Campus Recruitment

Grail Research – Campus Interaction Campus Placements – 2012 August 2011 Presentation Plan ? Introduction to Grail Research – An Integreon Company ? What We Offer ? Q&A August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 2 About Grail Research ? Grail Research provides organizations with accurate, succinct answers to their most important business questions ? Global firms rely on Grail to deliver market intelligence required to make strategic decisions that support business growth Common client themes include entering new markets, launching and enhancing products, making acquisitions or strategic investments, unseating competitors, and more ? Grail Research was founded by Monitor Group, one of the world’s leading business advisory and investment firms with its own US 2Bn+ private equity firm ? Grail Research is now a part of Integreon, a market leader in research, legal, and analytics services ? Grail’s global capabilities include condu cting research in 110+ countries and 35+ languages In A New World, A New Model For Answers Market Research Cost-effective ? Data rich Immediate, Global and Concise Strategy Consulting ? Personalized ? Insightful ? Rigorous August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 3 About Integreon A Leading Global Provider of Knowledge Services ? Our mission is to be the most trusted provider of Knowledge Support Solutions to professionals ? Integreon is a stable, profitable private company †¢ Established in 1998 †¢ Financially secure, 75% owned by Ayala Corporation, a leading publicly listed Philippines conglomerate with a market capitalization over $15 billion, 25% owned by management ? We employ almost 2,500 staff worldwide ? We have Six Sigma Black Belt expertise and are certified in †¢ ISO 27001:2005 Information Security †¢ ISO 9001:2000 Quality Management UK US Atlanta Cambridge Fargo Los Angeles New York Washington DC Office Locations London Bristol China Beijing Philippines South Africa Johannesburg India Mumbai New Delhi Manila August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 4 Milestones†¦.. Setting up offices in Beijing and Johannesburg – Offices in newer locations were established to tap market intelligence needs in different geographies. Beijing marking the fourth and Johannesburg being the seventh office worldwide gathering market and competitive intelligence to make informed strategy and investment decisions Paul Boni starts appearing on Fox’s Happy Hour – Chief Sales Officer, Paul Boni appears on Fox’s channels Happy Hour show to discuss events and growth of various industries and share his perspective on growth of market intelligence in the present day scenario HBS presents a case study on Monitor and Grail as part of their 100 year anniversary summit Founder and CEO Colin Gounden was selected to participate in a panel as part of Harvard Business School’s India Conference to discuss Changing Nature of Sub-continent’s Economy Grail shortlisted in NASSCOM EMERGE 50 – The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) names Grail Research as a 2009 EMERGE 50 company †¦Grail Research, an Integreon Company continues to set new milestones and move toward s greater heights August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 5 Meet the Team VIVEK NEB Vice President, Corporate Market and Business Research Vivek Neb is the Vice President of the Integreon’s Research and Analytics practice and heads the Research Operations teams based out of Noida, Gurgaon, Beijing and Johannesburg Vivek holds an MBA from Indian Institute f Management, Indore and Bachelor in Technology from Punjab Technical University KAPIL SHARMA . ANALYST, NOIDA Kapil holds a Bachelors degree in Industrial and Production Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi â€Å"Grail Research provides immense exposure across industries and very bright and talented team members to work with† JULIAN SUN ANALYST, BEIJING Julian holds a Bachelors of Art degree (Honors) in Business Administration from University of Bedfordshire, UK â€Å"My learning curve has gone up significantly in last 16 months. Grail offers cross-cultural / cross-geograph ical experience by working with diverse set of people† TARUN SINGH ANALYST, JOHANNESBURG Tarun holds a Bachelors degree in Information Technology from Delhi College of Engineering â€Å"I have had an enriching experience working with Grail. I also got chance to work with Jo'Burg team as part of GAP. The multi office project delivery model is excellently executed in Grail† August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 6 Presentation Plan ? Introduction to Grail Research ? What We Offer ? Q August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 7 Grail Experience Advantage The ‘CRISP’ Approach Research Rigorous and consistent Triangulation: secondary, experts, surveys ? Ensure approach meets the required burden of proof Insights Clear â€Å"so what’s† Context to make data meaningful Question Charge ? Extract logical conclusions ? Explain the non-obvious insights Answer Synthesis ? Reframe business need as a research question ? Address the underlying need behind the initial question Simple but not superficial ? Know why the question is being asked ? Articulate nuanced summary in 1-2 pages ? Highlight and explain findings that are surprising, new, or provocative ? Weigh the importance of the question ? Identify the audience ? Confirm that the right question is being asked Presentation Concise Powerful graphics ? State what remains unanswered ? Leverage for future value Determine whether the question can be answered ? Provide visual metaphors to make insights from data intuitive and easy to grasp August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 8 Learning and Exposure Projects