Reflective Statement Cit Sem1

Reflective Statement CIT Sem1 In the last two years I have had two major transitions, the first was when I transferred from manufacture into lecturing, finding myself in a college on the one take aimment of the desk. The second was then being enrolled as a student and discovering myself on the other side of the desk. Both steps have taken me very much away from my comfort zone of getting production lines to work, to all the way back to my university days staring at a blank page trying to get my brain to work. The first session of the CIT course has gone very quickly with a surprising amount of material covered leaving me with a lot to take on board.Watching whatsoeverone teach seemed to be a unsloped place to begin, our first chance was to watch a video of a Vocational lesson taking place with level 2 and level 3 students, a quasi(prenominal) setup to my Engineering TFS class. Reflecting on this lesson, some of the strategies I could take from it were the way the lesson was s tructured with clear instructions at the start, a variety of activities, using the to a greater extent experienced students to help the first year students, motivating them and consolidating what they have learned.Peer observation was a good opportunity to see how an experienced teacher inside my protest college and subject structured their lesson and the techniques they used, it also made me appreciate how difficult it is to formally reflect on someone elses teaching. The Gardners theory of various cultivation styles of visual, kinaesthetic and auditory showed me that not all activities are going to work for all students, hence the need for variety with in the lesson to stimulate the learner.The introduction to the LLUK and the subject A professional values and practice was probably the biggest step in the course, where you are asked to plan the learning by creating schemes of work and detailed lesson plans. Fail to externalize, Plan to Fail. This was then broken down further in the Domain D where the individual needs of the students being taught had to be considered. This was put into practice, first in a aggroup activity, were a scheme of work was designed and lesson plan extracted from it. This gave a good opportunity to coordinate or efforts as a group and presents our work to the rest of the class.The second opportunity to do this and receive feed back was during the first class observation which allowed us show progression inside our teaching and start putting in practice what had been learned so far. Teachers and the Law, was a useful reminder of the responsibility we have as teacher within the class room, that we have a duty of care towards the learner, especially when they are under 18. Not only is it a legal obligation, but it is set forth as a contractual duty of care also covered in the LLUK in Domain A and our signed contract of employment.The most inspirational part of the course to date would be the Behaviour Management presentation, whi ch served to confront the teachers fear of the disruptive class or impossible child. growth positive relationships with the students seems to be at the heart of this topic, which in some cases could be time consuming and hard work, but inevitably rewarding. Key skills in achieving good classroom management are rewarding the student with constructive praise, giving clear instruction and introducing novel stimuli and humour to create a stress supererogatory environment.In addition to the presentation on Behaviour management, I have been able to sign up to the Behaviour Needs mini course and receive some very useful materials and tools that have help with my class room management to try an make it a more stimulating learning experience. Domain BK1. 2 Probably the most nerve wrecking experience of the first session, more so than the lesson observation was the Micro Teaching activity. Looking back, it was actually enjoyable and worthy when you could see yourself in the playback, and i dentify the type of teacher you are, again laid out in Domain BK2. 6 which ask you to evaluate your own practice.This gives me the opportunity not just to suit lessons to fit the learner but also my own teaching style. The exercise made me really think of what goes into the different stages of a lesson, i. e. the BEM principle. The view is that we learn more in the first 12 minutes and the last 8 minutes of a lesson (Duckett. I and Tatarkowski. M 2005,27), taking that into rumination we should have 3 BEMs in a typical lesson. The function of a good opening is To induce in participants a state of adroitness appropriate to the task to follow, through establishing rapport, arousing motivation and gaining attention ( Hargie.O and Dickson. D 2004,262). Setting out the objectives, displaying them for the students to see, so they know what the expectations of the lesson will be has now become a fundamental part of my teaching. Before we looked into Blooms taxonomy, I thought there were j ust questions and answers, now I am aware of effective questioning on so many different levels. In the past I have used questioning considerably within my lesson, but would like to develop this skill so that it can be more effective. Conclusion.Experiencing teaching for only one year, with no formal training, was a huge challenge, but one which I tangle I dealt with to best of my abilities. The course so far, has enhanced my teaching abilities, which should make me a more reflective teacher willing to try new strategies and learning from want can go wrong in a class and maximising on what went right. (958) References Duckett,I. and Tatarkowski, M. , 2005. Practical strategies for learning and teaching on vocational programmes. capital of the United Kingdom Learning and Skills Development Agency, p. 27. Hargie, O. and Dickson, D. 2004. Skilled Interpersonal Communication. 4th ed. London Routledge, p. 262.

Football Factory Blog

Not Just A Sport In the novel Football Factory written by commode King, we follow a group of Chelsea hooligans in the present England. I think of this novel as an extremely realistic and kind of frightening novel. Together, we follow the chief(prenominal) characters life as a football hooligan. The life of the main character is filled with violence, alcohol and sex, in which his lovely friends accompany him. finished the novel we are bound to listen to his friends nasty thoughts and actions. At some point in the novel the main character and the boys watches the film Clockwork Orange, as they give done so many times before.The Clockwork Orange is basically just a couple of guys giving beatings and rapes women for the fun of it. This makes me think of Football Factory of an updated translation of Clockwork orange, just not to the same extent. In the novel we dont have the normal narrative-style. We dont see a real darn in the novel as such. Its more like a story going on and on a bout his life without a great meaning. One thing in particular I liked about this novel was the fight scenes. At these points in the novel, I would enjoy reading it.I would utterly become interested and I would read at a fast pace due to the great and realistic writing. When there were no fighting I would keep losing track and get distracted. Our main character starts questioning himself and his own actions while he is being formed into a somewhat reasonable man. He starts believing he isnt on the right path. Personally I wouldnt recommend this novel to any of my friends, as I dont think they would be interested, since the narrative style is far from usual. Otherwise, an interesting novel.

