Book review the goal by Eliyahu m. Geldratt Essay

Book review the goal by Eliyahu m. Geldratt - Essay Example This is the story as to how Alex turns the tables from a difficult situation in his production unit, and emerges successful. The wise saying goes, what you do is not important; how you do what you do is important, and Alex sees the truth in this assertion, by changing the strategies in administering the production and attending to the related issues in his plant. Eliyahu Goldratts "The Goal" is an entertaining novel and at the same time it is a thought provoking business book. Alex carries the problems of the plant to home resulting in adverse effects on his married life. The downward spiral at the plant needs to be arrested within the stipulated period of 90 days given to him by the top management. The Plant Manager happens to meet his Professor, Jonah, who diagnoses the problems of managing the plant and he tenders tangible solutions, to stem the rot. Alex begins to fix the issues one by one and realizes that they all have one terminating point. Jonah introduces to him the â€Å"Theory of Constraints.† The structure of the manufacturing plant is like the movement of an octopus, whose arms stretch in several directions simultaneously but the movement is set to a pattern ordained by Nature without which it cannot exist. Unintelligent planning is the root cause of malfunctioning in a production unit. The functioning and management of Alex’s plant owns all the negative traits and it is afflicted with loss-generating segments. All efficiency me trics are going red and own unhealthy existence. Alex has orders pending for two months behind the scheduled delivery date, his warehouse has $20 million in unsold finished goods, items that demand urgent delivery are being expedited by paying overtime to the workforce and it needs special handling obviously at extra cost, sales are on the decline due to delivery slippage, material costs have hit the roof, and the most annoying situation is his division is facing the cash crunch. The cumulative effect

Chinese Somatic Science Essay Example for Free

Chinese Somatic Science Essay In 1984 when the Japan-France symposium was held, scholars of religion, medicine and psychology were gathered from both sides, and they engaged in discussion in order to promote the movement of New Age Science. I included a suggestion, made from the Japanese side, presentations on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Parapsychology, Eastern martial arts and their demonstrations. In the martial arts demonstration there was included the performance of a technique in which a master martial artist, by emitting ki-energy (chi-energy), makes opponents, who are spatially distanced from him, fall down. This technique is called â€Å"distant hitting† [to-ate: é   Ã¥ ½â€œÃ£  ¦], and it became a conversation piece, attracting people’s attention. As a result, many q(g(ng (Chi-gong) masters came to visit me. I studied their techniques, and experienced ki-energy as a subject of their q(g(ng techniques. Afterwards, I went to China to learn about its actual situation. While I was staying in Beijing in 1997, the Chinese Society for Somatic Science (CSSS) was established. The leaders of this society came to see me with a request to make efforts to propagate q(g(ng in Japan. In the following year, I invited scholars and q(g(ng masters from China and held a symposium â€Å"Ki (Chi) and Human Science† in Tokyo.[i] At about this time, a q(g(ng boom was being generated. After this conference, I went to China many times to investigate and study q(g(ng. I will introduce its fundamental ideas, while incorporating my own opinion. Chinese Somatic Science focuses on the three fields of traditional Chinese medicine, q(g(ng and special abilities as its main objects of research. â€Å"Special abilities† refer to what parapsychology calls psi-ability (paranormal ability). A central focus in each of these fields is ki-energy as the object of research. Traditional Chinese Medicine understands the fundamentals of the human body’s organization by means of the network of meridians. Meridians are channels of energy which circulates in the interior of the human body. However, they are an invisible system which cannot be discovered by dissecting a corpse. In other words, they are a system unique to the body that is active while it is alive. I am taking this to mean, for now, like a system that organizes the subject-body (i.e. the lived body) of which Merleau-Ponty speaks. An important point, when it is seen from a theoretical point-of-view, is that the meridians are a system which does not agree with the mind-body dichotomization established since Descartes. That is to say, ki-energy is conceived to be a life-energy which has both physical and psychological characteristics. The fundamental principle of needle therapy used in traditional Chinese medicine lies in activating the circulation of ki-energy within the human body by infusing fresh ki-energy into the human body, while eliminating the stagnant and inferior flow of ki-energy. Next is q(g(ng. Q(g(ng teaches us that the activity of ki-energy can be heightened through a repeated training. Consequently, we can understand that q(g(ng, theoretically speaking, has a characteristic commensurate with the training in martial arts. It is a bodily technique with a tradition stretching from ancient times. In the case of medical therapy, a mature q(g(ng doctor guides patients to train themselves and practice q(g(ng on their own. Here we can discern a methodology different from the therapeutic method of modern medical science. While modern medical therapy leaves patients to assume a passive standpoint of simply receiving doctor’s treatment, q(g(ng lets them assume an active standpoint of training themselves. The point of this training lies in activating the natural healing power latent in the interior of one’s own body. Ki-energy is thought to be the energy that controls the foundations of life-activity. The training means to promote and purify the activity of ki-energy inside of one’s own body, and to transform it to the ki-energy of a better and higher quality. Therefore, it is a therapeutic method as well as a method of maintaining and promoting health. That is, it can become a method of maintaining health by continually training oneself daily, while it is not limited to a time of sickness. Q(g(ng is divided into internal and external q(g(ng for the purpose of convenience. The training which a patient performs after receiving guidance belongs to the inner q(g(ng, while the outer q(g(ng refers to cases in which a mature q(g(ng master performs therapy on a patient or subject. In these cases, the q(g(ng master usually touches the patient’s body with his hand, but there are cases in which a q(g(ng master, distancing himself from the patient, performs a therapeutic technique without making contact. It is probably safe to think that it is based on the same principle as the technique of therapeutic touch, which in recent years is beginning to spread in American. The third field that is called â€Å"special† ability in China, overlaps with the research of what is referred to in the West and Japan as parapsychology. On numerous occasions, I met with q(g(ng masters in China who have paranormal ability, and observed their technique, while engaging them in dialogue. I encountered people who can demonstrate a wonderful technique, not to mention clairvoyance and psycho-kinesis, which Rhine’s research problematized. Insofar as my research can confirm, there are cases of people who innately possess these abilities, and cases of people who have acquired them through training. If these abilities are used in the field of medicine, they can fulfill the same role as the external q(g(ng. Moreover, there are cases among master martial artists who can demonstrate this kind of ability, though its number is limited. One impression I have received when encountering these people is that there is a great difference between the East and the West in the foundational idea, when dealing with this kind of issue. While in the East this kind of issue has been dealt with as part of the issue related to self-cultivation, which traditionally has a cultural and religious background, there was no such historical and cultural background in the West. Consequently, parapsychological research in the West is preceded by an interest and concern from a theoretical point-of-view. This brings in the background of contemporary scholarly research where there is no concern for its relationship to daily activity. By contrast, in China’s case the practical purpose, as in the case of q(g(ng, looms in the purview of research. This kind of stance is based on the traditional ethos found in the history of science and technology in China. (Modern technology of the West emerged as an application of theory, where theoretical research does not take into account the relationship it has with the practical, daily activity of human beings.) When we examine it from a broader perspective, this kind of tendency is rooted in the philosophical tradition of the East which highly values the practical standpoint. However, there is a tradition in the East which admonishes people, as they are prone to fall into an ethically wrong tendency regarding paranormal phenomena. The tradition of East Asia such as that of China and Japan maintains that the bodily technique must conform to an ethical standpoint. Although I could hardly see such a spiritualistic stance in the contemporary situation in China and Japan, there were occasions where I met persons with such a stance, especially among the masters of martial arts, who are living among people, but not related to universities or academic institutions. In the tradition of Buddhism, this kind of â€Å"special† ability has been called â€Å"siddhi† [jints(riki; ç ¥Å¾Ã©â‚¬Å¡Ã¥Å â€º] and is considered a kind of a by-product that naturally emerges in the course of self-cultivation. Buddhism has persistently maintained that self-cultivation should not aim at acquiring this as its goal. For example, D(gen, a famous Japanese medieval Zen monk, teaches in the chapter of â€Å"Jints(† [Divine Power, i.e. paranormal power] in Sh(b(genz( that although Buddhism recognizes this kind of siddhi, it is a â€Å"small† siddhi, and the true â€Å"great† siddhi exists in the midst of such everyday activities as drinking tea and eating a meal. This reminds me of Yang Xin, a q(g(ng master, who is now actively promoting q(g(ng in America. When I saw him in Beijing some time ago, he told me that he was now studying â€Å"distant q(g(ng† [Chin. yu(g(q(g(ng; Jap., enkaku kik(, é   Ã©Å¡â€Ã¦ °â€"功]. He was accompanied by a twelve-year girl, who was his experimental subject. I asked him why he was conducting such an experiment. He replied: â€Å"I am not trying to become famous by showing off this kind of technique. As I read a description in a classic on the method of self-cultivation that one can perform this kind of technique, I just wanted to know if it is true or not.† Then he wrote on a piece of paper â€Å"Ã¥ ¤ §Ã© â€œÃ§â€ž ¡Ã¨ ¨â‚¬Ã¢â‚¬  [Chin., d(d(ow(y(n; Jap., daid(mugon] This phrase means that â€Å"The Great Dao remains silent and does not speak.† Herein lies, it would seem, a difference in the traditional ethos between the Eastern martial arts and Western sports. The historical origin of Western sports goes back to the Olympian events in ancient Greece. They emerged, based on the demands of a battlefield such as physical strength, stamina, running, throwing, and the handling technique of a house-drawn cart. We might say that the custom of the modern Olympics in which a record is valued more than anything else inherits this traditional idea. By contrast, in the tradition of the martial arts in the East runs an idea which emphasizes spirituality, even though the martial arts developed, like those of ancient Greece, through techniques used on the battlefield. The history of the Chinese and Japanese martial arts was nurtured through the influence of Buddhism and Shintoism. It came to develop the idea that training in martial arts has the meaning of enhancing one’s ethical personality. Consequently, the stance of respecting the opponent’s personality and capacity was sought in performing techniques. For example, Mr. Ueshiba Morihei, founder of Aikid(, states that â€Å"Martial art is love.† The ultimate goal of martial arts is not to win by defeating an opponent, but to harmonize with an opponent such that people can love each other under â€Å"that which is great† transcending humans. It would seem that â€Å"research on the prayer,† which has been recently initiated in America, incorporates this kind of spiritual idea. Incidentally, I came to realize in the course of investigating the Chinese Somatic Sciences that the standpoint of psychology was lacking. In modern China, which used Marxist materialism as its guiding principle for establishing the nation, psychology was not studied until the time of the Cultural Revolution, as anti-thetical to materialism. Even q(g(ng was an object of suppression. Today, however, the study of psychology is recognized to be legitimate, and the exchange with Japan is making an advance. I have practiced meditation since my youth, and have continued to research and study it. Meditation methods in the Chinese tradition were called â€Å"quiet q(g(ng† and stands a pairing relationship with the usual â€Å"moving q(g(ng† which mobilizes the body. However, almost no meditation methods are practiced in contemporary China. This is probably due to the fact that meditation methods such as those of Buddhism and Daoism were developed within the tradition of religious culture, and declined as a consequence of persecution after the modern period. When somatic science was established in Japan in 1991, we used for its English designation the Society for Mind-Body Science (SMBS), as I felt the importance of psychology. The fundamentals of meditation lie, after all, in promoting the circulation of ki-energy. When it is seen from the point-of-view of psychology, ki-energy designates libido. It is life-energy equipped in the unconscious and the body. The foundational idea that is placed in The Secret of the Golden Flower, a meditation text of Daoism, is to transform and sublimate ki-energy from the state of libido (Chin., j(ng; Jap., sei, ç ² ¾) to the state of â€Å"divine subtle energy† (Chin., sh(n; Jap., shin, ç ¥Å¾). Ki-energy changes into a spiritual energy, when the instinct and desire in one’s unconscious region are purified. Freud insisted that neurosis develops when conscience suppresses the activity of libido, while Jung claimed that libido is an energy related to religiosity. When one touches the activity from the dimension of primal origin, the love of others is transformed from the eros of flesh to spiritual love. To summarize the foregoing, ki-energy is an energy that controls the whole of psychology, medicine, and bodily technique, including the relationship between the environment and the human body. The philosophical guideline that comprehensively includes all of these fields is sought in the idea of the y(n-y(ng exchange of ki-energy which has its origin in the Yà ¬j(ng. According to its conceptual paradigm, nature as an environment is endowed with life, and is fostered to grow, by means of the activity of ki-energy issuing from the Dao that exists in the ultimate dimension. Human beings, along with other life activities, are receptive of this energy and are made to live. Purifying it to a sublime level brings about an enhancement of ethical personality.

