Critical evaluation of about 4 pages on the Accenture article on the Essay - 1

Critical evaluation of about 4 pages on the Accenture article on the Innovation Death Spiral - Essay Example According to the CEO of Apple Inc Tim Cook, innovation may create new market share and new customers for the organization. In order to fulfil such views, the organization created a new invention named Apple i-pad. This proved extremely effective for the organization in the age of recession in order to amplify its profit margin and productivity. However, after a very small period of time, the organizational performance started declining significantly thereby reducing its image and reliability in the market among other rival players as presented by the below figure. Therefore, as per Mr. Tim Cook, the organization of Apple Inc became trapped in the process of ‘Innovation death spiral’. According to this process, the organization develops new products with the desire that it might present high results but yields up with disappointing results. However, in order to balance such a phenomenon, Tim Cook, implemented balancing innovation strategy in order to rectify such trouble, as innovation is considered as an engine. In order to retain the portfolio and reputation of the organization, Tim Cook decided to offer higher concentration over the field of research and development. Only then, the organization might analyse and evaluate the demands and preferences of the customers in an effective way (Innovation management, 2011). So that, after developing and launching the products, it might offer high-ended results to the organization of Apple Inc that might amplify its net income and market share. In order to do so, the CEO, Tim Cook developed varied types of products such as I-pad mini, iphone 5, iMac and many others. By inventing a series of above mentioned products, the total sales of the organization of Apple Inc increased by almost 50 percent in the period of recession as well as compared to other rival players such as Microsoft (Mysticdots, 2012). Apart from this, in order to save the organization from falling in the

Designing a Wellness Program Essay Example for Free

Designing a Wellness Program Essay 1.When a health promotion specialist begins the task of designing a wellness program the first and most important step is performing a needs assessment. An important part of the needs assessment is collecting data. There are two main types of data. One is primary data. This is data that you obtain yourself from the population you intend to serve. Examples of primary data are: administer surveys by written or electronic questionnaires, telephone interviews, electronic interviews, face-to-face interviews, Delphi technique, community forums, focus groups, observation, and self assessments. This data is current and straight from the target population with specific information to answer planner’s questions. Negatives for this type of data mainly includes: cost, time, manpower. All of these methods of collecting primary data have their own unique advantages and disadvantages. However, one must examine the intangibles that are associated with each method on an individual program by program basis (McKenzie, Neiger, Thackeray, 2009). The second form of data one may obtain is termed secondary data. This is data that has already been obtained by someone else and is readily available. Sources include governmental agencies, nongovernmental agencies and organizations, and data available in the literature. Examples of governmental source data from the CDC, FDA, and others would be: census data, health and vital statistics, behavioral risk factors, and cancer statistics. Nongovernmental sources like the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, and others can offer information and statistics on topics such as: cancer, heart disease, lung disease, stroke, and many more. Data from literature sources that are peer-reviewed such as Medline and ETHXWeb can be valuable tools to help identify the needs of one’s specific population. This data is generally inexpensive, easier to obtain, usually summarized, and requires less resources to collect. The largest negative to this data is it is not specifically from the target population and therefore might not be applicable one’s target population. How the data was obtained, from whom it was obtained, and a number of other variables can change how valuable data may be for one’s specific target population. Secondary data can also be a great source to help one construct survey instruments to obtain similar data that is straight from your target population (McKenzie, Neiger, Thackeray, 2009). 2.After working for 16 years I’ve come to the conclusion that most of my colleagues and myself have fallen into two categories, overweight or obese. Unfortunately this is a statewide and a national problem. My solution is to start a walking campaign for TCC employees that will help fight obesity. The first step would be to perform a needs assessment to see if there is an actual obesity problem at my college. This would entail identifying types of information that might help me answer the question of obesity at TCC. My first action would be to contact the person in charge of employee health at TCC and see if there is any secondary data collected from the employees that would be useful for this endeavor or to see if anything similar has ever been attempted at TCC. I would also perform a literature search on walking programs and obesity. Another source of secondary data might include health screenings or other health information obtained from TCC employees. Of course this could be a problem in regards to Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). Other secondary sources that could be utilized are: the Tarrant County Public Health, Texas Department of State Health Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Healthy People.gov. All secondary data would need to be reviewed for its usefulness and how current the information is that would be utilized. Primary data would allow me to collect current data from the target population. Primary data could be collected by internet surveys, mailing surveys, telephone surveys, and organizing focus groups (Fitzhugh, 2012). The next step would be how to collect the data for the assessment. My first action would to ask some colleagues for assistance. We would then break up the work of obtaining the secondary data via the internet and making some phone calls to key personnel to see what data was available. We would obtain all the data we could from the secondary data sources stated prior. In addition, with the college’s approval, I would send out at a Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) survey via e-mail through the college’s mailing system. If needed, I would use the intercampus mail system to send out the HRA survey. I would also organize focus groups to obtain more primary data. And most importantly I would obtain information from the leaders at TCC via surveys or interviews (Fitzhugh, 2012). The third step would be the actual collection of the data. This would take organization, effort, and time. I would first need to gain approval from my superiors at the college to get time off, obtain staff, and obtain funds to collect the data. Obtaining staff might be achieved through volunteerism. Volunteers would not only assist in collecting the data, but would aid in entering and managing data. Funds might be granted from the leaders at the college from various funding sources or even from the county or state levels (Fitzhugh, 2012). The fourth step would involve analyzing the data to profile the actual needs of the TCC employees. For my program the data would need to show that there is a weight problem and that lack of exercise is a key element that could help address this health issue. This would involve organizing the data and comparing our population to the region, state, and even national levels. This would also include both qualitative and quantitative analysis of the data obtained where reliability and validity would be assessed (Fitzhugh, 2012). The last step would be to prioritize and validate the needs of TCC employees. We could perform this by ranking the health issues in order of importance as reported. We could establish a Basic Priority Rating (BPR) which takes into account the size of the problem, seriousness of the problem, effectiveness of possible interventions, and lastly is the intervention doable. One additional method would be to take the data back to a focus group or advisory panel and prioritize by importance and potential for change. Through these processes we may find that there are other larger concerns for TCC employees. One could waste a lot of time, effort, and funds if a proper and thorough assessment is not completed prior to initiating a health promotion program (Fitzhugh, 2012). References Fitzhugh, E. C. (2012). mms://mediasrv1.ccs.ua.edu/CCS-AO2/HHE667-2/module4/667_Video_8.wmv McKenzie, J. F., Neiger, B. L., Thackeray, R. (2009). Planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs: A primer (5th ed.). San Francisco: Benjamin Cummings.

