On Becoming a Leader Essay

The book I chose to review is â€Å"On Becoming a Leader† by Warren Bennis. At the crux of this book is a search to understand how leaders are made. Throughout the book, the author tries to prove through polls and observations, that leaders are not born but are made through a combination of nature and nurture. Leaders who excel tend to have similar characteristics which have been developed by a series of experiences in their lives (these include embracing mistakes, taking risks and learning from adversity). Another idea discussed in the book is that of the role of education in making leaders. Bennis notes a number of qualities and abilities that are common amongst the leaders he interacts with. Some of those are relating well to others, trusting others and in turn being trustworthy, the ability to motivate people and to not give up, inspiration and competence in the job. However, he claims that a major problem in business & leadership is the â€Å"societal disease of our time† (as said by Norman Lear to him) – short term thinking. He highlights throughout the book that this form of thinking is not beneficial to organizations and that a good leader should be able to look further and not give the short term too much importance. At one point he claims that short term thinking is what kills one of the most important attributes a leader must have – innovation. The author mentions that leaders are important to an organization since they are of paramount importance to the operational performance, stability and integrity of the organization. To this end, Warren Bennis presents in a systematic manner various attributes that are required of a leader to be able to perform well. The first attribute discussed is the ability to â€Å"Master the context†. In this chapter, the author discusses the fact that a leader must be able to understand the reasons and outcomes of different situations. Only once he has managed this, will he be able to act in the best possible way for his organization. This is in line with what we have learned throughout our course regarding improving one’s self-awareness as well as the 4 perspectives of organizational effectiveness. A leader must be able to understand the context of work and respond by being aware that he needs to look after different perspectives of people and systems related to the organization. The second thing discussed is â€Å"understanding the basics†, which is quite similar to mastering the context. In this, Warren Bennis explains that leaders need to understand the underlying concepts at work before making decisions. He lists a series of attributes that can be found in most leaders including self-knowledge, passion, vision and trust. He argues that most of the leaders are not born with these attributes but life experiences and a desire to lead people enables them to develop a good understanding of this. Their drive to acquire and learn are much higher than on average and they actively pursue these drives while taking risks and placing lesser importance on their drive for safety. In this he also discusses the difference between managing people and leading them. We have gone through various topics related directly to this effect in class. According to me, one of the strongest drives an individual has is the drive to safety. An individual would be much more comfortable if they can trust their leader. The ability to understand the thought process of their leader and their belief/trust in him helps shore up their drive for safety. Across cultures, people tend to avoid uncertainty and if a leader is able to, through knowledge and an understanding, provide people with an image of consistency; it goes a long way in settling people and reducing stress. The third lesson is â€Å"knowing yourself†. Warren Bennis argues that in order to lead others, one must fully understand themselves. To be able to trust your decisions/inner feelings is extremely important for leading people and making correct choices. The author goes on to highlight 4 lessons that enable an individual to understand themselves. They are â€Å"you are your own best teacher†, â€Å"accept responsibility†, â€Å"you can learn anything you want to learn† and â€Å"true understanding comes from reflecting on your own experience†. All these lessons are at the core of organizational behavior as we have learnt. These 4 lessons can apply even to organizations as well as being useful for individuals. Self-concept is an important part of an individual’s make up and to feed that we must be able to reflect on our past experiences to learn from them. Social learning, learning through reinforcement and learning through experience are discussed as important factors of learning in organizations in our course. I believe this same applies to individuals as they are able to develop their social identity and self-concept through these lessons. Next, the author discusses â€Å"Knowing the world†. This takes a similar route to the previous subject of knowing yourself, while developing a greater scope to the understanding. Cultural understanding is an extremely important attribute in a leader. In an increasingly diverse workforce coupled with increasing globalization, a leader must have the ability to and desire to understand various cultures and behaviors. Values and behavior are very different for different cultures, and a lot of organizations have failed due to the incompatible understanding of their leaders. The HP-Compaq merger was a major case where while it was beneficial financially and operationally for the companies to merge, their leaders were not able to fully adapt the two company’s cultures properly, causing the merger to have not performed anywhere near expectations. One point that I found particularly interesting and felt that was very important was the need for a person to find a mentor who can help them enhance and shape their cultural understanding. The social learning aspect discusses similar concepts, where a person learns from someone whom they aspire to be. Being able to find a mentor who has an in depth understanding of cultures, or at least has a desire to learn cultural differences can help an individual become a more complete leader. The next thought discussed by the author is â€Å"Operating on instinct†. This discussion focuses on the fact that a good leader should be able to believe in himself and should be able to take decisions from his gut feeling. More often than not a leader and even individuals will have to make decisions without knowing all the details they would like to know. The presence of incomplete information should not make the leader less likely to make a decision. A good leader will have developed enough self-awareness and through self-evaluation and verification be able to rely on his instinct to make the right choice. This enables the leader to be able to quickly and decisively contemplate and decide issues. The next discussion is based on †Deploying yourself†. In this the author talks about the fact that a successful leader is a person who is willing to take on challenges even though he might have failed in earlier challenges. The drive to learn and acquire are, I feel, major contributors to this topic. A good leader will be able to reflect on his past experiences and learn from them; and this gives them confidence to continually drive for newer challenges and tasks. Another topic discussed is â€Å"Moving through chaos†. In this chapter, Warren Bennis describes the difference between all individuals and leaders. He points out that everyone faces problems and issues in their career, but that leaders analyze these problems and tend to learn from these. Conflict resolution can take many forms through third-party conflict resolution or negotiation. Leaders reflect on their conflicts and develop an understanding of how to overcome those challenges. â€Å"Getting people on your side† is the next topic covered. The main point of this discussion, and a very important learning for me personally, is the ability of the leader to be trustworthy. To be trusted, a leader must display consistency in his actions, congruity – meaning what they say, reliable to their followers and have a strong integrity. This once again gravitates towards the drive for safety individuals have. To be lead by someone, an individual must trust them to act on their behalf and be able to predict to a certain extent what their leaders will do for them. The concept of romanticizing leadership is down to this ability of leaders. If a leader is able to bring their employees/followers on their side, the leader’s ability to work through tasks and challenges is increased. Even mistakes made by them will be viewed in a positive light, enabling them to continue taking risks. â€Å"Organizations can help – or hinder† is the next topic that is discussed. This focuses on the fact different organizations will have different expectations from their leaders. The culture at an organization will dictate how well a leader will be able to lead the organization. A good leader will be able to understand the context of the organization and will try to devise strategies he can implement to make changes. The author also mentions that the leader should try and develop organizational characteristics that are in line with their culture. This also transposes into the last discussion of â€Å"Forging the future†. The impediments faced by leaders in an organization can be very hard, but a good leader will be able to develop his own culture and characteristics to move the organization forward. One major issue I had with this book was that while the author continually refers to short term thinking as a â€Å"societal disease†; he himself to a certain extent subscribes to that notion. His interaction with the leaders seems comparatively very short term. Throughout the statements made in the book, it felt that the interviews were more about successful past rather than forward looking. I understand that one of the major attributes is to learn from experiences but the I’d prefer if the author also focused equally on the leader’s thoughts about the future. Secondly I felt that there was quite a bit of political commentary in the book. I knew that it was going to have some after reading the reviews while selecting the book, but the political leadership aspect seemed to be a comparatively one sided. I feel that the author could have refrained from making this political and focused instead on the corporate leadership aspect.

