Attitude and Behaviour

It would seem reasonable to argue the existence of a link between attitude and behaviour and to further assume that it is those same attitudes that determine that behaviour. However, there are many variables to consider which may affect the strength of such a link. It is important to distinguish between the influence of different types of attitude (reference), the first type being attitudes towards general entities and the second being attitudes towards more specific ones. This essay will look at how attitudes can be a poor predictor of behaviour on a broad perspective but become effective predictors when looked at in a narrower and more specific way. However, the additional impact of a wide array of other variables undermines the accuracy of the link between attitudes and behaviour and complicates the drawing of clear conclusions. ‘Attitude’ is defined by Eagly and Chaiken in their book The Psychology of Attitudes as ‘a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favour or disfavour’. reference) In other words, an ‘attitude’ is a judgement or evaluation made about any ‘entity’ which can be assessed along a measurement of favourability. As well as a person’s attitudes differing in positivity, (i. e. some attitudes possessed can be positive, neutral or negative), they also can differ in strength, (i. e. one may feel more strongly about a certain topic than another), and therefore consider it a more important topic. In brief, ‘behaviour’ is the actions of an individual which can be objectively measured. Some may argue that attitudes are a weak predictor of behaviour. In 1969, Wicker, after reviewing studies such as that of Richard LaPiere, concluded that attitudes and behaviour are only slightly, if at all, related. LaPiere, in the 1930s, seemed to suggest very little correlation between attitude and behaviour. LaPiere travelled around America with an Asian couple at a time where anti-Asian prejudice was prevalent. Although concerned that the couple would be refused from many of the hotels along the way, he found that only one out of the 250 hotels did so. After his travels, LaPiere sent a letter to each of the hotels asking whether they would allow Chinese guests. Of all his replies, only one declared they would serve a Chinese guest. This study, and others like it at the time, seemed to suggest very few links between attitude and behaviour. However, there are a number of problems with this study, such as the fact that there is no guarantee that the person who answered the letter is the same person who let the Chinese couple stay. The question in the letter as to whether they would let a Chinese couple in is also too broad a statement as it does not specify if they are a ‘well-dressed Chinese couple accompanied by an American college professor’ (ref). The limits of the success of attitude predicting behaviour can also be seen by the fact that similar attitudes held by different people can lead to different behaviour from those individuals. Indeed, Thurstone wrote; ‘It is quite conceivable that two men may have the same degree or intensity of effect favourable towards a psychological object and that their attitudes would be described in this sense as identical but†¦ that their overt actions would take quite different forms’. ref print out) In other words, one cannot predict an individual’s actions according to his/her attitudes as two different people with the same attitude towards something may act according to that attitude in completely different ways. There are also many other factors which will determine how effective attitude is in predicting behaviour. One such factor is the strength of the attitude which one holds. The stronger one’s attitude, the more likely it is to predict behaviour. This is because if a person holds a very strong positive attitude towards something, they are likely to act positively towards it. However if that person holds another, weaker, attitude towards something, thereby valueing it of less importance, they will be less likely to act according to that attitude. Furthermore, an attitude based on direct experience rather than second hand information will be more effective in predicting behaviour. This was demonstrated in a study by Fazio and Zanna, 1981, whereby participants were asked to solve several puzzles. One the one hand, in the second hand condition, some participants were shown how to solve the puzzles, and on the other, in the direct experience condition, some participants were allowed to work on the puzzles beforehand. Attidude being measured as intrest shown, and behaviour being measured as the order and proportion of the puzzles solved, the test showed a correlation between attitude and behaviour of between . 51 and . 54 in the direct experience condition while only between . 22 and . 20 in the indirect experience condition. (ref printout). It can therefore be seen that attitudes can predict behaviour under some cercumstances, such as those layed out by Fishbein and Ajzen. The extent to which attitude can predict behaviour is also circumstantial to factors such as how one persives the importance of that attitude and what that attitude is based upon. Behaviour is also affected by other factors which may be opposing to the attitude held by an individual. Subjective norms and perceived behaviour controle also influence behaviour. Therefore, when looking at all three together, predicting behaviour may be effective, however, when looking at attitude by itself such predictions may be weak.

The Invalid’s Story Notes

The Invalid's Story by Mark Twain a. k. a. Samuel Clemens (1835-1910) * Seems sixty and married * Really a 41 year old bachelor * two years ago he was â€Å"a man of iron, a very athlete† * Lost his health by helping take care of a box of guns on a two-hundred-mile journey by railway one night in winter * belongs in Cleveland, Ohio reached home after dark, in a snow-storm, and heard that his dearest boyhood friend and schoolmate, John B. Hackett, had died the day before * last utterance was a desire that I would take his body to his father and mother in Wisconsin * card marked â€Å"Deacon Levi Hackett, Bethlehem, Wisconsin† * long white-pine box fastened the card to it with tacks then put it aboard the express car then ran to the eating-room for a sandwich and some cigars * He came back and there was â€Å"a young fellow examining around it, with a card in his hands, and some tacks and a hammer† * a mistake was made and it turns out he was carrying off a box of guns which that young fellow had come to ship to a rifle company in Peoria, Illinois, and the young man had got John B. Hackett’s dead body * sat on a bale of buckets expressman – plain man of fifty, with a simple, honest, good-natured face, and a breezy, practical heartiness in his general style * package of peculiarly mature and capable Limburger cheese on one end of my coffin-box (box of guns) * at the time he had never heard of the cheese in my life and thus was ignorant of its character * â€Å"slammed his sliding doors to, and bolted them, closed his window down tight, and then went bustling around, here and there and yonder, setting things to rights, and all the time contentedly humming â€Å"Sweet By and By,† in a low tone, and flatting a good deal† * began to detect an odor on the frozen air every minute the odor thickened more and became more gamey and hard to stand * the expressman got some wood and made fire in his stove. * Thompson (the expre ssman) * felt himself growing pale and qualmish but said nothing. * â€Å"Pfew! I reckon it ain't no cinnamon ‘t I've loaded up thish-yer stove with! † * â€Å"Sometimes it's uncertain whether they're really gone or not,–seem gone, you know–body warm, joints limber–and so, although you think they're gone, you don't really know. I've had cases in my car. It's perfectly awful, becuz you don't know what minute they'll rise up and look at you! Then, after a pause, and slightly lifting his elbow toward the box, — â€Å"But he ain't in no trance! No, sir, I go bail for him! † * â€Å"Well-a-well, we've all got to go, they ain't no getting around it. Man that is born of woman is of few days and far between, as Scriptur' says. Yes, you look at it any way you want to, it's awful solemn and cur'us: they ain't nobody can get around it; all's got to go–just everybody, as you may say. One day you're hearty and strong and next day he's cut down like the grass, and the places which knowed him then knows him no more forever, as Scriptur' says.Yes'ndeedy, it's awful solemn and cur'us; but we've all got to go, one time or another; they ain't no getting around it. † * Had been dead 2 or 3 days * â€Å"Two or three years, you mean. † * They were heliotrope to him * Narrator suggested cigars * Thompson referred to the corpse by various titles, military ones, civil ones and as the stench grew, Thompson would give him a bigger title * Thompson said they should move the corpse about ten feet away * â€Å"we took in a good fresh breath at the broken pane, calculating to hold it till we got through; then we went there and bent over that deadly cheese and took a grip on the box.Thompson nodded â€Å"All ready,† and then we threw ourselves forward with all our might; but Thompson slipped, and slumped down with his nose on the cheese, and his breath got loose. He gagged and gasped, and floundered up and made a b reak for the door, pawing the air and saying hoarsely, â€Å"Don't hender me! –gimme the road! I'm a-dying; gimme the road! † Out on the cold platform I sat down and held his head a while, and he revived. * we hadn't budged the dead body * Thompson got carboy of carbolic acid from a station he drenched everything with it, rifle-box, cheese and all * the two perfumes began to mix and they had to leave the car * waltzed back and forth, freezing, and thawing, and stifling by turns * about an hour and they stopped at another station and Thompson came in with a bag * â€Å"He had brought a lot of chicken feathers, and dried apples, and leaf tobacco, and rags, and old shoes, and sulphur, and asafoetida, and one thing or another; and he, piled them on a breadth of sheet iron in the middle of the floor, and set fire to them. * the original smell stood up out of it just as sublime as ever * other smells just gave it a better hold * Thompson got suffocated and fell and before t he Narrator dragged Thompson out by the collar the Narrator was near gone * â€Å"Typhoid fever is what's going to come of this. † taken from the platform an hour later at the next station * Narrator went into a virulent fever, and knew nothing again for three weeks * He found out that he had spent that awful night with a box of rifles and cheese * the news was too late to save him because â€Å"imagination had done its work, and his health was permanently shattered† * Bermuda or any other land could bring his health back * His last trip because he is on his way home to die.

Budgets in higher education Essay

In higher education institutions, best budgeting practices involves the use of proper and excellent coordination of master plan which establishes all the priorities which have to be undertaken in the institution. This ensures that all the higher education institutions attend to their respective economic and educational goals. The institutions need to have in place excellent and sufficient infrastructure. In depth periodic facilities audits should be done so as to ensure that the facilities are well and adequate. There should be creation of baseline data for the institution so as to enhance planning procedure. The institutions’ operation budget should have an allocation of repair and renewal. All the needs of the institution should be allocated with the funds available. There is use of rational decision making process which enhances the effective means of budgeting (Caruthers & Orwig, 1979). Question two A grand university must always have good connections with the outside world through a well thought out and effective public relations policy. These much regarded connections go along way, albeit directly and indirectly, in building and maintaining the university’s image as well as being a resource in terms of being an avenue where funds and grants can be applied for. Many are instances when a university requires finances, out of its budget allocations, to carry out research studies, seminars, fairs, cultural activities and many other intermittent activities. With these three avenues serving the same purpose, there is a possibility that in their course of operations, they might approach a similar source, knowingly or unknowingly, and end up putting the image of the university at stake. The following are alternatives can be useful in harmonizing their activities (Knapp & Siegel, 2009). Firstly, the three bodies can be streamlined such that their activities are well synchronized and effective without necessarily clashing. For example, the finance operation could be liaising with the university’s accounting department to source for funds and oversee their use. The alumni organization can be only handling the monies from the alma mater as well as working with them closely with the objective of raising money courtesy of them. While the foundation offices could be dealing with the corporate world with a view of seeking funds from them. Secondly, all the three bodies can be revamped and made into a single entity and even given a new name. With such an action, all the activities that are currently being carried out by the three bodies can be combined. This will eradicate the possibility of a clash of their mandates given the fact that they will all be under a single supervision. References Caruthers, J. K. & Orwig, M. D. (1979). Budgeting in higher education. American Association for Higher Education Knapp, J. & Siegel, D. J. (2009). The Business of Higher Education: Management of Fiscal Strategies. New York: ABC-CLIO

