New Cultures of Japans and Chinas Young Adults free essay sample

This paper uses two sources, The Story of Noriko and Golden Arches East to examine how the younger generations from Japan and China, standing between the traditional identity and the new identity, are reacting to new cultures and mindsets. This paper demonstrates that the young generation from Japan and China has a mindset that is not quite similar to their parents and traditional societys expectations, which often cause a great deal of conflicts between the young and the old. The author shows that in The Story of Noriko the traditional Japanese society is known to frown on the increase in the number of women pursuing a significant career goal, rather than minimal tasking individual, because the conservative and relatively older generations believe that women, especially young women, are not qualified to manage the responsibilities and tasks men perform. The author uses the book, Golden Arches East: McDonalds in East Asia to describe how the life style of Chinese customers, especially the younger generations, have changed as McDonalds has entered the local Chinese society. We will write a custom essay sample on New Cultures of Japans and Chinas Young Adults or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The author concludes that, when a new lifestyle or culture develops, the young generation creates a hybrid culture to accommodate living in the 21st Century and traditional China or Japan. In The Story of Noriko, Noriko is a young woman who resides in Tokyo who is forced to encounter one of her dramatic real crisis. She is looking for a career where she can actually utilize her potentials instead of being just another Office Lady whose task is minimal and enduring without any chance of obtaining a significant position at a corporation. The traditional Japanese society is known to frown up on the increase in the number of women pursuing a significant career goal rather than minimal tasking individual, because the conservative and relatively old generations of the society believe that women, especially young women, are not qualified to manage the responsibilities and tasks men perform.

USS West Virginia (BB-48) in World War II

USS West Virginia (BB-48) in World War II The final ship of the Colorado-class of battleship, USS West Virginia (BB-48) entered service in 1923. Though built at Newport News, VA, it became a fixture in the Pacific for the majority of its career. West Virginia was present at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when the  Japanese attacked. Struck by seven torpedoes and two bombs, the battleship sank at its berth and later had to be refloated. Following temporary repairs, West Virginia was sent to Puget Sound Navy Yard in May 1943 for a large-scale modernization program. Emerging in July 1944, West Virginia rejoined the fleet and participated in the Allies island-hopping campaign across the Pacific before taking part in the Battle of the Surigao Strait. In the engagement, it, and several other Pearl Harbor survivors, exacted revenge on Japanese. Though sustaining a kamikaze hit on April 1, 1945 while supporting the invasion of Okinawa, West Virginia remained in position off the island. The battleship remained active through the end of hostilities. Design The fifth and last edition of Standard-type battleship  (Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, and Tennessee) designed for the US Navy, the Colorado-class was a continuation of the preceding series of vessels. Developed prior to the construction of the Nevada-class, the Standard-type approach called for vessels that had common operational and tactical traits. These included the use of oil-fired boilers rather than coal and the employment of an  Ã¢â‚¬Å"all or nothing† armor scheme. This protection method called for critical parts of the battleship, such as magazines and engineering, to be heavily protected while less important spaces were left unarmored. In addition, Standard-type battleships were to have a tactical turn radius of 700 yards or less and a minimum top speed of 21 knots.    Though largely similar to the preceding Tennessee-class, the Colorado-class instead mounted eight 16 guns in four twin turrets rather than twelve 14 guns in four triple turrets. The US Navy had been advocating the use of 16 guns for several years and after successful tests of the weapon, conversations began regarding their use on the earlier Standard-type designs. This did not move forward due to the cost involved in changing these designs and increasing their tonnage to carry the new guns. In 1917, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels reluctantly permitted the use of 16 guns on the condition that the new class not incorporate any other major design changes. The Colorado-class also mounted a secondary battery of twelve to fourteen 5 guns and an anti-aircraft armament of four 3 guns.    Construction The fourth and final ship of the class, USS West Virginia (BB-48) was laid down at Newport News Shipbuilding on April 12, 1920. Construction moved forward and on November 19, 1921, it slid down the ways with Alice W. Mann, daughter of West Virginia coal magnate Isaac T. Mann, serving as sponsor. After another two years of work, West Virginia was completed and entered commission on December 1, 1923, with Captain Thomas J. Senn in command.   USS West Virginia (BB-48) - Overview Nation:  United StatesType:  BattleshipShipyard:  Newport News Shipbuilding CorporationLaid Down:  April 12, 1920Launched:  November 19, 1921Commissioned:  December 1, 1923Fate:  Sold for scrap Specifications (as built) Displacement:  33,590  tonsLength:  624  ft.Beam:  97.3 ft.Draft:  30  ft., 6 in.Propulsion:  Turbo-electric transmission  turning 4 propellersSpeed:  21  knotsComplement:  1,407  men Armament (as built) 8 Ãâ€" 16  in. gun (4  Ãƒâ€" 2)12  Ãƒâ€" 5 in. guns4 Ãâ€" 3 in. guns2 Ãâ€" 21 in. torpedo tubes Interwar Years Completing its shakedown cruise, West Virginia departed New York for Hampton Roads. While underway, issues emerged with the battleships steering gear. This underwent repairs at Hampton Roads and West Virginia attempted to put to sea again on June 16, 1924.   While moving through Lynnhaven Channel, it grounded following another equipment failure and the use of inaccurate charts. Undamaged, West Virginia again underwent repairs to its steering gear before departing for the Pacific. Reaching the West Coast, the battleship became flagship of the Battleship Divisions of the Battle Fleet on October 30. West Virginia would serve a stalwart of the Pacific battleship force for the next decade and a half.   