In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the Essay

In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the natural and human sciences - Essay Example However, from the past, they solely relied on empirical evidence and analysis in the absence of enhanced gadgets and technologies. They were challenged to do almost the impossible because they were motivated to think outside the box so as to discover new learning, idea or concept. Outstandingly, Maslow managed to interpret the hierarchy of the human needs, but other psychologists believe that there are other important points that one could use to explain â€Å"motivation.† Understanding motivation requires knowing human’s complex emotions and personality. One, therefore, should expect that this area of academic interest should involve myriads of ideas that have to be taken into account prior to forming concrete information on the whole thought about human needs and motivation. It is, therefore, clear that disagreements involved in pursuit of knowledge in the natural and human sciences could provide a substantial advantage not just for the preservation of the body of kno wledge but for taking it to the next level in an upward spiral. It is, thus, the main concern in this paper to explicate the ways on how disagreements aid the pursuit of knowledge in the natural and human sciences. ... Empirical evidence in this area is a significant requirement in order to prove that something like important claims concerning certain ideas, events, observations or concepts potentially exist. However, various other thoughts using empirical scientific inquiry sometimes would put each other in a clash, leading to a significant consideration about the situation. Let us take the case behind Genetically Modified (GM) crops. Just before the end of 2012, in September, Monsanto was bombarded with another controversial issue concerning the safety of their products. A study from French scientists revealed that Monsanto’s genetically modified corn or top-selling weedkiller was found to cause rat mortality due to tumors, multiple organ damage and premature death (Palma). The implication of this result could lead to the idea that Monsanto’s top-selling weedkiller GM crops might have a potential impending toxicity level that could be detrimental to the human health. Rumors were abl e to spread concerning this report leading to the point that there is a need to consider further investigations on the actual methodology used in the entire research process, and to initiate other series or relevant independent studies so as to confirm the reliability of the published results. There are more other potential concerns aside from these. However, it is also good to look at the side of Monsanto, particularly at their strong stand on GM crops, stating that their safety is the same with existing food crops, so they do not exactly make a difference (Monsanto Company). Monsanto remarkably offered a high level of confidence in their GM crops because they also initiated relevant scientific inquiries in order to prove the safety of their product offerings. Any

Project risk management of south africa's 2010 world cup challenge Essay

Project risk management of south africa's 2010 world cup challenge - Essay Example These negativities pose a great risk in hosting such a mega event. This country has never got such a chance to propagate its plus points at any previous time in history so it should focus on appropriate planning of strategies and successful management of risks. The political risks are high, as the opposition would always scrutinize each and every effort and actions of the ruling party. Organizing such a big event without any political upheaval is nearly impossible. Reports have already started coming which state that opposition feels that spending so much of money in a gala event is not required when South Africa has other burning issues like poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment to deal with. Each and every issue related to world cup is taking a political angle. There are a section of people who believe that showing so much of interest in this event should not be the priority of the government, instead the focus should be in the overall development of the country. This viewpoint has the risk of further aggravating the political tensions as the opposition may try to project this viewpoint of a small section of society into the opinion of the masses. This entire hullabaloo will negatively impact the feelings of those who are pro FIFA w orld cup in South Africa and give a chance to the opposition in creating a situation that might pose a threat to the hosting and staging of the sports event. All other controversial issues of the South African politics will also come in the fore thus distracting the ruling party’s enthusiasm and focus towards the event. Hence political unrest in the backdrop of this gala event is a major threat to this project. Other major controversies like power shortage in the country and underdeveloped broadcast infrastructure would be greatly emphasized by the opposition which would pose a threat to the South Africa’s image to the entire world. There is a risk from a section of

The Role Of Brand Extension

The Role Of Brand Extension In over two decades, the business strategy of introducing new products as extensions has become popular (Maoz and Tybout, 2002; Hou, 2003). Similarly, brand extension is considered as a key to develop brand. In details, it is widely used as eight out of ten new products are introduced as a brand extension in the market (Keller 2003; Simms, 2005; Volckner and Sattler, 2006). Brand extension strategies are broadly applied in order to reduce marketing expense in launching new product, enhance well-known and quality of core brand, and lessen risk for companies (Keller and Aaker, 1992; Taylor and Bearden, 2002). On the other hand, exploiting valuable core brand to built up for the brand extensions are an obvious strategy for growth (Keller and Aaker, 1992) but it is not without risks for firms (Swaminathan, Fox, and Reddy, 2001; Hem, Chernatory and Iversen, 2003) in the new economic environment. Prior studies on brand extension have indicated that a successful brand extension depends a lot on firm characteristics (Hou, 2003), core brand characteristics (Keller and Aaker, 1992; Park and Kim, 2001; Hou, 2003), customer characteristics (Keller, 1993; Swaminathan, et al., 2001), extended brand characteristics (Hou, 2003), and marketing strategies (Desai and Keller, 2002; K.L Washburn, Till and Priluck, 2000; Park and Kim, 2001; Hou, 2003). Brand extensions offer many potential benefits but also can pose many problems (Keller, 2003, p.623). As a result, understanding brand extension evaluation in terms of its core brand, its characteristics and customer behaviors are very important for marketers and firms in order to expand and increase sales revenue. Thus, this paper is designed to additionally examine the relationship between parent and extended brand and its influence on customer. Furthermore, this paper will study the impact of brand extension characteristic on customer purchase intention. 