Psychotherapy and Substance Abuse Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4250 words

Psychotherapy and Substance Abuse - Essay Example Substance abuse, including tobacco use and nicotine addiction, is associated with a wide range of serious health and social problems. Recent epidemiological evidence demonstrates that 72 conditions requiring inpatient treatment are wholly or partially attributable to substance abuse. Consequently, the estimated annual cost for health care, law enforcement, motor vehicle crashes, crime, and lost productivity due to substance abuse is nearly 1 thousand dollars for every American citizen, including children (Austin, 2005). Such disturbing situation with substance abuse can not but appeal for immediate and effective actions from the government and local authorities. Although the problem of substance abuse is not new, the search for the most effective methods of coping with it is far from being over. Many different prevention and treatment options have been proposed up to date, but none of them can be addressed as the most universal or the most effective. Partially this is due to the fact that substance abuse is a condition with extremely complex and often controversial etiology; partially due to lack of serious scientific research exploring specific mechanisms of recovery. The increasing use of psychotherapeutic interventions in both prevention and treatment of substance abuse suggests that modern researchers and practitioners are taking efforts to finally close this gap. This paper will provide an overview of the most widely used psychotherapeutic interventions in treatment of substance abuse, and provide a detailed insight into the psychological foundations underlying one of the most popular therapies, namely the 12-step model. Main Discussion The official definition of substance abuse proposed by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) identifies several distinct symptoms/patterns associated with this condition. APA defines substance abuse as a "maladaptive pattern of substance use leading to clinically significant impairment or distress, as manifested by one (or more) of the following, occurring within a 12-month period: 1. Recurrent substance use resulting in a failure to fulfill major role obligations at work, school, or home (e.g., repeated absences or poor work performance related to substance use; substance-related absences, suspensions or expulsions from school; neglect of children or household); 2. Recurrent substance use in situations in which it is physically hazardous (e.g., driving an automobile or operating a machine when impaired by substance use); 3. Recurrent substance-related legal problems (e.g., arrests for substance-related disorderly conduct; 4. Continued substance use despite having persistent or recurrent social or interpersonal problems caused or exacerbated by the effects of the substance (e.g., arguments with spouse about consequences of intoxication, physical fights) (DSM-IV, 2000). Apparently, the core characteristic of substance abuse is continued use of alcohol, tobacco, non-medically prescribed medications, drug or chemicals, which commonly leads to recurring socially negative consequences. Substance abuse is believed to be the major predictor of more severe conditions, namely substance addiction or dependence (Onken & Blaine, 1990). However, one should distinguish between them: abuse and dependence differ from addiction that involves a compulsion to continue using the substance

Music and Tourism in Scotland Essay Example for Free

Music and Tourism in Scotland Essay Scottish Tourism bloomed in the 1990s due to major cultural changes in society. Scotland began to create a new identity through the use of media that promoted the social and cultural attributes of the country. Scotland’s home-grown artists were used as a voice at the forefront of the promotion of Scotland’s culture and heritage to world tourism. My essay will consider a range of issues surrounding the relationship between Scottish tourism and the development of Scottish music during the 1990s. It will consider the artists and songs that played a key role in the development of Scotland’s national identity through outlining particular advertising campaigns used to promote for Scottish tourism. My essay will also discuss the future plans for Scottish Tourism and how music will be part of them. Scottish Music and Scottish Tourism Tourism contributes an enormous part of the economy in Scotland – boasting a visitor spend of approximately  £4b per year. As a tourist destination, Scotland boasts idyllic opportunities for its visitors such as the hillwalking the Munro Mountains, fishing the River Tay, immersing in the history of Edinburgh or Stirling and admiring the cultural diversities of Glasgow. These opportunities are realised and exploited by Government body: Creative Scotland, which was set up in 1993 and is dedicated to supporting the promotion of culture in Scotland on both national and international levels. Creative Scotland support the current Scottish Governments Corporate Plan, which promises: ‘To focus Government and public services on creating a more successful country, with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish, through increasing sustainable economic growth.’ Scotland has developed an exceedingly strong worldwide reputation for its diverse culture and is continuing to do so by championing music and the arts through large scale events and festivals such as Celtic Connections, a relatively new festival of traditional Scottish music which is exclusively held across a number of high-profile venues in Glasgow including the flagship Glasgow Royal Concert Hall which was opened as part of the cultural renaissance of Glasgow in 1990 with Glasgow becoming a European City of Culture in 1990. The formation of this festival alone has increased global interest from its multiple televised broadcasts on BBC and HD and a promotional tour to Chicago in 2012 during the Ryder Cup at the nearby Merdinah Country Club. Another notable festival is T in the Park which is sponsored by Scottish Brewery; Tennents. Established in Glasgow in 1993, the festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2013 and showcases international artists with a focus on new and established Scottish acts such as Scottish Band; Travis, who gained international recognition through performing at the festival from 1994 as an unsigned band and subsequently becoming a headlining act of the festival in 2000. The festival moved to Perthshire in 1997 and politicians in the area were united to promote ‘A Soundtrack for Scotland’s Tourism’, linking traditional music and tourism and diversifying the tourist industry. The festival attracts 85,000 people from all over Britain and in some cases worldwide, to Fife, Scotland, the festival has become: ‘One of the most important and critically acclaimed music events on the international festival circuit.’ The festival has been televised on BBC and footage of the festival includes shots of the backdrop landscape of Kinross and Fife regions. Promoting Scottish Nationalism and Tourism with Music in Sports Branding Branded produce from Scotland provided the tourism sector with an indirect source of advertising the heritage and culture of Scotland during the 1990s. Many advertising campaigns were televised; in particular for the alcohol industry, which used iconic songs synced with images of rural and urban Scottish landscapes which helped create an escapist image of Scotland. An example of this would be Tennents’ Lager, who used Dougie Maclean’s song Caledonia against the imagery of a grimy busy city with arrogant people compared to the contrasting escapist, social, warm and friendly atmosphere of a public house in Edinburgh The sense of nationalism and pride in the cultural diversity in Scotland went from strength to strength in the early 1990s. Scotland celebrated a period of excellence in sport on a global scale which also helped boost the number of visitors to the country. Although Scotland’s national football team failed to advance through the group stages of all the World Cup tournaments in the 1990s including Italy, USA and France respectively, Scotland’s national Rugby team celebrated international success, beating England 13-7 in the 1990 Five Nations Grand Slam. This event penned The Corries lament: ‘Flower of Scotland’ as the unofficial national anthem of Scotland, boosting the national pride and identity and has been used ever since at most sporting events. The song was written to: ‘Kindle a new awareness of what is being lost and what can be regained. Scotland’s resistance, not its defeat is stressed here.’ Another notable use of Scottish music for advertising Scottish Tourism is the 1997 television campaign which used The Silencers version of Wild Mountain Thyme, which is a traditional piece of music popularised by the particular advert which featured iconic scenes of Scotland’s rural landscapes, castles and activities such as travel, surfing and walking. The advert quoted Scottish Poet Norman MacCaig who wrote about Scotland: ‘Only mens minds could have unmapped into abstraction such a territory.’ Another song of note which relates to a worldwide audience and captures the picturesque imagery of Scottish landscapes would be Runrig’s version of the traditional Scots Lament; ‘Loch Lomond’, which was voted as Scotland’s best song by a reader poll in Scottish publication The List in 2008, beating Dignity by Deacon Blue, Caledonia by Dougie MacLean and 500 Miles by the Proclaimers, all of whom are regarded as Scottish Nationalist artists with Pete Wishart, Keyboardist of Runrig being elected as an SNP MP at Westminster in 2001. Conclusion The Future of Scottish Nationalism and Tourism Scotland’s culture and heritage will continue to grow in the tourism spotlight through the commitment of Creative Scotland and its relationship with VisitScotland which is evident from its goals: ‘Creative Scotland’s ambition is to see Scotland as one of the world’s most creative nations by 2020.’ An example of this commitment is apparent as 2012 is the ‘Year of Creative Scotland’ which continues the celebrations of Scottish culture and promotes it to the world through festivals such as the Sound Festival which will be held over October and November and aims to bring visitors to the North East areas of Scotland to enjoy alternative music of Scotland. The internet has increasingly become a major role in the promotion of Scotland’s live music events with internet website; www.visitscotland.co.uk, acting as the information and marketing gateway for prospective visitors to find information, link to external websites such as event homepages and furthermore, purchase event tickets directly with great ease. Glasgow will again become City Of Culture in 2014 and will host the Commonwealth Games and the Ryder Cup, which will be an ideal opportunity for sports and Scottish music to join forces once again.

