Salespersons Behaviour Impacts on Customer Loyalty Tends Towards Store Profitability Essay Example

Salespersons Behaviour Impacts on Customer Loyalty Tends Towards Store Profitability Essay This study focuses on how a salespersons ethical and unethical sales behaviour can build or deplete both customer trust in the salesperson and in Business, which in turn influences customer loyalty towards store profitability. The main findings of this study show that the salespersons ethical sales behaviour does play a crucial role in winning customer loyalty through customer trust. Moreover, there exists a reciprocal relationship between customer trust in the salesperson and customer trust towards store profitability, with the latter having a stronger impact on the former than the other way around. Finally, customer trust in the store exerts more influence on customer loyalty than does customer trust in the salesperson, which has implications for store profitability. Key words: Sales Person, Customer Loyalty, Store Profitability INTRODUCTION THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SALES FUNCTION The sales function in profit-oriented organizations provides one of the largest opportunities for employment in the economy. The sales function, thus, is of great significance to both the national economy, and the millions of individuals who depend upon their performance as sales persons to earn their living. Further, effective sales programs are as essential to the success of individual profit-oriented organizations as they are to the economy and the individuals engaged in selling. We will write a custom essay sample on Salespersons Behaviour Impacts on Customer Loyalty Tends Towards Store Profitability specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Salespersons Behaviour Impacts on Customer Loyalty Tends Towards Store Profitability specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Salespersons Behaviour Impacts on Customer Loyalty Tends Towards Store Profitability specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The importance of the sales effort to both the general economy and to profit-oriented enterprises is well accepted. Further, it is obvious that the ability to conduct successful selling activities determines, to a great extent, the career success of individuals engaging in sales as a vocation. Nevertheless, a general knowledge of the elements which are essential for a successful sales call is not widely possessed by either sales persons or sales managers. The other characteristic imposes are: 1. They are persistent. Selling or running a usiness for a living requires a tremendous amount of persistence. Obstacles loom in front of us on a regular basis. But it’s what you do when faced with these barriers that will determine your level of success. I believe it was Brian Tracy who once said that a person will face the most challenging obstacle just before they achieve their goal. The most successful people in any industry have learned to face the obstacles that get in their way. Th ey look for new solutions. They are tenacious. They refuse to give up. 2. Successful sales people are avid goal setters. They know what they want to accomplish and they plan their approach. They make sure their goals are specific, motivational, achievable yet challenging, relevant to their personal situation, and time-framed. They visualize their target, determine how they will achieve their goal, and take action on a daily basis. 3. Great sales people ask quality questions. The best sales people ask their clients and prospect plenty of quality questions to fully determine their situation and buying needs. They know that the most effective way to present their product or service is to uncover their customers goals, objectives, concerns and hesitations. This allows them to effectively discuss the features and benefits of their product and service that most relate to each customer. [pic] Salesperson’s emotional intelligence Despite such contributions of emotional intelligence to an organization, there has been little research relating to the effects of emotional intelligence on service organization. Service organizations are settings that require interpersonal interaction. For salespersons frequently interacting with customers, in particular, emotional intelligence is an important emotional ability that can affect how to serve customers in a selling situation; however, there is insufficient research relating to this statement. The salespersons job is to interact with customers in a selling situation; the core of sales is how a salesperson serves customers. Service employees emotional intelligence can affect method of providing service to customers. Salesperson with high levels of emotional intelligence manages their interactions with customers in a more effective manner. Affective commitment toward other people is a necessary component of social interaction and argued that the showing of positive emotions is associated with a high likelihood of success at work (Nikolaou and Tsaousis, 2002; Rafaeli and Sutton, 1990). Abraham (1999), based on her own earlier observation that optimistic store salesperson would perform better than pessimistic salesperson, proposed that emotional intelligence is directly related to performance. In the process of interaction with customers, employees should show an interest in customers and grasp their needs. Effective interaction may be expressed as broad interpersonal competencies, for example: adaptive selling, positive displayed emotion. Adaptive selling and expression of positive emotion are service providers behavioral response by which intangibility of service is revealed in a tangible form. These are reflected in their observable physical behaviors and displays of initiative motivation, effort, appearance, and so on (Bardzil and Slaski, 2003). The Integrated ability afforded by high levels of emotional intelligence is interpreted as the antecedent variable of excellent service behaviors, and is thus central to the delivery of positive service at the level of the individual and the development of a climate for services at the level of the organization. After all, for relationship between service providers emotional intelligence and behavior, the higher emotional intelligence is more likely to result in effective customization, adaptive behavior, and expression of emotion required by an organization. So service providers emotional intelligence and behavior (adaptive selling behavior and expression of positive emotion) are closely correlated. Customer service quality perceptions Effect of adaptive-selling on customers service quality perceptions Since quality is strongly correlated with organizational performance, such as profitability, market share, or productivity, the role of quality is a very important factor in companies competitive advantage. The service quality is also becoming the core of long-term strategies of companies in that it is a source of vitality in building new customers, maintaining existing customers, and sustaining long-term profitability (Gr_nroos, 1984). Therefore, quality is now an important factor directly connected with corporate survival, rather than simply a factor of competitive advantage. Today it is difficult to differentiate products; the quality of service perceived by customers can also be a very important condition for store’s success. Since service provided by salespersons can be directly connected with companies survival, it is more important than ever to draw up a strategic plan to improve service quality. According to Humphrey and Ashforth (1994), salespersons who serve customers in the same way may have customers perceive service quality as low, since they can easily make a mistake and have difficulty in satisfying individual needs of customers. In other words, the more adaptive selling behaviors salespersons can do to meet customers needs, the higher the service quality perceived by customers. Therefore, salespersons adaptive selling behaviors can be strongly correlated with customers evaluation of service quality Literature Review One of the critical success factor in your post-recession growth plans is your customer base. Your customer base is as valuable an asset to your business, as your people and products are. And your customers can represent the quickest growth opportunity you have. One of the first places to look in evaluating your post-recession growth strategy is your customer base. A key measurement of your customer base is its loyalty to your company and your products. For some companies, customer loyalty means customer satisfaction. This is not the case, though. Loyalty goes deeper than merely being satisfied. Being ‘satisfied’ is really a point of entry with customers. It is an expectation that must be met in order to be in the game. If your customers are not satisfied they will actively go elsewhere. But to merely be â€Å"satisfied† also means to be open to change. Change that the next savvy competitor can leverage to take away your customers. More importantly, your customers’ loyalty levels will dictate just how effective of a role they will play in your growth plans. There are several companies providing customer loyalty analysis, each offering their own terminology. In general terms, though, the overall customer loyalty spectrum goes from aversion to dislike to satisfaction to like and to champion. The objective is to build your business plans, sales and marketing programs and customer interactions with the focus of keeping you customers in the top end of that spectrum. As you look at loyalty — and just how much attention you want to afford to it — look at the benefits. Customer loyalty moves beyond simply satisfaction to create: †¢ Recommendations for your product- either formally as in a customer reference or informally within their peer group †¢ Ready-made pipeline for cross-selling other products and services †¢ A profitable well for new and updated solutions †¢ Lower churn rates, ensuring more customers for the long term †¢ Positive positioning of your company in on-line forums, blogs, Tweets and other social media resources utilized or frequented by the key decision makers So what is the best way to move forward and implement a customer loyalty initiative?