2. The role of brand extension 2.1. Definition and types of brand extension As an interesting research topic, brand extension can be defined and classified into many types as well as many researchers have done about this topic. The need to differ clearly brand substitutions and changes in brand design had led to define brand name extension as the replacement of at least one of the verbal denominations of a product by another, accompanied by the disappearance of the former denomination (Collange, 2008). Brand extension is also defined as a product whose nature and function differ from those of products currently commercialized under the brand name (Cegarra and Merunka, 1993 cited in Collange, 2008). In other words, brand extension is defined as using an established brand name so-called parent brand or core brand (Volckner and Sattler, 2006) to introduce a new product (Keller, 2003). As one of the most frequently tool branding development (Volckner and Sattler, 2006) brand extension is classified into two categories: depth and width of parent brand (Keller, 2003). Keller (2003, p.581) claimed that brand extensions can come in all forms. A core brand is replaced by sub-brand (Collange, 2008) or using new feature added to the host product (Densai and Keller, 2002). In another research, Edward classified brand extension into some categories, what he calls a franchise-extension based on the brand extension characteristics and its correlation to the parent brand. Those are introduction new product as a different form with the core product, or as a component of parent product, or as a compassion product, or as a relevant product for the brand (Tauber, 2004). 2.2. The advantages of brand extension strategy As the efficient strategy, brand extension have become a usually occurrence over the last fifteen years. There are a lot of firm like Apple, which has succeeded with the extension of Apple iPod digital music player. It is concerned as a tool for firm to improve brand image when consumers inferences to the performance of new product based on what they really know about the brand itself. These inferences are noted by Keller (2003) that can improve the strength and uniqueness of the core brand. Sony is the great example for this point, when a new personal computer for multimedia application is introduced consumers may have been more likely to feel comfortable with its anticipated performance because of their experience of other Sony products than if the product had been branded by Sony as something totally new. This extension is one of factors that are seen to create and enhance the competitive advantages of Company in order to develop their product line. As competitive economic environment, extending brand is often seen as a popular (Maoz and Tybout, 2002) and beneficial strategy to introduce different product into market in order to reduce costs, risks of failure and to increase successful opportunity (Taylor and Bearden, 2002). In addition, a lot of firms are using this way expected to generate quicker positive reciprocal effects and heavier purchase by consumers (Swaminathan, et al., 2001). Moreover, another potential benefit is to facilitate the acceptance of extended brand (Keller and Aaker, 1992). Extending brands both within and beyond the original product category is deemed to be profitable. In over fifteen years, these extensions are usually motivated by the need to decrease a portfolio of brands due to the increasingly in advertising expenditure (Cegarra, 1994; Villemus, 1996 cited in Colange, 2008) or price promotions (Volckner and Sattler, 2006). For example, McDonalds has expanded broadly around the world especially in A sia, Europe and Middle-Earth with extended brands. They were successful with McNuggets in England, Maharaja Mac in India even with new product categories such as McCafe, McTreat, or non-food brand extension Golden Arch Hotel in Switzerland (Studer and Ordonez, 2000). 2.3. The risk of brand extension As the cost of opportunity, the success of brand extensions is uncertain (Nkwocha, Bao, Johnson, and Brotspies, 2005). As an innovation can be very risk (Kotler and Amstrong, 2001, pp.337), a brand extension can create negative reciprocal consequences that enhance or diminish the equity of the parent brand (Swaminathan, et al., 2001). In some specific circumstances, it is an extremely risk for firms or would be doubted (Collange, 2008). As a result, these extensions may not be successful (Martin and Stewart, 2001) and it could lead to a tangible drop in sales and market share. Extending brand in marketplace today seems to be more challenging (Hansen and Hem, 2004) and needs to select and manage very carefully (Park, Kim K., and Kim J., 2002). Besides, it requires companies to have knowledge and understanding how customer evaluate brand extensions (Bottomley and Holden, 2001) and research further how customer react upon brand extensions in order to maximize profit. In some cases, extended brand cause consumer feel unappreciated, this confusion may lead consumer to question the integrity and competence of the brand. It is noted as one of the most popular reason for the failure of brand extension (Park, Milberg and Lawson, 1991). Besides, the worst possible consequence with an extension brand is that not only does it fail, but it also diminishes the parent brand. Audi is classic example, its sales declined from USD $ 74,000 in 1985 to 21,000 in 1989 as the result of failure of Audi 5000 had launched in 1986. Each of brands created its own image and associations and introduced into the markets absolutely different from those that currently placed in the market by the Company. As the research, Keller (2003) claimed that introduction a new brand as brand extension always have significant and potentially hidden costs, it requires a new brand should be introduced and updated in the most competitively advantageous way possible. Similarly, brand name ex tended is extremely risk for firms because consumer may no longer recognize it on the shelf or doubt its quality. As the result, this could lead to a drop in sales and market share of core brand (Kapferer, 2007). Moreover, understanding unsuccessful brand extensions may harm the parent brands is very important. It also leads to research and address in this topic, when the role of brand extension and its evaluation have been finding for a long time. Therefore, before extend brand image, company must find out and measure the potential impact on brand evaluation and purchase intention (Changeur, 2004). 