The Impacts of Gender Roles for Society in Advertising

The impacts of gender roles for society in advertising There are lots of social roles that a person has to perform during his or her life time. The most clear and basic role is gender role. A gender role is a set of social and behavioral norms that are generally considered appropriate for either a man or a woman in a social or interpersonal relationship. Gender roles are widely between cultures and even in the same cultural tradition have differed over time and context.Most societies regulate different behavior pattern and social value regarding to gender, therefore consumer’s behavior cater for their gender role image. Men and women roles and how the roles are defined and described in the advertisement can affect individual acceptors, public's consciousness, behavior pattern and the social system. There are three impacts of gender roles for society in advertising. First of all, the gender role can make the fixed idea and change. In most societies, the members of societies hav e similar thought about a series of characteristics that the gender has.We call that fixed idea of gender roles. the fixed idea is socially shared belief and excessively simplified belief in matters of the specific target. Every society has the simplified idea about men and women and the fixed idea which regulate personality and role regarding to the gender. For example, the fixed idea about women is that women are passive, sensible, dependent, lacking in patience and internally sensitive. Vice versa, the fixed idea about men is that men are active, ideal, independent and possible for mind control. This fixed idea about men and women provided background that divide men and women role.Through the characteristic role, men work outside and women work inside for their life, and the polarization of the gender role is accepted as the best way for their work and family. This fixed idea is accepted as a natural result for a long time. People could not realize that they have the fixed idea b ecause this idea exists everywhere of society. However, now, realization of the gender roles in advertisement is changed according to the passing of time. Before women’s liberation, the fixed idea about the gender role was believed as natural phenomenon and what is bred in the bone.The pioneer of women’s liberation claim that women’s potential power and ability had been restricted because they be bred true to the fixed idea about the gender role. Also, we delude ourselves that physical, psychological and social characteristic according to the gender is real, and we define what men are and what women are. Also, we delude ourselves that physical, psychological and social characteristic according to the gender is real, and we define what men are and what women are. The fixed idea is always exaggeratedly simplified, and sometimes could be totally wrong.Also, the fixed idea exaggerates or minimizes difference between groups. The fixed idea about the gender role makes men look as if they are similar even if actually they are very different each other, so do women. Finally, the fixed idea can be usually used to justify prejudice and discrimination to member of some groups. This distorted fixed idea about the gender role cannot reflect the image of the gender role properly in modern time. Secondary, the concept of androgyny comes to the fore. According to the radical change of society, the concept of the gender role becomes changed. Androgyny is at the head of the change.Bem(1974) rendered the concept of androgyny for the first time. It means that the two character coexistent in one person. In other words, androgyny has manhood and femininity. Through the study about people who have the fixed idea about the gender role, androgyny people are more ethical, self-respected, and stable than them who have the fixed idea about the gender role(Block, 1973; Bem;amp; Lenny, 1976; Kyoungsuk Park, 1988; Jeongeun Lee, 1991;Sujung Seo), and androgyny people are more flexible and practical and have more information-processing capacity. These studies confirm the value of androgyny.As a result, the concept of androgyny develops our society and diversifies industry. Third is socialization of gender role image. Women’s role image in an advertisement affects learning of women’s social role, namely women are affected their socialization by an advertisement. It shows how much mass media and advertisement is an important information source to women. We can guess that mass media and advertisement affects consumer to form mold about other world if the mass media or the advertisement is considered as the optimum conditions for effective learning, cultural environment.Social scientists point out that the gender role description in an advertisement applies leverage on thought about society. An advertisement had a tremendous impact on a consumer when the role or image of the character is a role model. Today, day by day, we are living in nu merous advertisements. Gender roles that appear in the advertisement can change our traditional stereotypes. The advertisement appeared to reflect social change traditional stereotypes Image and appearance are mixed gender role images appear in the advertisements today.People realized that the concept of androgyny is better than a fixed idea of gender roles. Moreover, socialization of gender roles has become an important issue in our society. Image to adhere to traditional gender roles, women's social activity and a surge in traditional gender roles than in the past, the position is improved according to the hypothetical social change gradually, and social roles that appear in the structure, major changes are reflected in a market economy, the advertising is the side effects that are not suitable.Fixed according to gender in advertisements, when you think that advertising is having a big impact on the value formation of children as well as the function of promoting the sale of goods and as a medium of socialization with the public over an image or a negative image of women reassurance that the portrayal is not a desirable thing. Exercise and develop human potential is an important factor which is responsible for its leading role, the mass media and advertising, and the stereotypes tied to the gender roles of society be reshaped.Advertising like a mirror reflects a social phenomenon and as a pathway for changing gender roles in this society, the society and culture of that era and the social interaction that leads to the development direction because they share two features to create a new culture will be able to. Reference Bem, S. L. (1974). The measurement of psychological androgyny. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 155-162. Yijeongeun (1991). Study of Learned Helplessness in ministering to college studentof identity and attribution according to the type of Sookmyung Women's University Graduate School Master's thesis.

Nature VS nurture †Issues, perspectives and debates in psychology Essay

NATURE refers to our innate potential that is influenced entirely by physiological and genetic factors. NURTURE refers to the influence of the environment into & all the learning experiences we have after we are born. The nature-nurture debate has been hotly debated in psychology. At the outset of psychological research the nature-nurture debate was a point of argument between researchers from the behaviourist tradition and other approaches. More recently it has divided researches with regard to social and racial differences in intelligence. Nowadays it’s hard to believe that something as complex as human behaviour can be completely explained by either side of the argument, it’s more likely to be a product of both, as suggested by the Psychologist Robert Plomin. He would like to see the nature-nurture debate end as he says most human behaviours are not influenced by nature or nurture but by nature and nurture. He makes the point that twin and adoption studies have provided evidence for the fact that there is a genetic component to personality, intelligence and general behavioural disorders such as Schizophrenia and Autism. However the genetic influence on these traits and behaviour is only partial, genetics account for on average half of the variance of most traits therefore the environment must account for the rest according to Plomin. This means that they are interdependent. An approach that belongs on the interdependent side of the argument is the cognitive-developmental approach. A key assumption of this approach is that development occurs through the twin processes of nature and nurture. Piaget believed that children were innately curious and programmed to learn (nature) but they needed the right sort of stimulation and environment to be able to do this adequately (nurture). However a criticism to this approach is that Piaget underestimated children’s abilities, this produces a difficulty in his theories and suggests that children are not the way he envisioned them. This could indicate that they are not innately curious and even if provided with the right environment, don’t learn. This can be compared to the Leaning Approach; a criticism with this approach is that it doesn’t consider the effect of nature, similar to a criticism of the physiological approach, which doesn’t consider the effect of nurture. If the theories are proved false it’s tempting to say that that indicates nature and nurture have no effect individually, but must work together. An approach that believes that nurture is entirely responsible for our behaviour is the learning approach. The learning approach presents the assumption that all behaviour is learnt, through interactions with the environment, and at birth we are a blank slate ready to develop. Evidence for this comes from Watson’s study of little Albert. Albert was an 11-month-old baby when the study began; Albert was presented with a white rat, to which he responded with curiosity. After several sessions the presentation of the white rat was accompanied with a loud noise to which Albert responded with fear. After several sessions Albert displayed fear as soon as the rat was presented even without hearing the loud noise. This showed Albert had learnt to associate the rat with a loud noise, which he was frightened of. Albert generalised this fear with other things similar to the rat such as a white rabbit and a white beard. Albert had learnt this behaviour. So according to the learning approach it therefore follows that nurture is solely responsible for human development. Watson’s study was On the other hand is the physiological approach. This approach presents the assumption that genetics are responsible for human behaviour. For example research into genetics has shown there to be genes responsible for certain type of behaviour and characteristics for example tongue rolling and eye colour, and more controversially research has been carried out to find a gene responsible for homosexuality and criminality. Evidence to support this theory comes from research into Schizophrenia. This research has shown there to be an excess of dopamine in the brains of schizophrenics. Schizophrenia has been shown to run in families, 10 out of every 100 children who have one biological parent with schizophrenia go on to develop schizophrenia whereas only 1 or 2 in every 100 in the general population develop schizophrenia. Twin studies on monozygotic (identical twins) have also indicated that genetics are responsible for schizophrenia, as if one twin is schizophrenic there is between a 35 and 58% chance of the other twin also developing schizophrenia. Of course this is only a correlation and this relationship could be caused by another variable. Twin studies are hard to conduct because the necessary situation doesn’t occur particularly frequently in the population, therefore the sample is limited and difficult to generalise. This affects the reliability and validity of the results. The idea of the causes of schizophrenia is explored further in clinical psychology. Schizophrenia is the most commonly diagnosed form of mental illness; 1% of the whole population will be diagnosed at some point in their lives has having schizophrenia. Schizophrenia doesn’t seem to have one single cause but is rather the product of a relationship between biology, psychology and culture. Which suggests both nature and nurture play a role in the development of schizophrenia. As I said earlier twin, adoption and family studies give the clearest indication that genetics play a role in the development of schizophrenia. 10% of children with a schizophrenia parent will go on to develop the disease. This however, because it’s only a correlation, could be caused by another factor, for example the environment. Studies have been carried out using twins to find out the concordance rate of schizophrenia in twins. The increased risk of developing schizophrenia could be the result of difficulties that have arisen during the rearing of a child by a parent with such a disorganised personality. However adoption studies have been carried out which also suggest that genetics are responsible for schizophrenia. Heston (1966) compared the adopted children of 77 schizophrenic mothers with the adopted children of 50 normal mothers and found the former to be 5 times more likely to be admitted to hospital with schizophrenia. This study also shows that those children of schizophrenic parents were more likely to go on and be diagnosed as psychopaths, behaviourally disordered or neurotic. The study by Heston rules out the possibility that the experience of being adopted leads to the development of schizophrenia as the control group didn’t go on to develop higher levels of schizophrenia. However the sample isn’t large so is difficult to generalise and this type of situation doesn’t occur frequently so it is hard to do this type of investigation.

