President of the United States of America Essay Example for Free

President of the United States of America Essay The year 2008 saw the growth and emergence of various cultures around the world. This progression was however affected and sometimes hampered by the various global economic and political occurrences that defined the year 2008. The beginning of 2008 witnessed elections and consequent political instability in Zimbabwe which defined the global political system tremendously. This elections, which were characterized by allegations of rigging and foul-play caused global cries against the incumbent president in Zimbabwe, sanctions were imposed on the country thereby sending the country deeper into economic turmoil. These actions affected the global interaction of cultures in the sense that many Zimbabweans and Africans felt that the Western world was trying to impose its political culture on Africans who enjoy their culture to a great extent. This feeling of culture imposition from the Western world brought into Africa rejection of the Western culture irrespective of the goodness of the culture(David, K. 72-75) The middle of 2008 witnessed the ‘heating up’ of the most dramatic elections in the United States of America. This American election had an immense effect on culture around the world because the favorite candidate in the election, Senator Barrack Obama, had various ethnic backgrounds. Born to a Kenyan father and an American mother, Barrack has been viewed as the ideal world representative. His background and connection to the Asian ethnic community, to a great extent, complements his worldly representation. Consequently, this favorite candidate for the United States presidency, who represented various cultures around the world, emerged victorious because in him, Americans and the world felt represented in the affairs of the world politics. This election and the subsequent win of Barrack Obama for the White House cemented the cultural diversity of the American people and brought other foreign cultures to fame and scrutiny. This American election and the subsequent win for Barrack Obama as President of the United States of America, went a long way to encourage and promote inter-cultural integration around the world through marriage and lifestyle(David, K. 80-82) The end of the year 2008 witnessed a most devastating slump in the global economy as the world faced the credit crunch instigated by the mortgage crisis in the United States of America. This global economic melt-down led to a decrease in travel and purchasing power of individuals. Therefore, there was a significant reduction in global interaction thereby causing a reduction in inter-cultural interaction. The reduction in the purchasing power caused a slump in global trade which is a key component of global interaction. This also therefore reduced cultural interaction on the global stage. The closing of 2008 witnessed the biggest political crisis of the year, the Middle East Crisis. This crisis has had a devastating effect on the global cultural integration due to its ever changing form of violence. Many times, the violence is political with the Palestinians and the Israelites being the two aggressors. Sometimes, the crisis takes a religious angle with the Palestinians representing the Muslim faction while the Israelites represent the Jews. This Middle East crisis has therefore slowed down cultural interaction from the political and the religious angles(David, K. 93-96) Analysis of Arts and Culture in 2008 The year 2008 showed the different effects on arts and culture by the political, economic and religious happenings around the world. The year just showed us how vulnerable global arts and culture is to extinction, and at the same time prosperity, thanks to the global economic, political and religious dispensation. Through political, economic and religious development, global arts and culture flourished and sometimes reduced to a very low point. This fact therefore poses a challenge to every human around the world to ensure the flourishing of global arts and culture by allowing and maintaining political, economic and religious stability. The future of global arts and culture as defined by 2008 is uncertain. The future lies in the choices of men. The right choices will lead to the positive development of arts and culture while the wrong choices will lead to negative developments. The future is unpredictable and uncertain†¦it lies in our choices(David, K. 100-103) Arts in Global Interaction Arts can play a huge role in global interaction. Through arts, experiences are shared throughout the world. For instance, tourists travel all over the world and are welcomed by different cultures which they end up assimilating with. They are attracted by the unique nature of the different cultures and styles and some end up purchasing commodities from those cultures which they take back home. This art work gives the tourists a story to tell to their loved ones back in their homes. Therefore, through the making and selling of art work, one individual from one global destination earns a living, while others from various other destinations get entertained and have a story to share(David, K. 109-114). Indigenous Development of Talent In the current global village, local talent has great potential of developing into independent industries. Different culture and art forms are always appealing. If the local talent can be given space to develop and grow, the global market always has room for accommodating new art works thereby creating employment and income for millions of people around the world who represent the various art and cultural backgrounds. This arts and cultural talent can be developed through national arts and cultural exhibitions where the arts and cultures are showcased to the rest of the world. These exhibitions should also develop business systems that can support trade and therefore enable the artistes to earn a decent living. This is the only way to ensure sustenance of the various arts represented by people around the world(David, K. 112-118). Survey into the Main Global Initiatives on Arts, Culture and Society A small survey can be carried out to give a deeper understanding into matters affecting arts and culture with the following specifics: Purpose Statement: the world at large need to take up the responsibility of promoting arts and culture through ensuring political, economical and religious stability. Hypothesis: arts and culture thrive in a world of political, economical and religious stability. Objective: To study the effect of politics, economics and religion on arts and culture. The findings of the survey can then be recorded and analyzed to give a comprehensive conclusion to the survey. Work cited David, Kilcullen. (2007). â€Å"Ethics, Politics, and Non-State Warfare: A Response to Gonzalez. † Anthropology Today vol. 23, no. 3. pg 56-120

Organizational Commitment Essay Example for Free

Organizational Commitment Essay The focal point of effective human resource management (HRM) is on managing people within the employer-employee relationship. As banks are considered a very critical industry of the economy, it is important that the workforces supporting these banks are well motivated and are effective in delivering the necessary work output. It includes the productive utilization of employees to achieve the organization’s business objectives and satisfy individual employee needs (Stone, 1998). HRM seeks to strategically combine the interests of an organization and its employees (McGraw, 2003). Consequently, ineffective HRM can be a major barrier to employee satisfaction and organization success (McGraw, 2003). HRM practices in the banking industry play a key role in attracting, motivating, rewarding, and retaining employees. HRM practices include recruiting employees, selecting employees, designing work, compensating employees, and developing good labor and employee relations (Noe, 2005). For the purpose of this study, the researcher bundled five specific human resource management practices. These are HR planning, training, career development, performance appraisal, and employee participation programs. The researcher chose to bundle HRM practices since bundled HRM practices produce interrelated and complimentary functions. For example, training and development, and performance appraisal overlap each others’ results. The appraisal of an employee’s performance will show potentials and identify gaps in employee’s knowledge, skills, and abilities that will be filled in by training and development. Furthermore, the alignment of HR practices produce synergy contributing to increase productivity and corporate financial performance (Huselid, 1995). Bundled HRM practices contribute to overall firm performance by motivating employees to adopt desired attitudes and behaviors (Bowen Ostroff, 2004). Moreover, Chang (2005) argues that employees perceived HR practice as an exclusive and single practice rather than separate and diverse fields. According to Fishbein’s (1963) an individual’s overall attitudes towards each HRM practices can be represented by a summation of the belief held about each HR practices. It is important to study HRM practices and its relationship with work related attitudes, and behaviors. Attitude is a mental state of readiness that is organized through experience, applying a dynamic influence on the individuals response to objects and situations to which it is related such as job satisfaction and organizational