Benefits Of A Volunteer Summer Internship At St. Mary...

â€Å"Never be a doctor if you’re going to have any loans to pay back.† â€Å"Don’t do this to yourself.† â€Å"You’ll never have a family if you go to medical school.† â€Å"The two worst jobs in America belong to physicians and teachers.† Without even soliciting their advice, physicians noticed my â€Å"Pre-medical Volunteer† nametag, and immediately approached me with words of discouragement. I participated in a volunteer summer internship at St. Mary Hospital in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, following my sophomore year of college, in an effort to gain more experience in the medical field and solidify my lifelong desire to become a physician. Throughout the eight weeks, I spent mandatory hours in both the Emergency Room and the Operating Room, made contacts with physicians in specific areas of interest, and spent time shadowing them. In addition, each of us in the program attended weekly business meetings in which administrators o f the hospital and local physicians spoke to us about their particular positions and experiences. Unlike the many years of high school I spent volunteering at a hospital and a nursing home, where I was limited to carrying around food trays and refilling cups of water, I was able to gain hands-on and more intimate experience. Initially uneasy at the site of the blood gushing into plastic sheets draped around the orthopedic surgeon’s patient in the OR, it took only a few days to grow accustomed to the images on the television screen during a laparoscopic procedure and theShow MoreRelatedHuman Resources Management150900 Words   |  604 Pagesand more employment-related lawsuits have been filed, some employers have become more wary about adding employees. Instead, by using contract workers supplied by others, they face fewer employment legal issues regarding selection, discrimination, benefits, discipline, and termination. BNA Using Contingent Workers 445.10 Review the types of contingent workers and the legal issues associated with their use. Demographics and Diversity The U.S. workforce has been changing dramatically. It isRead More65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays 2nd Edition 147256 Words   |  190 PagesSUCCESSFUL 65 ECSNS A IYI O N S SE O D ED T With Analysis by the Staff of The Harbus, the Harvard Business School Newspaper ST. MARTIN’S GRIFFIN NEW YORK 65 SUCCESSFUL HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL APPLICATION ESSAYS, SECOND EDITION. Copyright  © 2009 byThe Harbus News Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. For-information, address St. Martins Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010. www.stmartins.com Library of Congress Cataloging...in..Publication DataRead MoreFundamentals of Hrm263904 Words   |  1056 PagesOrienting, and Developing Employees 182 Managing Careers 208 PART 5 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 MAINTAINING HIGH PERFORMANCE Establishing the Performance Management System 230 Establishing Rewards and Pay Plans 260 Employee Benefits 286 Ensuring a Safe and Healthy Work Environment 312 PART 6 Chapter 14 LABOR–MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENTS Understanding Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining 340 Endnotes 367 Glossary 389 Company Index 395 Subject Index 398 v Contents Read MoreLibrary Management204752 Words   |  820 Pages. . . . . . 258 Development of a Salary Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259 Salary Increases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260 Recognition and Rewards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261 Employee Benefits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265 12—Other Issues in Human Resource Management . . . 267 Human Resources Policies and Procedures . . . . .Read MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 PagesPrograms and Motivation Theories 252 Using Rewards to Motivate Employees 252 What to Pay: Establishing a Pay Structure 252 †¢ How to Pay: Rewarding Individual Employees Through Variable-Pay Programs 253 †¢ Flexible xii CONTENTS Benefits: Developing a Benefits Package 257 †¢ Intrinsic Rewards: Employee Recognition Programs 259 Summary and Implications for Managers 261 S A L Self-Assessment Library What’s My Job’s Motivating Potential? 240 Myth or Science? â€Å"CEO Pay Can’t Be Measured†Read MoreMarketing Mistakes and Successes175322 Words   |  702 Pagesof New Haven; William O’Donnell, University of Phoenix; Howard Smith, University of New Mexico; James Wolter, University of Michigan, Flint; Vernon R. Stauble, California State Polytechnic University; Donna Giertz, Parkland College; Don Hantula, St. Joseph’s University; Milton Alexander, Auburn University; James F. Cashman, University of Alabama; Douglas Wozniak, Ferris State University; Greg Bach, Bismark State College; Glenna Dod, Wesleyan College; Anthony McGann, University of Wyoming; Robert

The Perspectives Of Black Women And Girls Of Darker Skin

In the documentary, the perspectives of black women and girls of darker skin was examined along with the perceived struggles surrounding their existence within the black community. One of the main interviewees was that of an 8 year old dark complexion girl was noted as saying â€Å"I don’t like to be called black.† The little girl spoke of feeling inferior due to her dark skin. On the opposing end, a girl in the same age bracket but of a lighter complexion also shred the same feelings of sadness as she was often targeted, and harassed for being lighter. By providing a comprehensive overview of the challenges these women and girls face, paired with the manner in which the documentary goes underneath the surface to explore the prejudices that†¦show more content†¦In the article â€Å"The Hidden Prejudice in Selection: A Research Investigation on Skin Color Bias† these writes took the scope of intracial discrimination beyond that of simply avenues to establ ish beauty, but to actually identify acts of discrimination that also contribute to feelings of inferiority. Harrison and Thomas used evidence as found in data collected from the Fair Employment Council that performed studies in which African Americans and Europeans were matched with regard to their qualifications, interviewing skills, and credentials. The FEC found, however, that â€Å"over 20% of employers treated the African American applicants less favorably than European applicants, but also that African Americans of lighter complexions were treated more favorable than that of the darker applicants (Harrison Thomas , 2008). The second worldview method that I examined was that of Constructivist worldview, as it is the form of research grounded in the notion that individuals seek understanding of the world in which they live. Individuals develop subjective meanings of their experiences directed toward certain objects or things (Creswell, 2014). By utilizing this method, women and girls can gain and understating of where this form of discrimination derived, and become one with the struggle each woman and girl faces,

Sadies perspective paper Free Essays

I never thought of before. Brainstorm Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck Crooks African American and physically disabled Elementally challenged Curly wife how women were treated Thesis Statement The author, John Steinbeck in his book Of Mice and Men helped my understanding and interpretation of how women were treated in the time that this b ask was written through the character Curler’s wife. They were lonely, misunderstood and mi striated. We will write a custom essay sample on Sadies perspective paper or any similar topic only for you Order Now Title Brainstorm Woman’s problem Woman’s woes Outline for UP Essay Introduction Hook (Quote, universal Statement, Question, etc. ) to get your reader interested in the general topic Have you ever been judged by the way you look or what you do? And as a result you w ere mistreated. Transition/ Smoothing Sentence(s) to show the connection between your hook and your primary focus of your essay Thesis Statement to narrow your focus to the point you are arguing (sometimes with t ere mall points provided to clarify your focus) The author, John Steinbeck in his book Of Mice and Men helped my understanding and interpretation of how woman were treated in the time that this book was written through the character, Curlers wife. They were lonely, misunderstood and mistreated. 1st Main Idea: lonely Topic Sentence Woman In the asses were lonely like Curler’s wife. Supporting Details/ Evidence (including examples and, if a literary analysis essay, quotes) How to cite Sadies perspective paper, Papers

John Mayer Concert free essay sample

I consider myself the closest thing to a professional concertgoer. I have attended 25, experiencing bands from Fall Out Boy and We the Kings to Lady Gaga and country superstar Toby Keith. I have danced in lawn chairs on a warm summer night, and screamed from the third row at Madison Square Garden, convinced that Nick Jonas was looking at me. Therefore, I believe that I have acquired a sufficient resume to judge concerts. Recently, my skills were put to the test at an event that occurred in the middle of a snowstorm in New York City. Mayer continues to bring young and old, drunk and sober, pop and rock crowds together under one roof. Although the show was not filled with glitz and glamour, explosions or rain, Mayers musical performance fulfilled my expectations. His opener, â€Å"Heartbreak Warfare,† has climbed the charts and hearts of many, grabbing the attention of diverse audiences everywhere. We will write a custom essay sample on John Mayer Concert or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page His guitar solos streamed through each beat as Mayers body moved to the rhythm, along with the fans. He managed to rock the house with multiple hits, while also slowing the hype acoustically with his classic, â€Å"Daughters.† Although Mayer may sometimes come off as arrogant and oddly strange tweeting his life away, this 33-year-old still has impressive musical talent and range, never failing to grab his audience. One aspect Mayer continues to lack in his performances is a conversational connection with the audience. His few words made the concert feel like his albums played live. When attending a Mayer concert, expect your $80 ticket to pay for the music and nothing else. If you are looking for a spectacular, surprised-filled show, you should probably join the Circus on Britney Spears sold-out tour, leaving Mayer for long car rides. However, if a good time with good music suits your bill, Mayers Battle Studies Tour is the perfect place to spend a Friday night. Closing with a surprising â€Å"Friends, Lovers or Nothing,† Mayer exited the stage without fireworks or confetti, but simply what brought him onto the stage in the first place: his music.