3. Components of the literature 3.1. Parent brand and brand extension evaluation Core brand equity According to previous researchers, the parent brand characteristics have influenced on brand extension evaluation (Hou, 2003) and play an important role in successful brand extension (Keller and Aaker, 1992). Specially, the relationship between core and extended brand is linked to the dominant and nature of the core brand (Bridges, Keller and Sood, 2000). As most of new products are extended brands from the core brand (Keller 2003; Simms, 2005; Volckner and Sattler, 2006), previous researchers have shown the positive effect of parent brand on brand extension evaluation. One of these reveals that extended brands from the high equity core brands will be shaped more favorable attitudes (Washburn, Till and Priluck, 2000). On the other hand, the core brand image is not affected negatively by brand extension failure (Keller and Aaker, 2000) and has a low risk relation with brand extension (Maoz and Tybout, 2002). The literatures on brand extension have shown the essential role of brand equity in shaping consumer attitudes about an extension (Collange, 2008). Later researches have revealed that stronger parent brand equity is, whether formed by the brands quality (Keller and Aaker, 2000) or its awareness (Reddy, Holak and Bhat, 1994) the more brand extension is appreciated and to be successful. The core brand equity has not disappeared, and it remains engraved in customers mind even though it is replaced by the extended brand. This is demonstrated by the fact that many companies continue to refer a new product by its former name (Collange, 2008) as the warranty of success. Quality of parent brand Moreover, brand extensions are perceived by customers perceive about the quality of the core brands (Densai and Keller, 2002; Taylor and Bearden, 2002). An existing brand name provides an assurance of quality, thereby reducing the risks involved in purchasing a new product (Swamanithan, et al., 2001). Extension brands from high quality parent brands are perceived as substitutes tend to be less favorably received than those from lower quality brands (Bottomley and Holden, 2001). As the importance of quality, brand extensions which are from strong quality brand are benefited more than those from the weak brands (Park, et al., 2002). Also, in the later research, those effects should depend on the level of perceived quality of the core brand and a high level of both perceived core brand quality between the original and extension product categories was necessary for favorable extension evaluations (Keller and Aaker, 1992). Customer-brand relationship The customer-brand relationship quality interacts significantly and positively with brand extension evaluation (Park, et al., 2002). In the context of introduction new brand extensions, this strong relationship helps to obtain customers acceptance on the new extensions (Park, et al., 2002) and extended brand will be formed better in customers mind (Densai and Keller, 2002). Besides, the greater customers beliefs about the core brand, the better brand extension will be evaluated (Swamanithan, et al., 2001). In addition, customer with greater perception of core brand will accept the proposed extension more favorable (Keller and Aaker, 1992). 3.2. Brand extension characteristics are most concerned in evaluating brand extension There are some brand extension characteristics which are considered by customer in evaluating brand extension (Hou, 2003). Brand attachment Due to the limitation of knowledge about new offering (Taylor and Bearden, 2002), customer may evaluate extended brand by their experience about the core brand (Swamanithan, et al., 2001). As a definition above, firstly, brand extension is integrated the variable of attachment to the initial brand (Collange, 2008). Furthermore, brand attachment is defined as an emotional relationship of consumer with the parent brand (Lacoeuilhe, 2001 cited in Collange, 2008). It means consumer who is emotionally attached to the core brand will be unhappy if it disappears, regardless of the qualities of the substitution brand. It was claimed that the stronger the consumers attachment of extended brand to the initial the more purchase intention will deteriorate. Indeed, the third condition for extended brand to be a success is that consumers must not be too attached to the brand that will eventually disappear (Collange, 2008). On the other hand, the evaluation of brand extension seems to be difficult because consumers have an established relationship to the parent brand in the extension category (Hansen and Hem, 2004). Perceived fit Another characteristic of brand extension, which is recognized as one of the key success of brand extension is perceived fit of the extended brand to the core brand (Hou, 2003). According to previous researches, perceived fit can impact brand extension evaluations in some ways. First, it affects the extension to which consumers transfer their core brand awareness to an extension (Densai and Keller, 2002). Second, consumer may fit as a cue to make their inferences about an extension (Hou, 2003). Besides, perceived fit of brand extension is an important component of extension evaluations (Bridges, et al., 2000). In other words, brand extension must fit with the core brand is considered as the first condition (Collange, 2008). It leads to evaluate brand extension more positive (Michel and Cegarra, 2002; Collange, 2008). Otherwise, lack of category fit can cause the failure of brand extension (Park, et al., 2002; Yeo and Park, 2006). An earlier research has shown that perceived fit betwe en a brand and an extension is high; consumers are more likely to base their evaluations of the new product on their attitudes toward the parent brand (Bridges, et al., 2000). Therefore, as one of the key success factor of brand extension, it is needed to