IT Strategy class paper - Read case and discuss current challenges & Study

IT Strategy class paper - Read and discuss current challenges & recommendations - Case Study Example The industry gradually gave birth to other related industries like elevator services, maintenance etc (Otisline, 2). Otis Elevators always remained on top of the competition. Since the time it was founded, it managed to form and maintain its reputation as the best in the industry of elevators. The fact that it provided services along with the product made it even more popular and the quality remained credible. Owing to its reputation customers were often willing to pay premium price for Otis’ services (Otisline, 1). Otis elevators had three branches: Otis Hydraulics (for up to 6 story buildings), Otis Geared (for 24 story buildings) and Otis Gearless for higher buildings. The state-of-the-art elevators with higher capacity than usual, Otis was customers’ first choice (Otisline, 1). Otis was divided in four geographical areas: North American Operations, Latin American Operations, Pacific Area Operations and European Transcontinental Operations. North American Operation (NAO) had the most widely dispersed customer base because of the large geographical area it catered to and also because there was a variety of customers to attend. The need to develop easy communication with the customers occurred and so Otisline was formed (Otisline, 1). Otisline was the main customer service centre of Otis NAO. It was established so that customers could easily contact the company, give feedback, lodge complaints etc. This way, Otis secured its customers’ loyalty by developing easy communication. Otis was a decentralized organization but the new system it installed, Otisline, was centralized. A centralized system was launched for focusing on faster responses to callbacks. Customer’s rate quality of services according to the way they are responded by the firm and the time it takes for responding. Commercial answering services were used for non-prime-time call backs and the

A Railway Journey Essay Example for Free

A Railway Journey Essay I am a frequent traveller. That’s because I am a small town boy from Rourkela studying in the national capital of India. My batch friends who live nearby take every opportunity to go home be that a one day holiday or a week’s holiday. I on the other hand cannot exploit every holiday because travelling takes me 48 hours to reach home. Unfortunately there is no direct train from Delhi to Rourkela. So I have to switch trains in a preferable stop. I usually prefer Ranchi station. From Ranchi to Rourkela there is just one train in the evening that is the 7 pm train. My usual itinerary is that I travel from Delhi to Ranchi via Rajdhani which reaches there at 4 pm, and then I take the 7 pm train to reach Rourkela at 11 pm. I was so engrossed in my studies and exams that I forgot to book my ticket before time. When the holidays came near I suddenly realized that I hadn’t booked my ticket. I immediately opened IRCTC website from my laptop, and saw that my usual train Rajdhani was completely booked and no more tickets were available. I couldn’t risk booking a waiting list ticket so I booked an alternate train which takes relatively more time but I thought I’ll make it. It was supposed to reach Ranchi at 5:30 pm. I thought that I have a reasonable time gap and I can easily make it. Soon my exams got over and the time came for me to go home. To be frank, I usually get bored at home. But the idea of going home, the packing of my stuff, the travel and the journey is what excites me. I said goodbye to my friends, hugged them, and wished them happy holidays. A friend gave me chocolates for my journey and wished me happy journey. I just love this feeling. Since the exams were over they had nothing else to do, so they came with me to the station to see me off. I bought a bottle of Thums Up. Yes that’s my favourite drink. I went on and sat on my berth. I always prefer the side lower when I am travelling alone. There is a sense of privacy and is comfortable as well. I waved at my friends as the train started to move. I was very happy, but my subconscious was slowly telling me that this train better not be late because otherwise I am screwed. My father will scold me for my irresponsibility. Since it was not Rajdhani, its standard was not that good. Moreover I had to buy food for every meals and the compartment was also not that clean. But I knew I can manage as long as I get a charging socket nearby. I have a laptop and I love games. I can pass my time very easily. For some reason I don’t know why, I like to travel alone. One of the biggest and consistent problems faced by a youngster preferably male travelling alone is that someone always will request him to exchange his berth with someone who needs it more. Be that a senior citizen, or a family whose all tickets are concentrated in one area and only one is far away. Whatever it may be, we boys have to suffer. There is no point in booking tickets early if you don’t get the seat of your choice. And there is no way you can say no to them because they are elder people and they make such horrible requesting faces with puppy eyes that you just can’t deny. A fairly middle aged person requested me to trade my seat for his upper berth in a different coach skipping 3 coaches in the middle. I said let’s see in the beginning but later on I had to give in because I had no other option. He helped me shift my luggage and thanked me a lot later on. Travelling alone is some kind of a self-assessment time for me. I analyze what I have done in the past, I day dream a lot in this time and set personal goals. As soon as we cross Delhi and reach Ghaziabad my telecom service (Reliance) initiates the roaming facility and unfortunately my u nlimited SMS pack becomes void. My parents keep checking on me calling at regular intervals. After some point it becomes very irritating because it costs even to receive phone calls. I look at the scenes outside the window. I feel bad when I see the people living near the railway