Internal Analysis Strong And Weak Points Marketing Essay

Internal Analysis Strong And Weak Points Marketing Essay Analyse basically the chosen marketing mix. (normally you use the actual marketing-mix, but since that does not automatically exist now in the Netherlands, you need to assess the (known and/or expected) strengths and weaknesses. Elements to analyse actual strategy of the company (abroad) and strong /weak points influencing you mkt-mix (e.g. investment budget can be too low) Use your own survey results concerning the product or substitute products where relevant, in order to know if this influences (strong point/weak point) your actualperformance. Elements you must include are therefore: * product (benefits, attributes, core, actual, augmented -branding strategy) * price (pricing strategy -price setting), including costs you will have, break-even, etc * distribution (chosen partners, online, direct ): strategy and costs * communication : strategy and costs, can be internal and external, is promotion wise related to distribution and product/branding Also, but less extensive, since this goes beyond IP-1à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ * personel/employees: HRM -strategy and costs * purchase function / supply chain: costs for managing the value chain, etc * finance ! (investment =? Do you have the money ? Do not ignore, you need it for your budgetting, so at least name it and explain how much is involved, keep the costs as low as possible )(finance=communication costs, personnel costs, starting up costs, The total must be coherent, realistic and financially feasible Relevant conclusions CHAPTER 2 INTERNAL ANALYSIS -STONG AND WEAK POINTS Introduction The internal analysis of the company can be also associated with SWOT analysis. This is an analysis of the strenghts, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company. Internal analysis is essential for the company because it can measure the companys current situation and it can help to further the development of the company. By analysing these four sides of the company we can better understand what is needed to further the growth of the company. It is necessary to analyse our situation in its current position in order to make better planning for the future. Since our goal is to introduce the product and the company to the Dutch market successfully we need to internally analyse our strenghts, weakneses, opportunuties and possible threats in the new market. By the internal analysis we can also make improvements in our overall marketing strategy. By internal analysis of the company we can easily identify marketing opportunities, problems and evaluate performence. The main purpose o f the internal analysis is to gain a better picture of the companys overall performance and to help us with making better marketing decisions for the future growth. Structure of the internal analysis This analysis is going to show the strenghts and weaknesses of our marketing strategy. We will analyse each part of the marketing mix in order to estimate its efficiency. Elements to analyse: Extensive analysis: Actual strategy of the company and strong/weak points influencing our marketing mix Product analysis Pricing analysis Distribution analysis Communication analysis Less extensive analysis: Personnel/Employees HRM strategy and costs Purchase function/Supply chain Finance At the end of the analysis we will provide a relevant conclusion. Actual strategy of the company and strong/weak points influencing its marketing mix Product analysis Our market offering is a soft, multivimatin drink. What is special about our product is the concept of the product. It stands out from other multivitamin drinks in the same product group. In this part of the analysis we are going to analyse the benefits, attributes, the core of the product, the actual product, the augmented product. The analysis will include the strong and weak points of the product which will affect our actual performance. Product benefits: As a main benefit of our product can be considered the fact that it is healthy and it includes a lot of vitamins.Another benefit is the innovative packaging. It is attractive and offers to the customers a special way of drinking. It is also interesting and more fun than other products in the same product group. The cap consists vitamin powder which falls into the water in the bottle immediately after opening the cap. Product attributes: Product Quality: For the quality we dont have to change anything, because our product GO! Now has a very good quality, and its a very popular drink because of quality in Eastern Europe. So we hope that Dutch consumers will have the same opinion about our product. Product Features: Based on our survey, we dont have to add any additional features for our product. Product Style and Design: Our product has an eye-catching style, so we dont have to change it. For design, its a bit a problem for now. We think that in future we will change it for the Dutch market, because design it is a deep understanding of customers needs. But for now we will leave it the same. Branding: Brand is very important for the product, and our product brand is still unknown for the Dutch market. For Dutch market we have change already the name of our brand, so we made it much easier for local consumers. Packaging: We have quite a good packaging, especially for the Dutch market, because our main product GO! orange flavor is in orange color, and, based on survey, people like especially this feature of our product. The only thing that we have to change is that we have to translate the product information from creation to Dutch and English languages. Labeling: We will not change the label, we dont need this, because based on the survey we made, we found out that consumers are fully satisfied with the product we offer. Product Support Services: We will conduct a survey among our customers periodically to assess the value of our future service, and that will also help us for obtaining new ideas. Core customer value of our product: Our product offers to the customers healthy and refreshing drink. It improves their lifestyle. It is also a new way of drinking which is a lot of fun. Actual product: GO! is a a refreshing multi-vitamin drink in innovative package, adapted to everyone who lives on the go and actively enjoys their free time. The product itself is in an orange packaging. It is a new way of drinking. You open the cap. Add GO! water to suit your taste. Then you close the cap and shake the bottle. Your GO! is ready. In the end you enjoy the unforgettable taste of your favorite multivitamin drink. The slogan of this product is Open and GO! Augmented product: The service the company provides is that if you are not satisfied with the product they will do everything they can to help you with your problem. They have also a delivery service, you order it on the internet and deliver the next day. Delivery takes too long so this is a weakness but if there is big interesnt in buying the product online we can make changes and fasten the delivery of the product. Branding strategy: Even though the brand is very popular in some East European countries it is still unknown in the Netherlands. We will make some changes in the brand name because it is too difficult to remember and it doesnt make any sense for the Dutch consumers. Of course, it is still possible to keep the brand name of the product but it will not be the best choice because its too long and its also hard to remember and pronounce. We need something simpler in order to make our product popular. Our products original brand name was Cedevita GO! and we have decided to shorten it and change it only to GO!. The new name is easier to pronounce and to remember its also with big letters so it draws the customers attention. Also the word Go have a meaning in English and it means proceed which associates with sport and physical activities that are important for the health. Pricing analysis We suggest for the client to put the price at à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 2,00 The price Atlantic Grupa puts is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1,40, the retailer price is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1,70, so the best price for our client would be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2,00 since the customers in Holland have a little bit more money to spend. And since the nature of the product is to be on the go, it would be a normal price since the other products are quite expensive as well(tank stations, AH to go etc.). And with à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬2,00 you would have a nice price. And combined with a psychological setting it would result in the final of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1,99 Another part of our pricing analysis is that the price of our product is quite high to reflect a certain amount of exclusiveness. So in that sense, we would like to pick premium pricing from the options Kotlers mentions to us. Abroad the BEA is 15,849 since this amount of euro is the constant costs. That means Atlantic Grupa has to sell exactly 11.321 bottles of cedevita GO!. With a sale of 1.684.295 and a net income of 99.292 in 2010 it is fairly easy to get out of the BEA in Holland. In Holland however, we have to include promotion costs in our constant costs and that will result in slightly higher BEA. We still believe that this BEA can be seen as a threat if our promotion program fails, normally companies always expect losses in the first few years. The promotion costs will be around 20700 and this will increase the BEA to 11.321+8280=19.621 Distribution analysis Distribution channels for our product: It is an indirect marketing channel, because we will sell our product in supermarkets. That means that we have to use one or more levels of intermediaries to help us to bring the product to final buyers. It is crucial to use this marketing channel for our product, because intermediaries could create greater efficiency in making goods available to target markets. Through their contacts, experience, specialization, and scale of operation, intermediaries usually offer the firm more that it can achieve on its own. Our distribution channel will look like this: Producer Wholesaler Retailer Consumer Distribution functions: Information: with information we could know more about actors and forces in the in the marketing environment, that affect our product. Promotion: with promotion we could tell more about our product to our target consumer market. Matching: this will help us to bring the product, which is matched to Dutch consumers needs. Physical distribution: the main function of physical distribution is to: transport and store the goods. Financing: with financing we can cover the cost for the product chain. Risk taking: we need to take risk of carrying out the channel work. Distribution objective and strategy: Main objective is to minimize the total channel cost of meeting customer-service requirements. That means that we have to focus on our target market group, to satisfy needs and wants of our customers, and minimize the channel cost. We will use intensive distribution strategy for our products, we will stock our products in as many outlets as possible. Our products have to be available where and when consumers want them, to provide maximum brand exposure and consumer convenience. Use of logistics: Logistics involves getting the right product to the right customers in the right place at the right time. So it is very important to organize in the right way. First of all we need a warehouse in the Netherlands, to store our products, while they wait to be sold. We will use the distribution centres, because they are design to move goods rather than store them. This will help us to take orders, fill them efficiently, and deliver goods to consumers as quickly as possible. Then as the inventory management also affects customer satisfaction, we have to decide how much inventory to order. We have to maintain balance between carrying to little inventory and carrying too much. After that we need to choose transportation for our product. The best way to transport our goods is by trucks. Mainly, because truck is highly flexible in their routing and time schedules, and they can usually offer faster service than railroads. The last step is a logistic information management. We will use the internet-based electronic data interchange (EDI). EDI will provide us with a simple, fast, and accurate process for capturing, processing, and sharing channel information. EDI costs exists of: Implementation Time Maintenance Fees VAN Charges Mailbox Costs Communication analysis Communication target groups: Our target groups will be: Young people Physically active people Sportsmen Students People who travel very often Communication objectives: Our main objective is to make the consumers buy our product. But this is not a very easy task since in order to fulfill it we need to understand the consumer and his needs and wants. We also need to know on which buyer-readiness stage the target audience now stands and where should it be. The buyer-readiness stages are the stages which the consumer normally passes through on their way to purchase. It includes awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction, and purchase. Since our product is new to the Dutch market we already know that our target group is not aware of the product. So our first task will be to make consumers familiar with the new product. After that we need to use the promotion mix tools in order to create positive feeling and conviction about .It is possible that we will offer special promotional prices in order to attract customers. Still, the most important thing is to convince the consumers that our product provides superior value for them and to get them to the purchase stage of the buyer-readiness stage. Media: We will use nonpersonal communication channel for our product, this means that we will use media that will carry messages without personal contact or feedback. Basically, we will use online media (e-mail, company web site, and online social and sharing networks), print media (newspapers, magazines), display media (flyers, posters). Promotion tools: For our product Go! we will use advertising and sales promotion. For advertising we will mainly use online advertising, which includes: Contextual ads that appear on a search engine results pages Companys web site Banner ads Social network advertising Advertising networks E-mail marketing. We will also use In-store advertising, which includes: Placement of product in visible location in store Advertisements on shopping carts Advertisements on in-store video displays For sales promotion we will use special cents-of deals to attract consumers ` attention by offering strong incentives to purchase our product Go! Promotions: We will advice our client to use sales promotions. The best is to use consumer sales promotion. That means that we will target our promotion on a consumers. Good examples of the consumer sales promotion are: Cents-off deal: Offers a brand at a lower price. Price reduction may be a percentage marked on the package. Price-pack deal: The packaging offers a consumer a certain percentage more of the product for the same price (for example, 25 percent extra). The non-stop retailing can be used to promote the clients product to the customer. Each of our competitors has a web-site and the products can be purchased online. The sites also include a lot of promotions. Non-stop retailing allows customers to research the product online first and then decide rather to buy it or not. The web-sites do more than selling products to the customers; they also make them go to the supermarket and shop there. Promotion budget: We will use objective-and-task method, because we think that it is the best method for our promotion campaign. With this method we will: Define specific objectives Determine the task that must be performed to achieve these objectives Estimate the cost to of performing these tasks (the sum of these cost is the proposed promotion budget) We surf the Internet and found out that our communication budget will vary from 18100 to 20700 euros for a month, depend on quantity and quality we will need to promote our product. It consists of: Magazines advertisement-from 13000 to 15000 euros Advertisement on the most popular Dutch social web site Hyves 700 euros Advertisement on various Internet search engines (Yahoo, Google) from 900 to 1500 euros To create and maintain our Go! Web site 1500 euros Flyers and posters 300 euros Employee salary for posting flyers and posters 2000 euros Since the product is completely unknown on the Dutch market we need to do a lot of promotions and advertisements in order to make it popular. This is of course a weak point because we need to build an image of the product from the zero. We will spend big amount of money on promotions and this can also affect the product price because it can make the product too expensive. Personnel/Employees HRM strategy and costs The HRM-strategy is in terms of originality as innovative and interesting, as the product itself. First of all I want to mention that there is a majority of women on the work floor and based on the financial reports they are doing quite well with their current settings. There are 62% females and 38% in the company with 1800 employees in total. We would recommend decreasing the brand managers since there are more then 200 of them in the company. Instead of focusing on the amount of brand managers we think that their salary would be better spent on mass-marketing, of course it would be less effective but you have a much greater public you can reach. The median age is around 30 but we believe that this can be lowered if younger people can be hired instead of the older ones, this is a price-cutter and also brings fresh wind/talent to the company. finance If we estimate the total calculation of our financial analysis we have to take account with the following factors: Personnel costs/research costs Promotion/media costs Distribution costs( EDI system) Transportation costs We believe that there is no personnel extensive use in our project( or at least in the early steps of it), with a research department of around 50 people divided into finance, marketing and laws should be sufficient enough for a non-superficial answer to the obstacles Atlantic Grupa will face. So if I calculate the total personnel costs with an average salary of 1800 euro(the centre is located in Eastern-Europe, lower salaries) it should be 180050= 90.000 Gross salary costs every month for the personnel/research ( I believe these 2 factors can be merged into 1since research is always done by the personnel.) Furthermore, promotion costs will be around 20.000 euro`s a month. The distribution costs is very tricky since setting up a logistic information system(EDI) is quite expensive which is mainly used by the bigger companies. The costs start from 40.000 euros and can reach 900.000 euros depending on mapping size, it is also important to note that maintaining an EDI costs around 18% of the price you paid for the system every year. A price of 200.000 for the system is enough to guarantee a high quality distribution system. Transportation costs are around 7 cents for every bottle sent, so 70.000x 0.07= 4900 euros So if i calculate everything together it would result in: 200.000+90.000+20.000+4900=314.900 euros starting up costs with 36.000+90.000+20.000 extra every month and 0.07cents x every bottle sold (variable cost)=146.000 extra per month 314.900 Euros+ 146.000 every month(and perhaps some credits ;-)), we believe that this fits in the SMART approach -