trust. (Allport, 1935). On the other hand, behaviors are manners in which an individual or group conduct and respond to his/her environment like Organizational Citizenship Behaviors or OCBs ( Robbins, 2005). Employee perception of organizational banking practices and working conditions within the banks of Jamaica influence employee attitudes and behavior (Guest, 2001). Existing organizational practices within banks in Jamaica such as HRM should facilitate the development of desired employee attitudes and behavior that contribute to enhance firm performance. Previous studies have found that positive perceptions of HRM practices lead to positive employee attitudes and behaviors such as job satisfaction (Guest, 1999), organizational trust, organizational commitment, organizational justice (Greenberg, 1990). Job satisfaction, organizational trust and OCBs were the variables selected to be studied in relation with HRM practices as these three elements are key factors in organizational effectiveness and these variables are considered understudied. These facets affect and overlap each other’s functions and outputs that contribute to the development of HRM practices. Furthermore, this study contributes to the literature by examining a wide breadth of outcome measures within the same study. The study extends HRM literature in three ways. First, it provides additional research in the examining the role of HRM practices to employee attitudes and behaviors since there are limited studies in HRM conceptualized as a bundle (Chang, 2005; Guest, 2004; Huselid 1995). Second, it examines the proposition of Morrison (1996) on the role of HRM practices in contributing to extra-role behaviors. An examination of HRM literature revealed that there has no study conducted investigating HRM to organizational citizenship behaviors. Third, it also simultaneously examines HRM, job satisfaction, organizational trust, and OCBs in one study. Previous studies have examined these variables separately. For example, Ellickson (2002) and Bradley, Petrescu, and Simmons (2004) conducted the study on HRM practices to job satisfaction, Tzafrir (2004) examined HRM practices to organizational trust. Furthermore, since there are limited studies on HRM practices within the banking industry; this would contribute to the importance of HRM practices in the management organization. Review of Related Literature Human Resource Management Practices HRM contribute to the attainment of an organizations competitive advantage through the strategic implementation of a highly committed and competent workforce using an integrated range of cultural, structural, and personnel techniques. Effective HRM leads to an organization success by developing employees that contributes to the delivery of products and services bring customer satisfaction, business results, and shareholder value (Stone, 1998). The main purpose of HRM is to improve the productive contribution of people wherein the employees are being heard by the management and helping the employees to find new resources that enable them to successfully perform their jobs (Ulrich, 1997). The role played by human resource functions is best explained by determining the key objectives that they seek to align strategies, develop effective policies, systems and activities which are significant to the firm’s overall success (Torrington, Hall Taylor, 2002; Storey, 1995). HRM functions are critical in running an effective organization. Organizations need to have a competitive HRM functions in order to maintain a competent workforce and attain business objectives (Newman Hodgetts, 1998). HRM function includes planning, training and development, career development, performance appraisal, and employee relations. These functions help organizations to facilitate strategies that allow them to achieve efficiency and effectiveness (Stone, 1998). HRM functions must change in manner that it accomplishes new roles and new competencies. It also has to be transformed to deal creatively and practically with the emerging challenge. HRM practices have a tangible and various intangible organizational consequences. Prior researches have found support for the role of HRM practices in predicting organizational commitment (Davidson, 1998), job satisfaction (Bradley et al. , 2004), and procedural justice (Edgar Geare, 2005). Job Satisfaction Job satisfaction is a pleasurable emotional state resulting from the valuation of his or her work (Locke, 1976; Steijn, 2002). Even though job satisfaction is a highly personal experience, there are a number of facets that seem to contribute the most to feelings of job satisfaction. Steijn (2002) stated that mentally challenging work, adequate compensation pay, career opportunity, the ready availability of promotions, people that are friendly, considerate, or good-natured superiors contribute to job satisfaction (Johns Saks, 2000). For instance, the ready availability of promotions is positively related to job satisfaction. The promotion given enhances the perception of the employees that they are valued enough by the organization (Garrido, Perez, Anton, 2005). Previous studies have shown that compensation (Bassett, 1994), opportunity for advancement (Schneider, 1994), psychological climate, and leadership style (Howell Frost, 1989) are antecedents of job satisfaction. Organizational Trust Trust is an individual’s expectation, assumption, or belief about the likelihood that another’s future action will be beneficial, favorable, or at least not detrimental to one’s interests (Meyer, Davis, Schoorman, 1995). Trust is considered to be an essential component in organizations since it is a consistent mechanism that supports organizational change and development in an unpredictable environment than hierarchical power and direct surveillance (Kramer Tyler, 1996). Several studies clearly indicate that the formation of trust within workplace relationships is complex and elusive (Tzafrir, 2003). Furthermore, workplace trust is a necessary element for the development of competitive advantage through support, co-operation, and improvement of systems. Trust is viewed as a feature of the social foundation that begins interactions among parties (Mayer Davis, 1999). According to Kramer and Tyler (1996), there is a need for organizational trust for the reason of there are organizational needs that are not to be disclosed and one of the elements to address these requirements are employees that trusts their organization. Currall and Judge (1995) defined trust as an individual’s reliance on another person under conditions of dependence and risk. Dependence means that one’s outcomes are reliant on the trustworthy or untrustworthy behavior of another. Furthermore, risk means that one would experience negative outcomes from the other person’s untrustworthy behavior (Kramer Tyler, 1996). Previous studies have shown that psychological contract breach (Costa 2001), leadership style and organizational communication are antecedents of organizational trust. Organizational Citizenship Behavior Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCBs) are behaviors that are discretionary, indirectly seen or recognized by the official compensation system, and as a whole encourage the effective functioning of an organization (Organ, 1998). It is also defined as an employee behavior that is above and beyond the call of duty and is therefore discretionary and not rewarded in the context of an organization’s formal reward structure (Konovsky Pugh, 1994). Social exchange is an explanatory mechanism to obtain OCBs. It refers to relationships that entail unspecified future obligations. Social exchange is a critical element in understanding OCBs. It is the theoretical basis and the starting point for OCBs to obtain. When HRM practices offered by the organization are perceived favorable by employees, they tend to reciprocate by OCBs (Organ, 1998). For example, when supervisors treat employees fairly, social exchange and the norm of reciprocity (Gouldner, 1960) dictate that employees reciprocate, and OCBs are the avenue for employee’s reciprocation. There are five dimensions of OCBs (Organ, 1998). First is altruism that involves all discretionary behaviors that have the effect of serving a specific other person with an organizationally important task or problems. The second is conscientiousness it is the extent that a person goes well beyond the satisfactory or required level in work attendance; the person exemplifies the brand of OCBs. Third is sportsmanship which the employees’ goodwill in tolerating less than ideal circumstances without â€Å"complaining and making a federal case out of small potatoes. † The fourth dimension is civic virtue which is the behavior that shows a concern for participating in corporate life for example, by performing tasks that they are not required to perform, and doing so for the benefit of the organization. It also implies a sense o involvement in what policies are adapted and which candidates are supported. The last dimension is courtesy which involves such actions as â€Å"touching base† with those parties whose work would be affected by one’s decision or commitments. Touching base refers to actions done by employees that their co-employees values (Organ, 1998). Previous studies have shown that procedural justice (Alotaibi, 2001; Organ, 1998), organizational commitment (Alotaibi, 2001; Mayer Allen, 1997; Moorman et al. , 1993 ), and job satisfaction (Alotaibi, 2001; Moorman et al. , 1993) leads to OCBs.

