). Culture in the FFE fundamentally differs from that in the NPD and operations parts of the organization (Buckler 1997).

Internet Censorship Essay - Internet Needs a Dot Kids Domain :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Internet Needs a Dot Kids Domain The Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002 proposes the creation of a second level domain within this Country's United States Top Level Domain that sets aside an address on the Internet and World Wide Web for information that is suitable for minor children of age 12 and younger. Various pro-family groups fully endorse and support this initiative. For example, those at the National Law Center for Children and Families can wholeheartedly say that such a domain is needed, would be a welcome solace to parents and educators who care about the best interests of our children and grandchildren, and is a constitutionally viable program for our Government to provide. There are those who will complain that Congress and our Government should not create domains at all, but Congress and the United States Government created the Internet and have a stake in its development and usefulness, including to children, who are our most dependent citizens. Whether management of a .kids.us sub-domain is beyond direct agency control or whether what is "suitable" is left to the discretion and best judgment of those entrusted with management of the United States domain and the Dot Kids subdomain are not serious problems. The Dot Kids domain would not be a public forum, but rather a proprietary and gratuitous public service of the Government. The courts should not consider it a justiciable issue for challengers to claim vagueness or access rights to this domain or its operation. A Dot Kids domain should be free from judicial review and immune from outside demands, much like the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution have the right to manage their own collections and decide what content and links to place on their own Websites, as well as every other Federal agency. If the U.S. Park Service decides to create a playground for children under 13 and exclude older kids and adults, they should be able to do so, and if Congress will create an online safe-haven for kids under 13 to find suitable, age appropriate information and entertainment, it should be able to do so.

Naturopathy and Nutritional Medicine

In this essay I will look at nutritional medicine and naturopathy, and discuss how they have evolved into their present status. I will describe similarities and differences and address how history, culture and philosophy have shaped them. Nutritional medicine is the use of food and nutritional supplements to prevent and treat disease. It is based on the scientific study of nutrition, researching the nutritional content of food and how it con-tributes to optimal health. Nutrition is fundamental to health as it promotes wellbeing and decreases the risk of developing acute and chronic illnesses (Sardesai 2012, p. ). Naturopathy is a holistic healing system, focussing on natural agents (i. e. air, water, heat, food, herbs) and therapies (i. e. electrotherapy, physiotherapy, psychotherapy) and excluding the use of drugs and surgery. The core principle is that all beings possess a Vital Force, the self-regulatory ability to heal which is supported and enhanced by naturopathic medicine (She rwood 2005, pp. 156-158). From those descriptions it is obvious that nutritional medicine is an integral part of naturopathy. In fact, naturopathy considers proper nutrition and dietary routines important building blocks to health which are the foundations to prevention of disease and promotion of health (Lloyd 2009, p. 46). Appendix, table 1 identifies further similarities and differences between these two modalities. Principles for nutritional medicine and naturopathy can be traced back to ancient practices. Refer-ences for the use of food as medicine can be found in ancient medical texts of Egypt that describe the use of animal, vegetable and mineral substances as medicine to treat diseases (Di Stefano 2006, p. 5). Although the term naturopathy stems from the late 19th century, its philosophical beginnings can also be found in Egypt with the earliest written records of healing practices. The supernatural approach to medicine and the belief that disease is caused by angered gods, evil spirits or demons was characteristic for this period. Patients were treated holistically, both on a spiritual level including religious ritual, and on an empirical level by using food and medicinal plants with healing power (Seaton 2012, p. 2). Appendix, table 2 describes how this view on medicine, health and disease developed over time†¦.

Feminism in advertising

In my essay I will scrutinise feminism in advertising. We live in a world surrounded by commercial advertisements. For a very long time advertisers have used tactics such as gender representations for targeting their audiences (customers). It is described by others as the science that capture the human mind long enough to get money out of it. With theories of advertising and their sophistication, my assignment will look at both the advantages and disadvantages of feminism in advertising. Society and social structure are immensely affected by popular culture. Strinati (2004) says, â€Å"in modern setting, popular culture is the culture produced which is commercially created by a few for consumption by many†. Mass media such as television, films, magazines, bus stop shelters, billboards, internet and newspapers are the common forms of communication used by product manufacturers who portray and interpret society. Kellnar (1995, p 5) says â€Å"media is the form of art that teaches us how to be men or women, how to react to society, how to be successful and popular†. These are some of the advantages for manufacturers concerned about the commercial success of their products hence presenting a culture that will be consumed by many. These few points by Kellnar(1995) are some of what manufacturers or capitalists with one thing in mind success of their product use as advantage forcing them to present a culture they believe will attract and be consumed by the most audience. In doing so, popular culture often results in stereotyping people such as women, the disabled and other minorities because depicting them as stereotypes is easy. With advertising as another form of popular culture the stereotyping becomes very bold to ensure fast selling of huge volumes within a short time. To make achieving these targets, manufacturers/ capitalists will not have time to build up their own characters meaning stereotyping must be used. Although these manufactures of these manipulated mass cultural images say popular culture mirrors or echoes the society, the opposite is also true. Unaware the behaviour of society is being affected by these manipulated media images. More and more people are becoming more concerned and worried about how society sees itself and sometimes adapt to these impressions left by this art of popular culture especially feminist who are saying images of women in popular culture are undermining and degrading women. To some extent the feminist concerns are true when you look at what Srinati (2004) says that society does not award the same privileges it offers to men to women. This justifies the argument from feminist regarding the representation of women in mass media. Having started on feminist theory, I will describe it feather more before moving on to how women are represented in popular culture. Feminism speaks for women in terms of social equality for sexes against patriarchy and sexism (Macionis and Plummer 2012). Feminists trying to eliminate gender inequality have four different main theories of feminism, liberal feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminism and what Sylvia Walby calls the dual systems of feminism and each responds to the oppression of women in different way, outlining different causes and different solutions. However they also have criticisms. Liberal feminists oppose prejudice and discrimination against that stops women from pursuing their goals (Macionis & Plummer 2012) and Gidens (2009) also says liberal feminism searchers for answers of gender inequality in cultural and social attitudes. It has great support than the other perspectives because it is more tolerant and its views are less threatening to existing values. In Western societies liberal feminists’ plans are to change the political, economic and social systems. Liberal feminists believe that both men and women are not benefiting from gender inequalities (Haralambos and Holborn 2008). Some of its criticisms identified by Valerie Bryson (1999) are basing liberal feminism on male assumptions and norms. The other is emphasizing public life at the expense of private life. Abbort et al. (2005) says liberalism does not explain the exploitation of women, it take no account of structural sources of inequality. Marxist and socialist feminism started from Marx’s conflict theory, blaming the sexual divisions of labour as the barrier preventing women from wealth (Marsh et al 2009) and this Marxist analysis of feminism blames capitalism as the key source of oppression rather than patriarchy, and capitalist as the beneficiaries. Just like radical feminists they have a desire for revolutionary change and want a communist society where production is communally owned. Although Marxist and socialist feminism had a lot of influence during 1970s and 1980s it has lost influence in recent years and some of its aspects have been adopted by other feminists. Just like the other feminist theories it has its own criticisms. It has been criticised for using the masculine theory which does fails to explain of women’s position (Haralambos et al 2008). Its main criticism comes from failing to emphasise how men oppress women (Abbort et al 2005). Radical feminism puts all the exploitation of women on men (Gidens 2009). Radical feminists believe that men are the beneficiaries from women subordination. Valarie Bryson (1999) says radical feminists see women as an oppressed group who had to free themselves from their oppressors in this case men (Haralambos & Holborn 2008, p 101). Radical feminism is criticised for encouraging women to focus on negative experiences with men and for portraying women as good and men as bad. Banks, 1981; Barry,1983; Stacey, 1983; and Vogel,1983 (cited in Macions and Plummer 2012, p 407) say these distinctions describe the problem of patriarchy in different ways and call for correspondingly distinctive solutions for social damage. We already know that societies and individuals take time to adjust to change and to adopt the new routines therefore the representation of women in media can speed up the process of change, as already demonstrated, that popular culture has enormous effect on society. Even though the representation of women in media is largely hidden by capitalism profit making agendas, an exact representation of society would harm the feminist motives. There are other feminist theories like black feminism and postmodern feminism. They are all associated with femininity some with theories that try to put limitations on the way women are portrayed by the mass media. Despite the short comings of social and commercial limits on advertisements, advertisers are always a step ahead in terms of change to social reality and they have proved that they can provide better reflection of social changes than any other media. The truth is advertisers continue to miss-represent the female body and women are still seen as cheap of free labour for house work in spite of all the changes in representation of women over the years. In television adverts for both sexes, men appear 76% more as experts than women (Hasseltine 1982). Hasseltine also says women are often portrayed as mothers or housewives without common sense knowledge about their roles. Recent study (Yoder et al 2008) has proved that although women still appear as housewives, they no longer appear as people without voice and mind of their own instead they are now competent, have a voice and perform professional duties just like the male colleagues. This shows a clear picture of change from the past couple of decades. Although changes in the way women are portrayed on adverts are said to have improved, the stereotyping still remains and are adding worthiness to some of the feminist objections about the portrayal of females in mass media. For examples women were seen as voiceless, passive sexual objects for male gaze, nevertheless today it is still the same, except women are no longer presented as inactive but as desirable sexual subjects who presents themselves in that objectified manner because they want to (Goldman, 1992). This is now post feminism and advertisers still use their narrow ideas that create feminine qualities and feminists are finding difficult to persuade advertisers to change these gender identities because advertisers put so much money towards these ideas and cannot afford to have low commercial results (Cortese 2008) and to achieve high commercial results they must use their femininity ideas. They then persuade a beautiful female in what they call perfect body, slim and tall without blemish. Storey (2003) in his book â€Å"Inventing Popular Culture† calls the advertisers, the ruling class, who constitute themselves under the guise of democratic populism, exploits the art of popular culture and the manipulative art of advertising to promote docile conformism and worship of the new which keeps the consumer in a confused state of changing fashion and insecure about his/her taste. Especially on beauty products, the manipulation of art of advertising is extended by air brushing the women to look extra fine causing women to feel inferior among others. Men as a result of these manipulated images raise the expectation from women which creates more gender stereotyping. Even though post feminism shows women as professionals and not as stupid mothers or housewives, they persist showing them as objects, even in advertisements/commercials meant for the male audience. Female audience have the worst adverts that objectify women for purposes of selling products such as lingerie. Post feminism shows semi naked female bodies that are considered as showing the sexual power of women over men, this in pre-feminism time was seen as offensive (Amy-Chinn 2006). This is one form of feminism that has limitation to the feminist theory of popular culture. Like I said before, feminist objections of stereotyping women are more evident in commercials that sell products for women and in magazines for female audience (Lindner 2004). Research conducted by Lindner (2004) concluded adverts from magazines for female audience stereotyped women 78% more than any other magazines, so if it is true that adverts/commercials are created with the targeted audience in mind, then women find themselves in inferior positions in such magazines and are identified better with such stereotyping. Such advertisements limits the work of feminists and their theory of saying advertisements should reflect social reality become invalid as such advertising do reflect reality but harming the feminist plan. If this kind of female stereotyping is a reflection of society, then there is nothing wrong with the popular culture that presents the female body in such a way. Unfortunately popular culture has great impact on how people carry and see themselves around others. The air bushed female bodies on advertisements will lead to denial of how they look without the manipulation. Individuals exposed to sexist commercials had negative thoughts about their own body image (Lavine et al 1999). This, without the criticism from feminists, is not best for society and its best not to show sexist advertisements which show the female body as an object. It has serious consequences on a lot of women especially the younger ones where it may result in problems like eating disorders, plastic surgeries, locking themselves away from society Another disadvantage of sexiest advertisements is that showing women as sex objects, excluding them from society, can cause men to have negative perception of women. For example (Rosewarne 2005) says criminality can lead to perception of fear in women, and this is not acceptable in society especially from feminists who are fighting for woman to be equal to men. Unfortunately another form of commercials that is increasing masculine power is the outdoor advertisements that sexually degrade women and strengthening their exclusion is on city spaces (Ibid, p67). This cause sexual violence which forces women to reduce their movements and this type of popular culture which creates an environment is not acceptable in society. Feminists need to come up with more powerful arguments that the ones mentioned above to solve this matter that is rising from stereotyping and showing women as sexual objects. Strinati, (2004) says some feminists are campaigning for a female world that excludes men. Gill (2008) says by purchasing underwear to tea or coffee they are representing power and independence. This is also adding to advertisements that are meant for the female audience meaning more stereotyping especially if it’s a woman to women commercials, resulting in feminists failing to field the answer to the problem of stereotyping women in popular culture. In the last 30years changes have happened in favour of women about their representation in popular culture especially the way they are portrayed in commercials. From stupid mother or housewife without a voice in the 1980’s to professional knowledgeable people with a voice in the twenty first century, despite all these changes in the way women are represented in advertisements they still experience stereotyping. Pre feminists saw the stereotyping off women as harmful today, the postfeminist supports the idea of showing the female body as sexual objects saying it signifies the power that the female body has over men. The objectification of the female body is still seen as the main way undermining women’s bodies and the limits found in feminism have made it hard for feminists to out rightly challenge the deception of women in popular culture. In conclusion, there clear evidence that feminists do not agree about the origins of inequality between men and women. They argue that women have always been in a subordination position while some say gender inequalities originate from particular historical events (Haralambos and Holborn 2008). Women have suffered oppression in the past without a voice and today they have a voice but still experience oppression in one way or the other. In advertising we saw objectification of women in advertisements as harmful in the 1970s and 1980s and in the twenty first century the objectification of women in advertisement is still happening but is now called the sexual power of women over men. We have also seen that the stereotyping and portraying women as object is a tool for advertisers trying to achieve their targets for whatever they are selling. Stereotyping the depicting of women has been part of advertising and will continue to be a very useful tool for advertisers. The manipulation of images can have devastating effect on out women living them with all sorts of problems. Finally, feminism is a metaphor for transformation, having s voice, for women who did not have a public voice in the past and it is seen as moving from object to subject (Storey 2009). Today the feminism movements are still tackling the adverting industry with the introduction of new revolution ways to tackle mass media about these images that depicting women as sexual objects.

