Assignment #1:  Entrepreneurial Leadership

Assignment #1:   Entrepreneurial  Leadership A Company cannot be innovative and competitive without understanding the importance of leadership. There are three main points to identify leadership which are, having people to lead, having certain skills to reach company's objectives, being focused on and accomplishing goals. In being a leader one possess quality and empowerment. In relation to leadership in a company, three outstanding renowned leaders are, Victor Kiam, Sergey Brin and Larry Page Victor, Kiam, has been known around the world for his vastly flourishing advertising campaign as the man â€Å"who liked the Remington Shaver so much, he bought the company. † But Victor Kiam is much more than a TV spokesperson-he is the man who took a money-losing corporation and quadrupled its sales and turned it around. He is a classic example of a successful leader and entrepreneur. Kiam demonstrates the democratic leadership style, by not only creating a great company all by himself but allowing others input, in helping make decisions for the corporation. The approach to the major business principles of a profit-oriented entrepreneurial in relation to Kiam gives way to the role of entrepreneur being crucial and critical in the context of building the enterprise. He plays many roles linking human resources, finance, production, marketing, operations, research and development and overseeing the same with a broad and big picture. He networks with bankers, major clients, suppliers and others thereby ensuring smooth functioning of the enterprise. Kiam identifies the opportunity, builds the base and leads the organization by attracting and retaining the precious human resources. He usually looks at the niche areas and goes by the road less traveled. In the sense, in order to have the goal of providing a great product and to make a profit he looks for novel and innovative methods so as to try and work out his idea. Kiam is an innovator, creator, risk taker and leader. A successful entrepreneur is one who senses the opportunities constantly, manages the risk, collaborates effectively for building strong teams, raises the bar, learns from mistakes and failures and constantly innovates and pursues the project with passion till the end. Sergy Brin and Larry Page are known for co-founding Google in 1998, and redefined the way people use the web. Now two of the world's richest people, they still play an active role in the company, encouraging resh approaches to Google's unique culture and its expanding suite of services. One would say Brin and Page’s leadership style is characterized from the participative style known as democratic because both individuals are involved in the decision making process as well as working together to solve situations within the company. Many of the same principles that intuitively guide the collective innovation of the Renaissance are now being deliberately and sy stematically applied within the world’s fastest growing companies. Google as a company still aims to continuously innovate to find new ways to organize and present the information that its users say they need and want. New products like GoogleMaps, GoogleEarth, GoogleNews, GMail, and GoogleDocs continue to keep the company at the forefront of the field. Social Responsibility plays a main part in keeping a business running smoothly The founders of Google, Larry Page and Sergey Brin believe that it is incredibly important for people to have access to information around the world and that this is something that Google can deliver. They have run into issues with foreign governments over censorship, but recently it has not been a major problem. CEO Eric Schmidt predicts that Google will become an unintended central focus around global copyright and ownership legal issues. It is essential for the entrepreneurial leader that people is the most important resource to manage and the most effective to use. Focusing on people, knowing the ways to motivate, inspires, and enabling people to act is what brings the leader to a new dynamic market level. The entrepreneurial leader is to be passionate about what he/she is doing. Every process has to be challenging with a devotion of time and effort. All researches in entrepreneurship view entrepreneurs as innovators. And this is the only way to face increased competitiveness. Innovation today aims at obtaining dominance in a market. When it comes to Victor Kiam who is the most innovative of all US business leaders and who possess, salesman in his bones, he went beyond social responsibility within his company. When Kiam bought the company from Sperry Corporation, Remington it was a loss-making company it was America's dominant electric razor manufacturer. Every salesman knows, a pitch above all has to have the ring of truth. In its first incarnation, the Remington ad featured Kiam in a suit. He notice the unrealistic, he performed the commercial in a bathrobe, only to discover that most American men did not wear a bathrobe when they shaved so he decided to use a towel. As Kiam related in a speech accepting the 1988 Outstanding Business Leader award, â€Å"I draped a towel over my shoulder and covered one breast, as two breasts would have been too much for the American public. † A part of the leadership style of a person is something the person was born with and the other part is formed by multiple factors, such as, society, experience, working environment, and cultural differences. Taking all of these factors in consideration, my leadership style can be described as a combination of democratic leadership and transformational leadership. I believe I posses some of the democratic leadership style characteristics because I make sure my group members are encouraged to share their thoughts, I can lead people around me to better ideas and more creative solutions to problems. Group members also feel more involved and committed to projects, making them more likely to care about the end results. I know I can bring the best out of an experienced and professional team. With being a democratic leader I know it capitalizes on skills and talents by others letting them share their views, rather than simply expecting them to conform. If a decision is very complex and broad, it is important to have the different areas of expertise represented and contributing input this is where democratic leader shines. Research on leadership styles have also shown that democratic leadership leads to higher productivity among group members. Transformational leadership style is also a character I possess. I can create a clear structure of a task that needs to be done always tied together with rewards or punishments. In its ideal form, it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. I know that within myself I set the bar and others follow just like, transformational leadership which enhances the motivation, morale and performance of followers through a variety of mechanisms. These include connecting the follower's sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; being a role model for followers that inspires them, challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weaknesses of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimize their performance. I believe it is critical to use leadership power in a way that makes people depend less on the leader. Arising motivation and a sense of importance in followers plays an important role in leadership. Besides, the high competition and market perspective this makes me aspire after entrepreneurial leadership. The Small Business Administration (SBA) and SCORE are both useful resources for entrepreneurs. The SBA is set in place to provide funding and to provide entrepreneurs with information to assist in business operations. SCORE is a non-profit organization with chapters across the United States which has volunteers that either have been or are presently successful entrepreneurs and executives who give back by sharing their expert business advice. They provide an entrepreneur with a big range of priceless and unique to small business information, basic and general information, laws and regulations, statistics and researches are available to use in order to learn more and be a successful entrepreneur. Information presented and topics discussed make a process of opportunity searching much easier and less time and cost consuming. Furthermore, it has a live chat, blogs, and online advising system that help to find an answer or solve a problem. I will utilize the SBA to secure funding for my business. While the SBA does not make direct loans to businesses, it sets the guidelines for loans, which are then made by lenders, community development organizations, and other lending institutions. SBA guarantees that these loans will be repaid, thus eliminating some of the risk to the lending partners. The SBA also has a variety of training material on topics such as creating business plans, marketing and outreach, laws and regulations, and many other areas. The Small Business Administration will be instrumental in laying the foundation and funding for my business. SCORE will also be utilized to provide guidance and mentorship. I will utilize the expertise of SCORE’s volunteers to give me valuable input on best business practices, effective strategies for success, enthusiasm and support. SCORE also has an assortment of training material ineffective strategies to manage, grow, and finance, business. The Small Business Administration and SCORE both will provide assistance on the keys to creating an appropriate business infrastructure, keys to sustainability, and strategies for growth. If you were to create your personal principles of leadership, what would they be and explain why you would chose them. My personal principles of leadership consist of three elements, lead by example, have a sense of accountability, and inspire a shared vision. These principles are the most important components of leadership and are the essence of effective leadership. Reference page * ^ Victor Kiam Going for it! How to succeed as an entrepreneur, ISBN 0688060609 * ;http://investing. businessweek. com/research/stocks/private/person. asp? personId=376317;privcapId=26851117;previousCapId=26851117;previousTitle=Lia%20Sophia; * ;http://www. google. com/about/corporate/company/business. html; * ;http://www. sba. gov/; * ;http://www. score. org/;

