Company Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 1

Company - Coursework Example The report has also examined little management accounting techniques. Finally, the report has attempted to evaluate some current techniques that are appropriate for strategic management accounting. The report is generally to be used within Spacenet.inc; a well-established ICT firm based in Brussels. The board of associations and the management depend on financial reports to be able to cognize the economic situation of the board and to help the whole team in the process of decision making. For the purposes of improving the usefulness of financial information in the perspective of the decision making process, financial statements should be analyzed (Young, 2003). In that perspective, financial statement analysis can be described as the process where data is converted from financial statements into meaningful information for the organization quality evaluation by use of diverse analytical methods, which is very essential in the entire process of rational management. The function of financial report analysis is to identify good characters of Spacenet.inc so that the management can apply most beneficial characteristics. At the same time such reports also help an organization to recognize its weaknesses and take the necessary actions. A good financial strategy should consider both strength and weaknesses of the company. The use of internal financial statement prepared for top management provides the information they require in monitoring the organization’s operation and aid in decision making. Published reports rely on internal financial reports to inform investors, lenders and suppliers about the firm’s financial position. One limitation of both internal and published financial report in decision making is that the data given is based on the market at that particular time (Young, 2003). Subject to the nature of the market, change may be observed very quickly, so top managers are not supposed to assume that figures as per the last reports will be stagnant

International Culture and Ethics Research Paper

International Culture and Ethics - Research Paper Example There is need for individuals to develop intercultural cooperation skills that will enable them to cooperate with other people of different culture for is vital for survival. Business ethics refer to standards of moral behavior that relate to corporate as well as entrepreneurial situations while business culture refers to values, norms morals that are practiced by a group of people and they reflect their way of living or the way they do business. The two lead to expected behavior of people in an organization or as they do business. Since ethics suggest standard, it implies that they entail a legal aspect and violation of ethics can lead to legal ramification while violation of the business culture may not result to something so drastic. To individuals wanting to operate a business between different regions or countries there is need to compare the culture in your home country with that of the host country. In order to start an international business, individuals need to ask themselves some essential open ended questions and make a thorough research on the particular business and the countries to be involved. This is simply because it will require that the person functions in a foreign language. At first, it is quite in order to have a look at guides having articles on how to do business world wide and make deals on how to operate the business. This may require negotiating on the tactics to use, determining the value of connections required, use of business card and content, how to present oneself in meetings, language to use in promoting the business, adherence to company policy governing the type of business and get to know more of the business culture information. Secondly is to important to consider a prosperous entertainment which entails determining typical mealtimes for the day, best venues the business entertainment is to take place, acceptance or declination of invitations, gu idelines of hosting a social event and get to know more on business

Desert Industry

Desert Industry INVESTIGATING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGEIN THE SMALL SCALE DESSERT INDUSTRY IN SOUTH WALES. 1. INTRODUCTION: Financial Success often depends on marketing ability of a firm. Finance, operations, accounting and other business functions cannot help unless there is sufficient demand of products and services of a firm in the market. Hence, the focus of the firms today is totally on the customers (Kotler and Keller, 2006). In broader sense, the whole marketing process can be defined in the following diagram: In every stage of the marketing process, a firm not only has to keep its focus on the customers but also have to keep the efforts to be ahead of its competitors. Hence, in each stage of the marketing process, a firm tries to be ahead of its competitors by gaining a competitive advantage over them. In order to do this, certain competitive strategies are followed. These strategies involve taking offensive or defensive actions to create a defendable position in the industry. The best competitive strategy for a firm is unique and dependent on the challenges that the firm is facing. However, it is not possible for a firm to enjoy a competitive advantage in the market over a same strategy for long term basis. So, with the change in the external environment and competitors strategies, the competitive strategies of a firm, too, has to undergo certain changes. The project proposes to study competitive advantage for small firm in desserts industry, which has created a niche segment for itself in the competitive dessert and bakery market of South Wales. It also aims to study the importance that such small firms give to competitive advantage and the way they evolve with time. 2. FOCUS 2.1 Aim: By considering the above mentioned facts, the aim of the project has been narrowed down to: â€Å"To study Wales dessert market taking into consideration the prominent players in the industry, thereby, identifying the evolution of its competitive advantage and strategies over a period of time and the possible opportunities and threats in the coming time†. 