The Sierra Leone Civil War (Methods used by the RUF whether effective Research Paper

The Sierra Leone Civil War (Methods used by the RUF whether effective or not) - Research Paper Example In presenting this paper, I intend to analyze the effectiveness of the methods used by the RUF in terrorising young children and other refugees in becoming forced fighters as well as their sheer ruthlessness in destroying civilian dwellings by theft, loot, and murder. In doing so, I have considered to present some important events of the war: the beginning of the war and the formation/evolution of RUF, the resistance faced by the RUF, techniques implemented by the RUF, effects of the war and the RUF brutalities, and the eventual end of the war along with the RUF. The paper ends with a conclusion regarding the effectiveness of the RUF in their approach and the effects that it generated throughout the life and times of the people of the fated country – Sierra Leone. Tarawalie 2 BEGINNING OF THE WAR: THE FORMATION OF RUF AND ITS AGENDA On 23rd March, 1991, Sierra Leone was engulfed in a civil war that was to last for more than a decade. The inception of the war was triggered by t he rebel army named Revolutionary United Front which was led by Foday Sankoh – a former corporal of the Sierra Leone army who later became a pro-Gaddafi insurgent. On returning back from Libya after receiving specialised training, he initiated an insurgency movement which later culminated into a civil war. His actions were supported by Charles Taylor- the then Liberian president â€Å"who (Charles Taylor) was the principal beneficiary from this criminal business† (Gberie 184). Although the RUF theme was aimed solely to set up a multi-party democracy by overthrowing the Momoh regime, they completed failed to define a future political agenda. What seemed to be the bottom-line were the massive diamond resources that were to come under their disposal once the current regime was powerless. These economic perks along with the ineffectual retaliation from the government forces and the subsequent defection by many civilians and soldiers led the country to a grotesque civil war . Although the RUF would later face some resistance from the Sierra Leone army, negligence and incompetence would allow them to later push back across the country and maintain their strongholds on many economically and geographically important areas like the mines of Moyamba and Bonthe districts and the country’s capital- Freetown. For most of Sierra Leone’s youth, there were only limited options left- either to remain where they were and get themselves obliterated by the rebels or to flee to the neighbouring Liberia. Ironically, this was to led them into war rather than distance them from the conflict. What the world was going to witness was the grotesque killings of refugees and forced inclusion of children into the military either by force or by the fake promises of food, water and medical care. Tarawalie 3 RESISTANCE FACED BY THE RUF The RUF in the course of its aggressive journey encountered many resistances which it either quelled or dealt with tactical approach. "Despite their brutality the RUF retained coherence as a military force and their links to neighbouring Liberia ensured that they could maintain themselves with equipment and provisions" (Dorman 38). Nevertheless, most of the initial resistances were either not consistent or were quite incompetent in their fight

BRAND LOYALTY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

BRAND LOYALTY - Essay Example lty has five advantages; 1-profit, 2-reduction of new customer aquistion costs, 3-word of mouth helps marketing, 4-customer willingness to pay higher prices, and 5-higher Brand Loyalty results in higher market shares. The importance of Brand Loyalty are the same as the advantages. Brand Loyalty reduces price sensitivity for the consumer. If a consumer trusts a Brand, they are willing to pay more for a product. Loyal consumers will also recommend Brands to other people saving marketing costs. Brand Loyalty increases profits, while providing competitive advantages toward successful brands. Brand Loyalty inspires trust in consumers, raises market shares, and increases profits for the company marketing the Brand. Brand Loyalty does not have a set measureablity. A few vairables to measure Brand Loyalty are brand preference and attitude toward the brand. Different Brand manufacturers use different measurements. The measurement of Brand Loyalty is important because managers must cope with the disloyalty among customers and predict Brand Loyalty. There are six strategic Branding decisions corporations must make; 1-Brand context, 2-Brand construction, 3-Brand confirmation, 4-Brand consistency, 5-Brand continuity, and 6-Brand conditioning. After establishing these six strategic Branding decisions, Long Term strategic advantages for building Brand Loyalty are 1-improvement on return of all investment made in the brand, 2-maximising Brand growth potential, and 3-protecting the brand against consumer â€Å"disloyalty† triggers. There are four â€Å"disloyalty† triggers; 1-peer recommendations to try different Brands, 2-new products, 3- perceived shift in price-value relationship of the Brand/competitive Brand, 4-strong competition advertising. Long term strategic disadvantages include a lack of understanding of what the Brand stands for, inadequate funding/research, and private label threats. Short Term Branding challenges are 1-senior managements short-term focus

The Propaganda of Commodities Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The Propaganda of Commodities - Assignment Example The modern manufacturing processes for mass production of commodities and the necessity to create ever-increasing demands need to function tandem. The article throws light on the necessity to create a solid demand for the avalanche of new products that engulf the market and prepare the mind of the consumer to accept them, whether his requirement for such goods is genuine or not. As a consumer, I take this article as a warning to keep check on my expenditure. I have seen many advertisements that appeal to my emotions and a want is created, which is not there before the contents of the advertisements begin to cast influence. Lasch provides the specific warning to the gullible consumer and he writes, â€Å"The American economy having reached the point where its technology was capable of satisfying basic material needs, now relied on the creation of new consumer demands—on convincing people to buy goods for which they are unaware of any need until the â€Å"need† is forcibly brought to their attention by the mass media.†(431) So I make it a point to ask a question to myself whenever I visit the super markets, whether I need this product? Whether it will contribute to the happiness and welfare of my family? The famous author Bernard Shaw is asked once, why he visits the market regularly but never buys anything. He replies that his purpose is to verify how many new products have arrived that he doesn’t

Postpartum Haemorrhage, Hypovolaemic Shock, Post-Traumatic Stress Essay

Postpartum Haemorrhage, Hypovolaemic Shock, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Essay Example This essay will also explore the effects of postpartum haemorrhage in relationship to the case study of Mrs. H, focusing on the physical range of interventions that were undertaken to prevent fatal consequences by using oxytocic drugs and fluid replacement as per trust guidelines; care given by the Midwife and also the psychosocial care that is needed to prevent women from suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Mrs H was found to have ruptured her uterus affecting the involution of the uterus and therefore causing the haemorrhage. A postpartum haemorrhage is traditionally defined as bleeding from the genital tract of five hundred millilitres or more following delivery (Hofmeyr, 2001). This can result in death from hypovolemic shock. Sometimes these effects occur long after the event of the haemorrhage, which can cause women to experience psychological impact from effects such as post-traumatic stress disorder. This essay focuses on two effects that can come as a result of pos tpartum haemorrhage: hypovolemic shock and post-traumatic stress disorder. The basic definition of haemorrhage is the abnormal loss of blood (Varney, Kriebs, & Gegor 2004, p. 925). Intrapartum haemorrhage (IPH, occurring during delivery) and bleeding that is considered primary postpartum haemorrhage (PPH, occurring immediately after delivery) is the experience of excessive blood loss during the course of delivery or within the 24 hour period after labour and for which the source of the blood is the genital tract (Crafter 2011, p. 149). Women in labour suffer from substantial fluid loss; so they need to be kept well hydrated to ensure enough circulating volumes to enable them to cope with any excessive blood loss (Hofmeyr and Mohlala 2001, p. 646). After childbirth there is the risk of haemorrhage that can come from a variety of locations. Immediate haemorrhage is more commonly associated with mortality and can come from different factors surrounding the birth. In as much as 90% of t he cases of immediate post-birth haemorrhage the cause is uterine atony which has a number of causes, including incomplete delivery of the placenta. When there are cotyledons, or retained placental fragments, there is both the risk of immediate haemorrhage and of delayed haemorrhage (Varney, Kriebs, & Gegor 2004, p. 925). The amount of bleeding can be any amount that compromises the health of the mother but is generally considered to be 500mls or more. In healthy pregnancy, women have a plasma volume increase of at least 1250mls and the red cell mass also increases, as a result women are able to tolerate up to a litre of blood loss with no adverse effects (Hofmeyr, 2001) In cases of women who suffer from severe anaemia, they may be unable to tolerate blood loss that healthy women can (Crafter, 2011). The speed of the blood flow through the intervillous space can be estimated to be about 600ml per minute (Hofmeyr et al, 2008). There are 4 most common known causes of PPH; traditionall y known as the 4T: tone, trauma, tissue, and thrombin (Mukherjee and Arulkukarin 2009, p. 4). Tone refers to poor contraction of the uterus, which is also called uterine atony. The tearing of tissue and vessels known as trauma is the cause that is seen in the case of Mrs. H. The contributing factors to her ending up with a PPH were instrumental delivery, episiotomy, uterine rupture as well as genital tract lacerations. Tissue refers to when the placenta or membranes are not totally

The Farm Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Farm - Essay Example Corn farming may seem to be an uncomplicated endeavor but this work entails a lot of hard work and sacrifices and it poses a variety of influences to the life of a society as a whole. This chapter gives a narrative account about a farm in Iowa specifically in a place named Greene County (Pollan, 2006). This farm is situated in a part described as having some of the richest soil in the world, a layer of cakey alluvial loam nearly two feet thick (Pollan, 2006, p. 33). The narrator in the story is driving the tractor of one of the farmers mentioned who is named George Naylor (Pollan, 2006). The principal crop that is being planted by Naylor is corn (Pollan, 2006). It is described how corn is planted by farmers throughout the years and the different government policies and innovations with regards to farming are also given consideration in this chapter. The chapter is worth reading for a variety of reasons. First, it is very informative for the reason that it tells the life of a farmer, which does not only focus on the typical life of a farmer wherein he plants and reaps his harvest. Conversely, the life of the farmer, Naylor is rooted with a variety of events that contributed to the manner how he manages his farm (Pollan, 2006). Second, it stirs up the interest of readers towards farming which for others may just be plain and simple but it portrays that there is more to farming than just planting and harvesting. Farming is highlighted to be in the bloodstream of Naylor because his father too was a farmer (Pollan, 2006). Corn farming is full of intricacies for the reason that a farmer must choose the right breed to plant in his soil and find means to increase his harvest such as choosing the right pesticide to drive pests away which could be detrimental to his crops, choose the right fertilizer that will make his crops stouter and the strategy to