Power of Active Directory in Windows Server 2003 free essay sample

In order to understand the concept of active directory first lets take a look at directory service. Directory Service is a service which stores information of using and managing different objects of network at a centralized point. Those objects include printing servers, file servers, printers; fax servers etc . The directory service stores all of the information regarding the resources and at the same time provides mechanism of easy access to the resources’ information for the users. Active directory is also a directory service in windows server 2003 which stores information about the netwrok resources and about the services that make this information available to the users. Now let’s look at the power and key features of active directory in windows server 2003:  ·Multiple selections of directory objects: We can change the common attributes of many users at the one time.  ·Drag-and-drop functionality: You just need to drag and drop the directory objects from one container to another in order to move them  ·Efficient search capabilities: The object oriented searching facility provides efficient search minimizing the traffic on the network. We will write a custom essay sample on Power of Active Directory in Windows Server 2003 or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page  ·Saved queries: The active directory queries can be saved, exported, reopened and refreshed, and the results of the attributed queries can also be exported.  ·Active Directory command-line tools: A number of command line tools are available to manage the active directory. Those tools are Ntdsutil, Dsget, Dsrm, Dsmod, Csvde, Dsadd, Dsquery, Dsmove and Ldifde.  · Domain functional levels :Active directory’s domain wide features in your network can be enable using domain functional levels.  ·Forest functional levels: The Active directory’s forest wide features in your network can also be now enabled using forest functional levels.  ·Secure All Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) traffic:   All Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) traffic is signed and encrypted by Active directory’s administrative tools, by default. It ensures that the data is not corrupted and that it is coming from the known source.  ·Active directory quota: With Active directory quota, the ownership of objects by a user, computer or group can be limited by assigning quotas.  ·New Group Policy settings: more than 200 group policy setting are included in windows server 2003‘s active directory.  ·New Resultant Set Of Policy (RSoP) Wizard is included which enables you to check the policies assigned to a specific user or computer.  ·Folder redirection is also made very easy.  ·Advanced options for software installation are available, which makes installation process easy and administration effective.  ·InetOrgPerson class has been added to enhance the security and it can be used in the same way as the user class is used.  ·Cross forest support is also provided.  ·The Software Restriction Policies that are included can identify unwanted or hostile soft wares and hence will not let them execute on the computer. But this requires that the system is either being run on Microsoft Windows XP Professional or on a family member of Windows Server 2003.  ·Domain controller renaming: The domain controllers, without demoting, can now be renamed with the active directory of windows server 2003.As well as the domain name can now also be renamed with this.  ·In the domain hierarchy, the domains can be moved from one location to another.  ·The two way transitivity can now be extended by creating forest trust.  ·The users’ access of one domain or forest can be allowed, disallowed or given selective access to another domain of forest.  ·Unnecessary objects of the schema can be deactivated  ·In order to link the auxiliary classes to the objects on dynamic bases, extra support is provided.  ·When the partial attribution set is extended , the resulted administrative actions take place; at that time the Tuning global catalog replication is available for preserving global catalog’s state of synchronization All in all the active directory of Windows server 2003 provides a lot of additional features which to facilitate the management, administration and usage of resources in the network. The security additions are also very remarkable and a lot of flexibility is given to the administrator to check and configure different parameters of the network. Other than this some work has also to improve the responsiveness of the network and to cater with the network traffic. Flexibility for moving objects and domains, and for renaming them is also made easy .And with the new policies introduced the access of a user from one domain of forest to another can also be a controlled effectively. Providing these all functionalities and flexibilities to the networks administrators and mangers make their tasks of access controls, security, managing of objects etc very easy. References Spealman, Jill, Hudson, Kurt (2004). Windows Server 2003 Active Directory Infrastructure. Redmond ,Washington: Microsoft Press. Jones, Don (2003). Windows Server 2003 Weekend Crash course. NewYork: Wiley Publishing Inc..

Symbols in The Yellow Wallpaper

Symbols in The Yellow Wallpaper Free Online Research Papers Symbols in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† by Charlotte Perkins Gilman â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper† is a story about a woman who just gave a birth to a child and by her husband who is a doctor; she has to take a bed rest in a house that the woman feels not comfortable in it. She has to take a rest and doesn’t allow doing any activities by her husband. She placed in a room with very bad condition of wallpaper. With her imagination she sees the yellow wallpaper live and change it shape. She tells her husband that she doesn’t want to be in the house but her husband insists her to be there until she recovery from her illness. There are many symbols that we can find on the story. The First symbol is the yellow wallpaper itself. It symbolized the main character, Anne mental status as she saw the yellow wallpaper with her imagination that it can live and change shape. And the color yellow itself indicates the sickness and weakness. Another symbol that we can find on the story is the house. House often represents a secure place for someone but in this story the house is symbol of the confinement of the main character. It is the strange situation that has to be faced by the main character because the house is not hers and she doesn’t want to be there. The other symbols that we can find in the story are the garden which symbolizes the earth and the society, the two windows that symbolized as the women seen as equal to woman, the mysterious illness which symbolized the man’s domination of woman. Research Papers on Symbols in â€Å"The Yellow Wallpaper†The Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsMind TravelThe Hockey GameHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayHonest Iagos Truth through Deception19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraUnreasonable Searches and SeizuresHip-Hop is ArtWhere Wild and West MeetStandardized Testing

Learning organization and human motivation Essay - 2

Learning organization and human motivation - Essay Example of Excellence, Tom Peters speaks of eight themes which the successful companies adopts and two of them focus on the optimisation of human capital – Autonomy & entrepreneurship through fostering innovation and nurturing champions and secondly productivity through people (Peters & Waterman 1982). Achieving innovation and continuous development through workforce involvement and commitment has become a challenge, which organizations seeking to excel, has to address as a top priority. Employee commitment is the most potent competitive driver an organisation can develop for pursuing its objectives and harnessing employee commitment involves creating an environment, which allows for autonomy and achievement. Flexibility among the workforce is critical for developing lean and effective organisational structures which is critical for organisational excellence (Peters & Waterman 1982) High performance work teams are the norm of today’s successful companies where the team members perform multitasks on highly flexible work agendas. Employee creativity is developed and nurtured by those organisations that recognise the potential for breakthrough products and process innovations. Such companies as 3M which is placed at the forefront of innovation, capitalises on its employee creativity and promotes it through policies as the â€Å"15% rule† allowing time for pursuing personal projects. The manager who wants commitment, flexibility and creativity from employe es is therefore advised to provide them with lots of learning opportunities. As per the management guru, Peter Senge, â€Å"If a seedling has no room to grow, it will never become a tree.† (Senge 1990) Providing a workplace environment, that promotes learning opportunities through innovation, creativity, participation and autonomy addresses the motivational needs of the employees. Motivational theories as Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs as well as Alderfer’s ERG Theory both identify people’s desire for growth and self

Participation 4 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Participation 4 - Essay Example Probability sampling uses random sampling method, where the researcher selects parties to the study randomly. This ensures that the study eliminates bias and makes it easier for the researcher to estimate the sampling error. In his article painter describes the use of probability sampling in research. The example he focuses on is on selection of households from a certain cross section area. The study may focus on selecting all households, which will include even newer households. Alternatively, in selecting a sample the researcher can exclude the newer households and consider those that have resided in the area for a while. The study, therefore, will use a cluster sample, which will focus on areas with old residents. The focus was on European waters and their efforts to improve the status of these waters. In this study, they use judgmental sampling method. In their research, they have selected certain water bodies that they intend to examine and come up with ways of improving their status. The rationale for using judgemental sampling method is that the water bodies are certain and; therefore, the researcher has to focus on a certain area of

Compare the view of class in Homer, Boccaccio, Austen Essay

Compare the view of class in Homer, Boccaccio, Austen - Essay Example With his kindness, Odysseus wins the total loyalty of his thankful slaves. In Homer’s poem there are moments when Odysseus is described as inconsiderate and stubborn. He loses his caution when he is elated by his triumph over the strong Kyklops Polyphemos. Because of his temporary loss of common sense his puts his men in great danger. Despite his crew unwillingness, Odysseus embarks into the Kyklops’ island. There are other scenes in which Odysseus shows his selfish nature, for example the moment when he sends his crew to the unknown land of Kirke. He does this to avoid a potential danger which puts his life in peril. Although the initial description that Mentor gives is true, to an extend he idolizes Odysseus and portrays him in idealized fashion. In comparison, the protagonist in Dante’s Inferno is Dante himself. The novel is written from first-person perspective, which indicates that the character Dante is narrating the story. In Inferno we have to distinguish between the author Dante and the protagonist Dante. The author creates his character as a fictional one. The novel represents a journey of the protagonist Dante, written as if it was happening to the author Dante. At the beginning the protagonist has pity for the sinners in Hell. He shows how merciful he is. Then he realizes that the sinners deserve to be punished for their wrongdoing. Here the protagonist is described as ruthless. Dante’s character undergoes a noticeable change throughout his journey. His compassion for the sinners reduces as he goes down through Hell. The protagonist is also described as curious and caution at the same time, because he asks Virgil for advice every step on his way. Dante’s character is also adventurous during his journey. He is not afraid of what is happening around him and shows no fear. The protagonist is also wise, because he knows that he can not be hurt, and he can prevent the suffering that the sinners experience. In Emma, Jane

