NAVIGATING A SUCCESSFUL PROPOSAL PROCESS PART 2 OF 3 - The Writers For Hire

NAVIGATING A SUCCESSFUL PROPOSAL PROCESS: PART 2 OF 3 We’re Going Forward. What Next? The Go/No-Go meeting was held, and the decision’s been made: Your company is going forward with the proposal. Now the ball is back in your court. You’ve managed a proposal team before, but the contract was simple and called for far fewer resources. This one will require input from several divisions, and somehow, they all need to coordinate on a single 100-page document in just a few short weeks. You know the first step is setting up your team, but you’re not sure who should be on it. What resources do you need, and what should they do? Choosing the Right Team We asked a series of experts on proposal writing for some tips and best practices on setting up proposal teams. Meet our experts: Stephanie Hashagen Professional writer who frequently works on clients’ proposal teams Dan Hewitt Process safety specialist who participates on well-orchestrated proposal teams using a proven approach at a major engineering firm Marion Winsett Career sales manager in oilfield equipment who has negotiated contracts and written countless proposals They gave us some time-tested advice, starting with a very important key concept: Be realistic. It’s easy to put together a team based on a best-case scenario. It’s much safer to put together a team based on a real-life scenario.Tweet this That is, assume the RFP will take more time than you think, and your team will have less time than they think. â€Å"It’s imperative you choose individuals who are capable of responding quickly to the proposal time constraints,† Hashagen says. â€Å"Be sure they don’t have too much on their plate, and consider whether their other responsibilities might require them to address something unexpected that is time critical for another client.† The size of your team will likely depend on the size of your company and the complexity of the proposal. However, for most proposals, eight key roles must be filled. Proposal manager Sales team representative Contract manager Subject matter experts Estimator Writer Graphic artist (optional) Editor A few of your team members may wear more than one hat, but Hashagen advises, â€Å"Remember to be realistic and be sure there are enough people on the team to meet the deadline.† Proposal Team Roles A. Proposal Manager Who is in charge of getting this proposal to the finish line? Since you brought the proposal this far, you might be the assumed leader for this proposal project. But keep in mind that you may not be the best choice for the role of proposal manager. To be fair to yourself and your team, you must consider your strengths and the demands on your time: 1) Are you extremely detail-oriented, comfortable with pestering people, and used to juggling tight schedules on a day-to-day basis? 2) Are you managing other proposal teams, or are there significant demands on your time outside the proposal process such as managing other projects or generating sales? You must be able to answer yes to the first question and no to the second before you should consider yourself for the role of proposal manager. Failure to consider these questions honestly can result in a proposal that looks and reads like it was hastily put together. Hashagen goes on to outline the proposal manager’s responsibilities: Managing the schedule to make sure all deadlines are met Tracking the progress of each part of the proposal package Maintaining close communication with everyone, including subcontractors, who will provide information for (or write sections of) the proposal Collecting the information and the draft documents and distributing them to the right parties, or, if documents are to be routed and tracked in a document management system, ensuring that the information is relayed by the deadline and tracked in the system Providing the reviewed and revised input to those who will produce the final version of the proposal Distributing the package to the final review team Ensuring that the final review comments are provided to the proposal writers, the final proposal package undergoes a rigorous proofreading process, and the proposal is delivered on time. B. Sales Team Representative Hewitt emphasizes the importance of having someone from your sales force on the team. â€Å"A person involved in external sales can provide important information about the company issuing the RFP. A person in inside sales lends experience in the proposal process and the proper organization, formatting, and template (if any). Either one can review the finished package with an experienced eye.†    C.  Contract Manager Not to be confused with proposal manager, this person is the individual designated to manage the project once the contract has been won. Depending on the demands of his or her current project, the contract manager may or may not be expected to participate on the proposal team. â€Å"In instances when the contract manager is too heavily involved in another project to participate on the team, the proposal manager relays team members’ questions to the contract manager and provides information from the contract manager to the team,† Hashagen says. D. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) Select an SME from each discipline who will be involved in project delivery if the contract is won. â€Å"The SME may simply provide the necessary information for a particular section or sections of the proposal,† Hashagen explains. â€Å"Or the SME may actually write the initial drafts of the sections pertaining to his or her discipline.† SMEs participate in proposal team meetings so that important questions aren’t overlooked. Interdisciplinary communication improves the consistency and accuracy of the initial drafts. The combination of the SMEs’ expertise and experience is the reason your company should be chosen above your competitors. E. Estimator or Proposal Finance Manager This person is responsible for providing the projected costs that the RFP requires. If the estimator or proposal financial manager does not participate on the team itself, the person in this role is still responsible for providing the numbers to the proposal writers and for proofing the final proposal to ensure the accuracy of the financial data. F. Writer Your proposal package must be cohesive and written in a single voice. Although there are multiple contributors, someone must write the proposal so that it is properly organized, precisely stated, and consistent. In addition, the writer ensures that the proposal has an executive summary, a table of contents, and a conclusion, as well as a list of tables and figures and a list of related documents when required. If your business employs a writer or communications specialist, that person may serve as the writer. If not, a writing agency can be contracted for this role. How the writer proceeds will be determined at your first meeting. On some proposal teams, the proposal manager funnels all the information to the writer in the form of SME-drafted content and financial data. G. Graphics Artist (optional) If your template requires custom artwork for each proposal or you are preparing your first response to an RFP, you may need a graphic artist. This team member ensures that logos, illustrations, workflow diagrams, and organizational charts are attractive, consistent, and accurate. In an article for Entrepreneur called The 10 Things You Need to Know When Responding to RFPs, George Debb, managing partner at Red Rocket Ventures, suggests, â€Å"Intersperse the companys logo and images throughout the presentation so you look like you put customized work into your response, tailored just for your recipient.† H. Editor A capable editor carefully proofreads the final package with a fresh set of eyes. Significant errors in the proposal may cause the potential client to question whether your approach to the project itself will be less than fastidious. The editor must carefully double check the entire proposal to ensure that every deliverable requirement and every stipulation in the RFP has been addressed. Addressing the Need for Outside Resources It is likely that you addressed the need for additional resources in your early discussions with key personnel within your company, and also during the Go/No-Go meeting. (See our first blog post in this series, â€Å"â€Å"To Bid or Not To Bid.†) If subcontractors are required, a team must be assembled to source and select the contractors. This team is often independent of the team writing the proposal and may be members of your sales force, as they likely have existing relationships with the subcontractors. This selection team must begin its work as soon as the decision has been made to proceed with the proposal. When selecting a subcontractor, your selection team should consider how much of the proposal you’ll need the subcontractor to handle. Winsett stresses the importance of working closely with the subcontractor(s). â€Å"The (proposal) team and the subcontractor must agree to the terms in the RFP. Terms stipulated in the RFP that the subcontractor sees as roadblocks must be addressed immediately.† Depending on the complexity of the contract, the subcontractor selection team or some of its members â€Å"may be required to work with the subcontractors throughout the proposal process,† Winsett adds.    Providing for Content from Sources Outside Your Company If the only information from outside sources is the cost of materials or hourly rates for extra resources your employees will be managing, the proposal team’s estimator can furnish that data. In cases where the subcontractor contributes expertise or unique solution, the subcontractor may need to provide   proposal content. In that case, the proposal manager will transmit their contribution to the appropriate SME for review and to the writer for editing. Next in this Series: Ensuring a Successful Kickoff    Now you’re equipped to map out the key roles your proposal team should include and identify the optimum people to fill them. You also have the information you’ll need to help your team members understand exactly what they’ll be expected to do. Now all you have to do is hold a kickoff meeting with your team to get the proposal process in gear. What should you cover? How can you avoid missteps — and the risk of confusion, communication failures and missed deadlines? Read the third blog in our series to learn how to prepare for your kickoff and what you’ll need to cover to give your proposal the best possible chance of succeeding.