My analysis of The Hours (middle section) essays

My analysis of The Hours (middle section) essays The second third of this book is even more interesting. I am starting to notice certain objects and such in the stories kind of running together in all three people. Also the plot is beginning to become better and more interesting. I have also noticed that each of the characters are becoming more and more depressed or in a way more crazy than before. I have noticed that the stories are starting to use some of the same themes or objects in each story. One in particular is when Mrs. Brown was making a cake for her husband and wanted to make it perfect. She was putting icing on it then she put yellow flowers around the edges then she put Happy Birthday Dan on the cake but she became very frustrated because the n on the name Dan got squished on the side of the flower and looked bad. Then when Virginia had her nephews and niece over they had found a dead bird. They decided to make a bow to let it die in and they put grass in the bottom of it (like frosting on a cake) then the niece wanted to put red roses around the outside first and Virginia asked if it would be better to but the bird in first then the flowers but the niece said no. So that was a pretty big coincidence between the two stories. Then in Mrs. Brown story she made a reference to Virginia about how she put rocks in her pockets and drowned herself. That was out of no where, well at least to me, so I did not get that part. The plots are also getting more interesting between all the characters. Mrs. Brown is talking about how she loves her husband yet she ends up kissing her best friend on the lips. That was a little strange to me but I guess she is really unsure of her life. It is just that she kissed her friend in front of her son and he saw everything. That must have traumatized him or something! Then Clarissa likes Richard but he also likes another lady and somehow everyone is fine with this they just share him or swap every other night an...

Essay on Colonial Latin American History

Essay on Colonial Latin American History Essay on Colonial Latin American History Essay on Colonial Latin American HistoryAs it is evident from different historical sources, there has always been a fierce competition for wealth and prosperity among the European countries. Today, it is widely known about the remarkable voyage of the captain Christopher Columbus for Spain back in 1492. And this was the beginning of the colonial Latin American history. Instead of sailing to the east, Christopher Columbus sailed west all across the Atlantic ocean seeking for the alternative trade route to the rich and wealthy lands of Asia. Every school child knows this story that ended with Columbus never reaching the shores of Asia, but instead stepping onto an unknown land in the Caribbean. It was this event that catalyzed the process of bringing together the European and American peoples. And this significant and memorable event soon changed the world forever.The following paper analyzes different aspects of the Spanish colonization of the Americas during the colonial times. The p aper discusses the events of that period in detail and with an emphasis on the factors that led to the colonization. It goes without saying that this significant event brought about many changes for both European and American peoples. Thus, the following research further explores both the unavoidable outcomes and quite predictable consequences of the colonization. The paper also explores the historical data on Spanish conquistadors who first entered the Latin America and opened a new trade route, consequently creating a connection between Europe and America. The research question of the following paper is to thoroughly analyze the historical data in terms of the actions of Spanish invaders in regard to the newly discovered land and its people. The actions of Spanish colonists were at times fierce and violent and this question is also discussed throughout the following research. It should be admitted that the Spanish colonization of the Americas was surely a significant and memorable event that had shaken the world and changed it for ages to come.How it all beganThe Spanish colonization of America was firstly meant to be exploration and later settlement and political governing over most of the western land by the Spanish Empire. It all began with the Spanish conquistadors, whose motivation for the colonial expansion was majorly trade and the spread of Christian religion. The colonization of the Americas lasted for more than four hundred years, starting back in 1492 and lasting till 1898. Everybody knows the memorable story of the arrival of Christopher Columbus, who aimed at finding a trade route to Asia, but instead found himself in the Caribbean island. During further years of exploration, the Spanish Empire expanded across most part of today’s Central America, Mexico and the Caribbean islands. Its expansion soon spread across many other lands of America. The colonization of America lasted till the early 19th century, when the revolutionary events fina lly resulted in the independence of most Spanish colonies[1]. The fatal loss of the territories politically brought an end to the Spanish colonization of America. However, the cultural and religious influences remain even nowadays.Factors leading to the Spanish colonization of Latin AmericaSpain had a number of motivations to expand and conquer the south of America. First of all, one would surely take into consideration religious motifs. Religion was the first and one of the major justifications for the colonization of Latin America. The Spanish expulsion and victory of the Muslim Moors from the so-called reconquista took place at the starting point of the age of discovery[2]. At the time when Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors entered the previously unknown lands and made new discoveries, they considered themselves to be crusaders, whose major mission and goal was to bring Catholicism to the indigenous people of Latin America for it to spread all across the newly conquered territ ories. Thus, the primary goal for the first expeditions to the new lands was to convert the people of the present Latin America, whom Europeans viewed as barbaric and savage. It is known from the historical data that Catholic priests travelled together with the Spanish conquistadors on their voyages across the ocean.The second and not less important factor for the colonization of Latin America was based on the economic and political motivations during the first expeditions to the New World. Thus, Spanish Empire viewed conquering of the lands in the New World as means to enlarge the size and enhance the strength of the Spanish Empire. This factor is undoubtedly well grounded, as it should be admitted that conquering new territories encouraged the spread of influence, power and prestige of Spain within the community of Europe. Furthermore, it is evident that early stages of overseas exploration by Spanish conquistadors turned to be successful as Spain managed to acquire monopolies on the spice trade. Moreover, the Spanish discovered precious metals like gold and silver in the newly discovered lands of Latin America. This discovery soon led to the growth of Spanish prosperity and wealth.First settlements in Latin AmericaThe first discoveries and explorations of Spanish conquistadors were followed by the stage of inland conquest and corresponding expeditions. The first mainland settlement in America was located in Santa Maria la Antiqua del Darien[3]. The Spanish invaders were extremely amazed by and surprised at the extent of prosperity of that land. Immeasurable wealth in silver and gold, complex cities greatly surpassing the European ones and a great number of outstanding scientific and artistic achievements were among the most remarkable discoveries of the Spanish conquistadors. Here, it should be mentioned that the Spanish conquest in the newly discovered land that became to be known as the New World was driven by the so-called three â€Å"G†. These st ood for gold, gospel and glory[4].The first settlement was followed by the conquest of Mexico by Spanish conquistadors. The Spanish conquest of Mexico was led by Hernando Cortes during the years 1519-1521. The beginning of three hundred years of Spanish hegemony in Mexico was marked as the time when Hernando Cortes landed in today’s Veracruz. This happened on April 22, 1519. From that time on, the land of Mexico was governed by the Spanish Empire. And this settlement was marked to be full of enjoyable and amazing discoveries. Mexico became one of the most ample, wealthy and prosperous regions among the colonized territories of America.The Spanish conquest moved further to the lands of the present day Peru. Many years of fight and fierce struggle have passed before the conquistadors extended control over one of the greatest Andes land now known as Peru. The victory over the region was marked to be the year of 1542, although the battle between the Spanish and Inca Empires began much earlier. In fact, it took decades of violent fighting for Spanish leaders to subdue the most powerful and mightiest empire in America. However, the rule over the Inca civilization was finally gained and this was the beginning of a long-lasting period of Peru colonization. It took three hundred years for the lands of Peru to be liberated and gain independence.Essay on Colonial Latin American History part 2

