Globalisation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Globalisation - Essay Example These dimensions include economic, political, security, environment, and health social, cultural among others. Globalisation was coined in 1980’s but the concept is an ancient one that has a dissimilar significance to most people (Hansen et al, 2010). Apparently, scholars, policy makers and activist see it as a force that could be used to advance the economy in the world while others view the concept as a danger to the economic systems in the world. In light of view of globalisation as the concept that is relevant to the world economy, there is a remarkable increase in worldwide trade and exchanges through increasingly open, integrated and borderless international economy. Besides, remarkable growth has be noted in trade and exchange not only in traditional and international trade of commodities and services, but also in currency exchanges, in capital activities, transfer of technology, movement of people through international travelling and migration, over and above, the flow of information and ideas internationally (Ku?ng, 1998) Globalisation as an Unstoppable Force Globalisation has continually become an unstoppable force especially now when it has opened a golden chance for business, commerce and trade (Dervis and Altinay, 2011). In fact, never before in the history of the world has there emerged such a situation where many goods have been sold to many people in the easiest way as is happening currently. Moreover, the presence of information and communication has enabled everyone to access everything anywhere. In regard to this, markets are continually becoming global, numerous corporations are richer and powerful as compared to some countries. Of importance to note, is that there is a combination of reduced trade barrier, financial liberalisation, over and above, a technological revolt that has totally changed the environment of business in most of the industrialized countries. According to Boesak (2009), globalisation has promised more trade, more market, more business, and more information among other issues. This has been demonstrated through the considerable wealth that has continuously been brought by the tide of globalisation. Why does the World need a Global Set of Ethic rules and What would They be? A global ethic can be described as an ethical perspective which incorporates significant ethical relations between states, between individuals who live in different societies. In the ethic, there are claims with regard to the existence of some universal values and norms concerning obligations that have global scope (Chatterjee, 2011). Consequently, global ethics is a concept that entails ethical inquiry into the nature and explanation of the values and norms that are global. Simply, it articulates various issues that have risen in the recent past such as international aid, security, environmental problems, intervention and human rights. Never the less, scholars interested with global ethics argue that it is not possible of the global ethics to be accepted by the world over to make a single society. Needless to mention, global ethics are crucial and should be accepted as they arguably promote the global goals (Hutchings, 2010). In the event that some global ethics are not embraced by a considerable number of agents, the intended goals are not likely to be attained. Apparently, there can be diverse global ethics and diverse understanding of the goals. Some global ethics

Communication in business Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communication in business - Essay Example Miller (2011) establishes a number of prominent communication barriers. They include physical, system, and attitude barriers. In terms of physical barriers, such divisions are because of actual physical divisions between co-workers or departments; these include workplace cubicles or other such divisions (Miller, 2011). The physical barriers usually occur due to the nature of environment, for example, if staff is located in different buildings or sites – than it is difficult for them to communicate with each other. Similarly, if the management fails to introduce new technology – than it can also cause physical barriers (Miller, 2011). The distractions like poor lighting, background noises, too cold or hot environment can also cause interference in effective communication (Dailey, 2011). Systems barriers are those that are built into the fabric of the organization, preventing employees from clearly understanding who they should communicate concerns, insights, or issues wi th. This barrier usually occurs when there is a problem in the system or structure of an organization. System barriers include inappropriate information systems, lack of training, supervision and duties (Dailey, 2011). Finally, attitude barriers constitute a broad range of personality and cultural differences preventing effective communication (Smith, 2010). ... Within these communication barriers there are a number of further concerns. One such issue is the understanding that much communication is occurring ‘off the grid’. This creates a situation where lower-tier employees are often times left out of important organizational discussions. Guerro (2010) argues that organizations such as Apple Inc. have leveraged such secrecy to great success. Other organizations have additionally created a paternal structure where profits and stability are not shared with employees until the last possible instance (Guerro, 2010). While this approach has the benefit of greater institutional control and strategy, it is clear that a more open organizational culture could be achieved through the establishment of greater personal responsibility. Strati (1999) argues that organizations should establish structures that allow the employees to greater knowledge of business operations contingent on their level of organizational commitment and subordinatio n. Achieving this approach necessitates a fluid and dynamic organizational structure (Strati, 1999). There are a number of elements that could aid the new UK centre of operations communicate more effectively across its UK operations internationally. One important means of encouraging more effective communication is through the establishment of social bonds that go beyond those directly associated with workplace context. Dawn (2010) argues that this can be established through social outings and physical dimensions that encourage a degree of socialization. Dawn (2010) also assets that such practices are applicable to intercultural communication. Still, it is necessary to pay special attention to cultural difference (Dawn, 2010). Taylor and Hanson

