Bringing Trauma Home: Spouses of Paramedics

The profession of emergency care inevitably brings along with it a lot of stress, both mental and physical. Paramedics and other emergency care professionals are faced with a multitude of varying situations ranging from harsh weather to violent patients and emotionally draining experiences such as witnessing extensively injured patients or deaths. Moreover, these individuals are also faced with different hassles such as working in exhaustive shifts, overtime issues and variable schedules (Blakely & Timmons, 2008; Regehr, Goldberg, & Hughes, 2002).All these factors not only influence the paramedics themselves but also have a significant impact on their families. Studies have shown the existence of the phenomenon of secondary trauma (Figley, 1995 cited in Regehr, Goldberg, & Hughes, 2002), or vicarious traumatization (McCann & Pearlman, 1990; Saakvitne & Pearlman, 1996 cited in Regehr, Goldberg, & Hughes, 2002) amongst mental health workers who have been exposed to individuals who are faced with traumatizing experiences.It has been proven that being exposed to the traumatic experiences of others predisposes individuals to develop symptoms of anxiety, sleep disturbances and affective arousal (Regehr, Goldberg, & Hughes, 2002). Studies have revealed that emergency workers including ambulance personnel have a high incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Jonsson, Segesten, & Mattsson, 2003). Other studies reveal that by witnessing the trauma and suffering of victims, paramedics develop secondary trauma and if they share their experiences with their family members, they too might experience vicarious traumatization (Blakely & Timmons, 2008).Different individuals have been shown to deal with the stress in different ways. Some individuals might share their experiences with their family members and seek emotional support from them. In doing so, they inadvertently expose their family members to the same distress and anguish that they are experiencing. Thus fam ilies when extending their support towards the paramedics, who need to cope with the work-related stress, may themselves fall prey to developing mental distress via the process of secondary trauma (Blakely & Timmons, 2008).On the other hand, some individuals may cope with the work-related stress that they experience via emotional numbing, whereby they display a loss of affect and emotional detachment (Regehr, Bringing the trauma home: Spouses of Paramedics, 2005). They may thereby have impaired family functioning and limited interactions with their family members (Regehr, Bringing the trauma home: Spouses of Paramedics, 2005). Both these coping strategies have thus been proven to indirectly have a negative influence on the family members of paramedics.In addition, work stress has also been shown to impair the family functioning of paramedics (Blakely & Timmons, 2008). Another problem that the family members, in particular the spouses of paramedics have to face is dealing with the to ugh routine that these individuals have. Other concerns of the family members include the health risks and the physical violence that the emergency care personnel are prone to (Blakely & Timmons, 2008).Thus, the work-related mental stress experienced by personnel involved in emergency care does not only have impact on their own life and health but also on their family members, in particular their spouses. It therefore becomes imperative to study the influence and consequences of the mental distress which the paramedics face on their family lives and relationship, determine factors which influence the development of these problems, and hence improvise strategies to minimize the potential harm and risks associated with these problems.Qualitative versus Quantitative research design for addressing this issue When undertaking research to address any issue, two different kinds of research methods exist, viz. qualitative and quantitative methods. The choice of the research method depends o n the study question. When an exploration of the various aspects of a particular issue is required, qualitative research should be undertaken (Marshall, 1996). Qualitative research allows an in-depth study of the phenomenon of interest and involves observing the phenomenon in its natural environment without any interventions (Runciman, 2002).The results yielded as a result of qualitative studies are transferable and such research answers ‘why’ and ‘how’ questions (Marshall, 1996). It provides a conceptual analysis of the issue and serves various different purposes including hypothesis generation, which can be further tested via using quantitative methods, to assess the pre-existing systems and functions and to convey to the policy makers the views and experiences of the individuals in question, amongst others (Fitzpatrick & Boulton, 1994).Qualitative research is thus â€Å"complex, contextual and influenced by the interaction of physical, psychological and social factors (Runciman, 2002). † In the other hand, quantitative research uses a deductive or reductionalist approach and is aimed at testing preset hypothesis (Marshall, 1996). The main implications of this kind of research is in assessing the effectiveness of various interventions or comparing two different study groups. Quantitative methodology yields generalizable results and produces answers to ‘what’ questions (Marshall, 1996).Keeping in mind the above mentioned basic differences between qualitative and quantitative research and their applicability in various situations, the best suited form of methodology which can be used in identifying the impact of the work-related stress of the paramedics on their family lives is qualitative methodology. This is because the issue at hand requires an in-depth exploration of the various aspects and consequences of the work-related stress on the individuals, their family life and their spouses and qualitative approach i s the most suitable for answering such questions.Problem identification and definition The introduction section of a research article is aimed at identifying the research problem, to determine the magnitude of the problem in the society and to provide the rationale behind carrying out the study (Parahoo, 2006). In this article, the author clearly defines the problem which led to the conduction of this study viz. the negative impact of the work-related mental stress that paramedics face on their spouses (Regehr, 2005) and adequately explain the theoretical framework behind this problem.According to the author, paramedics experience a considerable amount of mental and physical stress while at work and this influences their overall mood and affect. There are two main types of coping strategies that paramedics can adopt in order to overcome the mental distress they experience and these involve either remaining detached and emotionally aloof from the situations faced, i. e. emotional num bing, or explicitly sharing their experiences with others (Regehr, 2005).Neither of these strategies have been found to be useful since the former leads to a poor quality of relationships as the numbing prevails in everyday life and leads to an inability to emotionally engage and interact with others, and the latter has been found to induce symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder in the family members whereby they start experiencing stress similar to that faced by the paramedics (Regehr, 2005).The author thus surmises that the work related stress of paramedics does not only bring significant distress to the individuals in question, but also to their family members, in particular their spouses, and this is a considerable problem that warrants research in order to elucidate the factors contributing towards this problem (Regehr, 2005). Thus, in this article, the phenomenon of interest is clearly identified and the theoretical underpinnings of the problem have been adequately address ed.However, when defining the problem, the author does not explain why the qualitative study design would be best suited for this particular problem. Moreover, this section also lacks a discussion of the significance of this research and its outcome to everyday clinical practice, i. e. How would identifying and addressing this particular problem prove to be beneficial for paramedics and their spouses in the short and long-term? Literature Review The literature review provided in an article provides an in-depth view of the research done on the topic.It should be based on an extensive review of literature and discuss all aspects of the topic in question (Parahoo, 2006). In this article, a thorough and comprehensive literature regarding the different aspects of the effect of paramedics’ work-related mental distress on their family and spouses has been provided. Moreover, the literature is logically organized and leads the readers sequentially from problem identification to its i mpact and consequences.Using the literature, the author initially discusses the magnitude and nature of the emotional stress that paramedics face and then moves on to describe the role of the family in helping paramedics to deal with this stress (Regehr, 2005). The author then quotes and discusses the different studies which been carried out to elucidate the coping strategies used by paramedics to vercome the mental distress that they encounter and the effect of these strategies on the family members (Regehr, 2005), thus providing a framework and the rationale for conducting the study in question.However, the literature review of this article has certain shortcomings. Firstly, the literature review fails to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the studies carried out previously and the gaps in the research literature that exist. This is important so as to ascertain what new findings this study would contribute to the existing literature on the subject. Moreover, some of the lite rature qouted in this article dates back to almost two decades ago, e. g. Verboski and Ryan, 1988 and Nezu and Carnevale, 1987, and is thus outdated.This shortcoming could have been avoided by using more recent and up to date literature, which would have contributed further towards the strength of the article. Thus in conclusion, the literature review is adequately performed and suffiently describes the previous research conducted on the topic but has certain limitations and shortcomings. Methodology The methodology section is one of the most important sections of any article as this part guides the readers on how the study is actually being conducted. It has several important components. The different components of methodology of this article are critically reviewed below.Research Design The research design used is for this study is qualitative research. This method is appropriately chosen since this study aims to identify the different consequences that the paramedics’ life style and the pressures associated with their job has on their family life and their spouses and these consequences are influenced by several factors and can be studied from different aspects (Regehr, 2005). Qualitative research serves the purpose of studying a problem from several different perspectives and is conducted in a natural setting.It does not require any intervention or control group and is a mere observation of the phenomenon of interest, giving a holistic picture of the problem being addressed (Runciman, 2002). This study is meant to be an exploration of the experiences, concerns and issues of the spouses of paramedics and thus the qualitative method is best suited method for it. Sampling The sample for this study consisted of spouses of fourteen paramedics who were employed at two different emergency medical organizations. The author describes the rationale of using a sample size of fourteen participants, viz. ensuring the occurrence of saturation (Regehr, 2005).Satura tion is an important concept applicable to qualitative research. In general, it is an established fact that as the sample size increases the chances of conducting a random sample error decrease and thus, larger sample sizes are preferred in order to reduce the variability in the results (Marshall, 1996). However, at a certain point, no new information or themes are revealed from the data set and this is termed as saturation (Marshall, 1996). For qualitative studies, the sample size required is usually small but recruiting an adequate number of participants in order to achieve saturation should be ensured.In this article, the sampling method used is not stated explicitly but the technique used reveals that purposive sampling was used, i. e. spouses of paramedics were approached and asked to participate in this study (Regehr, 2005). This kind of sampling is best suited for qualitative studies, in particular those who focus on a particular group of individuals rather than on the genera l population. However, this article does not mention any particular inclusion or exclusion criteria for the study participants.Inclusion and exclusion criteria are important in minimizing the variability amongst participants and in the reduction of any confounding factors which might lead to variation in the results and thus compromise the validity and reliability of the study findings. Data Collection Strategies The data collection tools used were audio taped interviews which followed a semi-structured interview guide and notes on the impressions of the interviewers which were taken during peer debriefing sessions (Regehr, 2005). Using interviews for data collection has the advantage of focusing on human experiences and emotions regarding the problem.Moreover, the use of semi-structured interviews in this case served a dual purpose viz. ensuring standardization of the responses, which facilitates organization and interpretation of the results, and providing opportunity for the expl oration of arenas other than those limited to and specified in the interview guide. A limitation of the description of the data collection strategies for this study is that the particular questions and themes addressed during the interview are not mentioned explicitly and the article only mentions the broad categories to which the questions belonged, e.g. family situation, the effects of shift work, etc (Regehr, 2005). This has the potential for leaving the readers in doubt as to which issues are being addressed and which ones are being focused upon in particular. Moreover, the time required for each interview is not mentioned, neither is the setting in which the interview was conducted. The article also fails to mention how many interviewers were involved in the data collection process and the steps taken, if any, to reduce the variations in data collection amongst different interviewers and to minimize interviewer bias.Data Analysis Strategies The data thereby collected via the in terviews was initially analyzed for common themes using computer based software named NUD*IST Vivo. As described by the author, open coding was utilized in the first stage for the broad categorization of data and subsequently, selective coding was done (Regehr, 2005). The author also mentions that throughout the research process, the input of emergency service organization members was acquired in order to ensure transferability and conformability (Regehr, 2005).The data analysis section of this article is very brief and not enough information is presented for readers to replicate the methodology. The author does not mention the use of any particular data analysis strategies such as iterative analysis and data triangulation. Thus, the data analysis described by author, although possesses credibility, lacks in auditability. Results and Important Findings For qualitative studies, the results need to be extensively discussed and should include actual quotes and statements of the study p articipants to give a clear view of the outcome of the study to the readers (Parahoo).The results section of this article is very comprehensive and gives a clear overview of the study findings. By organization of the results obtained under different subheadings such as concerns about the dangers of the job, effect of stress and trauma on the paramedic and the family, etc, the results have been made clear and easily interpretable by the readers (Regehr, 2005). Moreover, the use of actual quotes of the study participants gives a clearer view of and provides a better understanding of the participant’s experiences and feelings.The results reveal that the author’s conceptualization and the theoretical framework presented initially were true to the data and the findings obtained. This study, in addition to describing the traumatic experiences and stressful situations faced by the paramedics and their effects on their lives and functioning which have also been previously eluc idated by various studies, also provides an insight to the hassles which paramedics and their families encounter (Regehr, 2005).As described in the results, these include shift work, overwork, scheduling issues and equipment and personnel issues (Regehr, 2005). The recognition of these hassles is also important in addition to identifying the consequences of traumatic and stressful experiences on family life as these hassles also contribute significantly towards the disruption of normal family routines and may give rise to conflicts and discontent amongst spouses.In addition, in my opinion, the use of easy language in presenting the results adopted by the author facilitates the understanding of the readers and stimulates their interest in the article. Thus, the results section of this article effectively and comprehensively summarizes the main findings of the study conducted and presents them in an interesting, coherent and simple manner. Discussion, recommendations and conclusions T he discussion section is, in effect, an integration of all the subsections of the article which leads to the generation of a concluding statement (Parahoo, 2006).This section is aimed at linking the themes discussed in the introduction and background section of the study, the literature review and the important results generated (Parahoo, 2006). In this article, the discussion overviews all the important results and pertinent findings and compares them with the research which has been previously conducted. Almost all of the findings of this study conform to the findings generated by previously conducted studies. One limitation of the discussion is that the author does not report any conflicting results reported by previously conducted studies, if they exist.Providing different points of view that exist regarding a particular matter helps in improving the reader’s perspective of the subject and aids them in forming their views and opinions regarding a particular matter. Anothe r important component of the discussion is the identification of issues which require further research. In this article, the author correctly identifies the shortcomings of the study, where they exist and identify potential areas for future research. For example, this study identifies two main coping strategies which paramedics use in the face of traumatic experiences, viz.expressing their distress and anguish via debriefing with family members or keeping their issues o themselves and â€Å"putting up a wall (Regehr, 2005). † This study, although identifies these issues, cannot investigate further in to which of these strategies is more effective in coping with the stress that paramedics experience. The author hence recommends that further studies should be conducted in this regard in order to further explore this arena. Similarly, since the results of this study are generalizable to a particular subset of population only i. e.the spouses of paramedics, another recommendation proposed by the author is to conduct studies similar to this one involving participants belonging to other professions in which emotional management for dealing with traumatic experiences is required such as amongst firefighters, police and military personnel (Regehr, 2005). This study also identifies that formal and informal support systems did exist in the emergency medical service organization and were being underutilized. Moreover, no similar support systems existed for family members of the paramedics (Regehr, 2005).The author, although identifies this issue, does not suggest any measures which can be taken to overcome the problem that this issue poses. Moreover, the implications of this research and the findings of this study in everyday clinical practice and for paramedics and their spouses have not been addressed by the author. All the above discussed sections of a research articles lead towards the conclusion section of the article. The conclusions are meant to answer the questions raised and the objectives that were defined prior to conducting the study.They are also meant to summarize the important results generated from the study. The conclusions presented in this article serve all these purposes and briefly summarize and reflect the study findings. Ethical Issues As opposed to quantitative studies, observational and qualitative studies do not involve any intervention on the part of the researchers. Despite this, acquisition of ethical approval before conducting qualitative studies is as imperative as it is while undertaking quantitative studies.In this study, the author does not mention taking ethical approval for conducting this study by the hospital ethical review boards of either of the two emergency medical organizations from which paramedics were identified for their spouses to be recruited in the study. Moreover, the article does not mention taking informed consent from the participants of the study. Informed consent is one of the most impo rtant basic principles of research and should always be obtained prior to recruiting participants for any study.Another important ethical aspect which is not addressed in this study is that this study identifies several issues such as the problems faced by paramedics and their families as a result of job-related mental trauma, the underutilization of available support systems by the paramedics and the absence of the availability of any similar support systems for the spouses and families (Regehr, 2005). However, after identifying these issues, the author does not propose any interventions which might be useful in order to overcome these issues or the probable solutions for the problems identified.References Blakely, M. R. , & Timmons, S. M. (2008). Life Style and Health Research. Nova Publishers. Figley, C. (1995). Compassion fatigue: Towards a new understanding of the costs of caring. In B. Stamm (Ed. ), Secondary traumatic stress: Self care issues for clinicians, researchers, and educators (pp. 3–28). Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press. Fitzpatrick, R. , & Boulton, M. (1994). Qualitative methods for assessing health care. Quality in Health Care , 107-113. Jonsson, A. , Segesten, K. , & Mattsson, B.(2003). Post-traumatic stress among Swedish ambulance personnel. Emergency Medicine Journal , 79-84. Marshall, M. N. (1996). Sampling for qualitative research. Family Practice , 522-526. McCann, L. , & Pearlman, L. (1990). Vicarious traumatization: A framework for understanding the psychological effects of working with victims. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 3, 131–149. Parahoo, K. (2006). Nursing Research: Principles, Process and Issties. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Houndmills Basingstoke. Regehr, C. (2005).Bringing the trauma home: Spouses of Paramedics. Journal of Loss and Trauma , 97-114. Regehr, C. , Goldberg, G. , & Hughes, J. (2002). Exposure to Human Tragedy, Empathy, and Trauma in Ambulance Paramedics. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry , 505-513. Runciman, W. B. (2002). Qualitative versus quantitative research — balancing cost, yield and feasibility. Quality and Safety in Health Care , 146-147. Saakvitne, K. , & Pearlman, L. (1996). Transforming the pain: A workbook on vicarious traumatization. New York: Norton.

