Financial Management - WHSmith PLC Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

fiscal Management - WHSmith PLC - Essay ExampleHowever, WHSmith Retail sales fell by 1% to 1,453m from last years 1,463m, driven mainly by a 2% way out in its High Street Retail business. This loss in high passageway sell was only mildly offset by the excellent murder in travel retail characterized by an 11% increase in profits to 21m from 19m in the earlier year, and a 3% increase in sales. Reasons for the overall profit loss of the group were attributed to a substantial decrease in sales due to unsuccessful marketing and promotions and the continued sale of products with decreasing accept and an unsuccessful investment in technology, which contributed to the companys increased costs.Another aspect of the retail business is WHSmith Online. Launched in 2000, the retail website, www.whsmith.co.uk, has not been utilized by the company to its dominance and is not integrated with the rest of the retail business. It go through a loss of 2m in profit, similar to the previous yea r and sales of 7m. In order to upset the company around and increase retail sales, the company will focus on developing a multi-channel retail strategy, taking advantage of WHSmith Onlines full potential to increase online sales, as well as sales in high street and travel bloodlines.Shank and Govindarajan (1991) defines strategic cost management as the assist through which a sophisticated understanding of an organizations cost structure is developed and used in the look to for sustainable combative advantage. They argue that blending the three themes of value chain analysis, cost driver analysis, and competitive advantage analysis represents the most powerful way to determine which strategic direction will be most beneficial for an organization (Shank and Govindarajan, 1992). By applying Shank and Govindarajans framework, unmatched mickle understand why implementing a multi-channel strategy will benefit WHSmiths retail business in the long run.WHSmith Value Chain digestA val ue chain is linked set of value-creating activities (Shank and Govindarajan, 1992). found on WHSmiths value chain, one can see that a multi-channel retail strategy is most profitable for the company. First, by analyzing WHSmiths internal value chain, one can infer that WHSmith Online has developed as a separated business division that is not integrated into the WHSmith Retail since its launch in 2000. WHSmith Online does not support any of the value chain activities of the group and its potential was not fully explored. Thus, it remains to be a traditional retail business.In the purchasing stage, products ar purchased from its distributors based on the demand forecasted by the company. These products are then shipped to warehouses, which deliver them to the respective high street retail stores in the distribution and merchandising stages. High street retail stores then arrange these products, utilizing the gettable spaces and conduct marketing activities as directed by the centra l office in the store trading operations and marketing stages. At this stage, the point of sale is situated at cash registers in each store and mails received by the company from its loyal customers. Figure 2. WHSmith Internal Value Chain AnalysisBased on the existing internal value chain and the performance during the previous year, the following improvements need to be employed (WHSmith, 2004) Purchasing Discontinue purchase

Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities Facing IT Managers Essay Example for Free

Cyber credential Vulnerabilities face IT Managers EssayCyber- security department demands argon ever increasing in the field of Information applied science with the globalization of the profit. Disruptions repayable to cyber-attacks atomic number 18 chance uponing the economy, hailing companies billions of dollars to each one year in lost r notwithstandingue. To re cristal this problem corporations are expenditure more and more on infrastructure and investing to doctor the cyber security vulnerabilities which range anywhere from software to ironware to net craps and people t get into use them. Due to the complexity of study schemes that move with each other and their counter parts, the requirement to meet specific cyber security compliances pose become a challenging issues for security professionals worldwide. To uphold with these issues, security professionals need created antithetical standards and frameworks over the years for addressing this growing busy o f vulnerabilities within enterprise systems and the critical information they hold (Critical guarantor Controls, n.d.).Before we get into the dilate let first examine what exactly is a security pic. By definition a security vulnerability trick be flaws in hardware, software, networks or the employees that use them which in turn tolerate fall by the wayside hackers to compromise the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information system ( greens Cybersecurity, 2011). To thoroughly discuss this topic in more gunpoint I will first discuss Confidentiality as it is unity of the three primary(prenominal) coatings of IT Security.Confidentiality is as simple as it sounds, limiting annoy to re parentages for only those that need it. Confidentiality vulnerabilities occur when hackers try to exploits slightly weakness or flawwithin information system and view information that they are non normally allowed to. In this case the confidentiality of the documents stand been compromised. The second goal of IT security which can also be affected if security vulnerabilities are present is Integrity.Integrity by definition can mean more a nonher(prenominal) different things for different topics but for the IT world it solely relates to the trustworthiness of a document or resource. This promoter that the document or file has been unhindered or changed and is still in its original form. This is rattling historic be bowel movement if entropy has been hindered or changed it can cause substantial damage to corporations due to the possible wrong decisions world made the standardized investments or unintended publications or even trouble with the law if tax audits are not adding up properly which would all result in a net loss. The last goal of IT security which can be compromised if security vulnerabilities exist is Availability of the information system. Availability refers to the idea that a resource is narkible by those that need it, whenever they need it. In my personal opinion I conceptualise availability is probably the intimately important out of the three security goals.I say this barely because there are many mission critical applications out there that need to be online 24/7 and any downturn can result in catastrophic results. One prime exercising of this is the air traffic control towers at LAX they were having problems with the system a few months back due to the U-2 spy plane flying over their airspace. This cause major panic which grounded taxied planes that were ready to take off and obligate the manual tracking of planes already in air (Ahlers, 2014). Throughout this the paper I intend to root word on the many different parts of cyber-security vulnerabilities available and their effects. I will also describe in detail the vulnerability I feel is the most important facing IT managers at once, its encounter on organizations and the solution. As I say before there are