The Nature of Belief Essay Example for Free

The Nature of Belief Essay Describe the part which art plays in the worship and spiritual life of Islam In Islam, there is a very strong belief of never drawing any type of picture of Allah, Muhammad or animals. This is due to the worry of people worshiping the image rather than what it actually represents. Pictures similar to this are considered as blasphemous as they are misleading and unreliable. The quotation below describes the belief of Allah. No vision can grasp Him but His grasp is over all vision; He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things. (Surah 6:103) Giving a false impression of Muhammad would be wrong, however in the past if a picture were to be drawn, the face on the figure would be smudged. Allah has no form as he is beyond all images; he is transcendent. Pictures of Allah would limit his actions. As Muhammad is the last prophet he is never drawn nor worshipped. The concept of Tawhid is the most basic Muslim belief. Allah is one and not begotten. He is Allah, the One, Allah is Eternal and Absolute. None is born of Him, He is unborn. There is none like unto Him. (Surah 112) Originally the Quran was hand written and it is common to see Muslims copy this. However when copying out the Quran, Muslims take pride in the presentation and often use calligraphy (beautiful writing). Calligraphy is very important in Islam, as it is used for religious expression to decorate the mosques as pictures and statues are not allowed. It is the art of writing. It is the words written which are regarded as important not the art form. Commonly the shape of the writing is used to represent the words written, especially when writing any of the ninety-nine names of Allah. This is thought to be the best way to learn important aspects of the religion. Not only are the walls in the mosque decorated with calligraphy, but also prayer mats and also around the Islam homes. Their religion is important to Muslims at all times and in all places, and the common use of calligraphy art helps them to consistently stand by their faith. In September 1988, Salman Rushdie wrote the book Satanic Verse, covering the topic of Islam. He is now greatly hated by Muslims due to the way he chose to decorate his book cover. The book cover was decorated with calligraphy taken from the Quran and the words used were those of Allah, which is not acceptable. On Valentines Day 1989 the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomenei declared a fatwa, a religious ruling informing Muslims to carry out a death sentence on Salman Rushdie for committing blasphemy. Many artistic features in Islam, not only calligraphy, form geometric patterns and shapes, which follow mathematical principles. They are created in many different colours and can be found in both Muslim homes and mosques. Their geometric form replicate Allahs constant perfection. All of these artistic features are used to remind Muslims about their religion and help them focus on Allah. The perfection of their art is thought to be greatly important as it represents the magnitude of their faith.

Reflection On A Mentorship Role In Medicine

Reflection On A Mentorship Role In Medicine During this reflective piece of work I will discuss my role, responsibility and accountability as the students assessor and reflect on approaches that I have used within the mentorship role to support and facilitate the student to achieve specified learning outcomes. The ultimate goal of mentorship is for one individual to contribute to the professional development of another. (Lanser 2000) The NMC (2008) defines a mentor as a registrant who facilitates learning, supervises and assesses students in a practice setting. The student spends 50% theory and 50% in practice; practical training is an important and significant part of the nursing students education. I was informed that a third year nursing student would be attending my practice area a number of weeks before the placement start date, I used this to my advantage by contemplating about learning opportunities within the practice area. The NMC states that at least 40% of a students time at the placement should be spent with a mentor. Therefore the off duty had to be worked to reflect this, as now it is an NMC requirement for mentors to prioritise their workload to accommodate support of students. (NMC 2008) From my time as a student nurse the better placement experiences I had were when my mentor was well prepared and had thought about experiences that would enhance my learning. I feel that it is essential that from the first contact with the nursing student you are building an effective relationship. The ultimate goal of mentorship is for one individual to contribute to the professional development of another. Prior to the students start date it is important that the student has been contacted and informed of location, uniform, start time and name of allocated mentor. Fortunately my student contacted my workplace a couple of weeks before her placement began. I took this opportunity to introduce myself and went through a little of what to expect. Baumeister and Leary (1995) suggest that if students feel accepted secure, valued and respected that it motivates the students capacity to learn and instils confidence. I feel that this initial contact takes some of that first day anxiety away. The influence of the mentor on the student begins at first contacvt and forms the foundation upon which the mentor/student relationship will be based upon. The Nursing and midwifery council outlines eight domains of competency that a mentor must achieve in order to perform the role to an appropriate standard. These are: establishing effective relationships, Facillitation of learning, creating a learning environment, context of practice/ evidence based practice, assessment and accountability, leadership and evaluation of learning. On my student Sarahs first day I had allocated time to orientate and introduce her to the practice area. It is the mentors responsibility to establish an effective working relationship with the student and this starts with orientating and the setting of ground rules.(RCN 2007) Whilst going through the formal, professional, legal, national and local requirements I was conscious about making the orientation a positive experience. I introduced Sarah to the rest of the community nursing team. Levett-Jones, Lathlean, Higgins and Mcmillan() in their study discussed the students need to feel like they belonged as when students feel comfortable they engage with learning opportunities. I believe that the attitude and motivation of the mentor are crucial in creating a encouraging start to the placement experience. (cited in Beskine 2009) Reflecting on my experience as a student the negative aspects of work placements were not being supported by my mentor and feeling under valued and by remembe ring such experiences I feel that it influences how I am as a mentor. The benefit of working as a community staff nurse is that when a student is placed you work together on a one to one basis and have time to establish the student mentor relationship. Using this oppotunity to get an insight into her personality aswell as any concerns she has about the placement. Although it is good to achieve a good rapport with your student Wilkes (2006) advised caution during the social development of the relationship as the professional boundries need to be clear, as getting involved with the student socially or emotionally outside of work would influence your integrity when perfoming assessments. Also as a mentor you act as a role model and The Code(2008) requires a nurse to be of good character honest and trustworthy basing this on ones conduct behaviour and attitude. The NMC (2008) defines a mentor as someone who facilitates learning, supervises and assesses students in a practice setting. It also outlines that in order to do this effectively the mentor needs to have knowledge of the students stage of learning therefore selecting appropriate opportunities for that particular students learning needs. After orientation and Sarah shadowing me on a few visits I felt it was important to conduct the initial interview so we could discuss learning needs and opportunities in my particular area. Sarah had not had a previous community placement and didnt know what is available to learn therefore we had an informal discussion to identify the opportunities. During the initial interview I also established the students level of knowledge and expectations. I had noticed that Sarah was quite shy and was quite nervous. We looked through her portfolio from previous placements and she had passed each one. Also by reviewing the university requirements outlined in her portfolio I was able to see if Sarah was aware of her needs from this placement. My initial impression was that she may need more support than I had anticipated at her stage of learning. It appeared that she wasnt confident in her abilities. Sarah did express that she felt she would require support and guidance as the community setting was a completely new experience for her. Its also important to consider that studies have shown that placements can be very stressful for students especially in their first and third years of training.