Performance of Sdssu in the Licensure Examination for Teachers Essay

Introduction High percentage of LET passers contributes greatly to the accreditation of education programs of a certain college or university. This, aside from adding zest within the vicinity of school academe, is the reason why schools offering education courses crave for high percentage of LET passers (Philippine Journal of Education, 2005). Today, prospective teachers must clear a series of hurdles to obtain and maintain a teaching certificate – one of which is to pass the Licensure Examination for Teachers (Libman, 2009). States use licensing to ensure that the only qualified teachers can be hired. This builds anxiety not only among examinees but more so far schools who turn out prospective teachers with different majors. Obviously, the National examination for teachers stirs competitive against, since it augurs possible employment, salary or appointment upgrading ranking consideration, and acceptance to the halls of DECS. In addition, implications permeate school standards and pride for garnering honors from percentage passers (Philippine Journal of Education, 2005). The performance scores in the Licensure Examinations for Teachers reflect the abilities of the teacher examinees. Thus, having low percentage of LET passers indicates low quality pre-service teacher education in the country (Ramota, 2011). Palatino, who is a young education graduate from the University of the Philippines, feared that poor performance in LET may lead to further slide of the educational standards of the educational standards of our country. If this alarming trend will not be aided, he said, the country will be seeing more classrooms with no teachers in our schools despite an oversupply of teacher education graduates who end jobless or else volunteer teachers in remote areas (Ramota, 2011). Performance of education graduates in the Licensure Examinations for Teachers predetermine not only the competence of the graduates but so as the institutions where they have acquired their diplomas. This serves as the major key in accrediting education programs. Having low percentage of LET passers may lead to changing of educational programs or worse, closing of the educational programs. Hence, the researchers conduct this study to find the relationship between the students LET performance and standard and competence of the said institution. Moreover, to develop an intervention program that would help obtain standard results in the LET. Theoretical/ Conceptual Framework This paper is anchored on Joe Wholey’s model of program evaluation (1987) and the Education Conceptual Model. Like systems and organizational theories, Wholey’s model of program evaluation describes the characteristics of faculty and students and the extent to which curricular activities and fiscal resources influence the educational process and subsequent effectiveness in goal attainment. Wholey defines a program as a set of resources and activities directed toward one or more goals. The linkage of resource expenditures, program activities, immediate outcomes, and ultimate goals directly relates to SDSSU and its program’s performance on the Licensure examination for Teachers. If SDSSU program resources are available, then qualified faculty will be recruited and retained to provide the necessary curricular instruction and learning activities. Given the appropriate faculty to develop and implement the curriculum and activities, students will be provided an opportu nity to develop the required knowledge, skills, and behaviors appropriate for entry-level practice as teacher practitioners. If the appropriate curriculum and activities are implemented, then graduates will demonstrate the desired outcomes expected at the entry level for Licensure tests. If these learning activities and outcomes occur, then progress will be made toward the SDSSU program goals and the ultimate goal of the teaching profession. The ultimate goal of College of Teacher Education programs is to provide competent teachers imbued with ethical values and ideals in a humane environment supportive to the national thrust for social transformation. Four teacher education program components with key predictor variables for each are identified. First, program resources (total program expenditures) must be adequate to ensure the achievement of the learning goals and outcomes. Second, there must be sufficient faculty (student-to-faculty ratio) with the necessary qualifications (degrees earned, teaching experience) to influence program processes and outcomes. Third, the curriculum (didactic, laboratory, and professional practice hours; comprehensive examination) must support the entry-level competencies of professional practice and the achievement of learning goals and outcomes. Fourth, in order to graduate and enter professional practice, students (mean cumulative college GPA on admission) must be evaluated on the ability to demonstrate competencies measured on the Licensure Examination for Teachers. Taking and passing the LET is the ticket to enter teaching profession which is the desire result of education students. Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET) is the professional board examination given by Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) to determine who are to be allowed to teach and who are not (http://eduphil.org/how-to-pass-the-licensure-examination-for-teachers-let.html).LET performances in terms of passing scores are often perceived as the scale in measuring the quality of education of schools offering teacher education. According to Daniel Goldhaber (2012) University of Washington researcher, â€Å"licensure test performance is clearly not a silver bullet. Licensing tests are usually paper and pencil tests of subject matter knowledge and on occasion, pedagogical knowledge.† Multiple researches having the same findings as his, argues for a much more comprehensive system for assessing teachers to determine their preparedness to enter the classroom as sole pract itioners (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2012). Schematic Diagram Basis for an intervention program. Basis for an intervention program. Level of accreditation of teacher education programs. Relationship of LET performance and level of accreditation in teacher education. Level of accreditation of teacher education programs. Relationship of LET performance and level of accreditation in teacher education. SDSSU performance in terms of passing percentage in Licensure Examination for Teachers SDSSU performance in terms of passing percentage in Licensure Examination for Teachers Figure 1 shows the schematic diagram of the study. The first table shows the profile of SDSSU in terms of their performance in LET. The second table shows the accredited education programs of SDSSU and their levels of accreditation. The third table shows the basis for an inspired LET performance. Statement of the Problem The researcher seeks to study the performance of SDSSU in the Licensure Examinations for Teachers. Specifically, the researcher would like to find out the following: 1. What is the performance of SDSSU in terms of passing percentage in Licensure Examination for Teachers? 2. What is the level of accreditation of teacher education programs in Surigao del Sur State University? 3. Is there a significant relationship between students LET performance and the level of accreditation of Surigao del Sur State University campuses? 4. What are the problems met in the teacher education programs to attain the better LET performance in pursuit for quality education? 5. What intervention program shall be crafted based on the findings of the study? Null Hypothesis Ho1: There is no significant relationship between the LET performance of the teacher education graduates and the level of accreditation in the teacher education programs. Significance of the study The following individuals are deemed to benefit largely on this study. School administrators. This paper would help the school administrators to become more motivated in administering better curriculum and courses that are relevant in achieving high passing percentage in LET. This would lead to the improvement of standards of the institutions. Faculty. This paper would remind them that their part as faculty is very crucial and relevant in moulding new generations of would-be-teachers. This would encourage them to always do their job honestly, sincerely, and passionately and to redesign their teaching strategies, if needed, in order for them to facilitate maximum learning effectiveness and produce highly competent and surely LET passer students. Students. This paper would help them realize their role as an important aspect in acquiring competence and standards of their institutions. Thus, would drive them to do well in their studies in order for them to bring pride and happiness to their college or universities. Community. If the individuals aforementioned would be able to realize the importance of their roles in developing a more equipped, qualified, and reliable who would benefit most. Scope and limitation This study focuses on the performance of teacher education graduates of SDSSU in the Licensure Examination for Teachers. It will be conducted at SDSSU during the second semester of school year 2012-2013. The monitoring is to be administered to the five campuses of SDSSU namely: Cantilan, Lianga, San Miguel, Tagbina, and Tandag campuses. Definition of terms The terminologies used in this study are defined operationally. Accreditation. Accreditation is a process in which certification of competency, authority, or credibility is presented. Organizations that issue credentials or certify third parties against official standards are themselves formally accredited by accreditation bodies (such as PRC); hence they are sometimes known as â€Å"accredited certification bodies†. The accreditation process ensures that their certification practices are acceptable, typically meaning that they are competent to test and certify third parties, behave ethically and employ suitable quality assurance. Competence. Competence refers to the quality of being well qualified. It is the quality of having great facility and being able to perform and facilitate achievement or accomplishment. Education. Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people sustain from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts. It is the formal process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one generation to another, e.g. instruction in schools. Institution. An institution is any structure or mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behaviour of a set of individuals within a given human community. Institutions are identified with a social purpose, transcending individual human lives and intention by mediating the rules that govern cooperative human behaviour. The term â€Å"institution† is commonly applied to customs and behaviour patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal organizations of government and public services. Licensure Examination for Teachers (LET). Licensure Examination for Regulation Commission (PRC) to determine who should be allowed to teach schools in the Philippines. Performance. Refers to the accomplishment of a given task measured against present known standards of accuracy, completeness, cost, and speed. In a contract, performance is deemed to be the fulfilment of an obligation, in a manner that releases the performer from all liabilities under the contract. Profile. Is a brief description of the characteristics of something, where in my study, are the characteristics of Surigao Del Sur State University main campus in terms of their percentage of LET passers and the accreditation levels of the different education programs that they are offering. Student. A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In its widest use, student is used for anyone who is learning. Chapter II RELATED STUDIES AND LITERATURE Effective Teachers are what each classroom needs. But what makes a teacher effective? How can we identify effective teachers from those who are not? Are licensure examinations enough to assess the quality of teachers? Passing the licensure examination is often perceive as an indicator of qualified and effective teachers. But according to the researchers from the Southeast Centre for Teaching Quality (2003c), licensure examinations are not enough to measure the competence among teacher candidates. They concluded that in order to assess competence among teacher candidates, multiple methods should be used. This should include student work samples and the demonstration of new knowledge and skills known to reflect the core competences of highly qualified beginning teachers. This thoughts gained support from a study commissioned by the National Research Council (2001), the role of licensure tests in improving teacher quality, as cited in the study of Wilkerson and Lang (2004) concluding th at even a set of well-designed tests is inadequate to measure all of the prerequisites for a competent beginning teacher. The researcher of the National Research Council also recommended that states use multiple forms of evidence in making decisions about teacher