REFLECTIVE EASSY Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

REFLECTIVE EASSY - Essay Example The teacher had an excellent mastery of content and commented on all of my assignment. My participation in the class and the tests I have done were a great deal to me. They helped me be more confident and aware of what I was learning. If I could improve on my punctuality maybe, I could grasp everything that was being taught in the class. I also feel like more homework’s, and group discussion could have improved my performance. However, I did the best in class participation that helped me in gaining the knowledge. Every topic was well explained, and I understood each concept. However, for the sake of those who are slow learners, I would recommend more practical on the topic. Instructors should not focus on the theory part only but engage the students on practical to make us improve our understanding. Measuring my future effects according to my personal review including what I have understood from the course; I accumulated lots of knowledge and know the knowledge will guide me on achieving my future goals. The practical I have also done I can apply them in my profession in the

Islamic Feminism as an Umbrella for Different Tendencies Research Paper

Islamic Feminism as an Umbrella for Different Tendencies - Research Paper Example Awde (2005) believes that Islamic feminists may or may not share the main tenets of Western feminism. What Feminists believe Feminists generally criticize a number of discriminatory Islamic rules. A large number of these feminists formulate their criticisms from within the Islamic framework. They profess a double allegiance, to Islam and to women rights. Doorn-Harder(2006) states that feminists generally express the belief that the divine message of Islam is inherently egalitarian. Yet, its egalitarian content has been partly or wholly destroyed by human interpretation. Souaiaia(2007) states that feminists, however, do not all think the same way or even about the same kind of problems and the immensely diversified topics under feminism are self-speaking proof of this. The issue of marriage and divorce, the veil and its necessity as an adornment for Muslim women in order to protect them from causing seduction or discomfort to the society in general, the struggles that women have faced over centuries and the pain that they have borne to make their place in the mainstream market are just a few of the issues that feminists deal with. In the pre-Islamic era and where the woes of polytheism and polyandry prospered, women were gravely burdened by highly discriminated societal views. Rituals like the killing of young girls at birth, restricting of women to household chores, giving women no right over property or land and depriving them of the most essential human rights were some of the major problems. Souaiaia(2009) claims that feminists over the years have raised questions on traditions such as the Crimes of Honor and inform the law upholders how for honour's sake; the protectors of women take away their lives and are unjustly supported by our religious scholars. According to Wilson (2011), the helplessness of a woman in a male-dominated society is a major bone of contention for feminists; a woman is merely a puppet whose strings can be tightened, loosened or even cu t by her guardians.

Cross-Cultural Enterprise Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Cross-Cultural Enterprise Management - Essay Example Focus of the paper will be towards emphasizing the importance of effective cross cultural management in an enterprise and to what extent this affects the survival of the enterprise. Cross-cultural management is particularly important for the operation of an enterprise to gain the requisite advantage in the fiercely competitive world. If the problem of cultural conflict in an enterprise is not handled well, it might influence the entire working environment of the enterprise and make the task of management more complex and the decision-making and implementation of multinational operation more difficult. Such problems might restrict the selection of human resources from native or overseas market, products and services. The impact of cultural conflict on the transnational business happens to be quite comprehensive, systematic affecting the entire process. This study will center on the cross-cultural enterprise management to analyze the problems in enterprise cultural management and prese nt possible solutions which are of a certain guiding significance to some of the UK companies On the basis of successful and unsuccessful case analyses of overseas investments by some of the UK companies or by some MNCs in UK, the study tries to put forward general theories in such a manner that the study proves to be of some help in future research work. Background Cross-cultural management in essence means managing different cultures with effective coordination amongst the cultural groups and management teams of different cultures with its impact on organizational behavior, effective communication with people who come from different countries and cultural backgrounds. (Li,C & Lu,C, 2000) Along with the rapid development in the economic field and globalization and integration of economies, the role of corporate culture is becoming increasingly significant in upgrading enterprise competitiveness. Different culture backgrounds, values, enterprise management modes, politics, beliefs and cultures as well as racism and communication misunderstanding will give rise to corporate cultural conflicts. Cultural conflicts will in turn affect the relationship between multinational management and local employees and may lead to a loss in market opportunity and organizational efficiency, thus hampering the implementation plans of global strategies of multinat ionals. The so called "cultural conflict" refers to the process of confrontation and repulsion between different cultures or cultural elements, which not only includes the conflict arising from cultural difference between multinationals and countries where multinationals operate but also the conflict among internal employees from different cultural