Definition and Examples of Feghoots

Definition and Examples of Feghoots A feghoot is a narrative (usually  an anecdote or short story) that concludes with an elaborate pun. Also called  a shaggy dog story. The term feghoot is derived from Ferdinand Feghoot, the title character in a series of science fiction stories by Reginald Bretnor (1911-1992), who wrote under the anagrammatic pen name Grendel Briarton. Observation A Feghoot is  supposed to make you moan... Feghoots arent the most useful form of pun: but they can help you end a story- a big problem for many of us. We tell a great anecdote to our friends, get some  laughs, and things are going well until we realize we have no clue how to bring the thing to a close. What do  you do? Give it a moral? An alternative, the Feghoot ending, summarizes your story in a way that makes people laugh- or even more satisfying, groan appreciatively.   (Jay Heinrichs,  Word Hero: A Fiendishly Clever Guide to Crafting the Lines That Get Laughs, Go Viral, and Live Forever. Three Rivers Press, 2011) Feghoot and the Courts The planet of Lockmania, inhabited though it was by intelligent beings that looked like large wombats, had adopted the American legal system, and Ferdinand Feghoot had been sent there by the Earth Confederation to study the results.Feghoot watched with interest as a husband and wife were brought in, charged with disturbing the peace. During a religious observation, when for twenty minutes the congregation was supposed to maintain silence, while concentrating on their sins and visualizing them as melting away, the woman had suddenly risen from her squatting position and screamed loudly. When someone rose to object, the man had pushed him forcefully.The judge listened solemnly, fined the woman a silver dollar and the man a twenty-dollar gold piece.Almost immediately afterward, seventeen men and women were brought in. They had been ringleaders of a crowd that had demonstrated for better quality meat at a supermarket. They had torn the supermarket apart and inflicted various bruises and lacerations on eight of the employees of the establishment. Again the judge listened solemnly and fined the seventeen a silver dollar apiece.Afterward, Feghoot said to the chief judge, I approved of your handling of the man and woman who disturbed the peace.It was a simple case, said the judge. We have a legal maxim that goes, Screech is silver, but violence is golden.In that case, said Feghoot, why did you fine the group of seventeen a silver dollar apiece when they had committed far worse violence?Oh, thats another legal maxim, said the judge. Every crowd has a silver fining.(Isaac Asimov, Feghoot and the Courts. Gold: The Final Science Fiction Collection. HarperCollins, 1995) Pynchons Feghoot: Forty Million Frenchmen Cant Be Wrong Thomas Pynchon, in his 1973 novel Gravitys Rainbow, creates a convoluted setup for a feghoot in the character of Chiclitz, who deals in furs, which are delivered to his storehouse by a group of youngsters. Chiclitz confides to his guest Marvy that he hopes one day to take these boys to Hollywood, where Cecil B. DeMille will use them as singers. Marvy points out that its more likely that DeMille will want to use them as galley slaves in an epic film about the Greeks or Persians. Chiclitz is outraged: Galley slaves?... Never, by God. For DeMille, young fur-henchmen cant be rowing!* (Jim Bernhard, Words Gone Wild: Fun and Games for Language Lovers. Skyhorse, 2010) * A play on the World War I expression, Forty million Frenchmen cant be wrong.Note that Pynchon has fashioned an entire  narrative digression about illicit trading in furs, oarsmen in boats, fur henchmen, and DeMille- all of it in order to launch this pun.(Steven C. Weisenburger,  A Gravitys Rainbow Companion. University of Georgia Press,  2006) My Word! There is a round in the...popular BBC radio panel game My Word! [1956-1990] in which scriptwriters Frank Muir and Denis Norden tell tall stories and funny anecdotes. The essence of one round revolves around a well-known saying or quotation. The participants are asked to tell a story allegedly to illustrate or explain the origin of the given phrase. Inevitably the unlikely stories end in partial, homophonic puns. Frank Muir takes Samuel Pepys And so to bed and makes And saw Tibet out of it. While Denis Norden transforms the proverb Where theres a will theres a way into Where theres a whale theres a Y.(Richard Alexander, Aspects of Verbal Humor in English. Gunter Narr Verlag, 1997)

Tourism system Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Tourism system - Assignment Example 3. Build comprehensive and well organized tourism park that will satisfy the needs of tourists while ensuring that the economic returns are used to benefit the local community as well as contribute towards the maintenance of the wider system. 4. The roads in the area will be developed to make the area accessible from other areas of the country. Development of these roads will enhance public transport as well as private transport. This will be done in consideration of the environments so that it may not have negative impact on the immediate environment. 6. The developments will be done with respect to the immediate environment such that they will complement rather than detract it. They should be designed in a manner that they will have positive impact upon the landscape, the historical setting and upon ecology. Sterling Bay’s tourism product should include activities in which tourists can participate, good infrastructure, tourists’ security, and other services. All these are attainable because the natural environment is appealing, the local community is friendly and has a well developed culture, and has a stable political environment. These are the success factors that are key to easy implementation and development of tourism in the area. Sterling Bay has nature attraction sites which include underground caves and marine parks. To complement these, this plan suggests a range of other facilities which include a golf course and arenas for beach volleyball. For the tourists who enjoy special qualities of the landscape, Sterling Bay has a hill, a forest, and limestone caves. Clean water is ideal for recreation and tourism industry because it accentuates aquatic ecosystems such as coral reef and limestone caves such as the ones along Sterling Bay beach, and beautiful beaches. Water has a powerful attraction to human beings such that when they are planning for vacations and holiday getaways, they have a tendency to head towards the