candidates and use licensure tests only as a part of a coherent developmental system of preparation assessment, and support that reflects the many features of teacher competence. Addressing some of the issues on teacher effectiveness is through a voluntary certification process, which has been offered by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). This is a certification process where teachers who are considered to be highly effective can demonstrate, and gain recognition for, their knowledge and teaching skills. And despite a lack of evidence on its efficacy in identifying effective teachers, there has been a continuous growing participation in the NBPTS. Many policymakers in various states and school districts also view this certification as a signal of teacher quality. In fact, NBPTS certified teachers receive recognitions and financial incentives (Goldhaber and Anthony 2004). Citing evidence, Goldhaber of the University of Washington and Urban Institute so with Anthony of Urban Institute describe the result of the first large-scale study, based on a unique data set from North Carolina, assessing the relationship between certification of teachers by National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and Elementary-level student achievement. Findings indicated that NBPTS is successfully identifying the more effective teachers among applicants, and that NBPTS-certified teachers, prior to becoming certified, were more effective than their non-certified counterparts at increasing student achievement (Goldhaber and Anthony 2004). In the middle of these findings, the American Educational Research Association Panel concluded, based on the available evidences they have analyzed, that licensure in the field gained by university-based teacher preparation is an indicator of effective teaching and student achievement. Before getting to taking licensure exams and applying for certifications, teachers-to-be first have to finish education courses and undergo teacher preparation. Most of those who wanted to be effective teachers prefer to study at state colleges and universities having passed the National Accreditations since it is perceive that nationally accredited state colleges and universities caters teacher education programs that are capable of moulding and producing effective teachers. Many education graduates in the provinces are not passing the LET (Ramota 2011). Palatino, as cited in Ramota (2011), opined that LET examinees performance shows the low quality of pre-service Teacher Education in the country. He stated that many Teacher Education institutions are producing half-baked graduates who add up to the bulk of the LET non- passers and unemployed or under employed Teachers. He also stated that even these schools are being turn into mere for profit diploma mills rather than as training ground for future mentors. When Colleges of Education seek National Accreditation for their teacher education programs, there are a variety of obstacles to their success. But according to Adams (2004), not all of these obstacles are a reflection of program quality since accrediting bodies at the national or state level have different and at times conflicting requirements. This could even be more damaging. Evaluation systems may be scheduled to be phased in too rapidly, without clear guidelines. It is likely that the programs they are evaluating will be forced to suffer the consequences of this management. This situation is a contributing factor in the undeserved negative perceptions of teacher education programs. Though colleges of education should be accountable for the quality of the teachers they produce, the accrediting agencies should be accountable for the clarity and straightforwardness of the process. Whether a teacher candidate will be effectively teaching or not depends on the teacher preparations he or she had. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (2012) stressed to components that are critically important in the teacher preparation: the teacher knowledge of the subject to be taught, and the knowledge and skills on how to teach that subject. Research and common sense tell us that subject matter knowledge is necessary for effective teaching. But there is a second part of the equation: knowledge and skills on how to teach is also a must. Effective teachers understand and are able to apply strategies to help students increase achievements. They understand and apply knowledge of child and adolescent development to motivate and engage students. They are able to diagnose individual learning needs. They know how to develop a positive climate in the classroom in order to make it a stimulating learning environment. The scholars of the National Academy of Education of America also supports that content knowledge does not adequately prepared teachers for the challenges they will faced in today’s classrooms, where teachers need to be prepared for learning differences and dis abilities that are prevalent (). Moreover, and American Educational Research Association Panel of nationally recognized scholars analyzed the empirical e vidence relevant to practices and policies in pre-service teacher Education in the US. Findings specific to education programs that produce successful teachers include: (1) collaborative arrangements between university programs and local school districts—known as professional development schools (PDSs)—have a positive impact on k-12 students in measurable ways such as increase in standardized test scores; (2) planned, guided and sustained interactions with pupils within early field and student teaching settings is important; (3) seven of eight studies reviewed found positive correlations between licensure and student achievement, especially in mathematics education (). These ideas stated above only proves that the quality of schools, the instructors of the teacher education programs, so with the educations programs, plays a very critical role in the education process since they are the one who mould the aspiring educators to be globally competitive and effective teachers. Gradual learning is very important for any student, be it in any field. But there are many more things in a student’s brain that we often forget, and herein appears the difficulty. There are students who faced learning problems and it’s not even their fault. For a school student, life is loaded with studies. Though it is not possible for each one of them to cope up with their studies, they often get nervous, frustrated and ends up mugging their lesson which is very harmful. There can be factors, as many as every student in this world, that affect student achievements. According to Shahin (2012), the student’s community is affected by lots of problems such us lack of quality of education, the threat of unemployment, absence of adequate opportunities, nepotism and a host of many such factors disheartening the students. She added that the lack of proper guidance by the parents and unawareness of the student in choosing the right career lead to their doom. Similarly, Suvajit (2009) believes that all these predicaments faced by students can only be resolve if every school and college recruits a qualified students councillor to guide the students in times of their problems. He cited recession as an example since it has caused huge dearth of jobs enabling the students to avail their desired job. And so, many of these students go on for further studies but are often puzzled about which course to study and from which college. And because of the lack of proper guidance, they often take hasty decisions for which they have to repent later. While Koski and Weis (2004) called on the state to analyse its own contents standards and curriculum frameworks to develop a complete basket of educational resources, ranging from laboratory equipment and sophisticated measuring instruments to well- stocked libraries and media centres, and conditions that all children should have an opportunity to achieve the state’s standards. But there have been a proposal cited by The Journal Report: Big Issues in Education of US (2012). The proposal stated that all (US) children should meet the same academic standards, essentially proposing a nationalized system of education. This issue gathered contrasting ideas of some influential educators in US including Chester E. Finn Jr., president of the Thomas B. Fordham institute and chairman of the Hoover Institution’s Koret Task Force on K to 12 Education, who argues in favour of national standards, and Jay Greene, head of the department of education reform at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Ark, who makes the case against natio nal standards. According to Finn Jr., as cited in a journal community The Journal Report: Big Issues in Education of US (2012), one way to ensure that young people would develop the skills they need to compete globally is to set clear standards about what schools should teach and students should learn—and make these standards uniform across the country. He stated that the issues plaguing American education—low achievement, poor technical skills, too many dropouts, etc.—are nationwide, and so is the challenge of economic competitiveness and that these were caused by the disorderly, dysfunctional way of handling academic standards for students. Though Finn Jr. believed that an effective education system also requires quality teachers, effective administrators and other vital elements, make them the same everywhere is important. A rigorous national standard is a need for a mobile society like theirs where a fourth-grader in Portland, Maine, may find herself a fifth grader in Portland, Ore. He also added that United States of America is no longer a country where children born in rural areas spend their entire lives there. They need and are expected to be ready for jobs in other parts of the land. And they won’t have any problem in adjusting to their lesson since every school is following a national standard (The Jou rnal Report: Big Issues in Education of US, 2012). On the other hand, Greene as also cited in a journal community The Journal Report: Big Issues in Education of US (2012) contended that different youngsters need to learn different things in different ways. He stated that such uniformity would only make sense if: 1) there was a single best way for all student to learn; 2) we knew what it was; 3) we could be sure the people running this nationalized education system would adapt that correct approach; and 4) they would remain in charge far into the future. But this isn’t how things are. He believed that there is no consensus on what all student need to know and that different students can best be taught and assessed in different ways. Greene then cited Canada and Australia as examples of large and diverse country like US with significantly stronger students’ performance as measured on international test. Yet neither have national standards, tests or curricula and added Greece and Thailand as examples of lower achieving countries though they have national standards and curricula (The Journal Report: Big Issues in Education of US, 2012). Libman (2006) also cited some negative consequences of standards-based testing such as narrowing the diversities in teacher education programs, homogenizing the characteristics of the teaching force, which hinder candidates from entering teaching and causing shortages in qualified teachers. Chapter III RESEARCH METHODOLOGY * This chapter presents research methods employed in this study. It contains the research designs, sampling techniques, research environment, validation of instruments and statistical tools used. * Research Design * This study will utilize the descriptive survey method using researcher made questionnaire as a main tool in gathering the data. It will also utilize documentary analysis to verify the data gathered from the survey. Sampling Technique This paper shall utilize the universality of Teacher Education graduates during the past three school years. It will also consider the total population for the faculty and administration under the education program. For the student respondents, a 30% student shall be utilized using Stratified Random Sampling. Instrumentation This study will utilize a researcher-made instrument which will be subjected through content validation. It shall be tried out in the private tertiary education offering teacher education program. The items which are vague need revision to suit to the levels of respondents. When the validated instruments are ready, it shall be administered to the SDSSU having Teacher Education programs offering. Data Gathering Procedure A permit to conduct the study shall be secured from the university president, and shall be furnished to the campus directors and concerned respondents and the campus offering Teacher Education programs. the pursuance of this study, the researcher will use researcher-made questionnaires that would show the relativity of the data subject to this study. The questionnaire shall be administered personally by the researchers to ensure the reliability of data of this study. After administration of questionnaire, it shall be retrieved, tallied, analyzed and interpreted and ready for writing the research report.