African American History: Heritage, not Hate :: American America History

African American History: "Heritage, not Hate" When exploring African-American history, the most important things to focus on are that because of the times, black people were enslaved and treated poorly. They endured it all and worked hard to rise above the boundaries of slavery and prejudice. However, the most portentous aspect of African-American history is that it's heritage; it's history; and it's over. Jane Minor was born as Gensey Snow around the late 1700's or early 1800's. She was born into slavery and freed around 1825 when she changed her name. During her slavery, she faced the hardships of being a black female slave in the 1800's. Despite that, she earned a living after her emancipation by caring for the sick. With what money she had, she bought the freedoms of other women and children. She was an admirable woman. Sally Hemmings was born in 1773 as a slave of Thomas Jefferson. However, historians found that she was much more than that. Later, it was discovered that she bore one of Jefferson's children. This perhaps could have been the reason she was given special treatment and was allowed to go to Paris with Mary Jefferson. Although, it has not been proven so. Sally's accomplishments included learning French and playing the harpsichord. Her freedom came in 1826 when Jefferson died. Nat Turner was born on October 2, 1800 in Southampton County, VA to enslaved parents. He ran away from his master at 21 years old for religious reasons. Then, he traveled as a minister and spoke to slaves. On August 22, 1831, he killed his owners. He and a band of other slaves went on killing whites, and he was captured in 1831. There, he was hung and skinned. As anyone can see, the preceding people faced suffering at the hands of others. Slavery was wrong. Yet, each person persevered and won his or her own battles one way or another. It took years and a lot of work. Being a part of history, it should be respected as just so.

