Case analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case analysis - Essay Example This tool permits a systematic and disciplined evaluation of internal and external factors. Equally appropriate for the present case is the PESTEL tool using which, one can analyze the political, economical, social, technological, environmental and legal angles, in order to test strategy options. PESTEL factors substantially deal with the external situation within which a company has to operate. De Beers’ strengths lie in its knowledge of the industry in all its facets – from mining to retail marketing of jewels – and the controlling interests it had created through subsidiaries, cross holdings and trading practices. However, this very breadth of monopolistic operations has drawn adverse public attention. Discovery and development Political situation in Africa where De Beers has its major mining interests has been undergoing significant change since dismantling of apartheid. Socio-economic factors like poor pay and working conditions, child labor and inadequate welfare measures are issues of concern for public. While it is in the forefront of exploiting technology in operations, degradation of natural environment, particularly in opencast mining operations, puts additional responsibility on the company. Anti-trust laws and ban on child labor practices add to its cup of PESTEL woes. De Beers are in the company of other global companies like Microsoft, MacDonald and Wal-Mart in terms of sweep of operations and breadth of controversies. Microsoft is accused of suffocating competition, MacDonald of unsustainable use of packing materials and Wal-Mart of exploiting cheap labor in China and other Asian countries in its bid to offer lowest cost products. Leveraging its knowledge and technology, the company has to enhance efficiency of operations, both vertically and horizontally. Acquiring rights for mines in new areas

Select a Public Service or Service Industry. Produce a report on Assignment

Select a Public Service or Service Industry. Produce a report on changes in that sector over a period of time' - Assignment Example One general way to view the changes in the public education sector of England is to view recent historical figures for spending in the sector, which, while having been on an uptick since the 1950's, is set to reverse course in the medium term, meaning that for the first time in decades spending in public education in England is expected to grow at a slower pace compared to historical averages (Chowdry and Sibieta, 2011): Graph Source: Chowdry and Sibieta, 2011, p. 3 In the plot above, one can see that relative to base figures for the 1955-1956 period, spending for public education in England has grown through time, while it seems to have plateaued somewhat in terms of the share of education in the country income. In both plots what is evident is that spending is expected to decrease moving forward, raising concerns about the impact of the declines on educational outcomes for students in England's educational system. This is one perspective among many, and have political and environme ntal contexts owing to the fact that the changes in spending have roots in the political and environmental processes in the medium term. The rest of the paper examines these and other changes in the education sector in England through time (Chowdry and Sibieta, 2011; Kwon, 2002; University of London & History of Parliament Trust, 2013; Gillard, 2011). II.Discussion A. The View of Changes from the Earliest Levels of the Public Education System One set of changes through time can be tied to technological developments relating to the understanding of what England needs moving forward and what educators have learned with regard to the need for structure in early education in order to meet England's standards for literacy as well as for numerical competence among the members of the population. The changes tied to this have to do with restructuring the nature of early childhood education, away from traditional structures that allowed for more freedom and less structure in the way young st udents were molded, to introduce more rigor and a greater focus on specific subject areas to prepare children to face the rigors of a more subject-oriented and less student-oriented educational system. These changes are technological too in the sense that inputs for the changes stem from what can be deemed as technological advances in the understanding of the educational needs of England in general and of a better understanding of how the educational system needs to evolve moving forward, via a greater emphasis on standards for measuring learning outcomes (Kwon, 2002). B. Spending per Student, Changes in Enrollment and Faculty Numbers Through Time The plot below tells a story of the evolution of public education in the recent past, with the teacher to student ratio basically staying the same, but the ratio of teaching assistants plus other supporting staff to students having increased over time, a proxy measure of the positive increase in the amount of resources spent for public edu cation in England. The implication of the plot below is that environmental and political factors should have played into increasing the focus on public education in England through the observation period from 1997 all the way to 2010 (Chowdry and Sibieta, 2011): Graph Source: Chowdry and Sibieta, 2011, p. 8 In light of the above, moreover, the following plot detailing the sustained increase in per capita spending per student across different educational levels in England also make sense, and present a