EHR Implementation Issues

EHR Implementation Issues Melchor Abejon Any adverse event that obstructs the development and success of an organization should be investigated to discover and understand the initiating cause of such event and to consequently establish corrective actions to prevent its recurrence in the future. This paper intends to: Identify the approach to be taken to address the reporting problem at Western Heights Hospital (WHH). To create a flowchart outlining the process to be taken in finding a solution to the organizations reporting problem. Approach to Address the Reporting Problem at Western Heights Hospital As stated in the given scenario, the WHH is unable to report on various state and federally mandated quality measures. Definitely, this problem needs immediate attention as this process is essential to the organization to improve and maintain quality. As the clinical content manager and leader of all reporting efforts in the organization, it is my primary concern to address and find solution to the problem. My approach would be to perform a Root Cause Analysis (RCA). Conducting an RCA would help me discover and understand the initiating cause or causes of the problem and to develop corrective actions to prevent its recurrence in the future. Root Cause Analysis Below is a flowchart showing my steps to performing an RCA for the problem. Identify the problem Charter and appoint team facilitator and members    Describe the incident Identify the contributing factors Identify the root cause or causes Eliminate the root cause or causes Evaluate and measure Identify the problem. This step will include determining the problem to be investigated. The problem statement from the scenario would be, The organization is unable to report on various state and federally mandated quality measures. Also, included in this step is to gather preliminary information about the problem which can be discussed later by my team. Charter and appoint a team facilitator and members of the team.   In this step, a team facilitator will be designated who will work with the leadership to launch a project charter that will guide the team in managing the scope of the project and in implementing changes that are linked to the root causes identified in the RCA process. Also, team members will be selected who are familiar with the systems and processes involved in the problem. Describe the incident. In this step, facts surrounding the problem will be collected and organized, on why the organization fails to do quality reporting measures. The preliminary information gathered in step 1 will be shared and discussed with the team. Identify contributing factors.   The knowledge gained in step 3 will be used to dig deeper into what happened and why it happened. Also in this step, the conditions, circumstances and situations that caused the organization not to be able to report will be identified. A thorough investigation of the organizations current data systems and the processes from patient data capture to electronic reporting will be carried out to determine any lacking or faulty process that have resulted to the incomplete generation of data. Identify the root causes. The contributing factors will be examined to find the root cause of the problem. In the given scenario, there could be many underlying reasons that had caused the organizations failure to report. Contributing factors could be due to (a) incomplete data as mentioned, (b) failure of systems to communicate, (c) poor data quality, (d) lack of data standards. These contributing factors are interrelated to each other to significantly affect the interoperability of systems. Identifying the root cause should be dug deeper by asking repeated why questions of the contributing factors. Eliminate the root causes. This step will also include the design and implementation of changes to eliminate the root cause and to reduce and or prevent the recurrence of the same event in the future. If there are multiple root causes, there will be corrective actions to address each root cause. In the given scenario, the failure to report could probably be due to lack of interoperability or failure of systems to communicate due to poor data quality as manifested by incomplete data generated by the organizations system. This problem could be addressed by improving patient data capture and by developing an efficient data dictionary. Data integration would probably be needed to cleanse all dirty data, and as well as to employ data standards to improve clinical documentation,   and data interchange standards to enable the systems to achieve full interoperability and be able to exchange and integrate data among healthcare applications in a state , regional and nationwide level. Evaluate and measure. In this step, the success or improvement of actions will be evaluated and measured and will be monitored overtime. Reference Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) (n.d.). Guidance for performing root cause analysis (RCA) with performance improvement projects.   Retrieved February 20, 2017 from https://www.cms.gov/medicare/provider-enrollment-and-certification/qapi/downloads/guidanceforrca.pdf

Custom Written Term Papers: Othello’s Feminine Perspective

Othello’s Feminine Perspective  Ã‚        Ã‚   The audience finds in Othello, Shakespeare’s tragic drama, the feminine perspective on life in general and on various aspects of life. These feminine perspectives from the three lady-characters are not consistent and uniform among the ladies. Let’s consider them in this paper.    Alvin Kernan’s â€Å"Othello: an Introduction† explains the protagonist’s delayed conversion to the feminine perspective:    His willingness to speak of what he has done – in contrast to Iago’s sullen silence – is a willingness to recognize the meaning of Desdemona’s faith and chastity, to acknowledge that innocence and love do exist, and that therefore The City can stand, though his life is required to validate the truth and justice on which it is built. (81)    At the outset of the play only the male perspective is given: Iago persuades the rejected suitor of Desdemona, Roderigo, to accompany him to the home of Brabantio, Desdemona’s father, in the middle of the night. Once there the two awaken the senator with loud shouts about his daughter’s elopement with Othello. In response to the noise and Iago’s vulgar descriptions of Desdemona’s involvement with the general, Brabantio arises from bed. With Roderigo’s help, he gathers a search party to go and find Desdemona and bring her home. The father’s attitude is that life without his Desdemona will be much worse than before:    It is too true an evil: gone she is;   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   And what's to come of my despised time   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Is nought but bitterness. (1.1)    Brabantio is the old father, and he hates to lose the comforting services of his Desdemona. The daughter’s husband Othello expresses his sentiments to Iago regarding his relationship... ...llo: A Tragedy of Beauty and Fortune.† Readings on The Tragedies. Ed. Clarice Swisher. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1996. Reprint from â€Å"The Noble Moor.† British Academy Lectures, no. 9, 1955.    Heilman, Robert B. â€Å"Wit and Witchcraft: an Approach to Othello.† Shakespeare: Modern Essays in Criticism. Ed. Leonard F. Dean. Rev. Ed. Rpt. from The Sewanee Review, LXIV, 1 (Winter 1956), 1-4, 8-10; and Arizona Quarterly (Spring 1956), pp.5-16.    Kernan, Alvin. â€Å"Othello: and Introduction.† Shakespeare: The Tragedies. Ed. Alfred Harbage. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall Inc., 1964.    Muir, Kenneth. Introduction. William Shakespeare: Othello. New York: Penguin Books, 1968.    Shakespeare, William. Othello. In The Electric Shakespeare. Princeton University. 1996. http://www.eiu.edu/~multilit/studyabroad/othello/othello_all.html No line nos.   