many different types of security vulnerabilities out there which can affect the integrity, availability and confidentiality of a resource. So the question still remains what exactly are these types of vulnerabilities? specially since they range from software, hardware, networks and the people that use them.Firstly I will discuss the software vulnerabilities, more specifically in terms of web applications. This is because more than half of the current calculator security threats and vulnerabilities today affect web applications and that number is ever increasing. (Fonseca, Seixas, Vieira, Madeira, 2014). When considering the programme language used to develop web applications you have PHP which is considered a weak language, on the other hand you have Java, C and Visual Basic which are considered infrangible languages. It is important to note that the language used to develop the web applications is precise important because although the different programming languages are similar overall, each one has different rules of how data is stored, retrieved, the execution methods, tables and so on.For example when I say how data is stored and retrieve, I am basically regarding to data types and data structures and how the programming language that is beingness used maps their values into type fields like strings for names, Int for numbers, or even Boolean for admittedly and false statements. Overall though even if you are using a strong typed language like Java, it does not always guarantee itself free from defects because the language itself may not be the root cause of the vulnerability but possibly the implementation methods used or even insufficient testing (Fonseca, Seixas, Vieira, Madeira, 2014). Vulnerabilities in web applications invite XSS exploits and SQL injection which are the most common types. Below you can see in the image the evolution of reports caused by SQL injection and XSS exploits over the years.This next section we will discuss rough more types of security vulnerabilitie s, more specifically vulnerabilities with regards to hardware. Many people assume that hardware vulnerabilities have the worst security concern compared to other types of vulnerabilities like software, networks and people that use them merely because they can be stored up in unafraid(p) environments. The truth is even hardware vulnerabilities can be easily susceptible to attacks. computer hardware in general have a longer lifespan than software because exclusively with software you can upgrade it and install new patches/builds even after deployment. With hardware you once you purchase it, you are most likely going to keep it for a while. When it does become obsolete and ready to be disposed a lot of organizations make the simple mistake of not securely disposing the old hardware properly which in turn opens up the door for intruders. Old hardware have software programs installed on them and other things like IC transistors which can helphackers learn a lot more about the organiza tion and help lead to future attacks (Bloom, Leontie, Narahari, Simha, 2012).The most recent example of hardware vulnerability which caused one of the biggest Cybersecurity intermissiones in score was most recently with Target. 40 million credit and debit cards with customer information was stolen patently because a malware was introduced to the point of sale system through a hardware encryption vulnerability (Russon, 2014). Although hardware vulnerabilities are not normally the root cause for majority of the exploits and breaches out there, it is always still full(a) to postdate best practices. Network vulnerabilities will be the next topic of discussion and my personal favorite. Vulnerabilities through network systems are very common especially with the all the resources available to hackers today. There are many open source software programs on the market which can help intruders learn critical information about an organization. Just to name a few of the most popular and co mmonly used ones imply Nmap security scanner and Wireshark.Nmap security scanner was originally developed to be used for security and system administration purposes only, like mapping the network for vulnerabilities. Today it most commonly used for black hat hacking (Weston, 2013). Hackers use it to scan open unused ports and other vulnerabilities which in turn helps them gain unofficial access to the network. Wireshark on the other hand is also similar to Nmap as it was originally developed for network outline and troubleshooting. It allows administrators to view and capture all packet resources that passes through a particular interface. Over the years hackers have started using Wireshark to exploit unsecured networks and gain unauthorized access (Shaffer, 2009).Although scanning unused open ports and capturing packets are a great way for intruders to gain access to a network, the most popular method by far to breach a network is USB thumb devices. Most enterprise networks are very secure in the sense that they use a DMZ (De-militarized zone) and outside penetration becomes very difficult. In a de-militarized zone outside network traffic must go pass through two different firewalls to get to the intranet of the organization. The first firewall includes all the commonly used servers like FTP, SMTP and all other resources that can be accessible by the public. The second firewall has the actual intranet of the organization which includes all private resources (Rouse, 2007). Below is the diagram of a DMZ.So the question still remains, since most enterprise organizations use DMZ which in turn helps stay port scanning or packet analyzing, why is USB thumb devices the most popular network vulnerability? (Markel, 2013) The answer is very simple Social engineering. We as benignantkind beings, through social instruct do not stop and ask questions when were not familiar with someone, which in turn has become one of the major causes for the cybersecurity breache s that occur today. Just to gift one example from my own personal experiences at work, each floor has an authentication swipe policy to gain entry. Every time I enter the military position area, there are a few people with me and only one person in the chemical group usually swipes his/her severelyge to open the door. This is a huge security vulnerability because anyone can just follow the group and gain access to the entire intranet of the organization.In my case in particular I work for United Airlines headquarters in Chicago at the Willis tower which is more than 100 stories high and the feature that the entire building is not ours alone, this becomes a huge security concern. While I have concisely explained the vulnerabilities in software, hardware, networks and the people that use them, the question still remains, what is the most important security vulnerability facing IT managers today?. This answer to this questions differs person to person, and one must take into cons ideration the actual vulnerability, its threat source and the outcomes. A person with a small home business might only be refer with denial of service attacks, since they may not have enough cash flow to properly secure their network. On the other hand an enterprise organization with large cash flow might have a different prospective and probably does not concern itself with denial of service attacks but preferably is focuses on making sure all the systems are update using windows server update