Meditation for chronic pain backed by nursing research Paper

Meditation for chronic pain backed by nursing - Research Paper Example In this regard, the current discourse aims to determine what nursing research says about using meditation to manage chronic pain; and, according to the role of nursing, one seeks to determine if this modality is effective in treating chronic pain. Nursing Research on Meditation to Manage Chronic Pain The research article written by Chiesa and Serretti (2011) and entitled â€Å"Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review of the Evidence† proffered pertinent issues relative to using mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) techniques to alleviate chronic pain. As disclosed, â€Å"MBSR is a standardized group-based meditation program conceived in the late 1970s from the effort to integrate Buddhist mindfulness meditation with contemporary Western clinical and psychological practice† (Chiesa & Serretti, 2011, p. 83). The authors initially described techniques commonly applied in MBSR that focuses on body scan, sitting meditation, and yoga (Chiesa & Serretti, 2011). The findings revealed inconclusive evidence regarding the effectiveness of using MBIs as an intervention for chronic pain and to allegedly reduce related depression that ensues from the pain experience. In another study written by Morone, Lynch, Greco, Tindle, and Weiner (2008), the authors sought the participation of 27 older adults reportedly complaining of low back chronic pain. Through the use of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), in conjunction with diverse methods that aim to reduce pain, such as â€Å"distraction, increased body awareness leading to behavior change, better pain coping, and direct pain reduction through meditation† (Morone, Lynch, Greco, Tindle, & Weiner, 2008, p. 841), participants have noted in their respective diaries, significant improvement in managing pain, in well-being, in sleeping, and in attention-related activities. Finally, in the study conducted by Tul, Unruh, and Dick (2 011), the authors specifically aimed to determine how yoga, a form of meditation, serves as a means to address chronic pain. As specifically revealed, â€Å"the yoga program offered its participants a new way of engaging with their body resulting in heightened re?ection and self-awareness that enabled most participants to feel more control over their pain† (Tul, Unruh, & Dick, 2011, p. 440). As such, the meditative strategy accorded through yoga enabled the participants to refocus on more positive methods for relaxation that allowed them to channel their energies to meditation techniques rather than be fixated in the chronic pain. The research article written by Chiesa and Serretti (2011) actually included, through a tabular representation, the summary of previous studies conducted on the subject of using meditation as a means to alleviate chronic pain. The summary disclosed that 10 conclusive studies had focused on MBIs but generated different results, as above noted. As cle arly founded, â€Å"there is not yet suf?cient evidence to determine whether MBIs could be more ef?cacious than nonspeci?c interventions such as support and educational control groups for the reduction of pain and depressive symptoms in patients with chronic pain† (Chiesa & Serretti, 2011, p. 91). Meditation as Modality to Treat Chronic Pain As Seen through the Role of Nursing From the diverse results that were disclosed and which

Hotel report Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Hotel report - Assignment Example Melbourne Marriot Hotel is one of the most admired firms in the region that has been deploying all the possibilities of hospitality, tourism, and event industries for its business growth. The Melbourne Marriott hotel is one of the distinguished franchisees of Marriott International, Inc. The hotel located in Melbournes central business district is unique for its personalized services and exceptional amenities. Melbourne Marriott constitutes the perfect stay for the people who visit the city. Melbourne Marriott hotel is the franchisee of Marriott International, Inc founded by J. Willard Marriott in 1927. Marriott was aware of the potentiality of hospitality industry and its scope in Melbourne. He later expanded his venture into a chain of restaurant and hotels over 74 countries with more than 3800 properties. The Melbourne Marriott Hotel has 185 guest rooms and 19 luxury suites, and all are uncommonly spacious and airy. Its lobby area is exceptionally elegant in style and facilities in rooms may surpass the wildest expectations of the visitors. One important feature of the hotel is its 100% non-smoking policy in its premises. Other important facilities include but not limited to heated salt water swimming pool, spa and gymnasium, conference hall, event facilities, bar, dry cleaning, and currency exchange. All bedrooms contain ‘one queen or two double beds and separate change area’ (Melbourne Marriot Hotel, visitvictoria.com). it also contain writing desk, phone, voice mail, TV, coffee making facility, iron, toaster, newspaper, Wifi access, porter bell, pull-out sofa bed, custom duvets, rollaway bed etc. Its reception works 24 hours and allows luggage storage ensuring extended customer service in every possible way. 24 hour room service, secure parking, and wheelchair facility also make the service incomparable. The Melbourne Marriott hotel is well known for its Business Center as well. It also