tracks, the slums and the poverty. I stare at the empty advertisements loaded with spelling and grammar mistakes on the boundary walls of the slums and on houses. Now the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) came to check the tickets of the passengers. When my turn came I showed him the ticket, he said that my ticket is booked for a different compartment, which has different TTE, so I have to show it to him. I said we have exchanged the seat, but nothing that I said mattered. So I had to go back to the previous compartment and ask that person to show his ticket to the TTE of my compartment. Same thing would have happened to him so he took my ticket. It was an unnecessary exercise and I hated that person for the troubles he gave me. The sounds of children crying and yelling are sometimes intolerable, but there is nothing one can do about it. I try to console myself by saying that I was also like that one day, funny but true. The vendors keep on moving here and there shouting and selling. It’s okay up to a certain limit. After that you just can’t listen to their annoying voices anymore. There is total chaos. So I put on my headphones and listen to music. What a great relief that is! Soon the day came to an end, and I went to sleep early. The next day when I woke up I went out and brushed my teeth. After that I asked the attendant whether the train was running late or not. He said yes, one and a half hour late. I became nervous because then I’ll not make it on time and I’ll miss the connecting train. Hoping that the train will make up for the lost time I went back to my seat and lied down worried. What should I tell my parents if I missed the train? What will I do? Where will I go? Ques tions like these haunted me. I ate my breakfast and read the newspaper that I bought from a vendor. I tried to pass my time but my mind was unconsciously worrying about the consequences. As time passed I noticed the arrival time had crossed, and the train was still running one and a half hour late. My heart started beating faster with every second that passed. Soon the train came to a halt and I reached Ranchi at 6:45 pm. Ranchi has two different stations, one being Ranchi and the other Hatia. I had reservation up to Hatia, but if I had waited for the train to reach Hatia, I would have missed the connecting train. So I took a chance and left the train with my luggage and ran in search of an auto. I found an auto-driver, the first one that approached me. I asked him how much he will take to get me to Hatia station, to which he answered 100 rupees. I said I’ll give him 150 if he takes me there within the next 10 minutes. He being a sport took my luggage and placed it in his auto and I sat and then we rushed to through a different path. I became surprised as to why was he taking me through a different route. He said it is a longer road, but the road is very smooth so we will reach early if he drives very fast. As bad as this nightmare was, it was about to become worse because it started to rain and was becoming very dark. The driver was very instrumental, because he broke all the traffic rules, crossed all the red lights but we reached Hatia at 7 pm. I thought I had missed it. But still I paid him for his bravery and I took my luggage and rushed towards the station. To my surprise I found that my connecting train was still standing on the platform and my previous train had not yet reached Hatia. I took a sigh of relief and then I ran towards my compartment, and took a seat. Just as I sat on my seat, drenched from head to toe, the fellow passenger sitting next to me requested me to trade my seat for his in a different compartment. I was still breathing heavily. But I was so happy that I made it in time that I accepte d. We went to the very next compartment and he got me a lower berth. I was happy that things are turning my way. No one further wanted to exchange my seat. I sat down wiping my face with my handkerchief. Then I called my mother and shared my adventure with her proudly. She was amazed with the story but I could hear my father calling my irresponsible from behind. I could not help but laugh. I would have reached Rourkela by 11 pm. I was thinking of taking a bath and then would sleep. Just when I thought nothing else could go wrong the train stopped at a very small station at 10 pm. Then I saw people coming out of the train. I panicked. I asked my fellow passengers among which a boy of nearly my age. He said that this train has stopped and will restart at morning 6. It is a naxalite-attack prone area. So the train won’t run to prevent accidents in the dark. Suddenly I saw the police patrolling the train. I called my mother and updated her on the situation. This meant I’ll reach at 7 am in the morning. I was literally criticizing my luck. Many people went to the waiting room, but I stayed and so did the boy sitting next to me. We thought of sleeping, but it was unsafe. So we decided to keep up all night. So I took out my laptop and we decided which movie to see from the large movie database I had kept in hard drive. Luckily the socket was running and so was the air conditioner. We stayed up all night watching movies back to back. Slowly the people passing by or the people who heard the noise from my laptop came near our cubicle. They also got interested and sat down. Soon there was a gathering of 8-9 people. The few people who were sleeping nearby started to complain that we should sleep as we are disturbing them. But it was too late to stop now because there were a lot of people who were actually enjoying the movie. So we continued till 6 am in the morning. The train started at sharp 6 am. I reached Rourkela at 7:10 am. I came out and saw my father standing in the platform waiting for me. Finally I reached home. It was a huge relief. Surely it was a journey to remember. The ups and downs and the adventures were memorable. A railway journey surely takes more time and has a lot of problems attached to it, but has a lot of memories attached to it as well. This is one of the main reasons I always prefer to travel in train.

