What Can Educators Do For African Americans - 815 Words

For more than 50 years black students lag behind their peers from other racial groups on achievement. Educators play a huge role in the equality of education for all students. Interventions, reforms, and legislation have been proposed in various forms for several decades. The question is what can educators do to assist African American students in being successful and having an unbiased educational experience? How do we create children to be new thinkers and inventors that tackle racial disparities? How do we destroy biased social structures in America? History has shaped the unequal treatment of African Americans by today’s society. Prudence Carter, Russell Skiba, Mariella Arredondo, and Mica Pollock’s (2014) declare history has set the foundation for the ideology race. Most problems of racial stereotypes began more than 100 years ago, but still plague minorities to this day. For example, in the 19TH century black men slaves that ran away were considered dangerous criminals and this lead to legislations policies to kill a runaway, planting the seed of the dangerous black man. Many biological and social anthropologists argue race is a cultural construct. We can’t define acts of injustice by examining race as independent of biological/genetic variations. Scholars discovered race didn’t exist in the 17TH century but race originated as a folk idea-it was a social invention, not a product of science. Stereotype and many others from history has become entrenched in the US.Show MoreRelatedMovie Analysis : Frui tvale Station Directed By Ryan Coogler962 Words   |  4 PagesOverview The film Fruitvale Station written and directed by Ryan Coogler, tells the story of a young African American man that was shot and killed by a white police officer on a subway platform. 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Delgado Texas AM University – San Antonio I certify that I am the author of this paper titled Understanding and Influencing Educational Adaptability among At-Risk African American Students: The Role of Administration, and that any assistance I received in its preparation is fully acknowledged and disclosed in the paper. I have also cited

Bonnie and Clyde Beginning of a New Hollywood Era Free Essays

BONNIE AND CLYDE : â€Å"Beginning of the New Hollywood Era. † Bonnie and Clyde is a 1967 American crime film about Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the criminal version of Romeo and Juliet, the true story of the most beloved yet infamous outlaws, robbers and convicts who journeyed the Central United States during the Great Depression. The film was directed by Arthur Penn, and stars Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, and Warren Beatty as Clyde Barrow. We will write a custom essay sample on Bonnie and Clyde: Beginning of a New Hollywood Era or any similar topic only for you Order Now Bonnie and Clyde is reckoned as one of the 60s’ most talked-about, volatile, controversial crime/gangster films combining comedy, terror, love, and ferocious violence, and regarded as one of the first films of the New Hollywood era, in which it broke many taboos and was so popular amongst the younger generation. After its success, it encouraged other filmmakers to be more forward about presenting sex and violence in their films. The film was intended as a romantic and comic version of the violent gangster films of the 1930s, updated with modern filmmaking techniques. To begin with the film opens with a lap dissolve from a golden, old-style Warner Bros shield, grainy, unglamorous, blurry, sepia-toned snapshots of the Barrow and Parker families (at the time of Bonnie and Clyde’s childhood) play on a black background, accompanied by the loud clicking sound of a camera shutter (The credit titles are interspersed with flashes of more semi-documentary, brownish-tinged pictures) to an extreme close up of Bonnie applying ruby red lipstick. The implication of the lap dissolve is that they will be linked in the film, and that love will be involved. The sound bridge also emphasis love, as the song concludes with the words â€Å"deep in the arms of love† and further links Clyde and Bonnie. So from the start, Penn introduces the love story as central to the film, and view everything that follows from within this framework. A subsequent pan right results in a close up of Bonnie reflected in a mirror, revealing her face and her styled hair. The camera does a clever little dance insuring that Dunaway shows plenty of skin without really revealing anything, as jagged jump cuts slice away whenever her motion within the rame threatens to bring her nudity across the line of acceptability. The medium shot that follows shows the water marks in the ceiling and wall of her low-income frame house, indicating her dire financial straits. When she she flings herself down on her bed, the bars both run diagonally across the screen and cast shadows across her face indicating for us the prison she feels she feels she’s in as she repeate dly strikes the cage surrounding her. Based on how she saw herself in the mirror, she clearly thinks she deserves better. The following close up (when she grabs the bars) and zoom into an extreme close up of her eyes reflects her torment. As the camera holds her face, we can see the resignation in her face as she turns to get dressed for work. Bonnie is trapped in a dead end life. By stressing this aspect of her life, Penn has us initially glimpse Bonnie in the best possible light. This scene also explains Bonnie’s following actions in two ways. First is that she understands exactly how Clyde must have felt in prison when they later meet, establishing an immediate bond between them. The second is that, when Clyde tells her that he cut off two of his toes to get out of a work detail, she believes him for the man of action he portrays himself to be , (â€Å"Boy, did you really do that. †). This compares favorably with her desire to rise above her own dull circumstance and take action within her own life. It’s understandable then when Bonnie rides off in the car stolen by a man who has robbed a grocery store, who she has only known a few minutes (but has connected with emotionally. ) The idea of a decent young woman in a dead end town working a dead end job during the Great Depression escaping with a convicted felon is made even more acceptable by the mise-en-scene and cinematography. The deep focus of the opening scene allows us to see her room humbly decorated with a small, vulgar collection of porcelain figurines and a rag doll, and a few family photographs are tacked on the drab wall. These details allow us to see Bonnie as an ordinary person. Likewise, Clyde is portrayed as a clean cut gentleman with white fedora hat, white shirt, and tie and jacket, and a bright white smile. His jacket, a warm brown earthy brown, softens any inclinations we may have of him as a criminal after Bonnie catches him about to steal her mother’s car. The mise-en-scene on the long tracking shot down an empty Main Street (except for one elderly Negro sitting on a bench in front of the barber shop) in the small, rural, Southwest Texas town allows us to connect the hard times and limited opportunities (boarded up stores) that surround Bonnie and Clyde and then a close-up of Clyde’s face. Clyde’s mouth is dominated by objects, like the Coke bottle and the match, which demonstrate his confidence. Perhaps, a close-up shot is used instead of the standard wide shot is to emphasize this aspect of Clyde’s personality. When Bonnie rubs the tip of the bottle of coke across her lips and flicks her tongue in her mouth as she watches Clyde gulped his and smiles, the shot is closed-up to emphasize Bonnie’s sexual curiousity. In a longer shot, Bonnie both turns aways from Clyde, but then turns back toward him in order to give him another opportunity to prove his violence, Clyde pulled out his gun and clandestinely showing it to her. The wide shot allows this action to play out on screen – both her change in attitude as well as his last effort. The wide shot also manages to obstruct the gun from the audience’s view by not showing it in close-up until later. From this still frame, it’s even difficult to see what the object that he pulls from his pocket is exactly. Then, a quick close-up of Bonnie’s face presents her intrigue at seeing Clyde’s gun. to a close-up of Clyde’s gun as he holds it at his waist and points it in her direction. The Coke bottles are now put away and missing from the last couple close-ups as their relationship moves onto the next stage. The establishing shot of the main street in town introduces the flat, empty, barren country all around them. After Clyde robs the grocery store and during their first escape in the stolen car, the scenes are pretty much rough cuts of Bonnie smothering Clyde with hugs and kisses as they careen down the dusty country road. During the hurried getaway, banjo music by Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs (â€Å"Foggy Mountain Breakdown†) plays on the soundtrack – theme music that accompanies their escapes. This piece of music later will be repeated in lots of scenes. In the end of the clip, We’ll be introduced to the us-against the world theme, where Bonnie and Clyde engaged in a rather serious conversation where after Clyde diverting her physical arousal, entices Bonnie into a glamorous life with his own unrealistic, ignorant and childish fantasies of freedom, wealth and fame. He encourages her to think of him as the answer to her dreams – they could make history together. The fact is, on the whole, Bonnie and Clyde is driven by the quality of its performances, by the multiple layers and nuances these actors bring to their legendary characters. Most of the characters are portrayed as accurately as possible, however, it seems like the life of Bonnie and Clyde were simplified and exaggerated in the film, in order to keep the film exciting and also convey the emotions and ideas that scenes are trying to get across. Like in the scene when Bonnie first realizes that Clyde isn’t much a â€Å"loverboy†, it pours out loads of bullshits about how Clyde, nevertheless, saw something special in Bonnie, which Bonnie buys it, when if you’re realistic enough considering her insecurity and desperation to escape her small town ennui, but the director seems to expect the audience to buy it as well, to see this tale as a Hollywood tragic love story. And of course in the end, this is an exceedingly shocking film, that brings tragedy full circle, all that more affecting with the disarming comedy, which always seemed to intensify the serious tone. However, overall, Bonnie and Clyde has succeeded as one of the first films to bring a new, tougher sensibility to mainstream Hollywood filmmaking, a sensibility that would come to define the new American cinema as the 60s transitioned into the 70s. It is an openly violent and sexualized vision of the famous criminal couple, testing the boundaries of screen representation. And that’s pretty much the time when we say hello to the New Hollywood Era. How to cite Bonnie and Clyde: Beginning of a New Hollywood Era, Papers

Research Methods Process of Developing the Research Question

Questions: 1. Describe the process of how you developed the Research Question (in other words, what sort of research activities did you do?) 2. What is the working/draft Research Question that you have developed, based on the process? 3. What is the knowledge gap that you seek to fill with this research? 4. What type of methods will best suit your research (i.e. qualitative, quantitative, mixed), and why? 5. Outline and justify the proposed research methodology. Discuss the rationale for your selection of the following: (a). research techniques (b). brief outline of data collection (c). proposed analyses. Answers: 1. Process of developing the research question I developing my research question, I focused a lot on the pertinent issues that the society faces in the health sector and some of the major constraints faced by health providers while carrying out their duties. I began formulating my research question by focusing on the broad topic of health and how health care determines the economic welfare of people in the society. I embarked on the health as my research topic because the topic can be studied due to the research gaps on the topic. I listed all the possible research questions about health that could be answered during my research. Out of the many questions listed, I ranked the items according to the order of their relevance and urgency in health. After ranking the questions, I chose the best question the one which is neither too narrow nor too broad to be researched upon. In deciding which research question is best, I researched on the sources of information for the research that are available and able to answer my research questi on and how reliable are they. I found that there were enough and reliable sources for the research question to be fully answered. My knowledge also guided me in choosing then research question and the availability of the gaps in the research topic were also considered. Before embarking on the research topic, I subjected my research question on a rigorous evaluation to determine the possibility of successfully completing the research. 2. Research question What is the effect of technological innovation on health care provision? 3. Research gap In the past, researchers have carried out research about information technology and its relevance to healthcare provision focusing so much on the information recording and keeping (Kelley, 2016). Very little has been done about how technology can reduce the expenditure on health, improve decision making, improve health care access and facilitate ample communication between health care providers and patients (Barham, 2014). Research need to be done to evaluate on what role does technology innovation play in health care provision and majorly focus on decision making, communication improvement and medical access to patients (Issel, 2015). In the past, researchers have not given attention research on some of the barriers to successfully implement technology in the healthcare system and methods in which theses obstacles can be overcome so that patients receive improved health care (Berkowitz McCarthy, 2013). Methods of research Both qualitative and quantitative research methods are used in this research for various reasons. One primary reason for using both methods of research is the kind of information needed to clearly address the aforementioned research question and come up with a broad conclusion. Another reason for mixed research is the fact that research question requires both primary and secondary data to be fully answered (Bassett, 2004). The research question is wide and needs comprehensive data and information to be fully addressed. Research methodology The research methodology will involve the use of both qualitative and quantitative tools of data collection but will mostly rely on qualitative data for most of its analysis focusing on social aspects of health and how it can be improved by use of technological innovations(Patton Patton, 2002). First, the research will begin by gathering information from various books and other secondary sources about the roles that technology plays in healthcare provision (Issel, 2015). The information will be collected from different books, journals, articles and previous researches that were done information documented in the library database. Data will also be gathered from various primary sources using interviews, surveys, questionnaires and by observations. Initially, a survey will be conducted to measure how satisfied diverse groups of people are with the provision of health care services in public and private healthcare institutions (Liamputtong, 2011). The target group for this research will vary from college and university students, locals, medical staff and all the people that receive medical services from various health care institutions in both the public and private hospitals. The research will focus on using descriptive analysis method due to the nature of the research question that should be answered. During the research, I will administer a survey to selected samples of college and university students, locals, and health care workers. The purpose of using a survey for this research is because the study aims at collecting data from specified samples of the population (Liamputtong, 2011). Furthermore, the survey instruments that will be used for this research will be questionnaires and interviews to the targeted samples. Since the research involves the collection of information about the quality of health and technology utilized in the provision of healthcare services, surveys are the most appropriate method of data collection. Furthermore, surveys are a key tool to conducting social and basic science researchers. Theirs is a significant advantage of using questionnaires as survey instruments as opposed to interviews because they are easy to administer, c an be administered to several sample groups and respondents are assured of the confidentiality than personal interviews. Moreso, after considering the cost of data collection when using personal interviews and questionnaires, it became clear that questionnaires are cost effective. Because of the above-mentioned advantages, the research will mostly employ questionnaires in data collection. Proposed analyses Data analysis for this research will be done using both statistical and descriptive analysis techniques. Before the actual data analysis, information collected from the surveys will be checked for completeness and correctness. After data has been confirmed for the two features, data will be keyed into the database for analysis to produce the output. Computer programs such as Stata and SPSS will be used for the analysis of data and results be recorded in the table. During the analysis, all incomplete surveys will be canceled and not included in the analysis process. Descriptive tools and frequency tables will be constructed to present the results in an organized manner for various groups of people to interpret the data. References Lyon, F., Mollering, G., Saunders, M. N. K. (2011). Handbook of Research Methods on Trust. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Pub. Newell, R., Burnard, P., Newell, R. (2011). Research for evidence-based practice in healthcare. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. Chatburn, R. L. (2011). Handbook for health care research. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Krueger, R. A., Casey, M. A. (2014). Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research White, P. (2009). Developing research questions: A guide for social scientists. Basingstoke [England: Palgrave Macmillan. Bassett, C. (2004). Qualitative research in health care. London: Whurr. Denicolo, P., Becker, L. (2012). Developing Research Proposals. Creswell, J. W. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approach. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. Issel, L. (2015). Health care changes and research gaps. Health Care Management Review, 40(2), 91. Daim, T. U., Behkami, N. A., Basoglu, N., Kok, O. M., Hogaboam, L. (2016). Healthcare technology innovation adoption: Electronic health records and other emerging health information technology innovations. Barham, L. (2014). Research gaps and Health Technology Assessment. Farmeconomia. Health Economics And Therapeutic Pathways, 15(2). Kelley, T. (2016). Electronic health records for quality nursing health care / Tiffany Kelley. Berkowitz, L., McCarthy, C. (2013). Innovation with information technologies in healthcare. London: Springer. Fasano, P. (2013). Transforming health care: The financial impact of technology, electronic tools, and data mining. Liamputtong, P. (2011). Focus Group Methodology: Principle and Practice Omona, J. (2013). Sampling in Qualitative Research: Improving the Quality of Research Outcomes in Higher Education. Mak. J. High. Edu., 4(2). Ozerdem, A., Bowd, R. (2010). Participatory research methodologies: Development and post-disaster/conflict reconstruction. Farnham, England: Ashgate. Patton, M. Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