Overview of Leadership Styles

Overview of Leadership Styles Leadership Styles Democratic Leadership: In this approach the leader asks the group to become part of the decision making. The leader still has full control of the group and still has the final decision but decisions and input from the team is encouraged. This allows the leader to draw upon how good they are and their experience of a team in order to get the best results for everyone. This also helps them develop skills within the team.. This style of leadership isnt used very much within the public services, this is because the democratic leadership style takes time to discuss everything and public services may not always have the time to do this. Bureaucratic Leadership: The bureaucratic style of leadership is a style of leadership that focuses on rules and procedures to manage teams and projects. It is a style that is spread-out among some departments or people and there is a strict set of rules. This is a classic style of leadership and is used quite a lot in organizations that dont encourage invention of new things and change by leaders who may be insecure and uncertain in what their role may be. People that want to use this style of leadership are often familiar with the many policies and guidelines. This approach to leadership is commonly used in statutory and non-statutory services. Situations where the bureaucratic leadership style may be useful for example where in a job is something commonly done and doesnt change over a long period of time or either that a job needs/demands a definite set of safety rules or working guidelines in order to obey the law. Transactional: When group perform well, they receive a reward. When they perform poorly, they will be punished in some way. The transactional style of leadership is pretty straight forward but it uses rewards and punishments to motivate the team. This style of leadership is very similar to the autocratic style but it is not as extreme. Leaders of both the transactional and autocratic are very similar, they are direct and dominant and spend a great amount of time telling others what is expected from the team as a whole. There are many advantages and disadvantages of this style of leadership, for example some of the advantages are: the leaders monitors the work and each and every one individual performance, rewards, there is also a clear chain of command, not only these there are many other advantages. Unfortunately there are some disadvantages in this style of leadership: team members may not get job satisfaction but of the reward/punishment routine, it assumes that people are only motivated because of money and not because of the reason why they actually want to do it. Laissez-faire Leadership: The Laissez-faire approach of leadership can also be called the hands off, free reign and the delegate approach. This style differs from the other styles. The leader exercises very little and lets the members of the group to establish their own roles and responsibilities. The members of the group are given a very little direction but a lot of freedom and power. The power that they are given should be used to create goals, make decisions and resolve problems that should affect them. If all the members are highly motivated that the laissez-faire approach is the most effective leadership, experienced and well trained. It is very important that the leader can have full trust in the members of the team. An example of this style of leadership in the public services is if there was a murder investigation and someone gets sent to the scene of the crime, they know what they are there to do and they can then be left there to do it without any supervision needed. People Orientated Leadership: People Orientated is slightly similar but a bit different to the task-orientated leadership. Within this style of leadership, this style focuses on participation of all the team members, clear communication, supporting and developing the individual in order to improve their skills. The members of the team are very competent in their role and inspire other people by unlocking their own potential. They allocate others roles based on others strengths and individual skills. This style of leadership is participative and encourages good teamwork, loyalty and creativity. The key to this style of leadership is very good people power. People can be very successful if they use all the following: knowledge, skills, abilities, life experience and talents of all the individuals and of the group. Task Orientated Leadership: In this style of leadership its all about getting the job done. Its all about the key of the task rather than about everyone else in the team. Their main focus is just to get the task done weather it instructed or destructed. They will define the work and the roles that they are given and put structures of the task into place, plan and also organise the whole of the task. This style can have many difficulties such as difficulties of the lack of motivating and the retaining the team as a whole. Task orientated style of leadership is slightly different to people orientated, as an example, a police inspector organising crowd control at a football match may use a task-centred approach, but back at the police station when dealing with junior police officers, she might employ a people-centred