Choose a global business and critically analyse the organisational Assignment

Choose a global business and critically analyse the organisational structure adopted by the company since 2008. Investigate the - Assignment Example Be it television or radio or video recorder or walkman. Sony Corporation is headquartered in Tokyo. It is a global player and has extended in many countries serving millions of customers across the globe. It is the leading manufacturer and the marketer of audio, communications, video and information technology for the customers and for the professional market all over the world. They have also diversified in the financial sector by giving financial services like insurance and banking to their customers. It always gave emphasis on the strategy that they are implementing for the success of their business. The success of Sony was possible through an exceptional vision â€Å"To experience the joy of advancing and applying technology for the benefit of the public" (Hill, 2011). Sony saw its success globally due to the influence that it had on the Japanese habits and culture and penetrated the global market by operating in â€Å"the Japanese way†. 2. Sony Corporation In 1946, the J apanese electrical engineers Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita created their company Sony Corporation with only 20 employees in Tokyo. Now in 2013 the number of employees has gone up to 1,68,300. The figure makes it clear that even a small company can have its first product placed successfully in the Japanese market. The sale of electronic goods then heated up the market and thus Sony started to expand its business globally after their success in Japanese market (Hill C., 2010). The two founders in 1953 went for a three months long business tour to Europe and America where they signed agreement with the US companies and European companies and thus they penetrated into the American and European market. Later it has expanded its business to Africa and India. Sony has served both the market with their expanding business units and their products (Sony Corporation, 2013c). 3. Sony going Global Sony expanded globally with the following aim and strategies: a) Visionary Leadership: They expanded internationally with the aim to lead one vision and make a group which is flexible and efficient enough to capture the global market by learning their local customers. b) Organizational process: They wanted to spread the awareness of their products through the Global Information Systems and Communication. They even set the Research and Development Team for their long term survival so that they can develop their products as the market requires. c) Organizational Culture: Sony formed a multicultural organisation and thus it made it easy for the employees to work in such a friendly environment with no pressure for the following a particular culture. They standardized their products uniquely. d) Customized products: They even customized the products according to the customer need and this unique strategy gave them a bigger platform in the bigger market. Example: Sony laptop keyboards contain the currency signs which are different for the different countries. 3.1. Strategies undertaken by Sony Strategies that are taken in the global context are the plan of the company to position their products positively in the markets so that they stay ahead of their competitors. Sony Corporation thus made different strategies for the different markets so that they can position their products to the customers. Their corporate strategy is to lead as the global provider of electronics and entertainment. In 2008 the company came up with new strategies whose main aim was to refresh their

Art Deco Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Art Deco - Essay Example In its initial stages, it highlighted faith in technological and social progress, luxury, exuberance, and glamour. The term Art Deco became popular in 1966, in a French exhibition, in 1925. In this event, the term helped to differentiate French art works of the Belle Epoque from art works of the time. In addition, it describes a number of crafts developed in the Entre Deux Guerres period, and also developed by the Bauhaus. Nonetheless, since it started in France, there is a claim that it should be utilized to works associated with the French and those made in nations with direct influence from France. The Art Deco period has lasted from 1925 during an event to exhibit novel concepts in applied arts. Its inspiration largely came from ancient art from all over the globe. In the 1920s, inexpensive means of travel allowed direct contact to several, societies, communities, and cultures. In addition, there was a common interest in archeology because of excavations in areas, for example, th e tomb of Tutankhamun and at Pompeii, Troy. Designers and artists incorporated Machine age elements with decorations from ancient Greece, Oceanic, Egypt, Asia, Mesopotamia, Rome, and Mesoamerica. Also, Futurism, Constructivism, Modernism, Functionalism, and Cubism contributed to its development. The sculptor, the cubists and other art workers worked together to decorate a Studio House in 1927, with a number of them designing the staircase, others the fountain, others the Cubist rug, and others the fireplace mantel. Art Deco also highlights geometric forms, for example, sunburst, spheres, chevrons, polygons, zigzags, trapezoids, and rectangles motifs. There is an organization of the components in symmetrical designs. There is also utilization of modern materials, for example, plastics, aluminum, chrome, stainless steel, and Bakelite. In addition, there is also the use of lacquer and stained glass inlays. Its colors also appear to be high-contrast and vivid. Moreover, it was a popular international style that influenced a large field of design. It was also largely utilized in consumer goods, for example, clocks, automobiles, jewelry, furniture, textiles and electronic goods, for example, jukeboxes, radios, and telephones (Bayer 14). Additionally, Art Deco influenced cinema, architecture, graphic arts, interior design, fashion, and industrial design. Amusement parks, public works projects, movie palaces, and ocean liners also employed Art Deco during the 1930s. Nevertheless, the negative effects caused by World War II made Art Deco decrease in reputation. A renaissance of attention started in the 1960s. Moreover, there has been the development of a style associated with Art Deco referred to as Streamline. This style started in the beginning of 1930. Streamline got its inspiration from contemporary principles of aerodynamics to decrease air friction at soaring swiftness. Manufacturers used the elements to buildings, cars, gas pumps, trains, refrigerators, and ship s. The Chrysler Airflow of 1933 was one of the first vehicles manufactured from this