William Bradford Essays (173 words) - James River, Colonial Virginia

William Bradford The leadership strengths and weaknesses of John Smith evoked a profound effect on the Jamestown colony. The fact that Smith actually arrived in the colony as a common prisoner and was able to achieve the leadership role that he gained is amazing. His creativity and knowledge in certain areas actually saved the colonists from attack and starvation in the early days. Some of the rules he enforced as a leader were actually instrumental in saving the colony. His skill in dealing with the natives allowed him to gain their support and continue trade that resulted in the survival of the colony. Christopher Newport, the admiral that transported John Smith and many of the colonists from England, left the Jamestown colony in the fall of 1607. Immediately all work in the settlement ceased to exist. The colonists had decided to wait on Newport to return with new workers. The plan was for the natives to provide food for them while they waited. When the natives never came with food, Ratcliffe, the current president

Napoleon and the Italian Campaign of 1796â€1797

Napoleon and the Italian Campaign of 1796–1797 The campaign fought by French General Napoleon Bonaparte in Italy in 1796–7 helped end the French Revolutionary Wars in favor of France. But they were arguably more significant for what they did for Napoleon: from one French commander among many, his string of successes established him as one of France’s, and Europe’s, brightest military talents, and revealed a man able to exploit victory for his own political goals. Napoleon showed himself to be not just a great leader on the battlefield but a canny exploiter of propaganda, willing to make his own peace deals for his own benefit. Napoleon Arrives Napoleon was given command of the Army of Italy in March 1796, two days after marrying Josephine. On route to his new base- Nice- he changed the spelling of his name. The Army of Italy was not intended to be the main focus of France in the coming campaign- that was to be Germany- and the Directory  may have been just shunting Napoleon off somewhere he couldn’t cause trouble. While the army was ill-organized and with sinking morale, the idea that the young Napoleon had to win over a force of veterans is exaggerated, with the possible exception of the officers: Napoleon had claimed victory at Toulon and was known to the army. They wanted victory and to many, it seemed like Napoleon was their best chance of getting it, so he was welcomed. However, the army of 40,000 was definitely poorly equipped, hungry, disillusioned, and falling apart, but it was also composed of experienced soldiers who just needed the right leadership and supplies. Napoleon would later highlight how much of a difference he made to the army, how he transformed it, and while he overstated to make his role look better (as ever), he certainly provided what was needed. Promising troops that they would be paid in captured gold was among his cunning tactics to reinvigorate the army, and he soon worked hard to bring in supplies, crack down on deserters, show himself to the men, and impress on all his determination. Conquest Napoleon initially faced two armies, one Austrian and one from Piedmont. If they had united, they would have outnumbered Napoleon, but they were hostile to each other and didn’t. Piedmont was unhappy at being involved and Napoleon resolved to defeat it first. He attacked quickly, turning from one enemy to another, and managed to force Piedmont to leave the war entirely by forcing them on a large retreat, breaking their will to continue, and signing the Treaty of Cherasco. The Austrians retreated, and less than a month after arriving in Italy, Napoleon had Lombardy. At the start of May, Napoleon crossed the Po to chase an Austrian army, defeated their rear-guard at the battle of Lodi, where the French stormed a well-defended bridge head on. It did wonders for Napoleon’s reputation despite it being a skirmish that could have been avoided if Napoleon had waited a few days for the Austrian retreat to continue. Napoleon next took Milan, where he established a republican gove rnment. The effect on the army’s morale was great, but on Napoleon, it was arguably greater: he began to believe he could do remarkable things. Lodi is arguably the starting point of Napoleon’s rise. Napoleon now besieged Mantua but the German part of the French plan had not even begun and Napoleon had to halt. He spent the time intimidating cash and submissions from the rest of Italy. Around $60 million francs in cash, bullion, and jewels had so far been gathered. Art was equally in demand by the conquerors, while rebellions had to be stamped out. Then a new Austrian army under Wurmser marched forth to tackle Napoleon, but he was again able to take advantage of a divided force- Wurmser sent 18,000 men under one subordinate and took 24,000 himself- to win multiple battles. Wurmser attacked again in September, but Napoleon flanked and ravaged him before Wurmser finally managed to merge some of his force with the defenders of Mantua. Another Austrian rescue force split up, and after Napoleon narrowly won at Arcola, he was able to defeat this in two chunks as well. Arcola saw Napoleon take a standard and lead an advance, doing wonders again for his reputation for personal bravery, i f not personal safety. As the Austrians made a new attempt to save Mantua in early 1797, they failed to bring their maximum resources to bear, and Napoleon won the battle of Rivoli in mid-January, halving the Austrians and forcing them into Tyrol. In February 1797, with their army broken by disease, Wurmser and Mantua surrendered. Napoleon had conquered northern Italy. The pope was now induced to buy Napoleon off. Having received reinforcements (he had 40,000 men), he now decided to defeat Austria by invading it but was faced by Archduke Charles. However, Napoleon managed to force him right back- Charles’ morale was low- and after getting to within sixty miles of the enemy capital Vienna, he decided to offer terms. The Austrians had been subjected to a terrible shock, and Napoleon knew he was far from his base, facing Italian rebellion with tired men. As negotiations went on, Napoleon decided he wasn’t finished, and he captured the Republic of Genoa, which transformed into the Ligurian Republic, as well as took parts of Venice. A preliminary treaty- Leoben- was drawn up, annoying the French government as it didn’t clarify the position in the Rhine. The Treaty of Campo Formio, 1797 Although the war was, in theory, between France and Austria, Napoleon negotiated the Treaty of Campo Formio with Austria himself, without listening to his political masters. A coup by three of the directors which remodeled the French executive ended Austrian hopes of splitting France’s executive from its leading General, and they agreed on terms. France kept the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium), conquered states in Italy were transformed into the Cisalpine Republic ruled by France, Venetian Dalmatia was taken by France, the Holy Roman Empire was to be rearranged by France, and Austria had to agree to support France in order to hold Venice. The Cisalpine Republic may have taken the French constitution, but Napoleon dominated it. In 1798, French forces took Rome and Switzerland, turning them into new, revolutionary styled states. Consequences Napoleon’s string of victories thrilled France (and many later commentators), establishing him as the country’s pre-eminent general, a man who had finally ended the war in Europe; an act seemingly impossible for anyone else. It also established Napoleon as a key political figure and redrew the map of Italy. The vast sums of loot sent back to France helped maintain a government increasingly losing fiscal and political control.

Sampling With or Without Replacement

Sampling With or Without Replacement Statistical sampling can be done in a number of different ways. In addition to the type of sampling method that we use, there is another question relating to what specifically happens to an individual that we have randomly selected.   This question that arises when sampling is, After we select an individual and record the measurement of attribute were studying, what do we do with the individual? There are two options: We can replace the individual back into the pool that we are sampling from.We can choose to not replace the individual.   We can very easily see that these lead to two different situations.    In the first option, replacement leaves open the possibility that the individual is randomly chosen a second time.   For the second option, if we are working without replacement, then it is impossible to pick the same person twice.   We will see that this difference will affect the calculation of probabilities related to these samples. Effect on Probabilities To see how we handle replacement affects the calculation of probabilities, consider the following example question. What is the probability of drawing two aces from a standard deck of cards? This question is ambiguous.   What happens once we draw the first card?   Do we put it back into the deck, or do we leave it out?   We start with calculating the probability with replacement.   There are four aces and 52 cards total, so the probability of drawing one ace is 4/52. If we replace this card and draw again, then the probability is again 4/52. These events are independent, so we multiply the probabilities (4/52) x (4/52) 1/169, or approximately 0.592%. Now we will compare this to the same situation, with the exception that we do not replace the cards.   The probability of drawing an ace on the first draw is still 4/52. For the second card, we assume that an ace has been already drawn.   We must now calculate a conditional probability.   In other words, we need to know what the probability of drawing a second ace, given that the first card is also an ace. There are now three aces remaining out of a total of 51 cards. So the conditional probability of a second ace after drawing an ace is 3/51.   The probability of drawing two aces without replacement is (4/52) x (3/51) 1/221, or about 0.425%. We see directly from the problem above that what we choose to do with replacement has bearing on the values of probabilities.   It can significantly change these values. Population Sizes There are some situations where sampling with or without replacement does not substantially change any probabilities.   Suppose that we are randomly choosing two people from a city with a population of 50,000, of which 30,000 of these people are female. If we sample with replacement, then the probability of choosing a female on the first selection is given by 30000/50000 60%.   The probability of a female on the second selection is still 60%.   The probability of both people being female is 0.6 x 0.6 0.36. If we sample without replacement then the first probability is unaffected.   The second probability is now 29999/49999 0.5999919998..., which is extremely close to 60%.   The probability that both are female is 0.6 x 0.5999919998 0.359995. The probabilities are technically different, however, they are close enough to be nearly indistinguishable.   For this reason, many times even though we sample without replacement, we treat the selection of each individual as if they are independent of the other individuals in the sample. Other Applications There are other instances where we need to consider whether to sample with or without replacement. On example of this is bootstrapping. This statistical technique falls under the heading of a resampling technique. In bootstrapping we start with a statistical sample of a population. We then use computer software to compute bootstrap samples. In other words, the computer resamples with replacement from the initial sample.