Examine The Advantages Of Unstructured Interviews In Sociological Research

In this essay I will be examining the advantages of unstructured interviews; unstructured interviews gain qualitative data, which is data which cannot be analysed for patterns or trends. One advantage of unstructured interviews is it produces valid data; valid data is data that is true to life, opinionated and cannot be analysed. This is an advantage because qualitative data is received, anti-positivists prefer qualitative data as it gives motives behind actions. However, valid data is not reliable as if you repeat the interview; you will not get the same results as human behaviour is unpredictable.Another advantage of unstructured interviews is it gives the researcher access to sensitive topics, for example domestic abuse. It’s an advantage because anti-positivists get access to emotions the participant is feeling and can build a rapport with them and they will therefore be more open. An example of this is Dobash and Dobash’s study, in which they interviewed a woman ab out her experience with domestic violence. However, the participant talking about their sensitive information can cause emotional distress to either the participant or the researcher especially in the case of domestic violence.A third advantage is the fact that unstructured interviews the participant can be interviewed with their friends or family, which is known as a group interaction. This is an advantage because the participant will be more relaxed and at ease when answering the researchers questions. However, group interactions can lead to demand characteristics in which the participant behaves unnaturally and may even lie during the interview, therefore reducing the validity of the interview.A final advantage is that unstructured interviews can be flexible, in which the researcher has no set questions and as the interview progresses more questions are answered. This is an advantage because the interview will be unique and provides new data which hasn’t been reshaped by a hypothesis. However, it’s unreliable as you can’t repeat the whole interview word for word when there are no set questions. To conclude, four advantages of unstructured interviews are they’re flexible, the participant can be interviewed with friends or family members, it allows access to sensitive topics and it produces valid data.

Business Law E-business paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Business Law E-business paper - Essay Example e of your company carries content that can be labeled as defamatory or displays links of other websites that are carrying defamatory material then in that case you could be held and sued for defamation by the aggrieved party. The local reference will be taken while deciding if the material is defamatory or not. To minimize the risk of defamation one should always incorporate disclaimers in their web site stating that the company is not responsible for the actions of third parties. Disclaimers are especially important for those e-companies that have open discussion boards, blogging sites and accept material from third party and publish it on their web site. Although it is not a hundred percent solution as the aggrieved party can still sue if you have not taken sufficient steps to remove the defamatory content from your web site when it came to your knowledge. In addition to that in the terms and conditions part of the web site it should be clearly stated that if anyone indulges in a s ort of conduct that brings disrepute to the company and the resultant damage, then the person whose actions led to that condition will have to indemnify the company. An e-business company while conducting business collects private information about individuals and its patrons. It sometimes contains sensitive information like credit card numbers, debit card numbers, bank a/c numbers and social security numbers etc. This information should not be published and distributed in the public domain and should not be distributed to other companies for commercial gains. The aggrieved party in that case sues the e-business company for damages. The possible solution to this issue is just that one should be extra careful in preserving the personal information of its customers and even if under a certain circumstance it has to disseminate it then it should first seek the consent of the party. The E-Business company will be taxed according the taxation laws of the country where it is registered.

Film and Religion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Film and Religion - Essay Example The theological perspective effectively captured the narrative of mans interaction with his surroundings, the errors that could inevitably came with it, and his struggle to determine what is real and true and what he is going to do about it. A more contemporary text informed us with the same insights, The Truman Show. It is a film about a man who lived in a make believe world where everyone was acting and everything is contrived. Again, knowledge and ignorance became the center of the struggle to find truth and resolve the dilemma of free will. The Truman Show is actually closer in form with another religious/philosophical text, which is Platos Allegory of the Cave. Here, fictitious prisoners were forced to live in a cavern and watch shadows of objects and people, which became reality for them. The Truman Show and the Allegory of the Cave both demonstrated mans capacity to perceive reality, to determine truth as well as in coping with each. In the end, they were able to depict an ability and persistence in human nature to seek truth and be free and they served as the ultimate purpose, not unlike the religious salvation

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) - Research Paper Example Requirements consist of the applicant of court orders to ban advertising systems and payment services from carrying out business with the offending websites and search engines links to sites, and court orders demanding suppliers on the Internet to disallow accessing sites. The bill would expand the criminal law to consist of the unauthorized transmission of copyrighted material, setting a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment2. The bill has grave implications for the current structure of the Internet in every sense as it allows the Justice Department and the owners of intellectual property, obtain court orders against those sites or services that allow or facilitate the infringement of alleged copyright, including: Block by ISPs to the website or service in question, including hosting, and even DNS level (although this has been a discussion). Facilitate collection companies on the internet (like PayPal) to freeze funds and restrict the use of the service. Block the sites that provi de advertising services. For example, Google Adsense cannot offer web service complained if this law was to be approved. It should remove links to the web or service reported. The bill declares a criminal offense to unauthorized radio broadcast or other distribution of copyrighted content with the punishing of the guilty with the maximum penalty of imprisonment for a term of 5 years. ... Under the bill, any member of a network on the Internet – from service providers, search engines and even the advertisers – in fact, require treatment for any owner to stop providing services to the resource, accused of piracy, and to stop any interaction with them (for example, close the channel, pay for content, suspend the ad contract, to limit the effect of the payment system, delete the site from Google to remove links to the site, completely block a site to visit, to prohibit the payment systems (such as PayPal, Visa, etc.) to make payments in favor of services and so on); otherwise, any of the direct and indirect accused of counterparties site will be regarded as his partner. Under the eyes of this new law, merely to get on your wall a picture, document or video that has a copyright will be considered a crime. This bill was welcomed by the entertainment industry in the United States and members of both parties. The funny thing is that this kind of activity is man y times promoted by the entertainment industry itself since they are the same fans who virally promote their favorite artists through social networks. Supporters of the bill argue that it is necessary to maintain profit organizations, employment and intellectual property protection in their respective industries (movies, music, software, etc.), especially states that it will help deal effectively with services outside the U.S. outside their jurisdiction. According to them it provides a protection to the market for intellectual property, employment and income, and need to strengthen enforcement of copyright laws, especially against foreign Web sites. Alleging defects in existing laws do not include foreign sites owned and functioned, and cited examples of "active promotion of the websites

Benefits, impediments and critical success factors in B2C Annotated Bibliography

Benefits, impediments and critical success factors in B2C - Annotated Bibliography Example instead it provides insight that may be important for conducting future studies and development of theories while paying emphasis to obstacles and success faced by thousands of companies that have adopted and are adopting e-business techniques. In this study, the case study approach was used in which eight case studies were studied and analyzed while focusing on the benefits that a company expects to gain from e-business system and the benefits that the company actually gains and secondly the focus was on what are the issues experienced by those who implement e-business solutions and thirdly, the focus was on locating the critical reason that leads to the success of businesses that adopt e-business solutions (Dubelaar, 2005, p.1254). A total of eight companies were studied by the researchers, six of these companies had online existence and two of these companies were those who operated mainly through physical outlet, but they even had limited online existence. The study concluded that the major obstacles for companies in adopting an e-business solution were issues in operations, technology, leadership and lack of effective design for their business. The reasons that led to the successful application of e-business solutions were: application of doing business online and offline combined, delivering high value, customer retention and satisfaction, keep a bird’s eye on the activities of the competitors and lastly trust building. The researchers believe that if an e-business solution is to work in the factor of the company, the adoption of the solution should be relevant to the business, value adding to customers and should provide ease of operation for the organization. Since various businesses are adopting various e-business solutions such as selling over the internet and advertising, this journal article helps students learn what they have to do as managers to ensure that their business experience success as they adopt one of the e-business strategies and how

Fleet Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Fleet Assignment - Essay Example Thus, the spilled passengers are 50 passengers, and they would wish to travel in flight 1 and 125 passengers who would want to travel in flight 2. Since the fare for A-B itinerary is much less than the two local itineraries, the profit maximization is to spill 50 passengers on the A-B itinerary (15000 dollars). From this, the remaining demand for flight 1 does not exceed the capacity (Holloway, pp.124-178). Because the local fare for flight 2 is much less than the fare for X-Z itinerary, 75 passengers are spilled from B-C itinerary (16875 dollars). Hence, the minimum spill cost for fleeting 1 15000+16875 = 31875. The spill cost for each transient is in Table 5. Thus, the fleeting contribution for fleeting 1 is 71250-(30000+31875) = $9375. Through analysis, the rest of the fleeting as shown in Table 5, that the optimal fleeting is fleeting 1. The spill minimizing strategy for this case in every flight is to drop passengers in view of increasing fare until passenger’s number accurately equals the assignment capacity in every flight. For instance, managers always spill passengers in order to keep the higher fares for connecting

Define corporate governance and explain why it is used to monitor and Essay

Define corporate governance and explain why it is used to monitor and control managers strategic decisions - Essay Example Therefore, since the corporate governance encompasses all the management spheres of the company, it forms the vital tool in monitoring and controlling all the strategic decisions of the company’s managers. From the above definition of the corporate governance, it is clear that it governance both internal and external factors driving the operations of a company. It is usually the responsibility of the entire management to understand and determine how to balance between the external and internal factors affecting a company (Joshi 46); hence, under the umbrella of corporate governance, the management of the company is capable of determining what affects both the external and internal player of the company. For instance, quality of a product will affect the response of the consumers. In this case, the quality of the product is manly affected by laxity of the internal factors but may also be attributed by external factors (suppliers supply poor quality of raw material). However, the whole issue lies with internal quality management that could have detected the quality of the raw material and rejected the same due to poor quality (Fernando 72). Nonetheless, the corporate governance forms a vital management aspect of a company and every aspect of corporate governance must be considered effective to ensure smooth and efficient company