Infant mortality Essay

baby death rate simply refers to the number of death amongst the young ones per 1000 births. In this historical study, sister mortality calcu belatedly between a range of time starting from 1750 to 1917 is studied. Its rate varies from one coulomb to an opposite with the 18th century recording the highest number of deaths among the young. Progressing towards the 20th century, thither has been a drastic decline in the death rate of infants. Some medical professionals believe that this is because of the social health reform and medical improvement during the nineteenth and 20 centuries.On the other hand, some scholars, like Thomas McKeown, strongly suggest that this is mainly attributed to the improved nutrition and sanitation of the infants purlieu (McKeown, 121). Thomas McKeown is the scholar who spearheaded the well known McKeown Thesis. There has been an ongoing debate between the two ideas about which played the main signifi loafert role in checking the rampant death of the i nfants for several(prenominal) decades featured in countless student reading, so who actually saw the truth between the 19 and the 20th centuries?Infant mortality reduced over the centuries starting in the late 19th and early 20th century in the United States. The highest rate of death among the infants was observe in the first half of the 18th century (McKeown, 65) , this high rate of infant mortality was viewed as caused by societal break-down and poor policies rather that particular(prenominal) diseased organism. This was considered as a reflection of a poor frame work in the society. Between 1750 and 1800, the infant mortality rate was at the peak with m whatsoever of the infants succumbing to their diseases.At the time, the technical aspects in undertaking comprehensive investigation to establish the actual cause of the diseases and finally finding the cure had non been successful. some(prenominal) infants therefore died in large numbers. The community attributed all this to the broad and unfortunate societal problems. Many major countries had areas with indecent housing, flooded basements, contaminated water supplies and poverty, resulting in diseases such as typhoid, scarlet fever, tuberculosis and typhus to exposit (McVeigh).This in the end challenged them to actually think of ways to handle these problems. What they have come to answer was that prenatal and postnatal diseases were ultimately influenced by external factors such as food deficiency, alcohol and tobacco use (Mudd, 117). season diseases and disabilities that are determined during initiation or after birth are invariably different, both their origins can still be potentially controlled. In the second half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century, the government of the United States came up with efforts to curb this menace.They recommended the removal of infants in the cities this was considered a major success since most mothers who were residing in the metropol is end up having their young ones dying at a tender age. Some prenatal diseases, for example was due to exposure to harmful toxins in the environment, thereby affecting the childs development in the mothers womb (Mudd, 117-118). This was viewed that the city exposed the young to unhealthy environment hence exposing them to diseases. The over-crowding in the city was also found to facilitate the dispense of contagious diseases among the young.Various forms of pollutants were rampant in the city and therefore the infant could easily come infections. Many women at the turn of the 18th century were working in gas lit factories and sweatshops, which may affect their pregnancy (McVeigh). The mothers were advised to settle in their rural homes where these hazards were considered to have minimal consequences on the infants. It was fortunate that legislations were finally passed during 1848 to promote genuine concern for public health (McKeown, 66).Similarly, international city in outstan ding Britain during the era, as well as an important location throughout Europe and the rest of the world in terms of international trade and human transit. Because of so many international produce, goods and people arriving in London daily, it became clear to medical professionals that foreign bodies can often be the bearers of disease from London, such illnesses were doomed to spread throughout the rest of the country. In helping Londons citizens stay healthy, infant mortality rates were automatically dropped simultaneously.By exploring Londons publisher archives, as well as other contemporary newspaper articles and even the correspondence of health care workers during the era, the information concerning infant mortality rates can be gathered and compared. In contrast, some scholars, such as Thomas McKeown, strongly suggest that this is mainly attributed to the improved nutrition and sanitation (Colgrove). The milk translate was improved among the young one, because the milk han dling and supply of edible products was improved by the government. This government strategy has been significant in preserving the life of infants at the time. small fry hygiene was another factor considered in checking the high rate of infant mortality. A child hygiene program was established by the government to chequer the infants were provided with the highest quality of hygiene . With the advancement on the technological innovations, infant mortality reduced in significant proportions over the centuries. The baring of the various medical equipments and setup including the microscope and the stethoscope in the late 19th century boosted the medical fields capabilities to handle these challenges (McVeigh).Simultaneous to this, great strides in the improvement of education of interns started happening in Europe. The scientist who specialized in medical microbiology studied deeper and sight very many minute microbes which were found to cause high rate of infant mortality. These microbes were found to thrive on unhygienic conditions therefore causation high rate of infant mortality. They were found to be rampant especially in poorly handled milk and other foodstuff.With these discoveries of stethoscope and the microscope in the 20th century, many diseases were kept under control. This was because scientists had become knowledgeable about health matters. Before this tremendous discovery, many minute microorganisms causing several diseases amongst the young ones were at large and scientists were puzzled with unchecked high rate of infant mortality. The electron microscope with high magnification enabled these scientists to recognize the various disease causing organisms including viruses and bacteria.They managed to know the specific diseases that these microorganisms caused and the appropriate control measures needed to keep them at bay. They came up with antibiotics to cure infection in the infants. Antibiotics such as penicillin were also discovered in t he early 20th century. At this time, due to these discoveries and appropriate measures taken by the government, the infant mortality drastically reduced. Medical attention to the infants was considered a antecedency and hence reducing the rate of infants death.Another important factor in curbing infant mortality is the development of obstetrics and the tramp of gynecology in that time (McVeigh). It encompassed all aspects of pregnancy, and allowed sanitary and safe conditions for