Personal Nursing Philosophy Essay

We often hear that nursing is an art and a science, and I firmly believe that. The way a nurse blends those aspects of care defines the nurse. As nurses, our roles in our patients’ lives vary depending on their needs. We are teachers as well as technical experts, and our ultimate goal is to ensure our patients and families are ready to take over when the patient no longer requires our care. Why I Chose Nursing I have known that I wanted to work with children since I was a young child myself. Before the age of ten, I thought I might be a teacher. As I enjoyed math and science, several of my aunts, nurses themselves, encouraged me to consider nursing. As a sibling of a disabled child, I was probably exposed to more medical knowledge than average, and I took my first CPR class when I was eight years old. I liked the nurses and therapists that worked with my sister, but I also had respect for the teachers that worked so tirelessly with her. I can pinpoint the moment I decided that nursing was for me, though it was a long time before I could act on that decision. My sister had contracted hepatitis A at school. That lowered her seizure threshold enough that she ended up in the intensive care unit. As it was winter, I was not allowed to visit her. At ten, I didn’t understand the concept of RSV restrictions. I only knew that she’d been hospitalized many times and I’d always been allowed at her bedside. Somehow I interpreted that to mean she must be dying, and no one wanted to tell me. I was in the waiting room outside the ICU while my mother was in with my sister, crying my heart out. A nurse walking by stopped to ask me what was wrong, and I spilled out my fears to her. She escorted my into the unit, telling me that she was going to find a supervisor to see if she could get permission for me to visit my sister. In the meantime, there was a room where I could wait for her†¦. which turned out to be my sister’s room. After failing to get permission for me to visit, the nurse returned to escort me back to the waiting room. Before we left, she took the time to explain the monitors and what they meant, and went over my sister’s plan of care and discharge criteria with me. Hugely reassured, I was content to wait in the waiting room. More than thirty years later, that nurse’s compassion still sticks with me. The Core of Nursing If compassion is at the heart of nursing, knowledge and skill must be its head and hands. Since the earliest days of nursing, the patient’s environment has been a consideration in their care. Florence Nightingale’s theory that hydration, nutrition, rest, and a clean environment were necessary to healing (Black, 2007) is a basic principle of nursing today. The world has changed since then, and nursing has changed with it. With every technological advance or new treatment modality, nurses have been called upon to be more than caretakers. It requires skilled hands to provide the treatments our patients need. Throughout a patient’s stay, teaching is a primary responsibility of the nurse. Patients cannot make informed decisions on their care without adequate information. Whether teaching the relatively simple task of taking medications, or the more complex management of a chronic condition, it is a nurse’s duty to make sure the patient and family are trained and prepared to assume care once the patient goes home. The teaching required necessarily varies from patient to patient, and often from day to day in the same patient as he or she moves on the continuum between health and illness. Finally, patients need to be able to count on nurses to be authorities in their field. Nurses must be accountable for remaining competent in their practice, and for continuing their education throughout their career (Killeen & Saewert, 2007). Beliefs and Values Patients have needs unrelated to their illness or injury. Having spent my entire career in pediatrics, often my focus is on developmental needs and what activities can be provided that support normal development. Some needs, however, seem to be universal. The need for play, learning, and social contact are not restricted to children. Meeting the emotional and psychosocial needs of the patient without compromising the physical needs demanded by the illness or injury is occasionally a delicate balancing act, and is where the art of nursing meets the science of nursing. By collaborating with our patients and families and respecting their values, a plan can be reached that both supports their needs and involves them in their own care. From a pediatric perspective, the family is an integral part of the healthcare team. Parents are the primary ally and resource in providing individualized care for their child. Even in adult patients, who they are is impacted by the relationships that they have. Serious or chronic illnesses and injuries affect the entire family. The family, then, becomes the patient, particularly when it is necessary to make lifestyle changes. I have been fortunate enough to work in a teaching hospital for over a decade, on a unit that has a strong sense of teamwork. I have watched residents grow from unsure medical students to capable attending physicians, and have been gratified to precept and mentor new nurses into colleagues that can be relied on. Through we have a varied mix of skill levels, values, and talents, as a team we manage to form a cohesive whole. I count on my nurses to provide outstanding care to their patients, to hold themselves and each other accountable for maintaining high standards, and to support each other as needed. I also count on them for holding me accountable when the minutia of providing care for patients or my nurses gets in the way of my seeing the big picture. In my own life, it has taken me a long while to take charge of my health. I am currently working hard to quit smoking, and have recently lost fifty of the extra sixty or so pounds I’ve been carrying. Like a lot of nurses, I put off preventative care, and wait too long before seeing a physician when I need to. This disconnect between my professional values and my personal behavior baffles me. I cannot expect my patients and families to view me as an authority on health if I am unhealthy. This year has been one of trying to bring my own lifestyle into line with my beliefs. Vision for the Future In two years, I will have completed my BSN. At that point, I want to take a clinical instructor position while I pursue my MSN. I seem to have come full circle in what I want to be when I grow up, and combining my love of nursing with my love of teaching seems to be the best of both worlds. In five years, I hope to have completed my MSN. By that time I will have been a clinical instructor for long enough to know if I want to translate that to the classroom or perhaps become a nurse educator in an acute setting. I know I love teaching new nurses in my current setting, however I’m unsure of whether I would enjoy teaching in an academic setting. In ten years, my goals are much more nebulous and largely depend on whether I have chosen to move to an academic setting or remain in acute care. In either setting, there are always things to learn and opportunities to explore. Someday, I would like to open a medical foster care facility, though I have doubts about that happening in that time frame. Summary The pursuit of my professional goals is a long-term plan. I enjoy learning, have the support of my family, and the path to my goals are clearly defined. I am detail oriented, and hope that will help me to reach my goals. As I continue on this path, each success will pave the way to the next. Time management is an obstacle in my path, as I am currently working two jobs and trying to take care of my family while pursuing my degree. I am still learning how to manage all the demands on my time without stretching myself too thin. In addition, I sometimes get bogged down in the details and lose sight of the big picture, and then tend to procrastinate until I find my way again. Fortunately deadlines are effective in making me take a step back and rethink my approach.