The Importance Of External Business Environment Commerce Essay

The Importance Of External Business Environment Commerce Essay Most firms operate in a very uncertain , volatile and dynamic environment. To remain competitive they need to anticipate changes in their external marketing environment and be prepared to adapt business activities accordingly. Industries need to be prepared and have some outline plans for dealing with different eventualities so that they are less likely to be exposed to loosing business. The external environment of different organizations differ in many ways, but the theme of every organization is to use their current resources and the information or data the have to their advantage and transform it into the required out puts, and this change happens against a background of external influences which are outside the industry and can effect the organization and its activities. The external environment is very complex, dynamic and volatile and unpredictable. But these factors have to be considered for any meaningful analysis of an industry. key determinants :- Political , Economical , Social , Technology , Environment , Legal as few determinants overlap for example the political, social, and economical can be said to socio-economic determinants. swot : analysis strengths weaknesses opportunities and threats The actual strategies being pursued at any time reflect the organizations strategy content, and the important issues are. The ability of the organization to add value in meaningful ways which exploit organizational resources to achieve synergy, also at the same time. Satisfy the needs of the organizations major stake holders. Particularly its share holders and customers. Strategic management involves devising a complete roadmap for capturing and maintaining competitive advantage by determining the broader concepts of mission, goals, and long and short-term objectives; and by defining and managing the more specific details of analysis, decision-making, actions, roles, responsibilities, and timelines needed to do so. A sustainable society is one that meets current environmental, economic, and community needs without compromising those needs in the future. There are three main categories of issues that affect a sustainable society: 1. Environmental issues 2. Economic issues 3. Community issues Today, companies are expected to practice good business ethics by fostering a sustainable society. Environmental issues may be caused by nature or humans. Environmental issues include the following: Changes in the climate, such as global warming Natural disasters, such as hurricanes The alteration of terrain or bodies of water due to natural disasters or development Deterioration of air quality, both outside (such as fumes from motor vehicles and airplanes) and inside (such as toxins released from paint and varnish) The release of hazardous materials from activities such as oil spills and the dumping of hazardous waste. The depletion or deterioration of natural resources, such as farmland, water, trees, and minerals. The displacement of wildlife or depletion of their food sources A company can influence those environmental issues caused by nature through its response and management of the after-effects. For example, a companys financial or emergency response to a hurricane illustrates a companys contribution to an environmental issue in a sustainable society. This is also a good example of an environmental issue that crosses over into a community issue.but by choosing active practices for oil gas or other leading industries which use more fuel and other natural energy resources they can take the following steps to be more eco friendly Use renewable resources, such as bamboo and treated pine timber whenever possible. Plant trees on company property and in the community. Reduce the number of motor vehicles and airplanes to lower emissions and noise pollution. Use recycled and biodegradable materials in product development. Operate facilities during non-peak utility and travel hours. Design products that are recyclable or biodegradable. Use alternative fuel vehicles whenever possible. Develop alternative energies, fuels, and products. Offer financial incentives to employees who travel to work by bicycle, public transportation, and hybrid or electric motor vehicles. Or Offer employees the opportunity to work from home part of the time. Purchase products from companies that employ sustainable packaging. Analysis on the external environment of UK mobile industry : The ideology that defines the boundaries of companies and industries stay unaffected, even if they include diverse implications as technology, boundaries can mainly be focused on the basic service, quality and price. Analysis of the external environment of the UK mobile phone industry key determinants of success . Economic: Due to the affluence of various market segments and consumption patterns of different individuals and direction of the economy in which a firm operates. Each firm must consider economic trends in the segments the effect the industry on both national and international level .government plays a major role in the economy and its activities influence both demand and supply side. The social factors that affect the firm involve beliefs, values, and attitudes, opinions of the persons in the firms external environment as developed from the ecological religious and ethnic conditioning. As the attitudes change among people, so does the demand. Entry of women into the labor market has brought about a profound social change. Technological uses of technology in UK mobile industry is a big factor, and important. Same the technology represent the main technical issues. Same as GPRS, 3G, MULTIMEDIA and many more technical supports for to enjoy people mobile and its technology. In UK there are approx45 million phones in circulation with an estimated 77% of population having at least one mobile phones. UK users alone dispose 15 million mobile phones annually. POLITICAL Political issues helps and improves the legal aspects of UK mobile phone industry is a huge running industry in world. Many companies are the hands of it. Interference of political factor in UK mobile phone industry by the government or judicial have helped the mobile industry to a large amount like the blocking the unwanted sites and making internet browsing safe. The decisions made by the government and political play a key factor in any mobile industry. Political factors define the legal and regulatory issue within the firm and the mangers who formulate the mobile companys strategy. This factors has an influence on two government functions. Supplier function Customer function There are the three factors to determine the external environment of the UK mobile phone industry in key determinants of success. Summary The development improvement and sustainability of an industry are dependent upon the relevant strategic options becoming available and used to the organizations best advantage within that industry. The methods of analysis used in this report are internationally recognized and provide a sound foundation for market and competitor analysis. The following report looks at and assesses the macro and micro environment of the mobile network industry on a domestic and global scale. PESTILE ANALYSIS One variation of PESTLE ANALYSIS has three main elements. The first two are often developed simultaneously with the third done as part of a following review process. 