Effects on Performance Management

Effects on Performance Management and the Company when Nepotism and Cronyism is Present. Cronyism is Present. Whether deliberate or unintentional, workplace nepotism and cronyism threatens positive corporate culture as well as the company's overall performance management. Managers who give special treatment to their family members or their favorites decrease the morale of the other employees and do not pay attention to the areas of need that the employee may be facing in their Job performance.Finding yourself on the non-receiving end of desirable assignments can be rough-?especially when the recipient also lacks adequate employment lubrications. The organization being discussed is a relatively small organization; there are approximately twenty full-time employees and seventeen part-time employees. The organization serves adults with developmental disabilities on cite and in the community. They are a non-profit organization and rely on state funded money as well as fundraisers.Their p erformance evaluation they work with does not have any weight when considering raises or pay scale. There have been two directors in the last ten years and both directors suffered from performance management issues. However, since the latest director has been in charge the organizational culture is also changing rapidly. The previous director hired her daughter and the daughter's best friend. When both were hired neither had the required skills to perform their duties. They both rapidly moved up the ladder of success during the director's time.A couple of years prior to the director's retirement an â€Å"assistant director† position was created to train the upcoming replacement. She also happened to be a family friend. This friend had experience as a support coordinator and some college experience. After the new director took over, the entire center seemed to be recreated. The â€Å"daughter† was made a program manager and the â€Å"friend† was made a program ma nager. Once these positions were filled and time went on, cronyism became very visible among the center staff.The â€Å"daughter† had now been moved into an â€Å"invented position† since she was unable to perform her managerial duties, as told to staff, yet her salary and status seemed to remain intact. The â€Å"friend† however seemed to shine brighter daily and chain of command communicated regularly. The morale of the organization started falling and stories and complaints traveled quickly between staff. It was starting to be evident that the word â€Å"team† did not exist. If rooms needed assistance, coverage, or other types of conflict arose there was not anyone to come and offer support.The staff knew they had to call the program manager per chain of command but she was never available. After months of back and forth from trying to get answers from the director and when questioned, the program manager, who also happens to have tightened the bond of friendship with this director would lie and say it is handled or Just not show up when needed the staff began feeling like no matter how much they complained or tried fixing the situation the director valued the friendships more than the organizations culture all together.Every year when it is time to do performance evaluations the direct support staff would cringe. They all knew that no matter what was on the form that they signed it did not matter because â€Å"if† there was a raise to be given, it would be a standard 1%-3% across the board. The facts that the â€Å"mangers† actually had a larger salary increased their raises due to the percentage factor.This past year most staff filled out their own evaluations and wrote their own goal to work towards the following year and the managers Just signed off and passed to the director. The character of cronyism is proactive and dynamic. Goanna (1991) notes that loyalty has two true-hearted dimensions: emotional and behav ioral. The emotional aspect of loyalty results from gratitude. Since emotions are invisible, one's loyalty is evaluated through the behavioral dimension.In situations where loyalty is a highly valued characteristic, individuals tend to display loyal behaviors in order to receive positive evaluations and personal benefits, in this case no consequences for not being supportive to the program staff or not being held accountable for her lack of performance. Additionally, it may not be easy to distinguish between behaviors hat emerge from true-hearted gratitude and behaviors that result purely from â€Å"impression management. † That is why this definition of cronyism is based on the notion of perceived loyalty.The lower ranked employees are likely to play an active role. For instance, a program staff may want to influence the perception her supervisor by uncritically agreeing with the program manager on work or non-work related issues or by speaking highly of that program manager in the presence of the director of the center. (Deluge and Perry, 1994). This perceived loyalty plays a major factor when the yearly evaluations roll around. Since there is not clear Job descriptions or expectations in any area of the organization there would not be anything to effectively measure or evaluate.Popularity or convenience plays more of a role. When the evaluations rotate through the managers, they have many other things that rank higher in priority so it is usually rushed through and passed back to the director to file. In a healthy organizational culture personal relationships and loyalty, to a certain degree, may be functional and does not necessarily breed cronyism. Coffee and Jones (1996), argue that sociability, which refers to sincere approachability among members f an organization, raises morale, fosters teamwork, and promotes creativity.However, when the stress on relationships is so great that it is turned into strong in- group bias and when loyalty becomes un reserved, cronyism is likely to occur. There is a more complex system of social interactions that arise spontaneously as people associate with one another. Dissimilar to the formal structure, which accentuates official positions in terms of authority and responsibility, the informal structure emphasizes people and their unofficial relationships (Newsroom and Davis, 1993).The informal system develops to fulfill needs that cannot be met by the formal system. Increasing informal relationships with the right people, which may include subordinates, peers, and superiors, can be a useful means of acquiring power Nouns, 1992). The coupled relationship between the superior and subordinate in the context of cronyism tends to be governed by their personal ties rather than assigned Job duties or responsibilities.These casual relationships may override organizational hierarchy and involve an element of â€Å"power-seeking,† where individuals exchange ore than friendship among themselves t o further individual goals that cannot be met through formal channels. Studies suggest that the mere act of categorizing people as â€Å"cliques† and out-groups have a tendency to result in favoritism (Teasel et al. , 1971; Turner et al. , 1983). Clique members are given high levels of trust, interaction, support and rewards while out-group members receive low levels of each and often denied valuable opportunities (Vehicle, 1997).These behaviors breed a competition among the staff that creates stress among the employees since they hank that if they are not a member of that clique or friendship they may not get any of the â€Å"rewards† they feel those clique members receive. Some examples of this description within the organization is when an instructor, someone with no authority, brings gifts or constantly offering flattering compliments to feel as though she is in the â€Å"clique† status and when an opportunity arises like a special outing or work opportunity that is praise worthy she usually gets it.The opposite end of the spectrum however is the employee that constantly goes above and beyond her jugular Job duties to help others and seems knowledgeable of her position gets constantly overlooked for promotions, raises, or passed by because she chooses to focus more in her Job rather than the social side of relationships. Personal loyalty toward the program manager or director is different from loyalty to the organization or organizational commitment.The director or program manager's cronies may not be committed to the organization as a whole. In fact, the increase of a deep sense of obligation toward the director or program manager may surpass connection toward the organization (Chem. and Francesco, 2000). An example could be that if the director leaves the organization, her cronies will try to follow suit. Being trusted supporters, â€Å"clique† members of a work unit tend to cultivate a feeling of gratitude towards the program manager or director.These same employees are likely to be pleased with their work due to the existence of receptive bonds in their working relationships. These same employees shared motivational factors and experienced less role-related stress like Job overload, insufficiency, ambiguity, or conflict. Unfortunately, out-group employees who do not possess these same connections seem to have lower Job distraction because even if they are the â€Å"cream of the crop,† their chances of climbing the ladder of success are slim.This has an antagonistic impact on their sense of self-worth as they become trapped in organizations that require friendships to â€Å"earn† promotions (Hurley et al. , 1997). This reason alone should be evidence enough that performance evaluations should be considered more serious than they are in this particular company. They are likely to feel a sense of inequality when they perceive that in-group members, regardless of competency, manage to be prom oted much faster than they do.It is not surprising to find that out-group members are more likely to file grievances (Coleman et al. , 1993). The clique group of employees is likely to show low commitment to the organization. This is where prominence on loyalty to the director or manager may transform into negative organizational performance when the directors personal goals struggle with those of the organization. Although cultural influence plays an important part here, the practice of cronyism, with its stress on loyalty toward management rather than the organization, greatly emphasizes such influence.When the company's strategic plan ND evaluation standards are stated to be practiced one way in the personnel handbook and the actual actions of the management staff proves otherwise the staff could view that situation as an opportunity to slack on their personal performance and not care whether or not the company actual succeeds or not. Obligation is related to organizational depen dability or the degree to which an organization is perceived to be looking after the interests of its employees in practices such as Job security and career development (Buchanan, 1974; Steers, 1977).Due to in-group bias, the hard work of out-group members is often unrecognized by their previous. Furthermore, out-group members do not experience the Job security and preferred rewards in-group members enjoy. They are often overlooked in terms of opportunities for personal achievement. While in-group members are delegated key roles in the organization, and the out-group members are merely assigned peripheral functions that are easily expendable (Change, 1999).Ingratiation, an attempt by individuals to increase their attractiveness in the eyes of others, is one particular rising influence strategy whereby ingratiation behaviors are driven by attempts to influence someone higher in the formal hierarchy of an organization Porter et al. , 1983). Loyalty is adored in cronyism; employees may openly reaffirm the manager's views and defend her appearance and prestige. They may also acknowledge the power distance in the hierarchy ladder and show their submissiveness in order to win the manager or directors heart (Fisher, 1977).The noticeable benefit associated with the in-group status encourages ingratiation behaviors. In addition to having impacts on individuals working in an organization, it can also greatly impact the clientele the organization serves; cronyism also produces significant consequences at the group or organizational level. Personal feelings can seriously bias Judgment. Positive affect toward employees makes managers less likely to give them negative performance feedback. With this being said, incompetence among in-group members has a tendency to be hidden and covered up in the organization.Since in-group members are rewarded on the basis of loyalty rather than competence, they do not see the need to excel and may at best achieve average performance. Addit ionally, these same employees tend to channel their energy and attention to ingratiating themselves with the manager or director or other related political behaviors. This ultimately distracts the employee from completing their proper Job duties (Coffee and Jones, 1996). Talent, which would otherwise rise to the top, is blocked and stifled by lack of opportunity. This leads to talented people leaving the organization.The constant leeching away of talent inevitably weakens the strength of the organization (Redding and Whish, 1993). Finally, the quality of decision making is a victim of cronyism. Any leader who is surrounded by â€Å"yes men† is unable to benefit from the diverse perspectives, experience, and knowledge of their employees. Worse still, with stress on conformity, ideas are unlikely to be fined and improved through group discussion and debate. The result of having such differentiated treatment can cause hostility between the two groups, consequently harmfully affe cting their cooperation and sense of teamwork.Progressively, the relation between the in-group and out-group employees suffers as the unjustified practices continue, and the leader's cronies are perceived to be getting more benefits than deserved (You kill, 1994). Over time, the morale of the out- group will be eroded by their feelings of alienation, powerlessness, and inequity as favoritism of in-group employees renders the relationship between performance and reward less obvious (Preponderates and Topple, 1996). Cronyism stems from the fact that management is able to manipulate rewards and punishments for their employees.The greater their ability to do so, the greater is the personal dependence of employees on them. Missies, (1998) maintains that favored â€Å"clique† treatment may be reduced by making evaluation criteria explicit, objective, and public. To sum up, presence of competent managers and directors are likely to reduce crony behaviors. It is instinctual that comp etent managers tend to reward and promote competency among their employees. But, incompetent managers and directors would feel heartened by competent employees, and inevitably drive away competent employees (Bodleian and Ramekins, 1998).Preponderates (1993) notes that â€Å"yes men† tend to be concentrated among less able workers and among workers with less able managers. In conclusion, the organizational problem of nepotism eventually stemmed to accepted cronyism. By management allowing this to take place the employees began feeling resentment and the organizations moral dropped dramatically. In this particular organization, the clientele are the main ones affected by these behaviors to take place.

Who Won the Civil War: North or South

For the south it was nearly impossible to win the war . The north had many advantageson the south, which created a large difference in the outcome of the Civil War. The North had a bigger population, better leadership, and Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln was a leader of the union, and led them to many great victories with his decision making on generals to lead the Union. The north had many plans to shut down the south, though they often took longer than what was expected of them, so many of them were stopped by generals or were figured out by the south.The south came out fighting Fort Sumpter and Bull Run. The advantages that the south had was that all of the battles were in the south and numbers of people who actually wanted to fight for the south was much higher than the soldiers of the north. The south was fighting to keep their way of life, slavery. The north wanted a new constitution and to obliterate the confederacy. Most of the time the north had better in terms of generals, but not always. The north had good generals, but they also had bad ones.The bad ones were either too scared to fight, or didn't fight fast enough. Ulysses S. Grant was the general that gave the Union the greatest victories. He fought long and hard. He would do anything he possible could to win. The South had a very slim chance to win with this man in charge. The north had more victories and advantages in the war than the south. The durastic effects the south underwent caused them to crumble. Some people say the north won, and some say the south won. The north did everything possible to win the war, and the south could never get anything out of it.