Writing Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Writing Assignment - Essay Example This paper will critically analyze the book Frankenstein by Shelley on the teachings of the actions we take whether they are justifiable and redeemable in our current world. At the end of the book, the creature promises to destroy himself. This is highly not justifiable for this creature. The creature reasoning as to commit suicide is as a result it had the feelings of human nature. The creature felt mistreated and segregated. The main driving force was the realization that Frankenstein his own creator had abandoned him. In search to kill the creator the creature came to Frankenstein had died, it felt lonely as that was the family he ever knew was all gone, (Shelly p 68). The moral teaching is that everyone needs to have a sense of belonging. The creature lacked this love and therefore had to react this way. The creature could have been redeemed. The creature had no harm to any other living organisms like the plants and birds of the air. The creature had some sense of humor. Despite having destroyed the Frankenstein’s family. The creature didn’t cause any physical or psychological harm Robert Walton, (Shelly p 69). Frankenstein as seen in the Shelly novel, he created a creature and abandoned the creature without having taken fully responsibility of his creation. This relates very well to the many things that need our attention and jokingly we neglect them. In relation to the world this can as well be related to the irresponsible parents who bear children and fail to bring them up in the right quality life. These kind of neglected individuals are frustrated and have no true meaning of life. When these children grow up and realize what happened in their early life, the first victims are the parents, (Shelly p 22). The parents will have to pay the price for having neglected their uncontrollable children who then end up in crime. The issue of

Management Planning in TYCO Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Management Planning in TYCO - Case Study Example The well-conceived mission statement defines the fundamental unique purpose that sets TYCO apart from other firms of its type and defines where the company wants to be in the next 5 to 10 years. TYCO operates on the global market marked by fierce competition and constant changes. For this reason, TYCO uses planning as one of the main tools which help it to reach the stated goals and objectives. The implementation of strategy occurs at all levels of the organization, including both corporate and individual departments (www.tyco.com). To that end, each department and support unit complement and support one another (Marketing Planning, n.d.). Planning involves such important elements of management as strategy formulation defined s an ongoing approach that combines both successful practices of the past with fresh and innovative approaches to the future. In TYCO, the midlevel manager is not the person who is responsible for creating corporate strategy. Rather, it is his responsibility to translate corporate strategy into action. TYCO's core competency is to create unique products and services in comparison to its competitors (Planning 1995). In TYCO, all managers find themselves to a greater or lesser extent faced with the challenge of trying to balance routine office responsibilities (i.e., phone calls, answering requests for information, etc.) with the need to complete organizational goals and project tasks. In order to successfully plan, the manager must be good at establishing priorities. To that end, effective managers exercise good time management skills and set aside time to complete organizational goals and project tasks. For instance, TYCO's consultant must routinely balance competing requirements in selecting technologies and service vendors. The consultant, however, may choose to weigh the criteria differently, depending on the project and client requirements (www.tyco.com). The planning model checklist allows the consultant to attach an assigned numeric value for each vendor proposal across different categories that can be totaled and scored and used as a basis for comparison. The planning function of manage ment helps TYCO to organize its activities and performance in accordance with external and internal changes and market demands which influence the company and its customers (Planning 1995). At the beginning of the 21st century, legal issues, ethics and corporate social responsibility become the core of any business. Legal issues involve industry requirements and product quality, product standards and international regulations. The globalization of economic activity has forced TYCO to carefully consider its economic policies. The common motivation behind such regulatory and economic reforms is the perceived inefficiency of central planning and government-protected monopolies. One of the vivid examples of legal issues is TYCO's compliance with the international price regulations. Operating on a global scale, TYCO follows international regulations and rules. For TYCO it is more in keeping with performance-based regulation - that is, to create rewards and incentives for effective utility management. Price regulation has built into the regulatory framework a system of rewards and penalties. There are a number of ways to build in incentives,

Role of family in health and disease Essay Example for Free

Role of family in health and disease Essay The good health of an individual primarily increases the longevity of an individual’s life. The sphere of health has increased far beyond the concept of health system of the previous generation, including exercise and well-being. In this context, autonomy means the right of the patient to choose the treatment that he believes is best for him. The intimate knowledge of the family regarding the individual aids the decision making process. When the individual is in poor health, his actions are limited thereby necessitating support from family and friends. Stress When there is a common problem creating stress, the whole family is stuck in a vicious cycle of negativity aggravating health related issues. When there is an increasing demand in the ability to cope, stress becomes a threat to the physical and emotional well-being of the others as well. Stress is a psychological and physiological response to events that cause personal imbalance in life. Prolonged exposure to stress increases the risk to health as stress is cumulative. Anything that forces one to adjust is a stressor. These include a divorce, a child leaving home, a planned pregnancy, a move to a new town, a career change, graduating process, diagnosis of a malignant disease. These events are rare occurrences in a lifetime. Therefore, analyzing further, we conclude that major stressors are the daily hassles and demands made on an individual.[i]   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Family and relationships are the most common stressors, though environmental conditions can be strenuous. Arguments, financial conditions, marital disagreements, rebellious teens, or caring for a chronically ill family member or a child with special needs can increase stress levels of all the family members. Some of these situations have an impact on society. Therefore, poverty, financial pressures, racial and sexual discrimination or harassment, unemployment, isolation, and a lack of social support take a toll on the quality of life and become stressful to deal with. Stress Warning Signs and Symptoms[ii] Cognitive Symptoms Emotional Symptoms Memory problems Indecisiveness Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying Loss of objectivity Fearful anticipation Moodiness Agitation Restlessness Irritability, impatience Inability to relax Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness Physical Symptoms Behavioral Symptoms Headaches or backaches Muscle tension and stiffness Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Insomnia Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Weight gain or loss Skin breakouts (hives, eczema) Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Procrastination, neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting,) Overdoing activities (e.g. exercising, shopping) Overreacting to unexpected problems    FAMILY STRESS Family stress is the imbalance between the demands of the family and its ability to cope. The way in which the family perceives the stressor explains the values and previous experiences of the family in meeting the crisis. The family is aided by resources like the external support provided by friends, colleagues and the community. The central mechanism through which the stress is eliminated or managed is â€Å"Coping†. The following elements that we consider are the individual family member, the family system, the community to which the family belongs. Problem Statement: Let us cite an example to prove that stress caused due to families will increase the health risk of all members. The concept of a broken family which is a major factor attributing to chronic stress will be examined in detail.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The root cause of poverty and income disparity is undeniably dependant on the presence or absence of the marriage. A married person remains influenced by factors that  Ã‚  Ã‚   inoculate that person against divorce. These include sharing a religious faith, getting married over the age of 25 and completing education. All of these factors lead to greater economic prosperity and remain a basis for good health. Broken families experience lower levels of educational achievement and therefore earn less. They pass on the prospect of meager incomes and family instability to the next generation. Broken families arise from divorce, cohabitation, out of Wedlock childbirth. Divorce The Monthly Vital Statistics report from the National centre for health statistics has stated that the growth in the number of children born into broken families in America has risen to 58 for every 100 born in 1992 from 12 for every 100 born in 1950.[iii] It directly reduces the prosperity of the family. It determines the length of the poverty spell and is the greatest threat to women from the lower income families. It reduces the likelihood of asset formation. â€Å"For a nuclear family, the family income averaged at $43,600, and when these same children lived with single parents, their family income is reduced to an average income of $25,300.[iv] It increases a mother’s financial responsibility. Divorce and additional work hours affect her network of support for parenting. These chronic stresses lead to physical and mental illness, addictions, even leading to suicide in some cases. There is a reduction in the educational accomplishments of the affected children.   Therefore, their probable prosperity level remains unachieved. There is a rise in the chance of a teenage pregnancy. The family and social stress weakens their psychological and physical health, and predisposes them to rapid initiation of sexual relationships and higher levels of marital instability. It raises the probability in boys never to marry.[v]. For the father, factors like increased financial responsibility, greater chances of cohabiting, decreasing parental influence, and addictions, decrease their performance at work. The relationship and work related stresses could trigger major health problems. Cohabitation These couples express uncertainty about their marriage together and are probable to divorce at a rate higher mainly due to their inability to commit. The present generation exhibit that sex, living arrangements and parenting depend less on marriage. 40% of the cohabiting couples have children, and 12% have had a biological child during cohabitation.[vi] 80 % of children who have lived with cohabiting parents will spend some of their childhood in a single-parent home.[vii] Cohabiting marks future weakness in the income gained by a nuclear family, tending to aggravate the social and economic stresses caused to the children. There is a growing acceptance of illicit relationships and premarital sex amongst children of the adolescence stage. This leads to increase in teenage pregnancy. The stress caused by the family coupled with stresses created by the society make it difficult for the children to cope with. They increase anxiety and temper related issues and mental stress. They tend to experience behavioral problems. Living together creates an imbalance in the emotional and financial security of an individual. These chronic stresses affect the health of the individual. Out-of-Wedlock   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This situation derails progress towards achieving a stable family structure and good health. Most teenage mothers remain single parents[viii]. Their children spend more time in poverty and appalling living conditions in comparison to children from any other family structure. They manifest behavioral problems like anxiety, depression, require psychiatric care, and have tendencies to commit suicide. They are likely to exhibit antisocial behavior. Their risk factors multiply with a downward spiral in health.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The probability of low-birth weight and low neo-natal health index scores is the highest in births arising out-of-wedlock. The mother’s exhibit increased maternal depression levels. Children from broken families are likely to abuse themselves and therefore harm their well-being. The immune system of these children functions at a rapid rate under chronic stress, thereby rendering them to infectious diseases. WAYS TO PREVENT FAMILY STRESS In stressful circumstances, nutritious meals, exercises, building self-resilience, relaxation techniques and sleep, thinking optimistically, use of social support networks, professional psychotherapy, and sharing the stress maintain health. â€Å"The Holmes- Rahe Life Stress Inventory† is a scale that rates social adjustment and the susceptibility to a breakdown caused by stress.[ix]. Ways to prevent stress are:[x] Learn key concepts about personalities, families, communication, make wise child conception or adoption choices Apply this knowledge in daily life. One can increase nurturance levels in family by effective problem solving, clarity in thinking, listing communication strengths, and removing blocks for unconscious toxic habits Understand personal and family policies on feeling and expressing grief or anger, upgrade appropriate personal values and attitudes, keep the family members informed and evolve pro-grief policies Understand if there are others in the family who are grieving their losses. Then, it is equally important to share and discuss healthy grieving and to use a qualified therapist to heal the wounds. Conclusion Genetic variations and experiences of a lifetime increase sensitivity to stress. Chronic stress damages cardiovascular system and immune system suppression. It compromises the ability to fight disease and affects mental health. Medical conditions that are caused by stress include Chronic pain, migraines, ulcers, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression Heart disease, diabetes, asthma, pms, obesity Infertility, autoimmune diseases, irritable bowel syndrome, skin problems Children from broken families are prone to anxiety and depression related health problems and emotional disorders. There is a decrease in economic prosperity and educational achievements The negative impact caused by stress can be reduced by increasing commitment within family members, use of social support networks and self-improvement. Children from stable families achieve higher levels in education, prosper well, make committed and strong relationships, further, and establish a high nurtured environment for their children unlike children from broken families. [i] Mc Cubbin IH, Patterson MJ.The Family Stress Process The double ABCX model of adjustment and adaption. Marriage and Family review.1983.6(1-2):37-7. [ii] Jaffe E, Smith M, Larson H, Segal J. Understanding stress [online] 2007 [cited 2008 June 25]. Available from:URL: http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_signs.html [iii] The federal statistics system is unable to provide accurate data on the number of children from broken families as the National Center for Health Statistics and the Bureau of the Census does not collect the complete data on divorce now.1992. [iv] Corcoran   E M, Chaudry A. The Dynamics of Childhood Poverty .In : Future of Children.1997. Vol. 7, No. 2 ,pp. 40-54, quoting from G. J. Duncan et al., unpublished research paper, Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1994.Lone-Parent Families in the United States, In: Dynamics, Economic Status, and Developmental Consequences. [v] Bumpass LL, Martin CT, Sweet AJ. The Impact of Family Background and Early Marital Factors on Marital Disruption,In:   Journal of Family Issues.1991. Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 22-42. [vi] Bumpass et al., The Role of Cohabitation in Declining Rates of Marriage, In: Journal of Family Issues.1991.Vol 12, No.1, pp.22-42. [vii] Bumpass et al., The Impact of Family Background. [viii] Hotz VJ, McElroy SW, Sanders SG. The Impacts of Teenage Childbearing on the Mothers and the Consequences of those Impacts for Government, In: Maynard RA, editors, Urban Institute Press, Washington DC. Economic costs and social costs of teenage pregnancy, In: Kids having kids. 1997. pp-55-94. [ix] The Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory [Document on the internet]. [cited: 2008 Jun 25]. Available from: http://www.bhicares.org/pdf/manual/indepthassessment/homesrahestressinventory.pdf [x] Gerlach KP, Three ways to prevent family stress and divorce, In: High Nurturance Family Relationships. 2008. [Cited,2008 Jun 25]. Available from: http://sfhelp.org/prevent/intro.htm