Pu Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pu - Essay Example The approach of this paper in measuring the political concerns to health care issues across time is drawing on the information provided by the Policy Agenda project. The policy agenda project employs the services of coders who are experts in categorizing political activities into mutually specialized topic areas. The health agenda is subdivided into 20 subtopics, which are among health care facilities, insurance access, and medical procedures among other divisions. In this volume, political activities over a 50-year period will be analyzed. The paper will make a comparison between Denmark and US and analyze the changing political attention levels to healthcare (Longley, 2007). The political attention will be measured on basis of the subjects discussed in parliamentary debates and questions presented by members of opposition to the government. Every citizen’s expectation is that relative concerns to healthcare have increased along with the rising demand for healthcare services. It is indeed true that through time the political attention on the policy of health care have increased tremendously in both political systems, i.e. in Denmark and in the US. The state of affairs can be attributed to the politicians’ interest to serve the public to appease them that in future they might stand chances for considerations during voting. Careful examination of the overall progress in political attention to healthcare across time shows a gradual increase in the levels of the congress attention to the healthcare policy. The level of concern given to healthcare policy in both the US and the Denmark political systems ranged from 1.5 to 4 percent. This occurrence was with respect of the form of activities that were being carried out by both political institutions. By the year 2002, the level of attention given to the healthcare policy relative to other agendas in both

An organised list Essay Example for Free

An organised list Essay This experiment was carried out by three psychology students to investigate the role of organisation in memory and whether organisation of material helps memory recall.  An opportunity sample of friends and relatives were asked to take part in the study. The sample comprised 34 participants aged between 16 and 60. There were two conditions and the participants were split equally between them. In Condition 1, participants studied a prepared organised list of words and in Condition 2 they studied a random list. Their memory was then tested by free recall. An independent design was used and the results analysed using the Mann-Whitney test. The results showed that organisation does play an important role in memory. Participants who studied the organised list of words recalled significantly more words then those who studied the random list. This supports the findings of other studies into the role of organisation in memory.  BACKGROUND  Memory is an essential part of the human make-up and without it society as we know it would not exist. Whilst there are still questions about how memories are created, stored and retrieved, it seems clear from studies that have been carried out that the more organised information is, the easier the recall is.  Bousfield (1953) showed that even when words were presented in a random order, many participants use some form of categorisation in order to aid their recall. Bousfield took lists of words from several different categories, such as animals or cities, and randomised them. Participants were asked to memorise the list of words and then later were asked to recall as many words as possible. Many of the participants used self imposed categories in order aid their recall of the word list. Other studies have looked at whether pre-organised information is easier to recall. Tulving has conducted much research into cued recall. Tulving and Pearlstone (1966) studied the effects of cued recall. Participants were read list of words which were all under a category name. They were asked to memorise the words but not the category headings and were then split into two groups. When the first group were asked to recall as many words as possible, they were given the category headings to aid them (cued recall). The second group were asked to free recall. The group which were given the category headings recalled more words; suggesting that organisation into categories aids memory retrieval. Bower (1969) also studied the effects of organisation on memory. Again participants were split into two groups. Each group was shown a total of 112 words separated onto four cards. One group had cards on which the words were presented in logical branching diagrams, and the second group had cards on which the words were presented randomly on the branches. The process of studying the cards and recalling as many words as they could was repeated four times. The group whose cards had been presented in a logical manner recalled all 112 words in the final two recalls; the other group averaged just 70 words on the final recall. The study again suggests that material presented in logical categories is more easily stored and recalled from memory. Other investigations have been undertaken into whether memory is improved by participants organising material into categories themselves. Wittrock and Carter (1975) used lists similar to those used by Bower but the ordering of the words was in a random format. Half of the participants were asked to simply copy out the list of words, whilst the other half were asked to order them logically before writing them down. Recall was greater in those who had been asked to organise the lists of words themselves. They also carried out the same experiment but with organised lists of words. Again recall was greater in the groups that had been asked to impose their own organisation on the lists suggesting that recall will be greater when the learner has some input into the organisation of the material. Mandler (1967) also used self categorisation within his study. Participants were given words printed on cards and asked to organise them into categories (at least 2 but no more than 7). These participants recalled more words than those who had been given words as a random list. Mandler also found that the more categories participants had used, the greater the number of words recalled. This suggests that the greater the organisation of material, the better the memory storage and retrieval. It also appears that in order to aid recall, actively organising information is at least as important as the intention to learn. The most efficient learners were those that actively sought to categorise the material to be learned, however, most people only did this when they were asked to do so.  All of the above studies arrive at the same conclusion; that the better the organisation of information, the better the recall of that information, particularly when that information has been organised by the learner.