Introduction to Rhetorical and Analytical Writing Essay - 2

Introduction to Rhetorical and Analytical Writing - Essay Example The society of America is amongst the most dynamic ones in the context of cross cultural individuals. It has for decades remained center of attention for people from different parts of the world, as a result bringing along different ethos, different norms, different personalities and other elements. This at times makes it difficult for smooth running and more often than not, conflicts and contrasts are seen with regard to their co existence. The movie overall shows local inhabitants how they are divided, fragmented within, then it shows people who have long settled in American society and how they undertaken their own existence. Another example presented is that of a American born Japanese origin individual and the identity crisis they are faced with. All relating to the social context of the American society and individual’s personality. The very first scene of the movie challenges the audience and invokes the questions of helplessness and fragmentation that the American society exhibits. The first scene of the movie sets a strong foundation for the overall theme of the movie and the future events that are to be followed. The movie has a clear purpose and objective to its making. It is one of those movies that carries the social and cultural meaning that needs to be conveyed to the masses. The movie has a message for gender equality, words against racial discrimination, and clear message against the ethnic conflict and the challenges that America faces in the light of cross cultural existence. The movie quite successfully addresses the problems faced and in a covert way presents them before the eyes of American citizens. It is in a way highlighting of the problems which in turn would enable overcoming these problems. The movie and its plot aims at highlighting the challenge of ethno centric approach that is carried by number of individuals in the American society. Parts of the movie depict the

Models of Stress Theory and how they apply to First Responder Research Paper

Models of Stress Theory and how they apply to First Responder - Research Paper Example The present paper discusses the similarities and differences between the demand control support and effort-reward imbalance models of stress together with application of these models to first responders. Key words in this paper will include demand, control, effort, reward, and first responders. The two models have a correlation so that the direction of change caused by either increase or decrease of demands, control, and support corresponds to the direction of change caused by either the increase or decrease of efforts and rewards. Therefore, whereas high demands, involving situations that allow high control facilitated by high social support leads to diminished stressful experience, high efforts that are compensated by high rewards lead to diminished susceptibility to stressful experience. Demand control support model has control as a measure of countering the demands of a task and effort reward imbalance claims that control is an intrinsic personal motivation. Both models argue that an imbalance in their proposed concepts leads to exhaustion and emotional distress (Veldhoven et. al., 2005). Demand control support model is an interactional model while Effort Reward Imbalance Model is a transactional model. As an interactional model, demand control support model emphasizes the structural traits of an individual’s interactions with his or her environment. On the other hand, transactional models of stress focus on the factors underlying an individual’s response to a stressful situation. These underlying factors include locus of control, personality, appraisal, and coping. The Demand Control Support Model does not factor in the role of individual differences but effort reward imbalance emphasizes the importance of individual differences (Chmiel, 2009). This model emphasizes demands and control as the two psychosocial job characteristics that are important. Borrowing from this model, the job control of first responders has to do with the decision

Advantages and disadvantages of a testing system in education Research Proposal

Advantages and disadvantages of a testing system in education - Research Proposal Example Pedagogy depends on the capability of a teacher to test student's knowledge of the material.Testing serves a number of functions,which are the measurement of progress a student is making,and the provision of an incentive for a student to learn the material Without testing, teachers would rely on faith that their students have learning as one of their goals; however, this assumption, especially in the era of compulsory education, is simply out of touch with reality. Having established that testing is a necessary component of teaching, the question then becomes what kinds of testing are most effective in achieving the established ends of teaching, and how does one design a test that achieves these ends. To answer this question, one must consider the context (and the material) being taught and, instead of relying on generalizations, decide based on the costs of efficiency versus effectiveness in measuring genuine knowledge of the material. Although some tend to focus more on efficiency (standardized testing) and others on effectiveness (non-standardized testing), it seems the most appropriate, wide-reaching solution to the problem lies somewhere in the middle. A standardized test is a measurement instrument that is distributed and scored in a standard manner; that is, it is constructed with a particular set of conditions, questions, and scoring procedures that do not differ between individuals (Popham). Popular methods used on a standardized test include multiple-choice questions, which can be quickly and objectively scored on a large scale, making them cost-efficient and time-efficient to use. In contrast, a non-standardized test is a measurement instrument that gives different test takers a different exam, or relies on subjective or partially subjective criteria in the scoring of answers given on a completed test. Common methods used in non-standardized testing are essay questions, mathematical calculations, and open-ended responses. One advantage of standardize d testing is that the results of such tests are empirically useful in terms of a large scale. For instance, public policy decisions can be made by looking at decreasing state-administered tests in public schools if deficiencies in a particular subject are patent. Also, because scores are objectively scored and documented, it is possible to demonstrate validity and reliability with a controlled experiment. If two children from the same classroom score in the same range, it could be said the test is a valid instrument for measuring knowledge. When a test is statistically reliable, it can be shown to be replicable on a larger scale (Kuncel and Hezlett). Aggregation is a term that refers to the collection of scores on the same test from many different test takers; this provides a mean, or benchmark, against which an individual test taker can be evaluated comparatively. This can provide useful information above and beyond subjective assessments from individuals in that elimination based on standardized scores can narrow a search for individuals based on objective criteria and thus make a search procedure more efficient in a useful sort of way. In addition, it is often said this use of objective standards for comparing individuals is fairer than other methods, which may take into account other factors that use subjective methods. Critics of standardized testing believe it is restrictive in that it necessarily confines and segments knowledge into rigid categories, focusing more on broad swathes of reading and math skills, as opposed to initiative, creativity, imagination, conceptual thinking, curiosity, effort, irony, judgment, commitment, nuance, good will, ethical reflection, or a host of other valuable dispositions and attributes†, which some believe are virtues for accomplished students and successful adults that are simply ignored under the standardized testi

Impact of the Golden Exiles on the cities economic growth and Essay

Impact of the Golden Exiles on the cities economic growth and solidarity among its immigrant community - Essay Example The initial group of Cuban self-exiles known as the "Golden Exiles" was responsible for establishing a prosperous and atypical exile community that would to this day exercise considerable influence over all early and subsequent Latin American immigrants living in Miami. . The Cubans who left the island for Miami after the Cuban Revolution of 1959 were on a political mission, they were to form a counter-revolutionary front, however to avoid nationalization of their assets they left with as much money as they could and it is this salvaged wealth that became the capital for businesses set up by Cuban-American entrepreneurs. This group was comprised of many professional who were educated, experienced and held well-established connections. For this they were able to contribute to the economic and social growth of the area in which they settled. Many other Latin Americans who later migrated to the US were also seeking political asylum as was the case with many Nicaraguans who were fleeing the dictatorial Samoza regime during the later years of the 1970s. However, desperate economic circumstances and poor living conditions soon replaced these political issues as the main reason for immigration throughout Latin America. ... y Alex Stepick and Carol Dutton Stepick in the article "Power and Identity: Miami Cubans" is quite poignant and demonstrates one way in which immigrants have been able to come together for a common goal. It is because of this that they have held great political influence and often their votes determine electoral outcomes in the state and senators are quick to offer incentives that would appeal to the group. However, dissent is becoming apparent within the ranks. The "Golden Exiles" and their supporters are adamant in their desire to implement measures that could break the socialist hold on Cuba and have fiercely backed the trade embargo that bans all economic interaction between Cuba and the US. On the other hand, many new immigrants want to open dialogue between the two countries with the hope of improving the economic situation since they still hold many close ties with people in Cuba. While these initial immigrant groups were able to reach and maintain a level of economic prosperity and independence, many other groups seem not to be able to achieve such mobility and opt to form communities such as those prevalent in Latin America cities. They forge solidarity based on more immediate and common concerns such as marginalization and adversity, and the need to preserve their culture. These issues seem to spring mainly from identity confusion because they not American enough to be accepted in the wider society but they are neither sufficiently Hispanic to claim their ancestral country as their own. While this does not allow them access to "white" society, the Latin American immigrant community can show solidarity with other historically marginalized groups such as the African-American groups. Though solidarity exists to a great extent, one cannot ignore the friction

Effect of Sustainability on Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Effect of Sustainability on Development - Essay Example Sustainability is important and especially with a focus on global warming and environmental degradation, property developers and contractors have emphasized on construction and building projects that would be beneficial to the environment. Sustainability highlights these benefits and purchasers, developers and occupiers or builders and even buyers want a sustainable environment so that they could be part of a healthy and beneficial environment. Saving energy and utilizing renewable energy are some of the elements of sustainability as sustainability is about renewal rather than depletion and using natural energy resources in a manner that would environmentally advantageous for the future. A study on environmental energy resources and sustainable developments examined the extent to which energy efficiency is incorporated in refurbishment and capital expenditure of office buildings and also suggested a cost benefit analysis. The three aspects of construction technology, building refurbishment and property management are integrated along with sustainability goals. The levels of capital expenditure vary to ensure that buildings are more energy efficient. The emphasis has been on cost of implementation and with increased energy efficiency there may even be a demand for high rents. Studies have suggested that office building construction phases contribute significantly to global warming although during the entire lifecycle of a building, CO2 omissions are a major problem. Innovative approaches and energy related changes and efficiency considerations are more applicable in case of new buildings as with various building designs and constructions techniques, new environmental considerations for construction have also evolved. All this caters to the idea of sustainability although the number of new buildings constructed each year is small in proportion to the buildings which already exist. However capital expenditure on a building enhances the sustainability factor proving that sustainability and energy considerations comes with a price although have long term environmental benefits. The increased importance given to sustainability and energy efficiency have affected decision making by developers and also have started determining market price and it is essential that we understand the link between the environment and built structure and environments and try to harmonize the two. The moot point remains that purchasers and developers are affected and influenced by sustainability factors and energy efficiency considerations is not just a buzz phrase in the construction business but also suggests acceptability of projects and developers by buyers who tend to appreciate building and construction projects that have sustainability as a basis of property development. The foundations of sustainability

The Proslavery Thought of George Fitzhugh Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Proslavery Thought of George Fitzhugh - Essay Example Fitzhugh had revealed not only the sectional divide over slavery on the eve of disunion, but also the ideological distance amid the revolutionary generation of Virginia slaveholders and mid-nineteenth century Carolina planters. The political ideology of secession, exemplified by his speech, belonged to the surge of reaction with the intention of followed the age of revolution in the Atlantic world. The political ideology of secession in America consisted mainly of formal constitutional arguments and proslavery thought. The systematic construction of Southern constitutional theory and the theoretical defense of slavery proved to be very influential in the long term and provided the ideological justification for secession. Under the political and intellectual guidance of Fitzhugh, slaveholders formulated the "Carolina doctrine" of nullification, or the state veto of a federal law, state ownership of national territories, and the constitutional right to secession with the intention of helped make disunion a reality. The proslavery argument was also central to the growth of political separatism in America. Regardless of the individual political beliefs of proslavery writers, their works were crucial in the construction of a separate Southern identity based on slavery.