Free Essays on Vertical And Horizontal Integration In Health Management

Distinguish between vertical and horizontal integration Discussion about the need for improved, integrated health-care services is sweeping the province in the same way that utilization review and management hit hospitals a decade ago. The two are also similar in that they have been driven by the same force - a desire to spend less money while improving, or at least maintaining, health outcomes. Many organizations have embraced the concept of vertical integration, where hospitals, physician groups and health plans are owned and operated by a single entity. The belief is that the integrated delivery system will be able to reduce costs, improve quality and increase market share by owning and coordinating components of the health care system. While certain benefits may be realized through vertical integration, this asset-based method of organizing health care delivery has some drawbacks. According to the Physicians News Digest (1998), purchasing the organizations that make up the system is very costly. Hospitals, medical groups and HMOs wil l have to spend, on average, the following amounts to purchase components that make up integrated delivery systems: independent practice associations/managed care networks- $ 1.2 million, physician-hospital organizations- $2.2 million, staff-model physician organizations- $7.8 million, management services organizations- $9.6 million, freestanding medical groups- $19.7 million, foundation-model medical groups- $20.0 million. (D. Zimba, 1998) Another way to look at Vertical Integration is the degree in which a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its down stream buyers. Because it can have a significant impact on a business unit's position with respect to cost, differentiation, and other strategic issues, the vertical scope of the firm is an important consideration in corporate strategy. Expansion of activities downstream is referred to as forward integration, and expansion upstream is referre... Free Essays on Vertical And Horizontal Integration In Health Management Free Essays on Vertical And Horizontal Integration In Health Management Distinguish between vertical and horizontal integration Discussion about the need for improved, integrated health-care services is sweeping the province in the same way that utilization review and management hit hospitals a decade ago. The two are also similar in that they have been driven by the same force - a desire to spend less money while improving, or at least maintaining, health outcomes. Many organizations have embraced the concept of vertical integration, where hospitals, physician groups and health plans are owned and operated by a single entity. The belief is that the integrated delivery system will be able to reduce costs, improve quality and increase market share by owning and coordinating components of the health care system. While certain benefits may be realized through vertical integration, this asset-based method of organizing health care delivery has some drawbacks. According to the Physicians News Digest (1998), purchasing the organizations that make up the system is very costly. Hospitals, medical groups and HMOs wil l have to spend, on average, the following amounts to purchase components that make up integrated delivery systems: independent practice associations/managed care networks- $ 1.2 million, physician-hospital organizations- $2.2 million, staff-model physician organizations- $7.8 million, management services organizations- $9.6 million, freestanding medical groups- $19.7 million, foundation-model medical groups- $20.0 million. (D. Zimba, 1998) Another way to look at Vertical Integration is the degree in which a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its down stream buyers. Because it can have a significant impact on a business unit's position with respect to cost, differentiation, and other strategic issues, the vertical scope of the firm is an important consideration in corporate strategy. Expansion of activities downstream is referred to as forward integration, and expansion upstream is referre...

Senario Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Senario Analysis - Essay Example Analyzing the scenario, this paper will further aim at recommending remedial strategies by implementing a decision-making tool suitable for resolving the issue. Critical Analysis of the Scenario The particular scenario exemplifies a care unit comprising thirty-two beds, which includes 15 registered nurses (RNs) and 22 licensed practical nurses (LPNs). Accordingly, the newly hired nursing unit manager is charged with the responsibility of staffing, caring, and evaluating operations. It has been identified in this regard that the staff members are facing excessive workload pressure due to ineffective planning and management. There is also a mixture of part-time, full-time, and casual staffing in the unit of the care facility, creating perplexities and hurdles in the proper execution of operations. The staff members of the care unit are observed to be unhappy due to workload pressure. Moreover, it is also recognized that the former RN, who was appointed before the newly hired nursing un it manager, resigned due to non-cooperation received from other staff members. An insight into the scenario depicts that these issues were the consequence of inadequate pay in accordance with the workload imposed upon the unit manager. Decision-making Tool As per the scenario, it has been recognized that there are various issues affecting the smooth operations and working environment of the care facility of the paediatric unit. In this respect, the newly hired nursing unit manager, on identifying these issues, should adopt a decision-making tool with the objective of devising appropriate plans and strategies so that activities of staff members and other operations are managed in an appropriate fashion. In the scenario, advancement in the technological field and knowledge in nursing have raised complexities, based on which nurses are required to be more competent and knowledgeable. The major activity of the nursing unit manager is to seek that staff members execute their operations a ccording to the requirement of situations and in accordance with the goals of the care facility. The nursing unit manager is also entrusted with the job to ensure that proper medication and services are offered to patients (Cherie & Gebrekidan, 2005). In this context, with the assigned tasks and responsibilities along with numerous issues in the paediatric unit of the care facility, the nursing unit manager can be suggested the decision-making tool of decision ladder. The nursing unit manager, with the assistance of the decision-making tool, will be facilitated with the opportunity of recognizing issues, assessing possible solutions and identifying alternative ways on the basis of which these issues can be resolved. This decision-making tool postulates a systematic procedure to resolve a particular issue as that witnessed in the given scenario. The procedure can be identified as a multidirectional and multistep process, which includes situational analysis, developing alternatives, e xamining the selected alternatives and implementing appropriate plans as suited for the resolution of the issue identified. The decision-making tool will assist the newly hired nursing manager in recognizing problems in the operations of the unit, which include patient care and requirement, work intensity and payment structure, etc. (Cherie & Gebreki

The USA Patriot Act as a Threat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

