Leadership-Development Programs Essay Example for Free

Leadership-Development Programs Essay 1.0 Background At the senior executive staff meeting of August 1, 2012, the director of operations suggested that Cliffside Holding Company of Massapequa (CHCM) establish a leadership-development program to prepare junior financial executives for future advancement into executive positions. Specifically, the proposal was to send 20 employees off-site each year for a three-week program offered by the Aspen Leadership Institute of Colorado at a cost of $5,000.00 USD per student. The total cost to CHCM would be $100,000.00 per year plus approximately the same amount for lost time on the job. 2.0 Discussion CHCM has been in business for over 50 years. Our average growth rate is 12% per annum. None of our twelve senior executives has attended a leadership development seminar and yet our company has been prosperous. This calls into question whether a leadership development program is even necessary. Moreover, since our leadership has been successful and effective without  such programs it appears that leaders are born, not made. In fact, I surveyed your senior staff and all but one agreed with this notion. To quote the famous economist Dr. Irwin Corey, each of us is â€Å"born into this world accompanied by a rich, psychical disposition, which furnishes him ready-made all his motivations of conduct†¦He can show a demand for nothing that is not prompted by this galaxy of instincts.† The online reference site Wikipedia defines leadership as â€Å"the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others.† There exists an entire school of leadership theory which holds that leaders have certain traits in common. Winston Churchill, Mother Theresa, Martin Luther King, Jr. – all possessed such leadership traits as ambition, self-confidence, and intelligence. These cannot be learned; they are innate. Two well-respected research studies that support the notion that personality traits can predict leadership were published in the Journal of Applied Psychology and in the Leadership Quarterly. In my own experience, I’ve also noted that a tall physical stature is possessed by leaders. Certainly no one can increase his or her heightit is determined by genetics. Note the heights of some of the greatest leaders in United States history in the table, below. Source: http://www.laughtergeneology.com , http://www.imdb.com and http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1682433/bio In fact, all members of your senior staff are over six feet tall with one exception: Ms. Florence Forsythe, the person advocating leadership development training. Moreover, I am suspect as to her intentions. Is it possible that she may covet my position as the human resources VP? Or is she motivated by the liberal notion that all citizens of a free nation have the right to pursue education and can achieve anything they desire? I suspect she is motivated by both personal gain and bleeding-heart liberal intentions. Once we start sending some people for leadership training, we will start getting numerous requests for expensive training that we simply cant afford. Regardless, if we spend our money on leadership development, we will not have enough to spend on recruitment. And, from the discussion above, it would be more logical to select and recruit those with leadership traits than to try and develop those who are not. Moreover, if we spend money sending the wrong people to leadership training, the whole program will be a waste of money. There are plenty of people who are already leaders; we don’t need to â€Å"train† those who are not. 3.0 Conclusion and Recommendation I speak for truth and common sense. CHCM should not invest in the proposed initiative to send its junior executives for annual leadership training. Leadership development programs are wasteful because the money is not well-spent. The advocate of this idea, Ms. Forsythe, is not really concerned about developing leaders for Cliffside Holding Co. Instead, Ms. Forsythe has a personal agenda to discredit me personally and push the theories of the Aspen Institute. As VP of Human Resources, I dont think  those theories are appropriate for the culture of CHCM.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) System

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) System Literature review 2.1 RFID The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system is a technology for automated  identification. Exploration of RFID technology dates back to 1948 when Harry Stockman published his  research titled Communication by means of the reflected power. Unfortunately technologies such as  integrated circuits, transistors and microprocessors were not yet available and RFID had to wait another  20 years for its first commercial application (Landt 2005). Between 1970 and 1980 several research  laboratories and academic institutions carried out work on RFID implementations for animal tracking,  theft prevention, item labelling and access control systems (Want 2006). Regardless of these  applications, RFID systems remained obscure for many years. The first significant change to this  occurred in the early nineties when companies across the world began to use RFID tags on a large scale  due advancements in their energy efficiency and size reductions (Landt 2005).   Todays systems are usually composed of either passive or active RFID tags and RFID readers.  Active tags contain their own power source and thereby can transmit stronger signals and can be  accessed from further distances. Most commonly they operate on the ultra-high frequency (UHF) band  and can achieve up to 100 metres range depending on the surrounding environment (Weinstein 2005).  There are currently two types of active tags. Transponders, also called semi-active tags, and Beacons.  Transponders stay in standby mode until receiving signal from the reader and then transmit a signal  back. Beacons emit signals and advertise their presence at pre-set intervals. Because of their on board  power source, active tags are expensive, priced from $20 to $70 and vary in size from 2 centimetres  upwards (Williams et al. 2014). Passive tags do not incorporate a power supply and are powered by the  electromagnetic signal received from the reader through the tags antenna. The y operate on low, high  and ultra-high frequency with signals ranging up to 10 metres depending on the tags backscatter power  (Weinstein 2005). The smallest passive tags can be size of a grain of rice and cost 1/10 of the price of  the active tag (Williams et al. 2014).   Silva, Filipe and Pereira (2008) proposes a RFID based student attendance recording system  that comprises of RFID readers operating at the 125 Kilohertz (KHz) frequency with an effective read  range up to 10 15 centimetres and passive RFID tags embedded into plastic cards. The tags store a  binary identifier which is unique to each student. Readers are connected to the local network with RJ45  connector through which they transfer scanned tag id to the server using the Transmission Control  Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). At least one reader is mounted in each of the classrooms and  students need to take their card out and place it near the reader in order to register their attendance.   