Symbolism and Imagery in Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Flies Symbolism and Imagery Throughout everyday life people use certain symbols, or images, to relate their feelings and unconscious thoughts to something more tangible and concrete. To a young child, a special blanket might provide them with a sense of security and comfort; furthermore, said blanket may include the ability to calm the child in a state of distress. Someone who had recently lost a loved one, might use objects that contain a degree of sentimental value in order to better hold onto the memories of the lost relationship.The symbol of the maple leaf, to Canadians, represents a sense of belonging and acceptance, a sense of pride and loyalty to a society and culture unique to that of Canada. In his novel Lord of the Flies, Golding provides his audience with endless amounts of symbolism and imagery. Some of the more prominent ones demonstrated in his novel include that of the Conch; representing order and democracy, the Fire; representing hope and rescue, and las tly, but possibly most importantly, that of the Beast; representing Fear and uncertainty.As the novel progresses and evolves, so too, do the symbols of the conch, fire, and beast. Through the use of his symbols, Golding challenges his audience’s pre-societal-conceived views, provides an overall commentary about the devolvement of mankind, and emphasizes his grander ideas about humanity and the mounting savagery that exists on the island. In the earliest stages of the novel, the symbol of the conch holds an inexplicably awe-inspiring compulsion over the boys. Piggy, being the first to point it out among the creepers, is amazed by its beauty and intricacies.Described as â€Å"glistening† and â€Å"delicate† the conch demands attention, not only in description but as well as sound. â€Å"Gosh! † Ralph had whispered in a sense of wonder following the initial sounding of the booming horn. As the children gather from all corners of the island they are immediate ly drawn to Ralph; â€Å"But there was stillness about Ralph as he sat that marked him out: there was his size, his appearance, and most obscurely, yet most powerfully, there was the conch. †(Golding 19). Through electing Ralph as their chosen leader, the boys make the unconscious decision of emocracy, clinging to their traditions of society and, in turn, their civility and, what could arguably be, their inner â€Å"goodness. † As one of his first roles as Chief, Ralph establishes what is known as the â€Å"Rule of the Conch†: if one wishes to speak, they must hold the conch and cannot be interrupted, except by Ralph thus creating a divide between himself and the average individual of the island civilization- Sufficiently furthering the theory that the conch stands for democratic rule and society.After all, what is society other than rules and regulations made by those in a position of authority meant for the common man to fallow? As the concept of time, both na tural (day and night) and well as artistic (plot development), progresses the conch’s power, and, in turn, Ralphs’, start to diminish. Jacks presence and the evil he represents grow increasingly more powerful and dominant; â€Å"Jack broke in, contemptuously. ‘You’re always scared’ ‘I got the conch. ’ ‘Conch! Conch! Shouted Jack, ‘We don’t need the conch anymore. †(Golding, 37) indicates that the power of democratic society is crumbling under the weight of the growing savagery on the island. Jack begins to outwardly and publicly undermine and oppose Ralph, the rule of the conch and, more largely, society and civility itself. He speaks out of turn, accuses Ralph of being a coward and takes over leadership on multiple occasions; demonstrated in their hunt for the Beast in chapters six and seven- Jack continuously takes the lead while Ralph strays behind to ponder inwardly and with Simon. The conch’s symbol ic meaning depends on the state of the children’s minds. Once power becomes more real to Jack than rules, the conch is meaningless. † (Kinkead-Weekes and Gregor, 7) illustrates that there is no real, physical power to the conch; it is simply a shell- that power is in what society, and individuals within society, allow it to be. In chapter eleven, Castle Rock, Piggy is brutally murdered by Roger while clinging desperately to the conch in his last stand against Jack, his tribe, and, ultimately, barbarity. The rock struck Piggy a glancing blow from chin to knee; the conch exploded into a thousand white fragments and ceased to exist. † (Golding, 200) through the destruction of the conch in such a violent manner Golding extinguishes any lingering hope for Ralph and civility. The audience experiences a complete and utter sense of loss and hopelessness at this point, they mourn not only for the death of Piggy but the realization that their pre-conceived optimistic views on society have been challenged and finally shattered; both literally and metaphorically. The shell, whose sound began as a summons to society, ends as a murderous explosion on the rocks† (Kinkead-Weekes and Gregor, 4) adequately demonstrating that society, like humanity is ultimately flawed, and will collapse when confronted with an opposing force of darkness or even the slightest hint of a barbaric nature and tendency. The symbol of the fire is similar to that of the conch in the respect that it develops thoughout the course of the novel, but differs in the fact that it does not so much devolve, but rather changes shape and takes on two meanings.The fire in fact, becomes a â€Å"double-edged† sword. When one is asked; â€Å"what are the first three things you would do if stranded on an island? † Most would reply with; â€Å"find food, water, and shelter, of course. † Ralphs main priority on the island, after his adventurous exploration with Jack and Simo n, is to be rescued. In the beginning he is dead set on the notion that sooner or later a ship will come by the island and when it does, that the â€Å"grown-ups† will coincidentally pass by, he wants to be ready; â€Å"We can help them to find us. If a ship comes near the island they may not notice us.So we must make smoke on top of the mountain. We must make a fire. †(Golding, 37) indicates that the boys, and Ralph in particular, are mainly focused and devoted to the concept of rescue. All the children go charging up the mountain in eager abandonment to create a fire in the hope that it will increase their chances of salvage; suitably emphasizing the remaining touches of society present within the boys and on the island. Once the fire is made and lit, through the use of Piggy’s glasses, the boys quickly realize that if not controlled and kept in check, the fire can become rapidly dark and dangerous. On ones side the air was cool, but on the other the fire thru st out a savage arm of heat that crinkled hair on the instant† (Golding, 41) through the use of imagery Golding depicts the fire as something â€Å"savage† and threatening, effectively foreshadowing the boys’ barbaric decline. The destructiveness of the fire could also be used as a symbol to parallel the outside world’s perils of atomic warfare; â€Å"A tree exploded in the fire like a bomb. † (47) The loss and assumed death of the boy with the mulberry mark parallels the deaths of thousands of innocent bystanders at the mercy of manmade creations i. e. the fire and the atomic bomb. The chaos and destruction that the fire evolves into corresponds with that of the uncontrolled mass chaos that is warfare. The vigorous importance with which Ralph views the fire becomes the bone of contention that eventually drives him and Jack apart. While Ralph holds steadfast to the importance of the fire , Jack, and most of the other boys, abandon it and allot all t heir time and energy to hunting, regressing into their base instincts of savagery, emphasizing Golding’s theory about humanity that, if given the choice, man will always choose to resort to their barbaric nature.Ironically, by the end of the novel, Ralph is driven from hiding and hunted through the use of the fire. Jacks tribe sets an all-consuming raging fire that envelops the island and destroys all life within it; â€Å"meant as a signal fire for passing ships of planes it becomes, though misuse, a wild beast with a life of its own which invades the whole place†¦ What happens accidentally in the second chapter is done deliberately at the end by the boys turned savages. † (Delbaere-Grant, 78). Golding illustrates the boys making the conscious and all too thought out decision to resort to this act of barbarism.And only through said acts, were they able to achieve a smoke signal large enough to attract the attention of a passing ship; â€Å"We saw your smoke. Wha t have you been doing? Having a war or something? † (Golding, 223) Ralph replies with a sincere nod of the head, but the naval officer continues to treat it all as a joke. The officers’ naivety and complete lack of seriousness pertaining to the events taken place on the island is a symbolic reference to mankind as a whole and it’s propensity for violent ignorance.He could not see that the events taken place on the island were a direct reenactment of the war he himself had participated in and an example that even the most â€Å"civilized† of men are capable of the horrors of murder. No one of Golding’s symbols is more prominently demonstrated than that of the Beast, he allots multiple chapters in the novel to the concept of the Beast. In the first stages of its evolution, there is much speculation as to what the beast actually is. The children contemplate that the â€Å"Beastie† is a â€Å"snake-thing† which then evolves to the imaginar y form a ghost and then to that of a children’s-fable concept of the squid.They use their imaginations to justify and explain the fear and uncertainty that is becoming predominately present with the ever evolving concept of â€Å"the Beast. † Like children anywhere they experience nightmares and illusions about the Beast; they take the unknown component of its existence and turn into something more relatable in order to justify their fear. â€Å"The thing is- Fear can’t hurt you anymore than a dream. There aren’t any beasts to be afraid of on this island. †(88) at this point in the novel all the evidence pertaining to that of the beast is based on imagination and fear. There is no physical manifestation of the beast.Simon is the only who begins to speculate that â€Å"maybe it’s just us† In chapter six, Beast form Air, a dead parachutist falls from the sky to land on the top of the mountain where Samneric are maintaining the fire. Due to the fear already instilled in them by the groups’ speculations of the beast, they immediately become frightened and run away. This physical manifestation and the illustration that it is, indeed, human, greatly contributes to Golding’s intentions regarding the Beast; â€Å" The tangle of lines showed him the mechanics of this parody; he examined the white nasal bones, the teeth, the colors of corruption† (162).The figure that had fallen from the sky, thought to be the beast, is human and, ironically, Beast all in once- furthering Golding’s overall proposition that within all mankind, there holds the innate capacity and propensity towards evil and our own, personal, inner beast. In addition, the manner in which the parachutist is introduced, through the act of falling, is a theme that repeatedly occurs throughout the novel both literally; the planes fall from the sky after it is shot down and Piggy’s fall to his death on the rock protruding from the sea, and metaphorically; the fall of mankind.The fall of the parachutist parallels that of the fall of Lucifer which, discussed in Dantes inferno, is â€Å"neither angelic nor demonic, but profoundly a human reality. † The fall of Lucifer, which theologists describe as the fall from grace, and, in turn, a loss of civility is the result of hubris, otherwise known as excessive pride. The boys, and most in particular, Jack demonstrate pride in the way they view their new society in the beginning.The boys’ view that they are â€Å"proper English boys† and somehow superiorly unflawed, leads to the ultimate downfall of their humanity and lead them straight into the grasp of their barbaric roots. At a key point in chapter nine, A Gift for Darkness, Simon speaks to the lord of the flies, but rather his inner beast; â€Å"You knew, didn’t you? I’m apart of you! Close, close, close! †(158) confirms what he had been thinking all along, that the bea st is something that dwells within, there is no externalization of a beast, simply the evils we see within ourselves and our companions.Through Simon and his foreboding chat with the pig head, Golding demonstrates most sufficiently and prominently the nature of mankind, and externalizes the inner conflict that humanity is sure to face, pertaining to the certain devolvement they face when left to their own devices, stripped of societal law. Golding also states in contrast that the beast is both â€Å"harmless and horrible† (162) meaning that unless confronted and accepted it will take siege.The boys, in their persistent and vigorous denial of fact that â€Å"maybe it’s just us† give fuel to the ever-growing and present fire that is the beast. By fighting so hard to deny their inner beasts the boy unconsciously become beasts themselves; â€Å"Their defense against an imagined external beast allows the beast within them to gain absolute and transform them into mur ders† (Boyd, 16). As the Beast changes and evolves, gaining speed and momentum, the boys’ civil nature diminishes, allowing them to commit terrible and unimaginable horrors ill thought of by society.By regarding the Beast as God-like, offering a ritualistic sacrifice, the boys completely give in to their base instincts and tendencies for barbarism and savagery. They become awed by the power of the Beast and the possibilities it withholds. By the end of his novel, Lord of the Flies, and through his careful use of symbolism and imagery, Golding challenges his audiences view on society, thoroughly and sufficiently enforcing his comments about to the issues pertaining to the devolvement of mankind.He methodically emphasizes his theories regarding humanity and the increasing savagery that exists on the island. Golding demonstrates the conch’s transformation from order and democracy to that of chaos and dictatorship. The symbol of the fire goes from that of hope and re scue to that of danger and destruction. The Beast, on the other hand, transforms symbolically from that of fear and uncertainty to awe and reverence.Through closer observation of Golding’s uses of symbolism and imagery, no matter how diverse and complex the said symbol may be, there is always a reoccurring theme and connection present; savagery. Every path of every symbol leads back to one root, one destination; the savagery in which the boys ultimately resort to on the island, as well as the common link they all have regarding the outside â€Å"real† world. Golding’s symbols do an exceptional job in helping his audience grasp the larger picture that is his novel; mankind’s certain devolvement into savagery.Works Cited Golding, William. Lord of the Flies. London: Faber and Faber Limited, 1954. Print Boyd, S. J. â€Å"The Nature of the Beast† The Novels of William Golding. Sussex, UK. University of St Andrew Press. 1988. Delbaere-Grant, Jeanne. â₠¬Å"Rhythm and Expansion in Lord of the Flies† William Golding: Some Critical Considerations. Ed. Jack Biles & Robert Evask. University of Kentucky Press. Lexington, 1975. Print. Kinkead-Weekes, Mark. Gregor, Ian. William Golding: A Critical Study of the Novels. Faber and Faber Press, 1984. Print.