Similarities of Spanish Ni to English Nor

Similarities of Spanish Ni to English Nor The Spanish conjunction ni is the equivalent of the English nor, and sometimes it is used in different ways than nor would be used. Different Uses of Ni In addition to being used as a  direct translation of nor, ni  can be used two or more times in succession to mean neither...nor and it can mean not even. In many cases in the English translations nor is used for clarity, even though the translation is correct if it is translated as or. Do not be surprised by double negatives  in Spanish. Although shunned in English, Spanish commonly uses double negatives to deliver emphasis. Ni As the Equivalent of Nor Ni is the equivalent of nor when it follows a verb that is preceded by no or another negation word such as nunca or jams. Spanish Sentence English Translation No quiere or ni hablar de su hijo. She doesnt want to hear or [nor] speak about her son. No puedo encontrarlo ni descargarlo. I cant see it or [nor] download it. Nunca estudia ni hace nada. He never studies or [nor] does anything. No compr palomitas ni refrescos. I didnt buy popcorn or [nor] soft drinks. Ni Used as Neither ... Nor Ni used twice or several times in succession can be used as the equivalent of neither ... nor. In Spanish, ni  precedes each item in the series. Spanish Sentence English Translation Ni sus creadores ni administradores son responsables. Neither its creators nor its administrators are responsible. Ser ni ms ni menos verdadero. It will be neither more nor less true. Ni nosotros ni el club hemos recibido nada. Neither we nor the club have received anything. Es como si mi blog hubiera desaparecido, porque no puedo verlo, ni yo ni nadie. It is as if my blog had disappeared, because I cant see it, not I, nor anybody. No me dabas amor, ni dinero, ni joyas ni nada. You give me neither love, money, jewels nor anything. Ya no habr muerte, ni luto, ni llanto, ni dolor. There will be neither death, mourning, tears nor pain. When Ni Means Not Even Ni can be used to mean not even, in the form of  ni​ siquiera. The word  siquiera is usually optional. Ni siquiera is the more emphatic form. Spanish Sentence English Translation Ni (siquiera) lo imaginbamos. We didnt even imagine it. Ni (siquiera) la supermodelo es inmune a los estragos del tiempo. Not even the supermodel is immune to the ravages of time. Ni (siquiera) Einstein era capaz de entenderlo. Not even Einstein was capabale of understanding. No tengo ni (siquiera) una moneda. I dont even have one coin.

Paintings by Ilya Repin, Frederic Edwin Church, Peter Paul Rubens Essay

Paintings by Ilya Repin, Frederic Edwin Church, Peter Paul Rubens - Essay Example The essay "Paintings by Ilya Repin, Frederic Edwin Church, Peter Paul Rubens" discovers three paintings by such famous artists as Ilya Repin, Frederic Edwin Church, Peter Paul Rubens. The discussed paintings are â€Å"The Volga Boatmen† (1870-1873), â€Å"Heart of the Andes† (1859) and â€Å"The Battle of the Amazons† (1618-1620). While there have been several periods in history where artists from a given region or working on a particular subject have following a seemingly ‘set’ approach to how to convey their ideas, these approaches can often be traced backward or forward to other periods, artists and regions. The earliest of these paintings is the Rubens, in which the artist depicts a battle scene carried out between the legendary female warrior clan of the Amazons with the Athenian king Theseus and his men. Presented with a color palette dominated by golds and browns, the scene is difficult to make out because Rubens generally avoids using sharp l ines except in the definition of the bridge they are fighting on and the shaping of some of the horses involved. This suggests a feeling of softness even in the middle of the fighting, suggesting that the battle is somehow less fierce than it might have been if the combatants were all male. The soft shapes falling into the river have an impression of being women, indicating that they are losing the battle. Perhaps because of the softness, the mood is somehow romantic, as if this were a struggle of men and women that ends not in death but in sexual conquest.

Final Personal Statement Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Final - Personal Statement Example The employees got a chance to know each other better while they shared food in those short breaks. There are many theories of motivation that can be used to increase employee performance. Three theories of motivation that can help increase employee performance are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, equity theory, and expectancy theory. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is based on a pyramid that ranks the five most important needs of workers. The five needs in order of important from least to most important are physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization. By identifying the needs that drive each employee a manager can better find the things that motivate each of his employees. Equity theory was developed by John Stacey Adam in 1963. Equity theory states that, â€Å"when people feel fairly or advantageously treated they are more likely to be motivated; when they feel unfairly treated they are highly prone to feelings of disaffection and demotivation† (Yourcoach, 2010). Eliminating income discrepancies among workers with similar work experience and educat ional credentials is a great way to motivate workers since the staff will feel they are equally valued. Vroom’s expectancy theory is based on the assumption that motivation is associated with the belief of the employee in regards to effort and performance considerations. I was in the middle of an ethical dilemma a few years ago due to misbehavior by my supervisor. There was a promotion in the firm and several in-house candidates applied for the position including myself. A rumor surged that the son in law of one of the executives was going to get the job due to preferential treatment based on family connections. The supervisor denied the rumor, but at the end of the day he gave in to political pressures within the firm and gave the job to the son in law of the manager. I did not like the lack of ethics illustrated by this firm. When my contract expired I stopped working for that firm. In the

Deconstructing Design Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Deconstructing Design - Thesis Example Furthermore, it demonstrates that this profession has demanding standards, which attract intelligent and motivated people. The general public should thereby also recognise the design profession and the work involved as valuable and a display of intelligence besides being creative. This issue is relevant to the field and worthy of attention because addressing it can help promote the design profession and improve its image as a knowledgeable one. This could make people better aware of what design really involves and its demanding and competitive nature. The techniques used in image making and branding in advertising will be illustrated for the purpose. In addition, examples of works will be given that demonstrate the challenges designers face so that readers appreciate their valuable role in the profession. Simply stated, a designer is a person who designs. A designer therefore specifies certain properties of something that is to be made, created, built or laid out. However, a more precise definition also requires mention of the typical distinguishing qualities found in a designer and the kind of work he or she engages in. For example, an empirical study by Rourke & Sweller (2009) showed that a proper appreciation and identification of a designer’s work requires at least a moderate level of visual literacy skills. This shows that designers themselves must have strong visual literacy skills that enable them to produce the kind of work they do. Moreover, only a designer is able to truly understand the design challenges, both historical and present, that are involved in a work (Kowalski, 2007). As a profession, a designer is one â€Å"who develops solutions to commercial needs that require the balancing of technical, commercial, human and aesthetic requirements† (DIA, 2010). There are many areas in which designers work, so the work handled by a designer determines the type of a designer. For example,