CRIMINOLGICAL REVIEW OF MURDER ON A SUNDAY MORNING

CRIMINOLGICAL REVIEW OF MURDER ON A SUNDAY MORNING Murder on a Sunday morning is a documentary film based on a real life incident that occurred in Jacksonville, Florida in the May of 2000. This 111-minute movie was directed by the French documentary filmmaker Jean-Xavier de Lestrade and was originally released under the title Uncoupable ideal. It won the Oscar award for the best documentary in 2002. The film brilliantly depicts an ignominious false conviction of an innocent 15-year old for a crime he never committed, the cover-up of the real culprits behind the crime, and finally the clemency of a public defender coming to his rescue in the courtroom. The plot originated from the incident of Mary Ann Stephens, a 65-year old tourist from Georgia being shot dead by a black assailant. The police arrested the first convenient black culprit available, a black African American teenager, Brendon Butler, who was on his way to a job interview. The teen was subsequently denied the right to make his phone call or contact an attorney, interrogated mercilessly for an unreasonable amount of time, threatened, racially abused, tortured physically and psychologically, and forced to sign a false confession admitting to having committed the crime. The dead womans husband, though having caught a glimpse of the real culprit during the shootout, was forced by the police to publicly identify and proclaim Butler as the assailant. The motive behind the forceful arrest and the subsequent psychological torture of the innocent Butler was simply the preservation of the tourist trade in the state. A public defender, Pat McGuinness, however, takes up the case and defends Brendon Butler in a case that is extraordinarily riveting. The courtroom scenes enacted by McGuinness could probably be counted among the top classics of this genre. The well-written trial speaks volumes about the perils of instant justice meted out or more aptly, justice of convenience that is as common as real justice these days. A criminological analysis on why Brendon Butler was framed should take into account the facts that his residence was just about a mile from the place of the incident; he was an African-American, a member of an ethnic group historically infamous for being convicted in racial crimes and his locality being a lower-class urban one, with high crime rates. The victims husband, a white man in a state of trauma, might also have been under pressure to identify the victim with unclear images of a black man shooting his wife. The next question to be answered is about the instantaneous arrest and conviction of Brendon. Could they not have made a broader search? The answers may be obtained when one considers the fact that in Florida, tourism is a major industry. The people who earn their livelihood from this industry would definitely not want Florida to be known as a risky place to visit. The image of a family oriented place was to be associated with Florida at any cost. The police would have been under pressure to dispose off the case as quickly as possible to create an image of a strong and efficient administration. Also the fact that the victim was a tourist and the news of the murder being reported by the media might have put the police under a lot of pressure to come up with a suspect who would at least approximately match the descriptions available at that time. Another question to be answered is the gruesome way in which the teenager was tortured. It could be guessed that the officers are often puppets in the hands of their superiors. They are put under pressure to clear as many cases as quickly as possible. As per the law, as soon as an arrest is made, the case will be considered cleared notwithstanding the truth behind the crime. As far as they were concerned, the killer was caught. However, this argument does not prove the meticulousness of the police. We may also look at why the whole bunch of the police team was so unequivocal in putting the blame on Brendon and torturing him to the extreme. The incident details show that the main third degree interrogator was the son of the sheriff of the area. Hence, he might have had the unofficial authority to take decisions on the kind of interrogation and on seeing this; the others would have felt that they are only respecting their superiors authority in joining hands to torture him. The only saving grace is McGuinness, who played a major part in this case by defending Butler. Butler was fortunate enough to acquire such a savior in his time of extreme distress. Not all defenders are so gutsy or articulate. It was only because of McGuiness skills and dedication that Brendon Butler was proved to be innocent. Usually, it is seen that in such cases, the conviction of an innocent is used by the system to maintain their pride. Though there are hues of a racial kind of movie of the likes of Cry Freedom, when one sees that the main interrogator who was instrumental in making Butler confess a crime he never did is himself a black man, the similarity ends there. The basic and most convincing underlying message is that of a deep and ingrained insincerity in the US administration in matters of justice and a business-like attitude towards the commercial progress of the country which makes them place it above everything else. Obviously, there are quite a lot of unanswered questions in this episode. A more sensitive and unbiased approach to such incidents would be the first step towards molding a perfectly upright society. References Dooley, B. and Delisi, M. , 2007-11-14 Racial Profiling: Rhetoric Or Reality? Paper presented at the annual meeting of the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CRIMINOLOGY, Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Atlanta, Georgia Online . 2009-05-23 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p201257_index.html

Tourette Syndrome :: essays research papers

Tourette Syndrome   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tourette Syndrome was named for Georges Gilles de la Tourette, who first described the syndrome in 1885. Although the disease was identified in 1885, today in 1996, there still is a mystery surrounding Tourette Syndrome, its causes and possible cures. Tourette Syndrome is a neurological disorder that researchers believe is caused by and abnormal metabolism of the neurotransmitters dopamire and serotonin. It is genetically transmitted from parent to child. There is a fifty percent chance of passing the gene on from parent to child (Gaffy,Ottinger). Those most at risk are sons of mothers with Tourette Syndrome. About three-quarters of Tourette Syndrome patients are male. Males with the disorder have a ninety-nine percent chance of displaying symptoms. Females, have a seventy percent chance of displaying symptoms. This ration of 3-4:1 for males and females may be accounted for by referral bias. Also, there is a frequent number of reported cases within the Mennonite religious isolate population in Canada. The specific genetic transmission however, has not been established. Some researchers believe that the mar is on an autosomal dominant trait. Some cases however are sporadic, and there may not be a link to family history involved. These cases are mild however, and not full blown. The onset of Tourette Syndrome must be before the age of fifteen, and usually occurs after the age of two. The mean age onset of motor tics is seven. The mean age onset for vocal tics is nine. In order for a person to be classified as having Tourette Syndrome they must have both multiple motor tics and vocal tics. These tics however do not have to occur everyday. In fact, affected individuals may rarely exhibit all of the symptoms, or all of the tics. The vocal and motor tics must also occur within the same year, for a person to be classified as having Tourette Syndrome. Symptoms can disappear for weeks or months at a time. However if people afflicted with the syndrome try and suppress their tics, they will re occur with increased ferver. Tics increase as a result of tension or stress, and decrease with relaxation or concentration on absorbing a task.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Tics are classified into two groups: complex and simple tics. Simple tics are movements or vocalizations which are completely uncomprehendable and meaningless to those not suffering from the disorder (Peiss). Complex tics are movements or vocalizations which make use of more than one muscle group to appear to be meaningful (Peiss). Simple motor tics are: eye blinking, head jerking, shoulder shrugging or facial grimacing. Simple vocal tics are: throat clearing, coughing, snorting, baiting, yelping.