Skills for Intercultural Communication

Skills for Intercultural Communication Introduction: Culture can be defined as the quality in an individual or society that emerges from a sympathy toward what is viewed as astounding in expressions, letters, behaviour, insightful interests, and so forth while the communication is described as the conferring or trading of data by talking, composition, or utilizing some other medium. Intercultural communication is a type of correspondence that means to impart data crosswise over diverse societies and cultural gatherings. It is used to show the extensive variety of correspondence courses of action and issues that rise-up in an association made up of people from diverse religious, social, ethnic, and belonging from distinct educational backgrounds. Body: The essential skills of intercultural communication are in a far-reaching way general communication abilities that might be utilized all around by all societies and races. These skills are basically tweaked in a course that looks into the cultural constraints. A simple idea as an example of such communication abilities in the intercultural environment is to listen without judging, rehash what you comprehend, affirm implications, give proposals and recognize a shared comprehension (Kwintessential.co.uk, 2014). In doing vast research, numerous researchers have recognized different fields and themes they consider critical for study in the field of intercultural communication. A few researchers (e.g., Gudykunst, 1987; Rich, 1974; Stewart, 1978) set a general research scope for the study while others (e.g., Hu, 2004; Jia, 1997; Watchman, 1990; Samovar, Doorman, Stefani, 2000) accept the more particular variables ought to be inspected in intercultural communication research. The general contents for doing research are made by Rich (1974). He discussed that the contents of intercultural communication might be arranged into five structures: intercultural communication, global communication, interracial communication, between ethnic or minority communication, and contractual communication. Gudykunst (1987) keeps up that intercultural communication research ought to incorporate four classifications: intercultural communication, culturally diverse communication, universal communication and similar mass correspondence. Another researcher Stewart (1978) focuses out that the research of intercultural communication ought to deal in genuine circumstances hurdles faced by people belonging from different backgrounds, which pointed out to arrange training programs for creating sense of humanity b/w intercultural diversified people. He expresses that training for intercultural communication ought to lead the trainees through nine phases of progressive change, empowering them to see an alternate culture all the more in a detailed way. As discussed above some contents of intercultural communication some additional contents were also brought into consideration as some different researchers (e.g., Hu, 2004; Jia, 1997; Doorman, 1990; Samovar et al., 2000) think that the research on intercultural communication ought to manage more particular variables influencing the nature of intercultural communication. Watchman (1990) separated those variables into eight components: attitudes, social organization, patterns of thought, roles and role expectations, language, space, time, and nonverbal expression. Later, Samovar et al. (2000) categorized the eight components into four general associating gatherings: observation, verbal methods, nonverbal methodologies and context oriented components. It is on the grounds that all these components could be distinguished, dissected and classified that the exploration of intercultural communication can be led (Jia, 1997). In this manner, the principle concern of these researchers is to an alyse the components that may impact intercultural communication and attempt to decide how to uproot the obstructions faced during communication created by contrasts in dialect, sustenance, and dress, social cultural practices. In a pileup, regardless of what different researchers have made on the characterization of intercultural communication research contents, it is by and large concurred that the investigation of intercultural communication expects to comprehend the impact of society on our mentality, convictions and practices with a specific end goal to diminish misconceptions that come about because of social cultural varieties (Chen Starosta, 1997). To put it all the more basically, intercultural communication exploration ought to be concerned with the particular contents influencing genuine intercultural communication in genuine living, regardless of whether it is in regards to intercultural, culturally diverse, interracial or between ethnic correspondences. As to every individual component, there exist some marginally diverse perspectives on what precisely ought to be inspected. In this study, taking into account the genuine research of the gathered information, we receive the classification proposed by Hu (2005) as a kind of perspective to order the research contents of the gathered articles. In his study, Hu (2005) arranged the intercultural communication research contents into the accompanying five classifications: summary, theory and research methods, cultural comparison and contrast, intercultural adaptation and training, special topics. Among the five classes, some special and worth-noticing points refer to the articles that dont have a place with any of the other four classifications (Hu, 2010). People are doing communication since four million years. Then again, the conception of culture is assessed to have taken place around 35,000 years prior. Today, both society and communication have advanced significantly and have gotten to be related of each other, to the point that communication is thought to be a result of culture. Accordingly, our own particular culture has a profound effect on our considerations and practices. Since each one has its unique viewpoints, intercultural communication might be the reason for clash and issue. There are three principle issues which are at the foundation of the issue of intercultural miscommunication: dialect as an obstruction, social differences and ethnocentrism. We will discuss these three ideas in circumstances in which intercultural communication is usual, for example: the work environment, the classroom and entertaining trips. The way individuals communicate differs broadly between, and even inside, societies. One part of communication style is dialect use. Language has dependably been seen as a connection between individuals however it can additionally constitute a boundary. Crosswise over societies, a few words and expressions are utilized as a part of distinctive ways. Besides, correspondence between societies which dont have the same language is extensively more troublesome. Each one in a society has its unique language structure, interpretations and structure which causes complexity in intercultural communication. Case in point, in Asian nations the saying no is seldom utilized, with the goal that yea can signify no or maybe. Subsequently, an American flying out to Japan may be viewed as inconsiderate in the event that he disregards this standard. Besides, people who are not happy with a certain language may not be considered important (StudyMode, 2014). The issues in intercultural communication normally originate from problems in message transmission. In correspondence between individuals of the same society, the individual who gets the message deciphers it focused around qualities, convictions, and desires for conduct like those of the individual who sent the message. At the point when this happens, the way the message is deciphered by the beneficiary is liable to be reasonably like what the speaker planned. On the other hand, when the recipient of the message is an individual from a different society, the beneficiary uses data from his or her society to translate the message. The message that the collector deciphers may be altogether different from what the speaker proposed. Attribution is the methodology in which individuals search for a clarification of someone elses conduct. When somebody doesnt comprehend an alternate, he/she generally accuses the disarray for the others ineptitude, double dealing, or madness. Successful communication relies on the casual understandings among the gatherings included that are focused