Employee management in HM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Employee management in HM - Essay Example The present-day HRM approach refutes this fallacy and asserts the view that employees can rightly be considered as very valuable assets which are the major players in the achievement of organizational goals. There has been a lot of controversy about the alignment of HRM practices and establishment of strategy with the goals of the organization (Caldwell R. 2004; Ulrich, 1997: 27). In theory, this sounds plausible, although in practice it requires a significant reorientation in the conventional remit of the personnel function. Ulrich has captured the scope of this new role when he argues that: 'HR professionals become strategic partners when they participate in the process of defining the business strategy, when they ask questions that move the strategy to action and when they design HR practices that align with the business' (1997: 27). Unfortunately, Ulrich is somewhat vague in describing how this 'role change' can be practically enacted and empirical evidence of the emergence of new strategic roles is often contradictory (Caldwell, 2003; CIPD, 2003; Gennard and Kelly, 1997). One of the distinguishing characteristics of HRM is that it seeks to transform the often disparate array of policies associated with traditional personnel management into a strategically co-ordinated or 'integrated' set of policies and processes that improve organisational performance (Caldwell R. 2004). Where this has been achieved there is empirical evidence that organisational performance can improve (MacDuffie, 1995). Conversely, when HRM is unable to affirm its integrative ambition, it loses much of its significance as a distinctive approach to people management and becomes old-style personnel management: 'a collection of incidental techniques without much internal cohesion . . . a hodge podge' (Druker, 1961, quoted in Sisson, 1995: 87). Main Functions of HRM All the models of HRM, whether American or European, are based on the three basic functions of HRM which are Recruitment and Selection; Performance Evaluation/Management and Rewards Management & Career Growth. These are discussed in detail in the following text: Recruitment & Selection Human resources recruitment and selection decisions are widely regarded as some of the most important decisions made in organizations (Ferris et al 1999). Furthermore, a principal focus of staffing decisions is the employment interview, so it is appropriate to examine this decision-making tool with respect to influence and politics. Research has continued on how influence tactics in the employment interview affect interviewer decisions, following some of the suggestions for future research proposed by Ferris and Judge (1991). Kacmar, Delery, and Ferris (1992) conducted an investigation that was designed to assess the relative effectiveness of two types of influence tactics used by applicants on interviewer decisions. They found that interviewers gave higher ratings and recommendations for job offers to applicants who employed self-promotion tactics than those who used ingratiation-type tactics (Ferris et al 1999). To illustrate this further, in a carefully conducted investigation, Stevens and Kristof (1995) reported evidence of

Purchasing behaviour of young people at the university as far as Essay

Purchasing behaviour of young people at the university as far as purchase of smart phones is concerned - Essay Example Appendices 16 Research question: 16 Background 16 Methodology and sample 16 Sample questionnaire 17 Executive summary The study is aimed at researching the purchasing behaviour of young people at the university as far as purchase of smart phones is concerned. Over the past few decades, there has been widespread innovation and innovation in the ICT field. This has seen the introduction of smart phones that are almost similar and in some cases even arguable better than computers. To establish on how this environment has influenced the students in universities, the research was done by using of structured questionnaires as well as random interviews on campus. The questionnaires were prepared and circulated to a group of fifty students that were randomly selected in order to make the findings as objective as possible. The collected data was then manipulated using SPSS software. The research was mainly based on the characteristics of brand name, the price, the smart phone features, cost a nd last but not least, the gender of the buyers. As the research established, most students bought the smart phones due to the functionalities like Wi-Fi for purposes of convenience. However, peer pressure was also seen as one of the main contributing factors in the purchase decisions of the students. 1. Introduction 1.1 Terms of reference The participants of the research were university students. What inspires students to acquire smart phones may not be the same as what inspires other people in the society to acquire smart phones. For instance, students like following trends and most will buy a smart phone if all their friends buy them. In addition to this, students will often consult with their colleagues when trying to do some research before they buy a phone. The research carried out sought to establish a number of questions:- What informs the purchase decisions for smart phones by students? What do students seek out in the phones they purchase? Where do students get the relevan t information that informs their purchase decisions for smart phones? 1.2. Background Needless to say, the smart phone does more than just help the owner to keep in touch with friends and families. This device also helps one in carrying out various computing processes. In fact, there has been a widespread debate on the possibility of the Smartphone totally replacing the computer. The spread of the Smartphone use has especially been fuelled by the entrance of more affordable models by the different manufacturers. The smart phone revolution came hand in hand with the revolution in gaming consoles, PDAs, Cameras, GPS as well as other important revolutionary concepts in ICT. The introduction of open source applications on the android platform has made the maintenance of the Smartphone more affordable on the lean budget of a student. For instance, instead of having to pay monthly subscriptions for applications, there are many developers on the open source platform that use the General Pu blic User licence on their apps. In addition to this, companies like Huawei among many others have also developed inexpensive Smart phones that have almost the same functionalities like their more expensive counterparts. Some experts believe this is one for the main contributing factors towards the increase in the use of smart phones by university students. 2. Literature survey In order to understand the ownership of smart phones among university students, there is need to review the industry with respect to the different brands

An Introduction to STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND THE ROLES OF THE GENERAL Essay

An Introduction to STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND THE ROLES OF THE GENERAL MANAGER - Essay Example Strategic management takes account of the strengths and weaknesses of the organizations and prepares itself best in competitive arena by minimizing weaknesses and maximizing strengths. The human resource of the company is structured and inspired to achieve the objectives of the company. The role of the General Manager is that of a leader of human resources who guides and allocates the usage of other resources. Thus the role of the General Manager assumes critical importance in implementing the company’s objectives across various functional departments, and integrating the workforce to achieve the stated goals of the company by reining wayward behaviour and ‘self-direction’ to ‘shared beliefs’. This is achieved through development of communication channels, smooth flow of information across company’s structures, conflict resolution, and provision of creative latitude and development of a sound organizational culture. The General Manager keeps th e Board and the CEO informed about the progress and performance of the company. He/she is the vital link in vertical and horizontal communication amongst company’s stakeholders. Due to its strategic importance, sometimes the job of General Manager becomes extremely stressful. We are dedicated to development of innovative Information Technology solutions. Our products meet the customer expectations and provide quality products that give maximum value for money. We are committed to create ever higher levels of customer satisfaction in order to have a sustained competitive advantage in the market. We achieve this by putting in our best efforts in a creative environment; where our work is a pleasurable activity that gives us a tremendous sense of fulfilment. We are a well-knitted team of exemplary and dignified individuals. Meeting ever higher levels of customer satisfaction: The road to perfection is an unending journey. Our customers seek better and better and products. We focus on innovation and quality to

Purchasing behaviour of young people at the university as far as Essay

Purchasing behaviour of young people at the university as far as purchase of smart phones is concerned - Essay Example Appendices 16 Research question: 16 Background 16 Methodology and sample 16 Sample questionnaire 17 Executive summary The study is aimed at researching the purchasing behaviour of young people at the university as far as purchase of smart phones is concerned. Over the past few decades, there has been widespread innovation and innovation in the ICT field. This has seen the introduction of smart phones that are almost similar and in some cases even arguable better than computers. To establish on how this environment has influenced the students in universities, the research was done by using of structured questionnaires as well as random interviews on campus. The questionnaires were prepared and circulated to a group of fifty students that were randomly selected in order to make the findings as objective as possible. The collected data was then manipulated using SPSS software. The research was mainly based on the characteristics of brand name, the price, the smart phone features, cost a nd last but not least, the gender of the buyers. As the research established, most students bought the smart phones due to the functionalities like Wi-Fi for purposes of convenience. However, peer pressure was also seen as one of the main contributing factors in the purchase decisions of the students. 1. Introduction 1.1 Terms of reference The participants of the research were university students. What inspires students to acquire smart phones may not be the same as what inspires other people in the society to acquire smart phones. For instance, students like following trends and most will buy a smart phone if all their friends buy them. In addition to this, students will often consult with their colleagues when trying to do some research before they buy a phone. The research carried out sought to establish a number of questions:- What informs the purchase decisions for smart phones by students? What do students seek out in the phones they purchase? Where do students get the relevan t information that informs their purchase decisions for smart phones? 1.2. Background Needless to say, the smart phone does more than just help the owner to keep in touch with friends and families. This device also helps one in carrying out various computing processes. In fact, there has been a widespread debate on the possibility of the Smartphone totally replacing the computer. The spread of the Smartphone use has especially been fuelled by the entrance of more affordable models by the different manufacturers. The smart phone revolution came hand in hand with the revolution in gaming consoles, PDAs, Cameras, GPS as well as other important revolutionary concepts in ICT. The introduction of open source applications on the android platform has made the maintenance of the Smartphone more affordable on the lean budget of a student. For instance, instead of having to pay monthly subscriptions for applications, there are many developers on the open source platform that use the General Pu blic User licence on their apps. In addition to this, companies like Huawei among many others have also developed inexpensive Smart phones that have almost the same functionalities like their more expensive counterparts. Some experts believe this is one for the main contributing factors towards the increase in the use of smart phones by university students. 2. Literature survey In order to understand the ownership of smart phones among university students, there is need to review the industry with respect to the different brands