Animal Farm Language as a Tool of Control Essay

Animal Farm is a short novel, published in 1945 and written by George Orwell. The novel tells the story of a group of farm animals who, in an attempt to create an idealistic state, overthrow their human master. However, their leaders, the pigs, progressively become more corrupt and the other animals realise that their goal, to establish a utopia, has become a mere, receding whisper. The pigs use verbal and semantic techniques to control and manipulate their naà ¯ve minions, including through the use of persuasive words, the alteration of rules and use of hymns and poems. In the novella, propaganda is used to manipulate the other animals on the farm. Squealer, the silver-tongued propagandist, exploits the power of language in an effort to defend Napoleon’s wicked actions. Some techniques used by Napoleon and Squealer to two-time the proletariat comprise the use of drastically simplifying language into memorable verses, to limit the terms of debate. An example of this is when the sheep are taught by him to bleat ‘four legs good, two legs better’ (pg. 89, Chapter 10).This is an ironic twist to the original maxim ‘four legs good, two legs bad’ (pg. 22, Chapter 3) quoted by the sheep, which was used to unify the animals against the human enemy. Squealer also chooses to overcomplicate language, to strike intimidation and confusion among the uneducated animals. Where he says to the birds, ‘a bird’s wing is an organ of propulsion and not of manipulation’, the birds are confused as to what Squealer means here. On top of these language techniques, Squealer also employs perplexing false statistics, many lies and a boasting vocabulary, to bring about a sense of hopelessness and self-doubt within the other animals. Deceptive practices are used tenfold by Squealer in his speeches to the other animals, and in the novel we are told of his misleading abilities. We are told that he can ‘turn black into white’ and that he has a ‘shrill voice’ and ‘twinkling eyes’; these are his assets of manipulation. His first example of deceit in the novel is when the pigs have taken the milk and apples for themselves, and Squealer cuckolds the ignorant animals with lies such as ‘Many of us actually dislike milk and apples (pg. 23, Chapter 3). ’ On top of that Squealer also uses false statistics in this speech to support his arguments, an example includes ‘Milk and apples (this has been proven by Science, comrades) contains substances absolutely necessary to the wellbeing of a pig (pg. 23, Chapter 3).’ Squealer uses these lies to justify the pigs’ evil means, and to convince the other animals that the pigs only eat the milk and apples for the other animals’ benefit. The larceny of the milk and apples ages from the very first moments after the Rebellion, and thus shows how early the pigs’ wicked and unscrupulous intentions manifest themselves. As events unfold, on Animal Farm, we see small privileges quickly evolve into complete corruption, and we begin to see the pig resemble those who they usurped. The power of language can take many forms, including the manipulation of the written word. Old Major’s ideas of equality are taken on board from the very start and after the occupation of Animal Farm by the animals, the Seven Commandments are written. These Commandments bind the animals to one another in harmony against the humans and keep order within Animal Farm. We see the first example of alteration on the Fourth Commandment which states ‘No animal shall sleep in a bed’. After the pigs move into the farmhouse and sleep in the beds, the embargo on sleeping in beds is altered, by the addition of the words ‘with sheets’ on the Commandment. However, this is a minor crime compared to what happens after the fiascos of winter. Snowball is incriminated for the collapse of the windmill and in turn, trials are held in which animals confess to crimes that were motivated by him. In direct contradiction with the Sixth Commandment which states ‘No animal shall kill any other animal’, the executions that follow are a horrific event. However, when the Commandments are checked, ‘without cause’ has been added to the Sixth Commandment. Squealer was employed to make these changes to the Seven Commandments to justify the pigs’ humanisation and also to exercise control of the proletariat beliefs about themselves and the society. Ironically, the revision of the Commandments allows the pigs to commit human behaviour, when the original purpose of the Commandments was to prevent the animals from following the humans’ evil habits. Orwell demonstrates how simply a philosophical code of belief can be turned into propaganda, with the revision of the commandments. Animal Farm is filled with many songs, poems and mottos, including Old Major’s rabble-rousing ‘Beats of England’, Minimus’s odes, and even the sheep’s chants. Serving as propaganda, each of these songs, poems and slogans, are one of the pigs’ major tools of control over the animals. Most notably, ‘Beats of England’ was used to stir the rebellious side of the animals and was a symbol of revolution. The pigs used ‘Beats of England’ to grind down the animals’ sense of individuality and keep them inspired and united to work for their freedom. However, when the chant is used by Clover to criticise the direction of Animal Farm, Napoleon argues that ‘Beasts of England is no longer needed as the rebellion has been achieved. Replaced by ‘Animal Farm’ and ‘Comrade Napoleon’, ‘Beasts of England’ is outlawed (pg. 59, Chapter 7). The principles of the rebellion are distorted by Napoleon and are demonstrated by the replacement of ‘Beasts of England’. ‘Comrade Napoleon’, written by Minimus, is used by Napoleon to glorify himself. The poem generates a happy feeling towards his rule and, even though he had minimal role in the success of animal farm, ‘Comrade Napoleon’, attributes many of the events to Napoleon reinforcing his position as leader (pg. 63, Chapter 8). This demonstrates how language, in this case in the form of songs, chants and poems can be used to distort and manipulate a religious or political code of belief to benefit the bourgeoisie. In conclusion, as seen in the novel, language is a major tool of control used by the pigs. In the novel, Orwell tries to demonstrate the danger of a naà ¯ve working class, and the use of propaganda to control others. Orwell warns us of the many dangers if we believe everything we see and hear and draws attention to the way certain leaders, such as the pigs, gain and maintain power and control using language as a tool of repression and manipulation.