1. EXTERNAL FACTORS- LIST 2. IMPLICATIONS OF EXTERNAL FACTORS- IDENTIFY 3. RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF IMPLICATION OF EXTERNAL FACTORS-DECIDE 1 LIST EXTERNAL FACTORS A DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF FACTORS, Influences or pressure that have identified Implications and impacts, now or in the Future, for the organization is compiled for Each of the PESTLE components: POLITICAL Global, national, regional, local and community trends, changes, events etc. ECONOMIC world, national and local trends, changes, events etc SOCIAL Developments in society- culture, behavior, Expectations, composition etc. TECHNOLOGICAL Developments: computer hardware, software, other equipment, material, products and Processes etc. LEGAL Word/ EU/ National legislation changes, Prospects etc. ENVIRONMENTAL Global/ EU/ national/ local issues, pressure, Movements etc. Porters 5 Forces: The model of the Five Competitive Forces was developed by Michael E. Porter in his book à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã… ¾Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors in 1980.Since that time it has become an important tool for analyzing an organizations industry structure in strategic processes .Porters model is based on the insight that corporate strategy should meet the opportunities and threats in the organizations external environment. Especially, competitive strategy should base on and understanding of industry structures and the way they change. Porter has identified five competitive forces that shape every industry and every market. These forces determine the intensity of competition and hence the profitability and attractiveness of an industry. The objective corporate strategy should be to modify these competitive forces in a way that improves the position of the organization. Porters model supports analysis of the driving forces in an industry. Based on the informa tion derived from the Five Forces Analysis, management can decide how to influence or to exploit particular characteristics of their industry. The Five Competitive Forces are as follows Bargaining Power of Suppliers The suppliers comprises all sources for inputs that are needed in order to provide goods or services. Supplier bargaining power is likely to be high when:  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The market is dominated by a few large suppliers rather than a fragmented source of supply,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  There are no substitutes for the particular input,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The suppliers customers are fragmented, so their bargaining power is low,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The switching costs from one supplier to another are high,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  There is the possibility of the supplier integrating forwards in order to obtain higher prices and margins. This threat is especially high when  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The buying industry has a higher profitability than the supplying industry,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Forward integration provides economies of scale for the supplier,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The buying industry hinders the supplying industry in their development (e.g. reluctance to accept new releases of products),  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The buying industry has low barriers to entry. In such situations, the buying industry often faces a high pressure on margins from their suppliers. The relationship to powerful suppliers can potentially reduce strategic options for the organization.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The product is undifferentiated and can be replaces by substitutes,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Switching to an alternative product is relatively simple and is not related to high costs,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Customers have low margins and are prices sensitive,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Customers could produce the product themselves,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The product is not of strategically importance for the customer,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The customer knows about the production costs of the product  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  There is the possibility for the customer integrating backwards. Bargaining Power of Customers: The bargaining power of customers determines how much customers can impose pressure on margins and volumes. Customers bargaining power is likely to be high when  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  They buy large volumes, there is a concentration of buyers,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The supplying industry comprises a large number of small operators  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The supplying industry operates with high fixed costs,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  High switching costs for customers  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Legislation and government action Threat of New Entrants: The competition in an industry will be the higher, the easier it is for other companies to enter this industry. In such a situation, new entrants could change major determinants of the market environment (e.g. market shares, prices, customer loyalty) at any time. There is always a latent pressure for reaction and adjustment for existing players in this industry. The threat of new entries will depend on the extent to which there are barriers to entry.  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Economies of scale (minimum size requirements for profitable operations),  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  High initial investments and fixed costs,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Cost advantages of existing players due to experience curve effects of operation with fully depreciated assets,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Brand loyalty of customers  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Protected intellectual property like patents, licenses etc,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Scarcity of important resources, e.g. qualified expert staff  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Access to raw materials is controlled by existing players,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Distribution channels are controlled by existing players,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Existing players have close customer relations, e.g. from long-term service contracts, Threat of Substitutes A threat from substitutes exists if there are alternative products with lower prices of better performance parameters for the same purpose. They could potentially attract a significant proportion of market volume and hence reduce the potential sales volume for existing players. This category also relates to complementary products. Similarly to the threat of new entrants, the treat of substitutes is determined by factors like  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Brand loyalty of customers,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Close customer relationships,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Switching costs for customers,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  The relative price for performance of substitutes,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Current trends. Competitive Rivalry between Existing companys : This force describes the intensity of competition between existing companies in an industry. High competitive pressure results in pressure on prices, margins, and hence, on profitability for every single company in the industry. Competition between existing players is likely to be high when  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  There are many players of about the same size,  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Players have similar strategies  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  There is not much differentiation between players and their products, hence, there is much price competition  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Low market growth rates (growth of a particular company is possible only at the expense of a competitor),  ·Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Barriers for exit are high (e.g. expensive and highly specialized equipment).

Eating Disorders, Body Image and Cultural Contexts Essay -- Eating Dis