2.2 Objectives: 1) To study Wales Dessert market and evolving competitive strategies of prominent players of industry with time. 2) To carry on a comparative study on the competitive strategies of the prominent players of wales dessert market. 3) To identify the upcoming threats and opportunities, hence, making recommendations in terms of how players can gain competitive advantage over its competitors. 3. CONTEXT: The concept of gaining competitive advantage forms the thrust of marketing activities in an organization. Working on a project using a study on competitive advantage would be a great value addition to me as a student of marketing specialization. This is because of the reason that Competitive advantage encompasses almost all major aspects/fields of marketing ranging right from the conception of product development through product promotion to product launch and strategies for its sustenance in the market. The reason for choosing not too developed dessert market was that information about the competitive advantage and strategies of large firms and MNCs is well talked of in books, articles, news, journals. Even while compounding theories and frame works related to competitive advantage and strategies, theorists have given major consideration to large corporations and MNCs. The Focus of project on such small segment industry is to understand the perspective and dimensions of the concept of competitive advantage and strategies at a small scale. 4. LITERATURE REVIEW: 4.1 About the Conceptual framework: Competitive advantage: The Concept The concept of Competitive Advantage was compounded by Michael E. Porter in 1985. In order to create a defendable position in the market or in order to survive successfully in the presence of various competitive forces so as to generate high returns on investments, it is important for a firm to take either offensive or defensive strategies (Porter, 1998). Resource Based Theory The major contribution of the resource-based view of the firm to date has been as a theory of competitive advantage. It argues that it is very important for a firm to develop a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) within so as to successfully survive in highly competitive market. According to the theory, achieving a SCA allows the firm to earn economic returns over its investments. Also, it lays emphasis on how firms achieve and sustain competitive advantages. The theory puts forward the idea that in order to gain competitive advantage, possession of certain key resources that have unique features like value, barriers to duplications and appropriability, acts as an effective stimulus. The theory also stresses upon effective deployment of the resources in the market to maximize returns and on the appropriate strategic choice of the firm (Fahy and Smithee, 1999). A customer should see any competitive advantage as a customer advantage. For example, if a company sells fresh food than its competitors, this will not be a customer advantage if customers do not value fresh food. Companies must concentrate on building customer advantages because only by focusing on customer advantages, high customer satisfaction and vale can be assured which further leads to repetitive purchases that are i.e. A loyal customer base and ultimately higher market share (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Resource-Based Model of Sustainable Competitive Advantage : Source: (Adapted from Fahy and Smithee, 1999) Porters Generic Strategies: These are the Basic approaches to strategic planning that can be adopted by any firm in any market or industry to improve its competitive performance. For an organisation to obtain a sustainable competitive advantage Michael Porter suggested that they should follow either one of three generic strategies: 1) Cost Leadership 2) Differentiation 3) Focus These strategies are applied at the business unit level. They are called generic strategies because they are not firm or industry dependent. Each generic strategy implies different skills and requirements for success which commonly translates into differences in organisational structure and culture. Cost Leadership A firm is said to be following the strategy of cost leadership if it is able to deliver a product with same features and quality as its competitors but at a comparative lower cost to the customer. For a business to achieve such a strategy, it is important to achieve low cost of production and distribution. In short, the strategy emphasizes on charging lower price than competitors to gain more market share (Kotler and Keller, 2006) (Dibb et al, 2006) and (www.quickmba.com). Differentiation The differentiation strategy, unlike cost leadership, lays stress on delivering products with the benefits exceeding the same products produced by the competitors in the market. According to the strategy superior performance of the product is valued by a large part of the market (Kotler and Keller, 2006) (Dibb et al, 2006) and (www.quickmba.com). Focus The focus strategy is also known as a niche strategy. This strategy is adopted when a firm is neither in a position to implement cost leadership nor differentiation strategy. In this strategy the focus in terms of efforts and resources is confined to on a narrow and defined segment of a market. A niche strategy is often used by smaller firms. A company could use either a cost focus or a differentiation focus. A firm using a focus strategy often enjoys a high degree of customer loyalty, and this entrenched loyalty discourages other firms from competing directly (Dibb et al, 2006) (Kotler and Keller, 2006). PROS: 1) Porters generic strategies model achieves to reduce the strategic alignment of the organisations between cost and differentiation. The model successfully indicates that differentiation strategy is equally effective as cost leadership. 