Virgin

289 CASE EXAMPLE The Virgin Group Aidan McQuade Introduction The Virgin Group is one of the UK’s largest private companies. The group included, in 2006, 63 businesses as diverse as airlines, health clubs, music stores and trains. The group included Virgin Galactic, which promised to take paying passengers into sub-orbital space. The personal image and personality of the founder, Richard Branson, were highly bound up with those of the company. Branson’s taste for publicity has led him to stunts as diverse as appearing as a cockney street trader in the US comedy Friends, to attempting a non-stop balloon flight around the world.This has certainly contributed to the definition and recognisability of the brand. Research has showed that the Virgin name was associated with words such as ‘fun’, ‘innovative’, ‘daring’ and ‘successful’. In 2006 Branson announced plans to invest $3bn (A2. 4bn; ? 1. 7bn) in renewable energy. Virgi n, through its partnership with a cable company NTL, also undertook an expansion into media challenging publicly the way NewsCorp operated in the UK and the effects on British democracy. The nature and scale of both these initiatives suggests that Branson’s taste for his brand of business remains undimmed. Origins and activitiesVirgin was founded in 1970 as a mail order record business and developed as a private company in music publishing and retailing. In 1986 the company was floated on the stock exchange with a turnover of ? 250m (A362. 5m). However, Branson became tired of the public listing obligations: he resented making presentations in the City to people whom, he believed, did not understand the business. The pressure to create short-term profit, especially as the share price began to fall, was the final straw: Branson decided to take the business back into private ownership and the shares were bought back at the original offer price.The name Virgin was chosen to repr esent the idea of the company being a virgin in every business it entered. Branson has said that: ‘The brand is the single most important asset that we have; our ultimate objective is to establish it as a major global name. ’ This does not mean that Virgin underestimates the importance of understanding the businesses that it is branding. Referring to his intent to set up a ‘green’ energy company producing ethanol and cellulosic ethanol fuels in competition with the oil industry, he said, ‘We’re a slightly unusual company in that we go into industries we know nothing about and immerse ourselves. Virgin’s expansion had often been through joint ventures whereby Virgin provided the brand and its partner provided the majority of capital. For example, the Virgin Group’s move into clothing and cosmetics required an initial outlay of only ? 1,000, whilst its partner, Victory Corporation, invested ? 20m. With Virgin Mobile, Virgin built a business by forming partnerships with existing wireless operators to sell services under the Virgin brand name. The carriers’ competences lay in network management. Virgin set out to differentiate itself by offering innovativeThis case was updated and revised by Aidan McQuade, University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business, based upon work by Urmilla Lawson. Photo: Steve Bell/Rex Features 290 CHAPTER 7 STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS AND CORPORATE-LEVEL STRATEGY services. Although it did not operate its own network, Virgin won an award for the best wireless operator in the UK. Virgin Fuels appears to be somewhat different in that Virgin is putting up the capital and using the Virgin brand to attract attention to the issues and possibilities that the technology offers.In 2005 Virgin announced the establishment of a ‘quadruple play’ media company providing television, broadband, fixed-line and mobile communications through the merger of Branson’s UK mobile inter ests with the UK’s two cable companies. This Virgin company would have 9 million direct customers, 1. 5 million more than BSkyB, and so have the financial capacity to compete with BSkyB for premium content such as sports and movies. 1 Virgin tried to expand this business further by making an offer for ITV. This was rejected as undervaluing the company and then undermined further with the purchase of an 18 per cent share of ITV by BSkyB.This prompted Branson to call on regulators to force BSkyB to reduce or dispose of its stake citing concerns that BSkyB would have material influence over the free-to-air broadcaster. 2 Virgin has been described as a ‘keiretsu’ organisation – a structure of loosely linked, autonomous units run by self-managed teams that use a common brand name. Branson argued that, as he expanded, he would rather sacrifice short-term profits for long-term growth of the various businesses. Some commentators have argued that Virgin had become an endorsement brand that could not always offer real expertise to the businesses with which it was associated.However, Will Whitehorn, Director of Corporate Affairs for Virgin, stated, ‘At Virgin we know what the brand means and when we put our brand name on something we are making a promise. ’ Branson saw Virgin adding value in three main ways, aside from the brand. These were their public relations and marketing skills; its experience with greenfield start-ups; and Virgin’s understanding of the opportunities presented by ‘institutionalised’ markets. Virgin saw an ‘institutionalised’ market as one dominated by few competitors, not giving good value to customers because they had become either inefficient or preoccupied with each other.Virgin believed it did well when it identified such complacency and offered more for less. The entry into fuel and media industries certainly conforms to the model of trying to shake up ‘institutiona lised’ markets. Corporate rationale In 2006 Virgin still lacked the trappings of a typical multinational. Branson described the Virgin Group as ‘a branded venture capital house’. 3 There was no ‘group’ as such; financial results were not consolidated either for external examination or, so Virgin claimed, for internal use.Its website described Virgin as a family rather than a hierarchy. Its financial operations were managed from Geneva. In 2006 Branson explained the basis upon which he considered opportunities: they have to be global in scope, enhance the brand, be worth doing and have an expectation of a reasonable return on investment. 4 Each business was ‘ring-fenced’, so that lenders to one company had no rights over the assets of another. The ring-fencing seems also to relate not just to provision of financial protection, but also to a business ethics aspect.In an interview in 2006 Branson cricitised supermarkets for selling cheap CD s. His criticism centred on the supermarkets’ use of loss leading on CDs damaging music retailers rather than fundamentally challenging the way music retailers do business. Branson has made it a central feature of Virgin that it shakes up institutionalised markets by being innovative. Loss leading is not an innovative approach. Virgin has evolved from being almost wholly comprised of private companies to a group where some of the companies are publicly listed. Virgin and BransonHistorically, the Virgin Group had been controlled mainly by Branson and his trusted lieutenants, many of whom had stayed with him for more than 20 years. The increasing conformity between personal interest and business initiatives could be discerned in the establishment of Virgin Fuels. In discussing his efforts to establish a ‘green’ fuel company in competition with the oil industry Branson made the geopolitical observation that non-oil-based fuels could ‘avoid another Middle East war one day’; Branson’s opposition to the Second Gulf War is well publicised. In some instances the relationship between personal conviction and business interests is less clear cut. Branson’s comments on the threat to British democracy posed by NewsCorp’s ownership of such a large percentage of the British media could be depicted as either genuine concern from a public figure or sour grapes from a business rival just been beaten out of purchasing ITV. More recently Branson has been reported as talking about withdrawing from the business ‘which THE VIRGIN GROUP 291 more or less ran itself now’,6 and hoping that his son Sam might become more of a Virgin figurehead. However, while he was publicly contemplating this withdrawal from business, Branson was also launching his initiatives in media and fuel. Perhaps Branson’s idea of early retirement is somewhat more active than most. Corporate performance By 2006 Virgin had, with mixed results , taken on one established industry after another in an effort to shake up ‘fat and complacent business sectors’. It had further set its sights on the British media sector and the global oil industry. Airlines clearly were an enthusiasm of Branson’s.According to Branson, Virgin Atlantic, which was 49 per cent owned by Singapore Airways, was a company that he would not sell outright: ‘There are some businesses you preserve, which wouldn’t ever be sold, and that’s one. ’ Despite some analysts’ worries that airline success could not be sustained given the ‘cyclical’ nature of the business, Branson maintained a strong interest in the industry, and included airline businesses such as Virgin Express (European), Virgin Blue (Australia) and Virgin Nigeria in the group.Branson’s engagement with the search for ‘greener’ fuels and reducing global warming had not led him to ground his fleets. but rather to pr ompt a debate on measures to reduce carbon emissions from aeroplanes. At the beginning of the twenty-first century the most public problem faced by Branson was Virgin Trains, whose Cross Country and West Coast lines were ranked 23rd and 24th out of 25 train-operating franchises according to the Strategic Rail Authority’s Review in 2000. By 2002 Virgin Trains was reporting profits and paid its first premium to the British government. xperience with any one of the product lines may shun all the others’. However, Virgin argues that its brand research indicates that people who have had a bad experience will blame that particular Virgin company or product but will be willing to use other Virgin products or services, due to the very diversity of the brand. Such brand confidence helps explain why Virgin should even contemplate such risky and protracted turnaround challenges as its rail company. Sarah Sands recounts that Branson’s mother ‘once proudly boasted that her son would become Prime Minster’.Sands futher commented that she thought his mother underestimated his ambition. 10 With Virgin’s entry into fuel and media and Branson’s declarations that he is taking on the oil corporations and NewsCorp, Sands may ultimately prove to have been precient in her comment. Notes 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Sunday Telegraph, 4 December (2005). Independent, 22 November (2006). Hawkins (2001a, b). PR Newswire Europe, 16 October (2006). Fortune, 6 February (2006). Independent on Sunday, 26 November (2006). Ibid.The Times 1998, quoted in Vignali (2001). Wells (2000). Independent on Sunday, 26 November (2006). Sources: The Economist, ‘Cross his heart’, 5 October (2002); ‘Virgin on the ridiculous’, 29 May (2003); ‘Virgin Rail: tilting too far’, 12 July (2001). P. McCosker, ‘Stretching the brand: a review of the Virgin Group’, European Case Clearing House, 2000. The Times, ‘Vi rgin push to open up US aviation market’, 5 June (2002); ‘Branson plans $1bn US expansion’, 30 April (2002). Observer, ‘Branson eyes 31bn float for Virgin Mobile’, 18 January (2004).Strategic Direction, ‘Virgin Flies High with Brand Extensions’, vol. 18, no. 10, (October 2002). R. Hawkins, ‘Executive of Virgin Group outlines corporate strategy’ Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, July 29 (2001a). R. Hawkins, ‘Branson in new dash for cash’, Sunday Business, 29 July (2001b); South China Morning Post, ‘Virgin shapes kangaroo strategy aid liberalisation talks between Hong Kong and Australia will determine carrier’s game-plan’, 28 June (2002). C. Vignali, ‘Virgin Cola’, British Food Journal, vol. 103, no. 2 (2001), pp. 31–139. M. Wells, ‘Red Baron’, Forbes Magazine, vol. 166, no. 1, 7 March (2000). The future The beginning of the twenty-first century also saw furt her expansion by Virgin, from airlines, spa finance and mobile telecoms in Africa, into telecoms in Europe, and into the USA. The public flotation of individual businesses rather than the group as a whole has become an intrinsic part of the ‘juggling’ of finances that underpins Virgin’s expansion. Some commentators have identified a risk with Virgin’s approach: ‘The greatest threat [is] that . . Virgin brand . . . may become associated with failure. ’8 This point was emphasised by a commentator9 who noted that ‘a customer who has a bad enough Questions 1 What is the corporate rationale of Virgin as a group of companies? 2 Are there any relationships of a strategic nature between businesses within the Virgin portfolio? 3 How does the Virgin Group, as a corporate parent, add value to its businesses? 4 What were the main issues facing the Virgin Group at the end of the case and how should they be tackled?