The Death of King Tut

Tutankhamun’s tomb is the only royal tomb in Egypt to have escaped the discovery of looters and was discovered by archeologist Howard Carter. The death of Tutankhamun was a sudden tragedy that til this day has yet to be solved. The cause of the famous teenage king’s death has been a long drawn out mystery with a range of theories as to how he met his end. There are no historical records explaining the cause or circumstances of his death, nor is there no positive evidence to suggest how he died. However, there are several theories and many of which have changed over the years.One theory suggests that King Tut was murdered. During an xray of the mummy in 1968, scientists found â€Å"bone fragments in King Tut’s skull prompting this theory†. Another theory as to what caused King Tut’s death was a genetic disorder known as gynecomastia, a hormone imbalance which gives males a female appearance. The final theory was that he died from a â€Å"break in th e bone just above his left knee. † Technology showed that this happened while he was still alive and was probably the result of falling from a chariot and developed an infection in the wound.Furthermore, after many speculations and testing performed on the mummy to find the cause of death, it still remains a mystery. Although there is evidence to potentially prove each of these theories to be true, I believe there are two reasons why he died. While he was alive, he fractured a thigh bone which had gotten infected. This infection spread throughout his body and eventually killed him. The CT scan showed a thin coating of embalming resin around the leg break which suggested that he broke his leg just before he died. The resin â€Å"flowed through the wound and got into direct contact with the fracture and became solidified. There was no evidence or signs of healing of the bone and that is most likely what had killed him. There were no antibiotics 3,000 years ago, and according to Ashraf Selim, a radiologist at Kasr Eleini Teaching Hospital at Cairo University in Egypt, â€Å"the probability of a severe infection resulting from such a break would be quite high. †In addition, the authors led by Dr. Zahi Hawass from the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, results suggest â€Å"avascular bone necrosis (condition in which the poor blood supply to the bone leads to weakening or destruction of an area of bone) in conjunction ith the malarial infection† was most likely the cause of death in Tutankhamun. In conclusion, there has not yet been a definite cause of death for King Tut, but studies and tests performed on the mummy body mostly point to infection as his cause of death. He died at a very young age, however the medications and technology was not there like it is today. There will continue to be studies and testing done, but there will always only be speculation because he died so long ago.Resources Alleyne, Richard. (February 16, 2010). Kin g Tut Died of Malaria and Bone Condition, Says New Research. http://www. elegraph. co. uk/science/science-news/7251320/King-Tut-died-of-malaria-and-bone-condition-says-new-research. html Hasan, Lama. Crystal Phend (February 16, 2010). How King Tut Died Revealed in New Study. http://abcnews. go. com/Health/LivingLonger/king-tut-died-revealed-study/story? id=9853119 Lovgren, Stefan. (December 1, 2006). King Tut Died From Broken Leg, Not Murder, Scienctists Conclude. http://news. nationalgeographic. com/news/2006/12/061201-king-tut. html. Sayre, Henry. (2011). The Humanities: Culture, Continuity and Change. The Stability of Ancient Egypt. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall

Assessment Type

[pic] Westminster International College Module Title: Research Methodologies Programme: MBA Part Time Groups: 9,10,11,12 & 13 Module Period: 22 February 2013 – 23 March 2013 Lecturer: Dr. Lester Massingham Tutor: Dr. Kui Juan Tiang Date of Completion and Submission: 23 March 2013 Submission Method: Online via turnitin Assessment Type: A type-written assignment Assignment Question: The aim of the module is to equip students to plan and conduct a research project leading to the production of a Masters level dissertation. The general goal is to introduce and develop the skills needed to conceptualise a problem and a viable research topic.Students will make use of available literature, design a research strategy, evaluate, organise, and integrate relevant data (both existing and new), derive useful solutions, and communicate those solutions in an appropriate form to clients and colleagues. The module will prepare students to continue their own professional education and contribute to the development of the profession as a whole, at a standard commensurate with the current level of knowledge. The module surveys the basic processes of research methodology as practised in the social sciences.Underlying principles of science and logic are emphasised and special attention is directed toward the recognition of common sources of error and bias in the implementation and interpretation of research studies as it affects the outcomes of research utilisation. You are required to submit a research proposal. The content of the document produced by each student is required to cover the specific areas and to be within specific maximum word lengths (marks allocation and word lengths in brackets) as follows: 1. Title and Introduction. Form a clear title of a proposed research.Elaborate on the background of the industry and/or company to be researched as well as the problem or issue identified. Also explain the significance and rationale of the proposed research. (15 marks / 8 00 words maximum) 2. Research Questions. Construct the questions to be answered in the proposed research. (5 marks / 100 words maximum) 3. Research Objectives and Framework. State the research objectives in terms of the factors or causes identified (independent variables) and their relationships with the identified problem or issue (dependent variable).Following the stated objectives, construct a proposed research model or conceptual framework. (5 marks / 100 words maximum) 4. Literature Review. With reference to various relevant literatures, write a critical review and analysis of both the conceptual/theoretical and practical aspects of the identified problem/issue and factors/causes. (40 marks / 2,000 words maximum) 5. Research Methodology and Design. Elaborate the concept, types and approaches in research.Propose a research design for the research topic selected with detailed explanation on elements such as the sample, sample size, types and sources of information, collection met hods and operationalisation or measurement of variables. (15 marks / 800 words maximum) 6. Ethical Considerations. Identify ethical issues involved and steps taken to prevent breach of research ethics. (5 marks / 100 words maximum) 7. Timescale or Gantt Chart. Construct a Gantt Chart in weeks that includes the stages and milestones of the research tasks and their respective time allocations. 5 marks / 100 words maximum) 8. References. Using the Harvard referencing system, provide a comprehensive list of references. (10 marks) Assessment Requirements: †¢ The submission of your work for assessment should be organised and clearly structured in a report format as outlined in 1. 0 to 8. 0 above. †¢ Maximum word length allowed is 4000 words, which includes sections 1. 0 to 7. 0 in the report. The word count excludes section 8. 0. †¢ This assignment is worth 100% of the final assessment of the module. Student is required to submit a type-written document in Microsoft Word fo rmat with Times New Roman font type, size 12 and line spacing of 1. 5. †¢ The Harvard Style of Referencing system is COMPULSORY. †¢ Indicate the sources of information and literature review by including all the necessary citations and references adopting the Harvard Referencing System. †¢ Students who have been found to have committed acts of Plagiarism are automatically considered to have failed the entire semester. If found to have breached the regulation for the second time, you will be asked to leave the course.Plagiarism involves taking someone else’s words, thoughts, ideas or essays from online essay banks and trying to pass them off as your own. It is a form of cheating which is taken very seriously. Take care of your work and keep it safe. Don’t leave it lying around where your classmates can find it. Malaysian Qualifications Agency Learning Outcomes Module Learning Outcomes: †¢ Demonstrate the skills necessary to assess and interpret existi ng research as a prelude to carrying out further investigation and the knowledge and understanding of range of research designs and their appropriate utilization. Conceptualise a problem; formulate hypotheses and objectives; design a research strategy, collecting, analyzing, and interpreting both quantitative and qualitative data, including commonly encountered statistical procedures. †¢ Understand the theoretical principles underlying inferential and descriptive statistics. †¢ Integrate the findings of existing research to ask a new research question. †¢ Engage in critical thinking when reading and comprehending research articles. Choose the most appropriate statistical analyses, interpret results, and write up the results accurately and completely. Notes on Plagiarism & Harvard Referencing Plagiarism Plagiarism is passing off the work of others as your own. This constitutes academic theft and is a serious matter which is penalised in assignment marking. Plagiarism i s the submission of an item of assessment containing elements of work produced by another person(s) in such a way that it could be assumed to be the student’s own work. Examples of plagiarism are: the verbatim copying of another person’s work without acknowledgement †¢ the close paraphrasing of another person’s work by simply changing a few words or altering the order of presentation without acknowledgement †¢ the unacknowledged quotation of phrases from another person’s work and/or the presentation of another person’s idea(s) as one’s own. Copying or close paraphrasing with occasional acknowledgement of the source may also be deemed to be plagiarism if the absence of quotation marks implies that the phraseology is the student’s own.Plagiarised work may belong to another student or be from a published source such as a book, report, journal or material available on the internet. Harvard Referencing The structure of a citation under the Harvard referencing system is the author's surname, year of publication, and page number or range, in parentheses, as illustrated in the Smith example near the top of this article. †¢ The page number or page range is omitted if the entire work is cited. The author's surname is omitted if it appears in the text. Thus we may say: â€Å"Jones (2001) revolutionized the field of trauma surgery. †¢ Two or three authors are cited using â€Å"and† or â€Å"&†: (Deane, Smith, and Jones, 1991) or (Deane, Smith & Jones, 1991). More than three authors are cited using et al. (Deane et al. 1992). †¢ An unknown date is cited as no date (Deane n. d. ). A reference to a reprint is cited with the original publication date in square brackets (Marx [1867] 1967, p. 90). †¢ If an author published two books in 2005, the year of the first (in the alphabetic order of the references) is cited and referenced as 2005a, the second as 2005b. †¢ A citation is pla ced wherever appropriate in or after the sentence.If it is at the end of a sentence, it is placed before the period, but a citation for an entire block quote immediately follows the period at the end of the block since the citation is not an actual part of the quotation itself. †¢ Complete citations are provided in alphabetical order in a section following the text, usually designated as â€Å"Works cited† or â€Å"References. † The difference between a â€Å"works cited† or â€Å"references† list and a bibliography is that a bibliography may include works not directly cited in the text. †¢ All citations are in the same font as the main text. Examples Examples of book references are: †¢ Smith, J. (2005a).Dutch Citing Practices. The Hague: Holland Research Foundation. †¢ Smith, J. (2005b). Harvard Referencing. London: Jolly Good Publishing. In giving the city of publication, an internationally well-known city (such as London, The Hague, or New York) is referenced as the city alone. If the city is not internationally well known, the country (or state and country if in the U. S. ) are given. An example of a journal reference: †¢ Smith, John Maynard. â€Å"The origin of altruism,† Nature 393, 1998, pp. 639–40. An example of a newspaper reference: †¢ Bowcott, Owen. â€Å"Street Protest†, The Guardian, October 18, 2005, accessed February 7, 2006.

Increasing Physical Activity amongst Youth Australians Essay

Increasing Physical Activity amongst Youth Australians - Essay Example Increasing physical activity amongst youth Australians Since the 70’s and 80’s, research has shown that Australian kids between the ages of 7-16 tend to suffer from overweight and obese. According to the research results by Beaulieu (2008) the increase in  overweight  population  occurrence  rose by 70% while that of the obese went up 2-4-fold. The results from the analysis by Beaulieu raises alarm urging Australian parents to  identify  and  employ  effective  measures to counter overweight and obesity, a hazard to the community health. People with weight problems are  prone  to organ failures and  acute  body  malfunctions. People with overweight problems have their hearts overworking due to lots of fat accumulation in the chest cavity and the  heart  itself, putting their lives at risk because they are likely to suffer from heart failures and breathing problems. The dangers of failing to exercise regularly  are clearly explained  b y Mackinnon’s book Exercise Management (2003). Lots of Australian parents ignore the  data  that researchers  present  them from their recent  analysis. A research conducted by Royal Children’s’ Hospital in Melbourne shows that 30% of all the 12-17 years old are overweight. Different programs implemented to curb this situation failed because of the ignorance, including  The 3000 Steps  Campaign  initiated by Hong Kong Medical Association in 2003.recently, the 3000 steps campaign got  support  from MTR. The partnership from MTR aims to  encourage  children and parents to walk every day to the stations promotions to and fro. This project targets young Australians encouraging them to  walk  at least 3000 steps daily. Making 3000 steps a day is a healthy  living  habits  that helps keep the body in  excellent  condition. Making the steps can be frustrating and making the  walker  lose count. To avoid such situations, we try to  implement  the use of small gadgets like iPods and  iPads  to play music and most prominent count the steps. These pedometers help break the monotony encountered when walking alone and keep the  walker  focused on music rather than the number of steps needed. The SWOT analysis The strengths and weaknesses of the analysis The Internal environment of the factors affecting Australia’s health- the situation needs evaluation to facilitate the curbing negative impacts arising from its status. Situation among the parents and children leading to overweight- this calls for sensetization so as to ensure that a healthy leaving. The present factors affecting healthy living needs evaluation to ensure that that loops are easily identified and required measures taken by relevant authorities. Ignorance towards information, myths among the parents and discouragement from parents to join sporting activities- this calls for awareness among parents, so as to ensure that they appr eciate the needs among the young Australians. The opportunities & threats facing the initiative’s goals The external environment of the factors affecting Australia’s health   The situation that is controlled by the organizations and govt. bodies. The future factors that will affect the direction of Australians health Failure by the govt. bodies to communicate health information to the people. The marketing objective is to  enlighten  other parents on the dangers of neglecting the  lifestyle  of their children and the foods they eat. Basing on research by Cameron (2011), many young kids in the age of 7-15 years are overweight because