Situation And Macro Environment: The Efteling

Situation And Macro Environment: The Efteling The Efteling stands for a world full of miracles: this is the service they are offering. The Efteling is well known as a theme park that knows how to fulfill its customers needs. The Efteling emphasizes the experience that its customers obtain from a visit. In the previous years there were no new theme parks entering the market. This does not mean that the competition also stagnates. The main theme park competitors are Walibi World (in The Netherlands and Belgium), Warner Bros Movieworld, Bobbejaanland and Disneyland Resort Paris. With this marketing plan we focused on attracting students. As a consequence the perception of The Efteling will approach those of day trips like festivals these are very popular with our main target group. The Efteling has several target groups: summarized they are groups, families and companies. The Efteling has its own fairytale series, a radio station where kids can listen to interviews with The Efteling inhabitants, music and fairytales. These are examples of The Eftelings market communication. The Efteling is also present in the business-to-business market: they offer businesses to organize an event at The Efteling. The main strategy for targeting students is giving students a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 4.00 discount on top of the Albert Heijns discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬8.00. The advised ticket price will then be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬17.00. Consequently, students will go more often to The Efteling, will take other students with them, and experience The Efteling together. This will increase the customer base and potential customers. Our goal is to increase offerings to students: achieve that 5% of all students visit The Efteling once a year on a non-weekend day. This has to be achieved before the academic year 2012-2013. The applied strategy is based on the differentiation strategy. The sales promotion should increase with the emphasis on the fact that it is better to visit The Efteling on a non-weekend day. In this way the admissions are evenly spread throughout the week. Situation Analysis: Macro Environment Political/Legal Marketing decisions are strongly affected by developments in the political/legal environment. Especially when customers demand faster and more thrilling attractions, the legal obligations for the park are rising. Security standards for rollercoaster and similar attractions are very strict and will be inspected by independent officers. If the park would be caught, not keeping the security standards on the mandatory level, it can have some major consequences including sanctions from the government. But not only the governmental restrictions, also environmentalists are making life harsh for The Efteling. They are afraid that The Efteling will affect the forest Entenwoud and will refuse to accept this. Furthermore we have to add that our target group, students, is able to travel using public transport for free of with 40% discount throughout the academic year. This is favorable because students are able to come from a greater distance for less money. Economical Economical issues rise from the fact, that the daily routine in theme parks in general is very capital and labor intensive. This is an interesting fact, because in most industries, either the labor or the capital intensiveà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¡. One the one hand, investing in new attractions, setting up new shows and keeping the already existing carousels and coaster in good conditions, is really expensive, and especially the latter one is an ongoing expense. On the other hand, many people have to be employed, to keep the visitors pleased and deliver good experiences throughout the park. As most of the labor intensive work is done behind the scenes, it may not seem to be obvious that a theme park is very labor intensive, but when you think of the security standards, which have to be met, the garbage of thousands of visitors, which have to be cleaned and so forth, it quickly becomes clear that many people have to work hard each day to ensure a smooth running of the park. On the other hand, many people have to be employed, to keep the visitors pleased and deliver good experiences throughout the park. As most of the labor intensive work is done behind the scenes, it may not seem to be obvious that a theme park is very labor intensive, but when you think of the security standards, which have to be met, the garbage of thousands of visitors, which have to be cleaned and so forth, it quickly becomes clear that many people have to work hard each day to ensure a smooth running of the park. Next to this, The Efteling had to face the recession. People saved on day-trips, which are very expensive compared to what you could have bought for the same amount of money. We could say that students do not feel that much of the recession because they do not have a fulltime job, but they do not have the financial sources to go for an expensive day out. Ecological Opening a theme park brings along some big matters of dispute. A previously untouched landsite in the middle of a forest, as it was the case for Efteling, can be severely damaged if constructing of the park is done without any precautions. The soil is being compressed, many square meters or even kilometers are bituminized, and once the park is finished the daily visitors have to get there in the first place, which is unseperately combined with increasing noise and air pollution. In addition to that, it has to be mentioned that the running of big attractions consume a lot of electricity on an ongoing basis. Technological Because of the increasing complexity of new and planned attractions in the park, building- and maintaining costs are raising proportionately. Furthermore, sophisticated new computer-controlled fun rides call for better trained personal to take care of. On the other side of the coin, in case of failure or breakdowns, the error can be detected more easily due to computer analysis of the construction. On top of that computer controlled maintenance schedules leave less rooms for unintentional human failures. The Internet is the most important marketing tool, this because the fact that the possibilities for The Efteling are very high when you look at the area of the computers. Almost everyone has a pc at home. You can order your ticket online, and just scan it at the entrance. Thats it, and you also get a discount of à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1,00. Another example: by e-mail or by the website, The Efteling alerts people when there are new attractions or when there are new shows. Also for kids the website is very attractiveà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Socio-Cultural Major cultural and social topics for The Efteling are the small, but nevertheless existing differences of its visitors from different countries. As the case of Disney-Land Paris taught us, ignoring cultural habitats and taken-for-granted attributes of a society can quickly lead to a financial disaster. Secondly the theme park faces the challenge to be attractive to every single age segment. Concentrating on just children from age 6-10 for example may seem like a distinctive strategy for a theme park, but after all, around 80% of the rest of the population and therewith potential customers are left out the focus point. Thereby customers demand more quality from its money; more for less. Customers want to experience the feeling The Efteling givesà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã†â€™. Situation Analysis: Micro Environment This section of the situation analysis will deal with different steps of discussing the market features in which The Efteling theme park is enacting, this means we will analyze the microenvironment. Size of the market The market in which The Efteling is positioned can be characterized as an international end-consumer market in the service category. Because of its close location to the borders of Germany and Belgium it gains the advantage of attracting visitors of these countries as well. However, there is also the risk of losing domestic customers to foreign theme parks which are at a reasonable travelling distance. Harsh competition is obvious in this triangle of countries. The Eftelings competitors Country Park name Germany Movie Park Germany, Phantasialand, Legoland Discovery Center; Panorama Park and Fort Fun Belgium Bobbejaanland and Walibi Belgium The Netherlands Drievliet, Duinrell and Koningin Juliana Toren * When researching for these competitors we took into account that our target group students are geographically seen relatively mobile. Because Dutch students have a special public transport card they can easily go to any theme park in The Netherlands. Eftelingà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚  Walibi Worldà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬Å¾ Bobbejaanlandà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Warner Bros Movieworldà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬   Disneyland Resort Parisà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ ¡ Strengths (compared to The Efteling) Large park Own theatre Own hotel Part of int. Walibi organization Close to The Netherlands Part of Walibi organization Close to The Netherlands Strong brand image Entering new businesses easy Weaknesses long queues Especially attractive for teenagers Small park Germany-oriented possibilities for miscommunication (too) High expectations One-day Price (adult) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬29,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬28,50 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 31,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬32,00 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬52,00 Opportunity to sleep Yes, own hotel Yes No Yes Yes, own accommodations When we speak of competitors, we use the following definition from our Marketing Management text book, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ competitors are the firms that satisfy the same customer need, (Kotler et al, 2009) à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€  Because of the large quantity of possible competitors, the market is extensive in size. Of course there are also other competitors. For a day out, consumers can also go to a festival like Lowlands, or Breda Barst. For students these festivals and days out are also very attractive. It is the task of The Efteling to keep this potential target group going to the park. This is possible by giving special discounts for students. Another possibility is that The Efteling creates its own festival with famous artists. We only focused on the main other parks because these are in the same market segment. Marketing channels The growth of the market for theme parks can be described as stagnating. In the last few years there were no new theme parks entering the market. This doesnt mean that competition also stagnated. On the contrary: Every park tries to extend their customer base by offering new attractions, more ways to reach the park and other methods to increase customer value. This is also an approach to overcome the exposure to market myopia. The Efteling has to configure its competitive market in terms of customer needs and not just competitors which deliver the same service. One of the first advertisements of The Efteling (shortly after 1952)Efteling for example has launched its own radio station, it is broadcasting television series with characters that can be seen in the theme park and has recently opened its new overnight camp Bosrijk. In this way, The Efteling tries to convince more people to visit the park, who have to travel longer distances but now have the possibility to stay for more than one day. So this is more convenient for these families and positively influences The Efteling park experience. On January 6th, Efteling announced to invest à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬40,000,000 for a new restaurant, a new conference centre and a new event/performance arena. In general, the trend in the market for theme parks is moving away from just competing in the bare numbers of attractions. Customers demand to enter a world in which attractions and offerings are integrated with each other. The whole park should convey a holistic atmosphere rather than just different obstacles placed inside the boundaries of the parks. Situation Analysis: SWOT analysis In this section we will make an analysis on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the threats concerning The Efteling. We have combined this analysis; its the SWOT analysis on The Efteling in general and in addition the SWOT analysis focused on our innovation: students segment. The strengths -The Efteling has a strong brand name. It is to a great extent known, because of great advertising expenses and the attractiveness of the park. This creates a strong, magical vision/perception in the minds of people that (may) visit the park. -The Efteling is associated with more than only being a park including creating musicals, games for on the computer, having its own radio station and television-programmes. -An additional strength is the fact that The Efteling is attractive to every visitor. For the kids there is Het Sprookjesbos, the parents are entertained by memories from their own childhood when they visited The Efteling, many things have changed but the main concept and appearance remained the same. Also, for the grandparents there are tranquil attractions and enough entertainment when the small ones are in a more turbulent ride. For the adolescents there are the big, fiery attractions like the Python, a rollercoaster with multiple looping and the Piraà ±a. -The Efteling has multiple relationships with differentiated companies, for example the Albert Heijn supermarket, sometimes they create a promotion; when you spend a certain amount of money at the Albert Heijn supermarket, you get a discount ticket for The Eftelingà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â‚¬ °. -Except for going to the park for amusement, you can also arrange meetings, parties and events there. -A lot of students are living in the neighbourhood of The Efteling, as you can see in the table belowà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â€š ¬. So the demographic position of The Efteling is perfect for students, its close to their home, the connections by train and bus are also well regulated and during the week, this public transport may be for free. The weaknesses -Compared to other amusement parks, there are only a few shops and stalls settled in The Efteling. Customers do not get tempted to buy merchandise from The Efteling because they just dont see it and dont get the opportunity to buy it. There are not too many distribution points of these products. However, when customers do want to buy something in the few shops that are available, the shop is totally stuffed with other customers. -The queue to get in the rides is relatively long. Visitors will have to wait a very long time before they can actually get in one. Because most people are visiting The Efteling for just one day, it is very infuriating because they cannot visit many rides in this way. -When The Efteling builds new attractions, there is in almost every case a delay. Visitors will come especially for that new attraction, but it is not finished yet. And there are also a lot of attractions that break down more often than others do. When this is a popular ride, this is bad for the reputation of the park. -There is more traffic than ever coming from and going to The Efteling. Although the parking area is very big, it is not working well enough to handle all the cars coming out of their places when the park closes down. Everyone wants to leave at the same time; the exits of the parking lot cannot handle this, which results in very long traffic jams. -The Efteling gets more expensive every year. Of course it is reasonable that The Efteling has to maintain their earnings to finance new projects, but in these times when we are also dealing with the recession, it may be a weakness to use such a price strategy. Visitors, who have been there once, will come back probably because they know