Psychology Development in Chine

History and Systems of psychology PSYC 331 Dr. Bihan Al Qaimari Midterm Paper â€Å"Development of Psychology in China† Name: Ahmad Shiber Student number: 1071843 Introduction: When we started this class, we started learning the history of psychology, its theories, and its development. I couldn’t help but notice that the course curriculum is focused on European and American psychologists and their theories, which gives us a very westernized view of psychology and the nature of humans and their humanity.Studying psychology from a western point of view also limits the horizons of applying psychology and how it explained since it will be connected to mainly western church ideologies and financial and political systems are in the west like capitalism and democracy. I developed an interest in far eastern cultures four years ago studying the common religions in that region basics of languages spoken there, and I even started studying the Japanese language as a second language .Thus, I was interested of how these cultures saw psychology and compare their psychological thinking with Greek and Islamic psychological thinking and philosophy which was covered in class. I was amazed by the sheer amount of knowledge these cultures had offered in psychology and I was disheartened on how it is almost never mentioned in psychology classes or when mentioned it gets marginalized. Of all the cultures that constitute the Far East, I chose China.In this paper I will discuss the development of psychology in this country from its historical roots till the modern day, along with all the ups and downs of this field. I hope to shed light on the amazing contributions to the psychology field in particular, and to humanity in general. Attachment: a brief description of Chinese culture of well being. The Historical Roots: Modern psychology was brought to China from the West in the late 1800s, but the study and discussion of psychological issues had a long history in ancient Chin a. Read also Memory – ForgettingEarly psychological thinking in China not only was contained in diverse philosophical, political, military, and other literature but was also expressed through various practices in education, medicine, and human resource management. The influence of Chinese culture on world psychology has been widely recognized in current literature in the field and is attracting more and more attention (Jing, 1994; Murphy & Kovach, 1972; Wang, 1993). In China a rich body of psychological thought existed in the writings of the ancient Chinese philosophers.One of the most important figures was Confucius (551-479 B. C. ) whose teaching has, for centuries, exerted a profound influence on the development of China's cultural history. Confucian thinking emphasized the discussion of human nature, education, human development, and interpersonal relationships. For example, when Confucius discussed human nature, he asserted that â€Å"human nature is the order of heavenâ₠¬  (Jing, 1994, p. 668). By this Confucius meant that our patterns of existence are determined by Nature or by God.He did not address this issue in order to differentiate whether human nature was good or evil but proposed it as a common heritage upon which personal and mental development could be based through education: â€Å"By nature close to each other, but through practice far from each other† (Analects 17:2, Dawson, 1993). This means that people are similar when they are born but that they become different as a result of social molding; hence the importance of learning. Confucius was a famous teacher as well as a philosopher; he advocated that all people should be educated, irrespective of their abilities.He categorized people into three types: superior, medium, and inferior and concluded that everyone should be educated according to their abilities. These ideas are in agreement with the modern idea of everyone's right to an education and the concept of individual diff erences and the need to provide education in a suitable form for all to benefit, whatever their abilities. With regard to human development, Confucius viewed this as a life-long process as stated in the summary of his own life:. At fifteen I set my mind on learning, at thirty I became firm in my purpose; at forty I was free from doubts; at fifty I came to know fate; t sixty I could tell truth from falsehood by listening to other people; at seventy I followed my heart's desire without trespassing the norm of conduct. (Analects 2:4; Tang, 1996). A distinctive feature of this outlook is an emphasis on the development of wisdom and social maturity at a later age. Contrary to some modern thinking that human development is primarily an early childhood process (as has been proposed by Freud or Piaget), Confucius gave new insight with the view that development is a life-long process. In addition to Confucianism, other Chinese philosophies such as Taoism and Zen Buddhism were also important. For instance, Chinese Taoist scholars considered that opposition exists everywhere in the universe and that the synthesis of contrary systems operates to form an integrated unity that is a manifestation of the power and operation of the Yang and the Yin, the alternating forces expressive of light and darkness, birth and decay, male and female. These powers, which in their combined operation form the Tao, the Way, the great principle of the universe, are the mainspring of every activity, the mechanism of constant change and balance, which maintains the harmony of the cosmos. (Fitzgerald, 1976, p. 220). According to Lao-tzu (570-490 B.C. ), the reputed founder of Taoism, nature keeps a proper balance in all its working. If any activity moves to an extreme in one direction, sooner or later a change occurs to swing it back toward the opposite. This thinking may have influenced Jungian psychology, for â€Å"Jung discovered the self from Eastern philosophy and characterized it ‘as a kind of compensation for the conflict between inside and outside † (Jung, as cited in Kuo, 1971, p. 97). In addition, recent findings indicate that the self-actualization theories of Rogers and Maslow bear certain similarities to concepts in Taoism and Zen Buddhism (e. . , Chang ; Page, 1991; Ma, 1990). The practice of naive psychology was widespread in ancient China, and many present-day psychology applications could trace their roots to thousands of years ago. For instance, in Medical Principles of the Yellow Emperor, the first Chinese encyclopedia of medicine, published about 2,000 years ago, links between brain pathology and psychological problems were described, and a bio-psycho-social model was the main approach to medical and mental treatment (Wang, 1993).Another famous ancient Chinese text, Sun-tzu's classic book The Art of War, was written 2,500 years ago. It is a treatise on strategies of warfare containing an analysis of human nature, organization, leadership, the effects of the environment, and the importance of information and may have influenced the development of modern organizational psychology. The most important contribution of Chinese culture to the application of psychology is that of mental testing. It is common to think of testing as both a recent and a Western development. The origins of testing, however, are neither recent nor Western.The roots of psychological testing can be traced back to the concepts and practices of ancient China for some 3,000 years (Anastasi, 1988; Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 1993). Various methods for measuring talent and behavior were popular, such as observing traits from behavioral changes, identifying intelligence by response speed, eliciting personality across situations, and measuring mental attributes through interviews (Lin, 1980). The purpose of all these tests was to allow the Chinese emperor to assess his officials' fitness for office. By the time of the Han Dynasty (206 B. C. to A. D. 20), the use of t est batteries (two or more tests used in conjunction) was quite common in the civil service examination system (Zhang, 1988) with essay writing and oral exams in topics such as civil law, military affairs, agriculture, revenue, and geography. Tests had become quite well developed by the time of the Ming Dynasty (A. D. 1368-1644). During this period, there was a national multi-stage testing program that involved local and regional testing centers equipped with special testing booths. Those who did well on the test at the local level went on to the provincial capital for more extensive essay examinations.After this second testing, those with the highest test scores went on to the nation's capital for a final round of examinations. Only those who passed this third set of tests were eligible for public office. It is probable that the Western world learned about these national testing programs through exposure to the Chinese during the 19th century. Reports by British missionaries and di plomats encouraged the British East India Company to copy the Chinese system in 1832 as a method for selecting employees for overseas duty.Testing programs worked well for the company, and the British government adopted a similar system of testing for its civil service in 1855. Later, French, German, and American governments in succession endorsed it, and the testing movement in the Western world has grown rapidly since then (Kaplan & Saccuzzo, 1993). Testing was also well developed in ancient Chinese folk culture. An article written by a scholar, Yen (531-590), indicated that, the so-called â€Å"testing the child at one year of age† was a popular custom in southern China.On a child's first birthday, he/she would be placed on a large table full of food, clothing, paper, pens, jewelry, toys, books with, in addition, an arrow and sword for the boys, and needle and thread for the girls. The baby was encouraged to crawl freely and pick up the item he or she liked best. By observ ing what the baby grasped first, the proud parents projected the baby's intelligence, personality characteristics and aptitude by the things taken from the table. This custom lasted until the 20th Century. (Zhang, 1988, p. 02). Although clearly not a test by modern standards, it does illustrate a willingness to assess individual differences by concrete means. Zhang (1988) also noted that Lin Xie, a well-known 6th century scholar, designed what appeared to be the first experimental psychological test in the world. He asked people to draw a square with one hand and at the same time draw a circle with the other. His aim was to show that, with interference from the attempt to do the second task, neither task could be done correctly.Interestingly, Binet in the 1890s developed a similar test as part of the early psychological work on the effect of distraction (internal and external) on mental tasks (Pillsbury, 1929; Woodworth & Marquis, 1949). Binet may have been aware of the Chinese hist ory. This review is only a brief discussion of the historical background of Chinese psychology. However, psychology in China did not develop into a systematic discipline, despite the fact that the concepts of psychology have deep roots in Chinese civilization dating back almost 2,500 years.Furthermore, few empirical studies have been done in this area of knowledge in China, compared with studies done in the Western world. Thus, Chinese psychology has lacked a scientific basis because of the belief that Chinese scholars should only concern themselves with â€Å"book learning, literature, history and poetry–but not with science† (Fitzgerald, 1976, p. 274). When Chinese intellectuals began the reform movement in the early 1900s, they promoted an uncompromising rejection of Chinese traditions (especially those with Confucian roots) and advocated total or whole-hearted Westernization, in terms of science.Chinese psychology became a graft product of Western and Soviet psycho logy (Barabanshchikova & Koltsova, 1989). Early Chinese psychologists had adopted the Western ideas of behaviorism, psychoanalysis, and gestalt psychology, and the works of Pavlov, Bekhterev, and Komilov were translated from the Russian. Nowadays, however, more and more scholars taking the cross-cultural view of psychology (e. g. , Matsumoto, 2000) have realized that it is not appropriate simply to apply Western theories to explain the behavior of the Chinese or any other cultural group.Although the collection process has not been fully carried out, some Chinese psychologists (such as Gao, 1986) have started their exploration of the old studies and literature to search for the roots of Chinese psychology. Those valuable assets of the old civilization, when thoroughly explored, may give us new insights into the understanding of contemporary psychology. For example, researchers are studying early writings on traditional Chinese medicine and translating their conclusions into testable hypotheses of therapeutic effectiveness (Lee & Hu, 1993; Li, Xu, & Kuang, 1988; Tseng, 1973).This kind of work is also significant in cross-cultural studies and has particular relevance in the Chinese context. Development of Modern Chinese Psychology: Chinese psychology began a long time ago, but the modern scientific method is only recent. However, the era of modern Chinese psychology commenced in the late 1800s with the dissemination of Western psychology in China along with other Western influences. Chinese students who had studied in the West brought back ideas fundamental to modern psychology and translated Western books.In 1889, Yan Yongjing translated a Japanese version of Joseph Haven's Mental Philosophy (1875), which was regarded as the first Western psychology book to be published in China (Kodama, 1991). Psychology as an independent scientific discipline was first taught in some Chinese pedagogical institutions at the turn of this century. The Chinese educational reformer , Cai Yuanpei, who studied psychology at Wilhelm Wundt's Laboratory in Leipzig and who later became president of Beijing University, set up the first psychology laboratory at Beijing University in 1917 (Jing, 1994).In 1920, the first psychology department was established in South Eastern University in Nanjing (Li, 1994). In August 1921, the Chinese Psychological Society was formally founded. Unfortunately, its activities were interrupted by the Sino-Japanese war. Meanwhile, some Chinese scholars finished their studies in Western universities and returned to China to teach and do research in psychology. They played important roles in laying the foundation for the development of modern Chinese psychology. One of the most widely known Chinese psychologists from that period was R. Y.Kuo, who went to the University of California at Berkeley in 1918 and returned to China in 1929. As a behaviorist, his major contributions were in the field of the developmental analysis of animal behavior a nd the nervous system (Brown, 1981). Another influential figure was P. L. Chen, known as the founder of Chinese industrial psychology, who carried out field studies in Chinese factories after studying