Workplace learning for novice workers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Workplace learning for novice workers - Essay Example Implementation of a learning pedagogy is a kind of strategy that employers adopt to increase employees’ knowledge, talents, and expertise in particular areas they work in. It is important for an employer to create a balance between the employees’ individual career objectives and organizational milestones, in order to achieve successful employee development. Flourishing workplace learning opportunities, programs and strategies guarantee improved employees’ performance, which leads to higher productivity and overall organizational success in the competitive market. The main aim of workplace learning is employee development, which leads to employee motivation and job satisfaction. Opening new opportunities for employees, so that they can develop expertise, makes them stay contented with their jobs. In this paper, we shall discuss a workplace, the expectations and needs of its novice and experienced workers, its learning pedagogies and their contribution in employee development, and recommendations regarding improvement in its learning opportunities. APA referencing style has been used throughout the paper. Workplace Description XYZ is a hospital that has around 500 employees, including higher authorities, doctors, nurses, technicians, lab operators, canteen boys, and so on. There is a long list of positions in the organization. This hospital started its business 20 years back; and, that is why it earns a great reputation in the city. It provides healthcare services to its patients, and has many branches located in other cities. This organization enjoys a strong version of hierarchical structure, because there is a good assignment of positions and authorities at every level. Each level is checked by its senior level, and each upper level is responsible to maintain the lower one. So, it can be stated that there is a tall hierarchical structure in this organization, and not a flat one. Since it is a large business, and controls and maintains many employees and functions, this makes it a tall hierarchy in which the span of control is also large, since there are quite a number of managers, and a small number of employees at every level reporting to every manager. Thus, there is a narrow span of control, because every manager is given a wide control over his employees. The main IT function in this hospital setting is that it maintains specialized electronic health records, which are longitudinal records of patients and their case histories. These EHRs help the physicians share patients’ information among them, which helps them provide improved healthcare to the patients. The EHRs are maintained by skilled technical staff. Patients’ records are secured under data protection rules. Expectations of Novice and Proficient Workers The social environment in which the hospital has to function is greatly changing due to incorporation of technological tools and accessories for communication and collaboration. The demand of health care service by patients is also changing at the same pace. Keeping these changes in view, the hospital authorities have recently started formulating strategies to improve the quality of health care and provision of health related services. Physicians and nurses are expected to stay in constant, to-the-point collaboration among them in order to provide quick and reliable health care to the patients. However for this, there should be association in role concepts and expectations of physicians and nurses in the hospital. The hospital has difference between role concepts and role expectations for novice physicians and nurses, which is not very favorable when it comes to creating a balanced understanding between them via communication and

