Knowledge Management in Education

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all who gave their support throughout the process of writing this Seminar paper. I would also like to thank my beloved lovely wife Edith Lisalitsa and my son Macdonald Lisalitsa for giving me humble time to concentrate in preparing this Seminar paper. I would also wish to thank my classmates and session mates for their support. Special thanks, goes to my supervisor Mr. Abanti Cyrus Makori for his underlying support, patience, intellectual support and guidance.Most of all I thank the Almighty God for sustaining me through this process and giving me good health, sound mind and strength to carry on. INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN IMPROVING QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS By:Lisalitsa Fred Ambutsi E-mail: [email  protected] com or [email  protected] com Abstract. The new trends of use of knowledge management system in business organization have incr eased the need to integrate the knowledge management system in higher education sector.The current means used in technical institution in knowledge management is based on the experts in various fields. The creation and transmitting is through face to face interactions, mentoring, organization, and policies, routes and procedures, reports and staff development. This method does not conserve knowledge, does not allow standardization, neither does it allow uniform and maximum sharing of knowledge. Knowledge management system can be integrated in technical education in order to improve management and its utilization.Knowledge management system provides tools for capturing, organization, delivery, tracking and assessment of various types of learning and training. The knowledge management allows improved service capability of lecturers and students improve sharing of internal and external information and improved effectiveness and efficiency. The objectives of the seminar paper are: 1. To apply knowledge management system in teaching at technical institution level. 2. To examine the ways of capturing and sorting knowledge for utilization in technical institution. 3.To investigate IT support of knowledge management system and how it can be used in technical Education. 4. To investigate challenges technical institution are facing Key words Knowledge, Integrating, Systems, learning. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATIONI DECLARATIONII ACKNOWLEDGMENTIII 1. 1 IMPORTANT DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE2 2. CAPTURING AND SORTING KNOWLEDGE2 2. 1 STEPS IN KNOWLEDGE GATHERING3 3. SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES6 4. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE WORKS6 5. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS7 6. KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS8 7. BENEFITS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS9 CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS12 9. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE13 10. INTERNET AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT14 11. CONCLUSION17 REFERENCES18 1. .INTRODUCTION Oz et al (2006) defines knowledge management as the combination of activities involved in gathering, organizing, sharing, analyzing and disseminating knowledge to improve an organization performance. Information that can be gleaned from stored data is knowledge, much knowledge is accumulated through experience is in peoples minds, on paper notes, on discussion transcripts.Knowledge management is the attempt by organizations to put procedures and technologies in place to do the following: a) Transfer individual knowledge into databases b) Filter and separate the most relevant knowledge. c) Organize that knowledge in databases that allow employees easy access to it. Barnes(2002) made the following interesting comparison about knowledge , information and data he says that knowledge as a justified personal belief that increases an individual’s capacity to take effective action.Information is data interpreted in to a meaningful frame, whereas knowledge is information that has been authenticated and thought to be true. Data is raw numbers and facts, information is pr ocessed data and knowledge is information made achievable. According to Rainer et al(2007) The goal of knowledge management is to help organization to make most effective use of knowledge. it has the following benefits are: ? Makes the best practices, which are most effectives and efficient ways of doing things rapidly available to a wide range of employees ?Enhance access to best practices knowledge improves overall organization performance. ? Improved customer service. ? Most efficient product development. ? Improved employee morale and retention. Barnes(2002) says traditionally, knowledge creation and transfer has occurred through various means such as face-to-face interactions (planned or adhoc), mentoring, job rotation and staff development. Barnes(2002) observes that the concept of coding and transmitting knowledge in organization is not new: training and employee development programmes, organization policies routines, procedures, reports and manuals have served this function for years.These traditional means may prove to be too slow, less effective and need of being supplemented by by more efficient electronics methods. 1. 1 IMPORTANT DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE Data: is a flow of events or transactions captured by organization’s systems that by itself is useful for transacting but little else. To turn data into information a firm must expend resources to organize data into categories of understanding, such as monthly, daily, regional or stored based reports of the total sales.To transform information ito knowledge the firm must expend additional resources to discover patterns, rules and context where the knowledge works. Finally wisdom is thought to be the collective and individual experiences of applying knowledge to the solutions of problems. Wisdom involves where, when, and how to apply knowledge. Knowledge is both individual attribute and collective attribute of the firm. Knowledge is stored in libraries, and records, shared in lectures and store d by firms in the form of business process and employee know how Laudon and Laudon (2006). . CAPTURING AND SORTING KNOWLEDGE (a) Online questionnaires: According to Oz et al (2006)[3] knowledge can be captured through the use of online questionnaires. Some of the questionnaires provide multiple choice answers, which make the input structured and easy to sort and analyze, but some of the most valuable input is in the form of free text. Knowledge can also be done by use of software such as polygamist to analyze data form (Megaputer intelligence). . A good example is Watson an application created by intellect.It is installed in a PC and embedded in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. It analyses and employees’ document as it is being written, creates an automatic query about the subject, reaches out onto the knowledge management program and pulls information that might be applicable to the task at hand. (b) Software Tools: Oz et al(2006) also describes that Knowledge can als o be captured by use of software tools that search for such information and derive valuable business knowledge form it. For example Online Audience Analysis software that was developed by Accenture Technology Labs.Such tools help organization add to their knowledge base especially in terms of what others say about their product and services. The tools take into account factors such as its industry, context in which an enquiry works to select and deliver the proper information. (c) Knowledge network systems: Laudon and Laudon (2006) say that knowledge network systems also known as expertise location and management systems, provides an online directory of corporate experts in well defined knowledge domains and use communication to find the appropriate expert in the company.Some knowledge network systems go further by systematizing the solutions being developed by experts and then storing the solutions in a knowledge database as best practices or frequently asked questions (FAQ), repos itory e. g. AskMe, inc offers a widely adopted enterprise knowledge net system. (d) Employee Knowledge networks: facilitates knowledge sharing through intranets. Tacit systems activates tool continuously process email, documents and other business communication and automatically ‘discover’ each employee work focus, expertise and business relation ship.This tool ‘mines’ this unstructured data to build a profile of each employee in terms of topics and interests. The goal is to ensure that two people who might benefit from creating a connection in a work place do so, so that one can learn form the expertise of another about issues. According to Oz(2006)some companies have developed software tools that search for such information and derive valuable business knowledge form it. E. g. Accenture Technology labs developed audience analysis such tools helps organization add to their knowledge base especially in terms of what others say about their product and servic es.The tool takes into account factors such as the industry and context in which an enquirer works to select and deliver the proper information. (f) A web portal: also known as a links page, presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. Apart from the standard search engine feature, web portals offer other services such as e-mail, news, stock prices, information, databases and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether.Examples of public web portals are MSN, Yahoo! , AOL, iGoogle and Netvibes. 2. 1 STEPS IN KNOWLEDGE GATHERING The first challenge in the knowledge-gathering process is simply deciding what knowledge to gather. For example, while identifying the most frequently asked questions is critical for a self-service web site implementation, call centers will also need to know the m ost frequently escalated questions. Moreover, while management goals may center around ROI issues, the system must be designed with users in mind, or it will not be successful.According to paper published by eGain Communications Corporation [2004] that appeared in the internet and internetworking here is a step-by-step review of the knowledge-gathering process. Step 1: Building the team There are four roles in the knowledge management team:  ¦ Lead expert: The individual (or individuals) who decides how the knowledge base will be organized, which topics will be covered, and to what extent.  ¦ Users: Call center agents who have good performance records and can provide suggestions. Knowledge authors: Individuals who are technically trained in using authoring tools.  ¦ Project manager. The individual who keeps the project on track. Depending on the scope of the project, one person may play several roles. Step 2: Assessing the value of knowledge The best way to determine what know ledge should be gathered is to estimate what the value to your enterprise would be if every agent managed service interactions by effectively using that knowledge Step 3: Setting content boundariesWhen defining the scope of the knowledge base, the most common mistake is to try to include too much. Overly ambitious deployments almost always result in what’s called â€Å"the Swiss cheese problem†Ã¢â‚¬â€a knowledge base that is solid in places, but full of holes. This is a recipe for failure, because if users can’t find the answers they want most of the time, or get the wrong answers, they will quickly stop using the system. It is better to be thorough with a limited area than to cover a broad area superficially.For instance, for an enterprise that sells printers, scanners, fax machines, and copiers, the best approach would be to cover one product line thoroughly, rather than all products at once. Step 4: Prioritizing objectives Establishing the value of knowledge enables prioritization, but this process may involve trade-offs. For example, in a technology subscription environment like cable TV, Internet service provision, or mobile telephony, there are typically three competing goals:  ¦ Speed of problem resolution (the â€Å"right answer† focus): The shorter the average duration of a call, the ower the cost to the enterprise.  ¦ Customer retention: Educating customers about unused features can result in greater customer acceptance and lower churn.  ¦ Up-selling and cross-selling: It may be that the best solution to a customer’s problem is selling that customer a higher tier of service or an add-on product. Enterprises must match their knowledge systems and processes to the service priorities. Step 5: Setting time boundaries In our experience with many deployments, a time-boxed approach to knowledge gathering works best.If the deployment appears to be falling behind schedule, narrowing the scope of the knowledge base (to avoid the Swiss cheese problem) and finishing on schedule is the way to go. The reason has to do with ROI—the main reason for the deployment to begin with. The longer it takes to get the system up and running, the longer it takes to achieve the ROI. If the knowledge scope has been correctly identified and prioritized, the most important questions will be covered. Furthermore, it is always possible to expand the scope later.As a rough guide, a typical enterprise deployment should not take longer than three months (after planning is done), with three or four full-time people engaged. This period includes software installation, knowledge gathering, and testing both the quality of the knowledge base as well as the performance of the system. Step 6: Selecting and managing experts Obviously, the people who contribute to the knowledge base must be technically competent, but it is equally important that they not be too far removed from day-to-day customer contact.Successful knowledg e management depends as much on the questions as the answers, and it is sometimes difficult for subject matter experts to â€Å"stoop† to the level of ordinary customers who may not know complex details like the baud rate of their modem or whether their mutual fund is front-loaded or back-loaded. There is another very important issue with experts: the reluctance to share knowledge and the fear of being â€Å"replaced by a machine. † It is important, therefore, that enterprises plan and communicate how the role of the experts will change once knowledge management has been implemented.Moreover, enterprises should create incentives for domain experts to share their knowledge with the rest of the organization. Step 7: Controlling content Once the knowledge gathering process has been completed, results must be reviewed in light of strategic objectives. It is critical for organizations to set up a review process for approving the final content of the knowledge base. This inc ludes determining who (beyond the experts) should review the content, and who has the authority to make final decisions. There are good reasons for not leaving these decisions to content experts alone.For example, any material an enterprise presents to the public can have legal or safety implications. One good approach to quality control is the use of workflow authoring software where agents (or customers and partners, in the case of self-service) can suggest additions or changes, but only authorized individuals can approve them. 3. SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES According Laudon and Laudon (2006) major commercial knowledge management systems vendors has integrated their content and document management capabilities with powerful portal and collaboration technologies.Enterprise knowledge portals can provide access to external sources of information such as news feeds and research as well as to internal knowledge recourses along with capabilities for e-mail, chat, instant, messaging, discuss ion groups and video conferencing . Laudon and Laudon (2006) further states that companies are now staring to use consumer web technologies such as blogs, wikies and social booking marking for internal use to facilitate the exchange of information between individuals and teams. E. g. Intel COE Paul; Otellini has a Blog for conveying his thoughts.Learning management systems provides tools for the management, delivery, tracking, and assessment of various types of employee learning and training. Contemporary leanaing management system support multiple modes including CD-ROM, downloadable video, web based classes live instruction in cases or online and group learning. In online forums and chat sessions. Learning management systems consolidate mixed media training, automatic the selection and administration of courses, assemble and deliver learning content and measure learing effectiveness. (Laudon and Laudon 2006). 4. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE WORKSOslon(2000) describes the following as types of knowledge works. a) Diagnosis and problem finding These are knowledge work because they depend heavily on knowledge and expertise of the analyst or diagnostician. The work of diagnosis tends to be semi structured and unstructured b) Planning and decision making Many people who engage in knowledge work may contribute to the decision making process. Staff professions such as financials analyst or market researchers are responsible for collecting and analyzing data before results are presented to the person responsible for decision making.Planning and decision making are knowledge work because they depend on expertise of the decision maker and manipulation of data using decision model. Highly structured programmed decision making has less knowledge work content than unstructured decision making. c) Monitoring and control Many monitoring and control activities can be structured and made fairly routine. Analysis of the meaning and of monitoring reports and analysis of variances often require expertise and judgment on the part of the reviewer, these monitoring and control activities are knowledge. ) Organizing and scheduling Organizing is critical component of knowledge work productivityand scheduling is a structuring activity which establishes a time sequence to other activities including personal activities and meetings. e) Authoring and presentation The objective of this class of knowledge to to progress from an idead through multiple media transformation to a final presentation form, whether document, diagram, or a set of visual aids for a presentation. 5. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS a) Structured knowledge systems: Some knowledge exists already somewhere in the form of structures text documents and reports or presentation, and the central problems organizing this existing structured knowledge into a library and making it accessible throughout the firm. (b) Semi structured knowledge systems: Managers may also need information that exists somewhere i nside the firm in the form of less structured documents, such as e-mail, voice mail, chat room exchangers , video, digital pictures, brochures, bulletins boards.This knowledge can be stored in knowledge repository. Knowledge repository is collection of internal and external knowledge in single location for more efficient management and utilization by the organization. 6. KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS McLeod Jr(1998) describes artificial Intelligence, Expert systems as knowledge based system. He further expounds as follows (a) Artificial Intelligence: Is the activity of providing such machines as computers with the ability to display behaviour that would be regarded as intelligent if it were observed in humans.A. I represent the most sophisticated form of human reasoning. According to O’Brien(2004) Artificial Intelligence offers the following advantages of knowledge systems. †¢ Reducing training time †¢ Reducing training costs. †¢ Replication valuable expertise †¢ Reducing operation response time. †¢ Presenting valuable knowledge (b) Expert system: Is a computer program that attempts to represent knowledge of human experts in the form of heuristics. Expert system is expected to: †¢ Better performance for the firm:As the managers extend their problem solving abilities through the use of the expert systems the firms control mechanism is improved. The firm is better able to meet its objectives. †¢ To maintain control over the firms: Knowledge expert systems afford the opportunity to make the experiences employees knowledge more available to new, less experiences employees and to keep that knowledge in the firm long even after the employee have left the firm The expert system outputs through: †¢ Explanation of questions: The manager may desire explanation while the expert systems perform its reasoning.Theses is done through questions as the expert system provides the explanation †¢ Explanation of the problem solution af ter the expert systems provides a problem solution, the manager can ask for an explanation of how it ws reached. The expert system will display, each of the reasoning steps leading to the solution (c) Decision Support System: Decision support system provides information and models in aform to facilitate tactical and strategies decision making. They are information system that support management decision making by integrating: †¢ Company performance data Business rules based on decisions tables. †¢ Analytical tools and models for forecast and planning †¢ Easy to use graphical interface Decision support system tends to be used for adhoc queries rather than regular reporting. The technology varies particularly rapidly in this area and the newest development such as data warehouse attests to this Bocij (2009) (d) Executive Support Systems: provides senior management with system to assist them in taking strategic and tactical decision.The purpose is to analyze compare and highlight trends to help govern the strategic direction of accompany. They are commonly integrated with operational systems giving managers the falilitioan â€Å"drill† to find out further information or a problem Bocij(2006) (e) Hypermedia system: Provides computer based storage of documents composed of text, graphs, diagrams, sound, schematics, pictures motion, video and the link. Hyper documents include not only document but also indexes for cross references its materials Kroenke and Hatch(1989). f) Interactive Video: Is atype of knowledge system, video segments integrated via a menu processing application. Interactive video application overcome on of the biggest disadvantages of video media. The requirements of sequential access instead users are presented with video segments that they can control through a menu Kroenke and Hatch(1989). 7. BENEFITS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS a) Improves service for students b) Improves services capability of faculty and staff c) Improve d effectiveness and efficiency of advising efforts. ) Improved ability to identify improvement efforts. e) Improved sharing of internal and external information to minimize redundant efforts and lessen the reporting burden f) Reduce turn around time for research. g) Facilitation of inter-disciplinary research h) Increased competitive and responsiveness for research grants, contracts and commercial opportunities. According to by Jillinda J. etl (2000) the benefit of Knowledge management in the area of research which is the key to learning especially in higher education is as outlined in table 1 below.Table 1: Application and Benefits of KM for the Research Process |Knowledge Management Application |Benefits | |A repository of: |Increased competitiveness and responsiveness for | |Research interests within an institution or at affiliated institutions (potential |research grants, contracts, and commercial | |Subcontractors). |opportunities. |Research results (where possible) and funding organizations (federal agencies, foundations, |Reduced turnaround time for research. | |and corporations) with easy search capabilities to facilitate interdisciplinary |Minimized devotion of research resources to | |opportunities. |administrative tasks. | |Commercial opportunities for research results. |Facilitation of interdisciplinary research. | |A portal for research administration procedures and best practices related to: |Leveraging of previous research and proposal | |Funding opportunities. efforts. | |Pre-populated proposals, budgets, and protocols. |Improved internal and external services and | |Proposal-routing policies and procedures. |effectiveness. | |Award notification, account setup, and negotiation policies and procedures. |Reduced administrative costs. | |Contract and grant management policies and procedures. | | |Technical and financial report templates and policies and procedures. | | |Overview of internal services, resources, and staff. | Jillinda J. etl (2000) also derived the following application and benefits of management as stated in table 2 below. Table 2: Application and Benefits of KM for the Curriculum Development Process |Knowledge Management Application |Benefits | |Repository of curriculum revision efforts that includes research conducted, effectiveness | Enhanced quality of curriculum and programs by | |measures, best practices, lessons learned, and so forth. identifying and leveraging best practices and | |Repository of content modularized and arranged to facilitate interdisciplinary curriculum |monitoring outcomes. | |design and development. |Improved speed of curriculum revision and | |Portal of information related to teaching and learning with technology, including faculty |updating. | |development opportunities, outcomes tracking, lessons learned, best practices, technology |Enhanced faculty development efforts, especially | |overviews, and so forth. for new faculty. | |â€Å"Hubs† of information in each disciplina ry area, including updated materials, recent |Improved administrative services related to | |publications, applicable research, and so forth. |teaching and learning with technology. | |Repository of pedagogy and assessment techniques, including best practices, outcomes |Improved responsiveness by monitoring and | |tracking, faculty development opportunities, and research. incorporating lessons learned from the | |Repository of analyzed student evaluations updated each semester for lessons learned and |experiences of colleagues, student evaluations, | |best practices for all faculty. |and corporate or other constituent input. | |Portal for new faculty with guides for developing curriculum, working with senior faculty, |Interdisciplinary curriculum design and | |establishing effective teaching styles, advising do’s and don’ts, supervising PhD students, |development facilitated by navigating across | |and so forth. |departmental boundaries. |Repository of corporate relati onships to identify curriculum design advisory task forces, | | |guest speakers, adjuncts, case study sites, and so forth. | | 8 CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS According to a document posted on internet by Kristy Annely (2006) Most of the challenges in knowledge management primarily stem from the types of knowledge reuse situations and purposes. Knowledge workers may produce knowledge that they themselves reuse while working.However, each knowledge re-use situation is unique in terms of requirements and context. Whenever these differences between the knowledge re-use situations are ignored, the organization faces various challenges in implementing its knowledge management practices. Some of the common challenges resulting due to this and other factors are listed below. (a) Willingness to share Knowledge: The employees may not be willing to share their personal tacit knowledge:. This call for a scheme to reward employees who add expertise to the knowledgebase . Knowledge base must be continually maintained and updated.New knowledge must be added and old, outdated knowledge must be deleted. (b) Data Accuracy: Valuable raw data generated by a particular group within an organization may need to be validated before being transformed into normalized or consistent content. (c) Data