Cesare Lombrosos Theory of Criminal Traits

Cesare Lombrosos Theory of Criminal Traits Abstract Cesare Lombroso’s (1960) Criminal Man led to a new discipline in criminology, placing a link between physical anomalies and crime. Certain attributes were said to be the result of a biologically inferior presence which led to a life of crime (Ellwood, 1912). An observational study interpreted a number of ‘mugshots’ made up of criminals and Psychology staff from Canterbury Christ Church University. Independent t-tests revealed that there was no difference between the two groups in terms of physical characteristics and ‘criminal’ rating. These findings tie in with previous research in the field (Goring, 1972; Saladin, Zalman Breen 1988). COMPARING THE PREVALENCE OF ‘CRIMINAL TRAITS’ BETWEEN CONVICTED CRIMINALS AND PSYCHOLOGY STAFF Cesare Lombroso (2006) is best known as the founder of the discipline criminal anthropology; the study of mental and physical traits associated with the ‘born criminal’. Lombroso published Criminal Man (2006), a famous study in which he attributed criminal behaviour to ‘Atavism’, an inherited condition in which offender’s demonstrated evolutionary throwbacks to more primitive humans. According to Lombroso (2006) the criminal was fundamentally a living anomaly concerned with pathological and atavistic characteristics (Ellwood, 1912). After studying 66 deceased criminals, Lombroso (2006) compiled a list of physical features assumed to be associated with criminal behaviour. Traits included asymmetrical faces and excessive body hair. A person was thought to be a criminal if they processed 4 or more traits. Charles B. Goring (1972) subjected 37 of Lombroso’s (2006) characteristics to empirical testing and compared 2,348 London convicts with a control group of young Englishmen. Goring (1972) found little support for Lombroso’s work, instead suggesting criminal behaviour is simply an inherited lack of common sense. Support for Lombroso comes from a study by Hooton (1939), in which 13,873 male prisoners were compared with 3,023 males from a general sample. Hooton attributed criminal behaviour to biological inferiority, assigning a number of features such as sloping foreheads to criminals. Hooton was, however, criticised for his circular reasoning. Criminals were assumed to be physically mediocre and those features which distinguished criminals from others could be classified as precursors of biological inferiority. Only a small number of modern studies have tested the relationship among attractiveness and criminal behaviour. Saladin, Zalman and Breen (1988) invited students to judge the physical attractiveness of a selection of male photos. Other students assessed the same photos and judged the likelihood that those pictured would commit a crime. Those rated as less attractive were more likely to commit crime. Similar results were also found in other related studies (Cavior Howard, 1973; Kurtzberg, 1978). The current study is building upon the previous contradictory evidence, and much like Goring (1913), the study will focus upon comparing Lombroso’s (2006) original anomalies within the criminal and general population. As a result of previous evidence my hypothesis states that there will be no difference between Lombroso’s (2006) ‘criminal traits’ amongst convicted criminals and the general population. Method Design The design of the experiment consisted of independent measures as both groups were separate from each other. Participants There were 30 participants in total, 15 were Psychology staff members from Canterbury Christ Church University and the other 15 were convicted criminals. Materials and Apparatus Materials required for the experiment included the 15 criminal mugshots, 15 staff mugshots and finally a criminal characteristics coding sheet. Procedure The procedure involved going through each photo and deciding whether each person had Lombroso’s (2006) original ‘criminal characteristics’. These characteristics consisted of: asymmetric head, flattened/twisted nose, large ears, fat lips, enormous jaw, high cheekbones, narrow eyes and excessive skin wrinkles. Each photo was judged upon these criteria and whether they were present or not. The final part involved deciding whether each person was a criminal or not which was based on Lombroso’s (2006) ideas