Cancer and NMR Spectroscopy Essay -- Biology

Cancer is a disease that will most likely affect each and every one of us throughout our lives. There are approximately 560,000 people that die from cancer each year. To put it in perspective, between 1/4 and 1/3 of all Americans will die from this deadly disease. These statistics could be greatly reduced if people would stop smoking. Approximately 35% of all cancer cases are direct results of tobacco use. Many people do not fully understand what cancer really is. Cancer is simply a mutation in the cells which causes them to replicate continuously without bond. Many people relate cancer with tumors, and rightly so. A tumor is basically just a lump of mutated cells which eventually grows so big that it blocks the functions of the organs around it (a benign tumor) or begins to invade tissues surrounding it (a malignant tumor). Although there has been extensive research concerning cancer, nothing has been found that can cure cancer 100%. The reason for this is because a cancer tumor carries many different cancer cells. Every cancer cell reacts differently to each method of treatment, so while chemotherapy may kill some cancer cells in a tumor, other "subpopulations" of cells in the same tumor may not be affected at all. Another problem with cancer is that the cancer cells are able to travel throughout the body, an event known as metastasis. This means that cancer cells in the breast or lung are able to travel to the heart. This means that the cancer can spread throughout the body very easily, making treatment very difficult. While we have no true cures for cancer, there have been a few methods of treatment that have been somewhat successful. One such treatment is the drug cyclophosphamide (which is actually converted to 4-hydro... ...solution, nonradioactive method (NMR), the metabolites can be monitored noninvasively. NMR spectroscopy basically allows one to look at certain certain nuclei, such as phosphorus and carbon, and show resonance. Since there are high levels of both of these elements in cancer cells, the NMR method allowed for clear observation of GSH levels. In addition to cancer cells, many other cell lines have high levels of metabolites containing phosphorus and carbon. With this in mind, NMR spectroscopy is clearly the tool of the future for noninvasive observations of cells. Namely, it can be used for studying molecular dynamics, kinetics, microstructures, and equilibrium levels of chemical reactions. Through the use of more advanced methods and technology such as NMR, medical researchers can begin to piece together the puzzles of biology and medicine within the human body.

November and Mid Term Break Poem Analysis

Mid-Term Break†, by Seamus Heaney, is a free-verse poem that portrays the event in which the speaker, who came back from boarding school, deals with the loss of a younger brother. In this poem there are several important themes such as time, age, family, pain, love and most of all death. This poem takes the audience along on the speaker’s journey to accepting his little brother’s death. The author used a number of imagery to depict the themes of the poem. In these imageries, Heaney challenges not only the audience’s visual imagery but as well as auditory, olfactory as well as emotional imagery.For example: â€Å"Counting bells knelling classes to a close†, â€Å"the corpse, stanched† and â€Å"candles soothed the bedside. † Throughout the poem, Seamus Heaney only used simile once to compare the coffin to a cot, â€Å"He lay in the four foot box as in a cot. † The poem is organised with three lines per stanza in which there are no specific rhythm or rhyme pattern. However the last word in the poem rhymes with the last word in the stanza before. Seamus Heaney’s choice of words in this poem is what made the poem so special.The phrase â€Å"it was a hard blow† and the line about the cooing baby bring certain awkwardness to the poem. Also the word â€Å"soothed† brings a certain warm feeling to the poem. However this word is besides words that are associated with mourning and death such as â€Å"bedside†, â€Å"candles† and â€Å"Snowdrops† These choices of words bring the audience on a emotional rollercoaster. Moreover, the author’s choice of words once more highlighted the last line. Heaney used alliteration, assonance and repetition to add further emphasis on the â€Å"four foot box† Which suggests how important this line is to the core of the poem. – The poem ‘November' By Simon armitage is about how a man , the speaker, copes with the loss of a family member, not through death but through age.The speaker and a man named John (probably a friend) have taken John’s grandmother to a nursing home. They know she will not come back out of the home. When they leave the old lady, they drive back to John’s house and drink alcohol, to cope with the emotions of the situation. The poet tries to lift John out of his depression. As with all poetry, the poem captures the interest of the reader through its exploration of human feelings and motivations.The choice of ‘November’ as the title is effective in that this is clearly the winter of the grandmother’s life, which is drawing to its close. There is little, if anything, that is attractive about the month of November: the weather is bad, and certainly not picturesque, and the dismal and dank darkness which we associate with the month reflects the feelings experienced by the poet and John in the light of the old lady’s decline. In Stanza 1, th e effects of ageing on the grandmother are shown by the way she walks: she takes four short steps to every two taken by the poet and John.Stanza 2 shows the genuine affection and care John lavishes upon his grandmother, making sure that she has all she needs, as well as mementoes of home â€Å"family trinkets†: he is trying to cater for her emotional, as well as her physical, needs. The obvious closeness of the relationship is reflected in the fact that he â€Å"pares† his grandmother’s nails – quite an intimate act for a grandson to carry out. However, the old lady has degenerated into an object, as John wraps her in the rough blankets.The reference to the old lady’s â€Å"incontinence† provides the reader with a clear indication of her helplessness, and why she has had to go into a nursing home. Stanza 3 begins with a play on words, â€Å"It is time John. † this could mean that it is time to leave the old lady, or that it is the pas sage of time and hence the ageing process which has brought things to their current situation. The stanza focuses on the lack of quality of life of old people: they are drained of colour, their bodies show signs of ageing â€Å"slack breasts† and â€Å"baldness† and they are losing their mental faculties â€Å"stunned rains†.The loss of ‘normal’ human attributes and capabilities is brought home by the poets’ shocking reference to â€Å"these monsters†. Stanzas 4 and 5 concentrate on the aftermath, emotionally, of leaving the grandmother in the home, no doubt John’s main feeling being one of guilt, and the final stanza is an attempt to lift the emotions of the reader and of John by giving a message of expediency, but one which is positive for the younger men.The poem is written in free verse and contains little rhyme. The poem is constructed of six stanzas, the first five of three lines each, the last of only two lines. The first three stanzas focus on the nursing home, leading up to a crescendo at the end of Stanza 3 with â€Å"these monsters. † throughout these stanzas, the poet is reassuring John, despite feeling repulsed by the images of the elderly in the home.Both Poems are effective in their exploration of the emotions of sadness and guilt felt by relatives and friends when the passing years lead to a loved one losing all sense of dignity and quality of life. The choices of language and literary devices are very appropriate and served their purpose. In November, the speaker tells of the loss of a family member, not through death, but through age, using brutal language to put the point across while Mid Term break attempts to do the same, in a more bitter sweet way.

Cas Reflection Example

Mason Ramsay CAS Reflection for 15 October 2012 Since my last CAS reflection and meeting, the special needs cheerleading team that I coach has started practicing again. I plan to work with the team until the end of the season in May. The group of kids has grown from seven to twelve and I am excited for the new kids on the team. I hope that they will enjoy it as much as I do, and I know that I will be able to bond with these children just as I bonded with the children on the team last year.I feel that my leadership skills continue to develop and I step farther out of my comfort zone and help the children. The new team members have different disabilities than the children on the team last year, so I am working with them to understand what they are able to do and what they need extra help with. When this school year began, I also started taking ballet classes at Sacred Heart School for the Arts. I take class for an hour and a half twice each week. In these classes I work on technique, p erformance skills, and flexibility.For the Nutcracker performance this December, I will be working as a stagehand. In the spring, I will start taking more classes each week and I plan to be in the spring recital, Hansel and Gretel. I really enjoy dancing because I like being able to perform, and I am glad that I have started taking classes again. I think that I will continue to take dance classes wherever I attend college next year, and working on CAS hours throughout my junior and senior years of high school have allowed me to know that I can balance schoolwork with extracurricular activities such as dance.

Free Essays on Map Vs. Ohio

MAPP vs. OHIO The Mapp Vs Ohio Supreme Court Case was a turning point in our nation's history. It changed our legal system by forming the exclusionary rule, which in turn changed the way prosecution of a criminal is performed. On May 23, 1957, three Cleveland police officers arrived at Dolly Mapp’s home. They had reason to believe that a fugitive and paraphernalia, of a recent bombing, had been hiding out there. The officers asked if they could search the home without a search warrant, with the advice of her attorney, she refused. Three hours later, four more police officers arrived at the scene. They knocked on the door but Ms. Mapp did not respond immediately. The officers then forcibly entered the home by knocking down the door. Ms. Mapp demanded to see a warrant; but an officer showed her a blank piece of paper that he claimed to be the warrant. Ms. Mapp’s attorney arrived at the house and the police would not let him speak to his client or enter the home. Aggravated with the situation, Ms. Mapp took the warrant and put it down her bosom. The officers arrested her an account she was â€Å"belligerent.† While Ms. Mapp was in handcuffs, the police conducted an extremely though sear ch of the house by breaking things and search through private drawers and desk. They found no evidence of a fugitive and of anything bomb related, however they did find some lewd, and vulgar reading materials that were illegal in Ohio. Ms. Mapp was ultimately convicted in the Supreme Court of Ohio on account of her possession of the pornography. The search was illegal according to a previous ruling in Wolf vs. Colorado; but Ms. Mapp appealed claiming it violated due process of law. In 1949, the Court ruled in Wolf vs. Colorado, claming that the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment did not incorporate the 9th and 10th amendments. Suggesting that the due process did not protect non-specified rights or was due process permanently defined w... Free Essays on Map Vs. Ohio Free Essays on Map Vs. Ohio MAPP vs. OHIO The Mapp Vs Ohio Supreme Court Case was a turning point in our nation's history. It changed our legal system by forming the exclusionary rule, which in turn changed the way prosecution of a criminal is performed. On May 23, 1957, three Cleveland police officers arrived at Dolly Mapp’s home. They had reason to believe that a fugitive and paraphernalia, of a recent bombing, had been hiding out there. The officers asked if they could search the home without a search warrant, with the advice of her attorney, she refused. Three hours later, four more police officers arrived at the scene. They knocked on the door but Ms. Mapp did not respond immediately. The officers then forcibly entered the home by knocking down the door. Ms. Mapp demanded to see a warrant; but an officer showed her a blank piece of paper that he claimed to be the warrant. Ms. Mapp’s attorney arrived at the house and the police would not let him speak to his client or enter the home. Aggravated with the situation, Ms. Mapp took the warrant and put it down her bosom. The officers arrested her an account she was â€Å"belligerent.† While Ms. Mapp was in handcuffs, the police conducted an extremely though sear ch of the house by breaking things and search through private drawers and desk. They found no evidence of a fugitive and of anything bomb related, however they did find some lewd, and vulgar reading materials that were illegal in Ohio. Ms. Mapp was ultimately convicted in the Supreme Court of Ohio on account of her possession of the pornography. The search was illegal according to a previous ruling in Wolf vs. Colorado; but Ms. Mapp appealed claiming it violated due process of law. In 1949, the Court ruled in Wolf vs. Colorado, claming that the due process clause of the fourteenth amendment did not incorporate the 9th and 10th amendments. Suggesting that the due process did not protect non-specified rights or was due process permanently defined w...