2) The selection of a generic strategy provides direction to management and staff that helps them acquire internal consistency between management style, reward system, recruiting policy, etc. so as to shape its internal structure as per the choice of strategy of the firm. CONS: 1) The concept of porter generic strategies is mostly focused on large multinational companies with multiple business units although the strategy can be implemented on small organisations too, but the tools employed in the strategies are too complex to add optimum value to them. 2) Porter stated that competitive strategic analysis needs to happen on an ongoing basis. But even when a quantitative/economic change in the industrys conditions is detected, the reaction is frequently too late to realign the company. Most change occurs bottom-up, intuitively and creatively, and can be detected early using soft data rather than hard data Porters Five Forces: Michael Porters Five Forces of Competitive Position model provides a simple perspective for assessing and analysing the competitive advantage or strength and position of a corporation or business organization. Industry structure and positioning within the industry are the basis for models of competitive strategy promoted by Michael Porter. The â€Å"Five Forces† diagram captures the main idea of Porters theory of competitive advantage. Source: (Adapted from Ankli , 2007) Bargain Strength of Supplier: Since a powerful customer always has the discretion of forcing supplier for discounts, delay payment or preferred services, later, sometimes have to partly finance the former, so the supplier has to partly finance them. As for examples, Enormous bargaining power is enjoyed by huge Supermarket chains that have huge, concentrated buying power (C Murphy, 2005) (Thompson and Strickland, 2004). Bargain Strength of Customers: The bargaining power of the customer depends on the range of choice of suppliers that it has with him/her. In a situation of monopsony, where one customer has the choice of many suppliers, the bargaining power of customer is high to an extent where he himself sets the price. Whereas for a situation where customers are poorly placed, their bargaining power is negligible and hence they have to accept the terms offered by the suppliers (Ankli, 2007) (Aaker and McLoughlin, 2007) (Thompson and Strickland, 2004). Potential Entrants: The firm has to be alert from not only the competitors but the new entrants in the market pose equal threat of market share being snatched. The possibility is even higher if there are minimal barriers to the entry and exit to business entities in the market. However, in reality, the industries have the policies that protect the financial interests of existing firms in the market and restrain additional rivals from entering the market (Thompson and Strickland, 2004) (Ankli, 2007). Substitutes: Another set of competitors that may pose threat to the market share of a firm are the firms that produce the products that can be substituted against the existing product of the firm. This threat is of high intensity if there is high willingness among the customers to switch from the use of current product to its substitute. Some major factors that may stimulate the willingness of customers to switch to the use of substitute can be use of breakthrough technology in substitute, Steep price difference between the existing product and the substitute (C Murphy, 2005) (Ankli, 2007). Industry Rivalry: The intensity of competition is directly proportional to the structure of the industry. What matters here is the number and capability of your rivals if you have many competitors and they offer equally valuable products and services, then in this situation you will have little power. If you are doing the same thing what others are doing i.e. suppliers and buyers are not happy with your deal, theyll go elsewhere. On the other hand, if you do that no-one else can do, then you can often have tremendous advantage and strength (Thompson and Strickland, 2004) (Ankli, 2007). According to Obasi Richard, with the use of the concept of Competitive advantage and strategies, it would be easier for the firms to have a better insight in business situations and the appropriate strategies pertaining to these situations. Also, the managers would be able to make tactical decisions rather than relying on their intuition, experience, or trial and error alone (Akan et al, 2006). 4.2 About the Chosen Sector: The desert industry of UK is although small industry however it is growing at a good pace. Since last few years many new players have entered in this segment and have been using competitive marketing strategies like Online Marketing, Customisation etc to sustain and do well. According to the website of British baker magazine there is an increase in the cake and cake bars market by 7% in the year 2008 as compared to 2007 to reach GBP 1.52 bn. According to research from Mintel out of the whole only two-third of the consumers only consume the cakes, frequency of use and penetration level is declining. Report also stated that the market is likely to grow between 2008 and 2013 by 26 % (www.bakeryinfo.co.uk). According to Reuters the UK biscuit and the cake market in the year 2007 was approximately to be worth GBP 2.96bn, a boost of 13.6% since 2003. It is likely to see a rise in the biscuit and the cake market between 2008 and 2012, even though this may be largely driven by rise in input cost. Biscuits and cakes are getting a tough competition from other alternatives such as fruits and savoury snacks but its value growth is maintained due to some added value activities (www.reuters.com). It can be seen that the dessert industry is growing and considerable research can further contribute to aspiring small desert industries which is my intention. 5. Research Methodology: 5.1 Research Paradigm: The research paradigm which will be used in the dissertation is Phenomenology. Phenomenological approach to research is so called because it is based on the way people experience social phenomena in the world in which they live. Phenomenologists are concerned with what things mean, rather than with identifying and measuring phenomena. They are particularly interested in the idea that human experience is a valuable source of data, as opposed to the idea that true research or discovery lies in simply measuring the existence of physical phenomena. 5.2 Research Approach: Since the project aims to find out competitive advantage and competitive strategy, so the findings of the project would be qualitative in nature. 