Ethics in Public Administration Essay Example for Free

Ethics in Public Administration Essay The national bicentennial in 1976 marked two important birthdays for public administration. It was the ninetieth anniversary of the appearance of the first fully developed essay on what was considered a new or at least a separately identified field public administration. In that essay, the young political scientist Woodrow Wilson (1941) wrote the now famous words, administration lies outside the proper sphere of politics. Administrative questions are not political questions; although politics sets the tasks for administration, it should not be suffered to manipulate its offices. And it was exactly fifty years since the publication of Leonard White (1926) text, Introduction to the Study of Public Administration, the first in the field. Whites book was, for his time, an advanced and sophisticated attempt to marry the science of government and the science of administration. Whereas Wilson had argued that public administration is a field of business and should be separate from politics, White forty years later countered that public administration can be effective only if it constitutes an integration of the theory of government and the theory of administration. As fields or professions go, public administration is young. Its early impetus was very much connected with civil service reform, the city manager movement, the good government movement, and the professionalization of the administrative apparatus of government. It was in this era that principles of administration were developed and the first academic programs in the field were established at American universities. This was a heady era, during which the United States civil service was developed, an innovation adopted in many American states and municipalities. Formal systems of budgeting and purchasing were adopted, and other aspects of the science of management were applied to government affairs. Many of the early leaders in this reform movement also played out important political roles, most notably Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Public administration was new, a response to a rapidly changing government. The second era in public administration could be said to have begun with the Depression and the New Deal, followed by World War II. This era was characterized by the remarkably rapid growth of the government, particularly at the national level, the development of major American social programs, and ultimately the development of a huge defense program. At this time it became apparent that a large and centralized government can accomplish heroic tasks. Patterns were being developed and attitudes framed for the conduct of American government and the practices of public administration for the coming twenty years. This era also produced most of the major American scholars in public administration who were to dominate the scene from the 1940s into the 1970s. The period that followed was characterized by rapid growth in the public service and by extensive suburbanization and urbanization. But it was also a period of great questioning of the purposes and premises of public administration. A broad variety of social programs and services were developed, a cold war machine was maintained, and the public service continued both to grow and to professionalize. It seemed as if such expansion could go on endlessly. But by the mid-1960s several crises were developing simultaneously. In many ways, these crises seemed in part to result from the excesses of an earlier time. In other ways, they seemed to be an expression of old and unanswered problems built into our society and our system of government. The urban crisis resulted from relentless suburbanization governmentally supported. The racial crisis is closely connected, resulting in part from the serious ghettoization of American minorities in the central sections of our great cities. As the central cities have deteriorated, so have their public services. We continue to have unacceptable levels of unemployment, especially among minorities. And our welfare system is badly overloaded. The rapid depletion of our fuel resources results in an energy crisis, which comes hard on the heels of the environmental crisis. And, of course, there is health care, transportation, and on and on. All of these crises have affected public administration. Three particular events or activities occurred between the mid-1960s and 1970s that indelibly marked the society and the government and, hence, public administration: the war in Vietnam, the urban riots and continued racial strife, and Watergate. These crises and events resulted in new government programs and changed ways of thinking about and practicing public administration. Frederick C. Mosher and John C. Honey studied the characteristics and composition of the public service in the mid-1960s. 3 Their basic finding was that most public servants feel little or no identity with the field of public administration. Few have ever had a course and fewer still hold a degree in the subject. Public administration at the time seemed to have a rather narrow definition of its purposes, centering primarily on budgeting, personnel, and organization and management problems. Most public servants, it was found, identify with some or another professional field, such as education, community planning, law, public health, or engineering. Even many of those who would be expected to identify with public administration are more particularly interested in some subset of the field, such as finance, personnel, policy analysis, and the like. There was very little policy emphasis in public administration very little discussion of defense policy, environmental policy, economic policy, urban policy. There was, at the time, much talk of public administration as everyones second profession. Education for public administration in the mid-1960s hardly sparkled. The early furor of the reformers had died. The American Society for Public Administration was beginning to struggle. By the late 1970s, public administration had changed, both in its practice and its teaching. There are many indicators: the Intergovernmental Personnel Act; Title IX of the Higher Education Act; the Federal Executive Institute and the Federal Executive Seminars; the remarkable growth and vigor of education for public service; the Presidents Management Intern Program; the Harry S. Truman Foundation; the size and quality of ASPA; the development of the Consortium on Education for the Public Service; several HUD grants to public administration-related activities; a much heavier policy emphasis; a renewed concern for ethics and morality in government service; and the continued professionalization of the public service coupled with refinement of management methods at all levels of government. To affix the label new to anything is risky business. The risk is doubled when newness is attributed to ideas, thoughts, concepts, paradigms, theories. Those who claim new thinking tend to regard previous thought as old or jejune or both. In response, the authors of previous thought are defensive and inclined to suggest that aside from having packaged earlier thinking in a new vocabulary there is little that is really new in so-called new thinking. Accept, therefore, this caveat: Parts of new public administration would be recognized by Plato, Hobbes, Machiavelli, Hamilton, and Jefferson as well as by many modern behavioral theorists. The newness is in the way the fabric is woven, not necessarily in the threads that are used. And the newness is in arguments as to the proper use of the fabric however threadbare. The threads of the public administration fabric are well known. Herbert Kaufman describes them simply as the pursuit of these basic values: representativeness, politically neutral competence, and executive leadership (Kaufman, 1969). In different times, one or the other of these values receives the greatest emphasis. Representativeness was preeminent in the Jacksonian era. The eventual reaction was the reform movement emphasizing neutral competence and executive leadership. Now we are witnessing a revolt against these values accompanied by a search for new modes of representativeness. Others have argued that changes in public administration resemble a zero-sum game between administrative efficiency and political responsiveness. Any increase in efficiency results a priori in a decrease in responsiveness. We are simply entering a period during which political responsiveness is to be purchased at a cost in administrative efficiency. Clearly, the most interesting developments in modern public administration are not empirical but are philosophical, normative, and speculative. In public administration, the phrase social equity has emerged as a shorthand way of referring to the concerns and opinions of those who are challenging contemporary theory and practice. As yet, the phrase social equity, however, has little substance or precision. The problem of equity is as old as government. Dwight Waldo (1972) points out that much governmental action in the United States has not been simply discriminatory but massively and harshly so. Much governmental action has also, however, been directed toward achieving equality; paradoxically, action to assure assimilation and uniformity also has sometimes been insensitive and coercive. â€Å"Equality, he concludes, is central to the understanding of much recent and contemporary public administration. It has been seriously suggested that social equity be a standard by which public administrators, both in the bureau and the academy, assess and evaluate their behavior and decisions. Social equity, then, would be a criterion for effectiveness in public administration in the same way that efficiency, economy, productivity, and other criteria are used. Whenever an ethic or standard for behavior is described, it is essential to provide an accompanying caveat. In the present case, the social equity point of view will need to be buffered by recognition first that there is a high ethical content in most significant public decisions; public problems do not succumb simply to factual analysis. This being the case, if the public servant is to be an interpreter of events and an influencer, if not a maker of decisions, what, then, should be included in the standards of ethical behavior that guide the public servant? Surely the standards of ethics and morality that are applicable and sufficient to a citizen in private or in social relationships are not adequate for the public decisions of an administrator. And it is now increasingly clear that the decision problems faced by these administrators are seldom black or white in relation to their ethical content and consequences. There often is really no one best way, but rather a decision should be made that maximizes such results as are attainable given the resources available and minimizes negative side effects. And finally, one must accept the proposition that politics and administrative organizations are themselves the best protectors of administrative morality provided that they are open, public, and participatory. Within this context, then, we pursue the development of a social equity ethic for public administration. Modern public administration cannot assume these conditions away. Certainly pluralistic governments (practicing majority rule, coupled with powerful minorities with special forms of access) systematically discriminate in favor of established, stable bureaucracies and their specialized clientele and against those minorities who lack political and economic resources. Thus widespread and deep inequity are perpetuated. The long-range continuation of widespread and deep inequities poses a threat to the continued existence of this or any political system. Continued deprivation amid plenty breeds hopelessness and her companions, anger and militancy. A public administration that fails to work for changes that try to address this deprivation will likely eventually be used to oppress the deprived. What new public administration is striving for, then, is equity. Blacks Law Dictionary (1957) defines equity in its broadest and most general signification: [Equity] denotes the spirit and the habit of fairness and justness and right dealing which would regulate the intercourse of men with men, the rule of doing to all others, as we desire them to do to us; or, as it is expressed by Justinian, to live honestly, to harm nobody, to render every man his due. It is therefore, the synonym of natural right or justice. But in this sense its obligation is ethical rather than jural, and its discussion belongs to the sphere of morals. It is grounded in the precepts of the conscience not in any sanction of positive law. Equity, then, is an issue that we will find to be a question of ethics. We will also find it to be a question of law. The foremost theorist presently supporting a concept of equity in government is John Rawls (1971). In his book A Theory of Justice, he sets out a splendid framework for a fundamental equity ethic. When speaking of our government institutions, Rawls states: For us the primary subject of justice is the basic structure of society, or more exactly, the way in which the major social institutions distribute fundamental rights and duties and determine the division of advantages from social cooperation. By major institutions I understand the political constitution and the principal economic and social arrangements. Justice, then, is the basic principle and is dominant over other principles in Rawlss form of ethics. Rawls begins his theory with a definition of the individual or citizen and states: Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override. For this reason justice denies that the loss of freedom for some is made right by the greater good shared by others. It does not allow that the sacrifices imposed on a few are outweighed by the larger sum of advantages enjoyed by many. Therefore, in a just society the liberties of equal citizenship are taken as settled; the rights secured by justice are not subject to political bargaining or to the calculus of social interest. In developing his theory, Rawls suggests an intellectual device or technique by which the principles of equity can be set forth. The first and most important intellectual technique is the notion of original position. The original position constitutes an agreement upon the most basic principles of justice upon which all of the basic structures of society (social, economic, and political) will be predicated. The principles of justice that emerge are both final and binding on all: Since the original agreement is final and made in perpetuity, there is no second chance. To make this theory operative, Rawls then proposes two principles of justice: The first principle is to have an equal right to the most extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar system of liberty for all. The second principle is that social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both: (a) to the greatest benefit to the least advantaged, consistent with the just savings principle, and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality and opportunity. 11 These two principles, then, are to be a right of the same significance or order as the present rights as we understand them in government. Hart further states: According to Rawls, acceptance of the two principles of justice means that the collective efforts of society would be concentrated in behalf of its less advantaged members. This does not mean that all inequalities would disappear and all good will be equally distributed to achieve parity throughout the society. There would still be disparities in income and status. But there is an irreducible minimum of primary goods (such as self-respect, rights and liberties, power and opportunities, income and wealth) that are due every man, and the minimum must be met. 12 Rawls states that this is a strongly egalitarian conception in the sense that unless there is a distribution that makes both persons better off (limiting ourselves to the two-person case for simplicity), an equal distribution is to be preferred. 13 It is obvious that Rawls theory of justice is vastly different from other contemporary patterns of moral reasoning. Rawls does not argue it because it is good or right but rather because there is an increasing importance to the interdependence of persons that makes notions of advantages and disadvantages less and less acceptable. It is a pervasive sense of noblesse oblige or a sense of eternity among people. Rawls states that in justice as fairness men agree to share one anothers fate. In designing institutions they undertake to avail themselves of the accidents of nature and social circumstances only when doing so is for the common benefit. Because not all persons are genetically equal, the more advantaged have a moral duty to serve all others including the disadvantaged, not for altruistic reasons but because of the significance of human interdependence. As Hart (1974) says, One serves because justice requires it and the result is the continuous enhancement of self-respect. Just actions, then, not only create the optimal condition for human life, they also are a major element in the rationalization of self. Although all of this theory and definition is interesting, we live in a world of large and very complex organizations where the application of such concepts is difficult. This is also a world in which organizations tend to elevate their own needs over individual needs and goals. The problem is one of making complex organizations responsible to the needs of the individual. This requires rising above the rules and routines of organization to some concern for the self-respect and dignity of the individual citizen. Rawlss theory is designed to instruct those who administer organizations that the rights of individuals would be everywhere protected. Hart summarizes this approach to social equity with the following: (1) The theory of justice would provide social equity with an ethical content. Acceptance of the theory of justice would provide the equitable public administrator with clear, well-developed ethical guidelines which would give social equity the force that it now lacks. (2) The theory of justice could provide the necessary ethical consensus -that the equitable public administrator has both the duty and the obligation to deploy his efforts on behalf of the less advantaged. (3) The theory of justice would impose constraints upon all complex public organizations since no organization would be allowed to infringe upon the basic liberties of individuals. (4) The theory of justice would provide a means to resolve ethical impasses (the original position). (5) The theory of justice would provide a professional code for public administration that would require a commitment to social equity (Hart, 1974).

How the world has changed Essay Example for Free

How the world has changed Essay The essay â€Å"Use Your Own Words† by Anne Trubek argues a great point that technology is changing the way we read and write and that spell must change also. Should the world let technology take over? What is the purpose of a map if you can easily find it on your phone and get directions? Think about it, what is the purpose of having a book or newspaper in modern times if you can easily go on the internet. She supports this by showing and explaining how spelling checkers and much more are slowly messing with the way we spell. What Trubek states in her argument is very true, spelling has went from â€Å"As soon as possible to ASAP† just in a matter of centuries. It all started in 1475 reducing the amount of letters in words, abbreviating. Back then there was no one or thing to tell you whether you spelled it wrong or right now we have many systems that correct the spelling. Even though it was used in that time as telegrams. I agree that we have let technology change the way the spelling system is now; some of the effects are hardly changeable. For instance text messaging has made people have a certain and crazy way of spelling that most well a lot of professors, teachers and more dont always understand. Kids and certain adults communicate in many different modalities as a result of technology. When using iPhones, tablets, smart pads and more they use T9 word which corrects the spelling as you text or swipe and let you circle some of the words and it spells them for you. When I started high school and got my first phone I used it, it’s a technology built to help people typing on cellphones. I didn’t know how to spell words so it used set of words that where similar to the word I was looking for. Texting became even easier to me when I was a minor. Some people are happy but 10% complain as Trubek stated â€Å"Damn you, autocorrect† (220). When you look on websites people misspell a lot using spelling systems like swipe, then have to apologize for the mistakes. While younger centuries are developing this apart of their lives, older are saying we have lost are mind. Another true fact is teacher even want us to use spelling  grammar and check on computers like in Microsoft word and more. The spelling system argues that spelling reform would make a huge change in the world today that’s the way she looked at it if you read page 221 they stated that reduce the words help people get a better understanding. Just slowly and often not in an organized way. There are many words that were once spelled very differently but have now changed. For example, error was spelled errour. In American language has been up and down beaten and destroyed just as fast as it was built. The writing has even changed certain formats for certain paper, the way your letters look, everything. I believe she feels we have already done enough to it what could possible go wrong with trying to make it better in the world, changing the spelling systems and making it not so much as slang but as proper English, or even just letting people know what goes where and not always shorting the word. In the future at the rate there going words want live on it will be codes that you will have to go by. It is great that we have established new inventions but not to take and destroy what many of our ancestors built. I think that most important thing to her is how she can make a change; I mean I understand we have let technology do a lot for us. Like computers, tablets, phones can keep all of those files and handouts in neat folders. The way that we think of textbooks is completely changing. It is no longer just text and pictures. Today’s textbooks often have web-based sites that include assessments, animations, additional materials, videos, and other materials to support the learning of new contents. Even you have books that can be downloaded on everything and it reads it for you and or watch the movie or as I like to call it the remake. Which by the way takes away from your reading skills and more? I’m not sure if this is a part of the learning, but we don’t pass notes in class anymore. Because we can easily get them off are email or as most students do text one another instead. Its just another funny way how technology has changed education. As I look over this essay it makes me want to take and bye me a lot of dictionary sit down and study every word in the book. Instead on using the one on my phone and cutting down on the way I spell in my texting. When Trubek stated â€Å"Standardized spelling enables readers to understand writing, to aid communication and ensure clarity† (222). She made me think about what my grandmother always told me â€Å"don’t eat anything if you can’t spell it; know where it came from and what’s in it. This is a great article I would encourage a lot of people to read it and think about it, and hopeful as they get older try to change the way they incorporate how to spell, read write and learn.