A Study of the Cultural Imperialism Theory Essay Example for Free

A Study of the Cultural Imperialism Theory Essay ABSTRACT This paper explores the validity of the Cultural Imperialism Theory which says the Western culture has dominated the cultures of developing Nations. It examines to what extent and how the Western world in the real sense has dominated the developing countries. The study further examined the means through which the developing countries are being dominated culturally by the Western culture. The paper further looked at both the negative and the positive effects of cultural imperialism. It concluded that though the western world is succeeding in eroding the culture of developing countries and Nigeria as a study, Nigeria as a Nation should put on some safety belt in safeguarding our heritage. INTRODUCTION Culture is the way of life of a set of people. It encompasses the knowledge, ideas, beliefs, values, standards, and sentiments prevalent in the group. According to Charles A. Ellwood, an American Sociologist, culture is the â€Å"collective name for all behavior patterns socially acquired and socially transmitted by means of symbols†. Dare A., defines Culture as the collectivity of human activities and general principles that tend to guide ideas of a group of people with shared traditions (general acceptability), which are passed on, instilled into generation (socialization) and reinvigorated by members of the group (sustainability) while Imperialism as defined by The Dictionary of Human Geography is the creation and maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural and territorial relationship, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination The Theorist of Cultural Imperialism theory, Herb Schiller postulated that Western nations dominate the media around the world which in return has a powerful effect on Third World Cultures by means of imposing on them, western views thereby destroying their native cultures Western Civilization produces the majority of the media (film, news, comics, etc.) because they have the money to do so. The rest of the world purchases those productions because it is cheaper for them to do so rather than produce their own. Therefore, Third World countries are watching media filled with the Western worlds way of living, believing, and thinking. The third world cultures then start to want and do the same things in their countries and destroy their own culture. In cultural Imperialism theory, the key words are culture and imperialism. According to Anaeto G., Onabajo, O. and Osifeso, J. (2008), they wrote that â€Å"the western countries are technologically developed in television and motion programmes and developing countries that are not technologically developed depend on the programmes from the developed countries. This means that the programmes from the developed counties which portray their culture will be imbibed by the developing nations. This western culture now dominates our local culture simply because we are consuming their mass media messages†. The assumptions of the theory according to Schiller, H., are classified into three namely 1. Ontological Assumptions 2. Epistemological Assumptions 3. Axiological Assumptions 1. Ontological Assumptions This theory says that humans do not have the free will to chose how they feel, act, think, and live. They react to what they see on television because there is nothing else to compare it to besides their own lives, usually portrayed as less than what it should be. 2. Epistemological Assumptions This theory explains that there is one truth and no matter what that truth never going to change. As long as Third World countries continue to air Western Civilizations programs then the third world countries will always believe they should act, feel, think, and live as Western Civilizations act, feel, think, and live. 3. Axiological Assumptions This theory is value-neutral and objective. It does not matter what beliefs the people of Third World may already hold, the television programs from the Western World will communicate the same message and affect them in the same way. CRITIQUES OF THEORY The critiques of the Cultural Imperialism theory came up with scientific theory which counter-argued the theory with the following responses: Explanatory Power: It explains what happens when one group of people with their own ideas sends messages through the media to a different group of people. Predictive Power: It predicts that Third World countries culture will be destroyed and the people will identify with Western views. Parsimony: We can see a direct linear path from sender to receiver through the media channels and then watch the effects. Falsifiability: The theory could be proved false should the Third World countries not be affected by Western media and they do not lose their culture. E.G â€Å"Under the intriguing title Seducing the French (1993), Richard F.Kuisel concedes that the French underwent a process of Americanization. But at the same time, they succeeded in defending their Frenchness. French consumers found some American products appealing but they also continued to cherish and idealize French national identity, notably the idea of a superior French high culture.† Internal Consistency: There is a logical flow of events and consequences within the theory. Heuristic Provocativeness: This theory could lead to new hypotheses such as which cultures are affected more than others (if any) or whether low context differ in the reception of messages compared top high context cultures? Organizing Power: This fits with what we already know about differences between Western civilization and Third World countries. Another example the critique stated is that â€Å"if an International Broadcast station shows a video depicting Nigerians as corrupt, dangerous and malnourished, should someone in Nigeria watch this the Western stereotype of Nigerians, and not affected by it, the theory have been proved false†. John, T., further argues that Cultural imperialism consists of the spread of modernity. It is a process of cultural loss and not of cultural expansion. There never were groups of conspirators who attempted to spread any particular culture. Instead, global technological and economic progress and integration reduced the importance of national culture. Therefore, it is misleading to put the blame for a global development on any one culture. The notion of imperialism that is, purposeful cultural conquest is irrelevant; instead, all countries, regardless of whether they are located in the northern or southern hemisphere, are victims of a worldwide cultural change MODES OF CULTURAL IMPERIALISM Tracing world history all through the era of colonialism, there have been histories of cultural imperialism which will seem the only way to explain the popularity of the very-British game cricket in all countries that once served as British colonies. Invasion of a country most often doesnt end with an invasion of the geographical territories within the political boundaries alone. Religious and cultural invasion are often inseparable parts of a political conquest. It’s much easier to rule if your subjects share the same religious and cultural platforms as the invaders? The cultural imperialism theory is founded upon the premises of imposing the influences and beliefs of the stronger culture (the invaders) upon the weaker or more submissive culture (the invaded). How does this cultural Imperialism take place? Dare A., states that Cultural imperialism takes place when one culture overtakes another in such a way that the latter ends up following a significant number of values, traditions, beliefs and influences of the former either completely or in a way merges the influences of the dominating culture with those of its own. Such a cultural invasion can either be active or passive. In its active form, the dominant culture forcefully imposes its cultural influences upon the dominated culture. This is a dynamic phenomenon where the subordinate culture is compelled to adopt the ways of the invaders. The passive form is when one culture (not necessarily subordinate) voluntarily embraces the influences and traditions of another culture. Here, the dominant culture makes little or no forceful efforts in imposing its cultural ideals upon another but the latter gets influenced as a consequence of its receptivity to the formers cultural impacts. The passive form of cultural imperialism is what largely takes place today. Cultural imperialism can also occur due to the significant commercial relations between two countries. A country heavily importing products and services of another country may get significantly influenced by the exporting countrys lifestyle attributes and social values. We can see this phenomenon in the form of Westernization of a number of Eastern countries. This is a type of passive cultural imperialism as the receiving culture adopts the foreign values without perceiving the fact that they are, in fact, becoming slaves of a foreign culture. WORLD EXAMPLES OF CULTURAL IMPERIALISM English Cultural Imperialism English cultural imperialism has been rife in the history of cultural imperialism. Latin which has the Churchs official language to popularizing its national game all across its colonies was changed to English. The British Empire left no stone unturned to make sure that its subjects adhered to its cultural idiosyncrasies even decades after ceasing to be its subjects. The fact that Cricket is among the top ten most popular sports around the world with an estimated 3 billion fan following, especially in countries like Australia, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, New Zealand and certain African and Caribbean countries proves the strength of the English cultural imperialism. It is also a known fact that English is the third most spoken language after Mandarin and Spanish. Decades of dominion and repressive policies towards Tibet, Taiwan and various other neighboring regions by China has had a significant influence upon the religion and culture of these regions. The aggressive promotion of a standardized Chinese language across Mainland China and Taiwan indicates towards an attempted cultural imperialism aimed at overtaking regional dialects in these areas. Also, the fact that most traditional aspects of the Chinese culture pertaining to religious beliefs, festivals and social norms significantly inundate the socio cultural edifices of various Oriental countries indicate towards strongly existing cultural imperialism. The most widespread and still continuing instance of cultural imperialism can be seen in the form of Americanization. This is mostly due to the multitudes of commercial relationships the United States holds with a large number of countries in all parts of the world. This is definitely passive cultural imperialism and the countries that are most affected are those that have voluntarily adopted the stereotyped American lifestyle values and specific cultural aspects CULTURAL IMPERIALISM IN NIGERIA The Issue of Sagging Sagging has become the latest phenomenon among the male youths today in Nigeria. It is what is in vogue; if you have not exposed the lower part of your private, you belong to the old school system. What is sagging and where did it come from? According to Greg, M., sagging was adopted from the United States prison system where belts are prohibited. Belts are sometimes prohibited to keep prisoners from using them as weapons or in committing suicide by hanging themselves. The style was later popularized by hip-hop artists in the 1990s. It has since become a symbol of freedom and cultural awareness among some youths or a symbol of their rejection of the values of mainstream society. Jails are typically state run institutions. What usually happens is the state will order a set number of inmate uniforms. These uniforms are usually in general sizes like small, medium and large; making them ill-fitting for most inmates. When a medium sized inmate comes in and there are no remaining medium uniforms this inmate will receive a large instead. Prisoners are not allowed to have shoe laces or belts for fear they’d use them to kill themselves (by way of strangulation or hanging), or as weapons to kill or injure other inmates. The combination of over sized clothing and lack of fastening devices created the perfect storm for falling pants. Many street hungry rappers latched on the dress of their incarcerated friends and family and brought the style to the masses. Thus a new trend was born and Nigerians have fallen into this trend Linguistic Imperialism Language is one of the principal elements in identifying a particular culture and the absence of it makes a culture unidentifiable. It is vital for cultural transmission and preservation. With the gradual loss of our indigenous languages in Nigeria, what culture are we then preserving? Ogwu, M., Agbanu, N. and Ofordile, J. describes Linguistic Imperialism as â€Å"People who can relate with each other only through the medium of communication foisted on them by a former colonist are victims of a peculiar kind of Schizophrenia†. The use of our language is declining in Africa especially Nigeria because we are compelled to embrace Western culture and civilization as Western language. Western language has created a division between an elite and mass of our people who still cannot do business with foreign language. It causes alienation for people who cannot speak English or French. Language is a vehicle of culture; we are in a very serious problem. e.g. â€Å"Professor Babafunwa project on local language as a basic tool of teaching in Nigeria was aborted because of the nature of our country.