Is it Possible for a Teacher to be Accountable without Being Essay

Is it Possible for a Teacher to be Accountable without Being Responsible - Essay Example This very link has been described and elaborated in respect to the ability of the teacher to balance the both, in this report. TEACHER’S RESPONSIBILITY The responsibility associated with an instructor is more than any other profession, as every profession demand education set of skills, which are only achieved once the person has undergone studies from a capable teacher, responsible enough to know his role in this world. Furthermore, Hartley (2002, 255) points out that a cheap, one-size-fits-all 'standard' in teacher education may turn out to be ineffective with regard to the promotion of human resources and the competitiveness of the economy in general. The knowledge treasure requires creativity, team-work and self-execution; the teacher being handed complete freedom to built a set of self-assessments and parameters of responsibility. These are the salient features of the modern education policy model which are highly unlikely to be promoted. Furthermore, along with the deman d for educators to conceive added responsibility, this feat is not as easy as it sounds. Therefore, attributing responsibility to a teacher is not a fact that can be gauges like temperature or any other quantitative material (Young 1998, 62). TEACHER’S ACCOUNTABILITY EFFECTS Does accountability affect building or correcting the mechanisms of an education system? This question remains a core debate in the education circles. A different perspective looked into the effects brought upon by the accountability of an educator. The effects study shed light upon the accountability systems, so to create better policy mechanisms, which in turn create a better system and professional excellence (Darling-Hammond &Sykes, 1999) and/or a system that has a reward/punishment setup for the teachers (Odden, 2002). In the modern era, research has shifted its focus from school politics to the performance analysis of the educators and the system in which they thrive. A new angle on accountability e merged as the policy makers shifted their attention on to the special role of teachers as it was before the fancy technology teaching methods took over (Fuhrman, 1999). This new form of observation by the policy makers is an effort towards enhancing the accountability of the educators, while they try to work on the areas of vigilance, observation, performance and open test results, making the system transparent. Critics of this current system; lobby hard for the old system their prime argument being the non-influential relationship between the performance of the teacher and performance of the students and their test-scores. The hard-line example for this fact is the statistics of increased dropout rate since the application of the test-driven policies, specially affecting those students who stood on the borderline of passing and failing (Whitford & Jones, 2000). This in turn has smashed the teacher’s morale in general (McNeil, 2000) and made it a difficult environment for the m as their performance is judged majorly through the stats of students, which more often than not is not the true picture. ACCOUNTABILITY VERSUS RESPONSIBILITY Accountability devices show the importance of decentralizing responsibility of a teacher. National educational authorities have decentralized the responsibility for teaching quality to the school running agencies, which more often than not creates a local accountability system, hence placing more responsibility on the teacher’

ART Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

ART - Essay Example In representing gods too, this war like nature of the gods is clearly stressed. Later in Byzantium the religion was turned to be Christian and so the portrayal of Christ can be seen more in this Byzantine (Roman) culture. Both the ancient and the Roman religious system were based on the hierarchical order. In the Roman culture the greatest god was Jupiter, and Juno was the majestic queen of heaven. In ancient Greek culture Zeus and Hera are the supreme gods. The political rivalry between the Titans and the Olympians is very common in Greek mythology. In Roman mythology the gods were at first ‘rumina,’ formless and divine manifestations, but later under Greek influence, they too got human form. In Roman culture as their gods are not appearing before people the interpreters of gods came forth. Romans give much importance to omens and portents. In Greek and roman cultures many similarities can be seen as these cultures are closely related to one another. At first the Romans too were under the Greek dominance, and so many attributes of Greek culture can be seen in Roman culture. In finding the major difference between these two cultures is that the Byzantine culture is an off shoot of the Greek culture. Greek culture is more deeply knit than the Byzantine. In the later period Roman culture was easily to come out from the cultural bondage and embraced Christianity.

Interview with Nurse Manager Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Interview with Nurse Manager - Essay Example For example, the interviewee revealed that evidence based care enhances patient care, improves outcome, provide sufficient evidence for clinical, administrative and educational decision-making processes. Because of improved health care, the patients have been able to save significant cost that could purchase medication. Evidence based practice is known to consider the influences, whether external or internal, on the nursing practice and implores critical thinking during its application. Practitioners who utilize the evidence gathered can accurately judge and diagnose a patient. The process improves the quality of health care offered to the patients (Mantzoukas, 2007). The interview involved answering preset questions that focused on assessing the willingness of nurses in applying evidence-based practice. After vigorous consultations with the Hospital Review Board, permission was granted to the manager nurse and the selected nurse to participate in the interview. The first contact with the nurse was made during her weekly staff meetings. In this meeting, the institution review board’s permission was conveyed to the manager nurse to facilitate the interview. The privacy of the participating nurse was protected throughout the duration of the interview. Evidence based practice was designed to provide the health practitioners with numerous relevant information that would enable them make effective clinical decisions since its inception. The approach was beneficial because it allowed the discarding of the previously adhered traditional practice with an aim of improving the quality of clinical services. Due to the rising numbers of nurses in the decision making process, it is critical for them to access and utilize evidence in the provision of care. The interview reveled that nurses are the predominant health care providers in numerous health facilities. It is

Assertive Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Assertive Communication - Essay Example Assertive communication entails expressing one’s point of view in a manner that is direct and clear while exuding respect. The communication is diplomatic and effective style because it is founded on mutual respect (Blokdijk, 2015). For freshman students at Bellevue College, assertive communication with their instructors is important because their needs will better cater for, and it will help of constructive relationships, minimization of conflicts. Students are always taught to concede to their instructors, but through assertive communication, they can avoid resentment, frustration, avoidance, and anxiety. There are three important elements of assertive communication. The first element is validation or empathy. It means that one is trying to say something that reflects an understanding of the other person’s feelings. The second element is a statement of the problem. This describes a person’s dissatisfaction with the current situation and it reveals why something needs to change. Lastly, it contains a statement of what a person wants. Assertive communication is a specific request for a change in the other person’s attitude, approach, or behavior (Blokdijk, 2015).

Drama analysis of Hamlet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Drama analysis of Hamlet - Essay Example Hamlet feigns insanity to discover the truth, but might as easily be insane by the mere fact of seeing and talking with ghosts. While Hamlet at first seems to be insane, there are several ways, through both language and action, that Shakespeare works to demonstrate that there is a definite method behind Hamlet’s madness. Hamlet, is at first presented as an intelligent young man who is perhaps a little spoiled yet who knows his duty and has a bright future ahead of him, but who is also quickly linked with the idea of insanity. From the beginning of the play, he is shown to be a man who is divided. His first spoken words in the play, â€Å"a little more than kin, and less than kind!† (I, ii), are spoken in an aside to himself, indicating the disdain in which he holds his uncle and mother, but could also be interpreted as the first signs of insanity as he is seen to be talking to himself. His next words, spoken to his uncle, â€Å"Not so, my lord. I am too much in the sun† (I, ii), demonstrate his ability to quickly turn a phrase upon itself. While he is answering his uncle’s question about why the â€Å"clouds still hang† on him, he does not answer the question and instead makes a reference to being looked after too much by his uncle as well as too much considered a son. Th is tendency of his to always find a double meaning in any sentence is one of the first indications of insanity Shakespeare provides. In addition, Hamlet demonstrates an almost suicidal depression following his father’s death and his mother’s betrayal, only kept from that by his religious upbringing: â€Å"O that this too too sullied flesh would melt, / Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew, / Or that the Everlasting had not fixed / His canon ‘gainst self-slaughter† (I, ii). Very early in the play we learn that Hamlet has lost all faith, all joy and all purpose in life. He cannot accept his

Anthropology of Social Networking Websites Research Paper

Anthropology of Social Networking Websites - Research Paper Example This paper stresses that talking from anthropological perspective, one can say that the system of kinship includes people who have blood relationship between them or those who are living as a family. People usually create their own definitions of family. They can make a decision on adding or not adding people to their social networks depending on whether they trust them or not. In this way, they usually do not define kinship as blood relationships and add such relationships to the definition of family that may influence their lives at some point of time without having any blood relationship with them. Therefore, we can say that social networking websites have changed the dimensions of actual anthropology of kinship in today’s world of digital media. People have forgotten that real life is different from what we feel it in internet’s social networks. Socio-cultural anthropologists believe that although there are many positive effects of social networking websites on the development of relationships within extended families, there also exist some concerns for nuclear families. For example, some people, especially children, make excessive use of social networking websites, which results in less face-to-face interactions between them and their family members living under the same roof. People usually send comments and messages to friends and ignore their actual relations. Such changes in behaviors of people decrease affection and care that people normally have for their closest family members living under the same roof.  

