Entrepreunership of Indra Nooyi Essay

INTRODUCTION Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi(born 28 october 1956) is an Indian-American businesswoman who is currently the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo which is the world’s second largest food and beverage business in terms of net revenue. She is one of the World’s 100 Most Powerful Women as ranked by Forbes magazine. In 2014, she was ranked 13 in the list of Forbes World’s 100 most powerful women. Early life and career Nooyi was born to a Tamil Family in Madras (presently Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India. She was educated at Holy Angels Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School in Madras. She received a Bachelor’s degree in Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics from Madras Christian College in 1974 and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (MBA) from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta in 1976. Beginning her career in India, Nooyi held product manager positions at Johnson & Johnson and textile firm MetturBeardsell. She was admitted to Yale School of Management in 1978 and earned a Master’s degree in Public and Private Management. While at Yale, she completed her summer internship with Booz Allen Hamilton. Graduating in 1980, Nooyi joined the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and then held strategy positions at Motorola and Asea Brown Boveri. PepsiCo executive Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 and was named president and CFO in 2001. Nooyi has directed the company’s global strategy for more than a decade and led PepsiCo’s restructuring, including the 1997 divestiture of its restaurants into Tricon, now known as Yum! Brands.Nooyi also took the lead in the acquisition of Tropicana in 1998, and merger with Quaker Oats Company, which also brought Gatorade to PepsiCo. In 2006 she became the fifth CEO in PepsiCo’s 44-year history. According to BusinessWeek, since she started as CFO in 2000, the company’s annual revenues have risen 72%, while net profit more than doubled, to $5.6 billion in 2006. Nooyi was named on Wall Street Journal’s list of 50 women to watch in 2007 and 2008, and was listed among  Time’s 100 Most Influential People in The World in 2007 and 2008. Forbes named her the #3 most powerful woman in 2008. In 2014, she was ranked #13 by Forbes.Fortune ranked her the #1 most powerful woman in busi ness in 2009 and 2010. On the 7th of October 2010 Fortune magazine ranked her the 6th most powerful woman in the world. INDRA NOOYI’S CHARACTERISTICS AS AN ENTREPRENEUR â ¦ HARDWORKING- Nooyi recommends not sitting on your laurels just because you have attained a high rank in the professional sphere. A tireless worker herself, she gets only 5 hours of sleep a night, and continuously educates herself, re-evaluating her decisions and ensuring that she is keeping the best interest of the company and its employees in mind. To her, her employees are like an extended family, and she ensures that their needs and concerns are addressed so as to ensure the overall running efficiency of the company. The formal and impersonal atmosphere at PepsiCo, therefore, is a friendly one where her receptionist is known to have fielded calls from her daughter regarding home work and television privileges. â ¦ PRUDENCE (WISE)- Nooyi said she tries to ascribe positive intent to everything people do or say. â€Å"When you do that it’s so much better to deal with people,† Nooyi said. â€Å"Does that mean I give people more rope than I need to? Yeah, but I’m very comfortable with it.† In this way, she aims to cultivate trusting relationships with both colleagues and direct reports, and to focus on developing executive talent. It’s a style that encourages entrepreneurial thinking across the company, says Reinemund, her predecessor and another influential mentor. â ¦ PLANNING AND ORGANIZING- Nooyi’s strategic measures to tackle the slow-down in the beverages and snack food industry included a productivity improvement program, the benefits of which were expected to the tune of US$ 1.2 billion over the next three years  beginning 2009. Other measures under her leadership included aggressive expansion into the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, China, When Nooyi was SVP, the strategic measures that she planned and implemented resulted in a growth in PepsiCo’s sales and profits. â ¦ INNOVATION She implemented a number of measures to improve the sustainability of the company’s operations and image by focusing on improvements in the health implications of PepsiCo products. Measures such as removing trans-fats from PepsiCo snacks, product innovations in the Quaker Oats brand to come out with a range of consumer perceived healthy snacks, categorization of its snacks into three categories named fun for you, good for you, and better for you were undertaken under her leadership. â ¦ ACHIEVEMENT AND MOTIVATION Forbes magazine ranked Nooyi fourth on the 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 lists of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Fortune magazine has named Nooyi number one on its annual ranking of Most Powerful Women in business for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In 2008, Nooyi was named one of America’s Best Leaders by U.S. News & World Report. In 2008, she was elected to the Fellowship of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences â ¦ RISK TAKING Pepsi faces rising production costs, lackluster U.S. sales, and attacks on its core snack and soda products from both competitors and health-conscious critics. As the company’s head and, since May, its chairman, Nooyi is taking on Pepsi’s challenges. And Nooyi, who formally took the CEO reins in October 2006, is giving Pepsi’s employees and shareholders good reason to ride her train — a powerful locomotive that has driven the company’s stock up 22% in the 12 months through Dec. 4, near a 52-week high. In May, the company hiked its dividend 25% and boosted its share buyback goal to $4.3 billion from  $3.3 billion. Revenue is expected to rise more than 10% this year. BARRIERS TO INDRA NOOYI:- â ¦ PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS Nooyi used to announce a specific profit target that the company will gain. But the company was unable to gain that much profit. So this annoyed the investors. During her tenure pepsi has often failed to hit her statuted profit target, which investor consider an unforgivable scene. â ¦ ECONOMIC FACTORS- Capital requirements are low for taking over a franchise, and profit margins are stratospheric. Nooyi’s plan looked plausible, and investors seemed willing to give it a chance; they pushed the stock down only incrementally despite the surprisingly downbeat profit forecast. Now she absolutely must execute the plan against strong and merciless competitors in a volatile economic environment. â ¦ COMPETITIVE FACTOR- The company is getting beaten up in its flagship product category, drinks, in the world’s largest market, North America. The soda pop planets shifted in their orbits last year when Pepsi-Cola was displaced as America’s eternal No. 2 carbonated soft drink, Coca-Cola was at No. 1; the new No. 2 is Diet Coke. That reordering is especially distressing to investors because there is scarcely a more beautiful business in the world than producing branded soft drink concentrate. â ¦ PERSONALITY FACTORS- Irate investors have been calling for Pepsi to sell off its snack food business or for Nooyi to step down, or at least announce a likely successor. She did none of that at the presentation. Instead, by outlining a plan that will take two years to pay off, she showed that she has the board’s support. But if that plan doesn’t show clear signs of working before year-end, the board’s support could evaporate. That’s why the next several months are make-or-break for her.

Facebook Should Be Banned

Social Network: an online community of people with a common interest who use a Web site or other technologies to communicate with each other and share information, resources(dictionary. com). There are almost 500 million users of social networks and spent over 700 billion minutes a month using them. Is this hindering our social skills? There are many ways that people interact with each other such as e-mail, texting, a social network but the least used interaction is face to face.A negative impact that social networks have on our relationships is that social networks might strengthen our relationship with acquaintances and people we don’t see often; social networks weaken our strong relationships and also bring about physical social isolation. The term â€Å"social network† leads you to believe that you are in fact being social when these sites are used more for a phone book or search engine.Instead of calling your friend and asking what they have planned for the night o r weekend, you can just look at their posts to find out. This contact is very impersonal and allows the least amount of interaction between two parties Social Networks allow you to overestimate the level of intimacy you have with someone. Social networks allow you to think that a person is more committed to a relationship or friendship more than they actually are. You need to be sure you are putting in a balanced time of online and offline relationships.According to a study by John Cacioppo (researcher at the University of Chicago), those who use social networks are more susceptible to the emotional contagion effects. An emotional contagion is the tendency to catch and feel emotions that are similar to and influenced by those of others. In his studies, it was found that loneliness alone was transmitted through social networks. Also, his study showed that 52% of those who have direct social network interactions with a lonely person they too will become lonely.Those who have a â€Å" friend of a friend† connection with said person will be 25% more lonely. You’ve probably also seen that sometimes normal courtesy and politeness—aspects we would utilize in our face-to-face interactions are sometimes missing in the online space, that we would use in face to face interactions. Many of these social networks have a chat feature. Because of this many people don’t pick up on humor, sarcasm, and sympathy. Along with this, if you were in a face to face interaction you have the added facial expressions and body language.Along with this chat feature people don’t have to talk directly so it is easy to hide behind the internet because you won’t have to directly address the problem. Because of social networking many people lose their ability to hold a conversation. Many people who use social networks lose the ability to spell correctly because they use shorthand such as U, tomoro, k and many others. Social Networks are very harmful, but if you balance out your online and offline relationships and don’t let social networks become your ‘hangout’, it shouldn’t be a problem.

