Reflective Journal Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Reflective Journal - Research Paper Example Below are different leadership theories that I thought are most important for the understanding ofthis subject (Bolden et. al, 2003): 1. The Trait Approach to Leadership: This theory is adopted from the Great Man theory which suggests that leaders are exceptional people having innate attributes which ultimately make them a leader. According to this theory some of the traits most common in leaders are: friendliness, motivation, doing group tasks, emotional control and many others (Ricketts, 2009). 2. McGregor’s Theory X & Theory Y Manager: According to him, Theory X managers dislike work and would try to avoid it and that they will have to be forced to work. Whereas Theory Y managers exhibit passion for work, self-direction and self-control to achieve goals. 3. The Hersey-Blanchard Model of Leadership: This model is based on situational perception of leadership. In my opinion a true leader can be identified when he or she is in a difficult situation. The theory states that there are two styles of leadership-Directive (one-way communication) and Supportive (interactive and mutual decision-making). The normative decision model was put forward by Victor Vroom and Phillip Yetton in 1973 and in the later years it was being modified by Victor with the collaboration of Arthur Jago. The theory states that the situational factors play a more important role in the decisions that are being taken by a leader than the leadership behavior he / she has adopted. The theory talks about five different sets of strategies. Two of the strategies are of autocratic styles, two from the consultative styles and one from the group decision makings. The personality of the leader plays an important role in achieving excellent leadership and perfect decision-making in the job market. Some of the traits that are important for good leadership at work are: Vision: One role of the leader is to communicate the vision and

Economic Development Record Essay Example for Free

Economic Development Record Essay Economies all around the globe develop over time depending on the policies that they undertake to utilise the resources within their boundaries. Nations that utilise their resources experience economic growth and there is great inflow and outflow of goods and services in those nations. Economic growth means that the nation is utilising its resources efficiently and this has resulted into increased productivity within the various sectors of the economy. Industries within the nation increase as a result of the improved economic performance that will result to the creation of more employment opportunities hence reducing unemployment levels in the nation (Daquila 2004). Due to the increase in the number of industries and output in the already existing industries, employment opportunities increase and this brings about a reduction in the number of citizens unemployed. Unemployment is very crucial in calculating a nations GDP which is an indicator to a nations performance. Economic growth depicts an increase in pa capita income. This is the income associated with every individual in the economy although they may not have it in their possession (Daquila 2004). Pa capita income is calculated by dividing the overall value of the economy proportionately divided between the nations overall economy. On the other hand, Daquila (2004) defines economic development as the improvement in the livelihood of individual citizens of a nation together with that of the systems that are in place in the nation. A nations system involves economic, political and social framework from which the economy operates in. All the above plus economic growth defines economic development. Economic performance is measured using various tools that include GNP and GDP. GDP estimates the economic performance giving consideration to internal and external trades (Daquila 2004). In establishing the GDP, consideration is given to consumption in the nation, expenditure by the Government, investments in the nation, trades in the nation that is imports and exports. Consumption comprises of perishable non-perishable goods and services within the nation. In determining the non-perishable goods they are assumed to be products that will last for a period of three years from the date of manufacturing. GNP refers to the difference between imported products and services and the exported products. The value of this difference added to the value of products services generated within the economy results to the GNP. To evaluate the economic performance of a nation, a number of indicators are used to measure exactly how the economy is progressing towards its economic objectives. A nation has to determine the level of consumption of its individual citizens (Todaro 1997). The level of consumption means the proportion an individual spends after receiving their income. The remaining part of the income is saved. The consumption level of a nation determines the amount of savings in the economy. Savings on the other hand, stimulates growth in the economy. When individuals increase their savings, the financial institutions hold more money thus the cost of accessing funds is low. Business entities in the nation are able to access funds at a low cost from the financial institutions. The borrowed funds are used for the expansion of business operations across the industries within the economy. The expansion of business activities results to an increase in national output and employment (Munk OHearn 1999). The increase in national output increases the exports of a nation in respect to its imports. The resulting balance of trade will be positive hence the nation has more in terms of foreign reserves that will assist them when it comes to purchasing produces from other countries. Therefore, savings are very vital for the improvement of the performance of an economy. T o induce savings in the economy, the opportunity cost of saving has to be high so that individuals can adopt a trend of saving since they are compensated bountifully for foregoing consumption. It can be concluded that increase in savings results to an increase in investments that contribute towards the growth of an economy. Increased activity within the economy results to an increase in production levels of the economy (Ros 2000). The nation is able to produce more products services, that are able to meet the needs of the nations population. Since the products are locally manufactured, they are quite affordable thus individuals are able to spend less and save more. This results to an increase in the real income that individuals have in their pockets and are ready to spend. It should be noted that increased production has to be met by equal consumption otherwise it could result to losses that will hurt the economy. Depending on the expansion of the economy, rates of unemployment adjust themselves in more or less the same rates. Increased production will require an increase in manpower that will be able to maintain the production levels. Nations with large populations face a major challenge in absorbing its citizens in the workforce. Individual citizens for a start need to have the relevant skills required to perform in different industries. Education in these economies has to be committed and directed towards instilling individuals with the necessary skills that will be useful in rendering service to the various sectors of the economy. A skilled population results to economic