5.3 Research Methods: Different research methods used for primary data are: * Surveys * In Depth Interviews Different research methods used for Secondary data are: * Self study from internet * Books * Research articles and journals 5.4 Sampling: For the analysis, two samples are considered, namely: a. Consumers b. Players in the Dessert Industry The consumers would be taken from all age groups, geographic locations and lifestyles. Similarly, players too would range from the biggest players in the market to the small organizations involved in the same business. 5.4.1 Sampling Criteria: For the analysis, two samples are considered, namely: a. Consumers b. Players in the Dessert Industry The consumers would be taken from all age groups, geographic locations and lifestyles. Similarly, players too would range from the biggest players in the market to the small organizations involved in the same business. 5.4.2 Number of Respondents/Participants: For Customers: 125 150 For Players: 10-15 5.4.3 Sampling Technique: The probability Technique will be used. The probability sampling is also known as random sampling. It gives each member of the target population an equal probability of selection. 5.5 Methods to analyse Primary Data: The study would use MS excel for the analyses of the primary data and text analysis as well. 6. ETHICAL CONSIDERATION AND ISSUES: Ethical considerations towards respondents: * Proper information about the study * Anonymity of the participants * Freedom to choice Ethical considerations for self: * Clear communication with respondents * Use of authenticated data * Proper interpretation of data 7. REFERENCES: MURPHY, C. 2005. Gathering, Analysing and putting it to work 1st edition. Aldershot, Hants: Gower Publishing Limited Doyle, P., Stern, P. 2006. Markeing Management and Strategy 4th edition. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited Dibb, S., Simkin, L., Pride, W., Ferrell, O. 2006. Marketing Concepts and Strategies 5th edition. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company Thompson, A., Strickland, A. 2004. Strategic Management Concepts and Cases 13th edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Aaker, D., McLoughlin, D. 2007. Strategic Market Management 7th edition. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley Sons, Ltd Kotler, P., Keller, K. 2006. Marketing Management 12th edition. Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education Limited Porter, M. 1998. Competitive Advantage Creating And Sustaining Superior Performance 11th edition, New York, NY: The Free Press QuickMBA. 2007. Competitive Advantage [WWW] http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/competitive-advantage/ (15th Nov, 2009) Bakeryinfo.co.uk. 2008. cake market on the up but trends are changing [WWW] http://www.bakeryinfo.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/3879/Cake_market_on_the_up,_but_trends_are_changing.html (13th Nov,2009) Reuters. 2008. Fahy, J., Smithee, A. 1999. Strategic Marketing and the Resource Based View of the Firm. Academy of Marketing Science Review, 10, pp. 1-20 Ankli, R. 1992. Michael Porters Competitive Advantage and Business History. Business and Economic History, 21, pp. 229-232 Akan, O., Allen, R., Helms, M., Spralls, S. 2006. Critical tactics for implementing Porters generic strategies. Journal of Business Strategy, 27(1), pp. 43-53 8. TIME PLAN In 6 months of the dissertation 2 weeks will be dedicate to introduction 1 month will be dedicated to Literature Review. 2 months for data analysis. 1 month for research methodology. 1 month for conclusion

Spreading the Message: The Nature and Paradox of Christian Broadcasting :: Essays Papers

Spreading the Message: The Nature and Paradox of Christian Broadcasting Sit down on any given Sunday morning, turn on your TV, and you are bound to happen upon a religious program of some sort. It was the 1980’s that saw the powerful phenomenon of the religious broadcast emerge. No longer were game shows, soap opera’s, and Billboard Top 20 the biggest draw to the family television set and radio, but rather Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell. With their joyful church choirs, clean-pressed preacher suits, and booming messages of hope, protection, and salvation, religious broadcasts of church-services, evangelism rallies, and other such events and programs became popular and powerful television and radio fare. Over 130 million people were drawn to their radio and television sets, which together reached more people than all of the nation’s churches combined. This phenomenon continues today into the 21st Century, as the religious broadcast has come to find its staple and permanent place in both the consciousness and the home. The relationship between broadcasting and religion has become increasingly complex, and many books have been written on the subject. Media scholars such as Peter G. Horsfield and Quentin Schultze have dedicated their lives and careers to researching and understanding the religious broadcasting phenomenon, and there are other innumerable supporters and critics. While I am personally largely supportive of religious broadcasting, there are some specific points and relationships with which I have come to be concerned about. In this essay I shall focus on the relationship between the religious television show and its presentation, both aesthetic and suggestive. From there I will also be asking some questions, such as, what is the nature of the religious broadcast in light of and in comparison to secular television? How does the entertainment factor affect the viewers experience and understanding? What secular connotations are suggested through religious broadcasting, and how do they affe ct the viewer’s religious experience? These questions and other will be addressed as I delve into the complexity that is religious television. Many scholars, theorists, and clergymen are positive and optimistic about the current importance of religious broadcasting and what the future holds for this type of media. Religious broadcasting involves a new approach to a problem as old as the Bible, in that it is the revolutionary way in which to introduce un-reached individuals to the messages of redemption, hope, and salvation generously offered by a loving God.