The USA Patriot Act as a Threat - Essay Example The United States of America Patriot Act was born right after the September 11, 2001 attacks of the terrorist that made a great impact on the government of the United States of America and the whole world. The USA Patriot Act serves as an anti-terrorism act. The Patriot Act was making possible for the America to be united and to strengthen the nation by providing the necessary tools that are needed to interrupt and block the terrorist act. The interruption and obstruction of these possible terrorists' acts are made through the expansion of the law enforcer's surveillance and giving them additional powers and rights to investigate that brought threat to the privacy and democratic tradition in the history of the United States. President Bush had officially signed the USA Patriot Act on the 26th day of October 2000.The Patriot Act gave threat to the millions of US citizens. This is due to the power given to the law enforcers and giving them the right to enter records of the normal inhab itants of the country. The act supports the rights to access the medical records, tax records, and other basic information such as the books you buy, the books you borrowed even without a cause. The Patriot Act also provides the law enforcers the rights to enter your house without the permission coming from you, and make researches without telling the owner for several weeks, months or even not telling you at all.There are several modifications on the act. Some of these are the surveillance laws, the tracking of suspected terrorist, and the capture of those suspected. The modifications includes the dual purpose of the act to give the authorities the rights to intervene in the personal, private and confidential telephone calls, face-to-face communication and communications through the use of computer and together with these is the right for those who are the authorities to the identification and the interception of those suspected as criminal communications. The modifications on the act regarding the telephone calls, whether it maybe a highly personal calls, that really are of the person's privacy context are included, are not hidden for the authorities through checking on the telephone company records of the calls made from an individuals home of to the individual's telephone. Wiretapping as it was called or electronic eavesdropping or the electronic surveillance can be done by the authorities without prior notice. Also, the bank records of an individual, and the deals made are also tracked. Procedures The procedures that are under the modification of the act are the following: the authorities are permitted to pen register and trace and trap orders that are made through the use of electronic communications such as deals done through the electronic-mail or the like the nationwide implementation for pen registers, trap and trace devices, and the access to the communication records and stored electronic mails are authorized the stored voice mail and telephone conversations stored can be treated by the authorities the interception of communications from an intruder or to the intruder inside the computer system by authorities are permitted but with the system's owner's permission the authorities are given the authority to put the terrorist and computer crimes to the offense list protection for the authorities are supported by the Patriot Act the Patriot Act of the USA aims for the foreign intelligence investigators' and the law enforcement's cooperation those who are on the authority and the government personnel, under the Patriot Act are protected for some of the communications privacy violation Protective Measures of the Patriot Act The USA Patriot Act had designed protective measures for the authorities. The protective measures focused on the prevention of the abuse of the given rights

The Continuing Evolution of Reconstruction History by Eric Foner Essay Example for Free

The Continuing Evolution of Reconstruction History by Eric Foner Essay In this article, Foner states in his thesis that â€Å"since the early 1960s, a profound alteration of the place of blacks within American society, newly uncovered evidence, and changing definitions of history itself, have combined to transform our understanding of race relations, politics, and economic change during Reconstruction.† The article essentially encompasses the meaning of three different views of reconstruction: traditional, revisionist, and post-revisionist. After Foner defines these and explains his thesis, the article becomes somewhat of an advertisement for his own articles on the topic. Foner defines the traditionalist view as the interpretation that when then civil had finally come to an end, the white population of the south more or less accepted their military defeat and wanted to preserve their supremacy while simultaneously reuniting with the North. The first problem with this view is if the south were to continue on the path of white supremacy and never really grant African Americans any civil rights to enjoy the same freedoms as white people, then reuniting with the north would be pointless. The entire idea of the civil war and reconstruction was to abolish slavery and to also grant the freedmen some, if not most or all, of their civil rights. While discussing the traditional view, Foner also identifies two separate eras of reconstruction. The first of the two eras was Presidential Reconstruction, in which Johnson attempted to continue Lincoln’s policies. The second would be Congressional or Radical Reconstruction. In this era, the southern white community joined together in the fight against the efforts to overthrow the new governments that promoted reconstruction ideals and also to carry out Home Rule. This would essentially become the enforcement of the Black Codes, which restored the plantation lifestyle that had existed before the civil war and in turn kept the freedmen in the position of slavery. The description of the traditionalist viewpoint almost seems to be valiant in nature, almost holding the southerners to a sort of esteemed position in keeping with their traditional way of white supremacy. This raises the question, were the traditionalists either mainly southerners or racists who wanted to preserve the idea that the south was betrayed by the north and had the right to enforce the black codes? This question will go unanswered, for the article does not investigate each viewpoint to this  degree. The second viewpoint described by Foner is revisionism. Revisionists consisted of mainly African American and supporters of the freedmen who wanted to refute the ideas of the traditionalist group. This group also applies the idea of some sort of valiant effort being made, but this time by the African Americans of the era. This group defines reconstruction as â€Å"an idealistic effort to construct a democratic, interracial political order from the ashes of slavery, as well as a phase in prolonged struggle between capital and labor for control of the South’s economic resources.† In fact the entire explanation of the motives for the revisionist group makes them seem terribly offended. Revisionists believe that most traditionalists cannot view a black man as a man. Simply put, the freedman is still considered a slave. A statement like this leads to questioning of the relevance of the traditionalist viewpoint. If the south never stopped seeing the freedmen as slaves, and went out of their way to try and preserve the aspects of slavery, then how can traditionalists even support that they have a view on Reconstruction? What exactly was reconstructed? As time had progressed, the revisionist view eventually stamped out traditionalists, it was all inevitable once everyone caught on that African Americans were equal and started to look into the history of slavery and Reconstruction. The revisionists also portrayed Johnson as the racist that he really was and praised the Radicals for being so committed to the rights of the freedmen. In the most recent view of reconstruction known as post-revision, Reconstruction is seen as a time of radical change. They argued that â€Å"persistent racism had negated efforts to extend justice to blacks, and the failure to distribute land prevented the freedmen from achieving true autonomy and made their civil and political rights all but meaningless.† This raises the question of who can there be any radical change during reconstruction if the freedmen were prevented in achieving true autonomy? And if this wasn’t achieved, then what was achieved as a result of reconstruction? to answer this question, Foner explains that the post-revisionists see reconstruction as not merely a specific time period, but an extended historical process. America was readjusting after the war  and it was not a â€Å"tragic era†. Schools were established and there was social and political process for freedmen. Overall, this is by far the most optimistic viewpoint. Foner ends his explanation of post-revision rather abruptly in order to what comes off as marketing his books. He even appears to be a tad arrogant when he more or less describes his collection as the most definitive grouping of historical information and personal opinion of the entire topic. He never actually states which viewpoint he associates himself with, but it can be inferred that he is a combination of revisionist and post-revisionist. The reason for this is that holds that blacks were active agents in the making of reconstruction and reconstruction produced a variety of economic, political, and social change for the freedmen. Foner does an impeccable job at explaining each view of reconstruction as well as providing the evidence to support his reasoning. He ends on a collective note, pressing to the reader that when viewing Reconstruction, one should keep in mind different points of view and it is best to take and comparative approach to emancipation to broaden one’s perspective and to bring about questions and new conceptual ideas.