Buenavista Plywood Corporation

Buenavista Plywood Corporation The Problem The problem confronting Mr. Antonio Garcia, the Plant Superintendent of Buenavista Plywood Corporation is how to deal with the absentee rates of the employees from Bohol such that the production of the plant will operate at capacity, with adequate workforce and the interests of the company and employees be served. Objectives More specifically, the problem resolves itself into the following objectives which Mr. Garcia has to achieve in the course of action he has to take: 1. To maintain a stable and reliable workforce; 2.To protect the company’s reputation by avoiding confrontation with formal union groups; 3. To address production problems and costs; 4. To meet the rated capacity of the plant; 5. To safeguard the long-run profitability and stability of Buenavista Plywood Corporation. Situational Analysis The Buenavista Plywood Corporation was organized in Cagayan de Oro City in 1950 by the Santiago Family. Don Jose Santiago, the prese nt head of the family, was well qualified to carry the traditions of this prominent family. The Santiagos have been involved in politics in nearby Bohol, the ancestral home.They had been pioneering industrialists in the plywood business. Don Jose had been an early advocate of local processing of lumber as opposed to the shipping of log abroad. VISTAWOOD, the trademark chosen for their plywood, was one of the first export plywood production in the Philippines. Late in the fall of 1960, at a time when the plant was operating at capacity, working three shifts a day, some representatives of a national labor organization gained the allegiance of a large group of workers to establish a union at VISTAWOOD.Over the period of several months, the union activists who were assigned to the logging concessions left the company at their own initiative. These events marked the end of any organized activity at VISTAWOOD. As a matter of general policy, management preferred to hire people from Bohol a nd even tolerate some irregularities due to this peculiar working arrangement, than to risk another confrontation with formal union organizations. In fact, Don Jose soon began to rely on political leverage this group of workers afforded him in his election campaigns in Bohol. Late in 1967, VISTAWOOD was facing serious production problems.Rated capacity and management profit goals had not been attained for several years. Fierce competition in the export market and decreasing selling prices, coupled with new duties being levied by importing countries had aggravated the situation. It was apparent to management that the only source of improvement would have to be the production function. Costs of operating the plant had been steadily rising without no accompanying rise in production volume. Mr. Antonio Garcia was brought to VISTAWOOD Superintendent in the hope that he could bring some improvements in the plywood plant.Discovering the absentee rate of the plant, Mr. Garcia began to exami ne this and other related problems at VISTAWOOD. It became increasingly clear that: (1) production was low and highly erratic and (2) one of the main causes of this gloomy situation was the unstable and unreliable workforce. The absentee rates fluctuated between 50% during Monday and Saturday nights and 30% during the rest of the week. Daily production was so adversely affected by this shifting workforce, that Sundays had to be regarded as regular work days but with higher labor costs. Mr.Garcia was convinced that the plant could be run on a six-day schedule and meets the rated capacity if an adequate workforce could be maintained in the ratio of 3:2. Decision Framework Constraints Given the problematic framework on situation described, Mr. Garcia now had to decide what to do with the problem on the imported workers from Bohol. The fluctuating absentee rates of these employees has resulted to serious problems such as the unstable, unreliable and inadequate workforce unable to meet t he rated capacity at the plant and resulted to low and highly erratic roduction. Rated capacity and management profit goals had not been attained for several years. Aside from the fierce competition in the export market, decreasing selling prices, and rising production costs, imported workers from Bohol have created greater problems. Increasing the production volume through having an adequate stable workforce is the only solution to the problems faced by the company. And that would mean to fire those workers from Bohol who have absentee problems. These people create greater inefficiencies for the company.However, this will risk the company to face formal union organizations. And these would mean putting the company in bad public image ore reputation. Retaining the employees from Bohol will protect the company’s reputation but the absentee rates of these employees affect production costs and volume. And if not addressed will result to financial ruin for the company. Mr. Garcia is therefore caught in a seemingly difficult dilemma and has to formulate a decision which would both safeguard stability and profitability at the company and at the same time, protect the reputation of the company.DECISION ALTERNATIVES The following choices are open to Mr. Garcia: 1. Fine the employees from Bohol who have absentee problems but spell ruin on the company’s reputation; or 2. Retain the employees from Bohol but creates problems on the production costs and volume and eventually spell financial ruin to the company. RECOMMENDATION The first alternative to fine employees from Bohol is preferable given the following considerations: 1.It will decrease absentee rates of employees and having a stable and reliable workforce will result in meeting the rated capacity and volume of the plant. 2. It will dissociate political expediency from management decisions. 3. Mr. Garcia could talk to the workforce from Bohol to avoid establishing a union at VISTAWOOD. CONCLUSION Firin g the workers from Bohol will address production problems of the company and insure the long-run stability and profitability of VISTAWOOD. Such a course of action, therefore, would achieve all the objectives set out earlier in the present dilemma.

GREAT EXPECTATION BY CHARLES DICKENS Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

GREAT EXPECTATION BY CHARLES DICKENS - Essay Example The story is written during Victorian era and provides an emphasis on a sense of social duty, family support relationship and feeling of respect and honor to each other. This is a changing period for Great Britain. This is considered to be the time of dilatation worldwide and becoming strong and powerful country. With the changing of economy and technical development people alter by themselves and transform their way of thinking and perception of world in general and literature particularly (Hughes, 3-5). Victorian literature is directed on a mass reader and focused on high amount of people who are going to read this or that novel. That is why, it may be suggested that Dickens decides reveal on the problems which are relevant for the society and for each humane personally. Moreover, he provides a solution to change the end of the story to a positive one. This might be done for readers to leave a desirable outcome and satisfactory effect from the book. As nineteenth century was not easy time for British citizens Dickens wants to bring a positive note in their lives. The central figure of the novel is Philip Pirrip also called Pip, and Charles Dickens leaves a part of his experience and feelings in this character. He was an orphan, â€Å"a dull, awkward, labouring-boy† (Dickens, 59) who do appreciate his life and considered to be unhappy. His education and growth is the deal of his sister, Mrs. Georgiana Maria Gargery who is â€Å"not a good looking woman† (Dickens, 26), but her character is a hundred times worse than her outlook. She yelps, irritates, trounce her husband and little Pip. This lady has a little devil deep inside in her heart and he is deplorable and wretched. Nevertheless, Pip is acquired kind and sensitive character together with the sincere and pure soul. One day this boy is faced with a chance for bright future in

Research paper-Art history-Choir & apse of San Vitale Essay

Research paper-Art history-Choir & apse of San Vitale - Essay Example The mosaic method has been discovered to be in use in Mesopotamia as early as the fourth millennium B. C and many researchers also feel that mosaics may have origins in imitating the various carpets and tapestries that abounded. (Anthony 27) This paper will discuss three such mosaics: the aspe and choir at San Vitale, the Deesis Mosaic of Christ flanked by the Virgin Mary and St. John the Baptist and Christ enthroned, the apsidal mosaic in the basilica of Saint Paul’s. Each of these is representational of their religious affiliation as well as their historic and cultural context in which they were created. There is also a sense of humility when faced with these works. The creation of the mosaic itself is somehow representational of the many facets of the art and of the religious tradition it represents. While certainly lacking in depth of filed and light/shadow, the mosaics represent in this sense a divine use of an inner light, a creativity in the weaving of the image that can be achieved in no other art form. One author refers to this Inner Light as, â€Å"The vibrancy of effect produced by decidedly broken color creates a definite esthetic stimulant which in the right surroundings, quickens religious emotion† (Anthony 37). The juxtaposition of varying pieces of glass and fragments of tile create a quality that the mind sees almost as moving and alive, something that seems to touch the soul and heart as well as the eye. This resonance lends itself well to the feeling of spiritual and religious passions. The figures represented are perceived as symbolic icons, which already produces an immediate religious invocation only to be enhanced further by mosaic’s shapes and often brilliant colors. The first mosaic under discussion is found in the Basilica of San Vitale located in Raveena, Italy. The church was consecrated in 547AD and the Archbishop