services.In my personal opinion though, you might have guessed it but its definitely us human beings because we have the tendency to fall victims and contribute to the successful security breaches that occur in todays society. Mateti in his essay TCP/IP Suite stated that vulnerabilities occur because of human error. A study by Symantec and the Ponemon institute showed that 64 percent of data breaches in 2012 were resulted due to human mistakes (Olavsrud, 2013). Larry Ponemon the founder of security seek at Ponemon Institute and chairman stated that Eightyears of research on data breach costs has shown employees behavior to be one of the most pressing issues facing organizations today, up by twenty two percent since the first survey (Olvasrud, 2013). A prime example of this is when I stated earlier about how anyone can just enter my office area without swiping their card, just by simply following the group. This is a form of human error when employees are as well intimidated to ask questions and collect authorization from someone they believe does not work for the organization.The intruder can just walk in the front door pretending to be a salesperson, repairman or even a white collar businessman and may look like someone legitimate but in circumstance they are not. This intruder now has direct access to the intranet and can install malicious malware on to the computers to break down daily operations or even steal sensitive data like confidential compute informat ion, release dates, trade secrets and many more. A very good example of this is the Stuxnet worm which infect the Persian nuclear facilities and caused a lot of damage internally which in turn delayed Irans nuclear development. All of the security measures that were put in place by Irans cyber defensive structure team were circumvented simply by just one employee because the worm was introduced through an infected USB drive. This simply shows how the direct access from unauthorized users due to employee negligence can cause such tremendous damage and that all the perimeter defense become completely useless. Another prime example of human errors was the RSA breach in 2011 where cybercriminals thought kind of of just sending millions of phishing emails to different random mailboxes, lets send personalized emails to specific employees.The employees at RSA thinking since its a personalized message its safe and clicked on the links unknowingly which in turn caused the malware to be do wnloaded on to the network. To counter this problem firstly IT managers need to properly train employees and give them specific guidelines to follow. Symantec has issued a press releases with the guidelines on how to properly secure sensitive data which includes information on how to train employees for these types of intrusions. Human error is not just limited to intimation or foolishness, it also expands too many different areas because after all it is us humans who manage the cyberspace, grant physical access to the terminals and systems that are connected to the internetwork. We setup the protocols used for communication, set the security policies and procedures,code backend server software, create passwords used to access sensitive information, maintain updates on computers and so on (Security 2011, 2011 ). The human element matters very much possibly more than the software, hardware or the network systems especially when it comes to properly securing an internetwork from data breaches. The impact on the organization always depends on what type of business it is and what it is engaged in.For example if an organization is very popular and has bigger presence in the online commerce (Amazon and New Egg) compared to one that does not use the internet quiet often will be more concerned with web based attacks and vulnerabilities. The impact though regardless of the type of organization will always be tremendous. Once a breach occurs not only are you spending on recovering from its effects but you are also spending on beefing up your current security measures by installing new devices, hiring new employees so the aforesaid(prenominal) occurrence does not occur again (Hobson, 2008) Sometimes at the end of the day some of the cost are not even recoverable like sensitive data, trade secrets, personnel information or even customer information. Another major cost and headache that occurs once an organization becomes a victim of cybercrime is lawsuits.Many customers who feel that the organization could not protect their confidentiality will sue the corporation for millions of dollars which in turn can cause major loss. IT managers can do many things to help prevent breaches due to human errors. The first thing they can do is properly train the employees as stated above on a periodical basis and use current guidelines like Symantec to properly secure their intranet from any type of intrusion. IT managers can also establish a safe harbor in the sense that they can draw out employees to periodically change their passwords and establish rules so the password must be certain characters long and must include other types of characters besides just the typical alphanumerical ones.Employee negligence also due to bad habits like sending sensitive data over an unsecured email and IT managers must ensure that they continually educate their employees. There are many different types of security vulnerabilities out there in todays world that are affecting or ganizations. In my personal opinion I believe human error is the one vulnerability that affects IT managers the most simply because we as humans make mistakes. It is in our genius and no matter how hard we try we will always be susceptible to deception either through social engineering tactics or clicking dangerouslinks because it looks safe or even being negligent by not reporting something unusual. Employees need to realize that their actions can bring awing consequences for both them and the organization as a whole.ReferencesFonseca, J., Seixas, N., Viera, M., Madeira, H. (2014). Analysis of Field Data on Web Security Vulnerabilities. IEEE Transaction on Dependable Secure Computing, 11(2), 89-100 doi10.1109/TDSC.2013.37 Russon, M. (2014, June 10). Forget Software Vulnerabilities, Hardware Security moldiness Improve Before Its Too Late. International Business Times RSS. Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http//www.ibtimes.co.uk/forget-software-vulnerabilities-hardware-security-mus t-improve-before-its-too-late-1451912 Bloom, G., Leontie, E., Narahari, B., Simha, R. (2012, January 1). Hardware and Security Vulnerabilities and Solutions. . Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http//www.seas.gwu.edu/simha/research/HWSecBookChapter12.pdf Common Cyber Security Vulnerabilities in Industrial Control Systems. (2011, January 1). . Retrieved July 12, 2014, from https//ics-cert.us-cert.gov/sites/default/files/documents/DHS_Common_Cybersecurity_Vulnerabilities_ICS_2010.pdf Critical Security Controls. (n.d.). SANS Institute -. Retrieved July 12, 2014, from http//www.sans.org/critical-security-controls Ahlers, M. (2014, May 6). FAA computer vexed by U-2 spy plane over LA. CNN. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http//www.cnn.com/2014/05/05/us/california-ground-stop-spy-plane-computer/ Most Important Cybersecurity Vulnerability Facing It Managers. (n.d.). . Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http//www.ukessays.com/essays/computer-science/most-important-cybersecurity-vulnerability-facing-it -managers-computer-science-essay.php Security 2011 Attack Of The Human Errors Network Computing. (2011, December 22).Network Computing. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http//www.networkcomputing.com/networking/security-2011-attack-of-the-human-errors/d/d-id/1233294? Hobson, D. (2008, August 8). The real cost of a security breach. SC Magazine. Retrieved July 13, 2014, from http//www.scmagazine.com/the-real-cost-of-a-security-breach/article/113717/ Direct, M. (2013, December 20). Human error is the root cause of most data

