Problems on Staff Training and Development Essay

Understanding the phenomenon of employee training and development requires understanding of all the changes that take place as a result of learning. As the generator of new knowledge, employee training and development is placed within a broader strategic context of human resources management, i.e. global organizational management, as a planned staff education and development, both individual and group, with the goal to benefit both the organization and employees. To preserve its obtained positions and increase competitive advantage, the organization needs to be able to create new knowledge, and not only to rely solely on utilization of the existing. Thus, the continuous employee training and development has a significant role in the development of individual and organizational performance. The strategic procedure of employee training and development needs to encourage creativity, ensure inventiveness and shape the entire organizational knowledge that provides the organization with uniqueness and differentiates it from the others. Evidence collected from this research, especially from those joint venture hotels supported the rationales that underpinned Western human resource development (HRD) models that effective T&D activities in hotels required to have systematic and strategically integrated T&D structures, which was particularly true when considering hotels’ long term development. Furthermore, some â€Å"emotion†-involved elements identified in the Chinese state-owned hotels seemed to have provided valuable ingredients to be added into the existing Western HRD models, which could help to increase their robustness in a cross-culture context and also to improve their effectiveness in the hotel industry. It was found that positive learning attitudes and energetic learning leaders had the power to turn passive training activities into active â€Å"learning from heart†. It is, therefore, proposed that to build up an effective training and development architecture in the Chinese hotel industry, both systematic training and development structure (as widely addressed in Western human resource development literature) and consistent emotional inputs (e.g. devoted learning managers; turning trust-based personal relationships into learning drives, etc.) are necessary. More empirical studies are needed to further test these ideas. In general, employees who feel undervalued or unwanted are likely to leave. This is an especially important issue in China, where employees are possibly among the least satisfied in the world. While the number of dissatisfied employees is significantly greater in the Chinese state-owned enterprises, employee dissatisfaction in MNCs is a big issue as well. Of all the factors which lead to dissatisfaction among Chinese employees, of course, compensation and benefits packages always play an overarching role. In the Work China survey, Watson Wyatt asked respondents who said they might leave in the next several years to list the top three reasons for their planned departure. The results were consistent with popular perceptions: better pay was the number one reason employees wanted to leave their company, followed by better career opportunities, and training and development. Sources: 1. Ã…  uÃ… ¡njar, Ã…  , G, Zimanji, V, MenadÃ… ¾ment ljudskih resursa, Ekonomski fakultet, Subotica, 2006 2. Wang, Yu, Leeds Metropolitan University, September 2005 3. Gross, Ames & Lepage, Shawna Lepage, Employee Retention: Building an Effective Strategy to Retain Your Chinese Employees, April 2001, Corporate Relocation News 4. Leininger, Jim, The Key to Retention: Committed Employees, China Business Review, Jan/Feb2004, Vol. 31 Issue 1, p16-39

Target Costing

Robin Cooper and Regine Slagmulder Editors’ Note: This article is an updated synthesis of in-depth explorations contained in Target Costing and Value Engineering, by Robin Cooper and Regine Slagmulder (Portland, Oregon: Productivity Press, 1997). Part two of the series discusses product-level target costing; part three, to be featured in an upcoming issue, will address component-level target costing. omers. Consequently, the objective of product-level target costing is to increase the allowable cost of the product to a level that can reasonably be expected to be achievable, given the capabilities of the firm and its suppliers (see Exhibit 1). EXECUTIVE SUMMARY†¢ Product-level target costing works to increase the allowable cost of the product to a level that is both reasonable and achievable given the capabilities of the firm and its suppliers. Step one establishes the target cost by incorporating the capability of the firm and its suppliers into the allowable cost so that an achievable product-level target cost is established. †¢ Step two uses value engineering to identify ways to design the product so that it can be manufactured at its target cost. †¢ Step three applies the disciplining mechanisms to help ensure that the product-level target cost is achieved. The target costing process contains three major sections: market-driven costing, product-level target costing, and component-level target costing.In part two of a three part series, this article discusses how product-level target costing works to increase the allowable cost of the product to a level that is both reasonable and achievable given the capabilities of the firm and its suppliers, in a three step process. Step one establishes the target cost by incorporating the capability of the firm and its suppliers into the allowable cost so that an achievable product-level target cost is established.Step two uses value engineering to identify ways to design the product so that it can b e manufactured at its target cost. Step three applies the disciplining mechanisms to help ensure that the product-level target cost is achieved. PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING The objective of product-level target costing is to establish aggressive but achievable product-level target costs. These target costs should place considerable pressure on the firm’s product engineers to find creative ways to reduce the manufacturing costs of the products that they are designing.Target costs differ from allowable costs, because they incorporate the capabilities of the firm and its suppliers into the target costing process. In practice, it is not always possible for the designers to find ways to achieve the allowable cost and still satisfy the firm’s cus1 Product-level target costing can be broken into three steps (see Exhibit 2). In the first step, the product-level target cost is established. This step consists of incorporating the capability of the firm and its suppliers into th e allowable cost so that an achievable product-level target cost is established.The second step consists of using value engineering (and other similar techniques) to identify ways to design the product so that it can be manufactured at its target cost. In the third step, the disciplining mechanisms of target costing are applied to help ensure that the product-level target cost is achieved. The disciplining mecha- Article 32. TARGET COSTING FOR NEW-PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING thereof require that the firm must reduce costs if it is to maintain its desired level of profitability.The degree of cost reduction required to achieve the allowable cost is called the cost-reduction objective and is derived by subtracting the allowable cost from the current product cost: Cost-Reduction Objective = Current Cost–Allowable Cost The current cost is the cost of a new product if it were manufactured today using existing components or variants thereof. No cost-reduction a ctivities are assumed in computing the current cost of the product. For the current cost to be meaningful, the components used in its estimation must be very similar to those that eventually will be used in the new product.If the existing model uses a 1. 8-liter engine and the new model uses a 2. 0-liter one, for example, current cost would be estimated using the cost of the most similar 2. 0-liter engine currently produced by the firm. Because the allowable cost is derived from external conditions without consideration of the firm’s internal design and production capabilities, there is a risk that the allowable cost will not be achievable. In this case, to maintain the discipline of target costing, the firm must identify the achievable and unachievable parts of the cost-reduction objective.Analyzing the ability of the product designers and suppliers to remove costs from the product (see Exhibit 3) derives the achievable or target cost-reduction objective. The process by whic h costs are removed from the product is called value engineering, and it depends heavily on an interactive relationship with the suppliers. The purpose of this relationship is to allow the suppliers to provide early estimates of the selling prices of their products and, when possible, insights into alternative design possibilities that would enable the firm to deliver the desired level of functionality and quality at reduced cost.The unachievable part of the cost-reduction objective (referred to in Exhibit 2) is called the strategic cost-reduction challenge. It identifies the profit shortfall that will occur when the designers are unable to achieve the allowable cost—a signal that the firm falls short of the capabilities demanded by competitive conditions. Typically, in a firm with a well-established target costing system, the strategic cost-reduction challenge will be small or nonexistent, and intense pressure will be brought on the design team to reduce it to zero.For the m ost capable firms, the achievable cost reduction for a product might exceed the cost-reduction objective. Such firms do not face a strategic cost-reduction challenge. They can take advantage of their superior capabilities by reducing the selling price of the product to increase market share, by increasing product functionality while maintaining the targeted selling price, or by keeping both price and functionality at their targeted levels to earn higher profits. To maintain the discipline of target costing, the size of the strategic cost-reduction challenge must be managed carefully.A strategic cost-reduction challenge should reflect the true inability of the firm to match competitor capabilities. To ensure that the strategic cost-reduction challenge meets this requirement, the target cost-reduction objective must be set so that it is 2 nisms include progress monitoring and validation and the application of the cardinal rule of target costing: products whose manufacturing costs are above their target costs should not be launched. The monitoring and validation process helps ensure that the savings identified through value engineering are actually achieved.The application of the cardinal rule ensures that the discipline of target costing is maintained. When designers know that target cost violations lead to serious consequences, they are subjected to a real pressure