Educational Needs Assessment Essay

Continuing education plays an important role in the development of nursing professionals in any healthcare institution (Waddell, 1991). However, different institutions have different needs to address with respect to their nurses professional competencies (Gould et. al. , 2004). According to Billings & Rowles (2001), the primary question that institutions have to answer is what particular educational needs their nurses have that are most relevant to the working environment. This paper seeks to determine and prioritize the needs of the Medical-Surgical/Bone Marrow Transplant Oncology Nursing Unit of Sutter Medical Center, Sacramento through the administration of a survey questionnaire to a sample of seven (7) registered nurses and a qualitative analysis of the results. Background Sutter Medical Center is a non-profit hospital that specializes in providing acute and advanced care to patients living in Sacramento and the surrounding area. Its mission is to provide quality primary and tertiary care along with a continuum of services to meet the healthcare needs of the people throughout Northern California. During the previous year, the hospital has been able to generate 58,274 patient days spread across seven (7) hospital units with 20% of which coming from the nursing unit of interest to the study. The unit has 14 registered nurses with varying levels of proficiency and experience. Results There were seven key questions inquired from the seven registered nurses that comprise 50% of the total unit population. Based on the analysis of the results, the particular areas where that the nurses feel should be the focus of any educational program of the institution include chemotherapy patient care, professional stress management, cardiac emergency protocols, infection control, and telemetry. These were the post frequently mentioned topics throughout the questionnaire and thus appear to be the most important concerns according to the nurses surveyed. From the nurses’ responses, it is apparent that many of the nurses consider these subjects as underdeveloped in their professional experience and as such, they are very open to undergoing further education in order to be better equipped in the said areas. Some of the nurses prioritized special topics on patient care due to the large number of patients undergoing chemotherapy. Others consider learning proper stress management as a priority and claim that while they are equipped with the knowledge to care effectively for patients, they often find themselves stressed out in the process and some commented to eventually being in need of care themselves because of the demands of the work environment which they believe that can handle more effectively with appropriate training. With regard to how this new educational program should best be carried out, the nurses surveyed had varying suggestions but what was common among them is the preference of nontraditional educational programs over conventional programs such as actually going back to an institution and enrolling in a course that one has to be physically present to attend. The nurses generally preferred one of two options which are either to learn under the expertise of experienced mentors at work or to get enrolled to online learning classes at home. These preferences underscore the stress that the nurses are already experiencing at work which leaves them with no energy left to actually pursue further studies by traveling to an institution and being physically present to attend class. Hence, some of the surveyed nurses preferred to combine work and study by undergoing active learning under mentors who are experts at particular fields. The other half of the nurses surveyed preferred to learn through online courses that they can take at the comforts of their home and accomplish at their own pace. Common strengths cited by the nurses surveyed include the experience gained as nurses in the institution along with their strong proficiency with the use of current technology. The nurses justifiably claim that their exposure to various situations have honed their abilities in dealing with the same situations. However, they also cite that this is not the best way to learn as it places patients at some risk when they are handling a situation with the patient for the first time. Nurses believe that their expertise in utilizing web resources would allow them to have better access to continuing education since there are many specialized nursing courses available online. Furthermore even without enrolling in online courses, the internet provides knowledge sources that the nurses can access for free. Still, some commented on the level of reliability that these sources have. On the other hand, while the surveyed nurses claim that their experience has improved their competence, they also cite the demanding responsibilities given to them at work for their inability to pursue other educational courses in their profession. Some responded that the time that they spend between work and their families practically make up all the time that they have, and cite this fact as one of the major weaknesses in undergoing an educational program. In analyzing the sample’s assessment of hospital management’s sensitivity to their need for more specialized education, there is a general dissatisfaction perceived based primarily in the inability of management to respond to the staffing needs of the unit. The nurses stressed that while there are some educational programs being offered by the institution, these programs simply cannot be availed of by many of the nurses because of the physical and mental pressures brought about by their workload. One barrier to education that was highly prevalent with the sample is the lack of time due to the 5:1 nurse-to-patient ratios that the hospital has not been able to improve over the past years. Nurses need to prioritize their patients over other professional responsibilities and so continuing education takes a backseat. Some of the nurses also suggest that the hospital should give incentives to nurses who are willing to undergo additional training and education in order to motivate nurses to find the time for the task. Conclusion There is clearly a need to effect effective educational programs for the Medical-Surgical/Bone Marrow Transplant Oncology Nursing Unit of Sutter Medical Center. The nurses surveyed all agree that an effective program will be able to provide them with much needed professional development that they can use to improve the overall quality of service that they provide for their patients. However, the barrier of a highly toxic workplace caused by understaffing need to be addressed first before any program can be implemented that can capture the interest of the unit nurses. Thus, the top priority need of the unit involves the installation of a stress management program that would be able to help the nurses cope with their demanding responsibilities might be effective in taking out some of the pressure and allowing room for the nurses to accommodate professional training programs and academic work. A secondary need would be to address content that the nurses feel are lacking in their professional competence such as specialized subjects in chemotherapy patient care among others mentioned in the survey. It is anticipated that based on the administration’s thrust, they will be receptive to the results of this study and conduct efforts to help their nurses find the time to develop professionally. References Billings DM, Rowles CJ. (2001). â€Å"Development of continuing nursing education offerings for the World Wide Web. † J Contin Educ Nurs. 32(3):107-13. Gould D, Kelly D, White I, Chidgey J. (2004). â€Å"Training needs analysis. A literature review and reappraisal. † Int J Nurs Stud. 41(5):471-86. Click here to read Waddell DL. (1991). â€Å"The effects of continuing education on nursing practice: a meta-analysis. † J Contin Educ Nurs. (3):113-8.

Lipoprotein metabolism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Lipoprotein metabolism - Essay Example This part accounts for the largest part of the cholesterol that is quantified as HDL-C in clinical laboratory. ÃŽ ±-HDLÂ  can be fractionated further by density into HDL3 and HDL2, by apolipoprotein composition and size. About 5-15% of apo A-1 in the human plasma is linked to pre–Î ²-electrophoretic mobility particles. This is further differentiated into pre–Î ²3-LpA-I, ÃŽ ²1-LpA-I and pre–Î ²2-LpA-I particles. These particles where reverse cholesterol transport occurs. This occurs in extravascular compartments. It is not clear where the HDL particles and pre–Î ²-electrophoretic mobility originates from. There are several mechanisms that have been proposed including cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP), direct interaction between cell membrane and free apolipoproteins, hepatic lipase (HL), release during the HDL interconversion by phospholipid transfer protein (PLTP) and direct secretion from enterocytes into plasma. High-density lipoprotein is produced in the intestine and liver. It plays a key role in the reverse cholesterol transport. By accepting free cholesterol from the peripheral tissues, HDL lowers the blood cholesterol levels. HDL exchanges lipids and proteins with other lipoproteins. It donates apoproteins E and C11 to nascent VLDL’s. HDL also produces a paraoxonase enzyme. This enzyme inhibits the oxidation of low-density lipoprotein. The HDL precursor particles can also absorb free cholesterol from the cell membrane in a process mediated by apoA-1, ApoA-IV and ATP binding cassette transporter 1. ApoA-1 is the HDL’s major apolipoprotein. It activates the cholesterol acyltransferase (LCAT) (a lecithin enzyme) that esterifies the free accepted cholesterol to increase the efficiency of cholesterol packaging for transport. By acquisition of additional esters, triglycerides, and apolipoproteins, the particles of HDL3 are transformed into HDL2 particles which are relatively la rger. By estension, HDL plays a role in transferring the

Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information Essay - 3

Managing Communications, Knowledge and Information - Essay Example There is virtually no need to worry about differences in opinions since they are healthy so long as people remain calm and state their opinion in a polite manner. Respect is therefore identified as an effective communication tool which allows you to do that because it emphasizes the other person’s right to have a different viewpoint to your own. There doesn’t have to be a right and a wrong in everything. b. Focus on the other person Being in another person’s shoes ought to facilitate communication. One should be able to understand and appreciate that whatever he or she is saying is expressed with a lot of ease. It is thus advisable that one really listens to what another person is saying and gives him/her a good chance to speak. It is worth noting that much impossibility accompanies any action of trying to speak and listen at the same time. So one needs to make sure there is much time when he/she is not speaking, so that he/she can listen what the other person ha s to say. Take note of what is being said. c. Read between the lines Any assumptions have the possibility of leading to several problems, but there is a middle ground. Over and over again, people can be nervous of speaking their mind, but their worries and their feelings do not get away, they just fester and make people feel bad. One is proficient enough to employ some knowledge about the person being spoken to, to be familiar with situations of holding back on another person. He/she could then gently look into in the area or reassure them that they are safe to speak their mind. Determining where the gaps are in a situation that entirely depends more so on being sensitive to the next point. d. Body language It may be of surprise that more of the messages are conveyed through body languages than by verbal communications. One has to ensure that your body language says that you are open and willing to listen, and watch out for what the other person’s body language is saying to y ou. Reading body language is a really effective communication skill. e. Considering responses A number of conversations are thrown off course by an overemotional response. That destroys effective communication and can be evaded via taking deep breaths, stepping back slightly and thinking prior to speaking. An efficient communication proficiency that is often over-looked is the acknowledgment of gender divergences in communication. One fact is that men in most cases do communicate on factual levels, while women do it on emotional levels. It can lead to misapprehensions. Action Plan Good goals are effective in enhancing communication skills. SMART (Specific and Strategic; Measurable; Action Oriented; Rigorous, Realistic and Results Focused; Timed and Tracked) goals framework is a fundamental tool for individuals to use in creating effective goals and action plans. Specific and Strategic (S) A Goal needs to be simple and plainly written, with adequate specificities to determine whether they have been accomplished. A goal is defined as strategic only if it serves a significant purpose and when it concentrates on something which is likely to have a large impact on the overall vision. Measurable (M) Whatever is cannot be measured, cannot be managed whatsoever. What measures of quantity, quality, and/or impact can be used to determine whet

Hindu Tradition + Christian Thought + Greek Philosophy Research Paper

Hindu Tradition + Christian Thought + Greek Philosophy - Research Paper Example Under Saivism, Shiva is considered to be the supreme God, with his two forms being the lingam and the human form. Among the variants of the Human form, the most important is the dancing posture called Nataraja and also Dakshinamoorthy, the instructor of four sages. Vaishnavism on the other hand has its roots in Northeren India where the Aryans were mostly concentrated. It became renown in the 3rd century AD. Vaishnavites believe that Vishnu is the supreme power, and that god is personal and the ultimate goal of life is to be the servant of god, through faith or Bhakti. Modern Vaishnavites also believe that Vishnu takes many incarnations every eon ( Bhandarkar, 48,62, 160,165) Temples Along with the differences in sects and cultures between north and south India, considerable difference in the style of architecture has also been noticed. The most prominent parts by which they can be differentiated are their superstructures, and also the plan, vertical structure, statues and motifs. Th e major part of northern India, from the foothills of the Himalayas to the Bengal region has temples in the northern style; whereas the southern style was concentrated to the more southerly interiors had a consistent style. Mixture of the two occurs towards the central parts of India (Temple Styles, 86). The temples of India were classified as according to their typological features and were divided into Nagara, Dravida and Vesara styles, mainly signifying square, octagonal or apsidal ended shapes and these dictate the other structural parts of the temple. The Nagara style was common in Northern India, whereas the Dravida style was famous in southern India. Building of a temple in India in those times were mainly the religious beliefs of the kings who ascended the throne. So most of the temples were known according to the king under whom they were built. Various styles have been exported to places all over the world, including Texas (Temple Styles, 88). Around thirty four Hindu temp les exist in Texas, with about fifteen in Houston and Dallas. Various types of temples have emerged in the United States, such as the Sri Meenakshi Temple in Houston, which is an example of a temple dedicated to one particular deity, Goddess Meenakshi, but in keeping with the tradition of unity in diversity, with so many sects in the Hindu culture, the worship of Shiva is also done here, in the form of Lord Shri Sundareswara. Vaishnava traditions are also celebrated as the temple is also dedicated to Lord Venkateshwara, another form of Vishnu. Thus this temple does not concentrate on any one sect but provides a multiple option of pursuing ones faith (Brady, 87; Laderman and Leon, 102). Majority of these temples were built according to the Vastu Shastra of the Vedic period, with modern adaptations. These new temples have spacious halls, and used for weddings and other cultural occasions. In most temples there is one main deity, but the deities of the other sects and customs are also recognized. This is because of lack of space in foreign land, but it also helps to foster good relations between the various sects present there (Badlani, 329-330). For a decision, as to which deity to be made the main one in a temple, becomes a much debated topic. Various devotees lobby for the different sects, and sometimes a temple that is supposed to bring in peace and harmony becomes a cause of division. Reaching a consensus is very difficult due to large number