Business continuity and disaster recovery planning

Business continuity and disaster recovery planning Business continuity plan and Disaster recovery plan is activity to help organisation prepare for disruptive events and it is essential to consider the potential impact of disaster and understand the underlying risks. In this my research, I explore business continuity planning and Disaster recovery planning and its importance in support of operation and establish to manage availability of critical process in the event of interruption. Introduction Business continuity planning (BCP) and disaster recovery planning (DRP) is a vital role in the organisation. These plans are basic to the well being of an organisation and anticipated to make sure stability in the face of unexpected or difficult situation. Planning for these conditions is not always directly ahead neither identifies appropriate cause of information, products, and services. These tasks are also challenging and build of the plan itself. These plans has provision of information and guidance to identify the suitable tools and used in the right time. Organisation has created this plan itself and necessary to consider the possible impacts of disaster and recognize the fundamental risks and build BCP and DRP. Following these activities the plan itself must be constructed no small task. This itself must then be maintained, tested and audited to ensure that it remains appropriate to the needs of the organization. These plans are calculated to consider all these issues and find the software to assist with BIA and risk analysis along with link the tools to help to create, maintain, and audit the plan itself. (BCP, 2004) BCP and DRP are significant to the clear and continue operation of all type of business. BCP involves developing a reaction strategy for organisation respond to disaster. Disaster occurs through power failure, accident, natural, IT system Clash, insider attacks, hacking, terrorism etc. (Barney, 2010) BCP check how organisation will take to maintain its operations in emergency and identify potential disasters or emergencies, verify how intend to minimize the risk of disaster occur, creating plan reaction, test BCP regularly. These strategies assume increase importance as organisation become increasingly reliant on technology to do business. As companies place more emphasis on IT and communications services to support their customer communications and transactions, or to help manage supply chains. They become less tolerant of information and service loss as a consequence of disasters. (4service, 2010) This research work deal with business continuity plan will keep business up and running through interruption of any kind of disaster and support of operations and establish to manage availability of critical process. 1.1 Identify and critically explore business continuity and its importance in business environment, distinguish between business continuity (BC) and disaster recovery (DR) planning. Business Continuity Business continuity planning identifies the exposure of organisation internal and external threats and creates information assets to provide useful prevention and recovery for the organisation and maintain economical benefit and value of system integrity and perform policies, procedures, processes, and plans to certify the continue function in the organisation. Business continuity plan take to prevent disruption of essential services and restore function as rapidly and smoothly. Business continuity planning develops the business ability to respond to such disruption and resume operations in order to meet business significant necessity. BCP Importance in business environment Business continuity is a process build up to counter system failure. If IT system fails, its major impact on the whole business consequently organisation should take dynamic interest in start business continuity plan for IT systems. A business continuity plan for your IT systems should include arrangements for providing: Facilities and services to enable the business to continue to function; The critical IT applications and infrastructure necessary to support the recovery of business processes. (Varney, 2010) It is important the BCP plan is clear and brief to certify to every user read it and build available to all staff responsible for any part of it and it is start of ongoing commitment and also update the business continuity plan. (Varney, 2010) Distinguish between BCP and DRP Business Continuity Planning Disaster Recovery Planning Business Continuity is Proactive; Disaster Recovery is Reactive; BCP focus is to avoid or mitigate the impact of the risk; DRP focus is to pick-up the part and re-establish the organisation to business following risk occurs; BCP has as its scope the entire organisation with critical goal being recovery of mission-critical/ middle business functions to make sure the endurance of the organisation; DRP is normally limited in scope to set of classify IT system and infrastructure with goal being entire recovery of the system and infrastructure within a timeframe and minimum data loss; Business functions to recover in BCP extend beyond IT system; DRP might exclude non-IT business units; (Nickolett, 2001) BCP fill up the gap between the disruption occurrence and recovery going on. DRP engage a breakdown, loss of the systems, people, and facilities. The disruption can impact any or all of these key business inputs. 