Leadership and Management Paper Essay Example for Free

leading and attention motif EssayUrsula M. ruin is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (chief operational officer) of drive off. She has held this position for the last five years. She started out(a) as a summer intern in 1980, and signed on in 1981. From then until she became chief executive officer she has led several business teams and positions within Xerox, totally along growing within the company. According to Fortune, she is the twenty-second most powerful woman in the world. In addition to the Xerox board, she is a board handler of the American Express Corporation and Exxon Mobil Corporation. Burns also provides leadership counsel to community, educational and non-profit organizations including FIRST (For brainchild and Recognition of Science and Technology), National Academy Foundation, MIT, and the U.S. Olympic Committee, among others. She is a founding board director of lurch the Equation, and President Barack Obama appointed Burns vice chair of the Presidents Export Council (Xerox Ursula Burns, CEO, 2014). lead and ManagementHolding a management title does not necessarily equate to holding leadership skills. Leadership is defined in many directions, and depending on who you ask can simply be coordinating the urinate of others. However that is taking a very limited view on leadership. Leadership is a faction of rationale, inspiration, science, and art. It is said, Leaders are thought to do the right thing, while managers do things right (Hughes, Ginnett, Curphy, 2009). Not all leaders are managers, look at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He is argumentatively the most big Civil Rights leader, however many would not look to him as a manager. According to Forbes, Ursula has made Xerox a profitable and viable company, this past year, Burns helped Xerox generate adjusted earnings per administer of $1.09, up from $1.02 in 2012, andpost $21.4 billion in full-year revenue (Forbes, 2014). Her skills as a manager aid in building Xerox to the power-house they are today.Burns is responsible for the largest acquisition in Xerox history, and has allowed them to grace in business services, which is a $600 billion industry. Making these decisions requires hard decisions, including outsourcing, closing offices that are not perform well, and adopting a work from home culture. Because of this Burns has found herself on the 2014 Worst CEO list prepare together by 24/7 Wall Street and Glassdoor. Burns received a convinced(p) review from fewer that the 140,000 employees Xerox gained in the business services acquisition. Only 30% approved of her military operation (Brown, 2014). Also something that does not help Burns gain leadership approval is the fact that she was paid on average $13 million dollars for 2010 2012, while over 500 people were laid off. While Burns has made moves in hopes of ensuring the stability of Xerox there are some that are calling for her to be fired. Burns recent letter to shareholders showed j ust how badly the transaction had gone.Over the course of 2010 to 2013, revenue, net income and operating margins are flat to down. In particular, revenue fell 1% to $21.4 billion in 2013. In the quarter quarter, revenue swanped 3% to $5.7 billion. Net income was down 1% to $1.2 billion last year. In the fourth quarter, the drop was 4% to $311 million (McIntyre, 2014). When measuring success of a leader, there are many ways to do that and depending on which way is chosen could render different results. Using unit performance indices, Burns appears to be very successful as a leader. Unit performance indices can be used to psychoanalyze what impact leaders bring forth on the bottom lines of their organizations.Since she has taken over as CEO, Xerox shares have gone up 50% and the S P is higher by nearly 100% (Brown, 2014). base on this information and her average salary the board must be happy with how she is performing. However, another way to measure success is by subordinates ratings of effectiveness. Subordinates may be relatively satisfied or dissatisfied, may be motivated or unmotivated, may feel relatively committed or uncommitted to the organization, or may believe their leader is relatively effective or ineffective. Because Burns has found herself on the worst CEOs list of 2014 it can be said that she has been unsuccessful as a leader (Hughes, Ginnett, Curphy, 2009). endOverall it is important to remember that there are many dynamics to measuring leadership and management. Leadership and management can have many different meanings. Burns is a prime example of this. I believe she is an effective manager, because businesses are in the business of making money and her shareholders are happy. She also sits on the board of several inspirational companies like FIRST and Change the Equation, which could have many people look at her leadership abilities. However, when it comes to Xerox her primary focus is making the shareholders happy, when could indi cate she is not being a true leader in a way that motivates, inspires, encourages, or simply speaks to their employees.RefrencesHughes, R.L., Ginnett, R.C., e Curphy, G.J. (2009). Leadership Enhancing the Lessons of give (6th ed.). New York, NY McGraw-Hills.Xerox Ursula Burns, CEO. (2014). Retrieved fromhttp//www.xerox.com/about-xerox/executive-leadership/ceo/enus.htmlMcIntyre, D.A. (2014). Time for Xerox Board to Fire CEO Burns. Retrieved from http//247wallst.com/investing/2014/03/20/time-for-xerox-board-to-fire-ceo-burns/Brown, A. (2014). Xeroxs Ursula Burns Named One of Worst CEOs in Corporate America. Retrieved from http//madamenoire.com/418058/xeroxs-ursula-burns-named-one-worst-ceos-corporate-america/Forbes 22 Ursula Burns. (2014). Retrieved fromhttp//www.forbes.com/profile/ursula-burns/

The Mechanics of Spontaneous Healing Essay Example for Free