that its worth it, but visitors who havent been there will be shocked by the high entrance price. -The prices are too high for students, for the same price; they can get a lot of beers in the city centre of Tilburg or another city in the neighbourhood or do something else, like shopping or spent that money on their room. The opportunities -Get flexible entrance prices; The Efteling has experienced with the amount of visitors so they can estimate this for future periods. When there is a quiet day, lower the prices of the tickets so that the park will be cosy but not packed, when it is usually quiet. When it is going to be a busy day, raise your entrance price so that people will get spread over the weekend and weekdays. This solves the problem of long queues and a bit of the large traffic jams. Also people who want to go to The Efteling for a lower price get that opportunity now. -Get more attractive shops and stalls in the park, so that people will buy more during their stay. Although there is a recession, people always want to have a souvenir. These extra sales may be a stimulus, i.e. way of financing lower entrance prices. -The disposable income of seniors has risen the past few years and the number of elderly people has risen tooà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã¢â€š ¬. An opportunity for The Efteling is to focus their attention on this group by for example organizing special days for them to fresh up their memory. -Students are also a very large group at this moment. But The Efteling focuses most of the attention to kids and grandparents because they want to attract whole families. But this does not include the students who maybe want to go with a group of friends. It could be wise to get special student discounts because the average student doesnt have enough money to pay the entrance price. Also a lot of students dont have lectures during some weekdays. When you can attract them to come at these days, the park will be filled more and the cost of the discount will be incalculable. Also there are just a few attractive attractions for youngsters. They need to have some more rough roller coasters to remain positive. There are a lot of students in the neighbourhood of Tilburg, so The Efteling has a lot new potential visitors which it can attract by lowering the prices and build more new thrill rides. The threats -Most young kids prefer rough roller coasters to Dancing Shoes in het Sprookjesbos. Only very young kids will be attracted to this kind of attractions. -Besides, more and more people are getting older and there are not enough kids to fill this gap. -The recession is a big threat because parents watch their money more carefully than they did before. -Students also have other opportunities to go to, like other parks or for example a festival or museum. The Efteling really has to improve and change some attractions and its brand image for students, otherwise; students will prefer to go to something closer to their home village or students house. When students live in the north of the Netherlands, they will rather go to (for example) Walibi World because it is closer and there are more thrill rides. Strategic Options and Choices: Mission On the companys homepage the statement is put forward: The Efteling theme park is a custodian of the fairy tale (www.efteling.com). This statement is crucial for every staff member of the amusement park, as it should be communicated to every single visitor of the park. It contains more than it seems like on the first sight. Against the modern process of making everything faster and less lasting, the Efteling is trying to do the opposite. Reminding itself of traditional values it invites the visitor to enter a complete distinct world which he will have never seen before. Preserving cultural heritage could be the most important role for the theme park. Next to this, the protection of the environment is a second crucial mission of the Efteling. As an international leader in the tourism and recreation sector, the theme park acknowledged that following this statement provides the most secure formula for its success since its founding in 1952. Building a widespread reputation of a highly-professional, creative and efficient organization, the Efteling continues to concentrate on being innovative and reacting as quickly as possible to customer needs. In this way the parks pursues its basic goal of entertainment on a very familiar and customer friendly level. Goals and Strategy Product strategy The Efteling is clearly a product leader, there is no other theme park that can compete with the position of The Efteling. The Efteling is a world full of miracles, but it has to watch out that they have to continue to think of new attractions. Although The Efteling has a high position the amusement park has to be still innovative. In the minds of many customers the attraction Villa Volta and Droomvlucht are still the most exciting attractions, despite the fact these two attractions are running for a while now. The Efteling should innovate a lot more and should come up in a higher frequency with new attractions. These new attraction have to fit in the world of miracles that The Efteling represent. The new attractions have to challenge the customer. This will give the customer a higher incentive to visit The Efteling more frequent or to attract new customers. In product strategy creativity and inventiveness is necessary, this are the two concepts where The Efteling stands for. Also to stay traditional is a core concept, but with the right strategy the three concepts are good to combine. Every attraction has a legendary and traditional meaning. It is like the attractions came from the test of time. That is the experience that The Efteling wants to give to its customers and that those experiences stress the differences between The Efteling and other amusement parks. The Efteling is not just a theme park, its an experience. Price strategy The Efteling has different prices because Efteling has a different program in the evening than in daylight and The Efteling is also different in the summer than in the winter. The Efteling has this year the Summer Seven League from 19 July through 5 September when the park is open from 10.00 hours until 21.00 hours. On the Summer Evenings, every Saturday during the Seven League Summer, the park is open until midnight. This difference is shown by the price. The price of a normal ticket for an adult is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 29.00 and during the Summer Seven League the price of the entree ticket is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 31.00. For a senior citizen the price is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 27.00 during a normal period. During the Seven League Summer the price is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 29.00. On the other hand the two-day ticket has for both periods the same price namely à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 49.00. The Efteling has also tickets with reduction. For Groups of 20 or more people the ticket price will be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 24.00 for each person. There is one major exception and that is the price for schools. If schools book before 1 April the school will pay à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 12.00 per person. If schools book on or later than 1 April than they have to pay à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 17.00 for each person. The incentive to lower the prices for groups and schools is to give the pupils and the groups an experience and a service that they want to come back. Even, if they have to pay a higher price. Efteling collaborates several times in a year with the supermarket chain Albert Heijn to give the customers of Albert Heijn a discount on tickets for The Efteling. The customer of Albert Heijn gets a savings card to collect points. The customer collects points through buying an X amount of product. If the card is full the customer gets à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 8.00 discount of an Efteling ticket. The Efteling should give a higher discount to students. For example: the current price of a Efteling ticket is à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬29.00. With the discount of Albert Heijn it will be à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 21.00. The Efteling should give the students a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 4.00 discount on top of the à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ 8.00 Albert Heijn. You could ask the question Is Albert Heijn the supermarket where students go for their groceries? Firstly, we acknowledge that Albert Heijn is not one of the cheapest supermarkets, but The Efteling has a high reputation that automatically will be linked to the supermarket. If The Efteli ng collaborates with a cheap supermarket the status of The Efteling could be damaged. The Albert Heijn has also a high status with respect to other supermarkets. So the combination of these two companies works perfectly. Secondly, it is proven through several questionnaires that a lot of students do their groceries at the Albert Heijn because it is the nearest one or because of the bonus-products that the Albert Heijn each week offers. Bonus-products are daily products that Albert Heijn offers with a discount. Market communication The Efteling has several target groups: Groups, families and companies. To communicate with these target groups The Efteling has to know their preferences to give them the service that they need. To communicate with families The Efteling has its own fairytale series. The Efteling has also a radio station where kids can listen to interviews with The Efteling inhabitants, music and fairytales. Efteling also reaches out to other companies; it offers them the opportunity to organize a certain event at The Efteling. For example: a party for all employees of a company. Efteling has a large chamber where they can realize certain events for companies. As mentioned we want to attract students as a new target group. There is a simple explanation for the reason why student do not go to The Efteling: the ticket price. If The Efteling will let the students know that they are getting a certain discount, a lot of students are then willing to go to The Efteling. The Efteling can make this possible through advertisement on universities or through cooperating with the students if the students, like our group, chose The Efteling as the company where they have to do an assignment about. If students go to The Efteling with other students and experience the event, the chance that they will go again with other students will then be higher. Then The Efteling gets a much better kind of advertisement and that is word to mouthà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Segmentation Market segments  ´Segmentation offers key benefits over mass marketing; it is useful to differentiate positively over our competition because it increases understanding of our customer groups ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . In this and the next section we define the targets groups mainly by age. The Efteling offers some more adventurous rides, which are aimed at a segment group of visitors aged between 12 and 25. For example the wild water rafting Piraà ±a the steel rollercoaster Python and the high speed Bobbaan, the main focus of the theme park is actually concentrated on young children and people of age over 25. Thus the majority of the rides are designed for these two targets groups, so they satisfy the perceived needs of two age segments. The whole park is built on the basic belief to construct a world, equal to a fairytale. And so are many of the rides of the park. To give some examples: The Fata Morgana in a slow river boats ride through a city taken from the fairytale 1001 nights, there is Magic forest , a haunted castle and a steam locomotive. They are all meant for one of the different age groups we defined. Demographics and Needs of the customers The Efteling is approaching to a wide base of customers. Mainly families of the middle and upper social class are targeted by the marketing efforts of the theme park. In the following, the different segments are mentioned and their needs are discussed. Children of age between 6-12: The needs of this segment is rather simple, children are confronted with advertising, mostly on TV, in which the same characters as in the series of Efteling appear. By presenting the park as a fairy-tale wonderland, the children are urged to experience it themselves. Teenagers, age between 13-19: Although not the main target group at the moment, still are important for the park, because this group represents a strong decision making unit inside the family, when it comes to vacation planning. Most of the members of this cohort are not yet able to effort to go on holidays without their parents. Their need is to have an adventurous stay at the park. They want to experience something extraordinary they can tell their friends about. Young adults 20-25: This segment is not of big interest for the park because it does not represent any major point of attraction for this group. Young parents 26-32: Couples, who have become parents not that long ago, are, in contrast to the preceding segment, of great importance for the park. This segment is typically looking for a good deal to book a short vacation or daytrip. With the relative low price for the park and its services, compared to a conventional holiday (special subscription offerings are provided), the family is buying a whole bunch of activities. In the park all needs, like entertainment for the kids, relaxation for the parents and eating out together, can be easily fulfilled, there are restaurants various attractions that are appropriate, even for small children. Adults 33-40: also strongly affected by the pull factors of the theme park, with very similar attributes of the previous group. Even though they might have older children the offerings of the park still covers those needs. Elderly 60+: In order to meet the needs of this segment, The Efteling park has thought of several convenience factors. The park is equipped with many toilets and resting areas, which allow the elderly to enjoy the park without being stressed. Many authentic, vintage rides appeal to this segment and constitute a nice contrast to faster rides. On top of that, restaurant, which offers high quality food and a relaxed atmosphere complete the offerings for this group. As The Efteling has special subscription discounts for people of age 60+ another pull factor is placed. Targeting  ´An important aspect of targeting is trying to find what target can be reached a competitive manner ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . We will focus on the target group students only. ANP (Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau) predicts the number of University students and high school students in 2012-2013 on 242.000 respectively 399.000à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ . Nowadays, students have a lot of leisure time and that is where the Efteling will respond to. This is to achieve a more equal distribution of visitors during a normal week. The weekends are very demanding in the Efteling and by offering discounts to students they can increase their turnover on the other days of the week. Positioning  ´One of the crucial pillars of the marketing strategy is positioning, it means creating awareness in the target market so that the consumer recognizes the distinctive offering and image ´ (Kotler et al, 2009)à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‹â€ . The goal of positioning is to establish the brand in the minds of consumers in order to maximize the potential benefit to the firm. The Efteling has a strong brand positioning, they try to achieve that consumers recognize the name  ´Efteling ´ and make a link with a high quality park. To achieve these consumer experiences is very important because of worth-of-mouth marketing as concluded in previous sections. When their response is positive, in this way The Efteling knows that they provide the right market offering at an acceptable price. Point-of-difference are attributes or benefits consumers strong associate with a brand, positively evaluate, and believe t