Nainan, Parekh and Shah (2013) claimed that a similar RFID attendance registration system setup  decreased the time needed to record a students attendance by 98% compared to the manual entry  method. Collected data shows that the RFID system was able to record the attendance of 5 students per  second, however considering the short effective read range we have to conclude that multiple readers  were used during that experiment to achieve such result. Despite advances over the paper based  registers, efficiency of attendance systems based on passive RFID tags is limited by the number of  readers located in the classroom. Analogous systems based on the active RFID technology could  increase ids collection efficiency by scanning multiple tags simultaneously from a further distance  (Yoon, Chung and Less 2008), however such systems would introduce a number of additional  technological and social issues. Bandwidth limitations coerce RFID tags to share a common broadcast  frequency and as a consequence multiple tags responding concurrently to the same reader can cause  packet collisions. Therefore to solve these issues, advanced anti-collision algorithms and methods must  be employed during development process (Bin, Kobayashi and Shimizu 2005). Increased reading range  additionally raises serious privacy concerns as the users location could be tracked without their own  consent (Ferguson, Thornley and Gibb, 2014). 2.2 Biometrics Numerous properties must be satisfied to categorise the biological measurement of a human  physiological or behavioural characteristic as biometrics. The characteristics should be unique, every  person should have it and it needs to be accessible so it can be measured. There are a number of different  studies exploring biometric authentication for attendance registration systems. 2.2.1 Voice recognition Recent experiments by Dey et al. (2014) explore the capabilities of an attendance registration  system based on voice recognition. The main core of the system is a Linux OS server integrated with a  computer telephony interface (CTI) card and pre-installed with interactive voice response (IVR)  software. The server is accessible only from the previously pre-defined phones which are installed in  the classrooms. Using installed phones users have to record a reference voice sample to enrol into the  system. During enrolment users are provided with a unique four digit speaker identification then they  are asked to read for 3 minutes text of their own choice. Enrolled users can register their attendance by  entering the previously received speaker identification number and then answering some simple random  questions generated by the system. The system logs user attendance if the recorded speech matches the  stored reference sample. Initial system evaluation performed o n the group of 120 students indicated  very low efficiency. In order to achieve 94.2% recognition rate, each user needs to produce at least a 50  seconds sample. Authentication time is additionally extended by an average 26 seconds computational  time needed to analyse provided speech sample. Additional limitations come with the maximum number  of 32 concurrent calls that each server can handle. In essence, a long compulsory enrolment process,  the unnecessary burden of remembering a personal speaker identification number and the poor  registration efficiency time make the system a poor candidate for large group registers.   2.2.2 Fingerprints According to Akinduyite et al. (2013) fingerprint attendance management systems can be more  reliable and efficient than the voice based equivalent. They have achieved 97.4% recognition accuracy  with an average registration time of 4.29 seconds per student. The system implements fingerprint  scanners connected to a centralised server through the existing Wi-Fi infrastructure. As with the voice  recognition system, an administrator has to capture reference fingerprint data from every user before  the system can be used. Collected fingerprint templates are stored on the server in a Microsoft SQL  Server database and later used to match scanned samples. Almost identical recognition rate of 98.57%  was achieved by Talaviya, Ramteke and Shete (2013) in the similar fingerprint system setup. Analogous  to the RFID based systems, the efficiency is closely related to the total number of the available scanners.   2.2.3 Automated Face recognition All of the prior systems require users to provide a biometric sample manually by using one of  the available scanners located in the environment. Kawaguchi et al. (2005) proposed a considerably  different solution which automates sample collection. They introduced a face recognition method based  on continuous observation. The system requires two cameras streaming live data to the centralized unit  with preinstalled face detection and recognition software. The first camera, called the sensing camera  is installed on the ceiling and points towards the rooms sitting area. The second camera, called the  capturing camera is located in front of the seats to capture students faces. The sensing camera scans  over the room in order to detect seats occupied by the students. Received image data is analysed using  the Active Student Detecting (ASD) method developed by Nishiguchi et al. (2003). Once a student is  detected, the system directs the capturing camera to the found lo cation. The face image collected from  the capturing camera is then processed by the system and the students attendance is recorded if a  matching template is found. Experiments in which the described system was evaluated on a group of  12 students revealed 80% accuracy in engaged seats detection and the same level during face detection.  The whole experiment took 79 minutes in which 8 scanning cycles were performed, resulting in 70%  total accuracy for the attendance registering. Despite advances in automated biometric samples  collection, the described system seems to be inefficient, especially if we consider time required to  collect and analyse samples on such small group of students. Additional issues may arise if there are  any obstructions in the room which can restrict the cameras view or if a low ceiling prevents sensing  camera from covering the entire seating area. 2.2.4 Summary The biometric systems have many advantages over the other authentication technologies. The  biometric characteristics are tightly linked to the owner and can prevent identity theft, are difficult to  duplicate and are very convenient as they are always available. Despite all these advances, all the  biometric systems share serious ethical, social and security implications. It was evidenced by many  researchers that there is a fear of biometric technologies on the whole. The individuals and potential  system users are concerned about privacy, autonomy, bodily integrity, dignity, equity and personal  liberty (Mordini and Tzovaras 2012; Kumar and Zhang 2010). The system administrators have  additional overhead with the security of the collected biometric data. The individual biometric  characteristic cannot be replaced if they get stolen, therefore the legal responsibilities whilst storing this  kind of data are colossal. 