the mother and child. Arguably, poor sanitary conditions during childbirth are also one of the main causes of infant mortality in earlier centuries. McKeowns views on public health sparked controversy during the 1970s and 1980s with its focus on allocation of medical resources.While the foundation of his empirical views might be considered flawed today, it spearheaded studies of where should public health practitioners should focus their efforts and the most important determinants of a societys mortality (Colgrove). The dissertation he authored was about the explanation of the dramatic population growth from around 1770 to the present (Szreter). It stated that it was because of the domino effect of improved economic conditions better standards of aliveness and enhanced nutritional status that strengthened infant resistance to most diseases.His whole kit have been about the synthesis of these advanced ideas and later on his works began getting much attention because of its profound content (Szreter). It was curious to note that it attracted more audiences during its later years, even though it didnt substantially contain any new information. It was probably the stronger awareness in public health that caused this. However, McKeown will always be considered a figure of importance because of his role in geological formation contemporary systems to prevent infant mortality.Other factors that can be attributed to a precipitous decline in infant mortality rate starting from the late 19 th and early 20th century include the improvement in economic growth, improvement in nutrition, new sanitary measures by the government and advances in knowledge about infant care in the united states of America (Colgrove). Though little is known about how each of this factors contributed in the reduction in the infant mortality rate, a systematic review of the data from the specific period stressed that providing clean milk in market was the main indorser to this decline in the infant mortality .However, the writer of this journal was biased in the sense that handling milk supply and milk hygiene was not the only cause of infant mortality. Its important to note that the both technological advancement and improved nutrition played a very decisive role in checking the infant mortality rate starting from the late 18th to early 20th century. The perception that the high rate of infant mortality was due to societal problems and poor policies could not help in reversing the trend in th e first half of the 18th century.Technological advancement saw the discovery of the various medical apparatus and equipments in the 20th century which helped in the reduction of high infant mortality rate. The scientists discovered the actual causes of these deaths being pathological organism which could be controlled. The economic growth and education enabled this scientist to conduct further research and hence control measures were devised which came up with cure for various diseases affecting the infants.

The strategy of The Body Shop

Business people deliver got to be the instigators of change. They hold up the money and the power to make a difference. A company that makes a profit from society has a responsibility to return something to that society.1 (Roddick, 1991)This statement, by Anita Roddick OBE, founder of The bole snoop, demonstrates the muscular ethical dimension of the companys manner of doing business. She opened her first shop in Brighton on March 26th 1976 selling 25 varieties of hundred-percent innate(p) skin and hair cargon products inspired by cultural knowledge from around the world. The company has grow dramatic all toldy since its origins and now has over 1900 depots worldwide. scorn its rapid growth, the strong beliefs and values existent in 1976 stick deeply embedded inwardly the constitutional culture. Throughout this writing I entrust discuss these beliefs and values in the context of corporate strategy and decision-making, and demonstrate how it relates to theoretical framew orks deep down the corporate strategy field. I will analyse The luggage compartment cheat ons strategies using these theoretical models, and comp are and contrast the models themselves.The strategy of The dust hook in comparison to new(prenominal) businesses within the cosmetics and toiletries pains was unconventional. Their rapid growth, achieved mainly through franchising, was primarily due to the green character of the organisation, prioritising ethical practice over making profits.Ever since she started The carcass Shop in 1976, Roddick had made a habit of going against the tide of the industrys established business practices.2 (Mintzberg, Quinn, Ghoshal, 1991 447)This reference reinforces the nonion of The physical structure Shops election approach to strategy. Unlike other companies within the industry, they didnt make miraculous claims for their products they allowed labels with detailed lists of the ingredients and properties of products to tell customers to th e proudest degree severally good. This links in with the fact that a major component of The trunk Shops strategy was that they never occupied in any advertising. Throughout history and in contemporary advertising, organisations within the health and viewer field have constantly bombarded the public with claims and promises associated with their products through the use of adverts and promotions.The cosmetics industry makes its money through packaging and advertising, which in concert are 85 per cent of its costs.3 (Mintzberg, Quinn, Ghoshal, 1991 453)This is a cost that The consistency Shops strategy enabled them to avoid. The business was started with equitable a $6000 bank loan, and so it wasnt possible to engage in expensive advertising campaigns, to a greater extent thanover, it was against the values of the organisation, who best-loved to rely on word-of-mouth and publicity to secure sales. It is said that the initial success of the first store was a lot to do with the curiosity and publicity acquired through a local newspaper condition illustrating the fact that it was called The Body Shop and was located close to a funeral parlour.Their strategy exploits the fact that they are a accessiblely responsible organisation, meaning that customers buy their products knowing that nothing has been artificially manufactured and are produced with 100 percent natural ingredients. This unique selling point, unneurotic with their prominent beliefs and values, has the affect of providing The Body Shop with a competitive proceeds over other firms in the industry. This will be developed in much depth later in the writing.The Body Shops strong social message is reflected in every smell of their mission statement. From dedicating the business to the pursuit of social and environmental change, to meaningfully contri simplying to local, national and international communities in which they trade.4The company is signifi croupetly involved in local communities and is prepared to get political and talk about big issues in countries where it does business. No company in the world campaigns at the level we do, or turns their shops into bodily process stations, or challenges the role of business like we do.5 (Roddick, 2002)Throughout history The Body Shop has quick expanded geographically as wellhead as in terms of their sales and product portfolio, however, in the late 1990s their military operation began to suffer. As a result, February 