T205A_TMA01 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

T205A_TMA01 - Essay Example The hospital does not provide any information to the patients about the delivery of their scans and about the period of wait. In the long wait, much confusion is developed by the patients and some patients become worried and the others become more optimistic about the condition of their health. A mess cannot be further divided into simpler components to solve it. However, in the issue that we are dealing with, the problems can be subdivided and further decomposed into simpler components. The property of mess is that it is unbounded. Hence it does not follow the attributes of a mess and is a difficulty. The patients suffer because of unavailable information. They make up their own judgments resulting from the environment and the hints from their GP. Some patients get too worried and others develop a more optimistic thought. All the patients agree that receiving information on time will solve many of their difficulties. Systemic thinking indicates that everything is interrelated and all the events in the world can only be understood if they are seen as a whole. It considers the system to be a mix of interactions and actions and a structured unit with a function. On the other hand, systematic thinking is the belief that the things can be better understood if they are broken down into simpler components. Systematic thinking states that if things are studied in isolation, without interdependencies, the things become less complex. Once the wholes are broken into smaller, more manageable parts, understanding becomes pretty much possible. Whereas systemic thinking argues that if wholes are broken down, the understanding of the whole is not possible anymore because of the absence of interrelation. The focus of systemic thinking is more on the linkages and the interactions among the elements of a system. By taking a holistic view of the entire system, the system can be understood and the problems can be addresses. The focus of the

Drop in customer and target market for a beverage operation Assignment

Drop in customer and target market for a beverage operation - Assignment Example In this paper I will be using drop-in-customer as my customer type and analysing the target market in relation to selection of location for a beverage operation. Energy boosting beverages are largely consumed by sports persons such as athletes. However, the market for these beverages has grown and expanded beyond sports persons to attract non-traditional drinkers. Teenagers, college students and young adults in the ages of 18 to 34 account for majority of energy drink consumption today. This is particularly because of this population’s active lifestyle. Furthermore advertisements for such products appeal to this generation more as compared to older persons. Research has shown that 34% of persons between the ages of 18 and 24 take energy drinks regularly (O’Brien et al, 2008). Also half of all college students consume a drink at least every month regardless of their gender. Most drop-in-customers for beverages are therefore below the age of 34 years of age, are active and therefore will take an energy drink especially on a tiresome day (Heckman, Sherry and Gonzalez, 2010). Sports persons also actively consumer energy drinks. This target market many not have lots of money to spend but regularly need the drinks and will therefore often purchase a drink. The young adults on the other hand are mostly in their first jobs and therefore have some funds to spend on drinks. Marketing and advertisement messages should therefore communicate the benefits of the drinks and at the same time appeal in terms of price (Miller, 2008). Location for beverage operations is also an important element of marketing considering the demographics of the target market. The on-the-go life style of the target market for instance requires that operations are located in strategic places such as supermarkets, college canteens and central places on streets. Design of the retail outlets should also take in account the fact that these

Financial Prospectus Content Paper Essay Example for Free

Financial Prospectus Content Paper Essay Prepare the first seven components of your venture’s Financial Prospectus. The Financial Prospectus must include the information you provided in the individual assignments from Week One and Two, revised as necessary based on material covered in subsequent workshops and organized with new material added as necessary. Post your assignment as a Microsoft ® Word attachment in APA format. Every freshman should understand and realize that the freshman 15 does in fact exist. It is important that everyone take the necessary steps to ensure that they are getting proper nutrition during their first year in college. While it might be tempting to pile on some fries for dinner every night, youll pay for it in the long run. This work comprises FIN 375 Week 4 Financial Prospectus Content Paper Business General Business Individual Financial Prospectus Content Paper Resources: Final Prospectus Expectations Prepare the first seven components of your venture’s Financial Prospectus. The Financial Prospectus must include the information you provided in the individual assignments from Week One and Two, revised as necessary based on material covered in subsequent workshops and organized with new material  added as necessary. Post your assignment as a Microsoft ® Word attachment in APA format. Every freshman should understand and realize that the freshman 15 does in fact exist. It is important that everyone take the necessary steps to ensure that they are getting proper nutrition during their first year in college. While it might be tempting to pile on some fries for dinner every night, youll pay for it in th A+ tutorial you will find here https://bitly.com/1wySU49 Every freshman should understand and realize that the freshman 15 does in fact exist. It is important that everyone take the necessary steps to ensure that they are getting proper nutrition during their first year in college. While it might be tempting to pile on some fries for dinner every night, youll pay for it in the long run. Business General Business Individual Financial Prospectus Content Paper Resources: Final Prospectus Expectations Prepare the first seven components of your venture’s Financial Prospectus. The Financial Prospectus must include the information you provided in the individual assignments from Week One and Two, revised as necessary based on material covered in subsequent workshops and organized with new material added as necessary. Post your assignment as a Microsoft ® Word attachment in APA format.