Health and Long Term Policies and Programs in the Asian Cultures Essay

Health and Long Term Policies and Programs in the Asian Cultures - Essay Example China was worried then that it may have too many children to feed but after twenty-five years, it is now worried that an aging population may have too few workers to provide care services. Health care costs for both China and Japan can be expected to rise exponentially as fewer workers are present within the system to provide for a growing population of older citizens (Kaneda, 2006). Further, the problem of AIDS will certainly be an issue perhaps to the level of some sub-Saharan African nations which have found AIDS to be a growing menace. Human trafficking and the sex trade certainly adds to the problem and while the issue may not be that critical in Japan, it certainly is on the horizon for China and some other lesser developed countries in the Asian region such as Thailand and Burma. The government policies of creating awareness, educating the masses and providing positive social support could certainly help improve the matter (ASIP, 2008). On the other hand, the problem of an aging population may be a more critical one for China due to the devastating economic consequences it can have for the country as it seeks to become the economic superpower of the world. While the government has started to allocate more funds for the care of the elderly, a lot remains to be done and as reported by Kaneda (2006), â€Å"The rate of increase in health care costs has already exceeded the growth of the national economy and individual earnings (Kaneda, 2006, Pg. 1)†. In such a situation, the coming demographic shift for China would only worsen the situation as a whole generation of Chinese reach the age of retirement. It has to be understood that the trend of an aging population is inevitable for many countries and may even become accelerated where mortality rates as well as fertility are declining. However, the governments of Asia are focusing on policies which are geared

Collective Security Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Collective Security - Essay Example To preserve peace after World War I the League of Nations was created in 1920 and the principle of collective security was adopted. . It entails that all members have to accept and obey the rules of international law which forbid any process of employing violent behavior within the group (Stromberg, 2008, p. 1). Three important agreements have been made in this context, those are, The RIO in 1947, NATO in 1949 and WARSAW in 1955, pledging each member to avoid belligerence against each other. (Ishay, 2004, p. 225) The concept of collective security seems to be of major importance in the study of international relations and worldwide politics but the application of the concept in practice has achieved little success. It now suffers a mottled status in the context of international relations. Its significant collapse as exposed by the League of Nations is the focal representation left to the world since 1930. The eternal squabbling and ineffective pretentiousness of the United Nations throughout the Cold War period additionally disgraced the idea of collective security. (Kaloudis, 1998, P.1) As stated by James E. Goodby, in terms of international relations and politics, what seem to work in the past were collective defense alliances like NATO assurance to protect each associate state from exterior hostility.

Facilitate Learning and Assessment in the Clinical Environment Essay

Facilitate Learning and Assessment in the Clinical Environment - Essay Example This paper will define the key theory usage of rubric that is the focal point in the hybrid-problem based learning system that has tremendous benefits for any academic center and depicts the ideal relationship between the tutor and the tutee. The current model in the nursing field is to design a challenging curriculum, develop courses, teaching and guiding learners, clinical trials, and finally evaluating along with documenting the outcomes. However, research indicates that few attempts have been made to analyze  changes in relation to the quality of service and patient recovery in United Kingdom. The current reflective model has several aims for the young nurses to be successful.   The current UK model aims to meet the aspirations of the modern medical healthcare services by increasing the recruitment of nurses. One of the most critical components for these young medical professional is to put them in an environment in which they can enhance their skill base and competences with the hosptial’s development progress. More focus is emphasized on training while increasing the staff morale in midst of adversities. Furthermore, the goal was to escalate the interpersonal communications of these students in order for them to communicate with their patients. It is evident that patients and the hospitals want to have this symbotic relationship in which habits of trust and confidentiality are solidified. In today’s modern world of academics, assessing students is a vital component towards evaluating the students’ performances.   The benchmark of assessment is not standard as it varies all across the academic universities in United States and plays a vital role towards the learning process of the student. While students can be assessed through participation and homework, testing is at times required to evaluate students. English is one of the most complex languages in existence as it contains many grammatical intricacies and multiple-meaning wor ds. The issue of testing is sensitive towards students. Many students feel that some methods of testing are unjust as they fail to measure the competence levels of their language proficiency that extends beyond a traditional â€Å"pen and paper based test.† A good test should take both cognitive and verbal proficiency into account in order to assess the learning process. Nursing  education has a body of knowledge on which nurse educator is based on teaching, educational strategies, and curricular designs, but most importantly the knowledge base, which is based on experience. A model that should be developed for nursing students should be simple in order to facilitate the process. It should consist of peer collaboration, discussion, research and testing along with shadowing a medical professional. These steps are vital because they solidify the foundation of core competencies along with remedying deficiencies. Education in health begins with the young generations being more involved in mentoring rather than filling in the blanks of a test. This theory is supported by many scholars as more effective as it enables students to gain a better understanding of the overall approach that occurs. The traditional methods that the most classrooms enforce consist of giving mindless repetition of written drills to teach Math, Science, and English.   Many factors affect international student’s ability to acquire these subject matters since the pressure is on them to excel through a letter grade. That poses a huge problem for

Analysis of John Updikes A&P Short Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Analysis of John Updikes A&P Short Story - Essay Example The character of Sammy in the story is replete with ironical undercurrents and a sarcastic and mocking tone towards the things. Sammy who serves as a young checkout clerk at an A&P store though being hateful of a lot of his colleagues and superiors, in a way is ironically subservient to the same sense of compliance and duty. During his cynical and intense monologue, Sammy evinces a more than average dejection for Stokesie, who is from a middle class background, married and merely aspires to crawl high up the corporate ladder or the traditionalist like Lengel, who is happy bidding his time haggling about a cabbage lot or festering behind the confines of his office door. However, the readers could discernibly identify the verbal irony inherent in Sammy’s monologue in the sense that Sammy is himself serving as an ordinary checkout clerk at the A&P story, a plight that he vehemently abhors and detests in his colleagues and superiors. Hence, in a way, one could see that there is a wide gap between what Sammy says what he actually means and what he is really doing at the store. Sammy’s monologue in the short story A&P also depicts ample inherent verbal irony in his attitude towards the young girls in the bathing suit. One could amply discern that the girls do unleash the suppressed bestiality and savageness in young Sammy’s consciousness (Greiner 93). When the leader of their group, Queenie comes to Sammy to pay for her shopping, Sammy blatantly ends up being a victim to indecorous reveries like touching Queenie’s breasts or cheeks. In fact, Sammy goes on to register that Queenie’s breasts are, â€Å"two perfect scoops of ice cream (Updike 313)†. The monologue going on in Sammy’s mind more than amply conveys to the readers that he harbors visible carnal feelings and a sense of lust towards the girls. The readers to a great extent assume that Sammy has an irreverent and indecorous attitude towards the girls in the bathing suits.

Strategic Management Practice Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words - 1

Strategic Management Practice - Essay Example The progress of civilisation has been inextricably linked with the development of housing. The aspect of housing as a business venture has been there since time immemorial. Over the years, housing has evolved from being a necessity to a luxury statement with luxurious condominiums dotting the landscape. Housing industry has evolved from being a necessity to a burgeoning profit making business. The demand for quality housing has been on the rise with the proportionate increase in the disposable income. Access to easy finance in the form of cheap credit has transformed the housing sector into a booming industry with huge potential. Twenty first century housing industry consists of big organisations executing projects worth billions of dollars across the world. The study deals with the strategic issues faced by Wulvern Housing. The recent financial crisis which began with the subprime crisis in US has engulfed the housing and real estate sector across the world. A research conducted by Knight Frank and Delloite shows a severe mismatch in the demand and supply dynamics of the real estate sector. The study shows that the supply of housing has hit rock bottom figures. The dip in supply could be attributed to the mortgage crisis and the subsequent credit crunch and recession that have significantly reduced the demand for new housing space. The financial turmoil has resulted in job losses among individuals which have in turn reduced the availability of finance for purchasing new homes. The scenario is the same for both US as well as the European markets (Delloite, 2010, p.4-5). The financial crisis has impacted almost all the sectors in UK’s economy. This crisis has also led to credit crunch which has severely affected the growth of an organization. Unavailability of credit has also affected the purchasi ng powers of the customers which has led to mismatch in demand and supply aspects. Such conditions have severely eroded the