Benefits of Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding Module – HUG 2121 This essay will explore various factors within breastfeeding, it will focus on the long and short term health benefits of breastfeeding, for both the mother and baby it will also discuss the reasons why women chose not to breastfeed, especially within the western society. Contributory factors such as social, psychological, cultural and political all contribute to the reasons women chose to breastfeed or not. WHO (2011), suggests that breast milk provides the necessary nutrients for up to the second half of the infants first year , and it also promotes sensory and cognitive development, and protection from infections and chronic illness. Breastfeeding has been also promoted by various studies and organisations and is said to be the healthiest and most effective way of feeding your baby, it not only increases bonding with the baby, but it also helps the mother to keep track of their babies health. Dykes (2002:98) The world health organisation(WHO) recommends that â€Å"mothers worldwide to exclusively breastfeed infants for the child's first six months in order to achieve optimal growth, development and health†. There are many advantages associated with breastfeeding your baby, such as low risk of child obesity, which in turn usually leads to type 2 diabetes  in later life and a low risk of acquiring other health problems such as eczema. Miller (1991:76). Breast milk also contains valuable antibodies from the mother that may help the baby resist infections, so this means the baby is not at a high risk of acquiring disease. There are various factors that influence the initiation and maintenance of breastfeeding, Earle (2002) recognises some of these factors, as the way the mother identifies herself, the fathers understanding on infant feeding, the personal factors involved and the sexualisation of breasts. The politics of breastfeeding is explained in detail by, Counihan (2008:467) stating that political obstacles include the â€Å"marketing practices of instant formula manufacturers†, and how such factors appear to have a positive impact on the choice women make in order to breastfeed or not. The article goes on to reflect breastfeeding rates in the UK; and the health benefits of breastfeeding for the mother as well as the infant. Despite attempts to reiterate to general public that ‘breast is best’, breastfeeding is still very much low in the western society (UNICEF, 2005). Protheroe et al (2003) discuss the issues behind this and explain the evidence that shows the health benefits of breastfeeding. Protheroe et al, (2003) also suggest that breastfeeding allows babies to have a better start in life than those who are formula fed. Due to both the short and long term health benefits associated with breastfeeding, Protheroe et al (2003) continues to argue that the main development of the infant is dependent on the nutrients breast milk provide. Breastmilk does not contain any extra ingredients that may cause the baby to have problems digesting it, so it is less strenuous for the baby. According to Allen and Hector (2005:42), they suggest that breastmilk is â€Å"uniquely engineered† for babies and that, it is biologically and naturally the correct way to feed babies. They also, argue that unlike formula milk breastfeeding has a vast number of health benefits for both mother and baby. Alexander et al. (2009:158) supports this claim and explains that breastfeeding provides a vast number of health benefits, â€Å"including protection against many acute and chronic diseases as well as advantages for general health, growth and development. UNICEF suggest that babies who are fed using breast milk substitutes have an increased risk of acquiring infections and diseases such as gastroenteritis, urinary tract infections, respiratory or chest infections, ear infections, and even childhood leukaemia and possibly sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death. Allen and Hector (2005:44) support this, and explain that breastfeeding â€Å"has been shown to be protective aga inst a large number of immediate and longer term health outcomes that are a significant burden on individuals, the health system and society. It is also suggested that babies who are breastfed are bound to have better neurological development. However, a study carried out by Holme et al (2010), aiming to establish the effect of breastfeeding on neurological development, does not support this study. They came to the conclusion that breastfeeding is not associated with intelligence quotient (IQ) and that â€Å"maternal and socio-economic characteristics† are particularly influential. Babies who are breastfed are also protected against diabetes mellitus. Whitney et al, ( 2010 ), breastfeeding is also associated with defending babies from long term ealth problems and disorders of the cardiovascular system as well as obesity, a very huge problem that most Western societies are finding difficult to control. Due to this factor alone, it is very important that breastfeeding is more w idely promoted and advised, with sufficient support systems for mothers who are breastfeeding or considering it. This will not only reduce the health issues associated with breastfeeding, but it will promote the health benefits involved. UNICEF (2011) suggests that there may be a link between breastfeeding and protection against multiple sclerosis, acute appendicitis and tonsillectomy. However, research within this area is still very limited, and nothing has been done to prove this may be true. Breastfeeding does not only benefit the health of the baby, but mothers who breastfeed have a reduced risk of multiple diseases and illnesses; such as, breast and ovarian cancer and osteoporosis. Breastfeeding also increases involution, whereby the mothers figure is most likely to return to normal, after pregnancy. Insel et al. (2009:538) support this, stating that breastfeeding stimulates uterine contractions, which aid in the uterus returning back to size. This is a very important factor to recognise especially for many mothers, due to the pressures associated with body image. If mothers are made aware of such benefits of breastfeeding, they may be more likely to breastfeed in order to promote the health and wellbeing of their baby and themselves, and maintain their figure. In addition breastfeeding means that mother and child are able to bond effectively; Insel et al. (2009:538) also state that if the baby is placed onto the breast instantly after delivery, these uterine contractions are able to control the level of blood lost in birth. Additionally by consuming a healthy diet, the mother is also able to understand and monitor any possible causes of any allergic reactions, infections or illnesses the baby develops. Lauwers and Swisher (2010:428) explain that exclusively breastfeeding, the breastmilk coats the baby’s intestinal tract with components in the breastmilk that ultimately prevent foreign proteins from entering the baby’s system and causing any allergic reactions. Pryor (2010:4) also suggests that the role of breastfeeding is very important especially if a mother and baby are bonding. This study showed that babies that interacted more with their mothers, stayed warmer, and cried less. It was also found that, although there were some difficulties to measure, if there was early skin-to-skin contact, there is still a very high possibility that breastfed babies were more likely to have a good early relationship with their mothers. A study conducted by Riodarn et al, (1998 ), shows that, breastfeeding rates within the United Kingdom (UK) are the lowest in both the developed world and Europe. Additionally the Infant Feeding Survey, from 2000 to 2005, found that the number of babies who were breastfed within the UK increased by 7 per cent and in both Scotland and Northern Ireland the initiation rates were raised by 8 per cent and only 7% in England and Wales. Although the statistics show a small rise in the number of breastfeeding mothers in the UK the number is still very low. Studies have found that most women, who do breastfeed, are usually from upper-class families whereas most economically disadvantaged women and teenagers continue to bottle feed their infants. Bryant et, al (1999:79). Efforts to improve breastfeeding initiation and duration among low income women have been tried however no success has been met. Therefore, it is important that an effort must be made to address the reasons for this problem and to identify breastfeeding promotion strategies that will overcome the barriers that are negatively influencing breastfeeding decisions in these particular populations. A lot of the women from low socio economic backgrounds, who chose not to breastfeed, is not because they just don’t care, but mostly because they live in an unsupportive or work in a non supportive environment. Other reasons why they do not breastfeed are that in low income women, their reasons not to breastfeed are closely related to social and cultural beliefs. Various studies have revealed that main issues that women from low income societies face, are that they are modest and embarrassed and the restrictions on their lifestyles, also play a huge role. Hartley,et al (1996:87). Other women however complained of physical discomfort and inconvenience. Some studies also found that some economically disadvantaged women feel a lack of confidence in their ability to produce an adequate quality or quantity of breast milk Marcus (2007). Living in a particular society usually influences many of your life choices, so if not breastfeeding is the cultural norm, for people living in these environments then chances of them breastfeeding is low. NICE, also suggests that in the UK alone most factors that also contribute to women overall not breastfeeding apart from the influence of society and culture, is the lack of continuity of care in the health services, clinical problems and the lack of preparation of health professionals and public in general to support breastfeeding effectively. Health care professionals also have a huge impact on women’s choices to breastfeed. The WHO and UNICEF launched the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative in 1991, in order to provide information, support and assessment for health care workers in order to promote and encourage breastfeeding. This programme is very useful especially to new mothers because another reason why the rate of breastfeeding is low in the country is because; some women just don’t have enough information about it. This programme not only allows health professionals to encourage mothers on their own, but to also have the government to back up what they are saying. Arnez, et al (2004:67). Fletcher,et al(2000:98) however also suggests that whilst some women do have the information and are educated on all the reasons as to why breastfeeding is better, most women however usually just do what their, peers, parents or friends do. This suggestion is also supported By NICE, who also note that â€Å"a pregnant woman considering how to feed her baby may be influenced, positively or negatively, by the experiences of her friends and family, messages in the media, and the advice of her midwife and GP. Adequate advice is especially important for mothers because, although the choice is ultimately theirs, it is important for health professionals to know that they have given the mother as much information as possible and support in whatever decision they make. Riodarn, (2005:83) For the mothers who do chose to breastfeed, some of them end up discontinuing in many cases the reason being is that the mother’s report of ‘insufficient milk’ Ham lyn et al. (2002:54). This reason of not having enough milk may be influenced by the baby’s behaviour, the input of health professionals, the views of family and friends, and the mother’s own self-esteem, as well as clinical problems with feeding. If the mother feels as if she is not producing enough milk to feed her baby, then she can easily change to formula milk because, the stress of her thinking that the baby is starving would pressurise her to doing so Fletcher, et al (2000:43). It is especially important in situations such as these, that health professionals play a huge role in supporting the mother, because they are various