development since the individuals are prone to exercise their skill base towards living a better life thus contributing to the economys growth. Economic development depends also on the expenditure of the nations authority (Preston 1999). The government consists of various departments that oversee the implementation of policies that improve the state of the economy. These departments are given the financial power to implement and improve on the various economic aspects for example the development of basic infrastructure within the economy. In improving the infrastructure, the government releases money from its coffers to the public. This way, the supply of money increases to equal its demand. In most cases, when the Government spends on its development programs, money supply is more than the money demanded. If this situation is allowed to go unchecked it might result to inflation and later to stagflation; a situation where both the unemployment and inflation rates are so high. Therefore, Government involvement in an economy has to be considered carefully when undertaking development projects. Increased rates of production in an economy increases the output levels that may go over and beyond in meeting the local demand. Having satisfied the local demand, excess products can be exported to other nations. This facilitates international trade where nations exchange commodities they have in excess for commodities they do not have. Nations should avoid importing more and exporting less as this leads to a negative trade balance. This means that the nation spends more in foreign currency than it receives. Third world and developing nations should consider the above variables if they are to achieve spurred economic growth. They most important is to ensure that their population is skilled so that they can utilise their skills by establishing some income generating activity that will create employment opportunities and increase the total production of their economy. MALAYSIA. The present day Malaysia attained independence in the 1957 from the British administration and accorded the sovereign status in 1963 (Malaysia 2008). The Britons established themselves in early 1880s and later went on to control the state by establishing a self governing authority for the Malaysian people. The Federal States of Malaysia were incorporated in the 1895. The states were under the British control until when the Japanese invaded in 1942. Britain waged war over Japan and in 1945 the states where reinstated under the jurisdiction of the British. In 1948, guerilla movements begun protesting against the colonial authority that resulted to an emergency declaration. In 1965, the Federation state of Singapore disintegrated from the member nations opting for self governance. 1957 saw the attaining of independence of the Federation from the British authorities. In the late 1960s, the Malaysian government sought to balance the economy among its nationals so as to attain economic development by equal distribution of national wealth among its constituent communities (Malaysia 2007). Malaysia has got a rich culture that is evident from its diverse communities and language speaking citizens. Its population consists of Chinese speakers, Indians, English, among other languages (Malaysia 2007). The large population consists of Malaysian natives alongside Chinese, Indians and other local communities. Malaysia consists of individuals who practise different religious beliefs that include Hindu, Islam, Buddhist, Sikh among other religions. The richness of Malaysia presents it with a competitive workforce than any other nation in the world. The improved economic performance of Malaysia is as a result of a united people from different cultures and not allowing politics to ruin their nation. Malaysia has had to maintain a united nation and focussing on the togetherness of the nation by avoiding self interests. Malaysia is enriched with natural resources that include crude oil and that it has had to deal with the resource in a careful manner to avoid the negative repercussions that result from the unfair distribution of natural resource gains. Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP reflects the total activity in the economy. This considers both the public and private sectors of the economy and their contribution towards the development of the economy. It also takes into consideration the behaviours of the citizens in regards to spending. Malaysias GDP has been increasing constantly from 1998-2008 at a rate of 6- 9 per cent. In 2007, the GDP stood at $357. 4 billion. Malaysias population is slightly higher than 26 million thus giving a pa capita income of $13,300 (UNDP 2008). The GDP in 1986 was at $28. 2 billion. The GDP increase signifies an increase in all major facets of the economy. Government spending has increased from 16. 4 in 1986 to 12. 0 in 2006. The Governments decision to reduce its spending avoids the negative impacts that result when money supply is more than the money demanded in the economy. Key sectors of the economy that have immensely contributed to the GDP are industrial sector that has been a leading contributor since 1986 to 2006 with a percentage of 49. 9 compared to 38. 5 in 1986. Manufacturing follows a close second with 29. 8% in 2006 from 19. 3% in 1986. The provision of services has also reduced from 41. 7% to 41. 3% in 2006. Lastly, agricultural sector has reduced its contribution to the GDP from 19. 8 per cent to 8. 7 per cent in 2006 (Malaysia 2007). The above data shows that the economy has shifted its dependency on agriculture as a contributor to the GDP. The economy has shifted its focus mainly from agriculture to industrialization where industries are the main contributors to the GDP. Industrial growth is a major boost to the Malaysian economy since it increases the nations production ability and is able to meet the demand of the nations internal demand. This has elevated Malaysia to an industrialized nation due to its potential ability to the production of services products. These increased production levels are able to meet local and international demand hence receiving foreign currencies that will result to a positive capital account. National Consumption and Savings. According to the World Bank report, the percentage of consumption by the citizens that was used in calculating the GDP decreased from 54. 2 in 1986 to 50. 3 in 2006. That of the government decreased from 16. 4 per cent to 12. 0 per cent . The mean growth per annum indicated the citizens consumption had decreased from 9. 1 to 7. 0 and Government spending reduced from 6. 5 to 5. 