International business - ideas international Essay

International business - ideas international - Essay Example ver, Hindi is the main language in which most of the high budget films are getting introduced in the market, and Bollywood is the front face of the Indian film industry. The Bollywood has earned an international repute for its excellence in the field of film production. The liberalized foreign investment regime has given a tremendous opportunity to the foreign film makers. But, the foreign film production company should remember that the India is a very sensitive market as far as the films are concern. There are many religions, languages and rituals are practiced in India so, before making a film these points should be clarified as the films are one of the main mass Medias in India. The Film World is a private limited company. It was found in late seventies in Melbourne, Australia. It is having a vast experience in producing high quality films in the Australia and in the international market. The film world is one of the upcoming films production companies in the Australia. The company is packed with full of talented work force. It believes in producing quality work. It has many successful achievements throughout the journey for more than two decades. In the mid of eighties that is in 1985, the FilmWorld ventured into the film production and distribution in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The early ninety was a great time for the company as it was going through a tremendous success in the Australia and Malaysia. During the last few years the company is producing approximately four films in Australia and three films in Malaysia in a yearly basis. Due to the recent advancement, the company is looking for the opportunities in the Indian film market. India has the world’s biggest film industry in terms of number of movies produced in a year; it is almost eight hundred movies yearly. It works efficiently as one of the great sectors for the foreign investment. However, for any foreign investors the background check is very important and there lies the importance of the

Associated Memorial Health Center Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Associated Memorial Health Center - Assignment Example HR training and development responsibilities that address the problems in the case study include: AMHC HR should be involved in finding ways that will enable staff to enhance their career growth and development. Therefore, this HR responsibility will assist in solving the retention issues especially turnover rate in the organization. Most of the retention issue arises due to the high turnover rate of current staffs in the AMHC. There is also poor communication between staff and supervisors in the organization and late performance reviews and lack of promotional opportunities. These problems lead to high staff complaints. Therefore, AMHC should address the communication issues through proper training of both staff and supervisors. They need to be trained on the importance of the communication. HR managers should address the issues of performance reviews immediately. Staff needs to be trained to enhance opportunities of getting promoted in the organization. Proper training through leadership and management programs give staff opportunities of being promoted. HR should design training and development programs that change the behavior of staffs towards patients. Some of the issues that can be addressed include inattentiveness to patients by staff, rude behavior towards patients and patients waiting for long without getting any assistance. This behavior can be changed and the only way is to train the staff importance of providing clinical services efficiently.

Leadership Style Essay Example for Free

Leadership Style Essay The main focus of any organization is viability or productivity (Mastrangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004). This is further heightened by the increasing changes in product market activities (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), 2001). The fact that consumers now have a better and affordable access to market information has brought about an increase in their market power and the resultant effect is a more challenging and competitive market especially in the private sector. The public sector on the other hand is under increasing pressure for a more effective utilization of public funds. Consequently, the quest for a competitive advantage and increasingly better performance is becoming a major factor for consideration in virtually all organizations. In this light, the CIPD (2001) emphasized on the role of leadership as a major factor essential for an enhanced organizational performance. Taormina (2008) supported this in stating that in leadership is vested the ability to decide how organizations will be run and it plays a major role in influencing the organization to success. The CIPD (2001) further added that leadership (or people management) is the main element harnessing other success factors in an organization for effectiveness. A number of authors have also supported the foregoing discussions on the leader-success relationship (e. g Harris and Kuhnert 2008; Mastrangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004). Furthermore, research works have identified certain pointers to high performance leadership. A major one among these is leadership behavior or leadership style (Mastrangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004; Taormina, 2008). Leadership Style and Organizational Success: Drawing a Correlation Leadership style is one of the major traits that may be used to draw a line of difference between high performance and low performance organizations (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001). Since the management in an organization has a great impact on how it will be run, the style of leadership within the management cycle has a way of dictating the direction that such an organization will go. Taormina (2008) buttressed this point in his work. He established the fact that leadership behavior go along way in determining the culture or the prevailing atmosphere in an organization and this will in turn affect employees’ attitude towards performance and ultimate success of such an organization. A number of dichotomies on leadership behavior have been presented. However, leadership style can be broadly categorized into two – ‘People-Centered’ leadership and ‘Task-Centered’ leadership (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001 pg 150; Taormina, 2008 pg. 87). ‘People-Centered’ leadership Versus ‘Task-Centered’ leadership Various progressive attempts have been made at investigating leadership from the behavioral angle. However, a remarkable point was reached in the 1950s with the introduction of ‘Ohio State model’ which talked about ‘task-oriented’ and ‘people-oriented’ leadership (Taormina, 2008 pg. 87). These two categories seem to have been a perfect one that describes leadership behaviors because it is still being referred as at present. According to Adeyemi-Bello (2001), task-oriented style emphasizes on production and organizational goals. This leadership style is concerned about how the organizational goals may be implemented. People-oriented leaders on the other hand show great concern for the followers (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001). They create a warm environment within the organization and foster a strong positive relationship among members of the organization. While this style offers a system that respects the personality, feelings and opinions of the employees and gives them a feeling of empowerment (Taormina, 2008), task oriented approach is thirsty for achievements sometimes at all cost (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001). Subsequent studies after the initial presentation of these leadership models have made attempts at differentiating between them. The intention was to determine which one should be preferred above the other. However, Adeyemi-Bello (2001) explained that current researches have shown that preferences for any of the two styles depend on the current situation within the organization. There are cases where one style will fail to impact a good result, not because it is less effective but because the situation at hand does not create an environment conducive for its functionality (Mastrangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004). Furthermore, Jacques, Garger and Thomas (2008) remarked that the recent behavioral theory of leadership took the studies a step further by suggesting that the two behavioral approaches will be more effective when adequately blended under any given situation. Their paper revealed that graduates of project management performs better in leadership than those from another management related courses because of their ability to blend the two leadership styles; a training that the other group did not receive. Adeyemi-Bello (2001) had earlier presented this fact in her work. The result of her survey on 29 Baptist church leaders shows a better result when the two styles were combined in church leadership than when each one was singly adopted. She concluded for the extension of these results into leadership in other realms of human activities. The implications of these results are quite obvious. A paradigm shift in the content and delivery of leadership training programs has become very necessary. The current training inculcating strategic planning and tasks-focused practices should pave way for a more balanced approach in management training. People managers should also learn to engage in a better interpersonal relationship with those under them, create a warmer environment conducive for a healthy work relationship, and engage in strategies that will give employees a feeling of empowerment (Adeyemi-Bello, 2001; Monstarangelo, Eddy and Lorenzet, 2004; Taormina, 2008). The case of Kleine Plastics in the UK presented by Ludlow (1987) serves as a good example in driving home the points that has been raised so far (in Tyson and Kakabadse eds. ). The work contrasted between the leadership attributes of Joseph Kleine, the founder of Kleine Plastics and that of David, his son at a particular time during the early stages of the company’s development. It reviews Joseph Kleine’s attitude as ‘a charismatic leader with whom his managers and work force wish to identify’ (pg. 23). He engages a style that trusted and respected his employees and empathizes with their situations. To him, these people were his main assets. This, coupled with his result oriented tendencies, propelled the work force towards a high performance level. However, David Kleine could not maintain this approach when he had to stand in during his father’s absence. He wanted result at all cost without due regards for his team members. Objections to his propositions by his managers were downplayed no matter how genuine they may be. Though work was still progressing, enthusiasm and productivity level dwindled. The return of Joseph was welcomed with protests from every quarter. David style was found to be less effective because of its lack of ‘human face’. Conclusion Leadership style is an issue that will still continue to be a subject of interest among research workers. The world is ever changing and people are becoming increasingly dynamic in attitude and thinking. This calls for a leadership approach that will keep up with the pace of the changes. A dynamic leader is one that is better equipped to respond to changes and easily enlist the cooperation of people in managing them effectively towards a greater level of production performance.

Is Hong Kong A Preferable Travel Destination?