Pervasive Developmental Disorders Essay

The pervasive developmental disorders (PDDs) represent a spectrum of difficulties in socialization, communication, and behavior. Autism is the best recognized and most frequently occurring form of a group of the PDDs. Because most of the research in areas related to communication has been done on autism, we will focus here on this particular PDD. However, we should be aware that autism is probably not the most common disorder on this spectrum. Other types of PDDs include Rett’s Disorder, Childhood Disintegrative Disorder, Asperger’s Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified, or PDDNOS (Twachtman-Cullen 1998). This work will also discuss the distinctive features of Asperger’s syndrome, which is believed to be genetically related to autism. Much of what can be said about certain features of autism and PDDNOS applies to other forms of non-autistic PDD. The goal of this research is to provide a framework for understanding cognitive development in children with PDDs. The study will cover criteria for early PDDs diagnosis. The best-known type of PDDs is autistic disorder (variously called autism or infantile autism). The symptoms of autistic disorder typically increase gradually through the child’s second year, reach a peak between 2 and 4 years of age, and then show some improvement. Young children with greater cognitive ability who receive very early intensive intervention may show dramatic improvement at this age, whereas those who are more impaired will make more modest changes. Persons with autistic disorder exhibit major deficits in their ability to relate to others. The child with autistic disorder often appears content to dwell in a separate world, showing little empathic interest in parents or siblings. Unlike the normally developing baby, the child with autistic disorder may not raise his arms to be picked up or may stiffen in protest when his parents try to cuddle him. The children’s lack of social interest may make some of these babies seem like â€Å"easy babies† because they do not seek parental attention, and appear content to remain in their cribs, watching a mobile or staring at their hands. As they get older, such lack of demandingness is recognized for the relative indifference it actually reflects. The child with autistic disorder may not seek others for comfort when she is hurt or upset, finding little consolation in the gentle words and hugs that are so important to other children. Not only do the children not ask for comfort, they typically are quite indifferent to other people’s distress and do not seem to share their joy. A sibling’s tears or a parent’s happiness may elicit no response from the child with autistic disorder. Children with autistic disorder show little interest in the domestic imitation that most children enjoy. For example, unlike the normally developing child, the child with autistic disorder usually does not use his miniature mower to cut the grass like mommy or pretend to shave while he watches daddy. This lack of interest in imitation interferes with one of the primary channels for learning by young children: their ability to model adult behaviors and master them through role play. Social play is one of the primary activities of childhood. A few simple toys can create the backdrop for long hours of companionship. The child with autistic disorder does not know how to join this kind of play, sometimes completely ignoring other children, or perhaps standing on the sidelines, not comprehending how to become part of the group. Not surprisingly, given the range of social deficits they exhibit, children with autistic disorder are very impaired in their ability to make childhood friends. Within the communication domain, impairments are present in a number of linguistic and nonverbal areas, the most fundamental of which are pragmatics and semantics (i. . , the social usage and explicit or implicit meaning of language and gestures). Although linguistic capability varies greatly across the spectrum (from a total absence of speech to highly sophisticated and erudite language), significant impairments in pragmatics and semantics are universal among individuals with PDDs. They communicate primarily to express needs, desires, and preferences, rather than to convey sincere interest in others, or to share exp eriences, excitement, and feelings. Even among those possessing highly sophisticated and complex language, compliments, words of empathy, and expressions of joy in the good fortune of others are very rare. There is little reciprocity, mutuality, or shared purpose in discussions. In addition, speech and gestural forms of communication are poorly integrated, often resulting in awkward and uncomfortable social interactions. Implicit, subtle, and indirect communications are neither used nor perceived. Expressive communication tends to be explicit, direct, and concrete. During discussions, persons with autism often fail to prepare their speaking partners for conversational transitions, new topics, or personal associations. This can result in digressive, circumstantial, and tangential comments and discussions. It would appear as though persons with autism assume that others are implicitly aware of their experiences, viewpoints, attitudes, and thoughts. The fashion in which these deficits are manifest is influenced by age, overall cognitive level, temperament, and the presence of sensory or physical limitations. In toddlers, for example, impaired pragmatics may be manifested by significant limitations in reciprocal eye contact, responsive smiling, joint attention (mutual sharing of interests and excitement), and social imitative play. In addition, socially directed facial expressions, instrumental and emphatic gestures, and modulation of speech prosody (intonation, cadence, and rate) are rarely used to complement speech, communicate feelings and attitudes, or moderate social discourse. Among preschool children, impairments in symbolic functioning (e. g. , language) are accompanied by serious limitations in pretense (e. g. ymbolic, imaginative, creative, and interactive play). Pragmatic impairments among adolescents with Asperger’s syndrome may be manifested by one-sided, pedantic discussions, with no attempt to involve speaking partners by acknowledging and integrating their experiences, ideas, and viewpoints into conversations. Sincere attempts by others to engage in reciprocal conversations may be met with a lack of acknowledgment, annoyance, and disinterest. Comments or questions that are â€Å"snuck in† by the listener may be experienced as rude interruptions, prompting the directive, â€Å"Wait! I’m not done talking yet† (Bernabei, Camaioni & Levi 1998). The result is a monologue or lecture that often includes abrupt changes of topic and the introduction of unexplained personal