The Case Against Science Essay -- Philosophy Religion Papers

The Case Against Science Science has become an unreliable epistemological resource for several reasons. First, the assumptions of science are suspect. Second, the scientific method exhibits narrow limits to the acquisition of universal knowledge. Third, the conclusions of the scientific community at large are questionable and inadequate. Fourth, the practice of science has developed a particular perspective about its place in the world of knowing that diminishes all other avenues of knowledge, to its detriment. Finally, the practice of science involves a philosophical approach which makes scientism and "pure science" hard to differentiate. Thus, science itself, as an epistemological discipline, has been discovered to be unworthy of the extreme admiration granted it by the present technology-loving world. 1. The assumptions of science are suspect. Historically and philosophically, empiricism has been shown to have clear limitations, since many persons recognize that reality consists of things which can be known through the human senses as well as things which are not known by them. In fact, the very foundational assumptions of science are suspect. Markos indicates that "many of the givens we take for granted (most notably, that the foundation of all true knowledge is material, empirical, and quantifiable) are as recent as they are unproven" [1]. There also appear statements that seem to indicate that scientific assumptions should not be challenged. "No one would today think to ask why the interior angles of a Euclidian triangle sum to precisely 180 degrees. The question is closed because the answer is necessary "[2]. The answer may be necessary but perhaps is not true; perhaps it is only a convention for the use of th... ...rk: New American Library and University of Chicago Press, 1986. Lewis. C.S. Miracles. New York: Macmillan, 1978. Markos, Louis A. "Myth Matters," Christianity Today. Christianity.com, 16 April 2002. Otto, Rudolf. The Idea of the Holy: An Inquiry into the Non- Rational Factor in the Idea of the Divine and Its Relation to the Rational. London: Oxford University Press, 1970. Park, Robert. Voodoo Science. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Schleiermacher, Friedrich. On Religion: Speeches to its Cultured Despisers. New York: Harper and Bros, Publ., 1958. Singh, Jagjit. Great Ideas of Modern Mathematics. New York: Dover Publ., Inc., 1959. Trefil, James and Robert M. Hazen. The Sciences: An Integrated Approach. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 2000. Trueblood, D. Elton. Philosophy of Religion. New York: Harper and Bros. Publ., 1957.