Efficiency of Safety Belt Campaigns Analysis

Efficiency of Safety Belt Campaigns Analysis The numbers of deaths have increased immensely in previous years; therefore road safety is a major concern. The RSA constantly try to amplify awareness of road safety as many drivers ignore new rules of the road. Persuasive communication is used throughout for all types of advertising and lately is becoming a main method in highlighting the dangers of the road. Persuasive communication is considered to be a ‘‘communication such as a speech or television advertisement that advocates a particular side of an issue’’ (Aronson, Wilson and Akert, 2014) and persuasive advertisements aspire to persuade individuals to change their outlook on certain issues, such as road safety. Social media websites play a huge role in society today and many of these websites such as Facebook are displaying persuasive advertisements to spread word about issues more rapidly. The focus of this study is about the impact persuasive communication has on road safety and whether putting roa d safety advertisements on social media websites is a worthwhile cause. In this report four experiments on persuasive communication are discussed followed by why the RSA should use social media websites to portray road safety messages. Brijs, Daniels, Brijs and Wets (2011) conducted three sets of studies in order to assess the efficiency of safety belt campaigns by inspecting whether being exposed to the campaign would/would not affect variables identified by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as key elements of behaviour, and to find out â€Å"whether the way in which participants would be exposed to the campaign stimulus would affect the campaign stimulus’ effectiveness† (Brijs et al., 2011). It was also done to confirm which of the dissimilar hypothetical concepts on the use of safety belts would receive most support, i.e., automaticity approach (out of habit or as past/repeated behaviour) or planned behaviour approach. Three studies where made up of different groups of students, aged 18-25, whom were recruited at Hasselt University, two being experimental groups and one a control group. The two experimental groups were exposed to the seat belt advertisement in which â€Å"two exposure conditio ns were distinguished from each other, i.e., explicit and subliminal exposure† (Brijs et al., 2011). Explicit exposure signifies that participants are completely aware of being exposed to a campaign stimulus, i.e., information is processed consciously. For this, the group were asked to view the billboard which was projected in the lecture room. Subliminal exposure entails participants being unaware of exposure to the stimulus with information being processed pre-attentively (subconscious mode). This group were exposed to the campaign by billboards in their main hall of university. The control group, however, had no viewing of the campaign. All three groups then asked filled out a two part survey; one part representing respondent-related background information and the other TPB variables. â€Å"The results signified that the campaign stimulus used influenced participants’ evaluation of a series of important determinants of behaviour as well as self-reported behaviour it self† (Brijs, et al., 2011). â€Å"The results also showed the recorded campaign effect was in the expected direction with higher mean values for the different variables questioned for participants being exposed to the campaign verses members of the control group† (Birjs et al., 2011). A similar study in regards to seat belt wearing was conducted by Tay (2011) in which a sample of drivers supplied their views and awareness of two seatbelt wearing advertisements with dissimilar emotional appeals. This study consisted of 212 drivers, recruited from two separate locations: one being a university to represent the younger population and the second a taxi rink as a large percentage of taxi drivers would not wear seatbelts regularly. In the study a questionnaire was first conducted and then two advertisements were shown to the participants and their opinions were recorded and evaluated. â€Å"The two videos were shown in random order to different participants to reduce any potential order effects; one advertisement had a more negative emotional appeal (fear) while the other had more a positive emotional appeal (humour)† (Tay, 2011). The first advertisement showed a young female driving in the evening on a deserted road; the driver sneezed, a ghost in the backseat g ave her a tissue; causing the driver to brake and the ghost go through the front window. This advertisement utilised mostly humour as an emotional appeal although there might be some fear incorporated as well. More importantly, this video was selected as a humour-based advertisement. The second video showed four young adults in a vehicle that was involved in a collision. In this the unbelted passenger hurled around in the vehicle, killing all occupants and seriously injuring themselves. â€Å"This advertisement focused on fear as an appeal and the advertisement continued with an emergency worker saying, ‘the one without the seatbelt did the damage’ and then ended with ‘No Seatbelt, No Excuse’† (Tay, 2011). To confirm the hypothesis on the dissimilar emotional appeals, participants were asked if they agreed/disagreed that the advertisements they seen were frightening and/or humorous with the use of a 5-point Likert scale. A ten part questionnaire was then done by the participants and several t-tests were then conducted to check this hypothesis. â€Å"These measured the perceived severity and likelihood of threat, the perceived message efficacy, self-efficacy, the perceived cost of threat and benefits of adopting the coping strategy, realism and credibility of the message and adaptive intentions† (Tay, 2011). Results exposed that both advertisements were triumphant in increasing participant’s intent to wear a safety belt and comply with the safety belt law. â€Å"In addition results attested to the importance of using established theoretical models when developing a road safety message† (Tay, 2011). Carey and Sarma (2001) conducted a study that â€Å"explored the effects of viewing death-related facts and graphic, static images of road traffic accidents on participants’ self-reported intentions to take driving risks† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). It also observed the degree to which personality variables may additionally clarify variations in intentional risk taking. â€Å"The dependent variable was the self-reported intention to take driving risks† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). Within this study participants were exposed to mortality salient or neutral facts. The aim of this was to examine threat based advertisements or ‘fear appeals’ to stimulate prevention of dangerous driving on young male drivers. This study consisted of eighty males, between 17 and 24 whom all possessed full licences. Forty of whom were randomly allocated to mortality salient condition and the other forty to the control. Participants were asked to complete two self-report scales, an experiment, two word based activities and an IVE questionnaire. After the first self-report scale participants in the experimental condition (mortality salient) were asked to â€Å"read five facts about driving which were accompanied by three images of road traffic accidents supplied by the RSA, relating to mortality-related risks of driving, which were followed by the warning ‘dangerous driving kills’ and participants in the control condition were asked to read five neutral facts about driving unrelated to risks, crashes or deaths† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). Then participants took part in the word-based activities; one of which was a word search which had neutral words unrelated to death and the other consisted of twenty-two words, eight of which could either be related/unrelated to death and was done to assess death-thought accessibility. An IVE questionnaire was then filled out by participants; this was used to measure certain variables. A second self-report sc ale was carried out to measure â€Å"participant’s risky driving interventions; in which they were asked to read ten scenarios, each had a situation where one may take a particular driving risk† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). Participants were asked to give a percentage answer on how likely they would be to take the risk in each scenario. Results of this study publicized that â€Å"participants in the mortality salient condition completed more word fragments to make death-related words than those in the control condition and also revealed that impulsiveness correlated significantly with intention to take driving risks† (Carey and Sarma, 2001). A Sibley and Harrà © (2009) experiment investigated the impact that various road safety adverts had on young drivers’ explicit and implicit self-enhancement biases in driving ability and caution. Self-enhancement is the belief by drivers themselves that they are superior to other drivers in relation to ability and caution. ‘‘Self-enhancement biases in both of these domains predict crash risk optimism’’ (Harrà ©, Foster, O’Neill, 2005; Harrà © Sibley, 2007). This study consisted of three conditions; one with negatively framed advertisements, another with positively framed advertisements and the last being a control, each involving fifty randomly assigned participants (one hundred and fifty in total). These groups â€Å"were unaware there were different conditions and were told they would be participating in two tasks, which were presented to them as unrelated studies† (Sibley Harrà ©, 2009). Firstly the groups were shown a series o f advertisements and were then told to rate them according to certain variables. This was â€Å"primarily to convince participants that viewing the advertisements was unrelated to the self-enhancement task that followed† (Sibley Harrà ©, 2009). Participants viewed three adverts that showed people that were seriously injured/killed during drink driving accidents in the negative framing condition. In the positive framing condition, participants watched three adverts that showed people choosing to take precautions when it came to drink driving, such as assigning a designated drink driver; who wouldn’t drink and drive home or opt to getting a taxi. The controlled group watched advertisements that were entirely unrelated to drink driving; which involved advertisements on mental illnesses. â€Å"All groups then took part in what they believed was an unrelated task, in which they completed a series of computerized reaction-time based tasks known as IATs in order to assess implicit driving self-concept; with each IAT consisted of seven blocks† (Sibley Harrà ©, 2009). Results indicated that those who took part in the positive framed condition displayed a weaker explicit self-enhancement in comparison to those in the negative framed and controlled groups. â€Å"Although exposure to positively framed advertisements significantly reduced self-enhancement biases in driving ability, it is important to note that participants in this condition still considered themselves better-than-average drivers, just notas far aboveaverage as drivers exposed to the control and negative framing condition† (Sibley Harrà ©, 2009). However, this study does not indicate if a change in self-enhancement biases would result in a change in behaviour. In experiments it is vital to recognize strengths, weaknesses or limitations. Having a control, for instance, would be a major strength to have as it keeps balance and gives the experimenter something to compare results against thus leading to a more wide variety of methods. In the experiments above there have also been limitations, such as in the first experiment, in terms of â€Å"effect size, values obtained suggested that differences between exposed and unexposed participants were small and in several cases not even statistically significant† (Brijs et al., 2011). Also in the last experiment by Sibley and Harrà © (2009) it was found that men and women were both equally influenced by exposure to different types of driving advertisement. It is clear from the experiments above that persuasive communication plays a vital role in road safety advertisements and is very effective. However, in order to increase this effectiveness the RSA should consider displaying advertisements on social media sites. â€Å"Social media has emerged from the internet’s development which allows for sharing, linking, collaborating, and inclusion of production and distribution of particular content† (Banks, Tay Mason, 2011). Social media has the possibility to control the power of viral marketing and is also more cost effective than traditional media in attaining audiences. Rajagopalan and Subramani (2003) found that â€Å"viral marketing is a powerful means for both marketers and recipients to benefit from the innate helpfulness of individuals in social networks and such technologies are being harnessed by social marketers using the internet for promotional activities and engaging users in creative processes† (Rajagopala n Subramani, 2003). According to Nielson (2012) â€Å"there is a digital community of 20.4 million users; 93% of them accessing the internet daily† (Nielsen, 2012), â€Å"thus it is no wonder that social marketers have addressed the need for social media in their marketing campaigns† (Banks, Tay and Mason, 2011). Murray and Lewis (2011) showed how social media helped public health and injury prevention increase dramatically due to the use of social media sites and therefore suggest that social media could play an important role in road safety advertising and may be an important mode of delivering road safety communications to high risk road users, especially that of a younger age (Murray Lewis, 2011). Thus the use of social media sites could be an effective tool in the next generation of road safety advertisements campaigns.