0. The figures show that both the Government and individuals in the nation have adopted a behaviour of saving or reducing their spending habits. By reducing spending, more is saved with the nations financial institutions as the individuals are compensated for foregoing consumption. Savings spur growth in the sense that investors will borrow funds and expand their business activities that will result to an increase production. The increase in production across the industry results to increase in the national output. An increase in national output will increase the nations participation in international trade thus achieving a favourable trade balance. Low government interference in the economy maintains a stable money supply within the economy. By maintaining stability in money supply in the economy, inflation is avoided since it negatively impacts the economy. Increased government expenditure increases the money supply in the economy. This increases the purchasing power of individuals in a way that they can be able to purchase goods and professional services in the country. This presents a situation whereby there is much money chasing few goods within the economy. To mop up this effect the regulating financial authority will need to increase its interest rates. This means that there will be an increase in cost of borrowing that will result to inaccessibility to funds by corporate organisations. Corporations will be unable to maintain their current levels of production thus the need to lay off its workers. This situation will be characterized by increase in unemployment rates, reducing national output and economic performance. The economy will not be performing at its optimum and will have wasted on its human resource. Therefore, Government involvement in large amounts destabilises a nations economic performance. Income and Output Growth Rates. The export of manufactured products have increased since 1986 from USD6. 009m to USD124. 530m in 2006 (World Bank). The above figures indicate that manufacturing has increased over time and that the economy has shifted its focus to increasing its industrial capacity. By increasing industrial capacity ensures that the nations industry is able to satisfy the ever growing demand of the nation. Economic development requires that a nation first satisfies its population fully before embarking on the satisfaction of outside markets. The nation is required to make sure that all key markets are satisfied and that the demand of a nation is met. These means that different industries will have the capability of serving different markets. Unless a nations population is satisfied, development of an economy is difficult. New industries are formed that provides the final consumer with a product similar to those of another company to enhance competition. Competition among industries ensures the production of quality products that will give the consumer a wide range of choice. Companies will strive to out do one another in both the primary and secondary markets. The increased income and output growth rates can be attributed to the rich natural resources that are found in the nation. The natural resources are raw materials that are processed into finished products that are exported to international countries. As of 2004, its partners included the US, Korea, Singapore, Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia and China. Among the raw products include oil, copper, timber, natural gas and iron (Malaysia, 2007). Most industries in Malaysia are processing based located mainly on the western island. They process the raw materials that are extracted into finished products. It is due to this value addition that the nation is mainly industry based and most of the population is employed. The industries in Malaysia also deal in the production of textiles and electronic equipment. They development of industries in the large scale have contributed significantly to the development of the Malaysian economy. Employment and Unemployment Percentages. Malaysias population comprises of the elderly, the middle aged and the young. From the world bank report, children legible for enrolment into primary schools stood at 96 percent for both male female students in 2006. this indicates that the Malaysian government embraces education as a factor to economic development. A skilled population is economically beneficial since the individuals will strive to utilise their skill base towards achieving their own development that will later translate to economic development. One of the key issues addressed by the UNDP towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)is human capacity building which means that nation should ensure that they impart skills on their citizens by way of offering courses education to all its citizens and ensuring that it is affordable for all (UNDP). A nation that has an educated population is set to reap benefits from that same population because they will aim at exercising their knowledge in the various fields of expertise and also aim at developing products that will improve on the already existing ones therefore looking for new efficient ways of production. Malaysias literacy rate stands at 89 percent as of 2006 indicating that most of the population is skilled resulting to lower unemployment cases. Malaysia is among the developing nations and is striving to attain the MDGs that will direct them to achieving a developed world status. With about 5 per cent of land is available for farming, Malaysia cannot only depend on farming and that the population must acquire some knowledge in other activities. As of 2007, Malaysias unemployment rate stood at 3. 2 per cent and inflation rate stood at 2. 1 per cent. The Phillips Curve states that inflation and unemployment are inversely related whereby high inflation results to low unemployment rates and vice versa. This is because when there is high inflation in an economy, most of the population has got some amount of money therefore resulting to some form of engagement in income generating activities. Therefore Malaysia as an economy has really tried in dealing with unemployment levels by making sure that a large part of its population is skilled. The Malaysian Government has formulated a number of policies aimed at improving its economic performance for example the New Economic Policy of 1971 (Malaysia 2007). Government Budget Activity. Government involvement in an economy should be restricted for it can have diverse negative impacts on the economy. The government, however, has got to interfere with severally in the economy since it has to provide for social amenities such as water, education, infrastructure among others for they cannot be left to the control of the private sector. When providing for these amenities, the Government gets money from the state coffers and pays the contractors among other parties that will implement development policies in the nation resulting to increased money supply. By increasing money supply, prices of products rise since the demand for the products will also increase. This will lead to increased production of products and increase national output that will result to more employment opportunities. Therefore government interference is good in the short run as it will stimulate the economic activities. However, continued government interference will hurt the economy in the long run since more money is available in the nation thus raising the prices of the products in the economy. The soaring inflation will then destabilise the nations exchange rate that will depreciate. With the depreciating of the local currency, Ringgit, imports become expensive since industries and individuals will require more money to import products thus hindering the efficiency of engaging in international trade. From the world bank report 2006 on Malaysia, 99 per cent of the population has access to clean water supply. The government has therefore given preference to the basic resources that affects the Malay in their daily lives. The report also gives the figures for Government involvement as; current revenue has decreased from 26. 8 per cent in 1986 to 21. 6 per cent in 2006 while the overall budget balance has increased from a deficit of -0. 8 per cent in 1986 to 2. 8 per cent in 2006 (Malaysia 2007). This figures indicate that the government has restricted on its involvement in the economy so as to control the economic impact caused by excessive Government involvement.