Why hunting is possitive Essay Example for Free

Why hunting is possitive Essay The human being has been hunting ever since time began. It was the only way of life back then. A hunter was either successful and survived or not successful and died. Hunting is still a way of survival for some people. There are many anti-hunting activists out there trying to bring down hunting. They say that it is cruel and mean to kill a defenseless animal. What they don’t understand is that if we didn’t hunt, the world would be completely different. Hunting has many positive effects on not only the environment but also the economy and people’s life. When people think of the most dangerous animal in North America they think of bears and sharks. There have only been 28 deadly bear attacks and 10 deadly shark attacks in the past 10 years (Rice, 2011). The most dangerous animal may well be the deer. There are nearly 32 million deer alive today (25 Reasons, 2013). With roads and highways going through areas that are heavily populated by deer, more than 1 million car accidents are caused by dear per year. Due to those 1 million car accidents, there is $1 billion in vehicle damage, 200 deaths and 10,000 personal injures per year (Rice, 2011). Hunting lowers the risk of a driver hitting a deer. For every deer hit by a car, hunters kill 6 (25 Reasons, 2013). When a hunter kills a deer they take away the chance of that deer getting hit by a car. If we didn’t hunt, those numbers of vehicle accidents caused by deer would go up dramatically because the population would be higher. Hunting is also a method of conservation as it keeps the population of animals down, keeping them compatible with human activity. Hunters not only help wildlife conservation by keeping the population down but also by purchasing the weapons and ammunition. In 1937 hunters requested an 11% tax on weapons and ammunition by introducing the Pittman-Robertson Act. The tax from this Act generates $371 million dollars a year (25 Reasons, 2013). In just state licenses and fees alone, hunters generate $769 million a year for conservation programs (25 Reasons, 2013). Altogether including donations hunters pay more than $1. 6 billion dollars for conservation (25 Reasons, 2013). The money goes to conservationist across the country (Hunting and Wildlife, 2012). The land area and the number of licenses in that area is what decide where the money gets  distributed (Hunting and Wildlife, 2012). The money supports conservation efforts by the department of natural resources such as conducting research, wildlife reintroductions, and improving wildlife habitat. Hunting conservation not only keeps the population of animals down, but it can also help bring the numbers of endangered animals up. Hunting regulations and conservation efforts have brought many species’ populations from few numbers to many. In 1907 only 41,000 elk remained in North America, now there are more than 1 million. In 1900 there were only 500,000 whitetail deer and  only 100,000 wild turkeys, now there are more than 32 million whitetail and 7 million wild turkeys (25 Reasons, 2013). Also many non-hunted animals benefit off the conservation efforts that hunters provide (25 Reasons, 2013). These animals were able to make a rebound in their numbers by the conservation efforts. These efforts include the conservationist protecting the land and making untouchable areas. President Theodor Roosevelt was an avid hunter and conservationist. He created 230 million acres of protected forest and wetlands for wildlife (25 Reasons, 2013). Hunting has a major impact on the economy. There are a total of 15. 5 million hunters over the age of six in the United States of America (Fueling, 2013). When a person goes hunting they have to have gear to hunt. Hunters also sometimes travel to go hunt, whether it is in a different state or just down the road. The purchase of the gear and travel has an impact on the American economy. In 2011 American hunters spent $38. 3 billion dollars in hunting equipment and travel expenses. That is more than the revenue of Comcast for that same year (Fueling, 2013). Travelers spent $10. 4 billion on trip related expenses in 2011 (Fueling, 2013). The total amount of money spent on gear in 2011 was $27. 9 billion (Fueling, 2013). Duck and geese hunters use decoys and calls when they hunt. They spent $302 million on the decoys and calls in 2011 (Fueling, 2013). A hunter cannot 1 / 2 hunt without a weapon whether it is archery or a firearm. In 2011 hunters spent a total of $6 billion on guns, ammunition, and archery equipment (Fueling, 2013). Hunters are improving the American economy in these hard economic times. In 2011 hunters in America have spent 30% more on hunting than five years ago (Fueling, 2013). Another aspect of the American economy is providing  people with jobs. Hunters supply the people of America with over 680,000 jobs (25 Reasons, 2013). Those 680,000 people are able to have an income and support their family because of hunters. Hunting is a tradition passed down from generation to generation. People have been hunting since the beginning of time. The ways of hunting have changed the way life is today. Back in the time of the Native Americans they didn’t have a grocery store that they could go and get food at. The men were hunters and warriors and the women would plant gardens and take care of the village. They  depended on the men to go and kill an animal that would feed their family and tribe. These tactics have been passed down from generation to generation and has evolved immensely. Not only has the ways of hunting evolved, but also the tools used to hunt have evolved. People today still depend on hunting as a primary source of meat for their families. Hunting puts food on the table for survival. A buck that is 180 pounds that is killed will yield 72 pounds of meat (How Much, 2005). In 2012, 31,140 bucks were harvested in Michigan (Frawley, 2012). If all of those bucks weighed 180  pounds then 2,242,080 pounds of venison to feed families would have been harvested. There were a total of 418,012 harvested in Michigan in 2012 (Frawley, 2012). 418,012 deer fed families and was food on their tables. Hunting can teach many responsibilities and life lessons. The first lesson hunting can teach is how to handle a powerful weapon. In order to use a weapon to hunt, a hunter has to take a hunters safety class to learn how to use the weapon and how dangerous it is. A weapon is such a simple machine but powerful enough to take a life. A person has to respect and learn how to handle the  weapon with care and responsibility. Learning how to use the weapon can provide a person with a way to defend them if they were in harm’s way. When a person is out hunting they get to respect and observe the beauty of nature. They can view how delicate it can be but also how much strength it can hold. Hunting teaches survival skills such as how to clean the animal, how to be self-sufficient by providing yourself with a meal and pulling the trigger on an animal. Overall hunting is positive in many ways. It has been tradition since the beginning of time. There are many ways that hunting is improving and evolving. There are many more changes that can happen to make it more successful. It has many contributions to an individual, a creature, and a country. References Frawley, B. (June, 2012). Michigan deer harvest survey report 2012 seasons. Michigan Department of Natural Resources, http://www. michigan. gov/documents/dnr/ MI_Deer_Harvest_Survey_Report_2012_426213_7. pdfFueling the American economy. (2013), America’s sporting heritage, http://www. sportsmenslink. org/uploads/page/Economic%20Impact%20Report%20E-version. pdfHow much will your deer yield, (July 10, 2005). Butcher amp; Deer, http://www. butcher- packer. com/index. php?main_page=document_general_infoamp;products_id=331Hunting and wildlife conservation go hand in hand. (December 27, 2012), Department of Natural Resources, http://www. michigan. gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10370_12141-294259,00. htmlRice, D. (2011, November 1). Deer-car collisions increase this time of year. USA TODAY. http://usatoday30. usatoday. com/news/nation/story/2011-10-31/deer-car-accidents- rise/51019604/125 reasons why hunting is conservation. (2013), Rocky mountain elk foundation, htt p://www. rmef. org/Conservation/HuntingIsConservation/25ReasonsWhyHuntingIsConservation. aspx POWERED BY TCPDF (WWW. TCPDF. ORG).