The following year, West Virginia joined other elements of the Battle Fleet for a goodwill cruise to Australia and New Zealand. Moving through routine peacetime training and exercises during the late 1920s, the battleship also entered the yard to have its anti-aircraft defenses enhanced and the addition of two aircraft catapults. Rejoining the fleet, West Virginia continued it normal operations. Deploying to Hawaiian waters in April 1940 for Fleet Problem XXI, which simulated a defense of the islands, West Virginia and the rest of the fleet were retained in the area due to increasing tensions with Japan. As a result, the Battle Fleets base was shifted to Pearl Harbor. Late the following year, West Virginia was one of a select number of ships to receive the new RCA CXAM-1 radar system. Pearl Harbor On the morning of December 7, 1941, West Virginia was moored along Pearl Harbors Battleship Row, outboard of USS Tennessee (BB-43), when the Japanese attacked and pulled the United States into World War II. In a vulnerable position with its port side exposed, West Virginia sustained seven torpedo hits (six exploded) from Japanese aircraft. Only rapid counter-flooding by the battleships crew prevented it from capsizing. The damage from the torpedoes was exacerbated by two armor-piercing bomb hits as well as a massive oil fire started following the explosion of USS Arizona (BB-39) which was moored aft. Severely damaged, West Virginia sank upright with little more than its superstructure above the water. In the course of that attack, the battleships commander, Captain  Mervyn S. Bennion, was mortally wounded. He posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his defense of the ship.    Rebirth In the weeks after the attack, efforts to salvage West Virginia commenced. After patching the massive holes in the hull, the battleship was refloated on May 17, 1942 and later moved to Drydock Number One.   As work commenced 66 bodies were found trapped in the hull. Three located in a storeroom appear to have survived until at least December 23. After extensive repairs to the hull, West Virginia departed for Puget Sound Navy Yard on May 7, 1943. Arriving, it underwent a modernization program that dramatically altered the battleships appearance. This saw the construction of a new superstructure which included trunking the two funnels into one, a greatly enhanced anti-aircraft armament, and elimination of the old cage masts. In addition, the hull was widened to 114 feet which precluded it from passing through the Panama Canal. When complete, West Virginia looked more similar to the modernized Tennessee-class battleships than those from its own Colorado-class. Return to Combat Completed in early July 1944, West Virginia conducted sea trials out of Port Townsend, WA before steaming south for a shakedown cruise at San Pedro, CA. Completing training later in the summer, it sailed for Pearl Harbor on September 14. Pressing on to Manus, West Virginia became flagship of Rear Admiral Theodore Ruddocks Battleship Division 4. Departing on October 14 with Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorfs Task Group 77.2, the battleship made its return to combat operations four days later when it began bombarding targets on Leyte in the Philippines.   Covering the landings on Leyte, West Virginia provided naval gunfire support for the troops ashore.   When the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf began, West Virginia and Oldendorfs other battleships moved south to guard the Surigao Strait. Meeting the enemy on the night of October 24, the American battleships crossed the Japanese T and sank two Japanese battleships (Yamashiro Fuso) and a heavy cruiser  (Mogami). Following the battle, the Wee Vee as it was known to its crew, withdrew to Ulithi and then to Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides.   While there, the battleship entered a floating dry dock to repair damage sustained to one of its screws during operations off Leyte.   Returning to action in the Philippines, West Virginia covered landings on Mindoro and served as part of the anti-aircraft screen for transports and other ships in the area. On January 4, 1945, it took on the crew of the escort carrier USS  Ommaney Bay which was sunk by kamikazes. A few days later, West Virginia commenced shore bombardment of targets in the San Fabian area of Lingayen Gulf, Luzon. It remained in this area until February 10.   Okinawa Moving to Ulithi, West Virginia joined the 5th Fleet and quickly replenished in order to take part in the invasion of Iwo Jima. Arriving on February 19 as the initial landings were underway, the battleship quickly assumed a position offshore and commenced striking Japanese targets. It continued to support operations ashore until March 4 when it departed for the Caroline Islands. Assigned to Task Force 54, West Virginia sailed to support the invasion of Okinawa on March 21. On April 1, while covering the Allied landings, the battleship sustained a kamikaze hit which killed 4 and wounded 23. As the damage to West Virginia was not critical, it remained on station. Steaming north with TF54 on April 7, the battleship sought to block Operation Ten-Go which included the Japanese battleship Yamato. This effort was halted by American carrier planes before TF54 arrived. Resuming its naval gunfire support role, West Virginia stayed off Okinawa until April 28 when it departed for Ulithi.   This break proved brief and the battleship quickly returned to the battle area where it remained until end of the campaign in late June.   Following training in Leyte Gulf in July, West Virginia returned to Okinawa in early August and soon learned of the end of hostilities. Steaming north, the battleship was present in Tokyo Bay on September 2 for the formal Japanese surrender. Embarking passengers for the United States twelve days later, West Virginia touched at Okinawa and Pearl Harbor before reaching San Diego on October 22. Final Actions After taking part in Navy Day festivities, West Virginia sailed for Pearl Harbor on October 30 to serve in Operation Magic Carpet. Tasked with returning American servicemen to the United States, the battleship made three runs between Hawaii and the West Coast before receiving orders to proceed to Puget Sound. Arriving, on January 12, West Virginia commenced activities to deactivate the vessel. A year later on January 9, 1947, the battleship was decommissioned and placed in reserve. West Virginia remained in mothballs until being sold for scrap on August 24, 1959.