Fashion Channel Essay Example for Free

Fashion Channel Essay Analysis Following Rosewood through this case study we have seen the company come to a crossroads. The company had to redefine itself to stay relevant in an evolving space. Rosewood had a reputation for managing uniquely distinctive properties without widespread corporate brand name awareness. Each individual property enjoyed vast success in particular from repeat guests who mostly stayed at only one of their distinctive properties in their growing portfolio. Now the company is looking to the future and specifically evaluating whether or not to incorporate the Rosewood brand into the name of each hotel. Rosewood’s senior management is engaging several tools to make their decision. Implementing this new strategy could lead to a bright future or spell disaster. Pros and cons of Rosewood moving to a corporate brand What is branding? According to Entrepreneur magazine â€Å"The marketing practice of creating a name, symbol or design that identifies and differentiates a product from other products.† Creating a corporate brand can come with positive and negatives. Rosewood’s objective will be to leave an imprint that no one else can leave and to create magic moments that their guests will never forget. Such as when the guest goes down memory lane years later after their stay, they will recall the positively outrageous service, the amenities, the food and the atmosphere created by Rosewood. No other hotel will duplicate what they experienced at their properties. Another positive to branding, Rosewood will create standards to measure the overall performance of all their properties. Such as curb appeal, beautiful landscaping, manicured green grass, flowers in season, to beautiful shrubs and trees. Additionally, as the guest arrives the people become part of the standard set, from the doorman, to the desk clerk, to the bellman, to housekeeping, to the engineering team that keeps the building and room temperature comfortable. This is where Rosewood can benefit from differentiation and drive performance. For that reason Jack Welch states in a World Press article, â€Å"Companies win when their managers make a clear and meaningful distinction between top- and bottom-performing businesses and people, when they cultivate the strong and cull the weak†. Some of Rosewood’s property managers, as mentioned in Harvard Business Review:  Rosewood Hotels and Resorts: Branding to increase customer profitability and lifetime value, many had â€Å"mixed feelings† about moving to a corporate brand. When you are measured against other hotels there is only so much room at the top. Naturally, there will some managers that will be asked to â€Å"ship up or ship out†. Thus, the upside is each hotel pushes each other to be the best they can be. Finally, the guest could anticipate what experience they will have at each Rosewood if they moved to a uniform brand. On the other hand, the down side or cons of moving to a uniform brand for Rosewood could be that data gathered from properties could be skewed or demographic information could not apply to all hotels across the brand. According to Phillip Kotler in A Framework for Marketing and Management â€Å"The data collection phase of marketing research is generally the most expensive and the most prone to error† (p.39). Also, some management after differentiation is established and measured could be dismissed if their hotel is at the bottom. Finally, another con could be that some management and employees are not good team players and are not able to uphold the standards charted by management. Customer Lifetime Value Calculator Using a tool like the Customer Lifetime value calculator can be helpful to Rosewood management as they crunch the numbers. This tool helps management take quantitative information and funnel it down to several outcomes. However, garbage in garbage out must be considered here. The CLTV is only as good as the information provided. If one Rosewood hotel provides flawed information or has not collected the data properly, the assumptions arrived to by the CLTV are not accurate. Perhaps as JWMI 518 W2, L2 states â€Å"The best approach is often to make use of both qualitative and quantitative research†. This approach considers the ever changing market conditions, tangibles and intangibles contained within qualitative and quantitative research. They are both valuable and have their place. Finally, within all the data and assumptions gained from the CLTV, there is one factor not considered. The relationship factor. In order to carry out the legendary service brand Rosewood wants to create, the most critical factor the team should be focused on is building relationships. The data, the CLTV, the amenities and a uniform brand all revolves around the staff building meaningful relationships with the guests. The standardized expectation of  how the guests are served is the most important ingredient and the CLTV does not factor this into the equation. According to INC Magazine, â€Å"The truth is that entrepreneurs too often get caught up in the details of the kinds of products or services they are selling to notice how critical it is to build relationships not just with your customers, but also with your vendors, employees and–gasp–even your competitors. Without strong relationships, it is impossible to have success as a business owner, Recommendation My recommendation is that Rosewood should move to branding their hotels using the Rosewood brand immediately. Without setting standard foundations the guest will not know what to anticipate. Rosewood could use standardized data to help anticipate the needs of the guest before they even asked. Also, creating a uniform brand will help everyone come together as one team. When you are a consummate team player you elevate the performance of everyone around them and then there is no limit to what you can do as a team. When Rosewood has everyone on the same page going in the same direction they can create a wow factor the guest will be telling the world about. To most of the world, getting good service is common versus giving positively outrageous service is uncommon. Having a satisfied customer is common versus taking that satisfied customer exceeding his or her expectations and then taking the service one percent beyond that now Rosewood can create a raving fan that is uncommon. References Entrepreneur Magazine, (2013) http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/branding Harvard Business Publishing, (2007), Rosewood Hotels and Resorts: Branding to increase customer profitability and lifetime value, P. 5 INC. (2013) http://www.inc.com/guides/201101/how-to-build-better-business-relationships.html Kotler, Chapter 3: Collecting Information and Forecasting Demand, P.39 World Press, (2012) http://frrl.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/jack-welch-on-differentiation-or-making-winners-out-of-everyone/

Student SSCP Domain Research Paper Essay Example for Free

Student SSCP Domain Research Paper Essay For Richman Investments the users are the biggest threats so I would give access keys in various levels and to various departments. With that being said I would set renewal of password anywhere from 28 days to 6 months apart depending on department and job in the company. Have basics such as firewall and full antivirus software as well as restricted upload and download abilities. Administrators could have the option of layering security by enforcing the use of PIN numbers, hardware tokens, client certificates and other forms of secure authentication on top of AD or LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol). After implementation of several security policies, I would create a SSL (Secure Socket Layer) VPN (Virtual Private Network) network, a form of VPN that can be used with a standard Web browser. In the traditional Internet Protocol Security (IPsec) VPN, an SSL VPN does not require the installation of specialized client software on the end users computer. Its used to give remote users with access to Web applications, client/server applications and internal network connections. SSL VPN doesn’t require specialized client software on the user computer. For site to site we would just use VPN to secure the network data and encrypt it for security measure. An SSL VPN offers versatility, ease of use and granular control for a range of users on a variety of computers, accessing resources from many locations. There are two major types of SSL VPNs. SSL Portal VPN is a type of SSL VPN allows for a single SSL connection to a Web site so the end user can securely access multiple network services. The site is called a portal because it is one door (a single page) that leads to many other resources. The remote user accesses the SSL VPN gateway using any modern Web browser, identifies the user to the gateway by using an authentication method supported by the gateway and is then presented with a Web page that acts as the portal to the other services.SSL Tunnel VPN is another type of SSL VPN that allows a Web browser to securely access multiple network services, including applications and protocols that are not Web-based, through a tunnel that is running under SSL. SSL tunnel VPNs require that the Web browser be able to handle active content, which allows them to provide functionality that is not accessible to SSL portal VPNs. Examples of active content include Java, JavaScript, Active X, or Flash applications.