Multicultural counselling values Essay

The main purpose of writing this essay is to analyze and highlight some personal values of a counselor that can affect the quality of maintaining effective therapeutic relationship with the client. The writer agrees to the statement â€Å"it is impossible for a counsellor to maintain a position of neutrality.† The views and critical approaches of the writer are expressed in the following essay. Introduction Everyone has his/ her personal values, beliefs, biasness and preferences. Personal values have great influence in relation to human decision-making. Each individual has a different set of personal values because everyone has a different set of life experience, environment and family background. Values are essential to our life as it acts as a form of catalyst to guide our life, shape our behavior and reflect our personal moral standards. For example, an individual who uphold the values of trust, sincerity and honesty, he/she will want people to have faith in them. In addition, this group of individuals would yearn others to be sincere in terms of friendship and things they do. It could also be in a form of ability to perform certain task with full of sincerity without hoping for any credits. (All of us preserve values which produce high standards, portraying good image to our loved ones, self and ultimately, bringing good things towards the society. Personal Values & Its Origins The writer has personal values that include being filial, devoted, responsible, and establishing good relationship with his loved ones. In certain circumstances, these personal values of the writer may differ from the client’s values, resulting in conflict and resistance. (It creates relationship difficulties with the clients.) This may prevent the writer from forming a therapeutic relationship with the clients. One example would be the writer, who is a religious person, dealing with clients who have a character totally opposite of him. Since he is religious, the writer is cautious with his act and reframe from situations leading to sins. For instance, if the writer were to counsel clients facing issues such as abortion, gambling, divorce and intentional single parenting, it may lead to conflicts due to differing personal values. The writer heavily criticizes these acts because the client is irresponsible, inhumane, and he considers such acts as uncivilized. Regardless of the client’s ethnicity / religion, conflicts may bring up feelings of anger, uneasiness and negativity towards the client. The author’s emotions will be affected due to the writer being intolerant of such acts. It is due to the writer’s strong religious values that cause his emotions and cognitive ability to be disoriented. As he is not in the right state of mind to think effectively, the writer’s focus is affected. The level of empathy and being congruent become affected because the counselor’s value does not align well with his client’s values. As a result, the writer has the urge to judge the clients and become biased. Such emotions can be overwhelming, leading to the writer’s unconscious skewed judgment and possible ill feelings formed of these clients. Dealing with countertransference In addition, it is equally of utmost importance to recognize our own unresolved personal issues that feeds into problematic behaviors with clients .Take the following as an example, a client who wants to change into a filial person after committing various sinful acts. The client wants to repent. Relating back to the writer’s past experiences, he too was once a rebellious person. His parents condemned his acts that brought shame to the family name. It was tough and difficult for his parents to accept him back. That was one incident his parents nearly disowned him after what he had done. He had been heavily insulted and judged. The writer knew it was not his fault because his motive was to only get the attention from his parents. His parents have been biased and treated him unfairly compared to his other two siblings. With the writer’s past experience, the writer has developed similar chemistry with his/her clients. The writer becomes emotionally detached with his/her client due to the situation similarity that the client had experienced. Instead of analyzing and finding out more about the client’s main issues, the writer became engrossed with the similar event portion. He may place his focus on the filial issue. If the writer is unable to deal with his unresolved conflicts from the past or other relationships, it can affect the therapeutic outcome. It may slow down the process of gathering information that is important for the client’s needs. The writer’s focus may wander and disorientate, that can impair the quality of the session. By having the impression of showing good and positive impression to the clients, the counter transference affects the therapy session when the counselor is readily accepting the client’s opinions. The writer’s blind spots may hinder his ability to deal with various similar behaviors shown by the clients, or the writer’s old wounds that surfaced as he works to process the client’s pain. Each client needs to be met where they are and worked with on their individual â€Å"stuff†, without interference from either the counselors’ prior experiences with clients or their personal values. On the other hand, counselors need to know what their personal thresholds are. For example, if the writer feels that he cannot work with a child abuser or a murderer without allowing his personal values affect his work with the client, he needs to take the precautionary measures to excuse himself from such clients and refer them to another counselor. Alternatively, he can seek supervision from someone who is experienced for advice. Benefits and Limitations of Personal Values There are some benefits that personal values can bring upon in counseling. Values by the counselor can be used as a form of communication. Based on an article entitled â€Å"Values in Counseling and Psychotherapy†, written by Patterson, he mentioned that the therapist’s values are not communicated directly to the client . The writer as a person would relate to the client as a person. In other words, the writer feels he is in a position whereby he set the appropriate tone and example to the client. When the counselor begins to demonstrate empathy, sincerity, authenticity, respect and establishing good rapport, the client would most likely mirror these values. Since the client develops more positive attitudes and the willingness to change, it establishes better communication with the writer. The writer is able to show congruence as well as unconditional positive regard towards the client. The writer also feels that benefits would arise from working with specific groups of people based on shared values. For example, a preacher or imam who is counseling will likely do so in a way that incorporates their religious beliefs. The client would specifically go to that person for religious-based counseling. However, if the client is struggling with those beliefs, their struggles may not be heard Managing Personal Values Every obstacle can be overcome and dealt with. In the counseling context, values are manageable which can be key to maintaining effective therapeutic alliance. One of the key factors is to establish â€Å"multicultural awareness†. Multicultural awareness increases a person’s intentional and purposive decision-making ability by accounting for the many ways that culture influences different perceptions of the same solution. This illustrates how multicultural awareness is able to influence the counselor decision-making. Different people have different cultures. Therefore, to avoid any form of culture shock, it is therefore vital for the counselor to develop his/her level of multi-cultural awareness. The counselor has two choices: to ignore the influence of culture, or to attend to it. Both cases, cultures will still continue to influence a client’s and a counselor’s behavior with or without the counselor’s intentional awareness.Counselors are encouraged to attend multicultural knowledge training. Some of the knowledge approaches that are commonly used are through publications, audio and visual media, and reading materials. Let’s ask ourselves this question â€Å"Why do we, as counselors, have to be multicultural competent?† One reason is to avoid any form of personal biases, stereotyping or misjudging the clients. By increasing the counselor’s knowledge about other cultures, the writer believes it would provide him with correct and sufficient information about one’s own as well as target cultures. The writer’s high level of competencies and awareness increases his self-confidence and self-realization to face the problem effectively and diligently. It puts the writer in a position whereby he feels much comfortable to listen and understand emphatically to the client. If the writer were to deal with clients who come from different backgrounds and cultures, the writer should have the ability to handle his personal values properly in order not to offend his clients. The writer may experience some form of culture shock if he is incompetent with his awareness. The awareness competencies are essential as it enables to control the writer’s interpretation of his own knowledge and utilizing the right skills. By controlling the writer’s interpretation, he can avoid making any form of assumption and jump to conclusion. The multicultural skilled counselor does not take awareness for granted. Conclusion Is it possible to maintain a position of neutrality? The answer is no. With all these values that are lingering in the counselor’s thought process, the counselor may have difficulties. The counselor has to be natural. Hiding behind a professional faà §ade may leads to upsetting the counseling relationship and jeopardizing the therapeutic factors in the process. Counselors who have different set of personal values can affect the therapeutic relationship outcome. A counselor who is unable to manage his/her personal values can affect the quality of relationships between people. The most common misconception among clients is that counselors tend to tell individuals what to do or choices he/she should have made. Instead, role of the counselor is to guide the client to make use of the resources they have and help them to define their goals. Nonetheless, the counselor’s personal values can be used as a tool in creating some form of connection with the client. (We, as counselors will do our best to find the right approach for each client.) A counselor shall never make any form of assumptions. Whatever values the counselor believes in, they should never judge or be bias towards the client. In reality, differences in personal values may stand as an obstacle in establishing therapeutic relationships with clients. The fundamental of personal values in counseling is to alleviate the personal distress. An effective counselor has to be authentic, genuine, have an appreciation for cultural influences, and retain effective interpersonal effective communication skills .