Approaches to Treatment and Therapy: Case Study

Approaches to Treatment and Therapy: Case Study Case Study 1 (Phillip) Background Phillip is displaying multiple adverse psychological symptoms that would best fit the diagnosis of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Specifically Phillip is a compulsive washer as he maintains a high level of cleanliness, having showers up to three times a day. He also only eats frozen food in order to avoid contamination and organises his furniture, making sure that they are all perpendicular to the wall. These compulsions are repetitive, purposeful behaviours designed to prevent or reduce anxiety (De Silva, 2003). Some, if not most, of Phillip’s anxiety arises from the intrusive thought of stabbing his mother which has become a clinical obsession because he believes that the thought has personal significance and meaning. This may be because Phillip has an inflated sense of responsibility and so believes that he is responsible for preventing the intrusive thought from actually happening (Rheaume et al., 1994). This has led to Phillip avoiding people, his Mother especially, but this has only increased the frequency and severity of his compulsions. It appears that Phillip is stuck in a vicious cycle of his obsessions and his compulsions feeding off one another and so intervention will be needed in order to help him. Theoretical Framework There are two central aspects of OCD, the cognitive aspects which include intrusive thoughts, obsessions and cognitive distortions, and the behavioural aspect of compulsions. In cognitive theory, intrusive thoughts (e.g. I want to stab my mother) occur automatically and usually have no emotional significance but can take on significance, depending on the context in which intrusions happen (England Dickerson, 1988). Such thoughts are very common and have been reported to occur in almost 90% of the population (Rachman de Silva, 1978) but once an individual deems these thoughts as significant it can cause distress and the belief that they are personally responsible for preventing the thought from actually happening. The distress caused by high levels of perceived responsibility has been found in multiple studies (Shafran, 1997; Roper Rachman 1975) as obsessional patients felt a lot more uncomfortable performing checking rituals when they were on their own and calmer when the therapis t was there as the patient felt less responsibility. This sense of responsibility is associated with both worry (Wells Papageorgiou, 1998) and OC symptoms (Salkovskis et al., 2000a). Specifically, the lowering of responsibility is associated with a significant drop in discomfort and need to check (Lopatka Rachman, 1995). One explanation for inflated responsibility is the ‘thought-action fusion’ (TAF) theory which suggests that obsessions occur in people who believe that thinking about a disturbing event is the same as doing it and that having an intrusive thought is morally equivalent to acting on said thought (Rachman, 1993; Shafran, Thordarson Rachman, 1996). TAF is an example of ‘thinking errors’ outlined by Beck (1976) which are used by most people all the time but can be detrimental when thinking errors become central to thought processes (Nisbett Ross, 1980). The most prevalent thinking error in those with OCD is that having any influence over the outcome means that you are responsible for the outcome. Due to the distress caused by the appraisal of intrusive thoughts, individuals aim to neutralise the anxiety caused through mental reassurance and overt compulsions (such as washing and checking) (Salkovskis, 1985). However attempts to neutralise the thought can sustain and potentially increase responsibility beliefs and the occurrence of intrusive thoughts. A common type of neutralising behaviour which is present in Phillip’s case is compulsive washing. Almost 50% of patients with OCD are compulsive washers (APA, 1994) and it is even more common in childhood cases of OCD like Phillip’s with 85% of young patients displaying washing rituals (Swedo et al., 1989b). It has been suggested that one of the main attributes of compulsive washers is perfectionism (Tallis, 1996). Tallis claims that most compulsive washers do not exhibit such behaviour because they are concerned about contamination or illness, instead they are more concerned with maintaining their environment perfe ctly and thus feeling fully in control. Research has found that there is a significant link between perfectionism and OCD in general, not just in compulsive washing (Bouchard et al., 1999). As Phillip appears to be displaying the perfectionist personality trait, it is important to consider this in therapy. As perfectionism has been found to correlate with depressive symptoms (Enns Cox, 1999; Flett et al., 1991) it is possible that a negative mood may be a factor in Phillip’s thinking errors. The mood-as-input theory (Martin et al., 1993) suggests that people use their mood as a factor to decide whether or not