How Psychology Defines and Explains Deviant Behavior

How Psychology Defines and Explains Deviant Behavior Deviant behavior is any behavior that is contrary to the dominant norms of society. There are many different theories on what causes a person to perform deviant behavior, including biological explanations, sociological explanations, as well as  psychological explanations. While sociological explanations for deviant behavior focus on how social structures, forces, and relationships foster deviance, and biological explanations focus on physical and biological differences and how these might connect to deviance, psychological explanations take a different approach. Psychological approaches to deviance all have some key things in common. First, the individual is the primary unit of analysis. This means that psychologists believe that individual human beings are solely responsible for their criminal or deviant acts. Second, an individual’s personality is the major motivational element that drives behavior within individuals. Third, criminals and deviants are seen as suffering from personality deficiencies, which means that crimes result from abnormal, dysfunctional, or inappropriate mental processes within the personality of the individual. Finally, these defective or abnormal mental processes could be caused by a variety of things, including a diseased mind, inappropriate learning, improper conditioning, and the absence of appropriate role models or the strong presence and influence of inappropriate role models. Starting from these basic assumptions, psychological explanations of deviant behavior come mainly from  three theories: psychoanalytic theory, cognitive development theory, and learning theory. How Psychoanalytic Theory Explains Deviance Psychoanalytic theory, which was developed by Sigmund Freud, states that all humans have natural drives and urges that are repressed in the unconscious. Additionally, all humans have criminal tendencies. These tendencies are curbed, however, through the process of socialization. A child that is improperly socialized, then, could develop a personality disturbance that causes him or her to direct antisocial impulses either inward or outward. Those who direct them inward become neurotic while those that direct them outward become criminal. How Cognitive Development Theory Explains Deviance According to the cognitive development theory, criminal and deviant behavior results from the way in which individuals organize their thoughts around morality and the law. Lawrence Kohlberg, a developmental psychologist, theorized that there are three levels of moral reasoning. During the first stage, called the pre-conventional stage, which is reached during middle childhood, moral reasoning is based on obedience and avoiding punishment. The second level is called the conventional level and is reached at the end of middle childhood. During this stage, moral reasoning is based on the expectations that the child’s family and significant others have for him or her. The third level of moral reasoning, the post-conventional level, is reached during early adulthood at which point individuals are able to go beyond social conventions. That is, they value the laws of the social system. People who do not progress through these stages may become stuck in their moral development and, as a result, become deviants or criminals. How Learning Theory Explains Deviance Learning theory is based on the principles of behavioral psychology, which hypothesizes that a person’s behavior is learned and maintained by its consequences or rewards. Individuals thus learn deviant and criminal behavior by observing other people and witnessing the rewards or consequences that their behavior receives. For example, an individual who observes a friend shoplift  an item and not get caught sees that the friend is not punished for their actions and they are rewarded by getting to keep the stolen item. That individual might be more likely to shoplift, then, if he believes that he will be rewarded with the same outcome. According to this theory, if this is how deviant behavior is developed, then taking away the reward value of the behavior can eliminate deviant behavior.

Discussing incentives to conserve marine biodiversity conservation Essay

Discussing incentives to conserve marine biodiversity conservation within the framework of impure public goods - Essay Example It is important to note that their benefits can be affected when the government decides not to offer the conservation. (Maxwell) Ordinarilly, an externality is the effect of an economic activity felt by those not directly involved in the economic activity. Positive externalities are often described as spillover effects to suggest their effects are felt by consumers who were not directly intended by their producers. The impure public goods such marine biodiversity and other environmental amenities are not to be supplied privately because the provider cannot capture the benefits and therefore no one can be excluded, so free riding is possible. Clearly, some aspects of marine bear the characteristics of a public good. Marine contributes to global biodiversity and enhances the well being of the majority of people. (Bulte) Ordinarily, no one has the appropriate incentive to provide marine habitat or otherwise protect marine as they cannot capture the full benefits from the needed investments. Market failure occurs because the amount of a public good is underprovided, and thus marginal social benefits exceed marginal social costs. In this case, more of the public good should be provided, but it is forthcoming only if society subsidizes a private supplier, or provides it publicly. (Bulte) On the other hand, negative externalities that include the government regulations impose costs on society that extend beyond the cost of production as originally intended by the producer. A producer of a negative externality who does not have to worry about its full cost is likely to produce an excessive harmful amount of the product.Ordinarilly, regulations and fines may deter the production of negative externalities. But the effects of regulation may be limited under conditions such as where negative externalities are so pervasive they encourage free riding attitudes, where negative externalities are so pervasive their producers could

Elevator Pitch Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Elevator Pitch - Essay Example itch is a communication tool presenting â€Å"an overview of a product, service, project, person, or other thing and is designed to get a conversation started† (O’Leary, par. 2). Chris O’Leary proffered the most important characteristics of an elevator pitch using Nine C’s, to wit: â€Å"(1) Concise, (2) Clear, (3) Compelling, (4) Credible, (5) Conceptual, (6) Concrete; (7) Customized, (8) Consistent, and (9) Conversational† (O’Leary, par. 6). As indicated, the purpose of an elevator pitch is to relay crucial information to the person one is talking to in a most effective manner using the limited time, typically spent in an elevator ride. In an article written by Pagliarini (2009), an elevator pitch must be designed to answer six particular questions: â€Å"(1) what is your product or service? (2) Who is your market? (3) How do you expect to make money? (4) Who is behind the company? (5) Who is your competition? And (6) What is your competitive advantage?† (Pagliarini, 2009, pars. 4 – 9). Further, Pagliarini averred that the elevator pitch must contain characteristics that catches the attention of the person one is talking to; should be very concise to comprise approximately 150 to 225 works; delivered with genuine passion and enthusiasm; and aiming to obtain a request in terms of networking through referrals (Pagliarini, 2009). In contemporary business and in an increasingly competitive environment, majority of professionals are always in such a hurry to go to one destination and transfer to another. As a consequence, communication tools, specifically designed to relay crucial information on business endeavors must be designed in a compact but holistic

Multinational running and risks management of Domino Print Plc 01272 Essay

Multinational running and risks management of Domino Print Plc 01272 - Essay Example Domino Printing owns seven distinct business units or subsidiaries which are, Graph-Tech, Citronix, Domino UK, PostJet Systems, Mectec Elektronik, Wiedenbach Apparatebau and Purex International (Marketline, 2014). The commercial printing industry has recorded a valuation of $383.2 billion, which is a 2.1% growth in the year 2011. The market has been forecasted to perform well in the coming five years (Marketline, 2014a). As of the fiscal year 2013, the company has earned revenue of $524.2 million, which is a 7.6% increase over the previous year. The operating profit of 2013 is $27.1 million which is a 66% decrease from 2012 (Morningstar, 2015). This paper is focused on the financial structure and activities of Domino Printing Sciences plc, along with the involved political and exchange rate risk in overseas transaction. The above table indicates that the revenue of Domino Printing has increased steadily over the past five years. This suggests that the company has successfully been able to make increased cash generation in the recent years. The gross profit has also increased over the years in a steady manner. The consistent increase of revenue and gross profit suggests that the company has been performing well over the years. However, according to the graph it can be stated that the company’s net income decreased severely in the year 2013 as it took a deep plunge from  £41 million in 2011 to  £6 million in 2012. It has managed to increase the net income in the next year to  £45 million. Thus it can be stated that Domino Printing Sciences has been successfully restores its loss making and rejuvenated its profitability. Domino Printing was established in 1978 and got listed in the LSE (London Stock Exchange) in 1985. Ever since the inception of the company it has expanded exponentially by making several corporate and financial activities. Domino printing sciences has bought 5,331,451 shares of Montaro,