around the trust created between them. At the point when trust exists, there is verifiable seeing inside communication, social contrasts may be disregarded, and issues could be managed all the more effectively. The significance of trust and how it is created and conveyed differ crosswise over social orders. Also, a few societies have a more noteworthy inclination to be trusting than others. Nonverbal communication is conduct that uses without words however it regularly may join by words. Nonverbal correspondence has been indicated to record for somewhere around 65% and 93% of deciphered correspondence. Minor varieties in non-verbal communication, discourse rhythms, and dependability frequently cause doubt and misperception of the circumstances among culturally diverse gathering. In the 1980s Geert Hofstede found 5 major measurements of national cultures that might be seen to outline diverse values in distinctive national societies. These qualities may have outcomes for how individuals in diverse societies carry on, and how they will possibly act in a work related context. One of these qualities is independence vs. cooperation. In individualistic societies individuals are required to depict themselves as people, who look to fulfil singular objectives and needs. In collectivist societies, individuals have more prominent stress on the welfare of the whole gathering to which the individual has a place, where individual needs, needs and dreams are frequently situated aside for the benefit of everyone(Geert, 2001). Conclusion: Taking everything into account, it might be expressed that there are new and developing progressions going ahead in the field of interchanges coming about because of changing demographics of the groups in which the business society must work. An alternate energy, which is changing the way business correspondence behaviour of individuals, learning recovery and capacity and additionally the route in which societies are continuously directed, is the appearance of new evolved technologies. The expert communication environment ought to, be examined and has expected a far expanding level of importance in the present age(Anon, 1999). References: Kwintessential.co.uk, (2014).An Introduction to Intercultural Communication | articles | cultural services. [online] Available at: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/introduction-intercultural.html [Accessed 7 Sep. 2014]. Hu, Y. (2010).International Journal of Intercultural Relations, (35), pp. 555. StudyMode, (2014).Problems in Intercultural Communication by Study mode. [online] Available at: http://www.studymode.com/essays/Problems-In-Intercultural-Communication-25747.html [Accessed 7 Sep. 2014]. Geert, H. (2001).What are Geert Hofstedes 5 Cultural Dimensions?. [online] Businessmate.org. Available at: http://www.businessmate.org/Article.php?ArtikelId=4 [Accessed 7 Sep. 2014]. Anon, (1999).Appreciating the Diversity in Multicultural Communication Styles. [online] Available at: http://static.highbeam.com [Accessed 7 Sep. 2014]. Annotated bibliography: First and foremost journal endeavours to offer a reaction, from a general point of view, to the inquiry of how culture uncovers itself in the application of qualitative research in intercultural communication. When we come across the expression culture it is most important to remember that culturally credited social cooperation methods are themselves the after effect of socially built methodologies. They are some piece of an individual-aggregate persuasion with numerous potential implications, which are rising and in steady reformulation from a wide collection of social and cultural points of view. A significant part of the research in intercultural correspondence has been administered towards the investigation of these frameworks of socially related implications. it offers the role of culture in communication among diversified people (Aneas and Sandà ­n, 2009). In the first referenced journal. an inquiry is tended to that how culture is conceptualized and shows itself in the application of qualitative system. With this goal we endeavour to summarize the research done from the field of intercultural and diverse communication which we feel may be of assistance in moving towards the important conceptualization in an essay. It is additionally kept in mind while writing the essay that the points discussed here will empower us to investigate, from a general viewpoint, the relationship between culture and probably the most critical parts of qualitative exploration (Adamopolous, 2011). The second journal used for doing an essay discuss some of the important thing out of which few points are discussed here in abstractive form. The globalized world nowadays is identified by an always developing number of contacts bringing about correspondence between individuals with diverse etymological and social foundations. This correspondence happens in view of contacts inside the territories of business, military collaboration, science, instruction, mass-media, and diversion, tourism additionally as a result of migration realized by work lack or political clashes. In all these contacts, there is cultural communication which needs to be as useful as could be expected under the circumstances, without mistaken assumptions and breakdowns. It is our conviction that exploration on the way of semantic and cultural similitude and contrasts here can play a positive and productive part(Allwood, 2014). Third research journal discuss more about intercultural communication in a brief way which is summarized here as we have now started to see that there is not a solitary, basic meaning of culture and that, indeed, distinctive journalists characterize culture in truly diverse courses (as variable, as capacity, as procedure, as force). Actually, how one sees and studies culture, a few scholars say, has moral ramifications some individuals see the way others study. Intercultural correspondence truly implies that when individuals from two separate societies correspond with one another. Numerous researchers have decided to break intercultural communication research into two primary sorts, generally like Emic and Etic. Essentially emic incorporates a research that focus on a culture from that cultures own particular viewpoint, typically intimating the utilization of perception, qualitative, or other open-ended exploration to confirm that point of view while etic is the research done that uses an external theories or general systematic frameworks to translate the code of conduct, world perspective, and so on., in a specific culture (Baldwin, 2004). Fourth journal article discuss by arguing that that the intercultural communication is critical to be considered in universal organizations as it analyses how individuals from distinctive cultures, convictions and religions meet up to work and correspond with one another. Need for understanding and adopting intercultural communication is expanding as more organizations go worldwide or global. They understand that there are obstructions and confinements when entering an outside domain. Without the assistance of intercultural communications they can unknowingly cause perplexity and make sever mistakes. For these intercultural organizations to rupture the social obstructions experienced when going into international grounds it is key for them to completely comprehend the cultural contrasts that exist to stop harming business relations because of gaps among people due to intercultural communication. There are numerous speculations that standardized some rules to help in the understanding of intercultural communication. These rules help in preventing ignorance between diversified cultural gatherings which results due to misunderstanding lack of knowledge (Kwintessential.co.uk, 2014). Fifth journal used to write an essay is written is Yanhong Hu in which he says that the increasing rate globalization in the world has expanded individuals need to be included in worldly activities in such fields as education, business, pharmacy, religion and even the military. Indeed, individuals with diverse cultural foundations are getting to be more related on one another, and the term intercultural communication is no more new to them. Keeping in mind the end goal to instruct individuals to create sense of understanding for respect of cultures of one another and outfit them with powerful and proper relational abilities in their intercultural experiences, the scholarly