Effect of Water to Cement Ratio on Concrete

Effect of Water to Cement Ratio on Concrete Introduction In construction projects, concrete, along with steel, wood, glass, etc, is one of the most essential materials that are needed for a successful manufacture of a structure. It one of the most common materials on a construction site and accounts for billions of pounds everywhere across the world. Due to ever-increasing machinery and technological advancements concrete can now be made of a mixture of compound materials, nevertheless the necessary components of concrete are course or fine aggregates, Portland Cement and water. In the current times, concrete structures are manufactured every day and to sustain a safe environment for people, so it is vital that that the structures that are built are sturdy, durable and do not cause any hazards to people. It is therefore a huge task for construction companies to guarantee that the structures that are built are done so to meet all the specific safety codes, British Standards or the Euro Code Standards. The properties of concrete are very vit al as they provide the necessary stability that structures are dependent on to maintain their sturdiness. As a result it is essential to research and be aware of the distinctive components of concrete and its properties, and how in this experiment these might affect the way that concrete performs when changing some variables.  (Richardson, 2002). The workability of a concrete mix gives a measure of the ease with which fresh concrete can be placed and compacted. The concrete should flow readily into the form and go around and cover the reinforcement, the mix should retain its consistency and the aggregates should not segregate. There are four factors that can affect the workability are: Consistency: The degree of consistency is depended on the nature of works and type of compaction. Water/cement Ratio or Water Control of a concrete: Water/cement ratio is the ratio of water in a mix to the weight of cement. The quality of water that required for a mix is depended on the mix proportions, types and grading of aggregate. Grading of Aggregate: The smooth and rounded aggregate will produce a more workable concrete than the sharp angular aggregate. Cement Content: The greater workability can be obtained with the higher cement content. Aims The aim of this experiment was to establish the effects of water to cement ratio on the  fresh properties of concrete (workability), and its effect on the hardened properties  of concrete (strength). Furthermore to increase the understanding in making a concrete mixture and working out the water content that needs to be added to the mixtures. And last to expand on the understanding of the importance of fresh and hard properties of concrete. Objectives The objectives of the experiment were to make three concrete mixtures by altering their water/cement ratios (0.47, 0.55 0.65) and to find out the water content to use for the three mixtures. To do a variety of tests such as the slump test, compacting factor test on fresh concrete and to carry out compressive and flexural strength tests of hardened concrete. Then finally to discuss how features such as variation in the water/cement ratio affects the workability  and strength of concrete. Theory Concrete Production, concrete is a mixture that is made up of three components, cement, water and aggregate. The water and cement are mixed together to produce a thick paste, to which then measured out aggregates are added to. The aggregates that are added are mainly composed of usual materials such as sand, gravel and crushed rocks, however due to the latest advanced technology; it has been known that other materials such as car tyres and crushed glass to be also used as aggregates. The cement is produced by blending limestone and clay, and burning it in a rotary kiln, this results in the formation of a clinker, to which gypsum is added. The mix is then ground down to fine powder cement, in which the most common is called Portland Cement. The cement/water slurry solidifies through a chemical reaction called hydration, the reaction produces immense heat so fresh concrete must by no means be handled with unprotected bare hands. During the winter season, temperatures drop below 2Âà ‚ °C, so the chemical hydration reaction may be very slow as heat is needed as a catalyst to speed up the collision of the particles. Therefore concrete pours during these seasons are not suitable as the concrete will not set. Initially this reaction is slow to start with, so this allows for the concrete to be transported and poured before it is hardened, and the theory states that complete 100% hydration takes place after 28 days. Properties of Concrete: There are four key properties that are desired in fresh concrete i.e.  good workability, compactability, mobility and stability. The most desired properties for  hardened concrete are strength and durability. The concrete should have compressive strength  (resist squeezing), tensile strength (resist stretching) and flexural strength (resist bending). All these strengths are highly dependent on the water/cement ratio and aggregate used in the  mixture, the degree of compaction and the age of the concrete. Curing concrete under water  over time allows hydration to continue hence giving it strength. The concrete used in this experiment was a C30 concrete grade and according to B.S. 5328  the compressive strength for this grade at 28 days is 30.0 N/ sq mm which can also be written  as 30 MPa which is adequate for use in beams, however this is only an estimation as there  are other factors (mentioned above) that affect concrete strength. In this experiment the slump  test and the compacting factor test were used to assess the workability and uniformity of  concrete. The deflection/ flexural strength test was carried out to evaluate the strength of the  concrete beam (mini beam sample) and find the failure load of the mini beam (100mm by  100mm by 500mm). The compressive strength was carried out to determine the maximum  failure load of the cube samples (150mm by 150mm) and the cylinder samples (150mm by  300mm) (Barnes 1992). MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT Casting Equipment Concrete mixer Bucket (average size) Measuring Cylinder Shovel Wheel Borough Scale Figure 2: Shows Compaction Factor Apparatus. (used to determine workability of concrete  mixture) Figure 3: Slump Test Apparatus B.S. Slump cone (300mm high, tapering from a 100mm diameter top to a 200mm  diameter bottom) Slump rod (or steel tamping rod) (16 mm diameter, 600mm long, with rounded ends) Flat metal base plate (600 sq mm) (K0837225) Page 5 9. Metal Rule (300mm long) 10. Metal Scoop 11. Levelling Trowel 12. Waste rag 13. Vibrating Table 14. Moulds 6 no. Cube Moulds (150mm by 150mm) 3 no. Cylinder Moulds (150mm by 300mm) 3 no. Mini beam Moulds (100mm by 100mm by 500mm) 15. Materials Course Aggregates (Stones) Fine Aggregates (Sand) Cement Water (Tap) *Note: Aggregate used was natural aggregate used was from London. Therefore no need for  determining aggregate moisture content as aggregate is assumed to be laboratory dry to  SSD. Hence no considerable effect on water-cemet ratio. Striking Equipment 1. Pressure pipe (for striking cubes and cylinders) 2. Brushes (Soft and Hard metal brushes) 3. Oil, oil brush and rugs (for cleaning moulds before storing) 4. Crayon (for labelling concrete samples) 5. Curing room Testing Equipment 1. Compressive test machinery Figure 4: Shows the Compressive test machine used to apply loads on cubes and cylinder  samples 2. Deflection test machinery (Picture shown in figure 3. Load reader/display 4. Concrete samples 5. Digital Camera *Personal Protective Clothing was worn on all days of the experiment (Safety boots and Coats, individuals handling concrete wore protective gloves). METHODOLOGY Concrete Production: 1. Aggregates were readily weighed and placed into buckets. Quantities (constants) used in  all Concrete Mixes are shown below: Material Quantitative Weight (Kg) Cement (CEM1) 6.50 Fine Aggregate (Sand) 16.55 Natural Course Aggregate (Stones) 26.00 2. The amount of water required was determined by using the formulae shown below. Water content = (water/cement ratio) x cement weight. 3. Water was measured into a bucket using measuring cylinders. 4. The water/cement ratio was set as the variable between 3 Concrete Mixes (to determine  the effect of water/cement ratio on the strength and workability of the concrete). Water  content quantities used are shown on table 1. Table 1: Water/Cement Ratio (variable) for Concrete Mixes 1, 2 3 Concrete Mix Water/Cement Ratio Water Content (litres) 1 0.47 3 2 0.55 3.6 3 0.65 4.25 *See Appendix 1 for Actual Calculations Carried Out. 5. The concrete mixer paddles and pan were lightly dampened before aggregates were  placed in the mixer. 6. Course and fine aggregates were placed into the mixer and mixed for 30seconds. 7. Half the water required for the mix was added to the mixture and the contents were  further mixed for 1 minute. 8. The contents were covered and left for 8 minutes, to allow aggregates to absorb water,  (because aggregates are porous therefore they should soak in water into voids to get a good  mix and bonding with cementious (water/cement) paste). 9. Cement was spread evenly over the aggregates and mixed for 1 minute. 10. The remaining water was added and the contents were mixed for 2 minutes ensuring  homogeneity of the mix. 11. Workability tests were then carried out, in the order shown below. *Note; immediately after each test the used concrete was returned into the mixer and the contents were remixed for 30 seconds. FRESH CONCRETE TESTS Compacting Factor Test: 1. Trap doors of all hoppers were shut prior to beginning the test. 2. Sample of freshly mixed concrete was scooped from the mixer into the upper hopper, the  concrete sample was filled up to the brim of the upper hopper. 3. The trap-door of upper hopper was opened, to enable concrete to fall into the lower  hopper. 4. After all concrete had been collected onto lower hopper, the trap-door of the lower hopper  was then opened and the concrete allowed to fall into the cylinder. 5. Excess concrete remaining above the top level of the cylinder was then cut off using a  plane blade. 6. The concrete collected in the cylinder was then weighed. (This weight is known as the  weight of partially compacted concrete). 7. The concrete filled cylinder was vibrated to obtain full compaction, and more concrete  was added to the cylinder as required to ensure the vibrated/compacted concrete was  filled to the brim of the cylinder. 8. The now fully compacted concrete in the cylinder was weighed. 9. The compacting factor was then obtained using the formulae shown below. Compacting factor = (Weight of partially compacted concrete)/(Weight of fully  compacted concrete) Figure 5: Shows steps followed during the compacting factor test. 1) Compacting factor equipment. 