What Is Community Work

What Is Community Work? Through this essay I will try to create a greater understanding of the term ‘community work’. I will begin with a short summary from two studies which help define the term on a broad basis. I will follow this by an explanation of the various approaches which can be used in community work. I will highlight the importance the community and voluntary sector have in social partnership in Ireland today. I will also discuss how funding, or a lack of it, impacts on essential services. Whether or not volunteers are an essential part of community work.I will also discuss the possible consequence of losing some of these organisations as a result of cuts in funding. Finally by looking at the work of ‘Community Platform’ I will show how, through a shared vision they hope to create a better Ireland through their work in the community. To understand what community work is it is first necessary to understand the various definitions of community. Whi le this may seem apparent initially, upon closer inspection one will discover that there is no clear consensus.What we do know is that as Hillery, a sociologist working in the 1950s pointed out, all 94 definitions of community referred to people (Mayo 1994). Varley (1988) defines these more concisely into three categories. ?Communities defined in purely special or geographical term. ?Communities defined as relationships that occur within a specific locality. ?Communities defined as relationships which may occur within or transcend conventional geographical boundaries. Working within these categories community workers seek to empower individuals and groups of people by providing them with the skills they need to effect change in their own communities.We will look at detailed examples of this later. I will first explain my understanding of the five main strands or approaches identified by David A Thomas (1993) in his study of community work in the early 1980s: Community Action: this r equires people from a community to come together, recognising the problems that their community faces and taking action to reduce these problems. This approach can have a range of benefits. It helps those individuals involved to develop skills and claim ownership of the outcome. An example of this is when residents come together to campaign for speed bumps or lower speed limits in the area.Community Development: this requires people coming together to develop a range of practices to help improve local conditions, especially for people in disadvantaged situations. It helps people to participate in public decision making and thus achieve greater control of their circumstances. An example of this is when residents turn an area that was once used for anti-social behaviour into a playground for children. This creates a safer environment for local people. Social Planning: this is a process that is carried out through identifying strengths and weaknesses in a community.This is done by desi gning and implementing programmes, which help to improve the quality of life in that community. It usually involves the action of a political, legal, or recognized voluntary body. An example of this is when an area is identified as having a very large increase in children. This information is acted on and a new school is built in the area. Community Organisation involves various community or welfare agencies working with or without the involvement of statutory authorities, supporting joint initiatives.An example of this is when organisations connect through managing, sponsoring and improving the work of various bodies. This may be carried out at a local, regional or national level. Community Care primarily focuses on the area of healthcare for the disabled, the elderly and the very young. It is a model that encourages members of the community to be active participants in helping themselves. In some cases community care may use professionals in conjunction with volunteers. In other c ases volunteers may manage projects with little or no involvement from professionals.Now that we have an understanding of the various definitions of community and have explored the different approaches of community work, we will now look at the how this work is structured in Ireland today with the help of social partnership. Social partnership was set up in Ireland in 1987. Its membership was initially limited to the government, businesses, trade unions and farmers. Organisations representing the unemployed and those experiencing poverty and inequality protested that their members did not benefit from the agreements and so began to lobby to be included in the 1996 negotiations.It was decided in 2000, by the Fianna Fail government, that inclusion of community and voluntary organisations was the way forward. Eight organisations were successful in their efforts when they were selected by the Government to become the Community & Voluntary Pillar – the fourth social partnership pi llar. It is now made up of seventeen representative organisations. This pillar represents huge progress for marginalised people. Although it is important to remember that in order to make a sustainable difference the voice these organisations have been give, must be listened to.While in theory social partners can be involved in both policy making and implementation of such policy, it is argued ( Meade 2005) that because community and voluntary organisations lack economic clout, they have been granted only marginal influence over the substance of policy decisions. Popples theory in â€Å"Analysing community Work† (1995) states â€Å"Most practitioners are employed in one way or another by the state therefore acting with particular instructions or authority, so that they could be considered to be a subordinate branch of the dominant ‘organic’ intellectuals.Whilst on the other hand the fact that they can be at odds with the dominant ideology and are encouraging ind ividuals and groups to articulate their own discourse means that they do not fully agree with the dominant system. † While it is important that the government is involved and provides subsidises to the voluntary and community sector at a national and community level, it is also fair to say that participation by volunteers in the local community is equally important as they understand what the community requires at a grass roots level.As the Mayfield Community Development Project in Cork advocates, it is fundamental to ask the local people what they need, to encourage as much participation as possible. Cullen (1989) observes that participative community development projects counterbalance the bigness and the bureaucracy of state run welfare agencies. In other words, if the recipients of these services are involved, these agencies become less intimidating and more user-friendly. This approach empowers people to be involved in identifying and meeting their own needs.Although part icipation from volunteers in the local community is vital, problems can surface when local communities come to rely heavily on the support provided by these volunteers. An example of this occurred when an introduction of community care policies led to reductions in the provision of state sponsored residential care and thus increased the demands on already pressured carers. This issue is particularly relevant today due to the current economic climate. The government is seeking to cut their expenditure in many areas, including the community and voluntary sectors.An Bord Snip Nua’s proposed cuts in funding for community and voluntary organisations will effectively amount to a huge reduction in funding for essential public services. The proposed cut of 64% in the allocation for community and voluntary sector supports, will weaken community and voluntary organisation's capacity to deliver essential services to the most vulnerable people in society. Which raises the following quest ions, ? Is the government relying on volunteers too heavily? ? Is lack of funding going to break down the fabric of the community work network in Ireland? ? What are the potential consequences of the proposed cuts?Only in time, will we discover the true answers to these questions but for now let us look at the evidence that is available to us today. Undoubtedly the Governments reliance on volunteers within the community is very apparent. It is important to remember that very often we would not have these volunteers, without the recruitment strategies that are put in place by professionals. It is also crucial volunteers are monitored and get the support they need to carry out their work effectively. Without the funded professional element in community work, it is possible that the quality of service may be compromised.This may result in volunteers becoming over worked by carrying out the duties of the paid professionals. This can lead to volunteers being under too much pressure to ca rry out their vital work. A consequence of this may be the closure of much needed services, which will impact greatly on society in general. This may lead to a more segregated community with an increased level of problems such as anti-social behaviour and mental health issues to name just two. This is why in my opinion, it is essential to have both professional and voluntary workers in the community for a cohesive approach to the various issues.It is important at this point to examine the vital community work that may be affected by these cuts. I am using the organisation Community Platform as an example. This is an organisation which facilitates both community and voluntary organisations to come together through one voice at a national level. Publishing its pre-budget submission (2010), the Community Platform said that making the poor poorer in order to try to balance the books made absolutely no sense and would have disastrous and costly social consequences.Community platform curr ently has 29 members that work together to address poverty, social exclusion and inequality. Funding is provided to the Community Platform by the Department of Community, Rural ; Gaeltacht Affairs. The vision of the Community Platform is an Ireland that is inclusive, sustainable and equal. Working closely with all of its members it aims to develop and promote this vision through shared analysis. The following groups are just a small example of the essential services that come under the community platform umbrella: ?Age Action Ireland. Rape Crises Network Ireland. ?Simon Communities of Ireland. ?Womens Aid. ?Community Workers’ Co-operative. By looking at some of the essential services that Community Platform facilitate we can see just how important this community work is and the key services that may suffer because of these cuts. As a result of my studies I have ascertained that community work appears to be many things to many people. It can be a rewarding experience to both t he facilitator and the beneficiary. It can bring people together in the hope of improving circumstances for themselves or others.It can help people to achieve their goals for their community by coming together through one voice. It may be a carried out by a paid professional or a volunteer. Both of which have their own merit. Government support and funding are imperative to sustain the level of help that is needed in the community. However it is evident that when both professionals and volunteers work together, greater results can be achieved. Community work is essential in society to help improve living conditions. With an emphasis on improving the conditions of marginalised, vulnerable people. Bibliography

Latin Death Words - Say Youre Dead

Latin Death Words - Say Youre Dead Here are some expressions from Classical Latin dealing with death. In general, the infinitives need to be conjugated. [The infinitive is like the English form of the verb with to in front of it, as in to die, to kick the bucket or to push up daisies. Conjugation here refers to putting the proper ending on the verb, depending on who is doing the dying. In Latin this involves more than adding or removing a final s as we do in English to change he dies to they die or she pushes up daisies to you push up daisies.] Leave This Life If you want to refer to someones departure from life, you could use a conjugated version of one of the following phrases: [(de) vita] decedere(ex) vita excedereex vita abiremortem obirede vita exirede (ex) vita migrare Give Up the Ghost In Latin you can give up the ghost by saying: animam edere or efflareextremum vitae spiritum edere Before Ones Time Someone who dies before his time dies in these ways: mature decederesubita morte exstinguimors immatura or praematura Suicide Committing suicide can be done in a variety of ways. Here are Latin expressions connoting self-inflicted death. mortem sibi consciscerese vita privarevitae finem facere Suicide by Poison Taking poison for suicide: veneno sibi mortem consciscerepoculum mortis exhaurirepoculum mortiferum exhaurire Violent Murder Killing someone violently: plagam extremam infligereplagam mortiferam infligere Noble Suicide A patriotic Roman death might be described using the following: mortem occumbere pro patriasanguinem suum pro patria effunderevitam profundere pro patriase morti offerre pro salute patriae Source C. Meissners Latin Phrase Book

Gaius Julius Caesar

Gaius Julius Caesar was born on the 13th day of the month Quintilis, July in modern calendars, in the year 100 BC. His name was the same as his father's, with Gaius being his given name, and Julius being his surname. Caesar was the name for one branch of the Julian family, and originally meant "hairy." His family was not extremely wealthy, however they lived in relative comfort. Regardless of his background, he was well connected and did some important work for the government in his youth. When he was only 20 years old he was honored for bravery at the siege of Mytilene. A short time after that he left to study in Rhodes, but was captured and incarcerated by pirates on his way there. His family paid a ransom for his release. Caesar returned with a small private army to execute the pirates who had apprehended him. He never finished his studies due to the war with Mithradates VI of Pontis in 74 BC Caesar was a man of great strength and strong beliefs. At one point in time , Sulla told Caesar that he had to divorce his wife as a symbolic act of his loyalty to the new regime. Caesar told him no, and Sulla was so impressed by this act that he pardoned Caesar instead of exiling him. Cesar's strength gained him some small political offices in his early years. It was in 59 BC that he became a Roman Consul, and made the alliance with Pompey and Crassus that is known as the "First Triumvirate." This alliance was extremely important in the history of Rome and its empire.Caesar's rise to power came in three main areas, politics, religion, and the military. He gained the power in politics and religion from a very early age. He became active in both, and eventually became the central figure in religion and politics. His rise to power in the military came shortly after the death of Crassus. This left only Pompey and Caesar fighting for whom was in charge of the Triumvirate. Caesar marched his army down to southern It...

Free Essays on Writing Process

Throughout all my years of writing I have never considered myself as a strong writer. The writing process for me can be very frustrating because I will begin writing my paper and I will instantly cross out what I wrote and change my sentences. This sometimes can make it take a very long time to get a paper started. In this paper I will examine my writing process, which will help me learn about myself as a writer, and hopefully get my papers started more smoothly. I will go straight to the computer and begin my work there instead of handwriting it on paper. This gets the whole paper done in one setting at my computer, which is what I prefer because it gets it done quickly. I usually try and rush through the paper trying to get all my ideas out and then I will go back and make the necessary adjustments weather it be adding a few lines or changing them. Before I begin writing the paper, I start brainstorming over the topic I will discuss and do research on that topic. The research I like to do mostly is online but most of the time it is necessary to go to a library and look up information. I write my brainstorming ideas and my research notes on a bubble chart and after I have come up with several topics I am able to organize them. I organize the ideas into an outline and after completing my outline I am ready to begin writing the paper. I begin my paper by coming up with a good thesis that will relate to the entire paper. When I construct my thesis I use the MLA style I learned in high school where I try to pose a question that can be talked about. I know this is not the only way to make a thesis but it is the way I have always used and feel comfortable with. After crafting a good thesis I will think of a good 3 or 4 sentences to write before the thesis to get my introductory paragraph started. This is typically the hardest step of my writing process because I feel like I have too rigid of rules for making a thesis which makes i... Free Essays on Writing Process Free Essays on Writing Process Throughout all my years of writing I have never considered myself as a strong writer. The writing process for me can be very frustrating because I will begin writing my paper and I will instantly cross out what I wrote and change my sentences. This sometimes can make it take a very long time to get a paper started. In this paper I will examine my writing process, which will help me learn about myself as a writer, and hopefully get my papers started more smoothly. I will go straight to the computer and begin my work there instead of handwriting it on paper. This gets the whole paper done in one setting at my computer, which is what I prefer because it gets it done quickly. I usually try and rush through the paper trying to get all my ideas out and then I will go back and make the necessary adjustments weather it be adding a few lines or changing them. Before I begin writing the paper, I start brainstorming over the topic I will discuss and do research on that topic. The research I like to do mostly is online but most of the time it is necessary to go to a library and look up information. I write my brainstorming ideas and my research notes on a bubble chart and after I have come up with several topics I am able to organize them. I organize the ideas into an outline and after completing my outline I am ready to begin writing the paper. I begin my paper by coming up with a good thesis that will relate to the entire paper. When I construct my thesis I use the MLA style I learned in high school where I try to pose a question that can be talked about. I know this is not the only way to make a thesis but it is the way I have always used and feel comfortable with. After crafting a good thesis I will think of a good 3 or 4 sentences to write before the thesis to get my introductory paragraph started. This is typically the hardest step of my writing process because I feel like I have too rigid of rules for making a thesis which makes i...