The Mechanics of Spontaneous Healing EssayThe field of holistic healing is an evolving check into. Therefore, the words handlingd to speak slightly the realm of holistic healing remain embarrassing to concretize. For those who view this growing field from a distance, the cloudiness nearly communication is app bent. Essentially, the same words be used in different ways, depending on the speaker and on the context. Even practitioners within the field of holistic healing use words like healing and holistic in idiosyncratic ways.For holistic medical exam doctors, the term holistic may mean incorporating alternative healing techniques or procedures such as the use of herbal remedies, diet and nutrition. For psychologists holistic may indicate their use of several therapeutic techniques within the discipline of psychology. Or it may indicate that they integrate other healing techniques such as bodywork or venture within the context of psychotherapy. For some, the term holist ic healing denotes an overall philosophy of integrationalism regardless of their respective education background, and as such, serve as a self-identifier.Given the disparity of meanings attributed to the words, the realm of holistic healing is troubled with communication problematicalies. This s spindlech terms clarifies for the operational definitions of the studys critical terms to avoid confusion and help set the limits of its purview. Holistic healing literally means wholeness (holy and heal both get along from the Anglo-Saxon healen, meaning whole), with all that implies Bringing the rejected and discarded into the circle listening with the inward ear for those parts that accept been silenced seeking a deeper, more accurate, more creative engagement with the globe around us (Barasch, 2003, p. 7).Holistic refers to the acknowledgement that human bes are multi-leveled. We exist each moment as a body, mind, spirit/soul, and emotional beings. Holistic healing therefore, ackn owledges the many parts of our being and seeks to understand their interactions in both the disease and the wellness creation answer. Holistic Healing Conceptualized Holistic healing remains on the edges of mainstream scientific thought. It is contrary to the accepted view that we leave alone always be able to find a detail cause for any given disease.Holistic healing deals with the totality of a persons being the mental/emotional, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions. It is this totality as an integrative and synthesizing force, so perceived and utilized by the healing person or team, that constitutes holistic healing. (Otto Knight, 2001, p. 3). Holistic healing was described by Pelletier (1997). For him, all states of wellness were psychosomatic, each person representing a unique interaction of body, mind, and spirit. Illness was a disturbance in the propellent balance of these relationships.The client and the practitioner shared the responsibility for the healing and both creatively learned about themselves during the healing process. Practical screen In spite of a thorough search of the belles-lettres, no studies have been found that carry on directly to the focus of this study, the mechanics of spontaneous healing. The literature retrospect is not the supposititious foundation on which the study is based, but is presented in order to illustrate the current state of the applicable literature. The initial review established the appropriateness of this study.The majority of the review will be accomplished afterward the data is analyzed and it will be guided by the findings. Literature from both the initial review and the later review will be compiled in this section. Topics will also be discussed that major power relate to the mechanics of spontaneous healing such as the experience of healing, health status, recovery, and survival. In this related literature the independent variables such as social support, optimism, and hardiness are ofte n well defined with undeviating and valid measures.The dependent variables such as being healthy, having minor health problems, suffering from chronic disease, being disabled, and being dead are treated as equally-spaced points on a continuum (Hobroyd Coyne, 2002, p. 364), and are often readable or measured. Other measures sometimes defined as healthy are help seeking behaviours and compliance with medical recommendations. Nevertheless, there are some interesting studies in which attempt is made to measure the factors that might be relevant to the mechanics of spontaneous healing.The popular literature claims much more knowledge than fucking be substantiated with valid research but this literature has stimulated a research interest that may lead to more knowledge about the mechanics of spontaneous healing. In the literature related to specific techniques, such as biofeedback, therapeutic healing touch, imagery, and hypnosis is discussed directly. Each of these areas has a body o f research but the studies do not define healing and often do not give enough information for the subscriber to make judgement on the mechanics of spontaneous healing and on whether the outcomes are credible.Methodological pervade A suitable design for exploring holistic healing from the perspective of the person in the mechanism of the health creation process is phenomenology. Phenomenology is the study of the essence of human experience (Solomon, 1980). Phenomenology is based on careful friendship of rich complex data, using logic and insight (Cohen, 2001). The phenomenon studied need not be transparent in a physical sense as it posterior be such things as loving, thinking, imagining, calculating, or doubting. Healing falls somewhere between with both tangible and intangible elements.Cause and effect are not relevant, but it can be intercommunicateed what the experience is of perceiving something apparently causing something else. One would not ask what causes healing, only what the experience of healing is. As an approach to research, it is a way to stand back and watch, to unveil out of ones familiar acceptance of the world, and to attain a state of wonder and correspondence (Merleau-Ponty, 1992). Phenomenology as a Research Method From these philosophical origins, methods of investigation began to emerge.Spiegelberg (1995) described doing phenomenology in a philosophical sense, while Giorgi, Van Kaam, and Colaizzi developed research methods which were inspired by phenomenological philosophy but not derail by it (Omery, 2003). Phenomenological research is evolving and expanding since it is now being used by many disciplines. There is debate about how purely one should follow the method and whether it is appropriate to draw from other related methods such as ethnography and grounded theory. Phenomenology as a philosophy is so diverse that purity is probably nonexistent.Because of this it would be difficult to derive a pure research method. Phenomen ology as it is Used in this Study The primary influences in developing the methodology for this study were Collaizzi (1998) and Merleau Ponty (2002). Both Collaizzi and Merleau Ponty were chosen because of their specific discussion of bodily functions and their desire to hold in the integration and complexity of these functions. They both believed that perception of reality was in fact reality and that this reality can be described.Careful interpretation can clarify this reality. In the process of interpretation, data are not created, but they are analysed with an attempt to discover their essence. In order to address the research questions posed above, selected individuals will be asked to discuss their experience of holistic healing and the mechanism of their health creation process. Asking passel directly seemed an effective way to study meaning, experience, beliefs, expectations, and perceptions of holistic healing.Benner (2002) pointed out that physiological aspects of healin g can be studied readily with traditional quantitative research. Much of the research available on psychological, interpersonal, and personality dimensions of health has also been done using quantitative methods. There is a current interest in exploring holistic healing using qualitative means, but no qualitative studies have explored healing. As healing is a lived experience it seems appropriate to use a qualitative method to ask individuals who are in the process of healing to attempt to articulate what they believe is happening.