The Function Of Genre In Film

The Function Of Genre In Film Film genres are various forms or identifiable types, categories, classifications or groups of films that are recurring and have similar, familiar or instantly-recognizable patterns, syntax, filmic techniques or conventions that include one or more of the following: settings (and props), content and subject matter, themes, mood, period, plot, central narrative events, motifs, styles, structures, situations, recurring icons (e.g., six-guns and ten-gallon hats in Westerns), stock characters (or characterizations), and stars. Many films are considered hybrids they straddle several film genres. This is one of the many definitions for a film genre but the word genre itself is the French word meaning type or kind. So it can be said the genre of a film is basically what type of category a movie falls into e.g. Western, comedy, action, thriller, horror musical to name a few. However the are other subgenres (chickflicks), minor-subgenres (Blockbusters) certain movies can fall under more than one genre e.g. action-thriller.As a result some film experts will create new genres or subgenres to describe these combination films, such as action comedies or dramedies. In general, however, most films made in a specific genre, such as film noir or crime drama, follow the established structure and plot lines of that genre. Genres help prospective audiences choose movies and help indicate for whom a certain film was made and what they should expect to see i.e. in a western movie the viewer should expect to see cowboys on horseback. This categorisation also enables movie producers to target what type of audience they are selling the film too, e.g. horror movies will be aimed at thrill seeking youth audiences. By promoting films by their genre it helps the film industry from an economic standpoint since certain genres are known to generate larger box office profit than others .Film genre helps the cinematic industry as a whole by helping the audience choose which film they want to s ee. In addition, it also allows actors to show their talents and achieve popularity through a particular genre of film. In my essay I will discuss By the end of the silent era, many of the main genres were established: the melodrama, the western, the horror film, comedies, and action-adventure films (from swashbucklers to war movies). As many films started to use the same techniques and had similar plots, settings the categorization of Films into certain genres .Musicals were inaugurated with the era of the Talkies, and the genre of science-fiction films wasnt generally popularized until the 1950s. In the 1960s cinema was beginning to be recognized as a legitimate art form .Due to increased popularity in film .As a result of increased attention film guidelines were developed to attempt to understand the significance of film. From this environment emerged (in conjunction with the literary movement) an authorization of critical studies called genre studies.Each genre had its own elements that make it stand out from others such as story line, setting, characterization, style, star actors, and creative devices such as stunts or act ion sequences They were placed into specific genres based on these elements .There are various aspects to what makes a film fit into a genre an example of this is Westerns usually have certain codes: for example, a hero wears, while the villain wears a black hat; when more than one cowboy faces the other with no one in between them, there will be a shoot out, desert landscape.etc All Western films can be read as a series of codes and the variations on those codes. There are many benefits of Categorizing films by genre makes a movie easier to promote to its target audience .As most people have a particular preference for certain genres this makes it easier for them to distinguish what kind of films they would enjoy .By knowing the genre of a movie it gives the viewer a greater chance of what to expect and whilst watching the movie they unconsciously remembers similar plot lines from past films this give them greater appreciation of the plot and ending. Genres benefit actors because some actors may have had successful films within a particular genre and achieved popularity that way. By promoting films by their genre it helps the film industry determine the popularity of the movie and how much money it will make at the box office .Film genres are comparable to musical genres or literary genres in many ways. A filmmaker often understands what elements are expected in a specific film genre and steer the film towards that end. Some actors/actresses are generally associated with a specific type of film genre, as well as scriptwriters and directors. An example of this is the late director John Ford, who worked almost entirely in the Western film genre. Actor Hugh Grant is perhaps best known for his work in the romantic comedy genre .These actors usually stick to specific genres as they are suited best to them and are successful as a result .This is also true of movie producers .when promoting a film by its genre it helps the film industry from a money making viewpoint as since certain genres are known to generate larger box office intakes than others .The period of time is also relevant i.e. what genres are popular at that time an modern day example is the Fantasy/romance Movie Twilight saga a group of about a teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire .The success of the Movie has encouraged other movies of similar storylines about vampires like television programmes and movies(True Blood, Vampire diaries) .Finally, film gen re is useful in helping the director of the movie. Film genre makes good directors better. Film genre enables directors to use symbols and settings from past movies within the same genre to appeal to human emotions. Genre restricts the director into following the storyline accurately and prevent the use of themes that might be completely opposite from the original idea of the film and as a result lose the intended audience. The Director must still keep within the specified genres guidelines within reason. In conclusion, film genre plays a crucial role in the cinematic industry. It helps the scriptwriter to better focus his thoughts and words, the director to shape the flow and feel of the film in a way that will make the audience comfortable and it helps the movie going public to make choices that suit their personal taste

Willa Cathers Death Comes for the Archbishop :: Willa Cather Death Comes for the Archbishop

Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop A novel should be something that is easy to define. One would expect the novel to have a plot, a central theme, a central character and a consistent style? The truth is that all of these things are important but not specifically necessary. Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop cannot be easily classified as a novel in normal terms. It lacks a central plot that carries the work from beginning to some sort of an ending. It does, however, contain central characters, themes, and a clearly consistent style, but the story that is told consists of small vignettes. Cather would prefer to call Death Comes for the Archbishop a narrative as opposed to a novel. In terms of semantics a narrative is defined as "an account of events; anything that is narrated" (Holman 336). She is not necessarily wrong, but the book is certainly more than simply an account of events. A novel, on the other hand is defined as "any extended fictional narrative" (Holman 350). This definition would seem to apply to Death Comes for the Archbishop except that it is not an extended narrative, but a series of narratives. Truthfully, one cannot read Cather's book as if it were a novel. There are many separate stories within; the Olivares, Buck Scales, Jacinto, Padre Martinez, and Friar Baltazar of Acoma who was dropped of a cliff. The stories are all held together by the common characters of Father Latour and Father Vaillant. There are also themes that run through most of the stories. The idea of justice seems to be important to the author as well as an important part of life in the southwest during this period. Maybe more important to the coherency of the book as a whole is the concept of loyalty. From the relationship of the boyhood friends who then become Catholic missionaries in America to the two cream-colored mules, Contento and Angelica, who "are always ridden together and have a great affection for each other" (Cather 60).