A Wedding I Have Attended Essay

Last year, I went to Taiping to attend my cousin’s wedding. She, unlike most of my family members, is a Christian. So, this was the first time I have been to a Christian wedding. Her wedding was held in the Chinese Methodist Church. The wedding had two receptions in two different places, one in Taiping and another in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This marriage was traditionally done every step of the way. The marriage and betrothals were made a year ago by both bride and bridegroom. During the engagement, the bride and groom exchanged rings as symbol that they have tied a knot together. I could see the look on my cousin’s face that day, something that I cannot describe in words. She was grinning from ear to ear and I could tell she was really happy and also anxious at the same time. The engagement was held at the bride’s in Kuala Lumpur. Although it was just an engagement, it was held grandly because my cousin was the last one to get married in her family. All of my family members came all the way to Kuala Lumpur to see her get engaged. On the exact same day, the couple announced that their wedding will be held on the month of September. The reason they chose this date is because they believe that the safest season to get married is between the month of harvest and the month of Christmas, when food is plenteous. On the wedding day, the bridegroom was smartly dressed in a tuxedo. On the other hand, the bride looked stunning wearing a picturesque white gown and her face covered with a veil. Everyone was seated in the church with the groom and his best man, waiting for the bride. After a few minutes of waiting, the bride finally arrived. She was walk down the aisle by her father. This is one of the traditions of a Christian wedding. This indirectly shows that, when her father gives his daughter away, he is giving his blessing to the couple and acknowledging that her family approves of her choice. As she walked through the hallway of the church were the groom awaits, she was escorted by two flower girls, two pageboys and a few bridesmaids. The flower girls, who were looking very pleasant, threw flower petals on the floor. The pageboys on the other hand, were carrying a ring each. The bridesmaids consists of my cousins close friends were just overlooking the scenario. As soon as the bride was on the stage, where the bridegrooms was, my uncle handed over his daughter to the groom. Then, both of the bride and bridegroom kneeled down in front of the priest. The priest asked them the usual questions that are always asked in a Christian wedding. After both of them said â€Å"I do†, the bride and the groom exchanged rings. The priest pronounced them husband and wife, and his last word to the groom was â€Å"you may kiss the bride† indicates to the groom to kiss the bride and indirectly telling them that they are legally together as husband and wife. After that, my newly wedded cousin and her husband walk down the aisle again as husband and wife. Outside, a red Ferrari was waiting for them to take them to a fancy restaurant where the wedding reception is held. Me and all my family members followed their car from behind giving the newlyweds.

Marketing of services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Marketing of services - Essay Example The political system of the country provides favourable business framework for companies to operate efficiently and ethically (Clayton Utz 2012). Technological Australia is recognised to be a technologically developed country which adopts latest technology rapidly which further facilitates organisations to ensure greater competitive advantages (Clayton Utz 2012). The intellectual property as well as technology is protected with legal laws and frameworks to preserve integrity and financial reporting transparency in the industry (Clayton Utz 2012). These are the various external factors which are observed to be quite favourable for Beehive marketing when performing its business operations in an effective manner. The internal environment of the company can be analysed in-depth with the identification of its internal strengths as well as weaknesses. In this respect, the key internal strength of Beehive is determined to be the employees or staffs. Notably, the employees in Beehive are ski lful as well as committed who perform their activities effectively. Moreover, the employees are also observed to be operating as a team which in return improves its workplace culture substantially and thus creates an indirect influence on its production efficiency. The company possesses a good brand image in the worldwide market segment which can also be attributed as one of its major strengths. Furthermore, the company with its business values and nature will be successful in offering better services in relation to marketing solutions for business sectors. The main weakness of the company is that it lacks adequate and proper office space employing 3 employees. Moreover, the company is also observed to be facing the issue of communication gap and control...In this respect, the key internal strength of Beehive is determined to be the employees or staffs. Notably, the employees in Beehive are skilful as well as committed who perform their activities effectively. Moreover, the employee s are also observed to be operating as a team which in return improves its workplace culture substantially and thus creates an indirect influence on its production efficiency. The company possesses a good brand image in the worldwide market segment which can also be attributed as one of its major strengths. Furthermore, the company with its business values and nature will be successful in offering better services in relation to marketing solutions for business sectors. The main weakness of the company is that it lacks adequate and proper office space employing 3 employees. Moreover, the company is also observed to be facing the issue of communication gap and control with clients as no specific communication measures have been adopted thus far. The team members of the company are also not offered with training facilities in relation to social media, copywriting as well as event management. The company is also perceived to be lacking commitment as well as business plan for future growth and prosperity.

Sex Education in Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Sex Education in Schools - Essay Example This paper declares that  sexuality in children is a complex issue that Sigmund Freud has divided into five stages known as sexual development. The five steps include oral phase, the anal stage also known as bowel, and bladder elimination, a phallic stage that is the discovery of genitals, latency stage which the dormant sexual feelings. The final phase is the genital stage that occurs at maturity of sexuality.   He argues that during every stage of sexual growth, children acquire the vital development to become an adaptive adult. Freud theorized explanations for numerous repressed feelings, and desires, yet also assist in developing strong gender roles. During that time, the boys begin to develop intense anxiety, which is similar to girls.From the discussion it is clear that  sex education in school is vital in that the teenagers will get to know how sexually transmitted diseases are acquired, the issues of contraception, abstinence. If they are not going to learn them in scho ol where better would they learn about it? From media?Or friends?Or do we want them to learn sex education from the responsible adults? When we leave our children in the hands of the media or friend to give them sex education, we may be initiating our   problems. Some of the friends or media are deceitful.  They can mislead the young children to their advantage. Moreover, some friend may take advantage of the innocence of the child and abuse the roles they are expected to play. If we cannot trust our schools with such matters then, who can be trusted with our children?

Nursing Shortage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing Shortage - Essay Example tions and there is need to change in order to improve quality of healthcare services and increase customer satisfaction by increasing staff ratios in healthcare facilities, introduction of worker retention incentives, development of placement programs and training of more nurses to meet the demand (Satterly, 2004). The stakeholders involved in this kind of change include the government, nursing professional bodies, community representatives, healthcare training institution’s heads, and the nurses. The government allocates more funds for building more training institutions, training of nursing personnel and development of placement programs. The change will also demand that the heads of training institutions expand their capacities by admitting more students. The community leaders are expected to report the level of shortage and engage in developing policy frameworks to address the issue. Nursing professional bodies also have to be up to date in terms of the demand and supply of nurses and will have to engage in identifying areas of high shortage and advice the government on how to deploy (Ross, 2005). Nurses are the subjects in this case and they understand the problem more clearly by implementing change to address the problem of nursing shortage nurses are expected to provide leadershi p and serve as role models encouraging more people to join the profession. Lippit’s Theory used to implement change is the most appropriate for solving the problem of shortage of the nurses. The theory is about finding an external agent to effect change. Here I will propose that one person experienced in the nursing field with transformational leadership mind should serve as the coordinator of the entire process of change. Shortage of nurses can be solved by following the steps of Lippit’s Theory (Feldman, 2013 ). The first stage is diagnosis of the problem. Here the leading nurse who is the transformational leader realizes that the problem of nurse shortage is real and

Social Justice, Access to Health Care and Abortion Debate Essay

Social Justice, Access to Health Care and Abortion Debate - Essay Example Universal access to health care is crucial as this is a basic human right. The health of a society is affected by not simply the ease of visiting a doctor, but also by the social status and the existing unfairness in universal coverage. Universal coverage of a population implies that when the population seeks health care, they receive at least a package of the service at a fair cost at the delivery point. Before legalizing any aspect of health intervention such as cloning or euthanasia, universal access should be ensured. Cloning and euthanasia have paramount impact on the culture and taboos of the population; thus, any application without prior universal access to the community will violate a population’s social rights. Ethical issues may arise in this case because the two medical advancements are not fully acceptable by all cultures. According to Pan American Health Organization, the ethical issue relating to euthanasia is if it is permissible to take one’s own life o r if another person should be a partisan in taking another person’s life. Advocates of the practice argue that it is humane for a person to help another person die if it is the only recommended way of eliminating their pain and suffering. Those opposing it argue that it amounts to murder and contradicts the fundamentals of social justice. Proponents of human cloning argue that the technology is a huge progression towards human and technological evolution. Those opposing it claim that it belittles the divine value associated with humans thereby reducing them into disposable artifacts. Ensuring universal access before applying such medical interventions will address the mentioned divergent views and avert their unfair or genocidal impacts. According to Lu, the benefits of any medical intervention cannot be realized if they are not extended equally within the society (79). Access to healthcare is a requirement for social justice. Therefore, the legislation should lay equal empha sis on the universal coverage of medical services and related healthcare benefits to all. Cloning and euthanasia are forms of health care that have a central role to play in ensuring social justice as they contribute in promoting the welfare and opportunities among community members. This sustains people’s participation in all spheres of life. Lu and Hsiao also posit that the relationship between health care and opportunity suggests that the distributive justice should be ensured in all sectors of the health care system. This is in order to uphold the virtue of equality of opportunity as stipulated in the concept of social justice (82). Some of the challenges to ensuring universal coverage and access to health care are related to structural inequalities in regards to race, gender, ethnicity and caste. Achievement of universal access to health care calls for improvement in three dimensions namely; expansion of the extent of financial protection available to the population, put ting in place efficient organizational and structural mechanisms for improving financial protection and widening the range of services available at a subsidized cost. Deal with the main pros and cons on the abortion debate and spell out what the pro-life, pro- choice and more moderate positions are. Then state your own view on this to justify and defend it from likely criticisms. Is there a slippery slope effect here from allowing abortions? Will society

Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 34

Essay Example This caused the bank to lose focus and only strive for greater profit margins rather than expanding its customer base. After some time, the Union Bank of Norway realized its mistakes and attempted to correct them with the introduction of a single system that tracked the data of each individual customer. Information about their customer base would allow the Union Bank of Norway to correctly predict what its customer would prefer or not prefer in the future. The data warehouse that the bank came up with attempted to address all of these problems. By getting to know its customers, the Union Bank of Norway has been able to base its marketing decision around the characteristics of its customers. Not surprisingly, customer response has been good to this new endeavor. Customers generally like to help organizations wherever they can, so it makes sense to take advantage of this by providing an avenue for them to use. The retention of customer information has helped the Union Bank of Norway ge t back to its roots—working one-on-one with the