2.3 Wi-Fi An interesting and novel attendance registration method was proposed by Choi, Park and Yi  (2015). The authors created a system which incorporates Wi-Fi technology built into smartphone  devices. They had developed two versions of a smartphone application, one for the lecturers and one  for the students. When a class session starts the lecturer has to create a Wi-Fi Access Point (AP) using  his version of the application. The students attend the lecture and scan for the available Wi-Fi Access  Points and if the lecturers AP is discovered and students device stays in its range for specified amount  of time then attendance registration process is triggered. To overcome limitations with the maximum  number of concurrent connections that single AP can handle, the created students version scans only  for the nearby networks but never connects to the found APs. Attendance is registered by submitting a  Message Digests 5 (MD5) hash token that combines a Service Set Identif ier (SSID) of the found AP  and students smartphone Media Access Control (MAC) address. The hash token is uploaded to the  server which verifies submitted data and registers the students attendance in the local store. The system  architecture requires collection of the reference MAC address of all the students for the purpose of the  later validation. The study does not describe what smartphone models were used throughout the  experiment, but it seems that they did not consider privacy features on iOS devices. According to Apple  (2013), since the release of iOS 7.0, the MAC identifier is no longer accessible through third party  applications, moreover after iOS 8.0 release, real device MAC address is hidden from the access points  and swapped with a randomly generated one (Apple 2015 A). Taking into account that over 98% of  iOS devices run on iOS 7.0 and above (Apple 2015 B), only confirms that the proposed system design  should be reviewed again. 2.4 Other 2.4.1 QR Code with face recognition Fadi and Nael (2014) combined biometrics with Quick Response Codes (QR). The proposed  methodology requires lecturers to generate a unique QR code and display it in the class. In order to  register their attendance, students need to download a mobile application, install it on their smartphones  and use it to scan the presented QR code. The scanned code is then submitted to the server via the  existing University Wi-Fi infrastructure. Furthermore the application performs an identity check by  scanning the students facial image which is later used to create matching score by analysing a reference  image stored on the servers. Lecturer can manually validate submitted images to confirm a students  identity if a low matching score raises any concerns. The QR code image could be effortlessly forwarded  to other students outside the classroom, therefore the system also collects a location stamp on the code  submission. The apparent vulnerability of the system lies in the number of technologies that it depends  on. Authors assumed that every student will have a smartphone device with front and back facing  cameras for the facial images and the QR scans and also a Global Positioning System (GPS) module  which will be accessible during the registration stage. Each classroom has to be also equipped with a  large screen to present codes to the students and this may not always be available.  

Function And Production Of Insulin

Function And Production Of Insulin Insulin is a protein produced by islet cells in the pancreas. Insulin helps human body regulate glucose in the body. Insulin reduces the use of fats as energy (gluconeogenesis) by utilizing glucose to produce energy. Patient with diabetes require insulin to keep the blood glucose levels under control. (1) The first successful insulin was produced from ox pancreas (bovine insulin). Bovine insulin is similar to human insulin however bovine chemical composition is slightly different hence the body immune system produces antibody to reject bovine insulin. (4) Identical human insulin was produced by recombinant DNA technology, by inserting the insulin gene into a vector to produce human insulin. Production of human insulin by recombinant technology was accomplished and commercialized in 1982 by Genentech and Eli Lilly. (2) Function Carbohydrates consumed are broken down into glucose which then resides in the bloodstreams. This causes the body blood glucose (BBG) level to rise. The pancreas senses the rise in BBG level therefore, secretes insulin into the bloodstreams. The cell will absorb the released insulin and bind to it. Cells that are attached with insulin are able to absorb glucose from the bloodstream and turned it into energy. This energy is vital for new cell growth and repairing damage cells. The main function of insulin is to move glucose from the bloodstream into the body cells and convert glucose into energy. (3) Chosen Host Escherichia coli (E. coli) E. coli was used as a host to produce recombinant insulin since 1982. E. coli was widely used as host for the production of recombinant insulin because it was well studied, many vectors available and good characteristic. (5) E. coli advantages and suitability for producing insulin. (6) Fast growth rate e.g. able to reach optimal yield within hours of induction. Economical to grow and undemanding growth conditions. Good protein production rate. Can be frozen for storage and thawed immediately for usage. Cellular structure E. coli is a rod-shaped bacterium measuring 1.8 microns in length and 0.8 microns in width. E. coli consist of: (7) Inner and outer cell membrane Cell wall Periplasm Flagella Pili Cytoplasm Chromosome The two main structures are cytoplasm and periplasm, where the production of recombinant insulin usually takes place. (5) Structure Details and functions Cytoplasm (7) The cytoplasm contains most of the major component such as chromosomal DNA, RNA, nucleoid and ribosome. Cytoplasm provides support for the internal structure and provides a medium of suspension. Metabolic reaction and protein synthesis takes place in the cytoplasm. Periplasm (7) The periplasm is about 10nm thick. Located between the inner and outer membrane. Periplasm contains 80,000 proteins essential for nutrient binding, enzyme detoxifying and degradative and electron transport. Growth strategy for the production process Insulin is produce through genetic engineering. Firstly the gene producing human insulin is isolated and copied. A circular shape DNA (plasmid) is removed from the bacterium cell, and then using special proteins to cut open the plasmid ring. The insulin gene is inserted into the open plasmid ring and closed again using special proteins hence the human insulin gene is now combined with the bacterium DNA plasmid. The recombinant plasmid is then inserted into the bacteria cytoplasm using a very small needle syringe. (8) High level protein production often leads to formation