† Parents also do not encourage their children or wards to speak in their local language as they belief it causes setback in their education. Fashion imperialism You hardly find few of our men, women and the youths who still embrace our cultural mode of dressing. Our people are going ‘gaga’ with the western way of dressing thereby losing their root of African way of dressing. It’s quite unfortunate that when expatriates and tourist who come to Nigeria appreciate our native attire while the owners of the heritage has seen it as something of old school and fashion. Tattoos have also become a common phenomenon. Both the young and old are stamping themselves all over the body with symbolic ‘devilish’ tattoos. Religious Imperialism Most churches in Nigeria today have gone the western way. When you go to some churches today, you marvel at the way some our ladies apparel. The custom of covering of hair has been eroded by the western way; all kinds of dressing are acceptable. The men or young male adults put on all sort of jewels and dress ‘haggardly’. The sense of going to commune with God is lost. EFFECTS OF CULTURAL IMPERIALISM Moral Decadency Through the float of western culture into Nigeria through the advent of technology and globalization, there has been obvious moral decline in Africa and in Nigeria in particular. This moral decadence has permeated almost all spheres of our culture. Moral consciousness has been equated with awkward and odd life styles. According to Oshafu, H., in his article â€Å"Cultural Imperialism†, this resulted due to Africa’s carelessness and failure to hold their culture with high esteem. He added that the moral excellence of African society has over night transformed into moral decay. Elders are no longer respected, our rapid festivals and ceremonies are now seen as â€Å"old school† and we now have children of single parents, a phenomenon that is identifiable with America. People no longer communalize, nobody wants to be anybody’s brother’s keeper. Our mode of dressing has been totally distorted by western civilization through foreign films and media conten t. Today we seem not to have any cultural attire. Our people now prefer to go naked on the streets as against our culture, micro minis with handless tops has this to show. The acculturation of â€Å"blue jean and hamburger† has gradually found it way into young people in African society. The issue of dress code has led to controversies in our high institute in today. Cases of immoral dressing have also gave way to rapid sexual harassment among students and lecturers, bosses and their employees. Raping in our society today came as a result of reckless dressing code by ladies The traditional notion of chastity and virginity have been rendered absurd by pornographic and sleazy materials displayed on screens, distorting sexuality and condoning promiscuity, which has given rise to active homosexuality and lesbianism in our society today. These cases of reckless sex have led to the rapid spread of STD’s particularly, HIV/AIDs in our society today. Innocent children are dying of this disease. They paid dearly for the offence committed by their parents. This is immoral evil militating against the dignity of human person. Increase in Crime Rate With exposure to the western way of life, increase in crime rate is on high. Most of the films we watch on the television set are crime oriented thereby leading to increase in crime rate. In as much as there is positive impact of the television set, the negative aspect outweighs the good part, as the western world is teaching modern ways to crime though the kind of programmes being disseminated, which includes kidnapping, serial killing etc. Look for more points We have scholars who however belief that Cultural Imperialism theory regardless of its negative effect has its positive side. Cultural imperialism they say is not entirely bad as it increases the pace of development in Nigeria and other less developed countries. For example, in the giving away of media products free of charge or selling them at a very low price to these developing nations, the US actually accelerates the growth of the media industry and the advancement in technology, hence increasing the knowledge and skills of the people there. Their actions not only add on to actual growth; the subsequent increase in human capital further boosts potential growth, which is essential for the actual growth to be sustained in the long run. This investment in human capital goes a long way and benefits the country as it strengthens the competitive edge and increases productivity of the workforce. Economic growth is also achieved Even more so, being a developing nation, Nigeria would not have had the latest technology available to produce media products; it is only through the provision of the American companies that they are able to obtain state-of-the-art equipment. The advocacy of production of local-helmed programs would thus further enhance American influence on the nation. Despite government efforts to hinder cultural imperialism, they cannot completely eliminate the impacts of this influence as American media products have already found their way into the market and become a part of Nigeria’s media production efforts. They need such â€Å"interference† in order to keep their media industry alive WAY FORWARD Long Term Investment in the Development of our Mass Media One way cultural imperialism spreads is through the mass media. The local media imports foreign materials because it is cheaper than having to produce local indigenous content. An example of this issue is that indigenous journalists have to learn to transcribe and rewrite news by foreign news agencies rather than source for their own stories. Sometimes even rewriting local stories covered by the foreign news agencies. Our government and private investors should invest heavily in our local media and encourage the development of indigenous content that will reflect our culture, values, promote our languages etc. Media products like movies, news, music, advertising etc should be regulated to avoid the influx of foreign content. This is where organizations like the Nigerian Broadcasting Service come in. They should develop stronger laws and be strict in its enforcement of the laws such as the 60/40% rule (60% indigenous, 40% foreign). If the indigenous media products are of high quality, the citizens will be encouraged to consume them. This is so because a lot of people give the low quality of the products (movies, music, adverts, news etc) as reasons for not consuming them. If Nigerians consume indigenous media products, it will reflect in every area of our lives (culturally that is). An example is what is happening in the Nigerian music industry,. Because of the increase in local content in our music, it is now becoming acceptable and even encouraged to sing in our indigenous languages(Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo etc), dress in our native attires most especially Ankara and wear our national colors. There has been a rise in the popularity of Pidgin English as opposed to just speaking plain English. Also the teaching of our indigenous languages should be encouraged in our schools. All primary and secondary schools should be encouraged to teach at least one Nigerian language at all classes especially in the minority regions of the country where the minority languages are in danger of becoming extinct. Parents should further speak their native dialect with their wards or children to aid them to be conversant in their local dialect. Young adults today see it as a taboo or as inferiority complex speaking in their local dialect; it does not sound ‘tush’ rather local parents more importantly should be more watchful and observant in the kind of foreign stations their children tune to for their programmes as media has become the primary means by which many of us experience or learn about many aspects of the world around us Stanley and Dennis, 5th edition,p.200). With the presence of technology, access to International broadcast station is at the tip of the hand, we have cables surrounding us and with just a remote control, you can be anywhere in the world learning and assimilating what is been impressed on you. As such supervision is needed to regulate what is been watched. Parents should devout time for their children while they are still young as most of the western values tend to catch them while they are still young just as the catch them young phrase. Another solution is to try to export our own culture as this will help in boosting tourism in Nigeria. We should conscious try to sell and promote our media products to the rest of the world. This will improve our image globally and help foreigners understand our culture, values, cuisine better. I would like to say at this point that we should not consume wholly indiginous media products. A little foreign content is still advisable as there has been some good aspects of cultural imperialism such as technological and educational advancement, political structure (democracy), eradication of some harmful practices like the killing of twins etc. We should take a balanced approach, like an 80 (indigenous))/20% (foreign). CONLUSION As a result of globalization and technological advancement, the western world has succeeded in dominating the third world countries. This notwithstanding should not be an excuse for Nigerians and other third world countries to be subjugated by the western world. Nigerian as a nation should fight cultural imperialism and fight back for our lost culture. One way by which this could be done is through Long Term Investment in the Development of our Mass Media as it is the major means by which cultural imperialism spreads. The local media imports foreign materials because it is cheaper than having to produce local indigenous content. An example of this issue is that indigenous journalists have to learn to transcribe and rewrite news by foreign news agencies rather than source for their own stories. Sometimes even rewriting local stories covered by the foreign news agencies. Our government and private investors should invest heavily in our local media and encourage the development of indigenous content that will reflect our culture, values, promote our languages etc. REFERENCES Anaeto, S. G., Onabajo, O. S. and Osifeso, J. B. (2008). Models and Theories of Communication. African Renaissance Books Incorporated. Dare, A., (2010). The Effects of Western Civilization and Culture on Africa. Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences (1/1) Quarter IV Grifin, E. (2000). A first look at communication theory. (4th edition). Boston, MA: McGraw- Hill Littlejohn, S. W. (1999). Theories of human communication (6th edition). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Oshafu H. U. Cultural Imperialism. Accessed from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/culturalimperialism-examples.html on 12/11/2012. Ogwu, M., Agbanu, N., and Ofordile, J. (December, 2010). â€Å"Sustaining Cultural Values Through the Promotion of Indigenous Languages in Nigeria† Journal of Communication and Culture: International Perspective. (1/3), pp 76 Schiller, H. I. (1976). Communication and Cultural Domination. Armonk, NY: International Arts and Sciences Press. Accessed online on 29/10/2012. Critics of cultural imperialism theory. Encyclopedia of the New American Nation available Accessed at http://www.americanforeignrelations.com on 29/10/2012