research of intercultural communication has developed and excited dynamic enthusiasm among analysts in this field. Numerous researchers and specialists have wandered profound into the field and created a interesting different themes identified with intercultural communications. Rather than the inspecting and investigating so many published books, articles peer-reviewed journals, there is moderately minimal precise data on the flow pattern of intercultural communication research at both local international levels. Locally, a few researchers have done some general research about the facts on intercultural communication. Though those studies may be instructive, they give off an impression of being generally individual perspectives and recommendations but not based on information based data. Two related studies are directed separately by ShiyongPeng (2005) and Wenzhong Hu (2005). His article on the exploration of intercultural communication is information based; on the other hand, what is needed to be discussed in this article is the detailed studies of the locally-based information demonstrating what sort of methodologies are adopted in their papers by Chinese intercultural communication specialists which is the thing that this study means to analyse (Hu, 20 10). References: Aneas, M. and Sandà ­n, M. (2009). Intercultural and Cross-Cultural Communication Research: Some Reflections about Culture and Qualitative Methods.Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, [online] 10(1). Available at: http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1251/2738 [Accessed 6 Sep. 2014]. Adamopolous, John Lonner, Walter (2001). Culture and psychology at a crossroad: Historical perspective and theoretical analysis. In David Matsumoto (Ed.),The handbook of culture and psychology(pp.11-34). New York: Oxford University Press. Allwood, J. (2014). Journal of Intercultural Communication, (35). Baldwin, J. (2004). Assumptions behind communication theories: Reality, knowledge, and values., pp.21-34. Kwintessential.co.uk, (2014). An Introduction to Intercultural Communication | articles | cultural services. [online] Available at: http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/introduction-intercultural.html [Accessed 7 Sep. 2014]. Hu, Y. (2010). International Journal of Intercultural Relations, (35), pp.554-555.

Impact of Uber on UK Mini Cabs

Impact of Uber on UK Mini Cabs Introduction The intense rivalry among competitors in the market is a critical driving force for each organisation. A healthy competition among competitors builds fuel for organisation long run, and while seeking progress firm practices influences other companies in the industry. The present research enables the researcher to find out such influences produced by Uber through their innovative practices. The research attempt shed lights on Uber Cab Company performance and the impact made by the organisation on other minicabs in the UK taxi industry. The researcher looks to utilise the journals of Wallsten (2015) and Edward, George and Sarkar (2010) for perceiving current issues efficiently. The investigation tries to perceive strategies and practices executed by Uber to advance in the UK taxi industry along with identifying the influence made on minicabs performance. Literature review The rise of Uber and the subsequent disruption in taxi industry has been a key research issue in recent years. For example, the study of Sundararajan (2014) revealed that the success of Uber was mainly due to the convenience offered by the service compared to existing cab services. This view has been upheld by other researchers such as Malhotra and Van Alstyne (2014) and Isaac (2014). All these studies point to the fact that Uber offer higher value to taxi customers in terms of lower charge, higher convenience and better safety offered by Uber. The theory of quality-value-loyalty chain was used by Wallsten (2015) to evaluate the success of Uber in Taxi industry. Figure 1.1: Quality-value-loyalty chain Source: Wallsten (2015) As per Quality-value-loyalty chain, price, product quality and service quality develop the perceived value of a product or service which in turn contributes to customer loyalty towards the product or service. Among these elements, competitors are easily able to imitate product quality and price. But it is very difficult to imitate service quality (Edward, George and Sarkar, 2010). Due to this, service quality has an enhanced role in creating value and loyalty for the product or service. Wallsten (2015) notes that the superior service quality of Uber has helped the company in creating value for customers and in developing loyal customer base in taxi industry. From the review of existing literature available on Ubers success in taxi industry, it can be understood that the ability of the company to offer better value, service quality and convenience was the main reasons for its success. Research purpose The study intends to identify the impacts that created by Uber Cab Company in the UK taxi industry and analyse influence that the company made on minicabs in the country.   Ã‚   The research objectives of the current research are: To evaluate the factors affecting satisfaction of cab customers To assess the factors contributing to the competitive advantage of Uber in UK Taxi industry To analyse the impact of Ubers growth on mini cabs of UK To provide suggestions to mini cabs of UK to remain competitive in UK Taxi industry Rationale Despite being a start-up in the UK taxi industry, Uber cab services had provided growth to the traditional taxi service in the country. The process made the countrys private taxi firm to stand tall where other numerous taxi companies had failed. According to Megaw (2016), 97% of the organisation that tried fit their name in the industry had fallen within the first four months where Uber showed resilience in making an impact which flew beyond the capital. The company had expanded beyond borders leaving a note on taxi industry to look for an urgent lift in which the mini cabs have experienced most of the damage. Uber was able to advance in each market that they have entered which led to protests and strikes in the UK. Uber Cab company flexibility had attracted few drivers who worked in mini cabs in London to join in the company. The low pricing strategy that the company presented has made controversies as competitors had alleged the practice unhealthy and artificial. Uber started its o peration in the UK with four locations and increased the size to eighteen with 30,000 drivers in London (Torrance, 2016). Data analysis interprets that since Uber started its operation, the private hire operations in London has attained a decline of 11% assuming minimum ten private taxi business close in every month. The research seeks to identify major reasons for the customer to choose Uber cab over minicabs by comparing their service using service quality framework and looks to interpret recommendation for minicabs in order to survive the situation. Scope and limitation of research The Uber Cab Company intervention to the UK taxi industry has been questioned severely by the minicab operators as their low payment system and other operations has affected minicabs and provoked few operators to end their operations in London area. The investigation gathers ample evidence for interpreting the features that attracted customers to Uber service so that certain recommendations could be drawn to the minicab operators in the UK for improving their business in the location. Research methodology For constituting the study, the researcher has to acquire efficient information on operations of both Uber Cab and minicab services. For carrying out the research both primary and secondary data collection method is used by the researcher. The literature and journals on the topic are utilised to attain secondary data, and the primary information is collected through executing a survey on taxi customers. The survey is conducted on 55 customers who use taxi services in London in which 30 female and 25 male customers are targeted. The survey method enables researcher to understand consumer perspectives on services provided by Uber Cab and minicab companies improving study strength. The data achieved from books, journals, articles and websites belong to the secondary resources which are used by the researcher to analyse the issue further. The adequate information attained from these practices is used to provide