under Charles Spearman of University College London. Later, Chen's study on the G factor was translated and noted as an achievement in the developing understanding of intelligence (Wang, 1993).Another was S. Pan, who obtained his Ph. D. in Chicago in 1927, having worked with Carr on the influence of context on learning and memory. He later became president of the Chinese Psychological Society when it was re-established in 1955 after the People's Republic of China was founded. In short, from the 1920s through the 1940s, Chinese psychology was oriented mainly toward Western psychology and in fact was not different from the latter. Experimental approaches were emphasized, and Chinese psychologists were strongly influenced by the schools of functionalism, behaviorism, and the Freudians.Psy chology was basically an imported product whose general development was slow because of the unstable social environment in China during this period. After the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, psychology was reestablished under the auspices of the Communist Party. The new psychology took Marxism-Leninism and Mao's thought as the basic philosophy underlying its psychological theory. For instance, Marxism's materialist dialectics saw psychology (apart from experimental psychology) as entirely hypothetical and, therefore, not materialist and not permitted.Although the Western psychology of the 1930s was well known, it was rejected after 1949 because of its capitalist nature. Chinese psychology during the mentioned time period was guided by the slogan â€Å"Learn from the Soviet Psychology† (Barabanshchikova ; Koltsova, 1989, p. 118), and books by Soviet psychologists (Pavlov, Luria, Sechenov, etc. ) were translated into Chinese; Chinese students and postgraduates began to study in Russia rather than in the United States (Barabanshchikova ; Koltsova). Soviet psychology focused on the relationship between psychology nd the workings of the central nervous system, especially as shown in the work of Pavlov with animals, whereas Western psychology with its emphasis on individual differences was seen as a â€Å"tool of the bourgeoisie,† which contradicted the Marxist doctrine that states that people are primarily shaped by their social class. Jing (1994) noted that as in the Soviet Union in the 1940s and in 1950s, there were no independent departments of psychology in Chinese universities. Psychology was a secondary discipline in the departments of philosophy or education. It was only 30 years later, after the Chinese Cultural Revolution, that independent departments of psychology were reestablished in Chinese universities). (p. 670). Psychology had a preliminary development in the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1958, the Institute of Psychology was se t up as a part of the Chinese Academy of Science, where, because it was classified as a science, its funding was more favorable than that of other social sciences. About half of the 3,000 Chinese psychologists then worked in normal universities or pedagogical institutes in the fields of developmental and educational psychology (Jing, 1994).Some basic psychological studies were also carried out on perception, conceptual development, memory, and physiological psychology. The publication of three important Chinese textbooks in the early 1960s reflected a significant development of teaching and research during that period: general psychology (Cao, 1963), educational psychology (Pan, 1964), and child psychology (Zhu, 1962). However, the development of psychology was not smooth because of the ebb and flow of political movements. Even though it is a science, psychology could be construed as an ideology and hence a threat to the doctrine promulgated by the ruling regime or by influential se gments of society,† noted Leung and Zhang (1995, p. 694). Jing (1994) gave an explanation for this statement. He described the 1958 campaign against the â€Å"bourgeois direction in psychology† that criticized the â€Å"globalization† and â€Å"abstractionism† of psychology. This criticism was aimed at basic research with controlled experiments. In China, confounding political matters with academic ones led to the suppression of certain subfields in psychology.For example, social psychology and psychological testing were abolished â€Å"on the grounds that the former ignored the class nature of social groups, and the latter stressed too heavily individual differences rather than social differences† (Jing, 1994, p. 671). The only social psychology articles then published were criticisms of the bourgeois and idealist values of Western psychology. As Brown (1983) noted, Western theories were viewed as a tool for exploiting the working class and a false bourgeois science, which contradicted the Marxist framework of historical materialism.Kuo (1971) gave some interesting examples of how Western-style psychological research was seen to be politically dominated. For example, Kretch and Crutchfield's proposed social psychology program for factory managers to help eliminate conflict between workers and factory owners was described as actually intended â€Å"to iron out the class struggle, to diminish the proletarian's fighting will for revolution, and to sacrifice the proletarian basic profits in order to meet the need of capitalists† (p. 100).For these reasons, between 1966 and 1976, during the period of the Cultural Revolution, psychology was attacked by the extreme leftist revolutionaries as a â€Å"bourgeois pseudo-science† and was uprooted completely as a scientific discipline. Leading psychologists were labelled as â€Å"reactionary academic authorities,† scientific research and teaching institutions were dis solved, and psychologists were dispatched to remote areas of the country to work on the farms. The disaster lasted until the termination of the Cultural Revolution in 1976. (Jing, 1994, p. 72). In a later article (1995) Jing commented that this was a â€Å"dark period† for psychology in China and lamented the â€Å"great price to be paid for political interference in science† (p. 719). Happily, Chinese economic reform launched an open-door policy to the outside world in the late 1970s, and psychology was rehabilitated as a scientific discipline. Both the Chinese Psychological Society (CPS) and Institute of Psychology have resumed their academic activities; research in, and application of, psychology is being carried out all over China.With increased international exchanges, new ideas and areas of research such as cognitive psychology and counseling psychology have become popular. For example major cities now have counseling telephone hot lines (Xu, Guo, Fang, & Yan, 19 94), many high schools have their own counselors, and cognitive behavior therapy is a popular new approach to psychiatric problems. Chinese counseling models have to adapt to the characteristics of Chinese clients and counselors (Wang, 1994). Many Chinese psychologists visited other countries, and psychologists from abroad visited China and lectured in China's universities.Thus began a more favorable environment for the present development of Chinese psychology. Wang (1993) gave a good picture of the current scene: By 1991, the CPS had more than 2,900 members, two thirds of whom were developmental and educational psychologists. The CPS has 11 special divisions of psychology, including educational, developmental, medical, general-experimental, industrial, sports, physiological, judicial psychology, and psychological measurement. Each province has its own psychological association such as counseling (Wang, 1993, p. 92).Because psychology restored its momentum in the late 1970s, Chines e psychologists have reached a consensus on building psychology with Chinese characteristics (Chen, 1993; Shi, 1989). Yue (1994) reflected on the need for Chinese psychologists to strengthen their theoretical roots and bind their work closely to life in China. Wang (1993) concluded that much recent Chinese psychological research has been closely linked with economic and social reform, technological developments, and applications of psychology (e. g. , the design of Chinese language computers, the effects of the single-child policy).Bond (1996) and the Chinese Culture Connection (1987) noted that Chinese society is still shaped by Confucian values such as filial piety and industriousness, the saving of face, and the networks of personal relationships. Even in 1922, Chinese psychologists were exhorted to unearth existing Chinese materials, investigate new materials from overseas, and based on these two sources, invent our own theories and experiments †¦ the content must be approp riate to the national situation, and the form, must insofar as is possible, be of a Chinese nature. Jing ; Fu, 1995, p. 723). In experimental psychology, the Chinese language with its ideographic characters has become a subject of great interest (see Bond, 1986, for some examples). Extensive studies are being carried out in this field, including ideographic and sound characteristics of Chinese characters; the relationship between Chinese languages and Western languages; the hemispheric laterality of information processing of the Chinese language; and reading and comprehension of the Chinese language.Because of the importance of the application of these studies to school education, artificial intelligence, and industrial technology, many Chinese psychologists are collaborating in their research efforts in the hope of finding some answers, such as how to simplify the typing of Chinese characters on computers (Tan ; Peng, 1991; Yu, Feng, ; Cao, 1990; Zhang ; Shu, 1989; Zhang, Zhang, ; Peng, 1990). Developmental psychology is another area of intensive study.There are 300 million children in China, and any new knowledge acquired in the field would have important implications for the education of this next generation (Jing, 1994). For example, Mei (1991) demonstrated that the remote rural minority people's tradition of keeping their babies propped up in sandbags for most of their first 6 months resulted in lower IQ scores up to the age of 16. Much has been published on concept development, language development, the development of thinking, personality, and moral development, gifted children, and slow learners (see Dong, 1989; Liu, 1982; Zhu & Lin, 1986).These findings have been applied to improve the teaching and testing of children, such as the development of the standardized Higher Education Entrance Examination. In addition, since the national family planning and birth control program was implemented in the mid-1980s the characteristics of the only-child policy h ave been a hot topic (Chen, 1985; Falbo & Poston, 1993; Jing, 1995). For example, Ying and Zhang (1992) found that rural Chinese still expected their children rather than the government to support them in their old age. This will clearly be a burden on a single child with four dependent grandparents.Psychologists are concerned with the school achievement and social development of these only children as well as the social psychological effects and personality problems that may be encountered in the future. Within this area, cross-cultural psychology studies among China's minority groups offer an important new prospect (Hong ; Wang, 1994; Xie, Zhang, Yu, ; Jui, 1993). In the field of medical and clinical psychology, besides the introduction of Western psychotherapeutic methods (behavior modification, group therapy, psychoanalysis, etc. ), the demonstration of the effectiveness of some traditional Chinese medical treatments (e. . , acupuncture, see Ng, 1999a) and therapies (e. g. , qig ong ; taichi, see Ng, 1999b) has been a significant development (San, 1990; Sun, 1984; Wang, 1979). Moreover, many psychologists are also involved in the process of modernization in industrial, military, and educational areas, playing important roles in policy making. For example, psychometricians helped to initiate the standardization of college entrance examinations. In personnel selection for the Air Force, psychologists are widely consulted and are actively participating in the design of selection procedures (Hao, Zhang, Zhang, ; Wang 1996).Industrial psychologists also make their contribution to the establishment of color standards of industrial illumination as well as to the developments of signs and symbols for technical products. The role of psychology has become increasingly prominent in China's rapid modernization and economic and social development. Disadvantageous Factors that May Impede the Development of Psychology: Although psychology is recognized by the Chinese gove rnment and is enjoying apparent prosperity at the moment, its future status is questionable.The development of psychology is contingent on economic growth. Compared with the other natural sciences (such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry), the development of psychology depends especially on the resources and prevailing intellectual practices of that country. It was reported in the mid-1980s that there were well over 60,000 psychologists who belonged to the American Psychological Association (Mays, Rubin, Sabourin, & Walker, 1996), whereas there were fewer than 3,000 registered members in the Chinese Psychological Society by 1991 (Wang, 1993).The ratio of psychologists to the general population is higher in developed countries than in developing countries. China has fewer than 2 psychologists for every million people (Jing & Fu, 1995). A developing country has to provide for its people's basic needs–food, shelter, health–before it can afford to provide for their â⠂¬Å"higher† psychological needs. When a country is underdeveloped, the more important problems of developing industry, commerce, and agriculture receive more attention because of the need to improve basic living conditions for everyone.In China today, with its economic pressures and its huge population problem, the further development of psychology cannot be seen as a top national priority. However, the Chinese government has begun to recognize that economic progress ultimately depends on the talents of the managers and workers and now sees the value of investing in modern management selection and training (e. g. , the setting up in 1999 of the Beijing Senior Management Selection Centre; personal communication, Gu Xiang Dong, January, 1999). Because the Chinese Government employs almost all the psychologists in the country, the future of the profession depends n its support (Jing ; Fu, 1995). In practical terms, lack of funding in developing countries means that psychologists cannot afford to attend international conferences, buy expensive books and journals, or experiment with highly technical equipment. Jing and Fu noted,. As China's market-oriented reform continues, people in academic circles are adjusting their ways of making a living. The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the main organizational body of scientific research in China, started its reform in the middle 1980s to satisfy the market need for applied technology. p. 721). In 1993, the CAS elected to move 70% of its staff into research related to economic development and thus more than 50,000 people began to conduct research in areas relevant to the market economy (Wang, 1995). It is also known that a further 10,000 of the original CAS staff have become businessmen or managers as a result of the expansion of private business enterprises (Jing & Fu, 1995). Budgetary difficulties are a more immediate problem for reform. In developed countries, psychology can rely on private funding.For example , the ratio of private to government funding in the United States was as high as 1 to 10 in 1990 (see Rosenzweig, 1992), whereas in China there is little private funding to which psychologists can turn. If such funding does exist, psychology is rarely on the list for support. The lack of funding for research has had an adverse impact on basic research. In an analysis of 2,274 studies between 1979 and 1988 in developmental and educational psychology involving 362,665 participants, Shi (1990) found that 48. 