Middle Ages Report essays

Middle Ages Report essays What are the Middle Ages? Do you know the answer to that question? Or do you think you know the answer? The Middle Ages were a time of knights, kings, and castles basically your average fairytale. But the Middle Ages were not fun all the time. There was the Black Death, the bounding church and the life as a serf. I bet you dont even know what a serf is. Well Im going to tell you all about the Middle Ages. After the Roman Empire fell in c. 500 AD, Europe entered a new era of history. This era was called the Middle Ages. After the fall of Rome, the people left behind many useful things. Such as roads, Language (Latin), and a growing religion (Christianity). Sadly though they also left a crumbling economy, and when the economy fell so did trade. Thus started a form of stereo typing... Feudalism. Feudalism is just another word for social classes. The reason I use the word stereotyping is because in the Roman Empire mostly people were treated equally but in the Middle Ages things changed. There became ranks or groups depending on your wealth and power. Kings, Nobles (Lords), Nights, Vassals and Serfs. Only Nobles, Kings and Nights could own fiefs. These fiefs contained a Manor (very big house), small village (usually filled with serfs), Mill (to grind the wheat and such to make bread and other useful things) and a church (to pray and help the poor (at times)). The king would have the lords in his realm to use their armies. The lords would have the vassals to do things in which they felt they didnt have to do. The vassals would be given fiefs from the lords in whom they honored or pleased. Each fief would have a small town with serfs living in it. The serfs were poor and all their money and possessions belonged to the vassals that owned the land. Workers or serfs were bound t o there manors and could not leave without permission from there Lord (Noble). They actually had little more freedom them slaves. But unlike sla...

Advances in mobile phone app development and their relevance for social entrepreneurs The WritePass Journal