(Stuart 2007 cited in Beskine2009) Taking my concerns into consideration and Sarahs request we then created a learning contract, the goals set were based on mutually identified need. I decided that initially I would become as Berne(1961) described nurturing parent to Sarah to demonstrate boundries to ensure she felt safe. Until her confidence grew, then the relationship would be on an adult-adult basis on the same level for discussions and mutual expectations. Although fluctuations between different ego state as different circumstances arise throughout the mentor student relationship. In order to help Sarah I felt that by acting as an advocate would promote her confidence and self-esteem. (Neary 2000) To formulate an effective learning contract it has to have essential components as de scribed by Stuart (2007) learning objectives, the activities to facilitate these , strategies and resources for learning. As a registered health professional you have a responsibility to ensure the safety of the public. Therefore by mentoring pre-registration nurses you are accountable for ensuring students fulfil their learning outcomes for your practice area and develop practice competence. (NMC 2006) Assessing a students competence can become complicated by the mentors subjective view of what is competent? (Higgins and McCarthy 2005) Duffy (2003) concurs it is often easier to identify clear incompetence than those students borderline on achieving competence. Mentors need to address the issue of non-competence as soon as it is recognised. The study Duffy (2003) carried out found that mentors tended to give students the benefit of doubt. A view which has been highlighted in a recent survey in the Nursing Times (2010) which said 40% of mentors participating in the survey passed students as they could not provide sufficient evidence to back up their concerns. Before meeting with the student to discuss the issue it is important to collect evidence which has lead to your concerns about the students competence. Going through assessment documentation can help highlight if learning outcomes are achievable for that particular students ability. This evidence would be helpful for you to explore/understand reasons why the student is not achieving and early discussion can prompt students to consider their practice thus facilitating progress. (Duffy and Hardicre 2007) As the student doesnt seem to be aware of their limitations, for patient safety it is essential that you gently alert the student of their unconscious incompetence but if the motivation is there I would as a mentor be confident that they could develop competence. Feedback is a large part of assessment and progression and in this particular issue it is important to provide feedback so the student is aware that they are not meeting the required standard. An effective mentor should offer honest and constructive feedback to students (RCN 2007) Constructive feedback is objective and non-judgemental and should be based on specific observation to encourage discussion and allow future learning to take place. (Pearce 2004) It can be tempting to avoid giving negative feedback but performance cannot be improved without knowledge of what was wrong (Stuart 2006) Feedback to the student would be given in the form of the praise sandwich. NMC (2006) uses this form of feedback in its documents where it state that mentors should contribute to the evaluation of student learning and assessment experiences by proposing aspects for change as a result of evaluation. Mentors should remain positive and supportive also try to empathise with the student and how they will be feeling. A learning contract/action plan that is formulated collaboratively with the mentor and student can specify what the student will learn how it will be achieved and the time scale in which its success can be measured. (Nicklin and Kenworthy 2003) The RCN also advises regular meetings between the mentor and student to discuss progression and make adjustments to action plans based on the students learning. (RCN 2007) Ultimately the NMC in safeguarding the wellbeing of the public sets standards for pre-registration theory and practice competency and requires students to be fit for practice and purpose at the point of registration. (NMC 2008) Some of the learning outcomes were easy to facilitate with experiences that were available from a community placement but others not so easily accommodated. In order to address this we discussed other specialisms within the community neighbourhood team where she could spend time to achieve outcomes. In the initial interview with my student it was important to identify what stage of learning she was at and also determine her motivation to learning. Rogers (2002) suggests adults come to learning with intentions and that they have their own personal expectations of the learning process and hold personal reasons why they want to learn. After discussing mutual expectations from the placement it is essential to understand the students style of learning in order to best facilitate learning activities and opportunities and select appropriate learning strategies to integrate her learning practice and academic experience. Also to be effective learners students should also be aware of and understand their own learning style and manage their own learning. (Siviter 2004) There are various theories on learning styles, I chose to give my student a questionnaire based on the theory by Honey Mumford (2000). This model is broken down into four categories Activist, Reflector, Theorist and Pragmatist. The activist is open minded, enthusiastic and enjoys immersing themselves into new experiences. The characteristics of a reflector are cautious observers. Using all the information available to them to make conclusions. Theorists think things through in a logical manner and value rationally and objectivity. Finally pragmatist act quickly on ideas and are keen to put new techniques into practice. My student felt that she was a reflector and was motivated by understanding nursing processes in order to be able to work well and be a valuable team member. I felt that the strategy I would commence in order to meet the needs of a reflective learner would be facilitating experiential learning followed by reflective practice. Students benefit from action planning to assist them through the transitional period onto new placement areas by setting goals (Quinn Hughes 2007) A learning contract that is designed collaboratively by the mentor and student can specify what the student will learn, how it will be achieved and time span. (Nicklin Kenworthy 2003). Considering this we decided to match the nursing procedure to be trained with specific learning outcomes from the students portfolio and discussed in the initial interview process. Urinalysis was the skill that we focused on in this exercise. Therefore it was appropriate to teach this skill in the sluice area which was a quiet and spacious area where we wouldnt be disturbed. We discussed possible reasons why as a nurse you would take this test for example infection and as a reflective learner I felt that I should explain how her ability and knowledge of urinalysis would benefit her when working as a fully qualified nurse. We then went through the procedure showing all the clinical equipment needed and different ways in obtaining a sample. I tried to relate to practice to enable the student to take what she has learnt to future placement areas. In order for us to reflect on the task we went to a quiet office to avoid distraction. Studies have shown having quality time for reflection and one to one discussion with their mentor were very important to the student. Watson(2000) I felt that the student centred teaching strategy worked well with this particular student as she learnt best by doing and reflecting on the procedure afterwards rather than just being informed by others. Kolbs(1984) learning cycle describes four stages in the learning process from the experience to applying the new learnt information to similar situations, and therefore a component of reflective learning. NMC (2006) suggest that prioritised workload while you are mentoring giving you time to carry out the mentor role. I ensured that the allocated workload would enable me to have more time for effective listening and discussion. Also it gave us the opportunity to discuss events of the day and reflect and give feedback on a daily basis. The process of assessment I feel has to be continuous and developing with my student Sarah due to her lack of confidence I didnt want to increase any anxiety by making formal assessments of her practice. As the ENB/DOH( 2001)document that a mentor should observe a students achievement of a period of time to ensure validity in assessment. Having identified the learning that needed to take place from the university portfolio and personal development on the students part as discussed in the learning contract. The NMC (2007) clearly outlines the requirements for assessments of student nurses. The students performance should be assessed in practice with accountability resting with the mentor who is carrying out the assessment. It is important that a student is able to self assess, and after our discussion in the initial interview Sarah did identify that she needs more support to enhance her self-confidence, and due to this we incorporated this in our learning contact along with the learni ng outcomes in her portfolio. It is also important for a student with confidence issues to self assess as they will see that progression is being made in their learning, therefore gaining confidence.(chap. assessment of student practice from uni lib) A continuous assessment of the students practice is a more reliable tool as supervising/assessing the student on a day to day basis in a relaxed environment it is more likely to reflect the true ability of that student. (Stuart 2007) The NMC (2006) under the leadership domain specifies that mentors need to display leadership qualities within the practice environment. I feel that by planning series of learning opportunites for the student and prioritising workload to ensure time to support the student i have achieved this. Without planning or prioritising a busy workload it would inevitabley be to the detriment of the students experience. Interim interview is the first more formal assessment of the students abilities/progress so far. The learning outcomes/competences were discussed and documented at initial interview in the form of a learning contract. I ensured that we had time to discuss Sarahs progress and competences. Although Sarah has made progress with her self-confidence there is still areas to improve therefore a new action plan was formulated and mutually agreed. We clarified the area of weakness and advised how she would progress further and arranged for her to work with other assessors within the team so to ensure fairness. (Gopee 2008) Feedback is essential in the process of formative assessment Pryor (1998) highlighted the importance of feedback not only identifying what the student has learned but also what they may accomplish in future practice. ( cited in Gopee 2008) Feedback should when possible be given in private (RCN 2007) as this would prevent other people from listening to any discussion. There is also the potential for the audience effect (Quinn and Hughes 2007) where the student feels that everyone is watching or listening to the feedback in her performance. Feedback is most effective when given at the time or soon after and activity occurs. This ensures that the experience is still fresh in both