MKTG Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

MKTG - Essay Example Using posters, banners, carry bags and even consumer goods to promote one’s product and services has become common. Sponsorship of events like sports events, cultural festivals and carnivals have become highly attractive propositions for big and small business. But in the recent times, the companies have started using mobiles phones as their media of advertisement. The huge database of mobile phone users offers the companies with wide options to send messages regarding products to the prospective customers. While mobile advertisement might be a big nuisance value for the mobile users, it nevertheless provides the firms with huge opportunities to exploit new market. The companies like Suzuki, Vodafone, AIG etc are using this media to promote their products and services. Indeed, the new approach and innovative ideas of promoting products have increasingly transformed alternative media into highly accessible and effective tools of advertising. (words: 242)

Research esssay on the wire and its interpretation of corrupt Essay

Research esssay on the wire and its interpretation of corrupt institutes throughout the series - Essay Example 1). Throughout the series, it is difficult to precisely pi point down what made characters like Burrell and Rawls who they are. The obvious factor would be their obsession with crime lords and their dysfunctional management formation but this will not be enough. We end up seeing figures like Rawls and Burrell having been transformed by their institutional practices (Alasdair, 2013, p. 1). This leads to them not conforming to the institution while actively reproducing a new culture through their actions. With respect to the above point, Cedric Daniels is definitely one of the most fascinating characters. From the first series we hear of availability of a certain file that has dialed information of corruption allegations in relation to the liquid assets he had acquired during the beginning of his career. This makes it easier for one to label Daniels as a corrupt person and villain in the series. The irony is that he is the only character who refuses to actively keep on reproducing the institutional culture and kind of governance that he purports to be failing (Deleuze, 2002, p. 6). In return, he tries harder to set his own standards with the hope that young officer like Carver can emulate (Alasdair, 2013, p. 1). ... We can observe the same complexity extending to other institutions in the city during the second season. During this season, dockworkers are observed forming an alliance with international syndicates mainly represented by the Greeks. Through the entire series, the Greeks can be deemed to be the most expert people who are often deemed to be mysterious. Towards the dramatic end of season two, one discovers that he is yet to know any names of the Greeks (Alasdair, 2013, p. 1). There is even further speculation that they have links to the FBI and it is disheartening to find out that they are not even Greeks. Corrupt dockworkers like Frank Sobotka conveniently lose some shipping containers so that The Greeks can use them in shipping their drugs and sex workers. Frank and his fellow workers never bother to ask any questions as long as they keep on receiving their cut. To them this is a new source of revenue and a way of supporting their families. Property developers re in bed with politici ans who are determined to own the docks, officer Valchek is seen to be doing what it takes to disrespect dockworkers, this leads to a natural form of alliance between the Greeks and dockworkers (Alasdair, 2013, p. 1). As a result of political greed and police intimidation, these two institutions have naturally and unconditionally pushed the dockworkers towards the lesser evil (Agamben, 2000, p. 13). The viewer cannot help but see Frank actions as not been different to that of the institutions created to protect their interest. Some police officers can be seen trying to do their best for the city of Baltimore by working overtime. Those in position of power like management seem to be doing their best in manipulating authorities to lose some cases.

The Rising Cost of Benefits in America Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

The Rising Cost of Benefits in America - Essay Example Historical View Although the costs of healthcare have consistently risen over the last twenty years, the recent increases pale in comparison to tremendous spikes during the 1980s. According to Weatherly (2004), â€Å"[p]er capita health care spending increased by 156% from 1980 to 1990, while spending from 1990 to 2000 increased by less than half that amount† (p. 2). It seems strategies have changed today, from the 1980s, when employers absorbed a vast majority of cost increases. The recession of 1991 set employers back, yet health maintenance organizations (HMOs) had a stronger presence, providing economic relief to a certain extent. During that period, HMOs are reported as being a major factor in the decelerated rising costs. Today, employers are faced with a once more weakened economy and steep costs associated with providing benefits. The present difference is the extreme competition within many industries, which makes it hard for organizations to pass costs onto their cus tomers. Consequently, the employee responsibility is increasing, causing them to absorb more of the cost, reducing their overall income (Weatherly, 2004). ... Major consulting groups, the mass media, and healthcare experts have expressed similar research findings; according to Weatherly (2004), â€Å"health care costs are a critical or significant concern to the overwhelming majority of CEOs, Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) and other business leaders† (p. 2). Weatherly (2004) reports on surveys conducted among HR leaders and healthcare experts throughout the country, which convey a single ideology—employees and employers, when working together, can reduce the cost of healthcare. Specifically, â€Å"depending on the specific health care specialty area, between 83% and 96% of employers believe that employer and consumer decisions can have a significant or moderate impact on cost† (Weatherly, 2004, p. 2). Healthcare benefits have been the topic of heated discussion in recent months. Many Americans have voiced concern over the dire situation that the country is currently facing. Weatherly (2004) estimates organizatio ns spend $300 billion each year on providing health insurance for current employees, their dependents, and retired employees. Until 2011, a majority of employers did little to reduce benefit plan coverage and counteract the rising costs. As of 2004, plans offered by employers were relatively stable. Innovative benefit strategies and revamps of overall design were rare to non-existent (Weatherly, 2004). Innovative Strategies Recent reports by HR leaders to assist in offsetting the rapid increase in costs include premium cost shifting from employers to employees, raised deductibles, prescription programs (generic and mail-order), and increased cost-sharing with patients. As mentioned, healthcare costs are expected to climb another 8.9 percent in 2011 and experts expect annual increases into the near future

The Relevance of Employee Engagement Indices as A Performance Research Paper

The Relevance of Employee Engagement Indices as A Performance - Research Paper Example Three articles have been chosen based on the following criterion: the relevance of these articles to the subject under examination. These articles are analyzed below focusing on their value for achieving the objectives of the proposed study. The first article is that of Siddhanta and Roy (2010). The specific article focuses on the relationship between employee engagement and productivity. The examination and the evaluation of this relationship is one of the study’s objectives. The article has been considered as important for the proposed study because of the following reasons: a) it helps to explore one of the study’s objectives, meaning especially the involvement of employee engagement in enhancing productivity in institutions; b) it presents a thorough analysis of the role of engagement within modern organizations. Also, engagement, as a concept, is explained in the context of its relationship with different aspects of the organization, such as ‘productivity, pr ofitability and customer satisfaction’ (Siddhanta and Roy, 2010, p. 172). The article of Siddhanta and Roy (2010) is based on literature review, meaning that no empirical research has been conducted for exploring the issues discussed in the article. The authors have used ‘integrative literature reviews’ (Siddhanta and Roy, 2010, p. 172) aiming to address all issues related to the subject under examination. At the same time, the findings of the literature review are presented using ‘a descriptive study manner’ (Siddhanta and Roy, 2010, p. 172). This technique helps to secure the credibility of assumptions produced through the findings of the literature. Furthermore, the findings of empirical research conducted by large firms such as Gallup and Hay Group (Siddhanta and Roy, 2010, p. 172) are presented and discussed in combination with the findings of the literature review. The specific practice further increases the credibility and the validity of the authors’ assumptions on the issue under examination. Under these terms, the study of Siddhanta and Roy (2010) is valuable for understanding the current position of engagement as a factor influencing organizational performance. The article of Bhatla (2011) focuses on the effect of employee engagement on employee performance. In this way, the impact of employee engagement on organizational productivity is verified especially since employee performance directly influences the performance of the organization, either in the short or the long term. The specific study is also related with one of the objectives of the proposed study. More specifically, as already explained, the proposed study aims to show the potential influence of employee engagement in increasing productivity in institutions. The study of Bhatla (2011) shows how employee engagement can affect employee performance; as a result, the role of employee engagement in organizational productivity is also made clear. One of the most important advantages of the article of Bhatla, compared to other studies related to the specific issue, is the following one: Bhatla has emphasized not only the theoretical but also on the practical aspects of employee engagement. More specifically, in the study of Bhatla, all aspects of employee engagement are explored using the literature published in this field. Moreover, a series

Career Speech Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Career Speech - Essay Example The general practitioner may attend deliveries and in most cases is the primary provider of parental care. In other words, the family doctor provides comprehensive medical services including counseling and general medical care to a family or individual without regard to gender and age. At work, the family practitioner examines patients, executes various tests, analyses and diagnoses their conditions and prescribes medications or treatment (Careers.org, 2010). Compared to general practitioners, family practice physicians generally have broader training. By training, a family doctor must complete a residency in medicine (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010). To become a practitioner, one must attend four years in college and medical school which usually takes four years. Further one must be an intern for at least one year before undertaking specialized training in family medicine for two years. Family practitioners in many cases work in clinics or small private offices. Closely related to this profession are others like general practice, nursing, medicine, Osteopathy and veterinary medicine. In order to join this noble profession, aspiring practitioners must be self motivated, have the desire to serve sick people, able to withstand long hours and a lot of pressure at work (Careers.org, 2010). Like it happens with numerous other professions, it is advisable to seek board certification and registration as a family practitioner with recognized professional bodies. Practitioners’ wages vary depending on several factors like it happens in other fields. In the United States, for example, one may typically make between 120,000 USD and 190,000 USD in a year according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2010). In the United Kingdom, family doctors may make between  £50,000 and  £175,000 on average. On top of the hefty pay family practitioners receive, they are always