9% of the studies were applied research whereas only 8% were described as basic research. The rest were more or less repetitions or adaptations of previous studies or instruments. ) Psychologists in China are predominantly concerned with applied problems, and research that addresses economic and social problems. This situation was aptly described by Long (1987): â€Å"The pressing need †¦ was a technocrat in a factory, not a rat in a Skinner box† (p. 232). An applied or ientation is understandable in the light of the heavy emphasis placed on economic development. It may be expected that psychology will play an important role in the attainment of China's present goal to modernize industry, agriculture, science, and technology.The main problems for Chinese psychologists are how to help the nation accomplish these important tasks with minimal funding and lack of facilities (Jing ; Fu, 1995). The development of psychology is based on having a sufficient number of people with advanced training, and universities are the main source of training for psychologists. Bachelor degree courses in psychology are similar to those in the United States, but Chinese lecturers have far heavier teaching commitments than their Western counterparts, and they are often required to teach topics well outside their specialist areas.The lack of educational funding also limits access to leading journals and books in the field. Universities in China can afford to subscribe to o nly a few American and European journals, and most newly published English language books are not available in the library or if they are, their use may be restricted. Thus â€Å"psychological knowledge transmitted to China falls behind the times and is less sophisticated than that in the West† (Jing ; Fu, 1995, p. 725).At present, there are only six psychology departments and four psychology institutions among all the institutions of higher education, although all normal universities and teachers' colleges have psychology curricula and established psychology teaching and research groups. This provision is clearly inadequate for future needs. In addition, students often teach in the universities in which they received their degree, leading to a restricted perspective of the discipline. To a certain extent, China must depend on the developed world for the training of its psychologists (Jing & Fu, 1995).This dependence comes through the importation of foreign experts as well as the training abroad of Chinese psychologists at the postgraduate level and the subsequent brain drain, as many of the latter do not return to China. Another serious problem affecting the development of psychology is that there are no specific career paths for students who major in psychology. There is no organized postgraduate professional psychology training, and psychology graduates are often trapped in low-income jobs. Thus, uncertain career prospects have turned away many talented students.Unfortunately many students who chose psychology as a major have turned to unrelated professions on graduation. Future Perspective The field of psychology has a long road to travel before it will reach its maturity in China. Despite the difficulties mentioned here, recent developments have revealed some directions for the future. As we have seen, the development of Chinese psychology is closely linked with the social environment and with government policy, such as the influence of the family planning program and the open door policy. This link will continue and will orient most psychological research toward practical applications.Given the poor resources in research and the limited number of psychologists, the nationwide and collaborative approach will greatly facilitate research, teaching, and the practical application of psychology. Chinese psychology has attracted tremendous interest from all over the world in recent years. The reason for this sinophilia (Leung & Zhang, 1995, p. 696) â€Å"is because of the increasing importance of China world-wide, both politically and economically. † In the next few years, more emphasis will be put on the mutual communication and exchange of ideas with the rest of the world.Chinese psychology will certainly benefit from learning from Western advanced psychology. However, to interpret the mental phenomena and behavior of the Chinese people, attention must also be focused on the theoretical construction of China's ancient psyc hological heritage traced through traditional Chinese culture. It may be that this will eventually reflect Fairbank's view (1992, p. 258) when he stated, â€Å"Chinese learning for the substance the essential principles and Western learning for function the practical applications. That is, the traditional Chinese philosophical stress on the importance of understanding human nature, balanced harmony, and the â€Å"unity of multiplicity† may serve as a useful foundation for the future development of Chinese psychology, especially in applied settings. The adherence to the ancient wisdom in modern Chinese psychology will place world psychology in a broader framework and expand psychology to a more complete body of knowledge. REFERENCES Anastasi, A. (1988). Psychological testing (6th ed. ). New York: Macmillan. Barabanshchikova, V. A. , & Koltsova, V. A. (1989).Psychology in China: History and the present status. Soviet Journal of Psychology, 10, 116-124. Bond, M. H. (1996). The handbook of Chinese psychology. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press. Bond, M. H. (Ed. ). (1986). The psychology of the Chinese people. New York: Oxford University Press. Brown, L. B. (1981). Psychology in contemporary China. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press. Brown, L. B. (1983). Social psychology in China. British Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 363-372. Cao, R. C. (1963). General psychology. Beijing: People's Education Press (in Chinese). Chang, R. , ; Page, R.C. (1991). Characteristics of the self-actualized person: Visions from the East and West. Counselling and Values, 36, 2-10. Chen, H. W. (1985). A comparative study on behavioural characteristics and family education between only-children and children with siblings. Social Investigations Study, 6, (in Chinese). Chen, P. L. (1993). To build Chinese characteristic psychology. New China Digest, 6, 36-39 (in Chinese). Chinese Culture Connection. (1987). Chinese values and the search for culture-free dimensions of culture. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 18, 143-164. Dawson, R. (1993).Confucius: The analects (translation). New York: Oxford University Press. Dong, Q. (1989). The development of meta-cognition among children aged 10-17. Psychology of Development and Education, 4, 11-17 (in Chinese). Fairbank, J. K. (1992). China: A new history. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Falbo, T. P. , ; Poston, D. L. , Jr. (1993). The academic, personality ; physical outcomes of only children in China. Child Development, 64, 81-35. Fitzgerald, C. P. (1976). China. A short cultural history. London: Century Hutchinson. Gao, J. F. (Ed. ). (1986). History of Chinese psychology.Beijing, China: People's Education Press (in Chinese). Hao, W. P. , Zhang, Z. X. , Zhang, L. , & Wang, Y. M. (1996). Personality and neurosecretion measurements in pilots with peptic ulcer or chronic gastritis. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 10(6), 244-245 (in Chinese). Hong, J. Z. , & Wang, X. Y. (1994). Cross-cultural psychology in China –Present situation and future. Psychologia, 37, 117-128. Jing, Q. C. (1994). Development of psychology in China. International Journal of Psychology, 29(6), 667-675. Jing, Q. C. (1995). The Chinese single-child family programme and population psychology.Psychology and Developing Societies, 6(1), 29-53. Jing, Q. C. , & Fu, X. L. (1995). Factors influencing the development of psychology in China. International Journal of Psychology, 30(6), 717-728. Kaplan, R. M. , & Saccuzzo, D. P. (1993). Psychological testing: Principles, applications, and issues. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole. Kodama, S. (1991). Life and work: Y. J. Yan, the first person to introduce Western psychology to China. Psychologia: An International Journal of Psychology in the Orient, 34(4), 213-226. Kuo, Y. (1971). Psychology in communist China. The Psychological Record, 21, 95-105.Lee, Y. , & Hu, P. C. (1993). The effect of Chinese qi-gong exercises & therapy on diseases and health. Journal of Indian Psychology, 11, 1 & 2, 9-17. Leung, K. , & Zhang, J. X. (1995). Systemic considerations: Factors facilitating and impeding the development of psychology in developing countries. International Journal of Psychology, 30(6), 691-706. Li, M. (1994). Psychology in China: A brief historical review. The Journal of Psychology, 128(3), 281-287. Li, X. , Xu, S. , & Kuang, P. (1988). 30 Years of Chinese clinical psychology. International Journal of Mental Health, 16(3), 3-21.Lin, C. D. (1980). A sketch on the methods of mental testing in ancient China. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 12, 75-80 (in Chinese). Liu, F. (1982). Developmental psychology in China. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 14, 1-10 (in Chinese). Long, F. Y. (1987). Psychology in Singapore: Its roots, context and growth. In G. H. Blowers & A. M. Turtle (Eds. ), Psychology moving East: Status of Western psychology in Asia and Oceania (pp. 231-236). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Ma, H. K. (1990). The Chinese Taoistic perspective on human development. Inter national Journal of Intercultural Relations, 14, 235-249.Matsumoto, M. D. (2000). Culture and psychology. People around the world (2nd ed. ). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Mays, V. K. , Rubin, J. , Sabourin, M. , & Walker, L. (1996). Moving toward a global psychology. American Psychologist, 51(5), 485-487. Mei, J. (1991). A study of the IQ of sandbag-raised children, Psychological Science-China, 1, 42-44 (in Chinese). Murphy, G. , & Kovach, J. K. (1972). Historical introduction to modern psychology (3rd ed. ). New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. Ng, B. Y. (1999a). The effectiveness of traditional Chinese medicine on depressive symptoms.Dissertation Abstracts International: 60(2B), 0860. Ng, B. Y. (1999b). Qigong-induced mental disorders: A review. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 33(2), 197-206. Pan, S. (1964). Educational psychology. Beijing: People's Education Press (in Chinese). Pillsbury, W. B. (1929). The history of psychology. London: George Allen ; Unwin. Rosenzwe ig, M. R. (Ed. ). (1992). International psychological science: Progress, problems and prospects. Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Brothers. San, H. H. (1990). Mental hygiene problems of qi gong. Information in Psychological Science, 6, 41-43 (in Chinese).Shi, S. H. (1990). Analysis of the development in research of developmental and educational psychology during 1979-1988 in China. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 22, 322-328 (in Chinese). Shi, X. Y. (1989). A review and outlook of social psychology in China. Hiroshima Forum for Psychology, 14, 45-59. Sun, F. L. (1984). An analysis on EEG power spectrum and coherence during quiet state in qi gong. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 16, 422-427 (in Chinese). Tan, L. H. , ; Peng, D. L. (1991). Visual recognition processes of Chinese characters: A research to the effect of grapheme and phoneme.Acta Psychologia Sinica, 23, 278-283 (in Chinese). Tang, C. H. (1996). A treasury of China's wisdom. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press. Tseng, W. S. (1973). The development of psychiatric concepts in traditional Chinese medicine. Archives of General Psychiatry, 29, 569-575. Wang, J. S. (1979). The role played by the psychological factors in the clinical mechanism of acupuncture anaesthesia. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 11, 88-97 (in Chinese). Wang, L. (1994). Marriage and family therapy with people from China. Contemporary Family Therapy, 16(1), 25-37. Wang, X. Z. (1995). Academics face funding challenge.China Daily, January 30 (in Chinese). Wang, Z. M. (1993). Psychology in China: A review dedicated to Li Chen. Annual Review of Psychology, 44, 87-116. Woodworth, R. S. , & Marquis, D. G. (1949). Psychology. London: Methuen. Xie, Y. , Zhang, Y. , Yu, T. , & Jui, X. (1993). Relationship between life events and psychological well-being of minority college students. Chinese Mental Health Journal, 7(4), 182-184 (in Chinese). Xu, G. , Guo, L. , Fang, Y. , & Yan, H. (1994). Shanghai Workers' Hotline Research Project Chinese Mental Health Journal, 8(4), 176-177 (i n Chinese). Ying, Y.W. , ; Zhang, X. L. (1992, Jan-Jul, No. 28-29). Attitude toward childbearing in rural Beijing: A decade after launching the one-child policy. Bulletin of the Hong Kong Psychological Society, 27-37. Yu, B. L. , Feng, L. , ; Cao, H. Q. (1990). Visual perception of Chinese characters: Effects of perceptual task and Chinese character attributes. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 23, 141-148 (in Chinese). Yue, G. (1994). More on Chinese theoretical psychology: A rejoinder to Matthias Petzold. Theory and Psychology, 4(2), 281-283. Zhang, H. C. (1988). Psychological measurement in China.International Journal of Psychology, 23, 101-177. Zhang, H. C. , ; Shu, H. (1989). Phonetic similar and graphic similar priming effects in pronouncing Chinese characters. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 21, 284-289 (in Chinese). Zhang, J. J. , Zhang, H. C. , ; Peng, D. L. (1990). The semantic retrieval of Chinese characters in the classifying process. Acta Psychologia Sinica, 23, 397-405 (in Chinese). Z hu, Z. X. (1962). Child psychology. Beijing: People's Education Press (in Chinese). Zhu, Z. X. , & Lin, C. D. (1986). Developmental psychology of thinking. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Press (in Chinese).