mentor and students mind. Therefore the information discussed is more accurate and detailed making it more useful for the student. Not only is a mentor there for supervising and supporting the student it is advantageous to the student when giving detailed feedback it guides the to learn what is expected of them to improve that particular episode of nursing. My main concern was making Sarah feel comfortable when receiving feedback as within the interim interview there still remained things to improve on. I ensured that my body language was warm and open. Giving eye contact and smiling and nodding. It is important that when giving positive feedback she felt that I was honest and w hen discussing feedback on a more constructive basis she felt that I was self-assured in the information that I was imparting. We collaboratively devised an action plan for the last couple of weeks of placement. Involving Sarah enhancing her management skills and to gain confidence in her own decision making. The NMC (2004) state that prior to entry to the register pre-registration students should be able to manage the delivery if care with the scope of ones own responsibility. (cited DuffyMiddleton 20) To facilitate this I delegated the care of patients within a residential home, as working in community it isnt easy for the student to work independently without direct supervision due to visiting patients within their own homes. But in the residential home environment I was around but not directly supervising. At this stage in the placement I felt that Sarah had developed her confidence and that this experience would help in realising her own capabilities. As Sarah had now spent a couple of weeks within the practice environment and within the community nursing team she began to open up about previous experiences whilst on placement. She felt that not all of her relationships with her mentor has not been a positive experience. Darling (1984) did some research about the mentor/mentee relationship and creating the learning environment and those mentors who didnt create a positive environment he described as toxic mentors. Three different forms of the toxic mentor were dumpers, blockers and destroyers. The first of these describes those individuals who dump there students into experiences out of there depth. Blockers were those who didnt allow the student to partake in learning opportunities. Destroyers as the word describes, destroys a student confidence by undermining them and criticising without offering another possibility. Darling (1984) was also able to identify what the basic attributes that a mentor should possess, roles as an insp irer, investor and supporter. (cited in Pellatt 2006) Whilst discussing the subject with Sarah it became apparent that her confidence had been knocked by two negative mentor experiences in the past. As a girl who is quiet in nature was having trouble recovering from this. Refecting on my discussion with Sarah I came to realise the impact the mentor can have on the student and how detrimental this had been for Sarah. I was fortunate enough to be able to take part in all of Sarahs placement and therefore feel that spending time with my student put me in a better position to assess and be content with my evaluation on Sarahs ability. It enabled us to focus on areas were highlighted in the initial meeting. (Stuart 2006) Working in community one of the challenges as a mentor which you have little control over is the learning environment. Whilst for the interviews I was able to ensure we had a quiet room back at base. And reflective discussions took place in the car. The actual learning environment altered every visit to different homes. As Sarah hadnt had a community placement before I felt that I would inform her of problems that may arise. These included poor hygiene, living conditions but also discussed that we live within a culturally and socially diverse environment. The final interview is the only summative part of the assessment process as a mentor it is my job to reflect on the students abilities as a whole in my opinion and also draw on other team members experiences with my student. Therefore being an objective view, also by using the university portfolio as a guide to see if all learning outcomes have been completed. As a mentor I am aware of the accountability that I have when deciding if a student meets the required standard. Especially on a students last placement there can be no benefit of doubt as the pre-registered student will not have time to develop before registration occurs. Time was allocated at the end of the final meeting to ask the student how she had found her experience with me as a mentor . The role of the mentor is very important in the stage immediately prior to student nurses achieving registration is imperative in producing nurses who are fit for practice and purpose. (NMC 2004) The study carried out by Duffy and Middleton(20) concurred that a longer last placement gives students time to settle and become part of the team encouraging their confidence to grow. It enables the student to get their practical skills up to the required standard and also developing their management competences, an essential skill within the staff nurse role. Unfortunately it must be acknowledged that not all students will achieve the required outcomes to become competent and safe practitioners. Duffy (2005) stated that there has to be the recognition that some students need to fail. It is important to be aware as a mentor the assessments that we are taking is to safeguard professional standards, patients and the general public. During my time with my student it was essential that both Sarah and i recognised her lack of confidence and doing so early as possible interventions can be initiated within the work placement to achieve the required competences. As the mentor is accountable it is important that along with the professional standards and competences outlined, the NMC require that the registrants are of good health and character. Another aspect that the mentor is responsible for. Most teaching within the practice area does deal with all those aspects, the clinical skill itself and the interpersonal and management skills involved. The educational taxonomy considers that any learning topic has to be judged from three angles in relation to what the student has to learn. Those being psychomotor; the physical skills to conduct the duty. Cognitive; the understanding of the evidence base for the duty. Affective is the ability to conduct the duty with the appropriate communication and interpersonal skills. The assessment was mainly continuous in a formative basis and using the aids of learning contracts and facilitating achievement of the outcomes by allocating patients and tasks, liasing with professionals. On all the tasks I felt that my student Sarah had arrived with a lack of confidence but through the process of practice feedback and reflection and the support she was given from myself and the community nursing team all of the outcomes were achieved well. As a mentor it is my responsibility to identify and apply research and evidence based practice to my area of practice (NMC 2008) I think it is important that as a mentor you should assess your personal strengths and weaknesses as to me it is important that I gain confidence in my abilities as a nursing student mentor. Feedback from the student perspective on the practice area as a learning environment is advantageous as it is part of the ongoing evaluation of the learning environment. As it reviews the learning opportunities and audits the placement so to develop skills of the professionals within the team. Enabling the workforce to contribute in developing the profession for the next generation of nurses. (ENB/DOH 2001) Also these audits will highlight the practice areas where students are struggling to achieve and thus giving the University opportunity to address the concerns. The University have a responsibility to where possible ensure the placement has the necessary opportunites to facilitate adequate learning experiences to reflect the student experience. (RCN 2006) Action plans are defined as a must achieve device that identifies competences that need to be achieved by an identified date during the practice placement,non achievement of which would lead to a fail mark being awarded. (Gopee 2008) It is essential within any assessment that a mentor perfoms you are prepared, fair ,objective, honest timely and give effective feedback. All these componets ensures that evidence collected and documented within the students portfolio is a true objective illustration of the students competences and ability. Barriers that would affect the mentors role is documented by Gopee (2008) organisation, lack of resources, personality clashes attitude problems either student/mentor. As a mentor the main challenge in being able to perform mentor duties is that there is inadequate time to fulfil this role along with your clinical duties. Obviously on a day to day basis it is hard to forsee how your day may go as you never know what you will find when you open the door to each patient. But to minimalise this as much as possible I put my leadership and management skills into practice so that opportunites /experiences were planned to an extent and timetabled as much as we could with the nature of the profession. Therefore reassuring the student that I my motivation was that she got the best out of her experience within the community nursing team. By setting an action plan also helps promote underlying skills such as planning, scheduling, goal setting, negotiations and management. Skinners theory devised in1974 states that the environment is essential to any learning that takes place and if the environment is suitable then learning will occur as connections are formed from responses to stimuli and reinforcement of these occurs.(cited by Quinn 2000) As part of Sarahs action plan we discussed other resources available to her for example having practice days with other professionals within the neighbourhood teams. Nurses are expected to be able to validate their clinical decisions with research based evidence that results in care should be patient centred and clinically effective. (DOH 2000) Within the community some of the treatments we provide for example compression therapy for treatment of leg ulcers have a large evidence base for that treatment but also as a professional we also use the evience from patients living with these condtion and consider both those as evidence to provide a rational for certain decisions made about treatment. Fitzpatrick(2007) in her literature review found that opinions on what evidence based practice was depended on the perspective of the individual. Evidence can be sourced from experts, literature and views of patients. All assessment descisions must be evidence based. This is seen as crucial as the future of the profession, in both its integrity and knowledge are in the hands of students currently training to become registered nurses. (Hand 2006)