associations. This lack of conversational reciprocity suggests that persons with AS and high-functioning autism inherently assume that the listener is implicitly aware of their own experiences, viewpoints, and intent. Because the relaying of factual and concrete information is the primary goal of â€Å"social† dialog among those with ASD, the communication of subtle attitudes, viewpoints, and emotions (particularly secondary emotions, such as embarrassment, guilt, and envy) are largely irrelevant and superfluous. Therefore, emphatic gestures, informative facial expressions, and vocal modulation lack essential meaning for them. The result is that persons with autism generally disregard nonverbal cues and fail to incorporate them into their own discussions. Because this component of social communication often conveys essential information regarding feelings, attitudes, and opinions, an inability to identify, interpret, and produce nonverbal cues can have a highly detrimental effect on social interactions and relationships. Given these impairments, it is not surprising that verbal and nonverbal aspects of communication are poorly integrated, and that subtlety and nuance are rarely conveyed. Figurative and inferential language is another area of communication that is impaired in autism, largely due to a combination of deficits in abstract and conceptual thought, social reciprocity, and appreciation of the subtleties of social communication. Persons with ASD are highly literal and concrete in their language and thought processing, typically failing to understand metaphor, irony, sarcasm, and facetiousness. As a result, comments are often misinterpreted and discussions misunderstood. In addition, in an effort to remain true to the facts, comments and questions are often presented in an overly direct, straightforward, and â€Å"brutally honest† manner, lacking appropriate tact and sensitivity (Szatmari, Jones, Fisman, Tuff, Bartolucci, Mahoney 1995). This can cause embarrassment and distress for the listener and confusion for the speaker with AS. Both may become angry and resentful; the listener, because of emotional distress and perceived mistreatment; the speaker, because of the seemingly unjustifiable overreaction and a negative attitude displayed by the listener. From the perspective of the person with AS, the listener responded in a rude and ungrateful manner to comments that were intended to be informative, useful, and corrective. The emotional distress, embarrassment, and attack on self-esteem experienced by the listener are relatively foreign to the individual with autism. Interestingly, principles, rules, and codes of behavior can be interpreted in a highly concrete and rigid manner. This can result in insensitive and hurtful comments and behavior, because exceptions to the rule, adjustments to unexpected social contingencies, and appreciation for the spirit (not simply the letter) of the law are relatively foreign to those with autism. There is little awareness that rigid adherence to unavoidably flawed rules can result in a situation that is antithetical to the underlying intent of the rule itself. One of the dinning features of autism and Asperger’s syndrome is that of rigidity and inflexibility in response to minor change and transition in the environment and daily routines. This insistence on sameness and invariance can be highly impairing, because the precipitants of these reactions often are of little social significance and do not disturb the smooth functioning of the social world. It is as though persons with autism depend on these inanimate markers of space and time because the social priorities that typically direct schedules and routines have little meaning and significance for them. Asperger’s Syndrome has been associated with cognitive strength since Hans Asperger first described the disorder in the 1940s. When he wrote of children who sounded like â€Å"little professors,† Dr. Asperger (1944/1991) was describing not only their pedantic tone but also their cognitive abilities. The assumption of adequate cognitive skill was reiterated when the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) stated that individuals with Asperger’s Syndrome show â€Å"no clinically significant delay in cognitive development† (Willey 2001). Asperger’s syndrome (AS) was added as a new â€Å"official† diagnosis when DSMIV and ICD-10 were published. In the past, children with AS were sometimes referred to as having schizoid personality, or schizotypal personality, and PDD, NOS. It is now recognized as distinct from autism. AS differs from autism in a number of key ways: first, children with AS may not be detected as early because they may have no delays in language, or only mild delays. In fact, it is usually not until parents notice that their child’s use of language is unusual, or their child’s play is also unusual, that concern sets in. Unlike autism, where the vast majority of children also experience some degree of mental retardation, children (and adults) with AS are rarely mentally retarded although many have low-average intelligence. Children with AS are sometimes described as â€Å"active, but odd† – not avoiding others the way autistic children often do, but relating in a more narrow way, usually centering activity around their own needs and peculiar interests. In fact, having one or more areas of narrow, encompassing interest is highly characteristic of those with AS. Parents often ask whether AS is the same thing as â€Å"high-functioning autism. Research studies have addressed this question, and the answer is â€Å"no† (Fombonne, Simmons, Ford, Meltzer & Goodman 2001). One main difference is that children with AS tend to have fairly comparable verbal and nonverbal levels of intelligence, while higher functioning (that is, less cognitively impaired) autistic children tend to have nonverbal IQs that are markedly higher than their verbal IQs. Another key feature of AS is the presence of intense, preoccupying interests that generally are unusual in nature and highly restricted and narrow in scope and breadth. An impressive store of factual knowledge is accrued on relatively esoteric topics; however, this knowledge is rarely utilized for functional, socially meaningful purposes. Rather, factual knowledge is pursued for its own intrinsic value to the AS individual. In addition, children and adults with AS tend to be physically awkward, uncoordinated, and poor in judging visual-spatial perspective (often failing to maintain comfortable interpersonal space during social interactions). With regard to neuropsychological functioning, verbal abilities are generally much better developed than are nonverbal abilities (e. . , perceptualmotor, visual-spatial). In a majority of cases impairments are present in executive functions, including working memory, organization, and cognitive-set