Concepts of Ageing and Disability

Concepts of Ageing and Disability Impairment, disability, and handicap Impairment is any loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function e.g. hearing or vision impairment, brain injury, impaired movement, impairment of the sense of smell. Disability is any restriction or lack (resulting from an impairment) of ability to perform an activity in the manner or within the range considered normal for a human being e.g. unable to perform ADL’s, communication, learning and working. Handicap is a disadvantage for a given individual, resulting from an impairment or a disability , that prevents the fulfillment of a role that is considered normal (depending of age, sex and social and cultural factors) for that individual. Similarities and differences: Impairment, disability, and handicap all avoid a person to accomplish normal functions in certain areas of body. The difference is that impairment is the irregularity in structure of function of the body , the condition of being unable to perform as a consequence of physical or mental unfitness such as dysomia- impairment of the sense of smell while disability is the restriction of be short of of ability to perform certain utility. Disability is an umbrella term covering impairment, activity limitations and participation restrictions. Handicap refers to condition that leads to impairment of disability and prevent the person from doing things that other people of their age of gender would normally do, the case is any disadvantage that makes success more difficult or place at a disadvantage such as â€Å"He was handicapped by his injured ankle†. Ageing, old age and ageism Ageing is progressive and universal starting at birth and ending with death. Ageing and disease processes are not the same, the life expectancy in developed countries has increased by more than 30 years in the last century. Also in New Zealand the proportion of older people is expected to grow rapidly over the next 20years. The process of change in the properties of a material occurring over a period, either spontaneously or through deliberate action. Old age: old people often have limited regenerative abilities and are more tend to disease, syndromes, and sickness than younger adults. The elderly also confront other social issues such as retirement, loneliness, and ageism. The chronological age donated as â€Å"old age† varies culturally and historically, so , old age is â€Å"a social construct† rather than a definite â€Å"biological stage â€Å" Ageism: one of the challenges to positive ageing is ageism. Ageism refers to the discrimination that older people can experience due to their age. Often ageism is reflected in eligibility for access to support and resources Also in employment ,(particularly those who experience impairments)are overlooked for employment opportunities. Ageism also occurs when there are negative forms of social exclusion and judgments made about older people on the basis of the perceived worth of their contributions. Similarities and differences: Ageing, old age, and ageism all connect grow older with old person. The difference is that ageing is What’s happening as you get elder through life and old age is the result of aging for a long enough time where you are close to death and your life is coming to an end Ageing is the heaps of thing are changing in a person over time. Ageing is many angles of process such as physical, social, and psychological aspect . While old age is contained in ages closing or exceeding the average life span of human beings, and the life cycle of the end of human beings. Ageism is a combination of three connected components. Among them were prejudicial attitudes towards older people, old age, and the ageing process. Discriminatory approach against elderly, policies that maintain stereotypes about elder people. Theories of ageing in relation to gender, sexuality, race and class The social model of disability : Disability is caused by physical, organizational, and attitudinal barriers in society. Looks for full integration of individuals to society. Focus on social acceptance and equality. Identifies systemic barriers, negative and exclusion by society. Sees society as the contributory factor in disabling people. Psychosocial Theories of Ageing : As people grow older, their behavior changes, their social interactions changes, and the activities in which they engage change. Gender Differences The Social Model of Disability: In osteoarthritis, men and women had significantly difference in pain, pain behavior and physical disability. Women feel pain more seriously than men does. it leads depression to women more than men. It can be barriers in social involving for women. Biological Theories of Ageing: Women have lower cardiovascular risk and greater longevity than men. So some study supposed that there are important gender-related differences in beat-to-beat heart rate dynamics. But some study discovered that heart rate did not be dissimilar between age groups or genders. The heart rate power decreased with age in both men and women. Sexuality The Social Model of Disability : The body of sexuality is at the heart of contemporary political and theoretical issue. Yet the social model of disability makes it a banishment. Sexuality of disability is caused by attitudinal barriers in society. Nevertheless presently old aged sexuality is understood and increasingly accepted in society. Biological Theories of Ageing : Human sexuality is the ability to have erotic experiences and responses. Sexuality can have biological interest and attraction for another person. The biological aspect of sexuality in ageing refers to the reduction of reproductive mechanism as well as the basic biological drive lessen that exists in all species. Race The Social Model of Disability : Data are from population –based sample of 4,136 African American and Whites aged over 65 living in North Carolina. There is reduced risk for disability when they associate with friends as a social interaction occurs. By instrumental support leads to increased risk for disability risk significantly , with a greater adverse effect among Whites than African Americans. Expect for instrumental support, there were few racial differences in the association of social relationships with disability. The Medical Model of Ageing : This study examined surgery for colorectal cancer among medical beneficiaries 65 years of age or older with an initial diagnosis in 1987. White patients were much more likely than Black to undergo surgical resection, even after age, and location and extent of tumor were controlled for. Deprivation The Social Model of Disability : If the disability person has no immediate family or carer to support them , a representative will inform him/her for correct managing. The managing authority at the care home or hospital should work together to ensure this disability person understand the deprivation of liberty process, that he/she knows his/her right, and that they receive the right support when the authorization process starts and a result has been done. Otherwise deprivation of liberty leads them to make barriers in society to them. Psychosocial Theories of Ageing : The elderly grow older , their boundary is restricted by someone who care for them. If you feel that elderly is being deprived of their liberty ,speak to the person in charge. They try to agree on changes that can be made so that the person’s freedom is less restricted. For example, person who with dementia you can’t let them go as a normal person . but should ensure that only deprives someone of their liberty in a safe and correct way, also that is the best interests of the person and there is no other way to look after them. Otherwise their social interactions significantly change to the worst way.

The Inner Workings of Music Essay -- Personal Narrative Essays

The Inner Workings of Music As a junior in high school, I was fortunate enough to be accepted in the Yale University course: "Music of Arnold Schoenberg, 1908 to 1923: From Romanticism to Dodecaphony" at the Arnold Schoenberg Center in Vienna, Austria. My course work gave me the opportunity to conduct in depth study of the development of one of the twentieth century's most important composers in his home city. However, in Vienna, I also enjoyed many opportunities to learn outside of class. Perhaps the most significant of these experiences was viewing the archives of the Arnold Schoenberg Center. The archives at the Schoenberg Center contain thousands of pages of sketch work, manuscripts, and letters. During my stay in Vienna, I visited the archives several times to explore sketches and manuscripts to various compositions in order to gain a greater understanding of Schoenberg's compositional process. One sketc... ... Schoenberg changed the voice part from speech to song on an appearance of the works three-note motive. By exploring Schoenberg' sketches for Pierot Luinare from their earliest phases to a final score, I received a great deal of insight into the compositional process. Studying the work of a master reinforced my belief that every aspect of a piece of music is significant. By studying sketch work, I expanded my understanding of the inner workings of music.

What’s Do To The Collegiate Athlete Essay -- Sports Education Finances

What’s Do To The Collegiate Athlete Recently Duke University’s head basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski, was the recipient of one point three million dollars in salary. The Duke University basketball program is amongst the best in all of college basketball. But, where do we draw the line? Where do we decide that the players, the ones actually out on the court deserve to be rewarded in the way that their coach is rewarded. It is not infrequently that we see a young man who has great basketball talent skip the collegiate ranks, and head straight for the professionals simply because they cannot afford to be a college student with no money. Intercollegiate athletics corrupt their educational institutions by creating a double standard and devaluing scholarship in favor of athletic competition. The tension between college academics and athletics is nothing new. Maintaining double standards for regular students and athletes dates back to at least 1869, when Rutgers beat Princeton with a football team that included three freshmen who were failing algebra. Student athletes carry a la...

Thomos Hardy The Mayor Of Cast :: essays research papers

Thomas Harding does an admirable job narrating the, The Life and Death of The Mayor of Casterbridge, Mr. Henchard, as well as the various other characters that influenced the phases of Mr. Henchard's downfall to prosperity and than again to his self-inflicted destruction. As self-inflicted as King Saul's death in Samuel 1 in the Bible. The narrative of King Saul's life follow comparable steps as Mr. Henchard's. In both narratives both men engage in a trusted consanguinity with another man who were existent for the majority of the protagonists' chronicle. In Thomas Hardy's, The Mayor of Caterbridge, the relationships between Mr. Henchard and Donald Farfrae are overwhelmingly alike as distinct as that to King Saul and David. In the beginning of the novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Mr. Michael Henchard is described "of fine figure, swarthy, and stern in aspect" and had a "walk of the skilled countryman" and "showed in profile a facial angle[…]to be almost perpendicular." (I,1). Also stated is that Mr. Henchard's "elbow almost touched (his wife's) shoulder" while walking beside each other, implying that he was a very tall man. (I,1) Saul from the Bible is also described as "as a handsome young man" who "stood head and shoulders above the people." (1 Sam 9:2) While both men were accompanied with someone of inferior status, Henchard with his wife and Saul with his servant, they were in search of something, Saul of his asses and Henchard of work, when their lives were altered. Mr. Henchard and Saul both fell asleep in a dining establishment and awoke to find that their lives had changed perpetually. Spouseless and childless Mr. Hencha rd moves and spends the bulk of his life in Casterbridge. It is later revealed in the story that he the mayor of Casterbridge. Saul is also chosen to be a governmental leader of all of Israel as Mr. Henchard of all of Casterbridge. In Casterbridge, Mr. Henchard sought for an assistant, and this is where Donald Farfrae is first introduced. Alike in the Bible King Saul seeks a man to "remain in [his] service" (1 Sam 19:22) for, he also needs a partner to help him in some manner. Both new characters are described as musicians, but Mr. Farfrae is just passing though Casterbridge, and has no intentions of staying. At first, Farfrae declines Henchard's invitation to stay and help him run business of Casterbridge, but later agrees to stay because of Henchard's persistence. Thomos Hardy The Mayor Of Cast :: essays research papers Thomas Harding does an admirable job narrating the, The Life and Death of The Mayor of Casterbridge, Mr. Henchard, as well as the various other characters that influenced the phases of Mr. Henchard's downfall to prosperity and than again to his self-inflicted destruction. As self-inflicted as King Saul's death in Samuel 1 in the Bible. The narrative of King Saul's life follow comparable steps as Mr. Henchard's. In both narratives both men engage in a trusted consanguinity with another man who were existent for the majority of the protagonists' chronicle. In Thomas Hardy's, The Mayor of Caterbridge, the relationships between Mr. Henchard and Donald Farfrae are overwhelmingly alike as distinct as that to King Saul and David. In the beginning of the novel, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Mr. Michael Henchard is described "of fine figure, swarthy, and stern in aspect" and had a "walk of the skilled countryman" and "showed in profile a facial angle[…]to be almost perpendicular." (I,1). Also stated is that Mr. Henchard's "elbow almost touched (his wife's) shoulder" while walking beside each other, implying that he was a very tall man. (I,1) Saul from the Bible is also described as "as a handsome young man" who "stood head and shoulders above the people." (1 Sam 9:2) While both men were accompanied with someone of inferior status, Henchard with his wife and Saul with his servant, they were in search of something, Saul of his asses and Henchard of work, when their lives were altered. Mr. Henchard and Saul both fell asleep in a dining establishment and awoke to find that their lives had changed perpetually. Spouseless and childless Mr. Hencha rd moves and spends the bulk of his life in Casterbridge. It is later revealed in the story that he the mayor of Casterbridge. Saul is also chosen to be a governmental leader of all of Israel as Mr. Henchard of all of Casterbridge. In Casterbridge, Mr. Henchard sought for an assistant, and this is where Donald Farfrae is first introduced. Alike in the Bible King Saul seeks a man to "remain in [his] service" (1 Sam 19:22) for, he also needs a partner to help him in some manner. Both new characters are described as musicians, but Mr. Farfrae is just passing though Casterbridge, and has no intentions of staying. At first, Farfrae declines Henchard's invitation to stay and help him run business of Casterbridge, but later agrees to stay because of Henchard's persistence.