1.2 Evaluate and explain some business worst case scenarios for risk assessment, assess different types of organisational assets. Worst case scenarios for risk assessment There are many worst cases scenarios for risk assessment some are as below: Information data lost Disaster can damage the database and organisation loss confidential data such as staff, customer, vender details and other sensitive information; Information system failure There are many worst cases in information system failure such as overlooked, quality of project planning, use of management tools, object-oriented system development, use software engineering tools and system essential services can stop for time being etc. (Megaessays 2010) Information asset lost Due to the weak security measures Information assets can damage from natural disaster and internal activities in the organisation; Natural Disaster Natural disaster are unexpected and it is impossible to fully recover the damage caused by the disaster but it is possible to minimise the potential risk by developing BCP/DRP. (Banger, 2010) Power failure Sometime disruption of power supply or power failure can stop work, services failure, breakdown etc. It can effect in the business. There is one real example of the worst case scenarios for risk assessment is Midmarket CIOs. This company is on the seventh floor of a building but one day in the next office door the water filter cracked in the office kitchen and sending water flow on the floor and under the wall into facilities. Although critical servers remained dry, the flood ruined equipment that was on the office floor, including 10 surge protectors, six uninterruptible power supplies, six power bricks and one PC. While things were drying out and a length of wallboard was replaced. CIOs implemented DRP to ability for total different incident because floods, fires, power failures and pandemic flu can occur. CIOs take step back and start with risk assessment of all the risks business faces and using risk management tools to calculate worst case scenarios in IT and effect potential loss will have on the business. (Midmarket, 2009) Different types of organization assets There are following different types of organisation assets to protect in BCP and DRP are: Desktop workstation, Laptops, Servers, Printers, Scanners, Firewalls, Routers, Switches, Memory devices etc; Licences Software CDs such as windows, Antivirus, MS Office, software tools and support, other operating system etc; Database, websites, Photo Copiers, Fax Machines, Telephone System, Multifunction machines etc; Paper file records like asset register, paper files, data, books, government legislation, policies and procedures, customer data and sensitive data etc; Electronic records such as emails, organisation shared drives and personal drives, DVDs, CDs, Memory sticks etc; Maps, drawers, chairs, desks, cabinets, etc; Qualified staffs, Record management, etc; Machines, Plants, building, fire extinguishers etc. 1.3 Explain critically disaster recovery business case, list down and appraise required documentation for BCP and DRP. Disaster recovery business case The most critical parts of any IT plan explain the business case and assess of the potential risks to the organisation. There are eight following project steps in Disaster Recovery Planning in business are: Step-1: Project introduction Set the objectives of the DRP initiation, define the scope, develop, schedule and identify the risk to the project; Step-2: Assess of Disaster Recovery Assess of location, building composition, computing environment, physical plant security, installed security devices, access control system, software, personal, backup, and operating practices; Step-3: Business Impact Analysis for IT Analysis of all part of business units to support by the IT areas should assume to identify the system and its functions to continuation of the business and the time limit; Step-4: Define of requirements All requirements must be defined and detailed; Step-5: Plan the project project planning will define the project to be executed and its objectives will develop the DRP; Step-6: Execute the project Project must proceed to practices of project management and identify the methods of mitigating the risk will execute; Step-7: BCP combination DRP needs to combine back in to the organisations business continuity efforts; Step-8: ongoing maintenance and combination Ongoing maintenance and testing efforts require keeping the plan up to date and processes to identify and mitigate future risks. Required Documentation for BCP and DRP There are following necessary document for Business Continuity Plan and Disaster Recovery Plan in the organisation to make a best pan for long run business as follows: Organisation Chart [explain names and designation]; If existing BRP and DRP and their terms explain in the documentations; Scope of BCP and DRP, Procedures and control documents; The report of Business impact analysis and risk assessment report; Staff, list of vendors, list of emergency services, advisor contact details; Details of IT system and communication system specification include maintenance agreements; Existing evacuation procedure, Health safety procedures, fire regulations, operations and administrative procedures; Details organisation asset, information assets, and IT records; Relevant organisation regulations, guidelines and insurance information. Details any other documents for the support of BCP and DRP. (Yourwindow,2010) 1.4 Demonstrate and explore pragmatic approach towards project planning and initiation, describe how to evaluate risk and control in terms of BCP/DRP. Pragmatic approach towards project planning and initiation A pragmatic approach towards project planning needs to be comprehensive and cover all relevant aspects and factors in BCP and DRP. There are some BCP and DRP following steps as follows: Business continuity plan Step-1: Identify strategy objective through performing needs and create outline for strategy performance; Step-2: Establish the business value and identify recovery objectives through data risk and recovery time outline; Step-3: Technology will equivalent for data protection along with backup, disaster recovery etc; Step-4: Identify infrastructure and organisational plan; Step-5: Implement technologies and inform key personnel as to which business processes are impacted; Step-6: Test the documented plan continuously; Step-7: Calculate and authenticate test results comparative to the plans objectives; Step-8: Implement required development and priority as a result of continue testing and