flexibility. Although children with AS are thought to show no general cognitive delay, there is actually a great deal of variability in the specific abilities of individuals. In spite of mass media suggestions that individuals with AS grow up to be scientists or software engineers, we do not yet have data to support this connection. For most children, the PDDs last a lifetime. Although early intervention for many young children with autistic disorder, Aspereger’s disorder, and PDDNOS has produced major developmental changes, the technology has not yet reached the point where the majority of children make the degree of change that allows them to blend imperceptibly into their peer group. As a result, although most children with PDDs benefit in important ways from treatment, many still become adults with PDDs or some significant residuals of PDDs. There are no details of what causes PDDs. There appears to be a genetic contribution to at least some kinds of autistic disorder. For example, Fragile X syndrome is a chromosomal disorder than long has been linked to mental retardation and more recently has been shown to be related to autistic disorder. This disorder gets its name from a narrowing near the end of the long arm of the X chromosome that sometimes makes the tip fragile. Fragile X syndrome shows an X-linked (sex gene-linked) recessive pattern of inheritance. As a result, this disorder typically is transmitted to boys by their mothers. Fragile X syndrome accounts for a small but significant number of boys diagnosed with autistic disorder. General support for the notion that the symptoms of autistic disorder reflect underlying physiological dysfunction comes from research showing that autistic disorder occurs more often than would be predicted by chance among children whose mothers had German measles during pregnancy, that these children experienced a higher than expected rate of problems during pregnancy or birth, and that they are at greater risk for seizures than other children. Findings such as these raise important questions about where in the brain abnormalities may occur and how these neurochemical, biochemical, or neurological factors may be linked specifically to the development of the language, social, affective, and behavioral symptoms that characterize autistic disorder and the other PDDs. The process of accurate diagnosis and classification is an essential endeavor in medicine, because it is key to ensuring validity and reliability, enabling etiological research, and identifying effective methods of treatment. Although ASDs are not medical illnesses in the classical sense, they do result from neurodevelopmental abnormalities that affect social, communicative, and behavioral functioning in fundamental ways. The autism is not a unitary condition with a single etiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, and treatment approach; rather, it is a group of related conditions that share many clinical features and underlying social-communicative impairments. The fundamental purpose of arriving at an accurate diagnosis is to promote meaningful research that will eventually lead to effective treatment and an ultimate cure. Accurate diagnosis also enables investigators, clinicians, educators, and parents to communicate clearly, effectively, and efficiently. Ideally, a valid and reliable diagnosis should convey a great deal of information about developmental strengths and weaknesses, short- and long-term prognosis, and treatments that are most likely to be effective. Both basic and applied research endeavors are enhanced by improvements in diagnosis and classification. During recent years, efforts have been made to identify ASD as early in life as possible, in order to begin implementing educational and treatment interventions; providing families with education, support, and community resources; and reducing the stress and anxiety families experience as a result of incorrect or misleading diagnoses. The importance of an early diagnosis is supported by findings of improved linguistic, cognitive, and adaptive functioning as a result of intensive early intervention. Studies have begun to appear in the research literature assessing the reliability and stability of autism diagnoses made during the early preschool years. Experienced clinical investigators have demonstrated that an accurate diagnosis of autism can be made in the second and third years of life. However, accuracy depends on the completion of a comprehensive, interdisciplinary assessment, one that includes the use of standardized diagnostic instruments in conjunction with clinical expertise. Nonetheless, even among experienced clinicians and investigators, false positive and false negative diagnoses are sometimes made. Investigators have begun to examine clinical variables that may be predictive of treatment response and general prognosis. For example, Handleman & Harris (2001) found that preschool children with autism who exhibited low baseline levels of social avoidance experienced significantly more social and linguistic progress than did their high-avoidance counterparts following 6 months of intensive incidental teaching and pivotal response training (provided in an inclusive setting). A complementary strategy for assessing the validity of AS is to examine the pattern of associated symptomatology. In this regard, a recent study investigated emotional and behavioral disturbance (psychopathology) in 4 to 18-year-olds with HFA and AS. The Developmental Behavior Checklist (DBC), an informant-based instrument completed by parents and teachers, was used to assess psychopathology. The DBC contains the following six subscales: disruptive, self-absorbed, communication disturbance, anxiety, antisocial, and autistic relating. Children and adolescents with AS exhibited high levels of psychopathology, particularly disruptive behavior, anxiety, and problems with social relationships. The best documented approach to the treatment of people with PDDs is a form of behavior therapy called applied behavior analysis. Since the mid-1960s, when Ivar Lovaas and his colleagues demonstrated that children with autism responded to carefully planned applied behavior analytic techniques, there has been extensive research on the use of these methods to treat the PDDs, especially for autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder, and PDDNOS (Durand 1990). Three decades of research have contributed to the development of a substantial array of specific behavioral treatment techniques and of documentation to support the efficacy of these methods in treatment of PDDs. This research also has demonstrated the essential role that parents can play in the treatment of their children by providing consistency of intervention between home and school, or even in some cases as the child’s primary therapist.