Interpretation: Information derived by one group may need to be mapped to a standard context in order to be meaningful to someone else in the organization. Data Relevancy: The quality and value of knowledge depend on relevance. Knowledge that lacks relevance simply adds complexity, cost, and risk to an organization without any compensating benefits.If the data does not support or truly answer the question being asked by the user, it requires the appropriate meta-data (data about data) to be held in the knowledge management solution. (d) Ability of the data to support/deny hypotheses: Does the information truly support decision-making? Does the knowledge management s olution include a statistical or rule-based model for the workflow within which the question is being asked? Adoption of knowledge management solutions: Do organizational cultures foster and support voluntary usage of knowledge management solutions? e) Knowledge bases tend to be very complex and large: When knowledge databases become very large and complex, it puts the organization in a fix. The organization could cleanse the system of very old files, thus diluting its own knowledge management initiative. Alternatively, it could set up another team to cleanse the database of redundant files, thus increasing its costs substantially. Apart from these, the real challenge for an organization could be to monitor various departments and ensure that they take responsibility for keeping their repositories clean of redundant files. . TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE (i) Tacit and Explicit Knowledge The distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge is critical in appreciating the scope of knowledge mana gement and how it differs from information and data management. Nonaka8 refers to the spiral of knowledge where new knowledge always begins with the personal. For example, a researcher has insights that lead to a new patent. Explicit knowledge deals with more objectives, rational and technical knowledge. Consist of policies, procedures, guides, reports, products strategies, goals, core competencies and it infrastructure.Is the knowledge that has been codified (documented) in a form that can be distributed to others or transformed into a process strategy? Tacit knowledge is a cumulative store of subjective or experimental learning. In organization Tacit knowledge consists of experiences, insights, expertise, know-how, trade secrets, skills sets, understanding and learning. It also includes the organization culture, which reflects the past ans present experiences of the organization peoples and processes as well as prevailing and costly to transfer.It is also highly primal because is unstructured, it is difficult to formalize or codify Rainer etl (2009). Nonaka(1991) identifies four basic patterns for creating knowledge in any organization: (a) From Tacit to Tacit. When one individual shares tacit knowledge with another in face-to-face contact. (b) From Explicit to Explicit. When an individual combines discrete pieces of explicit knowledge into a new whole, such as a finance manager collecting and synthesizing information and opinions from different parts of the organization then putting this into a financial report.. c)From Tacit to Explicit. This extends the organization's knowledge base by codifying experience, insight, or judgment into a form which can be reused by others. (d) From Explicit to Tacit. When staff begin to internalize new or shared explicit knowledge and then use it to broaden, extend, and rethink their own tacit knowledge. 10. INTERNET AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Blogging Himanshu (2009) says blogging is a greatest source to share things on Inter net. Slowly blogging taking place of online media; in fact Blogging is now an example of online media.Many news agencies buy news from blogging companies time to time. There are enormous advantages of Blogging. Some of the advantages of blogging which enhances performance of any blogger are: Blogging brings lots of knowledge. From Word press to blogger, server to host, blogging to make money online, resources to online tutorials, bloggers get aware of all the small to big things present on the internet. Also blogging teach people to use internet resources effectively. Why Blogging is so popular Duermyer (2008) explains that Blogging is very popular today because it llows people to interact with each other. Blogging has also become a popular search engine optimization (SEO) tool because search engines like Google and Yahoo know that a blog is frequently updated with content or visitor comments, so their spiders visit blogs frequently looking for new content to include in their index. Additionally, blog content can be delivered automatically via electronic RSS (Really Simple Syndication) data feeds. Visitors subscribe to a blog's feeds in order to stay up to date with content that's being posted on subjects that interest them.Cassanova(2007) say that blog templates are coded in a way that they're well viewed by the Google's search engines. So we can consider this as an advantage since your blog will get much traffic from google if you're using his templates. He further explains that a blogger is flexible with all kind of entries like the bookmarking tools in footers and RSS subscription like FeedBurner. Blogger also allows for easy comments moderation and posts edition. However they have some Drawbacks e. g The dot blogspot subdomain can affect the image of your blog when it comes to advertisers to choose where to advertise for their products.Actually, it's not only about Blogger but it's the drawback of having a free domain name and Unlike other Blogging templa tes themes, blogspot's aren't really beautiful. You can do a better presentation with WordPress. Moreover, the columns are difficult to manipulate; you can hardly get three columns with blogspot while it's easy with wordpress.. (a) Word Press: Site ground knowledge base defines Word Press as an open source blog publishing application and can be used for basic content management: According to an article presented in the internet it is the most popular web blogging software because it provides   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Ease of use.WordPress is suitable for just about anybody – from the absolute novice to the advanced programmer. – Feature-rich interface. WordPress has a rich text editor with advanced multimedia support; – Expandable. WordPress's community distributes a large number of modules for almost any popular website feature; – It is Open Source. This means it is free to install, use and distribute WordPress on your site. (b) Face book: According to the web site p age on http://www. vfw. org Face book is a social networking service that lets you connect with friends, o-workers, and others who share similar interests or who have common backgrounds. Facebook enables users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students get to know each other better. Agnes(2008)says Clients or users can make groups and conversation or discussion topics. This assemblage or group can cultivate, or be gone alone to pass away, depending on the clients or users and their involvement..Facebook is a one-stop shop or supermarket for imparting blogging, media, calendaring, communicating, sharing ideas or information and others. Facebook can provide â€Å"Cooperative Extension† abilities or capabilities to work together and construct our networks in a single place by giving one pl ace without difficulty, imparting ideas or information and discuss subject or topics of interest. Face book brings jointly more than a few online apparatus. Furthermore to being capable to impart ideas or information and pictures, you can append applications few examples are: Flickr ,   del. cio. us, Twitter, your blog, news feeds to your Facebook home. (c) Youtobe: Geller(2008) defines YouTube as an online public communications site. The site allows for registered users to upload and have available for the public their videos for viewing. Anyone who goes to the site can view the videos that are posted on this site. The videos are anything from beginner videos to more professional videos. McGrath (2008) suggest using the technology (video) to capture knowledge dumps that can be prepared and stored for distribution.Face it, a video capture of someone's thoughts and actions delivered with their passion or emotion of the situation is far better (and a lot quicker) than trying to capt ure the same knowledge in writing. More specifically, he had several great ideas †¢ Use video to capture knowledge and a YouTube-type repository for storage and distribution. †¢ Use Blogs for day-to-day capture of activities and what is being worked on. †¢ Use a Wiki for collaborative projects. †¢ Use a  delicious-style tagging system for classification.McGrath's suggesting the utilization of today's most popular technologies for knowledge management purposes is strong and useful advice. (d) Wiki: According to Tech Terms Computer Dictionary (http://www. techterms. com/ ) A wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors. A great example of a large wiki is the Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can edit.Wikis can be used for a number o f purposes: †¢ On public Web sites to enable end users to easily contribute information. †¢ In teaching. Wikis can provide an opportunity to learn about team working, trust, etc. A good example is provided by Queen’s University Belfast . †¢ By researchers. Wikis are by Web researchers to make it easier to develop collaborative documents e. g. the FOAF Wiki . †¢ On Intranets, where departmental administrators with minimal HTML experience may be able to manage departmental content. †¢ Wikis can be used at events for note-taking e. g. in discussion groups . ) Flickr : Hendricks (2009) explains that An easy way to share videos and pictures of the people you love has brought about a social media networking site called Flickr. In a society of overwhelming social media networking sites, it is refreshing to find a website like Flickr with a specific purpose. Flickr was designed in February 2004 and has been growing since. It is in more ways than one a media s ite for the people. Members are able to upload their favorite pictures and videos to share. Some of the key features of Flickr not initially present but soon added are the abilities to separate your pictures.You can mark some as favorites, or separate them into groups. Tagging provides to be a helpful addition as well in order to keep the pictures organized and document people and dates. It is also possible to share your pictures with friends only or publicly. 11. CONCLUSION Technical education institutions are in the knowledge business, since they are involved in knowledge creation and dissemination and learning. Knowledge Management can transform technical schools to new levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and scope of operation. Through advancements in technology, data and information are readily available.The technical institutions lecturers and students able to discover and learn new measures, new technologies, and new opportunities, but this requires the ability to gather inf ormation in usable formats and disseminate knowledge to achieve the organization’s objectives. Knowledge Management can continually help discovering what an organization knows—codifying tacit knowledge, Data Mining, and Intelligence; continually increasing what the organization knows—organizational learning and communities of practice, and continually organizing and disseminating knowledge for use by the students and for research. REFERENCES Effy Oz and Andy Jones [2008] . Management Information Systems. Course Technology, Division of language learning, inc ,London. James a. O’Brien (6th Ed). [2004]. Management information system. McGray-Hill New Delhi Kenneth C Laudon and Jane P. Laudon (10th Ed) [2006]. Management Information System Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Margrette H Olson(2nd Ed) [2005] Management information systems , Tata McGraw-Hills, New York.. Nonaka, I. [1991] â€Å"he Knowledge Creating Company, Harvard Business Review, Paul Bocij Dave(3rd Ed) [2006]. Business Information System .Prentice Hall, London Kroenke and Hatch. (3rd Ed) [1989]. Management Information System McGraw-Hill. Watsonville. Raymonf McLead, Jr,( 7th d) [1998], ] Management Information System, Prentice Hall Upper New Rainer R. et al [2007]. Introduction to information systems supporting and transforming business. John wileys and sons inc. New Delhi Stuart Barnes (2nd Ed) [2002] Knowledge Management Systems Theory And Practice. Thomson learning London. Delhi . Agnes December 2, 2008. Some Advantages of Facebook. http://www. socialmediawatch. net/index. php/social-media-watch/1356/ Seth McGrath's  January 10, 2008.YouTube for Knowledge Management http://ykm. typepad. com/yerfdogs_knowledge_manage/2008/01/youtube-for-kno. html Dr. E. Scott Geller. October 15, 2007 12:57 PM. YouTube: What Is It and Why Use It? http://www. surfnetkids. com/safety/youtube_what_is_it_and_why_use_it-19026. htm Himanshu on November 5, 2009 . Top 10 greatest advantage s of Blogging http://www. blogtechnika. com/top-10-greatest-advantages-of-blogging Randy Duermyer, What is the Meaning of  Blogging? http://homebusiness. about. com/od/homebusinessglossar1/g/blogging. htm Cassanova at Wednesday,October 10, 2007, 8:59 AM    . Blogspot .. dvantages and Drawbacks http://wddc. blogspot. com/2007/10/blogspot-advantages-and-drawbacks. html Kaylee Hendrick . Jun 29, 2009. Flickr Proves Itself and its Advantages http://www. prlog. org/10270123-flickr-proves-itself-and-its-advantages. html Kristy Annely . November 09, 2006. Knowledge Management Challenges http://ezinearticles. com/? Knowledge-Management-Challenges;id=352953 Jillinda J. Kidwell, Karen M. Vander Linde, and Sandra L. Johnson. Knowledge Management Practices Applying Corporate in Higher Education http://www. unlibrary-nairobi. org/PDFs/knowledge_management1. pdf