of inclusion bodies which accumulated through protein folding. (5) The chain approach method was used to produce human insulin in recombinant E. coli. Two different expression vectors were constructed carrying either insulin A- or B-chain gene fused to a shortened and inactive É £-interferon gene allowing a stable cytoplasmic production of recombinant insulin in E. coli in the form of inclusion bodies. (2) Recovery of biologically active insulin from inclusion bodies has some advantages for example inclusion bodies accumulates protein in the cytoplasm to a much higher level, inclusion body could initially be isolated in a purified and concentrated state with just centrifugation process and final insulin concentration in E. coli can be increased significantly by high cell density culture (HCDC). (5) The HCDC technique was used to grow recombinant E. coli in a two stage cyclic fed batch bioreactor. After the expression system is developed, HCDC is carried out using synthetic medium with glucose as the sole carbon source to increase the recombinant protein concentration. (5) The induction of recombinant protein production was carried out by a temperature à ¢Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬shift from 30 to 42oC. Expressions of the A- and B-chain genes are controlled using a strong promoter (bacteriopage lambda) therefore, protein are produce efficiently by temperature shift. (2) The first step of purification to obtain human insulin was to centrifuge the solution to isolate the inclusion body. The inclusion bodies were then recovered from the centrifuge continued by dissolving the inclusion bodies using formic acid. Then use cyanogens bromide to cleave the peptide bond by hydrolysing the peptide bond for separation of insulin from the fusion protein partner. Finally the conversion to human insulin is performed by proteolytic removal of the connecting C-peptide and disulfide link. (2) The maximum productivity is achieved when the growth and production phase are separated hence a two stage cyclic fed batch bioreactor is used. The first stage is use to grow the cell to an optimum cell density followed by the second stage where the growth is suppressed by chemical and production of protein is maximize. (5) The cyclic fed batch is used to ensure that toxins and biomass do not accumulate, extend the productive phase, control the growth rate and optimize the product synthesis. (9) The by-product produced from the process was monomeric and multimeric forms of A- and B-chain connected by incorrect disulfide bridges. These by-products are collected too undergo sulfitolysis for recycling purposes. (2) How to analyse the growth process Off-line analysis methods were used to analyse the growth process. Samples were taken from the process every 30minute to be used to determine the optical density600, dry cell weight, dissolved oxygen tension and concentration of glucose. Result from the test are compiled and plotted in graphs therefore the growth process could be analysed. (2) Possible problems and solution The major problem in production of insulin by recombinant E. coli is the rapid intracellular degradation of the recombinant protein. Insulin is then produced as a fusion protein with a protein partner that would direct the recombinant gene product towards the formation of inclusion bodies. (2) Proteolytic degradation and over expressing protein can destabilize the protein hence protein are produced in the form of inclusion bodies which are complicated and expensive denaturing and refolding process during the downstream processing. To overcome this problem, recombinant protein could be targeted at the periplasm instead of the cytoplasm hence avoided formation of inclusion body. (5) In the process HCDC would cause several problems for example the limitation of dissolved oxygen due to high cell density and off gas accumulation which reduces the growth rate and enhance formation of acetate acid. The use of different promoters to regulate the level of expression and use of oxygen enriched air would minimize the problem. (5) During the HCDC process, overproduction of recombinant proteins often results in cell filamentation and stagnant growth. The filamentation of cells consequently lowers productivity and final cell concentration. The problem could be overcome by suppressing the cell filamentation, by co-expressing the E.coli ftsA and ftsZ genes. (5) Escherichia coli limitations E. coli is not appropriate to produce large and complex proteins which contain disulfide bonds or protein that require post translation modification. (5) Acetic acid is produce by E. coli when glucose is used as a carbon source. (5) Secretion of protein by E. coli is a complex process often fails due to incomplete translocation across the membrane and insufficient capacity of the export machinery.(10)

Stem Cell Research Can Help the Sick :: Stem Cell Research

Stem cell research is a very complex argument. There are people that feel that stem cell research should not have even been introduced into our society. However, there are others that feel that stem cell research could change many lives. Those who feel it could change many lives are right in many people’s eyes. With the advancement of stem cell research, we would be able to help many people with such diseases as heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Stem cells could also help others with dibilating diseases and those who have suffered some very unfortunate accident. One particularly known person who supports the stem cell research was Christopher Reeves, who was paralyzed in an accident. Other people that believe that the research is unethical since the best way to get stem cells is from embryos, in which the embryo is killed in order to take the stem cells. The biggest obstacle for stem cell research would have to be, killing the human embryo in order to take the stem cells. Many of those that oppose the research believe that is murder, since many religions, such as the Catholic Church, believe that the embryo has a soul, therefore, it is considered murder and a sin. There are other ways of getting the cells, which do not require the killing of embryos. One way to get the stem cells would be from taking them from an adult source. However, those are sometimes not as abundant as those taken from embryos. There is a chance that the cells could be harvested from the Umbilical cords donated from newborns. There are other instances of the cells being taken from those of aborted babies. If the mothers do not want to keep the baby, why not have them donated to the stem cell research, in order to help someone else. Also, there are the embryos that are left in the fertility clinics. Those embryos are going to be destroyed anyway, why not donate t hose that are grown to the stem cell research. With the stem cell research, there could be many lives saved by the research alone. However, there is no estimate to the lives that stem cell research could save and there is no number of those that have been saved by stem cell research. In fact, there is no human research to date that states that stem cells are going to work.