The diversity of the leisure industry

The diversity of the leisure industry 1.0 Introduction For many people leisure to them might mean when one has free time or when one is unoccupied with duties or responsibilities. For some, leisure could be a luxury for their free time; this could be because of a number of reasons such as, they could be a workaholic where they work compulsively at the expense of their activities or they could be people who live in complex societies such as in robust towns and cities. For some, leisure could be a necessity because they believe in proper balance of social and family life. For some others, leisure to them might mean to just socialize and communicate with one another. For example going to the cinema with your friends is considered a leisure activity, but some people believe that leisure is all mainly active sports such indoor football or squash which means they all have their own definition on leisure. This would suggest that people define leisure on different terms depending on how their backgrounds are and other key factors such as culture, gender, age, economic status and social class. Leisure is defined as: ‘Time at ones command, free from engagement; convenient opportunity; hence, convenience; ease. (BrainyMedia, 2009) The Leisure industry has much diversity such as various activities and the many elements of it such as race/ethnicity, gender, age, sexual orientation and ability/disability. Some activities would be linked to a cultural and linguistically diverse background. There is a diverse range of activities available for your unoccupied time such as, your hobbies like gardening, shopping, spectators sport, holidays and gambling. There are three main types of leisure, active, passive and home based. All three include many diverse activities such as, hiking, home entertainment or even just reading could be considered as a leisure activity. Many school students can benefit from the diverse leisure pursuits because they get offered a range of after school clubs making leisure activities more participle and recreational. 1.1 Active leisure activities There are many active pursuits that we can take part in. Active pursuits can be high impact or low impact activities. Low impact activities like walking and yoga do not expend high levels of energy, usually have little contact or competition and does not require much equipment. In the other side there are high impact activities such as wrestling and rugby, which are competitive sports that require quite a fair amount of equipments. Active Pursuits: Indoor Badminton, basketball, squash, volleyball, athletics, gymnastics, hockey, bowling and boxing. Outdoor – Motocross, jogging, beach volleyball, golf, canoeing, cycling, skiing, snowboarding, rowing, sailing and handball Team- Rugby, water polo, netball, American football, cricket, baseball, soccer, rallying and korfball. Individuals Surfing, archery, triathlon, canoeing, barrel racing, snooker and pool. Countryside – Walking, mountain biking, sailing, hiking, cross country and climbing Urban Skateboarding, free running, wakeboarding, ultimate, parkour and BMX They are described as ‘active leisure because it requires some level of movement and skill for that particular sport. Some because of its competitiveness or some because of its high energy level input towards the sport. For it to be a high energy sport, the activity has to initiate a higher heart rate than normal, for example skiing because it involves a lot of focus, awareness and adrenaline rushes. Some sports such as sky diving, bungee jumping and base jumping are considered high impact active pursuits because it exerts high levels of adrenaline and elevates heart rates to exceedingly high levels. Those types of pursuits require a lot of motivation and some skills. Whether its for competition or for thrills and excitements they all share a common characteristic: theyre all dynamic; require high levels of motivation and some degree of skills; and are usually practiced outside our homes with other people. The benefits with all active pursuits are that it keeps us fit and healthy (physically and psychologically), it improves our general health, it helps us meet new people (psychologically and socially) and it can increase our poise and self-esteem (psychologically). Active Leisure activities however old we are and what motivation or skills we have, there is an active leisure pursuit to suit all our needs. The range of active pursuits is very diverse, from boxing to playing hockey and even to visit theme parks is considered as an active leisure pursuit, because they all involve some type active motion at high levels. Some activities dont even require much energy outputs such as chess and painting. The reason they are considered as active leisure activities is because they both require a substantial amount of mental effort and so cannot be considered as passive activities. Definition: â€Å"engaged in action; characterized by energetic work, participation, etc.; busy: an active life, being in a state of existence, progress, or motion: active hostilities†. (Dictionery, 2002) 1.2 Passive leisure activities Passive activities are as diverse as active pursuits; they both share similar amounts of motivation and skills. Passive activities mainly benefit a persons mental health; it is most commonly related to a source of relaxation or to unwind from daily stress. In terms of health, passive pursuits dont offer as many benefits as active pursuits but it is ideally reflected on the persons age, lifestyle and interests. Passive pursuits: Shopping ‘UK and Mintels research reveals that 84% of the UKs adult population enjoy shopping/browsing for goods in person, while 33%, or 60% of Internet users, enjoy shopping or browsing for goods online.(Mintel, 2009) The UK is arguably one of the most sophisticated retail environments in the whole of Europe. This data also states how popular shopping as a passive leisure activity really is among Great Britains population. Cinema Age has no relative effect on visiting cinemas as a passive activity but there have been many new releases of universal and PG movies for young people. There is a steady increase in the amount of young people attending cinemas but the large majority of visitors are still the adult group, as shown in figure 1. There are many reasons why there are a larger majority of adults over young people in cinemas. One because of age limits for certain films, where only the adults can benefit from this and not the young. Two because of the amount of free time the adults have against a stricter curfew for the young. Or thirdly because the adults have more spending ability than most young people. Eating out This relates to night time entertainments such as going to the pub and clubbing. The reason why people eat out more is because its a lot less stress to cook yourself, a lot cheaper and its more relaxing to order from a menu rather than have to get up and self serve again and again. This graph shows that people with a high income salary can buy more amounts of pizza than the other groups. The people with a low income salary prefer to have fish and chips over the rest, most probably because its cheaper to buy or it could be their pattern of food choice (interests). The people with an average salary buy more fish and chips than the other groups and have the occasional hamburgers and pizza. Passive leisure activities are mostly based on your free time and what you do with it. This means the person is away from any type of work or duties/responsibilities. Passive pursuits dont exert or expand your physical or mental energy. Most of our pursuits tend to reflect on our age, lifestyle, interests and spending power. An example would be figure 2 where it shows clearly how it affects peoples choices. Definition: ‘not participating readily or actively; inactive:being the object of action rather than causing action (opposed to ACTIVE);inert or quiescent.