Headstart Teacher: The Challenges and opportunities Essay

â€Å"Headstart is usually a 40+-year-old program that has assisted children from lower income families to cope academically as well as socially with their counterparts.†(Blake) As someone who just got an appointment as a headstart teacher, I expect several challenges and open doors of opportunities which I will explore in this essay. Challenges The challenge of Societal Discrimination Once an individual takes up an appointment as a headstart teacher, the level of respect that society accord to them is usually low. The society believe that taking up work with low income families and single parents implies that the headstart teacher is also poor, being in the same category. Take for instance if I tell another fellow that I just took up head start job, the fellow is likely to ask me why? Family challenge The job involves at-home visits that will enable to explore siblings and homelife.The family may think that picking up their children at home is a special request and not a responsibility or compulsion. As these families are usually low income earners, as a headstart teacher, I cannot punish them for late fees. Some parents may also see the time spent with their children as a token of friendship or free hour child care rather than as a job. Difficulties may also arise from uncooperative families especially single parents or divorced families as teachers and parents are both very important for a headstart program to succeed (Sitemaker).Such siblings of uncooperative parents have been shown to lag behind in terms of cognitive development in most cases (Sitemaker). There is also the possibility of having to face court charges from parents of siblings. For example, a teacher in Miami was reported in the past and was charged with hitting 3 kids in his care and was also accused of kicking one of them in the face. The parents testified in court that their kids were treated as such and the headstart teacher was charged with battery and child abuse (Mabin&Lebovick). The challenge of Low compensation Headstart teachers’ salaries are generally low especially when compared with that of the K-12 teachers. They earn half of what public school teachers earn.   The challenge of physical needs Younger head start teachers (18-30) are better able to cope with physical requirement, that this, job demands. As an older head start teacher, I may not be able to move up and down or expend as much energy as younger ones will do. The opportunities ahead Possibility of better compensation with time If the wages of headstart teachers is increased with time as proposed, this will afford me as headstart teacher, scholarship opportunities for furtherance in my study to obtain a college degree. Possibility of gaining international recognition As a headstart teacher, I have made up my mind to put in my best to my work as behind every challenge, there is a promotion. For instance, Kansas Headstart association gave an award to a headstart teacher, Teri Aldrich for the Helene Marks award in 2007 and this is the foundation top honor. The total amount of the award was $2000. He was given this following a project design titled: â€Å"MARVEL with moment,† a program designed to help children with special needs meet higher academic achievement. He received a standing ovation which according to him was the first time in his entire life. In conclusion, indeed the gift of a man makes way for him and I see myself achieving these kinds of feat also one day in the course of my headstart career. I am not afraid of challenges for behind every cloud, there is a silver lining.