significant interpretations for present research problems from which efficien t recommendations are drawn for the minicab operators. Action plan      Ã‚   Research objective By when Resources to be used (2.1) when do you know this objective is achieved which is after the by when to ensure that you have actually achieve the objective How will you monitor this objective is being achieved? method of monitoring Topic selection 17th December to 22nd December 2017 Books, articles and online journals for study topic selection 21st December 2017 22nd December 2017 Reporting Regularly to supervisor Aim and objective preparation 23rd to 24th December 2017 Adequate journals and books 23rd December 2017 24th December 2017 Reporting Regularly to supervisor Literature review 25th December to 10th January 2017 Secondary resources like books and publications both online and offline for literature review preparation 8th January 2017 10th January 2017 Timely informing supervisor work status updates Research methods 12th January to 16th April 2017 Journals and books for perceiving research methods 13th January 2017 15th April 2017 Updating report status to supervisor Data collection 17th January to 16th February 2017 Survey on customers as primary resource and data from books, journals and company reports as secondary resource 15th February 2017 16th February 2017 Communicating status to supervisor Interpretation of data 17th February 1st March 2017 Comparison of primary and secondary information and analysis descriptive methods 25th February 2017 1st March 2017 Updating work status to supervisor Conclusion and recommendation March 2nd 14th March 2017 On the basis of interpreted data and analysis 13th March 2017 14th March 2017 Timely report to supervisor Final submission 15th March 2017 2.2 Undertake the proposed research investigation in accordance with the agreed specification and procedures. Questionnaire design This research was deliberated to mainly evaluate the effect of UBER Cab Company on mini cabs in the UK. For conducting the study, the research has opted UBER Cab Company to carry out the study. The research has mainly opted questionnaire method so as to gather data and information from the customers of UBER Cab Company to know more about taxi and the scope of them. For developing and evolving the questionnaire, the research has adopted Likert scale method, and to the customers of UBER Cab Company, the questionnaire was distributed with the aid of survey method. By opting the customers of UBER Cab Company for conducting the survey, the data gathered by the researcher was accurate and appropriate to the question of the research. Data collection method For the study, the research decided to opt primary data collection using survey method. The research was done with the aid of survey that was carried out on the customers of a minicab in London. The researcher decided to opt about 55 as the sample size for the study where 30 were women, and 25 were men. With the aid of survey method, the researcher could gain more knowledge and understanding about the company and the taxi services. All the research questions were related to the study and the questions prepared was simple and very easy to understand. This helped the researcher to get the opinions of customers. Advantages of survey method: With the aid of primary research, the research could gain relevant, apt and specific answers when compared to any other research methods. With the aid of Likert scales, the researcher could understand more about the topic and do not spend more time on the data collection. Survey method is cost effective and time-consuming. Disadvantages of survey method: The survey that is closed and structured might have less validity and reliability than other methods. There can be favourable answers been marked by the researcher so as to support the subject. The respondents will not be able to give their maximum as they will not be aware of the reason behind the survey. Advantages and disadvantages of ANOVA method The survey method was analysed with the aid of ANOVA method through which qualitative data collection was collected. Over more than two groups the data are examined and reviewed constancy for gaining the result in the case ANOVA method. The t-test is mainly compared to ANOVA methods as instead for ANOVA method t-test is used for the similar use. The advantages of ANOVA are: ANOVA method is mainly opted to relate groups of various samples sizes when compared to the t-test. Without cumulating the probabilities of Type, I error, with the aid of ANOVA more than two grouped can be evaluated. The disadvantages of ANOVA are: Incorrect results can be gained from ANOVA if the samples are gathered from the average population. ANOVA helps to makes sure if the samples are different from each other and also indicates the samples that are different from the similar ones. D3: Justify the choice of data collection methods To get accurate and reliable data and information the researcher adopted primary research for this study conducted on UBER Cab Company. The research has adopted survey method as the research strategy to gather data from the customers of UBER Cab Company London. The responses gathered from different customers were different and had different opinion and suggestions. The questions were closed and structured through Likert scales. Likert scales also aided the researcher in understanding the questionnaire. It was comparatively easy for the researcher to gather quantitative data with the help of survey methodology that made the research to be analysed easily with the aid of ANOVA method. 2.3 Record and collate relevant data where appropriate The researcher has used ANOVA analysis for testing the data collected from taxi customers of London. The researcher collected data from 55 taxi customers (30 female and 25 male customers). The working hypothesis adopted by the researcher is that there is clear difference in taxi service preferences of male and female taxi customers of London. This working hypothesis is tested with the help of ANOVA analysis. SS df MS F P Price 388.9286 1 388.9286 9.24 0.028759 Accessibility 388.9286 1 388.9286 5.08 0.073916 Convenience 388.9286 1 388.9286 3.56 0.117844 Driver behaviour 388.9286 1 388.9286 6.69 0.049044 Quality of car 388.9286 1 388.9286 10.89 0.021476 Safety 388.9286 1 388.9286 14.9 0.011879 2.1 ANOVA analysis of customer needs from taxi service From the above ANOVA analysis it can be understood that the opinions of male and female taxi customers significantly diverge in terms of their needs and expectations from taxi services available in UK. The analysis shows that female customers gave greater importance of safety, quality of car and driver behaviour when compared to male customers. On the other hand, male customers gave higher importance to convenience aspect while choosing taxi services. SS Df MS F P Reliability 388.9286 1 388.9286 6.65 0.049507 Assurance 388.9286 1 388.9286 14.25 0.012957 Tangibility 388.9286 1 388.9286 4.12 0.098139 Empathy 388.9286 1 388.9286 11.68 0.018887 Responsiveness 388.9286 1 388.9286 2.83 0.153344 2.2 ANOVA analysis of customer rating of service quality of Uber From the ANOVA analysis of the customer rating of service quality of Uber it is clear that both male and female customers have diverging opinions regarding the different dimensions of service quality of Uber. For example, it is evident that reliability, empathy and assurance elements of service quality of were given higher rating by female customers while male customers gave higher importance to responsiveness of the service of Uber. SS df MS F P Reliability 388.9286 1 388.9286 8.36 0.034132 Assurance 388.9286 1 388.9286 5.71 0.062422 Tangibility 388.9286 1 388.9286 21.02 0.005922 Empathy 388.9286 1 388.9286 3.28 0.129892 Responsiveness 388.9286 1 388.9286 11.02 0.021017 Methodology I used simple random sample because it is the simplest way to select participants from a population. According to Saunders, et al., using these methods means that each individual in the population has the same chance of being selected for the sample (2012) The survey questionnaire was developed on free online source distributed to employees via email, and social media messaging. Printed sheets of questionnaire were also provided for data collection. The expected sample size is set to 100 participants from the target population and the sampling is undertaken based on simple random sampling method. 