American history id groups

The Armenian colonies had strong motivation as well as communication with each other that helped them suck together through all the hardships and changes they went through In the new world.An example of the colonists sucking together was while on the Mayflower all the people aboard knew that their chances of survival depended on sticking gather so, they agreed to form a democracy in which all of the men could vote to create laws for the common good of the colony. Known today as the Mayflower Compact, this agreement acknowledged the king and God, but modeled a new concept called the consent of the governed, which means common people voluntarily agree to allow the government to have authority over them.Success didn't come easy, and nearly half the passengers and crew died of hunger, disease and exposure before the winter was out. Still, the survivors were determined to make it in the New World, and they remained In America when the ship returned to England In April. Bradford knew that the colony could only survive If they had a harvest their first year, since there would be no re-supply shipments.So, he directed that each family plant their own seeds and provide their own food. This task was aided, once again, by their Indian predecessors, who had done all of the hard work of clearing fields for planting. But still, they struggled to get their European crops to grow in New World which caused many hardships that they got through by their unity.

An Avant Garde Critique

Year 12 Film and Television A Touch of Avian-Garden – Film Critique Avian Garden is often defined as a new expression that deviates from the cultural ‘norm,' but that doesn't tell us quite why we appreciate it. Avian Garden is a bit like poetry. It uses aesthetic, symbolic, artistic, or ambiguous content to evoke and signify meanings and feelings in addition to what is ostensibly interpreted. For example, in the case of films, rather than having information handed to the viewer on a platter of dialogue, the narrative is often delivered in a way that is not immediately apparent, UT ultimately more meaningful.This symbolism is one Avian Garden technique amongst many. Two films, Being John Milkmaids and Scott Pilgrim vs.. The World, will be critiqued and the Avian Garden sensibilities of both will be analyses. Directed by Spike Zone and written by Charlie Kaufman, Being John Milkmaids is a comedy – drama film that revolves around the film technique of characterizatio n and identity. Craig Schwartz, an unemployed puppeteer, whose wife Lotto does not return his affections, gains a file clerk Job in the eh floor of a New York office building.Soon enough, in his office, Craig discovers a modern-day rabbit hole, and inside, he gains the ability to experience life through actor John Mammalian's mind. It's a surreal, subversive, and wonderfully original premise, the execution of which encourages our minds to ponder how our lives would change if this fantasy element existed. Throughout Being John Mammalian's later acts, the strange fantastical portal to the mind of Milkmaids is explored in a very complex manner; it leads us to question what is right and wrong, our own morals, and life itself.Some viewers may find the whole dead of the film consistently questionable and, though it requires some suspension of disbelief, the execution of the character arcs is beautifully weaved into the narrative. The arc of Craig, especially, undergoes a significant evolu tion from a humble and lonely husband to a master manipulator, which is a complete and effectively surreal change of character. The symbolism that Craig, a puppeteer, happens to find a portal which he eventually manipulates is clever and it's nice that the writers decided to make it integral to the story and not shove it in our faces, which is how symbolism hooked be explored.It's not there Just so the director can say, â€Å"Look at this clever thing I did! † We sympathies for Craig because he's miserable and because the essence of a likable protagonist is that their reactions and feelings in some way reflect our own. Charlie Kaufman and Spike Zone know this. We sympathies with Craig loneliness, and his motivation to be happy with himself and his career, as the sadness is relatable. Being John Milkmaids also employs an incredibly bleak style, despite its humor (albeit tragic humor).Within most of the settings and to an extent, though post production, the color scheme of ever y scene is typically washed out, lifeless, and uninteresting. It's a representation of the Lotto's, Crag's, and Ammine's inner feelings and personal lives, which effectively stirs a feeling of despair inside of us. The world of Mammalian's mind however, is a stark contrast. Although the depictions of Mammalian's life isn't by any meaner exciting , the characters deliver such a raw desire manipulate it in some way, that it too invests us in the surreal world that is Craig plight.The same goes for many other Avian Garden techniques employed by Zone, techniques that incorporate comedy, isolation, and despair. Being John Milkmaids is an unconventional movie to say the least, which cleverly explores the relatable subject matter of identity. Spike Zone was able to achieve this through intensely tragic and bleak characters, their believable yet austere motivations, and symbolic and meaningful visuals. The culmination of these film techniques and the philosophical subject matter that is ide ntity has brought us an unconventional and metaphysical experience titled Being John Milkmaids.The genre of Avian Garden is evicted in a much less philosophical, more kick-ass manner in Scott Pilgrim vs.. The World, a comedy/action film co-written, produced, and directed by Edgar Wright, based off the comic series by the same name. Young and eponymous protagonist Scott Pilgrim lives in Toronto, Canada and plays bass for his band, Sex Bob-mob. He soon meets Ramona Flowers, a girl who recently appeared in his dreams. Scott promptly falls in love upon meeting her and is tasked with defeating her seven evil exes in order to be with Ramona. Scott Pilgrim vs..The World is a witty interplay of Tyler, delightfully unconventional storytelling, wicked cool fight scenes, as well as some pretty heartfelt moments. Edgar Wright manages to embody the Avian Garden genre in his unique directing, making full use of Bryan Lee Anomaly's tragic and entertaining characters from the comics, and Jam-packin g every scene with cunning references and symbolism. Oh, the symbolism. The entire movie is a call-back to old- school video games and comic books, with many tropes too, such as the alliteration in the names (Wallace Wells, Lucas Lee, Gideon Graves†¦ . Another trope is that Scott lays a game called Ninja Ninja Revolution in the first act, the heads-up-display elements and announcer of which appear during the final fight scene. Moreover, Mega Coot's (the manifestation of Coot's repressed flaws and callousness) appearance is also a call back to the fact that Scott can't beat ‘Mega Ninja' in the game. However, Scott does not fight Mega Scott, as by the end of the film, he earns the power of self-respect' and is able to accept the things he runs from, a nice way to incorporate humor into an important character development.When characters do eke it out however, each fight scene is a stimulating cascade of color and glorious video game sound effects, the style of each being inn ovative enough from the last so they are always thrilling, while at the same time, unconventional. Ramona actually retrieves an enormous hammer from her shoulder bag to battle on of the evil exes, one of many instances of video game logic, something Wright is very fond of. There are too many number references to count. As Scott fights the 7 evil exes, the scenes with each ex make many subtle references to their respective numbers.Lucas Lee, he second evil ex, points at Scott Pilgrim with 2 fingers, fights alongside his stunt doubles, and punches Scott two times upon approaching him. Todd, the third evil ex, has 3 solos in his bass battle with Scott, launches Scott through 3 walls with his vegan powers. And, the 7th evil ex, Gideon Graves, has his glasses broken with the crack resembling the number 7, and so on. Conversely, something more meaningful is the representation of the character's identities and feelings, a method of storytelling that doesn't actually tell, rather it shows.R amona is seen with her subspace' bag throughout the majority of the film, which represents her emotional baggage. Only when she stops repressing her feelings and past is she seen without it. She is also shown to color her hair differently throughout the three acts, pink representing sensitivity and romance, and green representing hope and harmony in the last. One could spend days analyzing the symbolism-drenched imagery and subtle visuals, further discovering the manner in which Scott Pilgrim vs.. The World clearly and cleverly epitomizes Avian Garden.The medium of films is able to depict a Tory in a linear and passive manner, which is why we watch them – to experience a story and be entertained. However, there is incredible potential to add to and defy the conventions of passive storytelling through the use of Avian Garden techniques. When this is applied to cinema, we experience a more meaningful, emotional, or thought-provoking tale, something that is now tantamount to exc ellent storytelling. Such storytelling is successfully represented in the films Being John Milkmaids and Scott Pilgrim vs.. The World directed by Spike Zone and Edgar Wright respectively.