they have completed a task. When people are in a positive mood they are more likely to take their affect as a sign that they are progressing in a task and achieving more (Hirt et al., 1996). Whereas those in a negative mood experience the opposite and interpret their mood to mean that they haven’t progressed enough and so must continue with the task (Schwarz Bless, 1991; Frijda, 1988). This may occur because people in negative moods have been found to process tasks more extensively than those in positive moods (Mackie Worth, 1989). This is a significant theory for Phillip’s case as individuals with OCD tend to use internal states that are difficult to achie ve such as ‘having a gut feeling’ to help them decide when to stop compulsive behaviour (Salkovskis, 1998). They therefore have stricter personal requirements for making decisions and so what should be an automatic decision becomes a strategic one and the strict criteria have to be met before anxiety is reduced and the compulsive behaviour can stop (Salkovskis et al., 2000a). Problem Formulation Phillip presents all of the issues outlined in the theoretical framework which will act as the foundations for intervention. Figure 1 shows the main aspects of Phillip’s case and highlights his rules for living and the cycle in which he is trapped. From the information given in Phillip’s case, it appears as though the bottom line of his psychology is â€Å"I have to have full control over every aspect of my life† which may have been caused by authoritarian parenting (Timpano et al., 2010) or childhood trauma (Lochner et al., 2002) which have both been found to significantly correlate with OCD symptoms. Whilst there isn’t enough information about Phillip’s childhood to speculate if such things have happened to him, these are factors to bear in mind during treatment. This strict bottom line in Phillip’s life has led to certain maladaptive rules of living including his perfectionism (control over actions) and inflated responsibility (control over thoughts and feelings). He also has a generally negative mood as an input to his thought processes because he can never fully satisfy the strict standards that he sets himself. Then, when Phillip was a teenager he began experiencing intrusive thoughts about stabbing his mother. Such intrusive thoughts are not usually enough to trigger anxiety but due to Phillip’s rules of living, he finds personal meaning in the thought and feels responsible for preventing the thought from happening. This triggers anxiety and so he seeks to neutralise the thought through compulsive washing, arranging furniture and socially isolating himself. When these neutralising behaviours reduce his anxiety it reinforces Phillip’s thinking errors, his rules of living and his bottom line. Thus, when his anxiety is triggered again he repeats the behaviour and so Phillip is trapped in a cycle of his compulsions and obsessions reinforcing one another. Figure 1. Problem Formation flow chart for Phillip Treatment Intervention Phillip’s treatment can start with cognitive therapy aiming to focus and modify his thinking errors and inflated sense of responsibility. At the same time as this Phillip can take part in group therapy designed specifically to treat perfectionists. After these treatments and once Phillip feels ready to, he can move on to exposure and response prevention (ERP) using virtual reality to simulate dirty and contaminated environments. This will help him to control his compulsions and get him out of the obsessive-compulsive cycle. For Phillip, cognitive therapy will start by focussing on the distinction between intrusive thoughts and his negative appraisal of those thoughts. As outlined by Menzies and de Silva (2003), this begins by asking patients to reflect upon the last time they had an intrusive thought and what their behavioural reaction was to this thought. Phillip will then be encouraged to recognise that it was not the thought itself that cause his subsequent behaviour but how he interpreted the thought. It is important that the client understands the distinction between his intrusions and their appraisal before moving on to further intervention as it may otherwise confuse them. Next, Phillip taught about how common intrusive thoughts can be, to help him dismiss any feelings of shame or guilt that he may be feeling. It is suggested by Salkovskis (1999) that patients should be encouraged to view intrusive thoughts as a potentially positive and useful occurrence that can help with problem solving and for esight. The goal of this is not to eliminate their intrusions but to help them feel more positive by normalising them. Phillip is also encouraged to modify his responsibility appraisals in order to reduce his inflated sense of responsibility. Van Oppen Arntz (1994) found that even when people with OCD understand how unlikely it is that their intrusive thoughts will become reality, they continue to show compulsive behaviours because they feel a sense of responsibility to