Research about Government Expenditure in a country and then compare it Essay

Research about Government Expenditure in a country and then compare it to another country - Essay Example This is managed by the central state and its ministries, regional and local authorities, separate public bodies and international organizations. The management of budget and finance is the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance and that of the Central Bank that exercises control on its use and allocation. This is done through a legislated agreement whereby all revenues are deposited to a Central Bank and could be withdrawn only through a legislature. This study will focus on the impact of budgeting processes in the developing countries Sample steps of budget preparations to show how government expenditure is planned and implemented will also be discussed The line budgeting system requires a listing of expenditures for the coming year. These are itemized according to objects of expenditures and quite often detailed as to where the budget item will be used for instance, how much money will be spent by the agency for personnel services, travel, maintenance, equipment and others. This system has been designed so that an agency will not overspend on their allocated budget for a specific item in a specified year. The advantage of the system is it is simple, easy to understand, expenses are controlled and expenditures are comparable with prior years. While this type of budget management is simple and easy, World Bank sees its limitations such that it should be reformed to cope with the advancement of a rapidly and technologically changing world. WB experts see that line budgeting offers no explanations where budget has been spent; neither will it provide information on the programs implemented. It is short-sighted, as it is programmed for short term, e.g. one year, and does not take into account long-term approach. Upon recognizing the limitations of line budget, another approach focused on performance basis was tried. This time, the activities of the agency is tied up with the budget. The basis of budget decisions depends on what

Psychology (various techniques for developing memory) Essay

Psychology (various techniques for developing memory) - Essay Example I studied the poem I had developed for 2 minutes. One hour later, I attempted to recall both the acrostic poem and the concepts to which it was related. 3) I sung the poem, The Ballad of Rudolph Reed, by Gwendolyn Brooks out-loud to the tune of the nursery rhyme, Humpty-Dumpty. I practiced singing the poem three times and then one hour later I attempted to recite the poem from memory. 4) My final experiment consisted of attempting to remember a list of 10 items by using the techniques of the Loci method. The list I attempted to remember was as follows: Tomatoes, Trumpet, Scissors, Wallet, Motorcycle, Sofa, Elephant, Newspaper, Subway train, and Faucet. I walked a route familiar to me within the vicinity of my home in accordance with the technique. I assigned one of these items to each of ten locations within the designated route and practiced associating the items and the image of the location. An hour later I retraced my steps, attempting to remember the list by association with the locations on the route that I had selected. The four experiments produced various different results. Personally, I found that the technique for developing an acronym or using an acrostic to remember concepts and lists were particularly useful. These two experiments produced by far the best results.

The Declaration of Independence of US Research Paper

The Declaration of Independence of US - Research Paper Example Unfortunately, the words are also almost entirely false as a guide for actual guarantees of the kinds of freedoms espoused in the document, at least as such guarantees might have applied to anyone in the colonial society who was not, like Jefferson, a white, male, wealthy landowner with political and economic connections. In fact, even as Jefferson penned the words, the formal and informal seats of power in the colonies were occupied by men who owned slaves, controlled wealth, and abused the rights of women. How then can Jefferson justify using the words? In this brief essay, the approach of Jefferson and the ruling class that founded the nation to the ideals of political and economic freedoms and equality that they argued for will be reviewed in order to show how they violated the very terms established as reasons for their revolution. Specifically, the ways in which Jefferson and other founding fathers acted against the words of the Declaration in regards to slaves, women and the non-wealthy working classes will be reviewed. Following a review of their actions toward each of these constituent groups, a reevaluation of the language of the Declaration will be conducted and a summary analysis of the ultimate value of the founding principles contained in it will be offered. Although it is difficult to argue against the eloquence of the political principles contained in Jefferson’s words in the Declaration, it is easy to see hypocrisy in his application of those words to the actual realities of his own family and community. In fac t, as Damon Root argues there was a gap between espoused principles and political practices that resulted in an almost perfect paradox as realized in the person and figure of Jefferson. Nowhere was this gap more readily seen than on the issue of slavery. Root claims â€Å"The celebrated author of the Declaration of Independence, which famously declares that ‘all men are created equal’ and are born with the inalienable rights to ‘life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness’ †¦ was also a slaveholder, a man whose livelihood was rooted in the subjugation of hundreds of human beings, including members of his wife’s family and his own.† Having penned words which seemed to indicate that he believed in a form of basic equality among all persons, Jefferson lived a life which did not square with those words because he held in his formal possession as a legal and professional matter the actual freedoms of a large number of persons, both men and wom en. He owned them and could do with them as he pleased, including – among other things – utilizing their physical labor for his economic benefit and utilizing their bodies for his sexual enjoyment. That mere fact, without regard to what kind of slave owner Jefferson actually was, whether he was kind or considerate to those who came under his purview, is enough to suggest that Jefferson either did not take his own words seriously or he believed that they had some application to the broader society, such as the international community, but not to himself. Any other conclusion would require one to find Jefferson simply being an outright hypocrite. Of course, this is one possible interpretation for his actions, and there were those, even in his day, who reached for it. Root

To Sir, With Love by E. R. Braithewaite Essay Example for Free

To Sir, With Love by E. R. Braithewaite Essay In his novel, To Sir, With Love, E. R. Braithewaite traces the course of his relationship with his unruly charges, as a teacher in a rough school in London. I think Braithewaite was a resounding success, as he progressed from a new blackie teacher to Sir, with Love, as he moulded the lives of his students and played a role model to them. When he first met the students, he was faced with disobedience and hostility. They were indifferent to his attempts to integrate himself with them, and make them like him. I think they did not really cared about respecting Braithewaite as they imagined him to be as a transient as his predecessors. They mentioned him only briefly (and yet made a pointed reference to his race) in their weekly reviews. I do not think it was really their fault: they had had so many inept teachers in the past; they did not have any high expectation for Braithewaite Another (Hackman). Braithewaite went through three phases in his relationship with the students the noisy, silent and bawdy phases, all increasing in aggression. Matters came to a head one day as someone burnt a sanitary napkin in the class room, in what I believe was an act of testing the waters they were trying to see how far they could push Braithewaite. That incident was the turning point for Braithewaite as he reprimanded the students, I think he realised that trying to be their friend would not work, Instead he decided to be firm with them, not asking, but demanding, respect. One hurdle that he had to overcome was the students social background. They had been poorly fed, clothed and housed, in places where the breadwinner was chronically unemployed. Their neighbourhood was infested with social vermin. These children, I think, had never had any satisfactory father or role models that they could look up to. This, combined with their ingrained prejudice, made them feel that Braithewaite would be another Hackman who by all accounts gave the children too much rope. Braithewaite had to realise that they came from homes where order was often accomplished by a blow and in school where corporal punishment was banned, that he had to be strict in order to earn their respects. His first triumph was his success in imposing unfamiliar social codes on the children. By having them call each other Sir and Miss, I think he showed them a glimpse of what they could become well mannered, courteous young adults. Braithewaite quickly realised that lessons, unless they could relate to the students lives were of no use to the children. So he related the subjects and tailored the lessons to suit the children and in this way, he showed them that the purpose of education was the development of the students thinking and reasoning. In this way, Braithewaite gained the respect of the ringleaders of the children, except Denham. I think he finally grew up in their eyes as he beat Denham, a symbol for triumphing over adversity. I feel in the end, physical force was needed to win over the children, and it speaks volumes about their social background. After the boxing incident, Braithewaite became aware of in important change in his own attitude towards them. Whilst earlier his aim was to gain employment, not rally caring about the students, he now found himself liking them, collectively and singly and therefore more interested in their welfare and moral values. The trip to the museum brought out the best in the children, as they came scrubbed, combed, brushed and shining. I think the children finally had a hope of redemption, as they went on with their best behaviour, surprising and delighting Braithewaite. He now begins to identify himself with them, calling them my class and mentioning that they had become a part of him. But this brought in a new complication Pamela Dare. A girl with only scruffy, untidy men to look up to, she quickly develops a crush on the big, broad and handsome Braithewaite, but I think her crush was not more than a yearning for a father figure. Both Pamela and her mother respected Braithewaite enough to ask for his advice on family matter. Braithewaite, on his part, is careful and conscious of his limits with Pamela he treats her like any other student and without being too intrusive, he guides her and her mother. Barbara Peggs mother, on the other hand, was not so tolerant. Bluntly refusing him a room to lodge, on the grounds of his colour, she changes her mind only because her daughter, horrified at her behaviour, wanted her to apologise. But Braithewaite sees this, also, as a triumph. He knows hes gotten through to Barbara. He had taught her tolerance and the essential humanities. One person who seems not to have the essential humanities is Mr. Weston. He is deeply prejudiced against the children and their background and so is a contrast to Braithewaite. He calls his students snotty little tarts and blithe spirits and always claims that he is only a teacher for the money, and in this he is a marked contrast to Braithewaite. E.R. Braithwaite was truly a remarkable teacher in the way he changed his student attitudes and perceptions to the world around them, and their behaviour and outlook in general. They had, in only a year, progressed from being unruly, rude and out of hand to responsible, polite and mature adults with their whole future ahead of them, and all due to him. I feel that he was the best teacher they could have possibly had and he deserved to be called Sir, With Love.