How can website design be improved by the study of ergonomics Essay

How can website design be improved by the study of ergonomics - Essay Example This design of human-machine interface is based on the basic instincts and psychology of human like clicking an icon on a touchpad to initiate an application. Bob Boie developed the first touch screen pad at Bell Labs in 1984 that allowed the users to manipulate the graphics with their fingers. However, it is recently that electronic device manufacturers have started exploiting this technology for consumers like using finger touch to open a book and turn pages that give a feel similar to real world. In this research, three websites categories from Webby Award’s website; Charitable Organizations/Non-profit, Social Networking and e-Commerce focusing different area were evaluated for ergonomics on a number of factors including navigation, search, layout of information, quality of text and others by users of hand held devices using a 15 points questionnaire. The results indicated that websites were ratings were dissimilar for navigation and usefulness by experienced and inexperien ced users; however, ergonomics quality of the website needed improvements. For this developers, need to concentrate on web layout, structure and improvements in navigation. This would improve not only the ergonomics of the website but also the website overall impression resulting in increased frequency of website visitors. Table of Contents ABSTRACT 1 1.1 Introduction 6 1.2 Rationale and Theoretical Framework 2 2. Literature Review 5 2.1 Human Factors and Ergonomics 5 2.2 The Expansion of Internet 6 2.3 Human Computer Interaction 7 2.4 Major Web Design Mistakes 8 2.4.1 Bad Search 8 2.4.2 Online Reading of PDF Files 9 2.4.3 Colours of Visited Links Remain Unchanged 9 2.4.4 Non Scannable Test 10 2.4.5 Fixed Font Size 10 2.4.6 Pages Titles with Low Search Engine Visibility 11 2.4.7 Any Thing That Looks Like an Advertisement 11 2.4.8 Violating Design Conventions 12 2.4.9 Opening New Browser Windows 12 2.4.10 Not Answering User’s Questions 12 2.5 Web Interface Design 12 2.5.1 Plan Structure 13 2.5.2 Content Design 13 2.5.3 Consistency 13 2.5.4 Make Web Interface Accessible 14 2.5.5 Solid Navigational Base 14 2.5.6 Put User Input into Perspective 14 2.6 Ergonomics Method for Website Design 15 2.6.1 Planning of Design 15 2.6.2 Content Analysis 16 2.6.3 Organizing Information 16 2.6.4 Process Analysis 16 2.6.5 Design and Development 16 2.6.6 Designing for Global Users 17 2.6.7 Usability Testing 17 2.6.8 Conducting Usability Testing and Evaluation 17 2.6.9 Offline Usability Testing 18 2.6.10 Maintenance 18 2.6.11 Checking Website Integrity 18 2.7 Hand Held Devices and Web Interaction 19 3. Research Methodology 20 3.1 Research Design 20 3.1.1 Exploratory Research 20 3.1.2 Conclusive Research 20 3.1.3 Descriptive Research 21 3.1.4 Casual Research 21 3.2 Quantitative and Qualitative Research 22 3.3 Data Collection Methodology 22 3.3.1 Structured Interviews 22 3.3.2 Survey Questionnaire 23 3.4 Design of Questionnaire 23 3.4.1 Structure of Questionnaire 23 3.4.2 Ques tion Types 23 3.5 Sampling 25 4. Findings and Discussions 26 4.1 Respondent’s Profile 26 4.2 e-Commerce Websites 30 4.2.1 Navigation 31 4.2.2 User Considerations 32 4.2.3 Website Usefulness 32 4.3 Charitable Organizations / Non-profit 34 4.3.1 Navigation 35 4.3.2 User Considerations 35 4.3.3 Website Usefuln

Liberty, Equlaity, Power Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Liberty, Equlaity, Power - Essay Example They are extensively denoted in the bill of rights. Before the fight for liberty, African American men were not allowed to vote. Nevertheless, with the fifteenth amendment, they gained the right to vote. The facet of equality is based on membership of a community. The new chapter of equality emerged through struggle for citizenship in the American society through civil movements. Criminal justice policies been developed to change the issue of discrimination against the people of color in the United States. During the slavery period, people of the color were discriminated against. It was tricky for them to secure good jobs even after the end of slavery. Good housing and social services were denied owing to criminal records, which emanated as a result of laws that had been put in place to discriminate against them. Nevertheless, revolution created a room for equality. The civil was an opening door for the end of inequality. Although there was notion that civil rights amendments would have helped to end racism and economic exploitation, different forms of discrimination and exploitation emerged. This was achieved through manipulation of law through legal maneuvering, which ensured that there were twisted phrases of the law that encouraged inequality. For instance, in 1896, the famous Supreme Court ruling with the phrase â€Å"separate but equal† is a perfect example that encouraged inequality. This was the case of Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896). Presently, criminal justices policies can be argued to indirectly endorse the issue of inequality. Mass arrest and incarceration of people of color have been evident. In the year 2007, there were over 2 million people confined in US prisons, but the majorities were black and brown people. In fact, the statistics indicates that one out of three African American men is incarcerated. Additionally, mass incarceration is highly

Critical Analysis - Article will be provided Lab Report

Critical Analysis - Article will be provided - Lab Report Example While space has been discussed in mainstream media outlets in programs like â€Å"Star Trek†, it can most definitely be said that the only real way to understand space in its true form would be to experience it for one’s self by experiencing the wonder of traveling to it. As Dr. Klein writes, â€Å"In 1998, at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Florida Philosophical Association, Dr. Roy Weatherford gave his Presidential Address, on the moral imperative of space travel. Weatherford argued that human lives are intrinsically valuable,† (Klein p.8). Dr. Weatherford himself goes on to make claims that most would call very controversial, even for his day. While some have argued for the need of population control through means of birth control and such, Dr. Weatherford on the other hand made claims to the extent that not only is it wrong in his view to champion birth control, but that the human race should strive for maximum reproduction. This sort of statement resembles the mindset of human dominance even above all else. One could argue that each found their stance to be valid and held their own individual ideas in high regard. It is very believable that space exploration would be of such great importance as it came to the advancement of the learning of mankind. As for Dr. Weatherford’s argument against the use of birth control, while this is something that has been argued before, in the end appears to have more of a religious undertone to it rather than the potential scientific discoveries and benefits of the initial argu ment made. Further examination of his argument in this case leads to the conclusion that not only is Dr. Weatherford arguing for the mass production of the human race, but that there is encouragement on his part for the idea of mass producing the human race not only as much as possible, but in as many places as possible. Dr. Klein would have to of thought this when he reviewed Dr. Weatherford’s statements for his own article. Rather than

Political Obligation Thesis Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Political Obligation - Thesis Example The basic thesis is that obeying the law enables people to be more free within their actions than not. Rousseau's The Social Contract was a highly influential treatise on hos a society based upon laws should work, and why it does actually work. It is a firm foundation for why people should obey the law. Within this work Rousseau suggests that the individual person gives up certain freedoms in return for the protection of society as regards much larger freedoms. For example, most people try to obey traffic laws such as stopping at a red light. This might be seen as a curtailment of their freedom to drive their car wherever they want whenever they want, but obeying red light laws preserves a much greater freedom: that of surviving your journey. Thus the individual gives up a small right in return for a much greater one. The "contract" that thus ensues between the individual and society is one that is "social" in nature. The individual agrees to obey the laws and the State, in the form of the government, police force, justice system etc. agrees to provide an environment in which people are as safe as possible and free to go about their own business. The social contract can also be understood by a consideration of those societies in which it is not present. Thus in times of anarchy, such as a civil war, individuals are free to "do" virtually whatever they want as law and order has broken down. Does this imply more freedom In a theoretical sense perhaps, but the reality of the situation is that most people are afraid for their lives much of the time. The law of the jungle is no law at all. Does this imply that the modern society, as exemplified by advanced Western countries, with sophisticated justice systems and capitalist economic paradigms are totally favorable One giant of philosophy, Karl Marx, would suggest not. Karl Marx suggested that laws were generally a codified means by which one class (the ruling) keeps everyone else (ie. you and me) in check. Marxists in general recognize that for society to function efficiently, there needs to be social order. However, they believed that in all societies except the Communist one, laws were designed to be of advantage to the wealthy. Thus the famous Marxist dictum that "property is theft". It is interesting to note that even for Marx laws were necessary, as was public obedience to them. It was the nature of those laws that Marx disagreed with, not the fact that they should exist at all. One reason the individual may find for obeying the law is the tendency for "labeling" to occur within society.Labeling theory suggests that the labels we give to individuals effects how they eventually act. Thus if a person comes from a gender or racial group that is perceived to be criminal, then they are more likely to act in a criminal way. The converse is also true - if you come from a supposedly law-abiding group - within American society, white upper class would be an example, then you are less likely to become a criminal. Having a system of theoretically objective laws in place stops such stereotyping as much as is possible. If people obey those laws then labeling is much likely to occur. For example, this author was once stopped in bookstore for acting in a supposedly suspicious manner. While I did not fit the classic profile of a "criminal", I was acting as one in the eyes of store security and so was stopped and eventually searched. In my situation I was labeled as a

Human Resource Is the Most Important Assest in an Organization Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Is the Most Important Assest in an Organization Essay Human resources are the set of individuals who makes up the workforce of an organization, business sector or an economy. This resource resides in the skill, knowledge and motivation of people and under the right condition it improves in age and experience which no other resources can do. It is therefore considered the most productive resources that can create the longest advantages for an organization. For an organization to sustain and grow they do not only rely on advanced technology, good marketing strategy and other factors etc. In fact, they have to rely on their employee performance, contribution and image. As in most organization, they are mainly human orientated. Thus, without their support and contribution to the business operation, the organization daily business operation will not be functioning well. Christina. P (2009) mentioned that organizational psychology holds that successful organizations do not owe their success solely to market realities and sustainable competitive advantages. Actually, there is a lot more. Successful companies are those that consider their human capital as their most important asset. Facts and figures are the quantitative elements of successful management, yet the qualitative, i.e. the cognitive aspects, are those that actually make or break an organization Here are a few factors that explain how human resource can contribute to an organization to help them meet their future goals and expectations. Firstly, having strategic human resource planning. It is a process that identifies current and future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals. Reilly (2003) define human resource planning as: ‘A process in which an organization attempts to estimate the demand for labour and evaluate the size, nature and sources of supply which will be required to meet the demand.’ Without human resource planning, an organization may not be ready and well prepared for the future challenges ahead. Secondly, by having a positive working environment. In order to allow employees to contribute to the organization it is important to create a positive environment for the employees so as to ensure the smooth running of business of an organization. For instance, encouraging employee to go for lunch break on time, taking short breaks in between during working hours if there is too much stress, minimal overtime work. Such work practice will actually motivates employees to contributes more to the organization as they are not overwork or over stress. As mentioned by David.I (2009), â€Å"work environment, employee satisfaction and employee turnover are three distinct concepts that are inseparably linked; workplace environments greatly influence employee satisfaction, which in turn directly affects employee turnover rates. Knowing how to use a positive work environment to increase employee satisfaction and reduce turnover is a key to developing a high-performance workforce.† Thirdly, continuous learning within an organization. It is important for an organization to promote and send their employees of different level to attend workshops and courses. This is to allow employees to have an opportunity to learn new skills and to continue to upgrade themselves regardless of their age. Without the right knowledge or skill in a certain organization, employees may not be able to contribute to the organization more effectively. As mentioned by Robert J.V (2006), â€Å"a learning organization embraces a culture of lifelong learning, enabling all employees to continually acquire and share knowledge. Improvements in product or service quality do not stop when proper training is provided to the employees. Employees need to have the financial, time and content resources available to increase their knowledge.â€Å" Lastly, by having attractive benefits and compensation. Pay and benefits are the most important incentives that organization can offer to employees in exchange for a more productivity and quality contribution to the organization. Employees should also be rewarded when they have accomplished a big assignment for their hard work and efforts to the organization as this attractive benefits and compensation will also help booze the employee morale. At the same time, they will feel appreciated by the organization where they may contribute more to the organization in future. If employees are not satisfied with the level of compensation or benefit, they may not be motivated to work and the level of standard for quality and productivity will definitely be low. As mentioned by Rebecca. L (2012),† when your workers feel you’re looking out for them, they’ll look out for you, too, by producing higher quality work and staying in their jobs longer. Providing good benefits packages—which might include retirement, health care or dental plans—is a tangible way to show employees that you value them and their quality of life. Sure, the rising cost of benefits has made offering an attractive package more difficult for small businesses, but there are still ways to offer competitive packages to recruit and retain the best workers while staying within your budget.† In conclusion, â€Å"Human Resource† is the most important asset of an organization as it plays an important role in every aspect .It is the backbone of an organization, without human resource the organization will not be able to function well and may not succeed in the future challenges.