APN credentialing boards Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

APN credentialing boards - Research Paper Example A common and significant group of nurses are the Advanced Nursing Practitioners. The Advanced Nursing Practice activities however, cannot be without scrutiny. Practices headed and managed by APNs have become wide spread. This has seen the emergence of credentialing boards like; American Nursing credentialing centre, National Certification Corporation and the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners. These credentialing institutions perform the duty of giving license, validating clinical experience, giving education preparations and certify nursing practices. APN credentialing boards 1.0. Introduction Over the years they have been emergence on numerous nursing practices. Advanced nursing practice has evolved from being an informal hidden specialty and has become a formal practice with wide spread recognition. It is due to this recognition that it has drawn interests in governments to come up with standards and modes of operations for APNs. Credentialing boards have also been formed. Cr edentialing boards are given the duty to determine whether certain activities are within the scope of operations of APNs. These boards set the ground work for the operation rules, regulations and ethics in the APN practice. According to Fulton & Lyon (2009) the decision making boards also help the APNs to make right decisions in the line of duty. Additionally, the institutions also take the views of advanced nursing practice before coming up with decisions. They consult all groups of nurses under the advanced nursing practice. This essay shall focus on the different credentialing boards and their impacts on the APNs. 2.0. Body The ANP is a broad group which has the capacity of carrying out different and complex duties in a health institution (Carr, Layzel & Christensen, 2010). These duties include administration of health care organizations, implementing and developing health care policies, managing of individuals and groups of patients and the direct care of individual patients. 2. 1. American Association of Critical Care Nurses The American Association of Critical Care Nurses, as one of the credentialing boards is responsible for offering the APNs with an opportunity to take part in programs that boost their careers (McLeod & McGloin, 2010).The nurses are also presented with an opportunity to interact with other nurses; thus, enhance their career through interactions. Through this body, nurses have also gained an opportunity to access various certifications that place them in a better opportunity to get jobs. Through these programs, they are also able to acquire information on how to handle tasking situations that they may encounter in their career, therefore, have a successful career life. Of essence, this board enhances the nursing skills in a tremendous manner. 2.2. American Midwifery Certification Board The American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) is yet another credentialing board of the ANPs. This body has been credited for its contribution in keep ing the nurses updated with the major role they are faced with in provision of services to the public. The body also provides the nurses with certification programs, for instance, AMCB certification tests, as well as approval by the nursing council (Ament, 2007). 2.3. American Nurses Credentialing Center The American Nurses Credentialing Center is one of the most prominent credentialing boards in the world (Masters, 2009). This association is charged with the responsibility

What single reform would you implement to enhance democracy in Canada Research Paper

What single reform would you implement to enhance democracy in Canada I picked Proportional Representation - Research Paper Example Discrimination, racism and prejudice are vices that are as old as humanity and have existed alongside it all along, consistently developing in an environment of close association of diverse groups. Historically in Canada, racism has not been confined to any specific group as racist policies are known to have promoted slavery, brought segregation to schools and even prohibited other groups from certain activities and jobs. However, studies show that Aboriginal peoples have and continue to getting the worst experiences of racial discrimination than any other group in the country and, more specifically, within the criminal justice system. According to a report by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics, the criminal justice system criminalizes Aboriginal people three times more than non-aboriginal people in violent crime (Brzozowski, Taylor-Butts & Johnson 69). Consequently, Aboriginal people are represented disproportionately in the criminal justice system, especially the courts and correctional facilities. This research project acknowledges that one of the key policy issues of the Canadian government has been the discrimination the aboriginal people are subjected to. From that perspective, it aims to answer the question â€Å"what single reform would you implement to enhance democracy in Canada?† Hence, arguing on the concepts of PR, it will be shown that the discrimination against the aboriginal people can be ended. The discussion will basically be based on the relationship the aboriginal people have with the criminal justice system. The key focus will be on the fact that unless changes are implemented in this relationship, aboriginal people will continue being disproportionately represented in the criminal justice system. More importantly, the changes must be implemented in the criminal and correctional systems. In Manitoba, only 12% of the population is made up of aboriginal people. However, out of the 1,600 people in incarceration in correctional

PROJECTS & SYSTEMS THEORY Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words - 1

PROJECTS & SYSTEMS THEORY - Assignment Example Von Bertalanffy (1962, 12) adds that the systems theory is fundamentally based on the notion of system interactions. The concept of system can also be drawn back to Aristotle claims who believed that knowledge is built when one understands the whole and not the single parts. Since the systems theory have proven to apply to many disciplines, most scientists have struggled to shift from the notion of whole to part, in order to capture the particular systems that run the world in different disciplines. Research shows that a number of scholars and authors have adopted the system analysis in describing organizations in relation to their environments. Burns and Stalker (1961, 81) argues that visualizing organizations as systems enables management and marketing. Notable scientists that have developed the systems theory include William Rowan Hamilton. Hamilton (2000, 230) developed the theory focusing on the system of rays in physics. He states that a system of light rays is a collection of lines, which are connected by a common bond and have similar points of origin. When the rays diverge from a source, they compose an optical system, and, when they are reflected on a mirror, they form another system. Hamilton ideas are essential in describing the systems theory that encompasses the aspects of a super system, systems and sub-systems. Hamilton (1997, 35) argues that it is important to integrate the parts of a problem in order to understand the systems theory as a whole as well as the interdependency of these parts. Tien and Berg (2003, 23) defines systems theory as the way of studying any system as a whole instead of the individual parts. Therefore, a system is the group of individual system components that work together to achieve certain goals and objectives. In order to understand and appreciate the systems theory, it is important to learn the components of the

Illogical Terror (or invent another topic if you like) Essay

Illogical Terror (or invent another topic if you like) - Essay Example He possesses a strange power of seeing future events in his vision. He views blood coming out of an elevator of Overlook Hotel, the place where his father wants to go become the caretaker. The strange force is also present in the telepathic powers of the hotel chef. He offers Danny ice cream through this power. This seems illogical yet vaguely corresponds to people’s perceptions of demonic possessions and haunted places. Logically, it should not terrorize the audiences but it does. Val Lewton uses similar ideas. In his movies, a strange force either haunts a place (building, castle etc.) or it resides in people. In his film Cat People (1942) this strange power lies in a woman, Irena Dubrovna. She can turn into a beast (an overgrown black panther) when sexually aroused. Val Lewton’s The Haunting (1980) also incorporates a similar uncanny force. In the Female Spectator, Lesbian Specter: The Haunting, Patricia White states â€Å"It is the uncanny house that the heroine is forced to inhabit - and to explore†¦ The woman provokes the uncanny; her experience of it remains a shadowy area.† She is shown to have psychic powers. Exactly what happens to her at the house or what she does to the ‘creatures’ living in the house is a mystery. This uncanny force is the theme of The Shining. Towards the end of the movie, the audiences are shown a photograph of Jack from 1921. The story unwinds in such a way that it gives an impression that probably Jack Torrance was a ghost from the beginning. His decision to take his wife, Wendy, and son to the hotel triggered the ‘force’. The Haunting shows a similar context. The team that visits the haunted house triggers paranormal events. The Leopard Man (1943) is fascinating in the sense that this uncanny force is not real. It gives the illusion that the forces there. For instance, all the way through the movie the audiences keep guessing that probably the man

Project Cost Control Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Project Cost Control - Essay Example Costs are defined as anything that does not add value to the system rather consumes resources, capital, time or other related functions and components of the project. Steve Odland, in his assessment of the methods by which the costs may be controlled defines the interaction with the customers as one of the reasons based on which the costs can be controlled. According to his views, the customers provide sufficient information and guidelines regarding the utility based projects and items and those that do not add value or are little needed and desired by the customers. The response of the customers enable knowing what to produce and what to avoid in the future trends and projects (Odland, 2012). Another area that is often termed as a serious point with regard to the handling of the costs is the inventory. Inventory often takes up large amount of resources and material. Many companies and projects fail only because of the bulk of the inventory in stock. The stocks lead to consuming space, budget and other associated items which result in the non production of the productive items and products that would otherwise be kept and reserved in limited quantity (KACHWALA, 2009, p. 92). Identifying the defective products, processes and all those activities and components that lead to the consumption of resources, energy and material are amounted to as costs. The time and resources spent would otherwise be spent in the production of the new items and material. Adhering to the terms and conditions that are set forth in the early phases of the project and overall organizational tasks are also important. Often the lag incurs on the account of the deviation from the initially set forth conditions based on which the project had been started. The failure to do so results in delay. It also results in the extra resources usage and many more associated functions and discrepancies within the system and project at hand. Transportation means and communication sources are