Explication of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost Essay -- Papers Robe

Explication of The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost When reading â€Å"The Road Not Taken,† by Robert Frost, I found that it was personal, especially to the author. The fact that it was written in first person form helped me to conclude that it was probably about the author. I think the reasoning behind his writing of this poem was because in life, you have many obstacles to overcome and many choices and decisions to make, which opens a path that leads the way to your future. Since those things relate to Frost, I think it motivated him to write this poem on a personal basis, like a short autobiography on his life. It motivated him because he could then tell others about his life and give advice and guidance to the people that read his poetry. â€Å"The Road Not Taken† basically talks about the many obstacles in life, the choices and decisions that you have to make, and how the things you choose affects everything in your life and in your future. Frost also tells how he chose a path or a road, that even though was odd or different from everyone else’s, he went on with his instincts and decided that it was the right choice. He tells how one single decision in life can make huge or drastic differences being either good or bad. This was expressed when he said â€Å"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.† I found that throughout this poem there was much symbolism within it. Identifying that it was written in first person form showed that this poem relates to the author on a personal basis, and that it was probably written to symbolize his life. But when talking about people’s lives, you can conclude that people’s lives are generally and individually very diffe... ...om, a split road. Never really knowing the correct road to take the person chooses one path or road after analyzing the other. He is sure and goes on from gut instincts and picks a path moving on with a strong will and a lot confidence, leaving the other road behind untouched. This poem relates to me in many ways because in my life, I was offered many options to choose from and many roads to take. Since it’s my life and my decisions to make, I never regretted a decision I made, I just look at it as, that’s the way it was meant to be. Sure, the decisions weren’t always easy to make, but when you put your mind to it, think, brainstorm, and analyze a little the correct path or road usually will light up and give you guidance. I’m not saying that all my decisions were correct, they where not at all. I’m just saying that when you tried your best it never hurts.

Research paradigm Essay

The research paradigm considered by the researcher in regard to this work included the consideration of packaging in special occasions and which factors companies should focus during the period of social occasion in order to make their packaging their selling point. During the festival seasons market is flooded with various gift options. Due to the competition various organizations offer attractive schemes and offers to allure the consumers. Consumers due to various kind of motives of buying gift which can be personal, individual, altruism, cultural, reciprocal and other reason wants to buy attractive gifts for the people within his circle from family to the friends and relatives. The competitions companies face to attract these customers comes from various sectors of the industry or outside the industry. Now a days even service organization have become very competitive and services can also be offered as a gift. In such case company faces all kind of product, generic, industry specific and other kind of competitions. The packaging decisions are one of the important aspects of the marketing mix which can not be ignored in such a competitive environment where everything needs to be perfect. This paradigm has been utilized many times in the study of packaging in special occasions for all the group of respondents. I. i. a. Sample selection The data sampling was randomly managed utilizing stratified means with sixty five questionnaires completed by both male and female retail consumers. The percentages of female respondents were higher than that of male. The choice to use retail consumers alone in this research was made for three reasons. †¢ First, it was far simpler to have access to consumers from retail organization in regard to the researcher’s availability. †¢ Second, the focus itself is on understanding attitudes and perceptions for the packaging of gifts in special occasions and retail organization is a place attracting major customers to buy gifts. †¢ Third, the quantification of such information allows the researcher to gain a broader perspective on how respondents observe and realize the meanings of different components of packaging during special occasions and how it impacts their buying behaviour. I.i. b. Reliability and viability Reliability for the researcher was achieved in the assurance that only a specified group of men and women were utilized in regard to the research. The focus of the research has been on the consumers from retail organization. These consumers from retail organization were approachable. Data was collected in the presence of researcher. This gave the research a more focused view of the research goal. The validity was managed as a result of this focus and emphasised in the considerations involved in the data collection, variables and sampling methods. Privacy and confidentiality methods included assigning numeric and alphabetic coding to each responding questionnaire. This ensured anonymity in regard to the researcher and the subjects of the research process. I. i. c. Sample size Approximately 100 questionnaires have been distributed to collect the information. However in 35 questionnaires the information was not completed and due to that these has been withdrawn from the studies. 