to achieve the target costs. SETTING THE PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COST In highly competitive markets, customers expect each generation of products to have higher value than that of their predecessors. Value can be increased by improving the quality or functionality of the firm’s products or by reducing their selling prices. Any of these improvements or some combinationANNUAL EDITIONS cost-reduction challenge, which creates a powerful pressure on the design team of the next generation of the product to be even more aggressive about cost reduction. In this way, the failure to achieve the allowable c ost this time around is turned into a challenge for the future, not a permanent defeat. Second, allowable cost avoids weakening the cardinal rule, which applies only to target costs, not allowable costs. The process by which the strategic cost-reduction challenge is established must be highly disciplined.Otherwise it becomes a mechanism to reduce the effectiveness of target costing by setting target costs that are too easy to achieve. In most firms, top management approves the strategic cost-reduction challenge before the product-level target cost can be set. Technically, the target cost of a product is the target selling price less the target profit margin plus the strategic cost-reduction challenge. Many firms blur the distinction between the allowable cost and the target cost, however, by stating that the target cost is determined by subtracting the target profit margin from the target selling price.This simplification makes it easier for people to understand the spirit of target costing as being price driven. Obviously, if the strategic cost-reduction challenge is zero, the allowable and target costs are identical. At some firms, even when the allowable cost is considered achievable, it is not referred to as a target cost until the process has reached the stage at which the major component target costs are established. The retention of the term â€Å"allowable costs† shows that top management is not willing to invoke the cardinal rule until it is convinced that the target cost is indeed achievable. chievable only if the entire organization makes a significant effort to reach it. Consistently setting the target cost-reduction objective too high can lead to workforce burnout and, ultimately, the discipline of target costing will be lost. Conversely, if the target cost-reduction objective is consistently set too low, the firm will lose competitiveness, because new products will have excessively high target costs. Again referring to Exhibit 2, the produ ct-level target cost is determined by subtracting the proposed product target costreduction objective from its current cost.That is: Product-Level Target Cost = Current Cost–Target Cost-Reduction Objective The strategic cost-reduction challenge is determined by subtracting the allowable cost from the target cost: Strategic Cost-Reduction Challenge = Target Cost –Allowable Cost The value of differentiating between the allowable cost and the target cost in this manner lies in the discipline that it creates. In most firms, the allowable cost will sometimes be too low to achieve, given the relative capabilities of the firm and its suppliers compared to competitors and their suppliers.Target costing systems derive their strength from the application of the cardinal rule, â€Å"The target cost must never be exceeded. † If a firm continuously sets over-aggressive target costs, violations of the cardinal rule would be common and the discipline of the target costing proc ess would be lost. Even worse, if the allowable cost is known to be unachievable, the design team might give up even trying to achieve it, and effective cost reduction during product design would cease. To avoid this motivation problem, firms frequently set target costs higher than the allowable costs.These target costs are designed to be achievable but only with considerable effort. They allow the cardinal rule to be maintained for almost every product. Consequently, the distinction between allowable and productlevel target costs plays two roles. First, it identifies the strategic 3 ACHIEVING THE PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COST Once planners have identified the target cost-reduction objective, the second stage of product-level target costing begins— achieving it (see Exhibit 4). Several engineering techniques can help product designers find ways to reduce the costs of products.They include value engineering, design for manufacture and assembly, and quality function deployment. Val ue engineering, the most important of the three techniques, has the primary objective of maximizing customer value—it tries to increase functionality and quality while at the same time reducing cost. In contrast, DFMA focuses on reducing costs by making products easier to assemble or manufacture, while holding functionality at specified levels. Finally, QFD provides a structured approach to ensure that customer requirements are not compromised during the design process.Target costing and value engineering can be viewed as concurrent activities, as can kaizen costing and VA. The application of value engineering begins with the conceptualization of the product and continues through the design process until the product is released to manufacturing. Even then the process continues, but under the name value analysis (VA). Article 32. TARGET COSTING FOR NEW-PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING The difference between VA and VE is not in the approach taken or the tools u sed but the point at which they occur in the life cycle of the product.VE is used during the product design and development stages, and VA is used for the manufacturing stage and for purchasing parts. For this reason, target costing and value engineering can be viewed as concurrent activities, as can kaizen costing and VA. It would be wrong to view VE as just another cost-reduction program. VE is primarily about product functions and only secondarily about cost. The motivating force behind VE is to ensure that the product achieves its basic function in a way that satisfies the customer at an acceptable cost.Consequently, VE programs are the domain of the product engineer, not the accountant. bility of the existing functions. Second-look VE is applied during the last half of the planning stage and the first half of the development and product preparation stage. The objective of second-look VE, unlike that of zero- and first-look VE, is to improve the value and functionality of existi ng components, not create new ones. Consequently, the scale of changes is much smaller than for zero- and first-look VE. Comparative applications of VE consist of tearing down other products to identify new ways to reduce costs.We define tear down as â€Å"a comparative VE method through visual observation of disassembled equipment, parts, and data arranged in a manner convenient for such observation. † Numerous approaches to tear down exist. The six dominant techniques are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Dynamic. Cost. Material. Static. Process. Matrix tear down. VE Techniques The VE techniques can be broken into three major categories: 1. Direct application of VE principles to the product. 2. Tear down approaches using comparative VE. 3. Miscellaneous VE. VE can be applied directly to proposed products at different stages of the product design process.These different approaches are known as â€Å"looks. † Zero-look VE is the application of VE principles at the concept proposal st age, the earliest stage in the design process. Its objective is to introduce new forms of functionality that did not previously exist. First-look VE focuses on the major elements of the product design and is defined as developing new products from concepts. The objective is to enhance functionality of the product by improving the capa4 The first three methods are designed to reduce a product’s direct manufacturing costs.The next three are intended to reduce the investment required to manufacture the product through increased productivity. There are at least four miscellaneous cost-reduction techniques: 1. 2. 3. 4. The checklist method. The one-day cost-reduction meeting. Mini VE. The VE reliability program. ANNUAL EDITIONS Checklists The checklist method is used to identify a product’s cost factors and to suggest ways to reduce costs. The checklist consists of a number of questions designed to guide the firm’s cost-reduction activities by discovering cost-reduct ion opportunities.Checklists help ensure exploration of all possible avenues for cost reduction. One-day cost-reduction meetings are designed to improve the efficiency of the entire cost-reduction process, including VE and tear down methods. Participants from engineering, production, cost, and sales are expected to come up with ideas for new costreduction possibilities. The meetings are a way to overcome limitations in the approval process used for most cost-reduction proposals. The approval process entails circulating written proposals to all involved parties, who indicate acceptance by signing off on them.Unfortunately, this approach severely reduces the exchange of information and modification of ideas. At the oneday meetings, presentation of the results of various tear-down programs helps initiate discussions. production/sales-preparation stage, and the production/salespreparation stage. DISCIPLINING THE PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING PROCESS Disciplining the product-level target costing process begins with monitoring and validating the progress of the design engineers toward reaching the cost-reduction objective.It is at this stage in the process that the cardinal rule of target costing is applied. Only when getting the product to market is so imperative that cost is of secondary consideration should the cardinal rule be violated. Finally, when the product is released for mass production and its actual cost of manufacturing can be measured, steps sometimes have to be taken to reduce those costs to the target level. Once the target cost-reduction objective has been established, the process of designing the product so that it can be manufactured at its target cost can commence.The discipline of target costing requires that the chief engineer and his or her superiors continuously monitor and validate that the progress the design engineers are making toward this objective. This monitoring ensures that corrective actions can be taken as easily as possible and th at the cardinal rule will not be broken. Some firms define an as-if cost at this point in the development process. The as-if cost reflects cost-reduction opportunities identified when the previous generation of the product was being designed or manufactured. In most cases, the as-if cost is above the target cost of the new product but below its current cost.The additional cost that must be achieved is defined as the difference between the target cost and as-if cost. As the design