The Effects of Merger and Acquisitions on the Recent Worldwide Assignment

The Effects of Merger and Acquisitions on the Recent Worldwide Financial Crisis - Assignment Example Mergers occur when two or more entities come together (in a form of partnership) to form a single trading unit- the entities cease to exist and form a new firm. A good example is the merger of two banks Lloyds TSB and HBOS, following the global financial crisis, to form Lloyds TSB-HBOS (Rosenbaum, 2009). Acquisitions on the other hand, refer to one entity, the bidding company, taking over a target entity, by acquiring, through purchase, of its stakes that could include shares, stocks (majority control of its capital) or assets. For example, Lehman Brothers was declared bankrupt (at a debt of 613 Billion Dollars) due to the recent global financial crisis was bailed out by the American Federal Government (Mihm, 2010). Therefore, the major distinction between mergers and acquisition is the position of the shareholders. In mergers, the shareholders exchange their shares for shares of the new entity, while in Acquisitions; the target company is bought out, with shareholders paid in cash o r debt. Objectives of Mergers and Acquisitions The current wave of M&A began in 2005. A report by the International Monetary Fund indicates that, during this time, the world’s real GDP grew by 4.8%. ... Many business firms opt for M&A due to many reasons. To state briefly, it is argued most firms, go for M&A, to cut on production costs; that, it is cost effective in the long run to merge with or acquire a firm producing a raw material for the larger firm. This saves on market exchange costs while the synergy due to M&A cuts on departmental and running costs, compared to an increased revenue stream from a large market share and a centralized management. Secondly, M&A is seen to achieve competitive advantage, due to new market knowledge and goodwill acquired, territorial advantage of the native firm acquired. A firm will merge or acquire another, and excel in the new market, due to the knowledge and experience of the target entity, as opposed to efforts of the bidding company going to it alone, in the foreign market (Shan & Hamilton, 1991). Another reason for M&A is the financial advantage of tax reliefs. It is argued that a company which reports loses, is more likely to be bought off by another profitable one, as the target company’s reported loss will be utilized in reducing tax liability. However, most governments like the United States have legislations that limit and check against this practice (Mihm, 2010). A statistical study by Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies & Research indicated that, the Arabian banks and Companies, which are smaller in size compared to similar foreign institutions needed to merge so as to remain globally competitive. Also, indicated in the report is because, in the first three quarters of 2008, there were 48 mergers in the Middle East only (Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, 2009). Shan & Hamilton in their article â€Å"country-specific advantage and

The Relevance of Employee Engagement Indices as A Performance Research Paper

The Relevance of Employee Engagement Indices as A Performance - Research Paper Example Three articles have been chosen based on the following criterion: the relevance of these articles to the subject under examination. These articles are analyzed below focusing on their value for achieving the objectives of the proposed study. The first article is that of Siddhanta and Roy (2010). The specific article focuses on the relationship between employee engagement and productivity. The examination and the evaluation of this relationship is one of the study’s objectives. The article has been considered as important for the proposed study because of the following reasons: a) it helps to explore one of the study’s objectives, meaning especially the involvement of employee engagement in enhancing productivity in institutions; b) it presents a thorough analysis of the role of engagement within modern organizations. Also, engagement, as a concept, is explained in the context of its relationship with different aspects of the organization, such as ‘productivity, pr ofitability and customer satisfaction’ (Siddhanta and Roy, 2010, p. 172). The article of Siddhanta and Roy (2010) is based on literature review, meaning that no empirical research has been conducted for exploring the issues discussed in the article. The authors have used ‘integrative literature reviews’ (Siddhanta and Roy, 2010, p. 172) aiming to address all issues related to the subject under examination. At the same time, the findings of the literature review are presented using ‘a descriptive study manner’ (Siddhanta and Roy, 2010, p. 172). This technique helps to secure the credibility of assumptions produced through the findings of the literature. Furthermore, the findings of empirical research conducted by large firms such as Gallup and Hay Group (Siddhanta and Roy, 2010, p. 172) are presented and discussed in combination with the findings of the literature review. The specific practice further increases the credibility and the validity of the authors’ assumptions on the issue under examination. Under these terms, the study of Siddhanta and Roy (2010) is valuable for understanding the current position of engagement as a factor influencing organizational performance. The article of Bhatla (2011) focuses on the effect of employee engagement on employee performance. In this way, the impact of employee engagement on organizational productivity is verified especially since employee performance directly influences the performance of the organization, either in the short or the long term. The specific study is also related with one of the objectives of the proposed study. More specifically, as already explained, the proposed study aims to show the potential influence of employee engagement in increasing productivity in institutions. The study of Bhatla (2011) shows how employee engagement can affect employee performance; as a result, the role of employee engagement in organizational productivity is also made clear. One of the most important advantages of the article of Bhatla, compared to other studies related to the specific issue, is the following one: Bhatla has emphasized not only the theoretical but also on the practical aspects of employee engagement. More specifically, in the study of Bhatla, all aspects of employee engagement are explored using the literature published in this field. Moreover, a series

The Effects of Merger and Acquisitions on the Recent Worldwide Assignment

The Effects of Merger and Acquisitions on the Recent Worldwide Financial Crisis - Assignment Example Mergers occur when two or more entities come together (in a form of partnership) to form a single trading unit- the entities cease to exist and form a new firm. A good example is the merger of two banks Lloyds TSB and HBOS, following the global financial crisis, to form Lloyds TSB-HBOS (Rosenbaum, 2009). Acquisitions on the other hand, refer to one entity, the bidding company, taking over a target entity, by acquiring, through purchase, of its stakes that could include shares, stocks (majority control of its capital) or assets. For example, Lehman Brothers was declared bankrupt (at a debt of 613 Billion Dollars) due to the recent global financial crisis was bailed out by the American Federal Government (Mihm, 2010). Therefore, the major distinction between mergers and acquisition is the position of the shareholders. In mergers, the shareholders exchange their shares for shares of the new entity, while in Acquisitions; the target company is bought out, with shareholders paid in cash o r debt. Objectives of Mergers and Acquisitions The current wave of M&A began in 2005. A report by the International Monetary Fund indicates that, during this time, the world’s real GDP grew by 4.8%. ... Many business firms opt for M&A due to many reasons. To state briefly, it is argued most firms, go for M&A, to cut on production costs; that, it is cost effective in the long run to merge with or acquire a firm producing a raw material for the larger firm. This saves on market exchange costs while the synergy due to M&A cuts on departmental and running costs, compared to an increased revenue stream from a large market share and a centralized management. Secondly, M&A is seen to achieve competitive advantage, due to new market knowledge and goodwill acquired, territorial advantage of the native firm acquired. A firm will merge or acquire another, and excel in the new market, due to the knowledge and experience of the target entity, as opposed to efforts of the bidding company going to it alone, in the foreign market (Shan & Hamilton, 1991). Another reason for M&A is the financial advantage of tax reliefs. It is argued that a company which reports loses, is more likely to be bought off by another profitable one, as the target company’s reported loss will be utilized in reducing tax liability. However, most governments like the United States have legislations that limit and check against this practice (Mihm, 2010). A statistical study by Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies & Research indicated that, the Arabian banks and Companies, which are smaller in size compared to similar foreign institutions needed to merge so as to remain globally competitive. Also, indicated in the report is because, in the first three quarters of 2008, there were 48 mergers in the Middle East only (Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, 2009). Shan & Hamilton in their article â€Å"country-specific advantage and

How to Talk about the World Essay Example for Free

How to Talk about the World Essay How does the opening paragraph establish the mood and values of the story? With the opening paragraph of the story, reader can feel that the story will be conveying something that is related to discrimination over niggers or black people in the location. It impliedly said that there should be no boundaries to be set using the color of the skin or the race that a certain person belongs to. Also, there should be no ‘special treatment’ to people who are considered to be powerful especially when that person is a relative to anyone who owns the establishment. To associate with the society, special accord should be given to everyone and not to selected few especially if they are well-known to politicians or they are influential because of their wealth. 2) State the nature of the conflict in John? John is having a conflict to himself. He does not know whether or not he will approach Dorris in whatever manner that is politely for her to receive and gentlemanly for him to give. He is having trouble on how to treat Dorris and on how to react on the things that Dorris is showing him. At first, he tried to ignore her but in the later part of the story he can not contain himself by just merely looking at Dorris from a distance. Even though there is a mixed feeling bothering him, may be it can be synonymous to having butterflies in the stomach, John still tried his best to treat Dorris the way she should be treated. However, when their flesh touched each other, both moods shifted gradually and there was a little bit of intimacy that envelopes them. Without them knowing, there is already a contact between them however, they still tend to ignore it because they know nothing will happen. 3) How does the author achieve dramatic conflict between John and Dorris even though they do not speak to each other? The author achieved the dramatic conflict between the two characters when they were dancing graciously in an empty room that only John knows of. It was then that John and Dorris realized that there is something in each other that makes them shiver. After they have had a soulful act outside the stage, they both wanted each other yet the other one is nowhere to be found. In John’s dreams, it was Dorris whom he is dancing with. Imagining Dorris is something that made the drama in the story is interesting. The highlight of the story was when they both entered a room that is only filled with darkness and they both took advantage of the time that they are alone. They were able to satisfy each other’s yearning because of the intensity of the affection that they both showered each other. However, not all things end with a happy note. John disappeared without Dorris knowing. She searched for him yet, nothing happened. Dorris may feel a little bit of regret for having ignored John all the while.