reasons that can lead to such problems, so advice and a health knowledge would be needed. In most cases women tend to think this way because breast milk digests faster than formula milk, so the baby becomes hungry more often. So the support and advice from health professionals would help the mother to understand and not worry about this problem, Hartley et al (1996:31). It is very rare for anyone to suffer from not producing enough milk however, this is one of the main reasons why most women stop breastfeeding. Miller (1996:50) Suggests that it is especially women from low income backgrounds that usually use this as a reason to stop breastfeeding. However this can be argued that this excuse can be used by all women. A number of investigators suggest that this, is a condition that â€Å"spans a bio psychosocial continuum from a rare physiological situation to a condition embedded in psychological and social circumstances† Kumar, (2008:72). This method of encouragement was shown to have the greatest impact on women’s choice to breastfeed. The baby friendly initiative hospitals also support this and statistics show that these hospitals had increased their breastfeeding rates by more than 10% by comparing the year receiving Baby Friendly accreditation with four previous years, before they had the accreditation. In teenage mothers the need of support to initiate breastfeeding is prevalent, in most cases this is due to the vast influence young mothers get from the media, and the pressure from society. Appearance also plays a huge role in most women who decide to either breastfeed or not Scott, et al (1999:12). Most young mothers think that breastfeeding will make them socially unacceptable and make their breasts saggy. Most teenagers follow the media very closely and celebrity culture, so when they see or hear about certain things that their favourite celebrities have done they tend to follow in those footsteps. Teenagers are not the only population that the media influences in this particular area. In 2001 breastfeeding obtained a large amount of negative and controversial media coverage, when a woman was removed from a Delta Airlines flight because she refused to cover her child whilst she was breastfeeding (Marcus, 2007). Last  year,  famous  media  icon, Barbara Walters commented to millions of viewers, that â€Å"a breastfeeding woman made her feel uncomfortable while on a flight, Curran  (2006). Attitude such as this can influence women to not breastfeed, because they may start to feel embarrassed doing it. Although these are the most reasons why women do not breastfeed, other reasons may include sore nipples, or the pressure on going back to work. In some cases women chose not to breastfeed because they feel, the father of the baby would benefit from bottle feeding so that he too can get some sort of bonding with the baby during feeding, Curran (2006:12). Women often complain that their partners do not get to experience the same bond they do whilst feeding, Hollander (1995). Other health benefits said to be associated with breastfeeding are that minerals such as iron are present and lower in breast milk than in formula, so the minerals in breast milk are more likely to be completely absorbed by the baby Kumar, ( 2008:70 ). However In formula fed babies, the unabsorbed portions of minerals can change the balance of bacteria in the gut, which gives harmful bacteria a chance to grow, Foster (1995:45) this can often can cause constipation and lead to harder odorous stools than breastfed babies. In cases where women find that breastfeeding makes their nipples sore, it’s very important for health professionals to give them the relevant support and education on how to treat this problem. Most sore nipples can be helped by changing how the baby is attached to the mother’s breast, so talking to someone who has had specialist training in giving women support and information on baby feeding, would help. Midwives, health visitor or other specialist are also able  to help the mother, however it’s important for the mother to know that this information is readily available to them. The stigma attached to breastfeeding especially in the UK, has caused a lot of women to be cautious about it compared to other countries. The WHO statistics show that women in Asia and Africa are more comfortable breastfeeding compared to the Western Society. This information shows that although the women in England live in a country where healthcare and information is easily available to them compared to developing countries, their surroundings influence their decisions greatly. However women from other parts of the world such as Asia and Africa, do not particularly have media influences. Other reasons why Western countries have less women breastfeeding may be because, they have the formula milk easily available to them and it’s more convenient to their lifestyles. Formula feeding your baby especially in Western countries seems to be more ideal because of most work schedules and time off work given after the baby is born. In western culture a women’s breast is very closely associated with sex, so in most cases when a women is seen to be breastfeeding especially in public this is deemed as inappropriate Marcus, (2007). Most men also do not want to see their partner’s breastfeeding in public, because of the confusion over sexual role of the breast. If we compare this attitude to other countries, most women and men have strict rules on sex exposure and attitude. For example in Africa the majority of women that do have children are married and the number of teenage pregnancies is very low, so already the type of women that do get pregnant are usually young and married. Their culture on pregnancy, marriage and breastfeeding is also in most cases taught to them from a young age and it becomes a part of their culture. If the women’s grandmother and mother, both breastfed their babies they teach the daughter to do so, and because this is something that is taught growing up, it becomes the right choice for them. Having strong cultural beliefs has shown to have a huge impact on people particularly from this population, because they do not want to seem rebellious if they chose to do anything different from what they have been taught. Hollander, (1995) So in other words in most non Western countries the option to choose between formula milk and breastfeeding your baby is rarely given. In western culture however, because individuals tend to do their own thing and the choice for them to breastfeed or not is there this gives, the mother opportunity to weigh out her options on what suits her and baby. If her everyday life requires her to be busy perhaps finding the time to sit down, and relax and feed may seem impossible. Breastfed babies eat more often than bottle-fed babies because the fats and proteins in breast milk are more easily broken down than the fats and proteins in formula, so they are absorbed and used more quickly Kumar, (2002:90). This then means that the mother would have to breastfeed a lot more than she would with formula, so in a fast moving environment again this may not be ideal. In past years the facilities to actually breastfeed within the UK were very few, if women wanted to breastfeed their babies they were forced to either go and do it somewhere private or stay within their homes. It was only in 2010 that an equality act was carried out and passed to allow women to breastfeed anywhere, and to get public places and work places to facilitate this. In other cultures image concern is not as high as it is in the western culture so there are less cautious about it. Overall breastfeeding is a very important and extremely beneficial point to consider for all women and healthcare providers. BIBLIOGRAPHY Anderson, A. K. , Damio,  G. , Young, S. , Chapman,  D. , Perez-Escamilla,  R. (2005). A   Randomized  Trial  Assessing the  Efficacy  of Peer Counselling  on Exclusive  Breastfeeding   in  a  Predominantly  Latina  Low-Income  Community. Arch  Pediatrics  Adolescence   Medical,  15, 836-881. Arenz S, Ruckerl R, Koletzko B et al. 2004) Breastfeeding and childhood obesity: a systematic review. International Journal of Obesity. Bryant C, Coreil J, D’Angelo S, Bailey D, Lazarov M. (1992) A strategy for promoting breastfeeding among economically disadvantaged women and adolescents. NAACOGS Womens Health Nurs. 1992;3:723-730 Breastfeeding Among U. S. Children Born (1999),(2005), CDC National I mmunization Survey: 1999–2005. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Atlanta: 2005 Curran,  J. (2006). Online  Update:   â€Å"Nurse-ins†Ã‚  planned  over ejection  of breast-feeding  N. M   mother. Las  Cruces  Sun-News. http://lcsun- news. om/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_articlejsp? articleID=469 Counihan, C. (2008) Food and Culture: A Reader 2nd ed. New York: Routledge Dykes F. Western medicine and marketing: Construction of an inadequate milk syndrome in lactating women. Health Care Women Int. 2002;23:492–502. EU (2004) Promoting, protecting and supporting breastfeeding: an action plan for Europe. Luxembourg: European Commission, Directorate for Public Health and Risk Assessment Earle, S. (2002) ‘Factors affecting the initiation of breastfeeding: implications for breastfeeding promotion’ Health Promotion International 17 (3) 205-214 Foster K, Lader D, Cheesbrough S. , Infant feeding (1995), The Stationery Office, London 1997 Fletcher, D, Harris, H, The implementation of the HOT program at the Royal Women's Hospital Breastfeeding Review 2000, 8 (1): 19-23 Hamlyn B, Brooker S, Oleinikova K et al. Infant Feeding (2000). Department of Health, the Scottish Executive, the National Assembly for Wales and the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland. London: The Stationary Office, 2002 Houston MJ (1984) Home support for the breast feeding mother. In: MJ Houston, editors Maternal and infant health care. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Hartley B, O’Connor M. (1996)Evaluation of the â€Å"Best Start† breastfeedingeducation program. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 150:868-871 Insel, P. , Turner, R. E. & Ross, D. (2009) Discovering Nutrition 3rd ed. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers Inc. Lauwers, J. & Swisher, A. (2010) Counseling the Nursing Mother Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers Inc. Marcus, J. A. (2007,). Lactation  and the  law. Mothering (143), 48-57 Miller NH, Miller DJ, Chism M. Breastfeeding practices among resident physicians. Pediatrics 1996;98:434–437. Pryor, G. 2010) Nursing Mother, Working Mother: The essential guide to breastfeeding your baby before and after you return to work Sydney: Read How You Want Large Print Books Protheroe, L. , Dyson, L. , Renfew, M. J. , Bull, J. & Mulvihill, C. (2003) ‘The Effectiveness of Public Health Interventions to Promote the Initiation of Breastfeeding: Evidence Briefing’ National Health Service : Health Development Agency Kumar A, Kumar Rai A, Basu S, Dash D and Saran Singh J. Cord Blood and breast milk iron status in maternal anemia. Pediatrics. 2008: 121(3); e673-677. Accessed 5/29/2010. Kramer MS, Kakuma, R 2002. Optimal duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2002, Issue 1. [Art. No. : CD003517. DOI: 10. 1002/14651858. CD003517] Riordan J. Breastfeeding and Human Lactation. 3rd. Jones and Bartlett Publishers; Sudbury, MA: 2005. Scott JA, Binns CW. (1999) Factors associated with the initiation and duration of breastfeeding: a review of the literature. Breastfeed Rev 1999; 7: 5–16. Scott JA, Shaker I, Reid M. Parental attitudes toward breastfeeding: their association with feeding outcome at hospital discharge. Birth 2004; 31: 125–31 UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative. Baby Friendly hospitals show strong increase in breastfeeding rates. Baby Friendly News No. 6, July 2000. World Health Organization (2003) Global strategy for infant and young child feeding. In: Organization WH, ed. Geneva: World Health Organization. Whitney, E. , DeBruyne, L. K. , Pinna, K. & Rolfes, S. R. (2010) Nutrition for Health and Health Care Belmont, USA: Wadsworth World Health Organisation (2011) Breastfeeding http://www. who. int/child_adolescent_health/topics/prevention_care/child/nutrition/breastfeeding/en/index. html [accessed 7 May 2011] *