2) Partially compacted weight is taken on a scale, 3) The concrete is vibrated/compacted  on a vibrating table and then the contents are toped up and vibrated to the rim container and the  partially compacted weight was taken. Slump Test: Concrete was thoroughly mixed in the concrete mixer. The slump cone was dampened to prevent concrete sticking to it. The slump cone/mould was placed on the centre of the metal plate and one individual was  asked to stand on the foot pieces on both sides of the mould. The mould was filled in 3 equal depth layers and each layer was rod 25 times using the  steel slump rod (ensuring even spread of blows covering over the whole area). Concrete was heaped over the top of the cone and with a rolling motion of the rod over  top of the mold the concrete was levelled thus removing the excess concrete. The spillage was carefully removed from the sides of the mould and the base plate   The mould/cone was carefully and slowly lifted vertically upwards. The slump cone was turned upside down and placed next to the molded concrete and the  rod was laid across the slump cone and the distance (slump) between the underside of the  rod and the highest point of the moulded concrete were read using a metal rule. There are different kinds of slump a collapsed slump, sheared slump and a true slump. The first two slump types indicate bad workability and a true slump indicates good  workability. Concrete Beam Casting Curing: Concrete was scooped out of the mixer into oiled moulds on the vibrating table (ensuring  even spread). Concrete was vibrated throughout the pour to eliminate voids and to enable compaction  of concrete by switching on the vibrating table. The vibrating motion also levelled the concrete. The concrete was left to set on the mould for 24 hours After which concrete was struck and placed in the curing room over 14 days. HARDENED CONCRETE TESTS Concrete Sample Testing: Compressive Strength Tests; were carried out on cube and cylinder samples. Flexural Strength Tests; were carried out in the mini beams. The machines where loaded with concrete sample and load applied was set to zero  before running the test. Base and top plates (spacers) were used to determine to provide platforms for the  concrete specimens and to also help provide even distribution of load. The load was applied by the machine till maximum failure load was reached. This reading was taken and the machine cleaned off concrete debris before running tests  for other samples. *Note the loading Pace Rates varied for different sample shape as shown below: Cylinders loading Pace Rate was set at 5.30 KN/s Cubes loading Pace Rate was set at 6.80 KN/s Mini Beams loading Pace Rate was set at 0.200 KN/s RESULTS 1. FRESH CONCRETE PROPERTIES TEST RESULTS Compacting Factor Test Results: Mix 1 Observations: The Concrete Mix appeared to be dry and did not pass through when the trap  door of the upper hopper was opened. The concrete mix was helped through the trap door to  the lower hopper by pushing it with a metal rod through the first trap door. The same was  done in order to get it through the second trap door into the container. This showed that it  was a bad mix with bad flowability, mobility and workability properties due to low water  content. Mix 2 Observations: The concrete mix was passed through the hopers with better ease than mix 1,  however only  ¼ of the contents went through, the rest was forced through both trap doors  with a metal rod. Therefore the flow ability and workability properties of this mix were bad,  but better than mix1, owing it to the increased water content in mix 2. Mix 3 Observations: The obtained concrete mix was a wet mix (a bit too wet) with what would  appear to be good flowability properties as all contents went through the hopers and trap  doors with one sweep and much ease. Therefore the flowability and workability properties  were the best observed for all 3 mixes, but too much water content is not good either. The compacting factor test was worked out for all the 3 Concrete Mixes and results are  shown in table 2 below. *The calculations were carried out on Microsoft Excel using the formula shown below. Compacting factor = (Weight of partially compacted concrete)/(Weight of fully  compacted concrete) BS 1881: Part 103 states that concrete is deemed unsuitable if its compacting factor is  below 0.70 or above 0.98. For normal concretes the compacting factor normally lies  between 0.80 and 0.92 (Jackson Dhir 1996). Apparent workability shown below was determined by using Compacting factor table in There was no slump as  the mix was too dry  therefore indicating  poor mobility,  flowability and  workability Collapsed slump was  obtained and the slump  exceeded the allowable  tolerance stated in BS  5328. The slump cone  was 300mm high and  the concrete mix  slumped by half that  value to 150mm. This  indicates that the mix  was too wet and this  affected its cohesive  properties. Very high *Apparent workability shown above was determined by using Slump Results Table shown  in Appendix 2 (Kew 2009). (K0837225) Page 12 Mix 1 Dry Mix/ Zero Slump Mix 2 Wet mix /13mm True Slump Mix3 Mix too wet/ collapsed slump Figure 7: Shows the Slump Results Obtained for concrete mixes with varying water  cement ratios. (Mix 1 w/c ratio 0.45, Mix 2 w/c ratio 0.55 and Mix 3 w/c ratio 0.65). 2. HARDENEDED CONCRETE PROPERTIES TEST RESULTS Figure 8: Shows the cube specimen being loaded into the compressing machine and on the right,  the classical cube hour glass failure mode on one of the cube specimen. Figure 9: Shows the cylinder specimen being loaded into the compressing machine and on the  right, the failure mode on 3 of the cylinder specimens. Figure 10: Shows a mini beam failing when subjected to Flexural Loads. This is the classical failure  mode of beams. The beam undergoes tensile and flexural strain resulting in bending and snapping of  the beam. Concrete is generally brittle and this makes it weak in tension. Hence the need for  reinforcement of concrete, steel is good in tension so it lends that quality to concrete, resulting in  better stronger structures. The results above are indicative of the effects of w/c ratio on the strength of concrete. At  0.45 w/c ratio the strength was 630.4 (Influence of test conditions. Table above show that specimen shape and size is also  influential on the compressive strength. Therefore measured strength of concrete is also  affected by height diameter ratio. This is to just show that test conditions can also affect the  determination of concrete strength. In BS 1881: Part 116 specifies that 150mm cube test are  only used for quality control purposes. Whereas BS 1881: Part 120 indicates that cylinder  test specimens are used to carry out compressive strength tests for in situ concrete and  precast members. A correction factories usually applied to the cylinder strength to obtain an  equivalent cube strength, it takes into account the specimen height /diameter ratio (i.e.  300mm/150mm = 2.). This explains the high compressive strength results obtained in  cylinder specimens than in cube specimens despite the being made off the same batch of  concrete. It should also be considered that the loading Pace Rates for c ubes (and cylinders  were varied. The trend obtained from the results shown above indicates that increasing w/c ratio increases  flexural strength. Af hydration strengthens the bonding between the cementious material and  the aggregates. However like all other factors, too much of anything is not good. If the mix  has excess water it will result in reduced flexural strength and results in bleeding of concrete  thus a weakened structure with pours in them. Again the normal distribution curve can me  expected with extremes. DISCUSSION One type of test is not enough to indicate the workability of the concrete as a whole. Use of  various tests bring out various properties that determine workability, for example, the  compacting factor can indicate how workable in the concrete will be in terms of how easily  can the concrete be vibrated and compacted. It is also a good indicator of the mobility and  flowability of concrete. It Shows how easily the concrete can be pumped from a concrete  skip into shutters, how easily the concrete will pass through the skip trap door when on  casting real structure on site. On the other hand the slump best indicates how workable the  concrete is in terms of its cohesive nature and segregation of its aggregates. It is important to  carry more than one of these tests to indicate various workability factors. These tests can also  be carried out at various stages between concrete production and casting. The common  construction site test (In situ test) is the slump tes t, it serves as the last point of quality check  prior to casting, and all other workability factors are normally carried out on the concrete  production sites. For example, the compactability factor will be most useful on production as  other mobility enhancing admixtures may be added prior to transporting concrete to site,  hence saving time, money and other complications that may arise from delaying site  programmes. From table 2 the results obtained from all mixes had compacting factors  between 0.70 and 0.98 hence indicating that all the tested concrete mixes would be  acceptable under the BS 1881. This certainly does not mean that all mixes had good  workability properties. Jackson Dhir (1996) state that some of the basic assumptions for  the test are not correct and should not be solely relied upon extensively as they can be  misleading. As concrete mixes can have same compacting factor but may not always require  the same amount of work to reach full c ompaction as compaction cannot be justified in the  true sense. From the results in table 2 it shows that changing the water/cement ratio affected  the compacting factor. Increasing the water cement ratio increased the compacting factor  therefore the workability of the concrete. All these tests have limits, for example placing  more water would have resulted in decreasing compactability factor as increasing the water  content will result in lowered compacting factors. (Compacting liquid materials do not result  in changes between partially compacted weight and fully compacted weight, hence if more  excess water is added the mix will have lower differences between partially compacted  weight and fully compacted weight. Hence giving rise to normal distribution curves for the  compressive tests. This also applies to flexural strength and durability of the concrete. CONCLUSION In conclusion it is clear that too little w/c ratio reduces the strength of concrete just as well as  too much w/c ratio will result in porous concrete. Therefore adequate amounts need to be  used to gain the best results. The best way of getting accurate assumptions on concrete is to  consider various factors. Increasing the water content ratio generally increases the strength  but may also result in shrinkage of the concrete hence altering durability and permeability  factors. Q1: Report all the results fresh properties (slump value and the shape of the slump) and  hardened properties (strength) of the concrete and comment on the results. See Results  Section for Answers. Q2: Why the need to measure the fresh and hardened properties of the concrete? Fresh properties are only of much importance in the stages of the concrete mix. These  help concrete producers spot problems early on the stage before structures are cast thus  potentially saving money, time and preventing unstable structures form being built by  spotting and correcting problems with concrete at an early stage. Also this helps prevent  the need to strike down newly built structures due to instability of concrete mixes used. Fresh properties can help indicate how much work labours will have to do on site and  consequently the energy and money that will be required when casting concrete on site. On the other hand hardened concrete properties are important in determining and the life  span of the concrete in the form of s concrete structure. The hardened properties are  important in observing and maintaining the strength of the structure and its durability. Other hardened factors are permeability and shrinkage of the concrete structures after  being built due to harsh weathers and conditions. The latter factors are of much  importance in structures like dams which require high water retaining properties.   Therefore both properties help in the development and maintenance of a good quality  structures and ensuring long life span. Whilst providing adequate safety to the habitats of  those structures. Q3: Concrete is usually tested at 28-Days for its compression strength. Why at 28-Days? The specimens should be cured under water and for normal concrete they should have  reached maximum strength at 28 Days. Concrete hardening process (Hydration) is  thought to reach its final strength in 28 Days as the reaction slows to a halt and adding  more water or curing concrete past that stage will sure minute or no further significant  changes in concrete strength. Q4: As for reinforced concrete beam, describe the need to place reinforced steel in  concrete beam, the purpose of cover/spacing, the diameter of the steel used and why  concrete beams need to be reinforced? Concrete is good in compression meaning it has high resilience to compressive forces but  is very weak in tension. As noted in the results the beams failed at much lower loads than  both cubes and cylinders, although there are other factors that play a role here that is the  general observation. Hence concrete reinforcement is required, it has good tensile  resilience and when concrete and steel are combined they result in components strong in  both tensile and compressive properties. The purpose of concrete cover is to protect steel  from corrosion, due to air reacting with steel and prevent rust formation due to water. Corrosion and rust results in weakened concrete structure as may result in loss of  resilience to tensile forces. So the concrete cove4r provides protection and a neutral  environment for steel. Concrete cover usually ranges around 500mm from the steel bars. Excess cover is not good as it makes the structure more susceptible to chipping and hence  weakens the cover itself and increases chances of steel corrosion taking place. The  diameter of steel used can vary according to the purpose of the structure but over  reinforcement can also bring about imbalances to the structural stability and may result in  a weakened structure. The normal diameter used ranges between 10-30mm, this makes it  easier to bend and alter on site as well as provide ease of manual handling for steel fixers.