Avivas Services Marketing Mix Marketing Essay

Avivas Services Marketing Mix Marketing Essay This report will be looking at the services which Aviva provides and how the services the business offer differ from a typical manufacturing firm. Looking at the theoretical issues of intangibility, heterogeneity, inseparability and perishability which affect the various elements of the services marketing mix of Avivas products provided to their customers. Company Introduction Aviva is the sixth-largest insurance group in the world. It has a turnover of over  £47.1 billion. Aviva provides more than 44.5 million customers with insurance, savings and investment products. They are one of Europes leading providers of Car insurance, Motor insurance, Life insurance, Home insurance, Health insurance, Travel insurance, Personal accident insurance, Pet insurance and Business insurance. Avivas main activities are the provision of general and life insurance, long-term savings products and fund management services. The group has around 36,600 employees,  £379 billion of assets under management and 43 million customers. Avivas Principal subsidiaries are: Aviva Life Pensions, investments, Life Insurance and long term savings (formerly Norwich Union) Aviva Insurance General Insurance Aviva Investors Fund Management (formerly Morley Fund Management) Aviva is ranked as one of the UKs top 10 most valuable brands in 2012 and has been voted the UKs top life, general and health insurer by insurance intermediaries. Aviva aims for superior long-term investment performance and it is UKs one of the most financially strong investment company. Aviva provides an extensive range of value-for-money, good quality products investments, retirement, protection and healthcare designed and changing to meet your needs, both now and in the future. Aviva was created by a merger of two British insurance firms, Norwich Union and CGU plc. In October 2009 the company decided to focus on its commercial insurance sector and demonstrate its commitment to brokers by launching their find a broker facility, using the British Insurance Brokers Association search engine. To help them with this endeavour, Paul Whitehouse was recruited to play the part of a successful hairdresser running three salons. The message of the campaign focused on business insurance through insurance brokers. The closing line of the campaign was Were in business to keep you in business. The Marketing Mix Marketing is the ability of an organisation to provide the right product, at the right price, via the right outlets and presented in the correct way . In addition to product, price, place and promotion, services marketing calls for three additional Ps people, processes and physical evidence. The idea of classification affecting the marketing mix often expands our understanding of the marketing mix itself. For example excluding product classifications such as tangibility, reputation, heterogeneity, inseparability, perish-ability and ownership which are associated with service, we can look at the marketing mix as simply four Ps: The product, the price, the place, and the promotion. This initial idea of a marketing mix originated in the 1960s when developed by Neil Borden in his book: The Concept of the Marketing Mix (Borden, 1965) In this article Borden lists various elements of the marketing mix for manufacturers, twelve in total, stating the list can be long or short depending on how far one wishes to go in his classification and sub-classification of the marketing procedures. From this list has derived the four Ps of the marketing mix we know today. These four Ps make up the raw product without any service factor, the actual product, where it is sold, the promotion to the target consumer and the selling price. There is arguably no evidence to show any kind of customer service in the four Ps marketing mix, can be thought of as distinctly producer-orientated. (Kotler, Armstrong, Harker, Brennan, 2009) Product Distinctions Theoretical issues of Intangibility, Heterogeneity, Inseparability and Perishability are as follows Intangibility is a unique characteristic of service which cannot be seen physically, felt, tasted or touched as physical goods are. For example when we watch a movie in the theatre, we are entertained by watching it. Entertainment is the output of the service that is delivered. Issues caused by intangibility are Lack of service inventories: Services cannot be stored as the physical goods are. Lack of patent protection: As services are intangible, they cannot be patent protected as the physical goods are. Service offered by one firm can be also offered by other company in different way. Difficulty in communicating services: Goods can be physically displayed, but whereas services are not physically shown to customers. Its hard for the companies to convince the customer to buy make the products that are offered as services. E.g. Insurance Difficulty in pricing services: Services offered by companies differ and no two services can be same as customers needs are different. Services are customised and hence tend to have fixed pricing. Heterogeneity is a unique characteristic of service that reflects the difference in the service that is provided from one customer to other customer. For example when a customer goes to a restaurant and ordered food would be different kind from the other customer and no customers experience is the same. Similarly no ones custom made jewellery looks alike as its unique to the customers requirements. Issues caused by heterogeneity Service standardization and quality control are difficult to achieve Services provided by different providers within the same location tend to be same. Mood and skills of a single provider differ from day-to-day Inseparability is a unique characteristic of service which displays the association between the people or company which provides service and the person who is engaged in receiving the service and also other customers who are indirectly or directly getting the knowledge. For example when a customer wants to take an internet connection, the sales team of the internet company need not interact face to face with the customer to give the information about the product. But whereas in a production process like Saloon, the customer has to be physically present to get his hair cut. Issues caused by inseparability Physical connection of the service provider to the service: In order to provide the service to the customer, the service provider has to be physically present and Face-to-face interaction with customers makes employees satisfaction critical when they are not able to provide proper guidance to customers. Involvement of the customer in the production processes: Customers involvement may vary according to the requirement that the customer be physically present to receive the service, i.e. for a dental service, customer has to be physically present in order to solve his or her problem related to teeth. Involvement of other customers in the production process: Customers presence is required in some service and some customers often share a common service experience and that shared experience can be negative or positive depending upon the experience the customer gets out of the service he has received. Perishability is a unique characteristic of service in which the service cannot be saved. Unused services cannot be reserved or neither can be inventoried. For example seats in a theatre can be inventoried for a period of time before the purchase of the ticket and cannot be inventoried after the show is finished. Another example of perishability is fresh meat, it can be stored for certain time period but once it sold it is completely perished. Issues caused by Perishability Matching supply and demand is a major challenge for the service provider, if there is a higher demand of service, than service providers tend to make the supply of the service maximum. When there is a higher demand, than the service provider gives optimal supply level. Avivas services marketing mix Product There is no point in developing a product or service that no one wants to buy. Companies try to find out what the customers need and then develop the right product that attracts customers. A produce is we produce. If we produce goods it means tangible product and when we produce or generate services, it means intangible service product. A product is what a seller sells and what buyer buys. Thus, Aviva provides insurance services and therefore insurance services are their products. Aviva is the leading company offering insurance services to the users. Apart from offering life insurance policies, they also offer underwriting and consulting services. When a person or an organisation buys an Insurance policy from Aviva, he buys a policy along with it the assistance and the prestige of the insurance company and the facilities of claims and compensation. It is natural that the customers expect a reasonable return for their investment and Aviva as insurance company wants to maximize their profitability. Aviva would have intangibility issue as the company can introduce new insurance scheme which would give the customer the advantage of having to take single insurance policy for the whole family. The company can protect the product brand but it cannot restrict other insurance companies to come up with similar scheme with a different name, hence there is lack of patent protection. The company provides different schemes according to the customers needs and the pricing of the insurance is not the same for every customer. Pricing A product is only worth what customers are prepared to pay for it and the price needs to be competitive. In insurance business the pricing decisions are concerned with the premium charged against the policies that a customer would take and also interest is charged for defaulting the payment of premium. The factors that Aviva uses for determining the premium rates under a life insurance plan are mortality, expense and interest. The premium rates are revised if there are any significant changes like Mortality: When deciding upon the pricing strategy the average rate of mortality is one of the main considerations that it takes in to care. Expenses: The cost of processing, commission to agents, reinsurance companies as well as registration are all incorporated into the cost of instalments, premium sum and forms the integral part of the pricing strategy. Interest: Rate of interest is one of the major factors which determine if the customers willingness to invest in insurance. Customers will not be willing to put their funds to invest in insurance if the interest rates provided by financial institutions are much greater than the perceived returns from the insurance premiums. Aviva would have intangibility issue in pricing, Aviva provides different kinds of insurances. Customers tend to choose which product they would want to opt and as insurance is not same for all the customers the price varies depending on the premium and the term that a customer is will to go for. Hence pricing the service plays a major role in Aviva. Place The place where customers buy a product must be appropriate and convenient for the customer and the product must be available in the right place at the right time. Place plays an important role at Aviva. It has branches all over the UK and also has insurance agents in order to offer the services. This helps the company to process the services to the end-user so that the gap between services that are promised and services that are offered is bridged over. Aviva also offers customers to apply for policies online. This helps the customers to get their insurance without going to the branch or to contact agent and saves customers time. Aviva would have inseparability issues, if a customer wants to take insurance he has to get in touch with the staff and get the information needed to choose the right kind of product he wants. Aviva should have more dedicated advisers to educate the customers for taking insurance and explaining the benefits of having insurance from their company . Promotion Promotion is the way a company communicates what it does and what it offers to the customers. Good promotion is necessary for a company to have better income and it also shows what advantages the customers get when they choose their services. Aviva promotes its services by advertising in television ads, radio and billboards. This helps Aviva to boost its sales. It also provides loyalty discounts to existing customers which helps the company to attract new customers by word of mouth. The company also uses direct mail and online campaigns to target new customers. Aviva also offers special promotional deals which help the company to get new customers who wish to switch from an existing insurance company. When it comes to promotion, Aviva would have heterogeneity and intangibility issues as no customer would have the same kind of policy. Insurance policy depends on various factors like age , health etc. so the company has to customise the policy according to the customer needs so that they could attract more customers. The company gives promotional offers to customers which are intangibility in nature and this makes it hard for the company to actually convince the customer to take their service as they are not physical products which a customer can feel. People Anyone who comes in contact with customers will make an impression and it might have positive or negative. It is out most important for a company to ensure that all employees who have contact with customers are properly trained and also should have right kind of people for the job. Understanding the customer better allows designing appropriate products. Aviva being a service industry and involves a high level of people interaction, Aviva makes sure that all its staff is given regular training so that they can maintain strong relationships with the customers. They have 24 hour helpline with multi-lingual staff to answer customer queries regarding them policies or any other service related issues. When it comes to people, Aviva would have perishability issue. If a customer is not happy with the service that the company is providing then he tend to look for better services that other company offers. Employees should make sure that they understand what the customer issues are and try to help them out so that they dont loose the customer. Process The process of giving a service to a customer is crucial in terms of customer satisfaction such as waiting times, the information given to customers and the way the staff helps the customers are important for a company to keep the customers happy. Customers are not interested in the detail of how the business runs. Avivas process is customer friendly. They advise customers about the products that they offer and tell the customers which product is best suited. Aviva has the reputation of speed and accuracy of payment. Their processing method is easy and convenient to the customers. The instalment schemes they provide cater to the ever growing demands of the customers. They provide different schemes to cater the demand of customers who wish to go for the service. The IT Data Warehousing system of Aviva helps the company to have a unified way to provide service large no. of customers efficiently and maintain their overheads. This helps to improve customer service levels. When it comes to process, Aviva could have issues related to inseparability, intangibility and perishability because they have to have advertise regularly about their products that they offer, new schemes that the company is giving to its existing customers as well as new customers. Service and quality control could also have adverse effect on the sales of their products. If they dont offer customers the help that they need on time, customers might feel unhappy about the service that they get which leads to switchover to a different company. Physical evidence Service cannot be experienced before it is delivered. Physical evidence given by an organisation must confirm the assumptions of the customer. As the customer cannot experience the service before buying it, but they can talk about the service with other people about the experience they have got by choosing their product. Distribution is a key determinant of success for all insurance companies. Today, the insurers have a large reach and presence throughout UK. Building a distribution network is very expensive and time consuming. Aviva provides all the information on their website so that customers can have all the information about the products and the services the company provides. Aviva has also been using remote distribution channels such as telephone and email in order to reach more customers so that they can avoid intermediaries, bring down overheads and increase profitability. Aviva offers an entire range of products including motor, home and life insurance and pensions. Conclusion The seven ps of Marketing Mix The marketing mix is the combination of marketing activities that an organisation engages in so as to best meet the needs of its targeted market. Taking product classification in to account when dealing with marketing of services, it expands the understanding of the original 4ps. The Insurance business deals in selling services and therefore due weightage in the formation of marketing mix for the Insurance business is needed. The marketing mix includes sub-mixes of the 7 Ps of marketing i.e. the product, its price, place, promotion, people, process physical attraction. The above mentioned 7 Ps can be used for marketing of Insurance products. The services that Aviva offers as mentioned above is affected by issues of classification of being Intangibility, Heterogeneity, Inseparability and Perishability which based on the researched information is performed well by the business. Aviva offers services which are competitive with other insurance companies on price and service support which has helped the company to be ranked as one of the UKs top 10 most valuable brands in 2012 and sixth-largest insurance group in the world. It has become one global brand with 43 million customers and has over 300 years of heritage.