Procurement And Inventory Management At Green Chilly Management Essay

Procurement And Inventory Management At Green Chilly Management Essay The Company GREEN CHILLY is a restaurant chain operating in the UK. It runs several restaurants for takeaway meals and for people that will stop and sit down for lunch or during any other time of the day. The special approach of that restaurant chain is that to a high extend they source healthy food from local suppliers so pointing out their environmental responsibility. On the other hand they use a lot of other products that will be sourced by the central procurement organization. The company has 53 restaurants all over the UK. Altogether they serve around 16.000 meals every day. In addition they have around 23.000 customers stopping for smaller snacks. The restaurant chain is facing certain seasonality due to holiday seasons and weather conditions influencing customer preferences. Green Chilly faces some issues due to their successful growth in recent years: There is no structured procurement process in place. Quality issues with some fresh products (e.g. salads, vegetables) due to different local supplier performance have been identified. Prices for raw materials are assumed to be significant above the average. Shortages of some promotion meals have been identified. 1. Procurement Process Develop a structure for the sourcing process that the company will define for the procurement process. Which processes are especially relevant for production material (e.g. supplier selection, volume forecasting). Give examples. Discuss which processes of the strategic procurement process would be very relevant for either for food or for non-food (e.g. MRO, restaurant equipment, facility management) supply categories. 2. Supplier Selection Develop a decision making example of the selection of a supplier for one supply category. Discuss the differences between monetary and non-monetary criteria and include this in your decision problem. Describe the steps of your calculation and discuss, how sensitive is your solution against changing supplier performance. Set up the data for potential suppliers. 3. Supplier Qualification How could the company improve supplier co-operation and what would you consider as a program for supplier relationship management. Thinking of the food business what could be done by the restaurant chain to qualify suppliers and create closer relations. Try to investigate and illustrate best practices e.g. from fast food chains. Table of Contents Procurement and Inventory Management 2 COMPLETION DATE 2 PLEASE NOTE 2 CASE GREEN CHILLY 3 The key facts are: 3 Green Chilly faces some issues due to their successful growth in recent years: 3 1. Procurement Process 4 Develop a structure for the sourcing process that the company will define for the procurement process. Which processes are especially relevant for production material (e.g. supplier selection, volume forecasting). Give examples. Discuss which processes of the strategic procurement process would be very relevant for either for food or for non-food (e.g. MRO, restaurant equipment, facility management) supply categories. 4 2. Supplier Selection 4 Develop a decision making example of the selection of a supplier for one supply category. Discuss the differences between monetary and non-monetary criteria and include this in your decision problem. Describe the steps of your calculation and discuss, how sensitive is your solution against changing supplier performance. Set up the data for potential suppliers. 4 3. Supplier Qualification 4 How could the company improve supplier co-operation and what would you consider as a program for supplier relationship management. Thinking of the food business what could be done by the restaurant chain to qualify suppliers and create closer relations. Try to investigate and illustrate best practices e.g. from fast food chains. 4 Table of Contents 5 Question 1 6 Introduction 6 1 Procurement/ Sourcing Process 7 Kasavana (2004) stated, that the procurement process is a demanding, elaborate process, which requires knowledge buyers, capable sellers and thorough set of inventory and audit procedures. This is especially true in restaurants where the procurement function should ensure JIT (just in time) deliveries and high quality standards since its primary product (raw materials) have a short life cycle. 7 2 Strategic Procurement Process and Production Material Processes 9 2.1 Procurement Strategy and Organizational Development 9 2.2 Make or Buy, Segmentation of Supply Categories and Strategic Planning of the Procurement Volume 10 Figure 3. Pareto Analysis 11 2.3 Supplier Selection Process 12 2.4 Strategic Alliances/Closing Contracts 13 2.5 Strategic Supplier Relationship Management 13 2.5 Supplier Qualification and Development 14 The sub processes include identification of strategic suppliers, gap analysis of requirements expected by suppliers, a program for training and improving suppliers and monitoring the performance of the suppliers. 14 2.6 Procurement Policies and Guidelines Definition, Organizational Effectiveness/Efficiency Improvement 15 3 Strategic Procurement Processes that are relevant for either food or non food supply categories 16 Conclusion 17 References 18 Bibliography 19 Question 3 19 Introduction 19 1 Improvement of Supplier Cooperation and Supplier Relationship Management Program 20 2 Supplier Qualification and Creation of Closer Relationships 26 Conclusion 27 References 28 Bibliography 29 Question 1 Introduction Purchasing has evolved in the past years from a passive buyer of goods and services to an active contributor that is essential to an organizations competitive advantage (Cavinato 1999). Procurement is viewed by organizations as the activity of purchasing goods/materials and services at minimum cost, transporting them and moving them towards the production process. Procurement also covers a wider area, and may include activities such as material supervision and management as inventory control, traffic receiving, incoming inspection, and salvage operations (Laakmann and KÃ ¶hler 2010). Procurement in organizations has evolved from its traditional transactional function towards a role that incorporates strategic partnerships, cooperative alliances and supply network planning. Therefore procurement strategies can be seen as means in achieving comparative advantage and long-term strategic goals (Tassabehji and Moorehouse 2008). The procurement process incorporates both primary and a support activity, such as the procurement of direct and indirect material and at the present time also involves strategic planning (Simchi-Levi and Kaminsky 2003). Consequently, procurement processes have developed in to strategic procurement process that aids the organization to achieve strategic and operational objectives. In the next section Green Chillys structure of its sourcing process that will be used by the organization as its procurement processes will be developed and elaborated as which processes of the strategic procurement process are relevant for either food or non food supply categories. 1 Procurement/ Sourcing Process Kasavana (2004) stated, that the procurement process is a demanding, elaborate process, which requires knowledge buyers, capable sellers and thorough set of inventory and audit procedures. This is especially true in restaurants where the procurement function should ensure JIT (just in time) deliveries and high quality standards since its primary product (raw materials) have a short life cycle. In order to maintain costs and increase productivity, purchasing practises in restaurants need to be controlled. An inefficient purchasing order could lead to inflated costs of goods that could have a negative effect on the organizations bottom line (Kim and Shunk 2003) For these reasons, Green Chilly should structure a procurement process that may result in the improvement of effectiveness and efficiency and also cost savings. Activities that are usually involved in the procurement function and could be incorporated by Green Chilly include (Monczka, Trent and Handfield 1998): Commodity analysis Market research Purchase order tracking and follow up Determination of needs and specification for inter -firm customer Transmitting forecast of future needs to suppliers Supplier performance measurement Management of suppliers quality Contract management and negotiation Management of inbound/outbound transportation Price cost analysis Employing best practices in procurement certifies that Green Chilly shall make the correct decisions. In order to do so Green Chilly should align the procurement process with the organizations strategic goals and objectives. These objectives if suitable, can be achieved by sourcing strategies that rely on a clear set of tactical procedures to ensure implementation (Sollish and Semanik 1999). The focus of the organizations sourcing strategies is to integrate supplier capabilities with the organizations process in order to achieve comparative advantage. The activities that are associated with sourcing strategies include (Monczka, Trent and Handfield 1998): Supplier identification Supplier evaluation and selection Supplier management Supplier development and improvement Supplier integration to ongoing processes Consequently, the procurement function covers both the operational procurement of materials and services and the administration management of sources of supply. Therefore, Green Chilly should take into consideration the critical importance of the links between the strategic and operational tasks of the procurement process, as indicated in figure 1 (Laakmann and KÃ ¶hler 2010). Figure 1. Strategic and Operational Procurement The strategic procurement system is based on two main pillars that are the sourcing system and the strategic partnerships. These pillars are the framework for the operational sourcing process that shall be based in developing the sourcing process which will later be expanded in Green Chillys procurement process, as indicated in figure 2 (Laakmann and KÃ ¶hler 2010). Figure 2. Main Pillars of Strategic Procurement 2 Strategic Procurement Process and Production Material Processes The strategic procurement process is adapted from Laakmann and KÃ ¶hler (2010) for the use of this report and the steps of the process that is proposed for Green Chilly to incorporate for its procurement process are further expanded in the following sections. All of the below processes are relevant for the production of materials as each of the processes such as supplier selection, evaluation, procurement strategy and so on, as shall be indicated, play a critical role in the decision making and execution of producing materials. 