How Does the Tell Tale Heart Fulfil Your Expectations of A Gothic Essay

How Does the Tell Tale Heart Fulfil Your Expectations of A Gothic Story? From a gothic story such as the tell tale heart, by Edgar Allan Poe, I expect numerous amounts of gory deaths, intense suspense, hideous horror, plently of fear and espically paranoia. They should also contain a variety of literacy techniques including imagery, sentence structure, punctation and repititation in my essay I will be focusing on the amounts of death, horror, fear, suspense and the amount of literacy techniques used throughout the story. Edgar Allan Poe uses a lot of suspense in the Tell Tale Heart. To increase the effect the suspense he incorprates it with literacy techniques. One example of mixing literacty techniques with suspense is when Edgar Allan Poe uses imagery to descirbe the man creeping into the old mans bedroom when the old man wakes up. ‘I had my head in, and was about to open the lantern, when my thumb slipped upon the tin fastening, and the old man sprang up in bed, crying out --"Who's there?" I kept quite still and said nothing. For a whole hour, I did not mo...

Business Ethics Essay -- Philosophy Ethics Morality essays research pa

Business Ethics Ethics is a branch of philosophy that inquires into the nature of ultimate value and the standards by which human actions can be judged right or wrong (â€Å"ethics,† Collegiate). Ethics is not primarily concerned with the description of moral systems in societies. That task, which remains on the level of description, is one for anthropology or sociology. In contrast, ethics deals with the justification of moral principles. A Brief History of the Study of Ethics Ethics has been studied since ancient times. In the oldest of the Indian writings, ethics is an integral aspect of philosophical and religious speculation about the nature of reality. These writings date from about 1500 BC. They have been described as â€Å"the oldest philosophical literature in the world, and what they say about how people ought to live may therefore be the first philosophical ethics† (Everson 5). In ancient China, he humane teaching of Confucius and his followers, the peaceful wisdom of Lao-zi, and the universal love of Mo-zi offered alternatives to frequent wars. Early Greece was the birthplace of Western philosophical ethics. In the poetic literature of the 7th and 6th centuries BC, there were ethical precepts but no real attempts to formulate a coherent overall ethical position. The Greeks were later to refer to the most prominent of these poets and early philosophers as the seven sages, and they are frequently quoted with respect by Plato and Aristotle. During the Classical Period of Greek ethics, three great philosophers – Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle – flourished in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Their ideas have served ever since as the cornerstone for the Western ethics. In the later Greek and Roman periods, the two dominant schools of thought, Stoicism and Epicureanism, represent important approaches to the question of how one ought to live. The Middle Ages did not give birth to any major new ethical theories. It is worth mentioning that Christian ethics is distinguished from the philosophical discipline of ethics, which relies upon the authority of reason. Christian ethics, also called moral theology, appeals to the authority of revelation, specifically as found in the preaching and activity of Jesus Christ. The significance of Renaissance for ethics lies in a change of focus. For the first time since the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity, ... ... Conclusion Conflicts of interest are fundamental to the nature of business. Although society wants companies to create many well-paying jobs, those same organizations want to limit compensation costs and raise productivity levels. Customers want to purchase goods and services at low prices, but businesses want to maximize profits. Society wants to reduce pollution levels, but businesses want to minimize the cost that environmental regulations add to their operations. Managers must continuously and consciously balance the needs of the organization and its stockholders with the needs of other stakeholders, including workers, customers, and the larger community. Managers must also balance their personal needs and desires against those of their organizations. Works Cited Ashby, W. Allen, Warren Ashby. A Comprehensive History of Western Ethics: What Do We Believe? Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1997 Becker, Lawrence C., and Charlotte B. Becker, ed. A History of Western Ethics. New York : Routledge, 2003. â€Å"ethics.† Collegiate Encyclopà ¦dia. 2005. Collegiate Encyclopà ¦dia. 4 June 2005 . Everson, Stephen, ed. Ethics. Cambridge, U.K. ; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

To the County High School Class of 2012: As you sit in front of me, I know what most of you are thinking at the moment. There are those who are already pondering about what life without high school will be like; those who are debating whether or not to tell your crush tonight about your whispers of adoration you’ve secretly held for four years; some simply want to get out of that ungodly chair, get that thing that isn’t really a diploma but only tells you when to pick up the thing, and then be the first one on the green bus to the grad party — you know who you are. And the rest, well, the rest aren’t even paying attention, you’re thinking, â€Å"Great, here comes one of the valedictorian speakers. Next up: a boring speech straight out of the pits of scholarly hell.† And it’s OK, I don’t mind — that sort of thing comes with the territory. But tonight, I ask that you give me a chance to break that stereotype so that I may a ddress you in the full splendor that you deserve after 13 grueling years of work. I do not want to be known as your â€Å"valedictorian† as I stand here, c’mon guys, there is no time left to place labels on people anymore, instead I ask that you accept me as one of your peers — and as a man who will enjoy becoming a graduate alongside you. Over the last three days I’ve been through two drafts of this speech, one dealing with the future and the other dealing with the past. I had the usual â€Å"we are entering a new chapter in our lives† spiel, and then, because everyone pressured me to â€Å"make it funny,† I followed this with some witticisms on flatulence and going to jail; and then going to jail for flatulence; and then flatulence inside a jail with a guy named Red. Needless to say, I ditched those speeches. Twenty-four ho... ...e that comes from the reflective mood of the evening. Enjoy the silence while you can for it is anticlimax you weren’t expecting after you finished LHS. Capture the silence as an aspect of taste. Remember it. Finally, take a deep breath, and smile at that wonderful smell: the aroma of relief. After years of following the path of public schooling, I invite you to welcome the liberation that comes from graduation. This sugary aroma only comes once in a lifetime. Capture it with your sense of smell. Remember it in the years to come. As our time together draws to a close, I leave LHS with no further anecdotes of wisdom or quotes dealing with success; only the sincere hope that you immersed yourself in the essence of commencement. Everybody, we’ll all be graduates by the time we leave tonight. Let’s enjoy it. Congratulations to the Lee High School Class of 2006.

A Definition of Organizational Culture Essay

Organizational culture refers to a system of shared meaning held by members that distinguishes the organization from other organizations. Seven primary characteristics seem to capture the essence of an organization’s culture 1.Innovation and risk taking The degree to which employees are encouraged to be innovative and take risks. 2.Attention to detail The degree to which employees are expected to exhibit precision, analysis and attention to detail. 3.Outcome orientation The degree to which management focuses on results or outcomes rather than on the techniques and processes used to achieve them. 4.People orientation The degree to which management decisions take into consideration the effect of outcomes on people within the organization. 5.Team orientation The degree to which work activities are organized around teams rather than individuals. 6.Aggressiveness The degree to which people are aggressive and competitive rather than easygoing. 7.Stability The degree to which organizational activities emphasize maintaining the status quo in contrast to growth. Creating and Sustaining Culture An organization’s current customs, traditions, and general way of doing things are largely due to what it has done before and how successful it was in doing it. This leads us to the ultimate source of an organization’s culture: its founders. Free of previous customs or ideologies, founders have a vision of what the organization should be, and the firm’s small size makes it easy to impose that vision on all members. Culture creation occurs in three ways. First, founders hire and keep only employees who think and feel the same way they do. Second, they indoctrinate and socialize these employees to their way of thinking and feeling. And finally, the founders’ own behavior encourages employees to identify with them and internalize their beliefs, values, and assumptions. When the organization succeeds, the founders’ personality becomes embedded in the culture. Keeping a Culture Alive Once a culture is in place, practices within the organization maintain it by giving employees a set of similar experiences. The selection process, performance evaluation criteria, training and development activities, and promotion procedures ensure those hired fit in with the culture, reward those who support it, and penalize those who challenge it. Three forces play a particularly important part in sustaining a culture: selection practices, the actions of top management, and socialization methods. 1.Selection The explicit goal of the selection process is to identify and hire individuals with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully. The final decision, because it’s significantly influenced by the decision maker’s judgment of how well the candidates will fit into the organization, identifies people whose values are essentially consistent with at least a good portion of the organizations. 2.Top Management The actions of top management also have a major impact on the organization’s culture. Through words and behavior, senior executives establish norms that filter through the organization about, for instance, whether risk taking is desirable, how much freedom managers give employees, what is appropriate dress, and what actions earn pay raises, promotions, and other rewards. 3.Socialization No matter how good a job the organization does in recruiting and selection, new employee’s need help adapting to the prevailing culture. That help is socialization. For example, all Marines must go through boot camp, where they prove their commitment and learn the â€Å"Marine way.† New recruits go to an internal Web portal to learn about the company and engage in some activities that help them understand the culture of the organization. After they start work, they continue to learn about the organization through an ongoing social networking application that links new workers with more established members of the firm and helps ensure that culture is transmitted over time. Why is culture important? Culture can affect business outcomes in a number of ways, both positive and negative. For example, cultures that are not aligned with corporate strategy can lead to decreased loyalty, a lack of motivation, and high employee turnover. Healthy cultures, however, impart pride and a sense of purpose to employees, leading to increased productivity and a greater understanding of corporate goals, as with the employee at the car manufacturing plant. Strategy, operational performance, and culture are all strongly related. High-performing companies often view culture as an enabler of strategy and performance, and want to create a culture that will support and enable employees in achieving those goals. Define and Establish Cultural Diversity A typical organization has an extensive range of people who have cultural and personal differences. A small business interested in fostering cultural diversity among its employees endeavors to create mutual respect for the different cultures, along with enabling personnel to reach their full potential. Acknowledging diverse cultures enables the organization to positively influence the organizational behavior that, in turn, enhances the performance and image of the organization. The business should portray the cultural diversity aspect of the organization in the mission statement. The Positive Influence of Cultural Diversity in Organizational Behavior Cultural diversity involves the differences in the composition of members of an organization in terms of nationality, race, color, gender, creed, religion or age, in other words, an array of culture found among people from diverse backgrounds. Organizational behavior refers to the nature of interactions among people and groups within an organization. The positive influence of cultural diversity facilitates members of the organization to build relationships and acknowledge each other regardless of their differences of origin and background. Transforming Organizational Behavior The patterns of behavior in the organization are influenced by the nature of interactions and degree of diversity within the organization. The business,  therefore, should seek to create an organizational culture that not only enhances the diversity of its workforce composition but also boosts individual performance. The positive influences of cultural diversity not only enable the organization to increase the scope of its reach the business also receives favorable exposure from every sector of the population due to its multicultural approach. Sustaining Positive Influence Programs Programs for positive influence should always be adjusted to suit the dynamic nature of interactions among people. Establish regular forums and educational programs in which participants are trained to be sensitive to and appreciate cultural diversity, as well as in maintaining desirable organizational behavior. Regularly post motivational quotes and messages of cultural diversity on public bulletin boards. Concentrate on creating programs that internalize cultural diversity into the organization’s behavior.