(Dictionery, Passive, 2002) 1.3 Home-based leisure pursuits Home-based leisure pursuits arent as diverse or dynamic as active or passive pursuits because youre confined to your home with fewer contacts to socialize with. The more money spent indoors the better the home entertainment but this would depend on the persons lifestyle, age, interests and income value. There has recently been a government initiative to get the UK ready for a digital revolution, so home-based leisure pursuits can increase in popularity because with the new additions people can expect changes in picture quality, variety, sound quality and the availability of channels. There are four main categories for home-based leisure and they are: Reading – There are many varieties of texts which anyone could read such as newspapers, magazines, novels, documents and short stories. There are many people who read these for their home-based pursuit. Reading has many benefits, for example it can develop a persons literacy skills and make the person more confident (psychologically). Reading is typically an individual activity, where if you prefer to read out loud than you relate to a form of intrapersonal communication. Reading can be done almost anywhere but its preferable to read at home than somewhere else, also people can read books and other texts online for free so there are more benefits by saving money If someone does read through the internet. House and garden – There are more and more people participating in improving their homes, mainly because of popular DIY related TV shows and magazines. This has lead to an increase in homes being developed for profitable use. The DIY market hasnt been recovering much with all servicing for the mortgage and securing employment it seems to be difficult for the DIY market to progress. Gardening is an activity which is popular amongst older age groups and is increasing in popularity. The increase in the demographic population could be one of the reasons why gardening has had its boost in participants. Home Entertainment There has been many new innovations in home technology such as with cable, digital, satellite TV, Blue ray players, DVDs and internet TV . The biggest increase in the market has to be with computers and computer games. Hobbies and past times There has been a recent trend to fuse traditional and modern concepts. Electronic toys are particularly popular, and keeping a pet as a hobby is ever popular despite increasing pet-care costs. They are described as home-based pursuits because they all involve the use of the persons home in one way or another. Whether its gardening, DIY or playing computer games it is directly stated as home-based leisure because its activities you participate in, while at home. 1.4 Regional variation Regional variations have impacts on certain types of sports or leisure activities. For example mountaineering would be more popular in Scotland rather than in rural parts of England and Wales. With variations come differences in sports, such as Gaelic football may be a local favourite in some parts of Ireland but in some other regions they may prefer flat green bowling. Some reasons for the difference could be because, various regions might have a high elderly age average and so prefer flat green bowling over other activities or it may be because Gaelic football might not be part of their history or culture, so it would not be passed down from generation to generation. Age and athleticism isnt the main factor in regional variations. There are many criterias which limit the popularity and importance of an activity in various regions. For example weather, skiing is far more popular in places like France and Sweden rather than in Great Britain mainly because the climate in Great Britain always changes, so snow can never be guaranteed. While places in France and Sweden can guarantee snow most of the year round. Equivalent with sailing, Great Britain would have a much higher participation rate in sailing compared to other countries such as Netherlands or Belgium because Great Britains coastline is around ‘12429 km'(Wikipedia, 2007) long and Netherlands is estimated to be about ‘451 km (Answer, 2008). Some regional variations could occur because of a lack of space. People who live in urban areas have to find other activities which best suit their lifestyles, such as indoor activities (where space is open and not limited) Parkour, free running and other urban activities. Participation rates are also affected by regional variations because people who live in built up areas are less likely to take up an active activity than other regions. ‘There are surprisingly wide variations in levels of participation. For example, sports participation rates in Moray are nearly twice those of Glasgow.(Sports Scotland, 2006) Landscape is also an important factor in regional variations. Hiking and mountain climbing would be much more popular in Scotland rather than in England because Scotland has many mountains and wilderness/countryside whilst England lack the mountains and wilderness. Demographic population levels also affect regional variations because countries with a high population level will take part in more well known sports such as rugby or football. Whilst countries with less populated people would prefer their home sports rather than most common ones such as bandy in Poland. 1.5 Summary The diversity of the leisure industry ranges from many criterias such as skydiving to spectator sports to working out to even just loving cars. It is one of the most commonly used aspects in our lives because it plays a key role in the economy, business, marketing and communities across the UK and Europe. This chart below shows the diversity and range of the leisure industry. 1.6 Scale of the industry The scale of the leisure industry is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the UK and Europe. A good example of this criterion is the new development of Camberly town centre. The following data shows the scale of the Atrium, its developments, its participation rates and its plans for housing and employment. Original Development: The development of Camberley as an original development only had one shopping centre (The Mall) which is built around the Main Square in the late 1980s. The Mall hosts a large variety of high street shops such as H.Samuel, Argos, Primark, House of Fraser and many more. These shops today really have anchored the development of Camberley towards higher grounds for a much more efficient and entertain able Camberley. Multiplier effect stage 1: There was much debate and delays (plans having been discussed for over half a decade) on the construction of ‘The Atrium which started in May 2006. The new development includes ‘residential, leisure and retail facilities, as well as a 900 space car park. There are 217 design-led apartments divided into three areas within the complex (named Centro, Aspect and Courtyard). (Wikipedia, 2008) Multiplier effect stage 2: Month (2009) Unique Individuals Jan 42,774 Feb 47,250 Mar 45,997 Apr 42,971 May 39,756 Jun 40,124 Jul 39,451 Aug 38,500 After the development of ‘The Atrium many associated leisure venues were built soon after. These include Nandos, Frank and Bennies, Bella Italia, Starbucks and a Vue cinema theatre. Transport to the new attraction sites was predominantly important in the planning stages so they decided to build a convenient bus stop right outside the site for easier access to ‘The Atrium, ‘The Mall and the residential area. For this to happen there needed to be a new road built which would allow easier access for all convenient transport. (Surrey Heath Borough Council Leading for tommorow, 2009) The graph above shows the number of unique individuals who enter ‘The Atrium each month. The average amount of people who do enter ‘The Atrium is 36,731. The graph also shows that there were more people visiting ‘The Atrium in the earlier months from January towards April. Multiplier Effect Stage 3: There are also many sports facilities (old and new) around ‘The Atrium such as Windlesham Golf Course, Vital club, Fitness First Camberley, Golds Gym and many more. ‘The Atrium has many leisure facilities which include pool tables, arcade, bowling, bars and a lounge with monitors. Housing and Employment plans: Below are the set plans for the development of housing and employment in the Camberley district. It explains the availability of affordable accommodation for residents and its future plans. The employment development will include new offices, shopping facilities and some key schemes. 