The Effects of Cyber Bullying

Cyberbullying is defined as deliberately attempting to upset someone; cyberbullying can happen via a number numerous ways. With all different forms of social media, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, or even, Instagram, cyberbullying can occur. Bullying effects our communities. Kids that are bullied appear likely to experience anxiety, depression, loneliness, unhappiness, and sleep deprivation. Yet, while the victim might appear passive, it stands imperative that the parent may not. When a parent takes part in his or her child’s social media, it makes it harder for his or her child to be made fun of because their parents watch over them.A parent can stand as the ultimate counselor a child needs when getting bullied. Real life bullying stops when that final bell rings, but cyberbullying continues outside of the classroom. People will bully someone because they want to lower another person’s self-esteem. But bullying can do more than that! Bully victims appear two to nine t imes more likely to consider suicide. Victims go through this depression where they cannot feel anything except worthlessness. Actions of cyberbullying does not only happen on the social media, it happens through texting as well.More than likely, another student harasses and bashes another student just for their own self amusement. The person never stops to consider the thoughts of his or her victims. Cyberbullying causes depression, school phobia, social anxiety, not wanting to leave the house, and, even thoughts of suicide. Most often cyberbullying may appear as a touchy subject that students must learn how to properly handle and get the help they need. Kids going though this harassment can feel at their lowest then have the harassment to pile on to it.When it comes to cyberbullying, they often are motivated by anger, revenge, or frustration. Sometimes they do it for entertainment or because they appear bored and have too much time on their hands. Many do it for laughs, or to get a reaction, but some do it by accident, that person sends a message to the wrong recipient, or he or she do not think before he or she acts. Power-hungry people do it to torment others and social popularity. Revenge of the nerd may start out as defending themself from traditional bullying only to find that he or she enjoys being the tough guy.Mean girls do it to help bolster, or remind people, of their own social standing. Some think they are justifying the wrong and standing up for others. In general, cyberbullies have their own motives on why they are involved in cyberbullying. Some of their intentions have been identified as anonymity, power, attention, retaliation, boredom, jealousy, and the pleasure of inflicting pain. Numerous people who participate in cyber bullying do it to make themselves feel better. Bullies tend to have much insecurity, but they hide them through insulting others. There are many ways to overcome cyberbullying.He, or she, may just want to click â€Å"dele te† on every hateful email, text, or IM. However, this may not appear as the right motive because there may come a time when this bully needs to get reported, and he or she will need all the evidence right there in front of him or her. To prevent bullying one must save and print each and every mean thing they send. The day will come, when he or she will need this evidence. If the person receives a â€Å"bully† message, never get more involved than needed. Replying to that hurtful comment will only worsen the problem. When all else fails, get others involved.Let Parents or teachers know about the situation. Most likely, they can track the IP address, and get the exact location of the attacker. A cyberbully stands as nothing when they do not behind their internet mask. Talking to them about it upfront, might even scare them away. If this person seems not to be intimidated, or issues more violent or humiliating threats, contact an adult to intervene. Bullying of any kind a ppears illegal in most states. After letting a parent into the situation, allow them to contact the bully's parents. Cyberbullying can happen to anyone and anyone can overcome it as well.