Fuel Poverty in Scotland Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Fuel Poverty in Scotland - Essay Example According to â€Å"High Level Summary†, fuel poverty refers to a situation where persons spend over 10% of their personal income on household fuel to maintain a heating regime that is satisfactory. On the other hand, Moore defines fuel poverty as a situation where a person’s energy costs are more than average and when he/she spends such an amount, he/she is left with an income that is less than the official poverty line. That notwithstanding, the Warm Homes and Energy Conservation Act 2000 in the UK defines fuel poverty as when, â€Å"a person is to be regarded as living in fuel poverty if he is a member of a household living on a lower income in a home that cannot be kept warm at reasonable cost†. However, it is imperative to note that the term fuel poverty was initially a common phrase in the United Kingdom but currently the concept has found its way globally wherever there is poverty.A survey on Scottish house conditions 2012 revealed that over 27.1 % of house holds in Scotland spent over 10% of their personal incomes on energy, resulting in a situation of fuel poverty. Some of the indicators that have been found to cause fuel poverty in Scotland include:The prices of fuel in Scotland keep on fluctuating from time to time resulting in people falling in and out of poverty. For example, high consumer prices for fuel such as electricity resulting from aggravated higher tariffs increase the cost of fuel causing high levels of fuel poverty

Causation and Correlation Essay Example for Free

Causation and Correlation Essay Causation and Correlation Paper The topic I am going to pick is â€Å"Wealthy people are thin†. This could go both ways I am thinking. Wealthy people have the means to stay thin. They have money, resources, and the means to keep there health in check. If you’re poor or not wealthy you basically have to eat or cook what ever is cheap and some healthy foods are not cheap. For these reasons I think the correlation for this topic could be a good one or a bad one, it just depends on what your economic status is and what you can or can’t afford. I think if I had to pick one or the other out of causation and correlation I think this topic is more causation. The reasoning for my selection is that if you are wealthy you have more options to stay thin. So for this being wealthy can cause one to stay thin. Another reason why wealthy people are more able to stay thin over less wealthier people is because like I have mentioned food is expensive and the foods they might need to get you might have to travel or go to special stores. Another way this is causation is because wealthy people can also afford personal trainers or even a gym membership along with weight loss doctors to stay on track. For all these reasons they cause wealthier people to stay thin. Reference: Causation and Correlation in this weeks materials.