2.1 Procurement Strategy and Organizational Development The first step in the development of Green Chillys procurement process is the establishment of a procurement strategy. In order for Green Chillys procurement strategy to be successful it has to incorporate the needs of the organization and to be in consistency with their internal capabilities as well as the competitive advantage that is to be achieved through the overall business strategy (Monczka, Trent and Handfield 1998). Therefore Green Chillys procurement/purchasing activities need to be consistent with the business strategy and make a proactive contribution the creation of corporate values and plans. The sub processes that fall under this category are the identification of needs, the definition of the procurement task, and the purchasing business system. As already established, procurement arises when the organization recognizes the need for materials/services and so on. When the need is recognised the organization should then release a material requirement to its supplier. The organization should make sure that inventory is always restocked. An issue has already been identified, where Green Chilly is experiencing some shortages in its promotional meals. In order to solve this issue a more accurate forecast of demand could be embedded based on historical trends. Various procurement strategies are employed by organizations to deal with different situations. In the case of Green Chilly, based on the information given by the case study, where quality issues with some fresh products and above average prices on raw materials are experienced, the organization could take under consideration two types of procurement strategies: long term supplier relationships and the total cost of ownership. In accordance to the first strategy (which shall be further expanded in the following sections) Green Chilly could establish long-term relationships with selected suppliers following a supply base optimization process. The outcome of this strategy is the it could enable Green Chilly to increase volumes of raw materials to reduce product cost, improve quality (by cooperating with suppliers) increase delivery performance etc. (Monczka, Trent and Handfield 1998). In accordance to the second strategy, total cost measurement could lead to better decision making as it identifies all the cost associated with purchasing decision and with supplier non performance. Cost variances can be analyzed such as in the case of Green Chilly, increase in prices and quality issues and try to find solutions (Monczka, Trent and Handfield 1998). The output of this process is the functional procurement strategic objectives, definition of the procurement tasks and policies, where procurement tasks can involve supplier selection and negotiation of contracts, specifications of the quality and delivery arrangements and price for inventory for a given volume or period time etc (Bradbury et. al. 2010), supplier cooperation model, and the decision requests for the general management. 2.2 Make or Buy, Segmentation of Supply Categories and Strategic Planning of the Procurement Volume In this category the sub processes include analysis of products, value chain and sourced volumes, make or buy strategy and strategic forecast of purchasing demand. Make or buy can apply to Green Chilly on the grounds that if the company would prefer to buy for example ready made packages of raw materials (salad package of various greens) or make it, based on whether it is financially profitable. Green Chillys forecasting demand can be based on historical volume trends and quantity as well as taking under consideration the seasonality that the restaurants operates, forecasts can additionally be made in accordance to last years sales to establish a pattern, when possible, of seasonality. As already established, Green Chilly is experiencing an issue with higher prices of raw materials and quality issues. In order to solve this issue, higher volumes of raw materials can be ordered (or based on the long term suppliers relationships better prices can be negotiated and quality standards) to decrease the unit cost. Since Green Chillys primary product are raw materials that have a short life expectancy the cost of carrying inventory is not advisable. Green Chilly could use the central procurement organization to negotiate better prices for such products. In regards the environmental responsibility the company wishes to maintain, it could attempt to source from local suppliers where economically affordable. In this category Green Chilly should take into account supply categories, demand forecasts, make or buy strategy, sales plan and product portfolio. The organization could use the Pareto analysis (figure 3) (Bradbury et. al. 2010) to aid them prioritise procurement activities and create a product portfolio by classifying products into A B C categories, and also decide which products can be sourced from the central procurement and which from the locals suppliers. Figure 3. Pareto Analysis Class A products are one-for-one basis, class C items can be ordered in large batches and class B products are somewhere in between. Green Chilly could for example, purchase class A products directly from local suppliers in order to ensure delivery and negotiate prices and let the central procurement organization purchase class C products to ensure better prices and vice versa. By using the Pareto analysis the organization can classify all its products and create a product portfolio that will aid Green Chilly in its decision making. The output of this process is that supply categories are defined, a structure is set, a make or buy decision is formulated and purchasing is forecasted as is the sourcing of demand. 2.3 Supplier Selection Process The sub processes of this category include supplier identification, supplier pre-selection, supplier selection and supplier contract. Figure 4 shows the funnel model of supplier identification and selection by Laakmann and KÃ ¶hler (2010) that Green Chilly could use. Figure 4. Funnel Model of Supplier Identification and Selection In this procurement process consideration should be applied to the supply market, the sourcing and procurement strategies/policies, suppliers cooperation models as well as the evaluation and audit of the results. Firstly, Green Chilly has to evaluate the requirements that are needed and also try to evaluate its sourcing requirements from suppliers that can include supplier quality (Green Chillys quality issues), cost competitiveness (increase in raw materials cost), potential delivery performances and technological capabilities (Zenz 1994). Then, Green Chilly has to gather and analyze information about potential suppliers. There are various methods to locate potential suppliers such as business directories, online search engines and many more. With the growing efficiency and increased interactivity provided by the web Green Chilly could establish e-procurement for a more effective product search, rapid data interchange from e-market places and e-hubs (Kasavana 2004). Once the research focus is established and suppliers are identified, a candidate list is created as well as a database with the information about the supply markets for future reference. A first cut based on the preliminary evaluation can then be performed to narrow the list of potential suppliers before conducting an in-depth evaluation. This can be based on criteria such as financial risk analysis, evaluation of previous and current supplier performance (Sollish and Semanik 1999). Additionally a further evaluation can be carried out based on criteria such as price, quality, delivery, responsiveness, capability and competitive value and many more (Zenz 1994; Lamming and Cox 1999). Suppliers ability to respond to specifications or the scope of the work can be investigated by an on site visit to inspect the suppliers facility and establish if the supplier qualifies to meet requirements. Additionally the suppliers operational capacity, technical capability and financial ability should be taken under consideration (Solish and Semanik 1999). Once the suppliers are selected and audited then negotiations can be conducted and agreements could be executed depending on the success of the negotiations and by providing performance feedback. 2.4 Strategic Alliances/Closing Contracts To create strategic alliances Green Chilly has to clarify its supply category and determine the required degree of cooperation. Establishing close ties with suppliers and increasing investment in value chain partners encourages trust, dependability and cooperation amongst the supply chain partners. Strategic alliances could lead to competitive advantage by revenue gains and cost savings (Chen, Paulraj and Ludo 2004). Furthermore, once the requirments are determineed, agreements should be negotiated and developed and measures of performance should be established. 