evaluation; Step-9: continue review and enhance the BRP to replicate organisation change and added new technologies; Step-10: Ensure the entire process continuously. (Miller, 2007) Disaster Recovery Plan There are following steps to DRP involves: Outline DRP team with senior executives from IT department with specific responsibilities; Perform Business impact analysis and Risk analysis for business assets, threats and impacts the risk can tolerate need to be determined; Develop recovery strategies IT security measures like backup etc; Implementation, testing and training the employee must be trained in the disaster recovery procedures and testing capabilities; Need to carry out periodic audit, review and drills of BCP and DRP; Types of disaster which need to be addressed; The essential business processes and activities which are needy on IT; The data and application software needs to be recovered and restored in case of disaster and IT services need to continue function of the event; The IT infrastructure need to host the data and application software; DRP arrange strategies and implementation such as backup and protection facility; Challenges and emerging threats.(Periasamy, 2007) Bottom of Form Evaluate risk and control in terms of BCP/DRP Evaluate the risk is vital activity in the organisation. There are major threats against business continuity plan and disaster recovery plan are: Risk or threats Natural disaster Fire, flood, earthquake, volcanic eruption, tornadoes, cyclone, heat wave water disaster etc; Information system threats software failure, loss of information and data, system failure, cyber crime, multiple machine failure, capacity overload, network failure, etc; Planned activities war, terrorist attacks, hacking, breach the network and database, data theft, unauthorised modification of content, phishing etc; Lack of utilities power failure, electricity fail, air conditioning failure etc; Other vital threats Internal violence and dispute, legislative violation, labour strike, other strike, etc. Controls Classify the risk (High, medium, low) it will be easy to describe the risk; Control must be according to the risk like backup system, data, building etc; Proper monitoring the risks and threats; Risk must be clear and explain; Risk evaluations identify the threats which help to control it. 1.5 Critically explain business impact analysis (BIA) activity and describe how to execute it, assess emergency response and operations during period of IT disruption. Business impact analysis activity Business impact analysis is an important part of any organisation business continuance plan.BIA is a logical process to identify business significant systems and activity as sign to any business continuity, disaster recovery, or emergency planning effort and reveal vulnerabilities and planning component to develop strategies for minimizing risk. One or more risk identifies causes of the loss of the application, systems, tools or other resource upon that activity is dependent. BIA identifies cost related to failures and it report measure the importance of business components and recommend suitable fund allocation for measures to protect them. (Miller, 2010) How to execute BIA Business impact analysis execute following guideline to allow organisation are as follows: Effectively identify the proper organisational impact of any unexpected disruption of essential information processing systems such as fire, earthquake, theft etc; Identify threats sources and significant vulnerabilities which can lead to unexpected outages / service disruption; Execute suitable protect to reduce the likelihood and consequences should identify threats happen; Increase cost effective and suitable contingency plans and important component disaster recovery / business continuity planning. Emergency response and operations during the period of IT disruption In case of IT disruption or failure, every organisation has quick emergency response plan to stop and control any damages. Emergency response facility is available in every organisation and DRP team identify the threats of failures. Some of the major elements of emergency response plan as below: Emergency response plan and procedure; Command, control and emergency operations centre; Emergency reporting procedure, employee evacuation plans, health and safety, security plans; Identify the disaster in IT; Personnel protection, incident control, effect assessment, choose maximum action etc; Emergency response components such as incident preparation, emergency action, facility stabilization, damage mitigation, and testing procedures etc. (Hui, Z,2010) Above elements help to stop the disaster and resume as soon as possible in every organisation. 1.6 Explore and appraising different developing and implementing business continuity strategies used by most organisations. Developing and implementing business continuity strategies The business continuity strategies have five key stages in developing and implementing used by organisation as follows: Understand the business Project initiation and create a management structure to build up and carry out the plan; Identify the risk and perform risk evaluation and control; Establish your business impact analysis process and identify the impact of any failures. Business continuity management Develop business continuity strategy and identify the areas and focus on the critical operating requirement of the business; Develop a process level and documented structure stating how significant process will be restarted subsequent failures. Business continuity response Establish a crisis management process to respond to incidents; Focus on overall business continuity strategy; Put in place business unit plans for every department. Develop business continuity management culture Awareness and training plans; Review the effectiveness of awareness training plans. Exercising, maintenance and audit Test the business continuity plans and technical aspects; Maintain the plan and ensure that the documentation remains