Factors of Career Choice

career choice Contents 1. Introduction 1. 1Role 1. 2Objective and Subjective Constraints 1. 3Key Theories of Occupational Choice 1. 3. 1Developmental Theory 1. 3. 2Structural Theory 1. 3. 3RIASEC Model 2. Factors of Occupational Choice 2. 1Family and Class 2. 2Neighbourhood and Peer Group 2. 3School and Education 2. 4Race 2. 5Gender 2. 5. 1Horizontal and Vertical Segregation 2. 5. 2Pay 2. 5. 3Hours Worked 2. 5. 4Orientations to Work 3. Solution of Constraints and Obstacles to Occupational Choices 4. Conclusion 5. References 1. Introduction â€Å"The occupational choice debate is concerned with the degree of choice individuals have over their eventual occupation. † (Module Handbook) The process of occupational choice is â€Å"psychologically based and examines the way in which the individual develops and passes through a series of stages during which the self-concept grows as abilities, aptitudes and interests develop. † (Watson T. J. 2008) This assignment is attempting the factors that may prevent or affect people’s occupational choices and how we can overcome them. . 1Role Role plays an important part in human-being, it can influence a person’s behaviour and decision making. Role may be achieved or ascribed. â€Å"The concept of an achieved and ascribed role is important in occupation choice. † (Module Handbook) Stark (2007) states that â€Å"An achieved role is a position that a person assumes voluntarily which reflects personal skills, abilities, and effort. An ascrib ed role is a position assigned to individuals or groups without regard for merit but because of certain traits beyond their control. (wikipedia) An achieved role can be changed and gained through putting efforts by a person, e. g. educational qualifications. On the other hands, an ascribed role is unchangeable. This role is assigned to you by your parents or family, e. g. height, gender, rich or poor, status, etc. The role of a person can influence one’s occupational choice. In general, people who have advantages in their ascribed role, it perceived to have advantages in their career path or development as well. Some people can act as model, and some cannot, because of the height of a person. Fortunately, people’s achieved role can break this normal pattern. If people can put efforts and reach to higher educational level, they can also earn the opportunity on their career development and work as middle or top level management in a company. People cannot change fundamental elements but can change their path through their effort. Thus, people’s achieved and ascribed role can alter the decision when they are making decision on occupational choice. 1. 2Objective and Subjective Constraints If we wish to product a model or theory which identifies the various factors that influence the individual’s occupational choice, we must consider both objective and subjective constraints. The individual has certain tangible resources such as cash, skills, knowledge or physique, which are objective constraints. The individual has certain intangible minds of motives, interests and expectations, such as to achieve power or gain job satisfaction, which all are subjective constraints. These are psychological factors of personal achievement. 1. 3Key Theories of Occupational Choice . 3. 1Developmental Theory Eli Ginzberg (1951) defines â€Å"an individual never reaches the ultimate decision at single moment in time but through a series of decisions over [time]. † (module handbook) It is the Developmental Theory of occupational choice. â€Å"E. Ginzberg looks at occupational choice as a cumulative process of decision making, taking place in three stages closely linked to tho se of emotional and intellectual development. Fantasy choice is followed by a period tentative choice, then finally there is a period of realistic choice. † (White S. 968) People’s occupational choice do not occur only at the moment on the decision making, but â€Å"is an extended process which may begin as early as ten or twelve and continue well beyond the choice of a first job. † (White S. 1968) Fantasy choice is occurring at the age between 6-11 when the children have no ideas about the real-life situation, all things are fantastic and delivered to them by their parents. When the children grow at the age of 11-17, the knowledge of the real world increases, they aware of themselves and the outside environment, and they makes tentative choice on the basis of their own interests. . 3. 2Structural Theory The structural theory is that the entry points of the occupational structure are impacting on ambition of people. According to Keil et al, they include family ba ckground and value, neighbourhood and peer group, school and education, gender and race. 1. 3. 3RIASEC Model Holland (1973/1985) developed a psychological approach â€Å"to identify people’s occupational preferences and helps fit a person’s choices and organizational characteristics. † (module handbook) It is referred to as RIASEC. RIASEC indicates Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional. By the research of Taiwan’s high school students, we found that â€Å"the R type is a very typical male-oriented type of career† and â€Å"girls, on the other hand, were more interested in the A-type fields and tended to choose artistic fields as their careers. † (Tien H. L. , Wang Y. F. and Liu L. C. 2009) 2. Factors and Obstacles affecting Occupational Choice People do not enter the occupational structure with equal opportunities. There are many factors and obstacles that can influence the choice-making on occupation of people, we are now focus on the factors in structural theory, including family and class, neighbourhood and peer group, school and education, race and gender. 2. 1Family and Class When the children at the age of 6-17, which is in the stage of fantasy choice and tentative choice, they depend on their parents mostly. Thus, the patents’ expectations for educational achievement, beliefs and behaviors will affect the children’s future development. The Parent Socialization Model developed by Eccles and colleague (1982) has highlighted the important role parents play in the development of children’s achievement choices. The belief of parents â€Å"will then influence parenting behaviors and expectations, which, in turn, will affect child outcomes such as educational and career choices. † (Jacobs, J. E. , Chhin C. S. and Bleeker M. M. 2006) Moreover, as the family background of a person on his or her ascribed role cannot be changed, family network and status also play important role on occupational choice. The structure of a family an individual faced when he or she was growing up may affect the individual’s social skills and lead to human capital investments† and â€Å"parental education appears to have an indirect effect on children’s occupational status through children’s education. † (Tsukahara, I. 2007) Grieco (1987) shows â€Å"how this can be helpful both to the employee, wh o gains support from family members both inside and outside work and is sustained in steady employment, and for employers, whose recruitment costs are kept low and who can look to employees’ relatives to help train them and teach them to â€Å"fit in†. (Watson T. J. 2008) Even not every people will choose the same career as their parents, most people appear to have a high probability to make similar choices. Rather, parents’ education also appears to have an indirect effect on children’s occupational choices through the children’s education. For example, if the parents perceived a positive effect on the professional occupations, the children will then also have a positive effect on the professional occupations in future. 2. 2Neighbourhood and Peer Group People can enjoy social experience through the contact of neighbourhood and peer group, such as friends and teachers. As these peer groups always recognize in people’s earlier stage, such as school life, they have long-term consequences for one’s belief and value. â€Å"Teachers, parents, peers, and others may influence youths’ achievement and interests long before educational and occupational decisions are made. † (Jacabs, J. E. 2006) These peer groups can provide people social support and encouragement; however, the groups may also provide somehow of negative impact if wrong perception and information are provided. 2. 3School and Education Formal schooling operates alongside the general cultural and family socialization process. † (Watson T. J. 2008) Willis (1977) states education â€Å"as a form of preparation for the way those particular individuals will need to live with their subservient roles once they enter paid employment. † (Watson T. J. 2008) The jobs which people choose were influenced by the level of educational qualifications they achieved. The more professional of the jobs, the more skills and abilities are needed, and the more rewards (both monetary and non-monetary) can earn. On the contrast, there are more limitations on occupational choice for people who have lower educational level. 2. 4Race Race or Ethnic Discrimination is also undoubtedly playing a major role in occupational attainment. The research project conducted by Cardoso P. and Marques J. F. (2008) about The Perception of Career Barriers Inventory found that African and Afro Portuguese students score significantly higher than Euro-Portuguese students on Ethnic Discrimination. The Ethnic Discrimination â€Å"results highlight how, at the early stages of development and at crucial career decision moments, when these beliefs are structured, a negative influence on vocational behaviour development can occur. † (Cardoso P. and Marques J. F. 2008) Melamed (1995) concluded that â€Å"discrimination accounted for between 55% and 62% of the variance in the differential career success of men and women in a British sample. † (Brown D. 2002) Although the wide-spread prevalence of race discrimination in most countries, the limitations and difficulties in career choices and development of these minority groups are still high. . 5Gender Gender will be a major factor in the career choices. Due to the role conflicts between men and women, a study found that â€Å"women in Israel, Germany, the United States, and Japan assigned lower importance to the centrality of work in their lives than did men†¦.. this is the result of women’s orientation to o ther life roles, primarily because of women’s concern regarding participation in the family role. † (Brown D. 2002) By the survey report of â€Å"Third Quarter Economic Report 2010† in the section of â€Å"Labour Force Participation Rates by Sex† (www. enstatd. gov. hk), the data shows the participation rates of male employees is 68. 9% and female employees is 52. 