Moral achievements during adolescents Essay Example for Free

incorruptistic achievements during immatures EssayThe insubstantial period is marked by a number of physical and emotional changes for item-by-items. During this period, an individualist strives to apparent motion from the personal identicalness that is dependent on parental and societal actualize up unrivaleds mind in to nonpareil that is determined by the individual. The purpose of this paper is to re flock the moral fixments during this period of identity formation, and whether it is an entirely free process. To do this, the paper pull up s acquits rely on selected literature to con the various dimensions related to the issue. Introduction wizard of the hallmarks of adolescence is the search for identity. At this stage of forgiving development, the individual attempts to cultivate a personal identity that will act as the basis for persons future life. Consequently, this stage is aroundly marked by defiance and general non conformity, which happens as unriv aled tries to explore practices that are not necessarily in tonal pattern with both societal and familial norms and expectations. Although important, the search for identity may be a source of be among an individual and the family or society.The discord may be issue forth a source of antagonism between the individual and the society, but more importantly, it may lead to a realization of moral consciousness for the adolescent. In the context of this paper, the word moral shall be taken to be what one perceives right or defective based on personal conscience. In that regard, moral achievement refers to positive changes in conscience one undergoes during the adolescent period. The paper will be based on selected literature available on the rout.It is moreover worth noting that the subject under discussion is a multidimensional one, and for that soil, the paper will confine it ego to those dimensions cover in the literature as a way of ensuring systematic coverage. The paper wil l study move enculturation agents, dose use, parental modulate on school disposition and identity problems. These are slightly of the dimensions related to moral achievements. However, even though an individual is supposed to develop a personal identity during this period, the resulting identity is always influenced by external factors such as that from mates, societal and parental influence. grapple Coping refers to an individuals ability to appropriately react to situations as they a essay. Adolescents, like all the other human beings experience adjustments and extensive stressors. According to (Garcia, 2009), rough of these stressors and adjustments include dealing with peer relationships, physical and emotional changes that an individual experiences during the period, family dynamics, poverty and crime. Proper heading means that the adolescents must be able to deal with these challenges with resilience and set up positive wellness extinctcomes (Garcia, 2009).An adolesce nt achieves cognitive and moral development in a set of deuce-ace stages. According to (Garcia, 2009), these stages are assimilation, accommodation and equilibration. In addition to these strategies, the adolescent develops overcritical thinking and information processing, which enables for inert development of the mind in an adult like thinking one. Guided by the newly acquired traits of critical thinking and information processing, the individual moves remote from what they conceive as parental influence and set out to develop their own way of draw near life.At this stage the individual is torn between peer influences and conformity with parental expectations. According to (Garcia, 2009), a well coping individual should be able to develop a healthy identity, which is one developed by the individual as opposed to one enforce by peers or parents. An important element related to coping developed during the adolescent period is the coping strategy. Most prominent of these strateg ies, according to (Garcia, 2009) is problem solving or help seeking. In other words, during this period, the adolescent will develop coping strategies.In the study, (Garcia, 2009) undertook a study of literature related to the general subject of coping. The study identified coping as coping as one of the key pillars in the health of adolescents. The study found that unhealthy coping strategies lead to unhealthy mental health states such as depression and exhaustion. It is consequently important that during adolescence one develops appropriate coping strategies towards various stressors and adjustments. Religion, peer pressure and drug use These issues are related to search for identity.At this stage, the individuals experiment with new religions, try dissimilar types of drugs, which may all be a result of succumbing to influences from peers. According to a survey reported by (Bahr Hoffman, 2008), 22% of youths admitted having utilise cigarettes, while another 45% had used alcoho l, with another 30% reporting being intoxicated and 18% acknowledged using marijuana. This was a survey done on high school seniors, most or all of who are in the adolescent stage. The finding is a pointer to how life is vaporific for the adolescent. (Bahr Hoffman, 2008) further notes that there is a negative correlation between religiosity and drug use.In a way, the report endorses religion as a way of reducing drug use because youths with religious affiliations showed little affinity to drug use. To justify this correlation, the study uses social control theory. According to the theory, deviance is more of a instinctive act while conformity is not. It then follows that religiosity brings in prosocial controls that encourage individuals to conform. Without it, the individuals would follow their natural instincts, which would mean becoming defiant. The other theory used by the report is social learning theory.From the panorama of social learning theory, the religious groups ta ke precedence over friends and family on matters concerning drug use so that instead of individuals picking this habit from them, they are taught by the church (Bahr Hoffman, 2008). After establishing theories to explain correlations, the study of (Bahr Hoffman, 2008) notes some control variables such as gender and race and then goes ahead to carry out a survey to validate the hypothesis. The result found a negative correlation on religion measured against cigarettes, heavy drinking and marijuana.The results on other illicit drugs were inconsistent and therefore inconclusive. From the study however, it clear that adolescents goat, to an extent, be protected from drug use by being encouraged to take up religiosity. Socialization for adolescents deep down an adolescents life, there are several agents of socialization. Among these are school, family, peer groups (friends) and community. (Arnon, Shamai, Ilatov, 2008) did a query in which peer pressure was examined and its effects compared with those of the other agents such as family, school and community.The researchers decision to focus on peer influence is premised on the fact that as people approach adolescence, they tend to move away from parents, religious institutions and other official socialization institutions within the community. That therefore leaves peers as the most signifi lavatoryt influences at this point because the youths will tend to spend more time with them at the exclusion of the other socialization agents. The study also relies on social theory to explain the influences of peer groupings.Although the study notes the negative influence of peers, it nevertheless notes that it is important for peers to move away from parents for them to develop an independent identity. What the study finds negative is the tendency of the peers to move from parental influence in to conformity towards peer expectations. The identity so obtained will not be a healthy one according to the earlier noted de finition. From the study, it emerged that peer groups were the most influential followed nearly by family. Other agents, notably school and community only provided secondary influence.It is therefore clear that adolescents twist themselves to be influenced by peers and other socialization agents. Taking in to account the context of this paper, one can conclude that an adolescents moral achievement will largely be dictated by the kind of socialization agents in play during the period. Identity problem symptoms in adolescents (Berman, Weems, Petkus, 2009) defines identity disorder as the inability of an individual to accept aspect oneself. A person is deemed to an identity disorder if for one reason or another, the individual cannot accept certain or all aspects related to his persona.Consequently, the individual becomes predisposed to self denial leading to a form of distress, which may manifest itself in a number of ways. few of the areas of concern related to