Eating Disorders, Body Image and Cultural Contexts Although a great deal of early research on body image and eating disorders focused on upper/middle class Caucasians living in America or under the influence of Western ideals, many researchers are realizing that eating disorders are not isolated to this particular group. They are also realizing the differences in body image between occur in different races and genders (Pate, Pumariega, Hester 1992). Recently, several studies have shown that eating disorders transcend these specific guidelines, and increasingly, researchers are looking at male/female differences, cross-cultural variation and variation within cultures as well. It is impossible to broach the concept of body image without including the general sentiment of the population being studied as it changes from society to society. Americans, Blacks and Asians have been the focus of a significant amount of research on the cultural attributions of eating disorders and differences in body image between cultures. When a researcher considers body image and eating problems in African-American women, they must also take into account the socio-cultural factors and factors of oppression, such as racism and sexism (Davis, Clance, Gailis 1999). Without specific etiologies for individual eating problems and body dissatisfaction, these issues become very important to individual cases and treatments. Psychologists must consider religions, coping methods, family life, and socio-economic status when assessing a patient. These all vary within cultures and between cultures making this a difficult job and complex subject to tackle. Fortunately, a great deal of research has been done to assess the body images of Black women. One extensive... ...pean Eating Disorder Review,4, 73-83. Molloy, B., Herzberger, S. (1998) Body image and self-esteem: A comparison of african american and caucasian women. Sex-Roles, 38, 631-643. Mumford, D., Whitehouse, A., Platts, M., (1991) Sociocultural correlates of eating disorders among asian school girls in bradford. British Journal of Pyschiatry, 158, 222-228. Ofuso, H., Lafreniere, K., Senn, C., (1998) Body image And perception among young women of african descent: A normative context? Feminism and Psychology, 8, 303-323. Pate, J., Pumariega, A., (1992) Cross-cultural patterns in eating disorders: A review. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,31, 802-809. Williamson, L. (1998) Eating disorders and the cultural forces behind the drive for thinness: Are african american women really protected? Social Work in Health Care,28, 61-73. Eating Disorders, Body Image and Cultural Contexts Essay -- Eating Dis Eating Disorders, Body Image and Cultural Contexts Although a great deal of early research on body image and eating disorders focused on upper/middle class Caucasians living in America or under the influence of Western ideals, many researchers are realizing that eating disorders are not isolated to this particular group. They are also realizing the differences in body image between occur in different races and genders (Pate, Pumariega, Hester 1992). Recently, several studies have shown that eating disorders transcend these specific guidelines, and increasingly, researchers are looking at male/female differences, cross-cultural variation and variation within cultures as well. It is impossible to broach the concept of body image without including the general sentiment of the population being studied as it changes from society to society. Americans, Blacks and Asians have been the focus of a significant amount of research on the cultural attributions of eating disorders and differences in body image between cultures. When a researcher considers body image and eating problems in African-American women, they must also take into account the socio-cultural factors and factors of oppression, such as racism and sexism (Davis, Clance, Gailis 1999). Without specific etiologies for individual eating problems and body dissatisfaction, these issues become very important to individual cases and treatments. Psychologists must consider religions, coping methods, family life, and socio-economic status when assessing a patient. These all vary within cultures and between cultures making this a difficult job and complex subject to tackle. Fortunately, a great deal of research has been done to assess the body images of Black women. One extensive... ...pean Eating Disorder Review,4, 73-83. Molloy, B., Herzberger, S. (1998) Body image and self-esteem: A comparison of african american and caucasian women. Sex-Roles, 38, 631-643. Mumford, D., Whitehouse, A., Platts, M., (1991) Sociocultural correlates of eating disorders among asian school girls in bradford. British Journal of Pyschiatry, 158, 222-228. Ofuso, H., Lafreniere, K., Senn, C., (1998) Body image And perception among young women of african descent: A normative context? Feminism and Psychology, 8, 303-323. Pate, J., Pumariega, A., (1992) Cross-cultural patterns in eating disorders: A review. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,31, 802-809. Williamson, L. (1998) Eating disorders and the cultural forces behind the drive for thinness: Are african american women really protected? Social Work in Health Care,28, 61-73.

Formal & Informal Language Learning Experience

Formal, Non-formal and Informal Learning: What Are the Differences? Earlier this year I did some applied research on the differences between formal, non-formal and informal education in both the sciences, as well as literacy and language education. These terms have been used by the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) as well as researchers and practitioners around the globe. Here’s a simplified explanation: Formal education – Organized, guided by a formal curriculum, leads to a formally recognized credential such as a high school completion diploma or a degree, and is often guided and recognized by government at some level. Teachers are usually trained as professionals in some way. Non-formal learning – Organized (even if it is only loosely organized), may or may not be guided by a formal curriculum. This type of education may be led by a qualified teacher or by a leader with more experience. Though it doesn’t result in a formal degree or diploma, non-formal education is highly enriching and builds an individual’s skills and capacities. Continuing education courses are an example for adults. Girl guides and boy scouts are an example for children. It is often considered more engaging, as the learner’s interest is a driving force behind their participation. Informal learning – No formal curriculum and no credits earned. The teacher is simply someone with more experience such as a parent, grandparent or a friend. A father teaching his child to play catch or a babysitter teaching a child their ABC’s is an example of informal education. These may be overly simplified explanations. There are times when the lines between each type of learning get blurred, as well. It isn’t always as cut and dry as it seems, but these definitions give you a general idea of each type of learning.

Police Discretion

Discretion is defined as the authority to make a decision between two or more choices (Pollock, 2010). More specifically, it is defined as â€Å"the capacity to identify and to document criminal and noncriminal events† (Boivin &ump; Cordeau, 2011). Every police officer has a great deal of discretion concerning when to use their authority, power, persuasion, or force. Depending on how an officer sees their duty to society will determine an officer’s discretion. Discretion leads to selective enforcement practices and may result in discrimination against certain groups of people or select individuals (Young, 2011).Most police officer discretion is exercised in situational situations with individuals (Sherman, 1984). Discrimination can lead to legal problems for an officer of the law. If discrimination due to an officer’s use of discretion results in a violation of due process it is a violation of the law (Young, 2010). Due process is the constitutionally mandated pr ocedural steps designed to eliminate error in any governmental deprivation of liberty, life, or property (Pollock, 2010). One of the main concerns with using discretion is the possibility of it leading to a violation of due process by racial profiling.Types of Negative Police Discretion Racial profiling occurs when a police officer