Martin’s Luther King Jr. Strugle for Racial Segregation and Civil Rights Essay

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most important figures within the fields of politics and non-violent activism of the 20th century. King was born on 15th of January 1929 in the city of Atlanta within the boundaries of the state of Georgia. Originally Martin Luther King Jr. as named after his father as Michael King, although his father who was also named after Michael King after visiting the Nazi Germany in order to attend the Fifth Baptist World Alliance Congress in Berlin he found himself been inspired by a German reformer called Martin Luther, so he decided to change both his name and his son’s name into Martin Luther King and Martin Luther King Jr. respectively. King was the middle child of the family having a younger brother Alfred Daniel Williams King and an older sister Willie Christine King. As a reference to his education he attended Booker T. Washington High school, also it is stated that he was a precocious student as he skipped two grades the ninth and the twelfth and entered Morehouse College at the early age of fifteen. He graduated College in 1948 and enrolled in Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester which he graduated with a B. Div. degree in 1951. Meanwhile in 1953 he married Correta Scott and eventually became a father of four children Yolanda King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King, and Bernice King. Thereupon he became a pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery in 1954; he began his doctoral degree course in Systematic Theology at Boston University and graduated receiving his Ph. D. degree in 1955 with a dissertation on â€Å"A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman†. Although an academic observation which was held in 1991 concluded that parts of his dissertation were plagiarized but the committee decided that his degree shouldn’t be revoked. As a remark Martin Luther King Jr. was strongly influenced by religion (as it was natural, as been a Christian Minister since 1947) more specifically he was influenced by Jesus Christ and the Christian Gospels from which he frequently used quotes in his public speeches, he was also inspired from Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent activist action. In April of 1959 he made a desired for him as it was stated trip to India with the assistance of the American Friends Service Committee, it has to be mentioned that the trip affected King in a profound way and helped him deepen his knowledge and understanding in non-violent resistance and his commitment to the America’s struggle for civil rights, as he stated the last day of his trip to India in a local radio, King said: â€Å"Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of non-violent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity†. The â€Å"Fight† Against Segregation It all started back in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, Claudette Colvin an African- American girl which in fact was under aged unmarried pregnant girl refused to give up her seat to a white man. At that point King was a member of the Birmingham African-American community and also a member of the committee which looked into the case but it was decided that they should wait for a better case to pursue. Their patience yielded. On December 1, 1955 an other African-American girl called Rosa Sparks also refused to give up her seat, back on that date the buses rows were â€Å"separated†, white people should seat on the front rows and the African-American people should seat on the back rows of the busses seats, as natural at some point the two â€Å"different† categories of passengers would meet. At that point the bus’s seats were all occupied and according to Jim Crow laws the following African-American passengers that would board on the bus were required to stand. It was exactly what they were waiting for, and soon after Rosa was arrested the Montgomery Bus Boycott broke out, it lasted 385 days. The whole Boycott issue turned out as a huge victory, although during the campaign a bombing attack was made against King’s house and he was also arrested. As a result the United States District Court in Browder v. Gayle case ended the racial segregation in all Montgomery public busses. After the Montgomery Bus Boycott King’s contribution to the result transformed him into a national figure and he was also off the record declared the best-known spokesman of the civil-rights movement. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Soon after the Montgomery lowdown King, Ralph Abernathy, and other civil rights activists founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The group was created in order to saddle the moral authority and organizing power of black churches to conduct non-violent protests in the service of civil rights reform, King led the SCLC until his death. In 1962 SCLC joins Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the Albany Movement which was stated to be the first major non-violent campaign of SCLC. The Albany movement was a desegregation movement which was formed by local activist organizations, the SNCC and the National Association for the Advanced of Colored People (NAACP). The movement’s leader was William G. Anderson. During the period of King’s involvement with the Albany movement he was arrested twice, once in a mass arrest on 15th December of 1961 and in July of 1962. Although it has to be mentioned that King had been criticized by SNCC, they’ve even given him a snide nickname â€Å"De Lawd†, because as they claimed he maintained a safe distance from challenges that had to deal with Jim Crow laws. Birmingham Campaign Soon after the incidents in Albany the Birmingham campaign came to light. Birmingham campaign was a movement organized by SCLC and led by Martin Luther King Jr. and others. In the spring of 1963 the operation of the Birmingham campaign was at its peak, including widely publicized controversies between black young people and white civic authorities and eventually led the municipal government to change the city’s discrimination laws. A fact that can’t remain unnoticed as during the early 60s Birmingham was one of the most racially divided cities in the United States. Ultimately Birmingham movement was defined as a model of direct action protest, as it effectively shut down the city through a boycott and a series of sit-ins and marches, and drew the world’s attention to racial segregation in the South. Also it is stated that it paved the way for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Great March on Washington After the Birmingham campaign the SCLC called for massive protests in Washington DC to push for new civil rights legislation that would outlaw segregation nation-wide which turned to be an unparalleled success. The Great march on Washington claimed the title of one of the largest political rallies for human rights in the United State’s history, as the estimated number of participants varies from 200,000 to 300,000 and still remained non-violent, the 80% of the participants were estimated to be black and the rest were white and other non-black minorities. Also the city was swarmed by more than 2,000 buses, 21 special trains, 10 chartered aircrafts and uncountable personal vehicles. But the march was stigmatized by the King’s famous â€Å"I have a dream† speech. King began his speech with the emancipation of the slaves, issued by Abraham Lincoln and concludes that even though blacks were freed from slavery they still aren’t free. Then he raised the matter of the unkept promise of America to the Civil Rights Union for the continued pursuit of justice as racial segregation still existed. Finally he promotes black people to keep on fighting for their rights in non-violent ways as he believed that violence would lead to a cycle of fighting, unnecessary death and cruelty. The Poor People’s Campaign and the opposition to the Vietnam War In 1965 Martin Luther King Jr. egan to express his doubts about the Vietnam War in public. On 4th April 1967 he delivered a speech at the New York City Riverside Church titled â€Å"Beyond Vietnam: A time to break silence. † In which he expressed his objection to the role of the United States in the Vietnam War, mentioning that United States was in Vietnam â€Å"to occupy it as an American colony† and called the US government â€Å"the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today. † He also connected the Vietnam War with economic injustice based on the fact that the US government was spending more and more on the military and less and less on anti-poverty programs. He summed up this aspect by saying:† A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death†. Almost a year later in 1968 King organized the â€Å"Poor Peoples Campaign† in order to raise the matter of economic injustice; King crossed the whole country in order to assemble a multiracial army of poor people in order to march on Washington DC and engage in a non-violent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an ‘economic bill of rights’ for poor Americans. The campaign culminated in a march on Washington, D. C. , demanding economic aid to the poorest communities of the United States. The reconnaissance King was awarded at least fifty honorary degrees from colleges and universities. On October 14, 1964, King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to him for leading non-violent resistance to racial prejudice in the U. S. In 1965, he was awarded the American Liberties Medallion by the American Jewish Committee for his â€Å"exceptional advancement of the principles of human liberty†. In his acceptance remarks, King said, â€Å"Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free. † In 1957, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. Two years later, he won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story. In 1966, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America awarded King the Margaret Sanger Award for â€Å"his courageous resistance to bigotry and his lifelong dedication to the advancement of social justice and human dignity†. Also in 1966, King was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was posthumously awarded a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for his Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam in 1971. In 1977, the Presidential Medal of Freedom was posthumously awarded to King by President Jimmy Carter, who stated: â€Å"Martin Luther King, Jr. , was the conscience of his generation. He gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to fulfill the promises of our founding fathers for our humblest citizens, he wrung his eloquent statement of his dream for America. He made our nation stronger because he made it better. His dream sustains us yet. † More than 730 cities in the United States have streets named after King. King County, Washington rededicated its name in his honor in 1986, and changed its logo to an image of his face in 2007. The city government center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is named in honor of King. King is remembered as a martyr by the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (feast day April 4) and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (feast day January 15).