2 bedroom flats will be sold for around  £216,950 with kitchen en suite and outside parking. ‘The provision of residential units as part of mixed use development will be encouraged throughout much of the town centre. This will enable the current very low levels of residential accommodation within the Centre to be increased thereby enhancing its vitality and making it a more sustainable location. Higher density accommodation with an affordable element will be the most appropriate form of residential. Around 500 dwellings could be built up to 2026 around the town centre. This includes the 217 dwelling currently being built as part of The Atrium. Source: (Surrey Heath Borough Council Leading for tommorow, 2009) ‘New employment development such as offices will be allowed. The Town Centre needs to keep most of its offices its a good location for employment floor space being close to transport and shopping facilities. There is a high vacancy rate in the stock of offices in the Town Centre. For this reason, the loss of some offices will be allowed where it helps achieve some key schemes in the Town Centre. Source: (Surrey Heath Borough Council Leading for tommorow, 2009) Recent Economy: The graph below shows the properties in Camberley sold per month. As seen on the graph the most properties that were sold were the new residential flats near The Atrium, from May to July 06 the properties sold were at their highest, peaking at more than 100 flats sold in a space of two months. That would average about 2 flats sold a day. So as soon when The Atrium opened with the apartments the pattern in property sales rose significantly to a much higher level. Source: (Globrix Corporation, 2009) So the economical value for Camberley Town is at a high rate with new jobs being created and more leisure activities available and new apartments being built, The Atrium should show a significant rise in profit in a few years time, even when the recession hits hardest. 1.7 Importance of the industry Participation rates for the teen and adult groups Participation: Gymnastics ‘There has been a significant increase (from 0.1% to 0.2%) of 30,000 gymnastics participants between 2005/6 and 2007/8. 89,000 adults (age 16 and over) have participated in gymnastics at least once a week. Male participation has also increased from 0.07% in Active People Survey 1 to 0.10%. Overall participation in gymnastics has increased in England; there has also been a statistically significant increase in the South East, South West and West Midlands regions. Participation: Badminton ‘Participation in badminton has increased among the non white population from 1.7% to 2.1%, an increase of 25,000 participants. There has been no statistically significant change in participation within gender or disability sub groups such as the age groups 16-19, 20-24 and 25-29. Participation – once in the last four weeks ‘940,000 adults have participated in badminton at least once in the last four weeks. This represents 2.3% of the adult population, and there has been no statistically significant change in participation between 2005/6 and 2007/8. (Sport England Government, 2008) There has been no significant statistical change in badminton participation in any of the English regions recently, reflected by the static participation rates at a national level. Active Lifestyle: Sport England plan to encourage an active lifestyle by using sport and recreation as one of the building blocks of planning and delivery for sustainable and healthier communities. They Identify opportunities for delivering and enhanced quality of life for communities, in the short, medium and longer term. ‘Sport England seeks to engage with planners at regional and local levels to help ensure that the interests of sport and active recreation are well represented actively promoted and appropriately developed in the interests of all. (Sport England Government, 2009) Themes for Spatial Planning Outcomes of Change for Sport and Active Recreation Environmental sustainability Community safety Local economic viability Improving quality of life and well-being Health improvement Raising standards in schools Increasing participation on sport and active recreation Improving levels of performance Widening access Improving health and well-being Stronger and safer communities Improving education Benefiting the economy (Sport England Government, 2008-2009) Other benefits: Other benefits which could lead to inspiration and encouragement is different strategies such as respect of community, crime/disorder reduction, neighbourhood renewal strategies and corporate plans. Environmental Sustainability – sport and recreation can contribute to the sustainable use of natural resources. Community Safety – sport can help to directly reduce social neglect and participation. Quality of Life and Well-Being – physical activity contributes to peoples experience of well-being and sense of partnership with their surroundings. Health Improvement – physical activity should be a natural part of everyday life. Raising Standards in Schools – the foundations of life-long health and sporting excellence lie in early opportunities for taking part in sport and active leisure.

Essay --

Not one single theory or school of thought embraces every view of human crisis or all the models or systems of crisis intervention (Janosik, 1984). An interview, directed by the student, provides a short-term overview of the interviewee’s viewpoints relevant to crisis planning and intervention. As an counseling in preparation I decided to interview Mrs. Tosha Wearing. She is a guidance counselor at Green Sea Head Start School in Green Sea, South Carolina. She administers the Green Sea School Counseling Program, which is designed to be comprehensive and developmental, with an emphasis on prevention. This includes large group guidance, small group and individual counseling, and consultation with staff, parents and community. Mrs. Wearing is a trained professional with a Masters' in Guidance and Counseling. She provides activities to enhance students' academic progress by addressing issues such as conflict resolution, interpersonal relationships, study skills, and self-esteem. Sh e also teaches the skills needed for coping in our fast-paced and ever-changing world. As the interview was being conducted, the school’s crisis manual was on hand and occasionally referred to once needed. Green Sea Head Start crisis team involves of several knowledgeable staff members and teachers. Precisely, the team is represented by administrators (head and assistant), the school guidance counselor, school psychologist and social worker, and every age level team leader. Mrs. Wearing clearly explained that the team works collected as a consistent unit to join and be a direct link out to the rest of the school. She also defined the crisis team as a problem-solving entity among the school. Consequently, there were no different symptoms that each member has a... ... safety and security measures being taken. A systematic procedure for dealing with a crisis, of any magnitude, should be established and should ensure all personnel have a clear understanding about every detail; including the who, the what, the when, and follow-up actions. The interview the learner conducted with the Counslor of Green Sea Head Start School served as an opportunity to discuss specific aspects of the school crisis plan. Furthermore, the learner gained information about the crisis team and the strengths and weaknesses of the current crisis plan. Overall, although no one crisis plan will guarantee that tragedies won’t take place, but a developed approach holds promise that the situation will be handled in the most cooperative way imagined. No school should be without a crisis plan and a well-trained crisis response team (James, 2013).