Strategic Management - business environment - success Case Study

Strategic Management - business environment - success - Case Study Example The second section will take a look at the internal and external situation of the company through the employment of a SWOT analysis. The strategies employed by a business organisation are strongly influenced by its leaders. The strategic direction and path taken by the company is always dependent on the leadership style, personality, and experience of its decision makers. This fact is highly exemplified in the operation of Stakis Plc. Since its inception to its course of operation, the company has been run by four distinct leaders which pursued different strategies in order to take the company forward. These leaders are Reo Stakis, Andors Stakis, Sir Lewis Robertson and David Michels. Roe Stakis laid the foundation of Stakis Plc by the opening of a restaurant in Glasgow in 1947. This move during a period of "severe and continuing austerity" in an "industrial city which carried over an unattractive image from the interwar period" seems to be irrational at the moment. However, it showed the leader's Reo Stakis' optimism and the determination to offer his products in spite of the external challenges and difficulties. Reo's distinct optimism and determination fuel the growth of the company and its venture to other types of businesses. It can be seen that during his reign as the chairman of the Stakis Plc, the company has gone beyond the restaurant business into other sectors such as hotels, casinos, property and finance. The growth strategy employed by Reo can be further anlysed through the use of the Ansoff Matrix. The Ansoff's Matrix is a tool in strategic management which is utilised in order to aid in deciding the product and market growth strategy of a company. According to this tool, the strategies employed by a business organisation can be categorised according to the products offered and markets targeted. Strategies are classified as market penetration, market development, product development and diversification (Thomson and Strickland 2002). Analysing the growth strategy employed by Reo Stakis in the light of the Ansoff Matrix, it can be noted that the founder has ventured both into product development and diversification strategies. Unsatisfied as a restaurateur, he also offered lodging and recreation services to his tourists and business clients by opening hotels and casinos. This move can be described as a product development and related diversification strategy. By venturing into the leisure and hotel industries, the company is offers new products to its current market and also hopes to attract new ones. This is also evidenced by the company's rapid expansion into new geographical regions in the United Kingdom. The decision of Stakis Plc to venture into the property and financial sector is an unrelated diversification strategy. With this decision, the company moves beyond its previous business scope. It is also notable that the company's expansion strategy is often furthered through the acquisition of other firms. W ith the leadership Reo, Stakis Plc has acquired D&A Haddow and St. Ermin's Hotel. When deciding to operate in an unrelated industry, the company does not establish its own brand but seems to be more

Movie City Hall Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

City Hall - Movie Review Example Perhaps the most famed political leader, when it comes to idealism of purpose, was Cincinnatus. Long before the days when Rome was a far-flung empire, it was a republic clinging to the underbelly of what would be Western Europe. When the Aequi and Volscian tribes began to threaten Rome from the east in 458 B.C., the citizens begged Cincinnatus to take over dictatorial powers and vanquish the threat. He did so, in a mere sixteen days, and then immediately resigned his position of power, returning to his farm. This example of knowing when to yield power was cited by George Washington, after he stepped down after two terms as the first President of the United States ("Cincinnatus"). City Hall, directed by Harold Becker, is just one of a long line of works in American literature and cinema that analyze the slow erosion of an idealistic leader's credibility. One of the first works on this theme was Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men, a scantily fictionalized look at the life of Louisiana's Huey Long. Willie Stark, who is Penn Warren's slightly larger-than-life Huey Long figure, and John Pappas, New York's mayor in City Hall, are two men who have risen to their current power using a similar dichotomy of private and public positioning: outwardly, both men have ridden a populist wave of sentiment to their current posts; inwardly, both men have incurred debts to the corrupt powers that control much of politics, and both ultimately have a price to pay. Both men are closely followed by idealistic staffers - Willie Stark is followed by the aptly named Jack Burden, while John Pappas is followed by Kevin Calhoun. Both of these men have bought into the message that th eir respective leaders have broadcast to the masses, and both men fervently believe in the men for whom they work. By the end of both stories, both men are disillusioned as to the true nature, and the true source, of political power. The contradictions that revolve around political power primarily have to do with the definition and application of duty. The existence of a "duty triangle" has been asserted, in that, over time, three major approaches to classifying ethical thought have arisen, and these approaches are based on virtue, principle, or consequences. In other words, people make their ethical decisions based on one (or more) of these three ideas. When one considers political leaders, it would be difficult to leave both virtue and principle out of the equation: after all, the lower rungs of political service are not sufficiently lucrative for a purely utilitarian individual to find the situation attractive. There has to be some idealistic motive behind entry into public service, even if, after time, that idealism is worn away and replaced by a jaded faade. The idea of virtue finds definitions for ethical conduct in the behaviors and qualities of the good individual. The idea of principle suggests that uni versal principles can be used to make ethical decisions. These two are very similar; however, the key difference is that the virtue-based definition uses individuals as its orientation, while the principle-based definition uses a broader base of precedent as its orientation. The idea of consequences looks at the outcomes of actions and uses those outcomes to determine whether or not an action is right or wrong - this is often called a utilitarian

A Critical Analysis Of The