uses a â€Å"profile† as reasonable suspicion to stop a person with the intent to obtain consent to search their belongings (Pollock, 2010). These stops are usually traffic stops and the officer is looking to obtain consent to search the individual’s automobile. The â€Å"profile† used is based on race. In these cases, an officer is using their discretion to target minority groups because they believe they are involved in criminal activities.The concern with using this profile is that racial stereotyping of minority groups will lead police to crack down on minorities more than on other groups. While police see the action of racial pro filing as a normal police tactic, minority groups see the actions as racist (Young, 2011). Although most studies on police officer discretion is focused on racial profiling, it has also been shown that officers patrol hot spots. Hot spots are areas known to have a high rate of criminal activity. Focusing on hot spots is an officer’s discretion, because they are ignoring other areas that could potential produce criminal activities.All surveillance and enforcement efforts are focused on the â€Å"hot† area. Not only are officers ignoring other areas, but they have determined those areas are not as important as the hot spot. Hot spots can prove to be problematic if the criminal activity located in the hot spot before it was being patrolled is moved to a new location. The new location is prone to no police surveillance because all resources are focused on the old hot spot (Mastrofski, 2011). Discretion and the Use of Force Police have the uncontested right to use force whe n necessary to apprehend a suspect.If the force exceeds that which is necessary it is defined as excessive force and is illegal. An officer’s discretion on use of force is a based on judgment. They do not know if a judge will later rule an instance of use of force as excessive or not. There is a fine line between what is considered acceptable force and what is considered excessive force. All an officer can do is use their training to determine what is and what is not excessive force for the given circumstances (Pollock, 2010). The use of force is highly resistant to change, even after the Rodney King incident.Rodney King was a subject of police brutality. He was repeatedly beat with a baton by Los Angeles police officers, while other officers stood by watching without attempting to stop the excessive force. The pattern of excessive force may be so ingrained in some police department cultures that it remains unaffected by other high profile excess force cases, such as the Rodn ey King case. This pattern is termed the â€Å"culture of force. † The culture of force is also subject to an officer’s discretion. The culture of force is detrimental to a department.The Los Angeles Police Department in the 1980s and 1990s would act on a tip and destroy homes by breaking toilets, ripping sofas, and spray painting â€Å"LAPD Rules! † on the walls. These acts by the Los Angeles Police Department prove the culture of the department will have an influence on the individual officer (Pollock, 2010). Police departments have use-of-force policies that specify when force may be used and the proper level of force to be used under given circumstances. Most departments use a continuum-of-force approach that allows proportional force to the suspect’s resistance.The level of force by an officer increases in direct response to escalating resistance of the suspect. Policies such as this one have been put into place following many humiliating acts of exc essive force. The policies are in place in an attempt to prevent future acts of excessive force (Pollock, 2010). Studies on Police Discretion National studies on police behavior have failed to adequately address the issue of police discretion. Due to the lack of important research data, analysts have developed suggestions on how to improve an individual officer’s discretion by educating the entire department on proper use of discretion.The current suggestions are focused on officers in higher ranks developing an educational program for their department addressing areas of needs they have observed. They are the eyes of the department, and it is there job to know what their officers needs entail. Each department will have different needs based on the ethical viewpoints of their individual officers (Mastrofski, 2011). A study on police discretion conducted in Canada was implemented to try to eliminate negative police discretion. The study first mandated that all reported violati ons of the law be recorded.The results of the study had effective but temporary results. There were more records of assaults, robberies, thefts, and mischief. However, the study had no effects on reports of burglaries and car thefts. It is estimated that during the one year study police recorded 13,000 extra crimes. Although there was an increase in records, detection and reporting rates remained the same. The extra recordings were determined to be ineffective because the community reported that they did not notice a difference in the policing styles (Boivin &ump; Cordeau, 2011). Ethical Dilemmas in Police DiscretionEthical dilemmas are â€Å"situations in which it is difficult to make a decision, either because the right course of action is not clear or the right course of action carries some negative consequences. † Ethical dilemmas entail the individual struggling with personal decision making, and sometimes results in a personal dilemma. Departmental policy can lead to pe rsonal dilemmas as well if it means going against an individual officer’s ethical system beliefs. This can lead to the officer seeking a change in law to match their own person views on the issue (Pollock, 2010).Utilitarianism is â€Å"the ethical system that claims the greatest good is that which results in the greatest happiness for the greatest number. † Utilitarianism therefore argues racial profiling is ethical because the â€Å"end† of drug interdictions justifies the â€Å"means† of harassing and inconveniencing the group. An argument against this justification is that when an officer uses racial profiling in decision making, the officer’s motives obscured. They do not concentrate on what is important for investigations. Behavior is what is important, not demographics (Pollock, 2010).Ethical formalism states that â€Å"the only thing truly good is a good will. † This ethical system does not agree with the idea of racial profiling. Acc ording to Pollock, it would mean that everyone should be stopped in the same way, so everyone would have to agree to be stopped numerous times every week. Since society most likely will not all agree that everyone should be stopped the same, racial profiling would not be an accepted practice in the ethical formalism system (Pollock, 2010). It is difficult to apply ethical systems to the use of deadly force and tasers. This is because each situation involving the use of force is different.At times an officer may benefit from the use of a taser, but other times the use, or threat of use, of a deadly weapon is more effective. Officers may argue that tasers do not always benefit the suspect because tasers do not always stop people. Departmental policies usually overrule ethics in the use of force. This is because officers have a duty of protection, so if they can accomplish their task without hurting the individual their duty would require the lesser use of force. Every officer has a du ty to prevent crime. If they feel an individual is a criminal based on race, then formal policies are going to conflict with their ethics.In other words, if an officer believes racial profiling is an effective method of policing their ethics are going to conflict with formal policies. An effective method to correct this conflict has been to educate officers on evidence that proves stopping minorities based on their race are less likely to result in criminal activity than stops based on behavioral-based criteria. Even with education, an officer’s ethics can still prevail over evidence learned in training. This is because the officer’s ethical standards still tell them racial profiling is more effective (Pollock, 2010).Training to Eliminate