Analysis of Air France KLM

Analysis of Air France KLM Air France-KLM is an international airline company and a member of the Skyteam airline partnership. The Group was created on May 5, 2004, following Air Frances combination with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (KLM), thereby forming the worlds largest airline group by turnover and second largest worldwide cargo operator in terms of revenue-tonne kilometers. The Group organizes its networks around two major hubs: Paris-CDG and Amsterdam-Schiphol. The Companys three main businesses are passenger transportation, cargo operations and industrial maintenance. The Group counts more than 100,000 employees throughout the world. Passenger transport is the Groups main business, with 74.8 million passengers carried (2007-08 financial year), a fleet in operation of 607 aircraft on 31 March 2008 and 258 destinations worldwide. The majority of the employees are based in France and the Netherlands. Both Air France and KLM continue to operate flights under their distinct brand names as subsidiaries of Air Fr ance-KLM. Contents CHAPTER 1 Introduction AIR FRANCE KLM AIR FRANCE KLM is the combination of two big airlines such as Air France and KLM. Since their merger in 2004, KLM works closely with Air France within the AIR FRANCE KLM holding company. In terms of financial turnover, AIR FRANCE KLM is the worlds largest airline partnership; it also transports the most passengers and is the worlds second-largest cargo transporter. Air France and KLM carry  more than 71 million passengers per year. They operate more than  594 aircraft enabling them to fly to  236 destinations worldwide with 2,500 daily flights. The two airlines world networks can be combined, forming a vast network organized around the two major hubs of Amsterdam-Schiphol and Paris-CDG. The head offices are located at Amstelveen and Paris. Alitalia In January 2009 AIR FRANCE KLM and Alitalia reached an agreement to strengthen their partnership cemented by AIR FRANCE KLM taking a minority stake in Alitalia. This agreement will give AIR FRANCE KLM greater access to the Italian market. SkyTeam Alliance Air France and KLM are members of the SkyTeam alliance. SkyTeam is a global airline alliance which includes Aeroflot, Aeromà ©xico, AirEuropa, Air France, Alitalia, China Southern Airlines,  CSA Czech Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Kenya Airways, KLM, Korean Air (including Northwest Airlines), Tarom and Vietnam Airlines. Through one of the worlds most extensive hub networks, SkyTeam offers its  384 million annual passengers a worldwide system of more than 13,000 daily flights to all major destinations. Income Over the fiscal year 2009-2010 the turnover of Air France-KLM was 20.9 billion euros. Together, the two airlines have over 107.000 employees. For more information on AIRFRANCE KLM Finance, please  go to www.airfranceklm-finance.com. Shares The Air France-KLM shares are listed in Amsterdam, Paris and New York. Aim Air France-KLM comprises a holding company which controls two airlines, Air France and KLM, each of which retains its own separate identity and brands. The group is the worlds largest air transport group in terms of revenue, second largest in terms of air traffic (in passenger-km) and cargo (ton freight-km), and third largest in terms of maintenance revenue. Both airlines run their own operations from their respective hubs Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Amsterdam-Schiphol. Passengers Passenger transport is the largest of the groups three core businesses, generating around 80% of its revenues (as of 31 March 2008), with 74.8 million passengers carried. Cargo Cargo was the first fully-integrated commercial activity at Air France-KLM in 2005. Client companies now have a single point of entry, and a full, simplified offering with flights departing from both hubs and benefiting from both networks. Air France-KLM Cargo ranks first worldwide among air freight carriers (excluding integrators). Maintenance The combination of Air France Industries and KLM Engineering Maintenance allows the group to offer a comprehensive range of aircraft maintenance and overhaul services with complementary areas of specialization. Maintaining the two fleets accounts for two-thirds of the groups maintenance operations, further supplemented by maintenance repair and overall (MRO) operations for 150 third-party airlines. Company Background Air France According to (KLM, 2010), the company was set up on 7 October 1933. Its history has been marked by several major milestones, including the holding acquired in the capital of UTA in January 1990 and the merger with Air Inter in 1997. In June 2000, Air France and Delta Air Lines joined forces with Aeromà ©xico and Korean Air to launch the Sky Team alliance. Air Frances main hub at Paris-Charles de Gaulle is Europes number one in terms of connecting opportunities. KLM As cited in (KLM, 2010), KLM was set up on 7 October 1919 and is the oldest airline still operating under its original name. Its recent history has been characterized by the creation of a joint venture with Northwest Airlines (NWA) in 1989 and its acquisition of the holding of Kenya Airways in 1996. KLM has Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as its home base. Since May 2004, Air France and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines have become the largest European airline group: one group, two airlines, and three businesses. Each airline has retained its individual identity, trade name and brand SWOT Analysis Mullins (2007) explained that, in order to evaluate the nature of the business environment and its strategic capability an organization may undertake a SWOT analysis focuses on Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats facing the organization. STRENGTHS Strengths are those positive aspects or distinctive attributes or competencies which provide a significant market advantage or upon which the organization can build. Against a backdrop of increased Liberalization which serves to intensify competition, the profitable growth strategy plays to the groups strengths, the following are the air France KLM group strengths. A modern fleet the groups chief asset Guaranteeing energy and economic efficiency and greater safety levels, the groups aircraft fleet is its chief asset when it comes to meeting the challenges of sustainable development. The dual Roissy Schiphol hub and a balanced network The Air France and KLM route networks complement each other extremely well. The dual hub concept is central to group strategy and is designed to make the most of this. The benefit of dual brand strategy Air France and KLM took an original approach to the merger, choosing to retain the two brands while developing a unified strategy. Air France and KLM each enjoy strong brand identities and are extremely complementary. Enhanced competitiveness thanks to cost control To maintain its competitiveness, the group launched Challenge 10,designed to save 1.4 billion euros by 2009-10, through a 3% cut in unit costs. The plan is four-pronged: Process optimization and productivity gains; Fleet modernization, which will generate fuel and maintenance cost savings; Purchasing, and optimizing group synergies; External distribution costs. The development of high growth areas The groups ambition is to seize growth opportunities in countries driving global economic growth, mainly Brazil, Russia, India and China. In the years ahead, the Air France-KLM group plans to grow by 4.7% per year in terms of available seat-km on its long-haul network. WEAKNESSES Weaknesses are those negative aspects or deficiencies in the present competencies or resources of the organization, or its image or reputation, which limit its effectiveness and needed to be corrected to minimize their effect. International economic instability Faced with soaring oil prices, international economic instability, and signs of waning demand, air transport has entered a period of great uncertainty. Our Group can count on its strategic assets, the quality of its fuel hedging and its resolute policy of cost control to meet this challenging period of turbulence and low visibility OPPORTUNITIES Opportunities are favorable conditions and usually arise from the nature of changes in the external environment. The organization needs to be sensitive to the problems of business strategy and responsive to changes. Sustained demands In an increasingly global society, the demand for mobility is also increasing. Air transport is a key factor in a countrys economy. Over the last 20 years, air transport has grown twice as quickly as gross domestic product (GDP). In 2008, the rapid development of emerging countries is stimulating growth in Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. This will compensate for the slowdown in the US economy. As for the future, IATA forecasts an increase in global capacity of around 5% per year by 2011. A key contribution to the economy Air transport carries over 2 billion passengers annually. Tons of cargo shipped by air each year represent 35% of the total value of export trade in manufactured goods. By connecting people, businesses and goods around the world, air transport makes an essential contribution to global economic activity. Both directly and as a promoter of growth in other industries. THREATS Threats are the converse of opportunities and refer to unfavorable situations that arise from external developments likely to endanger the operations and effectiveness of the organization. Air France KLM like any other organizations is faced with a number of threats, these includes Increased pressure Growth in European low-cost carriers has been strong for some years and Middle Eastern carriers are planning considerable expansion: Gulf carriers plan 20% seat growth per year for the next three years. This represents stiff competition for European airlines on traffic between Europe and Asia or Australia. Development limited by infrastructures Europe is experiencing air traffic congestion, leading to significant delays, increased costs and CO2 emissions. This is partly a result of the fragmentation of airspace and of the air traffic control process. There is considerable room for improvement. For 10 million flights a year, it is estimated that the actual route flown is 5% longer than ideal. For some routes, such as Amsterdam-Zà ¼rich, it is even 20%. The annual cost of fragmented European skies is estimated at 3.4 billion euros. A sector subject to heavier taxation Air transport is subject to strict regulation, mainly regarding security, safety and infrastructure. The sector is also subject to high charges, among them airport or navigation charges, plus dedicated fees to finance security. Moreover, air transport is the only means of transport to finance soundproofing measures, as it does in numerous European countries. Climate change awareness General awareness of the reality of climate change continued to increase in 2007. This was coupled with local environmental constraints that have always affected air transport activities. Air transport accounts for between 2 and 3% of all man-made CO2 emissions. In Europe, its relative contribution will increase due to growth in traffic and the expected reduction of emissions in other industries. In the past 40 years, the sector has made considerable progress, reducing CO2 emissions per passenger by more than 70%. Summary In spite of its merger Air France KLM is still operating under its identity and brand name with their home bases located at Amsterdam airport Schiphol for KLM and Paris-Charles de Gaulle for Air France. The main core duties of the airline are to transport passengers, cargo and engineering and maintenance. As any other organization Air France KLM has the opportunities to grow much bigger and become the first largest airline company in the world. One group, two airlines, three businesses. CHAPTER 2 Organisational structure The pattern of relationship between various positions in the organization and among members of the organization is referred as structure. Organization is essentially a group of people with a common objective or goal to archive. The structure can either be formal i.e. documented or informal i.e. unofficial. Mullins (2007) defined, Organization Structure as the division of work among members of the organization, and the co ordination of their activities so they are directed towards the goals and objectives of the organization. It is the relationships among positions in the organization and among members of the organization. It makes possible the application of process of management and creates a framework of order and command through which the activities of the organization can be planned, organized, directed, and controlled. It defines tasks and responsibilities, work role and relationships, and channels of communication. Essentially there are various types of organizational structures depending on the nature of organization, such as centralized, complex, stratified and formalized structures. An effective structure is the one that coordinates various parts of the organization and different work areas. Meanwhile the structure of the organization can either be tall i.e. with a long hierarchical chain of command where the freedom and responsibility of the subordinates is restricted or flat i.e. with a short chain of command, there is more effective between management and workers but employees may have more than one manager. However both of two structures above are highly affected by the number of employees who reports direct to a certain manager that is Span of Control. Hellriegel et al (1998) explained that span of control refers to the number of employees reporting directly to one manager. When the span of control is broad, relatively few levels exists between the top and bottom of the organization. Co nversely when the span of control is narrow, more levels are required for the same number of employees. Although there is no correct number of subordinates that a manager can supervise effectively, the competencies of both the manager and employees, the similarity of tasks being supervised and the extent of rules and operating standards all influence a managers span of control. Consider the Air France and KLM corporate and social responsibility (SCR) organization structure CHAPTER 3 Organisational culture According to Hellriegel et al (1998), the organization itself has an invisible quality a certain style, a character, a way of doing things that may be more powerful than the dictates of any one person or any formal system. To understand the soul of the organization requires that we travel below the charts, rule books, machines, and buildings into the underground world of corporate cultures. Indeed there are several ways in which organizational cultures are formed, maintained and changed. Meanwhile there is a very possible relationship between organizational culture and performance, the relationship between organizational culture and ethical behavior, the challenge of managing a culturally diverse work force and finally how organizations socialize individuals to their particular cultures. There are several types of organization cultures, these includes labels of baseball team, club, academy and fortress. Organizational culture represents a complex pattern of beliefs, expectations, id eas, values, attitudes and behaviors shared by the members of an organization. More specifically, organizational culture includes routine behaviors, norms, and dominant values held by organization. CHAPTER 4 -Leadership and management As Hellriegel et al (1998), leadership is the process whereby a person influences others to achieve a goal, i.e. is a process of creating a vision for others and having the power to translate the vision into reality. The ways in which leaders attempt to influence others depend in part of the power available to them and in part on their competencies. Leaders draw on five sources of power to influence the actions of others: legitimate, reward, coercive, referent and expert. Vision, empowerment, meaning through communication and self understanding are the competencies that help leaders become more effective. CHAPTER 5 Team working For example, after KLM and Air France merged, management decided to create teams of people from both companies to exchange information about particular topics. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ ¢The most valuable part is the intangible part, teaming up the guy from IT with the CRM guy from marketing, with the network planning guy, who normally dont speak together, explained Groeneveld. CHAPTER 6 Resourcing Air France-KLM rates as the sector leader on human resources issues and actively addresses all of the challenges relevant to its business. The Groups reporting on social dialogue and the extent of collective bargaining illustrate a culture of interaction with trade unions on both working and employment conditions, all embedded in the Ethics and Social Rights Charter, signed with all of its European trade unions, and by a wide range of collective bargaining agreements. The group has also allocated significant means to limit the impacts of restructuring. In terms of career management, AF-KLM has put increased emphasis on developing careers for older employees. Extensive means are put in place to deal with health and safety issues, although key performance indicators are not disclosed on a group-wide basis, but separately for AF and KLM. AF-KLM is one of the few companies who show transparency on how to deal with atypical working hours. Overall, AF-KLMs performance on human resources is sues remains stable (far above average) compared to the last rating. Against the backdrop of the recent combination, tough competition and tight margins, the main labour relations issues for the group are to develop employability and staff mobility, primarily through training and proactive social dialogue. Other major issues for the group involve promoting non discrimination, diversity, and equal opportunities, and safeguarding health and safety in the workplace. CHAPTER 7 Communication skills Cook et al (1997) describes that, communication begins when one person sends a message to another with the intent of evoking a response. The effective communication occurs when the receiver interprets the message exactly as the sender intended. Effective communication is essential for the functioning of any organization. Managers need to transmit orders, and polices, build cooperation and team spirit, and identify problems and their solutions. CHAPTER 8 Performance and Motivation Armstrong M (2006) defined, a motive is a reason for doing something. Motivation is concerned with the factors that influence people to behave in certain ways. All organizations are concerned with what should be done to achieve sustained high levels of performance through people. Giving close attention to the individuals can best be motivated through such means as incentives, rewards, leadership and importantly, the work they do and the organization context within which they carry out that work. Essentially motivation can take place in two ways; such as people can motivate themselves (intrinsic motivation) by seeking, finding and carrying out work that satisfies their needs and secondly people can be motivated by management (extrinsic motivation) through such methods as pay, praise, promotion and punishments such as disciplinary action CHAPTER 9 Management systems Earlier this year, Air France-KLM introduced a new combined executive management structure on a functional basis, replacing the separate management structures in Air France and KLM. In place of the Strategic Management Committee, which had supervised the development of Air France and KLM over 2004.2007, the business is being managed from 2007 through an Executive Committee whose members has a group level responsibility and can come from either Air France or KLM while retaining their responsibilities at a company level. The historic commitments of both companies, joint ambition and specific action plans CHAPTER 10 Management of change Hellriegel et al (1998) explained, many sectors of the economy, organizations must have the capacity to adapt quickly and effectively in order to survive. To a certain extent all organizations exist in a changing environment and are themselves constantly changing. Increasingly organizations that emphasize bureaucratic or mechanistic system are ineffective. Organizations with rigid hierarchies, high degrees of functional specialization, narrow and limited job descriptions, inflexible rules and procedures, and impersonal management cant respond adequately to demands for change. Organizations need designs that are flexible and adaptive. They also need systems that both require and allow greater commitment and use of talent on the part of employees and managers. Organisational change can be difficult and costly. Despite the challenges, many organizations successfully make needed changes. Adaptive, flexible organizations have a competitive advantage over rigid ones. Thus managing change has become a central focus of effective organization worldwide. There are so many pressures for change, these includes global market, the spread of information technology and computer networks and changes in the nature of the workforce employed by organizations.