manage and emphasize carefully the transfer of the brand in terms of customer perspective (Collange, 2008). In prior researches, transfer has been examined as the greatest impact on extension evaluations among these dimensions (Hou, 2003), which are complement, substitute and transfer (Keller, 2003). Moreover, these types of features involved in fit judgments (Keller, 2002) have suited. Perceived fit is not only the extensions functional similarity to the brand category but also its relevance to abstract brand benefits (Broniarczyk and Alba, 1994). Furthermore, consumers may evaluate brand extension perceived fit on deep features or surface features (Zhang and Sood, 2002). It might be the main reason leaded to the mixed results above. Perceived similarity Furthermore, perceived similarity is characterized as a factor which influence consumers acceptance of extensions (Hem and Iversen, 2008). An important reason, also, is that similarity has been found to be a major determinant of brand extension evaluations (Hansen and Hem, 2004). It is defined in terms of the features shared by the core product and extension product (Keller and Aaker, 2000). Historically, similarity is understood in terms of internal operating synergies that arise when a new product can leverage on existing market (Hem, Gronhaug, and Lines, 2002). Perceived similarity is found to be the most relevant variable that can influence on the successful result of extensions (Volckner and Sattler, 2006; Hem and Iversen, 2008). The similarity between parent and extended brand might influence on perceptions of customer to brand extension and a similar extension of a brand is evaluated more favorably than a dissimilar one (Yeo and Park, 2006). Besides, a customer perception of new brand extensions is related to similarity (Taylor and Bearden, 2002). In addition, the extension information must be deemed relevant in the parent category and the similarity between the extension and parent brand is necessary for the extension information to be considered relevant (Swaminathan, et al., 2001). In the last ten years, researchers have concerned about brand extensions. The higher similarity between the extension and the core brand, the more favorable brand extensions are assessed (Taylor and Bearden, 2002; Park, et al., 2002), the higher purchase intension will be (Collange, 2008). This result was also found in the research of Sony and Nike about extension and new brands, when perceived similarity is a positive effect on brand extension evaluation (McCarthy, Health and Milberg, 2001). Otherwise, when the extension is seen as unrelated to the core brand, extension will not be evaluated favorably this association will not be seen as relevant to judging the extension (Boush and Loken, 2003). In contrast, a number of successful extensions that lack an overall perceived similarity with the parent brand have been launched into the market (Maoz Tybout, 2002). For example, the Virgin brand has been extended to a huge range of products, such as magazines, a music retailing chain, music label, airlines, trains, holidays, personal computers, wine, cola, financial services, radio stations, bridal services, movie theatres, perfume and cellular phones (Keller, 2003). The role of similarity is to influence both positive and negative reciprocal effects (Swaminathan, et al., 2001). As these researches, thus, perceived similarity should be focused deeper on further research in order to evaluate it important role in terms of customer purchase intention (Volckner and Sattler, 2006). 3.3. Customer attitudes towards brand extension Attitudes and purchase intention Customer attitudes towards brand extension may be affected and varied in terms of age, mood and culture (Hou, 2003). As consumer is heterogeneous, they may evaluate differently brand extension (Fu, Ding and Qu, 2009). This difference is the main reason caused to the mixed results in the prior studies. For example, Zhang and Sood (2002) measure the brand extension in terms of customers age groups and they found that teens evaluate brand extensions by relying more on surface cues and less on deep cues. Similarly, the difference in culture can lead customers to uncommon response to brand extensions. Customers from Eastern culture, characterized by holistic thinking, perceive higher brand extension fit and evaluate brand extension more favorably than those in Western culture, characterized by analytic attitudes (Monga and John, 2007). Customer purchase products to obtain benefits and products deliver benefits to customers (Osselaer and Alba, 2003). In terms of customer intent to purchase extended brand, there are some opinions about the dependent on customer relationship and satisfaction in the core brand (Park, et al., 2002). An important factor that leads to customer purchase intention is a lower affective commitment to parent brand (Hansen and Hem, 2004). This means the parent brand experience has no impact on repeat purchase of the brand extension (Swaminathan, et al., 2001). In the same way, the evolution of product purchase intention corresponds to the difference in the degree of purchase intention between the product with the substitution brand and the one with the initial brand (Michel and Cegarra, 2002; Collange, 2008).On the other hand, consumers willingness to buy is influenced by perceived value of the core brand (Taylor and Bearden, 2002). Similarly, purchase decision to buy extended brand is depended on consumer level of involvement in core brand (Hansen and Hem, 2004). Customer knowledge Besides, consumer knowledge is considered as the most important factors that might influence on their attitudes towards brand extension (Hou, 2003). In a research, Brucks (1985) had described three categories of consumer knowledge: subjective knowledge, objective knowledge and prior experiences with the product category. And in the further research, subject knowledge that is what consumer think they know is considered as the strongest motivation of purchase intention for extended product (Hem, et al., 2002). Also, when consumers encounter a new product in the marketplace, they are unlikely to engage in extension cognitive deliberation. This means they might base their evaluations of an extended brand on their subjective to the core brand without considering any specific or different features that the extended brand might have (Yeung and Wyer, 2005). However, in the past research of brand extension show the mixed results for the effects of consumer knowledge on extension brand. For