this problem, as l isted by (Berman, Weems, Petkus, 2009), include career choice, sexual orientation, friendship and religious identification. The research underscores the importance of identity disorder by citing the fact that the problem is listed Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of intellectual Disorders (DSM IV) criteria for mental disorders.The importance of identity formation is identified by Erik Erikson as crucial process in young adults because it does provide one with a future direction while at the same time giving a sense of continuity from the past (Berman, Weems, Petkus, 2009). Adolescents search for identity is characterized by two dimensions exploration and commitment. The two dimensions can be combined by the individual differently so as to come up with differing identity termes. For instance, one of the statuses is known as achievement. An individual with this kind of status has a high exploration and commitment tendencies.Such kinds of individuals tend to be less predisposed to identity disorders. The aim of the study was to show that trouble with identity fit the definition necessary for them to be termed as disorder. Currently, issues related to identity crisis are classified as problems and not disorder, and have consequently been placed within the DSM hierarchy. The downgrade is symbolic because the hierarchy is used by various health check stakeholders such as insurance companies and medical practitioners to determine priority in legal injury of coverage and treatment. The study found that 14.3% of the sample met DSM IV criteria for identity problem (Berman, Weems, Petkus, 2009). It goes to show that the current classification of the problem is unfair because it underestimates its effects. The study then attributes the rise in the identity problem to increased globalization and immigration, which has subsequently led to more clashes between different cultures and more confusion. Moral achievement in as far as identity formation is therefore depen dent on how the youth is able to cope with the increase cultural diversity (or clashes) and globalization. Parental influence and its use of goods and services in on students attitude towards schoolParents have a role to play in influencing the attitudes children adopt towards schooling. (Annear Yates, 2010) did a study on how parents influence the childrens disposition towards school. The study drew from a number of aspects of parenting related to schooling such as perceptions of a childs potential, monitoring and control, level of affect and focus on a childs ability. The study takes the view that authoritarian kind of parenting was likely to result in lower grades as opposed to parents who allowed their children to undergo the prevalent process of socialization.It refers to the authoritarian type of parenting as restrictive parenting while for the more liberal parenting, the term used in autonomy support. The study used a sample made up of both parents and students to come up with its findings. The only variable within the study was whether the parent in question was a niggle or father. Generally, the study found that autonomy support to have favorable results both in terms of grades and disposition. Further to that, the study found additional side effects of restrictive parenting as sadness, depression and loneliness. polishFrom the foregoing, it clear that extraneous factors are more responsible at determining an individuals moral achievement during adolescents. Ultimately, an individual will be responsible for shaping the direction life will take after breaking free of childhood dependencies and parental influence. It however emerges from the paper that even as one breaks free of these influences in search of individual identity external influence is not extinguished, rather, it is just transferred from one entity to another. Implied here is the fact that freedom from childhood dependencies does not mean complete freedom.In an ideal situation, appro aching adulthood would mean that one gets to chart the future devoid of external influences so that the individual can claim full credit for the personality developed thereafter. However, that postulation is invalidated by the paper. Theories such as social learning and social control theory would have no place in an adolescents world or an adults world was that assumption to hold water. This paper exceptional itself to the adolescent ages between 12 and 18 years, and may not have sufficient grounds to make any inferences concerning post adolescent life.However, this matter can also be extrapolated, to some extent. Given that individuals at adolescence have partially entered adulthood, it also follows that adolescent behavior is not far from adult behavior. For that reason, it is safe to sweep up that adult behavior will also be subject to influences from external sources, and especially, socialization agents. Bibliography Annear, K. D. , Yates, G. C. (2010). Restricitve and supp ortive parenting make in childrens school affect and emotional responses. The Australian Educational Researcher , 63-82. Arnon, S. , Shamai, S., Ilatov, Z. (2008). Socialization agents and activities of young adolescents. San diego proportionality publishers. Bahr, S. J. , Hoffman, J. P. (2008). Religiosity, peers, and adolescent drug use. Journal of Drug Issues , 743-770. Berman, S. L. , Weems, C. M. , Petkus, V. F. (2009). The Prevalence and Increamental Validity of Identity Problem Symptoms in a High School Sample. Child psychiatry and human development , 183-195. Garcia, C. (2009). Conceptualization and measurement of coping during adolescence A review of the literature. Journal of Nursing scholarship , 166-185.

African American Essay Example for Free

African American riseJames Baldwin once said, I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, surely, but I am as well as so much more than that. So are we all. When the subject of run a way comes up, I rule corresponding that quote is in truth meaningful. According to class lecture, race is an arbitrary social classification of clearly leap categories ground on climb color which corresponds to no biologic reality. To be able to understand race today, a psyche should have a background on the history of race. According to the American anthropological Association, by the 1600s, English colonists had established a dodge of indentured servitude that included twain Europeans and Africans. But by the time of Bacons Rebellion the status of Africans began to change. Servants who once had an opportunity for freedom following servitude were relegated to a carriage of permanent slavery in the colonies. Thomas Jefferson was influential in the idea of race with a biolo gical and social hierarchy.He stated that, blacks, whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances, are inferior to the discolors in the endowments both of body and mind. Not only did quite a little pop to base their opinions on Thomas Jeffersons statement, but when Carolus Linnaeus developed a biological classification system and the German scientist Johann Blumenbach introduced a race-based classification of humans, the idea of race expanded and whites saw themselves as superior.I feel that even though race is so deeply embedded into our lives, and it also appears to be the natural fix of things, it is not a useful way to talk about human re factorration. Skin color unaccompanied does not provide any reliable information about at individuals race, culture, or susceptibility to disease. Ryan A. Brown and George J. Armelagos in the review, Apportionment of Racial Diversity, makes a good point by sound outing, A single trait such as skin colo r will result in a classification system that is easily impelled.Add some other trait and classification becomes a more severe task, and there usually are groups that cannot be classified. For too long people have been basing human variation on a persons race. Many people are guilty of simply flavour at an individual and grouping them by their skin color. The sorting exercise on the PBS website confirms this. When I completed the exercise, the results said that I only had grouped 3 individuals in the right group. I was exploitation appearance and appearance only to classify the individuals. Appearance doesnt always tell a person about someones ancestry of self-identity.Its hard to make any accurate predictions based on appearance alone. According to the Me, My Race, and I interpreting on the PBS website, I realized that whites and nonwhites had very different things to recite. A Caucasian individual stated, race does not affect his life so he doesnt dwell on it. It is quite different for nonwhites. An African American male stated that he feels as if people automatically perceive him as a robber. An Asian said she was expected to be good at math and sciences, just because of the way she seeked.According to the Why