Literature review- should marijuana be legalised? Essay

The legalisation of marijuana has long been a debated subject, and not only in Australia But all around the world. People’s views in this area vary greatly, with many reasonable arguments for and against the issue. In this report, past studies and literature will be reviewed providing an understanding into the possible consequences of legalising marijuana as well as the views and debates regarded to the issue. The organisation, Gallup has been examining America’s attitude towards the legalisation of marijuana since the late 1960’s. Their studies show that in the past Americans have been opposed to the issue, with just twelve percent supporting the drug’s legalisation in 1969. However, in 1977 this number increased to 25 percent, and in 2000 rose again to 31 percent (Carroll, 2005). According to a new study by Gallop, the amount of Americans in favour of marijuana’s legalisation today has now soared to a riveting fifty percent. Including people between the ages of eighteen and twenty nine most in favour of its legalisation, and people sixty five and older proved to be most opposed to it (daily mail reporter, 2011) A predominant question in the debate relating to the legalization of marijuana is whether consumption would rise and by how much. Many people are concerned that if the drug became legal it would become more accessible, affordable, and acceptable in society, making an increase in consumption a big possibility. Rand, a drug policy research centre, conducted a study that supports this argument. â€Å"Results from these studies suggest that regular use of marijuana will Increase both in prevalence and in terms of average level of use with a fall in the monetary price of marijuana and a reduction in the enforcement risk of using marijuana. The precise increase in use, particularly in terms of average quantities consumed among users, remains unclear because of inadequate analyses of conditional demand. However, it is clear that the number (prevalence) of regular users will rise in response to both (Pacula, 2010).† According to Rand there is still an uncertainty towards how much marijuana consumption will increase post-legalisation, however, their models suggest that numbers could increase by fifty to one hundred percent or more. This would depend on the retail price, availability, advertisement and the federal response (Kilmer, 2010). If more people are using the drug, more people will be open to the health disadvantages marijuana has on the human  body. The primary reason why marijuana has been illegal in the past is because the drug does have many adverse health effects. In the same way the government protects people on the road by making them wear seatbelts; they also want to protect members of society from falling to the consequences involved with consuming marijuana. The government does have a certain level of responsibility over the safety of society, which is why many people believe that marijuana should remain illegal. The National Institute on Drug Abuse has surveyed and conducted many scientific research projects, all showing that excessive marijuana use has a serious effect on a user’s memory, social skills and capability to be educated (buddy, 2006). Intensive use can also lead to many long term effects such as depression, anxiety and personality disorders as well as an increased risk of getting bronchitis, lung cancer and other diseases of the respiratory system (NSW Government, 2011). Despite these effects of marijuana usage, it has proved that marijuana is no more harmful than legal substances like alcohol and tobacco. Which brings into question, why should marijuana be illegal when alcohol and tobacco consumption is allowed? An investigation by the British Medical Association actually went on to prove that alcohol and tobacco are far more addictive than marijuana. In fact, the drinking of alcohol and the use of cigarettes result in more deaths per year than does the use of marijuana.(marijuana safety, 1999) † Alcohol is more toxic, more addictive, more harmful to the body, more likely to result in injuries, and more likely to lead to interpersonal violence than marijuana† (safer choice,2010) If marijuana were to be legalised it could provide a safer alternative to alcohol and more harmful drugs. Substituting these drugs with marijuana could be a successful approach to the battle against substance abuse. Amanda Reiman describes what she has found in her study about the substitution of other drugs with marijuana. â€Å"Substituting cannabis for alcohol has been described as a radical alcohol treatment protocol. This approach could be used to address heavy alcohol use in the British Isles – people might substitute cannabis, a potentially safer drug than alcohol with less negative side effects, if it were socially acceptable and available.†( Reiman, 2009) Similar studies in this area went on to suggest that legalising marijuana will decrease road  accidents. By viewing statistics in areas where the drug has been allowed, researchers have found that there was nearly a nine percent reduction in traffic deaths (science daily, 2011). Marijuana has actually proved to have many medical uses, although sometimes they are completely overlooked. In the past, many studies have shown the drug to have several beneficial effects, these include, effective pain relief as well as providing aid to the side effects of chemotherapy and the symptoms of AIDS, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, glaucoma and other serious illnesses.(co-ed magazines, 2010) In 1997, the National Institutes of Health published a report specifying the possible medical uses for marijuana. The report emphasized five areas of medical care that were most applicable. These included Stimulation of appetite and decreased cachexia, Controlled nausea and vomiting linked with cancer chemotherapy, Decreased intraocular pressure, pain relief and finally, the benefits in area of Neurological and movement disorders By allowing marijuana consumption the government would be providing many people with a cheaper and effective alternative for pain relief and other medical impa irments. Legalisation could also lead to further medical research and findings on the medical uses of the drug.