in stant, perceived subjective knowledge about the extension category was found that it has negative effect on brand extension evaluation, it means the evaluation of brand extensions are more positive when perceived subjective knowledge of consumer is low than when it is high (Park and Smith, 1992). In the other hand, the positive effect was found in further research (Dacin and Smith, 1994) or there is no effect on extension evaluations (Keller and Aaker, 1992). As mentioned in the research, this conflicting finding could be explained by the limited number of items used to evaluate consumer knowledge (Hem and Iversen, 2008). Therefore, the effect of subjective knowledge on evaluation brand extension is required to research further (Czellar, 2003). Customer attitudes and the characteristics of brand extension Also, as the strong relationship between the extended brand and the core brand, customer attitudes brand extension might transfer from parent brand (Keller and Aaker, 1992; Volckner and Sattler, 2006). However, customer awareness of brand extension may cause a negative effect on customer attitudes towards the core brand except the high quality of core brand and perceived fit between the core and extension brand (Hou, 2003). Besides, brand extension characteristics have the most weight in the evolution of purchase intention for the brand that has changed name (Collange, 2008). Purchase intention toward the extension is directly influenced by the perceived similarity (Swaminathan, et al., 2001). However, this influence of perceived similarity will be mediated by a categorization construct, called brand meaning (Martin and Stewart, 2001). This minor conflict is needed to research further and provided more evidence to understand customer purchase intension in relationship (Collange, 2008 ) with core brand characteristics and brand extension characteristics as well. Along with the importance of perceived similarly in the studies of brand extension, researchers have suggested that explain how and why similarly is important for successful brand extension is necessary as well. Consumers first consider there is a match between what they know and experience about the parent brand and what they believe to be true about the parent brand in a new product category (Hem, et al., 2002). If the match is perceived good, consumers might expect to transfer their attitudes to the extended brand. Hem and his co-authors (2002) have noted that consumers may also evaluate the extended brand in a more piecemeal fashion. 4. Brand extension evaluation in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry Brand extension is used widely in many industries (Hou, 2003) and in order to evaluate brand extension effectiveness, this research scope will be narrowed down to one of the most popular and typical area industry of brand extension, FMCG. In FMCG industry, brands are viewed as the key assets of the company, and all investments will be made to create brands. The focus of the organization is on brands and all departments work together towards the brand development. Using new brand name and cooperating brand names are two of three basic brand development strategies for FMCG industry (Schuiling and Moss, 2004). The success and high rank of Procter Gamble (PG) or Nestle in this industry are the great examples for the importance of brand extension in brand development strategies. Moreover, due to very high cost needed to launch a new product and difficult marketing approaches, the use of brand extension approaches in FMCG companies is increasing for the last few years (Juda, 2007) and as the result of globalization, FMCG companies tend to take an existing brand name and then extending it to other product categories has been applied increasingly (Schuiling, 2001). Therefore, FMCG is seen as the most typical industry where required study further and deeper about brand extension. 5. Conclusion In the competitive environment, the use of brand extension is the efficient tool for many firms in order to place higher position in the market. To achieve this goal, brand extensions have been evaluated for a long time. These studies have provided the understanding of the importance of brand extension and the need to address brand extension evaluation in this paper. Also, the relationship between the core brand and the extended brand is shown clearly, especially in terms of brand extension characteristics and customer attitudes towards brand extensions. However, to date, the conflicts in the literatures have existed and deeper understanding brand extension evaluation and its relation to customer purchase intention require researching further (Collange, 2008). Moreover, the limitation in number of items used to measure is reason that cause to the irrelevant results in the past researches. There are still some mixed results about the impact of perceived similarity and perceived fit on customer purchase intension, the lack of information about the correlation between the parent brand and the extended brand. These confusions need to re-solve in further research. As mentioned in the background and literature review, the extended brand is strongly affected by the parent brand. When an extended brand is being created, it would be necessary for marketers to understand how customers look at the brand extension and how it will impact on their purchase intention. In order to have further understanding this issue in the FMCG industry in Vietnam, the below questions and hypotheses have been developed: Q1: What are the factors of parent brand affect on brand extension evaluation? H1: High equity of parent brand will provide more favorable effects on extended brand. H2: Perceived quality of parent brand correlates to extended brand perceived quality. H3: Customers relationship of the parent brand positively correlates to the acceptance of extended brand. H4: Customer attitude toward parent brand will relatively affects on the extended brand. Q2: How brand extension characteristics influence on customer purchase intention? H5: The more similarity to the parent brand, the higher level of customer purchase intention of extended brand. H6: The higher of perceived fit of extended brand to the parent brand will positively impact on the customer purchase intention of extended brand. H7: Customers attachment to the parent brand is correlated to the customer purchase intention of extended brand. H8: Customer awareness of the extended brand is correlated to the level of their purchase intention of extended brand.