Exploring Modernism In Architecture: Louis Kahn

Exploring Modernism In Architecture: Louis Kahn For my essay on Modernism in architecture I intend to explore an architect of the modernist period in order to establish the form, philosophy and social ideas behind modernism. The term modern architecture is ambiguous. It can be understood to refer to all buildings of the modern period regardless of their ideological basis, or it can be understood more specifically as an architecture conscious of its own modernity and striving for change. Modern architecture is a category which usually complements buildings of the 20th and 21st century. It would include Bauhaus / International styles (sometimes used to describe Bauhaus architecture in United States) and also brutalism. Modernism was a reaction against eclecticism and the lavish stylistic excesses of the Art Deco, Art Nouveau and the Victorian ages. However, it is still a matter of taste. Even though Bauhaus, a German design school  (Operated from 1919-33 By founder Walter Gropius, then by Hans Mayer and Ludwig Mies der Van Rohe) which had profoundly influenced arts and architecture had been more concerned with social aspects of design; none the less, International style soon became a symbolism of Capitalism. Fig.2 shows an interesting and most famous example of this International style. This style of architecture was reserved mainly for office blocks, but was also seen in homes built for the rich and famous. Fig.2 shows another building widely known for its functionalist aesthetic and a masterpiece of corporate modernism. There were many architects who attached their name to this modernistic era, some of the best known being Frank Lloyd Wright(fig.6), Walter Gropius(fig.5), Le Corbusier(fig.2) and Ludwig Mies der Van Rohe(fig.3). 6Fig.6 shows Falling water which was a truly iconic building for many. Wrights design which was for a residential home was above a waterfall. This building portrayed his view of organic architecture. Modern architecture was found to be challenging traditional teachings which were thought to be suitable for architectural design and structure. Modernists designers went on to argue that architects should design everything which is necessary for society. From every detail and furniture in the interior and exteriors of buildings and even led to architects designing the most humble of buildings. I have looked at the broader definition of modernism along with the pioneers who drove this style. Louis Kahn is the architect I have chosen to study in depth. His views of modernism are well known through the modern world of architecture. Louis Kahn Itze-Leib Schmuilowsky (February 20, 1901 or 1902 March 17, 1974), or more commonly known in the world of architecture as Louis Kahn was an architect who was infused within the International style. Kahn graduated from the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Fine Arts in 1924. In the late 1930s Kahns was working as a consultant to the Philadelphia Housing Authority. His affiliation with modern architecture grew as he worked with Europeans Stonorov and George Howe with whom Kahn designed many wartime housing projects which can be seen in fig.8. From these experiences it gave Kahn a sense of social responsibility which was later reflected in his philosophy. 1947 was a year where the Kahn started to emerge. His career had established to a point where he had started a teaching career at Yale University as the Chief Critic in Architectural Design and Professor of Architecture, until 1957. Then at the University of Pennsylvania as Cret Professor of Architecture until his death lonely deat h in a mens room toilet in Pennsylvania Station in New York. Kahn died in deep debt despite his affluent career. Louis Kahn was a critique of mainstream modernism; his work represented the New Monumentality movement which was also promoted by Siegfried Gieldion, Josep Llios Sert and Kahns mentor George Howe. Kahns buildings are incredibly precise in their construction of places for people. I found some pieces of Kahns work particularly interesting to study from a modernistic architectural view. From the list of his most important works I have selected a few which I believe to be particularly symbolic to this essay. From more than a dozen houses which had been designed by Kahn Esherick House was the most renowned. I found Esherick house to one of his most wonderful pieces of work which shows us the direction which he later followed in. A critique says: The Esherick House is definitely one of Kahns most important works which defined lessons hed go on to use in later projects. By this I believe he means that Kahn was finding his element which he had then go onto use in later projects. Kahns career comprises of a lot of interesting work, however, Esherick house stands as one of his most important pieces of work. In the making of the house the control of light had been the preoccupation since the start, and he truly had achieved harmony through natural light as well as distinct style through the transcendence and geometric detail. Kahns principles of light, materiality and geometry are clearly visible here. He starts to impose his future views of form in subtle characteristics of this house. At a glance it is simply concrete and wood which combine to create the facades and interior spaces. The house features a textured mortar finish, with keyhole window which are framed with natural Apilong wood placed at irregular intervals on the front faà §ade. The floor plan is a refined design by Kahn. It is shown to contain two symmetrical rectangles which allow struc tural support and openness. This truly modernistic structure shows how Kahns work would unfold in later years. The Esherick houses pure use of geometry and abstract form reflect his modernistic approach to architecture. Kahns work is much greater dipected in his later and much larger projects. The Salk Laboratories which was developed by Dr Jonas Salk, the developer of polio vaccine had intended for a laboratory which was not just somewhere for biological research, but a place which you could invite a man like Picasso.13 The materials used for this vast project were concrete, wood, marble and he also used the element of water in his design which as the massive complex was juxtaposed against the Pacific Ocean was fitting. I found a very fitting description of The Salk laboratories: Kahns use of order before form shows us how he depicted a building to be like a perfect organism with complexity of use inside as well as on the outside. I found a very interesting quote from Kahn about the Salk laboratories. His philosophy of design shows use the kind of man he was and intentions he perused: I did not follow the dictates of the scientists, who said that they are so dedicated to what they are doing that when lunchtime comes all they do is clear away the test tubes from the benches and eat their lunch on these benches. I asked them: was it not a strain with all these noises? And they answered: the noises of the refrigerators are terrible; the noises of centrifuges are terrible; the trickling of the water is terrible. Everything was terrible including the noises of the air-conditioning system. So I would not listen to them as to what should be done. And I realised that there should be a clean air and stainless steel area, and a rug and oak table area. From this realisation form became. I separated the studies from the laboratory and placed them over gardens. The garden became outdoor spaces where one can talk. Now one need not spend all the time in the laboratories. When one knows what to do, there is only little time one needs for doing it. It is only when one does not know what to do that it takes so much time. And to know what to do is the secret of it all. I deduce from this extract Kahns knowledge and confidence. I see how Kahn believed in a new modern form of architecture. He says it as if he already has the thoughts and ideas to transform buildings into styled and ordered space. Kahns interpretations were seemingly much clearer; he wanted a modern architecture less concerned with aesthetics and what the building looks like. He was more intrigued by the spaces of the building and how the spaces were being used, and what order this would create for them. He wanted to make spaces which would affect the experiences of those who inhabited those spaces. Salk laboratory shows us a design which had predominantly established the foundational significance; order of space an then the geometries. He used this structure of thought for his designs of all institutions such as Salk laboratories. The final version of the Salk laboratories brought him to accept a solution in which services were as repressed or concealed as in any office building by Mies Van der Rohe From this large project he moved onto a next, however, this one remaining unbuilt whilst he was still living. Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban in Dhaka, Bangladesh is regarded to be on this is great monuments of international modernism. This building was considered as his masterpiece of his lifetime. Construction of this building had stated by 1961 however due to its vast enormity didnt finish construction until nine years after his death in 1983 which means it took around 20 years to build. The national assembly building was Kahns most important piece of work. The space was very grand. The interior area for the Assembly building was spilt into 3 sections. The zone in the centre provides circulation. The main area or central zone is for the main assembly. The exterior zone is where the offices and lounges are, also this is where the entrance to the main mosque is. In the design we can see how natural light is a very important element in this building. The building seems as if it is solely for religious purposes and has a heavy spiritual flair. In the assembly I have introduced a light-giving element to the interior of the plan. If you see a series of columns you can say that the choice of columns is a choice in light. The columns as solids frame the spaces of light. Now think of it just in reverse and think that the columns are hollow and much bigger and that their walls can themselves give light, then the voids are rooms, and the column is the maker of light and can take on complex shapes and be the supporter of spaces and give light to spaces. I am working to develop the element to such an extent that it becomes a poetic entity which has its own beauty outside of its place in the composition. In this way it becomes analogous to the solid column I mentioned above as a giver of light. Here Kahn talks about the Bangladesh project. He reiterates the importance of light in the space and his poetic entity which he adds to every design to create a great sense of beauty. In the designing of these three projects we can see how Kahn has used his knowledge to help create spaces which execute both form and function desirably to the client. Kahn talks about how his greater understanding of what is needed helps him complete his task easily. Kahn talks about beauty as the great philosopher St Thomas Aquinas did. Aquinas believed that beauty consisted of four ingredients: Integrity, wholeness, symmetry, and radiance. By integrity he meant that something is complete on its own without any being dependant on anything outside it. By wholeness he means every part has a reason and cant be taken away without destroying the whole beauty of it. Symmetry referring to balance, something cant just change without a corresponding result. This was similar the constants which had appeared in Kahns work. The sense of composition, the integrity of a building reverence for material, sense of room, light as the maker of the structure and architecture of connection Kahn tried to apply these models into all of his projects. One even described him as: a philosopher among architects. This is from his every expressing philosophy on his work. Essentially Kahn saw architecture as being a spiritual form of communication. He grew a strong relation with each project by applying a strong hierarchy with order being the most important. Kahn was famous for being a critique of modernism. He found many influential architects of the time to have been misjudging the order of their designs. Kahns critue started with him rejecting a free plan; a concept which Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier had attached themselves to, along with modernism. Kahn believed that separating these two concepts of form from the structure, would mean the free plan as previously interpreted by Van de Rohe and Le Corbusier had opened up a void that could only be filled with subjective intuition. Essentially Kahns work did seem consistent with that of the broader view of architecture however, his view of modern architecture was something which was unpredictable and had no rules to follow or principles to ad ear to. He found that the international style of modern architecture at the time which was being used by many architects in America and Europe had been too concerned with the form and not the function. Kahn was concerned with the things man has been looking for since the beginning and in this he was a fundamentalist was not interested in the realization, of something which had already occurred, but in the possibility that something will occur within the walls This tells us that Kahn was more of Prophet than simply a preacher. He wanted to change the views on architecture and introduce what he believed to be the necessary condition for the presence of architecture. Miess sensitivites react to imposed structural order with little inspiration, Le Corbusier passes through order impatiently and hurries to form. Kahn talked about Mies Van der Rohe and Le Corbusier imperfection in structural order, and their rush of order leads to an imperfection in form. Kahns order derived from nature and this is reflected in his projects. In the nature of space is the spirit and the will to exist in a certain way. Design must closely follow that will. The pure order, form and geometry is why Louis Kahn still influence the world today. His work directly impacts and inspires forms of architecture today such as post modernism and neo rationalist. More than this Louis Kahn redefined modernism. He has thrilled onlookers with his vast philosophy; however his patrons only appeared in his later years. Kahn adapted architecture and had an input as to what we see when we analyse today. He showed us in his vast texts, to every detail the visions he had, and how he intended to erect these visions. Predominately we can see that he was drifting away from modernism, however, I have studied how Kahns vision set modernism into track somewhere that it wouldnt have been without his influence. It was not belief, not design, not pattern, but the essence from which an institution could emerge