( National Institutes of Health, 1997) ‘Though the benefits of medical marijuana are ignored by the federal government, many scientists seemingly agree that the benefits of marijuana from a medicinal standpoint heavily out weigh the risk when it comes to aiding patients’ (Gallagher, 2012) When looking at marijuana legalisation from an economic perspective many advantages are noted. a study lead by Dr. Jeffrey Miron reported that once legalised, If marijuana were to be taxed similarly to the taxation system used on alcoholic and tobacco products, Governments could be looking at annual savings and revenues of up to fourteen billion each year. This includes savings in areas like prohibition enforcement which is said to be around 7.7 billion dollars. Over 500 other economists are supporting Dr. Jeffrey Miron’s study and are calling for a debate considering the reason and basis behind marijuana prohibition. (Miron, 2005) Overall, views on the legalisation of marijuana vary greatly among the people of Australia and the world. Past literature and in depth studies have revealed many advantages and disadvantages in regards to the drugs legalisation. Society’s arguments  are centred around, the effects on marijuana consumption, health effects, health benefits, economic advantages and its harmfulness in regards to other legal drugs. Bibliography Vandaelle, I. (2012, Janurary 17). Majority of Canadians support legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, new poll suggests. Retrieved 2012, from National Post: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/17/majority-of-canadians-support-legalizing-or-decriminalizing-marijuana-new-poll-suggests/ 10 Major Health Benefits of Marijuana. (2010, September 2). Retrieved 2012, from Coed magazine: http://coedmagazine.com/2010/09/02/10-major-health-benefits-of-marijuana/ Cannabis is The Answer To Booze Problems. (2011, October 16). Retrieved 2012, from imarijuana.com: http://www.imarijuana.com/tag/medical-cannabis-dispensary Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Traffic Deaths, Preliminary Research Suggests. (2011, November 29). Retrieved 2012, from science daily.com: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/11/111129123257.htm Medical Marijuana Laws Reduce Traffic Deaths, Preliminary Research Suggests . (2011, november 30). Retrieved 2012, from The rational response squad: http://www.rationalresponders.co m/forum/30694 Record high: Gallup poll shows FIFTY per cent of Americans favour legalising marijuana. (2011, october 18). Retrieved 2012, from mail online: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2050348/Legalisation-marijuana-50-Americans-favour.html Carroll, J. (2005, November 1). Who Supports Marijuana Legalization? Retrieved 2012, from GALLUP: http://www.gallup.com/poll/19561/who-supports-marijuana-legalization.aspx Debate on legalising marijuana . (n.d.). Retrieved 2012, from Hun pages: http://ange1ica1.hubpages.com/hub/Debate-of-Legalizing-Marjuana Gallagher, P. (2012, April 30). Are the benifits of medical marijuana being completely overlooked. Retrieved 2012, from Activist Post: http://www.activistpost.com/2012/04/are-benefits-of-medical-marijuana-being.html Kilmer, B. (2010, September). Insights on the Effects of. Retrieved 2012, from Rand: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/testimonies/2010/RAND_CT351.pdf

Free Essays on Development of Intimate Relationships

Section One : Relationship Formation The formation of relationships has always been of interest to researchers of social psychology, but it was not until the 1970s that the bulk of theory began to emerge. It was during this time that a wide range of paradigms were developed, but "the domain of relationship development is awesomely vast and incompletely charted" (Duck & Gilmour, 1981a, p vii). Two theories that emerged in the 70s were social penetration theory (Altman & Taylor, 1973) and another based around attraction by Levinger and Snoek (1972). Both stem from the social psychological paradigm and offer two useful and complementary models of relationship development. A. Social Penetration Theory Social Penetration theory was devised by Altman and Taylor in 1973 in an attempt to explain the development of interpersonal relationships from strangers to good friends. They propose that relationship formation will proceed gradually and in an orderly fashion, through reciprocal exchange from non-intimate, relatively unemotional aspects of the selves to intimate, private and vulnerable central core aspects of the selves (Duck & Gilmour, 1981a, p 15). The events that occur in the formation of any relationship are, according to Altman and Taylor (1973), encompassed by four "social penetration processes": verbal exchange, nonverbal use of the body, use of physical environment, and interpersonal perceptions. All of these processes occur in different ways at different levels of intimacy and encounter. Verbal behaviours provide the informational content of an interaction while nonverbal behaviour involves use of the body, such as postures and position, gestures, limb and head movements, facial expressions such as smiling, eye gaze, etc. Use of the physical environment includes manipulation of spatial features including personal space between people and of physical objects and areas. All of these communicative behav... Free Essays on Development of Intimate Relationships Free Essays on Development of Intimate Relationships Section One : Relationship Formation The formation of relationships has always been of interest to researchers of social psychology, but it was not until the 1970s that the bulk of theory began to emerge. It was during this time that a wide range of paradigms were developed, but "the domain of relationship development is awesomely vast and incompletely charted" (Duck & Gilmour, 1981a, p vii). Two theories that emerged in the 70s were social penetration theory (Altman & Taylor, 1973) and another based around attraction by Levinger and Snoek (1972). Both stem from the social psychological paradigm and offer two useful and complementary models of relationship development. A. Social Penetration Theory Social Penetration theory was devised by Altman and Taylor in 1973 in an attempt to explain the development of interpersonal relationships from strangers to good friends. They propose that relationship formation will proceed gradually and in an orderly fashion, through reciprocal exchange from non-intimate, relatively unemotional aspects of the selves to intimate, private and vulnerable central core aspects of the selves (Duck & Gilmour, 1981a, p 15). The events that occur in the formation of any relationship are, according to Altman and Taylor (1973), encompassed by four "social penetration processes": verbal exchange, nonverbal use of the body, use of physical environment, and interpersonal perceptions. All of these processes occur in different ways at different levels of intimacy and encounter. Verbal behaviours provide the informational content of an interaction while nonverbal behaviour involves use of the body, such as postures and position, gestures, limb and head movements, facial expressions such as smiling, eye gaze, etc. Use of the physical environment includes manipulation of spatial features including personal space between people and of physical objects and areas. All of these communicative behav...