Management Systems in a Call Centre

Management Systems in a Call Centre ABSTRACT: Call centers are most common mean by which the Organizations can reach out to their customers and this explains their rapid growth. Many projects have been focused on call centers in order to explain their management and performance from different perspective. In this project, I have attempted to identify the two main perspectives and to explore the effective use of performance management systems found in a call centre to improve the performance of a call agents. This project was conducted in a sit-up ltd based in west Acton London, while I was working as a contact centre 1st line manager and as a customer services Team leader,. The project involved semi-structured interviews with thirty call agents and three IT employees. The analysis of the data was based on the management techniques and performance of a call centre agents on daily basis . Information systems present were standard and up to date which could also be found in any call centre and the working condition is a common issu e found in most literature. Hence the highlight of this project is on the fact that there is still the need for human interaction with information systems. We have focused on that issue that The people aspect of the call centre is been ignored, hence organizations are producing burnt out employees which in long terms could have a diverse effect on the organization despite the implementation of up to date and functional information systems. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I want to express my profound gratitude to the one and only Almighty God Who in His infinite mercies blessed me with this opportunity of undergoing learning at work partnership programme , M.A Computer and Business studies. Thank you all for your guidance throughout the academic year. Words are not enough to express my feelings . I want to specially thank and dedicate this project to my parents.. I want to thank Dr. Howard cowte, who taught me to believe in myself and in my work because he never let me off with a poor argument. Thank you again. Finally, I want to thank all my friends for their words of encouragement, support and friendship. Specially when I was going through hard times with my health. The CALL CENTRES. INTRODUCTION: dynaTrace is the innovator and emerging leader in application performance management (APM). The company offers the only continuous APM system on the market one that can monitor all transactions at all times and one that is used by all key contributors to application performance architects, development, test and production. Industry leaders such as UBS, Salesforce.com, Renault, EnerNOC, Fidelity, and Thomson Reuters use dynaTraces patent pending technology to gain deep visibility into application performance, identify problems sooner and reduce the mean time to repair issues by 90%. Leading companies rely on dynaTrace to proactively prevent performance problems from happening and quickly resolve those that do occur saving time, money and resources. Call centers are part of out daily life today as ATMs, self-service supermarkets and internet shopping (ebay). All of which are new age service delivery systems that the customer at large has had to accept and live with (Mahesh and Kasturi, 2006). Call centres are being used by many organizations in a wider contexts, hence the variations in their operations range from strategic purpose to the nature of technology used and finally to management style and priorities (Taylor and Bain, 2001). According to Calvert (2001), he observed that based on the several researches done on call centres, about 95% of call centres are reported to supply information to customers and about 74% process complaints. Hence it can be concluded that the 3 main drivers for call centres indentified are Improve customer services to retain their clients base. Gain new customers and after sales service. Reduce cost as compare to face to face clients and also to improve efficiency. A call centre in general, is regarded as an interface between customers and an organizations system (Information Systems and performance systems), in order to complete a well specified transaction such as generate sales; provide solutions to existing clients or advice on quite complex and technical issues like broadband support for their internet clients . Over the years, the advancement of IT, product and process knowledge as well as customer information are set into the system which has helped to reduce cost of training. This has therefore ensured core-service modules to be standardized; customized and at the same time has enabled the front line staff or call agents to concentrate on the customer and their interaction (Frenkel et al, 1998). Therefore, the purpose of this project is to explore the work environment of the call agent with respect to performance management systems, customer services and information systems. Highlighting the challenges they are constantly faced with, wh en executing their duties. Project was done while observing the performance and management in many departments of sit-up ltd, RESEARCH FOCUS This project was focused to explore the effective use of performance management systems in a call centre of sit-up ltd. The main questions this project seeks to investigate are daily tasks and targets: What are the working conditions in todays call centres and the call agents are subjected to? How do performance management systems affect the call centre working environment from the call agents? perspective? How does the work environment affect the agent emotionally? THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES. The main aims and objectives for this project include: Identify the state-of-the-art performance management system in the call centre used in the organisation under study. This would enable us to understand the level of advancement of information systems in the organisation. Investigate the use of performance management systems in a call centre. Explore and determine the extent to how performance management system affects the working conditions of the call agent both in terms of the peroformance and improvements . In highlighting the issues and challenges the call agents encounter, it would provide an insight of the job description of a call agent from the call agents? perspective. This project also intends to bring more awareness to management regarding the issues and challenges the call agents are constantly faced with. A good knowledge of this would enable them effectively identify and address any form of resistance that may arise from the call agents. This could be done by offering adequate training and support in the use of the performance management systems. As well as improving communication with the call agents which could affect the work environment, making it more conducive. This in turn enhances better performance from the call agents and also for the management to reduce cost in hiring new agents on the floor and continuous monitoring from management and HR point of view. RESEARCH APPROACH. This project was based on learning at work method where many employees were observed and different management techniques were applied in order to improve their daily performance. This approach was found appropriate because it is concerned with understanding performance management systems from the social context, the social processes by which it was developed and construed by people and finally how it influences and is influenced by its social settings. Many employees were interviewed while generating data and statistics as call centres always have high level of absences and sicknesses. This was an easy approach to obtain information from number of employees and departments. Answers to complex questions and sensitive information which the respondents might be reluctant to give. Project Summary. This project is structured into many chapters in order to spread the information in easy and understandable way as outlined below: Call Centre This chapter is an introduction of the project highlighting the research area with a presentation of the aims and objectives of the research. Literature Review This chapter is a critical review of existing literature on call centre. It also discusses different theories and perspectives relating to the call centre. It also discusses the use of performance management systems within the context of this project. Theory and Research Methodology This chapter discusses the theory chosen for the analysis of the case, research approach and the rationale behind the methods chosen for this research. It also highlighted the research design. Project findings This chapter presents the case study, the findings from the semi-structured interviews conducted in the organization using the chosen theory as the conceptual lens for the discussion. Conclusion This chapter is an evaluation of the research findings with a reflection on its implications for practice. It also suggests some recommendations for future research. SUMMARY. This chapter has provided an introduction of call centre, identifying the focus area. It also stated the aims and objectives of this project as well as the research approach. It also presented a brief outline of the structure of the project. LITERATURE REVIEW. INTRODUCTION This chapter presents a critical review of existing literature on call centres. It discusses different theories and perspectives found in literature. This chapter also discusses the different uses of management techniques in a call centre in terms of management and the call agents. CALL CENTRES Call centre operations have become a norm in all sectors of the economy such as retailing, telecommunication, the entertainment industry (Taylor et al, 2002). They are a rapidly growing channel for service and sales delivery particularly in the financial service and telecommunication industry. These centres enable retail customers to transact business by telephone either using programmed information technology such as automatic voice response systems or through employees manipulating software to assist in answering queries resolving problems or selling products (Frenkel et al, 1998). Hence, growing number of organizations use call centres as a means of communicating with their customers directly (De Ruyter and Wetzels, 2000); managing customer complaints and maintaining customer loyalty (Pontes and O?Brien, 2000). However, despite the rapid emergence of technological innovations that have been developed to change and enhance the business processes in organisations, the call centre is still basically defined by the integration of the telephone and computer technologies (Taylor and Bain, 1999). In more details, the definition of a call centre is a dedicated operation in which computer utilizing employees receive inbound or make outbound telephone calls. These calls made or received are controlled by an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) or a predictive dialling system. In other words, a call centre is therefore characterized by the integration of the telephone and Voice Response Units (VDU) technologies using recorded messages; Inter-active Voice Recognition (IVR) which enables customers interact with the information systems via telephone keys and speech recognition systems which enables a two-way communication between the computer and the customer using synthetic speech messages (Schalk and Van Rijckevorsel, 2007). A key feature of the call centre labour process is the integration of the telephone and the VDU technologies. Central to inbound operations is the ACD system which receives the incoming calls and automatically channels them to the available agents according to programmed instructions hence removing the need for the switchboard operators. In the case where there is no available agent to receive the call, the calls are stacked and distributed in sequence as the agents become available. Although the system can only stack a certain number of calls after which it automatically drops the calls. The agents take the calls automatically through the headset and their main assignment is to resolve the basic problems of a customer. On the other hand, for the outbound operations, it is largely based on telesales or telemarketing. The predictive dialling system works its way through the databases of their customer phone numbers and as programmed automatically dials the number of the customer as selected by the agent. At this point all the information of the customer is retrieved and displayed on the screen so as enable the agent have well info rmed communication. Their main job function is selling and advertising a particular product or service (Fernie and Metcalf, 1997). The common and defining call centre labour process is the ability for the operators to scan and interpret information on the VDU screens, manipulate their keyboards, retrieve data and at the same time communicate with the customer. Therefore, it is the integration of the telephone and computer technologies which both structures the labour process. This process also generates extreme levels of surveillance, monitoring and speed up which are manifest in a call centre. Recent technological developments are sought to minimize the wasteful manual operations and maximize the real time agents spend with customers hence this both speeds up and intensifies the work as the time gaps between calls are progressively reduced (Schalk and Van Rijckevorsel, 2007). In the author?s opinion, despite all these advancements in technologies, there is still the aspect of the h uman interaction. Employees? performance data as an instance which is either electronically displayed or in hard prints still requires human interpretation. Managers and team leaders based on the results can then take appropriate actions such as discipline or coach an underperforming agent. Hence it can be said that a call centre is a combination of technology driven measurements and human supervisors to interpret these results. CALL CENTRES AND THEORIES. In literature, there are two main theories seen to be dominant in the discussion of call centres: Foucauldian electronic panopticon which has been based on the labour process theory (Fernie and Metcalf, 1997). This is based on the preoccupation of an individual?s subjectivity which has masked the importance of a collective, trade unions organization which is a more developed form of resistance. This attempts to provide insight into the complexity of work organization and the way it is experienced by the call agents. Emotional labour which is based on the emotional labour theory (Hochschild, 1983). This requires an individual to induce or suppress their feelings in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others. This provides insight and better understanding of how call agents in most cases have to define their outer expression so as to smile down the phone. These two theories further are explained in the chapter three. PERSPECIVES OF CALL CENTRES Literature has generally presented two distinct perspectives of call centres. First of all, there is the perspective presented by publicists who have portrayed exciting images of a call centre. It portrays a high level of co-operative teamwork among the employees, the call agents? work under very relaxed conditions and very professional in their interactions with their customers. The agents are said to smile down the phone after conversing with each customer (Taylor and Bain, 1999). However, there is the other perspective presented by Fernie and Metcalf (1998) that portrays the call centre based on the Bentham?s panopticon. It emphasizes the constraining nature of work setting described as the electronic sweatshop or panoptical wired cage (Frenkel, 1998). Based on this view, employees are connected to information technology that automatically allocates work, facilitates its completion and monitors employee performance. In other words, work is conducted in relative isolation from other colleagues but under the constant gaze of management who are responsible for structuring and interpreting the electronic information. Work can therefore be regarded as deskilled and monotonous. They claim that the constant surveillance of the supervisors on the agents has enabled them have total control over the agents which eliminates any form of resistance from the call agents. Hence call centres have been referred to as dark satanic mills or new sweatshops. However, it is worth noting that their perspective was not based from a range of studies carried out on call centres but rather it was primarily based on payment systems of which they studied a call centre. CALL CENTRES AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS One main indication of call centres is in most cases defined in terms of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) they make use of rather than by any specific outputs they create (Frenkel et al, 1998; Taylor and Bain, 1999). Systems such as the Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) that places inbound calls in a queue and allocates them to the agents, speech recognition systems as well as screen capture are example of systems found in a call centre. But information systems has also increased the control and surveillance of calls (which could either be inbound or outbound), the agent that?s handles the call and virtually every activity they perform on real time basis (Robinson and Clive, 2006). Hence it is argued that technology found in call centres constitutes a version of technical control. According to Callaghan and Thompson (2001), technology tends to control speed through ensuring that call agents are aware of queue numbers and average waiting times. In such instances, managerial control is seen to be evident through the use of such technologies and could at the same time produce employee resistance. However, ICT has the potential to create skilled and enabled workforce (Fernie et al, 1998, and Kinnie et al, 2000). In such a situation, the improved employee independence may be resulted through the creation of alternative socio-technical systems within the call centre. This could be exhibited with self-managed work teams who have the tendency to produce more customized outputs when the dynamics of empowerment displaces the reality of control (Batt and Moynihan, 2004). This can be regarded as another concept of the call centre which is referred to as the semi-professional empowered worker (Winslow and Bramer, 1994). In this setting work is increasingly customized to the needs of the customer. The agent uses IT to seamlessly identify and render service to the customer and appropriate software assists in on-the-job learning thereby improving the agent ?s knowledge and skills. Based on the labour process, systems implemented in the call centre are based on the expected result. According to Edward (1979) cited in Russell (2007), who first classified ICT as technological control, in agreement to this Callaghan and Thompson (2001), also argue the fact that management deliberately choose a technology that is designed in such a way as to limit the worker?s independence, hence are almost seen as part of the machine (technology) which continuously directs calls at them. This was represented in the expression of Taylor and Bain (1999) stating „the assembly line in the head?, where technology supports the formulation of specific targets of which workers are held accountable for (Taylor and Bain, 2001). Another aspect of technologies in a call centre is the organizational culture or behaviour. This is an attempt in understanding how new technologies affect the (re)organization of work. Barleys (1990), emphasized the need for researche rs to focus more on how new technologies are incorporated into the everyday working lives of the organizational members. His argument was that a particular system could have different effects in various departments or jobs. This draws attention to the organizational theory which is based on the behaviour of users when a new technology is implemented focusing on how they establish patterns to either conform or deviate from the intentions of the designers (Russell, 2007). This aspect is outside the scope of this dissertation. Technology can therefore be regarded as a solution that bridges the sales and marketing functions to improve targeting efforts. In other cases, it can be viewed as a tool that is specifically for a one-to one customer interaction which is regarded as the sole responsibility of the sales/service; call centres or marketing departments (Peppers, 2000). But on the overall, it should neither be regarded as just a mere technology nor application but rather a cross-func tional , customer-driven, technology-integration business process management strategy that aims at increasing and maximising relationships which also encompasses the entire organisation. This is often referred to as Customer Relation Management (CRM) (Goldenberg, 2000). Literature has shown that CRM is based on the interaction of: People: this refers to the people working with the system and are regarded as