A Critical Analysis Of The This essay will present a reflective account of communication skills in practice whist undertaking assessment and history taking of two Intensive Care patients with a similar condition. It will endeavour to explore all aspects of non verbal and verbal communication styles and reflect upon these areas using Gibbs reflective cycle (1988). Scenario A Mrs James, 34, a passenger in a road traffic collision who was not wearing a seatbelt was thrown through the windscreen resulting in multiple facial wounds with extensive facial swelling which required her to be intubated and sedated. She currently has cervical spine immobilisation and is awaiting a secondary trauma CT. Mr James was also involved in the accident. Scenario B Mr James, 37, husband of Mrs James, the driver of the car, was wearing his seat belt. He had minor superficial facial wounds, fractured ribs and a fractured right arm. He is alert and orientated but currently breathless and requiring high oxygen concentrations. Patients who are admitted to Intensive Care are typically admitted due to serious ill health or trauma that may also have a potential to develop life threatening complications (Udwadia, 2005). These patients are usually unconscious, have limited movement and have sensation deprivation due to sedation and/or disease processes. These critical conditions rely upon modern technical support and invasive procedures for the purpose of monitoring and regulation of physiological functions. Having the ability to effectively communicate with patients, colleagues and their close relatives is a fundamental clinical skill in Intensive Care and central to a skilful nursing practice. Communication in Intensive Care is therefore of high importance (Elliot, 1999) to provide information and support to the critically ill patient in order to reduce their anxieties, stresses and preserve self identity, self esteem and reduce social isolation (Joà £o: 2009, Alasad: 2004, Newmarch:2006). Effective communic ation is the key to the collection of patient information, delivering quality of care and ensuring patient safety. Gaining a patients history is one of the most important skills in medicine and is a foundation for both the diagnosis and patient clinician relationship, and is increasingly being undertaken by nurses (Crumbie, 2006). Commonly a patient may be critically ill and therefore the ability to perform a timely assessment whilst being prepared to administer life saving treatment is crucial (Carr, 2005). Often the patient is transferred from a ward or department within the hospital where a comprehensive history has been taken with documentation of a full examination; investigations, working diagnosis and the appropriate treatment taken. However, the patients history may not have been collected on this admission if it was not appropriate to do so. Where available patients medical notes can provide essential information. In relation to the scenarios where the patient is breathless or the patient had a reduced conscious level and requires sedation and intubation, effective communication is restricted and obtaining a comprehensive history would be inappropriate and almost certainly unsafe. The Nursing Midwifery Council promotes the importance of keeping clear and accurate records within the Code: Standards of Conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives (NMC, 2008). Therefore if taking a patients history is unsafe to do so, this required to be documented. Breathing is a fundamental life process that usually occurs without conscious thought and, for the healthy person is taken for granted (Booker, 2004). In Scenario A, Mrs Jamess arrived on Intensive care and was intubated following her facial wounds and localised swelling. Facial trauma by its self is not a life threatening injury, although it has often been accompanied with other injuries such as traumatic brain injury and complications such as airway obstruction. This may have been caused by further swelling, bleeding or bone structure damage (Parks, 2003). Without an artificial airway and ventilatory support Mrs James would have struggled to breathe adequately and the potential to become in respiratory arrest. Within scenario B, Mr James had suffered multiple rib fractures causing difficulty in expansion of his lungs. Fractured ribs are amongst the most frequent of injuries sustained to the chest, accounting for over half of the thoracic injuries from non-penetrating trauma (Middle ton, 2003). When ribs are fractured due to the nature and site of the injury there is potential for underlying organ contusions and damage. The consequence of having a flail chest is pain. Painful expansion of the chest would result in inadequate ventilation of the lungs resulting in hypoxia and retention of secretions and the inability to communicate effectively. These combined increase the risk of the patient developing a chest infection and possible respiratory failure and potential to require intubation (Middleton, 2003). The key issue of Intensive Care is to provide patients and relatives with effective communication at all times to ensure that a holistic nursing approach is achieved. Intensive care nurses care for patients predominantly with respiratory failure and over the years have taken on an extended role. They are expected to examine a patient and interpret their findings and results (Booker, 2004). In these situations patient requires supportive treatments as soon as possible. Intensive Care nurse should have the ability and competence to carry out a physical assessment and collect the patients history in a systemic, professional and sensitive approach. Effective communication skills are one of the many essential skills involved in this role. As an Intensive Care nurse, introducing yourself to the patient as soon as possible would be the first step in the history and assessment taking process (Outlined in Appendix A). Whilst introducing yourself there is also the aim to gaining consent for the assessment where possible, in accordance with the Nursing and Midwifery Councils Code of Professional Conduct (NMC, 2008). Conducting a comprehensive clinical history is usually more helpful in making a provisional diagnosis than the physical examination (Ford, 2005). Within Intensive Care the Airway, Breathing, Circulation, Disability, Exposure/Examination (ABCDE) assessment process is widely used. It is essential for survival that the oxygen is delivered to blood cells and the oxygen cannot reach the lungs without a patent airway. With poor circulation, oxygen does not get transported away from the lungs to the cells (Carr, 2005). The ABCDE approach is a simple approach that all team members use and allows for rapid assessment, co ntinuity of care and the reduction of errors. Communication reflects our social world and helps us to construct it (Weinmann Giles et al 1988). Communication of information, messages, opinions, speech and thoughts are transferred by different forms. Basic communication is achieved by speaking, sign language, body language touch and eye contact, as technology has developed communication has been achieved by media, such as emails, telephone and mobile technology (Aarti, 2010). There are two main ways of communication: Verbal and non verbal. Verbal communication is the simplest and quickest way of transferring information and interacting when face to face. It is usually a two way process where a message is sent, understood and feedback is given (Leigh, 2001). When effective communication is given, what the sender encodes is what the receiver decodes (Zastrow, 2001). Key verbal features of communication are made up of sounds, words, and language. Mr James was alert and orientated and had some ability to communicate; he was breathless due to painful fractured ribs which hindered his verbal communication. In order to help him to breath and communicate effectively, his pain