Unethical Police Discretion Practices Efforts to eliminate racial discrimination in the police culture are in the form of new officer recruitment and training and taught through patrol work. These measures are taken to eliminate negat ive discretion, such as racial profiling, by developing better relationships with the community regardless of the racial composition. The goal is to make police-citizen interactions more frequent, varied, and dispersed throughout the community (Mastrofski, 2011). A suggestion was made on how to police hot spots by Mastrofski.He suggested that instead of having officers stationed in hot spots with full personal discretion on how they police the area, they should be told how long to patrol the area or told what tactics to use in the area. This will eliminate complete personal discretion by the officers patrolling the hot spot areas. The time limit of policing the hot spot is to reduce the amount of neglect other areas in the community experience due to the policing of hot spot areas. The goal of this plan is to continue with the crack downs in hot spot zones without neglecting other areas in the community (Mastrofski, 2011).Conclusion Although this research paper focused on the negati ve effects of police discretion, there can also be positive effects. Things such as giving offenders of minor traffic violations less of a punishment or giving first time youth offenders less of a punishment to let them learn from their mistakes are examples of what can be termed positive police discretion. However, what is considered positive discretion to one person could be negative discretion to another. Every person has their own opinions about how police discretion should be handled.Some may think police should not be entitled to use discretion and every department should have policies the officers should follow instead. Other people may like that police have the use of discretion which could lead to a warning for a minor traffic violation instead of a fine. The topic of police discretion in relation to ethical dilemmas is also a heated debate. Since people have different ethics; every police officer will patrol a little different. It has been suggested that police departments educate their officers to be more uniform in their policing.Not only would this eliminate some of the negative discretion practices officers may have developed, it would also put all the officers on the same page with the way the department would like to have the community policed (Mastrofski, 2011). The concept of police discretion is a large topic of conversation among researchers. The problem I see with the topic of conversation is there is not a lot of research done on the actual affects of the individual discretion of each officer compared to a department that has been educated in following policies more than personal discretion.In fact, from what I saw there is not much research on the effects of discretion at all. It seems like it is a topic that is overlooked when researching the effectiveness of a department. I feel like before more solutions are found on how to correct the problem of discretion, more research needs to be done on how discretion plays a role in every day po licing. Until this research is conducted, all the articles published are on theories of discretion causing problems, and all of the solutions mentioned are methods to correct a problem that has not even been proven to be an issue yet. Police Discretion Discretion is defined as the authority to make a decision between two or more choices (Pollock, 2010). More specifically, it is defined as â€Å"the capacity to identify and to document criminal and noncriminal events† (Boivin &ump; Cordeau, 2011). Every police officer has a great deal of discretion concerning when to use their authority, power, persuasion, or force. Depending on how an officer sees their duty to society will determine an officer’s discretion. Discretion leads to selective enforcement practices and may result in discrimination against certain groups of people or select individuals (Young, 2011).Most police officer discretion is exercised in situational situations with individuals (Sherman, 1984). Discrimination can lead to legal problems for an officer of the law. If discrimination due to an officer’s use of discretion results in a violation of due process it is a violation of the law (Young, 2010). Due process is the constitutionally mandated pr ocedural steps designed to eliminate error in any governmental deprivation of liberty, life, or property (Pollock, 2010). One of the main concerns with using discretion is the possibility of it leading to a violation of due process by racial profiling.Types of Negative Police Discretion Racial profiling occurs when a police officer uses a â€Å"profile† as reasonable suspicion to stop a person with the intent to obtain consent to search their belongings (Pollock, 2010). These stops are usually traffic stops and the officer is looking to obtain consent to search the individual’s automobile. The â€Å"profile† used is based on race. In these cases, an officer is using their discretion to target minority groups because they believe they are involved in criminal activities.The concern with using this profile is that racial stereotyping of minority groups will lead police to crack down on minorities more than on other groups. While police see the action of racial pro filing as a normal police tactic, minority groups see the actions as racist (Young, 2011). Although most studies on police officer discretion is focused on racial profiling, it has also been shown that officers patrol hot spots. Hot spots are areas known to have a high rate of criminal activity. Focusing on hot spots is an officer’s discretion, because they are ignoring other areas that could potential produce criminal activities.All surveillance and enforcement efforts are focused on the â€Å"hot† area. Not only are officers ignoring other areas, but they have determined those areas are not as important as the hot spot. Hot spots can prove to be problematic if the criminal activity located in the hot spot before it was being patrolled is moved to a new location. The new location is prone to no police surveillance because all resources are focused on the old hot spot (Mastrofski, 2011). Discretion and the Use of Force Police have the uncontested right to use force whe n necessary to apprehend a suspect.If the force exceeds that which is necessary it is defined as excessive force and is illegal. An officer’s discretion on use of force is a based on judgment. They do not know if a judge will later rule an instance of use of force as excessive or not. There is a fine line between what is considered acceptable force and what is considered excessive force. All an officer can do is use their training to determine what is and what is not excessive force for the given circumstances (Pollock, 2010). The use of force is highly resistant to change, even after the Rodney King incident.Rodney King was a subject of police brutality. He was repeatedly beat with a baton by Los Angeles police officers, while other officers stood by watching without attempting to stop the excessive force. The pattern of excessive force may be so ingrained in some police department cultures that it remains unaffected by other high profile excess force cases, such as the Rodn ey King case. This pattern is termed the â€Å"culture of force. † The culture of force is also subject to an officer’s discretion. The culture of force is detrimental to a department.The Los Angeles Police Department in the 1980s and 1990s would act on a tip and destroy homes by breaking toilets, ripping sofas, and spray painting â€Å"LAPD Rules! † on the walls. These acts by the Los Angeles Police Department prove the culture of the department will have an influence on the individual officer (Pollock, 2010). Police departments have use-of-force policies that specify when force may be used and the proper level of force to be used under given circumstances. Most departments use a continuum-of-force approach that allows proportional force to the suspect’s resistance.The level of force by an officer increases in direct response to escalating