Blogs in Language Learning Education Essay

Blogs in Language Learning Education Essay Blogs in Language Learning Education Essay Example Blogs in Language Learning Education Essay Example Blogs in Language Learning: Enhancing Students Writing through Blogs The phenomenon of EFL (English as a foreign language) is topical in the current course of time. English is an international language that contributes to the course of connecting people on the worldwide scale both in cultural, religious, business, educational, social and other scopes. As a result, the issue of proper, timely and constructive teaching of the currently discussed language becomes more urgent and miscellaneous. It is apparent that the methods and techniques teachers have used to incorporate in their traditional lessons before are no longer sufficiently efficient and appropriate. Therefore, the foreign/second language teaching staff is targeted at continuous in-depth search for new and more potentially efficient ways that tend to help the EFL students learn a new language in such a way that not only the knowledge is acquired, but also skills are developed and implemented into the course of teaching. The scope that has provided a significant contribution to the given field in the recent years of study and research is the one that deals with the use of advanced technologies. These technologies support both synchronous and asynchronous communication. The aim of development of linguistic skills in both these directions while learning EFL is crucial as far as the communicative patterns may be different, and the students should be taught to react and cooperate with other speakers in terms of any of them. The dramatic and intensive growth of advanced technologies in terms of the teaching practice has been impressive within the first language (L1) courses that were taught at the schools throughout the Sultanate of Oman previously. It is important to highlight that the past few decades were characterized by a significantly narrowed focus, namely, the modern technological process concentrated on a versatility of computer applications, as well as a diversity of tools necessary for completion of every particular task. Such tools may include word processors, bulletin board discussions, e-mail services and online chats, Web page projects, etc. For instance, it is appropriate to refer in more details to the incorporation of the e-mail services and online chats, as well as Web page projects as the crucial premises that preceded the actual development of the direction of the implementation of blogs in the educational process. To be more precise, it was a preliminary stage of use of the Internet potential for the educational purposes. The vivid examples of the aforementioned tools’ use are such as: e-mail services as a tool for guidance and control of the EFL students in the process of study; e-mails as an instrument targeted to improve written literacy of the learners and contribute to the improvement of the manner of opinion expression and open dialogue; online chats that contribute to the overall enhancement of the communicational patterns, both traditional and unexpected ones; such an approach modelled diverse situations that usually happen in life, and require proper feedback, relevant comprehension, and corresponding vocabulary use; online chats also help develop particular communicative models, and the learners practice how to behave in particular situations. After having analyzed the above-presented Internet tools targeted at improving the overall literacy of children, it is apparent that the use of blogs within the educational process in the EFL classroom is a more qualitative and perspective level of innovative intervention examples. It is crucial to admit that the advanced modern technologies have contributed much both to the scope of communication by means of the second language (L2) use and expanded field of theoretical concepts concerning current writing pedagogy. The process approach to the currently discussed issue was formed and influenced significantly by the theories by Flower and Hayes (1981) and Peter Elbow’s views (1990). These scholars represented a strong and relevant basis for the course of teaching writing skills. The given approach focuses on the processes involved in writing practice as a major concern. Moreover, this approach does not concentrate on the product of writing. Furthermore, an important aspect of the process approach to the writing phenomenon involves a collaborative process. It is crucial to comprehend that it is not a private and solitary act, but a miscellaneous and multidimensional intercourse. Such a type of activity is covered by the concepts of social, cooperative/collaborative, and constructivist activities. The characteristic features that dominate in terms of the process writing approach are considered to focus on the recursive course of the following elements: brainstorming ideas, drafting, the consistent process of organization, consequent editing, and rewriting (Candlin Hyland, 1999; Flower, 1994; Flower Hayes, 1984; Hayes, 1996; Hayes Flower, 1983; Matsuda, 2001; Tuzi, 2004). It is crucial to state that the course of investigation of the major concerns of the second language pedagogy is similar in comparison with the writing practices incorporated in the context of the first language. Along with such, the teaching personnel that work with the EFL direction in the current course of time are eager to apply the technologies and innovative interventions into their everyday practice in order to enhance the learning outcomes and expand the overall potential of the EFL learning process. Such a high concern of involvement of innovative activities have provoked an emergence of a Computer Aided Language Learning (CALL) interest section within the professional organization of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). The given section is dedicated to the teachers who are determined to use computer technology in their teaching practices, and strive to improve this process as much as possible. It is important to highlight that even the key dogmas of the Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) phenomenon reveals the tendency according to which the general technology should not be limited to the use of computers during the classes. The major concern is considered to be communication. The communicational patterns that have been decided to be developed and improved are facilitated by the personal computers, but they should be understood as a medium, or an instrumental tool that contributes to the enhancement of the linguistic competence of the EFL students. Hence, the main focus should be positioned on the communicational acts, not the machine itself. There are also particular organizations that have workshops for the currently discussed purpose. To be more precise, they are used for teaching aims, and the incorporation of technological potential, such as the American Council for Teachers of Foreign Languages (ACTFL), is one of the prerogatives of its use. For example, there exists such an organization as the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium (CALICO). The given company has been established and developed specifically for the purpose to unite technology and language for the sake of learning efficiency. There are various thematic journals in the given field, such as The Language Learning and Technology and The Computers and Composition. These editions have provided research and practical uses for teachers. This research has formed the background for further study and analysis. Every aforementioned development is targeted at facilitating the teaching personnel of the EFL direction in the incorporation and active pract ice of implementing technology into their instructional activities in the classroom. Furthermore, new journals, such as The Journal of Science Education and Technology and The Canadian Journal of Learning and Technology, have appeared recently. All of them are supposed to be an effective facilitator of the teaching staff in terms of educational courses. Statement of the Problem There is a well-established body of literature that focuses on the computer-based Technology tools, such as word processors, computer-mediated communication (CMC) tools (e-mail, listservs, bulletin boards, and chats), Web page projects, or a combination of tools (PLZ Add new applications if there are any). Some literature examines the application of these technologies to various aspects of writing, such as syntax, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and speaking, content and language development, effect and motivation perspectives, current theoretical perspectives (e.g., constructivism, cognition, and metacognition), current writing pedagogy (e.g., process approach, post process, and genre), and teaching practices (error correction, feedback, peer editing, collaborative learning and writing, and solving problems). However, the research on L2 writing, particularly EFL writing and its use of technology is still relatively limited. The qualitative and quantitative outcomes concerning the usage of technologies with L2 writing, and especially the ones developed for EFL writing, have shown that technologies are capable of providing a positive impact on students’ performance, EFL skills, as well as writing (Bloch, 2002; Chun, 1994; Ghaleb, 1993; Hertel, 2003; Knoy, Lin, Liu, Yuan, 2001; Kramsch, ANess, Lam, 2000; Sullivan Pratt, 1996; Warschauer, 1996; Wresch, 1993) and on students’ attitudes and motivation (Batschelet Woodson, 1991; Hertel, 2003; Knoy et al., 2001; Kubota, 1999; Warschauer, 1996, 2000; Warschauer, Turbee, Roberts, 1996). The contemporary scholars working in the given field also investigate the currently discussed aspect of technologies’ incorporation in the course of learning. To be more precise, the investigation conducted by Reiners, Renner and Schreiber (2005) resulted in the following conclusion: â€Å"Students said they preferred the mobile computing devices over pen cil and paper because it made the work seem easier, especially writing, and that it was fun. Work was completed on time and not lost like homework papers often were† (p. 11). Granito and Chernobilsky (2012) also confirm that contemporary innovative technologies contribute to the increase of students’ motivation significantly. Nonetheless, a peculiar drawback has been detected in terms of their research, namely, that the learners who are not interested in new technological developments are not expected to benefit from the innovative approach to the educational process (Granito Chernobilsky, 2012). Heafner (2004) highlights that such an approach may be advocated provided the teachers involve â€Å"the use of technology as a means to motivate their students by engaging them in the learning process with the use of a familiar instructional tool that improves students’ self-efficacy and self-worth† (p. 49). The findings acquired due to in-depth investigation of the preliminary experience in the field of interest (cf. Bloch and others) show that the EFL learners are highly motivated to write, especially in case they are provided with the task aimed at using innovative technology. It means that the students receive a particular challenge and are granted with an excellent opportunity to involve creative approach. Nevertheless, there are also peculiar studies that have reported no significant differences between the traditional educational process and the use of technology, or revealed negative outcomes (Biesenbach-Lucas, 2000; Gonzalez-Bueno Perez, 2000; Gousseva- Goodwin, 2000; Kehagia Cox, 1997; Pà ©rez, 2003; Schultz, 2000). Kerawalla et al (2007) present more up-to-date and maximally grounded evaluation of the use of blogs in the course of learning a foreign language. This tendency may be connected with such particular aspects of the currently discussed intervention as increased distraction from the completion of the educational task, lack of justified reasons for sheer academic use that results in conception of blogs as a fun activity, not a solid academic one, and vague criteria for subsequent assessment. Nonetheless, the research on the given aspect of the issue in question is limited and insufficient for credible and grounded conclusions. The limited study is connected with the fact that the use of blogs in the educational process is an emerging technology tool for teaching. Regardless such a background of the issue of concern, the potential efficiency of the blogs is supported by the experiences and perceptions of educators in the field of L1 writing and rhetoric, as well as my experience in teaching EFL since 1998 in several Omani schools and my interests in L2 writing and technology. Chan and Ridgway (2006) dwell on the consistent evidence that is capable of supporting and illustrating vividly that the innovative technologies enhance the EFL learning process does not exist. Nevertheless, â€Å"the technologies are new and it is important to explore new and effective ways of using them to enhance the process of teaching and learning (Chan Ridgway, 2006, p. It is crucial to comprehend how the actual EFL learning process functions in order to develop qualitative and constructive interventions. Students at the Omani Basic Education schools are taught English according to the implementation of a new curriculum. This curriculum is targeted at providing a blend of the four skills, such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking, during every EFL lesson. Despite such a consistent approach, there is an apparent lack of focus on one of the crucial skills, namely, the writing one. Furthermore, the EFK learners are rarely provided with the authentic writing tasks, both during their classroom activity and in the exam. Such an attitude forms a wrongful conception since the learners think they need only verbal skills, and the writing ones are of secondary importance. As a direct consequence, I have noted that EFL Omani students at the Basic Education schools often consider writing to be the most difficult skill and subsequently the most difficult and challenging exam. In such a way, a considerable gap in EFL competence appears. Thus, it is relevant to state that the population of students at the Omani Basic Education schools represents a particularly specific and challenging group for the teaching impact and for a researchers’ comprehension. The given study is approached with the assumption that the potential success of EFL students depends on becoming proficient in English and acquiring an ability to write properly. It is also assumed every constructive and consistent way aimed at reaching a decent level of proficiency in writing should be considered to be worth to pursue. Finally, it is relevant to learn whether such a new pedagogical tool as blogging in the Omani educational environment will serve the aforementioned purpose. Thus, the major interest concerns how innovative-English-speaking students, namely the learners from the Basic Education Schools in Oman, can benefit from the use of blogs as a pedagogical tool in an EFL writing class. Blogs and Blogging A notion of a blog, which is a central concept of the given study, should be comprehended as â€Å"an online chronological collection of personal commentary and links† (Edu cause Learning Initiative, 2005). Weblogs are more often referred to as blogs. Such an Internet phenomenon presents an asynchronous communication tool. The given tool is considered primarily to be a comparatively new development. Nevertheless, there were claims made by Winerwhich that blogs emerged simultaneously with the introduction of the World Wide Web. According to Campbell (2003), a weblog can be understood as â€Å"an online journal that an individual can continuously update with his/her own words, ideas and thoughts through software that enables him or her to easily do so.† To create a blog does not require being a professional specialist in HTML or other software items. Moreover, blogs provide an excellent opportunity to establish a collaborative environment whereby students can read each other’s posts, as well as comment, share, discuss, debate and generate grounded conclusions. The new technologies introduction has encouraged ESOL/EFL teachers to start thinking of the potential challenges and benefits for learning and teaching in the second language classroom. Rationale of the Study The purpose of the present study is to explore the use of blogs profoundly and thoroughly in order to enhance EFL writing in the Basic Education Schools in Oman. As far as I have been an EFL teacher for the past thirteen years in Oman, I have some experience and a general vision of potential and major benefits, as well as drawbacks of the actual EFL learning in the contemporary educational establishments. According to my observations, EFL Omani students are considering writing skills as the most difficult skill to master. Therefore, it is appropriate to examine this complicated issue by means of designing, introducing and implementing of a new pedagogical tool with the help of the EFL teachers at the English department. To be more precise, my task is to develop a new pedagogical tool, and my colleagues will implement it and evaluate subsequently. The fact that students consider writing skills to be the most difficult and challenging since the traditional writing experience the students have in terms of writing activity is limited to the audience of the classroom. The main problems connected with this difficulty include lack of objective judgment, limited audience, and comprehension of a writing activity as a classroom activity, not EFL competence enhancement stage. The writing process approach has been adopted in order to develop a significant and potentially efficient sequence of techniques and interventions in terms of writing skills’ improvement. My vision of this improvement is based on the urgent necessity the students have to be sufficiently confident of accepting feedback, critique and evaluation from other readers and censors since on the current stage of development, they tend to depend on mine only. It means they should not do only minimum program offered by the curriculum, but expand their competence beyond the limits of the classroom. As far as I am also a technology enthusiast who values the use of technology as a tool for teaching and learning, and has been profoundly interested in CALL, TELL, and CALICO, I am confident that blogs are one of the most motivating, multidimensional and perspective tools that should be used for the EFL practice. My central concern within the given context of the research course is to determine the affordances of blogs for developing the writing process approach in an Omani EFL classroom. Actually, I had numerous questions concerning the use of blogs for the writing purpose, but I narrowed my quest to one main question and six specific questions. Research Questions The main research question is as follows: What are the affordances of blogs for developing the writing process approach in an Omani EFL classroom? The major concern of the current research course is represented by the following specific questions: How can blogs be used to develop a collaborative culture? How do students describe their experiences in keeping a blog? How can teachers use the blogs in EFL writing classes? What are the benefits and potential drawbacks of blogs’ affordances? What are the opportunities to challenging of blogging in EFL classroom? How do blogs develop the relationship between students and teachers? Significance of the Study: The New Contribution of the Study The current study is significant due to the scarcity of the previous research in terms of the use of blogs by teachers in the Arab world, specifically by the Arab EFL teachers. The relevant background for the incorporation of blogs by EFL teachers in Oman, within which both the ICT use and English guidelines have become national mandates, demands research that can provide insights. These insights are considered to be specific to the currently investigated population. Since the given issue of concern has insufficient research that properly unravels it, the significance of the given study is topical and perspective.