the building block for customer relationship, Business process: this defines the overall business goal of the organisation Technology: this is an enabler for achieving remarkable improvement in the performance of the organisation (Chen and Popovich, 2003). These interactions are represented in the diagram below Diagram 2.1 The CRM Model (Chen and Popovich, 2003). CALL CENTRE AND MANAGEMENT In general, academic literatures on call centre have focused on employment, relationship and the labour process. A significant number of these literatures have focused largely on managerial perspective in terms of operations and performance. Call centres are people intensive operations and the management of the frontline employees otherwise referred to as the call agents has been identified as one of the biggest challenges for call centre managers (Houlihan, 2002). Call centres potentially contribute to customer satisfaction and retention but most organizations still fail to exploit full strategic value out of their call centre operations (Mahesh and kasturi, 2006). Traditionally service management models recommend that Organisations focus on three areas which include: Defining a service strategy Ensuring the service delivery systems are user friendly Managing for customer- oriented people especially on the frontline (Gilson and khandelwal, 2005). These models further argue that it is important for the components strategy, operations and people are all compatible but most literature show an indication of incompatibility. CHALLENGES OF MANAGERS/SUPERVISORS IN A CALL CENTRE Managers are faced with a number of challenges of which the most common and prevalent ones include: The conflict of quality versus quantity: In call centres, this conflict is at the core of many other related problems (Frenkel et al, 1998; Callaghan and Thompson 2002 dean, 2002). Measurement of both quantity and quality in most cases is based on performance. Research has shown that although management values quality, they tend to focus more on measurement and statistics which is as a result of the large amount of information provided to them. Information provided to them such as the number of calls per agent; the percentage of calls answered within a specified time frame; the average speed calls are answered, hence the shift of attention to quantity (Robinson and Clive, 2006). This has attributed to the high reliance on information systems to govern the pace of work in the call centre, provide the means to access the work of the call agents as well as monitor them. Information system can therefore be said to have shaped the social and organizational structure of the call centre (C alloghan and Thompson, 2001). But the negative consequence of this especially on the call agents include exhaustion, stress which should be of great concern to management. Organizations stress the need for customer satisfaction and have an overall strategic intent to acquire and retain their customers through high quality interfaces or interaction. But it has been observed that the aspect of quality in some case is given low priority than the efficiency of processing customer interactions (number of calls) at call centres (Mahesh and kasturi, 2006). Mahesh (1995) commented on the tendency of most organizations to move from high labour intensity and customization position of professional services to standardization and low labour intensity service. The origin of such problems could be traced back to the genesis of call centres and the reason for their rapid growth which is to reduce cost and increase efficiencies. The conflict of Control versus Empowerment: this is another common conflict observed in the call centre. According to Houlihan (2002), the orthodox design of the call centre is rooted in a control paradigm. Early literature on call centres abound with keywords such as blue-collar work; taylorism; battery farming; mental assembly line; worker resistance control and emotional labour (Fernie and Metcalf, 1997; knights and McCabe, 1998). Recent literature on the other hand has indicated the need for empowerment in service, but organisations specifically in the call centre still ignore this despite the fact that studies have indicated positive outcomes from increased empowerment. Empirical data also shows that call agents perceive themselves as less empowered than other workers in traditional office environment (Holdsworth and Cartwright, 2003). Thus the control paradigm of call centres seems to extend to the area of job design as well. Researchers also argue that the frontline agents pla y a critical role in service delivery in which their skills, knowledge motivation and loyalty are important factors to be managed by the organization (Sergeant and Frenkel, 2000). But the mass production model used at many call centres for operational efficiency assumes that jobs can be designed to be turn-over proof with workers as replaceable parts (Batt and Moynihan, 2002). Hence Wallace et al, 2000 labelled this as sacrificial HR strategy. Other common problems management is faced with in the call centre according to Taylor and Bain (1999) include: High rates of absence due to sickness High labour turnover Problem with motivating and keeping the employees committed to their jobs Lack of promotion opportunities especially in flat organisational structures. Loss of staff following investments in training. CALL AGENTS AND JOB STRUCTURE The general basic idea of a call centre operator or call agent is any worker with a telephone and a computer. This has led organisations in an attempt to differentiate their operations and services, come up with names such as Customer Service Centre or Customer Satisfaction. Various literatures have shown that agents usually work in large, open-plan offices seated in cubicles that are divided shoulder-high partitions. They are wired or connected to an integrated telephone and a computer system when they put on their headphones. In the researcher?s opinion, the job function of a call agent is basically to: Provide customers with detailed product and procedures involved Process customer transactions Attend to customer queries in an approachable, accurate and timely manner. Deliver standard service at all times to customer when interacting with them which is usually in accordance to specified service standards (scripts). In a call centre, the use of scripts either in the form of typewritten prompt or on screen template is an attempt to structure the speech of workers into a series of predictable and regulated routine queries and responses (Taylor and Bain, 1999). This could be regarded as another distinct feature of the call centre in terms of Communication between an agent and a customer. The call agents are expected to read and enter data into the computer system that is networked within the organization while interacting with the customer. This enables any other employee to easily access and retrieves the customer?s profile as well as their record history. Other expectations of call agents in relation to their work include: The call agent is expected to acquire and use lower-order and higher-order contextual knowledge in accomplishing their task (Deery et al, 2002). The lower-order contextual knowledge is knowledge about the company information; specific products; procedures; software practices an d people which may be in other departments on whom the call agents depend on for updated information as well as solution for more complex problems of the customer. While the higher- order is basically a deeper understanding of the lower, although this is not acquired during training but rather it is as a result of experience. Agents with such knowledge are seen to be more confident when dealing with the customers. But it should be noted that most of the knowledge required by the agents is embedded as information either as hard copy reference manuals or available online. The call agent is expected to display some skills when executing their duties. These skills include the computer skills which have to do with inputting data; word processing and navigating through several systems. The other skill is the social skill which is used mainly when relating to customers and other staff. A lot of attention is paid to the latter skill than the former because the social skill involves the abil ity to remain calm under pressure especially when faced with a continuous stream of customer calls; positive and tactful attitude when executing their duties as well as not getting personally engaged which protects them from customer abuse (Kinnie et al, 2000). In general, the call agent has to be systematic; creative and know who to depend on for more complex customer queries. Call centre jobs are highly specialized and simplified, thus there is a high level of division of labour which has its advantages. But there are also disadvantages such as low task variety (monotony of work), low task complexity, low utilization of educational qualification which are most times overlooked. Call agents are known to have no influence or control over their work in terms of the pace of their work (duration of calls, how many calls they receive) and also the planning and organisation of their work. These disadvantages are some of the factors that lead to depression among call agents and monotony o f their work is one of the most frequent reasons call agents quit their jobs (Deery et al, 2002). SUMMARY This chapter has defined discussed what a call centre is and highlighted the different perspectives of call centres found in literature. It identified the theories on which the analysis of this dissertation is based on, although it is further explained in the next chapter. It also discussed the call centre from different points of views such as technology which mentioned the fact that it still requires human interaction for any organisation to achieve its maximum potential, management who determine the work pace of the call centre. Although highlighting the challenges they are faced with, it also identified areas where they need to place more attention (i.e. control vs. empowerment). Lastly it discussed the general idea of call agents? job descriptions. This has served as a background to further explore in this research the working conditions of the call centre and determine the effect of information systems on their jobs. THEORY AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION This chapter discusses the research approach adopted for this research based on the chosen theory. It also highlights the research methodolo Management Systems in a Call Centre Management Systems in a Call Centre ABSTRACT: Call centers are most common mean by which the Organizations can reach out to their customers and this explains their rapid growth. Many projects have been focused on call centers in order to explain their management and performance from different perspective. In this project, I have attempted to identify the two main perspectives and to explore the effective use of performance management systems found in a call centre to improve the performance of a call agents. This project was conducted in a sit-up ltd based in west Acton London, while I was working as a contact centre 1st line manager and as a customer services Team leader,. The project involved semi-structured interviews with thirty call agents and three IT employees. The analysis of the data was based on the management techniques and performance of a call centre agents on daily basis . Information systems present were standard and up to date which could also be found in any call centre and the working condition is a common issu e found in most literature. Hence the highlight of this project is on the fact that there is still the need for human interaction with information systems. We have focused on that issue that The people aspect of the call centre is been ignored, hence organizations are producing burnt out employees which in long terms could have a diverse effect on the organization despite the implementation of up to date and functional information systems. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Firstly, I want to express my profound gratitude to the one and only Almighty God Who in His infinite mercies blessed me with this opportunity of undergoing learning at work partnership programme , M.A Computer and Business studies. Thank you all for your guidance throughout the academic year. Words are not enough to express my feelings . I want to specially thank and dedicate this project to my parents.. I want to thank Dr. Howard cowte, who taught me to believe in myself and in my work because he never let me off with a poor argument. Thank you again. Finally, I want to thank all my friends for their words of encouragement, support and friendship. Specially when I was going through hard times with my health. The CALL CENTRES. INTRODUCTION: dynaTrace is the innovator and emerging leader in application performance management (APM). The company offers the only continuous APM system on the market one that can monitor all transactions at all times and one that is used by all key contributors to application performance architects, development, test and production. Industry leaders such as UBS, Salesforce.com, Renault, EnerNOC, Fidelity, and Thomson Reuters use dynaTraces patent pending technology to gain deep visibility into application performance, identify problems sooner and reduce the mean time to repair issues by 90%. Leading companies rely on dynaTrace to proactively prevent performance problems from happening and quickly resolve those that do occur saving time, money and resources. Call centers are part of out daily life today as ATMs, self-service supermarkets and internet shopping (ebay). All of which are new age service delivery systems that the customer at large has had to accept and live with (Mahesh and Kasturi, 2006). Call centres are being used by many organizations in a wider contexts, hence the variations in their operations range from strategic purpose to the nature of technology used and finally to management style and priorities (Taylor and Bain, 2001). According to Calvert (2001), he observed that based on the several researches done on call centres, about 95% of call centres are reported to supply information to customers and about 74% process complaints. Hence it can be concluded that the 3 main drivers for call centres indentified are Improve customer services to retain their clients base. Gain new customers and after sales service. Reduce cost as compare to face to face clients and also to improve efficiency. A call centre in general, is regarded as an interface between customers and an organizations system (Information Systems and performance systems), in order to complete a well specified transaction such as generate sales; provide solutions to existing clients or advice on quite complex and technical issues like broadband support for their internet clients . Over the years, the advancement of IT, product and process knowledge as well as customer information are set into the system which has helped to reduce cost of training. This has therefore ensured core-service modules to be standardized; customized and at the same time has enabled the front line staff or call agents to concentrate on the customer and their interaction (Frenkel et al, 1998). Therefore, the purpose of this project is to explore the work environment of the call agent with respect to performance management systems, customer services and information systems. Highlighting the challenges they are constantly faced with, wh en executing their duties. Project was done while observing the performance and management in many departments of sit-up ltd, RESEARCH FOCUS This project was focused to explore the effective use of performance management systems in a call centre of sit-up ltd. The main questions this project seeks to investigate are daily tasks and targets: What are the working conditions in todays call centres and the call agents are subjected to? How do performance management systems affect the call centre working environment from the call agents? perspective? How does the work environment affect the agent emotionally? THE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES. The main aims and objectives for this project include: Identify the state-of-the-art performance management system in the call centre used in the organisation under study. This would enable us to understand the level of advancement of information systems in the organisation. Investigate the use of performance management systems in a call centre. Explore and determine the extent to how performance management system affects the working conditions of the call agent both in terms of the peroformance and improvements . In highlighting the issues and challenges the call agents encounter, it would provide an insight of the job description of a call agent from the call agents? perspective. This project also intends to bring more awareness to management regarding the issues and challenges the call agents are constantly faced with. A good knowledge of this would enable them effectively identify and address any form of resistance that may arise from the call agents. This could be done by offering adequate training and support in the use of the performance management systems. As well as improving communication with the call agents which could affect the work environment, making it more conducive. This in turn enhances better performance from the call agents and also for the management to reduce cost in hiring new agents on the floor and continuous monitoring from management and HR point of view. RESEARCH APPROACH. This project was based on learning at work method where many employees were observed and different management techniques were applied in order to improve their daily performance. This approach was found appropriate because it is concerned with understanding performance management systems from the social context, the social processes by which it was developed and construed by people and finally how it influences and is influenced by its social settings. Many employees were interviewed while generating data and statistics as call centres always have high level of absences and sicknesses. This was an easy approach to obtain information from number of employees and departments. Answers to complex questions and sensitive information which the respondents might be reluctant to give. Project Summary. This project is structured into many chapters in order to spread the information in easy and understandable way as outlined below: Call Centre This chapter is an introduction of the project highlighting the research area with a presentation of the aims and objectives of the research. Literature Review This chapter is a critical review of existing literature on call centre. It also discusses different theories and perspectives relating to the call centre. It also discusses the use of performance management systems within the context of this project. Theory and Research Methodology This chapter discusses the theory chosen for the analysis of the case, research approach and the rationale behind the methods chosen for this research. It also highlighted the research design. Project findings This chapter presents the case study, the findings from the semi-structured interviews conducted in the organization using the chosen theory as the conceptual lens for the discussion. Conclusion This chapter is an evaluation of the research findings with a reflection on its implications for practice. It also suggests some recommendations for future research. SUMMARY. This chapter has provided an introduction of call centre, identifying the focus area. It also stated the aims and objectives of this project as well as the research approach. It also presented a brief outline of the structure of the project. LITERATURE REVIEW. INTRODUCTION This chapter presents a critical review of existing literature on call centres. It discusses different theories and perspectives found in literature. This chapter also discusses the different uses of management techniques in a call centre in terms of management and the call agents. CALL CENTRES Call centre operations have become a norm in all sectors of the economy such as retailing, telecommunication, the entertainment industry (Taylor et al, 2002). They are a rapidly growing channel for service and sales delivery particularly in the financial service and telecommunication industry. These centres enable retail customers to transact business by telephone either using programmed information technology such as automatic voice response systems or through employees manipulating software to assist in answering queries resolving problems or selling products (Frenkel et al, 1998). Hence, growing number of organizations use call centres as a means of communicating with their customers directly (De Ruyter and Wetzels, 2000); managing customer complaints and maintaining customer loyalty (Pontes and O?Brien, 2000). However, despite the rapid emergence of technological innovations that have been developed to change and enhance the business processes