process proceeds and costs are removed from the major functions, the estimated manufacturing cost gradually 5 Mini VE and VE Reliability Mini VE is a simplified approach to second-look VE. It is applied to specific areas of a part or to very small, inexpensive parts. Mini VE is applied during the development and product preparation stages, the development and production-sales preparation stage, and the production-sales preparation stage.A VE reliability program is designed to ensure that the most appropriat e form of VE is applied to each problem. Essentially, it is a â€Å"quality of VE† program. If a completely new product design is required, for example, applying second-look VE is not appropriate. Like mini VE, the program is applied during the development and product-preparation stages, the development and Article 32. TARGET COSTING FOR NEW-PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: PRODUCT-LEVEL TARGET COSTING falls toward the target cost. Many firms call the updated estimate the drifting cost (see Exhibit 5).Thus, the product design process starts with an as-if cost higher than the target cost and across the design process reduces the expected or drifting cost until it reaches the target cost. At most firms, once the drifting cost equals the target cost, cost-reduction activities cease. There is no reward for achieving greater savings than those required to achieve the target cost. The engineers’ time is better spent on getting the drifting cost of other products to equal their target co sts. estrictive, because the product under review causes additional revenues to be generated beyond those generated by the product itself. Such products include flagship products that create high visibility for the firm, products that introduce the next generation of technology, or products that fill a critical gap in the product line. For such products, the target cost is often relaxed to allow for the â€Å"hidden† revenues. However typically, cost reduction pressures are still applied during the early stages of manufacturing until the target cost is achieved.For the products that feature a variety of options, the final fine-tuning of the target cost is often achieved by specifying the features that the standard product will contain. If the manufacturing cost is too high, for example, one or more â€Å"standard† features might be converted to â€Å"options† that the customer now has to pay an additional amount to obtain. Converting features to options both red uces the cost of manufacturing the standard product, allowing the target cost to be achieved, and increases the selling price of the originally specified product, allowing the target profit to be achieved.Obviously, the reduction in the functionality of the standard variant must be subjected to market analysis to ensure that it is acceptable in the eyes of the customer at the target selling price. An example might include the conversion of side air bags from a standard feature to an optional one. This reduction in functionality will be acceptable only if competitive offerings treat side air bags in the same way. This fine-tuning process gives firms more leeway to achieve target costs set several years earlier. Similarly, the actual selling price is not fixed until just before the product is launched.Delaying these two critical decisions significantly reduces the uncertainty that a firm, in a multiyear product development process, faces with respect to achieving target costs. At most firms, once the drifting cost equals the target cost, cost-reduction activities cease. The process of comparing the drifting cost to the target cost continues throughout the design process. Often when the product is ready to be released to production, for example, planners undertake a final review of the feasibility of the target cost.If the estimated production cost is too high, the design is subjected to additional analysis. Frequently, relatively minor changes in the product’s design are all that is needed to reduce the cost estimate to the target cost level. As long as these changes do not alter the product’s price point, the product’s functionality is reduced and the product is submitted for approval. If the design changes will reduce the price point, the product is typically returned to the research and development group for design.The cardinal rule of target costing plays an important role in maintaining the discipline of target costing. Great care is ta ken to ensure that the sum of the component target costs does not exceed the target cost of the product. Often, an increase in the cost of one component causes the engineers to explore ways to reduce the costs of other components by an equivalent amount. In addition, to help ensure enforcement of the cardinal rule, most firms have a policy against launching unprofitable or sub-profitable products.When the product design phase is over, the product moves to manufacturing. As part of this transition phase, the target cost is compared to the standard cost of production. If the standard cost is higher, usually the firm takes steps to reduce manufacturing costs to the target level. Often, if the standard cost is at or below the target cost, the design of the product is frozen for the rest of its life, and no further actions, other than general kaizen, are taken to reduce the cost of the new product.As with any rule, the cardinal rule occasionally is broken. It is violated when a broader a nalysis indicates that breaking it will be beneficial for the firm. Target costing, by its nature, takes a single-product orientation. Sometimes, this view is too NEXT STEPS One of the key constituents of the product-level target cost is the target costs of all of the outsourced components. These costs are the focus of the next step in the target costing process, component-level target costing.It is in this portion of the target costing process that the discipline of target costing is extended to the supplier base of the firm. Journal of Cost Management board member ROBIN COOPER is a professor in the practice of cost management at Roberto C. Goizueta Business School at Emory University and can be reached at (404) 7276679. REGINE SLAGMULDER is associate professor of accounting and control at INSEAD France. She can be reached at regine. slagmulder @insead. edu. From Journal of Cost Management, July/August 2002, pp. 5-12.  © 2002 by the Journal of Cost Management. 6

Effects of Social Networking Sites Essay

As the world moves into the second decade of the 21 st century, one of the major markers of this era is the rise and use of online communities. In particular, a paradigm called Web 2.0 describes recent technologies that focus on networking mass numbers of individuals into distinct communities over the Internet (O’Reilly, 2007). Social networking sites (SNS) are online communities designed to connect individuals to wider networks of relationships, and are one major example of Web 2.0 applications. Sites such as Facebook have exploded in membership. In a short period of 2007 – 2010, Facebook estimates that its membership has grown from 50 million to over 400 million users (Facebook, n.d.). Online social networks are now an integrated part of daily life and compel questions of how these media platforms affect human development, relationships, and interaction. Teenagers are among the most avid users of technology in general and social network sites in particular (Lenhart, Madden, Macgill, & Smith, 2007b). Recent reports find that youth spend nearly 10 hours per day using some form of technology, with socially networked media playing a large role in their daily lives (Rideout, Foehr, & Roberts, 2010). New technologies are deeply intertwined with adult perceptions about teenage life. Mimi Ito and colleagues observe that, â€Å"Although today’s questions about ‘kids these days’ have a familiar ring to them, the contemporary version is somewhat unusual in how strongly it equates generational identity with technology identity† The clear finding is that today’s youth are increasingly connected to the world through socially networked media. While teenagers are engaged with technology, they are ever more disengaged from another major component of their lives – school. Read more:  The Effects of Social Media on College Students National analyses find that nearly 30% of high school students do not obtain their diploma on time (Cataldi, Laird, KewalRamani, 2009). High school completion rates are difficult to measure, but various independent studies also suggest that nearly one-third of students ultimately drop out of school (Barton, 2005). When one compares these competing aspects of teenage life – technology versus education – a simple strategy clearly emerges. Perhaps if educators begin to integrate social technologies into learning, they will increase student engagement and achievement in school. Heeding the call of scholars (i.e. Jenkins, 2006; Ito et al. n.d.) recent policy and research efforts are now racing to develop new social media platforms and technologies for learning. For example, the  Federal Department of Education and organizations such as the MacArthur Foundation have invested millions of dollars to build social media platforms, video games, and other digital tools for learni ng (Whitehouse, n.d.). Despite the optimism that social media tools might improve student engagement and learning, the stark reality is that these new technologies often conflict with the practices of K-12 schools. Surveys find that the vast majority of school district leaders believe social technology can improve student learning. However, these same district administrators typically block student access to online resources like social network sites (Lemke & Coughlin, 2009). The decision to ban students from accessing social network sites underscores a major conundrum for educators. Online social networks widen a students’ access to resources and social support and may have beneficial effects on their development. Conversely, as student access to the world widens they are inevitably exposed to potentially negative material and interactions. The simplest strategy to limit liability and safeguard school districts is to ban access to these new digital tools. However, such policies neglect the potentially large benefits of using social media in the classroom. To alleviate this dilemma, educators and policymakers need a deeper understanding of social media and youth. Several questions are critical in the area of youth learning with social technologies, including: †¢ Which youth are using particular social technologies? †¢ How do they use these technologies to communicate, develop relationships, socialize, and learn? †¢ What are the effects of these technologies on youth development? †¢ What are the effects of these technologies when applied in educational contexts such as the classroom? In this dissertation, I explore these questions by examining a particular technology: the social network site. Communities such as Facebook and MySpace mediate teenage life, affecting how