approach. Transformational Leadership: The transformational style of leadership focuses on the teams performance as a whole; it encourages everyone to think of the group as a whole and rather not just themselves. It is all about moving forward as a team and not just several individuals in one group. Transformational leaders aim to make their team members better people by encouraging their self-awareness. They want team individuals to overcome self interest and focus on the goals and purposes that are shared as a team. Transformational leaders spend a lot of time communicating with the team to gain support through their enthusiasm. The transformational leadership style can have many advantages and disadvantages. To start of with there are a couple of advantages, for example, they have beliefs in others and themselves, they spend time coaching and supporting their team, people will follow their leader because of their energy, passion, commitment and enthusiasm for the team and finally, they care about their team a lot and work hard to motivate them, if they do this then this reduces stress levels and increases the well-being of the team. Not only are their advantages to this style of leadership, there are also disadvantages, in fact, there are more disadvantages then advantages to this style of leadership. Some of these disadvantages include, Leaders can only see the big picture but not all the details, leaders always believe that their vision is right when sometimes it isnt, large amounts of a lot of enthusiasm can tire the team out and last but not least, if the team is not convinced with everyone else they ma y not share the same vision as what everyone else has. Authoritarian Leadership: Authoritarian/Autocratic leadership is where someone tells you what they want done and how they want it accomplished without be able to get any advice from other people. It is good to use this style of leadership when you are either all well motivated, you know all the information to complete the task or you are short on time. This style of leadership is only used on rare occasions. If you have the time and want to gain more commitment and motivation then you should use a different style of leadership. This style of leadership is used in some public services in the UK. The main of example of the use of this style of leadership is used in the army. For example, if you were fighting in the war and you were told to get down then you would have to get down, otherwise you may get shot. This style is used in most regiments of the army. Not only the army, this leadership is used in many other public services this is because most of the time you are told what to do and where to go.

Lead :: essays research papers

Lead is a lustrous, silvery metal that tarnishes in the presence of air and becomes a dull bluish gray. Soft and flexible, it has a low melting point (327 Â °C). Its chemical symbol, Pb, is from plumbum, the Latin word for waterworks, because of lead's extensive use in ancient water pipes. Itsatomic number is 82; its atomic weight is 207.19. Lead and lead compounds can be highly toxic when eaten or inhaled. Although lead is absorbed very slowly into the body, its rate of excretion is even slower. Thus, with constant exposure, lead accumulates gradually in the body. It is absorbed by the red blood cells and circulated through the body where it becomes concentrated in the soft tissues, especially the liver and kidneys. Lead can cause damage in the central nervous system and apparently can damage the cells making up the blood-brain barrier that protects the brain from many harmful chemicals. Symptoms of lead poisoning include loss of appetite, weakness, anemia, vomiting, and convulsions, sometimes leading to permanent brain damage or death. Children who ingest chips of old, lead-containing paint or are exposed to dust from the deterioration of such paint may exhibit symptoms. Levels of environmental lead considered nontoxic may also be involved in increased hypertension in a significant number of persons, according to studies released in the mid-1980s. As a result, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in recent years have been revising downward the levels of environmental lead that it would consider safe. At one time, lead poisoning was common among those who worked with lead, but such workplace hazards have been largely curtailed. Lead has been used by humans since ancient times. It was used in ancient Egypt in coins, weights, ornaments, utensils, ceramic glazes, and solder. Lead is mentioned in the Old Testament. The Romans conveyed drinking water in lead pipes, some of which are still in operation. Roman slaves extracted and prepared the lead, describes a disease among the slaves that was clearly lead poisoning. Because of their potential toxicity, lead water pipes are no longer being installed. The greatest single use of lead metal today is in the plates of storage batteries for automobiles. The protective oxidation layer formed by lead in contact with such substances as air, sulfuric acid, and fluorine makes it highly resistant to corrosion. For this reason, lead has been used to make drainage pipes and lead chambers in sulfuric acid factories. It is also used as a roofing material. The softness and malleability of lead make it useful for sheathing telephone and television cables. Lead is used in solder because of its low melting point. When combined with tin, lead forms solder

Social Media :: Curse or Blessing ?