Social Work Counselling in Social Work

Social Work Counselling in Social Work The Role and Applicability of Counselling in Social Work Practice Introduction and Overview Social work originated as a community help measure in the 19th century and has since then become an organised discipline that aims to support and empower those who suffer from social unfairness. Apart from helping the disadvantaged to live with dignity, social work aims at achieving social inclusion and has been found to be effective in correcting disparities and in helping individuals to overcome impediments that arise from different aspects of life; apart from those that require knowledge of the physical and medical sciences. Social work practice has, over the years, become integral to Britain’s working life and current estimates put the number of active social workers in the country at significantly more than one million. (Parrott, 2002) Whilst social workers can be called upon to assist all sections of the community, the majority of their assignments concern helping individuals in stressful situations and those experiencing difficulties with issues that relate to emotions, relationships, unemployment, work, disabilities, discrimination, substance abuse, finances, housing, domestic violence, poverty, and social exclusion. Such a range of applications has necessitated the development of (a) a variety of skills and techniques, (b) methods to transfer these skills to social workers, and (c) procedures for the delivery of social work in a variety of settings, which include schools and colleges, households, hospitals, prisons and secured homes, and training and community centres. (Parton, 1996) Social work practice focuses on dealing with the problems of service users. The maintenance and improvement of their social, physical, and mental states is often dependent upon the effectiveness of social work intervention. (Miller, 2005) Users of social work services are largely economically and/or socially disadvantaged, and the vulnerabilities, which arise from these circumstances, frequently contribute to the nature of their relationships with service providers. (Miller, 2005) Social work makes use of a broad range of knowledge and incorporates information obtained from several disciplines; it empowers social workers in practice to use their acquired knowledge and skills first to engage service users and then to bring about positive changes in undesirable emotional states and behavioural attitudes, or in positions of social disempowerment. (Miller, 2005) Counselling forms one of the main planks of social work practice and constitutes the chief mode through which social workers directly engage service users; it is considered to be the public face of the activity and is an integrative course of action between a service user, who is vulnerable and who needs support, and a counsellor who is trained and educated to give this help. Face to face and 121 interactions between social workers and service users take place mostly through counselling activities. Apart from the directly beneficial effect that occurs through counselling, much of the social work approach that needs to be adopted in specific cases for other interventionist activity is decided on the basis of feedback provided by counsellors. This assignment aims to study and analyse the importance of counselling in social work practice. Commentary and Analysis Social work practice, in the UK, has evolved along with the development of the profession, and with the progression of social policy, ever since the first social workers were trained at the London School of Economics, at the beginning of the 20th century. (Parton, 1996) Whilst social policy, formulated at the level of policy makers, defines the broad routes taken to alleviate social inequalities, the actual delivery of social work occurs through social work practice, an activity carried out by thousands of social workers all over the United Kingdom. (Harris, 2002) Social work makes use of a range of skills, methods, and actions that are aligned to its holistic concentration on individuals and their environments. (Harris, 2002) Social work interventions vary from person-focused psychosocial processes that are focused on individuals, to participation in social policy, planning and development. (Harris, 2002) These interventions include counselling, clinical social work, group work, soc ial academic work, and family treatment and psychotherapy, as well as efforts to assist people in accessing services and resources within the community. (Harris, 2002) Social workers, in their everyday activity, need to assume multiple roles that aim to balance empowerment and emancipation with protection and support. (Harris, 2002) Balancing this dilemma is often a difficult process; it depends upon the needs of service users and requires social workers to assume more than one role. (Harris, 2002) These roles, whilst being versatile and flexible, broadly consist of seven broad categories, namely those of planners, assessors, evaluators, supporters, advocates, managers, and counsellors. (Harris, 2002) Whilst social work practice is spread over these broad functions, this assignment aims to examine and analyse the significance and application of counselling in social work, especially with reference to (a) the complexities involved in its practice, (b) combating oppression and discrimination, and (c) from the viewpoint of service users. Counselling, whilst being a catch-all term, used for describing of various professions, is, an important component of social work practice. (Rowland, 1993) It is a developmental process in which one individual (the social work counsellor) provides to another individual or group (the client), guidance and encouragement, as well as challenge and inspiration, in creatively managing and resolving practical, personal and relationship issues, in achieving goals, and in self realisation. (Rowland, 1993) Whilst the relationship of social work with poverty and deprivation necessitates that most counselling activities relate to such issues, counselling has now become an active and interventionist method to achieve change in social situations and empower people to improve the quality of heir lives. (Rowland, 1993) The activity depends upon client-counsellor relationships and includes a range of theoretical approaches, skills and modes of practice. The British Association for Counselling defined the activity thus in 1991: â€Å"Counselling is the skilled and principled use of relationships to develop self knowledge, emotional acceptance and growth, and personal resources. The overall aim is to live more fully and satisfyingly. Counselling may be concerned with addressing and resolving specific problems, making decisions, coping with crisis, working through feelings or inner conflict or improving relationships with others. The counsellors role is to facilitate the clients work in ways that respect the clients values, personal resources and capacity for self determination.† (Rowland, 1993, p 18) Part of the confusion regarding the actual nature of counselling activity stems from the fact that the phenomenon is of recent origin and is becoming increasingly popular both as a widely sought service and as a professional career. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Whilst social researchers have floated a number of theories to explain the growth in counselling in social work, most experts ascribe its increasing usage to the diminishing impact of religion, the breaking and scattering of family life, and the removal of previously existing family and community social structures. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Priests have ceased to become confidantes and advisors; New modes of disempowerment have also led to the creation of a vast range of emotional and physical stresses with adverse effects on the psycho-emotional states of numerous people and their consequent need for counselling. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Counselling has its origins, both in the past, and as an up-and-coming discipline, in various professions. It fills the intermediate gap between psychotherapy and amity, and thus becomes a particularly useful tool for intervening and touching upon the private, societal, professional, medical, and educational aspects of people. (Rowland, 1993) Whilst it grew organically, its effectiveness in diminishing distress led to its progressive assimilation in social work practice. Again the idea of the social worker as a person, who works with or counsels persons, has been a persistent concept in social work all through its emergence. (Pease Fook, 1999) Counselling has also been connected with some of the critical principles of social work, particularly with regard to recognising the innate value of the individual and respecting the human being. (Pease Fook, 1999) Counselling and casework also find favour with those who look at social work, in its entirety, as a process where different compo nents work synergistically with each other in helping and supporting individuals. (Pease Fook, 1999) Also inherent in the role of the social worker, as a counsellor, is the idea that change will be involved in the behaviour or outlook of the service user. It is in fact the diminution on the role of counselling role, which has been one of the major apprehensions regarding provision of social work through services. (Pease Fook, 1999) Counselling, in its basic form, involves the meeting of a counsellor and a service user in a private and confidential setting to investigate the emotional and mental difficulties, and distress, the service user may be having because of varying person-specific reasons. (Rowland, 1993) Counselling, as is evident from its increasing usage, has been found to be of great help in a variety of situations; in treating people with mental problems of varying severity; in helping those suffering from trauma, anxiety or depression; and in aiding people with emotional or decision making issues. (Rowland, 1993) Whilst it has been found to be applicable across different locales, for example, in schools and colleges, disturbed domestic settings, and in workplaces, it has also proved to be effective in helping people afflicted with serious illnesses like cancer and aids, victims of road and industrial accidents, and people in various stages of rehabilitation. (Coney Jenkins, 1993) Counsellors meet the requirements of people who experience traumatic or sudden interruptions to their life development and to their social roles. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Prominent among these counselling functions are those in areas of marital breakdown, rape and bereavement. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) The work of the counsellors in such cases can be clearly seen to arise from social problems, namely from shifting social perceptions of marriage, reassessments of male and female roles, and new patterns of marriage and family life. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Counselling provides a route to helping individuals to negotiate this changing social landscape. Counselling has also been found to be helpful in the area of addictions. Specific counselling approaches have been developed to assist people with problems related to substance abuse, gluttony and for giving up smoking. (Pease Fook, 1999) In some areas of counselling, which deal with addiction, for example, with users of hard drugs, counsellors engaged in social work practice, function side by side, with sets of legal restrictions and moral issues. (Pease Fook, 1999) The possession and use of cocaine, for example, is not just viewed to be morally incorrect but also a criminal activity. (Pease Fook, 1999) â€Å"The counsellor working with a heroin addict, therefore, is not merely exploring ‘ways of living more satisfyingly and resourcefully’ but is also mediating between competing social definitions of what an acceptable ‘way of living’ entails.† (Pease Fook, 1999, p72) Some of the different objectives counsellors try to achieve in their dealing with service users relate to (a) providing them with an understanding of the origins of emotional difficulties, (b) enabling them to build meaningful relationships with other people, (c) allowing them to become more aware of blocked thoughts and feelings, (d) enabling them to develop a more positive attitude towards their own selves, (e) encourag ing them to move towards more fulfilment of their potential and (f) helping them in solving particular problems. (Pease Fook, 1999) The following example provides an instance of how counselling helps individuals to overcome serious personal traumas. â€Å"Paula had been driving her car. Her friend, Marian, was a passenger. Without any warning they were hit by another vehicle, the car spun down the road, and Paula thought ‘this is it’. Following this frightening event, Paula experienced intense flashbacks to the incident. She had nightmares which disturbed her sleep. She became irritable and hyper vigilant, always on the alert. She became increasingly detached from her family and friends, and stopped using her car. Paula worked hard at trying to forget the accident, but without success. When she went to see a counsellor, Paula was given some questionnaires to fill in, and he gave her a homework sheet that asked her to write about the incident for ten minutes each day at a fixed time. In the next counselling session, she was asked to dictate an account of the event into a tape recorder, speaking in the first person as if it was happening now. She was told to play the trauma tape over and over again, at home, until sh e got bored with it. In session 3, the counsellor suggested a way of dealing with her bad dreams, by turning the accident into an imaginary game between two cartoon characters. In session 4 she was invited to remember her positive, pre-accident memories. She was given advice on starting to drive her car again, beginning with a short five-minute drive, and then gradually increasing the time behind the wheel. Throughout all this, her counsellor listened carefully to what she had to say, treated her with great respect and was very positive about her prospects for improvement. After nine sessions her symptoms of post-traumatic stress had almost entirely disappeared, and she was able to live her life as before.† (Starkey, 2000, p37) Counsellors need to keep in mind that socialisation leads to the development of perspectives on issues like race and gender. (Moore, 2003) Many of these perspectives are assimilated to such an extent that people have little control over them and are bound to impact the working of counsellors if not understood, isolated and overcome. (Moore, 2003) â€Å"In an anti-oppressive framework, these views are broken into six main lenses; racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, ageism, and class oppression.† (Moore, 2003) People are regularly excluded on account of their colour, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, age, and class. (Moore, 2003) Most of these factors do not occur in isolation and thus lead to multi-oppression, for example an aged female from a minority background could face oppression because of three factors, the whole of which becomes stronger than the sum of individual components. Oppressive perspectives occur through a common origin, namely economic power and contro l, and employ common methods of limiting, controlling, and destroying lives. The PCS model developed by Thompson, in 2001, argues, in similar vein that inequalities, prejudice and discrimination operate at three levels, Personal, Cultural, and Structural, and by constantly strengthening each other, create powerful mental biases and prejudices against members of out-groups, people who are disadvantaged by way of colour, race, ethnicity, religion and language. Individual views, at the personal level, interact with shared cultural, historical and traditional beliefs to create powerful prejudices. (Thompson, 2001) Dominant groups within society constantly reinforce their superiority by driving home the inferiority of other groups through a number of overt and covert methods. (Harris, 2002) Whilst movements that aim to dismantle such stereotypes are emerging slowly, the biggest conflict is still within. (Harris, 2002) Internalised oppression is the oppression that we impose on our own selves due to environmental pressures. (Harris, 2002) The oppression is internal ised from the prevailing society’s message through various institutions like the media, existing religious infrastructure, and other forms of socialisation. (Harris, 2002) Examples of such oppressive practices are the pressure put on working mothers to run an efficient household, in addition to putting in a full day at the office, or expecting mothers who stay at home to work from dawn until late night. (Harris, 2002) These prejudices are further strengthened by structural discriminations that are created by social and governmental structures, (as evinced by diminished employment opportunities for people with histories of substance abuse or the refusal of landlords to rent houses to members of certain communities), and create a complex web of mutually reinforcing social processes. Counsellors are prone to be oppressive because of assimilated perspectives, stereotyping, and because they hold power over service users. It is imperative that they recognise these imbalances and wo rk towards eliminating them in their work as well as in the promotion of change to redress the balance of power. Looking at social issues through the perspectives of service users is thus critical to counselling activity. Social workers often face ethical challenges in their dealing with service users. There are many instances in social work where simple answers are not available to resolve complex ethical issues. Clients, for example, can inform counsellors about their intention to commit suicide or inflict physical harm on their own selves, ask for reassuring physical contact in the nature of hugs, and confide about their intentions to harm others. (Langs, 1998) There is a strong possibility of sexual attraction developing between counsellor and service user. (Langs, 1998) Such situations can lead to the development of dichotomies between personal and professional ethics, and to extremely uncomfortable choices. (Langs, 1998) Conclusion Counselling is a complex and demanding activity that demands knowledge, experience and people skills, as well as compassion, empathy and understanding. Above all counselling activity, as an integral component of social work, requires commitment to social good. Counselling theories have evolved over the last half century; they have multiple origins, are complex in their formulation, and whilst having common features, need to be individually adapted to the needs of service users. Whilst it is not easy to grasp and apply these theories, their comprehensive understanding and application are essential to the effectiveness of counselling work. Counsellors, by virtue of the nature of their work and their power in counsellor-service user relationships exercise enormous influence over the decisions of service users. The diversity and heterogeneity of counselling reflects the sensitivity of counselling to the enormous variations in human experience. Whilst understanding of theory helps in discharging of responsibilities, counsellors are also limited by assimilated perspectives on oppression, career and money demands, and their own emotions. Their responsibilities are manifold, and include duties towards service users, towards the profession, and towards the wider community. Apart from being challenging, satisfying and rewarding, counselling also provides the opportunity to make profound differences to the lives of other human beings. References Bond, T, 2000, Standards and Ethics for Counselling in Action, Sage Publications Ltd. London Corney, R. Jenkins, R, (Eds.), 1993, Counselling in General Practice. London: Routledge Counselling saves British business millions every year, 2003, British Association for Counselling and Therapy, Retrieved December 3, 2007 from www.instituteofwelfare.co.uk/downloads/welfare_world_24_full.pdf Dryden, W, 2006, Counselling in a nutshell, Sage Publications Ltd. London Dryden, W., Mytton, J, 1999, Four Approaches to Counselling and Psychotherapy, London: Routledge Feltham, C, 1995, What Is Counselling? The Promise and Problem of the Talking Therapies, Sage Publications Ltd. London Harrow, J, 2001, Working Models: theories of counselling, Retrieved December 3, 2007 from http://www.draknet.com/proteus/models.htm Harris, J, 2002, The Social Work Business /. London: Routledge Hornby, G., Hall, C., Hall, E. (Eds.), 2003, Counselling Pupils in Schools: Skills and Strategies for Teachers, London: RoutledgeFalmer Langs, R, 1998, Ground Rules in Psychotherapy and Counselling. London: Karnac Books Miller, L, 2005, Counselling Skills for Social Work, Sage Publications Ltd. London Moore, P, 2003, Critical components of an anti-oppressive framework, The International Child and Youth Care Framework, Retrieved December 3, 2007 from www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-1203-moore.html Nelson-Jones, R, 2000, Six key approaches to counselling and therapy, Sage Publications Ltd. London Noonan, E, 1983, Counselling Young People. London: Tavistock Routledge Now Youre Talking; Counselling Has Become a Big Business Employing Thousands. but Is It a Job for You? Bonnie Estridge Talks It through London Jobs/Opportunities, 2004, October 14, The Evening Standard (London, England), p. 61 Parrott, L, 2002, Social Work and Social Care, London: Routledge Parton, N. (Ed.), 1996, Social Theory, Social Change and Social Work, London: Routledge Pease, B. Fook, J. (Eds.), 1999, Transforming Social Work Practice: Postmodern Critical Perspectives. London: Routledge Retail Therapy: Beauty So Tell Me, Whats the Problem? Laura Davis Investigates the Growing Trend for Counselling, 2004, October 28, Daily Post (Liverpool, England), p. 8 Rowland, N, 1993, Chapter 3 What is Counselling? In Counselling in General Practice, Corney, R. Jenkins, R. (Eds.) (pp. 17-30) London: Routledge Shardlow, S. (Ed.), 1989, The Values of Change in Social Work. London: Tavistock/Routledge Starkey, P, 2000, Families and Social Workers : The Work of Family Service Units, 1940-1985 /. Liverpool, England: Liverpool University Press Thompson, N (2001) Anti-Discriminatory Practice, Third Edition, London: Palgrave Urofsky, R. I., Engels, D. W, 2003, Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, and Counselling Ethics: Not an Abstraction. Counselling and Values, 47(2), 118+