2.5 Strategic Supplier Relationship Management The sub processes of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) include the types of relationships the organization has to decide, definition of the organizations processes for SRM and establish a communication system and IT solutions for collaboration. Working closely with a few selected suppliers and establishing collaborative relationships Green Chilly can gain performance advantages. By sharing information with suppliers and communicating knowledge competitive advantage can result. Buyer-seller communication could establish trust for Green Chillys supply base, which can result in minimizing suppliers costs (raw materials) due to better negotiations of prices because of long-term contracts, an increase in quality standards and better evaluation of performance to increase quality as well as technological insights (Chen, Paulraj and Ludo 2004). Green Chilly can use IT collaborative solution software to improve communication with suppliers and gain new revenue while reducing operational cost (Kim and Shunk 2003). By automating more SRM functions, Green Chilly could reduce the levels of transactional activities and gain efficiency. The output of this process is to establish the types of relationships with suppliers, the activities for SRM, availability of sourcing/supplier information and collaborative processes for procurement planning. 2.5 Supplier Qualification and Development The sub processes include identification of strategic suppliers, gap analysis of requirements expected by suppliers, a program for training and improving suppliers and monitoring the performance of the suppliers. Effective supplier development for Green Chilly could begin by determining the appropriate numbers of strategic suppliers; by performing a supply base optimization Green Chilly could identify those suppliers (Monczka, Trent and Handfield 1998). This should be an ongoing process that shall help the organization to evaluate the best suppliers and try to develop strategic alliances with. Additionally, by establishing a supply network Green Chilly could qualify the appropriate suppliers that it wishes to do business with and by setting appropriate performance indicators decide which suppliers are suitable for their development program. A development program for suppliers that Green Chilly could incorporate is to work directly with suppliers to improve performance since the organization is experiencing quality problems with the performance of suppliers. By working closely with suppliers Green Chilly could assist in quality improvements and measurement techniques on how to identify and eliminate problems. Additionally, performance improvements that could be established are cost reduction (raw materials), delivery and scheduling improvements (shortfalls in promotional meals. For example Green Chilly could work with suppliers to develop a JIT purchasing and manufacturing system since the primary product of the organization is raw materials that have a low life expectancy such a development will be beneficial. The outcomes will be a better understanding from both parties, improved processes and delivery performance. 2.6 Procurement Policies and Guidelines Definition, Organizational Effectiveness/Efficiency Improvement In this category the sub processes that Green Chilly should follow are the evaluation of the procurement tasks and processes as well as the corporate policies and the development of a standard for operating procedures by giving a detailed description of the functional duties or steps for a specific task. Additionally a continuing improvement program should be established, a skill matrix for staff should be developed and an internal and external communication. Significant procurement policies for Green Chilly are for example the quality issues it experiences from local suppliers performance and the above average cost with raw materials. For a restaurant quality issues are critical in maintaining the restaurants credibility and customer loyalty (Zenz 1994). As already mentioned by collaborating with selected suppliers Green Chilly can deal with such issues by development programs or cooperation and selection of new suppliers. The outcome of this process will be the operational policies and management ethics, training and continuous improvement structures and the established sourcing process. Figure 5 indicates based on the above already discussed Green Chillys sourcing process that will be used as its procurement process. Figure 5. Green Chillys Procurement Process 3 Strategic Procurement Processes that are relevant for either food or non food supply categories Green Chillys procurement can de divided into the procurement of direct and indirect products. Indirect products/services are commodity items that are used in the day-to-day operations (MRO, IT equipment, services, capital equipment, facility management etc), direct goods include raw materials that are used to create finished products (http://www.clarity-consulting.com Accessed: 01/03/10). In this section the above processes of the strategic procurement process relevant for food and non-food supply categories of Green Chilly will be indicated. In the procurement strategy process where the organization requirements are identified and policies and tasks of the procurement process are formulated, it does not seem to be very relevant for food and non-food supply category. However the procurement strategy is the base for the purchasing strategy and it is where Green Chily shall make decisions on sourcing, whether to pursue contracts versus spot buying and suppliers recruitment plan and model. Therefore it can be argued that it is relevant for both the supply categories. In the make-or-buy and strategic planning of procurement and volume Green Chilly has to decide which materials is going to produce in house or source, and at what volumes by forecasting demand, thereof it is the organizations sourcing strategy. This process is the most relevant for both food and non-food categories. Make-or-buy decisions are usually very simple. Most organizations source production equipment, MRO supplies, capital equipment and services because they cannot manufacture them as well as raw materials where in the case of Green Chilly the primary (direct) products is the latter. Furthermore, the suppliers selection process and the strategic alliances process are considered very relevant for the food supply category. This is due to the fact that in these sub processes Green Chilly has to select the appropriate suppliers based on performance requirements such as quality cost effectiveness, delivery performance etc and establish cooperative relationships and strategic alliances with the selected suppliers. Due to the fact that Green Chillys primary product is raw materials price, quality and availability are of critical importance and this is dependent on the suppliers. Moreover, supplier relationship management process and qualification and development of suppliers process where the company has to develop trust relationships where open flow of information should be established in aiding the organization achieve comparative advantage by developing and qualifying suppliers that would provide Green Chilly with quality products and no replenishments based on contingency supply plans, this sub process is considered very relevant for food supply categories. Finally the procurement policies and organizational improvement process is considered very relevant for both food and non food supply categories as it is the stage where the organization evaluates its processes and tries to determine if good practices were applied or if improvement of the processes is required. Conclusion Green Chillys issues with suppliers quality, above average prices of raw materials and shortfalls in promotional meals could be resolved with the appropriate procurement process as established above. By creating a procurement policy where the sourcing process can establish efficiencies and effectiveness to select, develop and control partnerships with suppliers and thus create strategic alliances and overcome the issues as well as decisions on which is the most appropriate solution for sourcing, either it be form the central procurement organization or directly from local suppliers, shall aid Green Chilly in accomplishing its strategic objectives and goals. Thus, a strategic procurement process is vital to the successful performance of the organization. Furthermore by clarifying which supply categories, food or non-food, are relevant to the sub processes of the strategic procurement process shall assist Green Chilly to improve operational performance by making procurement tasks more uncomplicated and repeatable. It is highly advisable that Green Chilly should engage in e-procurement to enjoy online economies such as effective product search process, improved needs matching, rapid data interchange, lower transaction costs, enhance productivity, vendor relations, improved pricing and customer relationship management (Kasavana 2004). References Bradbury, K., Hill, J., Whicker, L., and Malins,M. (2010), Logistcs and Operation Management, Module Notes, WMG Cavinato, L.J. (1998), Fitting purchasing to the five stages of strategic management URL:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURLHYPERLINK http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VGR-3WRBWC0-2_user=10_coverDate=06/30/1999_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1238910197_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0HYPERLINK http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VGR-3WRBWC0-2_user=10_coverDate=06/30/1999_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1238910197_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0_udi=B6VGR-3WRBWC0-2HYPERLINK http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VGR-3WRBWC0-2_user=10_coverDate=06/30/1999_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1238910197_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0HYPERLINK http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VGR-3WRBWC0-2_user=10_coverDate=06/30/199 9_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1238910197_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0_user=10HYPERLINK http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VGR-3WRBWC0-2_user=10_coverDate=06/30/1999_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1238910197_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0HYPERLINK http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VGR-3WRBWC0-2_user=10_coverDate=06/30/1999_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1238910197_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000050221_version=1_urlVersion=0_coverDate=06%2F30%2F1999HYPERLINK http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL_udi=B6VGR-3WRBWC0-2_user=10_coverDate=06/30/1999_rdoc=1_fmt=high_orig=search_sort=d_docanchor=view=c_searchStrId=1238910197_rerunOrigin=google_acct=C000050221_version=1_u

Geoffrey Chaucer: A Near Contemporary of Malory :: Canterbury Tales Literature Essays