Social Media :: Curse or blessing ? The way I see it, it all depends on how these sites, like Facebook or Twitter, are being used. Social media itself can be abused, overused, and taken advantage of. However, the power of social media itself is probably greater than the power of any person, any novel, any ruler, or even any country. But, whether that incredible power is a blessing or a curse is also one matter to question. The power of social media can be something extremely influential. This first took a huge toll in the beginning of 2011 with the political upheaval of Egypt.The Internet's far-reaching speed combined with social media websites to create something unforgettable. The voices of Egypt stood together to overthrow the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and they spread all throughout the world. The power of social media was also noted when Mexicans turned to it for survival, not too long ago. At first, this served as a revolution. For the very first time, people's voices and opinions were coming together to form something larger than themselves. But we have to wonder, is that power too much?History has repeated itself in telling us that it becomes a problem when one voice has too much power. One only needs to look at people like Hitler, Idi Amin, and Mao Zong for proof that giving one voice too much power can sink an entire people or nation. And in Egypt, this corrupting nature of power turned itself over from the ruler to the subjects which resulted in the same horrific effect. From this, it is clear that social media has a way of lending itself to this attribute of power. Another way social media can act as a curse is through its changing the behavior of our society.Some say social media sites can lend to shorter attentions and less efficient work. Not only that, but my generation, that is, teenagers, tends to abuse social media and use it for popularity. Despite social media being a term with the connotation of connecting us, that seems t o be one thing it is doing least. People who abuse Facebook, for example, by requesting and accepting as many ‘friends' as possible, up to thousands, are giving those relationships artificial traits. Those relationships are so scattered and insignificant that many people don't even know some of their ‘friends. These thinning relationships have no such value, and are illusions of genuine relationships. In this abuse of social media, values of building relationships and making new connections, as were the intentions of social media, are taken away and transformed wrongfully. Nevertheless, many people do use social media for positive purposes, which leads me to the side of social media that is a complete blessing to this modern world. When used correctly, the benefits of social media can far outweigh some of its downfalls. Social media changes the world every day, in ways both small and large.For everyone who uses it, social media at least promotes and encourages communicat ion and lends to more modern ways of learning and communicating. Not only do they lend to more efficiency in our rapidly evolving technologically advanced society, but social media sites are also some of the best ways to positively influence people by sharing your opinions. They act as platforms for your voice. If you have great ideas or want to be heard or found, websites like Google+, Twitter, and LinkedIn can promote those good intentions.Through these sites, you can find millions of people who share the same interests as you, and start making a difference, step by step. Social media websites can operate as both curses and blessings in our modern society. The difference between it as a curse and a blessing all hangs on the shoulders of its users. You may choose to abuse the potential of Facebook, or to change the world with Twitter. The difference in your actions may be small, but the end result varies greatly, and it is up to you to decide social media's role in your life.

