Technology Addicts :: Technological Communication Essays

Technology Addicts Five empty chairs form a circle in the center of the room. Slowly but surely, people begin to make their way into the room. A young man dressed in a black suit sits down with his Newsweek and briefcase. He adjusts his tie, clears his throat, and pushes his wire-rimmed glasses up onto the bridge of his nose. A teenage girl sits down beside him, tucking blonde strands of hair behind her ears to reveal tiny white headphones attached to her iPod. She crosses her right leg over the left, tapping her foot in mid-air to the beat. The worn wooden door creaks open again, slamming shut behind a twenty-something carrying a thin silver laptop computer. He slouches down into the chair with an exasperated sigh and begins to type furiously at the keyboard. The businessman glares over the top of his glasses at him when the familiar chimes of instant messaging become as frequent as the taps of the keys. The young man continues, oblivious to his surroundings. The clock on the wall ticks closer to seven o'clock as the last two people amble in. A middle-aged woman sits down with her knitting, occasionally stopping to jot notes in the sleek PDA beside her. Finally, a woman with a clipboard comes through the door and takes her seat, completing the circle. She clears her throat and begins. "Good evening, and welcome to group therapy. Let's go over the ground rules: First no technology allowed at meetings. Put away your iPod, laptops, PDAs, etc. RIGHT NOW. And don't bring them back to these meetings or they will be confiscated." The group members scowl as they slowly wind up wires. "My only other rule is that you participate. You won't get anything out of group therapy if you don't put anything into it. Let's begin." * * * What would our lives be like if technology were our life support? We would probably not be able to go an entire day without emails, instant messaging, or the World Wide Web. Cell phones might as well be permanently attached to our ears.

Leadership in a Global Environment

Management vs. Leadership Management Leadership – Vision & strategy – Keeping an eye on the horizon – Creating shared values – Helping others grow – Reducing boundaries – Focusing on people – Based on personal power – Acting as a coach – Emotional connections – Open mind – Listening – Nonconformity – Insight into self – Creates change and a culture of integrity Source: Daft (2008), p. 15 Leadership Direction: Planning & budgeting – Keeping an eye on the bottom line – Organizing & staffing – Directing & controlling – Creating boundaries – Focusing on products – Based on position power – Acting as boss – Emotional distance – Expert mind – Talking – Conformity – Insight into organization Alignment: Relationships: Personal Qualities: Outcomes: – Maintains stability – Creates culture of efficienc y Definition of culture Internet in Leadership Germany Members of a group or a society sharing a distinct way of life with common values, attitudes and behaviors that are transmitted over time in a gradual, yet dynamic process.Source: Harris, J. E. / Moran, R. T. (1979). International Context Culture Bbehavior Values Attitudes Source: Adler (2002) p. 17. Values – attitudes – behavior Internet in Leadership Germany Values => explicit or implicit desirable to an individual or group => influences the selection from available modes, mearns and ends of action International Context => can be both consciously and unconsciously Attitudes => expresses values and disposes a person to act or react in a certain way to something Bbehavior => any form of human action Source: Adler ( 2002), p. 18. Linking values to behavior Internet in Leadership GermanyBbehavior Value Sample Countries/Areas China/Thailand Australia/United States 1 2 Use of understatement Asking people to call you by your first name Taking off from work to attend the funeral of an aunt Not helping the person next to you on an exam Disagreeing openly with someone at a meeting Not laying off an older worker whose performance is weak H Indirectness F Informality Centrality of family Self-reliance 3 B Venezuela/Korea International Context 4 5 6 I Switzerland/Canada Germany/England A Directness E Respect for age Japan/Pakistan 7 At a meeting agreeing with a suggestion you think is wrong D Saving faceAsia generally 8 Inviting the teaboy to eat lunch with you in your office J Egalitarianism Cambodia/Vietnam 9 Asking the headmaster's opinion about something you're an expert on G Defence to authority India/Brazil 10 Accepting, without question that something can't be changed C External Control Saudi Arabia/Turkey Source: www. uop. edu/sis/culture. Culture: The hidden dimension Culture has observable aspects and suspected, imagined, or intuited. Internet in Leadership Germany Holiday customs Facial expre ssions Paintings Food Music Eating habits Literature Concept of personal space Work ethic GesturesInternational Context Rules of social etiquete Religious beliefs Concept of beauty Childraising beliefs Importance of time Values Concept of leadership Concept of fairness Concept of self General world view Nature of friendship Source: www. uop. edu/sis/culture. Cultural dimensions by Hofstede Internet in Leadership Germany – based on the first and most detailed cross-cultural research study – national culture explained more of the differences in work-related values and attitudes than did position, profession, age or gender International Context 1. Power distance . Individualism 3. Masculinity 4. Uncertainty avoidance 5. Long term orientation Source: www. geert-hofstede. com. Power distance Internet in Leadership Germany 1. Power distance = degree of equality, or inequality, between people in the country's society. International Context High Power Distance – Core va lue: respect for status – Core distinction: powerful/dependant – Key element: centralization Low Power Distance – Core value: people‘s equality – Core distinction: whether or not responsible for a certain task – Key element: decentralization Individualism 2.