Is Hong Kong A Preferable Travel Destination? One of Hong Kongs important incomes is from tourism. In 2010, the annual number of inbound tourists has 30 million. Mainland Chinese visitors accounted for 22.7 million, followed by the visitors from Taiwan, accounting for 2.2 million people; Hong Kong is one of the most popular tourist places. Why the tourists like to travel Hong Kong? In this project we will analysis Mainland Chinese this group of tourist in Hong Kong. And we will analysis what reasons attract the tourist. We will analysis some products is it enough for tourists? Introduction of Hong Kong History Hong Kong the full name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. It is located in the Pearl River estuary, the South China Sea on the Hong Kong Island, the Kowloon Peninsula, connected to the mainland China, and the New Territories. Under the principle of One Country, Two Systems, Hong Kong became a Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China on 1 July 1997. Climate Hong Kong has a sub-tropical climate with distinct seasons. Hong Kong Spring is on March to May. The temperature and humidity are rising. Evenings can be cool and average temperature is Summer is on June to August. It is very hot, humid and sunny, with occasional showers and thunderstorms. The temperature can exceed 31 °C and high humidity levels can make it feel even hotter. In summer time, the average temperature can have 26à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™- 31à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. The tourists can enjoy the sunshine and swimming in Repulse Bay Beach. Then it is autumn. Autumn is on September to November. There are pleasant breezes, plenty of sunshine and comfortable temperatures. Many people regard these as the best months of the year to visit Hong Kong. The tourists can go hiking in Lamma Island. In autumn the average temperature is Winter is from  December to February. It is quite cool, dry and cloudy, with occasional cold fronts. The temperature can drop below 10 °C in urban areas. The tourist can go to Temple Street to eat Pot Rice. The average temperature is 12à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™ -20 à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã†â€™. Attraction In Hong Kong, the attraction has two types. It is a natural and man-made attraction. First we will introduce Tai O. Tai O is located in the west of Lantau Island, New Territories, the existence in Hong Kongs most famous fishing village. Tai O is a natural attraction, Near Tai O there are lots of the growth of mangroves, visitors can enjoy the natural beauty of the local. Also the tourist can see the hut in Tai O. This is a Hong Kong early fishing village, and it is the homes of the fishermen. Hong Kong Disneyland is a man-made attraction. It is located Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong Lantau Island. Hong Kong Disneyland was officially opened on September 12, 2005. Also there have hotels too. There have six themes. For example, Fantasyland, Tomorrow land, Toy Story land etc. This park can attract the family to travel. The tourists can go there by rail MTR Disneyland Resort Line from Sunny Bay Station and Disneyland Resort Station. Analysis of Mainland Chinese The increasing and growth number of Chinese mainland visitors to Hong Kong. Last year, it has 5,550,000 of mainland individual visitors. Mainland visitors go to Hong Kong from China, generally about 25-44 years old. The visitors will stay around 3-4 days; over half of the visitors will spend on shopping. And they have a higher average education and income. Now, the Mainland visitors go to Hong Kong visit is very easy. Because the Hong Kong Government has provided the Signed a multi-line , they can visit Hong Kong still the holidays. First, mainland visitors visit Hong Kong main purpose is shopping, For example: they will buy an electronic products, preferred clothes, jewelry, beauty cosmetics and health products. It is because Hong Kong have most international brand, and have confidence guarantee. Ad Hoc Quota Trial Scheme for Cross Boundary Private Cars is means a self-driving tour of China and Hong Kong, Guangdong and Hong Kong traveling by car, is the implementation of a pilot scheme by the Hong Kong Government and the Guangdong provincial government plans to allow cross-border traveling vehicles in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province. But this plan stops in March 2012. Tourism products in Hong Kong Transportation Hong Kong provided a wide range of transportation to cater the transport demands so Hong Kongs transportation network is highly developed. Over 90% of daily travels (11 million) are on public transport, the highest such percentage in the world. Our target consumers could go everywhere that they like. Payment can be made using the Octopus card, a stored value system introduced by the Mass Transit Railway (MTR), which is widely accepted on railways, buses and ferries, and accepted like cash at other outlets go to the urban city. Mass Transit Railway is the most convenient way to understand how to go the place that we want to visit. There are all together ten lines in the MTR system, with a total of 83 railway stations and 68 light rail stops. It is utmost comfortable to go to the Hong Kong International Airport into the city center or rural place like Tai Po and Yuen Long and other famous attraction like the Hong Kong Disneyland. Bus services have a long history in Hong Kong. They could take the bus to go everywhere. There are also a variety of non-franchised public buses services, including feeder bus services to railway stations operated by the railway companies, and residents services for residential estates (particularly those in the New Territories). Taxi is the most relax transportation in Hong Kong as it is just carry yourself and your family. Taxi fares are charged according to the taximeter; however, additional charges on the fare table may apply, such as road tolls and luggage fees. Urban taxis are the most expensive, while Lantau taxis are the cheapest. The standard of service among different kinds of taxis is mostly the same. Attractions Hong Kong is frequently described as a place where East meets west, reflecting the cultures mix of the territorys Chinese roots with influences from its time as a British colony. Hong Kong had many attractions for our target consumers. We had classified into 2 parts: natural and man-made attraction. Man-made attraction For the sightseeing, we provide the visitor visit Avenue of Stars which with commemorative plaques, celebrity handprints, descriptive milestones, movie memorabilia, a life-size statue of kung fu action hero Bruce Lee and a bronze rendering of popular cartoon character McDull and also there is the perfect vantage point to catch the A Symphony of Lights multimedia show. After visit Avenue of Stars, if they want to shopping, they could go to Times Square which is the One-stop shop and eat paradise and highly cater their required of services. Causeway Bay is one of Hong Kongs most popular shopping areas and Times Square is its biggest mall. It has around 230 shops, including fashion, sportswear, furniture, electronics, toys, two department stores and around 17 restaurants offering food from all over the world. They could visit Ocean Park which offers affordable marine animal education and entertainment and is a private organization for commercial purposes. The park divided into 2 parts: The waterfront and Summit. The waterfront had Amazing Asia Animals, Ocean Express Waterfront Station, Aqua City, Whiskers Harbor and Cable Car Plaza. For the Summit, there are Summit cable car station, ocean express summit station, marine world, polar adventure, adventure land, Thrill Mountain and rainforest. They could spend a whole day to have a look on Hong Kong and play with their friends, family or relatives. Nature attraction Hong Kong Global Geopark of China is the famous place for the travelers to get in touch with the history of nature. They could take a tour to view covering an area of 50 square kilometers; the Geopark includes the Sai Kung Volcanic Rock Region and the Northeast New Territories Sedimentary Rock Region, which, together, feature eight scenic areas containing Hong Kongs major exotic landforms. Finally, they could go to Cheung Chau to view The Cheung Chau Bun Festival as it is the best way to feel the traditional mood in Hong Kong. Every year, the people of Cheung Chau get busy making papier-mà ¢chà © effigies of deities, preparing costumes, baking buns and building a bamboo tower. Theyre preparing for the thousands of people that will soon descend upon their tiny island for what Time.com deemed one of the worlds Top 10 Quirky Local Festivals. It is an easy way to find that Hong Kong provided a wide range of transportation and attraction to cater the rich mainland Chinese people. Accommodation Since there are more than 50,000 rooms available in Hong Kong. Most accommodation places are linked by the public transport system to ensure all attractions are close together. We use hotel ratings in order to divider their quality, such ratings are very useful for tourists to choose their accommodation places. In Hong Kong, there have five types of hotels. There are five-star hotels, four-star hotels, three-star hotels, boutique hotel and budget hotel. We think the Mainland visitors may consider on those two types hotels, because they need the quality of the hotels. For a five-star hotel, it always offers most luxurious premises, as well as swimming pool and sport and exercise facilities. For example, The Peninsula, Kowloon, Hong Kong, offers the ultimate in luxury accommodations with the most spacious hotel rooms and suites in Hong Kong. Each one of the guest rooms equipped with advanced technology for the convenience of hotel guests and is comfortable and stylish. However, its room rate range from $5000 to $16000. For a four-star hotel, it may lack of certain facility like 24-hour room service or individual phones or showers in bathroom, but overall it is a larger and comfortable hotel accompanied with many basic amenities. This hotel is located in Causeway Bay Hotel Hong Kong. The hotel provides the easiest walking distance between Causeway Bay MTR subway stations and The Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, which is one of the tourist attractions and business areas that can be accessed within 10 minutes drive. Catering services Since Hong Kong is a city which Chinese and western culture combined, it is also famous for both type of food. Chinese Cuisine is the most famous type of food in Hong Kong. Since Western food is already adapted to local tastes, it is a good place for homesick travelers who have had enough of Chinese food. For some richer visitors, they can follow the Michelin guide to find some Western restaurants with excellent menu and service. We think the Mainland visitors may try some Hong Kong local food, so we have some ideas for the visitors. Dim Sum is one of the famous menus of Cantonese food; it dominates in food style of breakfast since Cantonese people tend to avoid fried foods early in the day. Dim Sum comes in countless variations with a huge price range from $8 to more than $100 per order. Common items include steamed shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, barbecued pork buns, and Hong Kong egg tarts. The other famous Cantonese food is Chinese Barbecue, it is known as Siu Mei, restaurants usually use steamed chicken as these barbecued meats. Those meats are roasted on spits over an open fire or in a rotisserie oven. Chinese barbecue restaurants usually have highly flexible menus that allow you to pair your roast meats with rice, noodles or rice noodles. Combo plates enable solo diners to sample several meats in one meal. Rice with roasted pork Char Siu, roasted duck, all are common dishes of that. For the western style of food, there are numerous selections in Hong Kong. Italian, French, German, Mediterranean, Mexican and American all feature strongly. Given Hong Kongs cosmopolitan population and passion for dining trends, foreign travelers would not be hard to find out their home type of food. For the famous places of Western food in Hong Kong, Cà ©page is sure one of them, it serve French cuisine, influenced by Eastern type of cooking style and are served in the chic. The restaurants name is French for wine blend, an allusion to its impressive wine list of over 2,000 bottles, its recommended dish are Steamed Tasmanian Salmon, Aromatized with Diced Vegetables and Oriental Sauce. Ming Court is the other place; it has raked in rave reviews from the citys most respected food connoisseurs. Its executive chef applies his 30 years of experience to ensure that every dish bears his signature style of delicate presentation and exquisite taste. Braised E-Fu Noodles with Fresh Abalone Slices and Prawn are its recommended dishes. Suggestions for the Hong Kong Tourism Industry In order to develop the tourism industry, there