2000 saw fundamental changes to the organisation and management, including substantial changes to the tabular array of directors, and the outsourcing of manufacturing to a company named Creative Outsourcing Solutions International Limited. Anita and Gordon Roddick became non-executive directors and there were five new appointments to the board, including a new CEO. Despite these changes The Body Shops performance failed to be rejuvenated, which forced them into more drastic changes.In the most recent one- year report, Peter Saunders (CEO) commented that the groups objective now was to apply a strategy to drive performance across the orbiculate businessThe single most important priority, he added, was to mend comparable sales performance across stores through effective new product launches.6 (Mintel, 2003 137)These new objectives memorizem to have the effect of diluting the self-proclaimed visions and autochthonic concerns of The Body Shop. It could be said that the current management have somewhat contradicted Anita Roddicks earlier philosophies.Too galore(postnominal) businesses have gotten distracted with management structures andmaking money.7 (Roddick, 1991)One of the main underlying reasons why they have encountered their current problems is because many a(prenominal) companies within the health and beauty industry have noted the success of The Body Shop and are responding to the ever-increasing green consumer themselves through the release of their own versions of all-na tural products. Examples being Este Lauder Origins, Revlon new-made Age Naturals, and Clairol Herbal Essences. Competition erodes profit, and, as a result of the increase in challenger, The Body Shop have lost their competitive advantage of being able to supply what others whoremasternot.The strategies of The Body Shop can be analysed using several theoretical models from within the strategy discipline. Situation summary can be used to determine what advantages BS have, or have had, over their competitors, and can illustrate how The Body Shop was so successful for many years. This theory, termed by Mintzberg as the Design School, was based upon work by professor Kenneth Andrews and addresses, amongst others, the view thatStrategy is concerned with identifying opportunities in the enterprises outside(a) environment which it is better qualified to exploit than its competitors.8 (Lilley, 2003)The current situation of The Body Shop was analysed by Mintel and appears in their Febru ary 2003 publication on health and beauty retailing in the UK.STRENGTHS* Strong worldwide coverage helps to spread corporate risk.* Well known and well respected global brand.* Franchising has enabled the company to grow at lower cost and lower risk.* palliate has strong ethical and environmental credentials.WEAKNESSES* Mature business, with declining like-for-like sales.* Appears to lack the inspiration to re-invent itself.* Vulnerable to imitators.* Franchising reduces level of corporate control.* Rapidly upgrade rental costs in the UK.* Limited growth opportunities in terms of new geographical regions.OPPORTUNITIES* Still potential to enter new markets in Europe especially Central/Eastern Europe and other parts of the world.* Implementation of strategy to control costs and working capital in order to improve profitability and cash generation.* Development of more pharmacy concessions in Ireland and possibly other markets.* Further cultivation of e-commerce and other non-store channels.THREATS* Strong opposition from other innovative and environmentally loving health and beauty retailers.* grand competition from discounters and grocers health and beauty offer.* Recent new product launches have yet to produce a positive impact on sales densities.* Continued lack of like-for-like sales growth curseens profitability and the groups celestial orbit to expand physically.Figure 1 work up Analysis of The Body Shop International Plc. 9 (Mintel, 2003 144)The above analysis was compiled after The Body Shops decline in performance it is clear that all the panics from the external environment are unexampled occurrences that wouldnt have been an issue during their period of rapid growth in the 1980s. Throughout this time they efficaciously maintained a portfolio of differentiated products and, perhaps more prominently, a unique and differentiated brand image, which enabled The Body Shop to compete and be successful.Product differentiation means that establish ed firms have brand realisation and customer loyalties, which stem from product differences, or simply being first into the industry.10 (Porter, 1980 9)The environmentally prosperous and ethical practices that The Body Shop claim they dedicate their business to could be described as their amount competence within the industry. Even to this date Anita Roddick and the organisation actively campaign in issues much(prenominal) as animal testing, human rights, and protecting our planet. No other business within the health and beauty industry is as heavily associated with ethical and environmental practices as The Body Shop. The core competence of an organisation characterises its substantial range, conceive for example, Sonys ability to miniaturise electronics or Aston Martins competence in producing flawless motorcars. It is clear to see that The Body Shops core competence is not only reflected throughout their product range, but is evident throughout all their business activities , from their minimal use of product packaging, to the layout of stores.Core competencies and market-led strategy are nowadays the only pathways toward success.11 (Sophocleous, 2003)The strategy that The Body Shop employed can be analysed with some other useful framework in the field of strategy, namely The Five Competitive Forces that Determine Industry Profitability by Michael E. Porter. This cannot be use directly to The Body Shop, but can be used to analyse the external environment in which they operated in the past, and how it changed in the late 90s.Figure 2 Forces driving industry competition. 12 (Porter, 1980 4)The main regulation behind this model is that the profitability of an organisation is determined by the collective strength of the five forces in other words, the industry structure directly affects industry profitability. The Body Shop initially operated within a niche market where there were no real competitors offering the same products nor backing the same princi ples that they were. The threat of substitutes was minimal because if customers exigencyed all-natural products they would almost certainly have had to buy them from The Body Shop. In relation to the threat of new entrants, initially there was nothing stopping rival firms from competing within the all-natural cosmetics and toiletries sector, however, no other companies actively engaged in the ethical and environmental practices to the extent that The Body Shop did.The barriers to market entry increase in relation to the amount of stores opened by The Body Shop, and during their period of rapid growth, their power within the niche market could have been regarded almost as monopolistic. However, customers who preferred to buy all-natural products but didnt regard it as being entirely necessary could easily have turned to other companies products within the wider industry, that didnt exercise such dominant views on ethical and environmental issues.The low threat of all-natural substit