Medical and Environmental Electronic Devices Corporation Essay

Background Medical and Environmental Electronic devices corporation was founded in 1959. Initially the core business was related to applications in medical device technology. The company started new business of Environmental control applications and achieved its current name in 1964. By 1979, MEED achieved 31% market share in its market area. MEED’s competitors had only 20% and11% shares. MEED has headquarters 21 countries around the world including Westland and Michigan. Integrated Circuit Group was set up MEED to meet its need for the customized circuits as semi-conductor industry is shrinking due to the backward integration of major competitors, redirections and acquisitions. Hallmarks of MEED culture were ambiguity, freedom, flexibility, risk taking and a supportive attitude towards employees. There was no formal planning in MEED or even firs loosely coordinated companywide plan was undertaken in 1980. Sales were growing at 30% per year for t he last five years, topped $1 billion in 1979. Profits for 1979 were $107 million. Tom Duglass is the manager of MEED since 1977. ICG is experiencing a shortage of human resource and is only providing 5-8% of MEED’s annual demand. New plant set by ICG is also experiencing problem in startup. The HRD Department headed by Barbara Hamlin is unable to fulfill their duty of providing the human resource which is required for the sound working of ICG. Employee’s profile Tom Douglas Group manager Dom Raffaelli Manager, ICG Advanced design Les Hogan Manager, ICG material Kenny Lash Manager of operations, ICG plant Barbara Hamlin Director, Human Resource Development and planning Qualitative facts The Jackson Michigan, manufacturing plant, which began operation in July 1979, was still experiencing difficulties in start-up and it was now the beginning of 1980. Barbara Hamlin in HRDP position was in charge for the forecast of the IC Group’s human resource needs, with special attention to professional and managerial personnel and to design and implement programs to meet those needs. MEED designed, manufactured, sold and serviced complex medical and environmental control systems. The labor market was exceedingly tight for exempt employees, especially the highly trained engineers critical too ICG’s work. MEED’s culture was unstructured, informal; make it happen, rapid growth, positive approach towards people. There was no emphasis on formal planning Douglas sought to reorient ICG recruiting toward meeting needs with existing employees and recent college graduates. Given the MEED culture, it was also unreasonable to except that any one program manager would remain long enough to see one component through its entire life. Materials acquisition function was divided into two groups an operation group that focused on such functions as production purchasing and a strategic group that deal with the commodity managements, IC Group manufacturing and custom projects. In the past a buyer in the operations group could become a supervisor in operations, now a buyer had the additional option of staying with the acquisition but moving to a job in a strategic group The greater attention to manpower planning might have led MEED to locate ICG closer to the major sources of trained engineers, or perhaps even to recast its plan to enter the semiconductor industry. Employee mobility need at MEED also made planning difficult. According to  personnel policy, an exempt employee was considered movable after he or she had been in a job for one year. Bosses and subord inates found it difficult to conduct regular performance appraisals; they were supposed to be conducted at least once a year as part of an employee’s salary review. Quantitative facts Medical and Environmental Electronic Devices Corporation was founded in 1959 Sales, growing at more than 30% per year for the last five years, topped $1 billion in 1979; profiles for 1979 were $107 million. The goal was to ensure that by FY1985, 50% of professional hires would be new college graduates. At the beginning of 1980, Ambrose’s group had openings for two out of five supervisory positions, and 13 out of 37 subordinate engineering slots. In 1980, ICG had 623 employees (plus 8 staff personnel), and 106 open positions to be filed. Annual turnover, while not high by industry standards, was running close to 10% among exempt and 20% among non exempts. The average number of employees for 1979 totaled 24,900 and another were expected to be hired as MEED continued its rapid growth during fiscal 1980. Starting as an idea and a group of 5 people in 1972, ICG had 66 people in 1975, but began its real growth in 1977, reaching 448 employees at the beginning of fiscal year 1980. ICG was only manufacturing 5% to 8% of MEEDS semiconductor needs instead of the 20% planned. It took about 3 years of work at ICG for a college graduate be fully trained, but by working with these colleges to develop programs and by providing equipment and dollar donations, ICG hoped to shorten on-the-job training to 1-1/2 years. A week lost could mean approximately $100,000 lost in profit before taxes for MEED. Core Problem The main issue that MEED was facing was that there was an urgent need that there was no formal planning due to which there was a need for the company to make a proper amendments in HRM of the company and to make policies and procedures and implement them effectively as there was a shortage of Human Resource management at all levels at MEED. They were not having specialized engineers and managers in the required numbers is affecting the corporation. There was a significant problem in attracting engineers capable of the state of the art work that ICG technology demanded. The option of simply hiring  in good people now met resistance from those who pointed out that there were no free slots for these people until the growth actually took place. An estimation was made that IC group’s exempt attrition would rise to an average of 15% per year and non exempt to 35% unless the group improved its recruitment, career development, performance, appraisals and promotion practices. ICG would need 241 hires in order to bring the employee total up to the target for the end of FY 1980. If we look at the exhibits 4 and 5 it could be observed that Barbara is at a very lower level in the hierarchy, and is given vey less authority. If a separate HR department is created with giving all HR responsibilities to the HR department than possibly all most the problems could be solved. Other problems Recommendations Repositioning of Barbara Hamlin in organizational structure We think that she should report directly to Dave Bertram, the president of MEED’s to minimize the distortion between them and Barbara can stamp the authority and she will not have to take approvals from group heads. She is the one who have identified the problems in the system so she should be able to exercise authority so she can solve the problems. Having the backing of the president of MEED’s, people will know that she is a credible source of high authority and she should be followed. Once there is clarity in chain of command, then Barbara should concentrate in making of new human resource department which will include recruitment and selection, compensation and appraisal, training and development which is not addressed in the company till now. Hiring the right people Problem of ICG