Death In The Line Of Duty Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Death In The Line Of Duty - Research Paper Example The bodies were later discovered in the burn room when the fire was suppressed. They all were wearing appropriate and complete personal protective Equipment and the two victims met the required State and department qualifications for the exercise. The two Florida firefighters were trapped and overwhelmed by the fire progress—a flashover which led to smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. The flashover was induced by horizontal ventilation, which happened within a very short span of time after the opening of the window in the fire room. It must be noted that between the growth phase and the fully developed phase of a fire is what is known as flashover—occurs when all the combustible materials in the room is ignited, simultaneously reaching their ignition temperatures up to 1000 °F (International Association of Fire Chiefs, â€Å"Fundamentals† 137). While LT Mickel and FF Begg had their experience and qualifications as firefighters with their full protective clothing, there was a problem on the way the whole team handled the training exercise. They failed to anticipate the potential fire behavior in the burn room due to miscalculations. The Office of the State Fire Marshall and NIST concluded that a flashover has occurred due to excessive fuel loads. The fire analysis conducted by NIST revealed that â€Å"the gases were so fuel rich in the burn room that it took the fire seconds to mix with the oxygen and flashover† (NIOSH 4). The fuel consisted of â€Å"five wooden pallets, a bale of straw, and a twin-size urethane foam,† which however been augmented by interior materials such as â€Å"carpeting, foam urethane padding, hollow core closet doors, wood molding, wall-mounted headboards, and painted gypsum board on the walls and ceiling mattress† resulting in flashover when the window was vented (NIOSH 3). In fine, the energy level produced by these fuel loads was far beyond the design capabilities of the victims’ gears making it

Console application Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Console application - Coursework Example I only realized that I was running a different version from what I wanted after a series of procedures. In fixing this error, I realized that I had misspelled the data type so I had to generate a new class by going to generate new type and from a list of classes, delegates, interfaces, enumerators and structures, I chose class and through the dialogue box, I defined the new class in a new file (Utley, 2009). Runtime errors are characterized by causing application crash. During my project, this had the unassigned data type (ten to one hundred). When I added a value that exceeded the available range of data type, I got an information that the application has stopped working (crashed).To fix that, I moved to System Overflow Exceptions which then directed me to Visual Studio, showed me the code line which triggered the exception and through the Call Stack panel, I was be able to fix the error (Utley, 2002). However much it was quite demoralizing at this stage of the project, I was able to fix the problem accurately. Finally, another error challenge I met in my project was the Logic error. This type of error hinders the normal operation of a program by either producing the unintended output or the undesired result. In my project, I realized that I had incorrect type casting, miscoded fragments and variable scoping and to fix these errors, I use the w-Command –Line option which produced a message about the questionable codes and took the necessary procedure to fix the errors (Utley,

Lesson Plan Kindergarten Essay Example for Free

Lesson Plan Kindergarten Essay Lesson plan Pre-K/Kindergarten Objectives: Children will learn their ABCs by picture association and also learn the words that go along with it. Students use spoken, written and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (learning, enjoyment, persuasion and the exchange of information). GLE: . Demonstrate understanding of alphabetic principle by doing the following: †¢identifying own first name in print †¢identifying at least eight uppercase or lowercase letters, focusing on those in the student’s name (PK-LL-L3) (ELA-1-E1) Materials: Alphabet cards with pictures on the front and the word on the back Introduction: Start out by going through the ABCs in different manners (songs, videos). Methods/Procedures: Once the children are clear on their alphabet, start with the cards. Each card should have a letter with a word on the other side. On the side with the letter there should a picture of what the word is on the other side. Have the students say the letter and then try to guess what the picture is. Once they have guessed the picture, show them the word and go through the spelling. With this lesson students will learn not only new words and picture recognition. Plans for individual differences: I would take the special needs children to my desk one at a time so they could get a fair shot at recognizing the letters, pictures and words. They should still try with the whole class though. Also I will follow any accommodations listed on their IEP. Assessment/Evaluation: I would evaluate this activity by watching each child in the class. I would also set aside time to take each child to the side and go over a few words with them by themselves.

Effect of Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías Regime on the Economy