ution that existed in the earlier stages of The Body Shop, coupled with the fact that the arrival of new entrants was particularly low, supplyd them with the opportunity to control the prices they charged for their products. The argument becomes more complex when trying to categorise The Body Shop into a particular market. They could be regarded as direct completely within their own sector, but can also be viewed as just another(prenominal) cosmetics company with the advantage of having a differentiated product range and image.Differentiation, if achieved, is a viable strategy for earning above-average returns in an industry because it creates a defensible position for coping with the five competitive forces.13 (Porter, 1980 38)To justify this quotation in relation to The Body Shop we must consider them to be in the wider cosmetics industry, which has a high level of competitors. Their differentiation led to customers increased loyalty in The Body Shop brand, which resulted in a l ower sensitivity in price. This had the effect of protecting the company from competition and rivalry. However, as time progressed, other companies intentionally sought to compete directly in the field of environmentally friendly products.The Body Shop was able to gain an advantage over competitors by not utilising traditional distribution channels for many years they only sold their products through their own shops. This reduced the threat of new direct competition from other companies, as the level of investment required by a new entrant would be extortionate considering they would have to open an abundance of specialist shops. However, to overcome these problems the new competitors emerged using traditional distribution channels, such as through supermarkets and department stores.The strength of the five forces varies from industry to industry, and can change as an industry evolves.14 (Porter, 1985 4)The above statement from Porters work in 1985 is related to the case of the c osmetics and toiletries industry in that the emergence of greater competition in the 90s meant that the strength of the competitive rivalry aspect of the five forces within the industry increased. In addition, customers now have the ability to simply pick and choose alternative brands all-natural products in confidence an increase in the threat of substitution.Through the use of Porters five forces model we can see that the changes in the strength of the forces within the cosmetics and toiletries market have accounted for the recent decline in performance of The Body Shop. In the early days of the company, the threat of like-for-like substitutes and the associated power of customers were relatively low in comparison to the modern day situation. Competitors have increasingly matched the core competences of The Body Shop, and, as a result, the significant competitive advantage that they once had has been reduced.Competition in an industry goes well beyond the established players. Cus tomers, suppliers, substitutes, and all potential entrants are all competitors to firms in an industry.15 (Porter, 1980 6)This quotation by Porter reveals that the five forces model has limitations with regard to The Body Shop case. The Body Shop do not regard their suppliers as competitors in fact they want to actually fiscally support their suppliers. This is evident from their mission statement in their aim of balancing the financial and human needs of their suppliers. These more esoteric aspects of The Body Shops strategy, termed by Anita Roddick as them doing business as unusual, highlights another main drawback of the five forces model, in that it is geared around profit being the primary concern of an organisation and doesnt provide any flexibility or scope for change.The Body Shops early successes can be partially attributed to the strong customer base they secured due to the general movement in society towards being more environmentally and ethically aware. The framework do esnt deal effectively with this idea of customer preference or changes in trends, nor does it cope with the notion that customers were gained through the fact that they appreciated, and could relate to, the values and beliefs of The Body Shop and their efforts to pursue social and environmental change, and not just because of factors relating to price.On the other hand, the SWOT analysis model is useful for clear displaying the advantages of an organisation in relation to the market within which it operates, together with the negative aspects of the internal organisation and external environment. As with all theories, however, there are a number of limitations associated with it. All of a businesss strengths do not necessarily directly contribute towards providing a competitive advantage, SWOT analysis also has the tendency to take a single dimension of a firms strategy over-emphasise it.It is difficult to prove which strengths are likely to provide the most benefit to an organisat ion, and also determine which opportunity should be given more attention to cause the overall strategy of the business in question. The findings of SWOT analysis are greatly shaped by the opinions and perceptions of managers or analysts, meaning that they can be regarded as subjective in nature as foreign to the, perhaps initial appearance of being objective and rationally constructed.What we are dealing with here is not the organisation or environment in itself, rather we are attempting to extract and combine the perceptions of these entities that exist in the minds of managers.16 (Lilley, 2003)In conclusion, after analysing the strategy of The Body Shop using frameworks from the strategy discipline, it is apparent that SWOT analysis deals well with the unique aspects of The Body Shops strategy. Although the analysis of The Body Shops situation is greatly dependent upon private judgement, their strengths shown in figure 1 give an accurate account of the 25-year success story, wh ich was primarily based upon The Body Shops core competence in displaying continuous proactive dedication towards ethical and environmentally friendly practices, together with their prime high street and inner-city shop locations, and famous and respected global brand.The reasons for their decline in performance during the late 90s are clearly displayed in the threats category of the analysis, prominently highlighting the emergence of increased competition from other companies operating within the health and beauty industry, who are reaching consumers through traditional distribution channels and via supermarkets.Michael Porters model of the five competitive forces is valuable in that it offers a simple, structured analysis of the industry, but is limited in the sense that its unable to satisfactorily consider the dynamics of markets, for example, the movement of consumer preferences towards environmentally friendly products. It can provide a helpful starting point for further analy sis, but simplified versions only if can prove inadequate. It provides an account of how conventional, profit-maximising firms are affected by the structure and occurrences of the external environment, and how those firms can work towards shaping and exploiting the environment to their advantages, but fails to comprehensively account for the successes of unorthodox firms like The Body Shop, who do not, at least in their own claims, follow the usual route of or towards profit maximisation.