Strategic Issues In Training And Development Multinational Corporations Management Essay

Strategic Issues In Training And Development Multinational Corporations Management Essay Nowadays Multinational corporations are more and more widespread, but a problem that they still don t have accomplished is how to have successful employees, and most importantly how to train their employees and make them a useful and successful resource of the their enterprises. The increase of multinational corporations has led to employees sent in a foreign country to undertake international assignment more than ever before, with estimation that the use of expatriate will continue to increase in the future (Van der Bank Rothmann, 2006). Some researchers estimated that around 30% of all expatriates sent to undertake overseas assignments return home prematurely (Kim Slocum, 2008; Mendenhall, Dunbar, Oddou, 1987). And failure rates increase further when is considered also employees who return home and leave their company within one year (McGinley, 2008). One of the major causes attributed to expatriates failure is the inability of these expatriates or their spouses to adapt themselves in the host-country s new environment and different culture (Tung, 1988). Failed adjustment of expatriates leads to high amount of economic and social costs for multinationals corporations. Expatriate failure is defined as the inability of the expatriate to perform effectively the international assignment, with the consequence of being fired or recalled to home (Tung (1982), therefore it is crucial to identify the ways to reduce and eliminate such failures. Although estimations of the costs of expatriate failure tend to vary in regards to each different country and are not based on a fixed set of criteria, they certainly cannot be neglected by multinationals (Gregersen Black, 1990). This essay aims to explore the strategic issues around training and development that are faced by Multinational corporations. What is International training and development One of the most important activities of International Human Resource Management (IHRM) is International training and development and its potential benefits are highly recognized in the literature. (Dowling and Welch, 2004; Kamoche, 1996; Mendenhall et al., 1987; Tung, 1982). Kamoche (1996) says: The human resource refers to the accumulated stock of knowledge, skills and abilities that individuals possess, which the firm has built up over time into an identifiable expertise (p. 216). In the management literature, the two words International training and management development are always related to each other. Training has the aim to increase work skills and behaviour, and development has the aim to improve abilities in regards to some future position (Dowling et al., 1999, p. 155). Dowling and Welch (2004) argue that the issue for multinationals is how to retain and leverage their employees in order to have at disposal highly trained, internationally oriented human resources to support their strategic responses and concur to their key competencies. Multinationals are increasing their usage of training to improve and assist expatriates activities. The importance of training and development in MNCs Nowadays, a successful international manager has to detain a set of specific abilities in regards to the context, such as ability to handle responsibility, cultural sensitivity, ability to develop subordinates, ability to demonstrate and to exhibit (Baumgarten, 1992). These ability are considered important international skills and characteristics which can be generated with an effective international training and development program. International training is the type of training specifically set for who has been allocated an international assignment. In Multinational corporations there are mainly three different group of international trainings. They are divided in: 1. Pre-departure training for expatriates: before an expatriate s departure for the international assignment, there will be a preparatory training course, this has the scope to ensure that the expatriate has the right capacity and knowledge to accomplish his assignment in a successful way. 2. Post-arrival training for expatriates: Once the expatriate is arrived in his destination to fulfil his international assignment, he will be provided with on-site training, in order to familiarize with the new working environment. 3. Training for host country nationals (HCNs) and third-country nationals (TCNs): This training aims to help HCNs and TCNs to understand the corporate strategy and the different culture. In the international literature the group of international training that has received more attention is Pre-departure training for expatriates, as overseas failure (i.e. the return of an expatriate employee before the completion of the assigned assignment) is most of the time caused by failure to provide adequate international training for expatriates and their spouses. In order to measure the effectiveness of employees expatriation, the expatriate failure rate is a good indicator. One of the reason MNCs have to avoid expatriation failure is certainly because their cost are really high, involving direct (salary, training, travel and relocation costs) and indirect expenditure. The average direct cost per failure to the parent company goes from US$ 55.000 to US$ 80.000, depending to the assignment s destination (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1986). Whereas indirect costs can be considerable and difficult to quantify, including the damage of the relationships with host country s government, other organizations and with customers, losing market share and company s reputation, therefore also missing future business opportunities. Some research conducted among American s multinationals has revealed a high rate of expatriate failure and therefore it remain a recurring problem (Brewster, 1988). Table 1 shows this phenomenon (Shen and Edwards, 2004). The global environment is becoming more and more complex and in continuous change, for this reason it requires flexibility. Therefore organizations have to devise strategic responses with the help of suitably trained and internationally oriented employees. Researches find that there is positive correlation between the rigor of the selection and training process and its expatriate success rate (Tung, 1981). This means that if a company use a more rigorous training program then it will significantly benefit and improve the performances of the expatriate in the overseas environment, therefore decreasing the failure rate (Mendenhall et al.,1987). Cultural training aims to enables personnel to adjust themselves in the foreign culture and then work more effectively in the new environment (Earley, 1987). Table 2 shows (in descending order of importance) some reasons of expatriate failure in US and Japanese MNCs (Tung, 1982). Table 2. SOURCE: Tung, 1982. From the table it s important to note that the more important cause of expatriate failure is not expatriates absence of adequate technical skills, but the inability of expatriates and their spouse to adapt themselves in the new overseas environment and culture. The aims of international management development is to identify, promote and use international managers, and it is expected to play a central role in MNCs because it is fundamentally needed in order to develop a cross-national corporate culture and to integrate international operations. Bartlett and Ghoshal (2000), argue that multinational corporations can construct their inter-unit linkages by creating a pool of international managers from different countries. International training and development programs Pre-departure training Most of the literature is concentrated on expatriate pre-departure training programs and their scope is to provide and develop host-country s cultural awareness to expatriates. Once expatriates have been selected by the multinational for an international assignments, pre-departure training is the next indispensable step to be taken in order to ensure the successful and effective performance of expatriates assignment in the host-country (Dowling, Engler, Festing, 2008). Pre-departure training programs to be effective have to include different components: cultural awareness training, preliminary visits, language instruction and assistance with practical, day-to-day matters (Mendenhall Oddou, 1986). Cultural awareness programs Is generally known that expatriates have to feel comfortable and adapted in the host-country in order to perform effectively their task, therefore is fundamental to provide them with a well-designed cultural awareness training program. Receiving this kind of training expatriates will understand and appreciate host-country s different culture and can behave accordingly or develop appropriate coping patterns. Without any understanding of host-country s different culture, expatriates are likely to feel disoriented and face difficult behavioural problems during their time abroad. Therefore, cultural awareness training is considered the most common and important part of pre-departure training. Cultural awareness training programs is formed by different components which may vary according to country of destination, duration of the assignment, purpose of the expatriation, and the provider of such programs (Dowling, Engler, Festing, 2008). Preliminary visits One methods for orientating the expatriates is to send them in the host-country for a short trip. If the trip overseas is well planned can provide a useful preview to expatriates and their spouse about the international assignment s destination, and allow them to assess their suitability for the new environment. This kind of trip is needed also to introduce expatriates to the new business context in the host-country and provide them with more information before their departure. Preliminary visit to the host-country can assist in the initial adjustment process when used as part of a pre-departure training program (Dowling, Engler, Festing, 2008). Even if the useful adoption of preliminary visits is well known, some European multinationals do not provide it. The 1997 European study reported what one firm admitted: We do not provide pre-assignments visits where conditions are so poor that nobody would want to go. Language training Language training is an important component of a pre-departure training program. However its importance is always put after that of cultural awareness training. It is generally worldwide accepted that English is the common language of the business world. The ORC Worldwide 2002 survey discovered that the adoption of language training for expatriates and their spouse, as part of the pre-departure training program is increased. In fact, results say that 59% of the sample firms provided language training before the departure of expatriates, and 74% provided language training once expatriates arrived on the assignment s destination. The ability to speak the foreign country s language is essential to perform better and improve negotiating ability, indeed Tung (1997) discovered from a survey of 400 expatriates that language competence is a critical part of the assignment s performance. Language skills is not important only for task performance but also for cultural adjustment. One reason for multinational not providing language training may be the difficulty and long time required to learn even a base level of a foreign language. A solution to this problem for multinationals is to hire a large language competent staff from which they can choose the potential expatriates to send abroad, but multinationals have also to keep an up-to-date information on all employees, and make frequent tests to verify if those language skills have been maintained (Marschan, Welch, 1997). Practical assistance Providing practical assistance is another component of a pre-departure training program. Practical assistance aims to help expatriates and their family to adapt themselves to the new foreign environment. Many multinationals are paying specialized assistants in order to help expatriates and their family, providing practical assistance in finding a suitable accommodation or school for their children. Trainees: Who should be trained? The support of the expatriate s family is of critical importance for any international assignment to be successfully completed. From this point of view, is clear that multinationals have to train all family members of the expatriate in order to receive a high and effective performance of the assignment. According to a survey conducted by Organizational Resource Counselors (ORC), 47% of multinationals offer training program to the entire family of the expatriate, 33% offer to their employee and spouse, and 20% offer training only to the expatriate employee. Different researchers have analysed this phenomenon and argue that the most important and common reasons for which expatriate cannot perform effectively their international assignment is the inability of their spouses to settle well and live in the host culture (Black, Gregersen, Mendenhall, 1992; Adler, 1997; Kohls, 1994). While expatriate are sustained by the workplace with familiar routines and job tasks, the situation of his or her family members is quite different. The spouse is left alone and have to face difficult challenges in a new international environment such as how to deal with relocation logistics, to establish the household, to settle the children at school, to negotiate with the local services, and to become part of a social network. Obviously the level of difficulty depends on spouses level of confidence and skills. According to findings of a research made by Bennett Associates and Price Waterhouse, most of the times all expatriates are married and the accompanying spouse is female, and they have to face the dual-career dilemma situation at the time of the international relocation. When the accompanying partner is in front of this situation, she or he may feel ambivalent about the move and worried about how to find employment once arrived abroad. So all training programs should take in consideration these issues and help the spouse in order to have a positive growth and development during the time abroad. Therefore is very important that the spouse feel that he or she is also an active part in the international assignment (Lublin, 1999). Training programs should also include young family members, supporting them to adapt in the new environment. All these programs should be tailored according to different needs of children, and they are particularly useful in case of strong difference between childrens culture and host-country ones. In most major business centers there are international schools that help expatriate community, trying to facilitate their transition from their own country s environment to the new foreign country s environment. In other cases, when is not possible to find this kind of international schools, children have to put more efforts in facing new education system, social norms, and the challenges posed by a new language. Some recent research studies and innovative multinational companies practices suggest that there are three main emerging topic that managers working in multinational corporations have to be aware: 1) In-Country, Real-Time Training; 2) Global Mindset Training; and 3) CD-ROM/Internet-Based Training. In-Country, Real-Time Training The majority of multinational corporations think that pre-departure cross-cultural training alone can already give expatriate the necessary skills and knowledge to perform well in the overseas environment. But researchers in this area have analyzed the expatriation process from different perspectives and discovered that multinationals thinking is erroneous, and argued that is important to continue the cross-cultural training program in the early stages of the international assignment (Gudykunst, Guzley, Hammer, 1996; Mendenhall, 1999). Living in a totally new environment facing different culture is a complex task and pre-departure training can provide expatriate with skills and knowledge only to survive, not to excel and overcome problematic situations where expatriates don t know what they should do, because pre-departure training methods cannot cover all the specific cross-cultural situations that expatriates encounter during the international assignment. Therefore once arrived in the foreign country is important to provide expatriates with further education and training in order to make them able to process accurately the new environment around them and to undertake wise moves. In-country training suits these specific needs. How to deliver In-Country Training In-country training can be delivered from: traditional or real-time training. The traditional training is the kind of training that brings all expatriates together, forming a group, when they are in-country, and provides them with in-depth skills and knowledge of the complexities and difficulties they have to face in the host culture, which are not covered in the pre-departure training program. In-country training and pre-departure training in its traditional format are different only for the location where the training is held and the depth of the content. One negative aspect of the traditional format is that all expatriates receive the same content.