How Customer Relationship Management Affects an Organization

How Customer Relationship Management Affects an Organization Abstract It is extremely important for any organization to treat their consumers well and satisfactorily since it is them who decide whether the business will succeed or fail (Windham, 2001, p.14). Consumers are complicated individuals and are all led by a different set of motives that later define a pattern of their consumer behavior.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on How Customer Relationship Management Affects an Organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Commercial Organizations are usually driven by the need to succeed, survive and gain market share in the market and as a result develop appropriate strategies that can assist them to gain dominance within the market. Customer relationship management is a strategy is used by commercial enterprises to manage the interactions between a corporate entity and its customers (Solomon Askegaard 2002, p.56-58). Market evidence suggests that the most successful o rganizations in the world usually apply more effort towards ensuring that customers are satisfied, by continuously collecting and storing relevant data that can be later analyzed to ensure that all relevant consumer behavior patterns can be identified and used to the benefit of both the organization and customers ( Payne Peck 2003, p.90-93). It is therefore accurate to imply that the benefits that arise out of CRM activities outweigh and burdens and this is why organizations like Apple, IBM, HP, Google and Nike can boast of having very successful business models as compared to other businesses who find themselves performing poorer. It hence becomes the duty of business executives that they put in place a mechanism that can be used to manage the interaction of the organization and its customers (Baker 2003, p.165-167). Purpose Customer relationship management is an integral part of today’s business. The nature of relationships and company’s interactions are vital to bo th the long-term and short-term survival (Paul, 2006, p.154-157).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Today’s business environment dictates that it is mandatory that organizations take care of their consumers or else they will go looking for business somewhere where they do feel appreciated. The customer is the pivot and center of all activities of a marketing company and thus has a lot of bargaining power because it is their behavior that most of the time defines how successful an organization will become ( Bennet, 2006, p.67-68). Marketers need to acknowledge the importance of keeping close relationships using strategic techniques and approaches to ensure that commercial organization regularly interact and respond to the queries of their customers. The purpose of this paper is to shed light to those individuals who operate commercial organizations/bus iness enterprises and how Customer Relationship Management affects on the organization. The question is, does it make a difference if an organization dedicates the necessary resources and even sets up departments that are dedicated towards maintaining the relationship of the organization and its clientele? Why do some organizations dedicate millions of dollars which could otherwise been paid as dividends back to the shareholders just to ensure that the organization sets up a proper interface which will make sure that the needs, desires, wants, expectations and queries of consumers are well catered for. Methodology Gathering data is a very important part of any research; this research being a scientific research that has a well defined problem, it is vital that the data gathered is highly accurate and lacks bias. The research will thus be conducted by using secondary data from well known trusted publishers and websites.Advertising We will write a custom research paper sample on How Customer Relationship Management Affects an Organization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The research above is an exploratory type of research whereby the researcher conducts research with the aim of shedding light on a problem/issue which has not yet been well defined. When a researcher embarks on this type of research, the researcher can therefore make accurate and more justified conclusions (Hoffman Novak, 2000, p. 77-79). This type of research is well known to use secondary sources of data and qualitative approaches to describe data. The advantage of using qualitative analysis techniques is that the data can give an indication as to why, how and when certain phenomenon occurs. Findings The world’s top organizations, especially companies listed on the fortune 500, have revealed that the secret to their success is in treating their entire consumers with the best experience. Top managers, boards and business executives have realized that the worlds most respected companies like Google, Nike, Apple Inc., Toyota, Dell, HP, Yahoo and Microsoft have put in place the necessary mechanisms to maintain relationships between their organization and consumers ( Parker, 2000, p.199-201). The Role of CRM cannot be ignored by any business either a small business or a big business, this is because the need to manage relationships between the organization and the consumers is very important. According to the Gartner group (2009), the practice of CRM is rapidly growing throughout the global business community since business managers have discovered that the key to business success is by understanding the behavior patterns of existing and prospective customers and using it to the advantage of the organization. Many organizations have realized that companies which are recognized as industry leaders are doing something different that keeps bringing their consumers back (MacHulbert Piercy, 2003, 212-215).Advertising Looking for research paper on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Consequently, other companies have decided to study and replicate strategies of market leaders as far as CRM is concerned with the aim of understanding their customers better in order to maximize on business opportunities. Many upcoming companies have thought that it will be easy for them to snatch consumers from market leaders but their efforts have ended up being futile because established companies have discovered that for them to maintain their business models and continue growing even when they are at a stagnant place in the product life cycle, it is important for the company to take good care of its existing customers and encourage repeated purchase. Companies like PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), KPMG and Deloite are famous companies which are known to consult for the largest world corporations, their services have assisted many companies develop the best CRM departments. A good example is IBM’s superior Customer relationship management process is what it is because the c ompanies worked together with PwC to ensure that their CRM needs were properly addressed when the department was being set up. Companies which have embraced CRM practices are more likely to understand their consumers. Many organizations like Apple have acquired the appropriate software from vendors that allows them to gather data from their consumers and store them for analysis (Trott 2008, p.160-162). As a result the company has created a large data mine which the company can withdraw useful data that assist the company in improving the customer experience. Consumer behavior theorists have always insisted that it is important for marketers to understand the tastes, preferences, perception and attitudes of your target market. This is thus why a company like Apple Inc. is able to narrow down on numerous volumes of data and make useful information that gives them a more precise picture of what their consumers ideally want. The same cannot be said for companies who pay little attention to customers relationship management practices simply because decision making in this companies is more of gambling/trial and error making it quite hard for the company to narrow down consumer behavior variables and parameters with much more accuracy ( Hoffman Novak 2000 p. 179-183). Once a company fails to accurately define and understand the needs and desires of consumers it becomes more difficult to operate at a competitive advantage. A commercial company’s desire is to enjoy a large market share. An organization with large market share is more likely to end up as industry leader. Customer relationship management helps companies be able to retain and also attract new customers. The process of attracting new customers is not cheap because it involves spending a lot of money in promotion activities which basically reducing the profit margins of a company. Promotion activities such as advertisements are very expensive especially when they run on popular media such as the TV and radio, business executives thus try to minimize the number of consumer defection and increase the number of consumer retentions in order have a large market share (MacHulbert Piercy 2003, p. 54). Apple inc. for example has used CRM practices to retain a high number of consumers and attract new ones by offering complete solutions for their customers, opening dedicated stores that sell only apple products, ensuring that education sales activities assist customers to gain technical and operation knowledge on the products that they sell, the company also understands the need to be technologically alert and thus it is aggressive as far as innovation is concerned. The availability of technical expertise to repair or answer any technical questions from consumers is also part of Apples superior CRM strategy that has enabled the company over the years to win customers who were earlier loyal to other brands ( Hoffman Novak, 2000, p.99-101). In contrast there is a clear difference when smaller companies are put to task on their CRM strategy this is why Apple has been able too gain massive market share by appealing to many consumers to purchase the iPhone as soon as it was developed. Apple also went a step further to surpass expectation of consumers by manufacturing far much superior models of the iPhone to succeed each preceding model and this is the reason that consumers line up for hours sometimes even overnight to acquire new models of the iPhone as soon as they are launched thus this is therefore why other companies which are known to have good smartphones such as Asus and HTC and Toshiba have not been able to match up with Apple’s iPhone. CRM activities usually enable a company achieve a high level of quality and efficiency during it’s operation. Companies which have understood the needs and desires together with expectations of their target market are able to plan in advance the service delivery process and therefore surpass the expectations of their consumers. Consumers always want the best and therefore usually expect to get value that is either directly related to the value of their money or even expect that the quality surpasses the price which they paid for the good (Kitchen, 2003, p.23). If a company markets its products as the best then the consumer approaches the company knowing in mind that the service provider or the product provider will deliver. Consumer relation management software act as a platform under which the company can obtain relevant information which will assist the company to accurately predict the expectation of their customers and as a result put in place mechanisms that will enable their staff cater to the expectations of the consumers with more certainty. (Gartner 2008 123) Without a good CRM program or department, it then becomes more difficult for business executives and especially customer care representatives to maintain a consistent level of quality and efficiency while serving consumers ( Gummesson, 2002, p. 201-203). A company like HP has put in place a good CRM strategy that enables the company accurately offer technical support that matches the specifications of each consumer. The company uses a heterogeneous approach while dealing with their consumers and therefore there are no assumptions that are made especially when dealing with I.T needs of their cherished customers. The advantage of using such an approach has also enabled cultivate some loyalty especially among their consumers due to high levels of satisfaction that arises out of the high quality of service delivery that the company has put in place as a result of a superior CRM strategy (Kitchen, 2003, p.133-142). A good Customer Relationship Management strategy is highly advantageous to an organization because it is most likely to increase the levels of profitability and reduce unnecessary costs. A healthy customer base is necessary for excellent commercial performance and CRM usually plays a big role in b oth financial and non financial performance. Contrary to common belief whereby businessmen believe that by spending more on satisfying customers a business looses money, CRM activities can be costly on the short run but the cumulative advantage and benefits experienced in the long run are quite advantageous according to Gartner, Inc (2008) businesses that operate using a vigorous CRM strategy are more likely to save on costs and increase their profits over the years. Companies which do not prioritize their CRM activities are more likely to spend more money to please and attract customers using other avenues that may end up being futile. (Jones 2010 124) Organizations with CRM programs are most likely to have good reputation and public image. Happy consumers talk and therefore spread positive information about the organization and this is therefore good for business. When consumers spread positive information about an organization to their friends, then their friends are more likely to trust them and elicit positive behavior towards the company by purchasing products from the company. Especially with the emergence of viral marketing and numerous social sites, commercial enterprises are more likely to take their CRM activities to another whole new level. Nike is the leading athletic shoe manufacturing company, the company decided to open its own social site Joga.com so that the process of gathering information and interacting with consumers can become easier (Maselli, 2001). The website has assisted the largest athletic shoe manufacturer to continue manufacturing innovative shoe brands for the sporting elite community. The site has contributed a lot to Nike’s overall CRM strategy and activities and continued to improve the image of Nike as a company which cares for its consumers. Conversely other companies within the Athletic shoe industry do not exhibit the same and therefore this has affected the way their performance and image as brands in that market. (Hyatt 2010 63) Research Limitation Many commercial organizations are quite secretive and protect data that is associated with CRM activities and release more generalized information making it quite hard to understand the nature of systems and specified activities that commercial enterprises in the process of managing interaction between the organization and its consumers. This move has been put in place in order to protect the various strategies that companies put in place so that competitors cannot replicate them and use them. The timeframe of carrying out the research was quite short considering that CRM is a very large topic that can be investigated even for months. This fact therefore reduced the quality of research because carrying out particular individualized case studies can take up to months. Nevertheless the researcher used the time allocated to him/her to ensure that all the relevant secondary data was used to bring about relevant conclusive findings on this topic. (Her sey, Blanchard Johnson, 2007 45) The availability of resources such as money also was one of the limitations of this research. A good research can be successfully carried out by a researcher in order to get access to the necessary tools and information that is required to the process of carrying out research. With limited funds the researcher was unable to access premium websites that charge researchers in order to access them. (Hogan Kaiser, 2005 78) Practical implications The findings of this research will therefore be very important to the entire global business community, this includes both multinational companies and local companies or even small scale businesses (Newell, 2003, p.43; Molineux, 2001, p.12-14). Since it is clear that CRM practices clearly affect the profitability, costs, customer loyalty, switching rates, delivery of quality and efficiency, it thus becomes necessary that business executives and entrepreneurs formulate, implement and continuously evaluate CRM str ategies that will ensure that their organizations are able to accurately identify and narrow down on the needs, wants, desires, motives, tastes and preferences, attitudes and perceptions of the customers who interact with the business (Frazer, 2003, p.87-91). When businessmen succeed in understanding their consumers, they will be more likely to ensure that their products are customized so that they are able to meet the expectations of their customers. Since it is clear that organizational success also largely depend on how good their CRM function is integrated in day to day business, it is important that managers acknowledge the fact that CRM plays a big role in deciding the competitive advantage that an organization has in an industry when it is compared with its competitors (Egan, 2004,p.111-114). With this in mind managers should accept the fact that they are preparing for failure if their organizations decide not to integrate Customer Relationship Management into their business models. (Blyth, 2009 45) Social implications It is the duty of a business to ensure that it has a positive social impact on the various environments that the business operate in (East 1997, p. 19-21). If CRM practices are picked up by every organization within the environment, it will ensure that most consumers within this area will be happy due to the high level of satisfaction that they usually experience as a result of good business. A satisfied consumer is a happy consumer;. The happy customers translate to a happier community and a happier society (O’Malley Tynan, 2001, p.17-23) Originality This research is original and unique in the sense that it has taken a more social and one on one approach by looking at various industry practices of the world’s most respected companies to bring an insight into the importance of CRM in today’s business environment. Conclusion From the study, Customer Relationship Management activities do affect the performance of organ izations either positively and negatively. Organizations which take CRM activities more seriously are able to enjoy better financial and non-financial performance as compared to those organizations which ignore the importance of CRM in their business operations. With such facts in mind, business managers are required to be more aggressive and dedicate a lot of time towards ensuring that their organizations plan carefully and integrate CRM activities with the activities of other departments to ensure that the concerns of both the organization and consumer are taken care of. References Baker, S., 2003. New Consumer Marketing.New Jersey: Wiley and sons. Bennet, P., 2006. Marketing Management and Strategy, 4th edn. New York, NY: Prentice Hall. Blyth, M., 2009. Business Continuity Management: Building an Effective Incident Management Plan. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. East, R., (1997). Consumer Behavior: Advances Applications in Marketing FT New: York: Prentice Hall. Egan, J. (2004) . Relationship Marketing: Exploring Relational Strategies in Marketing. 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall. Frazer, R, J., 2003. It’s All About Customers. New York: Kogan Page. Gartner, Inc. 2008.Gartner Says Worldwide Customer Relationship Management Market Grew 23 Percent in 2007†. Gartner Inc. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/en Gartner, Inc. 2009. Gartner Says Worldwide CRM Market Grew 12.5 Percent in 2008. Gartner Inc. Retrieved from https://www.gartner.com/en Gummesson, E., (2002). Total Relationship Marketing. 2nd edition. New York: Butterworth- Heinemann. Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. H. and Johnson, D. E., 2007. Management of Organizational Behavior: Leading Human Resources. New York, NY: Prentice Hall. Hoffman, D., Novak, T., (2000). â€Å"How to Acquire Customers on the Web.† Harvard Business Review, 179-188. Hoffman, D. Novak, T., (2000). Relationship Marketing. Bunbury Road: Butterworth-Heinemann. Hogan, R., and Kaiser, R. B., 2005. â€Å"What we k now about leadership.† Review of General Psychology, 9(2), 169-180. Hyatt, K., 2010. â€Å"The influence of the leadership practice â€Å"challenging the process† on perceived organizational support.† Proceedings of ASBBS 17(1), 351-361. Jones, G., 2010. Organizational theory, design, and change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Kitchen, P., (2003).The Future of Marketing: Critical 21st-Century Perspectives New York: Palgrave. MacHulbert, C. Piercy, H., (2003) Total Integrated Marketing: Breaking the Bounds of the Function. New York: Kogan Page. Maselli. J., 2001.†Lack Of Integration Hurts CRM Efforts: The PwC survey also finds that businesses still dont understand whats important to consumers when interacting with a business.† Information Week. Retrieved Retrieved from https://www.informationweek.com/Default.asp Molineux, P., 2001. Exploiting CRM: Connecting with Customers London. New York: Hodder and Stoughton Educational. Newell, F., 2003. W hy CRM Doesn’t Work: How to Win by Letting Customers Manage the Relationship. New York: Kogan Page. O’Malley, L., Tynan, C., 2001. â€Å"Reframing Relationship Marketing for Consumer Markets.† Interactive Marketing 2(3), 240-246. Parker, R., 2000. Relationship Marketing on the Web. London: Adams Streetwise Publications. Paul, G., 2006. CRM at the Speed of Light 4th Edition. New York: McGraw Hill. Payne, C. Peck, C., 2003. Relationship Marketing for Competitive Advantage Burnbury Road: Butterworth-Heinemann. Solomon, B., Askegaard, L., 2002. Consumer Behavior: A European Perspective FT. New York: Prentice Hall. Trott. P., 2008. Innovation Management and New Product Development, 4th edn. London: Pearson. Windham, L. 2001. The Soul of the New Consumer. The Attitudes, Behaviours and references of e-Customers. New York: Allworth Press.