Advances in mobile phone app development and their relevance for social entrepreneurs Abstract Advances in mobile phone app development and their relevance for social entrepreneurs ).   Mobile technologies offer hold great prospect in providing the poor with accessibility to public and private services. Although a large number of these subscribers use mobile phones mainly for voice and texting purposes, social entrepreneurs can use its platform to develop a wide range of applications for delivering a broad set of services. Social entrepreneurs can collaborate with a wide range of service providers to launch such applications. This study looks at the prospects of using mobile phone platforms and applications for social entrepreneurship. It will present a literature review which will elaborate the concept of social entrepreneurship and provide examples of various mobile phone applications currently being used for social entrepreneurship. Using a case study approach, this study will then assess a social entrepreneurship initiative in Kenya named ‘M-PESA’. The findings this study will analyze the relevance of mobile technologies in creating social va lue. It will be followed by the analysis of the findings and some recommendations. Literature Review Social entrepreneurs are those that act as â€Å"change agents in the social sectors by adopting and working towards a mission that creates and sustain social not private value, by identifying new opportunities to serve the mission, by involving themselves completely in the process of continuous innovation, adaption and learning, by exhibiting a bold behaviour by not being limited to the current available resources and showing a great sense of responsibility and accountability for the set outcomes and goals†Ã‚   (Dees, 1998). Due to the widespread prevalence of mobile technologies among the mass population in both developed and developing societies, it can play a critical role in assisting social entrepreneurs in confirming to the aforementioned characteristics. Multidisciplinary research on using mobile applications for social entrepreneurship and its impact in delivering benefit to the mass population is at an emerging stage (Karippacheril, et al. 2013). It highlights the po tential of using mobile technologies and application â€Å"for social and economic empowerment, ethnographic, anthropological and telecommunications aspects†. Academic literature mobile phone application largely focuses upon the acceptance, use and impact of mobile services (Andonova, 2006; Donner, 2008; Garbacz Thompson, 2007; Minges, 1999). Numerous studies have shown that mobile phone applications can significantly affect the economic and social life of people living at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP). For instance, a five- year study in India proves that mobile phone application can be used to increase the efficiencies of market, reduce price dispersion and minimize price fluctuations among fishermen (Abraham, 2008; Jensen, 2007). Likewise, another study shows that mobile phone coverage was linked with a 10% increase in the farmer’s market participation rate in Uganda. The same effect was greater for the farmer living in isolated communities away from district centres (Muto Yamano, 2009). Similarly, mobile phones usage in Niger by grain traders reduced its price dispersion by 10% (Aker, 2008). Similar results were observed for the over farming households in rural Tanzania (Souter, McKemey, Scott, 2005). Mobile phones are particularly important in enhancing the lives of rural poor and generally for impr oving the lives of masses because it breaks down the two primary elements of the digital divide; poverty and isolation (Navas Sabater, Dymond, Juntunen, 2002). Pertaining to the platform theory, mobile phones provide platforms (both feature and smart phones) are vital for local providers, developers and social entrepreneurs in creating services that can be made available to a wide population in a trouble-free and affordable way. The goal of social entrepreneurs is to assess how these application platforms can be used in an innovative way to bridge access to the service gap for mass population. Research Question and Method This paper focuses on the advances in mobile phone application development and their relevance for social entrepreneurs. It research questions are: Are the advances in mobile phone platform/applications relevant for social entrepreneurs? How can mobile application be used to by social entrepreneurs to create and sustain a social value? How effective are mobile phone platform/applications in enabling the identification of new opportunities and continuous innovation in serving the social objective? This study assesses how mobile phone platforms and applications are been used by social entrepreneurs to bridge the access to the services gap especially for the communities living at the base of the economic pyramid. This study aims to collect and analyze information regarding M-PESA initiative in Kenya to achieve its research goal. The research can opt for either of the two popular research approaches for this purpose. If the researcher wishes to get a broad and representative data, he/she can opt for a survey approach; while for getting in-depth understanding of a particular situation, case study approach is most suitable (Fisher, 2004). Fisher contends that although â€Å"case studies inevitably lose their representativeness, the power of case study just lies in its capacity to provide insights and resonance for the reader, and it is not true to claim that case studies lack generalisability† (Fisher, 2004, p52). Moreover, generalisability of case studies is deemed more valuable and insightful when it is about organizational processes and business strategies (Tony, 1994 cited in Fisher, 2004). Indeed case studies can be used as experiments to test a theory and if a case study shows a the ory to be untrue, the rejection of the theory can be generalized (Yin, 1994). Considering the scope and purpose of this essay, which is essentially focused on a particular application/platform or business situation, case study method is deemed as most appropriate. Analysis and Results M-PESA is a social entrepreneurial initiative which provides mobile money transfer service. It was launched in Kenya in 2007. Plyler et al, (2010) describe M-PESA as â€Å"an agent-assisted, mobile phone-based, person-to-person payment and money transfer system, was launched in Kenya on March 6, 2007M-PESA an agent-assisted, mobile phone-based, person-to-person payment and money transfer system†. Its social objective is to facilitate financial transactions for those who do not possess a bank account in Kenya. M-PESA allows users to store money on their mobile phones in an e-account and deposit or withdraw money in the form of hard currency at one of M-PESA’s numerous agent locations (Plyler et al, 2010). It does not pay interest on deposits, nor does it make loans (GSMA, 2010). According to Safaricom, the company behind this initiative, there are as many as 9.7 million 30-day active customers currently registered with the company in Kenya (Levin, 2012). Overall, company has 15 million Kenyan registered. M-PESA service facilitates an incredible $1.4 billion USD in payment ever month (Leishman, 2012). M-PESA Technology M-PESA is delivered through a Sim Toolkit (STK) technology which is part of the GSM standard and can work on almost every mobile phone available in the market. It is vital that this service is based on STK technology as advance applications requiring an operating system platform available in smartphones would render this service ineffective due to the inaccessibility of smartphone technology to the wide Kenyan population. With STK, this application can be stored on a SIM card which can be accessed through a phone’s menu. With this, the application is highly secured unlike other internet enabled applications. It does not require SIM card to be swapped (GSMA, 2009). M-PESA service accepts cash deposits from customers having a Safaricom SIM card and resgistred with M-PESA as a user. Resgistration process is simple as it only requires any official identity document such as national ID card or a passport. In exchange for the cash deposit, the service offers a commodity called ‘e-float’, which is measured in the same unit as money and held under the account of the depositor. These e-floats can be transferred to another user, who can redeem it in cash from any M-PESA service agent. The withdrawals are charged by the company at 40 US cents flat rate. Due to the widespread prevalence of this service, e-floats are widely used as an alternative to cash payments in Kenya (Jack and Suri, 2010). The success of this service has led to the emergence of several similar services in Tanzania, Zambia (GSMA, 2009) among various other developing countries. Research indicates that M-PESA has had an overwhelming impact â€Å"in reducing the cost, time and security issues of sending money to family members, receiving payments and improving efficiency for small businesses in the informal sector† (Reid, 2012). Over the years, the ease of money transactions facilitated by M-PESA has had a significant positive impact upon: food security; by impacting upon the local agricultural production, increasing the purchasing power of consumer’s, food availability water security; by impacting upon agricultural productivity and business expansion overall community; in terms of local economic expansion, security, capital accumulation and business environment (see GSMA, 2010 for details) The provision of M-PESA service was enabled by the mobile phone technology platform and its success was partly due to the prevailing widespread use of the mobile phones in Kenya. It is vital that this service is based on STK technology as advance applications requiring an operating system platform available in smart phone would render this service ineffective due to the inaccessibility of smart phone technology to the wide Kenyan population. In context of the platform theory, the enablement of this social entrepreneurship through the STK technology confirms the relevance of mobile phone applications as a platform in creating innovative solutions for the society. Discussion and Implications Referring back to the research questions, the findings of this study confirm the significant relevance of mobile phone platforms and application for social entrepreneurship. The impact of M-PESA upon the Kenyan rural communities and people living at the base of economic pyramid affirms this contention. Moreover, the usage of this application by 15 million people, and the amount of economic activity being performed over it shows that this mode of service is reliable and creates sustainable social value for the users. The rise of such applications in various other developing countries also affirms the contention that mobile application enables the identification of new opportunities and continuous innovation in serving the social objective. It should be noted that the success story of M-PESA does not necessarily imply that every other social entrepreneurial initiative using mobile phone application will be as successful as this. This study is limited in its scope in that it does not detail the particular factors that contributed towards the success of this social entrepreneur initiative. Conclusion and Recommendations Mobile phone application offers an effective means of creating social value through innovative and sustainable solutions and services to people living at the base of economic pyramid. The low-cost of handsets and increasing penetration of mobile phone networks across the globe provides millions of people who do not have regular access to computer based information technologies or fixed-line telephones to communicate and transfer data through mobile phone applications. M-PESA is an exemplary social entrepreneurial initiative which uses mobile phone application platform to enable more than 15 million users in Kenya to transfer money electronically without having a bank account.   The ease of financial transactions has triggered numerous social and economical benefits to poor masses. Based on the finding of this research, this study proposed several recommendations for making a social entrepreneurial initiative successful through the use of mobile application. These are: A social entrepreneur planning to launch a mobile application service should build a clear proposition for potential users. For instance, in the case of M-PESA, there was a well established urban-rural remittance corridor in Kenya which was further enhanced by Safaricom through this mobile application A social entrepreneur should carefully consider the unique country context in creating a tailored mobile application solution for potential users. M-PESA application was developed using STK technology considering the demographics of the population. The service also integrated with the existing remittance stream (service agents) which led to its widespread acceptance. References Abraham,R. (2008). Mobile phones and economic development: Evidence from the fishing industry in India. Information Technologies and International Development, 4(1), 5–17. Andonova, V. (2006).Mobile phones, the Internet and the institutional environment Telecommunications Policy, 30(1), 29–45. Bruin, A. and Dupuis, A (2003). Entrepreneurship:  New Perspectives in a Global Age. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. Dees, J. G., Emerson, J. Economy, P. (2001) Enterprising Non-profits: A Toolkit for Social Entrepreneurs. New York: Wiley Sons, Inc. Donner, J. (2008). Research approaches to mobile use in the developing world: A review of the literature. The Information Society, 24(3), 140–159. Fisher, C. (2004), Researching and Writing a Dissertation – For Business Students, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Garbacz,C.,Thompson,H.G.,Jr.(2007).Demand for telecommunication services in developing countries. Telecommunications Policy, 31(5), 276–289. GSMA. (2009) Mobile Money for the Unbanked. Annual Report 2009 GSMA. (2010) Mobile Money for the Unbanked. What Makes a Successful Mobile Money Implementation? Learnings from M-PESA in Kenya and Tanzania Jack. W. And Suri, T. (2010) The  Economics  of  M†PESA. Available from gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/economics_MPESA.pdf (cited on 4th, April, 2013) Jensen,R.(2007).Thedigitalprovide:Information(technology),marketperformance,andwelfareintheSouthIndianfisheriessector. Quarterly Journalof Economics, 122(3), 879–924. Minges, M.(1999).Mobile cellular communications in the Southern African region. Telecommunications Policy, 23(7), 585–593. Navas-Sabater, J., Dymond, A., Juntunen, N. (2002). Telecommunications and information services for the poor: Towards universal access. World Bank discussion paper no. 432. Available from  Ã‚   /http://wwwwds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2002/05/03/000094946_ 02041804225061/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdfS. Plyler, M., Hass. S., and Nagarajan, G. (2010) Community-Level Economic Effects of M-PESA in Kenya: Initial Findings. Financial Service Assessment. Available from gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Community-Level-Economic-Effects-of-M-PESA-in-Kenya.pdf (cited on 4th March, 2013) Souter, D., McKemey, K., Scott, N. (2005). The economic impact of telecommunications on rural livelihoods and poverty reduction. DFID. Yin, R.K. (1994), Case Study Research – Design and Method, 2nd ed., Sage, Newbury Park, CA.