youth communicate and learn from one another. In addition, social networks are intertwined into just about every major online community today (Livingstone, 2008). These factors make SNS a particularly salient focus for evaluation. Throughout the following chapters I examine different questions surrounding the phenomena of social network sites and teenage youth. In Chapter 2, I review the extant research literature that examines SNS. I consider several controversies around SNS and youth: (a) What kinds of youth are using social networking sites? (b)  Does student participation in these online communities affect their privacy and social relationships? (c) Do student activities in SNS influence their personal development in terms of self-esteem and psychological well-being? (d) Does SNS use affect student grades and learning? The review highlights how research in this field is only just emerging. The few stud ies that examine social network sites are mainly exploratory. However, media researchers have a rich history of scholarship from which to draw new insights. I integrate previous thought on Digital Divides, Psychological Well-being, Social Capital Theory, and Cognitive and Social Learning theories to guide SNS researchers in future studies. In Chapter 3, I present an empirical analysis using a national dataset of teenagers from the Pew Internet & American Life Project (Lenhart et al., 2007b; Pew Internet & American Life Project, n.d.). In this study, I ask whether demographic variables such as education, socioeconomic status, and access to the Internet are significantly related to whether teenagers participate in social network sites. This line of analysis is typical of digital divide studies that examine whether particular populations have less access to new technologies. If new technologies do have positive benefits for individuals, but under- represented populations do not have access to such tools, there are tremendous issues of equity and access yet to be addressed (Jenkins, 2006). Most studies of digital divide and SNS examine adult and college-age populations. I present an analysis of teenage populations to examine their usage patterns. The results of this paper highlight how the association between demographic indicators and social media use are weaker in 2007 than seen in earlier studies. Teenage youth of all backgrounds increasingly find ways to connect with others using social network sites. In Chapter 4, I consider a question of particular importance to teachers and education leaders. Through a large-scale experiment, I examine whether using social network sites in urban classrooms has any causal effect on students’ social capital, engagement with school, or academic achievement. I build an experimental social network site that approximates the functionality seen in sites such as Facebook and MySpace. The key difference in this experimental condition is that the site is private to two urban, school districts and explicitly for use to exchange educational information. Working with 50 classrooms and nearly 1,400 students, I utilize a cluster-randomized trial,  where class periods are randomly assigned to use the experimental site. Employing this randomized trial design, I find that an academic social network site does not necessarily improve student engagement with their peers, their classes, or increase student achievement. However, I find exploratory evidence that existing social network sites such as Facebook and MySpace improve students’ feelings of connection with their school community. The study offers evidence for one compelling idea: Perhaps schools should attempt to leverage students existing social networks, rather than block access to them or impose their own. In Chapter 5, I outline what is needed in future research about social network sites, and new technologies in general, to better inform the policies and practices of schools, educators, parents, and those interested in youth development. In particular, previous scholarly thought has focused on either a technologically deterministic or social agency perspective. Technological determinism suggests that a media tool itself affects social outcomes such as learning, but a long history of research underscores the fallacy of this philosophy. Scholars who focus instead on social agency, explore how individuals use new technologies in cultural and social contexts. However, this stream of research neglects rigorous evaluation of how new media affect youth. Both perspectives in isolation offer incomplete analyses o f how new media, such as SNS, impact youth. I argue that future researchers must develop and test finer hypotheses that simultaneously consider the technological affordances of social network sites, the social and cultural institutions within which SNS are used, and the actual interactions between individuals that occur in these online communities. The chapters in this dissertation examine the phenomena of social network sites and youth through different but complementary lenses: theoretical, descriptive, and experimental. The summative contribution of these analyses is a deeper picture of how teenage youth use SNS and its effects on their academic and social development. The studies show that youth of all backgrounds are increasingly connected via online social networks. The empirical analyses also show that social network sites are no silver bullet for improving learning in high school classrooms. The technology itself does not improve learning, but social media might help students become more connected and engaged with their school communities. The implications for educators and  schools are numerous. Problems such as student disengagement with education are profoundly significant issues, and additional research is needed to better understand how online networks influence youth development and learning. The current tools of teenage communication go by a peculiar set of names. Wall Posts, Status Updates, Activity Feeds, Thumbs Ups, Facebook Quizzes, and Profiles are some of the ways that youth today communicate with one another. These tools are features of social network sites (SNS), such as Facebook and Myspace. SNS are part of a suite of recent web applications, also called social media, which utilize Web 2.0 principles. The term Web 2.0 defines websites that are designed to: (a) rely on the participation of mass groups of users rather than centrally controlled content providers, (b) aggregate and remix content from multiple sources, and (c) more intensely network users and content together (O’Reilly, 2007). People use these web applications to interact in hyper-aware ways and the scale of this mass communication phenomena is significant. As of May 2009, Facebook ranked as the 4 th most trafficked website in the world and Myspace ranked 11 th highest (Alexa, n.d.). That high school youth are connected to these global online communities is both a frightening prospect for parents and educators and an intriguing area for social science research. Educators and parents in the United States face difficult quandaries concerning students and SNS. No one denies that youth use these technologies to communicate with the world, and they do so with high frequency and intensity (Lenhart et al., 2007b). Many scholars suggest that students learn in new ways using social media and that educators should embrace these new platforms (Ito et al., n.d.; Jenkins, 2006). In a recent national survey, the vast majority of school district leaders report that they view social media as a positive development for education (Lemke & Coughlin, 2009). Nevertheless, 70% of districts also report that they banned all access to SNS in their schools. Despite the clear understanding that social media can be vital to student learning and digital literacy, educators currently struggle with how to comply with regulations like the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA), as well as overcome general fears about student interactions in social network sites. To inform both the policy concerns of district leaders and  the local practices of teachers and parents, research is needed to understand how youth use SNS and what effects it has on their social and academic development. In this chapter, I consider several key controversies around youth usage of SNS, and review relevant research that begins to inform these debates. I first define the media effects framework and outline how this research tradition attempts to understand the effects of new technologies on social outcomes. Second, I define social network sites and describe studies that capture how youth use these technologies to develop relationships, hang out with friends, and learn new skills. Third, the chapter reviews relevant research that informs several controversies concerning SNS and adolescents. I also connect these contemporary debates with previous scholarly thought about students’ out-of-school time (OST) and traditional concerns about the effect of technology on learning. The specific controversies reviewed are: †¢ What kinds of youth are using social networking sites? †¢ Does student participation in these online communities affect their privacy and social relationships? †¢ Do student activities in SNS influence their personal development in terms of self-esteem and psychological well-being? †¢ Does SNS use affect student grades and learning? Finally, I outline the overall condition of research on SNS and youth. The current state of the literature is suggestive of the effects on adolescent social and academic development, and primarily consists of ethnographic and cross-sectional data. I outline the future questions that will be critical for the field and suggest relevant methodological directions to move this emergent research stream forward. What Can We Learn from a Media Effects Framework? Many of the controversial questions concerning social network sites ask what kinds of effects these technologies have on youth development. Given this focus, I work primarily from a media effects tradition of research. Media effects scholars examine the outcomes that arise when people use new technologies. Talking about effects engenders important theoretical discussions that must be laid clear when examining studies. Most significantly, the term implies a focus on causality. Studies in this framework imply that a media form, or the features of the technology, causally influences some outcome (Eveland, 2003). The structure of questions from this perspective is usually in the form of: Does media affect learning? Does television influence student achievement? Or do social  net work sites affect the psychological well-being of adolescents? Media effects scholars in a variety of fields have quickly come to realize that the answers to these questions are more complex. Very rarely, if ever, is there a direct causal relationship between a technology and a social outcome such as learning (Clark, 1983; Clark, 1991; Schmidt & Vandewater, 2008). Early media questions often used a technological framework or