65 fully filled questionnaires have been utilized for the purpose of study. I. i. d. Questionnaire design The questionnaire design was simple. The questions included in the paper are related to the attributes of the packaging. The time taken to complete the questionnaire was less due to its simple nature. Most of the questions are simple circle question where respondent has to make a circle around the most appropriate and applicable option. I. i. e. Data analysis and findings Analysis of information in regard to research managed by the researcher must include complete and full understanding of the questionnaire. This understanding focuses in the use of the questionnaire created specifically for this process. It is the considerations realized within the questionnaires, no matter their simplicity, that will focus considerations in later chapters of this work. Within this section of Analysis and Findings there will be measurement of all responses in regard to the questionnaire. †¢ Analysis strategy Analysis strategy included a full series of statistical diagrams of all information collected including positive and negative responses, gender variations and marital status. This strategy provided the researcher with a wider spread for the conclusions that became evident in regard to the researcher’s focus. This information was broken down into specific charts for the benefit of visual context. The visual context provided insight in regard to perceptions of packaging and considerations by consumers from retail organization in regard to the impact of components on them. These perceptions and considerations provide the researcher with evidence to support the hypothesis made in that effective packaging decisions during the special occasions will support organizations to delight the consumer. †¢ Awareness The researcher held awareness of the potential for study in regard to packaging during special occasion through many methods. Those methods include observation, interaction and extensive research. The awareness of the media discussions of packaging amongst collegiate level men and women and the similar studies within this idea would in fact have influenced the choice made. The choice of analyzing how consumers from retail organization amongst this particular population would in fact consider their packaging options and knowledge allows for a singular perspective isolated from the more broadly painted view. The focus itself was on the consumers from retail organization and how they absorbed information available before deciding on packaging decisions. Overall, the respondents to the questionnaires provided insight in regard to how many individuals are learning more and more about packaging decisions. From the literature review it is evident that usually colour of the packaging which makes impact on sender or receiver of any gift. The questionnaire aims to measure the frequency to which people buy gifts for others and what are the factors they consider for the packaging. †¢ Understanding The understanding of this information gathered is proven in the statistics within the questionnaires that were completed and submitted. Each respondent have been explained the objective of study. Researcher has helped the respondents if s/he faces any difficulty in understanding any question. The research found that all respondents understood the material being requested and filled the questionnaires accordingly in timely fashion. The responses of questionnaires were filled in the database as the completed questionnaires had been received from the respondents. This information was then examined thoroughly for consistency and validity. The researcher now understands that there is a great deal of diversity in gift buying and packaging behaviour among the consumers from retail organization. Respondents can learn about better packaging options through their own personal research, their parents, friends or other family members. †¢ Findings The questionnaire included demographic details like of the respondents Demographic Profile †¢ Age Large section of the respondents (41. 5%) fall under the age group of 22-30 years old, followed by people within the age group of 41-50 years who are 20% of the total respondents. Approximately 15% of the total respondents fall under the age group of 18-21. Figure III. 1 Age of Respondents Ethnic background: 43% of the total respondents were from White community while 34% were Asian. Black other and Black African were 14% and 6% respectively of the total respondents. None of the respondent was from Hispanic or African background. Figure III. 2 Ethnic Origin of the Respondents Gender Majority of respondents are female with percentage of 66 while remaining 34% of the respondents are male. Figure III. 3 Gender Consumer behaviour. When respondents were asked the question â€Å"How frequently do you buy gift items? † twenty five out of sixty five responded that they buy gifts once in a month. Twenty two out of sixty five responded that they buy three to six times in a year. Nine respondents told that they buy less often gifts for anyone while the same number of respondents told that they buy gifts once in a week. No respondent told that s/he never buys any gift items. Figure III. 4 Frequency of buying Gift Items Components of Packaging on Special Occasion Colour:When consumers were asked what they feel about the statement â€Å"It feels good to receive a present in Colourful packaging on special occasions† approximately 48% of the respondent strongly agreed to the statement while 35% agreed to the statement. Remaining respondents felt they were neutral to the Colour of packaging. Figure III. 5 Colourful Packaging Respondents when asked to respond on the statement â€Å"On special occasions (like Christmas), packaging is more Colourful than normal. † Majority of them agreed to the statement. 37% of the total respondents strongly agreed to the statement while approximately 50% agreed to the statement. 10-% of the total respondents felt neutral about the statement while approximately 1% disagreed to the same. Figure III. 6 Packaging on Special Occasions Respondents were asked to respond on the shape and Colour attribute of a product. They were asked to respond on the statement â€Å"People are mostly attracted by different shapes and sizes in gift items. † 58% of the total respondents agreed to the statement while approximately 16% strongly agreed. 18% respondents were neutral to this statement while 4% disagreed. 1. 5% of respondents strongly disagreed to the statement. Figure III. 7: Colours and Shapes of Product. When respondents were asked whether or not they agree to the statement â€Å"Packaging styles vary for different occasions† 44% agreed to the statement while 30% strongly agreed. 18% were neutral to the statement and 4% strongly disagreed. Figure III. 8 Packaging Style in Different Occasions When consumers were asked about their own perception regarding shapes and Colours of the product by the statement â€Å"I am attracted to a product because of different Colours and shapes in packaging when I buy for a special occasion† approximately 40% of the total respondents agreed to the statement while 26% strongly agree to the same. 18% respondents were neutral to the same, 17% disagreed and 1. 5% strongly disagreed to the statement. Figure III. 9 Impact of Shape and Size of packaging in special occasions To the statement â€Å"Colourful and attractive packaging makes a good impression about the sender to the receiver. † Approximately 50% strongly agreed to the statement while 43% agreed to the same. 6% of the total respondents were neutral while 1. 5% strongly disagreed to it. Figure III. 10: Colourful and attractive packaging and impression about sender.