2% in the third quarter of 2010. The number of women who engaged in labour force is still lower than men. We are now analyzing the gender by three sections: horizontal and vertical segregation, pay, and hours worked. 2. 5. 1Horizontal and Vertical Segregation Horizontal segregation is the term â€Å"used to describe the tendency to discover men and women in different types of occupation. (Module Handbook) For example, by the survey of â€Å"annual percentage of male and female managers by job function†, â€Å"female managers are mainly in the functions of â€Å"personnel & training† and â€Å"conference & banqueting†, whilst management posts in the areas of â€Å"property & security†, â€Å"food & beverage†, and â€Å"control & finance† are mostly held by men† in 1999 in Hong Kong. (Ng C. W. and Pine R. 2003) By the survey report of â€Å"Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics† in the section of â€Å"Employed Persons by Industry and Sex† (www. censtatd. gov. k), the female employed persons were mainly engaged in the public administration, social and personal services sector (35. 9%), while data of the male employed persons was different, with the financing, insurance, real estate, professional and business service sector being the largest sector (18. 2%) in 2009. Vertical segregation is the term â€Å"used to describe the situation where, the higher one progresses in an organizational or professional hierarchy, the fewer the number of females one encounters. † (Module Handbook) Morrison et al. 1987) coined a term of â€Å"glass ceiling† to â€Å"describe the difficulties women face in climbing to the top of the corporate ladder. † (Ng C. W. and Pine R. 2003) Although the percentage of women who studied law and medical and health subjects is over 60%, the opportunities to promote is still obstruct by the â€Å"glass ceiling†, such as traditional value and family responsibility. (Ming Pao Newspaper) For example, by the survey of â€Å"annual percentage of male and female managers by job level†, â€Å"only 7. 2% of senior General Manager positions were held by women† in 1999 in Hong Kong. Ng C. W. and Pine R. 2003) According to the record of Hong Kong Listing Companies, there is only 9% of women in the top management level who mostly were entered by the role of family members. (Ming Pao Newspaper) By the survey report of â€Å"Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics† in the section of â€Å"Employed Persons by Occupation and Sex† (www. censtatd. gov. hk), the figures show there are 96,500 women and 229,800 men in the Managers and Administrators role, while there are 398,800 women and 149,600 men in the Clerks role. R 2. 5. 2Pay â€Å"Full-time working women earn 82. % of men’s hourly pay. † (Module Handbook) According to â€Å"Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics† in the section of â€Å"Median Monthly Employment Earnings of Employed Persons by Age Group and Sex†, the median monthly earnings of female employed persons in Hong Kong was HK$8,500 in 2009 while that for males was HK$12,000. (www. censtatd. gov. hk) By the survey of , over 70% of people indicated that Hong Kong is still have sex discrimination in career environment which men’s paid are more than women even they are on the same positions. . 5. 3Hours Worked Even the labour market participation of women has increased dramatically in many countries, the hours worked of women are still lower than men due to the different orientations to work. Hakim (1996, 2000) states that â€Å"whereas in general men prefer to work, women show a heterogeneous set of work-life orientations: some women prefer to work, others want to stay at home and almost half of them prefer to combine work and family life. † (Doorewaard H, Hendrickx J and Verschuren P. 004) The data indicated that although many women are entered or re-entered into the labour market, they are still want to have work-life balance, especially for those women who are married and have children, it is also the barrier of women in the career path both actually or in people’s traditional perceptions. 2. 5. 4Orientations to Work Orientations to work to different people are varying. People seem to be motivated to work by a mixture of options, e. g. earning money, developing their careers, gaining status, etc. According to Crompton and Harris (1998), â€Å"it is not only influenced by someone’s own choice and motivation, but also by the constraints of the situations in which one lives and works. † (Doorewaard H, Hendrickx J and Verschuren P. 2004) It can simply distinguish into three types of work orientations: job orientation, money orientation and people orientation. Watson (1994) said â€Å"life circumstances and the specific circumstances prevailing in the work situation influence what they are looking for and what they expect to get. (Martin E. 2004) Hence, orientations to work are also barriers to occupational choice if the job itself cannot fit in one’s orientation. 3. Solution of Constraints and Obstacles to Occupational Choices It is no doubt that the work pattern and norm is constantly changing around the world, however, this change can help to overcome some of the constraints of occupational choices. The past few decades have been marked by a significant gr owth in women’s labour force participation in most countries. Although women play a stronger economic role than in the previous decades, men are usually the primary breadwinners in families. Women, who function as secondary earners, tend to have part-time and other nonstandard employment. † (Kan M. Y. 2007) Those nonstandard employments, such as part-time job, temporary jobs, psychological contract, will be more common in the future work. â€Å"The nature of formal contracts has altered, with more short-term contracts†¦.. sub-contracting and out-sourcing arrangements have become more common and are part of a set of strategic HRM options. (Westwood R. , Sparrow P. and Leung A. 2001) Furthermore, the increasing of feminine management style in both government and private companies where a more flexible and â€Å"feminine† approach to management, such as flexible work family arrangements, â€Å"Family Friendly Working Practices† in Hong Kong. This style helps women who want to balance between work and family life. Additionally, the work pattern of â€Å"10 years in employment and 10 years out† which is a flexibility approach for people who want to have a break for few years and return to work, e. . female returners who seek to re-enter the workforce after a few years of unpaid care-taking responsibilities. At the time of making occupational choice, people are still young and lack of knowledge and experience. â€Å"People make choices based on imperfect knowledge and uneven distribution of knowledge and at a young age. † (Module Handbook) To prevent in making wrong decision and lack of confidence from the students, school and teachers can arrange some experienced people to share their real experience and give more support to them. Luzzo (2000) proposes â€Å"to help students think about the role that perceived barriers play in the career planning and exploration process, and to identify effective resources and strategies for coping with such barriers. † (Cardoso P. and Marques J. F. 2008) 4. Conclusion Every people have different choices on career and different orientations to work. And, there are some subjective and objective variables affecting the process of choosing the career. People have to identify them clearly in hope to find the most suitable job for them which is fitting with their interests, intentions and abilities. owever, those obstacles can be overcome through the changing work pattern and work management. In fact, many of these trends of future work are already with us today. We are all in the moment of changing atmosphere. 5. References Brown D. (2002). â€Å"The role of work and cultural values in occupational choice, satisfaction, and success: A theoretical statement†, Journal of Counseling and Development, Vol. 80, Issue 1, PP. 48-56 Cardoso P. and Marques J. F. (2008). â€Å"Perception of career barriers: The importance of gender and ethnic variables†, International Journal for Educational & Vocational Guidance, Vol. 8, No. 1, PP. 9-61 Doorewaard H. , Hendrickx J. and Verschuren P. (2004). â€Å"Work orientations of female returners†, Work, Employment and Society, BSA Publications Ltd, Vol. 18(1), PP. 7-27 Eccles J. S. (1994). â€Å"Understanding Women’s Educational and Occupational Choices: Applying the Eccles et al. Model of Achievement-Related Choices†, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 18(1994), PP. 585-609 Jacobs, J. E. , Chhin C. S. and Bleeker M. M. (2006). â€Å"Enduring Links: Parent’s expectations and their young adult children’s gender-typed occupational choices†, Educational Research and Evaluation, Vol. 12, No. 4, PP. 395-407 Kan M. Y. (2007). Work Orientation and Wives’ Employment Career s: An Evaluation of Hakim’s Preference Theory†, Work and Occupations, Sage Publications, Vol. 34, No. 4, PP. 430-462 Martin E. (2004). â€Å"Who’s kicking whom? Employees’ orientations to work†, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Vol. 6, No. 3, PP. 182-188 Module Handbook – Management, Work and Society, University of Huddersfield, January 2011 Ng C. W. and Pine R. (2003). â€Å"Women and men in hotel management in Hong Kong: perceptions of gender and career development issues†, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 22(2003), PP. 5-102 â€Å"Third Quarter Economic Report 2010† (2010), Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government Tien H. L. , Wang Y. F. and Liu L. C. (2009). â€Å"The Role of Career Barriers in high School Students’ Career Choice Behavior in Taiwan†, The Career Development Quarterly, Vol. 57, Issue 3, PP. 274-288 Tsukah ara, I. (2007). â€Å"The Effect of Family Background on Occupational Choice†, Labour: Review of Labour Economics & Industrial Relations, Vol. 21, Issue 4/5, PP. 871-890 Watson T. J. (2008). â€Å"Sociology, Work and Industry†, Fifth Edition, Routledge Westwood R. , Sparrow P. nd Leung A. (2001). â€Å"Challenges to the psychological contract in Hong Kong†, International Journal of Human Resources Management, 12:4, PP. 621-651 White, S. (1968). â€Å"The Process of Occupational Choice†, British Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 6, Issue 2, PP. 166-184 Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, [retrieved on 18 February 2011] â€Å"Women and Men in Hong Kong: Key Statistics† (2010), Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government â€Å" †, Ming Pao Newspaper [retrieved on 15 February 2011] â€Å"70% , 3,500? †, Wen Wei Po [retrieved on 15 February 2011]