object-centered approach (Fulk & DeSanctis, 1999; Nass & Mason, 1990). Such a perspective assumes and tests whether a technology itself causally affects a social outcome. For example, in Education a major question of technology research is whether media affects learning. Education researchers now firmly conclude that media does not affect student learning (Clark, Yates, Early, & Moulton, In Press). Numerous studies show that the media tool neither improves nor negatively impacts learning when compared to the same teaching strategy in the classroom (Bernard, Abrami, Lou, Borokhovski, Wade, Wozney et al., 2004; Clark, 1983; Clark, 1991). What matters is not the computer, but the learning behaviors that occur within the software or educational program. T he findings of non-significant media effects on student learning do not mean that technology has no influence. For example, Richard Mayer (2001) shows through a series of experiments that the design of a multimedia presentation affects student learning of a topic. Putting words and pictures closer together on the screen, when they are relevant to each other, helps students retain more knowledge than when the elements are placed further apart on the screen. These results do not validate a technological orientation, where one expects that the computers themselves improve learning. Rather, the pedagogical strategy of placing relevant words and images together in a presentation affects cognition. Media researchers understand that the features of a technology afford certain possibilities for activity. A multimedia video on the computer allows one to design words and images on the screen, while a computer simulation might guide a learner using models of real-world cases. A media tool allows for different possible learning behaviors (Kozma, 1991). This subtle difference in theoretical orientation is what scholars call an emergent perspective (Fulk & DeSanctis, 1999) or a variable-based approach (Nass & Mason, 1990). Scholars using an emergent or variable-based approach view technology as a structuring factor. Features of  a technology, not the technology itself, enable and constrain how one uses that tool. Conversely, social forces such as cultural norms and behavioral practices influence how one ultimately uses a technology. William Eveland (2003) offers five characteristics of media effects research that help define how studies take into account both technological and social variables. Media effects studies have: (1) A focus on an audience, (2) Some expectation of influence, (3) A belief that the influence is due to the form or content of the media or technology, (4) An understanding of the variables that may explain the causality, and (5) The creation of empirically testable hypotheses. A focus on audience compels researchers to understand the characteristics of the youth who use SNS. Knowing who uses, or does not use, social network sites is an important sociological question for scholars of digital divide. In addition, Hornik (1981) notes the possible differential effects for disparate populations, â€Å"If communication researchers have learned anything during the previous three decades, it is that communication effects vary with members of the audience† (p. 197). Current media studies also focus on the form or content of a technology, and move away from making black-box comparisons between technologies. Questions that ask whether Facebook is related to lower grades, or if MySpace is unsafe for children, are broad and uninformative directions for future media effects studies. Instead, the pivotal questions explore how the features of SNS enable or constrain behavior. Future media studies about SNS and youth should not frame questions using a technologicall y deterministic perspective where one expects the technology to cause an outcome. Instead, media scholars identify how youth interaction, communication, and information sharing are the critical variables in understanding SNS effects on social and academic outcomes. This understanding of media effects research helps define finer-grained hypotheses of why a tool like SNS might affect student development, under what uses, for whom, and when. What are Social Network Sites and How Do Youth Use Them? When a teenager joins a site like Facebook they first create a personal profile. These profiles display information such as your name, relationship status, occupation, photos, videos, religion, ethnicity, and personal interests. What differentiates SNS from previous media like a personal homepage is the display of one’s friends (boyd & Ellison, 2007). In addition to exhibiting your network of  friends, other users can then click on their profiles and traverse ever widening social networks. These three features – profiles, friends, traversing friend lists – represent the core, defining characteristics of social networking sites. One will notice that SNS also include other media tools such as video and photo uploading and many websites now employ social networking features. For example, YouTube is primarily a video sharing service, but users can add others as their friends or subscribe to a member’s collection of videos. Using boyd & Ellison’s (2007) definition, YouTube can be included as a type of social network site. As resear chers examine the effects of SNS on social behaviors, they will undoubtedly come across these blurring of technologies. Sonia Livingstone (2008) notes that SNS invite â€Å"convergence among the hitherto separate activities of email, messaging, website creation, diaries, photo albums and music or video uploading and downloading† (p. 394). This convergence of technologies may complicate what one means by the term social network site. Amidst the sea of what websites can be termed SNS, the technical definition of social network sites still provides a shared conceptual foundation. Comparing across common features – i.e. profiles and friend networks – researchers can begin to understand how various communities co-opt these characteristics to create entirely new cultural and social uses of the technology. Patricia Lange’s (2007) ethnographic study of YouTube shows that users deal with issues concerning public and private sharing of video. Some YouTube users post videos intended for wide audiences, but share very little about their own identities. Their motivations might be to achieve Internet fame and gather viewers. Other members upload videos intended for a small network of friends and may restrict the privacy settings to only allow access to those individuals. The concepts of friend and social networ k for these users are entirely distinct. Dodgeball, an early and now defunct mobile-SNS, is another social network site that has been studied. In Dodgeball, a user broadcasts their location via cell-phone to their network of friends:

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Linguistics and Interjections Essay Example for Free

Linguistics and Interjections Essay In Western philosophy and linguistic theory, interjections—that is, words like oof, ouch, and bleah—have traditionally been understood to indicate emotional states. This article offers an account of interjections in Q’eqchi’ Maya that illuminates their social and discursive functions. In particular, it discusses the grammatical form of interjections, both in Q’eqchi’ and across languages, and characterizes the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections in Q’eqchi’ in terms of a semiotic framework that may be generalized for other languages. With these grammatical forms, indexical objects, and pragmatic functions in hand, it details the various social and discursive ends that interjections serve in one Q’eqchi’ community, thereby shedding light on local values, norms, ontological classes, and social relations. In short, this article argues against interpretations of interjections that focus on internal emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. p a u l k o c k e l m a n is McKennan Post-Doctoral Fellow in Linguistic Anthropology in the Department of Anthropology at Dartmouth College (Hanover, N.H. 03755, U.S.A. [[emailprotected]]). Born in 1970, he was educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz (B.A., 1992) and the University of Chicago (M.S., 1994; Ph.D., 2002). His publications include â€Å"The Collection of Copal among the Q’eqchi’-Maya† (Research in Economic Anthropology 20:163–94), â€Å"Factive and Counterfactive Clitics in Q’eqchi’-Maya: Stance, Status, and Subjectivity,† in Papers from the Thirty-eighth Annual Regional Meeting of the Chicago Linguistics Society (Chicago: Linguistics Society, in press), and â€Å"The Interclausal Relations Hierarchy in Q’eqchi’ Maya† (International Journal of American Linguistics 69:25–48). The present paper was submitted 1 vi 01 and accepted 27 xii 02. 1. A longer version of this article was presented at the workshop â€Å"Semiotics: Culture in Context† at the University of Chicago in January 2001. Chris Ball, Anya Bernstein, John Lucy, and Michael Silverstein all provided very helpful commentary. This article also greatly beneï ¬ ted from suggestions made by Benjamin S. Orlove and several anonymous referees. Western philosophy and linguistic theory have traditionally considered interjections at the periphery of language and primordially related to emotion. For example, the Latin grammarian Priscian deï ¬ ned interjections as â€Å"a part of speech signifying an emotion by means of an unformed word† (Padley 1976:266). Muller (1862)  ¨ thought that interjections were at the limit of what might be called language. Sapir (1921:6–7) said that they were â€Å"the nearest of all language sounds to instinctive utterance.† Bloomï ¬ eld (1984[1933]:177) said that they â€Å"occur under a violent stimulus,† and Jakobson (1960: 354) considered them exemplars of the â€Å"purely emotive stratum of language.† While interjections are no longer considered peripheral to linguistics and are now carefully deï ¬ ned with respect to their grammatical form, their meanings remain vague and elusive. In particular, although interjections are no longer characterized pure ly in terms of emotion, they are still characterized in terms of â€Å"mental states.† For example, Wierzbicka (1992:164) characterizes interjections as â€Å"[referring] to the speaker’s current mental state or mental act.† Ameka (1992a:107) says that â€Å"from a pragmatic point of view, interjections may be deï ¬ ned as a subset of items that encode speaker attitudes and communicative intentions and are contextbound,† and Montes (1999:1289) notes that many interjections â€Å"[focus] on the internal reaction of affectedness of the speaker with respect to the referent.