Effect of Hugo Rafael Chà ¡vez Frà ­as Regime on the Economy Introduction Venezuela is located in the upper corner of South America and neighbors with Colombia, Brazil, and Guyana. It has been nearly 200 years since Venezuela first gained its independence from Spain (1811). From 1830 onwards, when Venezuela split from the Bolivarian Colombia (1819-1830), the country was governed mostly by military and despotic regimes. That military period lasted until 1958 when the current democratic spell started following the ousting of General Marcos Perez Jimenezs dictatorship.  [1]  Despite that long period of military dictatorships, the Venezuelan economy is considered to be a mixed economy where there is a mixture of command and free market elements  [2]  . These will be discussed in greater depth in the following text. Venezuela had until the 1980s a series of successful periods of economic growth  [3]  . The country had from there on and until 1999 a succession of economic and political crises. The government previous to the election of Hugo Chavez headed by Rafael Caldera was in power from 1994 to 1999. During this time in office he had to deal with high inflation rates and a financial crisis. Due to these severe problems, Caldera was forced to impose an exchange control in mid-1994. This was shortly followed by more stabilization actions that were enforced by the International Monetary Fund agreement. Due to these severe actions taken by the Calderas government (Convergencia) he became severely unpopular among the electorate. This did not help him win his reelection and set the stage for Hugo Chavez  [4]  . The purpose of this essay is to discuss whether or not Hugo Rafael Chà ¡vez Frà ­as regime is moving towards a planned economy due his anti- American stance. Moises Naim states that the rise to power of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez is often seen as evidence of an impending backlash against globalization, American-style capitalism.  [5]  This statement reflects the change in the governments policies on the Venezuelan economic system. To further explain this transformation it is vital to define what a free market economy and planned economy are. Theoretical Background Hypotheses If the Venezuelan government is moving from a free market economy to a planned economy, one would expect to find evidence of this transition economy. Definitions are needed to be known before explanation of results. A free market economy refers to an economy in which markets, in other words the interaction of buyers and producers, determine price and output.  [6]  In addition, this economic system [relies] on free markets which permit people to engage in economic activities largely free from government control.  [7]  In other words the government must have a hands-off policy in regards to the economy. Therefore, all production is in private hands and companies are able to adjust their wages and prices according to the demand and supply curve. Furthermore individuals are able to make independent decisions regarding the price of products, amount of production, and retailing. The free market economy is one that allows for the best interests of both consumers and producers to be met  [8]  . Advantages of the free market economy include: resources are allocated by market forces and price mechanisms,  [9]  and the motivation of profits provides an incentive to reduce costs and be innovate.  [10]  As William Baumol points out, to some extent, innovation in the economy is important as it indicates the expansion of peoples creativities in businesses and therefore fosters productivity growth in the economy.  [11]  What this makes clear once again is that a lot of the power and decision making lie within companies and the market. Disadvantages can include resources being used up too quickly as firms seek to make high profits and to minimize costs.  [12]  Additionally, large firms can expand and dominate a particular industry; leading to higher prices, and results in excessive power. A planned economy is defined as an economy where decisions are made by the government on the behalf of the people, and in theory, in their best interests.  [13]  This indicates that the state has great ownership of resources in the economy and through this provides social welfare to the people. In this economy the government sets the price of resources. There are thought to be several advantages and disadvantages in a planned economy. The advantages are that the government can directly influence the distribution of income to make it more equal  [14]  . In addition the government determines which [types of goods] are to be supplied  [15]  . This necessarily gives the government the power to decide what goods are considered to be important in the society. A disadvantage of this economy is the government [s dominance which] may lead to a loss of personal freedom of choice  [16]  . Unlike the free market economy there is no incentive for individuals or firms to be innovat iveà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ goods are often of poor quality and usually a limited choice.  [17]  No competition in the economy and low profit (or absence of profit altogether) can lead to inefficiencies of resources. In short, it is the government, and not the consumers, who make all the decisions. A planned economy is an ideology often used by governments in communist states. Countries like Cuba and North Korea are currently using a planned economy system. An important concept of economic theory in describing a planned economy and free market economy is the understanding of economic growth. Economic growth is defined as an improvement in the standard of living (that) typically occurs when an economy increases its output of goods and services during an expansion  [18]  . This leads to economic development which refers to an improvement in living standards in an economy encompassing material consumption, education, health, and environmental concerns.  [19]  Therefore the use of a production possibility curve (PPC) is implemented to determine economic growth. Looking at the graph below (figure 1), one can see the theoretical downfall of the total goods and services (GDP) as the market moves from free market to planned economy. The PPC1 curve shifts downwards to PPC2 a level where planned economy would function. In moving from a free economy to a more planned economy orientated structure (transition economy), theoretically the output of the countrys total goods and services would decrease because of the inefficiencies. Overall the economic growth diminishes as the governments dominance in the economy increases. Figure 1 The PPC can also be used to better understand the change in government spending in a planned economy. This curve demonstrates the shifting of the government spending. The graph below (figure 2) presents public sector production and private sector production. The PPC curve represents the maximum amount of output possible given the available resources.  [20]  . At point A, there is an equal amount of production from the public and private sector. The total production at point A is on the PPC curve meaning that the maximum level of production is obtained  [21]  . As the government moves closer to a fully planned economy and it begins to invest in the public sector which include schools, health programs, housing, and so forth bureaucracy and inefficiencies increase and production moves to point B.  [22]  As we can see in figure 2, point B is no longer on the PPC curve but below it, signaling that the maximum level of output is not being achieved. Figure 2 Methodology Departing from the following hypothesis If the Venezuelan government is moving from a free market economy to a planned economy, one would expect to find evidence of this transition economy. This evidence would be found in several areas. One would expect to find more government bureaucracy and interferences in private enterprises. This could take the form of increased unjustified fines, paper work, restriction of all kinds, and control, which all result in reduction of business. One would also expect to find an increase in the nationalization of private companies; this could take the form of expropriation of private lands by the government. Further evidence of a movement towards a planned economy would be greater spending on social welfare. This would be clear in areas such as health, education, and housing. Finally, one would expect to find evidence of more interference in the economic structure exemplified by manipulation of currency exchange rates. To prove my hypothesis, this evid ence should be demonstrated as actually present in order to confirm the transition of Venezuelas economy. To prove or disprove my hypothesis I relied both on primary and secondary sources. In investigating primary sources, I met with two local business men  [23]  and one professor  [24]  in Venezuela. I then asked them specific questions  [25]  regarding their businesses in this transition economy. Furthermore, in October 2010 on a visit to Venezuela, I was able to make my own observations of the state of the country. In investigating secondary sources, I researched articles and books written by authors and journalists. In addition, I looked for statistics that represent the movement from a free-market to a planned economy. Results Analysis Evaluation More government interference on businesses When Hugo Chavezs government got into office in 1999, the government slowly imposed new regulations on all sizes of businesses. This policy mainly impacted negatively small businesses and employment. I interviewed one business man, Otto Horn, regarding the increased bureaucracy that his firm, Floritec  [26]  , encounters. In this interview he stated that It is harder to import and export raw materials and finished products abroad  [27]  . Many businesses are required to fill in extra custom paper work for SENIAT (the governments tax collection entity)  [28]  and face crippling fines for even a minor inconsistency in the eyes of custom agents. It gets harder by the day to keep small enterprises in business. This has led to higher cost for businesses as these bureaucratic obstacles force the firms to hire more labor to deal with these issues. As well, it is noticed that waiting for approvals from the government in so many newly imposed demands on small enterprises means los s of time and money which impacts the efficiency of these businesses. To put an example, the government has begun charging firms for the use of their own company logo on their own trucks. Otto Horn stated, If you want to put a company logo, you need to buy a license from the government and this raises costs.  [29]  These examples point to an increased level of government interference. Small businesses are mostly affected by these measures as they dont have enough capital to cover these new expenses. Big businesses have also been affected by these government interferences and even though they are better prepared to cope with it the uncertainty leads to less investment and further instability in the economy as a whole. In early 2009, the economy encountered high inflation  [30]  . This caused a surge in the prices of all products. The Venezuelan government, under Chavez, made several attempts in reducing this high inflation. One of the actions taken was imposing price controls on certain staple foods in an effort to make them more affordable to everyone. However, this action did not have the best outcome, [the] government [`s] attempts to impose price control has had limited effect as big food producers have cut back on production, food distributors have decreased shipments and even hoarded essential goods and retail sellers have traded on the black market  [31]  This control further damaged the food producers by cutting their profit which forced them to reduce the costs, which in one example was achieved by reducing the number of employees. Furthermore, Luis Carmona of Polar states, Forcing companies to produce rice at a loss will not resolve the situation, [and] simply makes it worse.  [32]  In addition, fewer goods could be established on the market. These price controls largely affects food producers and many food processing companies became bankrupt. Hugo Chavez and his government decided to sue or even nationalize dysfunctional companies if they do not follow the governments rules  [33]  . Hugo Chavez said he would take over the control of the food processing industries, as he said in one of his statements, I will expropriate them, I have no problem with that, and Ill pay them with bonds. Dont count on me paying with hard cash  [34]  . This suggests that the government is serious about making food available to the poor but on the other hand, private firms cannot cope with the price changes unless it cuts down on costs. This is all evidence of a planned economy. Government interference was evident in the conversation with another business man named Jorge Redmond, CEO of Chocolates El Rey  [35]  . Mr. Redmond initially wanted to merge his company with the world renowned company, Nestlà ©. He wanted to merge the company to avoid suffocating levels of governmental interference and bureaucratic hurdles brought upon the firm affecting its products exports mainly to its U.S customers. However the government blocked the deal between the potential mergers, as the government did not want more foreign presence in Venezuela  [36]  . The governments move against expansion of global assets limits the choices of private firms. This emphasizes the governments bureaucracy and interference on businesses. Government Nationalization Growing bureaucracy and government interference have led to a failure of private companies as they cannot maintain healthy profitability levels. This has given the government an excuse to nationalize private firms. Common examples are CA Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela (CANTV), the countrys telephone company and Electricidad de Caracas, the largest electric company in Venezuela  [37]  . These nationalizations were linked by Chavez to his pursuit of XXI century Socialism  [38]  . In July 2007, at the start of the high fuel prices, the government nationalized key infrastructures of the Venezuelan economy in an attempt to reach the goals of the government.  [39]   Also in 2007, the government stripped assets from two U.S. oil companies Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhilips.  [40]  The government seized control of the profits of both companies. In the following year, 2008, Hugo Chavez and his government ordered the nationalization of the cement industry, Cemex,  [41]  a Mexican owned company. Chavezs rationale was to prepare for future building in the housing sector. In addition, in 2008, the Venezuelan steel mill, Siderà ºrgica del Orinoco SIDOR, was nationalized. Chavez complained the companies do not put a high enough priority on supplying the domestic market  [42]  . In 2009, the government for the first time ordered the Venezuelan armed forces to take over a business, in this case a rice processing plant  [43]  . In October 2010 the government nationalized AGROISLENA, the countrys largest producer of goods and services for the agricultural sector  [44]  . According to The Economist, since Hugo Chavez got into power in 1999, almost 400 companies have been nationalized, the vast majority in the past two years.  [45]  This shows the governments movement to take over major industries in order to fix the prices of the goods. All the above actions taken by the government have been sweeping reforms throughout the nation with the aim of reducing the prices of products which would result in massive consumption of the products by the local economy. The nationalization of firms by the government points to evidence of a planned economy as the government begins to de-privatize companies, moving towards a greater control of how the economy functions. More Social Welfare Spending Hugo Chavez came to power by promising the people a reduction in poverty and an increase in quality of life for the masses. This spending was fueled by high oil prices in July 2007, crude had reached the remarkable world market price of $US 147 per barrel.  [46]   This increased spending in the public sector gives more evidence of the move to a planned economy. The graph (figure 3) below shows the statistics of government public expenditure  [47]  . The current regime under Hugo Chavez has increased public spending by a factor of 13 between 1999 (the year Chavez entered office) to 2008. Figure 3 The government has spent money on the educational, health, and housing sectors. With the increase profits from the oil rents and productions, the Ministry of Education has introduced mission programs, Robinson I and II are mission[s] focusing on literacy and primary education for adults, Ribas and Sucre target secondary and university education for individuals who never had the opportunity to attend or those who dropped out.  [48]  This missions are examples of increased spending on the public sector. Hugo Chavezs government has increased public spending on the health sector of the economy. The government has created new mission programs such as, Barrio Adentro [which] provides free health care to the poor through the assistance of tens of thousands of Cuban doctors  [49]  Internet correspondence with Guillermo Buhrkohl  [50]  , a political professor from Venezuela, confirms this in the following, The health programs known as Mission Barrio Adentro and Mission Miracle, are programsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ aiming [at]à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ providing primary medical attention to the shantytown population; however the professor confirms the government is literally asphyxiating both health care provided by private hospitals and the traditional public health system, paradoxically the later is the place where the poor go when a very limited Barrio Adentro cannot cope. This proves that there has been an increase in government spending on healthcare which could be seen as detrimental to both priv ate and public sectors. The government promised the masses to increase the public social welfare to all. This would also include the construction of close to free housing for each family. From my own personal observation while visiting the country in October 2010, the use of the billboards to promote housing plans was clearly evident everywhere  [51]  . This evidence of increased spending in the public sector mostly for political purposes adds up to the motive of the planned economy. Manipulation of currency Hugo Chavezs government has interfered deeply into the currency market. The government has made severe adjustments to currency, starting with the introduction of strict exchange rate controls by pegging the exchange rate to the American dollar in 2005. In 2008, the government changed the numerical currency making 1,000 Bolivars equal to the value of one Bolivar Fuerte (strong Bolivar)  [52]  . This measure could be seen to minimize the perceived inflation due to government action. However, it does not address the inflation that the country faces. In January 8th 2010, the government announced the devaluing of the currency by up to 50%  [53]  . The government believed that the devaluation of the Bolivar would trigger an export boom as Venezuelas exports would become more competitive. In reality, the devaluation had little to no effect on the countrys exports, as can be seen in Figure 4  [54]  . Figure 4 As mentioned above, in 2005, Hugo Chavezs administration made extreme adjustments to the Venezuelan financial system. The governments control over the currency exchange rates is shown in a statement, The introduction of the exchange controls has meant that companies and individuals have to apply to the Comision de Administracion de Divisas (Cadivi, the official foreign exchange agency).  [55]  This is where the government fixed the currency rate at 2.15 to the dollar. This triggered an increase in imports from 2005 which can be seen on the graph above (Fig.3)  [56]  . On January 8, 2010, the devaluation has occurred; from 2.15 bolivars to the [US] dollar to 4.3 bolivars to the [US] dollar  [57]  explained above caused higher consumer inflation on goods thus affecting the total spending on imported goods like televisions. The devaluation of the currency and exchange controls has lead the Venezuelan economy to have extremely high inflation. Consumption in the Venezuelan economy has decreased and business production has lowered to meet their expenditures. For example, Movistar, [in Venezuela] a mobile phone company owned by Spains Telefonica, last month [August 2010] à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ suspended roaming agreements in 13 countries.  [58]  This indicated that the dollar squeeze is affecting the Venezuelan economy deeply. On the other hand, high inflation means that the government gets more Bolivars from a quick recovery of oil prices, and exporting oil to United States. This money allows the government to satisfy the needs of the Venezuelans to the best interests of the government, and this brings the role of the government into everyday lives as, that gives Mr. Chavez the chance to throw money around: pay rises for the army for example.  [59]  This manipulation of the currency gives solid evidence of interferences in economy by Hugo Chavezs government which adds a new element that confirms the hypothesis of a transition towards a planned economy in Venezuela. Conclusions In this investigation, I found information that supports the transformation to a planned economy from a free market economy in Venezuela. The evidence included: increased government bureaucracy, nationalization of the private sector, increased government spending in social welfare, and increased manipulation of the currency. This has led Hugo Chavezs government to gain greater control of the Venezuelan economic system since his election in 1998. The government is able to decide which goods and services are considered to be important for society. Such examples are the heavily subsidized food distribution firms (MERCAL and PDVAL) created by the government  [60]  . In this investigation, there are a number of difficulties that hinder the gathering of evidence. First, it was hard to gain true statistics regarding the economy. For example, the unemployment rate is hard to determine due to the fact that workers in the informal sector of the economy are included in the statistics which constitutes half of the countrys total workforce  [61]  . It was difficult to find statistical data to support the losses of business budget. Despite my attempts to access this information through internet sources, I was unsuccessful. Secondly there has been a strong political bias in many articles, books, and interviews. These biases affected my research and influenced me deeply, though I made every attempt to remain objective. In addition, it was often hard to separate politics from economics where both are closely linked together. These shortcomings together with a lack of time beg for further and more in depth research to formalize conclusions. Specifically, I would wish to focus on a significant number of concrete business cases where the governments interference in the economy has greatly affected their profitability. I would be interested in confirming the statistical data to support the hypothesis presented. However, the evidence and research presented here demonstrate that there are elements to sustain my hypothesis. It is clear that the government is seriously attempting to impose upon the country a planned economy of the Venezuela. Whether the government is able to complete a transition to a fully planned economy or not, this conclusion stands regardless. In my opinion, the move to the planned economy under Hugo Chavez can have a negative impact on Venezuela as it has negatively limited the freedom of Venezuelan businesses and increased government interference in the economy. Evidence can be found in articles discussing the current brain drain  [62]  ; the educated Venezuelans are more likely to leave the country. Many of these educated people whom are students, professors, doctors, business owners and so forth have either moved to Colombia or to the United States. References Bad news for Venezuelan economy. El Universal 24 May 2010: n. pag. Web. 22 Nov. 2010. . Baumol, Willam. The free-market innovation machine: analyzing the growth miracle of capitalism. Oxfordshire: Princeton University Press, 2002. Print. Blink, Jocelyn, and Ian Dorton. Economics: Course Companion. Oxford: Database right Oxford University Press, 2007. Print. The Bolivarian Brain Drain. Newsweek 1 July 2009: n. pag. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.