Women Entrepreneurs: Challenges and Opportunities

Women Entrepreneurs: Challenges and Opportunities Introduction Increasingly forward thinking organizations, such as ALEAP are recognizing the value and impact that women leaders contribute to families, business and communities. Most of the organizations are formalizing programs and strategies to address the unique challenges that women face in the work place as core components of both retention dn acquisition strategies. Several studies have shown that women bring a special brand of leadership for organizations that translate into superior long term sustainability an financial performance (www.siliconindia.com). The current study is about the entrepreneur competencies in Indian women and its purpose to analyze the status of women entrepreneurs in business with reference to India. The study first draws identities, profiles and addresses operational problems faced by women entrepreneurs in business, draws their inclination for future plans for expansion and growth and for the furtherance of research on women entrepreneurs in India. Women owners of small business are known to be better informed about issues relating to starting their own business compared to their male counterparts. Women spend more time conducting market research and have historically spent more time accessing finance because of gender bias within the lending industry. Due to their previous employment history many women have better administrative skills over men which should translate to women having better basic business management knowledge and a higher level of basic business competencies. So This Research would like to conduct a survey on sample of 40 business owners from (ALEAP) Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad and Vijayawada. The present study A Research on competencies of Women Entrepreneurs main Objective is to reveal the exploratory information of women Entrepreneurs their competencies which impacted to become a Entrepreneur, number of issues, when first started their business, while facing competition, in decision-making and their business active operations etc and comparing these competencies between women entrepreneurs of two areas (Hyderabad and Vijayawada). Entrepreneurs have become the key figure of the economies around the globe as they are essential for the development and foundation of companies and process of job creation as the result. Entrepreneur is the innovator who brings and implements changes within markets through carrying out new combinations of several forms. This can be an introduction to a new product or quality, an introduction to new production technique, opening of a new market, and new source of supply of new parts or material or carrying out a new organization of an industry (Schummpter, 1935 cited in Anderson, 2008). The entrepreneur model of Schummpter (1935) has been increasingly investigated as being the instigator of innovation. In fact, other types of entrepreneur can be mentioned, which are influenced by cultural peculiarities. Many researchers, such as Atamer and Torres wondered whether the mentioned model of Schummpter should be applied to all the countries of the world. Although, entrepreneurship is a wor ld phenomenon, it is not possible to describe as homogeneous (Atamer and Torres, 2007 cited in Anderson, 2008). According to Casson, M. (1982), most of the studies on entrepreneur are relying on a stereotype, which is the swashbuckling adventure of business. The analysis of Casson (1982) tended to explain that the self made entrepreneurs were the figures from the past and now it is possible to define an entrepreneur as a person, specialized in decisions about the scarce resource coordination. Entrepreneur Development Entrepreneurship has been considered to be specific for the great individuals, both in academic view and conventional wisdom. Several articles and books have been written to highlight the virtues of entrepreneurship. However, the story of entrepreneur as a great person missed the fundamental mechanism of economic growth and entrepreneurship. In fact, entrepreneurship is not just an economic process; rather it extends beyond the new business formation process. Entrepreneurship, therefore, is a social process which arises from a vast set of cultural and social conditions (Florida, 2002). In United States, the impulse of entrepreneurship has become part of the social ethos. Its creating forces have been building at least for five decades and longer perhaps. However, its rise at social level or at way of life has recently become apparent. Entrepreneurship is the part of a vast social movement, a change that residents of the country want out of social life. There is increase in interest f or becoming entrepreneur. For instance, 60% of the young adults and teenagers want to become entrepreneurs, according to a survey (Florida, 2002). The development of entrepreneurship is not obvious in US only; the need for employment development around the globe has given rise to entrepreneurship in other countries as well. Reduction in youth unemployment is the big challenge that most of the governments have to face in coming decades. According to a recent study by International Labour Office (ILO), youth is more likely to be unemployed than adults. This likelihood is three and half time more than that of adults. Approximately 660 million young people, in 2015, will be looking for work or working. This challenge has various dimensions and therefore requires a specific response. It is needed to look the entrepreneurship with the perspective of youth. Within the framework of basic efforts and strategies of boosting employment for young people, a valuable addition to job creation is the entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship is an innovative approach for improvement of livelihood and job creation among young people. Although, entrepr eneurship has derived job creation and economic development, there has been a very little effort to look at it with the perspective of young people. Current theory of entrepreneurship that explains venture creation is organized generally around three core constructs: (a) market, (b) money and (c) management. These constructs are refereed as 3Ms. An entrepreneur is required to have market access, money and management if he plans to launch a venture. These constructs are having been described as fundamental building blocks for business viability and they derive from the mainstream economy and management driven entrepreneurship view (Bates et al. cited in Brush, Bruinn, Welter, 2009). These building blocks are basic for the development of any business. Women Entrepreneur Development Businesses owned by women are one of the fastest developing entrepreneurial populations of the world. They are making a significant contribution to employment, innovation and wealth creation in almost all economies (Brush et al., 2006). However, the growth in the importance of women entrepreneurship has not increased the number of studies on the subject. There is a gender gap in academic research, compared to a significant business ownership proportion (Brush, Bruinn, Welter, 2009). Women owners of small business are known to be better informed about issues relating to starting their own business compared to their male counterparts. Women spend more time conducting market research and have historically spent more time accessing finance because of gender bias within the lending industry. Due to their previous employment history many women have better administrative skills over men which should translate to women having better basic business management knowledge and a higher level of basic business competencies. So This Research would like to conduct a survey on sample of 40 business owners from (ALEAP) Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad and Vijayawada. The present study A Research on competencies of Women Entrepreneurs main Objective is to reveal the exploratory information of women Entrepreneurs their competencies which impacted to become a Entrepreneur, number of issues, when first started their business, while facing competition, in decision-making and their business active operations etc and comparing these competencies between women entrepreneurs of two areas (Hyderabad and Vijayawada). Small and Medium Enterprises in India India has a vibrant mall and micro enterprise sector which is playing a very important role to sustain the economic growth, with contribution of at least 39% to the manufacturing output and 39% to the exports in 2004-5. After agriculture, it is the largest employer of human jobs that provides employment to more than 29.5 million people, in the rural and urban areas of India. Their importance in terms of developing new entrepreneurship is recognized well. It is because most of the entrepreneurs are starting their business form a small unit that provides them an opportunity of harnessing their talents and skills, in order to innovate, experiment and transform their ideas into goods and services and nurture it into a greater unit (www.business.gov.in). Over the years, Indian small scale sector has progressed from producing only simple consumer goods to the production of many precise and sophisticated products such as microwave components; electronics control systems and electro medical equipments etc. The economic liberalization and process along with market reforms have exposed further the enterprise for increasing global and domestic level of completion. The challenges generated for them have lead towards a novel approach of cluster development of the sector. Private and public sector institutions, as the result have increasingly undertaken initiatives for cluster development (www.business.gov.in). Clusters are defined as the geographical and sectoral concerns of enterprises, particularly small and medium which face common opportunities and threats that give rise o external economies favor the specialized administrative, technical and financial services, create a conducive development ground of inter-firm cooperation for the promotion of local production, collective learning and innovation. Networking and clustering has helped the small and medium entrepreneurs in boosting the competitiveness of their business. There are over 400 SME clusters and about 2000 artisan clusters in India. According to some estimates, these clusters are contributing 60% of the manufactured exports from India. Almost all the gems and jewelry exports are from Surat and Mumbai clusters. Some of Indian small scale enterprises clusters are so big that they export 90% of Indias total production output of selected products. For instance, the clusters of Agra, Chennai and Kolkata are very famous for leather and products of leather (www.business.gov.in). Background to the study This research intended to provide analysis of the status of women entrepreneurs in Business with reference to India. It first draws the profiles, identifies and addresses operational problems faced by women entrepreneurs in business, draws their inclination for future plans for growth and Expansion and also for the furtherance of research on women entrepreneurs in India. Purpose of the study The Scope of this research will focus on the competencies of these women. The listed competencies were researched by the professors of the IGNOU University, India and were stated as the key competencies to be considered. These competencies are as listed below. And the questionnaire is a standard questionnaire collected from the IGNOU material for MBA students MS-93 Management of New and small Entrepreneurs Entrepreneur and Entrepreneurship block Entrepreneurs in the following areas: Initiative Acts on opportunities persistence information seeking concern for High Quality of work commitment to work contract Efficiency Orientation Systematic planning Problem solving Self-confident Assertiveness Persuasion Use of influence strategies Overview of the Dissertation Aims and Objectives of the Study a) To draw the Entrepreneurial Competencies profile of women entrepreneurs at ALEAP located in Hyderabad and Vijayawada. b) To know the level of competencies existing with women entrepreneurs in business. c) To analyze the key challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in business. d) To analyze the future plans for expansion and growth of women entrepreneurs in business. e) To compare the level of competencies of women entrepreneurs in ALEAP located at Hyderabad (Urban /Developed Area) and Vijayawada (Rural / Undeveloped Area). Significance of the Study This research is intended to assess multi-dimensional issues and challenges related to women entrepreneurs. Analysis of various variables like age, marital status, education of self, parents and spouse, number of children, self-esteem of women entrepreneurs have been assessed to understand the self concept of women entrepreneurs, the degree of commitment of women entrepreneurs towards their business (entrepreneurial intensity), entrepreneurial challenges in running the business and future plans of women entrepreneurs. Affinity to Research Area The study is chosen majorly because; I would like to start up my own small scale enterprise in India under ALEAP, utilizing my proven abilities developed through my education and experience. And to start a better enterprise with a professional atmosphere, where I can contribute to my maximum ability to uphold the goals as a Lady Entrepreneur and improve my entrepreneurial skills so as to become a successful Small Scale Women Entrepreneur. Literature Review Entrepreneurship Although the entrepreneurship term has been used over 2 hundred years in a business context, there has been a considerable disagreement on its meanings. There have been hundreds of perspectives; the themes which are most prevalent are discussed by Morris, Lewis, Sexton, (1994). The earlier definitions of entrepreneurship that were principally formulated by economists, have been observed for tending to emphasize assumptions of arbitrage, assumption of risk, coordination of factors of production and supply of financial capital. As the entrepreneur was involved clearly in business initiation, the earlier perspectives saw entrepreneurship as companies ongoing function and profit to be a return as the result of facing uncertainty and coordinating resources. Researchers have failed to differentiate the entrepreneurship and management, historically. Rhey failed to distinguish between large and small firms. Such difference had not been established until the 1930s. Even than the there had been tendency to associate it with management and small business start up. As such, an entrepreneur is considered to be a person who assumes psychological, social and financial risks which are crucial for starting and running a small scale business (Hisrich and Peters, 19992 cited in Morris, Lewis, Sexton, 1994). Entrepreneurial competencies are related to managerial competencies, articulated in the works of Boyatzis (1982). The competency approach has become an increasingly popular means of studying entrepreneurial characteristics (For example, Baum, 1994; Bird, 1995; Baron and Markman, 2003; Chandler and Jansen, 1992; Lau, Chan and Man, 1999; Martin and Staines, 1994; McGregor et al, 2000; Schmitt-Rodermund, 2004). According to Bird (1995), competencies are seen as behavioral and observable, and therefore are more closely linked to performance than any other entrepreneurial characteristics such as personality traits, intensions or motivations (Herron and Robinson, 1993; Gartner and Starr, 1993). Moreover, as with attitudes (Robinson at al., 1991), competencies are changeable and so the development of entrepreneurial becomes more feasible. Man, Lau and Chan (2002), identified six major areas of entrepreneurial competencies, are categorized as relating to an SME context, including