Class Struggle and the Communist Manifesto Essay -- Karl Marx Communis

Class Struggle and the Communist Manifesto The Communist Manifesto is profoundly marked by the history of class struggle and social inequality throughout history. In fact Marx suggests that history is in essence merely a timeline of class struggle, unchanging apart from the alteration in mode of production. The document is the story of the conflict between the Proletariat and the Bourgeois, the oppressed and the oppressor, the haves and the have nots, etc? However, this is not a new idea and Marx is really not all that radical. In his Politics, Aristotle wrote, ?Those who have too much of the goods of fortune, strength, wealth, friends and the like, are neither willing nor able to submit to authority?On the other hand, the very poor, who are in the opposite extreme, are too degraded.?[i] As Marx states it in the document, modern history is the manifestation of centuries of a system that was and still is built on the delicate balance of inequities. [ii] For our purposes we will begin this timeline with the 17th century in Europe. It is a time period marked by a hierarchy of ranks and sub ranks. These positions were hereditary and binding for the duration of someone?s life bar any incredible circumstance. These ranks were also marked specifically by wealth. In this time period serfdom, a system in which peasants worked land that was owned by a wealthy member of the nobility was the standard. The very distinction of classes was what the wealthy had; what they wore, where they lived, and how they lived. The countryside was marked by sets of self-reliant villages with the noble?s manor at the center. [iii] According to Marx serfdom was a step above slavery for the people were laboring but not benefiting... ...e Communist Party. Transcribed by Allen Lutins with assistance from Jim Tarzia. Appearing at http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/treatise/communist_manifesto/mancont.htm. [iii] Sherman, Dennis, and Joyce Salisbury. The West in the World. 2nd ed. Boston, McGraw Hill Publishing, 2001. [iv] Landtman, Gunnar page 77. [v] Hoch, Stephen. Serfdom and Social Control in Russia: Petrovskoe, a Village in Tambov. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1986. [vi] Hoch, Stephen page 4. [vii] Ossowski, Stanislav. ?The Marxian Synthesis.? In The Logic of Social Hierarchies, edited by Edward O. Laumann, Paul M. Siegel, and Robert W. Hodge. Chicago: Marham Publishing Company, 1970. [viii] Sherman pages 488-515 [ix] Sherman pages 517-520 [x] Sherman pages 570-582 [xi] Engels webpage

The Effectiveness of Selection Interviews Essay -- Business Interviews

The Effectiveness of Selection Interviews Evaluate the relative effectiveness of selection interviews as an indicator of likely candidate suitability in the case of a selected business, making recommendations for improvements in procedure. D1 The interview is the final stage of the Recruitment and Selection process. Candidates can be classified as the applicants for a vacancy that they have seen advertised. The chosen business for this question is M&S. It is here at this stage, the M&S employee (who is the candidate) and the employer are generally in the meeting situation. An interview is a form of test or assessment. However, it is also clarified as a formal discussion, especially one in which an employee assess, n applicant for a job. Interviews are always conducted and arranged for all sorts of other jobs, particularly retailing jobs such as M&S.At times the employer has the process of going through letters, CVs, application forms, and examination of references, which will mean that only a few number of applicants are more unlikely to be interviewed for the job. This is because interviews take up time of senior managers who have to carry them out, and this will be also costly for the business. Apart firm this, there are however good and bad statements to be made on selection interviews. Depending on the attitudes and relationships between the interviewee and the interviewer, there can be good and bad turnouts that could effect M&S. The process of selection interviewing Almost every employer includes a face-to-face interview as part of the selection process. The initial selection interview might be delegated to a recruitment agency or a local job center, but most employers would be more reluctant to take on new employees without having met them in person. The interview, however, continues to be the most popular and frequently used method of selection, even though it is thought that research studies have found interviews to be poor predictors of future performance in a job. This is referred to as low validity. The poor validity of interviews means that they don not test what they intend to test. For example inside at M&S, it would mean the ability to do well. The reasons for this mainly lie with interviewer concerns number of interviewer errors contribute to the low validity of interviews, and awareness of th... ...le when assessing intelligence, interest in the job applied for, motivation and personality. The producers of such tests have stated that they are accurate and completely unbiased. They are supposed to be particularly good at assessment of personality. For example, they can show if a candidate would work well in a team or would be more effective working alone. The following of theses tests are of the following:  · performance tests  · knowledge tests  · aptitude tests  · intelligence tests  · personality tests Assessment centers tests Job applications are subjected to a wide range of assessments over a whole day or two. They are required to participate in group exercises, psychometric tests, aptitude tests and traditional interviews. By using a mixture of assessment this process is claimed to produce more accurate result. the applicants are given longer to prove themselves and there fore become more relaxed and more nataul.however recent development now mean that these assessment centre exercises can be videoed and then sent to a team of independent experts to be properly analysed.this insures that the candidates have their performance assessed objectively.

School Lunch

Dear Mr. I have coming to this school since 7th grade and has seen no progress at all, with the lunch. I’m sorry for saying this but this food is NASTY! It seems like its been frozen for 300 years, then cooked. Seriously, are you guys trying to kill us? Since we’re not use to this cooking, we’re not eating it as much. So try thinking of adding a couple of new foods while you read this letter. Some students at EMS has financial issues that they are dealing with at home. As a result no student would be buying school lunch. Also they may have not gotten accepted to have free lunch like I do.Another reason is the student may think the lunch the lunch look or taste disgusting. So you would expect the student to not even bother with the school lunch. Others say that the reason why they don’t eat the lunch is they’re not hungry once lunch time comes. Either it was because they ate a big breakfast or they just don’t eat as much. Now think about it wh en they eat breakfast its probably around 7:00 or 7:30. That’s 5 hours until the next meal is offered to them, if they can do that then they must be a superhero or something.Another huge problem is that the nutritional part about the food. I don’t know if you have heard about this statistic. In order to have as many chicken, beef, and pork. Chemical labs clone the meat in order for us to have as much as we do now. Basically when we are eating meats at school that is cloned. The chemicals may have all different types of unhealthy stuff in it. That makes it taste like the real thing. Now who would like to eat chemicals? Not me, because I thought chemicals were dangerous for you.Alright this topic is something I can relate to, because of being a certain amount of pounds overweight. And the way these ladies cook that pizza has death written all over it. Only because it s just so greasy, usually some of us we take a napkin and wipe the grease of the pizza. And when weâ€⠄¢re done the whole napkin is damp with grease. As a result of that is being diagnose with diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Living with a person that’s a diabetic and has high blood pressure and high cholesterol also.Cannot be fun because, you have to watch what you eat or else you will go into a diabetic coma. I’ve witnessed a person in a diabetic coma and it is scary because they just drop whatever they’re doing and fall. For the students that likes more of a variety to their meals. You could add a salad bar, fruit bar, alternate lunches, different types of the same food. So they wouldn’t have to just choose one thing and move on. Who wants to do that every single day NOBODY! Then the thing that we hate is that we have the same lunch choice almost every tow weeks in a row.Come on we are children we like to try new things not just the same old things. Another solution is that you can bring some of the kids background culture to the lun ch. But not no lasagna or Italian chicken feast because of some kids having Italian ancestors. Also to could just bring foods from around the world to just let us experience the world just by eating lunch at a middle school. At the beginning of the paragraph I was talking about adding a salad bar. Me personally I love salad to death. I mostly eat a salad with all of my meals that I eat. But sometimes it doesn’t happen.To me its just nothing but a blend of vegetables with some salad dressing. You could also serve different fruits because I know that many people eat fruit and loves it. Or you could just hand out surveys to see what we like to eat the most or the least. So it just wouldn’t be just this one big hassle, for only one choice of meal. As a result of you reading this letter. I hope you had at least a thought about making changes to the school lunch menu. If you do that, then I guarantee you that these changes will have students ‘wanting’ to go to l unch, with a smile on their faces. To EAT!