accurate and reflects any changes inside or outside the business; Regularly audit plans. (Business link,2010) Conclusion I conclude that Business continuity plan and Disaster recovery plan play vital role in every organisation and BCP is ideal strategy to safe business away from a complete disaster because every organisation faces different type of risk and potential disaster and it is an essential tool to allow minimizing the risk and also continuously helps to stop IT disruption and services. BCP involve IT as the main component because every business relies on computer system and its existence can be equalised to the business itself. Recommendation BCP should recognize organisational structure including incident and risk assessment cover all business activities and document strategy for recovery of the organisation all main areas of the business process and DRP team should deal with disaster recovery phases to complete and minimize the disaster as soon as possible. I recommend following key points related to BCP and DRP plan to become a successful plan in the organisation as below: Employee training timely; Perform schedule test and evaluation of test result; Implement of test plan updates; Conduct crisis management exercises; Perform business impact analysis timely; Top management support every time;

Listening Skills in Communication

Listening Skills in Communication Communication is the key to personal, financial, and entrepreneurial success. Seminars constantly tout the importance and crucial role of effective communication, especially in order to succeed at business. However, one aspect of communication skills that is often overlooked is the effective use of non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication can be summed up as all the other parts of language that give us visual and non-audible clues in order to correctly interpret the meaning and intent of the speaker in a conversation. Non verbal communication can be communicated through gestures and touch also known as Haptic communication by body language or posture, by facial expression and eye contact. Non verbal communication can even be communicated through objects such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture, symbols and graphics. For example, when one goes to a job interview, khaki pants can convey a range of meaning anywhere from oh, Im here to the well-dressed and ready to conquer, all based on the style, quality, cut, and fit of the pant. Simplistic yes, but tried and proven as well. By the same token, wearing blue jeans to a job interview, no matter how dressy the pant, sends an underlying message of casualness that may not be the chord to strike, depending on the position and industry. Also, speech contains nonverbal elements known as paralanguage, which include factors like voice quality, emotion and speaking style, as well as the spoken rhythm, word intonation or inflection and stress. Dance is also regarded as a nonverbal communication. Likewise, written texts have nonverbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, graphical or design arrangements or the use of emoticons. However, much of the study of nonverbal communication has focused on face-to-face interaction, where it ca n be classified into three main focuses: environmental conditions where communication takes place, the physical characteristics of the speakers, and behaviors of the speakers during interaction. While not a traditionally defined form of non verbal communication, effective listening skills are arguably the most prized set of communication skills for any businessperson to develop in order to achieve success. Furthermore, effective listening skills impact not only the professional sphere, but the personal and emotional health and overall well being of a person. Many experts disagree on the number of specific components that encompass an effective listener, yet there are certain key elements that are generally accepted as guidelines to make a listener more effective and serve to enhance the quality of communication between the involved parties. Listening is one of those special skills that, because we can hear, we tend to believe that we can automatically listen. Yet for many people hoping to facilitate, listening is the most difficult skill to master. As I write this I am remembering one of todays well-worn clichà ©s, often used by those who arent listening: I hear what you ar e saying, but.So says Mr. Trevor Bentley, who has developed a very specific set of criteria to define an effective listener. In his article, The special skills of listening, he states that specific situations require specific responses or set of listening skills. According to Bentley, one can narrow these instances to six main groups, which consist of monologue, dialogue, conversation, discussion, debate, and argument. Websters defines a monologue to be an extended uninterrupted speech by a character in a drama. The character may be speaking his or her thoughts aloud, directly addressing another character, or speaking to the audience, especially the former. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media (plays, films, animation, etc.). In daily life, a monologue refers to that one individual who talks incessantly upon all subjects, often without pause to consider the effect of any of their utterances upon those in their immediate vicinity. On the other hand, dialogue is an interaction of sorts, its everyday basis and counterpart is a conversational exchange between two or more people. Now, a conv ersation is by definition communication between multiple people. It is a social skill that can be accomplished by the average individual. Conversations are the ideal form of communication in some respects, since they allow people with different views on a topic to learn from one another. For a successful conversation, the partners must achieve a workable balance of contributions. A successful conversation includes repeating, answering, creating and countering connections between the