Parenting: a Balancing Act

Parenting: A Balancing Act â€Å"You’re not doing well enough! † Just how many times have children heard this from their parents? After all, parents do expect their children to do well in life, but sometimes those expectations could place too much of a burden on their children. Most parents worry about the â€Å"Big C†, college, which is shown through many of their expectations on their child’s academics, extra-curriculum’s, and sometimes future careers. A study in 2007 by the Childs Trend Databank shows that 69. 7% parents expected their children from 6th to 12th grade to receive a Bachelor’s degree or higher.Easier said than done right? Of course, the parent might fill their child’s schedule with dozens of E. C’s and A. P classes to make them stand out in the college applications, but that does not mean they will automatically get into any university or college. Like in the article, â€Å"Taming the Overachieving Monster†, the composer, Callie Schweitzer, writes: â€Å"Does being class president, captain of the track team, and sole organizer of the school's clothing drive add up to a top college acceptance? No. All it guarantees is stress. † Parenting requires balance between high and low expectations, a task not to be taken lightly.Thus, parents need to learn how to limit their own expectations of their children due to the stress it causes on them. In some cases, the parents put their children in many after-school programs and encourage them to do more if they want to. Of course, not all children look forward to doing so much and simply want to hang around with their friends or go out shopping. However, this sometimes leads to conflict between parent and child. â€Å"I only want to relax in my room and talk on Facebook and have fun, but my mom yells at me to go do more practice work for the SAT’s. says Anonymous 1, a student. The SAT’s, or the super important test for colleg e, is one of the few tests that is required by colleges in order to apply to them. Out of a maximum 2400 points, parents expect their children to score high in order for them to get into a good college, but to get a high score in the SATs is not exactly the easiest task to do. Some parents expect 2400, some expect 2000 and up, but it still adds more stress to their child when their already grueling schedule is weighted down even more with SAT preparatory classes.Back in the article, â€Å"Taming the Overachieving Monster†, Callie Schweitzer states, â€Å"It's natural to want your child to succeed, but what, exactly, qualifies as achievement? Too many of today's parents define it as a 2400 on the SATs*, a schedule full of AP classes, and extracurricular activities that take up every afternoon of the school week. Parents often dismiss the reality of the hours of homework this kind of academic load entails†. And it is quite true; some parents do often dismiss the amount o f workload coming from all these academic loads.In a clear sense, parents need to get rid of college rankings or reputations because any college can give their children a good education despite the rank, if their children actually work hard and try. Just because a college or university is ranked high does not mean that going to any college that is not ranked high nor has a great reputation like the â€Å"Ivy Leagues† will not give a good education. After all, even if you have a degree from a â€Å"prestigious† college, there is no guarantee that employers will fight for you or you getting instant jobs the moment you step out.Like in the article, â€Å"Taming the Overachieving Monster,† Callie Schweitzer, quotes, Alexandra Robbins, best-selling author of The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids. Robbins writes,†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Forget the name-brands, forget the reputations in your area and social circles, and for goodness sake, throw the college rankings in the trash. ’† Getting a job takes your own effort and time, not solely on getting a degree from a â€Å"super-ranked college†. â€Å"My parents expect me to get into the UC’s only and not any State schools or City Colleges,† replies Anonymous 5, yet another student worried about their future paths.To be honest, it really is up to the student to choose which college he or she wants to go to and not the parent deciding which college for them. True, any parents can expect their child to do well in school and life, but even that can lead to too much of a burden upon their child. It must be taken into account that not all students enjoy studying for school or even actually going to school. After all, everyone is different, but that is not really taken into account when it comes to schooling or work.As in many cases, there are good and bad sides to expectations from parents. In some cases, it can be harmful or stressful for the student and sometimes he lpful. â€Å"My mom expects a lot out of me and I do find it wearing at times, but I do believe that it helps me work harder in school,† informs Anonymous 2, another student. Sometimes, children with high expectations from parents feel the urge to do well in sports or school to meet their parent’s expectations. Of course, to set yourself high and fail lets you learn from your mistakes and reevaluate your pathway from that.High expectations also means that kids may not be as lazy or lax about doing well in life because setting a goal in life, whether it be made by the parent or child, does help lead the way in the future. Some students have greater confidence for themselves because they know that they can achieve high expectations from their parents as well as goals. In the article, â€Å"Debate: Parental Expectations†, the writer, Lu Shizhen, writes, â€Å"Parental expectations can motivate children to build a strong mind and encourage them to achieve their bes t academic performance.Therefore, there is nothing wrong with parents who pin expectations on the development of their children. However, such parental expectations should be realistic. † Unfortunately, planning to aim high is a good idea, but making realistic goals to achieve is not the easiest thing to do. Also, in some cases, parents might not recognize the successes of their children managing to achieve the expectations that the parents have set, which winds up leaving the child not enjoying to succeed or have major goals. â€Å"I do what my mom expects me to do all the time, but most of the time, my mom gives me even harder things to accomplish,† says Anonymous 3.Not all kids feel like doing every last thing parents throw at them and parents need to learn how to respect that. After all, some parents do not see how their expectations stress their children out more than it actually helps them. Eventually the stress can be too much and might crack in your child droppi ng of many kinds. Parents should not expect their child to live up to every expectation, because everyone has different wants, likes, personalities, hates, etc. Just like in the article, â€Å"Why Can't Johnny Jump Tall Buildings? , the composer Alan Kazdin tells us, â€Å"Just remember, as you go about it, that it's only human for parents to tend to expect that our children can do more than they can really do. Even slight adjustments of your expectations to compensate for that tendency—a little more emphasis on shaping, a little more patience, a little reflection on what's really important to you as a parent and what behaviors can be left to disappear or develop on their own—can produce surprisingly excellent results. † Parents expect a lot out of their children because they truly want the best from them, but often times it can go too far.Many parents do not want their children to follow their path, especially if their path was filled with difficulty and probl ems that they do not want their children to face, so they want to see them do