The Concept of Entrepreneurship

The Concept of Entrepreneurship INTRODUCTION CONCEPT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP The importance of the development of entrepreneurial skills by every graduate cannot be over-emphasized because gone are the days when jobs were available everywhere both in the private and public sector of the economy and employers go about looking for potential employees to employ. Indeed, in the past, it is the employers that go round universities in this country to hunt for potential employees. Then there were fewer universities and low university enrolment. But today, things have changed and very drastically too such that many graduates are now sellers of recharge cards and some work as bus conductors. What an economic tragedy and waste! The question of choice of job or employer is gradually being eroded each year. Many graduates are desperate to get any job to keep body and soul going. Indeed there is a paradigm shift in the labour market now. Even the professional disciplines are now fast getting into that problem of unemployment. Employment prospects for the youths are changing with a lot of increasing competition; the openings are equally limited. Also, employment in the public sector is also decreasing and job prospects are diminishing by the day. Added to this ugly situation are the increasing trend of job outsourcing, casualization of labour in the oil and gas industry and the increasing phenomenon of rightsizing of labour among big firms and corporations in the country. As a side effect, the figure of tertiary graduates who have not been able to secure the first employment since graduation for upward of five years is on the increase and even those with professional qualifications like MBA, ICAN, COREN, Medicine and Pharmacy are not spared from the ugly phenomenon. Others are paid peanuts if they are lucky to secure paid job. Some now fall back on their lower qualifications like WASC and OND to secure menial jobs. The recent economic meltdown also has made matters worse. Some companies are as a result operating below expected capacity. The current troubles in the financial sector, particularly the money and the capital markets and their subsequent effects on the economy, particularly on the real sector as well as the remedial efforts of the CBN are very visibly glaring, instructive and challenging. Nevertheless, entrepreneurship and indeed the need for developing the requisite entrepreneurial skills have been suggested to help redress the aforementioned problems by making people not only to be job creators but wealth creators (Midea, 2004 ; Izedonmi, 2009). According to Small Business Service (2005), the possession of entrepreneurial skills to create new knowledge based social enterprises is vital to addressing social and environmental issues effectively. Our nation cannot afford to toy with it. Our tertiary institutions must respond fast and positively towards entrepreneurship education. However, general business skills and general knowledge are considered insufficient to turn graduates into entrepreneurs (Kisby, 2004). Hence, the need to develop specific entrepreneurship skills cannot be overemphasized .This is because entrepreneurship has been vital to creating employment and therefore a special form of employability (Moreland, 2004). Both the government and the academia hav e been attracted to it. In particular, universities are re-designing their curricula and the ways they operate to create opportunities for the training of their students in practical entrepreneurial skills. Due to the way entrepreneurial programmes have assumed a global proliferation and dimension, it was suggested by Volkmann (2004) that it has become the major academic discipline for business education in the 21st century. I totally agree with him. Economic Growth And Entrepreneurship Recent Survey Report in 2008 by the Kauffman Foundation in connection with the relationship between economic growth and entrepreneurship found that all nations with high level of employment activities had above average rate of economic growth. What this translates into is that entrepreneurial deficient economy will have low growth while entrepreneurially good economy tends to enjoy good growth. Hence, Government has come to recognize the importance of entrepreneurship in economic development that entrepreneurial ventures have in-built capacity to promote employment and economic growth. Literature Review One of the first courses specifically addressing entrepreneurship was established at the Harvard Business School in 1947.In the U.K, the first courses in entrepreneurship were launched in the 1980s together with the UKs first initiative for enterprise in higher education (Elton, 1991, Kirby, 1989 2005, Volkmann, 2004). Along this line, Fry (1992) remarks that entrepreneurship has been one of the fastest growing disciplines in the U.S.A in the 1990s.By the turn of the 21st century, as many as 1600 universities in the North-America were offering courses in entrepreneurship compared to merely two dozens in the 1970s (Inegbenebor, 2005). The growth of entrepreneurship education and the subsequent inclusion into the curricula of universities in the United Kingdom has been attributed to the sheer need to serve the innovation need of businesses and to produce graduates with transferable skills for businesses.  [i]   ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN NIGERIA According to Ekanem (2005), the history and development of entrepreneurship in Nigeria started in the 1960s as supported also by some of the earlier studies such as Schatz and Edokpayi (1962), Harris (1969), Olakanpo (1968) and Akeredolu-Ale (1972). Therefore, the concept of entrepreneurship development in Nigeria is not new. Since the 1970s, several government agencies and institutions in the country have been engaged in different aspects of fostering entrepreneurship in Nigeria, though with short-lived and varied successes. For instance, the Centre for Management Development (CMD), National Directorate of Employment (NDE), former Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB), Nigerian Bank for Commerce and Industry (NBCI), Nigeria Youth Service Corps (NYSC), among others had programmes for entrepreneurship development in Nigeria. Other entrepreneurial development agencies include government sponsored Entrepreneurial Development Programme (EDP). NGOs, Nigerian Employers Consultative As sociation (NECA).The vigor with which it was pursued then is a different issue for our assessment. If the proofs are available even the blind and deaf can feel it. Only fools dont proof. What Does Entrepreneurship Really Entail? Basically, what entrepreneurship entails includes: The building of skills in negotiation Building leadership skill New product development Creative and innovative thinking and Exposure to technological innovation, (Kuratko, 2003). It shows students and graduates how to believe and behave entrepreneurially. It encourages them to get involved in networking, create and manage businesses of their own and facilitate progress and success in entrepreneurial career. Entrepreneurship could satisfy status and social needs and leads to self-satisfaction and actualization. It can also meet the financial needs for the entrepreneurs and their families. In fact, entrepreneurship is a satisfying process even though it can be risky and may even lead to loss of wealth at times (Fry, 1992). Society-wise, entrepreneurship has made substantial impacts throughout history because of numerous inventions, massive job creations made through small and medium scale enterprises (SMES) in both developed and developing countries. DEFINITIONS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP Various definitions have been given for entrepreneurship. For instance Inegbenebor and Igbinomwanhia (2008) say that: Entrepreneurship is the process of performing the roles of an entrepreneur. It has been defined as the process of planning, operating and assuming the risk of a business venture. It may also be defined as the process of creating a clique value of pulling together a unique package of resources to exploit an opportunity. Entrepreneurship encompasses various activities which are carried out to ensure the survival and growth of the business Inegbenebor (2006) defines it as: it is about bearing the skills needed to assume the risk of establishing a business. It is about developing the winning strategies and executing them with all vigour, persistence and passion needed to win any game Ekanem (2005): Entrepreneurship is the process of or capacity for organizing, operating and assuming risk for a business venture. It is dynamic risk-taking, creative and growth oriented behavior which involves the use of various resources to create wealth Ekwe (1992): observes that, Entrepreneurship involves the: 1. ability to perceive profitable business opportunities. 2. willingness to act on what is perceived and 3. necessary organizing skills associated with a projects Fry (1992) says that Entrepreneurship involves action rather than static events. It involves taking action necessary to analyze opportunities to launch and/or grow business, to finance the venture and possibly even to invest the venture. Izedonmi (2009) placed entrepreneurship in a continuum form with economic entrepreneurship at the end of the continuum and social entrepreneurship at the other end. In between these you will find some varying characteristics of combinations. The process is also dynamic. In summary, the central issues in entrepreneurship involve uncertainty and risk-taking, innovation, perception and change. For instance, Drucker (1985) posits that innovation is the specification instrument of entrepreneurship. He argued further that the entrepreneurs must always change to respond to it, and exploit it as an opportunity. CHARACTERISTICS OF A DWINDLING ECONOMY The characteristics include: High unemployment rate High inflation rate Low average real income Low saving ratio or high consumption ratio Low levels of technology Low levels of productivity Low per capita income and downward trend of living High poverty rate of a large proportion of the population Low economic growth rate Poorly developed financial and stock markets High level corruption and instability and insecurity of lives and property Although the above factors and many others can be observed in a dwindling economy, they also provide good basis for entrepreneurial development. In fact, of these factors listed above, some can act as either pull or push entrepreneurial factors. Very often they provide good windows of opportunities for entrepreneurial-minded individuals. ROLES OF ENTRENEURSHIP IN REVIVING A DWINDLING SOCIETY Some of the roles include: Generating employment Increases productivity through innovation Facilitates the transfer/ adoption of technology Ensures increase resource utilization Stimulates growth in the supply market Renovates large scale enterprises and public enterprises Encourages and sustains economic dynamism that enables an economy to adjust successfully in a rapidly changing global economy. Linkage effects of various sections of the economy is facilitated Generate income and wealth occur faster Encourages training and development Ensures rapid development Develops indigenous entrepreneurship Provides a training ground for indigenous managers and semi-skilled workers Reduces rural-urban migration Constitutes a vital engine for economic growth development of a nation- increase GDP Skyrocketing of the emergence of SMES and Promotion of self-reliance and economic sustainability ELEMENTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP Entrepreneurship may involve the following elements IDEA GENERATION AND SCREENING This is actually the starting point of many new entrepreneurial ventures. Sources of ideas are many and varied. The sources notwithstanding, the would-be entrepreneur must cultivate the habit of documenting those ideas. It should be packaged in form of feasibility report, no matter what. STARTING A BUSINESS This could involve: a. Buying an existing business b. Starting from the scratch or start-up business c. Through Franchise d. By Inheritance CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION Innovation is the development and introduction of a new product, a new process, or a new service to a market. Creativity is the link between pure imagination and the introduction of an innovative product, process or service. Both are necessary ingredients for entrepreneurship. However, creativity is behind innovation. Creativity alone, does not define entrepreneurship. Creativity without innovation does not produce results. And innovation without effective management does not produce marketable products, processes or services. Although creativity and innovation are necessary ingredients, they are not sufficient of themselves to establish successful entrepreneurship (Fry, 1992, Izedonmi, 2009). There must be effective and efficient administrative structure on the ground and a healthy dose of management as well. 3. SEEKING FINANCING Financing could either be debt or equity financing, traditional or venture, internal or external capital. The would-be venture must consider financing the venture. Availability, cost and timeliness must be balanced. Starting small attracts small capital input. However, not all entrepreneurial ventures require start-up capital or equal amount either Creative financing is a basic tenet of entrepreneurship. A growth-oriented venture uses multiple sources of financing. You must be prepared to make your personal sacrifice in this respect. Too often, the banks will request to see your personal inputs in terms of financial commitment. Finance institutions only lend to ventures that have proven records, and history, and those ventures that are also promising economically. 