speakers or things and topics that the speakers know. For this to happen, those engaging in conversation must find a topic on which they both can relate to in some sense. They speak or from personal experience or from others observations and knowledge. Those engaging in conversation naturally tend to relate the other speakers statements to themselves. They may insert aspects of their lives into their replies, to relate to the other persons opinions or points of conversation. Again, all these are examples of different forms of listening. Finally there are discussions, debates, and arguments. While one can argue that these are all escalating forms of the same condition, the general meaning and reference of these three words is an explanation of an issue or a topic, compared and contrasted according to logical rules, and factually affirmed by persuasion and logic to declare one viewpoint in better standing than the other. Bentley recommends that in order to maximize communication in each of these situations one should chose a level on which to listen again, based upon the situation and to use a combination of directive, facilitative and active listening to have the most effective communication occur. His eight stages of listening cover non-listening, passive listening, judgmental listening, attentive listening, visual listening, reflective listening, active/creative listening, and directive listening. While the Bentley system has very logical and effective solutions to many communication dilemmas and situations, othe r experts take a more instinctive and generalized view of effective listening and non-verbal communication. In the article Turn listening into a powerful presence, Richard Harris states that Better-than-average listeners are keenly aware of the following important issues: partnership, reviewing systematically, effort, star events, empathy, neutralizing snap judgments, and tenacity. Listening is not by any stretch of the imagination a passive endeavor if practiced correctly or effectively. As a listener, one is always trying to receive or understand the meaning of the conversation, while dealing with all the non-verbal communicational clues on a subconscious level. If you are blindfolded in a room with some friends, you could participate in conversation actively. However, your responses and understanding could range from a little bit off to very misdirected, depending on how many visual cues and gestures you miss due to the blindfold. Active listening is not just generating responses to sounds or answering the question. It requires the listeners to understand, interpret, and analyze what is heard. Today, the ability to listen is an invaluable skill in interpersonal commun ication. It improves personal relationships by reducing conflicts, strengthening cooperation, as well as fostering understanding. Harris stresses the importance of practicing the issues that arise when holding a conversation, fully confident that a normal person can adapt and learn these techniques in order to become a more effective communicator. Sometimes effective listening is simply making sure that one is completely engaged in the conversation, suspending judgment, and making evaluations after all the issues have been discussed. However, it is not natural for humans to listen in this form, and patience and practice are key aspects to developing natural listening skills, which will eventually feel like a normal part of the mental acrobatics exercised on a daily basis by anyone who must communicate in any form. Effective listening is essential for anyone who wants to perform at his or her best, work easily and gracefully, and learn effectively. Few people realize that the art of listening has everything to do with intuition and little to do with the mental gymnastics of trying to concentrate on the words themselves. As you begin to see listening as an art and conversation as something that creates beauty, you will begin to understand how your own thoughts interfere with the experience. One expert argues that the less thinki ng that goes on during a conversation, the more effective the listener is, because more of the actual conversation is retained and absorbed.(Gunn) This particular expert states that in his personal research, the more open and clear a person is when engaged in conversation, the more recall is available after the conversation. Intuition and feelings are also very important to this particular theorist. For effective listening, this theory requires one to be very aware of the feelings that are being inspired throughout the course of the conversation, to be stored in the memory and analyzed after the conversation is over, which one presumably will have more recall thereof since one did not get mentally distracted by emotions or thoughts during the conversation. Effective listening is also closely related to non verbal communicational forms such as gestures. Gestures are another tool that can be used to maximize a listeners input on the conversation and its outcome. While this specific tool is very culture based, it can be very effective when interpreted and practiced correctly. One of the most common cultures to use gestures in the United States is the Latin-Americans. Gestures allow individuals to communicate a variety of feelings and thoughts, often together with body language in addition to words when they speak. For example, in the Cuban culture there is quite an amount of hand gesturing that leads throughout a conversation. Depending on the speed of the gesture shows the mental or emotional state of the person doing the speaking; if smooth motions are made with the hands, the words being said are meant to pacify or to be taken calmly, regardless of their content. Though gestures are not part of syntactic language, their processing take s place in the same areas of the brain used by speech and sign language. Another simple form of listening is reflective listening. Reflective listening is a communication strategy involving two key steps: seeking to