SCHULZ Last Name Origin and Meaning

SCHULZ Last Name Origin and Meaning The surname Schulz, which ranks 9th among  most common German last names,  has several possible origins: A German occupational name for the man in charge of a village (magistrate, sheriff, overseer) originally derived from the Middle High German word schulteize meaning the person in charge of collecting payments on behalf of the lord of the manor. It is similar in meaning to the English family name, Constable.The Jewish origin of the SCHULTZ / SCHULZ name is uncertain, possibly given to, or by, a rabbi. The Schulz surname is most commonly found in Germany according to the World Names Public Profiler, especially within the regions of  Brandenburg, Mecklenberg-Vorpommern, Berlin, Sachsen-Anhalt, and Schleswig-Holstein. It is next found most frequently in Austria and Australia. When spelled with a t (Schultz), the last name is more common in Denmark and the United States than Germany. Because most last names originate in multiple areas, the best way to learn more about your Schulz last name is to research your own specific family history. If you are new to genealogy, you can try tracing your family tree or learn more researching German genealogy and family coat of arms. Surname Origin: German, English Alternate Surname Spellings:  SCHULTZ, SCHULZE,  SCHULTZE, SCHOLZ, SCHOLTZ, SCHULTS, SHULTS, SCHULTHEIß, SCHULTHEIS  Famous People With the SCHULZ Last Name Charles Schulz - American cartoonist, artist, and illustrator, best known for the popular comic strip PeanutsHoward Schultz - Starbucks CEOWarren Schultz - American game designerErwin Schulz - German Nazi SS general Genealogy Resources for the SCHULZ Last Name Meanings and Origins of the 50 Top German SurnamesMà ¼ller, Schmidt, Schneider, Fischer, Meyer... Are you one of the millions of people sporting one of the most common German last names? The Schulz last name ranks 9th on the list. How to Research German AncestorsGermany, as we know it today, is a much different country than it was during the time of many of our distant ancestors. Learn how to research your German ancestors both in present-day Germany, as well as in the six countries that received portions of the former German territory. Is My Surname Jewish?While many people will identify a last name that sounds Jewish, you generally cant identify Jewish ancestry by surname alone. 10 Online Sources for Holocaust ResearchFrom deportation records to lists of the martyred to survivor testimonies, the Holocaust has generated a vast amount of documents and records - many of which can be researched online! Schultz-Scholz Y-chromosome DNA Surname ProjectThe goal of the Schultz Surname Project is to use Y-DNA testing to distinguish between Schultz ancestral lines, worldwide. Any reasonable spelling variant of the surname is included, including Schultz, Schulze, Scholz, Scholze,  Schult, Schulte, Schultes, Schultheiß, Schults, Schultz, Schultze, Schulz, Schulze, Shults, Shultz, Sulc and Szulc. SCHULZ Family Genealogy ForumSearch this popular genealogy forum for the Schulz last name to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Schulz query. FamilySearch - SCHULZ GenealogySearch and access records, queries, and lineage-linked online family trees posted for the Schulz surname and its variations. FamilySearch features over 4 million results for the Schulz last name. SCHULZ Surname Family Mailing ListsRootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Schulz surname. DistantCousin.com - SCHULZ Genealogy Family HistoryExplore free databases and genealogy links for the last name Schulz. Sources: Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967. Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989. Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003. Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

Free Essays on Caitlins Inner Struggle

Have you ever been in a situation in your life that you wanted to get out of but at the same time you couldn’t or simply didn’t want to? This often feels like you’re stuck in a dream and can’t wake up. In the novel Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, the protagonist, Cailtin, finds herself being taken to â€Å"Dreamland† by her new boyfriend and she can’t decide whether to leave this dream or not. From the very first moment Caitlin met Rogerson, to the day he started hitting her, until the end when Rogerson is arrested, Cailtin is faced with an inner struggle between leaving or staying with him. The day Cailtin met Rogerson she realizes he is bad news. Rogerson is a drug dealer, so every night he goes around parties to make new deals while Cailtin either waits in car or goes along. This circuit soon becomes a routine, and Cailtin starts to smoke and do drugs along with her new boyfriend. Caitlin later finds out from her friends that Rogerson has been expelled from different schools and he is now serving various community service projects to make up for all the trouble he has been in. Cailtin is also introduced to her boyfriend’s family and she becomes aware of the unpleasant and not very loving relationship between them. Cailtin is conscious of Rogerson’s bad life, but she enjoys being with him. Rogerson gives her the attention she doesn’t get from being the sidekick of her beautiful and popular best friend. Rogerson doesn’t know much about her so she is free to act the anyway she wants, be someone new and have a different life. Cailtin becomes d eeply involved with Rogerson, and soon experiences his â€Å"troubles† first-hand. After dating for a few months, the couple has an argument that leads to Rogerson hitting his girlfriend and the start of a physically abusive relationship. In a hot summer, the two make plans to go out. Struggling with her school work, Cailtin loses track of time and is late for her date. The couple argu... Free Essays on Caitlin's Inner Struggle Free Essays on Caitlin's Inner Struggle Have you ever been in a situation in your life that you wanted to get out of but at the same time you couldn’t or simply didn’t want to? This often feels like you’re stuck in a dream and can’t wake up. In the novel Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, the protagonist, Cailtin, finds herself being taken to â€Å"Dreamland† by her new boyfriend and she can’t decide whether to leave this dream or not. From the very first moment Caitlin met Rogerson, to the day he started hitting her, until the end when Rogerson is arrested, Cailtin is faced with an inner struggle between leaving or staying with him. The day Cailtin met Rogerson she realizes he is bad news. Rogerson is a drug dealer, so every night he goes around parties to make new deals while Cailtin either waits in car or goes along. This circuit soon becomes a routine, and Cailtin starts to smoke and do drugs along with her new boyfriend. Caitlin later finds out from her friends that Rogerson has been expelled from different schools and he is now serving various community service projects to make up for all the trouble he has been in. Cailtin is also introduced to her boyfriend’s family and she becomes aware of the unpleasant and not very loving relationship between them. Cailtin is conscious of Rogerson’s bad life, but she enjoys being with him. Rogerson gives her the attention she doesn’t get from being the sidekick of her beautiful and popular best friend. Rogerson doesn’t know much about her so she is free to act the anyway she wants, be someone new and have a different life. Cailtin becomes d eeply involved with Rogerson, and soon experiences his â€Å"troubles† first-hand. After dating for a few months, the couple has an argument that leads to Rogerson hitting his girlfriend and the start of a physically abusive relationship. In a hot summer, the two make plans to go out. Struggling with her school work, Cailtin loses track of time and is late for her date. The couple argu...

Competing against walmart Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Competing against walmart - Essay Example Not all the people can be able to afford the prices of the services being offered by the business. That is the major challenge the business is facing. The business is well known for its optical services. Customers are tested for their different sight problems, and then given the rightful spectacles. One can also have their lenses or frames changed. Those are some of the many services offered by the business. The employees of the business work tirelessly to ensure that there is no gap in any of the services provided. Most of the customers of the business are usually children who attend school, and the aged people. Most of the school-going children are usually faced with the sight defect known as the short sightedness, while the aged are usually faced with long sightedness. The business has been able to gain a competitive advantage over the years. It has been able to do so through giving to their customers services that are of a high value. This is one of the aspects that keep the customers coming. The location of the business has also contributed towards creating a competitive edge for the business. The business is different from Wal-Mart in that, unlike the Wal-Mart, the business has been in operation for 10 years and, therefore, it has been able to analyze fully the market environment in which it is operating. It has been able to merge fully into the market environment. The Wal-Mart Optical Center has not been in the market, therefore, it will be difficult for it to gain the knowledge of the market that the business has. Since the Wal-Mart Optical Center is to be launched, it is curial for the business to undergo certain changes in order to uphold its competitive nature in the market. First, the business should be able to offer different range of services on top of what is offering. This will enable the customers to be able to shop around for their preferred choice. The business should also be able to revise

Reflective Report includee 2 tasks M Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Reflective Report includee 2 tasks M - Essay Example My expectation from UK was to find and acquire quality education applicable in the current global job market. I also expected to combine work and study in order to finance my personal needs, acquire valuable work experience as well as improve my professional network. I have learned how to live in a multicultural environment since I came to the UK even though there were a lot of challenges in adapting to the life in UK. I have also become a more sociable and confident person from interacting with individuals from diverse backgrounds. I have been exposed to different experiences and cultures of which I wouldn’t have if I was not in the UK. Before I came to the UK I was very shy unlike now. It was not easy for me to make major decision all by myself but the experience here has made me more independent. Among the things I have learnt at Greenwich is how to combine both the theoretical and practical aspects of my studies in real life situations. This has been very helpful to me sin ce theory doesn’t always aid one in getting a placement, an internship or a job. Given that English is not my first language, communication proved quite an uphill task for me at first but I eventually had to learn how to use it fluently. I have learnt to improve my English by wide range of educative books such as those which target international student learning English. This was very useful in the beginning since English in such books is written in a manner that is somewhat simplified. This made it easy for me to learn and understand English. I also sharpened my skills by frequently watching English TV episodes. This made learning more fun. I also engaged in discussions with my fellow student. This improved my communication skills since I can now confidently express myself in English. Since I started learning at the Greenwich University, my study skills have greatly improved. I have learnt to always prepare for my classes at the most appropriate time. For classes that involv e recitation, I spend time making questions regarding previous recitation, brushing up on the facts I have and try to memorize them. In the case of lecture classes I make sure I review my notes and organize them appropriately. I have also come to learn to study at the time when I feel fresh and vibrant. In my case, early morning hours are my favorite. In the night times, I am usually tired making reading at such a time is ineffective. Since I work and study at the same time, I believe I have excellent employability skills. I am therefore in a good position to get a full-time job in my home country after I graduate. I was also able to make professional contacts back at my home country through networking skills I acquired here in the UK. My communication skills will enable be work efficiently with people from various regions while at my home country. The knowledge which I have acquired at Greenwich University is of high standards and globally recognized. This will help me climb my car eer ladders faster while back at home. I am very delighted to be studying and working in the United Kingdom since I have gained a lot in terms of knowledge and experience. TASK 2 Reflection on Research Preparation The process of preparing for my research was quite interesting. This is because of what I learnt and the challenges which I faced. To begin with, I did not know where to start from since I had not thought of an area in which I