better and have a life without any of the hardship their parents have faced. However, some parents force their children to do extra work in order for them not to face the problems they had and not everyone likes doing extra work. â€Å"Well, it's true that I want my kids to achieve far in life, but I also know that I probably sometimes do a bit too much†, says Anonymous 5, a mother of 3.After all, parent's expectations come from their care, but even that could be too much for their child. Of course, parents would not mind their kids to get into â€Å"name brand, great reputation colleges†, but that would be up to the child. † I do believe that my parents want me to achieve well in life and all, but they sometimes annoy me to no end. † says Anonymous 6, a student, â€Å"I really hate it when I'm doing something I, myself, want to do, but then my parents yell at me to do something they want me to do. Their Intentions are good, but they need to know about my own feelings when it comes to their expectations. Teenagers have a lot to say about a wide range of topics, but when it comes to their parents it can be endless. After all, the looming threat of college in the typical teenager's life causes anxiety for both the teen and parent. Unfortunately, that anxiety could lead to a split in the parent and child relationship. â€Å"Sometimes their expectations are too much for me to do. I do one good thing, but they view more of the bad things I do,† says Anonymous 4, another student, â€Å"It's hard to achieve what they want. I understand them, but I wish they understood me more as well.Their expectations affect my life both in a good way and bad way since it makes me work harder, but leads to me getting a lot of stress and frustrations. † After all, do parents truly understand their children's feelings? Perhaps not. Due to the anxiety to see their chil dren get into college and doing well in their life, some parents do not take the teenager's feelings into consideration. â€Å"They do expect me to do well in school, and to achieve my goals, but not to do anything I want,† says Anonymous 5, â€Å"Sure, they want me to do what I really want to pursue and become in life, but at times they can be confusing to me. Of course, not all parents expect so much out of their children, but not to the point where expectations are completely lacking. â€Å"My mom, she doesn't expect me to be perfect, with great grades, 4. 0's, or anything, so we get along fine. I do not find that affects my life that much, although my siblings influence my good grades in school, because I do not want to follow what they did in their lives. Expectations have its ups and downs, but everyone views it differently. â€Å"My mom expects me to get 4. 0's and to get as many E. A's as possible, which I do not find likable.Many times, we argue over the stress of my achieving well and the threat of college, but it usually never ends well. I believe that my life is more stressed and frustrated than before and I am getting tired of it,† says Anonymous 6. In the end, parents definitely need to at least try to see if their children are becoming stressed out trying to pass their expectations. However, are expectations from parents really needed? Truthfully, expectations can help improve the mind set of students and their own expectations of doing well for themselves. A lack of expectations might lead to a drop in schoolwork and an allowance of bad grades.Students with uncaring parents might wind up with themselves having low expectations on grades what they expect in life from their parents. Some students believe that their parent's expectations really are not needed in their already stressed lives. â€Å"Well, I could just put my parent’s voices onto a tape recorder and that would be good enough. I hate how they want me to do all this stuff when I just want to do things I really want to do. I find the expectations unneeded in my life because they just add more stress in my life and annoy me to no end,† states Anonymous 1.This came from a friend who particularly has a bad relationship with his parents. Some students think that their parent's expectations help them, but dislike them at the same time. â€Å"I think that my parent's expectations help me believe that I can do well and it makes me work harder, but sometimes it becomes too much. Because if I do well, my parents expect me to even better and even if I do well in one spot, they look at a bad spot, which is frustrating,† tells Anonymous 4. â€Å"I do think that my parent’s expectations help me make goals in my life, but I hate it.At first, I do think they suck, but I do realize that expectations from my parents are not that bad, it is just that they sometimes expect too much out of me and ticks me off. † says Anonymous 6. Fro m this, parent's expectations do have an impact on their children's lives both negatively and positively. In the end, some students wish to deal with their parent's expectations, but do not know how to do so. In Elizabeth Ryan's, Straight Talk About Parents, she recommends talking to your parents on the â€Å"rules† or â€Å"chores† you have to do and why they bother you.After all, talking aloud with your parents about your problems with their expectations is definitely a start to compromising. She says that if you want to handle these problems, then start by asking yourself: What are the rules in my family? What are the rules do I think are clear to everyone? Which rules do I think are not clear to everyone? What can I do to get the unclear rules to be clearer? Which rules do I think are fair? Which rules do I think are unfair or unnecessary? Which rule am I the most upset about? Think about your parent’s feelings and not just your own, they might only just wan t the best out of you.Try to make your parents listen to your reasons on why they are â€Å"bad† with their expectations. Instead of always disagreeing and arguing, try to find things to agree on instead of nagging each other. Take note of your own feelings as well as your parents because they might just be taking note of your well-being or future. In case you may not feel like talking to your parents, why not talk to a good friend? Friends should always be there for each other, especially in times of hardship. Talk to your friend about your problems and what they think you should do. If not, just let it out.Yes, crying is human nature and a way of releasing emotion instead of bottling it up. If you’re mad you can just punch the stuffing out of your pillow, you just might find that you feel better after beating your anger out. Hopefully, parents might one day learn how to balance their expectations to not be too much or too little. It might take a while because, after all, parenting is quite the balancing act. Anonymous 1. Personal interview. 25 Jan. 2012. Anonymous 2. Personal interview. 25 Jan. 2012. Anonymous 3. Personal interview. 25 Jan. 2012. Anonymous 4. Personal interview. 25 Jan. 2012.Anonymous 5. Personal interview. 25 Jan. 2012. Anonymous 6. Personal interview. 26 Jan. 2012. Anonymous 7. Personal interview. 26 Jan. 2012. Kazdin, Alan. â€Å"Why Can't Johnny Jump Tall Buildings? † Slate. The Slate Group,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. . â€Å"Percentage of Children in Grades 6-12 Whose Parents Expect Them To Receive a Bachelor's Degree or Higher, 2003 and 2007. † Chart. N. p. : Child Trends DataBank, 2007. Childs Trends DataBank. Web. 1 Feb. 2012. . Ryan, Elizabeth A. Straight Talk About Parents. New York: New York Facts On File, 1989. Print. Schweitzer, Callie. â€Å"Taming the Overachieving Monster. â€Å"Parenting Teens Online. iFOS Publishing and Parenting Teens Network. , Jan. 2008. Web. 27 Jan. 2012. . Shizhen, Lu. â€Å"Debate: Parental Expectations. † China Daily. China Daily,   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  1995-2012. Web. 29 Jan. 2012. .