understand a speakers idea, then offering the idea back to the speaker, to confirm the idea has been understood correctly. It attempts to reconstruct what the client is thinking and feeling and to relay this understanding back to the client. Reflective listening is a more specific strategy than the more general methods of active listening. It arose from Carl Rogers school of client-centered therapy in counseling theory. (Hughes) It is important to observe the other persons actions and body language. Having the ability to interpret anyones body language allows the listener to develop a more accurate understanding of the speakers words and possibly even the intent of the conversation, which may or may not be audibly stated. Having heard, the listener may restate or paraphrase what the speaker is saying. This is a technique for reassuring the spe aker of ones undivided attention. It really does not imply understanding or agreement. In emotional conversations, a good listener may intuit or sense underlying feelings and emotions. For example, when in an argument, one would say I sense you are angry. Can you tell me why? Again, the interplay between the non verbal clues and tools such as gestures and reflection all play a role in maximizing the effectiveness of the listener. While one cannot make a judgment call about the best way to listen, it is clear that the most definitive way to become an effective listener is to be mentally ready and to challenge oneself to practice skills that lead to naturally recalling and understanding everything that is said and intimated in conversation. While listening has much to do with the physical ability of the person, the intellectual application for effectiveness is more of a mental and psychological exercise that can only improve with constant practice. Not to trash the visually impaired, but the eyes are consistently the best source for all the cues that guide effective listeners. For many in the business world, the time spent becoming an effective listener will be priceless in terms of communication that can open doors and opportunities. Furthermore, an effective listener that applies their professional success to their personal life can also ensure a very productive and emotionally satisfying life, because all of us have something to say, and everyone wants to be heard. In the words of Bishop TD Jakes, Listen with your ears. The ears work better when windpipes are closed. Listen with your mind. Many times words are based on a point of reference that you may not be aware of. Listen with your heart. Many times words do not convey whats in the heart; so when you listen, hear what is said but also what is meant. Compassion is a critical part of understanding. It is difficult to love people without understanding them. Love seeks to understand. Listening with your heart will take away your natural propensity to be selfish. Listen with your heart. Many times words do not convey whats in the heart; so when you listen, hear what is said but also what is meant. Compassion is a critical part of understanding. It is difficult to love people without understanding them. Love seeks to understand. Listening with your heart will take away your natural propensity to be selfish. Sound words to guide the spiri tual health of his parishioners, but also very applicable to any successful individual in todays world.

How Seamus Heaneys Childhood Affected His Poetry Essay -- Seamus Hean

How Seamus Heaney's Childhood Affected His Poetry Seamus Heaney was born in the North of Ireland in 1939 on a farm with his mother and father and nine other siblings. Generally Heaney's poems are influenced by animals through his childhood experience, specifically within 'The Early Purges' and 'An Advancement of Learning'. Heaney grew up near Belfast, during the time of 'The Troubles', the Irish civil war. Although Heaney left at the height of the war, it is obvious his work reflects his experiences of that time. For an example 'The Early Purges' illustrates this. "Where they consider death unnatural". Growing into an environment where Heaney will appreciate that death does exist, the extract interprets killing to be artificial. Many of Heaney's early poems dealt with experiences of childhood and a frequent theme is how these experiences affect us. One poem that deals with a childhood experience is "The Early Purges". The title immediately suggests that the poem is about getting rid of undesirables. It is about a particular incident and how we lose innocence, describing the effects of Heaney witnessing the killing of "frail" and "tiny" kittens. The words, "Soft paws scraping like mad" suggests how helpless and vulnerable the kittens are; they are so small that they are unable to climb out of the bucket. The word, "soft" indicates a feeling of guilt about destroying the helpless kittens. The kittens are made to seem innocent and vulnerable through the language used. The words, "frail metal sound" and "tiny din" imply that the kittens don't make enough noise to be significant. They are only small and powerless. Metal cannot be described as frail but the kittens illustrate this. Also din cannot be express... ...ut how we lose innocence. It is ambiguous and ironic - poet appears to endorse the view that "sentiments" displaced by "living" are "false", but ends with an unconvincing clichà ©: "Pests have to be kept down", and a cheap jeer at townies. In fact the young Heaney's reaction is the one the poet really approves. The Poem recalls a particular incident (the "first" time Heaney, as a boy, witnessed the farmhand killing kittens) and how he (the poet) became used to this in time. Now, he writes, he has a similar indifference to the death of animals. Dan Taggart justifies action by suggesting the kitten have no values "scraggy wee shits" and adult Heaney does the same, even swearing like Dan Taggart "bloody pups". We see older person try to deceive child to protect him from his compassion ("Sure isn't it better for them now?" - but the child is not convinced).