Inclusion and Diversity Essay

The professional role of the class teacher is continually changing. It has long been expected that teachers should effectively accommodate all children regardless of their needs, with strategies and practice differing within and between settings to ensure that all children learn. However, recently more specific and detailed guidance has emerged that focuses on understanding the range of children’s needs (Hanko 2003). Instead of expecting children to ‘come up to standard’ or otherwise be segregated, an emphasis is now on schools to adapt and be flexible in order to accommodate, fully integrate and include every child (Tassoni 2003). Every Child Matters (ECM) details how it is the legal responsibility of the class teacher to ensure its five outcomes ensure inclusive pratice for all pupils. Evidence of this is apparent within the Early Years Foundation stage (EYFS), where meeting and understanding the diverse needs of children is highlighted. Based on the Childcare Act (2006), the EYFS aims to provide every child with the best possible start in life and with support to fulfil their potential (DCSF 2008b). The statutory guidance states: ‘Providers have a responsibility to ensure positive attitudes to diversity and difference – not only so that every child is included and not disadvantaged, but also so that they learn from the earliest age to value diversity in others and grow up making a positive contribution to society’ (DCSF 2008:9). Having such an understanding enabled me during my placement experience, to be particularly objective and critical with regards to how well the class teacher raised attainment and met the classes’ diverse needs. During the experience particular attention was played to the teaching strategies’ and practice in place within the setting, the learning environment and how the class teacher personalised learning. For the benefit of this assignment many of these observations regarding the inclusion of diverse needs were focused on two specific children, one of whom was identified as having a Special Education Need (SEN). A child has a special educational need if he has a learning difficulty which calls for special educational provision to be made for him (Education Act 1996). This is the case for the observed child as his disability hinders him from making use of educational facilities that are generally beneficial to children of the same age (Appendix 1). Whilst the second child was learning English as an Additional Language (EAL) as he came from an Eastern European background and had recently moved to the country and school. Like the child with SEN he required additional support to ensure understanding during the school day as well as making him and his peers aware of cultural diversity and how this was valuable to society (Appendix 2). This critical review will begin by reflecting on inclusive teaching practices and strategies to meet diverse needs. As the observed class was a foundation stage class, a significant strategy seen to be effectively used was that of ‘play’ and its various multifaceted and multifunctional forms. It could be seen through observation that all barriers of communication between children were removed, as they played freely and interactively together. Both the child with EAL and the observed child with SEN had developed ways of communicating with other children in the class to ensure that they were fully included, the majority of which time was without the aid or support of the class teacher or teaching assistant. Interestingly this idea of play is deep routed in historical theory, with the observed practice relating significantly to the beliefs of Vygotsky. He emphasised how play creates a zone of proximal development, where children behave beyond their age and above their daily behaviour (Vygotsky 1978). He believed that play makes children become more confident enabling them to experiment with language and their bodies in ways that perhaps they would not have done, had they not been engaged in play. Such an understanding significantly relates to observations of both observed children (Appendix 3). Perhaps these observations are not surprising, as play has more recently been recognised as being vital to children’s all-round health and wellbeing. It provides opportunities for first-hand experiences that underpin their understanding of and engagement with the world; it facilitates social development and cultivates creativity, imagination and emotional resilience (Daily Telegraph 2007). It is therefore not surprising that it significantly underpins the Early Years framework with the EYFS highlighting its importance to all areas of development (DCSF 2008:7). Within play, the class teacher had also effectively selected and chosen toys, resources and materials that were culturally diverse in the hope that children would appreciate and accept this as the norm (Appendix 4). Such practice has been researched by theorist Lindon, who highlights the importance of children seeing themselves and their family reflected in play resources, visual images and books (Lindon 2001). She also believed that good practice included reviewing the messages given by all your resources and the experiences offered as it is part of the class teachers’ role to extend young children’s understanding beyond their own backgrounds (Lindon 2001). Practice within the setting reflected her beliefs as the class teacher gave the Eastern European child, chances to share with the class things that they did in their family. As his English was not advanced he often showed pictures and brought in things that he had received from church. Not only does such practice support the beliefs on Lindon, but it also helps the class teacher meet inclusion guidelines from the National Inclusion statement which highlights the importance of teachers being aware of the different experiences, interests and strengths pupils bring with them to school and how they should plan their approaches to teaching and learning so that pupils can take part in lessons fully and effectively (DfE 2008). As the observed child was being encouraged to share his experiences one is able to see how this guidance is being achieved. This leads one to explore other strategies that encourage diversity. In particular a model of best practice put in place a different approach to teaching children from diverse backgrounds due to the particularly high numbers of children learning EAL (Appendix 5). In this setting, professionals encouraged cultural diversity by allowing, when necessary, children to use their home languages. Support for this belief has been seen within the Plowden Report which also embraces the child centred philosophy (Bourne 2001). Similarly research by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO 1953) supports this view, reporting that the home language is the best medium for instruction and for literacy development and should be used for as long as feasible. An explanation for this would be that because the home language facilitates subject learning and literacy development it is the means through which ‘a child absorbs the cultural environment’ (UNESCO 1953:47). It is through using this language that the school believed its children were going to learn most, as they have a greater understanding of what they are being taught. However, the placement setting chose to meet children’s diverse needs differently. Instead they did not separate the child with EAL but instead often supported him by differentiation, much of which involved informal methods of recording and learning. Particular provision which supported his Eastern European culture was a whole class ‘Ourselves’ topic that was covered for a whole term. During this time he was encouraged to bring in objects or photographs of things from his culture to share with his peers (Appendix 6). Legislation which supports this practice can be found within the Every Child Matters framework, which recognises the importance of preparing all children to live in a diverse, multi-ethnic society (DfES 2004). One could argue that the observed setting achieves this by recognising every child’s differences and their individual contributions to the class. Similar support also emerges for within the National Curriculum framework, which also highlights the importance of responding to pupils’ diverse needs, in particular the document details how teachers need to be aware of the different experiences, interests and strengths pupils bring from their range of diverse backgrounds (DfEE 1999). Having observed the very differing practice in two settings, one is able to make a judgement as to which appears to be most effectively catering for the diverse needs of its pupils. One would be inclined to argue that teaching children from an Eastern European background in their home language, isolates them and does not create an inclusive environment, and instead draws attention to their differences. It could also be argued that their social development is likely to suffer, as interaction with peers is likely to be limited to those who were able to speak their home language. As a trainee teacher one would be inclined to believe that the most effective way would be to recognise pupils differences and value their contributions, whether that be through discussion and by recognising difference, through demonstrations and visitor or the showing of differences and traditions. It could therefore be concluded that the provision within the placement setting effectively achieved this. Having explored and evaluated the effectiveness of a variety of inclusive teaching strategies, one becomes interested in analysing other ways that the class teacher is able to meet pupil’s diverse needs. This leads one to explore how the learning environment can be used to enhance such practice. In becoming familiar with the Early Years statutory framework it becomes apparent that the learning environment plays an important role, and as a result has been made one its main principles, known as ‘Enabling Environments’. The government document highlights how ‘The environment plays a key role in supporting and extending children’s development and learning’ (DCSF 2008). To put it simply the document encourages class teachers to use the learning environment to meet the diverse needs of all children. At the placement setting the arrangement of the physical environment was particularly important, especially for the focus child with SEN whose physical impairments needed catering for. Had the classroom not been arranged effectively, his level of involvement and interaction with adults and children would have been affected (NAEYC 1991:43). During my time at the setting I observed numerous adaptions to the environment to suit his individual needs, these adaptions included the use of a chair for him during whole class sessions, large spaces between tables so he could walk around the classroom with ease and as the he was smaller than the majority of children in the class all equipment and resources were checked at the start of the term to ensure that they were accessible to him (Appendix 7). Such adaptions as those described warrant support from researchers Salisbury & Smith (1993) who encourage spatial accommodations that make it possible for children with special educational needs to participate in the classroom (Salisbury & Smith 1993). Similar support can also be found within the SEN code of practice, which describes how schools may need to use specialist equipment, approaches and adapted activities for some children to ensure that they are fully included (DfES 2001). As well as these adaptions made for the child with SEN, similar adaptions were put in place to include and meet the diverse needs of the Eastern European child who could speak very little English. Perhaps the most noticeable of these was the classroom’s printed resources which reflected the Polish language spoken by the focus child as well as the English language and a picture that could be universally understood by all. Such practice not only satisfies recommendations within the SEN code of practice, in similar ways to adaptions made for the focus child with cerebral palsy, but it also meets guidance set out within the more recent document Removing Barriers to Achievement: The government’s strategy for SEN (2004). It details how teachers must make provision that enables individuals to participate effectively in the curriculum and assessment activities (DfE 2004). One could argue that the described practice reflects this as the hild is being encouraged to learn by being given the same opportunities as the rest of the class as oppose to being disadvantaged by his inability to understand labels and displays around the room. Having said this, models of best practice take this inclusion one step further and highlight areas where the observed setting could be more thorough and significantly improve their practice. Provision in place at these settings included extensive bilingual websites, parent classes and translated letters (Appendix 8). Such practice finds support from researcher Cummings (1991) who believes extensive adaptions and changes to a learning environment are necessary if settings are to be inclusive. Having said this, it could be argued that the smaller adaptions that the placement setting had made, were also going some way to meeting his beliefs, despite them not being to the extent of the models of best practice. To further strengthen this argument