Assess the Significance of the Role of Individuals in Reducing Racial

However, it cannot be disputed that, whatever his intentions had been, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation did provide just a glimpse of hope for African Americans; De Jure, the African Americans throughout America had freedom and were able to leave the slavery of Southern plantation owners. Why is it then, that De Facto, the years following the Civil War failed to provide this ‘new hope’ for Blacks and that racism discrimination continued for many years to come? The idea of Blacks developing the mind set they needed in order to fight for their freedom can be categorised as their ‘developing consciousness’. Throughout the 19th and 20th century, it was evident that Blacks had begun to realise that they too had rights and were entitled to the same as the Whites. Through the work of organisations such as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) and the Harlem Renaissance as well as individuals such as William Edward Burghardt (W. E. B) Du Bois; Blacks in American began developing their identity as a group and using this to fight back against the oppression of Whites. Du Bois was known as a vocal critic of Booker T Washington, being an educated Black- graduating from Fisk University in 1885 and studying history at Harvard University- he became the first African-American to receive a Ph. D. From Harvard. In order to develop Black Consciousness, Du Bois joined forces with the like minded activists of the NAACP. The NAACP’s main focal points were: The abolition of segregation; equal voting rights; educational opportunities for black people; the enforcement of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Despite the main focuses of the NAACPs campaigns, it could be argued that the main thing they did for the progress of Black Equality was the uniting of Blacks under one force; by 1918 there were around 43,994 members in the NAACP. This gathering of Blacks under one organisation cannot be ignored, for the first time the African-Americans of America were joining together in order to fight for their freedom. One key event which argues against the idea that individuals were significant in reducing racial discrimination is that of WWI; argued by Sander’s- â€Å"The First World War generated jobs and gave blacks soldiers a glimpse of greater equality†. The treatment of Blacks abroad- particularly France- showed the African-Americans that the treatment they were receiving at home was unfair and that they were indeed in a situation which needed to change. It is a hard task indeed to decide whether or Black Consciousness increased due to the work solely of individuals such as Du Bois, organisations like the NAACP or events like WWI. Many would argue that it was not a single one of these factors which led to the increase of Black’s realisation of potential. One argument however is that surely without individuals behind the organisations, the work and impact of the organisation is nothing? Individuals are able to lead, organise and even inspire; something that events and organisations are unable to do. The process of increased black nationalism is certainly one which cannot be overlooked; indeed it may not have achieved solid changes in law, and some go as far to say that it may have even hindered the advancement of Black Civil Rights. Despite this one could argue that the development of black nationalism catalysed the civil rights movement for many African Americans; installing a sense of pride inside the hearts of many which was drastically needed at the time. Before trying to pin any credible progress on the black nationalism movement it is first important to attempt to define ‘Black Nationalism’. A simple definition of it would be that it was an ideology which stresses the desire for separatism of the black race; â€Å"unity as a people, pride in African heritage, the creation of autonomous institutions and the search for a territory to build a nation† (Cone, 1991, 122). However the ideology of black nationalists varies greatly between individuals; a perfect example of this is Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The two vary drastically between their methods in raising black nationalism. The methods and effectiveness of Malcolm X’s campaign for the improved lives of black Americans are up for questioning by many. Indeed his tactics were more radicalised than his non-violent counterpart Dr King: Malcolm X even stated in Washington, 1964 that â€Å"I’m here to remind the white man of the alternative to Dr King†. This statement could be seen to sum up the purpose of Malcolm X; due to the lack of credible change attached to him, one has to question whether his purpose was merely just to show what could happen (increased radicalisation and violence) if the demands of Dr King were not met. This lack of credible, positive actions and change by Malcolm X and his current organisation the Nation Of Islam is an idea which can be- and has been- argued in depth. One could argue that, in terms of De Jure, Malcolm X did not achieve anything significant and indeed many considered him to be irresponsible and negative; Thurgood Marshall even went as far as to say that the NOI was â€Å"run by a bunch of thugs†. Despite this, De Facto, one cannot simply ignore the fact that Malcolm X did indeed draw early attention to the awful conditions in the ghettos and according to the FBI, he was â€Å"The most successful recruiter for the Black Muslims†. This can be credited to Malcolm X being a Zeitgeist; he was able to tap into the spirit of the time and the feelings of the people, using this to draw the huge amounts of support he did for the Nation of Islam. Indeed it may be seen that a radical, passionate individual like Malcolm X was needed at that specific time for the black nationalism movement; it cannot be ignored that Martin Luther King was not at his most successful stage and the fire of black civil rights and nationalism which had been burning brightly was indeed beginning to burn dimmer or some might even say had gone out at the time. After looking at the impact in which individuals had on the civil rights movement and the contrast of events, one can still come back to the fundamentals of the debate; without an individual to start an organisation or instigate an event surely no progress at all would have been made? If one is able to look at the larger picture of the progress made in reducing racial discrimination in the years Assess the Significance of the Role of Individuals in Reducing Racial However, it cannot be disputed that, whatever his intentions had been, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation did provide just a glimpse of hope for African Americans; De Jure, the African Americans throughout America had freedom and were able to leave the slavery of Southern plantation owners. Why is it then, that De Facto, the years following the Civil War failed to provide this ‘new hope’ for Blacks and that racism discrimination continued for many years to come? The idea of Blacks developing the mind set they needed in order to fight for their freedom can be categorised as their ‘developing consciousness’. Throughout the 19th and 20th century, it was evident that Blacks had begun to realise that they too had rights and were entitled to the same as the Whites. Through the work of organisations such as the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) and the Harlem Renaissance as well as individuals such as William Edward Burghardt (W. E. B) Du Bois; Blacks in American began developing their identity as a group and using this to fight back against the oppression of Whites. Du Bois was known as a vocal critic of Booker T Washington, being an educated Black- graduating from Fisk University in 1885 and studying history at Harvard University- he became the first African-American to receive a Ph. D. From Harvard. In order to develop Black Consciousness, Du Bois joined forces with the like minded activists of the NAACP. The NAACP’s main focal points were: The abolition of segregation; equal voting rights; educational opportunities for black people; the enforcement of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. Despite the main focuses of the NAACPs campaigns, it could be argued that the main thing they did for the progress of Black Equality was the uniting of Blacks under one force; by 1918 there were around 43,994 members in the NAACP. This gathering of Blacks under one organisation cannot be ignored, for the first time the African-Americans of America were joining together in order to fight for their freedom. One key event which argues against the idea that individuals were significant in reducing racial discrimination is that of WWI; argued by Sander’s- â€Å"The First World War generated jobs and gave blacks soldiers a glimpse of greater equality†. The treatment of Blacks abroad- particularly France- showed the African-Americans that the treatment they were receiving at home was unfair and that they were indeed in a situation which needed to change. It is a hard task indeed to decide whether or Black Consciousness increased due to the work solely of individuals such as Du Bois, organisations like the NAACP or events like WWI. Many would argue that it was not a single one of these factors which led to the increase of Black’s realisation of potential. One argument however is that surely without individuals behind the organisations, the work and impact of the organisation is nothing? Individuals are able to lead, organise and even inspire; something that events and organisations are unable to do. The process of increased black nationalism is certainly one which cannot be overlooked; indeed it may not have achieved solid changes in law, and some go as far to say that it may have even hindered the advancement of Black Civil Rights. Despite this one could argue that the development of black nationalism catalysed the civil rights movement for many African Americans; installing a sense of pride inside the hearts of many which was drastically needed at the time. Before trying to pin any credible progress on the black nationalism movement it is first important to attempt to define ‘Black Nationalism’. A simple definition of it would be that it was an ideology which stresses the desire for separatism of the black race; â€Å"unity as a people, pride in African heritage, the creation of autonomous institutions and the search for a territory to build a nation† (Cone, 1991, 122). However the ideology of black nationalists varies greatly between individuals; a perfect example of this is Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. The two vary drastically between their methods in raising black nationalism. The methods and effectiveness of Malcolm X’s campaign for the improved lives of black Americans are up for questioning by many. Indeed his tactics were more radicalised than his non-violent counterpart Dr King: Malcolm X even stated in Washington, 1964 that â€Å"I’m here to remind the white man of the alternative to Dr King†. This statement could be seen to sum up the purpose of Malcolm X; due to the lack of credible change attached to him, one has to question whether his purpose was merely just to show what could happen (increased radicalisation and violence) if the demands of Dr King were not met. This lack of credible, positive actions and change by Malcolm X and his current organisation the Nation Of Islam is an idea which can be- and has been- argued in depth. One could argue that, in terms of De Jure, Malcolm X did not achieve anything significant and indeed many considered him to be irresponsible and negative; Thurgood Marshall even went as far as to say that the NOI was â€Å"run by a bunch of thugs†. Despite this, De Facto, one cannot simply ignore the fact that Malcolm X did indeed draw early attention to the awful conditions in the ghettos and according to the FBI, he was â€Å"The most successful recruiter for the Black Muslims†. This can be credited to Malcolm X being a Zeitgeist; he was able to tap into the spirit of the time and the feelings of the people, using this to draw the huge amounts of support he did for the Nation of Islam. Indeed it may be seen that a radical, passionate individual like Malcolm X was needed at that specific time for the black nationalism movement; it cannot be ignored that Martin Luther King was not at his most successful stage and the fire of black civil rights and nationalism which had been burning brightly was indeed beginning to burn dimmer or some might even say had gone out at the time. After looking at the impact in which individuals had on the civil rights movement and the contrast of events, one can still come back to the fundamentals of the debate; without an individual to start an organisation or instigate an event surely no progress at all would have been made? If one is able to look at the larger picture of the progress made in reducing racial discrimination in the years

Methods Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Methods Exercise - Essay Example As indicated earlier breast cancer is treatable if it is diagnosed at an early stage. This purpose of this paper is to .look at the different methods of creating awareness among the members of the community on this disease. The objective of this project is to increase the awareness level of female members of the community and engage as many people as possible to get tested. The main goal is to increase the current levels of women who are aged 20 and above to get tested. The target group is mainly young women who do not have the test as they usually argue that they are either too young or they are feeling fine. The target group for this project is the youths and young women under the age of 25 years and as a result the methods to be used should involve this group (Boyle, 2003). First, due to the lean budget that has been allocated to this project the methods used shall be more involving and will require a lot of effort by all the parties involved. The first method that this project will use is sensitizing the people through volunteers who will be selected and be chosen by the programs director (Baum and Meredith, 1999). The volunteers will be selected according to their age for the volunteers who will be doing the field work. The volunteers are to go round through the country sensitizing the people on the effects and the symptoms of breast cancer. This program is geared towards sensitization and awareness among the young people and encourages them to get tested as early as possible to get a cancer free population. The other volunteers that will be used in this program is the clinical offic ers and doctors who will be used in the campaigns as we will be having camps that will be used in the testing in every point that the campaign stops. These are the most important volunteers in this campaign as they will be losing and giving their working hours to this project. This project will therefore start by inviting all

Calculus and Infinit Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Calculus and Infinit - Essay Example However, it was challenged by derision issues and finally withdrawn by the establishment of the concept of limit and epsilon-delta definitions during the 1970s. The latter are still in place up to date. Fortunately, Robinson Abraham restored it in 1960 and began a new era of analysis in the process. Isaac Newton used three varying methods in justifying his calculus. The methods are infinitesimals, fluxions, and the methods of prime and ultimate ratios. According to Newton, fluxion is the speed at which a quantity changes over a period and is denoted by x and x. In addition, he used o to represent very small amount of time and stated that in the infinitely small time, a variable x will become x+xo. Today, the example that Newton gives for the formula defines the differential equation that satisfies the equation of a curve. In deriving his procedures, Newton states that since time are supposed to be infinitely small so that it can express moments of quantities, terms that contain it as a factor will have nothing in equivalence to the others. Therefore, he suggests a cast out. The cast out, however, is not justified in procedure terms of limit but is only institutive in the sense of the manner in which it behaves (Katz, 1993). In a third publication, Newton decided to avoid the infinitesimals although he retained the notation o, which remains with its disappearing property. Newton is said to have developed his calculus ten years ahead of Gottfried Leibniz. However, Leibniz was the first one to publish his. In his publication entitled New Method for Maxima and Minima, and also Tangents, which is not Obstructed by Irrational quantities, (1684), Leibniz presented the values for the product rule, quotient rule, and power rule for finding derivatives. He also presented notations for his formula that are constantly used today. He uses the dx notations. His ways of handling ideas of very small quantities is to cat out terms that have more than one infinitesimals. For ins tance, he demonstrated that the smallest difference in xy is represented by dxy, which is also equal to (x+dx) (y+dy)-xy in his derivation of product rule. He argues that since dx and dy are infinitely small, they can be disregarded (Boyer, 1991). In his work, the infinitely small dx has four minimally different interpretations. First, dx is indistinguishable from zero. Second, dx is neither equal nor not equal to zero and thirdly, dx2 is equal to zero. Finally, dx vanishes (Bell, 1985). 2. The controversy between Newton and Leibnitz Perhaps the controversy between Leibniz and Newton over the invention and publishing of the infinitesimals calculus is the most famous in history of science. Newton and Leibniz are fighting over a number of issues. Though their issues began before the invention of calculus, the controversy became worse because of the fact that they did not deal with the issues of natural philosophy of the world in a direct manner. The main issue now is who is the father of the invention? Fortunately, because of the numerous evidence in form of papers of Newton’s work, it has been established beyond any doubt that Newton was the first one to invent calculus. He started with development of his fluxion theory in 1655 to 1666. Mid 1665, Newton had set down standards for differential algorithms in the generality that Leibniz expounded on after about two decades later. Furthermore, this shows that Newton did not plagiarize or copy anything form Leibniz because at the time of inventing calculus, Leibniz

Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson - Essay Example The essay "Spiral Jetty by Robert Smithson" discovers Spiral Jetty, the earthwork sculpture by Robert Smithson. The Spiral Jetty was completed in 1970 and is located in Great Salt Lake, Utah. Museums around the world show pictures of the earthworks created by Robert. Robert was killed in a plane crash in 1973 while overseeing one of his artworks by plane. Robert’s use of the earth to create modern art was a form of larger than life expression and a new way to produce works of art. The works by Robert made him an original contributor and opened a gateway for new artist to express themselves. During the 1970’s this was a time of change. People were expressing themselves more than ever and looking to change the world. Robert Smithson appeared to be much appreciative of the earth and each architectural element the earth was able to provide. Robert traveled around the world searching for specific areas where he could produce earth works and create art that would exert the mo st artistic impact. This is shown in a trip made by Robert Smithson and John Lloyd Stevens. During the trip the two traveled to the Yucatan Peninsula on an expedition in what Roberts hoped to find a new place to create art. This was just one of many trips made by Robert. Roberts contributed too many creative contributions that shaped art in the 1970’s. Spiral Jetty which was created in Great Salt Lake, Utah is a great example of the many creative contributions that Robert created. Spiral Jetty took much man power to create. Spiral Jetty is 1500ft long and spirals. The earth work was made possible by the use of dump trucks, a tractor and 6500 tons of earth (Galenson). What made the earth work so creative was not the work out into creating it but the idea that the Spiral Jetty would not be visible at all times. The Great Salt Lake rises and lowers. This rising and lowering meant that the Spiral Jetty would not be visible at all times. When the Spiral Jetty was finally made visi ble, it was a beautiful piece of art made solely out of earth. Symbolism Each piece of art created by Robert Smithson symbolized so much more than the average art. It has been quoted throughout the life of Robert that he thought of a new way of thinking. This new way of thinking symbolized that art was not something that could only be displayed in a museum (White Duncan). Robert proved this by his way of showing that art can come in any size. It was also very symbolic for an artist to display a form of art that was only visible when the water level was appropriate. This clearly symbolized that art is something that should be appreciated as one may not know when it will be visible again. Meaning of the Works There is much meaning felt behind the works of Robert Smithson and creations like the Spiral Jetty. Robert had a mind that wanted to express art in a new way. Although he was not the only artist to explore using earth to create art, the meaning behind his work leaves one to wonde r the meaning. This could be exactly what Robert wanted to create. He may have wanted those in the future to create their own meaning behind what was created. That is the beauty behind art in itself. Each on looker will develop a sense and feeling toward each piece of work. That makes work like the Spiral Jetty so remarkable. This also gives meaning to words that Robert lived by which explained that art is not something that necessarily has to be kept in a museum. Conclusion The artwork made by artist in the late twentieth century opened many doors and enabled future artist to look at art in a different perspective. Earthworks showed how precious and beautiful earth can be. Showing earths beauty was an important part of life for many in the 1970’

Getting a Degree in the Business Administration Personal Statement

Getting a Degree in the Business Administration - Personal Statement Example A person has to work hard and dedicate her/himself towards the program. When I look at my self, I see that I am a hard working person and also have an attitude towards finance. In fact, I have been towards accounting, finance, and administration since the beginning. I completed my bachelors in Accounting in 1998, and masters in Public Administration in 2002. With regard to my working capabilities and experience, currently, I am disabled and physically unable to work full time due to my illness. Before my illness, I was a mid-level governmental financial and budget senior program manager. Although I am not able to work full time at the moment, I still volunteer at Orange County Government’s Neighborhood Centers for Families. These centers provide social services to lower income areas. I work in the organization as a volunteer by helping families establish family budgets. With regard to my future plan, I would like to return back to work as a full-time regular employee within a couple of years. In the future, I would like to utilize the competencies and expertise I learned in the business classes, especially in finance and organizational behavior to make the most of the growing relationship between the government and the non-profitable private organizations. After completing my degree, I would like to work as a part-time Adjunct Professor at a local university or college. As a part-time professor, I believe that I can focus on my true desire for teaching and research in a selected area in the field of finance. Doing research in minority finance is one of my dreams. I want to do research in this as I see that there is an ongoing belief in the African-American population that funding for African-American run non-profit companies and it cannot be found especially for upstart companies.  Ã‚  

Multinational Corporate Entities Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Multinational Corporate Entities - Essay Example   A well governed MCE must balance the three groups in organisation which are shareholders, boards of directors and managers without compromising the monetary promises and other responsibilities to the stakeholders. Shareholders provide the capital so that they can achieve benefit from it and increase the organisation’s corporate worth. Shareholders possess rights and authorities to choose or to discharge directors and auditors, and employ, support or reject any kind of central changes for the sake of organisation’s wellbeing such as merger or alterations in investment structure . Managing External Corporate RelationshipsThe legal and regulatory obligations are portions of external incentive structure aimed at ensuring obligation of common business standards such as impartiality, transparency, liability, concern for protecting the shareholders, the customers, the employees, and avoiding offensive business practices which can impact on environment. National and interna tional organisations have developed several external aspects on best practices of organisation such as appropriate disclosure of financial statements, proper accounting and auditing principles, employment regulations, environment criterions and industrial product standards among others. Managing the external aspects is essential as without those an organisation can face acquisition from other firms . Shareholders, as company owners, have the right to enable corporate governance and govern the organisation directly.... Shareholders provide the capital so that they can achieve benefit from it and increase the organisation’s corporate worth. Shareholders possess rights and authorities to choose or to discharge directors and auditors, and employ, support or reject any kind of central changes for the sake of organisation’s wellbeing such as merger or alterations in investment structure4. Managing External Corporate Relationships The legal and regulatory obligations are portions of external incentive structure aimed at ensuring obligation of common business standards such as impartiality, transparency, liability, concern for protecting the shareholders, the customers, the employees, and avoiding offensive business practices which can impact on environment. National and international organisations have developed several external aspects on best practices of organisation such as appropriate disclosure of financial statements, proper accounting and auditing principles, employment regulations, environment criterions and industrial product standards among others. Managing the external aspects is essential as without those an organisation can face acquisition from other firms5. Rights of Shareholders Shareholders, as company owners, have the right to enable corporate governance and govern the organisation directly or by voted representatives. The shareholders are not likely to undertake duty for handling corporate actions as they are usually positioned for board and administration teams. Shareholders can instigate the business units to provide attention on specific major concerns such as vote of board members and any other ways for inducing the arrangement of the board, alterations to the organisation’s gradual brochures,

Impact of international field experience on agricultural Education Article

Impact of international field experience on agricultural Education - Article Example According to Bruce (2001) until now the demand to sensitize the agricultural teachers who are trained to enhance international field experience has been driven further and acknowledged widely. This is due to the movement of world cultures and global contacts that are increasing through international experience. In this respect, the new rule is that many schools are increasing their diversity and enrolling students with challenging and unique needs with teachers that are recruited internationally. This has made agricultural teachers to be agents of responsibility for global and cultural education. In agricultural education, international field experience is a vital aspect to the educational professionals who prepare for natural resource and agricultural management industries. It gives out experience which reinforces the instruction of the classroom. It also gives out a chance to agricultural students to engage and observe the application of the knowledge that has been acquired. This m eans that international field experience helps students to achieve valuable insights towards the operation and organization of agencies and businesses in different industrial sectors. In this regard, field experience that is properly supervised and pursued with enthusiasm could be of significant meaning towards agricultural education. ... Purpose of international field experience. Field experience is a factor which is of great importance in agricultural education. Its main purpose has always been to give students a chance of combining the theoretical studies with an application of practical knowledge in the actual environment of work. In the students’ academic program, field experience plays a crucial role as it gives students a room for application of the knowledge gained while in the classroom. Field work also gives students a chance to continue learning under a professional supervisor during the field work. Additionally, student interns should always undertake their study abroad responsibilities with professional and quality dedication. Student interns are also expected to be assets to the agency of placement and that they need to establish an enormous contribution due to their experience in the work. The objective of the research. This is a research work that is set out to among other things achieve one key objective. Thus, the overarching objective was to find out the impacts of international field experience on agricultural education. The topic to be examined would be the impacts of field experience on agricultural education. Limitations of the study. This study will focus mainly on international field experience and its influence in agricultural education. This, thus, implies that study would be limited on international rather than local. This excludes a similar local experience which has not been explored. Moreover, the scope of the study does not take into consideration other field of education despite limited studies contacted in such fields. Basic assumptions. This study had to

Prewriting Strategies Essay Example for Free

Prewriting Strategies Essay 1. In academic writing, assignments may require students to present the results of their research without including their personal opinion. By avoiding first- and second- person pronouns, and writing in the third person will help one doing so. The use of first- and second- person also gives the writing an informal feel. When writing academically, the writer should always be formal. 2. www.jackiekcooper.com/MovieReviews/Limitless.html a.In this movie, Jackie Cooper has the starring role and holds his own even in scenes with the legendary star Robert De Niro. In this sentence the adjective legendary describes Robert De Niro. b.In the film Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a down-on-his-luck aspiring writer. The adjective describes the writer as being aspiring. c.His girlfriend Lindy is fed up with his shiftless ways and breaks up with him. The adjective describes his ways as shiftless. d.When he takes the pill, his life becomes much clearer. The adjective describes life as clearer. e.It is not a great role and De Niro is only adequate in it. The adverb describes how De Niro acted in the role. f.It is not a great role and De Niro is only adequate in it. The adjective describes the role as not great. g.In â€Å"Limitless† the story centers totally on his character and he rises to the occasion to give the role his all. The adverb describes how the story centers on his character. h.Eddie may be riding high for a while but there is always that possibility of him falling down or being brought down. The adverb describes how Eddie is riding. Over all, the critic used the adjectives and adverbs in a very descriptive and effective way. 3. This class has already taught us that although we may have the imagination to write, we have much more to learn about proper academic writing mechanics. The most important lesson we have learned is to proofread carefully. When we first started our studies at the University of Phoenix, we were not aware of the significant difference between academic writing and casual writing. The difference between academic writing and casual writing is becoming clearer to us. The difference between the two is clearest when we receive instructor feedback. We will continue to pay closer attention to details in our writing. This is the way that we will change our focus in the future and also the way we will come closest to achieving our goals. 4. There are three key parts of a paragraph; the topic sentence or introductions, the body of the paragraph or supporting information, and the conclusion that summarizes the content of the paragraph. 5. It is important that the topic sentence and supporting points within that paragraph be directly related or else the writer’s message will be lost, and the reader will be confused. The writing will not flow smoothly, and the reader will be forced to work at trying to figure out exactly what they are reading. Unless the topic sentence and supporting paragraphs do not connect or relate, the reader will be left confused. In the end, the reader may dismiss the frustrating writing altogether. 6. An evaluation is the writer’s informed judgment about a reading. The author did a great job summarizing and tying in what they have learned from the reading. The author was able to relate to the topic by adding an experience he or she conducted to the material. One thing the author could have done better was to point out why he or she thought it was a good overview.