Impact of It on Process Improvement

VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. org Impact of IT on Process Improvement 1 1 Lotfollah najjar, 2 Ziaul huq, 3 Seyed-mahmoud aghazadeh, 4 Saeedreza hafeznezamiCollege of Information Science & Technology, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA, Fax: 402-554-3284, 2 College of Business Administration, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA, Fax: 402-554-268, 3 Department of Business Administration, School of Business, State University of New York at Fredonia, Fredonia, Ny 14063, USA, Fax: 716-673-3332, 4 Civil and Environmental Engineering UCLA, 5731 Boelter Hall, box 951593 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1593 1 [email  protected] unomaha. edu, [email  protected], [email  protected] edu, [email  protected] com. ABSTRACTThere has been a lack of empirical research related to the role of IT in process improvement in a multidimensional way. The purpos e of this paper is to investigate the extent that IT could be used (from low tech to high tech and constraint to proactive), type of process reengineering projects employed (compromise to radical) and their effect on firm performance. The firm performance was defined as market share, customer relationships Management, IT impact, and efficiency (as multifaceted such as lowering the cost, lowering the process variability, and lead time).Data from 108 small-to-medium sized organizations both in service and in manufacturing were collected for this study. Both Factor Analysis and MANOVA Analysis were employed to analyze these relationships and to find out the optimum points (interaction among the types of IT and types of BPR) and their effect on firm performance. ). The result showed that organizations that adapt high technology alone or BPR alone cannot achieve the same result and business performance as the organization that benefits from interdependency between IT and BPR.Keywords: BP R, IT, Organizational Performance, Process Improvement, CRM, Efficiency, Factor Analysis, MANOVA. 1. INTRODUCTION The modern business organization is a complex collection of business processes, which cross multiple business units and handle everything from the mundane daily operations to core business processes. Many of these business processes have changed very little since their original implementation, thus failing to take advantage of new best practices or technological advancements.Over time, businesses realized that their current processes were no longer providing a competitive advantage, and that changes to processes were necessary in order to improve performance. In order to change the processes or to build completely new ones, process redesign or improvement must take place. Whether the method is Total Quality Management (TQM), Six Sigma, Business Process Reengineering (BPR), or one of the many others, the core concepts are the same: streamline the process, reduce costs, an d remove waste.Process improvements can be incremental and continuous, or they can be giant leaps that fundamentally change the way organizations do business. One thing in common with all process improvement initiatives is that information technology is a major component, regardless of the method. Hammer and Champy (1993) state IT is an enabler of BPR, and while this is still true information technology has become more than just an enabler. Just as throwing money at a problem will not make it go away, a business problem can’t be reengineered simply by hrowing new information systems at it (Hammer & Champy, 1993). 1. 1 Business Process Improvement The drive for process improvement is not new. Process improvement methodologies have been developed and used for over 30 years. Six Sigma was developed in the mid 1980s as a way to improve manufacturing processes (Drake, Sutterfield, & Ngassam, 2008). Business process reengineering pushed to the forefront of process improvement in th e early 1990s when some felt larger leaps in process performance were needed.Both of these methods are still among the most widely used today, and have been adjusted to meet modern business needs. There are three main types of process improvement: continuous, benchmarking, and reengineering. Continuous is more â€Å"systematic† than simply solving problems as they occur, and can be easily integrated into an organization. Improvements to processes using this methodology are typically small, but if they are ongoing will add up to larger gains in improvement over time (Tenner & DeToro, 1997).Continuous improvement is a plan-do-study-act method that uses the following six step model: understand the customer, assess efficiency, analyze the process, improve the process, implement changes, and standardize and monitor. Before an organization can accomplish higher levels of process improvement, it must first successfully 67 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emergin g Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. org implement continuous improvement (Tenner & DeToro, 1997).Six Sigma, a continuous improvement methodology, was originally created by Motorola to help reduce manufacturing defects, with a five year goal of no more than 3. 4 defects per million. Analyzing the variation in defects was the key to Six Sigma, which required very accurate data (Drake et al, 2008). This method was designed as a quality improvement initiative, but its later implementation in other industries and services allowed for broader application. Bringing an organization in line with the best practices of their industry makes use of the benchmarking methodology.Benchmarking creates greater single improvements than the continuous method, but is more resource intensive and occurs less often (Tenner & DeToro, 1997). Benchmarking is essentially reverse engineering of a process: by taking apart a compet itor’s processes (or products) if can be seen how they work and what makes them good. Proper benchmarking requires a four phase, tenstep model. The planning phase includes identifying the benchmark subject, indentifying benchmark partners, and collecting data (Tenner & DeToro, 1997).The analysis phase includes determining the performance gap and projecting future performance. The integration phase includes communicating results and establishing goals. The action phase includes developing action plans, implementing the plans and monitoring results, and finally recalibrating the benchmarks (Tenner & DeToro, 1997). Reengineering is the highest level of process improvement. Reengineering creates radical improvements to processes, often resulting in high performance gains. Reengineering requires a highly skilled organization willing to accept high levels of risk (Tenner & DeToro, 1997).Like the continuous and benchmarking improvement methods, a step-by-step model is needed. The si x step model for reengineering includes the following: organizing the reengineering project, launching the reengineering project, inventing a new process, integrating, acting, and evaluating (Tenner & DeToro, 1997). The origins of business process reengineering began in the late 1980s, but truly started with an article in the Harvard Business Review which called for the total redesign of business processes.Michael Hammer (1990) felt it was not enough to simply renovate existing processes, but instead the processes should be removed altogether and replaced with new and improved processes started from a clean slate (El Sawy, 2001). Unlike other methodologies such as Six Sigma, information technology was seen as from the beginning to be a necessity when trying to achieve BPR (Hammer & Champy, 1993). 1. 2 Information Technology’s role in Business Process Reengineering For many BPR authors (Hammer & Champy, 1993; Davenport & Short, 1990; Irani, Hlupic, & Giaglis, 2002), informatio n technology is a crucial component of BPR.It is becoming clearer that investments only in new IT or BPR projects cannot stand by themselves (Kohli & Hoadley, 2006). Increasing market pressure, as well as an organization’s need to innovate, will lead to new IT adoption (Lee, Chu, & Tseng, 2009), but simply implementing new IT will not make BPR work. Hammer and Champy (1993) say it best: â€Å"A company that cannot change the way it thinks about information technology cannot reengineer. A company that equates technology with automation cannot reengineer. A company that looks for problems first and then seeks technology solutions for them cannot reengineer† (p. 3). How an organization uses IT will largely determine how well and to what degree they will be able to implement BPR. IT was originally considered simply as an enabler for BPR (Hammer & Champy, 1993), and while it is still true that IT can enable BPR initiatives, IT’s role in process improvement has become much greater and more varied. IT can be the initiator that drives process improvement, or the tool which makes process improvement possible. Eardley, Shah, and Radman (2008) define six roles that IT can play in BPR.These roles are: constraint, catalyst, neutral, driver, enabler, and proactive. These roles vary in impact from being constraining at the negative end to being proactive at the positive end. Legacy IT systems are the most common source of IT constraints. They are considered a constraint because process improvement is held back by old, inflexible IT systems (Eardley, Shah & Radman, 2008). Organizations have switched to client-server systems over time because of cost, but legacy mainframe systems still exist and the benefits of replacing them are debatable (Akhavan, Jafari & Ali-Ahmadi, 2006).The next step towards a positive IT role is that of catalyst. When new information technology is brought into a business and causes changes to business processes, IT becomes a catalys t. While the role of catalyst can be positive, if new information technology is not right for the organization the impact will likely be negative (Eardley et al, 2008). 68 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. orgSometimes, IT is nothing more than a support tool rather than a key component for process improvement. In these cases, IT is considered neutral. It will typically be seen in various software tools for process design and implementation (Eardley et al, 2008). Moving further toward a positive impact role is that of driver. Information technology’s role as driver is the result of a technology push from forced implementation of new information systems that then require process improvement to take advantage of the new capabilities (Eardley et al, 2008).Purely IT driven BPR without defined business needs are not desirable and could ne gatively impact business strategy (Eardley et al, 2008). The role of enabler is generally the most common role associated with BPR and process improvement. Enabler is also a business â€Å"pull† role as opposed to a technology â€Å"push†, meaning that IT and the business units are aligned from a strategic standpoint, thus leaving no technology gap (Eardley et al, 2008).The enabler role may be broken down into specific impacts as defined by Thomas Davenport (1993): automational (removing human interaction), informational, sequential (reorganizing process sequence), tracking, analytical, geographical (processes from different locations are coordinated), integrative (tasks and processes are coordinated), intellectual (intellectual assets are distributed) and disintermediating (process intermediaries are removed). Each of these impacts affects the BPR process differently and to different degrees.The final role for IT in BPR is proactive. Eardley et al. (2008) state that a proactive role is â€Å"the ‘ideal’ role of IT in BPR† (p. 639). This IT role ideally helps create major change as well as supporting BPR. When the organization standardizes BPR within the business and ties it closely with IT and the impact can be tremendous by allowing the ability to transform processes faster and on the fly (Eardley et al, 2008). The impact each of these roles has is dependent on the type of BPR projects that each role is coupled with. The types defined by Eardley et al. 2008) are: failure, compromise, one-step, evolutionary, and radical. A â€Å"failure† project type can theoretically be matched with the more desirable â€Å"proactive† IT role, but advanced IT would be hindered by a poor business plan. Conversely, a â€Å"radical† project type matched with a â€Å"constraint† IT role would result in a progressive business plan being wasted by old technology or simply a poor IT infrastructure (Eardley et al, 2008). The ideal coupling of IT roles and BPR types is for â€Å"evolutionary† and â€Å"radical† BPR projects to be joined with â€Å"proactive† and â€Å"enabler† IT oles to achieve the greatest positive impact on the BPR effort and on the business as a whole (Eardley et al, 2008). 1. 3 Performance and value impact on organizations The primary goal of any process improvement project, regardless of method, is to reduce waste, improve efficiency, and ultimately reduce costs. Information technology plays a key role in reaching process improvement goals, but it does not guarantee success. More than 70 percent of early BPR projects have ended in failure (Ramirez, Melville & Lawler, 2010).Choosing the proper method of process improvement or reengineering with a complementing information technology system will determine the impact on combined effectiveness. A study done by Ramirez et al. (2010) discusses the impact of IT on business process reengineering with a focus on cost rationalization BPR (doing more with less) and work restructure BPR (implementing new business processes). Ramirez et al (2010) found in their study that generally, the relationship of IT and BPR had a positive relationship on not only the production efficiency of a company, but also the market value.It was found that production output was increased by roughly one percent among surveyed businesses resulting from IT and BPR interaction, thus having a positive association towards operational efficiency (Ramirez et al, 2010). This result holds true for both cost rationalization and work restructure. However, for an organization’s BPR investment to get positive returns, the BPR project must be â€Å"IT centric† (Ramirez et al, 2010). This means that BPR projects that are not focused entirely around IT will see much lower returns, if any, from the project.While increased performance of production processes and value they add to an organization is simpler to documen t, performance improvements that affect an organization’s market value are more difficult to discern. To find the impact of IT and BPR on the organization’s market value, one must look at all BPR efforts which an organization has attempted, and their cumulative effect on that individual organization (Ramirez et al, 2010). Unlike the impact on production performance, cost rationalization BPR and work restructure BPR interactions with IT are not positively associated in the long term.There is evidence that over an extended period of time that the impact of either type of BPR can be negative in market value. This may be due to the number of BPR failures, especially earlier BPR efforts, in an organization (Ramirez et al, 2010). The one factor that may determine the degree of positive BPR impact on an 69 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisj ournal. org organization is the appropriate selection of information technology to complement the selection of the right BPR method (Ramirez el al, 2010).While IT and process improvement methodologies such as BPR can stand alone, their impact on each other is significant in improving performance. Research done by Albadvi, Keramati, and Razmi (2007) shows that BPR has a mediating effect on the impact of information technology on an organization’s performance. For IT to positively impact the performance of an organization and thus create a return on IT investment, BPR is needed for IT to reach its full potential (Albadvi et al, 2007). The risks involved with an organization’s decisions must always be accounted for.The impacts of IT and BPR are no different and must be considered along with performance goals. BPR itself requires an organization to measured take risks (Misra, Kumar & Kumar, 2008). Information technology can impact an organization’s risk due to BPR i n two ways. IT can help mitigate risk by aiding risk management with high quality risk models and process simulation. However IT can also be a source of risk, as BPR will inherently implement new IT systems and IT processes (Misra et al, 2008). Thus organizations must account for all risks involved with IT and BPR implementations.When all aspects, including risk, are considered it is clear that IT and BPR are necessary partners for improving organizational performance and productivity. These improvements will have an impact on a company’s overall market value but they can only be maintained long term with careful selection of projects (Ramirez et al, 2010). Beyond their partnership, IT and BPR must also complement each other to reach performance increase goals of an organization. The impacts that IT and BPR have on each other reinforce their recursive relationship. 