Pursasive Paper on Why College Gap Years Are a Good Thing.

Another reason gap years are a good thing is that is enforces responsibility. When a student wants to undergo a gap year there are a lot of steps and processes that need to be made. Some might say that this might just overwhelm the student anyways, but it will not. It helps the students understand the responsibilities to have this goal of their pursued. Gap years, like stated before, are not just for getting out of school work for a year. By organizing your own gap year you are forced to take ownership and responsibility of your plan.You will have to decide where you are going to go, what exactly you are going to do and how you are going to pay for your trip. You may have to make your own travel plans and living arrangements. You are ultimately responsible for all the details that go into making your gap year dream become a reality. A gap year student, Ashley Jamkins, graduate from University of Arkansas 2011 says, â€Å"When I first discussed gap year with my parents I did not real ize just how much planning and organizing was going to be needed to make this happen.I am thankful though, because it made me an all-around better organized person in all aspects, not just in my schooling. † (Green). College is a child’s first time away from home, where no one is going to tell them to go do the work that needs to be done, planning a gap year and pursuing one definitely helps students get their head around being self-motivated and self-organized to get what they need to get done accomplished.Every parent’s worst nightmare is seeing their son or daughter get kicked out of school because they were lacking in school work and responsibilities. Gap years only help in the following fall for the responsibility students will not only need in college, but the rest of their lives. In conclusion, Students who take a gap year tend to be self-motivated, not afraid of taking a risk, not bound by conventions and open to explore their interests and discover their passions.