must be controlled. Breathless patients may be only able to speak two or more words at a time, inhibiting conversation. The use of closed questions can allow breathless patients to communicate without exerting themselves. Closed questions such as is it painful when you breathe in? or is your breathing feeling worse? can be answered with non verbal communi cation such as a shake or nod of the head. Taking a patients history in this way can be time consuming and it is essential that the clinician do not make assumptions on behalf of the patient. Alternatively, encouraging patients to use other forms of communication can aid the process. Non verbal communication involves physical aspects such as written or visual of communication. Sign language and symbols are also included in non-verbal communication. Non verbal communication can be considered as gestures, body language, writing, drawing, physiological cues, using communication devices, mouthing words, head nods, and touch (Happ et al:2000, Alasad:2004). Body language, posture and physical contact is a form of non verbal communication. Body language can convey vast amounts of information. Slouched posture, or folded arms and crossed legs can portray negative signals. Facial gestures and expressions and eye contact are all different cues of communication. Although Mr. James could verbal ly communicate, being short of breath and in pain meant that he also needed to use both verbal and non verbal communication styles. A patients stay in Intensive Care can vary from days to months. Although this is a temporary situation and many patients will make a good recovery, the psychological impact may be longer lasting (MacAuley, 2010). When caring for the patient who may be unconscious or sedated and does not appear to be awake, hearing may be one of the last senses to fade when they become unconscious (Leigh, 2000). Sedation is used in Intensive Care units to enable patients to be tolerable of ventilation. It aims to allow comfort and synchrony between the patient and ventilator. Poor sedation can lead to ventilator asynchrony, patient stress and anxiety, and an increased risk of self extubation and hypoxia. Over sedation can lead to ventilator associated pneumonias, cardiac instability and prolonged ventilation and Intensive Care delirium. Delirium is found to be a predictor of death in Intensive Care patients (Page, 2008). Every day a patient spends in delirium has been associated with a 20% increase ri sk of intensive care bed days and a 10% increased risk of morbidity. The single most profound risk factor for delirium in Intensive Care is sedation (Page, 2008) Within this stage of sedation or delirium it is impossible to know what the patients have heard, understood or precessed. Ashworth (1980) recognised that nurses often failed to communicate with unconscious patients on the basis that they were unable to respond. Although, research (Lawrence, 1995) indicates that patients who are unconscious could hear and understand conversations around them and respond emotionally to verbal communication however could not respond physically. This emphasises the importance and the need for communication remains (Leigh, 2001). Neurological status would unavoidably have an effect on Mrs Jamess capacity to communicate in a usual way. It is therefore important to provide Mrs James with all information necessary to reduce her stress and anxieties via the different forms of communication. For the unconscious patient, both verbal communication and non verbal communication are of importance, verbal communication and touch being the most appropriate. There are two forms of touch (Aarti, 2010), firstly a task orientated touch when a patient is being moved, washed or having a dressing changed and secondly a caring touch holding Mrs James hand to explain where she was and why she was there is an example of this. This would enhance communication when informing and reassuring Mrs James that her husband was alive and doing well. Nurses may initially find the process of talking to an unconscious patient embarrassing, pointless or of low importance as it is a one way conversation (Ashworth, 1980) however as previously mentioned researched shows patients have the ability to hear. Barriers to communication may be caused by physical inabilities from the patients however there are many types of other communication barriers. A barrier of communication is where there is a breakdown in the communication process. This could happen if the message was not encoded or decoded as it should have been. If a patient is under sedation, delirious or hard of hearing verbal communication could be misinterpreted. However there could also be barriers in the transfer of communication process as the Intensive Care environment in itself can cause communication barriers. Intensive Care can be noisy environment (Newmarch, 2006). Other barriers can simply include language barriers, fatigue, stress, distractions and jargon. Communication aids can promote effective communication between patient and clinician. Pen and paper is the simplest form of non verbal communication for those with adequate strength (Newmarch, 2006). Weakness of patients can affect the movement of hands and arms making gestures and handwriting frustration and difficult. Patients may also be attached to monitors and infusions resulting in restricted movements which can lead to patients feeling trapped and disturbed (Ashw orth, 1980). MacAulay (2010) mentions that Intensive Care nurses are highly skilled at anticipating the communication needs of patients who are trying to communicate but find the interpretation of their communication time consuming and difficult. The University of Dundee (ICU-Talk, 2010) conducted a three year multi disciplinary study research project to develop and evaluate a computer based communication aid specifically designed for Intensive Care patients. The trial is currently ongoing, however this may become a breakthrough in quick and effective patient clinical and patient relative communication in future care. This assignment has explored communication within Intensive Care and reflected upon previous experiences. Communication involves both verbal and non verbal communication in order to communicate effectively in all situations. Researching this topic has highlighted areas in Intensive Care nursing which may be overlooked, for example ventilator alarms and general noise within a unit may feel like a normal environment for the clinians however for patients and relatives this may cause considerable amounts of concern. Simply giving explanations for such alarms will easily alleviate concerns and provide reassurance. From overall research (Alasad: 2004, Leigh: 2001, MacAuley, 2010: Craig, 2007) Intensive Care nurses believed communication with critically ill patients was an important part of their role however disappointedly some nurses perceived this as time consuming or of low importance when the conversation was one way (Ashworth, 1980). Further education within Intensive Care may be requ ired to improve communication and highlight the importance of communication at all times. Communication is key to ensuring patients receive quality high standard care from a multidisciplinary team, where all members appreciate the skills and contribution that others offer to improve patients care.