An Application of Jean Watson’s Theory of Transpersonal Caring to Nursing Practice Essay

Introduction Essentially, the Caring theory of Jean Watson is oriented towards human science and focuses on the humanitarian aspect of caring processes, occurrences and experiences. It also grounded on a unitary perspective and interconnectedness with elements such as an individual with its community. The caring theory embraces one-sided, philosophical and interpretative as well as objective-empirical analysis and integrates several epistemological approaches that clinical and empirical but at the same time is open to other avenues of acquiring vital information.   (Watson, 1988, 1999). On the theoretical framework, the caring theory of 1979 was founded on the ten carative factors. These are essentially a formation of a Humanistic-altruistic system of values and cultivation of sensitivity to one’s self and to others. It has provisions for a supportive, protective, and/or corrective mental, physical, societal, and spiritual environment. Lastly the basic core is grounded on both caring philosophy and science (Watson, 1999). Some suggestions on original carative factors into clinical caritas processes include the formation of humanistic-altruistic value system becomes practice of loving-kindness, Instillation of faith-hope becomes authentically present. Cultivation of sensitivity between the communities becomes going beyond ego self, Development of a human caring relationship becomes helping-trusting an authentic caring relationship, and Promotion and acceptance of the expression of positive and negative feelings becomes being supportive of the expression of positive and negative feelings (Watson, 2006). Main Components Originally, Watson’s theory revolved around three major elements, namely the carative factors, the transpersonal caring relationship,   and the caring moment. She stated ten carative factors that served as guidelines for the nursing practice and basically centered on the principles of caring. The transpersonal caring relationship describes how the nurse goes beyond an objective assessment, showing concerns toward the person’s subjective and deeper meaning regarding their own health care situation, while the caring moment is defined as the moment (focal point in space and time) when the nurse and another person come together in such a way that an occasion for human caring is created (Cara, 2003). In this context, the four essential concepts of nursing – person, environment, health, and nursing – are encompassed in the theory. Being holistic in nature, the theory presents its framework as a congregation of all these concepts, centering on the person. Watson regards a person as an individual with unique qualities and unique needs. The person is recognized as a being capable of communicating with another beyond physical interaction. The person is viewed as whole and complete, regardless of illness of disease (Watson, 2006). The environment is regarded as a healing space, where the person’s awareness and consciousness can expand and promote mindbodyspirit wholeness and healing (Watson, 1999). Inevitably, the state of a patient’s environment can influence an individual’s state of health. The physical environment can affect how the person can connect and exist in the spiritual environment created by transpersonal caring relationships, and could affect the effectiveness of the science of caring. Health is referred to as the unity and harmony within the mind, body and soul. It is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and functioning (Hagopian, 2007). The theory establishes that caring can promote a person’s health better than the curative means of conventional medicine. Through caring, the care giver recognizes the condition of the recipient at a deeper level, enabling him/her to sympathize as needed, and provide the appropriate care needed by the patient. With this means of understanding the patient better, there is greater chance of addressing the patient’s needs, creating the needed balance in his/her physical, mental, and social well-being (Watson, 1998). Influence in My Delivery of Care Watson defines nursing â€Å"as a human science of persons and human health – illness experiences that are mediated by professional, personal, scientific, esthetic, and ethical human care transactions† (Watson, 1988). The theory also emphasizes caring as central to nursing, and is essentially what the theory wishes to achieve. Nursing is not just about curing an illness or disease – it is beyond that. It is about the nurse being able to center consciousness on the entire being of the other in order to detect his/her inner condition, and impart genuine concern through caring moments communicated through â€Å"movements, gestures, facial expressions, procedures, information, touch, sound, verbal expressions and other scientific, technical, aesthetic, and human means of communication.