HR in Pantaloon Retail Limited | Analysis

HR in Pantaloon Retail Limited | Analysis This project starts with the history of Pantaloon Retail (India) Limited which is biggest player in the retail industry and got diversified into many sectors. After that discussed about the HR policies and practices which are followed by Pantaloons in appointing the employees such as Service Rules, Promotion Policy and Rules, Wage Structure, Employee Motivation and Welfare Schemes, Health and Safety Rules, Training and Development. After completion of HR policies and Practices then discussed about the type of job and the applicant who is getting recruited depending upon the level of the company that is junior, middle, senior. Pantaloons use some Training Methodologies for training their employees. Company Profile:- Pantaloon Retail Limited is Indias largest retailing company which operates multiple retail formats in both Lifestyle and value segments. The headquarters of Pantaloon Retail Limited is in Mumbai and operates all around India and has over 30,000 employees working for over 1000 stores across 73 cities in India. Pantaloon Retail Limited includes a chain of fashion outlets such as Pantaloons, Big Bazaar and Brand Factory. The company also operates its products online by the web portal named futurebazaar.com. Values of Pantaloons:- The Success story of Pantaloons had built on a number of core company values that have remained almost unchanged. These values are: Indianness: confidence in their business structure. Leadership: To be a leader, both in thought and business. Respect Humility: To respect every individual and be humble in conduct. Introspection: leading to purposeful thinking. Openness: to be open and receptive to new ideas, knowledge and information. Valuing and Nurturing Relationships: to build long term relationships. Simplicity Positivity: Simplicity and positivity in our thought, business and action. Adaptability: to be flexible and adaptable, to meet challenges. Flow: to respect and understand the universal laws of nature. HR Policies and Rules:- Promotion Policy Rules: Promotion Policy and rules are applied to employees depending upon on their ability of performing work, managing their skills and the level of experience. Wage Structure: Every Job has awarded different wages depending upon the position of the employee and the responsibility levels which the employees take over. This enables the company to: Provide competitive salaries for each job taking into account market rates. Reward everyone according to their contribution. The Salary allocated ranges depends upon the employees position type for employees performing the standard duties of their jobs. Set up maximum and minimum levels within those ranges to account for variations in experience and skill levels. The pay defers from Store Administered employee to Head Office Administered employee. The payment of the employees is directly by the manager or it is deposited into the savings account which the employee holds. The Company reserves the right to suspend pay where an employee fails to notify about absence from work. Employee motivation welfare schemes: Reward Policies Pantaloon believes in sharing its progress and profitability and reward accordingly. They offer a range of benefits which are service-related, so they build up as service of an employee increases. Each element of the benefits package is reviewed regularly to ensure it remains competitive and maintains pantaloon as a leading employer. Some of them are: To extend a discount facility to employees of Future Group. Healthcare Offers Pantaloons offer following healthcare options to all monthly paid employees and their partners: Private health insurance Gratuity Scheme Free medical treatment for the employee, spouse and the dependent family members. Female employees can have Maternity leave 84 days maximum on completion of 160 days. Travel Expenses Travel is an integral part of work for many people. Pantaloons offers travel options and expenses so employees can travel in a secure and comfortable manner. Social Activities Pantaloons provides the employees the scheme named Seekho which enables them to develop their skill sets and opt for any educational courses so that they can increase their productivity which adds additional value for the company development in future. Every employee of the pantaloon contributes small amount of money from their salary each month voluntarily to the pantaloon foundation which they can use for any emergency needs. Lifestyle Options Pantaloon provides following options and benefits: Flexible working Employees can avail advance of 7 days of all purpose leave during the probation period which will be adjusted in the employees leave balance. Leave accumulation will be permissible up to 90 days period. Only 15 days will be carried forward to the next fiscal year. Corporate helpline A 24-hour confidential support service which help employees to manage stress, personal, traumatic or financial issues which are affecting their attendance or performance at work. Health safety rules: Pantaloon is committed to ensure the health, safety and well being of all its employees, customers and others who visit or work in their premises. Companys Policy on Health and Safety includes: The Health Safety Committee The Committee members advice on health safety policy who monitors employees effectiveness and reviews the key performance and take measures on a quarterly basis. The Store/Site Manager The Store/Site Manager is responsible for ensuring with Fire, Health Safety Officer that Company Health Safety Policy is implemented. This includes: Suitable Induction and Legislative Update training for Fire, Health Safety. The prevention, investigation and the reporting of accidents. The completion of ongoing Risk Assessments and maintenance of known hazard information. Property, Development and Facilities Management They are responsible for the provision of working areas, equipment and materials that are safe and dont pose any risk to health. Training and development: Personal Development Learning career development Pantaloons are committed to develop its employees into skilled, customer-focused, enthusiastic and motivated employees. They provides the employees the scheme named Seekho which enables them to develop their skill sets and opt for any educational courses so that they can increase their productivity which adds additional value for the company development in future. An employee is equally responsible for learning and development. Training is given as and when required e.g. the implementation of new systems. Review of performance Line managers review performance continually in order to assess how a particular employee is doing. It helps employee in assessing themselves and look for further development. Highlights of Equal Opportunities Policy are: Promote a working environment free from discrimination, harassment and victimization on the basis of: Gender, sexual orientation. Marital status Race, color, nationality. Working Hours Religion or Political views. Age and Disability. Identification of Jobs and their Analysis: Pantaloons as above mentioned it has around 30,000 employees who are working under different roles depending upon their qualifications. This means there is diversity in the Company distribution of work load as per the qualifications of the persons applying in. There are three levels of Jobs in any company viz. Entry Level, Middle Level, Senior Level. These levels have their own Job description, Job Specification and the Recruitment and Selection procedure etc These are briefly discussed below:- Entry Level: The entry level jobs at Pantaloons for example the Stock and Inventory staff and others. Job description: The Applicant for the Stock and Inventory the employees are responsible for shipping of inventory and supplying the inventory from the internal locations to the other departments. This means he pulls all the items from the storage, physically move them. Job Specification: Strong Organizational Skills. Multi Tasking ability. Basic computer knowledge. Strong Communication Skills. Must be soft spoken and must have a smiling face while treating the customer. Able to work under pressure. Detailed recruitment and staffing: For recruitment in this level a mass number of people are required. The company goes with advertisements and newspaper for walk in interviews. The company chooses reference and consultancies for the recruitment of the employees as one strategy. There are interviews conducted by departmental managers , store managers, HR heads and the team leaders respectively After all this process done if the person gets through all the interview rounds then he is given his place in the team or the job part for which he/she is fit for. Middle Level: The middle level job is of a Store Manager who is supposed to be responsible for both the functioning of the firm in maintaining the store and the management of the entry level people. Job Description: Minimum 3-5 years of experience in maintaining stores and performing the operational requirements. Monitoring the entire store and planning about the future services and training the new employees in their work. Must provide extremely high customer service and must make sure that the employees working under him must also provide same level customer satisfaction. The candidate is expected to develop functional understanding of business as well as understand the way information about the workplace and scheduling the processes. Good understanding of concepts such a Market basket analysis, Regression analysis etc. Job Specification: Graduate (preferable in retail management) with strong Maths background. Business Systems Analyst Skills. An experience of minimum 3-5 years is required. Advanced Computer knowledge. Effective verbal and written communication skills. Project management skills and strong leadership skills. Ability to manage multitasks in very fast pace environment. Broad knowledge on retail business. Strong analytical skills. Must be able to make seasonal strategy of a product. Detailed recruitment and staffing: The company produces vacancies in the consultancies, news paper advertisement for walk in. Now the company selects or shortlists the viable profiles and then starts the recruitment. Now the interviews are conducted as per these persons one by one viz. department head, store manager, zonal manager, HR. Senior Level: The senior level job is of Operations Manager who is responsible for all marking targets for different groups and is responsible for the other high end activities in the organization. Job Description: Minimum 5+ years of experience in performing the operational requirements. Interviewing the low level managers and make sure that all the employees understands the organization goals. Must provide extremely high customer service and must make sure that the employees working under him must also provide same level customer satisfaction. Must manage business operations activities and have to deliver the results according to the organizational strategy. Good understanding of concepts such a Market basket analysis. Job Specification: Excellent communication is required. Knowledge of business processes their interdependencies. Ability to give short-term solutions to business problem from a business continuity point of view. Develop report and review on all the operations which are taking place under his control. Ability to develop long term solutions for business problems with a view on repercussions on the whole business. Leadership skills required. An experience of minimum 5+ years is required Detailed recruitment and staffing: Same process is followed while giving ads in the news papers and consultancies. The main interview is taken by the HR and then supervised by the directors and the BODs. SELECTION PROCESS Finalization of the Candidate: Once a candidate is finalized, he has to submit the following documents: Last salary slip Last appointment letter REFERENCE CHECK: After the submission of slip and the appointment letter, the candidate has to give the names and contact details of two professional references from his current company/any of the previous companies where he has worked earlier. A telephonic call is made to the persons and the following is checked: Education background Professional Background Personal background Interpersonal skills for the formalities. OFFER LETTER: After checking all the references, if the candidates are found suitable, the offer letter is rollout to the candidate for joining. Effective Training Methodologies: Effective training methodology which a firm uses to adopt for the junior level executive is Experiential action learning. This method requires an instructor to be very skilled and knowledgeable about the process which the firm is following for its growth. Employees who are new to the organization are a part in the experiential action learning which may indeed help them to develop a better sense of knowledge which can improve the capabilities of the employee. Effective training methodology which a firm uses to adopt for the middle level executive is On-the-job training which is a kind of Word-Driven Training, in this type of training, supervisors or mentors-who must be very skilled in the work being taught- instruct participants in a hands-on environment. Design time is usually minimal because on-the-job training is not a formal process Effective training methodology which a firm uses to adopt for the senior level executives are Problem-bases learning in which participants focus on problems with the help of resource person, as required. Learners determine the pace of the training and its content. Training occurs in the sense that the group learns about the problem; at the same time, a solution is developed. The research indicated that people learning through problem-based training are more motivated. Conclusion: Pantaloon Retail (India) limited is not only an organization but it is an institute which provides its employees an opportunity for learning which helps in development of the company. They always look for the people who are high in knowledge which will help the organization success. Pantaloons always welcome change in fashion by thinking out of the box. Pantaloons has achieved success through its capability and competence to lead the change when compared to past. Pantaloons most innovative concepts are now considered as the base line in the retail industry. Pantaloon Retail (India) limited started of with manufacturing of garment later it expanded into the retailing market when compared to any other retail company. Pantaloon Retail (India) limited was the 1st to introduce the concept of the departmental store in retail sector for the entire family members through Pantaloons. Pantaloon Retail (India) also launched hypermarket in India as Big Bazaar, a large discount store and it also launched Food Bazaar. Today Pantaloon Retail (India) limited is diversified into so many fields and evolved as largest retail company in India. The way we work is distinctly Pantaloon. The biggest advantage of pantaloons is the courage of dreaming of becoming diversified into many fields and turning the dream into reality which changes the lives of the consumer. Pantaloon is an invitation to join a place where there are no boundaries to what you can achieve. Means employee are given importance to be open in their thoughts and requested to give their opinions for the organizational success.