† Philosophers have offered similar interpretations. For example, Herder thought that interjections were the human equivalent of animal sounds, being both a â€Å"language of feeling† and a â€Å"law of nature† (1966:88), and Rousseau, pursuing the origins of language, theorized that protolanguage was â€Å"entirely interjectional† (1990:71). Indeed, such philosophers have posited a historical transition from interjections to language in which the latter allows us not only to index pain and express passion but also to denote values and exercise reason (D’Atri 1995).2 Thus interjections have been understood as a semiotic artifact of our natural origins and the most transparent index of our emotions. Such an understanding of interjections is deeply rooted in Western thought. Aristotle (1984), for example, posited a contrastive relationship between voice, proper only to humans as instantiated in language, and sound, shared by humans and animals as instantiated in cries. This contrastive relation was then compared with other analogous contrastive relations, in particular, value and pleasure/pain, polis and household, and bios (the good life, or political life proper to humans) and zoe (pure life, shared by all living things). Such a contrast is so pervasive that modern philosophers such as Agamben (1995) have devoted much of their scholarly work to the thinking out of this tradition and others built on it such as id versus ego in the Freudian paradigm. In short, the folk distinction made between interjections and language 2. D’Atri (1995:124) argues that, for Rousseau, â€Å"interjections . . . are sounds and not voices: they are passive registerings and as such do not presuppose the intervention of will, which is what characterizes human acts of speech.† Proper maps onto a larger set of distinctions in Western thought: emotion and cognition, animality and humanity, nature and culture, female and male, passion and reason, bare life and the good life, pain and value, private and public, and so on (see, e.g., Lutz 1988, Strathern 1988). In this article I avoid such abstracting and dichotomizing traps by going straight to the heart of interjections: their everyday usage in actual discourse when seen in the context of local culture and grounded in a semiotic framework. I begin by characterizing the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I carried out my research and go on to relate interjections to other linguistic forms, showing how they are both similar to and distinct from other classes of words in natural languages. Next I provide and exemplify a semiotic framework, generalizable across languages, in terms of which the indexical objects and pragmatic functions of interjections can best be characterized. Then I detail the local usage of the 12 most commonly used interjections in Q’eqchi’ and show the way in which they are tied into all things cultural: values, norms, ontological classes, social relations, and so on. I conclude by discussing the relative frequency with which the various forms and functions of interjections are used. In short, I argue against interpretations of interjections that focus on emotional states by providing an account of their meanings in terms of situational, discursive, and social context. Linguistic and Ethnographic Context While I am attempting to provide as wide a theoretical account of interjections as I can, thereby providing a metalanguage for speaking about similar sign phenomena in other languages, I am also trying to capture the grammatical niceties of Q’eqchi’ Maya and the discursive and social particularities of one Q’eqchi’-speaking village in particular. Before I begin my analysis, then, I want to sketch the linguistic and ethnographic context in which I worked. Q’eqchi’ is a language in the Kichean branch of the Mayan family, spoken by some 360,000 speakers in Guatemala (in the departments of Alta Verapaz, Izabel, and Peten) and Belize (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). 3 Lin ´ guistically, Q’eqchi’ is relatively well described: scholars such as Berinstein (1985), Sedat (1955), Stewart (1980), Stoll (1896), and Chen Cao et al. (1997) have discussed its syntax, morphology, phonology, and lexicon, and I have detailed various morphosyntactic forms (encoding grammatical categories such as mood, status, evidentiality, taxis, and inalienable possession) as they intersect with sociocultural values and contextual features and as they illuminate local modes of personhood (Kockelman 3. Typologically, Q’eqchi’ is a morphologically ergative, head-marking language. In Q’eqchi’, vowel length (signaled by doubling letters) is phonemic; /k/ and /q/ are velar and uvular plosives, respectively, and /x/ and /j/ are palato-alveolar and velar fricatives, respectively. All other phonemes have their standard IPA values. 2002, 2003a, b). This article is therefore part of a larger project in which I examine how intentional and evaluative stances are encoded in natural languages and the relations that such stances bear to local modes of subjectivity. Alta Verapaz, the original center of the Q’eqchi’-speaking people who still make up the majority of its population, has had a unusual history even by Guatemalan standards. In 1537, after the Spanish crown had failed to conquer the indigenous peoples living there, the Dominican Friar Bartolome de Las Casas was permitted to  ´ pacify the area through religious methods. Having succeeded, he changed the name of the area from Tezulutlan (Land of War) to Verapaz (True Peace), and the Dominicans were granted full control over the area—the state banning secular immigration, removing all military colonies, and nullifying previous land grants. In this way, for almost 300 years the area remained an isolated enclave, relatively protected by the paternalism of the church in comparison with other parts of Guatemala (King 1974, Sapper 1985). This ended abruptly in the late 1800s, however, with the advent of coffee growing, liberal reforms, and the inï ¬â€šux of Europeans (Cambranes 1985, Wagner 1996). Divested of their land and forced to work on coffee plantations, the Q’eqchi’ began migrating north into the unpopulated lowland forests of the Peten  ´ and Belize (Adams 1965, Carter 1969, Howard 1975, Kockelman 1999, Pedroni 1991, Saa Vidal 1979, Schwartz 1990, Wilk 1991). In the past 40 years this migration has been fueled by a civil war that has ravaged the Guatemalan countryside, with the Q’eqchi’ ï ¬â€šeeing not just scarce resources and labor quotas but also their own nation’s soldiers—often forcibly conscripted speakers of other Mayan languages (Carmack 1988, IWGIA 1978, Wilson 1995). As a consequence, the past century has seen the Q’eqchi’ population spread from Alta Verapaz to the Peten and ï ¬ nally to Belize, Mexico, and even the  ´ United States. Indeed, although only the fourth largest of some 24 Mayan languages, Q’eqchi’ is thought to have the largest percentage of monolinguals, and the ethnic group is Guatemala’s fastest-growing and most geographically extensive (Kaufman 1974, Stewart 1980). The two key ethnographies of Q’eqchi’-speakers have been written by Wilk (1991) and Wilson (1995), the former treating household ecology in Belize and the latter upheavals in village life and identity at the height of the civil war in highland Guatemala during the 1980s. In addition to these monographs, there are also a number of dissertations and articles on the history (King 1974, Sapper 1985, Wagner 1996), ecology (Carter 1969, Secaira 1992, Wilson 1972), and migration (Adams 1965, Howard 1975, Pedroni 1991) of Q’eqchi’-speaking people. The data for this article are based on almost two years of ethnographic and linguistic ï ¬ eldwork among speakers of Q’eqchi’, most of it in Ch’inahab, a village of some 80 families (around 650 people) in the municipality of San Juan Chamelco, in the department of Alta Verapaz. At an altitude of approximately 2,400 m, Ch’inahab is one of the highest villages in this area, with an annual precipitation of more than 2,000 mm. It is also one of the most remote, access to the closest road requiring a three-hour hike down a steep and muddy single-track trail. Its relatively high altitude and remote location provide the perfect setting for cloud forest, and such a cloud forest provides the perfect setting for the resplendent quetzal, being home to what is thought to be the highest density of such birds in the world. Because of the existence of the quetzal and the cloud forest in which it makes its home, Ch’inahab has been the site of a successful eco-tourism project the conditions and consequences of which are detailed in my dissertation (Kockelman 2002). While the majority of villagers in Ch’inahab are monolingual speakers of Q’eqchi’, some men who have served time in the army or worked as itinerant traders speak some Spanish. All the villagers are Catholic. Ch’inahab is divided by a mountain peak with dwellings on both of its sides and in the surrounding valleys. It takes about 45 minutes to hike across the village. At one end there is a biological station kept by the eco-tourism project and used sporadically by European ecologists, and at the other there is a Catholic church and a cemetery. In the center there is a small store, a school for primary and secondary grades, and a soccer ï ¬ eld. The surrounding landscape is cloud forest giving way to scattered house sites, agricultural parcels, pasture, and ï ¬ elds now fallow. All villagers engage in corn-based, or milpa, agriculture, but very few have enough land to fulï ¬ ll all of their subsistence needs.4 For this reason, many women in the village are dedicated to chicken husbandry, most men in the village engage in seasonal labor on plantations (up to ï ¬ ve months a year in some cases), and many families engage in itinerant trade (women weaving baskets and textiles for the men to sell) and eco-tourism (the women hosting tourists and the men guiding them). Dwelling sites often contain a scattering of houses in which reside an older couple and their married sons, all of whom share a water source and a pasture. The individual families themselves often have two houses, a relatively traditional thatched-roof house in which the family cooks and sleeps and a relatively new house with a tin roof in which they host festivals and in which older children and ecotourists may sleep. Because of eco-tourism and the inï ¬â€šux of money and strangers that it brings, there has been an increase in the construction of such tin-roofed houses, and, as will be seen, many of my examples of interjections come from such construction contexts. My data on the use of interjections among villagers in Ch’inahab comes from 14 months of ï ¬ eldwork carried out between 1998 and 2001. The data collection con4. Before 1968, what is now Ch’inahab was owned by the owner of a plantation. Q’eqchi’-speakers who lived in the village of Popobaj (located to the south of and lower than Ch’inahab) were permitted to make their milpa in this area in exchange for two weeks of labor per month on the ï ¬ nca (Secaira 1992:20). Only in 1968, when a group of villagers got together to form a land acquisition committee, were some 15 caballerÄ ±as (678 ha) of land purchased from the owner  ´ for 4,200 quetzals (US$4,200). This land, while legally owned by the entire community, was divided among the original 33 villagers as a function of their original contributions.