Bharti Enterprises

Ensuring that the look and feel of the store is as per guidelines/standards Ensuring/ reporting Inventory and Stock availability as per the norms to prevent stock-outs Provide suggestions /feedback to improve store productivity People Development / Team Management: Acting as a mentor and trainer for store staff To ensure daily roistering briefing to inbound outbound store staff Customer Experience: Manage staff allocation based on demand at point in time Personally step in to handle demanding customers Provide suggestions for improvements in CE 4. A. On Diversity and Cultural spread in Africa, As Africa consists of 53 countries, to operate successfully it is important to understand the dynamics of each country, including differences in culture, language and especially regulations. Bharti would do well to put in place as few expatriates as possible and have most of its top management from Africa. b. On Infrastructure sharing and cost / capital issues, The biggest driver of network sharing will be the shift in approach of the biggest operators, who had been unwilling to share network to sustain competitive advantage. There is visible network sharing in the markets of Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa, and that this is likely to pick up in other markets. c. On Bharti Airtel’s Minute Factor Model, Network sharing and IT outsourcing would help operators bring down costs. While costs could trend down, however they will be higher than in India because of some of the structural costs caused by power shortage and poor infrastructure. 5. Bharti Airtel has a history of making first moves and emerging as the winner just because of that. This is what built the company’s success in India, where it remains the top MNO and second-largest fixed-line operator. In fact, thanks to the massive market it serves at home, at the time it acquired the Zain portfolio in March 2010 Airtel was reckoned to be the fifth largest mobile operator in the world on a proportional subscriber basis, putting it behind the likes of China Mobile, Vodafone Group, American Movil and Telefonica, but ahead of China Unicom. As has been widely covered for over a year now, Airtel has been looking at Africa as a new growth market. While it has a deal with Vodafone for the Channel Islands, Africa is the only other territory outside the Indian subcontinent (including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka) that the company has entered. The commonalities are compelling: similar markets, needs and infrastructure. The realities on the ground are somewhat more challenging: logistics, legislative compliance and serious local competition being foremost. The logistics of infrastructure in Africa are an equal challenge for all MNOs. That is a given. Where Airtel might have been overly optimistic is in hoping its Africa model would run similarly to its success in India, based on a first-to-market approach and having some leverage to overcome legislative obstacles. Unfortunately, while Airtel has a 30-year history of being first in India (with pushbutton phones, cordless phones and then mobile), they were not first in Africa. There were major EU, Middle East and South African players there ahead of them. In fact, Airtel’s African expansion is largely thanks to its takeover of Kuwait’s Zain mobile operations in 15 countries. This was a beachhead, not a conquest. Zain only held dominant market share in a few countries. Going up against market leaders such as MTN of South Africa, Airtel applied a strategy of extensive cost cutting. This followed on what it achieved in India, cutting a deal with Ericsson for per-minute fees (rather than upfront payment) that enabled very low-cost call rates from the outset. Airtel has an all-Africa, five-year deal in place with Ericsson for network management that offers similar advantages. Elsewhere, Airtel is engaged with Nokia Siemens Networks and Huawei, not keeping all its eggs in one basket, of course. As a Plan B, possibly following on the indecisive outcome of Airtel’s low-cost invasion, the company has previously been negotiating a takeover of or (maybe) a joint venture with MTN itself. How this putative deal is described depends on which company is talking. This has been going on for some four years without a definitive ending. Even if it never happens, it is a signpost of just what Airtel would consider to get its Africa operations truly established.