Hotel Cavendish Company Analysis

Hotel Cavendish Company Analysis Hotel Cavendish is located in the dynamic center of Bloomsbury in UK. A PESTEL examination is an essential tool which helps in analyzing the political, economic, social, technical, environmental and legislative pressures which may affect an institution (Institute of leadership and management 2007, p. 23). These external pressures that have an effect on Hotel Cavendish ought to be vigilantly taken into account by the hotel administration.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Hotel Cavendish Company Analysis specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The hotel’s strategic fundamental position in the capital makes it susceptible to PESTEL pressures. This is evident in the existence of new rules in the city that need acquiescence. Demographic changes may lead to the diminution of market size and a fresh technology may be introduced (Institute of leadership and management 2007, p. 23). This requires new advertising and end user approval alternatives that need clear exemplification. In a social context, London has an assortment of religion and cultures. Hundreds of languages are spoken in its environs and the employment of more trained staff that is multi-lingual is necessary for the 4-star hotel. Around 2 million visitors from all over the globe visit the center every month either for business purposes or leisurely as tourists. Demographic trends evident in the changes in the populace age, composition along with the entry of new cultures and race in the area make it appropriate for the hotel to identify its potential clients. The capital is an economic center and countless intercontinental businesses are carried out here. Large business moguls arrive in the city of London to transact huge business deals. There ought to be additional options of spacious conference rooms for delegates, aside from the present ones which host 2-80 people (Cavendish hotel, 2010). The hotel administration should endeavor to sust ain regular businessmen who may want urgent accommodation in the hotel or referred to alternative areas. Even though it is required to reserve in advance, there can be exceptional reservations for a number of regulars. There are hundreds of overseas banks and offices for thousands of companies in London, and the employees and officials may need making urgent reservations. The effect of recession and change in stock exchange market fluctuations must be strictly monitored. Trends in economic indicators like the cost of raw materials and the level of income of its clients are essential information in knowing the visiting trends of clients.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Environmental issues from time to time control the social decisions and purchasing options that clients make in the selection of new services being offered in the hotel. Use of solar technology to pr oduce energy and having breezy areas of shady plants are a benefit in selection of whether one will make reservations for the hotel or select a different option. Out-of-doors landscaping with appropriate foliage at the lounge and entrance can take account of areas for dining. The hotel is a non-smoking zone. This course of action will successfully draw more non-smokers (Cavendish hotel, 2010). Those who smoke have to use alternative hotels, hence loss of clients. An effective way of pleasing both is by having rooms in a section for smokers. Some delegates may either be smokers or non-smokers and may desire to be accommodated in the same place. It is not forgotten that technology is intensifying at an extraordinarily rapid pace. Sources of power and information systems are undergoing modification thus the need for the hotel to be very adaptive to these changes. Available options for publicity should be employed in an aggressive edge (Institute of leadership and management 2007, p. 23 ). The government on numerous occasions initiates changes in bylaws and rules which may stabilize or weaken the hotels functionality. Such changes are directly related to politics consequently affecting the number of visitors into the country and the hotel. The operations in Cavendish hotel is affected by different forms of pressure that are best illustrated by the Pestle criterion. It is imperative to acknowledge that the success of the venture is wholly reliant on the manner in which it manipulates the environment as portrayed by the political, economic, social, technical, environmental and legislative concepts (Institute of leadership and management 2007, p. 23) Reference List Cavendish hotel, 2010, Hotel Cavendish, 12th may 2010, www.hotelcavendish.com Institute of leadership and management, 2007, marketing for managers, Massachusetts, Elsevier. Pp. 23Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Hotel Cavendish Company Analysis specifically for you for only $16 .05 $11/page Learn More

Is Mass Surveillance Ever a Good Thing Research Paper

Is Mass Surveillance Ever a Good Thing - Research Paper Example The benefit of mass surveillance exceeds its negative. The research will focus on mass surveillance and outline its impact on both the government and the citizens. According to Reuters (2013), mass surveillance can be traced back to the First World War were vital information was sourced from both the enemy territory and within a given country. This was to assist the country achieve a given objective in the war. The cold war period increase and the importance of mass surveillance with its aim being monitoring activities that could expose countries secrete policy. Traditionally mass surveillance was used as a tool to counter any move by an enemy country. Traditional ideologies used the concept to attain military and political supremacy. Over the years, technologies have evolved and gadgets that are more sophisticated introduced to aid a given country in mass surveillance. Surveillance has become a modality in modern day government (Ericson & Haggerty, 2006, 4). The ideology is traced back to the world war eras and the aim is to ensure a country protects its own interests. Sovereignty of a nation could be jeopardized if a country fails to gather enough information needed to protect the interest of a given nation. The United States of America has invested heavy in mass surveillance. The driving point has been on the 2001 attack’s impact. The question has been on how to avert future calamities similar to it. New models have aided the country in their quest to counter terrorism. Bush (2006) attributes the effect of mass surveillance to national security. Different security organs relay on public information to ensure a successful plan that would protect national interests and at the same time secure a country from external attacks (Fussey, 121). Strategic planning involves designing models that would prevent an attack and at the same time source information that

International Political Economy of Oil and Gas Essay

International Political Economy of Oil and Gas - Essay Example The degree of dependence of the users on the oil and gas and their flexibility to adopt alternative sources of energy under the circumstances of rising oil prices determine the competitive advantage of the major oil exporting nation over the others and the degree of aggression of these economies over other countries due to the competitive advantage in the international economy (Bentley, 2002, p.199). The movement of gas prices in relation to the oil prices, the volume of used of gas and other forms of energy like electricity, solar energy, hydro-electricity used in the economies determine the impact of oil prices on the economies all over the world. In general circumstances, the rise in the oil prices leads to higher amount of national income for the oil exporting countries of the world. According to the recent report of OECD, the prices of oil are expected to soar up to 190 dollars till 2020 in terms of real value of money in today’s economy. Due to the rise in the prices of oil, the net oil importing countries face situations of economic slowdown due to the rigidity in the structure of their economies (Sengupta, 2011, p.35). The minimum wages to be paid to the labours, the cost for importing the oil from the major oil exporters, the degree of economic investments are all affected by the rise of oil prices. The oil importing economies have to transfer more national income to the international oil exporters for importing the same volume of oil. Thus the volume of oil imports tends to decrease in a situation of rising international oil prices (Mankiw, 2011, p.82). This leads to slowdown of investments in the economy of the importing countries. The subsequent implications for the net oil importing countries are inflation in the economy as the supply of goods an d services are not able to meet the demand of the markets. Due to circular flow of money, the