Communication Studies Essay

This blog is for students of the Community College of St Vincent & the Grenadines who are to be entered for CAPE Communication Studies examination in May 2008. The blog contains information about the course syllabus, administration and assignments as well as the course content. Wednesday, March 05, 2008 The expository presentation for CAPE Communication Studies Internal Assessmblies The presentation has two distinct parts * A FACTUAL presentation on an aspect of your portfolio theme * A presentation about your research including an evaluation of two sources of information used to prepare your factual presentation. It will have all the following 6 elements present 1. An introduction (statement of topic) In the introduction you will give a brief explanation of topic/ theme and a preview (with a thesis statement) of what you are going to cover. For example. â€Å"My theme is Returning Migrants to St Vincent. Returning migrants or returnees are a group within the population of St Vincent who have spent a significant time away from the island and have then returned to permanently settle again. Returning migrants often are retired from their previous occupation which they pursued in a more developed country such as the United States, Canada or Great Britain or they have been working in another Caribbean state. According to statistics from the Customs Department given to me by Mrs B Chalres in an interview 4361 people claimed the concession for returning residents in 2005. Returning migrants experience 5 phases of adjuststment when returning which can be termed as â€Å"culture shock†.† Theme ; Returning Migrants to St Vincent. a group within the population of St Vincent a significant time away from the island returned to permanently settle retired from their previous occupation (the United States, Canada or Great Britain) OR working in another Caribbean state. Customs Department (Mrs B Charles) â€Å"4361 people claimed the concession for returning residents in 2005†. Returning migrants experience 5 phases of adjustmentwhen returning which can be termed as â€Å"culture shock†. 2. A rationale In the rationale you need to explain why you picked the theme and it can form part of the introduction. In the rationale you should mention any personal interests, current academic links and future career plans which influenced your decision to choose the theme For example I chose the theme returning migrants to St Vincent and specifically to focus on culture shock because I am a wife of a returning migrant. I have a BSc honours in Sociology and the concept of culture shock is part of socio-cultural studies carried out by Kavelo Oberg 1958. In the future I will be submitting my Masters thesis on this specific issue. 3. Discussion of issues The discussion of issues is the factual presentation about the theme and its narrowed focus based on the thesis statement. It should have a distinct organisational pattern and you should aim for one of the expository structures such as cause and effect, process analysis, analysis by division, classification etc (See Writing in English) It should also be referenced and include any research findings. You will also need to give a conclusion to your factual presentation as a sort of sub conclusion don’t wait until the end Here is an example of a possible outline for my example presentation (not all of it). It uses the organisational pattern of process analysis Remember you cannot read from a script! Culture shock 5 phases Honeymoon, rejection/ regression, conformist, assimilation, reverse culture shock Honeymoon Centre for Overseas Travel â€Å"the tourist phase† Questionnaire (300 returning migrants) 78% not feel â€Å"tourist† 82% â€Å"elated† Rejection Oberg – frustration etc Questionnaire 50% wanted to return after 3 months, Reasons, poor service, backward attitude, nothing to do, boring Interview Dr Sheridan Mental health presentations tend to be in 1st 4 months of return. 4. Challenges of research You need to discuss what difficulties you faced in preparing your factual presentation. If you did not have any difficulties then just explain why. For example (in note form) Questionnaires – time consuming, identifying sample, Other sources – no central data on returnees, newspaper articles useful Academic research not on St Vincent 5. Evaluation of two sources For this aspect of the presentation you need to discuss your research. The two sources need not necessarily be given as a reference in the presentation but they should be relevant. You should try to select two different types of data source e.g. a newpaper article and an interview. You may want to very briefly summarise all your sources before evaluating two for reliability and validity. Please see other parts of the blog for information on reliablity and validity. For example (in note form) Secondary sources: academic text books and journals, local and international newspapers and magazines, web sites: international public organisations e.g. Peace Corps general sites e.g. Wikipedia Primary sources interviews of experts in St Vincent questionnaire of returning migrants. Questionnaire of returning migrants Reliable: primary data source, research method suited to collecting data for social research Valid: Problem with sample size as total population of RMs unknown Problem with generalisation as differences between UK, US and other RMs more research needed. Overall reliable and reasonably valid The Experience of Return Migration: A Caribbean Perspective, Joan Phillips and Reliable Denis Conway, Ashgate Press, London 2005 Author expert Phd Social Anthrop. Specialised Caribbean writer – Canada Publisher: reputable, specialst academic main interest Social research Valid Recently published Problem no reference to St Vincent Overall general but very reliable and valid source 6. Conclusion The conclusion should be slightly different to the internal summary conclusion in your discussion of issues. At this stage you can express a personal view or put forward a possible solution. For example (in note form) Returning migrants YES culture shock 3 ways Honeymoon Rejection Conformist NO assimilation Solutions Programme – promote overseas, keep in touch, Information – government FINALLLY See my other post about the reseach using the internet for idea. Make sure that you are aware of the requirements for acceptable notes during the exam and be familiar with the marks scheme – it is not only content that is marked but also presentation skills.