Support for Soldiers who return from combat affilicited with PTSD Assignment

Support for Soldiers who return from combat affilicited with PTSD - Assignment Example This paper also hypothesizes the effectiveness of trauma management therapy as a behavioral treatment (Frueh, Turner, Beidel, Mirabella, & Jones, 1996). This therapy would make the soldiers learn how to manage their anger and how to function normally. Thence, this paper would like to validate the effectiveness of sand play therapy and trauma management in treating soldiers who suffer from the impediments of PTSD. Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been considered as one of the major problems of the U. S Army organization because it triggered the thoughts of soldiers to remember death scenes. PTSD generates a system of how a psychological function of an individual is meddled by the occurrences of the traumatic events. Thus, PTSD controls the functional ability of the soldiers not to let bygones be bygones. This paper explores how Posttraumatic Stress Disorder greatly affects the organizational mandatory of the army and how the organization made ways to intervene the needs of the armies with PTSD. The main purpose of this paper is to delved in other psychological treatments such as sand play therapy and trauma management treatment that serve as mechanisms and moderators of the soldiers’ terrors toward death and threat. Posttraumatic Stress is a psychological disorder that makes an individual experiences nightmares and repetitive flashback of painful thoughts that hinder the focus of one’s mind. Moreover, one tends to avoid things that could make him remind of the traumatic event with the feeling of isolation and anxiety (Sherman, 2012). The U.S Army Organization is affected with the psychological effects of wars to the mass number of armies who get affected from depression, isolation and trauma in the battlefields (Little, 2012). The organization is also affected with the soldiers’ great possibility to retire at a young age, which may result to high unemployment rates of the military service (Mcfarlane & Bryant, 2007). A US soldier

Critical Analysis for Surveyor Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 1

Critical Analysis for Surveyor - Essay Example Below is a small account of what nominated sub-contract is and why employers increasingly prefer domestic subcontract to nominated sub-contract. . Of late the preference to nominated sub-contractors has been on the decline because of the main contractor’s reduced liability. In JCT 98 form of contract, clause 25 provides for an extension of time owing to delay on the part of the sub-contractor. The architect is required to substitute the existing defaulting nominated sub-contractor by a new nominated sub-contractor. Main contractor is not liable for the failure of the design supplied by the nominated sub-contractor under clause 35. Delay is usually caused by the nominated sub-contractor’s late information. Generally, before appointment of the main contractor, nomination of sub-contractor is necessary to enable the architect to prepare full working drawings and other matters connected to building design. This facilitates cost savings at the tender stage since the specialist would prepare one tender on a standard set of conditions. JCT 80 introduced main documentation for nomination of the subcontractor. NSC/1: JCT Standard Form of Nominated Sub-Contract Tender and Agreement is used to call for tenders from potential nominated sub-contractors. This form actually gives sub-contractor specifications and terms and condition to facilitate submission of his tender and later agree with main contractor as regards programme and attendance details. NSC/2: This form called JCT Standard Form of Employer/Nominated Sub-contractor Agreement detailing the obligations of the Sub-Contractor so as to bind him to work with skill and care while under contract with the main contractor. However, the main contractor and the architect are not parties to this contract used as a warranty to protect client’s interests. On the other hand, the client is