ABC, Inc. Case Study Analysis Essay -- Management Business Essays

ABC, Inc. Case Study Analysis Problem At the beginning of April, Carl Robbins was hired at ABC, INC. as a new recruiter. He successfully hired several employees, even though he was fairly new at his job. This was his first recruitment effort that turned out quite well. After this, the Operations Supervisor, Monica Carrolls, tasked Carl to recruit 15 new employees to begin working at ABC in July. So Carl scheduled an orientation to take place for the 15 employees on June 15th. Monica contacted Carl around May 15th to ensure that the process to get the orientation started was underway and Carl assured her that the orientation would be ready in time. Carl started working on the task to set up the orientation around the end of May and soon realized he didn’t have a room for the orientation to be held and the necessary paperwork was far from complete. He only had three manuals and all were missing pages and not one of the new employees was scheduled to get the required drug test. He had two weeks until the orientation was to be presented and suddenly realized he may have misinformed Monica on having the orientation ready in time. Carl put himself in a misfortunate situation with his lack of experience and improper use of communication causing him to be behind in his tasking. If Carl does not act fast or start communicating with his management, he may not be able to make the deadline. Background   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In Carl’s situation he did not have much experience for his job and ...

The Politicians Scam: Taxing People Outside Their Voting District :: Politics Political Essays

Politicians' Attempt to Stay in Office: Taxing People Outside Their Voting District The United States is one of the most democratic nations in the world. However, for our elected representatives, government is also a business, and these officials want to do anything they can to stay employed, or get re-elected. There are several ways they can do this, but one way has been used repeatedly since the American Revolution. It has been used in many examples, including the trade wars between the states of the 1780’s, the taxation of the federal bank by Maryland until 1819, the speed trap in Macks Creek, MO in the 1990’s, West Virginia’s current tax on river traffic, increased taxes for hotels and rental cars, and finally in the states’ dependency on federal grant money. All of these are examples in which the politicians are taxing people outside of their voting district, in hopes of staying in office. The idea behind all of these schemes is that the people paying the taxes and fines are not the people that vote for the local or state politicians creating these laws. Therefore, the people in the politician’s district receive the benefits of this increased revenue, but don't have any of the cost, causing the elected official to look more favorable. Furthermore, the visitors to the area rarely have an easy way to fight these taxes or fines. They can't vote the officials out of office, and they usually can't avoid the situation. The only choice they have is to comply with the fine or tax, or spend a lot of time and money to fight it in court. The following examples were all devised by politicians who wanted nothing more than to stay in office, and they were created under the same line of thinking – take advantage of people who have no way of protesting. These examples all have this common theme, only the implementation and the legality of them differ. This process of taxing others began before the Constitution was even written. Under the Articles of Confederation, the federal government had no control of commerce between the states. Because of this, the states taxed each other’s goods, creating trade wars. Although they were hurting commerce in the process, the politicians knew they were gaining revenue without alienating their own voters.

The Story of Jesus Through Matthews Gospel Essay -- God Religion Jesu

The Story of Jesus Through Matthew's Gospel   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Who is this man Jesus? Where was he from? What did he do for others and us? A great source of reference to answer this question would be someone who had direct contact with him in everyday life. Someone who saw the daily wonders he created would be the best source for information. Matthew, the apostle, is believed to have written the gospel of Matthew. He was able to experience firsthand all of the amazing miracles that Jesus performed. God inspired his words, and his gospel relates to the other three gospels in overall context. They were written in different formats and styles, but the overall message and story remains constant throughout all four gospels. This creates a strong reliability that gives confidence in Matthew’s knowledge of Jesus. If the author of the gospel of Matthew was someone other than Matthew, the writings still tell an excellent story of the life of Jesus regardless of who wrote it. Therefore, the story of Jesus can be told through Mat thew and his gospel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Matthew begins his gospel with a genealogy of Jesus that traces his existence back to Abraham. This direct line of heritage back to Abraham shows the fulfillment of God’s promise through Jesus. In Genesis 15:5, God promises Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars. These descendants, who make up the people of Israel, were promised a child to be named Emmanuel (â€Å"God with us†) in Isaiah 7:14. Matthew’s gospel tells how Jesus, the child of God who will be with us forever, fulfills the promise that was given by God many years before.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Matthew tells of the birth of Jesus to conclude the first chapter. Jesus surely is the Son of God because Mary conceived him even though she had no knowledge of man. In Matthew 1:20, God spoke to Joseph in a dream through an angel telling him of his intentions for Jesus and his family. Because Matthew tells of this story, he clarifies Jesus’ uniqueness from the beginning. Jesus is the Son of God who fulfills all of God’s promises, and he will change the world forever.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Matthew further depicts Jesus as the Savior of the world when he tells of the wise men coming to visit him as a baby in Bethlehem. The wise men were surely blessed because they took notice of the once in a lifetime miracle that took place in Bethlehem. Matthew 2:6 says, â€Å"for from you shall come a ruler who is to S... ...ically stay with the people for long, so he knew that he must direct them as to what to do in order to keep the message of God alive in the world forever. To conclude the gospel, Matthew records Jesus as saying, â€Å"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.† Jesus gave them the confidence and ability to continue the work of God by blessing them in this way. They carried on his message of the greatness of God for as long as they lived, and also passed it on to the next generation to share with the future. These stories of the works of Jesus written by Matthew tell of a marvelous man, who was God present among everyone on earth. He spoke and acted with wisdom, and his ministry proved that God’s love surpasses everything. Whoever was unfamiliar with Jesus would have an excellent understanding of his life and purpose after reading the gospel of Matthew. The message of the kingdom of God will live on forever through the life of Jesus. Bibliography Bible - New James Version

All Firms Should Produce at MR=MC Essay

In economics, the point of profit maximizing and loss minimizing is called MR=MC. This point is where marginal revenue equals marginal cost, meaning that cost does not exceed revenue and revenue does not exceed cost. This is a profit-maximizing zone, meaning that total cost is not the lowest, but is farthest away from the total returns. The optimal point of production for the firm is at the point MR=MC. Marginal revenue is defined as the change in total revenue as a result of producing an additional unit, while marginal cost is the increase or decrease of a firm’s total cost of production as a result of the change in production by one additional unit. When these two are equal, the firm is not losing money, and is making the most profit possible. In the area of the graph where less quantity is being sold, the firm still obtains a profit but it is not maximized, and in the area of the graph where more quantity is being sold, profit is less and money can be lost from the firm. To the left of MR=MC, cost is low to the firm and revenue is high. As the graph progresses toward the point of MR=MC, each unit provides less and less profit. As the first unit is produced, the profit is high for that unit, but the profit for each extra unit produced declines toward the point of profit maximization. This may sound absurd, and may make the reader wonder why the firm does not produce at the first unit. However, as each unit is produced, the firm gets to keep the profit from every unit produced previously. This would add up to far more profit than if the firm produced when cost is lowest and revenue is greatest. The point where marginal revenue equals marginal cost is the point where all of the profits from the previous units are combined. At this point, total cost is not at its lowest, and total revenue is not the greatest, but are farthest away from each other, which is represented in the graphs attached. It is true that in the less quantity level of the graph revenue exceeds cost, however, the profit at MR=MC is far more than any of the units produced. To the right of MR=MC, total costs exceed total revenue. The firm would spend more money on workers, resources, and the production of goods, and not get a  great profit back. Once the quantity of goods produced passes the point where MR=MC, the firm not only does not make a great profit, but after a while, it loses the money that the company has already, and soon the company would go into debt. The point of profit maximization and loss minimization is the ideal point of production because if the firm was to produce more, all previous profit would be lost and the firm could possibly close down. As shown in the graphs attached, the profit depletes until the point where money is being taken from the firm just to produce more. When the firm cuts down its production and gets to the point of MR=MC again, the profit will once again be maximized. To conclude, the point of loss minimization and profit maximization is where marginal revenue equals marginal costs. This way, all profit from previous units sold is combined for a large profit and all costs do not exceed the total revenue. The firm should always produce at the point where MR=MC. If they move to the left or right of this point, total profit would drop. As the change in total revenue changes, so does the cost of production. The optimal point of production is when both of these are equal to each other. The graphs attached show how profit is still being made on other points of the curve, but MR=MC is the greatest. If a firm wants to increase revenue and profit, the best bet is to produce where marginal return is equal to marginal cost.