opportunity , relationship, conceptual, organizing, strategic, and commitment competencies. By making appropriate use of his or her competencies, an entrepreneur can perceive a widened competitive scope such as more opportunities for innovation, business growth, and the provision of new services or products. From available resources, he or she can also develop better organizational capabilities such as the firms innovative capability, cost-saving ability, quality and flexibility. Finally, he or she can plan and work towards a firms long-term performance, along with the available competitive scope and organizational capabilities. Chandler and Jansen (1992) included three distinctive categories of entrepreneurial, managerial, and technical competencies. Baums (1994) measurement of competencies covered a range of instruments measuring traits, skills, experience and knowledge. Man, Lau and Chan (2002) is founded upon a multi-dimensional conceptualization of the competitiveness of SMEs, including the performance dimension, potential dimension and process dimension, developed from earlier studies of competitiveness (Oral, 1986; Feurer and Chaharbaghi, 1994; Buckley, Pass and Prescott, 1998; World Competitiveness Report, 1993). In particular, the influence of the entrepreneur is considered as critical and this is addressed through the competency approach. A detailed coding of 192 competencies in 44 clusters in the six areas of opportunity, relationship, conceptual, organizing, strategic, and commitment competencies as in the original framework, as well as in two new competencies that do not fit into these six prescribed competency areas but seem to play supporting roles to other competencies. They are named as learning competencies and personal strength competencies. Altogether the entrepreneurial competencies are identified by Man, Lau and Chan as 15 they ar e as follows Competitive Scope, Organizational Capability, Opportunity Competencies, Relationship Competencies, Analytical Competencies, Innovative Competencies, Operational Competencies, Human Competencies, Strategic Competencies, Commitment Competencies, Learning Competencies, Personal Strength Competencies, Investment Efficiency, Business Growth and Relative performance. Holmquist (1997) points out that empirical studies of women entrepreneurs and the development of theories about women entrepreneurs is a neglected subject in descriptive perspective research work. Baker et al. (1997) stated that surveys with focus on women entrepreneur still account for only 6-8 percent of international research into entrepreneurship. Brush (1992) concluded from the review of existing research that womens business leadership cannot be understood using traditional (male oriented) framework of business analysis. She writes significant difference have been found in skills, business goals, management styles, business characteristics and growth rates. These variations suggest that women perceive and approach business differently than men. A major expansion of academic interest in women entrepreneurs has occurred since the late 70s, prompted by the perception that businesses owned by women are having an increasing impact on society and the economy. A number of authors in the area of entrepreneurship theory have argued that there is a need to feminize the research on entrepreneurship. (Moore, 1990; Hurley, 1991; Stevenson, 1990; Fischer et al., 1993), since much is still not understood about the ways women contribute to entrepreneurship and the problems they face. The issue is of more than academic interest. As a result of lack of knowledge of womens contribution to entrepreneurship, public policies and programs to assist women to own and run their own businesses are likely to be misdirected (Barret M.A. Mary, 2005). The present research is an attempt to address the dearth in gender studies on entrepreneurship and identify whether there is a difference between men and women entrepreneurs multi-dimensional variables. On one hand it compares the perceptual variable (self-esteem) and intensity of efforts to run business (entrepreneurial intensity) of women and men entrepreneurs and on the other hand it compares the operational problems and future plans of expansion and growth of women and men entrepreneurs in family business. To date there is paucity of research on comparative analysis of women and men entrepreneurs in family business in India. Sources of Small Medium Entrepreneurship Small, micro or medium sized entrepreneurships play a basic role in countries, particularly, European countries. They are the main source of innovation, entrepreneur skill and employment. For example, in enlarged European Union of 25 countries, about 23 million SMEs are providing around 75 million jobs and are representing 99% of all enterprises. However, they have to confront with market imperfection, most of times. SMEs have frequent difficulties to obtain capital and credit, particularly in the earlier phase of their development. Their restricted resources may also access to new innovation and technologies. Therefore, European Commission has priority for job creation, economic growth and social and economic cohesion. Small and medium entrepreneurs (SME0 sector has been recognized as the engine of growth all over the world.SME sector has characteristics of low investment requirements, location wise mobility, operational flexibility and import substitution. The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises development (MSMED) Act, 2006 is the first single comprehensive legislation that covers the all three segments. In accordance with the Act, these enterprises can be classified into two categories:- (manufacturing enterprises which are engaged in the production and manufacture of the goods pertaining to an industry which is specified in the first schedule to the Industries (Development and Regulation) Act 1951, they are defined as the investment in machinery and plant; (ii) service enterprise engaged to provide or render the services and are defined in terms of equipment investment (www.business.org.in). Need for Small and Medium Enterprises to access new technology Small and medium enterprises in India with their flexibility, dynamism and innovative drive are focusing increasingly on improved methods of production, strategies of penetrative marketing and capabilities of modern scientific management for sustaining and strengthening their operations. They have been poised for global partnership and have absorbing potential for the latest technologies in the field of diverse industry. Small and medium enterprises in India are more beautiful and efficient and add value to social and economic sphere. As the countries are integrating into the global village, the small and medium sectors will have to respond accordingly. The small and medium enterprise needs special attention as they are playing a crucial role in the socio economic development of the country. The problems being faced by the small and medium enterprises, particularly access to modern technology and maintenance of competitiveness, have been formidable. In order to meet the challenges of modern times, there is need to enable SMEs to access to new technologies to increase their competiveness in international market. There is need to provide them a conducive environment that includes formulation of appropriate programs and policies, build up technological capacity, RD and inter firm linkages and technology database and knowledge flow (Kharbanda, 2001). Proposed Research Methodology The Research design chosen for this research is exploratory and descriptive research designs. After thoroughly considering the problem and the research objectives in this research I would like to select a two stage research design, in stage one exploratory research design, followed by stage two is descriptive research design. There are two types of research, basic and applied. The purpose of basic research is the knowledge for the sake of knowledge. On the other hand, the scholar of knowledge is more concerned about the acquisition of knowledge that satisfy in its respective of the fact that weather is of any practical use or not. The basic purpose of research, in applied research is to put knowledge into practice. A researcher would be interested more, in applied knowledge, in trying to explore some utility from it and to bring improvement is practical human life. Different methods of research are used in research of social sciences as research and problems that are conducted in social sciences are having various natures (isbs.webs.com). The mixed approach of research methodology is used in the current study. Most of researchers use this approach in the field of social sciences. The mixed approach is the combination of qualitative and quantitative research. Here is detailed introduction of both of the research methodologies: Qualitative Research Design Qualitative research is the type of scientific research which seeks answer for a question and uses systematically the predefined set of procedures to answer that question. The evidence is collected in this method and findings are produced that had not been determined in advance. Finally, qualitative research produces findings which are applicable not only for the research in hand, but also beyond its immediate boundaries. In addition to these characteristics, qualitative research seeks to understand the given topic or research problem from the local population perspective that it involves. Qualitative research is particularly effective to obtain specific cultural information about the opinions, values, social context and behaviors of a particular population. The main strength of the qualitative research is the ability of providing complex contextual description about experience of people about that particular research issue. Qualitative research provides information of human side in particular research issues, which are the contradictory beliefs, behaviors, emotions, opinions and relationships among people. Qualitative method of research is also effective to identify the intangible factors, such as socioeconomic status, social norms, and ethnicity, religion and gender roles. The role of these intangible factors may not readily define in the research. Although the findings of qualitative research data can be extended often to people with have similar characteristics as that of study population, to gain a complex and rich complex understanding of a particular phenomenon or context takes precedence on eliciting data which can be generalized to other population or geographical areas. Qualitative research, in this sense is slightly different from general scientific research. There are three common methods of qualitative approach to collect data: in depth interviews, participant observation and focus groups. In-depth interviews are the optimal approach of collecting data on personal histories of individuals, their experiences and perspectives, particularly if sensitive topics needed to be explored. Participant observation approach is appropriate for data collection on behaviors that occur naturally, in their usual context. Focus groups are very effective to elicit data on the groups cultural norms and in generating broad interviews of issues of concern of the cultural groups or represented subgroups. The mentioned above approaches of qualitative data collection collect the data in the form of audio recordings, field notes and transcripts. Quantitative Research Design These experiments sometimes are referred to be a true science as they use traditional statistical and mathematical means for measuring results collectively. Quantitative research design is most commonly used in physical sciences; however education, social science and economics also have been known to use qualitative research design. This approach is opposite to qualitative research design. All quantitative experiments use a standard format, however with some minor interdisciplinary differences of hypothesis generation to be approved or to be disapproved. The hypothesis must be approvable by statistical and mathematical means and must ne based around the whole design of experiment. It is essential in quantitative research design to have a randomized study group and a control group, whenever possible. In addition, a quantitative research design should manipulate one variable at a point of time; otherwise statistical analysis may become open for questioning and cumbersome.TEH quantities research should be conducted in a manner that may allow others to use and repeat the experiment to obtain similar findings. Quantitative research is the excellent way you finalize results and prove or disprove a hypothesis. Quantitative research structure has not faced changes for centuries; therefore it is a standard across various scientific disciplines and fields. A comprehensive answer to the questions is reached after statistical analysis of results. The results can be published and discussed legitimately. It is possible to filter out the external factors in the quantitative research, if properly designed. The results, therefore, can be seen as unbiased and real. There are disadvantages too of using quantitative research design. Quantitative experiments are expensive and difficult sometimes and require a lot of effort and time to perform. There is need to plan quantitative research designs carefully, in order to ensure that there is a correct designing and compete randomization of control group. There is need for an extensive statistical analysis in quantitative studies that is a difficult task as most of the scientists are not statisticians. The statistical study field is a complete scientific discipline that can be very difficult for researchers who are non-mathematicians. In addition t this, the requirements of the successful statistical confirmation of results has been very stringent and very few experiments prove hypothesis comprehensively. There is always some ambiguity that requires refinement and retesting of the design. It means another investment of resources and time should be committed for fine tuning of the results. There is a ve ry little place for uncertainty and grey areas in quantitative research design as it tends to generate results which are proved or unproved. In social sciences, psychology, education and anthropology, human nature is more complex than the simple responses of yes and no (Shuttleworth, 2008). Mixed method Research Design A mixed design for research is a general type research that is including qualitative and quantitative research techniques, data and methods. All of these characteristics are mixed whenever needed in a particular research study. The mixed method design uses the mixed data and additional means, such as text analysis and statistics. Inductive and deductive scientific research methods are used in a mixed approach. It has various forms for data collection and produce pragmatic and eclectic reports. The basic types of mixed approach are mixed method and the mixed model research. In mixed research method, quantitative data is used for one stage of the research study and for the second stage the qualitative data is used. Both, quantitative and qualitative data I used in a mixed model design. This mixing of the two approaches happens at all the stages of research. It is important, in a research, to use the mixed research method to conduct the detailed research. Mixed research has various advantages, such as the research method is very strong, using multiple methods in the research helps in researching a problem or process from its all sides and using the different approaches helps to focus on a single process and helps to confirm the accuracy of data. The mixed research complements the results of one type of research with another type. The mixed approach does not miss any available data.