Supporting Pupils On Autistic Spectrum In Mainstream Classroom Education Essay

Supporting Pupils On Autistic Spectrum In Mainstream Classroom Education Essay Introduction The National Autistic Society (NAS) describes Autism as: A lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people and the world around them. It  is a spectrum condition, which means that, while all people with autism share certain areas of difficulty, their condition will affect them in different ways.  Asperger syndrome is a form of autism. (NAS, website) Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can have an effect on the ability of a child to learn and participate in the classroom, however, there are ways to ensure autistic children learn and participate within the mainstream environment. As a teacher of Support for Learning, I am working in both the Primary and Secondary sectors. My role involves supporting children with additional needs within a mainstream school, either in the classroom, one-to-one or in small groups. The pupils I support display an array of additional needs including those exhibiting autistic tendencies. Looking at a case study of a child within a mainstream primary school exhibiting autistic tendencies, this assignment discusses the topic of ASD; the historical aspects, characteristics, theories and diagnosis, policy and legislation, and support provided. The Case Study Child Pupil N is 10 years old, and in primary 5. When the family moved from England to Scotland he was held back for a year in nursery due to delayed development. He had communication and language difficulties which were amplified when he started nursery in a Scottish school, not only did he have difficulties understanding spoken language, but he now had to contend with the Scottish accent as well. To gain some background information, I designed a questionnaire for parents to complete. The questionnaire was carried out verbally during a telephone conversation with Ns mother. During the conversation, she also clarified some of the questions in more detail. (See appendix 1) As shown in the questionnaire, and from my own observations, some of the characteristics displayed by pupil N, which are identified in the triad of impairments, include: lack of eye contact, poor social skills, difficulty in forming friendships with peers, delayed speech although he now speaks fluently, however he does have difficulty in understanding language; liking for sameness, a special interest in tractors, does not initiate and sustain conversation, has had frequent diarrhoea and issues with going to the toilet, which seems to have improved as he has grown older; he can also occasionally, swear and display aggressive behaviour towards others, and gets in trouble for this at school. The Historical aspects of Autism Research in Autism dates back to 1938, though Wing (1993) suggests there were accounts in literature prior to this, but states there is no information as to the occurrence of autism before the second half of the twentieth century, however Volkmar, et al (2005) suggests that in 1867 Henry Maudsley possibly made the first step toward a classification by grouping children with peculiar, unhinged behavior under the label insane. He suggested a number of subgroups, one of which he called instinctive insanity, which could indicate that some of the children he discussed had ASD. Studies carried out by Kanner in 1943 involved children identified as having conditions which were different and unique from anything recognized so far. Around the same time, but independently, Asperger also carried out work in the same field. All of the children in Kanners study were different but displayed very similar characteristics; the common elements found in these children included a lack of emotion, repetitive actions, speech formation problems, ability to manipulate various objects, learning difficulties, and their levels of intelligence. Kanner noted the symptoms were very similar to those of schizophrenia however, they appeared to manifest at a much earlier age. He assumed that à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. these children had come into the world with an innate inability to form the usual, biologically provided affective contact with people. (Kanner, 1943 p250) Asperger discovered many individuals had similar problems with social skills and repetitive actions but did not have trouble with learning or their cognitive abilities. Some showed exceptional talents or abilities that were considered outstanding. Both Kanners 1943 study Autistic Disturbances in Affective Contact and Aspergers 1944 study Autistic Psychopathy in Childhood are important in early autism research, though Aspergers study was not translated into English until 1991 by Dr. Uta Frith. (Long, B. 2007, website) Both Kanner and Asperger described autism as a distinctive developmental disorder that had not been clinically described before; people suffering from it were unduly considered to be mentally handicapped. (Bogdashina. 2005) Defining Autism There has been much research, and varying theories in the field of autism since the studies of Kanner and Asperger, however there does not appear to be a single core deficit, nor is there a cure. Authors such as Happe (1994), Powell and Jordan (1997), Sicile-Kira (2003), Bogdashina (2005), and Lathe (2006), discuss the most universally used criteria for defining and diagnosing autism which is known as Wings Triad of Impairments. The Triad of Impairments is based on certain behavioural characteristics, described by Schreibman (2005) as deficits, which are exhibited in three main areas: impairments of social interaction, impairments in social communication and impairments in imagination. Impairments of Social Interaction Wing (2003) suggests this can be shown in different ways, and groups them into four categories: The aloof group Probably the most common social impairment in young children; behaving as if other people do not exist, and not responding when spoken to; appearing to have empty expressionless faces unless displaying extreme anger, distress or joy. They tend not to want to be touched, and do not make eye contact; rather they look past or straight through you. They show no sympathy if you are in pain or upset, and seem to be in a world of their own. For some it may change as they grow older, but for others it may continue throughout life. The passive group Children and adults are not completely cut off and accept approaches from others; however they do not instigate social interaction; also having difficulties with eye contact but can often make contact when reminded. Passive children are happy to join in games but can often be left out when games change. Generally, their behaviour is less problematic although some can display disturbed behaviour during adolescence. The active but odd group People in this category can initiate contact with others but this can appear odd and inappropriate, and tends to be with those in charge rather than their peers. They appear to be concerned with their own needs rather than those of others. When not getting the attention they want, they can behave aggressively towards others, due to the lack of understanding of social interaction. The over-formal, stilted group This type of behaviour usually manifests in later adolescence, in those who are more able, with a good level of language. They tend to be over polite and formal, and try very hard to be well behaved. However, they do not fully understand the rules of social interaction and have difficulty adapting their behaviour to different situations. Impairments of social communication Baron-Cohen (2008) claims that if children do not produce single words by the age of two, or phrased speech by the age of three; they are identified as having language delay. Pupil N did not speak until nursery age, even then, he could not form the words properly and was referred for Speech and Language Therapy (SALT). Wing (2003), suggests that all children and adults with ASD have communication problems; however Baron-Cohen (2008) suggests there is no speech and language delay with Asperger Syndrome. Wing (2003) states that speech and language delays are common, some may never speak at all. Those who do speak often start by repeating words echolalia, spoken by others. Echolalia can be immediate or delayed. With delayed echolalia, they can often repeat something randomly that they have heard previously, which could be some time ago. The level of understanding varies; most have some understanding although this can be limited. They also have difficulties in understanding non-verbal communication such as nodding ones head, and facial expressions. A major characteristic is that they take things literally, for example, if they were told it is raining cats and dogs, they would expect to see cats and dogs falling from the sky, therefore care is needed when speaking to a person with an ASD; figures of speech can be taken at face value, leading to stress and terror. The majority of people with ASD have an odd monotonous tone when speaking, which can be inappropriate, they can occasionally speak too loud or too quiet; some often use their special voice which is different from their own. Impairments of Imagination Children with ASD are unable to develop imaginative play. Some do show evidence of imaginative play; however it tends to be very repetitive, doing the same thing over and over again. Some may even copy a character they have seen on television or in a book, or a non-living object, but also in a repetitive manor. Other repetitive activities include tapping, tasting, smelling, feeling and scratching different surfaces, and some can inflict self-injury in the form of scratching, biting and head-banging. (Wing, 2003) Other features suggested by Sicile-Kira, (2003) include: Not liking change in routine or environment Not reaching developmental milestones Only eating certain foods Eating or chewing unusual things Lacking of common sense Not understanding simple requests Frequent diarrhoea, upset stomach or constipation. Theories in Autism Theoretical approaches to research in Autism include neuropathological and neuropsychological. Neuropathological Neuropathology relates to the central nervous system and brain. Discussed by Frith (2003) and Feinstein (2010), Kemper and Bauman carried out a study which led to autism being treated as a biological disorder. They found that cells in the hippocampus, subiculum and amygdala; parts of the brain associated with emotions, space, behaviour and memory (OMara et al, 2009), were decreased in size and closely packed, and suggested the irregularity occurred in the cells during early development. Anthony Bailey noted that four out of six people with autism had unusually large heavy brains, and Dr. Eric Courchesne reported that he found evidence of rapid brain overgrowth in the first year, in infants who develop autism. Dr Manuel Casanova investigated mini-columns of neurons; the smallest unit of cells capable of processing information, and suggested they are smaller and more abundant in autistic people. Gillberg, Kemper and Bauman were interested in both sides of the brain as the left side deals with linguistic performance, while the right side deals with non-verbal communications such as, gestures and emotional expression, which are impaired in autism. (Feinstein, 2010) Neuropsychological Theories The non-social features that have been explained by researchers include: theory of mind, weak central coherence, executive dysfunction and joint attention. Theory of Mind Theory of mind is the ability to impute mental states to self and others. (Doherty 2008) Baron-Cohen, Leslie and Frith (1985) suggested that autistic children do not develop theory of mind (ToM). Research was carried out by using the Sally Anne test (See appendix 2) which suggested that they suffer from mind blindness and cannot envisage what others might think. ToM attracted criticism due to the fact that dolls were used instead of real people. Baron-Cohen cited by Feinstein (2010), stated that the test produced similar results after being carried out again with real people. Weak central coherence Normally developing people process information by looking at and understanding the whole picture. Frith and Happà © cited by Rajendran and Mitchell (2007), suggest people with autism process the component parts individually rather than the whole; indicating that they have weak global coherence. Shah and Frith tested central coherence using the Wechsler block design (See appendix 3), which requires children to use separate blocks to construct an entire design. They found that autistic children produced a higher score than others in the test, and were also faster in constructing the design. (Frith 1985, Shah and Frith, 1993) Frith, cited by Rajendran and Mitchell (2007), argues that autistic people perform better on these tasks because they lack the understanding of global form. Executive Dysfunction Executive function (EF) is defined as the ability to sustain problem-solving activities for achieving future goals. EF is used for activities such as planning, organizing, strategizing and paying attention to and remembering details. Researchers have noted that symptoms that are not explained by ToM can resemble specific brain injury symptoms, which has led to Ozonoff theorizing that autism could be explained as a deficit in EF. However, different researchers have produced differing results, which suggests that not all autistic individuals exhibit EF problems, also, these difficulties are seen in other disorders and not exclusive to autism. (Rajendran and Mitchell 2007) Joint attention Joint attention is the way in which one draws somebodys attention to a stimulus by gazing or pointing. This developmental milestone emerges around six months of age. Charman (2003) suggests