Encounters With Books :: Personal Narrative Essays

Encounters With Books My speech teacher had told me that an individual would remember thirty percent of what they read, forty percent of what they hear, and over fifty percent of what they actually speak. Can you imagine how much a parent would remember if they read a book aloud to their child and then their child read it back? That would not only prove as a good way for a child to better their reading skills, but it would also serve as a means of bonding between a child and their parent. Books play a role in everyone's lives. Ones literary tastes begin during their childhood, when parents are reading to their children. That is where you first gain the knowledge of what types of books you like to read, and like a fine wine, it will refine with age. In my third year of Elementary School, I was constantly drowning myself in books. My family kept moving from state to state, and by my third grade year, I felt as if books were the only true friends I had. As a gift, my mother had brought me a new book one day. It was filled with exciting new thoughts and stories. The Giving Tree was a book is about a little boy who finds company and friendship with this "giving tree." As the boy grows older, the tree tries its hardest to still be there for the boy when he needs it. My mother explained that she would gladly be my tree. No matter what comes my way, she will always be there when I need her. During my middle school years, we were forced to read Of Mice And Men and To Kill A Mockingbird. I always seemed to struggle with things I was forced to read. Both books express a type of prejudice against one of the main characters. Of Mice And Men was about Lenny and George who were drifters. Lenny was mentally retarded, and the boys on the farm would poke fun at him due to this condition. In To Kill A Mockingbird, a young black man was accused of raping a white woman, but he did not commit the crime. In both of these novels, someone was looked upon as less than they really were.

Individual Person Essay

1.1 Person – centred is about providing care and support that is centred or focused on the individual and their needs. We are all individual and just because two people might have the same medical condition, for eg.Dementia, it does not mean that they require the same care and support. As a care worker I need to understand what the values are. There are eight person centred values: individuality rights choice independency dignity respect partneship equal opportunities I need to listen to S/U, they know themselves best, even if disagree, the care plan is theirs unless the capasity to understand is diminished and then advice must be sought from other person involved in an S/U‘s support plan,even legal advice should be sought in some ases. 1.2  Explain why person centred values must influence all aspects of social care work. The ‘why’ is because it is embedded in social policy and legislation eg Putting People First, Valuing People Now and the Essential Standards. 1.3  Explain how person centred values should influence all aspects of social care work It’s important to respect the rights of the individual to be at the centre of their own care. This means that workers must focus on what the individual wants and how they want it to be provided. 1.2/1.3 vvv Person-centred care values must influence all aspects of health and social care work. Health and social care should be based on person-centred values, and should be individualised as this is a law requirement (Human Rights Act 1998, Health and Social care Act 2012, Codes of practice for Social Care Workers, etc). If person-centre values that underpin all work in the health and social care sector are followed as they should be then all individuals should feel that and health and social workers ensure that: †¢ the individual is supported in accessing their rights †¢ the individual is treated has an individual †¢ the individual is supported to exercise choice †¢ ensure the individual have privacy if they want it †¢ support the individual to be as independent as possible †¢ treat all individuals with dignity and respect To ensure the above is followed will influence all aspect of health and social care it is important to ensure that all individuals are treated as such and person- centred care should ensure this.

Understanding Conflict Management in the Workplace

Identify causes of conflict at workâ€Å"Interpersonal conflict occurs between two or more persons when attitudes, motives, values, expectations or activities are incompatible and if those people perceive themselves to be in disagreement.† – Hunt 1982It is safe to assume that in every workplace you are always going to get some kind of conflict from within. Conflict in the workplace can be caused by issues from groups, individuals or the organisation itself. It’s in everyone’s best interests to stop conflict as early as possible before a situation escalates.Some potential causes of conflict are: 1. Power and Ego 2. Clashes of personality 3. When people have contrasting values and beliefs 4. Miscommunication 5. Underlying stress and tension 6. Unresolved disagreements 7. A breach of faith or trust between individualsLet’s look at a couple of the above examples. Power and ego can cause major conflicts in the workplace due to people having different lea dership styles e.g. authoritarian or democratic. Not all employees respond well to an authoritarian approach where they are told what to do as opposed to being able to have an input into how their jobs are done. This can cause them to feel demoralised and not appreciated meaning they no longer enjoy their jobs and the organisation do not get the best work out of them. Recent conflict at my workplace occurred when the door handle of one of our fork trucks kept getting broken and needed to be replaced hence causing unnecessary expense to the organisation. It was decided by myself that in order to stop this happening the door would be removed for a short period of time.This caused conflict because some members of the team felt that they were being punished for other peoples  actions and couldn’t understand why it was not discussed with themselves first. Contrasting values and belief can also cause conflict in our place of work when members of management at TATA let us know the ir expectations in our morning meetings. Conflict can occur when they set us daily tonnage targets which in our opinion are sometimes impossible to meet. Sometimes these targets are unrealistic due to machinery needing maintenance or there not being enough manpower to be able to get the coils despatched to clients. Management are sometimes not willing to listen to these problems because they believe they should be sorted quickly so the targets can be reached. This cannot always happen leading to conflict between them and Pd Ports.A breach of faith or trust between individuals also occurred recently when a member of the team was asked to do some overtime so tonnage targets could be met. When speaking to the individual I learnt that they still hadn’t received payment for the last lot of overtime they completed and so they were no longer willing to do any overtime because trust had broken down and they believed theyd be working the extra hours without getting paid. We will be lo oking at these examples in more detail later on.Describe the stages in the development of conflictOnce conflict has started it can sometimes go through several stages before it is resolved. Below is a diagram showing the