Microsoft

Question 1 Developing customer intimacy is essential for developing a sustainable competitive advantage. Whether the products of an organization will have any market potential depends on whether the customers like them or not. Therefore the management of an organization will have to develop an intimate understanding of the customers’ tastes and preferences if that organization is to stay of ahead of the competition. The process of developing customer intimacy is to conduct periodic market research on what the customer expectations are. One of the first companies to market itself through developing customer intimacy was Dell Computers. Michael Dell wanted to build computers not through idea generation from its internal engineering personnel but through data collection on what the customers’ tastes and preferences were. The founder of the company himself spent a significant amount of time with the customers to determine what they wanted to see most in a computer. The hardware manufacturing company also developed a website by means of which the customers could share their opinions with the company. As a result, the company hit the fortune 500 list in a very short time. Being in constant touch with customer requirements enabled Dell to develop customer intimacy that also enabled them to develop their products and services very quickly. Question 2 The external environment of an organization is the industry in which it operates. The industry is affected by a number of forces such as political, economic, sociological and technological. Therefore a business organization in particular has to conduct a PEST analysis periodically. A company such as Microsoft has to take into account the forces of the external environment very carefully. On first appearances, the political environment would not seem to affect Microsoft’s operations significantly. However Microsoft is frequently thrust into anti-trust suits the outcome of which would depend considerably on the prevailing political environment. The company would be hard hit if the country it is operating in went through an economic downturn. Whenever there is an economic downturn, companies tend to invest less and one of the first operations that experience cost-cutting is information technology. Therefore, demand for Microsoft’s products and services would go down when the economic environment is unfavorable. Corporate social responsibility is a very critical issue in today’s business environment. Therefore Microsoft has to fund community projects from time to time in order to endear itself to the society. That is part of the sociological environment. Also relevant in this respect is how the society views the complexities of adopting new technologies. Microsoft would also be affected very significantly by technological shifts. For example, when the use of the internet caught on, Microsoft had to reengineer itself completely to stay in business because previously it had decided not to enter the Internet. Question 3 Price is the risk that is at the forefront of the customers’ minds when making a purchase. When making a purchase, consumers must make sure that the price they are paying is equivalent to the value they are receiving in return. If this risk remains high for the customer, then the company will have a negative image in the minds of the customers. Therefore the management of that company must work to reduce that risk. One method is to offer customers price guarantees. This means that the customers will be paying the lowest possible price available anywhere. Some companies even offer to lower the price even further by a certain percentage if after purchase, the customer comes across another company offering a lower price still. Price guarantees are an admirable way to attract customers in the current age of the Internet because a lot of customers prefer to make their purchases online if the products they are looking for are available there. This enables to them go price shopping. Rather than walking miles to compare prices, customers shopping online can simply surf and compare sitting in the comforts of home. If they come across a certain company offering price matching or price beating, then customers will be hooked immediately because they can stop price shopping right there. Another perceived consumer risk is how they will be viewed by the society when they buy a certain product. The way to mitigate this risk is to promote certain products as status symbols and the demographics of the people who purchase those products. That will have a positive effect on the customer psyche. Question 4 The phenomenon of price sensitivity is a function of demand and supply. When prices are lower, people buy more and vice versa. However there are times when demand peaks and during these times there is lower price sensitivity. Business organizations can take advantage of these times to raise the prices of their products and services in order to maximize their revenue. For example many people like to go skiing during school vacations. As a result, skiing resorts raise their prices when school is in half term because that is the time when demand for skiing is very high. All the parents like to take their kids skiing during that time and they are willing to pay a higher price at the time. So peaks and troughs in demand are the top influencers of price sensitivity. In other words, the management of the business organization has a powerful tool in the form of price sensitivity by taking demand seasonality into consideration. However price sensitivity also depends type of goods. If the goods in question are necessity goods, then price sensitivity will significantly affect buying behavior. If the goods are status symbols however, then raising prices will not affect demand. Question 5 A business organization must promote its products and services in order to attract demand. The management has four methods with which to conduct the promoting. It might want to go for advertising. Usually the media used for this form of communication is radio, television or the internet. It is a non- personal form of communication. The advantage with this form of communication is that it has a wide reach. If the advertising is broadcast by means of the television for example, then millions of people will be exposed to the message. It also has a high emotional value. The second form of communication is personal selling. As the name implies, this has a personal touch because usually the company sends out its sales representatives door to door promoting its products and services. The advantage with this form of communication is that consumers can ask questions and find out whatever they need to find out about the products immediately. Another form of communication is sales promotion whereby consumers get something else into the bargain when they purchase a product. The advantage with this form of communication is that it motivates the consumers to consider buying something that they had not bought before. Last but not the least in the list of communication techniques is public relations. This promotional technique is most useful when the management is trying to build a good corporate image. BIBILIOGRAPHY Kotler, Philip., and Gary Armstrong. Principles of Marketing. Prentice Hall. 2005. Cateora, Philip, and John Graham. International Marketing. Prentice Hall. 2005. Kerin, Roger A., et al. Marketing. McGraw Hill/Irwin. 2005. Nagle, Thomas T., and John Hogan. The Strategy & Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably . South western college pub. 2007. Â