Charles Schwab Case Essay -- essays research papers

Charles Schwab, a Stanford MBA, founded Charles Schwab & Company in 1971 in California. The company quickly established itself as an innovator. A defining moment came with the 1975 â€Å"May Day,† when Schwab took advantage of the new opportunities deregulation offered. Schwab would not provide advice on which securities to buy and when to sell as the full-service brokerage firms did. Instead, it gave self-directed investors low-cost access to securities transactions. From the late 80s to the early 90s, before the commercial use of the Internet, Schwab used technology to increase efficiency and quality and expand its services. Schwab’s innovations harnessed technology to the solution of business problem. As Schwab’s President and co-CEO David Pottruck put it, â€Å"we are a technology company in the brokerage business.† Schwab introduced TeleBroker, a fully automated telephone system that allowed customers to retrieve real-time stock quotes and place orders. Schwab also leveraged its back-office operations with SchwabLink, a service to provide fee-based financial advisors with back-office custodial services and the capability for RIAs to plug into Schwab’s computers to trade. The RIA market became an important source of revenue for Schwab. By 2000, Schwab had 5,900 affiliated RIAs, who controlled about 30% of Schwab's assets, up from zero in 1987. Merrill Lynch viewed these RIA’s as a â€Å"virtual sales force† for Schwab: â€Å"We don’t compete with the discounters. We do compete with Schwab. They have essentially built a Merrill Lynch by proxy.† Schwab introduced the Mutual Fund OneSource program in 1992, enabling customers to purchase no-load mutual funds without paying commissions. The vast majority of OneSource assets were in non-Schwab funds, except the Schwa bFunds money market, the only money market fund offered to OneSource customers. Funds were ranked and presented to Schwab customers based on objective characteristics (e.g., sector, investment style, or management fees) and performance. Customers could use their Schwab account to buy or sell more than 1,100 mutual funds from about 200 third-party fund families without paying any fees, and the transactions were integrated into their Schwab account statements and reports. Schwab serviced these accounts, aggregating all OneSource trades into a single daily transaction that was communicated electronically to the pa... ...s value proposition. Schwab customers could trade through Schwab’s branch offices, through representatives at call centers, via automated telephone services, over the Internet, and over wireless devices. Schwab sought to take advantage of synergies between the Internet and its traditional channels. For example, Schwab planned to hold over 13,600 online investing seminars in 2000 in its branches for those not comfortable with Internet technology. Looking at the market share in Figure. 1 below, Schwab was the leader in 1999. However, in today’s world competition has gotten even more competitive. Fidelity and Vanguard have become household names in today’s market. Fidelity with their proven customer service, range of mutual funds, stocks, and Retirement plans is well balanced diversified credible firm with a proven track record. Vanguard is one of the newer but fast growing firms. Vanguard trademark is for low commission and expense ratios fees. Vanguard has the lowest fees in the industry and makes a big difference if one is a long-term investor. In conclusion, Fidelity and Vanguard are the tier 1 firms in the industry with Vanguard having the potential to be #1 in the near future.

Communication in the Military

Communication has always been important with in the military from day one. Wihtout this communication no soldier would know where to be or when to be there. When the U. S. military first began we fought in a completely different style than we do today. Back then there was alot more chivalry to war to than there is today. They stood on line with their chests out proud of what they were doing. Without communication the first rank would not know when to fire their muskets, when to take a knee, when to begin reloading their weapons and when to stand back up to take aim to start the process all over again.According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary the classification of communication states it’s a process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs or behaviour. In relation, communication is the heart of what makes the United States Army what it is today. Without Communication vital information would not be passed down from the Ch ief of Command to a chain of Non Commissioned Officers to the soldiers. Not to mention, innocent lives would be in jeopardy, missions would be misconstrued, and simple information from NCO to soldier would be conflicted.Lack of communication in the army means important decision on anything would not be made. Taking from the Chief of Command, if he did communicated to his dependents on decisions such as going to war, or even making the change of declaring General Martin Dempsey chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff how could we improved the nation better yet a team; because all in all the United States army is a TEAM. Not having communication within a constituency of people creates an anarchy of chaos. The smallest amount of information is always imperative.For example, if a soldier goes out over the weekend and doesn’t inform anyone of he or she whereabouts and something crucial happens to him or her no one would never know because that soldier failed to communicated with his /her battle buddy more importantly their NCO. It is important to notify your chain of command where you are at all times so that they know. This is why the Army has developed the TRiPs system so that if traveling outside of the 250 mile radius of post you are required to fill out this digital form and it be approved by your supervisor before taking the said trip so that your chain of command knows your whereabouts always.When others know about one’s location it is easier to manoeuvre to find them if anything should ever go wrong. No one wants to become a victim if something should ever go not according to plan; and that’s why it is critical to notify someone whenever going out. Communication is key due to the simple fact that if the individuals involved in the social interaction do not first form a bases of what is tolerable and what is not, how than, can they â€Å"respect† the other individual.They next element that would be necessary for a healthy respectful relationship would be empathy. Without an empathic outlook by all parties engaged in communication, how might they respect another’s point of view? Empathy must follow communication, for empathy shows acknowledgement and understanding of what was first communicated by all parties. After empathy, the final and most important step towards respect is submission. Submission is needed to assimilate each individual into respect, not per say, for one or more individuals to dominate the others.Lets break down these three ideals of respect, starting with communication. Communication is the very bases for respect. Without this very basic idea, an organization as prominent as the Army of the United States could simply not exist. The relationship between communication and respect is one sided. Communication can exist without