different stages conflict can go through, although they do not always occur in a set order. Sometimes conflict cannot be resolved and only lies dormant until the problem occurs again.Latent Conflict This happens when individuals, groups or organizations have differences that bother one or the other. However these differences are not enough for either party to act to try and change the situation. For example when working in close proximity with someone certain behaviours can annoy another person with a different kind of personality to them. It is sometimes better to keep quiet and try and ignore this rather than get into confrontation. The seeds of this conflict might then exist for long periods of time before another party becomes aware of it.Conflict Emergence If t he differences between the individuals, groups or organisations are strong enough then a â€Å"triggering event† can cause the emergence stage of conflict. The differences are enough to be acted upon but may erupt in low level conflict. If the low level conflict is seen as some form of threat then this can cause dormant issues to be aroused resulting in the next level of conflict occurring.Escalation This stage happens when the intensity of a conflict is increased and tactics used in pursuing the conflict can become more severe. Going back to the example used in latent conflict of working in close proximity with someone, if personalities continue to clash then the conflict can escalate by parties bringing in other individuals to back up there ideas and arguments. This can lead to individuals feeling ganged up on and the conflict continues to escalate.Stalemate A stalemate is a situation in which neither side can win, but neither side wants to back down or accept loss. This ca n happen due to a number of reasons for example when group members no longer show solidarity and support for the particular conflict or costs of the conflict become too great for the conflict to continue. This then means all parties involved in the conflict then accept the differences cannot really be resolved although no one is really happy with the situation.De-escalation / Negotiation As conflicts cannot continue to escalate eventually they have to reverse direction meaning the differences have been resolved or in the result of stalemate differences end up being forgotten or lying dormant. De-escalation also occurs when compromises are made resulting in all parties feeling happier.Dispute Settlement This stage is when a conflict has come to an end. When underlying causes of disputes are settled the conflict may be resolved forever but in some cases are only resolved for a certain period of time. This may be because a difference of opinion may remain and is resolved for the time b eing but will develop again if the difference again becomes significant.Post-Conflict Peace Building This is the process when individuals, groups or the organization tries to prevent the recurrence of the conflict by addressing the root causes and the effects of conflict through reconciliation. Some organizations hold team building events. This works well with people working in close proximity with each other helping them to realise that while there may be a clash of personality they can in fact work well together as a team sometimes managing to stop latent conflict occurring.Explain the effects of conflict on individual and team performance at workIf conflict has arisen in the workplace then this could affect an individual or team in a number of ways. Effects of conflict in my workplace might be: Individuals 1. Low motivation. 2. Increased absenteeism 3. Stress frustration and anxietyIf conflict has occurred in the workplace with an individual and has reached stalemate or not been resolved satisfactorily then this can again cause latent conflict. Meaning the individual no longer feels strong enough to air his differences but instead harbours these ill feelings towards their job causing them to no longer work to the best of their ability. They are no longer motivated to perform well and so there standard of work slips resulting in other problems. Management then need to address the issue with the individual as business needs still need to be met sometimes resulting in them feeling unhappy, stressed and frustrated.This can also lead to increased absenteeism as they may no longer want to attend work due to them not enjoying it and not feeling that they are listened to. Deadlines are then harder to meet as the job is no longer being done efficiently or in the  case of absenteeism extra manpower is needed to cover an individual’s job. Quality of work is then effected. If we look at the example given earlier of conflict occurring over overtime we can see h ow this affected the individual. When he agreed with management to do overtime he quite rightly believed he would be paid for this however when payday came he realised he hadn’t been paid for it.This then led to him being extremely annoyed and unhappy. After discussing the issue with a member of management and being promised it would be sorted out it soon became apparent that it had not been. This then resulted in him lacking motivation in his job. He no longer went the extra mile as he had done previously and was no longer happy when at work. This shows that even low level conflict can have a huge effect on performance of an individual at work.Groups1. Loss of productivity 2. Delay in decision making 3. Missed deadlines 4. Strained relationshipsConflict within a group or groups effects performance at work on a larger scale. There are more people involved and productivity can be greatly affected. This can often start as latent conflict but can quickly escalate when individual s start discussing with others things that they aren’t happy about causing a domino effect. Others then become involved in the conflict which can cause problems for other individuals or the organisation. A good example of this is the scenario at my place of work is with regards to the fork truck doors.Fork truck door handles kept getting broken which was causing an unnecessary and expensive cost to Pd Logistics. The decision to take one of the doors off to stop the door handles getting broken was very unpopular with the fork truck drivers. Those that hadn’t broken a handle felt that they were then being penalised for other peoples accidents thus resulting in them being unhappy and frustrated. The drivers were then wanting to air their views with management meaning there was a loss in productivity as there was no one around to move coils etc.Luckily this issue was resolved quite quickly but had it not have been and decision making had been delayed then our daily deadlin es may not have been met as a result of the delay in lorries being loaded and the relationship between  employees and management would have been strained due to the drivers feeling they were being treated unfairly. As a leader it is important that destructive conflict is quickly identified in order to avoid the above effects and stop conflict escalating.Explain any recognised technique a manager could use to minimise and resolve conflict in the workplaceThere are a number of techniques that could be used to minimise and resolve conflict in the work place. One such technique is the method of Positioning Exercises. These exercises are designed to help people â€Å"step into each other’s shoes†. This involves imagining the interaction from two or three different perspectives. The perspectives are: 1. The first person is your own point of view2. The second