2.3 ANOVA analysis of customer rating of service quality of UK minicab The above analysis of customer rating of service quality of UK minicabs reveal that female customers hold very different view regarding the service of minicabs when compared to female customers. It is evident from the analysis that female customers opinion regarding the reliability, assurance, tangibility and responsiveness of minicabs diverge from that of their male counterparts. SS Df MS F P Uber 388.9286 1 388.9286 2.43 0.179774 Minicab 388.9286 1 388.9286 14.25 0.012957 2.4 ANOVA analysis of customer likelihood of using of Uber and Minicab The above ANOVA analysis shows that female customers are much more likely to not use minicabs than male customers. On the other both male and female customers are equally likely to use Uber as taxi service in London. 3.1 Use appropriate research evaluation techniques Effectiveness of Project planning was developed by the researcher for implementing the current research project. The plan entailed the main steps of the project alongside milestones, objectives, review dates and resource allocation. This research plan was highly efficient in enabling the implementation of the research within the allocated time frame. One area where the research faced difficulty was in using ANOVA analysis method in data collation stage. The lack of knowledge and experience of the researcher in using ANOVA analysis method was a key obstacle in the smooth implementation of the research. Achievement of research objectives: Objective 1: To evaluate the factors affecting satisfaction of cab customers The primary objective of the current research was to evaluate the factors affecting satisfaction of cab customers. From the survey of taxi customers in London, the researcher was able to understand that convenience and accessibility were the most important factors that customers considered while selecting taxi service. From this it was inferred that convenience and accessibility of the cab service were the most important factors affecting satisfaction of UK cab customers. Objective 2: To assess the factors contributing to the competitive advantage of Uber in UK Taxi industry One of the other objectives of the research project was to assess the factors contributing to the competitive advantage of Uber in UK Taxi industry. With the help of the customer survey, the researcher evaluated the service quality dimensions of Uber. From this analysis it was understood that reliability, responsiveness and tangibility of service of Uber was rated highly by customers. From this it can be understood that Uber gains competitive advantage in UK taxi sector by offering reliable, responsive and tangible service. Objective 3: To analyse the impact of Ubers growth on mini cabs of UK The other objective of the research to analyse the impact of Ubers growth on mini cabs of UK. This was achieved by comparing the service quality of minicabs with that of Uber. From this comparison it was revealed that that reliability, responsiveness and tangibility of service of minicabs were inferior to that of Uber. This gap in service quality dimensions can be adjudged as the reason for the success of Uber in UK taxi market at the expense of minicabs. Objective 4: To provide suggestions to mini cabs of UK to remain competitive in UK Taxi industry The last objective of the research project was to provide suggestions to mini cabs of UK to remain competitive in UK Taxi industry. Form the research project it was understood that reliability, responsiveness and tangibility of service of minicabs were inferior to that of Uber. Hence it is recommended that minicabs seek improvement in reliability, responsiveness and tangibility elements of their service. Effectiveness of research methods: In the current research, survey method was used for collecting data from taxi customers in London. This data collection method was highly effective as it helped the researcher in collecting data from large number of customers with relative ease. As the data was collected from London this improves the validity of the research findings as London has a very diverse population. However, the research findings cannot be extrapolated across UK as the scope of the study was limited to London city. The research study is using both primary and secondary data. Primary data is obtained from the online survey and appropriate case study examples to interpret the results and Analysis. Secondary data has been used in Literature review .This section starts off by introducing you to four commonly used qualitative data collection methods. These collection methods and many others are also described and explained how to use them in evaluation. It then explains how you may go about involving participants: This is also known as sampling. The section ends with a discussion of a couple of approaches to qualitative data analysis. I will have to use some of these methods as part of your routine project monitoring activities, in a needs assessment or baseline or as part of an evaluation exercise. Quantitative and Qualitative data collection methods There are two ways of analysing qualitative data. One approach is to examine your findings with a pre-defined framework, which reflects your aims, objectives and interests. This approach is relatively easy and is closely aligned with policy and programmatic research which has pre-determined interests. This approach allows you to focus on particular answers and abandon the rest. I refer to this approach as framework analysis (Pope et al, 2000). The second approach takes a more exploratory perspective, encouraging me to consider and code all your data, allowing for new impressions to shape my interpretation in different and unexpected directions. I refer to this approach as thematic network analysis (Attride, 2001). Benefits of research results: The main benefit of the research results is that they outline the scope of competition between Uber and minicabs in UK taxi sector. This would help minicab service providers in understanding the areas where there is scope for improvement in their service. Difficulties faced in the research: One of the main difficulties faced in the current research was related to collecting data from taxi customers in London. The researcher faced difficulty in collecting data as the researcher lacked previous experience in collecting primary data through survey. 3.2 Interpretation and analysis of data 1. Gender Pie chart 1: Gender of the survey respondents Source: Created by the author Gender of the survey respondents is represented by the above pie diagram. From the above diagram, it is observed that relatively increased number of females (54.55%) constituted the participants of this survey program. 2. Rate the following factor in terms of their significance in your selecting a particular taxi serve (Scale of 1-5 where 1= Very high and 5= Very low) Bar chart 1: Ranking of factors that customers considers in selecting a taxi serve Source: Created by the author Analysing the significance of the various factors that a customer considers while adopting a taxi service, it is observed that convenience and accessibility were the mostly rated elements. The importance of safety element and pricing strategy were also identified from the customer responses. Thus it could be interpreted from this survey result that service efficiency, product attribute and pricing constitutes the main elements that influence the decision-making the process of the customers. This is in line with the literature study of Wallsten (2015) that explains the concept of Quality-value-loyalty chain. 3. Rate the following elements of service quality of Uber on a scale of 1-5 where 1 = Very good and 5= Very bad? Bar chart 2: Customer rating for the service attributes of Uber Source: Created by the author Responsiveness, tangibility and reliability were the highly rated characteristic features of Uber services. This is in line with the findings of Sundararajan (2014) and Isaac (2014) who identified that service excellence was the key element that provided an improved competitive advantage for Uber. However, it is also observed from the above pie diagram that Uber has received a negative customer response regarding its assurance. 4. Rate the following elements of service quality of minicabs of UK on a scale of 1-5 where 1 = Very good and 5= Very bad? Bar chart 3: Rating for the service quality of minicabs of UK Source: Created by the author A multitude of opinions was gathered from the customers regarding their rating for the service quality of minicabs. However analysing the above bar diagram it is apparent that majority of the customers has given comparatively a higher rating for the empathy element in the service quality of UK minicabs. 5. Rate the likelihood of you using the following services when you use taxi service next time on a scale of 1-5 (1= Very high and 5=Very low) Bar chart 4: Probability of selecting Uber and minicab services Source: Created by the author Analysing the probability of customers in selecting a taxi service, it is observed that majority of the participants opined that they prefer to opt Uber services. This signifies that Uber has achieved an improved recognition and competitive advantage compared to other minicab services of UK, which is in line with the reports of Isaac (2014) and Wallsten