in organisations, the call centre is still basically defined by the integration of the telephone and computer technologies (Taylor and Bain, 1999). In more details, the definition of a call centre is a dedicated operation in which computer utilizing employees receive inbound or make outbound telephone calls. These calls made or received are controlled by an Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) or a predictive dialling system. In other words, a call centre is therefore characterized by the integration of the telephone and Voice Response Units (VDU) technologies using recorded messages; Inter-active Voice Recognition (IVR) which enables customers interact with the information systems via telephone keys and speech recognition systems which enables a two-way communication between the computer and the customer using synthetic speech messages (Schalk and Van Rijckevorsel, 2007). A key feature of the call centre labour process is the integration of the telephone and the VDU technologies. Central to inbound operations is the ACD system which receives the incoming calls and automatically channels them to the available agents according to programmed instructions hence removing the need for the switchboard operators. In the case where there is no available agent to receive the call, the calls are stacked and distributed in sequence as the agents become available. Although the system can only stack a certain number of calls after which it automatically drops the calls. The agents take the calls automatically through the headset and their main assignment is to resolve the basic problems of a customer. On the other hand, for the outbound operations, it is largely based on telesales or telemarketing. The predictive dialling system works its way through the databases of their customer phone numbers and as programmed automatically dials the number of the customer as selected by the agent. At this point all the information of the customer is retrieved and displayed on the screen so as enable the agent have well info rmed communication. Their main job function is selling and advertising a particular product or service (Fernie and Metcalf, 1997). The common and defining call centre labour process is the ability for the operators to scan and interpret information on the VDU screens, manipulate their keyboards, retrieve data and at the same time communicate with the customer. Therefore, it is the integration of the telephone and computer technologies which both structures the labour process. This process also generates extreme levels of surveillance, monitoring and speed up which are manifest in a call centre. Recent technological developments are sought to minimize the wasteful manual operations and maximize the real time agents spend with customers hence this both speeds up and intensifies the work as the time gaps between calls are progressively reduced (Schalk and Van Rijckevorsel, 2007). In the author?s opinion, despite all these advancements in technologies, there is still the aspect of the h uman interaction. Employees? performance data as an instance which is either electronically displayed or in hard prints still requires human interpretation. Managers and team leaders based on the results can then take appropriate actions such as discipline or coach an underperforming agent. Hence it can be said that a call centre is a combination of technology driven measurements and human supervisors to interpret these results. CALL CENTRES AND THEORIES. In literature, there are two main theories seen to be dominant in the discussion of call centres: Foucauldian electronic panopticon which has been based on the labour process theory (Fernie and Metcalf, 1997). This is based on the preoccupation of an individual?s subjectivity which has masked the importance of a collective, trade unions organization which is a more developed form of resistance. This attempts to provide insight into the complexity of work organization and the way it is experienced by the call agents. Emotional labour which is based on the emotional labour theory (Hochschild, 1983). This requires an individual to induce or suppress their feelings in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others. This provides insight and better understanding of how call agents in most cases have to define their outer expression so as to smile down the phone. These two theories further are explained in the chapter three. PERSPECIVES OF CALL CENTRES Literature has generally presented two distinct perspectives of call centres. First of all, there is the perspective presented by publicists who have portrayed exciting images of a call centre. It portrays a high level of co-operative teamwork among the employees, the call agents? work under very relaxed conditions and very professional in their interactions with their customers. The agents are said to smile down the phone after conversing with each customer (Taylor and Bain, 1999). However, there is the other perspective presented by Fernie and Metcalf (1998) that portrays the call centre based on the Bentham?s panopticon. It emphasizes the constraining nature of work setting described as the electronic sweatshop or panoptical wired cage (Frenkel, 1998). Based on this view, employees are connected to information technology that automatically allocates work, facilitates its completion and monitors employee performance. In other words, work is conducted in relative isolation from other colleagues but under the constant gaze of management who are responsible for structuring and interpreting the electronic information. Work can therefore be regarded as deskilled and monotonous. They claim that the constant surveillance of the supervisors on the agents has enabled them have total control over the agents which eliminates any form of resistance from the call agents. Hence call centres have been referred to as dark satanic mills or new sweatshops. However, it is worth noting that their perspective was not based from a range of studies carried out on call centres but rather it was primarily based on payment systems of which they studied a call centre. CALL CENTRES AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS One main indication of call centres is in most cases defined in terms of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) they make use of rather than by any specific outputs they create (Frenkel et al, 1998; Taylor and Bain, 1999). Systems such as the Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) that places inbound calls in a queue and allocates them to the agents, speech recognition systems as well as screen capture are example of systems found in a call centre. But information systems has also increased the control and surveillance of calls (which could either be inbound or outbound), the agent that?s handles the call and virtually every activity they perform on real time basis (Robinson and Clive, 2006). Hence it is argued that technology found in call centres constitutes a version of technical control. According to Callaghan and Thompson (2001), technology tends to control speed through ensuring that call agents are aware of queue numbers and average waiting times. In such instances, managerial control is seen to be evident through the use of such technologies and could at the same time produce employee resistance. However, ICT has the potential to create skilled and enabled workforce (Fernie et al, 1998, and Kinnie et al, 2000). In such a situation, the improved employee independence may be resulted through the creation of alternative socio-technical systems within the call centre. This could be exhibited with self-managed work teams who have the tendency to produce more customized outputs when the dynamics of empowerment displaces the reality of control (Batt and Moynihan, 2004). This can be regarded as another concept of the call centre which is referred to as the semi-professional empowered worker (Winslow and Bramer, 1994). In this setting work is increasingly customized to the needs of the customer. The agent uses IT to seamlessly identify and render service to the customer and appropriate software assists in on-the-job learning thereby improving the agent ?s knowledge and skills. Based on the labour process, systems implemented in the call centre are based on the expected result. According to Edward (1979) cited in Russell (2007), who first classified ICT as technological control, in agreement to this Callaghan and Thompson (2001), also argue the fact that management deliberately choose a technology that is designed in such a way as to limit the worker?s independence, hence are almost seen as part of the machine (technology) which continuously directs calls at them. This was represented in the expression of Taylor and Bain (1999) stating „the assembly line in the head?, where technology supports the formulation of specific targets of which workers are held accountable for (Taylor and Bain, 2001). Another aspect of technologies in a call centre is the organizational culture or behaviour. This is an attempt in understanding how new technologies affect the (re)organization of work. Barleys (1990), emphasized the need for researche rs to focus more on how new technologies are incorporated into the everyday working lives of the organizational members. His argument was that a particular system could have different effects in various departments or jobs. This draws attention to the organizational theory which is based on the behaviour of users when a new technology is implemented focusing on how they establish patterns to either conform or deviate from the intentions of the designers (Russell, 2007). This aspect is outside the scope of this dissertation. Technology can therefore be regarded as a solution that bridges the sales and marketing functions to improve targeting efforts. In other cases, it can be viewed as a tool that is specifically for a one-to one customer interaction which is regarded as the sole responsibility of the sales/service; call centres or marketing departments (Peppers, 2000). But on the overall, it should neither be regarded as just a mere technology nor application but rather a cross-func tional , customer-driven, technology-integration business process management strategy that aims at increasing and maximising relationships which also encompasses the entire organisation. This is often referred to as Customer Relation Management (CRM) (Goldenberg, 2000). Literature has shown that CRM is based on the interaction of: People: this refers to the people working with the system and are regarded as the building block for customer relationship, Business process: this defines the overall business goal of the organisation Technology: this is an enabler for achieving remarkable improvement in the performance of the organisation (Chen and Popovich, 2003). These interactions are represented in the diagram below Diagram 2.1 The CRM Model (Chen and Popovich, 2003). CALL CENTRE AND MANAGEMENT In general, academic literatures on call centre have focused on employment, relationship and the labour process. A significant number of these literatures have focused largely on managerial perspective in terms of operations and performance. Call centres are people intensive operations and the management of the frontline employees otherwise referred to as the call agents has been identified as one of the biggest challenges for call centre managers (Houlihan, 2002). Call centres potentially contribute to customer satisfaction and retention but most organizations still fail to exploit full strategic value out of their call centre operations (Mahesh and kasturi, 2006). Traditionally service management models recommend that Organisations focus on three areas which include: Defining a service strategy Ensuring the service delivery systems are user friendly Managing for customer- oriented people especially on the frontline (Gilson and khandelwal, 2005). These models further argue that it is important for the components strategy, operations and people are all compatible but most literature show an indication of incompatibility. CHALLENGES OF MANAGERS/SUPERVISORS IN A CALL CENTRE Managers are faced with a number of challenges of which the most common and prevalent ones include: The conflict of quality versus quantity: In call centres, this conflict is at the core of many other related problems (Frenkel et al, 1998; Callaghan and Thompson 2002 dean, 2002). Measurement of both quantity and quality in most cases is based on performance. Research has shown that although management values quality, they tend to focus more on measurement and statistics which is as a result of the large amount of information provided to them. Information provided to them such as the number of calls per agent; the percentage of calls answered within a specified time frame; the average speed calls are answered, hence the shift of attention to quantity (Robinson and Clive, 2006). This has attributed to the high reliance on information systems to govern the pace of work in the call centre, provide the means to access the work of the call agents as well as monitor them. Information system can therefore be said to have shaped the social and organizational structure of the call centre (C alloghan and Thompson, 2001). But the negative consequence of this especially on the call agents include exhaustion, stress which should be of great concern to management. Organizations stress the need for customer satisfaction and have an overall strategic intent to acquire and retain their customers through high quality interfaces or interaction. But it has been observed that the aspect of quality in some case is given low priority than the efficiency of processing customer interactions (number of calls) at call centres (Mahesh and kasturi, 2006). Mahesh (1995) commented on the tendency of most organizations to move from high labour intensity and customization position of professional services to standardization and low labour intensity service. The origin of such problems could be traced back to the genesis of call centres and the reason for their rapid growth which is to reduce cost and increase efficiencies. The conflict of Control versus Empowerment: this is another common conflict observed in the call centre. According to Houlihan (2002), the orthodox design of the call centre is rooted in a control paradigm. Early literature on call centres abound with keywords such as blue-collar work; taylorism; battery farming; mental assembly line; worker resistance control and emotional labour (Fernie and Metcalf, 1997; knights and McCabe, 1998). Recent literature on the other hand has indicated the need for empowerment in service, but organisations specifically in the call centre still ignore this despite the fact that studies have indicated positive outcomes from increased empowerment. Empirical data also shows that call agents perceive themselves as less empowered than other workers in traditional office environment (Holdsworth and Cartwright, 2003). Thus the control paradigm of call centres seems to extend to the area of job design as well. Researchers also argue that the frontline agents pla y a critical role in service delivery in which their skills, knowledge motivation and loyalty are important factors to be managed by the organization (Sergeant and Frenkel, 2000). But the mass production model used at many call centres for operational efficiency assumes that jobs can be designed to be turn-over proof with workers as replaceable parts (Batt and Moynihan, 2002). Hence Wallace et al, 2000 labelled this as sacrificial HR strategy. Other common problems management is faced with in the call centre according to Taylor and Bain (1999) include: High rates of absence due to sickness High labour turnover Problem with motivating and keeping the employees committed to their jobs Lack of promotion opportunities especially in flat organisational structures. Loss of staff following investments in training. CALL AGENTS AND JOB STRUCTURE The general basic idea of a call centre operator or call agent is any worker with a telephone and a computer. This has led organisations in an attempt to differentiate their operations and services, come up with names such as Customer Service Centre or Customer Satisfaction. Various literatures have shown that agents usually work in large, open-plan offices seated in cubicles that are divided shoulder-high partitions. They are wired or connected to an integrated telephone and a computer system when they put on their headphones. In the researcher?s opinion, the job function of a call agent is basically to: Provide customers with detailed product and procedures involved Process customer transactions Attend to customer queries in an approachable, accurate and timely manner. Deliver standard service at all times to customer when interacting with them which is usually in accordance to specified service standards (scripts). In a call centre, the use of scripts either in the form of typewritten prompt or on screen template is an attempt to structure the speech of workers into a series of predictable and regulated routine queries and responses (Taylor and Bain, 1999). This could be regarded as another distinct feature of the call centre in terms of Communication between an agent and a customer. The call agents are expected to read and enter data into the computer system that is networked within the organization while interacting with the customer. This enables any other employee to easily access and retrieves the customer?s profile as well as their record history. Other expectations of call agents in relation to their work include: The call agent is expected to acquire and use lower-order and higher-order contextual knowledge in accomplishing their task (Deery et al, 2002). The lower-order contextual knowledge is knowledge about the company information; specific products; procedures; software practices an d people which may be in other departments on whom the call agents depend on for updated information as well as solution for more complex problems of the customer. While the higher- order is basically a deeper understanding of the lower, although this is not acquired during training but rather it is as a result of experience. Agents with such knowledge are seen to be more confident when dealing with the customers. But it should be noted that most of the knowledge required by the agents is embedded as information either as hard copy reference manuals or available online. The call agent is expected to display some skills when executing their duties. These skills include the computer skills which have to do with inputting data; word processing and navigating through several systems. The other skill is the social skill which is used mainly when relating to customers and other staff. A lot of attention is paid to the latter skill than the former because the social skill involves the abil ity to remain calm under pressure especially when faced with a continuous stream of customer calls; positive and tactful attitude when executing their duties as well as not getting personally engaged which protects them from customer abuse (Kinnie et al, 2000). In general, the call agent has to be systematic; creative and know who to depend on for more complex customer queries. Call centre jobs are highly specialized and simplified, thus there is a high level of division of labour which has its advantages. But there are also disadvantages such as low task variety (monotony of work), low task complexity, low utilization of educational qualification which are most times overlooked. Call agents are known to have no influence or control over their work in terms of the pace of their work (duration of calls, how many calls they receive) and also the planning and organisation of their work. These disadvantages are some of the factors that lead to depression among call agents and monotony o f their work is one of the most frequent reasons call agents quit their jobs (Deery et al, 2002). SUMMARY This chapter has defined discussed what a call centre is and highlighted the different perspectives of call centres found in literature. It identified the theories on which the analysis of this dissertation is based on, although it is further explained in the next chapter. It also discussed the call centre from different points of views such as technology which mentioned the fact that it still requires human interaction for any organisation to achieve its maximum potential, management who determine the work pace of the call centre. Although highlighting the challenges they are faced with, it also identified areas where they need to place more attention (i.e. control vs. empowerment). Lastly it discussed the general idea of call agents? job descriptions. This has served as a background to further explore in this research the working conditions of the call centre and determine the effect of information systems on their jobs. THEORY AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY INTRODUCTION This chapter discusses the research approach adopted for this research based on the chosen theory. It also highlights the research methodolo