2.PURPOSE This paper focuses on investigating the role and impact that information technology has had on process improvement. The combination of information technology with process improvement and how this combination impacts performance and sometimes the value of the business, as well as examples of IT, will also be discussed. This paper investigates the extent that IT could be used (from low tech to high tech and constrained to proactive), type of process reengineering projects employed (compromise to radical) and their effect on firm performance.The firm performance has been defined as market share, customer relationships Management, IT impact, and efficiency (as multifaceted such as lowering the cost, lowering the process variability, and lead time). 2. 1 The Roles of IT in BPR To determine the role of IT in BPR, existing work in the area (Chan, 2000; Gunasekaran and Nath, 1997; AlMashari and Zairi, 20006, Eardley, 2008) was also examined to determine whether parallels could be established for small-to-medium sized organizations both in service and in manufacturing.Their research found th at IT could have six possible roles: a constraint, a driver, a neutral, a catalyst, an enabler, or be proactive. The six different roles of IT in BPR are shown in Table 1based on Eardley’s model (Eardley, et al, 2008). Table 1: Characteristics of the role of IT in BPR Role of IT Characteristics of the Role Legacy IT systems dominate main business processes. In ? exible IT infrastructures. Lack of skill and/or investment in new IT. Business processes embedded in existing IT systems. Lack of potential for investment in IT due to budgetary factors. Lack of perception of the potential of IT by management.Strategic alignment is low. New IT has been acquired. Changes in the business have been made that favor the use of IT. New management that sees the potential of IT in business change. New relationship developed with IT vendor, consultant, or service provider. Strategic alignment at crucial stage. Constraint Catalyst 70 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emergin g Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. org Neutral Lack of IS applications and IT infrastructure in the organization. No IS or IT strategy in place.Business change targets are not well de? ned. The business is in an industry with low information intensity or little competition through IT. Strategies and infrastructures are in alignment. The business has technological capability and seeks to exploit it through business opportunities. Possibly a new business or a technological innovation. Sufficient investment is available and IT development is not a limiting factor. Strategic alignment process is proceeding rapidly. IT is a key performance factor and a â€Å"competitive arena† in the industry. Management has a clear business vision and a future change plan.Business change targets are well de? ned. Sufficient investment is available and IT development not a limiting factor. Strategic alignment in pr ocess. Management has a clear business vision and future change plan. The IS and IT infrastructure is well developed. There are few constraints on IT development. Management sees the potential of IT. Strategies and infrastructure are in alignment. Driver Enabler Proactive Alan Eardley et al, 2008 described the roles of IT as visualized above, as being on a continuum with the constraining role at the â€Å"negative† extreme and the proactive role at the â€Å"positive† extreme, as shown in Figure 1.Roles of IT in BPR More ‘negative’ roles More ‘positive’ roles Constraint Catalyst Neutral Driver Enabler Proactive Figure 1: A continuum of the possible roles of IT in BPR 2. 2 Types of BPR project in the organizations The literature search identi ? ed a number of â€Å"types† of BPR projects in the organizations that were examined, which may be placed on a continuum from â€Å"failure† to â€Å"radical† in terms of their effect iveness in achieving the objectives of major business change (Figure 2). A brief summary of the characteristics of each type of BPR project is given below. Alan Eardley et al, 2008): †¢ Failure – IT does not have a planned role in the BPR project, or the project has to be abandoned, or it is completed but fails to provide the expected business improvements. †¢ †¢ Compromise – The existing IT infrastructure cannot be changed within the given time scale. The BPR project has to take this into account and although it may be a success, will be limited or unambitious in terms of its reach and range. Such BPR projects typically produce â€Å"islands of automation† as they are applied to limited business processes or functions.One-step – The reach and range (and therefore the scope and scale) of a â€Å"one-step† BPR project are greater than for Compromise, but the lack of IT support limits the potential of newly designed processes for achie ving â€Å"higher level† transformations. In this case IT is not seen by an organization as being truly strategic. 71 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. org †¢ Evolutionary – The rate of business change will be incremental through targeted process redesign.The infrastructure will be sufficiently ? exible to cope with progressive change, and the IT strategy will be capable of maintaining alignment with the business strategy over time, although periodic adjustments will be required. †¢ Radical – This type of BPR project achieves major business change with a high degree of reach and range within an acceptably short time scale. The IT infrastructure is very? exible and copes well with the major â€Å"step change† and the IT and business strategies are completely interdependent, being continuously in alignme nt. Types of BPR project Less effective types More effective types FailureCompromise One-step Evolutionary Radical Figure 2. A continuum of the possible types of BPR project The proposed framework by Alan Eardley et al, represents the roles of IT in BPR, the types of BPR projects, and includes the concepts of â€Å"business pull† and â€Å"technology push† (Figure 3) by superimposing upon the diagram four quadrants (Q1-Q4), which are interpreted as follows (Alan Eardley et al, 2008): Q1. Low â€Å"technology push† and low â€Å"business pull† – the â€Å"lower† roles of IT when applied to the â€Å"lower† types of BPR (i. e. to the left of the continuum) are associated with a generally low profile of IT in the organization.Similarly the commitment to radical change within the organization may be poor. These factors will interfere with the organization’s ability to implement BPR successfully. For instance, IT is likely to be a à ¢â‚¬Å"constraint† in an organization that is aiming to achieve at best a â€Å"compromise† approach to organizational change in a forthcoming BPR program. Q2. Low â€Å"technology push† and high â€Å"business pull – the â€Å"lower† roles of IT when applied to the â€Å"higher† types of BPR are associated with an organization that has poor strategic alignment (Avison et al. , 2004).It may possess corporate ambition in planning a radical BPR program, but its IT strategy is weak (indeed, the whole IT function may be under-represented organizationally) and its IT infrastructure lacks flexibility and â€Å"openness. † IT therefore has a constraining role in an organization that occupies this quadrant (e. g. typical symptoms include â€Å"legacy systems† and â€Å"islands of automation†) and prevents the effective implementation of programs of business change. This occurs irrespective of the organization’s ambition or competence in carrying out evolutionary or radical BPR. Q3.High â€Å"technology push† and low â€Å"business pull† – the organization that occupies this quadrant has a keen awareness of technological trends and standards, but a relatively poor business model. Its IT infrastructure is probably very advanced, and technology has a high profile although the business model or strategy may be relatively weak or undefined. Such an organization exhibits poor strategic alignment (Avison et al. , 2004) (in common with the example in the previous quadrant), and may not progress beyond a â€Å"compromise† or â€Å"one step† type of BPR, irrespective of its technical competence or resources.The potential of IT to be proactive or enabling in support of business change in this type of organization is wasted. The literature contains many examples (Davenport, 1995) of high technology companies that failed to change as a result of poor business processes and plans . Q4. High â€Å"technology push† and high â€Å"business pull† – an organization in this quadrant combines a high profile for IT (e. g. well integrated â€Å"IT governance† and a flexible and open IT infrastructure) with a well-developed business plan and well-designed processes.It is able to achieve a high degree of success in carrying out evolutionary or radical BPR, fully enabled by a proactive IT strategy. However, success is not likely to come about by being competent in isolated functions of IT and business. In order to occupy this quadrant, an organization needs to achieve a high level of strategic alignment (Avison et al. , 2004). Note: Description of Q1-Q4 is from â€Å"Alan Eardley et al, 2008)† 72 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. ttp://www. cisjournal. org Figure 3: A Proposed framework for evaluating the role of IT in BPR projects. 3. METHODOLOGY A total of 150 small-to-medium sized companies in both manufacturing and service sectors were contacted through the Midwest, and 108 valid questionnaires were returned with an effective rate of 72%. The returned valid questionnaires were adequate regarding the sample size and statistical assumptions to conduct MANOVA. The survey questionnaire was based on four constructs or dimensions and each construct had multiple items or questions for consistency of the measurement.The respondents were required to respond to four questions for each of the four constructs. For each of the questions the respondents had to indicate their agreement Q1: HH, high technology push with high business pull. or disagreement on a 11-point Likert-type scale with the end points being 0 for â€Å"less likely† and 10 for â€Å"more likely†. The four constructs determined the four dependent variables for conducting t MANOV . The four response variables were: market share, customer relationship management, IT impact on organization, and efficiency (multifaceted, such as lowering cost, lowering process variability, and lead time).Four quadrants of figure 3(Q1Q4) were chosen as four levels of treatment of one factor, which is the quadrant (One way MANOVA) as follows: Q1: LL, low technology push with low business pull. Q2: LH, low technology push with high business pull. Q3: HL, high technology push with low business pull. 73 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. org The following MANOVA linear model was used to see which quadrant was the optimum point for business performance.The pairwise comparison test was conducted to compare all four quadrants regarding the four dependent variables as representative of business performance. Y1,Y2,Y3,Y4 = B0 + B1X1 + B2 X2 + B3 X3 + B4 X4 + e Before conducting MANOVA, th e factor analysis was performed. Table 2 shows the result of factor analysis and factor loading. SPSS was used to analyze the data. Table 2: Scale Reliability: Cumulative variance explained and Cronbach’s alpha for four factors 16 questions Questions Impact of IT on Organization 0. 988 0. 750 0. 690 0. 790 0. 789 0. 789 0. 689 0. 87 0. 897 0. 745 0. 897 0. 798 0. 698 0. 987 0. 687 0. 786 100. 00 0. 754 Market Share CRM Efficiency Question 1 Question 2 Question 3 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6 Question 7 Question 8 Question 9 Question 10 Question 11 Question 12 Question 13 Question 14 Question 15 Question 16 Cumulative variance Cronbach’s alpha 28. 588 0. 788 56. 595 0. 881 70. 413 0. 974 The following tables shows the distribution of 108 organizations on 4 different quadrants. Table 3: Organization distribution on 4 quadrants Q1 LL 23 Q2 LH 28 Q3 HL 32 Q4 HH 25 4. DISCUSSION AND RESULTSTable 4 shows the result of MANOVA that all respondents’ means are signific antly different for all four quadrants, and different combinations of technology push and business pull achieved different levels of strategic alignment. 74 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. org Table 4. Tests of Between-Subjects Effects Dependent Source Quadrants nt IT. Impact M. Share CRM Efficency df 3 3 3 3 F 333. 960 236. 449 45. 051 79. 995 Sig. .000 . 000 . 000 . 00 The pairwise comparison shows the result of business performance for each quadrant as follows: Fig. 4: IT Impact 4. 1 Impact of IT on Organization This variable was the highest both for HH and LH respectively and again it proved that the organization with high technology alone cannot achieve the same result as the organization either with both high technology push and high business pull (BPR) or only high business pull (BPR). 75 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. ttp://www. cisjournal. org Fig. 5: Market Share 4. 2 Market Share This variable was the highest both for HH and LH respectively and again, it proved that the organization with high technology alone cannot achieve the same result as the organization either with both high technology push and high business pull (BPR) or only high business pull (BPR). Fig. 6: Customer Relationship Management 76 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal. All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. org 4. Customer Relationship Management This variable was the highest both for HH and LH respectively and again, it proved that the organization with high technology alone cannot achieve the same result as the organization either with both high technology push and high business pull (BPR) or only high busine ss pull (BPR). Fig. 7: Efficiency 4. 4 Efficiency: This variable was the highest both for HH and LH respectively and again it proved that the organization with high technology alone cannot achieve the same result as the organization either with both high technology push and high business pull (BPR) or only high business pull (BPR). ecurrent theme† (Markus and Robey, 1995, p. 592). The framework demonstrates that no serious BPR effort can afford to ignore the role of IT, and if it does so then the risk of failure is high. It appears that the role of IT in BPR is undervalued at present, especially in terms of its wider and more longterm implications. These implications are as follows. First, IT strategy and business strategy need to be aligned for maximum benefits to be realized. Second, IT strategy dictates the type of IT infrastructure within a company. Third, the IT strategy and infrastructure should both support the business strategy and even influence it.Most importantly, a s change is endemic to corporate life, the IT infrastructure also needs to be flexible in order to cope with changes in the environment and the business strategy (Alan Eardley et al, 2008). 5. IMPLICATIONS OF THE WORK The proposed framework is needed because some organizations attempt to undertake BPR or strategic alignment without giving due consideration to the role of IT in BPR. Indeed, it has been observed that the â€Å"exclusion and expulsion of IS specialists from BPR programs is a 77 VOL. 3, NO. 1, January 2012 ISSN 2079-8407 Journal of Emerging Trends in Computing and Information Sciences  ©2009-2012 CIS Journal.All rights reserved. http://www. cisjournal. org A flexible IT infrastructure appears to be an increasingly desirable objective for companies in a rapidly changing environment (Avison et al. , 1997). By enabling an organization to exploit potential business opportunities quickly, such flexibility helps give an organization competitive advantage (Duncan, 1995). A key issue for an organization is the configuration of its IT platforms, network, and telecommunications, and this in turn raises questions concerning configuration, compatibility and integration rules, access standards, connectivity of systems, and excess apacity over the current requirements (Duncan, 1995, p. 42). These needs have led to a move towards distributed computing and standardization (or â€Å"open systems†) that give a high level of connectivity. One example of a company that has implemented such an infrastructure for purposes of improving BPR success is Sweden Post (Moreton and Chester, 1997). any process improvement, no matter whether IT is present or not. Therefore, future research should integrate some dimensions of organizational structure and leadership, mission, and vision as mediating factors. 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CONCLUSIONS This paper demonstrates the significance of IT in BPR and their interdependency that then impact business performance that is defined in four important dimensions: market share, customer relationship management, IT im pact, and efficiency (as multifaceted such as lowering the cost, lowering the process variability, and lead time). This study expanded and further explored the frame work developed by Alan Eardley et al,( 2008) by collecting data from 150 small-to-medium sized companies in both manufacturing and service sectors through the Midwest.They showed the different roles of IT in providing effective support for different types of BPR, and indicated that aiming for a type of BPR that is not compatible with the present role of an IT infrastructure will reduce the probability of success for a BPR project. If this is ignored, a BPR effort will either fail or will not produce the level of results that are often expected from BPR projects ( Alan Eardley et al, 2008). Organizations adapting high technology alone or BPR alone cannot achieve the same result and business performance as the organization that benefits from interdependency between IT and BPR.