are some suggestions provided for different sectors. For Hospitality industry, when the peak tourist season was coming, the hotel room and staff always not enough to supply. Therefore, they should build more hotel or other types of accommodation in Hong Kong. Also, hotel can organize a large-scale job fairs to recruit the talents and allocate the manpower efficiently, such as Disneyland and Ocean Park. Disneyland and Ocean Park is one of the popular attractions in Hong Kong, most of the tourists visiting there, so it should build more hotels in there. Mystery Customer Service Association published the 2010 Global smile report, shows that Hong Kong smile index is only 53 and ranking in third last. The company should provide training course and teaching the staff how to serve the customers, it can help to build up the good image of tourism. For Hong Kong Tourism Board, because travelers become more and more, the tourist facilities are insufficient to cope with the large number of travelers, they should develop more attractions, such as Disneyland, can build more mechanical rides. It also can strengthen efforts to publicize; they should do more advertising in other foreign countries and attract foreigner interest. Moreover, Hong Kong Tourism Board needs to organize more large-scale events for tourists, such as Tourism Festival, Winter Festival. This type of events is one of characteristically in Hong Kong. Recommendations to Government There are many recommendations for the Government of Hong Kong that are in favor of the Tourism Development. First of all, it is strongly recommended to the HK government that the 2nd Cruise Terminal at Kai Tak, which is now under building progress, should be completed as soon as possible as it can be very helpful to the tourism industry in a way that it can create efficiency for the cruise customers as there will be more space to park and more ports for the cruise ships. Secondly, the HK government should have more and more promotions and advertisements overseas to increase the number of the inbound tourists and the advertisements should be promoting the cultural and the leisure activities that can be done in HK such as a mix culture of HK and not only focus on Mainland Chinese market. And the HK government is also recommended that it should put more efforts on the HK Airport to make more spacious and to reclaim more land for development of the runways which in return will be one of the contributing factors for the development of the tourism industry of HK. It is because this will be a reason for the efficiency of the customers that are both in bounding and out bounding as the airport will be able to cater more and more flights and will provide more space to airlines. Conclusions All in all, Hong Kong has a wide range of facilities and products to cater to this object China rich. Provide multiple choices and quality in basic necessities, the economy status of China began to raise, the message of the people the crescendo ability, in line with the visa policy with China, Hong Kong an advantage compared to other cities. So for the Chinese rich people, Hong Kong is a choice. Access To Higher Education: Reflective Practice Access To Higher Education: Reflective Practice Firstly this assignment is based on three models of reflective practice, Kolb’s, Gibbs and John’s with an explanation of the structure of each model. To understand all three of the models they will all be described in detail explaining how they should be utilized. This assignment will also seek to critically evaluate all three of the models. All of these models can assist someone to reflect on some everyday situations and seriously think about what to change when things go wrong and how to put them right on another occasion. Starting with Kolb’s model of reflective practice, this model has been structured on four stages of learning which are, concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation. Concrete experience is having an experience which can be evaluated, reflective observation is looking at the experience to see what was done, abstract conceptualisation is learning from the experience and active experimentation is planning and trying out what has been learned. (Mcloud 2010) There are also other parts to Kolb’s model that focus on the way someone will learn, these are diverging, assimilating, converging and accommodating. Diverging is to feel and watch, assimilating is to think and watch, converging is to think and do, and accommodating is to feel and do. (Kolb 1984) With Kolb’s model it is suggested by him that whoever is using it should think about what they are doing and reflect on this by reviewing what they did. Using the information and learning from their experience. (Arora 2008) The end outcome should be to learn from their experience and to turn the negatives into positives. Anyone using this model should plan what they could do next and think about how they could improve their experience. Kolb’s model of reflection has been criticized because of insufficient attention to the process of reflection itself, ‘it’s lack of empirical support, it’s very rigid and sequential nature and it’s simplification of the learning process in general’. (Smith 1996) This model of reflection will not suit everyone’s learning experience as it does not take into account the abilities of different learners and can also seem a little complicated to follow with the use of some uncommon words that are not understood by all individuals. According to research Kolb’s model of reflective practice does not show the full extent of reflection. (Boud et al1983) Now we move onto Gibbs model of reflective practice which is based on six questions: Description: What happened? Feelings: What did you think and feel? Evaluation: What did you find good and what was bad about the experience? Analysis: What do you make of the situation? Conclusion: What should you do to make the experience better? Action plan: If it happened in the future what would you do?(Gibbs 1988) With the Gibbs model of reflective practice it is suggested by him that whoever uses this model should describe what happened and think about what they were feeling to evaluate the situation and work out what went well and what did not go well. The person using this model should analyse what sense they can make of the situation and decide what they could have done to make the situation better. (Jasper2003) It is also suggested that anyone using this model should develop an action plan to improve the situation if it should happen again. Gibbs model of reflective practise is described as self-explanatory and easy to use. (Jasper 2003) Gibb’s model does not give the learner enough specific questions to answer and does not give them enough scope to be more critical of themselves. ‘‘It also does not consider whether there is a difference between teaching practice and the requirements or expectations of learners’’. (Jasper 2003) (Jasper 2003) explains that Gibb’s ‘‘model comes from an educational context as opposed to a practical context’’. (Jasper 2003) The learning styles of many reflective models have still not been proven according to some and may be of no benefit to some learners. (Barrett 2013) Finally, John’s model of reflective practice is based on five questions with sub headings. Reflection: What were you trying to achieve? Influencing factors: What things like internal and external knowledge affected your decision? Could you have dealt with it better: What other choices did you have and what were the consequences? Learning: What will change because of this experience? Description of the experience: How has this experience changed your way of knowing? (Dran 2011) It is suggested by Johns that anyone using this model of reflective practice should work out why they did what they did and if anything swayed their decision to do what they did as well as what other things they could have done instead. It is also suggested by Johns that the person using this model thinks about what will change because of the experience and if it has changed their view of what they did. One weakness of this model is that ‘the outside framework does not leave any room for learners to use their own awareness, standards and priorities and some learners and practitioners doubt the value of reflection’. (Davis 2005) Reflective practice can often be interpreted in the wrong way. (Loughran, 2000) It could be seen that if practitioners are extremely busy they may find the pressure of completing reflective models a little tiresome. There are also some ethical concerns, which may breach confidentiality and privacy so anyone using reflective models of practice should take this into consideration. It should be noted that dealing with emotions in this way can be upsetting and do more harm than good. (Davis 2005) Boud and Walker (1998) are unsure of reflective practice as a required part of a course. Another criticism on the impact on someone using a model of reflective practice is that the practitioner always wants to find ways of doing things better which can lead to them feeling down hearted and unworthy. If a practitioner is to assume that the word ‘critical’ has the same meaning as ‘negative’ then this could make them feel very low indeed and also extremely worthless. (Quinn 1988/2000). Quinn (1988/2000) suggests that ‘the inappropriate use of reflective Models may actually devalue practitioners’ professional work instead of promoting it. It seems that not everyone would like to utilize the same model as we all adapt to each situation differently and the learning process is not the same experience for everyone, just as all models of reflection are different models of reflection so are we as humans. If used correctly in the right situation these models of reflection can be very valuable however used badly can be detrimental to our thought process and feelings of usefulness. (Quinn 1998/2000) Table of References www.academia.edu/1057509/Experimental_learning_.termpaper (Accessed 30 May 2014) Davis. C. et-al (2005) Changing practice in health and social care sage publications London Thousand Oaks New Delhi in association with the Open University p85 www.docstoc.com/docs22730941/JOHNS-MODEL-OF-STRUCTURED-REFLECTION (Accessed 10 June 2014) http://ebookily.org/doc/example-of-gibbs-1988-reflective-cycle-in-nursing (Accessed 12 June 2014) Finlay.L.Reflectingon‘Reflectivepractice’http://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/files/ecms/web-content/Finlay-(2008)-Reflecting-on-reflective-practice-PBPL-paper-52.pdf pp 10 11 12 (Accessed 2June 2014) www.3.hantsgov.uk/reflection-2.doc (Accessed 2 June) McLeod S. A. (2010). Kolb Learning Styles. www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html (Accessed 10 June 2014) http://prezi.com/qsys43dbyzy9/gibbs-criticalreflectionmodel/ (Accessed 1 June2014) http://www.scribd.com/doc/48449899/BREAKING-BAD-NEWS-REFLECTION (Accessed 12 June 2014) http://www.scribd.com/doc/69580365/Johns (Accessed 10 June 2014) http://www.silkysteps.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7386 (Accessed 12 June 2014) http://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/an-overview-of-peer-reviewing-education-essay.php (Accessed 12 June 2014) www.ulh.nhs.uk/for-staff/educationtrainig/clinical-education/leadership-in-practice/gibbsreflectivecycle.pdf (Accessed 1June 2014) http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Reflective_practice (Accessed 3 June 2014) http://www.worc.ac.uk/adpu/documents (Accessed 30 May 2014) Part B Without realising at first Gibb’s model of reflection was the one out of all the models which I automatically started to and still continue to use. I found the model very user friendly, and this is a reflective model that is in plain speaking English without the use of any uncommon words. It has made me think seriously about situations in my studies and made me realise what I am doing wrong and what I should think about to improve the way I study. Sometimes I do things and do not really think about what I am doing however this model of reflection has taught me to actually stop, think and reassess a situation. Here is an example of Gibb’s model of reflective practice applied to my own learning experience. Description: What happened? I was given assignments to complete. Feelings: What was I thinking and feeling? I was feeling a little daunted and unsure of the work ahead of me. Evaluation: What was good and bad about the experience? I thought the assignments were quite hard to do and found putting things into my own words very hard. Once I thought I finally understood a little more I felt much better. Analysis: What sense can I make of the situation? I get too stressed and rush myself too much to get my work done all at once. Conclusion: What else could I have done? I could have organised my time better and done my work in small chunks. Action plan: If it arose again what would I do? I will organise my time better and work in small chunks rather than trying to do it all at once.