Development of Sports Psychology Program

Development of Sports Psychology Program In this essay I will formulate and validate a mental skills program. The foundations in which this programme will be created will be on the applied sport psychology of self-talk and imagery. The preferred result of this mental skills programme is to help a footballer improve their confidence in regards to their penalty taking ability, which will be achieved by applying the sport psychology theories of self-talk and imagery. I will also be critically analysing the selected mental skills for the program in this essay. Psychological skills training or PST is the use of organised practice of psychological skills to improve performance, and improve general happiness in their physical activity (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). Gill (2000) provides a straightforward description of PST when he states that psychological skill training is a combination of methods which have been chosen for the purpose of achieving psychological skill needs. An individual may at times face new challenges or barriers in sport which repeatedly test the limits of their psychological skills and may even produce negative effects to their game (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). Psychological skills training was developed to help the athlete or participant to overcome these problems and set them back on the successful path of achieving the goals set for them. There is no individual package for Psychological Skills Training, each stage or element must be sport specific or identifiable to the individual and must be based upon the individual’s psychological state. When attempting to put together a successful (PST) program it is important that you are able to recognize the difference between (PST) methods and (PST) skills. (PST) methods can be usually used as a tool to aid improving the (PST) skill and (PST) skills are the psychological attributes in which development is required e.g. concentration (Calmels et al, 2003). To maximise the effectiveness of your Psychological Skills Training program, Thelwell and Greenlees (2001) argue that a (PST) program will be more effective if there are a few mental skills employed instead of just one but they must be sport specific. Judging from the literature that has been published, it seems that the Soviet Union was the first nation to use mental skills training with their athletes and coaches way back in the 1950’s (Williams Struab, 2006). This proves just how long Psychological skills training has been used in sport, although systematic contents did not emerge until the early 1980’s when it grew to become the major focus for practice and research within North America. A common mistake in which coaches and athletes make is the factors in a sporting situation, with an example being losing concentration when attempting to take a penalty kick in football cannot simply be rectified by practising penalty kicks on a regular basis but more importantly by improving ones psychological skill as it is the individual’s lack of mental skills which usually lead to the penalty miss (Weinberg Gould, 2007). A perfect example of a footballer who is known for their goal scoring ability and dead ball situations is Lionel Messi. The link below shows Messi miss a penalty at a time where he had been a run of two attempts missed attempts in his previous matches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnuI3kYTyfc The psychological skills program in this essay will be centred on a 23 year old male professional footballer plying his trade in championship, who for the purpose of this essay will be referred to as Jerome. In the league in which he plays he is one of the deadliest strikers, who is used to putting the ball in the back of the net both in open play and in set pieces i.e penalties and free kicks which when awarded he is first in line to take. This being said he has not been successful in his last 4 penalty attempt which is very unfamiliar for a player of his track record. The player has confessed that he has lost confidence in his penalty taking abilities due to missing his last 4 attempts and is considering stepping down from his penalty taking responsibilities in the team. After much thought and analysis of the scenario, the psychological methods in which I have chosen for his personal skills training are imagery and self-talk as I believe these methods are most beneficial and effect ive in restoring the young footballer’s confidence in his penalty taking ability. The application of these chosen methods within his psychological skills training program will allow him to visualise himself scoring a penalty using imagery whilst using positive self-talk to assure himself that he can score as he walks up to take the penalty kick. Both self-talk and imagery are skills so to increase the chances of success for Jerome they must be practiced. One way in which Jerome could practise imagery could be a couple hours or match day morning before a game, he could spend a few minutes of his time picturing himself walking unto the football pitch, going through his pre-game warm up routine, in game situations i.e penalty kick, free kicks etc. Vealey and Greenleaf (2006) believe that this imagery method should enable the athlete to identify and understand particular behaviours and thoughts that they can actively engage in to begin to move toward their ideal self-image.’ Weinberg Gould (2003) state that In order to maximise the effectiveness of the exercise an athlete must assimilate all the various senses which are related to their experience. So Therefore it is important that Jerome try to imagine things that make him feel as though he is going through the experience e.g the feel of the grass on his boots, the feel of the ball on his feet, the noise from the crowd and generally anything which is familiar to him when he’s on the field of play. This type of imagery is described as â€Å"event-day† imagery. Vealey Greenleaf (2006) describes imagery as the process in which an individual creates or recreates an experience in the mind. These images will usually be of times of previous experiences or a completely made up scenario where the performer is successful in completing challenges or performing physical skills on the pitch (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). The use and effectiveness of imagery is maximised when the focus is placed on the individual using imagery to control his or her emotions. It is not uncommon to see an athlete freeze up or even at times lose control of their emotions. For the purpose of eliminate this issue, the athlete when using imagery must recreate or imagine a possible or previous negative experience for him or herself, once they have done this they must then remove that particular image from their mind and imagine the same situation but in a positive manner or outcome. By the use of imagery our young footballer Jerome will be able to imagine/ recreate a negative e xperience taking a penalty and then replace that experience with the desired outcome of him scoring the penalty kick, which may help greatly reduce the chances of Jerome ‘choking’ or minimising his performance due to prying emotions. Munroe et al (2000) contends that imagery can also be used to augment one’s sport skills, strategies, confidence and also maximise the chances of achieving set goals. Jerome could use this to rectify any errors or weaknesses within his play, which in turn will help him increase his confidence. Bandura (1986) indicated that experiences originating from one’s own imagination are an excellent source of situation specific self-confidence /self-efficacy. Imagery can be separated into two forms with these two training methods being either internal i.e. creating images in the mind or they can be external i.e. observing visual images (Weinberg and Gould, 2011). Research by Callow and Hardy (19972001) suggests that the use of external imagery could be better suited for the programme due to the athlete’s level of performance. This being said I will be focusing more on the internal training methods. One of the limitations of imagery is that some athlete’s do not have a great deal of imagery to begin with and as a coach it is pretty much impossible measure an athlete’s level of imagery as it is a mental process which cannot be observed. Morris et al (2005) expresses his belief in imagery stating that imagery is one of the most commonly used method of mental training for athletes. Imagery is an integral part of many mental skills programs as it offers vast range applicability with imagery also being applicable in a wide range of sporting experiences. Moritz et al (1996) states how the correct use use of imagery can help improve confidence through rehearsing mental images. Imagery can also be used by a number of different individuals ranging from elites or professionals and novices or amateurs. Imagery also can be built into and around an athlete’s daily routine or workday in order to suit the individual needs of the athlete. This being said it is important that the athlete be in a good state mentally before beginning the process of imagery. Gregg, Hall and Hanton (2004) explains that before an athlete attempts or begins any imagery sessions it is important that he or she be in a good frame of mind and must als o be in the right mood as this better prepares them for the sessions maximising the chances of success in the process. . Self-talk is another psychological skills training technique that will be assimilated into Jerome’s (PST) program. Hackfort Schwenkmezger (1993) define Self talk as the verbal dialogue in which an athlete can not only understand their perceptions and feelings but also evaluate how their feeling and then give themselves instructions or reinforcement. Self talk can be used both in a sporting environments e.g. the changing rooms, during competition before competition, after competition and in a non-sporting environments e.g. at home or a quiet/peaceful place. Landin and Herbert (1999) states that self talk can be separated into three different categories which are positive i.e. motivational, negative and instructional. Self talk can be separated into three different categories positive i.e. motivational, negative and instructional. Conventionally positive self talk is used to increase an athlete’s endeavour and to promote a positive attitude although positive self talk does not implement any sport specific target or task e.g. (a golf player can say to himself â€Å"im going to sink this putt† ). Instructional self talk can be used in mental skills training to assist in the maintenance of an athlete’s focus on task associated areas of their own performance with the desired outcome being that they augment the execution of a skill e.g. (â€Å"a footballer could say to himself to self to focus on his technique when striking the ball†). The third and final category is negative self talk and this can be described as when an athlete is over critical of them self which can decrease the athlete’s chances of achieving their goals, this can also lead to anxiety which can also bring an athlete’s performance down. A good example of negative self talk could be a footballer telling them self that their passing is below par or they do not have the ability to compete with the opposition etc. one limitation of self talk is that if an athlete does not fully focused they may become distracted as they could find themselves confused as their overloaded with stimuli. Self talk used correctly can be useful in a number of different tasks in sport, this being said it is important that the practitioner evaluate what would be the most suitable type of self talk for the selected task which will then maximise the chance of future performance augmentation for an athlete. Mikes (1987) suggests that there are six rules which can aid an athlete with performance implementation, these are as follows: First person should be used and present tense Keep phrases as short as possible and be specific The phrases should be constructive and positive Speak to yourself in a kind manner Phrases should be meaningful Phrases should be repeated frequently In consideration of all the bullet points stated there are also a number of other strategies which have been found to improve self-talk. Changing negative self-talk and thought stopping are some of the most successful strategies used in psychology in sport. The term Thought stopping describes the way in which an individual or disregards or deals with negative thoughts before they begin corrupt the mind-set of the individual which whether you’re an athlete or amateur could lead to a negative impact on performance. The term Changing negative self-talk to positive self-talk can be described as when an individual is coping with negative thoughts and then transforms them into positive self-talk which could change the mind frame of the individual as the athlete or amateur will be more than likely more motivated. Jerome could use this particular mental skills method of positive self talk before attempting to take a penalty or free kick simply telling saying â€Å"I will score† . Jerome’s psychological skills training program (PST) will be conducted in phases as he attempts to improve his confidence in his penalty taking.as previously stated the program will be based on the two mental skills training methods of imagery and self-talk. This program should be used and repeated for over 6 weeks as anything less could cause the effects of the skills training to be temporary. Phase 1 (Night prior to match)   Picture your customary match day routine as detailed as possible then once the match has ended picture yourself falling asleep. Phase 2 (Night prior to match) Picture yourself before kick-off walking with your teammates through the tunnel, the cheers of the crowd, while also trying to imagine or recreate how that makes you feel, then end the image with you falling asleep. Phase 3 (Training) Picture you on the pitch stepping up to take a penalty kick saying to yourself repeatedly â€Å"I will score†. Phase 4 (Night prior to match) Picture yourself going through your customary match day routine, then imagine as detailed as possible yourself in a game situation just about to step up to take a penalty telling yourself obscurely â€Å"I will score† you should then imagine yourself scoring the penalty and celebrating moving on to your customary post match routine then ending the image with you falling asleep. Phase 5 (Match) Prior to taking a penalty you should use imagery to picture yourself scoring and then use self talk saying to yourself obscurely and repeatedly â€Å"I will score†. After analysing the current evidence and research in imagery and self talk it is safe to say that both are effective practices. The psychological skills training program provided will allow for the chosen athlete to improve his confidence in his penalty taking ability if both the practitioner conducts the program correctly and the athlete participates in the program willingly and in the right frame of minds. Jerome should be able to improve his confidence with regard to his penalty taking ability. The development of Strong mental skills may help Jerome to perform at his maximum level and may also lead to him becoming a more consistent performer. Although, a number of limitations have been recognized that could affect the success of these types of programs. The person delivering the programme plays a key role in the success of the program as the person delivering the programme has to be able to correctly impart to the player the basics behind the use of these methods as lack of knowle dge of the methods could have a negative effect in the players motivation as they might start to lose faith in the methods. This could possibly lead to a decrease in effort from Jerome as motivation could play a key role in him being able to work on and maintain his ability to produce mental images. Another limitation that can affect the success of the program is the time spent on it as it is important that the athlete spend almost as much time practicing these skills as they do practicing their physical skills. A common mistake made in the application of these programmes is that the practitioner or athlete does not keep to the recommended time period which in order to augment and maintain not only their mental stability but also their confidence in these methods should be recurrently practiced throughout the football season. Reference list Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and actions: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Calmels, C. et al. (2003) Competitive strategies among elite female gymnasts: An exploration of the relative influence of psychological skills training and natural learning experiences. International Journal of Sport Exercise Psychology. Callow, N. Hardy, L. (2001). Types of Imagery with Sport Confidence in Netball Players of Varying Skill Levels.Journal of Applied Sport Psychology. 13 (1), p1-17. Gregg, M. Hall, C., Hanton, S. (2004). Perceived effectiveness of mental imagery. Manuscript submitted for publication. Gill, D. (2000) Psychological Dynamics of Sport and Exercise, 2nd edition, Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics. Hackfort, D., Schwenkmezger, P. (1993) Anxiety. In R. N. Singer, M. Murphy, L. K. Tenant (Eds.), Handbook of research in sport psychology. New York: Macmillan. Moritz, S. Hall, C. Martin, K. Vadocz, E. (1996). What are confident athletes imaging?: An Examination of Image Content. The Sports Psychologist. 10 (1), p171-179. Mikes, J. (1987). Basketball fundamentals: A complete mental training guide. Champaign, IL: Leisure Press. Munroe, K. J., Giacobbi, P., Hall, C. R., Weinberg, R. S. (2000). The 4 W’s of imagery use: Where, when, why and what. The Sport Psychologist, 14 Landin, D., Hebert, E. P. (1999). The influence of self-talk on the performance of skilled female tennis players. Journal ofApplied Sport Psychology, 11, 263–282. Thelwell, R.C. and Greenlees, I.A. (2001) The effects of a mental skills training package on gymnasium triathlon performance. The Sports Psychologist, Vealey, R. S., Greenleaf, C. A. (2006). Seeing is believing: Understanding and using imagery in sport. In J. M. Williams (Ed.), Applied sport psychology: Personal growth to peak performance 5th ed. (pp. 285-305). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing. Weinberg, R. and Gould, D. (2003). Foundations of sport exercise psychology (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. Weinberg, R and Gould, D (2007). Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology.. Champaigne, IL: Human Kinetics. Weinberg, R, and Gould, D (2011). Foundations of sport and exercise psychology. 5th ed. Leeds: Human Kinetics. p.247-362. Williams, J.M., Straub, W.F. (2006). Sport Psychology: Past, present, future. In J.M. Wiliams (Ed.), Applied Sport Psychology: Personal growth to peak performance (5th ed). Boston: McGraw-Hill

Antonio Vivaldis Biography :: essays research papers

Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice on March 4th, 1678. Though ordained a priest in 1703, according to his own account, within a year of being ordained Vivaldi no longer wished to celebrate mass because of physical complaints ("tightness of the chest") which pointed to angina pectoris, asthmatic bronchitis, or a nervous disorder. It is also possible that Vivaldi was simulating illness - there is a story that he sometimes left the altar in order to quickly jot down a musical idea in the sacristy.... In any event he had become a priest against his own will, perhaps because in his day training for the priesthood was often the only possible way for a poor family to obtain free schooling. Though he wrote many fine and memorable concertos, such as the Four Seasons and the Opus 3 for example, he also wrote many works which sound like five-finger exercises for students. And this is precisely what they were. Vivaldi was employed for most of his working life by the Ospedale della Pietà  . Often termed an "orphanage", this Ospedale was in fact a home for the female offspring of noblemen and their numerous dalliances with their mistresses. The Ospedale was thus well endowed by the "anonymous" fathers; its furnishings bordered on the opulent, the young ladies were well looked-after, and the musical standards among the highest in Venice. Many of Vivaldi's concerti were indeed exercises which he would play with his many talented pupils. Vivaldi's relationship with the Ospedale began right after his ordination in 1703, when he was named as violin teacher there. Until 1709, Vivaldi's appointment was renewed every year and again after 1711. Between 1709 and 1711 Vivaldi was not attached to the Ospedale. Perhaps in this period he was already working for the Teatro Sant' Angelo, an opera theater. He also remained active as a composer - in 1711 twelve concertos he had written were published in Amsterdam by the music publisher Estienne Roger under the title l'Estro armonico (Harmonic Inspiration). In 1713, Vivaldi was given a month's leave from the Ospedale della Pietà   in order to stage his first opera, Ottone in villa, in Vicenza. In the 1713-4 season he was once again attached to the Teatro Sant' Angelo, where he produced an opera by the composer Giovanni Alberto Rostori (1692-1753). As far as his theatrical activities were concerned, the end of 1716 was a high point for Vivaldi.