person is the point of view of the other person 3. The third person is the point of view of an observerThis method c an either help stop conflict from occurring or can help stop conflict from escalating. I used this method myself when dealing with the incident over the fork truck doors. Heated debates between everyone were not helping the conflict to de-escalate so it was decided that this may help calm things down. Two of the main fork truck operatives were called for a meeting to try and resolve the issue. They were asked to think about their own views on the problem and then I told them my reasons for taking the door off. These were that every time a door handle got broken it was costing the company  £144 just to fix them. At a time where we are told that the company really needs to start saving money and cut down on unnecessary spending this was just unfeasible.Especially as the numerous breakages were due to carelessness. Every time a handle needed repairing I was expected to justify spending this amount of money to fix them. This was becoming more difficult due to the amount of breakages i n a short space of time. My solution to stop this unnecessary spending was to take the door off so that handles could no longer be broken. My opinion was that if they couldn’t respect the machine and take good care of them after numerous warnings then the only action that could be taken was to remove the door hopefully teaching them a lesson. The  two fork truck operatives and I were then asked to think about the situation as a whole from an observers point of view. If we weren’t directly involved in the situation what conclusions would we come to with regards to ideas and opinions.This helped the drivers to understand that whilst everyone was being penalised for the damage it was the only way they would stop and think and start taking care of the vehicles since warnings had been ignored and this in turn would reduce maintenance costs. It also helped me to understand that when operating the fork trucks for a long period of time they were subjected to colder working c onditions because of the lack of door which wasn’t fair on operatives who did take care of the machinery. This technique enabled us to understand each other’s point of view and manage to reach a compromise.The compromise was that they would go back to the other operatives and relay the information with relation to maintenance costs etc. and if after a month they could show me that nothing on the fork trucks had been broken then the doors would be put back on. This meant that the conflict was de-escalated. All parties felt they had been listened to and all points of view taken into account and a compromise was reached and discussed amicably.Describe how a manager could promote a positive atmosphere in order to minimise the adverse effects of conflictManagers could promote a positive atmosphere at work by creating harmony within the work place. There are several actions that can be undertaken by a manager to create harmony a few of which we shall look at below:Expect The Best From Your Staff In psychology the Self-Fulfilling prophecy states that people will generally perform in the way others expect them to perform. If a team is managed badly and constantly told they are not performing well within their job role and they are not capable of doing something then it is believed that this is how they will continue to perform. So turning this around if a manager has high expectations of their staff, and they treat them as though they are very much capable and competent people and they are expected to perform this way, then it is thought that they will rise to the occasion and be the excellent  employees required.Build Trust Trust is an important factor in all manner of relationships. Creating a working environment built around trust between all levels of the workforce is one of the most important things a manager can do when building a positive, harmonious work environment. Staff need to know a manager is reliable, responsible and accountable and that they can be relied upon for consistency. Trust is about doing what you say you are going to do and being who you say you are. A positive workforce needs to be led by example. If they trust their manager they will feel much happier and more secure in their jobs thus resulting in them being more motivated at work.Create Team Spirit One of our basic human needs is to feel we belong to something bigger than ourselves, and for many people that need is met by being part of a supportive work group. If a manager creates team spirit this enables the work force to feel united and that they are not on their own. They feel valued and that they belong. They want to come to work and they want to work to the best of their ability for themselves and to help their team mates. This will result in minimal absenteeism and increased motivation when at work.Be Approachable A manager must always be approachable to their staff. This can be portrayed to the workforce by the manager communicating with them that they are always available and happy to speak to anyone about any issues that may occur no matter what position they hold. This again makes the team members feel valued and that their opinions and differences are listened to. Management need to make the team feel that if differences do occur they can be approached and will endeavour to sort the situation out. If a manager is not approachable then ill feeling can build up and latent conflict can quickly be triggered and escalated which can create lack of motivation at work.Give Recognition and Appreciation Most workers respond extremely well to reward and recognition schemes. If a manager notices an employee doing a job exceptionally well or going the extra mile then they should be recognised aloud for it. This can happen by either giving the employee some form of reward i.e employee of the month status or merely just acknowledging it out loud so others can here. This is a great tool for boosting team morale and making team membe rs feel special and vital in their roles. It can also encourage others to strive to do better and improve in their job roles.Give Credit and Take responsibility Success within the business should always be credited to the team. This makes them feel invaluable and appreciated and makes them want to perform even better. Managers should remember that success of the business cannot happen without the work force performing well. It’s a managers job to make sure the team are always well trained and are equipped with the correct tools to be able to complete the job correctly and efficiently. If thing don’t go well it’s just as important for management to take responsibility for this as it is to give credit for success. If for some reason the team fail to perform their job in the expected manner it’s the managers responsibility to ensure they receive further training or direction to enable them to complete their job as expected. These are just a few of the exampl es in which a manager can promote a positive atmosphere in order to minimise the adverse effects of conflict.In conclusion conflict within the workplace can occur because of many different reasons. A good manager can recognise conflict in its early stages and deal with it using many different techniques in order to stop the conflict escalating. This in turn creates a better working environment for the team in which they feel happy in their work and believe they are a valued member of the team resulting in an increased standard of productivity.