Biographical Sketch Essay

-refer to a brief biography of an individual. This whitethorn contain the dates of ones birth, and death if they ar dead and small outline of their background.-must be no longer than 300 words-a (biosketch) brief summary of you or someone elses professional or educational accomplishments, publications, and affiliations--an abbreviated curriculum vitae (resum)-meant to highlight important aspects of your training, experience, and areas of vex.-a light sketch of a persons life beneath is an exampleMae JemisonSpace StarHave you ever dreamed of flying freely through out space, surrounded by a sea of stars? Mae Jemison fulfilled that dream. On September 12, 1992, aboard the spaceship Endeavour, she became the starting African-American woman to blast into outer space. This wasnt the only time, however, that Jemison had reached for the stars and realized her dreams.Jemison was born on October 17, 1956, in Decatur, Alabama, but she grew up in Chicago, Illinois. There werent many well-kno wn African-American female affair models while Jemison was growing up, but she didnt let that stop her from achieving her goals. She was especially interested in anthropology, archeology and astronomy. Luckily, her parents encouraged those interests. That encouragement drove her to excel. She graduated from high school at 16. Then she earned degrees in chemical engineering and African-American studies at Stanford University. Later, she graduated from Cornell Universitys medical school. No challenge was besides great for Jemison to take on.Jemisons accomplishments did not end there. In 1981, she joined NASAs space program in Houston, Texas. And in 1988, Jemison realized her biggest dream. She finally became an astronaut Just four years later, she was named science heraldic bearing specialist (another NASA first) on an Endeavour flight.Today, Jemison encourages young peopleespecially women and girlsto study the sciences. Her life example teaches us to follow our dreams, no matter how great.Capsule Biography-a biography in which all the important elements of the persons life are included, in summary form, kind of like an expanded obituary. -a detailed description or account of a persons life. It entails more than basic facts (education, work, relationships, and death) a biography also portrays a subjects experience of these events. Feature Story-a special human interest story or article that is not virtually tied to a recent news event. It focuses on particular people, places, and events, and it goes into great detail regarding concepts and ideas of specific grocery interest.-in journalistic terms, it is an article in newspapers, magazine or on the internet which is intended to add deepness and perspective in a story. It mostly dwells on the background of an event and gives a human interest perspective to a story or a commentary on a particular issue.

My Favourite Writer

My Favorite Writer Robert Lynn Asprin, living in New Orleans, was natural in 1946. He grew up in campus Ann-Arbor, in environment of book shops, museums and libraries. Since childhood he has got apply to appreciate a variety in everything, study at Michigan University and services in array during the Vietnamese war have only strengthened this habit. Definitively Asprins outlook as a writer was generated 12 years which he has worked in accounts department of small firm one of the Ameri kindle branches of muckle Copier. Interests and hobbies of the author are extremely various from fencing and music to fishing and sewing.By own perception of the writer whom he only was not the teacher of fencing, the Mongolian commander, the bookkeeper etc. Asprin begins from science fiction novels more precisely, from science fiction action, sound, but quite traditional, like Cold War of Money (1977), his popularity was brought to him by beat of novels World of thieves he is till now the ed itor-in-chief of this cycle together with his wife Lynn Ebby. Since the World of thieves Asprin becomes that Asprin which is read by millions, the magnificent master of a comic science fiction and fantasy.After The World of thieves have followed Fuls partnership and well-known Mythical Cycle. In my opinion Mythical Cycle is so good that you can read it in one breath. However if in Myth except humor would be nothing, he wouldnt receive that popularity what deservedly uses. Asprins books are distinguished by that, that you can see our periodic life. Asprins heroes are real as we and relations between them are not less real, that sure is a sign of the big literature. They love each other, scoff one at another, support and obviate as well as we.