Stakeholder And Issues Management Approaches Management Essay

Stakeholder And Issues Management Approaches Management Essay The stakeholder management approach is a response to the growth and complexity of contemporary organizations and the need to understand how they operate with their stakeholders and stockholders. Underlying the stakeholder management approach is the ethical imperative that mandates businesses in their fiduciary relationships to their stockholders and shareholders to: 1) act in the best interests of and for the benefit of their customers, employees, suppliers, and stockholders; and 2) respect and fulfill these stakeholders rights. The ethical dimension of this approach is based on the view that profit maximization is constrained by justice, that regard for individual rights should be extended to all constituencies of business that have a stake in the affairs of business, and that organizations do act in socially responsible ways not only because it is the right thing to do, but also to ensure their legitimacy. A. The Outsourcing Debate 1. Competing stakeholder claims become heated when executives must choose between profit and the welfare of some or all stakeholders. 2. Conflicting studies report that, on one hand, every dollar of corporate spending shifted offshore generates $1.13 in new wealth for Americas economy and, on the other hand, U.S. workers may lose $120 billion in wages to outsourcing by 2015. Arguments against outsourcing of jobs and work include: Jobs are not presently being created in the private sector, which has not happened before in U.S. history. The U.S. trade deficit continues to escalate, with no trade surplus in the United States for more than 20 years. At least three million jobs have been lost over the last three years, with no end in sight. The job loss is not only at lower levels, but also at middle and administrative levels. Local communities and states depend on individual and corporate taxes to survive. Massive outsourcing threatens the American middle class as well as local communities. 3. In a pluralistic society, corporate leaders need a method that helps them understand and keep score on each of their stakeholders strategies, ethics, and power relationships. 2.2 Stakeholder Management Approach Defined The stakeholder approach argues that ethical principles can result in significant competitive advantage, and provides a framework that enables users to map and, ideally, manage corporation relationships (present and potential) with groups to reach win-win collaborative outcomes. A stakeholder approach does not have to result from a crisis or controversial situation nor is it limited in its use to large enterprises. It can also be used as a planning method to anticipate and facilitate business decisions, events, and policy outcomes. A. Stakeholders 1. A stakeholder is any individual or group who can affect or is affected by the actions, decisions, policies, practices, or goals of the organization. The focal stakeholder is the company or group that is the center or focus of an analysis. Primary stakeholders include owners, customers, employees, suppliers, stockholders and the board of directors. Secondary stakeholders include all other interested groups, such as the media, consumers, lobbyists, courts, governments, competitors, the public, and society. B. Stakes 1. A stake is any interest, share, or claim that a group or individual has in the outcome of a corporations policies, procedures, or actions toward others. 2.3 How to Execute a Stakeholder Analysis The stakeholder analysis is a pragmatic way of identifying and understanding multiple (often competing) claims of many constituencies. A. Taking a Third-Party Objective Observer Perspective 1. Taking a third-party objective observer perspective while doing the stakeholder analysis in the following section helps students see all sides of an issue and then objectively evaluate the claims, actions, and outcomes of all parties. B. Role of the CEO in Stakeholder Analysis 1. The stakeholder analysis is a series of seven steps aimed at the following tasks (Frederick et al, 1988): Step 1: Map Stakeholder Relationships Figure 2.2 shows a general picture of an initial stakeholder map. The following five questions, in particular, offer a quick jump start on the analysis: Who are our stakeholders currently? Who are our potential stakeholders? How does each stakeholder affect us? How do we affect each stakeholder? For each division and business, who are the stakeholders? Step 2: Map Stakeholder Coalitions. Determine and map any coalitions that have formed. Coalitions among and between stakeholders form around issues and stakes that they have or seek to have in common. Step 3: Assess the Nature of Each Stakeholders Interest Along with Step 4, this step helps in assessing the nature of each stakeholders power by identifying the interests of various stakeholders as supportive, nonsupportive, mixed blessing, or marginal. Step 4: Assess the Nature of Each Stakeholders Power. This part of the analysis asks, Whats in it for each stakeholder? and Who stands to win, lose, or draw over certain stakes? Three types of especially useful stakeholders are those with voting power, political power, and economic power (Freeman, 1984). Step 5: Identify Stakeholder Ethics and Moral Responsibilities Determine the ethics, responsibilities, and moral obligations your company has to each stakeholder. Figure 2.3 shows a matrix of stakeholder responsibilities. This part of the analysis should continue until you have completed matching the economic, legal, ethical, and voluntary responsibilities for each stakeholder, so that you can develop strategies toward each stakeholder you have identified. Step 6: Develop Specific Strategies and Tactics. First, consider whether to approach each stakeholder directly or indirectly. Second, decide whether to do nothing, monitor, or take an offensive or defensive position with certain stakeholders. Third, determine whether to accommodate, negotiate, manipulate, resist, avoid, or wait and see with specific stakeholders. Finally, decide what combination of strategies you want to employ. Figure 2.4 provides a useful typology for both identifying and deciding strategies to employ in a complex situation, based on potential for threat and potential for cooperation. Figure 2.5 presents an illustration of the typology in Figure 2.7, using the Microsoft case as an example. While developing specific strategies, it is important to keep the following points in mind if you are the focal stakeholder: Your goal is to create a win-win set of outcomes, if possible. Keep your mission and responsibilities in mind as you move forward. Consider what the probably consequences of your actions will be. Keep in mind that the means you use are important as the ends you seek. Step 7: Monitor Shifting Coalitions Because time and events can change the stakes and stakeholders, it is important to monitor the evolution of the issues and actions of the stakeholders, using Figure 2.4. C. Summary of Stakeholder Analysis 1. The stakeholder approach should involve other decision makers inside and outside the focal organization. 2. The stakeholder analysis provides a rational systematic basis for understanding issues involved in complex relationships between an organization and its constituencies. 3. The extent to which the resultant strategies and outcomes are moral and are effective for a firm and its stakeholders depends on many factors, including the values of the firms leaders, the stakeholders power, the legitimacy of the actions, the use of available resources, and the exigencies of the changing environment. 2.4 Negotiation Methods: Resolving Stakeholder Disputes Disputes are part of stakeholder relationships. They occur between different stakeholder levels: e.g. between professionals within an organization; consumers and companies; business to business (B2B); governments and businesses; and among coalitions and businesses. A. Stakeholder Dispute Resolution Methods 1. Dispute resolution is an expertise known as alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Its techniques cover a variety of methods intended to help litigants resolve conflicts (see Figure 2.6). 2. Integrative approaches are characterized as follows: Problems are seen as having more potential solutions than are immediately obvious. Resources are seen as expandable; the goal is to expand the pie before dividing it. Parties attempting to create more potential solutions and processes are thus said to be value creating. Parties attempting to accommodate as many interests of each of the parties as possible. The so-called win-win or all gain approach. 3. Distributive approaches have the following characteristics: Problems are seen as zero sum. Resources are imagined as fixed: divide the pie. Value claiming. Haggling or splitting the difference. 4. Relational approaches consider power, interests, rights, and ethics, and are based on: Relationship building. Narrative, deliberative, and other dialogical (i.e. dialogue-based) approaches to negotiation and mediation. Restorative justice and reconciliation (i.e., approaches that respect the dignity of every person, build understanding, and provide opportunities for victims to obtain restoration and for offenders to take responsibility for their actions). Other transformative approaches to peacebuilding. 5. Four principles of negotiation used in almost any type of dispute include: Separate the people from the problem. Focus on the interests rather than positions. Generate a variety of options before settling on an agreement. Insist that the agreement be based on objective criteria. 2.5 Stakeholder Approach and Ethical Reasoning The stakeholder analysis requires the focal or principal stakeholders to define and fulfill their ethical obligations to the affected constituencies. Chapter 3 explains major ethical principles that can be used to examine individual motivation for resolving an ethical dilemma, including rights, justice, utilitarianism, relativism, and universalism. 2.6 Moral Responsibilities of Cross-Functional Area Professionals One goal of a stakeholder analysis is to encourage and prepare organizational managers to articulate their own moral responsibility, as well as the responsibilities of their company and their profession, toward their different constituencies. With the Internet, the transparency of all organizational actors and internal stakeholders increases the risk and stakes of unethical practices. Figure 2.7 illustrates a managers stakeholders. A. Marketing and Sales Professionals and Managers as Stakeholders 1. Sales professionals and managers are continuously engaged-electronically and/or face-to-face-with customers, suppliers, and vendors. 2. Moral dilemmas can arise for marketing managers who may be asked to promote unsafe products or implement advertising campaigns that are untrue or not in the consumers best interests. 3. The stakeholder analysis helps marketing managers in morally questionable situations in terms of identifying stakeholders and understanding the effects and consequences of profits and services on them. B. RD Engineering Professionals and Managers as Stakeholders 1. RD managers and engineers are responsible for the safety and reliability of product design. RD managers must work and communicate effectively and conscientiously with professionals in manufacturing, marketing, and information systems; senior managers; contractors; and government representatives, to name a few stakeholders. 2. Moral dilemmas can arise for RD engineers whose technical judgment and risk assessments conflict with administrative managers seeking profit and time- to-market deadlines. C. Public Relations Managers as Stakeholders 1. Public relations (PR) managers must constantly interact with outside groups and corporate executives, especially in an age when communications media, external relations, and public scrutiny play such vital roles. 2. PR managers are responsible for transmitting, receiving, and interpreting information on employees, products, services, and the company. 3. Moral dilemmas can arise when PR managers must defend or protect company actions that have possible or known harmful effects on the public or stakeholders. D. Human Resource Managers as Stakeholders 1. Human resource managers (HRMs) are on the front line of helping other managers recruit, hire, fire, promote, evaluate, reward, discipline, transfer, and counsel employees. HRM professionals stakeholders include but are not limited to employees, other managers and bosses, unions, community groups, government employees, lobbyists, and competitors. 2. Human resource managers face constant ethical pressures and uncertainties over issues about invasion of privacy and violations of employees rights. 3. Moral dilemmas can arise when affirmative action policies are threatened in favor of corporate decisions to hide biases or protect profits. HRM professionals also straddle the often-fine line between the individual rights of employees and corporate self-interests. E. Summary of Managerial Moral Responsibilities 1. Expert and functional area managers are confronted with balancing operational profit goals with corporate moral obligations toward stakeholders. Using a stakeholder analysis helps clarify the issues involved in resolving ethical dilemmas. 2.7 Issues Management, Stakeholder Approach, and Ethics: Integrating Frameworks Issues management methods complement the stakeholder management approach. Issues management is also a formal process used to anticipate and take appropriate action to respond to emerging trends, concerns, or issues that can affect an organization and its stakeholders. A. What is a Public Issue? Many national and international business-related controversies develop around the exposure of a single issue that evolves into more serious and costly issues. Stakeholder and issues management frameworks can be used to understand the evolution of these issues in order to responsibly manage or change their effects. B. Other Public Issues There are other types of public issues from the external environment that involve different companies and industries. For example the issue of obesity has become prominent. Another issue that affects numerous stakeholders is drivers who drink. C. Stakeholder and Issues Management: Connecting the Dots 1. Issues and stakeholder management are used interchangeably by scholars and corporate practitioners. The process begins by analyzing and then framing which issues are the most urgent and have (or may have) the greatest impact on the organization. 