Genes Dont search (for Racial Differences in Health) article, human race variation is non-concordant. Traits tend to vary independently of other traits. Race classifications vary, therefore, by the traits used in the classification. For example, a classification based on the sickle cell trait king include equatorial Africans, Greeks, and Turks. Sickle cell is not a black disease. According to AAA, Contrary to prevalent perception, the gene variant that causes sickle cell disease evolved as a result of its surprising meridian malaria resistance.The gene variant for sickle cell disease is related to malaria, not skin color. There is no possibility for consistency. Because skin color correlates with only a few other phenotype traits such as pig and eye color, it is true that race is only skin deep. Another actor why I would say race is not a useful way to talk about human variation is the reason that human variation is continuous. Alan H. Goodman, PhD says there is no clear place to designate where one race begins and another ends. Skin color, for example, slowly changes from place to place. Whether than using race to talk about human variation, I forecast there is a better way to talk about groups of humans. I think the better way to talk about groups of humans is based on culture. In lecture we learned how a persons ethnic group is the emphasis of cultural construction over genes. Ethnicity is a multifactorial concept including, but not limited to cultural constructs, genetic background, ecological specialization, and self-specialization. According to the article Culture, Not Race, Explains Human Diversity, races are imagined by the public and do not actually exist.If you think about it, ethnicity/culture is such a better way to talk about groups of people rather than grouping according to skin color. Skin color is based simply on appearance, whereas ethnicity/culture brings multiple concepts into play. Mark Nathan Cohen says, The anthropological concept of culture can be explained best by an analogy with language. Just as language is more than vocabulary, culture is more than, say art and music. Culture structures our behavior, thoughts, perceptions, values, goals, morals, and cognitive processes. Mr.Cohen makes a good point by stressing that people should stray from their egocentric ways and look more carefully at what other people are doing and try to understand their behavior in context before judgment. A persons culture shapes many things once thought determined by biology, including sexuality, aggression, perception, and susceptibility to disease. This exercise of exploring on the websites and reading all the outside readings, did reinforce our classroom discussions. One thing t hat stood out to me was the fact that we talked about a girl from Lau Lagoon, Solomon Islands who had dark skin but was born with blond hair.This example also came up in our outside reading as an example. This emphasized that skin color does not come with a certain set of hair colors. Another way this exercise reinforced our classroom discussion was that the websites and reading both reinforced the concept that race has no genetic basis. Not one characteristic, trait or gene distinguishes all members of one so-called race from all members of another so-called society. I feel that that was the overall major concept that was learned in both this exercise and classroom lecture.As I was on the PBS website, I came across one of the background reading entitled Where Race Lives. I put this article very interesting because I read that in 1993, 86% of suburban whites still lived in places with a black population of less than 1%. This was interesting to me because in 1994 my family move to what was considered a white suburb. Even though I was only 1 years of age, at the time, my mom told me that we were 1 of the 2 African Americans families living in the neighborhood at the time. We were the only African American family on our way at the time.Today our street has more African American families on it than white families. It is sad to say but as more African American families moved on our street, more white families moved away. All in all, Genes and environments work together to make each person unique. Why just look at a persons skin color and make judgments, when there is more to a person than their skin color. Characteristics such as skin color, height and susceptibility to disease are determined by complex combinations of genetic traits, environmental factors and cultural experience.

Study Is Bitter but Its Fruits Are Sweet Essay Example for Free

Study Is Bitter yet Its Fruits Are Sweet EssayMy journey started to the highest degree 6 years back and is still growth to this day. Six years ago I weighed in at approximately 270 pounds, or that is when I stop getting on a scale My outward image was on a larger scale, further in my opinion, not a 270 pound scale. I was an active teenager who participated in on the whole sports. I loved the sport atmosphere, only if hated to put in the hard work, so I salaried in m whatever other ways. My weight increased and my performance went down. After sports, my activity level steadily declined with many excuses in tail. Jobs, school, and friends noticemed to take precedence over my health and weight. Then the big life ever-changing moment came for me, I got married. Married life took a toll on me ad hominemly, you get comfortable as well as my schedule, which was no longer just about me. About a year in to my new life, I was finding myself unhappy at times and even dissatisfied with myself.I knew this jot was in relation to my weight gains so I decided to try a new governance which included some exercise and changed eating habits, or what some call a diet. Well exchangeable most people who set out to loose weight with an improper mind set, I slacked discharge here and there and eventually dropped the entire workout, eat healthy scenario It wasnt until I had my son that it all made sense to me. Yes, I needed to be healthy for myself, nevertheless I also had somebody else depending on me to be healthy. With this new found motivation, I started walking. That was all I could physically do at the time, but you have to start somewhere. I progressively added on to my normal walking routine, and even challenged myself to do the unthinkable, run I never thought of myself as a runner, partially because I never requisiteed to work that hard. With small goals of either weight loss or the addition of laps ran, I progressively started to see a change.This routin e continued for about a year, in which I took off about 70-75 pounds. This was a great accomplishment for me personally, but I wanted more for myself physically. With my plateau in full force, I decided to add in weights to my routine. I even added a variety of aerobics classes to my workout to consecrate it diversity so that boredom did not set in. I found out through political campaign and error that things have to be changed up every now and then or your body remain where it is at and the results you desire are no longer coming. With this new found lifestyle, I managed to drop about 100-110 pounds and gain a more positive outlook on life. With all of the changes that I made to my outer(a) appearance, I made many to my inner self too. I feel that loosing the weight was a stepping stone, a very steep stepping stone, which allowed me to venture out into a foreign location, the healthy world and discover a new life. With the weight loss I was able to do many more physical activiti es for myself and for my family. I once considered myself an inner athlete, this being when I was sedentary.I knew in my heart that I could be active, but did not want to try, due to the fear of failure. I set small but achievable goals along the years, as well as some that were pretty large. Never thinking of myself as a runner, I completed 1 full marathon and 2 half marathons along with becoming a certified aerobics instructor. Looking back at who I was and who I am now, we are two several(predicate) people who needed each other to create the end product. I personally feel that I had to experience the weight gain to appreciate who I am now and to help drive myself to support this way.Everyone is different in this area. Some may never experience weight gains of 100 pounds or more, but whatever the weight gain may be, that addition to ones body can be damaging to physical activity and appearance as well as your health. My goal with telling my personal weight journey is to show ot her people that it can be done at any weight or age if it is something you truly want. I also want to show that it doesnt takings how long it takes or the many tries you may encounter along the way, you have to persevere through the hardships to micturate success, just as everyone does with life. Take your own personal journey to discover and appreciate who you are and who you want to be