† The role of consciousness is deemed greatly important, because then the nurse exhibits commitment and sincere intention to connect with the patient at a deeper level, thus becoming an effective aid in nursing the patient back to health, physically, emotionally, and spiritually (Watson, 2006). I remember having to give care to a patient who is suffering from a terminal disease and have been placed in ICU care. In this case, the patient was not capable of communicating because he was already in a coma – an application of Jean Watson’s theory in this case would require me to treat not just the patient but his loved ones, holistically. That is, I do not merely stop at trying to address the needs of the patient but also of those who surround him. Concretely, I tried to build a humanistic-altruistic value system which is the core of Watson’s theory. I have dealt with her family as real people who have real needs that have to be addressed. For them to be able to cope with the situation, I have tried to show them empathy, as they express their feelings towards the condition of the patient. It is very difficult to have a dying loved one, but it is a reality that we all must face at one point or the other. Having someone by your side during such a time of grief is very consoling and shall help you thresh out your feelings and cope with the situation. I have proven this many times in opportunities to care for patients placed in intensive care. The development of a caring relationship with the patient’s family helps them go through the ordeal with appropriate and well-expressed emotions, and even greater spiritual strength and maturity. I believe that the nurse has a critical role to play in such incidents. Applicability of Theory to Modern Nursing Practice The effectiveness of Watson’s theory has been validated with its use as a guide in several studies centering on caring science. It has been â€Å"recommended as a guide to nursing patients with hypertension, as one means of decreasing blood pressure and increase in quality of life,† in a study made on its effectiveness on the quality of life and blood pressure of patients with hypertension in Turkey (Erci, Sayan, Tortumluoglu, Kilic, Sahin, & Gungormus, 2003). In another study on caring for old adults, it was established that the theory was effective in improving the quality of life and peace of mind, body, and soul of the older people, just by caring and listening attentively to what they have to say (Bernick, 2004). The situation of caring for a patient in the intensive care unit has a more serious need for dedicated and focused care. Patients in intensive care in the intensive care unit (ICU) need more than mere treatment.   They need assistance for themselves and their family who want to hear good news and encouraging words about the patient’s recovery, information that is not always quick in coming, if at all. In ICU situations, the patient and, equally as important, the patient’s family wants to know the patient’s chances for survival; possibility of permanent disability; and answers to their queries on the patient’s condition (Rafael, 2000). . Although the attending doctor and nurses are the best sources for information to answer these questions, it is not always possible for them to accurately predict patient outcome, particularly in the first few hours or days of an ICU stay.   Like the patient and the patient’s family, the attending doctors and nurses are also awaiting the initial outcome. This means that everyone—attending physicians, attending nurses, family, friends and the patient him/herself are involved. All can and do contribute to the final outcome in one way or another. On my end, I try to answer all the questions that are posed to me by the patient’s loved ones to manage their expectations about the patient’s condition. And yet, I do this with caution, since it is still the physician who has the authority to inform them of these. The end goal was to try to assist the patient and his loved ones go through the ordeal, addressing their physical, emotional and spiritual needs in the context of a caring relationship. Conclusion Overall, Jean Watson’s theory of transpersonal caring has very high utility in modern nursing practice. It has been shown to be strongly oriented towards human science and focuses on the humanitarian aspect of caring processes, occurrences and experiences and has been able to effectively encapsulate the science of arts and humanities. Moreover, it has been grounded on a unitary perspective and interconnectedness with elements such as an individual with its community. However, one limitation may be its emphasis on being one-sided, philosophical and interpretative rather than on objective-empirical analysis. Moreover, it includes ontological, philosophical, ethical, historical inquiry and studies. Caring science is a new field that is evolving currently in the nursing industry and has truly evolved nursing theories and science and has contributed heavily to health, education, and human service fields and professions. References Bernick, L. (2004). Caring for older adults: practice guided by Watson’s caring-healing model. Nursing Science Quarterly, 17(2):128-34. Cara, C. (2003).   A pragmatic view of Jean Watson’s caring theory.   International Journal of Human Caring, 7(3), 51-61. Erci, B., Sayan, A.,Tortumluoglu, G., Kilic, D., Sahin, O., & Gungormus Z. (2003). The effectiveness of Watson’s Caring Model on the quality of life and blood pressure of patients with hypertension. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 41(2), 130–139. Hagopian, G. (2007).   Nursing theorists.   Retrieved February 8, 2007 from www.nipissingu.ca/faculty/arohap/aphome/NURS3006/Resources/theorists.ppt Rafael, AR. (2000). Watson’s philosophy, science, and theory of human caring as a conceptual framework for guiding community health nursing practice. ANS. Advances in Nursing Science, 23(2):34-49. Watson, J. (1988). Nursing: Human science and human care. A theory of nursing (2nd printing). New York: National League for Nursing. Watson, J. (1999). Postmodern nursing and beyond. Toronto, Canada: Churchill Livingstone. Watson, J. (2006).   Dr. Jean Watson’s Theory of Human Caring.   Retrieved February 8, 2007 from http://www2.uchsc.edu/son/caring/content/evolution.asp