4. ASSUMING RISK Every entrepreneur must assume one risk or the other. However, entrepreneurship is not necessarily risk-taking but risk-assuming. Corporate management deals in risk minimization, entrepreneurship deals in risk management. Corporate management too often generally tends to be risk-averse. They want to reduce risk to a minimum during production so as to be profitable. Entrepreneurship manages risk since it cannot be reduced significantly in entrepreneurial situations whether new or existing ventures. However, entrepreneurs are calculated risk-takers. Risk management involves the acknowledgement that risk exists and the actions that are taken to shift as much risk as possible to others and then control the remainder. Some risk Management ventures include Renting rather than owning equipment and facilities Using multiple sources of financing. Building an entrepreneurial team with distinctive skills. Undertaking multiple ventures simultaneously with varied degrees of risk. Committing a portion of the total resources to any one project. Assigning a team member the responsibility of monitoring short-term performance with the anticipation of cutting losses of early performance indicates unfavorable results. THE PULL AND PUSH ENTREPRENEURSHIP FACTORS There are various factors (negative or positive) which tend to provide the needed motivation in getting into entrepreneurship or becoming an entrepreneur. While the negative factors are called push factors; the positive factors are pull factors. Both factors provide the fundamental attraction either by necessity or by desire and opportunity into the entrepreneurial world. The push factors are: Unemployment / loss of job. Dissatisfaction with pay and job situation. Discrimination and victimization by boss in work place. Middle-age crises. Divorce / widowhood. Relocation. The positive pull factors are: Desire for independence. Desire for increase in wealth. Increased social status and prestige. Spouse support and motivation. Provision of market opportunity. Franchise. Provision of licenses by parent company. Favorable government policies etc. THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP DECISION The entrepreneurial motivation to launch a venture has been grouped into three variables (Fry, 1992) as: Antecedent variables. Triggering variables. Enabling variables. The antecedent factors They cause the individual to begin to consider the possibilities of entrepreneurship either consciously or unconsciously. This could take into consideration the variables listed below Creativity. Background. Personality. Past experience. Education. Current job. Triggering factors: These are the events or situations that specifically trigger the entrepreneurial act. They are salient life events may be quite personal , professional or for instance, financial changes in an entrepreneurs life that are perceived as very important to entrepreneurial decision may set off the alarm to take step. They involve: Loss of Job Invention or Idea Offer from partner Entrepreneurial motivation or willingness to start a venture (M) = Antecedent Variables (A) X Triggering Variables (T). The enabling factors These factors make the actual launching of the venture possible. They include opportunity and resources which are very critical to the successful launch of the venture. The likelihood of a venture launch is made up of these three factors combined. Our youths look outside instead of looking inward. Those who look inward first tend to travel faster on the outside. Several entrepreneurial opportunities exist in the environment. They need to look well to discover some opportunities. Our youths must be ready to start small, learn the ropes and grow up. Hard work, patience and deep commitment are necessary. ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITIES Entrepreneurship tends to be opportunity-driven rather than resource-driven. This is because that once opportunities are identified and properly evaluated resources are deployed to capture them. Opportunity creates or generates its kind of resources. There are thousands of opportunities available to would-be entrepreneurs who present high potential for wealth, growth, self-employment, independence, social status, and prestige. The would-be entrepreneur must conduct a thorough scanning and survey of the environment strategically. But if you do not have any readily available opportunity, you can creatively and innovatively come up with one. However, some of the sources of these opportunities could include: Self-discovery Improvement in the quality of existing product/ service. Use of an existing product/service in an untapped market Invention Consultancy Trade magazines, Journal and Business Newspapers Societal needs Survey of natural resources Government Agencies Research Institutes, Universities, e.t.c Spin-off Work experience Hobby and Vocation ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS REQUIRED TO TRANSFORM CHALLENGES INTO OPPORTUNITIES GENERAL BUSINESS SKILLS Entrepreneurial skills of successful entrepreneurs include: Sales and Marketing skills Financial Know-how skills Self-motivation skill Time management skill Administrative skill Sales and marketing skills To get the right customers and subsequently make target revenues and profits Include communication skills Financial know-how skills To know how to handle money well. After all, not everybody can effectively manage money. Source and manage funds and cash flows Self-motivation skills Internal locus of control Self-starter with a clear desired goal in mind Confidence in yourself and in your ideas Diligent and hardworking Extra drive and commitment to set goals Time management skills Time is money Time is life Entrepreneurship opportunity has time-limit Time management is very important for business success Self-management is very critical for effective time management TYPES OF BUSINESSES AND TIME MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES Have a time table, schedule of activities to be done Employ delegation freely without fear Determine priorities into urgent and important activities as: Urgent activities demand immediate attention Urgent but not important activities Not urgent but important activities Not urgent; not important Give priority to (i) and (iii) because by performing them, time is reduced for activities (ii) and (iii) Manage meetings and relationship with others Administrative skills Organizing, coordinating, directing, planning and general management, etc. B). TECHNICAL, ANALYTICAL AND HUMAN RELATION SKILLS Entrepreneurs are expected ordinarily to be sound by training normally technically skilled. They must also develop and possess conceptual, analytical and human relation skills to be successful. Others are business planning, idea creation, negotiation, risk analysis and management skills etc. C). ICT SKILLS They must also have computer and information Technology (CIT) skills because of the era we are and the environment they will have to operate. ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITY AND SKILLS S/N ENTREPRENEURSHIP OPPORTUNITY SKILLS AND ATTITUDES 1. Business/consultancy in area of professional specialization or working as a contractor General Business skills such as marketing, time management e.t.c Confidence enthusiasm, hardworking 2. Sonet Entrepreneurship Idea development, leadership, negotiation, planning, organizing, self belief, confidence General business skill 3. Intrapreneurship Idea development recognizing opportunities for improvements Alliance building, confidence, leadership 4. Non-traditional specialist business General Business Idea development, creativity, confidence Willingness to work hard 5. General Business Ventures Ideas development, creativity, confidence, willingness to work hard General Business skill Source: Andrea: Developing Entrepreneurship skills in the context of higher education. http://cfiweb.cf.uk/news/past.events/bee/files/Andea. on 16/3/2010 DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS These could be through: Attending Entrepreneurial training classes, development programme, seminars, workshops, etc. Universities Job rotation Special (intensive) training Article ship or apprenticeship Organizational learning R D Institution Consultants National and international agencies and bodies NGOs Professional bodies ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS FACTORS Successful entrepreneuring depends on four (4) major factors namely: Knowledge Hard work Skills Attitude(character/ integrity) Lifematics Question Created by (Izedonmi, 2010) Now let us work out this lifematics question together. There are basically four (4) attributes or factors that can enhance our success in life viz: Skills, Knowledge, Hard work and character (Attitude). They are all essential to ingredients of entrepreneurial success. How much does each contribute? Which of these is superior and why? For easy understanding, let us replace character with attitude. Solution Our current roman alphabets are made up of A B C D E F G H I J K L M 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 The alphabets together with their numerical values are stated above. Let us take each attribute one after the other and link up the corresponding numerical value. Start with skill, then knowledge follow this with hard work and finally character but remember to substitute attitude for character. Let us replace numeric value to each alphabet and see their results as indicated below: (i) S K I L L S 19 + 11 + 9 + 12 + 12 + 19 = 82% (ii) K N O W L E D G E 11 + 14 + 15 + 23 + 12 + 5 + 4 + 7 + 5 = 96 % (iii) H A R D W O R K 8 + 1 + 18 + 4 + 23 + 15 + 18 + 11 = 98 % (iv) A T T I T U D E 1 + 20 + 20 + 9 + 20 + 21 + 4 + 5 = 100 % Solution Skills secure only 82 %, Knowledge 96 %, hard work 98 % and Attitude 100 % in that order. Only Attitude which I equate to character for this purpose secures 100 % success in the race of high profile entrepreneurship. Conclusion I must admit that professional certification is good but character is a lot better. Character is the true collateral security of our values, learning and entrepreneurial success. It keeps the society and system going. It prevents a nation from decaying and checkmates unnecessary crisis and even civil war. Therefore in all our entrepreneurial pursuit, character development should be given a prominent place. When character breaks down everything breaks down. True certification in life is only evidenced by character and not papers called certificates or entrepreneurial success alone or quantity of wealth.