can be solved as there is low performance by the managers and engineers are working as managers and company don’t have to hire right workforce and as a result they are performing at the top level. Supply of efficient workforce is also limited; that is also one of the reasons engineers are working as managers. Moreover, it is told in the case study that other companies have made collaborations with universities and they  hire their technical staff and engineers automatically after they graduate. It is best for both student and company because student will get job immediately after he graduates and company can get fresh graduates that are fit for the organization. In exhibit 8, it is written â€Å"at institutes, we work with real projects†; that means student can get a taste of professional life and projects even when they are students. Good compensation to retain employees The employment industry of China is very competitive. In order to get best results in the company, company should be able to retain the right employees who are worth it. HR department should make organized and intelligent decision in retaining particular employees. As it is written in the case that giving $1000 a month and working for 20 years has become a standard of industry. Other than that, when an individual leaves the job, he or she gets a 30% pay rise on an average; that means when labor in the market start doing job hopping it will take employees pays up automatically. Standardize the operating procedure The first and foremost step that Barbara needs to take is that she should make procedure same for everyone. For e.g. in this case it was written that managers thought HRD is just for training the employees. So, Barbara should start working and should make everything formal including job analysis, job description, training & development and compensation plans. Employees should have awareness of HR department of the company and employees should know clearly that what are they required to do. Once HR department comes in and take steps to make things formal; then company’s environment will also become professional as it is desired by HR department. Training and development Company is not very serious about the training of the employees as position of management development is vacant from some time. Training is only given to manufacturing department in the company but it should be also offered to the designing department of the company. Training of design department will lead to more innovative designs and less flaws in the system. Exit interviews When an employees is leaving the company; he just have to go but one thing that company can do extra is the exit interviews; as company can get a new point of view of the employee about the flaws of the company and how they can be improved. Cause of leaving company should be asked from the employees that also point out significant errors in the company’s operations. Analysis of exhibits If we compare FY80, 81 and the current year in association to number of employees (exempt and non exempt) to the departments (advanced design, manufacturing and material) it could be clearly seen that currently there is a decrease in the number of employees in comparison to the year 80 and 81.Currently there are 6 managers in advanced design, 11 in manufacturing and 6 in material, where as in the FY 1980 there were 30 managers and 1981 there were 47. Moreover, in the advanced design there are currently 97 employees with 116 in 1980 and 150 in 1981. In manufacturing currently 322, 1980 there were 564 and in 1981 there were 854. In the materials currently they have 204 employees in comparison to 1980 where there were 266 and in 1981 there were 425. Overall a decrease in number of employees could be observed. Exhibit 2 talks about the hiring requirements projections. The exhibit depicts the year period. It could be clearly seen that for all the three departments in association to the years there was an increasing trend. Exhibit 3 talks about the financials of 10 years from (1970 to 1979). It could be clearly seen that there was an increase in sales net income and stockholders’ equity of MEED since the 7 year period. Though the sales were not steady but and increasing trend is observed.

Macbeth Essay and Rennassance Period

The Renaissance Period The renaissance period started between the 14th and the 17th centuries ,and it? s associated to the rediscovery of the ancient Roman and Greek classics, geographical and astrological discoveries and the religious reformation, characterizes itself as a movement of thinking. Basically the Renaissance period the humanists try to make the feudalists and the ideas of the middle ages get extinct,and like this way ,introduce many new ideas of the rising bourgeoisie,and also to reconsider the purity of the Christian Church.Also there are many ways in which we can see that the Renaissance was a time of light for many thinkers, writers, etc. : as it sought to introduce blizzard poetic forms such as: the sonnet, free verse, these adapted to new topics with great interest communicating targets and new objectives humanists.The Renaissance was based on models of Greek and Roman classics, and precedents from Italy and Spain, the Spanish drama has evolved since the interludes and morality plays and became a complex art form, thus taking considered as the best known as dramatists, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson, who wrote plays with such universal qualities of greatness, and that is why this drama becomes extraordinary and leaves a monument of the Renaissance in the history of English literature. The Renaissance, tend to emphasize the dignity of man and his earthly happiness was reflected in the work carried out in the period.Macbeth One of the most shocking things in Macbeth is the continued clash between the spirit of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. While the former starts out good and faithful and is corrupted by his wife to the point of disappearing remorse from the beginning, the second starts completely cold and perverse but will decline in the course of the work into a freaking bag of remorse so that is continually hands stained with blood and suicide. I was struck by the fact that Macbeth is killed in battle trying to end their action while his wife, initially strong, committed suicide.Just how dies each compared with its initial intention is enough to see the exchange of roles: the weak just being strong and vice versa. A very striking point in the work is the continuous appearance of remorse in the protagonists. As Lady Macbeth says that their actions have destroyed his happiness and the evil they have done makes them suffer. Some allusions to remorse are the dagger that Macbeth sees before killing the king, the specter of Banquo, the blood on Lady Macbeth's hands are not going, etc. ..I do not know how Shakespeare is a failure or is that I misunderstood something, but there is a mistake in the plot: the witches in his second appearance predict that Banquo will father a line of kings and later appears again this idea in the third appearance of the witches. However, once dead Macbeth, the successor to the throne is not Fleance, son of Banquo, as would be expected if the prophecies were fulfilled, but Malc olm, Duncan's natural successor. The prophecy and reality are incompatible in this case, and only in this case, the rest of all prophecies are fulfilled.