History of Brazil Essay

Brazil the only Portuguese speaking country of South America, was founded by Spanish and Portuguese in the same year of 1500, but was handed over to the Portugal in the agreement of Torsdesillas (Bamber Gascoigne,gtu). Since the time of its colonization from 1500 until the late 1930, export of principal products has been subjected. Joao VI the sole sovereign when returned to Portugal, his apparent to the throne was Pedro, who surged a sequence of progressive political differences, which ultimately led to the independence of Brazil by 1822, leading to an era of kingship by Dom Pedro. His son Pedro II continued his legacy and led a more efficient government more than his father till 1889, where he was deposed by military coup. After that there were two more military coups in 1930 and later in 1964, but since 1985, democracy slowly returned to the snagged state. But in the midst of all the political and military drama, somehow the country’s economy was on the move. The history of the country indicates of its troubled pasts, and its love affairs with military coups, but since the last three decades, the country’s political frame has been stable, leading to ample opportunity for company like ours. Brazil Demography and Economy Brazil today has a population of more than 183 million people, with a high literacy rate of more than 86% (BIGS, Brazil today). A very strong positive indication, of a healthy literate population, briefly a very lucrative consumer mass for our product. Brazil comes in one of the front leaders of a leading economy in the world. It is an elite member of trillion dollar GDP group of the world. It is one of the fastest growing economies of the world, and slowly but surely, this country has become members of varied monetary unions, like Mercosur, and G-20. Brazil’s GDP has grown at an alarming 5. 1 % in the financial year of 2007, and with a very strong GDP per capita income of $8800 and also the Brazilian currency BRL$ is very strong, as 1 USD is near about less than BRL$ 2. This 8th largest economy of the world would prove to provide substantial buyers of our product in due course of time. Brazil’s Lifestyle Brazilian culture is a very open culture, with very less of taboos, and from the early times has been into music, and dance. Being a highly diversified culture with a huge mix of ethnic groups, Brazil has a very rich heritage. Music is one of the lifelines of Brazilians, and it can be stated form the fact that, way before their independence, Brazil had its own set of music schools, set up in different part of the country . This 5th largest population of the world is very inclined to towards singing and dancing customs, and being a prosperous nation 98% of the large population has access to television, where their local movie industry which also being the 10th largest in the world is highly well-liked and watched. Brazil’s inclination towards sports is not hidden from the world, and especially their superior liking for football. The population in general is known to be very hard working, but very apposite to recreation in sports and music. Status of demands of subwoofer in cars Brazil has a very large automobile industry, and in the year 2005, Brazil manufactured more than 1.65 million cars only for its domestic market (Elisangela Cordeiro), also according to the Euro monitor consumer electronics reporting Brazil, the in-car electronics such as woofers and media players along with other electronics in the market are available at cheap installment schemes, which are luring the common man into packing his car with accessories, like car speakers and woofers. Brazil has got a very huge young population, which would be our main targets for our products, as woofers are a very mandatory thing for the young generation of Brazilians. Recommendation Our first strategy to enter Brazilian woofer market is to tie up with the local car manufacturers, and to fit in our woofers in the local brands at reasonable prices. Since Brazil has a huge automobile market, we can tap into its boom and accessories the cars with our woofers. Secondly, the basic nature of a Brazilian is very open, and everyone has very strong interest in the different genres of music, we can capitalize on this nature of theirs and we can have ads on the lines of their open nature along with, their music, being played by our subwoofer. The only competition from a brand as repute as ours is from the company â€Å"BOSE†, but it only has its sales distributors, retail and commercial in Sao Paulo, if we can pull up our regional centre in Sao Paulo as well as the capital Brasilia , then we would be miles ahead of BOSE in the Brazilian sphere, as we would be able to reach a lot of people with our products, also these two cities are the main hotspot places for tourists, mainly coming from other regions of Latin America, and we would start catering to the domestic as well as the other Latin American mass would enhance the company’s reputation in nationally as well as in other neighboring countries. We can have our shops in malls and in different youth oriented streets and places, apart from having our outlets at car showrooms. Another thing that is strongly recommended is to tap into local manufacturing structure as Brazil has a very high amount of labor population who work at remunerations which are much aff ordable to us than the labor unit in the US, also the transportation costs would exceed cost price of our product. It is more suitable to link up with government in Brazil for facilitating us with the required formalities, and also the required waivers being handed out to us, in return for the unit which would commence in Brazil, in turn handing out jobs to the local population. Once we establish our market in the region, we can market our product more to the masses by making changes in its core design and, we can create an innovative JBL series subwoofer, which can be in a shape of a football (sphere), which would woo youngsters and football lovers. Further details regarding this matter will be mailed to you from the Research& Development wing. Conclusion Brazil has a very booming economy, and it is being rated with countries like India and China who are, the fastest growing economies of the world. This country has a very reasonable labor population which would cut down our costs by a huge margin, when we start manufacturing here. The regional centers which I have recommended would enhance our market in the country, and we if we can tap into the free nature and love of music of the Brazilians , then we would have not only a huge market in this country but also other Latin American countries who would follow Brazil’s in pursuit. Apart from Brazil’s distressed past of military coups, there is nothing else that negates Brazil as one of the prime future market for our company Work Cited Bamber Gascoigne, â€Å"History of Brazil†, Jan 14th 2008 http://www. historyworld. net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories. asp? historyid=aa88

Child Protection in School Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Child Protection in School - Essay Example Safety is important to protect children from extreme pain, incapacitation, dismemberment or even death. In addition, breach of safety by supervisors, parents or (and) equipment makers can lead to legal suits for breach of safety standards. Each year, institutions of learning in Britain pay thousands of pounds to compensate injured children within school premises. For example, Gloucestershire council paid GBP 7,000 compensation to a student after a teacher accidentally injured a pupil during rugby tackle demonstration (NSPCC, 2011). Safety Safety is in everyone’s mind in the playground. As much as children require a lot of opportunities to engage in physical activities, it is important to ensure that they are safe from potential harm or injury. Dangers inherent during physical exercise include; burns, drowning, poisoning, falls, getting knocked over, cuts, breakages, dehydration, rape, beating and extreme is death. There are a number of worrying incidents where children die dur ing physical activities. Child’s serious injury during physical exercise is bad and death of a child during physical exercise is worst and unacceptable. When death in the field is reported, it sends cold shivers in people who listen and anger inhibits one’s heart. For example, according to Brighton and Hove Council, a child fell from the roof of air raid shelter when he climbed the fence to retrieve a ball. In Medway, a pupil was injured when goal post fell on him and at Cornwall; a student was injured by a ball kicked by a teacher. In addition, a child at Rotherham, South Yorkshire was hurt in the playground when another child splashed him with custard. Worst, Kyle Rees 16 year old boy at Portchester school, Bournemouth died when hit by a cricked ball on the head. Finally, a research conducted by NSPCC between 2007 and 2010 revealed that 75 percent of children were subjected to harmful treatment by coaches or their peers. Peers contribute significant portion injuries or harm experienced (NSPCC 2011). To ensure children‘s safety during physical education, teachers or guardians supervising then must be informed that children unlike adults may not be in a position to anticipate accidents or possible injuries. Therefore, it is the responsibilities and duty of adults to anticipate potential accidents and risk and prevent them from happening. According to Sportengland (n.d.), there is a safety framework that is useful in creating safe sporting environment, which prevent harm. The framework is a benchmark that is useful in making informed decisions, challenging harmful practices and promotes best safety practices. To prevent likelihood of accidents occurring, it is important to note below factors; Playgrounds need to be surrounded by handrails, fences, rubber surfaces and crash barriers to make children safe by preventing them from falling. Children need to be educated in safety measure to reduce injury risks. They also need to cover-up and gear- up during physical exercises. For example, children playing must wear helmets when riding bicycles to protect their heads from serious injury in case they fall and wear hats when playing in the sun to prevent sunburns. The people in charge with physical exercises should ensure that all sporting equipment and gears are in perfect working conditions and fitting properly. In addition, children need to shape up by preparing adequately before main physical activities to prepare their bodies and prevent them