stop it from happening. Van Oppen Arntz (1994) suggest creating a pie chart with patients that they can divide up to represent the importance of factors that may contribute to a feared outcome. Once Phillip assigns percentage values to each factor he will be able to visualise that his role of responsibility is much smaller than he originally thought. This technique will help Phillip to reassess the overestimation of his responsibility and realise the importance of other uncontrollable factors. Whilst undergoing cognitive therapy Phillip will join group therapy to help him with his perfectionism. Ferguson and Rodway (1994) outlined a group therapy programme for perfectionism based on cognitive-behavioural theory. This programme will aim to help Phillip understand the problems that can arise from perfectionism and what strategies can be used in order to change his perfectionist way of thinking. The therapy will also be based on the outline provided by Kutlesa and Arthur (2007) which applies a psycho-educational approach to perfectionism, using interpersonal theory (Yalom,1995) as the psychological component which will ask Phillip and others in the group to focus on the present rather than worrying about the future. The educational component will use elements of cognitive-behavioural theory (Ellis, 1991; Beck, 1993) to teach the group about the thinking errors involved in perfectionism and skills to cope with and change these thinking errors. Once Phillip has made progress in both treatments and feels ready for the next step he will move on to ERP as a treatment for his compulsive behaviour. Firstly, Phillip will be steadily and gradually exposed to environmental triggers. He will write a list of situations in which he could be contaminated, started with the one that makes him the least anxious and working his way up to the worst. Most ERP treatments ask participants to experience these situations either through images or in vivo but a new method of virtual reality (VR) is being used in the treatment of OCD and it has been found to be effective (Kim et al., 2009; Belloch et al., 2014). Using VR, Phillip will then be exposed to the items on his list one by one, experiencing each one repeatedly until anxiety is completely reduced and Phillip is ready for the next item. Another aspect of this treatment is response prevention which aims to help patients control their compulsions in advance of triggering events (Meyer et al., 1974). This involves strategies such as using alternative behaviours and modifying compulsive rituals which can be integrated into the VR exposure. This treatment aims to expose Phillip to his triggers in a safe way reducing his anxiety for those situations and learning to control his compulsions in the process. Evaluation Using cognitive and behavioural treatments together is crucial for Phillip’s intervention as they both deal with either the obsessions and the thinking errors or the compulsions but not both. If only one of these elements is dealt with then it is likely that the other will return. Whilst cognitive therapy has been found to be potentially effective on its own (Cottraux et al., 2001) studies have found that when ERP is combined with cognitive therapy it produces lower dropout rates, greater general coping and decreased obsessive-compulsive symptoms (Kyrios et al., 2001; Freeston et al., 1997). A major aspect of Phillip’s case that wasn’t dealt with in cognitive-behavioural therapy that was not covered was his perfectionism. Research has found that CBT doesn’t significantly reduce perfectionist symptoms (Egan Hine, 2008) whereas Richards etal. (1993) found lower scores on perfectionism and depression scales and increased levels of self-reported wellbeing and self-esteem in response to group therapy. The incorporation of VR is a modern approach to ERP but it is one that is becoming very popular in the treatment of many anxiety disorders (Kim et al., 2009) and has been found to be as effective as in vivo exposure (Belloch et al., 2014). One aspect that wasn’t addressed in Phillip’s treatment is that of his family. As mentioned earlier it is possible that authoritarian parenting (Timpano et al., 2010) or childhood trauma (Lochner et al., 2002) could be involved in Phillip’s case as these are common causes of childhood OCD. There are family-based therapies that are shown to be effective in these cases (Lebowitz, 2013) but there wasn’t enough information about Phillip’s family to make such assumptions. If, in therapy, similar issues are revealed then family-based therapy may be very useful for Phillip. Also, little attention was given to biological factors even though pharmacological treatments are very effective in the treatment of OCD (Abramowitz, 1997; de Haan et al., 1997). This is because it would only tackle Phillip’s symptoms whereas cognitive therapy with ERP and group therapy will help Phillip to understand his rules of living, his bottom line, and how to potentially c hange or cope with this. References