resistance of the suspect. Policies such as this one have been put into place following many humiliating acts of exc essive force. The policies are in place in an attempt to prevent future acts of excessive force (Pollock, 2010). Studies on Police Discretion National studies on police behavior have failed to adequately address the issue of police discretion. Due to the lack of important research data, analysts have developed suggestions on how to improve an individual officer’s discretion by educating the entire department on proper use of discretion.The current suggestions are focused on officers in higher ranks developing an educational program for their department addressing areas of needs they have observed. They are the eyes of the department, and it is there job to know what their officers needs entail. Each department will have different needs based on the ethical viewpoints of their individual officers (Mastrofski, 2011). A study on police discretion conducted in Canada was implemented to try to eliminate negative police discretion. The study first mandated that all reported violati ons of the law be recorded.The results of the study had effective but temporary results. There were more records of assaults, robberies, thefts, and mischief. However, the study had no effects on reports of burglaries and car thefts. It is estimated that during the one year study police recorded 13,000 extra crimes. Although there was an increase in records, detection and reporting rates remained the same. The extra recordings were determined to be ineffective because the community reported that they did not notice a difference in the policing styles (Boivin &ump; Cordeau, 2011). Ethical Dilemmas in Police DiscretionEthical dilemmas are â€Å"situations in which it is difficult to make a decision, either because the right course of action is not clear or the right course of action carries some negative consequences. † Ethical dilemmas entail the individual struggling with personal decision making, and sometimes results in a personal dilemma. Departmental policy can lead to pe rsonal dilemmas as well if it means going against an individual officer’s ethical system beliefs. This can lead to the officer seeking a change in law to match their own person views on the issue (Pollock, 2010).Utilitarianism is â€Å"the ethical system that claims the greatest good is that which results in the greatest happiness for the greatest number. † Utilitarianism therefore argues racial profiling is ethical because the â€Å"end† of drug interdictions justifies the â€Å"means† of harassing and inconveniencing the group. An argument against this justification is that when an officer uses racial profiling in decision making, the officer’s motives obscured. They do not concentrate on what is important for investigations. Behavior is what is important, not demographics (Pollock, 2010).Ethical formalism states that â€Å"the only thing truly good is a good will. † This ethical system does not agree with the idea of racial profiling. Acc ording to Pollock, it would mean that everyone should be stopped in the same way, so everyone would have to agree to be stopped numerous times every week. Since society most likely will not all agree that everyone should be stopped the same, racial profiling would not be an accepted practice in the ethical formalism system (Pollock, 2010). It is difficult to apply ethical systems to the use of deadly force and tasers. This is because each situation involving the use of force is different.At times an officer may benefit from the use of a taser, but other times the use, or threat of use, of a deadly weapon is more effective. Officers may argue that tasers do not always benefit the suspect because tasers do not always stop people. Departmental policies usually overrule ethics in the use of force. This is because officers have a duty of protection, so if they can accomplish their task without hurting the individual their duty would require the lesser use of force. Every officer has a du ty to prevent crime. If they feel an individual is a criminal based on race, then formal policies are going to conflict with their ethics.In other words, if an officer believes racial profiling is an effective method of policing their ethics are going to conflict with formal policies. An effective method to correct this conflict has been to educate officers on evidence that proves stopping minorities based on their race are less likely to result in criminal activity than stops based on behavioral-based criteria. Even with education, an officer’s ethics can still prevail over evidence learned in training. This is because the officer’s ethical standards still tell them racial profiling is more effective (Pollock, 2010).Training to Eliminate Unethical Police Discretion Practices Efforts to eliminate racial discrimination in the police culture are in the form of new officer recruitment and training and taught through patrol work. These measures are taken to eliminate negat ive discretion, such as racial profiling, by developing better relationships with the community regardless of the racial composition. The goal is to make police-citizen interactions more frequent, varied, and dispersed throughout the community (Mastrofski, 2011). A suggestion was made on how to police hot spots by Mastrofski.He suggested that instead of having officers stationed in hot spots with full personal discretion on how they police the area, they should be told how long to patrol the area or told what tactics to use in the area. This will eliminate complete personal discretion by the officers patrolling the hot spot areas. The time limit of policing the hot spot is to reduce the amount of neglect other areas in the community experience due to the policing of hot spot areas. The goal of this plan is to continue with the crack downs in hot spot zones without neglecting other areas in the community (Mastrofski, 2011).Conclusion Although this research paper focused on the negati ve effects of police discretion, there can also be positive effects. Things such as giving offenders of minor traffic violations less of a punishment or giving first time youth offenders less of a punishment to let them learn from their mistakes are examples of what can be termed positive police discretion. However, what is considered positive discretion to one person could be negative discretion to another. Every person has their own opinions about how police discretion should be handled.Some may think police should not be entitled to use discretion and every department should have policies the officers should follow instead. Other people may like that police have the use of discretion which could lead to a warning for a minor traffic violation instead of a fine. The topic of police discretion in relation to ethical dilemmas is also a heated debate. Since people have different ethics; every police officer will patrol a little different. It has been suggested that police departments educate their officers to be more uniform in their policing.Not only would this eliminate some of the negative discretion practices officers may have developed, it would also put all the officers on the same page with the way the department would like to have the community policed (Mastrofski, 2011). The concept of police discretion is a large topic of conversation among researchers. The problem I see with the topic of conversation is there is not a lot of research done on the actual affects of the individual discretion of each officer compared to a department that has been educated in following policies more than personal discretion.In fact, from what I saw there is not much research on the effects of discretion at all. It seems like it is a topic that is overlooked when researching the effectiveness of a department. I feel like before more solutions are found on how to correct the problem of discretion, more research needs to be done on how discretion plays a role in every day po licing. Until this research is conducted, all the articles published are on theories of discretion causing problems, and all of the solutions mentioned are methods to correct a problem that has not even been proven to be an issue yet.