The Role of Women in The Epic of Gilgamesh Essay -- Foster, Literary An

The story starts off with Gilgamesh, the King of Uruk, who is one third man and two thirds god. This story is about a man's quest for immortality in addition to the importance of boundaries between the realms of animal, man and gods. Women symbolize the importance of locative boundaries in the text. These boundaries are set by the harlot Shamhat, Ishtar, Siduri, the tavern keeper, Ninsun and Utanapishtim's wife. By giving women this role of wisdom and boundary enforcement, The Epic of Gilgamesh reflects how Mesopotamian society actually valued women. The harlot, Shamhat, serves to establish the boundary between animals and humans. Enkidu, a creature on the border between animal and man is selected by the gods to balance out Gilgamesh's power. Gilgamesh summons Shamhat to civilize Enkidu after a hunter complains to him about not being able to hunt properly. The harlot, "made herself naked and welcomed his eagerness; as he lay on her murmuring love she taught him the woman's art" (64). Not only did the harlot have sex with Enkidu she also gave him clothing, good food and wine causing Enkidu to become a man" (67). This shows not only the locative emphasis of a man's role in society but also a woman's role in securing that place. By civilizing Enkidu, the harlot manages to keep Gilgamesh in his place by establishing an equal for him. Similarly, both Ishtar and Siduri maintain the boundaries between humans and the divine realm by trying to keep Gilgamesh in the realm of man. Gilgamesh insults Ishtar with rejection and she then sends down the Bull of Heaven as revenge (85-88). After Enkidu and Gilgamesh kill the Bull of Heaven Enkidu insulted Ishtar further when he, "tore out the Bull's right thigh and tossed it in her face" (88). ... ... Gilgamesh sleeps show that he is powerless over sleep. Utanapishtim's wife represents Gilgamesh's inability to be immortal and the necessity of boundaries between the realms. Therefore, both Utanapishtim's wife and Ninsun symbolize wisdom and the boundary between man and gods. Thus, the role of women in this story serves to keep animals, men and gods in their respective boundaries. The harlot represents civilization by taking Enkidu from wild man to civilian and putting him solely in the human realm. Ishtar keeps Gilgamesh in check by taking Enkidu's life as a result of their disrespect while Siduri shows a woman's wisdom by giving Gilgamesh his lot in life. Meanwhile, Ninsun gives Enkidu to Gilgamesh as an equalizer as well as her prophetic knowledge. Lastly, Utanapishtim's wife shows that Gilgamesh can never be immortal and therefore must stay in his own world.

Death Foretold

Chronicle of a Death Foretold In Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Gabriel Garcia Marquez ridicules the hypocrisy of the church, which is central to the life of the village. While the townspeople celebrate the arrival of the Bishop; sex, alcohol, and murder coincide with the supposedly sacred event. Marquez reveals hypocrisy through biblical allusions, the villages hedonistic lifestyle, and the murder of Santiago Nasar. The bible is often used as source of divine inspiration, but in Chronicle of a Death Foretold biblical stories are satirized to reflect the hypocrisy of the church.For example, many of the town’s people are named after biblical characters, such as Maria Alejandra Cervantes and Pedro and Pablo Vicario, while they act in the most unchristian way. Maria Alejandra Cervantes is named after the mother of God, Mary, but is herself a prostitute, the exact opposite of Mary who was the eternal virgin. Pedro and Pablo Vicario are named after apostles, but are portrayed as al coholics and murderers. Peter did not directly kill Jesus, but denied Christ three times before his death. Pedro denies Santiago’s innocence before the cock crows three times.Marquez portrays biblical allusion by relating each character to one who played a similar role in Jesus Christ’s life. The small Colombian town is filled with many Christians, yet through the course of the novel, Marquez reveals that the denizens of the town only care about virtues which are contradictory to those of Christianity. The three day festivals which mark Angela and Bayardo’s marriage the party, â€Å"had sacrificed forty turkeys and eleven hogs for the guests, and four calves which the bridegroom had set up to be roasted for the people on the public square.He recounted that 205 cases of contraband alcohol had been consumed and almost two thousand bottles of cane liquor, which had been distributed among the crowd. † (Marquez 18). The sheer amount of goods that Bayardo purch ased for the party shows that some Christian’s value gluttony and greed. The town’s people failed to warn Santiago about his murder and showed little to no or care. They had audacity to gather around Santiago’s home to witness the crime, as if they did not care.Instead of following the Christian rule their determination to stick to hypocritical honor codes results to consequences such as the loss of innocent lives. Marquez compares the lifestyle of Jesus Christ to the life of Santiago Nasar. â€Å"Santiago put on a shirt and pants of white linen†(page 5). Like Jesus, Santiago wears a white linen shirt on the day he is supposed to die. White is symbolic for innocence and this choice of clothing promotes Santiago Nasar’s innocence. The nature of Santiago’s death is similar to the crucifixion of Christ.Santiago is stabbed through his hand against a wooden door by Pedro and Pablo Vicario, similar to Jesus being nailed to a wooden cross. The knif e â€Å"went through the palm of his right hand and then sank into his side† (Marquez 117). Christ nailed to the cross is a stigma, or â€Å"the bleeding of hands†. While Father Amador performs the autopsy, he discusses Santiago’s wounds and compares Santiago’s wounds to the wounds of Jesus Christ. Father Amador says, â€Å"He had a deep stab in the right hand, it looked like a stigma of the crucified Christ†(Marquez 75).Gabriel Garcia Marquez creates a society that is based on the morals of Christian values. All citizens of the town believe in living honestly, loving, and faithfully, but they seem to believe in values that contradict Christianity. Marquez compares Santiago Nasar physically and ideologically to Christ Jesus. Marquez reveals the social corruption in the town through Santiago’s death. Santiago died for the sake of the Vicario reputation. He died in a way of honor and respect like Jesus. He sacrificed himself for the â€Å"gre ater good† by dying for others' sins.