that if you perceived more than four characteristics then you were a criminal. In terms of ethical considerations the use of photos from the staff members would have required consent as well as the right to withdraw from the study at any point. Results Overall frequencies for the ‘criminal characteristics’ identified in both sets of photos are given in Table 1. This data reveals that in terms of the ‘non- symmetrical face’ and ‘twisted nose’ characteristics these were marked as being present in the staff photos (4 and 8 time respectively) more so than for the criminal photos in which they were reported 2 and 6 times. All the other traits were identified more on the criminal photos however ‘enormous jaw’ and ‘high cheekbones’ were equally coded for at 7 and 9 times. Table 2 provides data showing the frequencies of the total numbers of ‘criminal characteristics coded for in each group of photos. Both groups receive more total ratings in the middle of the scale, with the majority coded for 2 or 3 criminal traits. An independent t test yielded t(28) = .756, p > .05. The hypothesis was accepted: there was no difference between the criminal classification of ‘st aff mug shots’ and ‘criminal mug shots’. Discussion Overall there was no difference between the criminal classification of the ‘staff mugshots’ and the ‘criminal mugshots’ which replicates similar findings obtained in studies by Goring (1972) and Kurtzberg et al, (1978). This implies that Lombroso’s original ideas and theories about certain characteristics leading to criminality have been undermined by this study. The data presented in table 2 can be described as normally distributed as the ends of the scale are sparsely occupied; however the majority of participants from both groups were coded as having between 2-5 criminal traits. According to Lombrosso a criminal was said to have four or more traits, therefore based on results obtained it can be said that the distribution of seemingly ‘criminal’ characteristics is actually very normal. One limitation to this study is that it is entirely subjective as one person is judging the photos on whether they are ‘criminal’ or not bas ed on a set of perceived traits. This may lead to a lack of reliability as the same result cannot be guaranteed if the study is repeated. A further limitation concerning subjectivity is the classification of the criminal traits, for instance what constitutes as ‘enormous’ when describing the jaw or ‘excessive’ when labelling skin wrinkles. Further in depth classification is required to establish whether a particular trait is present. Although the results from this study and others suggest that Lombroso’s (2006) method of criminal profiling is out of date, it has led to the use of similar methods using information such as upbringing or substance use to establish whether a person is likely to commit a crime. References Cavior, N., Howard, L. (1973). Facial attractiveness and juvenile delinquency among black and white offenders. Journal Of Abnormal Child Psychology, 1(2), 202-213. doi:10.1007/bf00916114. Ellwood, C. (1912). Lombrosos Theory of Crime. Journal Of The American Institute Of Criminal Law And Criminology, 2(5), 716. doi:10.2307/1132830. Goring, C. (1972). The English convict. Montclair, N.J.: Patterson Smith. Hooton, E. A., (1939).Crime and the Man, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. Kurtzberg, R. L. (1978). Plastic Surgery on Offenders. In N. Johnston L. Savitz (Eds.), Justice and Corrections, New York: Wiley. Lombroso, C., Gibson, M., Rafter, N. (2006). Criminal man. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Saladin, M., Zalman S., Breen, L. (1988). Perceived Attractiveness and Attributions of Criminality: What Is Beautiful Is Not Criminal,Canadian Journal of Criminology30(3), 205-215. Table 1 This table illustrates the present frequencies of each criminal characteristic as well as the total number of those classified as criminals in the ‘staff’ and ‘criminal’ mugshot categories. Face Nose Ears Lips Jaw Cheekbones Eyes Wrinkles Criminal Criminal 2 6 9 7 7 9 8 3 6 Staff 4 8 6 2 7 9 3 4 4 Table 2 Listed in this table are the total numbers of criminal traits identified for each type of mugshot, ranging between 1-6 characteristics. Number of ‘characteristics’ present after coding 123456 Criminal 045321 Staff 164220