is the practicality of implementing adaptions such as translated letters and bilingual websites as they require bilingual skills, time and money that many schools do not have access to. As a result one would be inclined to believe the observed placement settings attempts to be diverse and inclusive met current legislation sufficiently without placing unnecessary pressures on the class teacher’s role. As well as the physical learning environment being important when supporting children with diverse needs so is the emotional learning environment, which involves ensuring that children enjoy and want to achieve at school. Such beliefs are reflected within the Every Child Matters document, with one of its desired outcomes, being that of ‘enjoy and achieve’ (HMSO 2004). In order that children are motivated to learn it is important that the work is set at a level that is suitable for them, that it is achievable, but also a challenge. According to NASP, Children are naturally curious; they want to explore and discover. If their explorations bring pleasure or success, they will want to learn more (NASP 2003). To relate this to attainment, if children experience success and achievement in their work they want to take this further and are motivated to learn. This is where the use of differentiation is particularly effective, as work can be set at more achievable levels so that all children are able to experience success (Appendix 9). The importance of this has been highlighted by government, claiming that differentiation ‘helps the school to meet the learning needs of all pupils’ (DFE 1994). This has also been reinforced within the National Curriculum and within the EYFS which both indicate that meeting the individual needs of all children is central to their beliefs (DCSF 2008; DfEE 1999). Similarly the study of differentiation by Westwood (1997) recognises its benefits particularly when catering for those who have a barrier to learning. During my placement experience it was evident that both the child with EAL and the child with SEN were having their needs met using differentiation on a daily basis (Appendix 10). Despite seeing both focus children react positively to the differentiation in place, on a couple of occasions; comments were made towards them about their work being easier. Such observations support the belief that when differentiation is not done effectively, it can create segregation within the classroom (Hart 1992). By meeting one set of National Curriculum and Early Years inclusion guidelines, obstacles may be put in place, preventing the reaching of others. For example in meeting the diverse needs of all through obvious differentiation they may actually point out the differences between children and make certain children feel excluded (DCSF 2008; DfEE 1999). As a trainee teacher, one could attempt to build on the observations made, taking the positive strategies that were seen, such as the different methods of recording pupils work and build on this so that the more negative aspects could be minimised. In particular segregation and exclusion could be reduced by changing the differentiated groups regularly, according to pupil progress and between subjects. This would potentially make it more difficult for children to understand that they are grouped and being given work according to ability. This leads one to analyse how assessment can be used to help class teachers cater for children’s diverse needs. As the range of needs within a class is evident, even from just focusing on two pupils with additional needs, the importance of individual assessment is obvious if these individual needs are going to be catered for. This importance has been recognised within the Primary National Strategy which details how assessment for learning is the process of seeking and interpreting evidence for use by teachers to decide where the learners are in their learning, where they need to go and how best to get there (DfES 2004a: 13). The placement setting managed to achieve this through observation, which appeared to be particularly successful for the children with SEN and with EAL, as they had difficulty with communicating their ideas and responses (Appendix 11). This use of observation for assessment is support by theorist†¦ who believes that†¦. Using this theory and the observed practice during placement, as a trainee one would want to implement similar practice so that all children’s needs are catered for and this is not just limited to those that have the ability to communicate their ideas. When focusing on the personalisation of learning, the focus child with cerebral palsy had a number of additional measures in place for him that ensured his inclusion in the mainstream classroom. Unlike all children with SEN, his disability meant that he had been given a statement of Special Educational Needs and as a result he benefitted from a one-to-one teaching assistant for a number of hours a week. Not only does this form of support cater for his specific needs but it also put him at the centre of this learning. An idea initially detailed within the Plowden Report (1967). The report put forward ideas originally investigated by Piaget, recommending child-centred education and discovery learning to be used to integrate children following Piaget’s belief that all children learn at different rates and was in favour of waiting until they were ready to move onto a further stage or schema (Piaget 1965). One would therefore argue that it is from research such as this; that the quality of teaching and learning has improved for many children they are now encouraged to develop at their own rate and pace. Having said this, the argument is not one sided, with some researchers believing that Piaget’s theory of school readiness was impractical in practice. For example in a class with thirty children, is it realistic for the teacher, to know the exact state of readiness for every child, and to set individual work? On a practical level, this is not possible; suggesting Piaget’s theory is unrealistic. It is not feasible for the child with SEN to always have work set at his own individual level; however during the few hours that he is given one-to-one support more challenging work and activities that he would not be capable of tackling alone are addressed, Physical Education being one of these areas (Appendix 12). Such practice meets recommendation within the Strategy for Special Educational Needs (2004) which details that successful inclusion is determined by the quality of their experience; how they are helped to learn, achieve, and participate fully in the life of the school (DfE 2004:25). One could argue the way that the extra support is used within the setting improves the quality of children’s experiences. Support within literature comes from Vygotsky (1978) believing adults not only support children but also encourage progression through ‘scaffolding’. In his view it is not only important to focus on what children can do unaided and within their capacity but also what they can do with adult support (Gindis 1998). Development is dependent on learning and through learning they develop. Learning should be matched to the child’s level of development but should also take them beyond it’ (Duffy 1998:92). Though formal and informal observations completed by the one-to-one assistant and the class teacher, they are able to see what the child is capable of without support and then build on this during his one-to-one time. This personalisation of learning for the child with SEN is also met through his Individual Education Plan (IEP) which is used to support his individual learning needs (Appendix 13). Support for such practice was not only seen from the parents of the focus child and the class teacher (Appendix 13) but can also be seen within government legislation, both within the Education Act (1996) and the SEN Code of Practice (2001), which highlight the importance of identification and assessment of pupils with special educational needs (DfES 2001). Putting in place an IEP is one way of achieving recommendations within the SEN Code of Practice which details how schools should match provision to children’s SEN in response of their individual needs (DfES 2001). The implementation of his IEP demonstrates inclusion as the class teacher uses his targets to direct his learning and set him goals to achieve, in a similar way that his peers are achieving their early learning goals. Despite the placement setting appearing to use IEPs successfully some research exists to dispute them, particularly regarding their involvement of parents. According to Rock (2000) in some cases parents feel that educational programs have already been determined before they are involved in their child’s IEP meetings and therefore they may not agree with the progress and the direction of the development being encouraged. Such a claim, disputes initial reasoning for such practice being put in place as legislation emphasised integrated practice with parents so that they had an opportunity to plan the most appropriate program for their children alongside the professionals (Friend 2005; Goldstein & Turnbull 1982; Martin et al 2004). However if this research is to be used to form an argument against the success of IEPs, its validity most be investigated. One could argue that Rock (2000) appears to be bias as she is an SEN teacher whom appears to have lost faith in the education system. She appears to be putting into question the effectiveness of the IEP program because of individual cases that were not successful, rather than judging each case individually. In addition to this her research appears to be based on only a very small number of cases, leaving one to question whether her research is to generalising and judgemental. Having taken both of these points into consideration research one would be inclined to dismiss this research on the grounds that it is not valid enough to create an argument against IEPs. Instead one would be better to judge the success of IEPs based on the practice seen on placement. Having gained an understanding of how parents can support class teachers in meeting the diverse needs of children, attention is turned to other outside support that my also aid teachers in providing effective provision. In particular is the support available to cater for the diverse needs of pupils, like the focus child with EAL. The Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG) is a government scheme ran via the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCFS) allocated on a need based formula to all Local Authorities (NALDIC 2010) (Appendix 13). Support of this kind was investigated during the placement however it was made clear because they did not have high numbers of children learning EAL that they were unable to access this support. One could argue that no matter how many children the school have to cater for that have EAL, they still need provision to meet children’s diverse needs and for this reason they should all have access to this government support. Research conducted by Sure Start supports this, as they believe, there is a lack of access to expert support for developing good practice in equal opportunities and cultural awareness (Sure Start 2004). In the case of the EMAG expertise is available however for work to be carried out more widely additional funding needs to be allocated (Sure Start 2004). Using Lincolnshire as an example, research from Sure Start shows how only a small number of settings have had access to this grant, meaning those benefiting from Government support is very limited. However one could assume that if settings are lucky enough to have access to this type of support, it would enable class teachers to provide even better provision than that seen during the placement experience. Having analysed research, legislation, literature and my placement experience throughout this assignment, one begins to conclude what provision most successfully allows class teachers to inclusively meet the diverse needs of pupils. Play is a particularly valuable strategy which can effectively cater for a diverse range of needs. Resources, toys and book can also be incorporate into play to encourage children’s acceptance of diversity. The physical and emotional learning environment also plays a vital role, as it motivates learners and helps removes barriers to children’s learning. The learning environment was analysed in depth when focusing on the needs of two children within the placement setting. Provision showed how the class teacher met the needs of the child with a physical impairment by arranging resources at a lower level, by giving him a chair to sit on as oppose to the carpet and create more free space around the room for his of access. Similarly classroom displays and labels reflected the home language of an Eastern European child so that he had equal opportunities to understand and access these resources as his peers. Other suggested strategies as seen in models of best practice included bilingual websites, parent classes and translated letters so families of EAL children can actively support the setting in meeting children’s diverse needs. Other strategies that class teachers may use to personalise leaning include differentiation, one-to-one teaching and IEPs, however all of these have faced an element of dispute, whether that be on the grounds that they are based on traditional theories or that modern researchers have proven more updated theories.