respect, but not vice versa. An example of this could include two individuals fighting over the price of an item. Both individuals are communicating, but neither is respecting the other.By any means, the bane of communication when applied to respect is miscommunication. Miscommunication in itself is the very break down of communication. Communication plays an essential role in any institution, especially in the military. The military employs two basic forms of communication; which are verbal and non-verbal. All two forms are vital to the success of the military. Without effective communication in the military regardless of the status there cannot be a positive outcome of any situation with failure to understand what is passed.Military communication has played an important role in transmitting information, orders, and reports both in the field and at sea and between command centres and deployed units both in the field and at sea. Information is transmitted from superiors to subordinates utilizing the chain of command system. â€Å"The American Heritage dictionary of English language† defines Chain of command as a system where by authority is passed down from the top through a series of executive positions or military ranks in which each is accountable to the one directly superior.Individual unit leaders exercise command by communicating orders and instruction of commanders to their respective units. Traditionally, military communication had been in the form of sending and receiving signals. â€Å"The first military comms tool was the communication automobile designed by the Soviet Union in 1934. The basics of the communications in the beginning was the sending and receiving of signals – which were encoded so that the enemy would not be able to get hold of any top secret communication.Then the advent of distinctive signals which lead to the formation of the Signal Corps, this corp. , specialised in tactics of military comms. They evolved into a distinctive occupation where the signaller became a highly technical job dealing with all available communications methods including civil ones. In the modern world, m ost nations attempt to minimize the risk of war caused by miscommunication or inadequate communication by pushing the limits of communication technology and systems.As a result military communication is more intense, complicated, and often motivates the development of advanced technology for remote systems such as satellites and aircraft, both manned and unmanned, as well as computers. Computers and their varied applications have revolutionized military comms. Fortunately military communication does not always merely facilitate warfare, but often supports intelligence gathering and communication between adversaries, and thus sometimes prevents war. Signal communication is basically a means of conveying information from person or place to the other utilizing indicators such as gestures and smoke. Signal communication or signaling has long played an important role in warfare. â€Å"This form of communication is greatly employed when troops don’t want to be heard or detected an d it serves to provide a means of transmitting information from reconnaissance and other units in contact with the enemy. † The military uses signal communcations in many different ways and have done so since the beginning of the military.Whether it be in the form of hand and arm signals within an Infantry unit to allow everyone behind them to know what they need to do at a specific time whether it be halt or stop movement, or to take a knee, to get down in the prone, to mark a rally point to meet up at. The list goes on and on and by using a signaling form of communication it allows them to do so without being heard by an enemy force that may be in the immediate area. The signaling form of communication smoke is also used by infantry units and other ground force elements to notify others what they need to do or the position in which they are in.They use smoke to notify medevac of their position in case they have wounded or KIA within their element to be picked up. Ground troo ps would â€Å"pop smoke† and wait for the medevac helicopter to indicate what color of smoke that they see to know that it is they element in which they are intending to go to. Verbal communication is the most widely used form of communication in the military. This method has an advantage over the other forms of communication. It allows the person passing the information to interpret the facial expressions of those receiving the information being passed.You can also use the web now days as a form of verbal communcation. With the addition of this tool the military has become even more effective. With this tool leaders are able to send the same message to a large group of people without having to take the time out to have a formation or a gathering of the soldiers in order to do so. This method has become the primary source of communcation within the military because of its ease and almost everyone has access to a computer and the web at some point during their duty day.It red uces time in which it takes to get information put out and reduces the amount of time that one would waste by going to a gathering or formation. The people within the conversation is ultimately unlimited to whomever they would like within it and allows for multiple responses at one said time whenever they see the message and are able to send a response without taking them away from other tasks at hand and allowing them to efficiently transition from one task to the next.Military Communication is a key to the success of everything that we do in the military. Here is an example of how the web can help efficiently pass along information in the Army. With communicating in the military it has to be clear and to the point because many times it has to be passed on to someone else and there can not be any confusion. Just recently I received and email.It was to pass along what the Commander had worked out for the holiday schedule for Thanksgiving and wanted all the units to be aware of the d ays that we would have off and the days that we needed to post a duty also give us the days for leave that service members are allowed to take and posted a memo stating that if someone is to take leave on these dates they are not allowed to take leave for the rest of the year unless it was a red cross emergency. The purpose of this email so I can inform my team on the days that we would have off and the days allotted for leave.My commanding officer was the sender and I was the receiver. The message was the days we would have off for thanksgiving holidays. The technology used was a milper messages which is a military personal message. All involved had positive feedback. The technology used was very appropriate due to this needed to be sent out to many units at one time rather than the commander looking up each email address and sending that out that way he could send it out to each unit and then the Commanding Officer can see to it that the message was passed to each person.Another f orm of military communication is Cryptography. Cryptography is one of the most influential and important assets pertaining to government today. â€Å"Cryptography is the mathematical science of preparingcommunication incoherent to parties unintended to receive the message, or Cryptography is the study of methods of converting readable messages into guised unreadable information, unless