Cocaine Epidemic in the USA in 1980s Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Cocaine Epidemic in the USA in 1980s - Essay Example The middle of the 1990s can be considered as the late phase of the epidemic. Since 1991 the number of people who use cocaine very often (at least every day) remains stable and amounts to 640  000 people. Approximately 16% of people who used cocaine lost control and dependency occurred. That happened under the influence of many factors. Two important factors are the availability and the cost of the drug. Till 1980s cocaine hydrochloride used for intranasal and intravenous injection was the only available form of cocaine. Moreover, it was very expensive. Then cheaper alkaloids of cocaine, which could be used by means of inhalation, appeared. Moreover, they were available in many big cities just for $2-5 for dose. Due to this fact, cocaine became available even for children and teenagers. In general, men used drugs more often than women and for cocaine, this correlation amounts to 2:1. However, the use of cheap alkaloids of cocaine was very widespread among young women and reaches the level that is characteristic for men. Due to this fact, the popularity of the use of cocaine among pregnant women was high. The third very important factor that influenced people was the fashion. It was fashionable and prestigious to use cocaine, it was very popular among rich and people blindly followed the stereotypes. Young people and teenagers were the most vulnerable. They were sure that in order to be considered â€Å"cool†, it is necessary to start using cocaine. Certainly, such stereotypes had many awful consequences (Demarest). The cocaine epidemic was depicted in many movies. Some of them were even forbidden due to the active propaganda of cocaine use. The movie â€Å"Blow† (2001) tells us the real story of a man who decided to become one of the first distributors of cocaine in the United States. He made many famous and rich people dependent on cocaine, his sharpness allowed him to avoid any conflicts with police. But everything comes to the end at last. The movie â€Å"Scarface† tells spectators about the history of cocaine use in the USA when it was brought by criminals from Cube.  

Gender, sex ( with using CAUSE AND EFFECT style) Essay

Gender, sex ( with using CAUSE AND EFFECT style) - Essay Example A child will learn from its parents the difference between man and woman, boy and girl and identify the attributes that are associated with each term. In this respect, a childs idea of a man would be different in a household where the male is the breadwinner as opposed to the female, and vice versa. Although these gender categories are highly stereotypical, they form the basis for the childs basic understanding of gender and what it means to be female or male. Secondly, cultural beliefs play a large part also, with the views of the parents a strong factor. For instance, in Saudi Arabia, a number of people may believe that women were born only in order to serve a men or for giving birth to a child and then to raise him. In the same vein, and to use an extreme example, Eskimo men exploit their wives in order to set up trading associations with other Eskimos. They frequently present their wives sexual services in front of other Eskimo man just to strengthen the hunting or business relationship. In an Eskimo household, imagine how a young girl would see herself after being bared to these ideas over her first 5 years at home. Of course, this is an extreme example but it substantiates the point. Another aspect is media, media also uses interpellation as a form of recruitment that can inspire individuals to recreate their gender identity, presenting issues in a light that encourage people to join up or take a stand thus aiding the expansion of a collective identity amongst a specific gender. Phrases such as: "It was recognized that people label someone a feminist when someone expresses emotions that distinguish women from doormats," are designed to incite people into joining a shared individuality in the form of a group, in this case feminism. Lastly, our peers are a huge influence on the way that we see gender, and identify with the requirements of the same. The boys in a childs school may all play football, and therefore it is