Athletes as role models

Athletes as role models First Draft: Athletes as Role Models Sports and athletic games is a very popular way of entertainment that has played a major role in people life and since the first years of man existence. From the Greeks and Rome culture to present day, so its so refluxed to society that athletics become an inspiration to a lot of people in body fitness and victory sides. However, recent media has made athletics and the people who play it as role models or heroes. Athletes are seen all over the advertisements and television, every one can watch them in commercials, on shows, read about them in newspaper, and watch them on cinemas too. As Sports plays a big role in the society. So people always seek for positive athletic role models in their society. This leads to this what some people call a role model. So that research is to show importance of having positive athletic role models in society and the influence they have on and off the field. As some teens miss the role of parents who are no longer devote themselves to the young childre n to sit with them, and dialoguing in proportion to the age that no longer benefit the treatment of children with behavior of kindergarten. So they look for their favorite athletics which have positive effect and negative too according to the athlete personality. So the argumentative point that athletes are not only role models but, in todays media driven world Due to circumstances of modern life, and less physical activity of the human person as a result of the development .Since the human body needs physical activity for both the development and its vital functions and motor or To keep them at a high emotional level, the physical education must play their part in this area .In order to provide the bodys physical activity organizer who works to maintain the vitality some sponsors encourage sports men to be role models so Many are interested in youth business, and specialists as well , the presence of role model in the youth lives, which would help them to continue their lives trying to approach the perfection and get their goals so they seek something as inspiration , and thus contribute and participate directly to the success of these athletic young people in their lives, which necessarily mean success in their community ,as success in sports today means success in the society as well ,and it is common that half of young people present an d to the future teenagers too. Are looking to the youth role model , nowadays, in general, whether in the Arab world, or at the local level, there is lacks the presence of such role models in teenager life as parents or friends or relatives , although an exception among the young is proud to achieve their own goals and having the positive attitude of any negative phenomena in their society   those are so energetic and others like painting or any other hobbies except sports, but it is still exception, So when the media deal with youth affairs, and trying to catch teen eyes so they use those popular sports figures to achieve their goals ,like any other type of media   they choose the most successful teen player or the most skilful and get him in poster and contribute in newspapers, magazines and television to reach this result, and also its discovered that many of these young men and women, due to many reasons, multi-colors, but are talking and looking at certain models in singing the present time an example that followed the example in their lives and proud of it, simply because the famous singer appeared more beautiful after surgery to inflate the lips and other plastic surgeries , as well as for the Sports Stars of the story just felt pretty strange, or perhaps shown by their owners New Look . There is much of definitions to the role model so True role models are those who possess the qualities and positive principles that people would like to be like those as the has effect in people way of thinking and affected in a way that makes nations want to be better people. And to make sure of personal goals, people need to take leadership on the facts and traditions that people believe in. Most of people often dont recognize the true role models until they have noticed their own personal growth and progress. However the idea of role model is not common for all youth some just wanted to learn and not to take those as role models the good role model encourages people and teenagers to believe that they can get their goal and be a living example however .Some think being role model means that. It is the smile that they give to others. It is the look of stars and all this advertisement things. Some define Good Role Model as a person who tells, and influences teenagers to make the righ t choice in hard ways of life. As they should teach people that everyone should prove himself to get his goal whatever that means .people may need a reminder to work harder .especially that some of nations are lazy. But the deepest meaning is that role model has to be not just someone who teens look up to or is successful, but someone they can go through similar struggles challenges in life. It is thought that athletics who are role model is a positive idea, as Athletes who are Against Drugs give a good hope to those children and mold their behavior at a young age. As those children can early to resist peer pressure and alcoholic drinks so early so they can protect them from getting into troubles, and teaches them to stay out of troubles and problems and street fight as some of those kids are involved with gangs. The reason why most kids get involved in gangs is because it is a place where they feel they can fit in. So by monitoring athletics themselves and be against those stuff they can act as positive role models. Athletes are role models, and it is the athlete decision to either use their gift and their powers in a positive or a negative cause. Some athletes believe that the responsibility of being role models, but it does not change the clear fact that they are considered as role models by lots of children. There is a strong need for positive athletic role models in society; there is no negative side to have a positive athletic role model in teenager life. As stated in some sources I believe the majority of professional athletes provide a positive influence on our society. Athletes can be role models in many different ways. You can have a role model like Cal Ripken who doesnt say too much, but has played in the most consecutive games in baseball ever. A majority of professional athletes provide hope for young athletes all over the world As. some players have done many positive things in their lives and the lives of millions of children in the world through projects focusing on the lives of the poor and the suffering nations and contributing positively at world disasters, and contribute ,help   many patients with serious diseases, so if every realize to be active in their community and how to help others, and positively react, as lots of those athletics suffered so much in their lives before their become billionaires, but they remained with the same habits, generous, and provides a positive model in the sports world so they contribute in the aspects of humanity so they deserve some respect and appreciation. Some are against role model as sports men as the idea of heroes are becoming less admirable as the years go by and turned much in cash. With the recent steroids and become more alike heroine ,the real athletics who plays fair games some thinks they are rare this days to be admired by younger players as well. As most of the currently teenagers college aged students were growing up, recently, it is difficult to locate the major good player to be considered as a good example for young people to look up to. Also some sports dont have any civilized role which affect teens and make theme more aggressive as inspired by athletes of these days, as most of them habitual drug users and general criminals. High school athletes are taking the lead from those professional players and athletics that should play respective sports and more which leads to real problem.Also some thinks that Athletes arent always who they seem to be on television and media, they always look like smiling, happy people who just love to help out people in need and give hugs to little children. Some thinks they have another face behind scenes; it is thought they are actors who are good at playing sports, Really some players do not show their real face as it seem on TV, as a lot of them are hard to deal with and heartless folks who are looking for some cash. They might have addiction on drugs or drinking alcohol or many other horrible things, and those things the real role models should not be doing. Steroid and protein supplements and the injections which used by those to increase their performance has high health risk is now used by high school seniors, a direct correlation to the mammoth statistics by superstars who cheated the game. A source stated that The White House said a recent survey found steroid use among 8th, 10th and 12th graders combined was down from 2001 by 40% for use during lifetime, 42% for the past year and 22% for the past month. So a lot of youth are very affected by their athletics to have that muscular body or that higher performance of those athletics in shorter time. Some years ago an athlete said that I am not a role model. Actually some thought that he is not only talking about him, but all athletes in general. He referred that he is like most of normal people who want to play a fair game for his team and have his own personal life .So; every athlete should think before he signs a multimillion dollar deal, there is a little kid will put their poster on his wall, its great responsibility to be a role model or hero. However being a role model is not athletic responsibility its the audience responsibility to choose whatever he is good enough to represent his society or no, as some athletics are good and some are bad. And also and each of those advertisement organizations can choose what sort of message they want their representatives to deliver to their customers. So a lot of people may not agree with this statement as being model something an athlete can do to himself. However Young and talented teenager athletes sometimes place professional sports above other goals. Which may lead their carrier life to edge, they show low school grades so they wont be able to be apart of their society and they got paid but without education as well. To summaries the point of views .It is thought from some people that those athletics did not choose to be role models and they were not prepared to be a role model and they may do not ever wanted to be a role model, as its not their responsibility however they carry even a major part of it and also the Given the number of poor examples of sportsmanship ,sponsors on display in the media today, the responsibility for finding models of desirable behaviors and attitudes rests heavily on the shoulders of those involved in the youth environment. Coaches, parents, athletes, teachers, etc must be determined in their promotion of the youth environment. Those professional athletes and other athletes are daily supposed to spotlights and it is so easy to expect that they are watched by millions of people and audience and fans who like their teams, So those people are watching every move. The athletes must realize that when they make mistakes people will be watching and judge and interact with th at and even magazines will post it later. But also life is not fair and some do mistakes but also those athletics should act in positive way and take the responsibility for the consequences that come after mistakes that has been made. But also .role models athletes can do many positive things such as educating the young youth at schools by letting them know the importance of going to school and importance of sports as well. Those Athletes who are Against Drugs should be doing as role models. Those great athletics when they are up to training or open sports schools, provide people with lifelong learning skills that can flourish other areas of people lives, enhancing their confidence, improving the way with dealing with the challenges facing them in life, elevate self esteem and change the way of thinking in their life, Those athletics know that they are in the spotlight, Good and bad come out of sports and with recent media, as it over react with the actions of some players And publi sh it in many forms. Everyone out there is watching and for a prime time, the athlete as a role model is not an issue; its a Part of everyday life.