one knows of the methods of decryption. This military comms method ensured that the messages reached the correct hands and eyes or ears.Nowadays digital cash, signatures, digital rights management and intellectual property rights and secure electronic commerce are its new purviews. It is also being used in computing, telecommunications and infrastructure. † In essence this what this statement is saying is that when using cryptography you are required to enter some sort of passcode or password in order to access the material contained within the message. The military uses this method when it com es to almost any kind of electronically sent mail or information.In order to access the Army Knowledge Online website which contains soldiers data and emails you are required to enter your username and password. The passwords the military requires people to use are some of the most difficult passwords to hack. All passwords must contain uppercase, lowercase letters along with numbers and special characters. Another form of Cryptography used by the military is the common access card. This card contains soldier data within a microchip that is inserted into an identification card. When using the CAC card you also have a 6-8 digit pincode that is required when acessing government computers or material.Each soldier has a CAC card that is used to get throught the gate on each military installation. This form of Cryptography takes two essential things in the miltary and forms them both into one idea. Written communication is another form in which the military uses. The written form of comm unication is probably the most commonly used form of communication within the military. Military uses written communication everyday. Whether it be in the form of an email which can also be considered verbal or in the form of a Memorandum for record or a DA form 4856 counseling form. One of the most important concepts to master is expressed several ways: put your bottom line first, hook your reader, make it relevant to him/her. DA PAM 600-67 lists this concept first among its seven style techniques in Paragraph 3-1 and hammers the idea home again in Paragraph 3-2. AR 25-50 says â€Å"focus first on the main point† (Paragraph 1-45) and â€Å"open with a short, clear purpose statement† (Paragraph 1-46). † A MFR can be for the purpose of many different things. It can be used to give guidence of off limit establishments or be a directive on how a task will be carried out.Beyond that there are even more ways a memorandum for record may be used but those are just a cou ple that come to mind right off hand. The DA form 4856 counseling is used amongst the Army. It gives guidence to the soldier on a monthly basis or whenever they do something negative in which his or her chain of command feels it is necessary to give the soldier a negative counseling. There are many other reasons for a counseling. They can be used for promotion purposes to give the soldier a guideline to things that he or she must accomplish in order to be recommended for promotion or reasons that they are not being recommended.On a monthly basis the counseling tells a soldier how the soldier ultimately did for the previous month whether it be good or bad. The counseling will have special emphasis on what the soldier did well as well as the soldiers shortcomings, giving the soldier guidence on what he or she should work on the following month. The DA 4856 is an excellent form of communication between the Team or Squad leader and the lower enlisted within his or her team or squad when used properly.Most people in the Army do not use the counseling form in the correct manner in which it was designed to be used. This is usually due to the fact that they themselves do not understand Army communication themselves or they just do not understand how the form is actually meant to be used. The Army is begining to go back to its old way and the ways that most soldiers have been brought up in the Army is in fact the wrong way leading to what is being known as Toxic Leadership and the Department of the Army is doing their best to begin getting rid of this toxic leadership.Toxic leadership could be defined as someone that does the bare minimum or in the case of a counseling form would what is referred to as hand jamming it. Meaning that they pay no attention to their soldier but when something comes up and they do not have the counselings prepared they go back and write them and instruct the lower enlisted soldier that they are in control of to back date the form to keep th em from getting in trouble as well. This form has become more and more common within the Army that is rediculous.If someone wants to be in charge of someone they should take charge and do what they are suppose to do in that position not throwing their soldier under the bus when they think thats something they have done is coming back to bite them based on their own actions†¦ They expect their soldiers to cover them but leadership is suppose to stick up for their soldiers not throw them under the bus. What kind of signal, what kind of communication is this to the lower level soldier? Not a good one and thats all that can be said.To sum up this essay there are several different forms of communication within the military that all serve their own purpose to the military. There is the communication form of signal that can be used to signal different things from telling other soldiers what they should do next when in combat, to informing air support of your position via smoke or a VS -17 panel. There is the form of verbal communication which can be used to give a platoon or company of soldiers a safety briefing for the weekend, or just to put out guidence to a select few individuals within the element.Another form of communication being cryptography. Cryptography allows one said person to send another said person a message or email or another form of typed material that you must use a passcode, pincode, or password to access. All forms of government email use this type of communication to ensure the safety and well being of the rest of the population of the United States. The last form of communication we discussed is written. Written communication is the most important and most commonly used among the military.Written comunication can be used as a MFR or counseling session for a lower level soldier. A MFR can be used in different ways, it can be used to notify soldiers of off limit establishments or just to give guidence to soldiers on how to accomplish a said task that has been given to them. A DA form 4856 is utilized to give guidence to the lower level soldier on how well they have performed over the period of a month. Commonly known as a monthly counseling but can also be used as a negative counseling to inform a soldier of wrong doing that he or she has done to recieve the statement.Negative counselings can be used in conjunction to ultimately punish the soldier using UCMJ action. All in all communcation is an essential part of the military. The lack of communication cause serious problems as well as just the lack of understanding the communication that has been given. Communication within the military is a must or nothing will get done, or get done to the standards anyway. It is imparative that all members of the United States military understand the importance of communication and excercises it on a regular basis on order for the military to effectively function.