Narration, Metaphors, Images and Symbols in One Flew Over the Cuckoos

Narration, Metaphors, Images and Symbols in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest   Ã‚   In 1962, when One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (the Nest), was published, America was at the start of decade that would be characterized by turmoil. Involvement in Vietnam was increasing, civil rights marches were taking place in the south and a new era of sexual promiscuity and drug use was about to come into full swing. Young Americans formed a subgroup in American society that historians termed the â€Å"counterculture†. The Nest is a product of time when it was written. It is anti-authoritarian and tells the tale of a man's rebelling against the establishment. Kesey used metaphor to make a social commentary on the America of the sixties. In this paper I will deal with three issues that seem to strike out from the novel. First; is the choice that Kesey made in his decision to write the novel using first person narration. The second part of this paper will be an analysis of some of the metaphors and Kesey uses to describe America in the sixties. Finally I will speak about the some of the religious images that Kesey has put in the novel.    For the reader of the Nest, the most familiar character of the story would be Chief "Broom" Bromden, a half Indian, paranoid schizophrenic, who has been in the institution since World War two, (about 15 years). He spends his days dwelling in the clouded mind that his mental illness has produced. This illness is characterized by audio and visual hallucinations. He makes constant reference to the "fog," "the combine," and "the machine." Bromden lives in a world inhabited by people who have been implanted with machines. In part one of the novel, we read nothing but the delusions of a madman. The novel opens ... ...illan Company of Canada Limited, 1962. Klein, Maxwell. The Images and Metaphors of Flower Children. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 1988. Kunz, Don. Mechanistic and Totemistic Symbolization in Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. A Casebook on Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Ed. George J. Searles. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press. 1989. Pratt, John Clark. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. New York: The Viking Press. 1973. Semino, Elena, and Swindlehurst, Kate. Metaphor and Mind Style in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Northern Light (online posting) Spring 1996. <www.northernlight.com/cgi-bin/pdserv?cbecid=6619970923010053874&ho=monsoon&po=508&cb=0> Unknown Author. Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. (online posting) <http:www.nhmccd.cc.tx.us/contracts/lrc/kc/kesey.html>   

Advocacy for Families and Youth

Josie is an 11-year-old bi-racial â€Å"at-risk† adolescent who lives with her single mother. Josie has a history of learning and behavioral problems in school. She attends a large suburban school and is struggling in sixth grade. Josie can be a behavioral problem in the home and community and has been referred to your agency for advocacy services. She has been asked not to return to her soccer team because of her behavior and is no longer permitted at her after school program. One day when you are talking with Josie, she reports that she has been extremely depressed and just does not care about living anymore. In paragraph format, discuss, and describe the basic theories or methodologies involved in advocacy and the role of the advocate in working with at-risk families or youth. Explain how you would advocate for Josie in both the personal and professional setting by addressing the following questions: 1.What are the key advocacy issues or risk factors impacting this case? List at least three and explain why these are key issues. Make sure to take cultural considerations into account. 2.What should be done to address the advocacy issues? List at least three solutions per issue identified. Be very specific and support your response with at least two sources. 3.Identify any roadblocks that could occur to successful advocacy for this scenario. List and explain at least three roadblocks. Support your response with at least two sources. 4.What are the key legal and ethical considerations relevant to this case? How would you address these considerations?

Both Shiela and Eric Birling Change Significantly During the Course of the Play Essay Example

Both Shiela and Eric Birling Change Significantly During the Course of the Play Essay Example Both Shiela and Eric Birling Change Significantly During the Course of the Play Paper Both Shiela and Eric Birling Change Significantly During the Course of the Play Paper Essay Topic: Play I agree with this statement because at the beginning of the play Sheila seems very bubbly and she is always happy about everything, but as the truth comes out as the play goes on Sheila becomes unhappy and more and more upset. Eric changes as the play goes on because at the start of the play he can drink as much as he likes and the family wont notice how much he is drinking because they dont suspect him to be a heavy drinker. When Arthur and Sybil find out everyone turns against him and Eric realises what his family are really like. We learn that each of the characters are like one another in there own kind of way, thinking is nothing to worry about for the family, life is great. The writer shows that the characters are pleased with themselves by using happy phrases and making sure nobody snaps at one another. This is at the start of the play of course. I think Sheila changes the most throughout the play because when she accepts her guilt she wants to hear everybody elses story and make them accept what they have done. Sheila is impressionable, and deeply affected by what the Inspector reveals to her family throughout the play, she also uses slang phrases such as youre squiffy (page 3) towards Eric to indicate that he is drunk. Her use of slang expressions help emphasise her youth. However at the beginning of the play when shielas story is revealed she seems to have very similarities to her father Mr Birling. She seems very selfish and full of self-importance. An example of this behaviour is when shiela gets Eva Smith fired from her job at millwards just because Eva smiled at another assistant when she was trying something onb which both the assistant and shielas mother objected to before hand.