Geoffrey Chaucer: A near contemporary of Malory Many websites contain information on the life and works of Geoffrey Chaucer. Most of these websites provide useful information, timelines, and miscellaneous facts about Chaucer. The Geoffrey Chaucer Page is a very helpful website that contains a brief note on Chaucer and provides a timeline of the important events which occurred during Chaucer’s lifetime . A better description of Chaucer and his works is given by Anniina Jokinen’s website, Luminarium . It is an organized source of data on Chaucer’s life and works, and has a medieval yule carol playing on the Chaucer homepage . Columbia’s Electronic Encyclopedia offers a less impressive description of Chaucer, and does not adequately analyze his works . Librarius offers excellent insight on Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales . These four websites offer us a window into the life and works of Geoffrey Chaucer. The luminarium website links to a â€Å"Geoffrey Chaucer† website which is impressive and covers many topics. The homepage has the anonymous medieval yule carol â€Å"Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella† playing and offers easy access to the other portions of the site through six labeled links. The creator of the website, Anniina Jokinen, includes her email address and source citation for her music at the bottom of the page along with other useful citation information. Clicking on the â€Å"Quotes† link leads to a page of notable lines from the text of the Canterbury Tales. The actual texts containing these quotations can be found by clicking on the link labeled â€Å"The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer.† The information provided by clicking on these links is broad. The website offers everything from general notes on Chaucer’s literary works, to audio excerpts, and translations of passages (which are difficult to read in the original Middle English). The onl y major flaw of the website is a link that goes to the Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia website for information on Chaucer’s life. The little information provided by the Columbia Encyclopedia website does not stand up to the Luminarium pages. This was a poor choice for an external link on an excellent website < www.luminarium.org>. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia website offers a small, poorly organized description of Chaucer’s life and work.

Tess Essay -- essays research papers

Tess Durbeyfield is a victim of both external and internal forces. Passive and yielding, unsuspicious and fundamentally pure, she suffers a weakness of will and reason, struggling against a fate that is too strong for her to overcome. Tess falls victim to circumstance, society, and male idealism. Tess may be unable to overcome these apparent difficulties is destroyed by her ravaging self-destructive sense of guilt, life denial and the cruelty of two men. It is primarily the death of the horse, Prince, the Durbeyfield’s main source of livelihood that commences the web of circumstance that envelops Tess. The imagery at this point in the novel shows how distraught and guilt ridden Tess is as she places her hand upon Prince’s wound in a futile attempt to prevent the blood loss that cannot be prevented. The imagery is equivalent to a photographic proof - a lead-up to the events that will shape Tess’s life and the inevitable â€Å"evil† that also, like the crimson blood that spouts from Prince’s wound, cannot be stopped. The symbolic fact that Tess perceives herself to be comparable to a murderess is an insight into the murder that she will eventually commit and is also a reference to the level of guilt that now consumes her. â€Å"Nobody blamed Tess as she blamed herself... she regarded herself in the light of a murderess.† Tess views herself as the cause of her family’s economic downfall. Tess’s parents, aware of her beauty, view Tess as an opportunity for future accumulation of wealth. With the unfortunate circumstance of Prince’s death Tess, is urged to venture from the â€Å"engirded and secluded region† of Marlott to seek financial assistance from the D’urberville’s in nearby Trantridge. It is here in Trantridge that she first encounters the sexually dominating and somewhat demonic Alec D’urberville. Alec’s first words to Tess, â€Å"Well, my Beauty, what can I do for you?† indicate that first impression of Tess is only of sexual magnetism. Alec then proceeds to charm Tess by pushing strawberries into her mouth and pressing roses into her bosom. These fruits of love are an indication of Alec’s lust and sexual desire for Tess as he preys upon her purity and rural innocence. Tess unwillingly becomes a victim to Alec’s inhuma ne, violent and aggressive sexual advances. Alec, always the master of opportunities, takes advantage of her while alone in the woods and proceeds to rape ... ...as subjected her to the cruelty of love. Tess, a victim once again is now broken both spiritually and emotionally. It is at this point in the novel that she begins to come to the realization that her beauty is part of the cause of her destruction. In answer to this she dons her oldest field gown, covers half her face with a handkerchief, and snips off her eyebrows to â€Å"keep off these casual lovers†. Unfortunately for Tess she has come to this realization to late. She now is unable to save herself from Alec’s lustful actions and Angel’s idealized reasoning. The potent tragedy of Tess’s life is that her decisions have always been made with good and pure intentions, but have resulted in damaging consequences. Tess is undoubtedly a victim as misery punctuates her life. Tess is a victim of circumstance in that her individuality makes little difference to her fate. She is a victim of society in the sense that she is a scapegoat of narrow-mindedness among her fellow man. She is a victim of male ideology on the grounds that her powers of will and reason are undermined by her sensuality. Tess herself sums up her own blighted life best, â€Å"Once a victim, always a victim - that’s the law†.

Hcs 320 Communication

Communication Opinion Paper Karen Candido-Johnson HCS320 March 18, 2013 Lynn Bell Communication Opinion Paper Communication is expression of meaning through verbal and non-verbal means. It is the basis for relaying all information to another person or persons. We use it every day to tell people how we feel, to inform them of a situation or just to say hi. Effective communication is essential to getting your ideas and thoughts across accurately and understood. Healthcare communication differs since the information is more sensitive than communication, say, between friends.The patient has to be able to effectively give their concerns over to a stranger for the most part and it is the Dr. ’s job to understand that information given. Culture can also play a role too as different ideas about what communication is varies. The basic elements of communication which are listening, body language, speaking, open ended questions, summarizing, emotions and follow up (Hewitt,2009). For effe ctive communication to occur shared understanding must happen (Cheesbro, O’Connor & Rios, 2010) You can have all the basics of communication but unless both parties understand each other then it is just baseless information.The basic elements of effective communication differ from the basic rules of health care because there is often not shared understanding. A provider will receive the information from the patient regarding symptoms and make an informed decision. The Dr. will then try to explain to the patient the problem but it is hard to do so when someone does not have the medical background to understand what the situation is. This makes it difficult for effective communication to occur.In order to have the best chance at effective communication the provider has to encourage the patient to give as much information as possible. Patients may have a difficult time getting across to their Dr. what they are feeling or what is going on. It is then the providers responsibility to coax the patient into relaying the information in a way that they can understand. They can do this by being empathetic with the patient and showing kindness. By being open and friendly they can put the patient at ease and this would make it easier for them to talk about difficult issues they are facing.As McDonald (2006) said engage the patient and move beyond them feeling like an intruder and develop a relationship and report with the patient. Putsch (1985) said communication in health care is a complex issue. Language and cultural barriers complicate the situation. The primary problem is language. This can be fixed with interpreters to some extent, but you still have the basic cultural issues to go through. What one culture might see as not a problem, say loose bowels, could actually be an outlying cause of another more serious issue.There are also cultures where seeing a Dr. is not the way to fix an illness and they rely on homeopathic remedies rather than western medicine. Th is becomes problematic when a Dr. is seeing the patient after all else has failed and they don’t know what caused the symptoms, whether it was the cure or the actual illness. Dr. ’s and nurses have to be careful what they ask and how to speak to a patient because it might cause alarm or be considered rudeness when asked.Most hospitals and health centers now have cultural training to help providers navigate the minefield of problems associated with this. Everyone has some type of communication in their daily lives. It is effortless to most people. Something we do without thinking. In healthcare though, we have to be extra vigilant to make sure the lines of communication stay open. Without effective communication a patient is not able to tell their provider what is wrong and there for the provider will not be able to make a good diagnosis and help cure the patient.References: Cheesebro, T. , O'Connor, L. , ; Rios, F. (2010). Communicating in the Workplace  . Pearson Ed ucation Hewitt, D. (2009,  December). Basics of Effective Communication. Live Strong   McDonald, D. D. (2006). Health care communication. New York, United States, New York: Springer Publishing Company. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/189457409? accountid=35812 Putsch MD, R. W. (1985,  December). Cross-cultural Communication The Special Case of Interpreters in Health Care. Journal Of American Medical Association,  254(23).