A Sweepstakes Scandal :: essays research papers fc

Persuasion is "the process by which a person's attitudes or behaviors are, without duress, influenced by communications from other people (Encyclopedia Britannica Online). There are numerous types of persuasion and in many forms. In the following pages I will take you on a journey through the tactics of sweepstakes companies, one in particular - Publishers Clearing House. This is an interesting subject matter that I have grown up around. My mother has sent in each and every Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes letter she has received since she was twenty years old. She is positive that someday she will indeed win big money even though she has only won a few prizes worth about a dollar in over 30 years of doing it. Why? Simply because she is persuaded by someone or something to keep doing so. Sweepstakes companies have become very skilled at creating a web of deception by the headlines, the words; in fact many things about their mailings are intended to get people to buy products they would not likely buy otherwise. Sweepstakes companies target generations that are very trusting. These letters are mindfully designed to look like authentic government documents. Companies misrepresent the possibility of actually winning through the involved use of graphics which manipulate font, color, type size, layout, and text to hide the contest conditions in order to emphasize the likelihood of winning, when in fact it is simply a mass-market mailing. They even have personal notes from celebrities such as Ed McMahon that makes it difficult for a person not to believe that he is a winner. Other convincing techniques they use are the associated publicity release forms and pre-authorization of how one would like the prize payoff. Publishers Clearing House, one of the United States largest operators of sweepstakes competitions, was founded in 1953 and has been holding sweepstakes since 1967. They sell magazine subscriptions, videos, collectible figurines, sport memorabilia, coins, household and personal care items, along with books and tapes. The company has given out approximately $137 million in money and prizes (pch.com). In contrast, during 1997 and 1998, the company had annual sales of about $375 million. Publishers Clearing House started out in the business of selling magazines but are now in the pursuit of selling sweepstakes, and instead of people being sold the benefits of the magazines, they are sold on being a winner, finalist, or having a better chance to win.

Urban Public Art in Canada Essay -- Canadian Art

When on holiday in any city, the visitor inevitably snaps photographs of the iconic public statuary and buildings in an effort to identify a location through association with landmarks and architecture. It is allowed freely without intrusion of private indoor spaces and confirms the identity of the place visited. The relationship of the art to the environment is illustrated and the fact that one is â€Å"being there† is documented. When at home in any city, the citizen approves or disapproves of what is presented in the form of urban public art as part of his or her own cultural identity. A sense of ownership and contribution confirms that one â€Å"belongs there†. From time to time what doesn’t belong, in the view of the citizen, is the art. There is no question that urban public art has value. Visitor and citizen benefit from the safe, politically correct selections of well-formed art committees that portray history, fame, or simply artistic caprice. Th is paper will discuss three specific examples of modern sculpture in Canada, all of which at one time have been considered contentious and controversial. The fourth example is of art that was never created. In each case, the specific relevance and importance of the pieces to the associated environment have been determined according to prevailing local civic attitudes. The service of urban public art to the civilized population is as old as civilization itself. Ancient monuments, architecture, and sculpture of almost every continent and every era are important facets of historic cultures. Exceptional figures and events have been immortalized through art. Religions have been fostered through worship of inanimate representations of divine symbols. The dead have been memo... ... and the artist are not on common ground in some cases. Art appreciation and art itself is constantly changing and the public forum is important not only for open expression, but also for open appreciation and freedom to express opinions. Even the incredible Gothic style of architecture was criticized in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as opus modernum, or modern art (Gardner, 1959, 243) as if it were inferior to the traditional and known. The three sculptural pieces mentioned caused similar discussion about misfit in three different decades but also found a societal best-fit in the end. All have supporters and detractors which illustrate the relationship between art and community is alive—not that one kind of urban public art is favoured over another—rather that we all have opinions and we all care about who and what â€Å"belongs there†. Urban Public Art in Canada Essay -- Canadian Art When on holiday in any city, the visitor inevitably snaps photographs of the iconic public statuary and buildings in an effort to identify a location through association with landmarks and architecture. It is allowed freely without intrusion of private indoor spaces and confirms the identity of the place visited. The relationship of the art to the environment is illustrated and the fact that one is â€Å"being there† is documented. When at home in any city, the citizen approves or disapproves of what is presented in the form of urban public art as part of his or her own cultural identity. A sense of ownership and contribution confirms that one â€Å"belongs there†. From time to time what doesn’t belong, in the view of the citizen, is the art. There is no question that urban public art has value. Visitor and citizen benefit from the safe, politically correct selections of well-formed art committees that portray history, fame, or simply artistic caprice. Th is paper will discuss three specific examples of modern sculpture in Canada, all of which at one time have been considered contentious and controversial. The fourth example is of art that was never created. In each case, the specific relevance and importance of the pieces to the associated environment have been determined according to prevailing local civic attitudes. The service of urban public art to the civilized population is as old as civilization itself. Ancient monuments, architecture, and sculpture of almost every continent and every era are important facets of historic cultures. Exceptional figures and events have been immortalized through art. Religions have been fostered through worship of inanimate representations of divine symbols. The dead have been memo... ... and the artist are not on common ground in some cases. Art appreciation and art itself is constantly changing and the public forum is important not only for open expression, but also for open appreciation and freedom to express opinions. Even the incredible Gothic style of architecture was criticized in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries as opus modernum, or modern art (Gardner, 1959, 243) as if it were inferior to the traditional and known. The three sculptural pieces mentioned caused similar discussion about misfit in three different decades but also found a societal best-fit in the end. All have supporters and detractors which illustrate the relationship between art and community is alive—not that one kind of urban public art is favoured over another—rather that we all have opinions and we all care about who and what â€Å"belongs there†.