Determinants And Implications For Focused Antenatal Care Interventions

Determinants And Implications For Focused Antenatal Care Interventions The coverage of antenatal care (ANC) in many areas is known and there are a number of interventions to encourage use of ANC services by pregnant women. However, for women who attend ANC, it is important that they register at the appropriate time and pay a given number of visits over the pregnancy period to ensure that they receive the interventions recommended for the antenatal period at the right time. When a pregnant woman makes regular contact which her skilled antenatal care provider, she is in a position to receive various services such as those meant for prevention of eclampsia, intermittent preventive treatment for malaria, early detection of HIV/AIDS infection and prevention of mother-to-child transmission, micronutrient supplementation, birth preparedness and provision of information on danger signs occurring while she is pregnant or during delivery.1 Presently, Nigeria is transiting to the Focused Antenatal Care (FANC) approach promoted by the World Health Organization (WHO ) which is aimed at ensuring that each antenatal visit counts and that antenatal care interventions are delivered at the appropriate time.2 FANC is one of the pillars of safe motherhood. The goal of FANC is to ensure that pregnancy is normal through for major actions: identification of pre-existing health conditions, early detection of complications arising during the pregnancy, health promotion and disease prevention and birth preparedness and complication readiness planning.3The interventions are deployed in such a way that they are appropriate for the womans stage of pregnancy.4 Unlike the previously used routine care which was ritualistic and frequent visits, the FANC approach emphasizes evidence-based goal-directed actions, family-centred care, quality, rather than quantity of visits as well as care by skilled providers.3 4 Thus, numerous routine visits are no longer recommended and are considered a burden to women and the health care system. The FANC approach also deemphasizes the routine risk assessment approach for classifying women into high and low risks groups.2 With the risk assessment approach, women attending antenatal care were offered services which include blood pressure check, urinalysis to detect protein or bacteria, and blood test to rule out syphilis or anaemia.5 However many women classified as low risk end up having a false sense of security, are unable to recognize and respond to problems and end up developing complications. In addition, most high risk women give birth without complications and the excess care provided constitutes an inefficient use of scarce resources. The FANC approach in Nigeria requires that pregnant women would have paid the first visit for ANC by the 16 week of pregnancy or earlier when the women first thinks she is pregnant, the second between the 24th to 28th week, the third at the 32nd week and the 4th at the 36th week of pregnancy.2 Some authors have considered early booking to mean that a woman pays her first visit before the 14th week to achieve the aim of improved outcome of pregnancy both for a mother and her unborn child.6 Thus, by 36 weeks, a pregnant woman should have made the required minimum of four visits while those with risk of complications of conditions that can impact on pregnancy would require additional visits. The time of booking and ANC attendance can affect the effectiveness of interventions recommended for pregnant women and thus the goals of FANC. Early booking helps ensure that problems are detected and managed early.2 The first visit gives the opportunity to record information on family, maternal and medical history, carry out a physical examination, request laboratory tests, provide care including intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) for malaria in pregnancy (if beyond first trimester), provide counselling including birth plan, use of insecticide treated bed nets (ITN), HIV counselling and testing and to discuss the schedule for care. The subsequent visits are necessary for noting complaints, targeted physical examination, reviewing test results, providing care including IPT for malaria, obtaining information on use of ITN, birth plans and carrying out HIV counselling. Justification for the study Interventions for pregnant women aim protect the woman and her unborn baby for the remaining period of the pregnancy and their provision should be timely. The later the timing of first visit the shorter the period of cover and the higher the risk of development of problems and complications for the woman and her baby. Thus it is not just important to know the proportion of pregnant women attending ANC, it is also important to know when attendees commence such visits and whether they pay an adequate number of visits. Although a number of studies have documented the timing of first visit and number of visits to ANC in the south-west region of Nigeria, little is known about the pattern in the south eastern region of the country. Additionally, most of the studies are limited in scope as they are facility based (usually tertiary hospital based) and thus reflect experience amongst pregnant women who are able to access such facilities even though primary health centres are the closest to people and usually the only available point of care in rural areas. Aim: This study is aimed at documenting the socio-demographic predictors of timing of ANC booking and subsequent attendance amongst pregnant women in order to understand the impact these can have on deployment of focused antenatal care interventions for pregnant women. Objectives: To determine the timing of booking and pattern of subsequent ANC attendance among pregnant women attending primary level facilities To examine whether the timing of ANC booking and clinic attendance is affected by individual level socio-demographic factors To assess the appropriateness of timing of booking and attendance for effective delivery of focused antenatal care interventions To examine how the findings of the study can impact on the deployment of antenatal care interventions for pregnant women. CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW The concept of focused antenatal care is based on the assumption that since every pregnancy faces the risk of development of complications, every pregnant woman should be monitored to avoid development of such complications.2 Lack of antenatal care is known to be a major risk factor for development of negative pregnancy outcomes. However, when antenatal care is appropriately delivered, it has the potential to positively impact on maternal mortality and morbidity.7 Studies have shown that many women obtain care quite late during the pregnancy period and the care obtained is usually inadequate.2 8 9 The first visit for antenatal care in Africa usually takes place around the fourth to fifth month of pregnancy.5 In the African region, 73% of pregnant women aged 15 49 years pay at least one visit to a health care provider for antenatal care while only 44% pay at least four visits.10 A study by Al-Nasser in Saudi Arabia showed that majority (60.8%) of pregnant women attending antenatal clinic in primary health care centres were first seen before the 20th week of gestation.11 Fekede, et al noted that 42.8% of 360 pregnant women in an Ethiopian town attending antenatal clinic did so for the first time within the 3rd trimester while only 6.5% had the recommended minimum of four visits.12 In Nigeria, the figures assessing antenatal care utilization are below the African regional values as 58% of women aged 15-49 years receive ANC from a skilled health provider at least once during pregnancy while 45% of women make four or more visits for ANC.2 10 Based on the 2008 NDHS the median gestational age at booking is 5 months.2 Among 395 women attending antenatal clinic in public and private facilities covering the primary, secondary and tertiary levels of care in Ibadan, southwest Nigeria, 25.8% paid the first visit for antenatal care within the first trimester. Mean gestational age at booking was found to be 18.5 (Â ±6.3) weeks while the mean number of antenatal visits was 4.0 (Â ±2.4).13 A study carried out among 378 pregnant women attending a tertiary hospital in Edo state Nigeria noted that the 6th month of pregnancy as the peak period of first visit for antenatal care among the women.14 Okunlola et al found a mean gestational age at booking of 21.82 (Â ±7.0) weeks wi th only 14.1% of the women paying attending for the first time within the first trimester.6 In a tertiary facility in Osogbo Nigeria, the mean gestational age was found to be 20.3 (Â ±6.2) weeks and 82.6% of those studied booked late.15 Amongst 400 women attending antenatal clinic at a tertiary facility in Ile Ife, Nigeria, 71% had registered by the 20th week of gestation.16 Aluko and Oluwatosin found low rates of first trimester booking and irregular visits for antenatal care among women attending clinics in a mission hospital in Ibadan south west Nigeria.17 Socio-demographic factors and parity have been found to directly influence the timing of first visit for antenatal care though the results are sometimes dissimilar. Most women (79.9%) attending antenatal clinic in a tertiary hospital in Edo state Nigeria were found to have booked late.18 However, there was no significant difference in age, parity, level of education and social class between women booking early and late. In a study carried out among pregnant women attending a the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Adegbola found a mean gestational age at first booking of 18.5 (Â ±8.3), 18.4 (Â ±7.4) weeks for nulliparous and primiparous women respectively.19 The overall mean gestational age at booking was 19.1(Â ±7.2) weeks. Women with parity 5 booked at significantly higher mean gestational age of 25.9 (Â ±) weeks and women of lower social class tend to book earlier for antenatal care. Similarly Adeyemi, et al found that late booking was thrice as common in multiparous women com pared with the nulliparous group and the difference was significant.20 Other authors have found an association between parity and timing of first visit, and number of antenatal visits.11 21 A number of studies have documented the factors that affect use of ANC amongst women in the developing countries;9 these determinants are also likely to affect the timeliness of attendance for ANC. Chandrashekar, et al found that women who are poor, illiterate, multiparous, unskilled and over 30 years of age were less likely to receive antenatal care in India.22 Age was found to be a significant predictor of ANC attendance in a community based study in Ethiopia where women aged 15-24 years were found 2.75 times more likely to attend than those aged 25-34 years.12 Geographic place of residence can also have an impact as women living in urban areas are more likely to receive antenatal care during pregnancy. Women have also been found to concurrently use multiple antenatal care providers and this can affect the timing of booking in a facility. Adeoye, et al found that 25% and 30.5% of women attending two antenatal care clinics in a tertiary facility in Ebonyi state were concurrently using both formal and informal providers of antenatal care.23 Of 535 women attending a tertiary facility in Enugu Nigeria, 69.5% were booked in more than one facility.24 The time of commencement of ANC visits has implications for the period of protection that pregnant women have from interventions. For example where women attend antenatal care late in pregnancy, they may not receive the recommended 2-3 doses of Intermittent Preventive Treatment (IPT) for malaria in pregnancy using sulphadoxine-pyrimethamine combinations.25 Data from the 2008 National Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS) shows that among 11,027 women aged 15 49 years with a live birth within a period of 2 years preceding the survey, only 8.0% received at least one dose of IPT while 4.9% received 2 or more doses.2 The proportion was 9.9% and 5.4% respectively for the south east region of Nigeria. It is important that pregnant women are available at the appropriate time for delivery of IPT which is best given when the growth of the foetus is occurring at its highest velocity (16th 24th week) as this helps to reduce placental parasitaemia, foetal growth reduction and the resultant low birth weight.26 It is also known that the negative impact of malaria is worse among women with their first and second pregnancies compared to those that have had more than two pregnancies.27-29 Thus primi and secundi-gravidae need to pay their first visit early enough to ensure adequate protection through the pregnancy period. The same consideration holds sway for interventions such as insecticide treated nets for which the potential protective time period depends on how early in pregnancy a woman starts sleeping under the net. All it all, timely attendance to ANC is important to enhance the potential for positive pregnancy outcomes since it provides pregnant women with the opportunity to receive recommended interventions and the protection from problems and complications. Socio-demographic and maternal factors such as parity can affect the timeliness of ANC visits by pregnant women. CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY Study area: This study will be carried out in Enugu State, South-East Nigeria. Enugu state comprises of 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs), has a total population of 3,257,298 people and an annual growth rate of 3.0.30 Three of the 17 LGAs (Enugu North, Enugu South and Nsukka) are urban, one (Enugu East) has a mix of urban and rural areas while the remaining 13 LGAs are rural. The people of Enugu are of Igbo ethnicity and are predominantly Christians. A substantial proportion of the working population in the state is engaged in farming, trading, and public service employment. Study site: Two areas will be purposively selected for the study to enable collection of data across for those in both urban and rural areas of the state. These are Udi LGA comprising Udi North and South Development Councils will be used to represent the rural areas while Enugu North and South LGAs will represent the urban areas. Udi has a population of 234,002 while Enugu North and South have a population of 244,852 and 198,723 respectively.30 Udi LGA has 14 primary health facilities that offer ANC services while Enugu North and South (referred to as Enugu) together have 12 primary facilities that offer ANC (appendix 1). Study design: This will be a cross-sectional study involving eliciting of information from pregnant women attending primary health centres for antenatal care through exit interviews using a pre-tested questionnaire. Sampling and sample size: All the primary health care facilities providing ANC in the study LGAs will be used for the study. Since the level of attendance of ANC varies for different facilities, a proportionate method will be used for determining the sample size for each facility. The proportion will be determined by considering the average weekly number of antenatal clinic attendees to the facility relative to the total from all facilities as reported by the heads of the facilities and the relative proportion will be computed. The minimum sample size required for the study is 374. This was determined using the formula for determination of sample size for population proportion,31 an ANC coverage level of 58%,2 a confidence level of 95% and an error margin of 0.05. Z= 1.96 at 95% confidence level, (two-sided). p=ANC coverage = 58% d=margin of error tolerated = 0.05 Considering a potential refusal rate of 10%, 411 women will be sampled. Study tools: Data will be collected using a pre-tested interviewer administered questionnaire (appendix 2) which will be administered by trained field workers. The questionnaire will be pre-tested amongst pregnant women attending ANC at the Primary Health Centre Abakpa, Enugu East LGA which will not be used for the study. Data analysis: Epi Info statistical software will be used for data entry while SPSS and Stata Softwares will be used for data analysis. Data will initially aim to elicit the determinants of timing of booking of ANC. Subsequently, a continuous socio-economic status index will be generated using the principal component analysis technique in STATA software package 32 to enable disaggregation of data into socio-economic quintiles. Information that will be used include households asset holdings including television, radio, refrigerator, car, bicycle, rechargeable lamp, kerosene lamp, electric fan, air conditioner, motorcycle.33 The SES quintiles generated will be used in assessing differences in timing of booking for women of various SES groups. Logistic regression analysis will be employed for examination of the determinants of the timing of booking. Data analysis will also aim to estimate the proportion of women attending at the appropriate time for delivery of recommended interventions . Chi squared test will be used to test for significance of differences observed for categorical data while chi squared for trend test will be employed for ordered categorical data. All tests of significance will be done a p value of 0.05. Ethical considerations: Ethical clearance will be obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital Enugu, while permission to carry out the study will be obtained from the Primary Health Care Coordinator of the LGAs as well as from the heads of facilities to be used. Written consent will be obtained from patients who are interviewed after they have been informed of the objectives of the study and the voluntary nature of their participation.