Shadowing Report

Shadowing Report Interview Date: 04. 08. 2012 Interview Time: 1:00pm Shadowing Date: 04. 12. 2012 Shadowing Time: 8:30am – 2:00pm The person I chose to shadow for this assignment is John Smith who is a friend of mine. He, himself has been in the management profession for the past 4 years or so starting at Pizza Hut. According to him, he worked at Pizza Hut for about six years and was originally hired as a driver. Due to a car accident, the management opportunity fell into his lap and he began training as a shift manager.He moved his way up quickly to become the acting Store Manager, although he says his official title was Assistant Store Manager. He worked for Pizza Hut for a total of 6 years with half of those years in the management position before finally pursuing another job in another city. That job was with Mighty Taco, Inc, which I'm sure you have heard of because the restaurant is a staple to the Buffalo area. He then packed up himself and his family from the Rochester area to move here to accept the position.I asked him why he made that move and he said it was so his wife could get help with their newborn daughter while she went back to school. He said that it was actually his wife who found the listing for the job in the newspaper and encouraged him to send in his resume. Because of his experience with management when working at Pizza Hut, he was essentially hired after one interview. He has now worked for Mighty Taco as a Manager for almost a year and he works with other Managers, including Shift Managers, Managers and General Managers, and crew members.Mighty Taco, Inc, as I mentioned before, is a staple to the Buffalo area that was founded in 1973. The almost 40-year old company describes itself as being synonymous with fast, delicious, Buffalo-style Mexican food and has about 20 different locations. The first Mighty Taco opened up in Buffalo, NY at 1247 Hertel Ave on August 31, 1973, and although that location is no longer around, the compa ny has made its name for itself within the Buffalo community. The restaurants have what you would expect from a fast-food Mexican chain in that they primarily sell tacos and burritos, but with a twist.They have specials such as the â€Å"Roastito† which consists of chicken breast or steak in a tortilla with roasted peppers and onions, cheese and sour cream, the â€Å"El Nino Burrito† which has half a pound of ground beef in it and the â€Å"Mighty Fish Taco† which consists of a battered fish filet, lettuce, tomato cheese and tartar sauce or salsa. One of the things that I believe makes the company so unique is there unusual advertisements. I remember when I first moved to this area a decade ago and saw my first Mighty Taco commercial on the TV.I must say that it weirded me out, but the advertisements have grown on me over the years and I appreciate their uniqueness. From the chanting of â€Å"Mighty Taco, Mighty Taco, Mighty Taco† to â€Å"Buf-Mex at its Best† the company has won the hearts of all within this area. One might think that working in a fast-food restaurant that education and training may not be necessary but I learned very quickly that this is far from the truth. While this may be true to be a crew member, being a manager in this industry requires the manager to be fully prepared and equipped for anything that comes to them, including training and education.When asked about such training, Steve explained that he received most of his training at his previous job at Pizza Hut. There were many training seminars and programs that he had to go through, including mock role plays and information on how to deal with various paperwork. An example of a mock role play he gave was a customer coming in complaining they found a foreign object in their food and how they would handle it. This later came into real life when one day at Mighty Taco a customer actually came up to him with a complaint of a foreign object found in the ir food.He said it was kind of ironic but he handled the situation by the book. He apologized profusely to the customer and offered to remake their order as well as throw in a free bag of chips and cheese. He also filled out the proper paperwork associated with the issue including the batch number of the food, time, date, etc and sent it all the main office. The customer left satisfied and the company was able to address the issue. Another situation in which he put his training in mock role play to use was with a situation with an employee. Employee subordination is something no manager likes to deal with.In fact, Steve said it is one of the more challenging part of his job because no one wants to be a disciplinarian. In this situation, an employee was directed to do dishes before he left for the day by the manager on duty to which the employee refused. The manager on duty again directed the employee to help with the dishes and again the employee refused so Steve was brought in to d eal with the situation. He explained that he sat the employee down and explained to him what would happen if he refused to do the work he was assigned one more time.It would be considered insubordination and there would be repercussions of suspension or even termination. The employee still vehemently refused to do the dishes and Steve had no choice but to write up the employee and suspend him pending termination. The next day the employee was terminated. In this situation, both managers agreed that they handled it by the rule book and sadly it ended up with a non-ideal resolution. These are just many of the items that the training seminars prepare the management for.Since working for Mighty Taco, the only difference he says is that he had to re-certify his food safe certification due to more and more restaurants in the industries making the switch from Prometric to Servsafe. Managers for Mighty Taco typically work a 45 hour work week with at least 5 hours of overtime guaranteed but no more than 7 hours. They get compensated for that overtime with the typical time and a half pay. Steve says that the summer months and Christmas time tend to be busier so he more often than not pushes to the 47 hour mark during those times.The managers typically work one of two shifts, either the opening shift which is 8:30am – 5:30pm or the closing shift which is 5:00pm – 2:00am. While he does not directly work on the schedule, he does have training in making schedules due to his experiences with Pizza Hut. He is trained in making the schedules while complying with various laws associated with schedule making, like scheduling minors. In terms of choosing his work week, he says he typically just rolls with what schedule is given to him but he also gets the days he requests off without an issue.Apparently as long as he works a Monday morning inventory shift every 3 weeks and works a certain amount of open and closing shifts per period, he is free to work whenever, as long as he works 45 hours a week. When it comes to the salary ranges for the various positions within the store, it seems that Mighty Taco, on average, pays higher than other places within the field. He states that the crew members at Pizza Hut only started at minimum wage whereas the crew members at Mighty Taco start at $8 per hour, almost $1 more per hour. The Shift Managers at Mighty Taco start off at about $9. 0 per hour and the Managers start off at about $11 per hour. The General Managers get paid a salary wage that is set by Mighty Taco based upon experience and time with the company. Not only do the employees with Mighty Taco generally get paid higher, but Mighty Taco has some great benefits. For example, the Managers and General Managers get full medical insurance and the General Managers get full medical insurance for their families as well. The only thing Steve has to pay is the co-pays. â€Å"Health insurance is rare enough in the food industry, but to get it paid in fu ll? That's amazing! Steve says. He also receives a week of vacation after being with the company for a year with the maximum going to 4 weeks. Employee evaluations are something that is common to every business and Mighty Taco is no different. Raises within the company are earned through 6 month reviews. Steve explains that his second review is actually coming up because, like previously mentioned, he has been with the company for almost a year. The raises for managers is a percentage based system based upon how the store is doing, how the manager personally does and various other factors.After explaining to me how the performance evaluations are done, I quickly realize that he is talking about a Graphic Rating Scale Method that I learned about in my Human Resources class. A Graphic Rating Scale Method is the most common type of evaluation method which lists a number of traits and a range of performance for each field. Some of the various traits Steve is scored upon include time man agement, training and development of employees, organizational know how, communication, teamwork, etc. According to Steve, teamwork is one that he always scores high on due to his ideals on the importance of teamwork.He believes that in the service industry,your work is also dependent on other people and goes on to say, â€Å"one man cannot do the job alone and it requires teamwork to accomplish any goals for yourself and the company. † The supervisors in the company who conduct these evaluations are the General Manager of the store and the District Manager. Being a manager is something that Steve enjoys with his favorite part pertaining to the management of the employees and helping to improve them as well as himself through the hard work and effort put into the job.He, in particular, really likes working for Mighty Taco because he feels like the company respects all their employees. He says that at his previous job, he did not feel like he or the other employees received an y of the respect they deserved. Being respected is key in maintaining moral and motivating employees. Although he does enjoy it, the job of a manager can be stressful at times. It is the big stuff he dreads, like the before-mentioned issues with crew members, but the little stuff is easy to deal with.Things like not having enough crew members during a busy shift or running out of a particular food or customer complaints. He says the best thing is to remain focused and to try and not let it get to you. He says that as a manager, he cannot let the stress get to him because he is the example to the crew members and must remain professional. However, once he gets home, he relieves stress by spending time with his family, specifically his 10 month old daughter, and playing video games like any typical male in their 20's. Steve would like to stay with the company as long as he can due to the opportunities it has given him.His ultimate goal is to be a District Manager for Mighty Taco, in p articular the one for the new restaurants opening up in Rochester, where he is originally from. He then jokes and says that he'll settle for being promoted to a General Manager position for now. Overall he really likes Mighty Taco as a company and hopes to stay with them for a long time. I shadowed Steve on Thursday, April 12, 2012 during an opening shift from 8:30am to 2:00pm. This is what happened while I was there: Upon entering the store, the alarm was shut off and the ovens were turned on.From there the lights were turned on and he clocked into the system. At this point, he is the only employee in the store and arrived approximately 10 minutes before his shift started. The next employee didn't arrive for about 15 more minutes and he is the cook, hence the ovens being turned on. His next step is to goes into the office to check the manager logs for any important information left by the previous shift's manager. This manager log, he informs me, includes any employee interactions and write ups, and any pertinent information like any cleaning jobs that have to be done today.He tells me that one of these cleaning jobs includes cleaning out the freezer, which is not done very often. From there he pulls all the paperwork and starts to go over any checklists, like the opening checklist. He gets the sales from the previous night and how over or under it is from forecast as well as the labor yield and the cost of sales of food. With all that information written down, he then calls it in to his District Manager. The next thing he does is check all the emails for any customer complaints that came in overnight and anything that may have come in from the main office.Today in the emails, he received a complaint about missing an item on his order and he informs me that this is pretty commonplace. The next big thing he does has to deal with the money in the safe. He made sure that the deposit from the previous night is there and make sure it adds up. He also counted the c hange in the petty cash and called the bank with an order for more change. Once making sure that all the money is there, he then ensures that all of his other employees arrive before going to the bank. Once three more employees arrive, we go on over to the bank at about 9:00am to deposit the money and to get the coin order.Upon returning to the store, he then writes down all the information about the deposit including the credit card log. He then faxed that information over to the office. After the money is situated, he then helped the crew members with setting up the line and making sure everything is in order for the morning. He set up the soda machines, and made fun of me for saying soda rather than pop, he filled up the food wells in the line for the employees and just went around seeing what the employees needed help with. He did this until about 9:45am where he then puts the cash drawers into the register.I ask him if he prefers to work on the line or to work in the office and he tells me he'd prefer to be in the thick of things but he has to the his managerial duty. At 10:00am, he finished the checklist and essentially opens up the store for the customers. Now the day officially begins and it is quite interesting to see everyone working together in this environment. As soon as the store opens, a customer immediately comes in and I ask if this is a normal occurrence. I'm told by Steve and the employees that more often than not, customers do not start showing up until closer to 11:00am.Also at 10:00am, another employee comes in and Steve immediately directs him to do a lot check, which he tells me includes sweeping and emptying the trash outside. At 11:00am, two more employees show up and I ask Steve what is the role of all these employees. Because to me it seems there are a lot of employees but then again, I am not used to this line of work. As it stands right now there are 8 employees plus Steve and he tells me what each of their jobs are. There is a co ok for the morning, but he eventually goes on to register or line depending on where he is needed.There are two employees on register up front, there are two employees on headset/cash-out on drive-thru, there are two employees dedicated to drive-thru line and two employees dedicated to the front counter line. The employees on line are broken down into wrappers and grill. I ask Steve which of these jobs he prefers to help out on and he informs me he prefers wrapping on the front counter line. He also then informs me that when the lunch rush happens at 11:30am, that I need to stay out of everyone's way. I can only describe the lunch rush as being organized chaos.While it is extremely busy, Steve directed all his employees efficiently based upon their strengths and weaknesses. He helped out wherever he was needed and kept up morale and motivation by joking with his employees. The banter back and force is amusing but at the same time questions are being asked about appropriate conduct. For example, questions about what went on a particular taco were often shouted out as well as questions confirming what the customer wanted. Even at the store's busiest moment while I was there, Steve kept his cool when dealing with both employees and customers alike.It seemed to me that everyone worked together efficiently in this environment, bringing about a sense of teamwork. After the lunch rush was over, which was about 1:30pm, we had a moment for me to ask him some questions about his day. I asked him how he prioritized his responsibilities during the day. He explained that there are 5 priorities set by Mighty Taco: customer service, cleanliness in customer area such as the dining room, cleanliness in the kitchen area in customer view, food preparation and food maintenance, and other cleanliness duties.He explains that anything he does throughout the day, he first takes into account the customers because he believes they are one of the most important aspects of his field. I t hen ask him how he decides who gets assigned to which job. He says its based upon their knowledge, skill level, time allotment and willingness to learn. He says that employees that are only there for a short time he more often than not will direct them to do a simple and quick cleaning or preparation job. I also asked him what is the most dangerous thing that has ever happened to him during his time as a manager.I got a startling response that I didn't expect. He started off laughing and saying that he was robbed at gunpoint one time when working at Pizza Hut. Apparently one night close to closing time, a man came in following an employee demanded all the money in the register. In this situation, one that he hopes no one ever has to go through, managers are taught to comply with any and all demands of the perpetrator. Procedure states that in such an event, the police should be called as well as the immediate supervisor and District Manager and the store should be shut down.Sadly th e perpetrator was not found but no one was harmed, which is the main goal in a situation like that. On that scary note, the shadowing was over and I thanked him profusely for allowing me to shadow his job and told him I would contact him with any further questions. Throughout this entire experience, I learned quite a bit of things. I have never worked in a management position before even though that is what my major is. Prior to coming back to school I have only ever worked in the Accounting world, from being a bookkeeper to working in Accounts Payable.While I would still like to stay in that section of the business world, this experience has taught me the hard work that goes into management. I hope to take these experiences and use them to further my career after I graduate, hopefully getting a position as an Accounts Payable Manager. Steve Nadig left me with some good advice for the eventuality of me becoming a manager of some sort which basically was to keep all my paperwork as o rganized as I can. He says that's his least favorite part of the job and he works hard on keeping all his paperwork in order.He also states that I should try to be as unbiased as possible, which I will take to heart because I know first hand what its like to have bias get in the way of a good management decision. Overall I found this to be a wonderful experience and I'm happy for getting the chance to do so. Works Cited â€Å"What Types of Behavior Indicate Insubordination? † Small Business. 21 Apr. 2012 . â€Å"Mighty Taco. † Mighty Taco. 21 Apr. 2012 . Dessler, Gary. â€Å"Chapter 6 Performance Management and Appraisal. † A framework for human resource management. Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011. 174.