impairments in joint attention are among the earliest signs of the disorder. There has been other hypothesis suggested as causing autism such as the triple MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) vaccine, implicated by Dr Andrew Wakefield, which is administered to children at eighteen months, around the same time that autism is most commonly detected. Rutter, cited by Feinstein (2010), stated that although research has pointed out that there is no link between autism and the MMR, there are still some parents who choose to have individual vaccinations for their children. Although many theories have been connected with the origins of autism, the core deficits of the disorder are still unknown. Kemper, cited by Feinstein (2010), stated: there is not going to be one cause or treatment. Diagnosis Sicile-Kira, (2003) states that there is no medical test to diagnose ASD, and any diagnosis is based on observation of behavioural characteristics. Medical practitioners base the diagnosis on guidelines set out in the World Health Organizations International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), which requires that all three of the triad of impairments are present at 36 months of age; or the American Psychiatric Associations system the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) and (DSM-IV-TR), which also requires that the age of onset should be recorded. (AWARES.org, website) The ICD-10 specifies that at least 8 of the 16 specified items must be fulfilled, which should include 3 from Impairments of reciprocal social interaction, 2 from Qualitative abnormalities in communication, and 2 from Restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behaviour, interests and activities. The diagnosis for Asperger Syndrome is similar to Autism however; the diagnosis requires that single words should have developed by two years of age or earlier. (World Health Organization, 1993) The Criteria from DSM-IV specifies there should be a total of six or more items which includes 2 from Qualitative impairments in social interaction, 1 from each of the other areas. For Asperger Syndrome, the DSM-IV also states there should be no significant impairments in language communication. (American Psychiatric Association, Internet source) The guidelines for diagnosing autism differ from each other in that the ICD-10 requires a minimum of 8 manifestations for a diagnosis, whereas, the DSM-IV only requires 6. It appears that a person may or may not be diagnosed with autism, depending on which criteria are used. After many conversations with researchers, Feinstein (2010) suggests that there has been an increase in the prevalence of Autism, possibly due to the expansion of the spectrum and improvements in diagnostic tools. Dorothy Bishop re-tested adults diagnosed with speech and language disorder as children, but not autism, which resulted in a quarter of them being re-diagnosed with autism. (Feinstein, 2010) Criticisms of diagnostic criteria Cited by Feinstein (2010), researchers such as Lorna Wing, Dr Patricia Howlin, Christopher Gillberg, and Dr Fred Volkmar who was on the DSM-IV classification drafting committee, have criticized the ICD-10 and DSM-IV, especially as far as Asperger syndrome is concerned. They suggest it is very feigned; both criteria state that spoken language must be normal for an Asperger syndrome diagnosis, when in fact; Asperger originally stated that peculiarities of speech and language were a key feature. Fombonne (1999) suggests that there are more boys than girls diagnosed with autism; on the other hand, Dr Judith Gould cited by Hill (2009) argues that doctors are failing to diagnose thousands of girls who have Aspergers syndrome, and suggests that girls are not being noticed in the first place, or if they ask for help, they are being turned away and are often rejected when referred for diagnosis. Pupil N appears to display many signs of autism but does not have a medical diagnosis; however he has been diagnosed with speech and language delay, and health issues such as toileting. HMIE (2006), state that for best practice, education authorities should not limit support only to those with a formal ASD medical diagnosis. There are many reasons why N may not have an official diagnosis. Autism is very complex; therefore it is possible that the behaviours he displays fit into more than one category, or none at all, depending on any criteria used, which can make it difficult to ascertain. Also, diagnosis can be time consuming and perhaps stressful for the child and the parents. A survey carried out by Osborne and Reed (2008) examined how communication between parents and professionals concerning ASD and its diagnosis, could be facilitated; most parents wanted a quicker and easier process, and would prefer the procedure to be more consistent in content and structure. They also called for better professional training and awareness about ASD, especially regarding the information that professionals possess, and the interpersonal skills of some professionals. Sicile-Kira, (2003) suggests if parents have concerns about their child, it is important to seek advice from a medical professional who is experienced in ASD, and acquire a diagnosis as early as possible to gain access to services. Another reason which may prevent a parent from requesting a medical diagnosis is the stigma of labeling a child. Labeling can suggest a low overall attainment compared with their peers, have an effect on the attitude and behaviour of teachers towards children, and affect the children themselves. (Hart, et al, 2004) Authors such as Sicile-Kira, (2003) and Ho, (2004) comment that labels ascertain the eligibility for people to access benefits and services, however, Ho (2004) also argues that it provides an excuse for school officials to assume a medical model of learning disabilities, and ignore other problems in our educational and social systems that give rise to a range of students learning difficulties. Policy and Legislation In 2001, Scottish Ministers commissioned the Public Health Institute of Scotland (PHIS, now NHS) to carry out a needs assessment of services for people with ASD in Scotland. The aim was to look at current service provision, and provide advice on how the services could better meet the needs of both children and adults with ASD. The report suggested a lack of understanding amongst service providers of the nature of ASD and made 32 recommendations, resulting in the National ASD Reference Group being set up by The Scottish Executive in June 2002, to identify priorities to support the development of good practice across a range of services. (PHIS, 2001) The Scottish Executive (2006) suggested an audit of training in each NHS board with a view to addressing training needs and gaps, this corroborates the earlier discussion that parents suggested there is a need for more professional training and awareness about ASD, however, the Scottish Executive (2006) only discussed training for health practitioners and not education. In the past, pupils with additional needs would have been educated within a special school; recent legislation and policy such as The Standards in Scotlands Schools etc Act 2000, and The Education (Additional Support for Learning) (Scotland) Act, 2004, places a duty on education authorities to meet the needs of all pupils in a mainstream environment, where possible, alongside their peers, including those with additional support needs. Children are described as having additional support needs if they require additional support to enable them to make progress in their learning. My local authority provides guidance to schools for supporting children with autism, with a staged intervention procedure to meet the needs of children and young people on the autistic spectrum, which  acknowledges the role of multi-agencies in developing consistency in both school and home. HMIE (2006) implies that some education staff feel they do not have enough knowledge and understanding of ASD therefore, training for all staff involved in the education of pupils with ASD is an important area to develop. They also argue that parents are not always kept fully informed about the range of provision available for their children, implying there is a greater need for collaboration between parents, teachers and other professionals. The HMIE report highlights a conversation with Ns class teacher (appendix 4), in which she commented that he is a bit strange, and gave the impression that she is unaware of Ns difficulties, therefore, there is a need for more collaboration to develop a good working relationship with the class teacher, pupil and parents, in order to meet his learning needs. Collaboration can mean different things to different people, at different times; on a professional level, through sharing good practice, it can improve effectiveness, self-reflection and teacher learning; on a personal level, it can enhance moral support and confidence. Effective schools need effective communication and collaboration amongst staff, other agents, parents and pupils. (Head 2003) Classroom Practice Powell and Jordan (1997) state that a great deal of what needs to be taught to pupils with autism is out-with the curriculum, such as interaction and communication skills, therefore the needs of the child should determine the curriculum. Most children require some one-to-one teaching, not just to address their difficulties, but also develop their skills and strengths. Pupil N was known to the Speech and Language Services in England prior to moving to Scotland (See appendix 5), and received some one-to-one support in the form of SALT, which continued until 2007. He then received an Individualised Educational Programme (IEP) and support at school level to address his literacy skills. When I started this post a teacher of SFL in January 2010 pupil N was being removed from class along with five other pupils, to work on the literacy program Read and Write Inc (RWI) (See appendix 6), which provides a structured approach to the teaching of phonics and literacy. (Miskin, R, website updated 2010) As I did not know anything about the pupils at the start, I decided to re-assess their reading ability in the RWI programme, and found that although pupil N could read the words, he did not fully understand. I have recently been involved in auditing pupils needs within the school, to identify that require high, medium and low priority support, along with colleagues, with a view to making changes in the way support is offered, and produce an IEP for those who need one. Up until now, all the pupils have been coming out of class for support rather than receiving in-class support. The changes would allow more targeted support to meet the individual needs of the children, within the class, individually, and in small groups. Children have the right to say what they think should happen and have their opinions taken into account when adults are making decisions that affect them (UNICEF, 1991), therefore, the audit included a questionnaire to find out what support and help the pupils felt they needed. When asked, it appeared that pupil N did not fully understand the questions; however, he did say that he liked to come out of class, preferably on his own. (See appendix 7) During the audit, I discovered that the last IEP for pupil N was in 2008, and had not been reviewed. Through collaboration with pupil N, his class teacher and parents, a new IEP has been developed. (See appendix 8) During a conversation with Ns mother at parents evening, she felt his needs were not all being appropriately met, she had not been fully informed of his progress except through yearly class-teacher reports, and was unaware that N had previously received an IEP. A copy of the new IEP has been sent home to parents to allow them to become more involved in Ns learning and development, which should have been done with his previous IEP. The class teacher, parents and I will now take steps in working towards developing strategies to enable N to meet his IEP targets and enhance his learning to make further progress. Conclusion Very little was known about autism during the early part of the twentieth century; however, since the reports by Kanner and Asperger, much research has been carried out. Many hypotheses have been identified and researched, such as Theory of Mind, Weak Central Coherence, Executive Dysfunction and Joint Attention and impairments in the function of various parts of the brain. The MMR vaccine has also been implicated in the cause of autism; though this was dismissed through further research. Although there has been much research into possible causes, and the various theories look as if they may all be related, there does not appear to be one single cause, but rather, many; those with autism seem to display traits from all of the theories in varying degrees. For a diagnosis, there needs to be a display of the characteristics from the Triad of Impairments, however the criteria for diagnosis differs, in that, a person may or may not be diagnosed with autism, depending on whether the ICD-10 or the DSM-IV is used. Although Pupil N does not have a formal ASD diagnosis, he does display many characteristics, and according to HMIE (2006), for best practice, he should receive the support as he would if he was diagnosed. After carrying out the audit of needs for all the pupils with additional needs in the school, it appeared that although pupil N had made much progress in terms of speech and reading, there are other difficulties and strengths, which have not yet been addressed. The new IEP which has been developed in collaboration with the pupil, parents, class teacher and I is the start of working towards meeting those needs. There will be a review in three months time to assess progress, and a continued support and review cycle thereafter.