2. Stakeholder analysis questions help connect the dots in understanding and closing the gaps of issues management. D. Moral Dimensions of Stakeholder and Issues Management 1. Ethical reasoning and behavior are an important part of managing stakeholders and issues because ethics is the energy that motivates people to respond to issues. When ethical motives are absent from leaders and professionals thinking and feeling, activities occur that cost all stakeholders. E. Introduction to Three Issue Management Frameworks 1. This section presents three general issues frameworks for mapping and managing issues before and after they become crises, all of which can be used with the stakeholder management approach. F. First Approach: 6-Step Issue Management Process 1. The process involves the following steps, illustrated in Figure 2.8: Environmental scanning and issues identification. Issues analysis. Issues ranking and prioritizing. Issues resolution strategizing. Issues response and implementation. Issues evaluation and monitoring. 2. These steps are part of a firms corporate planning process. This framework is a basic approach for proactively mapping, strategizing, and responding to issues that affect an organization. G. Second Approach: 7-Phase Issue Development Process (Figure 2.9) 1. Issues are believed to follow a developmental life cycle. Views differ on the stages and time involved in the life cycle. A felt need arises. Media coverage is developed. Interest group development gains momentum and grows. Policies are adopted by leading political jurisdictions. The federal government gives attention to the issue. Issues and policies evolve into legislation and regulation. Issues and policies enter litigation. H. 4-Stage Issue Life Cycle 1. Thomas Marx observed that issues evolve from social expectations to social control through the following steps: Social expectations. Political issues. Legislation. Social control. 2.8 Managing Crises Crisis management methods evolved from the study of how corporations and leaders responded (and should have responded) to crises. Crises, from a corporations point of view, can deteriorate if the situation escalates in intensity, comes under close governmental scrutiny, interferes with normal operations, jeopardizes the positive image of the company or its officers, and damages a firms bottom line. A. First Approach: Precrisis through Resolution (figure 2.11) 1. According to this model, a crisis consists of four stages: Prodromal (precrisis) warning symptoms. Acute damage done, point of no return. Chronic recover, self-analysis, self-doubt, healing. Resolution return to normalcy, the goal of crisis management. B. How Executives Have Responded to Crises 1. Matthews, Goodpaster, and Nash have suggested five phases of corporate social response to crises related to product crisis management, based on their study of how corporations have responded to serious crises. The phases, illustrated in Figure 2.12, are: Reaction lack of complete information, lack of time to analyze the event thoroughly. Defense overwhelmed by public attention, recoiling under media pressure. Insight stakes are substantial, executives realize and confirm whether company is at fault. Accommodation address public pressure and anxiety. Agency understand causes of safety issue and develop education program for the public. C. Crisis Management Recommendations 1. Corporations can respond more effectively to crises by: Facing the problem and telling the truth. Taking their lumps in one big news story. Recognizing there is no such thing as a secret or private crisis. Staging war games. Using their motto, philosophy, or mission statement to respond to a crisis. Using their closeness to customers and end users for early feedback. 2. The following tactical recommendations are helpful crisis prevention and management techniques: Understand your entire business and dependencies. Carry out a business impact assessment. Complete a 360-degree risk assessment. Develop a feasible, relevant, and attractive response. Plan exercising, maintenance, and auditing. 3. Issues and crisis management methods and preventive techniques are effective in corporations only if: Top management is supportive and participates. Involvement is cross departmental. The issues management unit fits with the firms culture. Output, instead of process, is the focus. Ethical Insight 2.1: Consultants Split On Bridgestones Crisis Management This case study examines how certain crisis management experts viewed the handling of the Bridgestone/Firestone scenario. The experts express their ideas and opinions on the case. questions What, if anything should Mattels CEO have done differently in this scenario/case to have prevented and/or avoided the resulting crisis? Explain. Answer: Students opinions will vary. There were a number of factors at play, many of which were internal to Mattel, but others that were not. The answer should involve a discussion of the stakeholder framework. The stakeholder analysis provides a rational, systematic basis for understanding issues involved in complex relationships between an organization and its constituents. It helps decision makers structure strategic planning sessions and decide how to meet the moral obligations of all stakeholders. The extent to which the resultant strategies and outcomes are moral and are effective for a firm and its stakeholders depends on many factors, including the values of the firms leaders, the stakeholders power, the legitimacy of the actions, the use of available resources, and the exigencies of the changing environment. Briefly describe a situation in which you were a major stakeholder. How was the situation resolved (or not resolved)? What methods were used to resolve the situation? Looking back now, what methods could or should have been used to resolve that situation? For example, what would you now recommend happen to effectively resolve it fairly? Answer: Students responses will vary according to their own experiences. Which of the types of power (described in this chapter) that stakeholders can use have you effectively used in a conflict or disagreement over a complex issue? Briefly explain the outcome and evaluate your use(s) of power. Answer: The students answer will vary. The answer should involve a description of power from the chapter. Three types of power stakeholders can use are (1) voting power, (2) political power, and (3) economic power. For example, owners and stockholders can vote their choices to affect the firms decisions. Federal, state, and local governments can exercise their political power by increasing regulations. Consumers can exercise their economic power by boycotting a firms products. Which roles and responsibilities in this chapter have you assumed in an organization? What pressures did you experience in that role that presented ethical dilemmas or issues for you? Explain. Answer: Students responses will vary according to their own experiences. What are the reasons for encouraging managers to use the stakeholder approach? Would these reasons apply to teams? Answer: Why should individual expert and functional area managers use the stakeholder analysis? First, by thinking in terms of stakeholders, managers can acknowledge and being to change their perceptual biases, blind spots, and harmful activities that affect the firms and their units operations. The analysis allows them to see and perform their roles and moral responsibilities toward external and internal groups. Second, by seeing how managers in a firm handle their complex stakeholder relationships, individual managers can begin to create value and realize corporate moral and legal obligations toward stakeholders. Third, the basis for increasing the quality of cross-functional communication and integration can be developed. The process and results of the stakeholder analysis can provide a platform for opening corporate communication channels to discuss stressful, unrealistic, or immoral expectations, problems, and pressures that often lead to illegal and unethical activities, such a s creating faulty products, price-fixing, cheating, and lying. Finally, by identifying specific stakeholders responsibilities, expert area managers can begin to see common patterns of pressures, resources, and ethical issues across the firm. An enterprises moral identity and mission can be identified or reinforced. Moreover, managers can begin to think ahead and operate with moral responsibility as they perform their work. These underlying concepts can apply to any group, team, or area managers for doing stakeholder analysis. Give a recent example of a corporation that had to publicly manage a crisis. Did the company spokesperson respond effectively to stakeholders regarding the crisis? What should the company have done differently in its handling of the crisis? Answer: Students responses will vary according to their own awareness of recent corporate public confidence issues. Some suggested examples include: Texaco ¾racial discrimination Mitsubishi ¾sexual harassment Archer-Daniels-Midland Company ¾price fixing Reynolds Tobacco ¾controversy regarding health problems of smoking Enron, WorldCom ¾accounting fraud Arthur Anderson ¾ineffective auditing procedures Political Parties ¾campaign financing/fundraising Describe how you would feel and what actions you would take if you worked in a company and saw a potential crisis emerging at the prodromal or precrisis stage. What would you say, to whom, and why? Answer: Students responses will vary according to their own experiences. Using Figure 2.4, identify a complex issue-related controversy or situation in which you, as a stakeholder, were persuaded to move from one position (cell) to another and why e.g., from nonsupportive to supportive, or from mixed blessing to marginal. Explain why you moved and what the outcome was. Answer: Students responses will vary according to their own experiences. Argue both the pros and cons of stakeholder theory, using some of the arguments in the chapter, as well as your own. What is your evaluation of the usefulness of stakeholder theory and methods in understanding and analyzing complex issues? Answer: Students responses will vary according to their own experiences. They should include in their answer pros and cons from the chapter. Cons: (1) negates and weakens fiduciary duties managers owe to stockholders; (2) weakens the influence and power of stakeholder groups; (3) weakens the firm; and (4) changes the long-term character of the capitalist system. Pros: (1) The approach provides an analytical method for determining how various constituencies affect and are affected by business activities. (2) It also provides a means for assessing the power, legitimacy, and moral responsibility of managers strategies in terms of how they meet the needs and obligations of stakeholders. exercises (Responses to the following exercises will vary with students experiences and views. However, sample responses are provided as suggestions where possible.) Describe a situation in which you were a stakeholder. What was the issue? What were your stakes? Who were the other stakeholders? What was the outcome? Did you have a win-win resolution? If not, who won, who lost, and why? Answer: A local department store had a policy that merchandise must be returned within 30 days of purchase for a cash refund. As a customer of this department store, I had purchased an item as a gift for a friends wedding. The wedding was canceled, and I went to the store to return the item I had purchased. I had my receipt and the item had not been opened. The date on the receipt showed I had purchased the item 34 days earlier. The clerk at the returns desk refused to accept the return due to the fact that the purchase was made more than 30 days ago. Given the reason for the purchase and return, I felt that this was unreasonable and requested to speak to the manager. After careful consideration and much argument, the manager agreed to accept the return, but only as an in-store exchange credit. Due to the hassles involved, both parties came away as losers. As a customer, I was not totally satisfied and will most likely take my business to another store with a more liberal and persona lized refund policy. The manager lost due to having to argue with me and this resulted in the loss of my business. Recall your personal work history. Who were your managers most important stakeholders? What, in general, were your managers major stakes in his or her particular position? Answer: In almost every business circumstance, the managers most important stakeholder has been the customer. The line most often heard was The customer is always right. It makes sense for the customer to be the most important stakeholder, because without the customer no other stakeholders would exist. If the customers are not satisfied, then they conduct their business elsewhere and the company ceases to exist. In your company or one in which you have worked, what is the industry? The major external environments? Your product or service? Describe the major influences of each environment on your company (for example, on its competitiveness and ability to survive). Evaluate how well your company is managing its environments strategically, operationally, and technologically, as well as in relation to new products and public reputation. Answer: ABC Consulting and Accounting, Inc. The industry of business consulting and accounting. The environments that most often accompany the consulting and accounting firms are economic, legal, and government/regulatory. The service provided by ABC consists of all accounting functions ¾bookkeeping, financial statement preparation, tax preparation, auditing, etc. The consulting services provided consist of reorganization, cost analysis, tax planning, capital investment planning, budgeting, etc. Potential stakeholders are government regulatory agencies-FASB, GAAP-as well as the stockholders of the business customers, their customers, their employees, etc. Each stakeholder affects ABC by either limiting what can be done in regards to reorganizing or analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the firms that are our customers, or by the way that the accounting records are kept and reported. We affect our stakeholders by providing the service that they requested to the best of our ability. Choose one type of functional area manager described in the chapter. Describe a dilemma involving this manager, taken from a recent media report. Discuss how a stakeholder analysis could have helped or would help that manager work effectively with stakeholders. Answer: Regarding th