People Oriented Leader Or Relations Oriented Leadership Business Essay

People Oriented Leader Or Relations Oriented Leadership Business Essay Many business majors do not see the early management though as primitive in nature. Modern management thinking is often thought as modern management theory. Modern management thinking has been researched in reference to early management though, businessmen today only have a clear understanding of current and modern managing thinking, they have little knowledge of the past management thinking. Management thought involves politics and theory. The politics of management thought often come from the ones whom want the management styles to be received (OConnor, 1999). Because of political institutions order can be restored under established institutions. Management science during the factory era did just that. This could be seen during the Great Depression where management was desperately needed for reestablishing jobs. The birth of The Labor Unions was in this era. This proved to be one of the most effective changes management science contributed to history (Wren/Bendein, 2009). Modern management has its foundations based on management science and thoughts. The birth of early management started like everything else started i.e. people wanting a solution to a problem. Management thought has been often thought of as a type of science, and in fact it is. Managerial science uses assets of human resources and business principles to define and resolve workplace issues (Bedeian, 2004). During the early era of factory companies managerial companies were basically absolute and non-existent this caused chaos and lack of communication. Miller in his book Barbarians to Bureaucrats mentioned that there must be a strong relationship between the life cycle stage of an organization and the nature of its leadership, where as leadership is defined as an elusive concept, which comes through a conversation quite easily but very, few people understand. The very idea of leadership presupposes the existence of follower. (Wright and Taylor) stated that the activity of leadership co uld not be carried out without the aid of the followers to lead. Advanced managerial thoughts are based on the foundations of Millers 7 stages which are Prophet, Barbarian, Builder and Explorer, Administrator, Bureaucrat, Aristocrat and Synergist. The compelling new vision of a prophet and the aggressive leadership of an iron willed barbarian, who implement the prophet ideas will help to build new techniques and expansions. The builder and the explorer then push these through, but the growth spawned by these managers can easily stagnate when the administrator sacrifices innovation to order, and the bureaucrat imposes tight control. The aristocrat spends his time re-arranging, trading, and manipulating the assets but is unable to create new ones. It is the synergist that are capable of specialized knowledge and skills, and the integration of those competencies makes them a business leader who balances creativity with order, to restore vitality and insure future growth. It is important that a leader has good ethics in leadership, this is because in management the leaders must take decision that not only will benefit them but also think how other people will be affected. Millers work showed how leaders offered their leadership skills with their known value and ethics. These stages offered more advanced managerial thoughts, since companies started to focus on more of a humanistic approach to resolving issues with managerial science by establishing policies and procedures as well as employee labor relations. Leadership can come in many forms such as: Autocratic Leadership Bureaucratic Leadership Charismatic Leadership Democratic Leader or Participative Leadership Laissez-Fair Leadership Task-Oriented Leadership People Oriented Leader or Relations-Oriented Leadership Servant Leadership Transactional Leadership Transformational Leadership The right leadership is chosen according to the requirements of the company it self. Each leadership carries its own scope. To be a good leader means switching him or herself instinctively between styles according to the people and work they are dealing with. To choose the most effective approach one must consider: The skill levels and experience of the members of the team. The work involved (routine or new and creative). The organizational environment (stable or radically changing, conservative or adventurous) Among all of the management thought theories there are some key principles that have been defined. The identification of systems is done by their structures, since there are different types of systems. These include: real system, abstract or analytical system and controlled system. Systems of theory provide an internally consistent framework for classifying and evaluating the world. This consists of many definitions and concepts. When system theory was first introduced to management science and organizations were significantly affected. The main effects of system theory in management are that educators and consultants started helping managers to change their overall perspective regarding an organization. Managers were being thought to look at an organization from a broader and new perspective, by interpreting patterns and events in the workplace. Before the theory of systems was introduced, managers used to focus on one part of an organization at a time and after they moved all attention to another part. In other words, the importance of synchronization between departments (or parts of an organization) was not given great importance. As already mentioned, earlier in the introduction, feedback, communication and collaboration between systems are a necessity in order for an organization to work efficiently with a common goal. Theory of systems is an abstract philosophical framework that involves a highly empirical and investigative form of management science [2]. Moreover, system of theories is a useful conceptual tool, although it is insufficient. System theory is a useful tool because it helps analyse orderly research problems while it is insufficient because researchers need to take a very active role to complete the abstract role suggested by the systems theory. It also clarifies the role of complex organisations in modern society; and predicts that the complexity of organisations, and therefore the role of management, will probably continue to increase at least for so long as the efficiency-enhancing potential of complexity can continue to outweigh its inevitably increased transaction costs. The introducing of theory of systems to managers, helped them recognizing the various parts of the organization, and in particular the interrelation of the parts. As system theory was introduced, it took much more of a holistic view of organisation, focusing on total work organization and the inter-relationship between structures and human behaviours producing a wide range of variable within organisations [3]. They help us understand the interactions between individuals, groups, communities, organizations, larger social systems, in their own environments and help us enhance our understanding of how human behaviour operates. The fundamentals of the past have been neglected by scholars of the present day. (Bedeian, 1998) states that evolution of management thought has been deprived of the past, which has the backbone of modern day management. It is a known fact that anything that is currently in existence as we as humans may know it to be, had to come from somewhere. The past exists in a reciprocal relationship with the present (Bedeian, 2004). Early management thought has evolved over this time period with more advanced thinking in how to better manage and keep order. Significant contributions have deemed necessary in order for management thought to become as evolved as we know it today. Modern Management Thinking is mainly surrounded by policies, procedures and ethical methodologies these guide the co-operation itself. Many aspects of modern management thought derived from the economic history of traditional management. Factory era management science concepts such as well-defined hierarchy, labor relations, rules and regulations, interpersonal skills, competence and records management cultivated the framework of the 21st century of modern management. (CliffsNotes, 2010) Structural contingency theory makes part of Modern Management. This theory is closely related to system design (Scott 2003). The contingency adopted an open systems view on organization. It is a class behavioural theory, which claims that theres no best way to organize a corporation, lead it or make decision. Instead, the optimal course of action is contingent (dependent) upon the internal and external situation. Several contingency approaches were developed concurrently in the late 1960s. Some important contingencies for companies are listed below: 1. Technology 2. Suppliers and distributors 3. Consumer interest groups 4. Customers and competitors 5. Government 6. Unions Structural contingency theory suggests that companies will have a plan so that if any organizational change takes into place the other plan will be obtained. Therefore, each business ensures that it will operate within the most efficient structure to support the business. There are varies factors that influence structural contingency decisions and plans. This theory also states that organizational structure needs to fit the three contingencies of the environment, size and strategy. This means that every aspect of the current situation has to be taken in account when a manager makes a decision. It also has to act on the aspects that are the key of the situation at hand, this means that what worked once is not going to work on a different situation, that is why it all depends. According to this, the best style will be achieved due to a continuing effort of identifying the best leadership or management style. Making decisions or applying leadership styles contingent on internal and external factors. These can increase effectiveness in the current situation. Such theory is part of the contingency theories of leadership, decision-making and also rules. In this theory, it is explained that a managers success relies on variables such as the workforce, leadership style, task structure, perceived power of the manager and corporate culture. Modern management science is obviously shaped by every aspect of the past. Although education plays a great part in modern management thinking, the term modern thinking is truly understood by experience. Bedeian in his book the Gift of Professional Maturity explains the five lessons that are considered invaluable. The first lesson is that of realizing ideas are a product of their own time and place.(Bedeian, 2004). This is an epiphany for business majors because it denounces the idea of management thought being universal to all times. This type was evident in the Great Depression where as one can see it was only justified and useful in a particular time period. The second lesson in management thinking in accordance to Bedeian is the advantage of being an informed consumer of received knowledge. Having the correct information in a the palm of your hand will serve as an adversary when it comes to management thought; everything in management theory is based off of acclaimed information. Without received knowledge management is obsolete (Bedeian, 2004). The third lesson of Bedeian is the danger of inherent in relying on secondary source materials. Information is best effective when obtained from a primary source. Secondary information; when it comes to management thought is useless. Which is why modern management thought has a bit of an advantage over factor era management thought. Bedeian in his fourth lesson of management says: widely accepted facts are often wrong. He implies that accepted facts are widely wrong. In fact, this begs the explanation of what is considered accepted as fact. In management thought fact may not always be determined as fact unless the information to support the facts are true in nature (Bedeian, 2004). Employees had lack of managerial facts during the factory era. This included the actual conditions, which they had been working on. Due to an understated compensation, employees were not sure who they will believe while child labor was spread. By taking great strides to improve these facets of management, modern management has learnt lessons from the factory era. The fifth and last lesson of Bedeian is the special advantage of the past history. (Bedeian, 2004) Modern management thinking has had the advantage of learning from the past events that were so devastating to the world and has the advantage of making better management economic choices. After evaluating and discussing in detail such contributions, it can be concluded that effective and qualitative management is a necessity in both small and large corporations/businesses. The latter will yield a better organizational structure incorporating all the departments of a company to work as unity to achieve several goals.