Sexuality Essay -- Social Issues, Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault

Sexuality is defined in many ways, for the sake of this papers clarity sexuality will be defined as, sexual feelings and interactions that are defining features of romantic intimacy. (Fering 2009) Child sexual abuse (CSA) is defined in the International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences as "any [sexual] action that is inflicted upon or must be tolerated by a child against their own will or any [sexual] action about which the child cannot make a decision due to their physical, emotional, mental, and verbal inferiority." Statistics for the prevalence of CSA range from anywhere from 15 to 25 percent of women to 5 to 10 percent of men according to Deegener. (2002) However, these percentages are based on retrospective studies and are founded on reports from victims that disclose their abuse. The book â€Å"Stolen Tomorrows† by Steven Levenkron states, "The National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center reports that only 16 percent of adolescent and adult rapes are brought to light. The reports of childhood, toddler and even infant sexual assault are of course much lower..." the consequences that follow the victims of CSA for the rest of their lives are usually so severe that even if only five percent of the population reported abuse it would still be a relevant issue. Childhood sexual abuse affects the development of sexuality, creates problems in developing intimacy and leads to many mood and anxiety disorders that follow victims for the rest of their lives. When a child is forced or coerced into sexual relations, not only is their present, their childhood, taken from them but their future is also affected. The effects of CSA are varied and depend on the age at onset of abuse, use of physical force, level ... ...l self-esteem." (Noll 2003 pg. 138) CSA has very adverse impacts on devolving healthy intimate romantic relationships. Some victims of CSA decide to abstain from sexual activity altogether (Noll 2003) or feel a low sexual drive or feel guilt when aroused (Levenkron 2007) â€Å"CSA survivors have more difficulties in their adult relationships, reporting insecure attachment, lower levels of sexual and relationship satisfaction, and more marital dissolution. Two cases in â€Å"Stolen Tomorrows† of this are Gina and Olivia. Olivia’s marriage suffered, and ended in divorce, because of her total disinterest in sex. She had no sexual desire at all and lacked the ability to be aroused, which was a result of the sexual abuse her father had put her through. In order to cope with the abuse she developed a â€Å"mental novocain† that disconnected her from feeling anything â€Å"down there†.

Chernobyl :: Ukraine Disaster History Essays

Chernobyl 1986 was a year of several meaningful worldwide events, some of which included the Voyager 2 got details and pictures of Uranus, the space shuttle Challenger exploded on takeoff, and Haley’s comet soared past Earth (infoplease.com). Perhaps the event that alarmed the world the most, however, was the major nuclear accident that occurred at the nuclear power plant Chernobyl. The nuclear disaster that occurred at Chernobyl in 1986 (Lecture 4/1/02), has forever changed the way that nuclear power plants are viewed by the world. Chernobyl is now an abandoned city in north Ukraine because at 1:23 am on April 26th (Chernobyl.com), during an â€Å"unauthorized test of one of the plant's four reactors, engineers initiated an uncontrolled chain reaction in the core of the reactor after disabling emergency backup systems† (infoplease.com). The type of reactor used at Chernobyl was a graphite-water reactor (Lecture 3/25/02). This means that the moderator of the reactor is graphite, and the coolant is water (Lecture 3/25/02). According to Chernobyl.com, technicians allowed the power level in the fourth reactor to fall to an extremely low level, causing a core meltdown. An explosion ripped the top off the containment building, expelling radioactive material into the atmosphere for over ten days (Chernobyl.com). More was then released in a fire that followed, due to a second explosion that allowed air to rush into the reactor (world-nuclear.org). It was only after Swedish instruments detected a problem from the explosion that Soviet authorities admitted that an accident had occurred (infoplease.com). The reactor core was sealed off by air-dropping a cement mixture which included 5,000 tons of boron, dolomite, sand, clay and lead, but not before eight tons of radioactive material had escaped into the atmosphere (infoplease.com). It is estimated that all of the xenon gas, about half of the iodine and caesium, and at least 5% of the remaining radioactive material in the Chernobyl reactor core was released in the accident (world-nuclear.org). Over twenty firefighters died instantly from overexposure to radioactivity, while hundreds suffered from severe radiation sickness (infoplease.