Comparison of Miss Havisham and Lady Macbeth

Throughout both ‘Great Expectations’ and ‘Macbeth’ surroundings are used to influence and define Miss Havisham’s and Lady Macbeth’s characteristics. These surroundings are not only physical, but also psychological; found in their relationships and trauma from past events. Although both women are presented in different forms Lady Macbeth is also strongly influenced by her physical surroundings. Like Miss Havisham, her home is metaphorical of her characteristics. She lives in a great castle from which we never see her leave.Like the castle she first comes across as strong, powerful and intimidating with strong walls, yet we later see these crumble and leave her as nothing but a wreck of what she used to be. The castle also lures King Duncan into a false sense of security the same way Lady Macbeth does, this can be seen when he describes her as ‘Fair and noble hostess’ and states ‘This castle hath a pleasant seat’ showing that he feels comfortable and unsuspecting of both. This is ironic because later that very same night he is murdered, highlighting his naivety. This shows how like Lady Macbeth the castle can also conceal the evil within.Pathetic fallacy is often used in Macbeth to emphasise the atmosphere of the events occurring. For example on the night of Duncan’s murder, when Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are in a state of paranoia, ‘someone knocks at the gate’ . This makes them feel as though they have been discovered by someone and there is almost knocking on their conscience, ultimately leading to Lady Macbeths loss of sanity. The next morning we learn that ‘The night has been unruly’ and ‘some say the earth/ Was feverous and did shake’ reflecting the earth shaking events of the night prior, and further impressing the guilt on Lady Macbeth, influencing her mental state.Another influence on Lady Macbeth appears to be the witches. When we are first intr oduced to her character she appears to be speaking in incantation which mirrors that of the witches: ‘Come thick night, And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell’ This suggests that the witches have some sort of influence over her, or are possessing her so that she can carry out their wishes of over throwing the King, it also shows that she does not fear the religious consequences of her actions.She also goes on to call on spirits ‘Come, you spirits’, this gives the impression that she believes in the superstitious, and not only that but sees it as a source of help. She does not fear it like the vast majority of people in the 1600s. Miss Havisham is also greatly influenced by her psychological and emotional surroundings. The paramount influence over her life was her relationship with Compeyson, as this is what led to her incessant need for revenge, strained relationship with Estella and subversion from conformity.The enormous impact that Compeyson jilting Miss Havisham had on her perception of love can be seen when she describes love as ‘Giving up your soul to the smiter-as I did’. The use of the word smiter emphasises just how deeply she was hurt; her heart was not just broken, but deliberately crushed. She never heals from this pain so dedicates her whole life onwards to breaking men’s hearts. She even goes to the extent of raising Estella to do this ’’You can break his heart. ’’. Yet she shows signs of regretting bringing Estella up ‘so hard and thankless’ and robbing her of the ability to love, like Compeyson did to her.This failing relationship leads her further into depression, but does not stop her need to inflict pain on Pip, suggesting she cannot control her psychological impulses. Miss Havishams failed relationship led her to rebel from the stereotypical Victorian woman, who is supposed to be a married, dutiful wife, well presented and loving. She is quite the opp osite of this as a mad spinster, but is left to her own devices due to her wealth and power Throughout Macbeth we see Lady Macbeth change from a foreboding, deeply ambitious and manipulative women, to a regretful and guilt ridden soul.This change creates a sense of sympathy in the eyes of the audience as it is her own actions which lead to her ultimate demise. Unlike Miss Havisham, Lady Macbeth is married and is perceived by outsiders as a typical loyal wife. However, within her relationship it can be seen that she has also rebelled from expectations. In Lady Macbeth's mind being a woman is a great weakness; she construes femininity as compassion and kindness, preventing her from ever being as powerful as a man.She labels her husband as â€Å"too full o' the milk of human kindness,† to commit treason, and for this reason she calls on the spirits to â€Å"unsex† her and â€Å"Stop up the access and passage to remorse†, as she thinks this will allow her to carry o ut acts of evil. She also manipulates Macbeth into doing what she wants: ‘When you durst do it, then you were a man’. This shows that she knows how to use what could be seen as the female method of achieving power, this being manipulation, to further her supposedly male ambitions.This position of power can again be seen in the use of imperative verbs when she talks to Macbeth: ‘look like the innocent flower’, ‘Leave all the rest to me’, displaying her authority and control over the situation. The play implies that women can be as ambitious and cruel as men, yet social constraints deny them the means to pursue these ambitions on their own. Lady Macbeth’s guilt is the crucial psychological surrounding which influences her downfall. Although her will to kill the King was previously so strong, after the murder she begins to slide into madness.She and Macbeth undergo a role reversal, he seems to lose all sense of remorse, whilst her feminine attributes, which she tried so hard to eradicate, take over, leaving her trapped in her guilt. This ironic turn of events can clearly be seen when Lady Macbeth initially comforts Macbeth by saying â€Å"a little water clears us of this deed†, yet she soon comes to realise this is not the case. Her guilt consumes even her subconscious mind leading to her sleep walking, whilst in this state she questions â€Å"will these hands ne’er be clean? and goes on to recount the events of the day of the murder. This illustrates how she is constantly reliving that day, desperately trying to change what happened but can’t. This desperation to clean the blood from her hands eventually drivers her insane, and the only way she can free herself from this mental torture is to end her life. Although Great Expectations and Macbeth were written in different centuries and in different forms; Macbeth being a concentrated play, written around 1604, and Great Expectations being a length ily novel from around 1860.They were both considered quite outrageous and innovative at the time, due to their previously unspoken themes of madness, superstition and matriarch. As shown in my essay, Miss Havisham and Lady Macbeth are similarly influenced by their surroundings. Both women used people as their puppets in order to carry out their desires, and both descended into madness through losing their control of their puppets. However Lady Macbeth was power hungry and was willing to take down anyone to satisfy her ambition, whereas Miss Havisham wanted purely revenge, and thought what she was doing was bringing justice.The former is more manipulative and done purely for selfish reasons, so her madness was self inflicted and grew as time progressed. While the latter was done in response to the pain she was caused, meaning her madness was less calculated, but was constant since the cause of pain. Both are middle aged and wealthy women who have rebelled from expectations, however M iss Havisham rebelled due to a traumatic event in her life and does not try to conceal her atypical lifestyle. Whereas Lady Macbeth tries to mask this, and use her apparent innocence to her advantage.