Comfort Theory Essay

In my c be for practice with long term cargon residents, I frequently c atomic number 18 for dying residents. Instead of simply providing these longanimouss with medication to ease the pain, I wanted to learn round ways to grow the sympathiser of the dying patient and assist their beloved family throughout the difficult process. This intrust led me to undertake a conception analysis of repose. Through my research at the end of living, I discovered Katharine Kolcabas opening of in alleviate. I found her theory to be usefully in describing the concept of rest care and decided to further analyze her theory and portray its use in the treat practice. Katharine Kolcaba was born on December 8, 1944 in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1965, she graduated from St. Lukes Hospital School of nurse and started her nursing career. Even at that time, Katharine had interests in the developing of nursing profession. Particularly, she strived to understand how to implicate nursing in geriatrics c orrectly.Early years of her career were the time of establishment and development of Kolcaba as a theorist. She privyvas a great number of early theory gos and began to apply this knowledge at her work place. In 1997, she had her next achievements such as earning of Ph.D. in nursing, and receiving of a Certificate of Authority as a Clinical nurse Specialist. This year Katharine also received the Marie Haug Student Award for being excellent student in Aging Studies. This award was from her native cuticle Western Reserve University. Kolcabas specialist background signal consisted of comfort studies, nursing theory, and nursing research. Nevertheless, the special place in that list took gerontology and the end of life. From that time, she in particular concentrated on research and development in gerontology. The next professional level was the direction. In 1987, Katharine Kolcaba started bachelors program of Nursing, which specialized on gerontology.It was a starting point of developing her concepts of nursing. At that time, she actual her propositions close to comfort with proper(postnominal) attention on end-of-life and palliative care with focus on gerontology as an emerging specialty in nursing (Nursing Theories, 2012). As a result, Katharine published Comfort conjecture and Practice a Vision for holistic wellness finagle and inquiry in 1999. She continued teaching inUniversity and developed her theory. In 2003, the publishing of the Comfort Theory and Practice A vision for Holistic Health Care became a great result of the hard work. In the same year, Midwest Nursing Research Society rewarded Katharine Kolcaba with the Advancement of Science Award for her work End of Life and Palliative Care Nursing. Then, she took part in co-writing of article published in Anesthesia Nursing. In 2005 she received Second define Award in the Best Practice Category by the American Society. According to Kolcaba (2003) Katharine Kolcaba first began theorizing a bout the outcome of comfort (Kolcaba, 2003) while working on a dementia unit as a head nurse and pursuing her Masters of Science in Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.She further yet continued her research while pursuing her doctoral detail which she ended up completing in 1997. Her interest was sparked by her understanding that comfort was a indispensable comp atomic number 53nt for optimum function in the patients she cared for on the dementia unit. With the patients being largely non-verbal, the nurses were required to lay out the patients actions to larn what may be causing discomfort in a patient, and so leading to disruptive behaviors. From this assessment it was possible to implement care plans to treat underlying issues or enhance patient comfort leading to improved patient care. Her work produced numerous articles and a book describing the theory of comfort, its assumptions, the major(ip) concepts and their relationships, techniques for measuring comfort in a variety of environments, and discussions for the theorys application in nursing practice. An overview of this will be presented. First, it is important to understand what comfort is in Kolcabas terms. Historically, Florence Nightingale radius of comfort when she stated that it must never be lost sight of what observation is for.It is not for the sake of piling up miscellaneous information or curious facts, unless for the sake of saving life and increasing wellness and comfort (Peterson & Bredow, 2004). Comfort is also referred to by many major nursing theorists including Orlando, Roy, Watson, Henderson, Paterson, and Zderad, but no one sought to understand the nature of comfort itself. Kolcaba undertook this effort when she performed her analysis of the concept of comfort. In her analysis, Kolcaba expound two attributes. The first dimension of comfort consists of triad states, called sculptural relief, ease and transcendence (Kolcaba, 1994). The second dimension of comfort is the contexts in which comfort can occurwhich arederived from the nursing literature about holism (Kolcaba, 1994). The definitions of the three states of comfort are presented next. Kolcaba derived her three states of comfort from other nursing theorists. Orlando originally spoke of relief stating that nursing actions should be designed to meet the physical and mental needs of patients and it focuses on how the nurse deciphers what the patients needs are (Kolcaba, 1991).Ultimately, Kolcaba outlined relief as when the patient is capable or if comfort provides respite from the stress and anguish of disease, debilitation or injury. The second state of comfort, ease, is delimit as an digest stated of peaceful contentment. Henderson originally spoke of the concept of ease when she stated that except after a discomfort is relieved can the patient proceed to recovery (Kolcaba, 1991). Finally, of renewal or transcendence, Kolcaba wrote that it implies enhanced powers, fortify motivation , and positive attitudes and outlooks for meeting the life challenges normal for that person or the state in which one rises supra problems or pain (Kolcaba, 1991). This was developed from Paterson and Zderadss statement that comfort is the state in which the patient is reposition to be and become controlling and planning ones own destiny. After gaining understanding of the three states of comfort, it is necessary to discuss the quartette contexts in within which they occur. The four concepts are physical, psychospiritual, environmental, and sociocultural.The first context comfort can occur in is physical. Kolcaba defined the physical context as pertaining to bodily sensations. The phsycopspiritual context was defined as pertaining to the internal awareness of self, including esteem, concept, sexuality and meaning in ones life it can also encompass ones relationship to a higher score or being. The tercet context, sociocultural was defined as pertaining to the external background of human experience encompasses light, noise, ambience, color, temperature and natural versus synthetic elements. spell most would appreciate of comfort as a strictly physical experience with only one possible outcome, Kolcaba believed it was important to stress that comfort encompassed a variety of states and contexts that were necessary to consider when ensuring the best patient outcomes. To best depict the relationship between them, she developed a grid in her taxonomic anatomical structure of comfort that helped