Self-Reflective :: essays research papers

As I was flipping through my weekly subscription of US Weekly, I noticed a crossword puzzle featuring my favorite superstar, Britney Spears. The crossword was offering a $1 million prize to the 25th correct entry received. Breezing through the questions, I quickly mailed in my entry. About three weeks later, I received a check in the mail for $1 million! I decided to spend my prize money wisely by sharing with my family, investing it in a small business, and spending the rest for myself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First and most importantly, I gave my parents $300,000 so they can retire, put my brother through college, and maybe take a long vacation. I also gave both my brother and sister $50,000 each, so they can pay bills, or buy whatever they want. My extended family is also very important to me, so I gave each family a $10,000 Visa Gift Card, totaling $100,000 for 10 families.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After my family was taken care of, I thought very carefully about what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I decided to open a beauty salon because cosmetology interests me and it can be good money. With the building costs, supplies, and licenses, I spent about $95,000.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Finally, after my financial situation and family has been taken care of, I could then concentrate on myself. The first thing I did was sold my car, which got me $6,000 cash. With this money and about $86,000 more, I was bought myself a silver BMW 745i, with black leather interior and a V8 engine. I moved out and purchased a condominium in Highlands Ranch that was well furnished for $250,000. Of course with my new car and a new home, I had to go shopping for a brand new wardrobe and accessories. After five rough days of shopping, my expenses totaled out to $40,000. At this point, I was left with $29,000, which I put in a savings account for emergency purposes.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although it’s sad that most of the million dollars is now gone, and I was once considered a â€Å"millionaire,† the things I spent the money on turned out to make everyone who is important to me happy.

Placebo Effect :: essays research papers

The Placebo Effect   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The activity I chose to write about was on Dr. Walter A. Brown’s article in Scientific American about placebos and their effect on the patients. His article described what a placebo is and if it is ethical for doctors to prescribe this “treatment'; to their patients.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Dr. Brown, who is a psychologist at Brown University, decided to do a study on the effects of a placebo. A placebo is any treatment or drug with no medicinal value that is given to a patient to relieve symptoms of an ailment. His hypothesis in the article focused on if the placebos had any effect on the patients who took them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To test his hypothesis, Dr. Brown and his colleagues performed experiments on patients who had depression. To test his idea, he employed what is known as the “double blind technique.'; This type of experimentation involves that neither the doctors nor the patients know if they are receiving the real “stuff'; or simply sugar pills (placebos). Only the experimenters know who gets what. What this supposedly does is that the patient will mentally think that the doctor is giving him/her the real drug and they will soon be feeling better. When in reality, it is themselves, not the medicine, which makes them feel better. These are the findings of Dr. Brown.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his experiments on the placebos, he found that the placebo can make a person feel better, but it can also have no effect what-so-ever. In his study of the depressed patients, about 50% of the subjects with normal levels of cortisone benefited from the placebo, whereas, only about 35% of the depressed patients benefited from the drug. This led Dr. Brown to realize that there are other factors in treating depression. He found that the persons with short-term depression responded more favorably to the placebo than those with long-term depression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other doctors also performed “placebo experiments'; to realize if it really works. One example would be of the experiments led by Edmunds G. Diamond of the University of Kansas Medical Center in the 1950’s. His research involved the surgery to treat angina pectoris. He had a set of 18 patients suffering from this ailment have common surgery to relieve this symptom. In 13 of the patients, the doctors actually performed the operation, however in the other five, all they did was make an incision in the chest and sew it back up.

Productivity Amidst Chaos? Essay examples -- Essays Papers

Productivity Amidst Chaos? The Tragedy of Urban Public Schools Urban America has been deteriorating for decades. Plagued with poverty, crime, and unemployment, it is a wonder that educational institutions exist at all. The present state of urban public schools is quite disheartening. With issues to face such as inadequate facilities, widespread violence and rising drop out rates it is no longer a question of who will succeed, it is a question of who will survive. Urban schools have become institutions well skilled in the desensitizing of its students to the importance of the qualities that an education should embody: idealism, imagination and creativity. Author Jonathan Kozol suggests in Savage Inequalities that public schools promote nothing but inequalities among students. In actuality, finding the root of this problem is much more involved. The problems in urban public schools are as interconnected as a spider's intricate web. Every strand connects to another and so on, until the problem is not merely one segment of the web, but the web itsel f. Every problem facing urban public schools is intrinsically related to one another. In order to isolate the underlying issue it is necessary to define the one element broad enough to encompass the widest possible range of solutions. Kozol's analysis depicts inequality as the blanket that covers every single problem in urban schools. More realistically, inequality is merely a strand in the overall web of problems in which America has become entangled. The most pressing issue in today's urban public school system is the decayed state of the environment in which students are forced to learn. The scenes are nightmarish, "One would not have thought that children in America would ever... ...l speaks of "savage" inequalities: "there is a deep-seated reverence for fair play in the United States†¦ but this is not the case in education, health care, or inheritance of wealth. In these elemental areas we want the game to be unfair and we have made it so; and it will likely so remain" (Kozol 223). For the past several decades, America has pushed the problems in the education system out of the public eye. The web of uncertainties has since grown so large that it becomes impossible to escape one without charging headfirst into another. The only escape is to start for the beginning: cut all ties, and although it is discouraging, allow the old system to fade away. By consciously placing the failure in the past, it then becomes possible to take responsibility for the damage done and move decisively toward building better learning environments for future generations.