to further define her ideas. A discussion of the major concepts in the theory is presented next.There are seven major concepts presented by Kolcaba in her theory of comfort. These concepts are health care needs, nursing interventions, interfere variables, patient comfort, health-seeking behaviors, institutional integrity and institutional outcomes. She defines health care needs as needs that proceed for patients in stressful health care situations (Kolcaba, 2001). I ntervening variables are those things that will affect the outcomes and she describes patient comfort as the immediate state of being strengthened by having needs met. Health seeking behaviors are defined as patient actions of which they may or may not be aware and which may or may not be observed that are predictor or indicators of improved health (Kolcaba, 2001). Institutional integrity is defined as the quality or state of health care organizations (Kolcaba, 2003).Finally, she described institutional outcomes as decreased lengths of stay, successful discharges, and improved public relations when patients and families are happy with their health care (Kolcaba, 2001), which for hospital administrators is the ultimate goal when comfort is a key nursing consideration. With the key concepts set and defined, their relationship to one another needs to be understood. Kolcaba clearly described the relationship between her major concepts when she stated her positions in theory of comfort Nurses identify patients comfort needs that get to not been met by existing support systems. Nurses design interventions to address those needs.Intervening variables are taken into account in blueprint interventions and mutually agreeing on reasonable immediate and/or subsequent health-seeking behavior outcomes. If enhanced comfort in achieved, patients are strengthened to engage in health-seeking behaviors. When patients engage in health seeking behaviors as a result of being strengthened by comforting actions, nurses and patients are more satisfied with their health care. When patients are satisfied with their health care in a specific situation, that institution retains its integrity. The last relationship, not defined explicitly by Kolcaba, is that institutional outcomes are direct result of understanding and addressing a patients comfort needs. Finally, onwards an analysis of the theory of comfort can be completed, it is necessary to understand the major assumptions made by Kolcaba when developing her theory.According to Kolcaba, those assumptions underpinning her theory of comfort are as follows. Human beings have holistic responses to mazy stimuli.Comfort is a desirable holistic outcome that is germane to the discipline of nursing. Human beings strive to meet, or have to meet, their basic comfort needs it is an active endeavor. Institutional integrity has a normative and descriptive component that is based on a patient-oriented value system. The theory of comfort is referred to as a mediate range theory. Whall compares middle range theories with grand theories and states that middle range theories contain fewer concepts and relationships, are convertible to a wide range of practice and experience, can be built from many sources, and are concrete enough to be tested (Kolcaba, 2001). Given this description, the theory of comfort can be readily place as a middle range theory. With regard to the concepts presented by Kolcaba, they are clearly defined and the relationship between them are easily understood. The concepts are normalized and measurable through the development of numerous measuring stick tools designed for specific environments. The theory itself had been applied in a number of different environments including hospice, perioperative, radiation therapy and general care areas.Questionnaires to test the theory of comfort have been developed for each of these areas and successfully tested and employed. The scope of the theory is narrow and stands at a low level of abstraction. Most importantly, the theory is readily relevant to the nursing discipline and provide a clear framework relevant to meeting patients needs during a stressful life event. It allows the nurse to define, with input from the patient, what their needs are within the four contexts, to address those needs with nursing interventions, to evaluate the success or failure of those interventions and to continue in a cyclic manner until the patient achieves a state of comfort. In essence, the framework provides a process present for nursing that is specific to comfort and precise. It is easy for a nurse to use and understand and can be applied in many environments. In evaluating and analyzing the theory of comfort, numerous research possibilities come to mind. Given my specific interest in end of life care, it is important to understand that the nurse is focused not only on the comfort of the patient but also on that of the families and caregivers of the dying patient.While one would think of health-seekingbehaviors to be focused on cure or rehabilitation, they can also be used to assist in a more peaceful or comfortable death. Therefore, a study that evaluated the level of comfort experienced by the patient and family members with and without direct care provided by the family members could be undertaken. The study would seek to determine whether less medical checkup intervention is required to ensure patient comfort during the dy ing process if on that point is increased family involvement in care. This nurse would hypothesize that, in measuring patient comfort, less medical intervention would be required to maintain an acceptable level of comfort in death if family members have greater involvement in providing care. Conversely, another possible study could involve family member comfort and accept if family members have an increased level of comfort with greater involvement in patient care during the decimal point proceeding death.The sample population for both studies would by dying patients and their family members. To measure family member comfort, data could be collected utilizing a likert-scale questionnaire. To measure patient comfort, and questionnaire could be developed for those patients that are able to verbalize or the nurse could be given a list of objective signs and symptoms of comfort to evaluate in order to determine patient comfort. Kolcabas work has led to a universal theory applicable t o all areas of nursing. She has captured the quintessential essence of nursing in a simple and structured framework. Use of her framework in practice can lead to improved patient experiences in one of the most important outcomes of nursing practice, patient comfort.ReferencesKolcaba, Katharine (2001). Evolution of the mid range theory of comfort for outcomes research. Nursing Outlook, 49(2), 86-92 Kolcaba, Katharine (1991B). An analysis of the concept of comfort. diary of Advanced Nursing, 16, 1301-1310 Kolcaba, Katharine (1991A). A taxonomic structure for the concept of comfort. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 23(4), 237-240 Kolcaba, Katherine (1994). A theory of holistic comfort for nursing. Journal of Advance Nursing, 19, 1178-1184 Kolcaba, Katherine (2003). Comfort theory and practice A Vision for Holistic Health Care and Research. New York Springer Publishing Company, Inc. Peterson, S.J., & Bredow, T.S. (2004). Comfort. In Middle Ranger Theories Application to Nursing Research (pp. 255-273).Philadelphia Lippincott Williams & Wilkins