across Sectors Life Sciences ? ? ? ? ? Technology ? ? ? ? ? Consumer ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Telecom ? Biotechnology Diagnostics Healthcare Medical Devices Pharmaceuticals Hardware Internet IT Services Networking Software Apparel Automotive Food & Beverage Electronics Health & Beauty Media & Entertainment Retail Travel & Tourism White Goods ? ? ? Cable Satellite Wired Wireless Energy ? ? ? Materials ? ? ? Business Services ? ? ? Industrial ? ? ? ? Government ? ? ? ? ? Alternative Energy Electricity Gas Oil Utilities Chemicals Commodities Metals & Mining ? Advisory Outsourcing Printing Publishing Manufacturing Packaging Textiles Transportation Wholesale ? Competitiveness Country Local Regional August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 9 Learning and Exposure †¦across Geographies Grail’s global capabilities include conducting research in 110+ countries and 35+ languages Countries where we have conducted research August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 10 Organization Structure Groups in Grail Custom Research Life Sciences R esearch QR & Analytics ? ? ? ? ? Industry Attractive Study Sector Analysis Competitive Benchmarking Market Feasibility Study Benchmarking Studies ? ? ? ? ? Product launch feasibility Drug Pipeline Analysis Acquisition target identification Technology assessment Physician perception mapping ? ? ? ? ? Online Questionnaire Analysis Qualitative Analysis Focus Groups Statistical Analysis Segmentation Studies ? Grail conducted a Market Opportunity Analysis for Enterprise Applications of a large software vendor ? Grail conducted Product Assessment for a financial services client ? Grail was tracking pipeline development and strategy initiatives taken by competitors of a large pharmaceutical company Grail is helping a client create a pricing mode for a product based on statistical analysis of transaction data August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 11 Learning and Exposure Outside Project Initiatives Branding Internal Process Improvement IT Tools Confidentiality Compliance Knowledge Management Capa bility Groups Part-time Associates Newsletter August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 12 Professional Development Pillars of Grail’s Professional Development There are three pillars of Professional Development that Grail employees will interact with; Combined, these are often referred to as â€Å"The System† Allocations Conversations with Allocations PD Advisor helps set PD goals and provides advice on how to work with allocations Feedback used by allocations to determine skill levels of individuals GRAIL EMPLOYEES Conversations with PD Advisor Project and Semiannual Feedback PD Advisor PD Advisor helps interpret feedback and look for ways to act on developmental priorities Feedback August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 13 Professional Development Alternative Paths Career growth of individuals on different career tracks in Grail – based upon merit, individual’s desire and firm’s need Latika Mahar (Member of HR Team) Shashank Dewan (Member of Jo’burg Team) Manager, Human Resource ? Got promoted to Manager – HR in Apr’10 ? Now key member of the HR team, working across the entire value chain of HR ? Showed interest in moving to HR ? Worked actively with the allocations team ? Joined organization in June, 2007 Associate Project Manager ? Got promoted to APM in Oct ‘10 ? Promoted to Project Lead in Oct ’09 ? ? ? ? exhibiting strong people skills Was an integral part of the team in South Africa for 6 months Got promoted to Associate in Oct’ 08 One of the consistent top performers of the group Joined Grail in June, 2007 Project Lead Human Resource Associate Career shift to Human Resource August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential Analyst 14 Value Proposition ‘What it is in for me? ’ Diverse Industry Exposure Continous Learning Talent Management Professional Development Compensation and Growth August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 15 Career at Grail Talent from World Class Institutes Grail has a set of extremely talented people with education from world class institutes August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 16 Compensation and Growth Career Path Director ? ? ? ? ? Skills Strong orientation to solve complex problems Good subject knowledge Ability to learn faster Strong written and oral communications skills Strong team player Project Manager Associate PM Characteristics Project Lead ? Self starter ? Strong work ethic and maturity in in professional environment ? Should take pride in his / her own work ? Have drive and enthusiasm to take initiatives Associate Analyst Job Location & Salary ? Base Location: Noida / Gurgaon ? CTC: INR 4 Lacs per Annum (Fixed) Management Trainee August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 17 Recruitment Process ? Written Test †¢ Objective: Analytical and Language Test †¢ Subjective: Language Proficiency Test ? Announcement of first short–list candidates ? Interview Rounds: 2 – 3 †¢ Consist of case based studies to assess the problem solving skills and analytical ability of the candidates ? Final Selection August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 18 Presentation Plan ? Introduction to Grail Research ? What We Offer ? Q August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential 19 For more information contact: ? Charu Gulati (charu. [email  protected] com) Copyright  © 2010 by Integreon No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the permission of Integreon. This document provides an outline of a presentation and is incomplete without the accompanying oral commentary and discussion. August 2011 | Copyright  © 2011 Integreon — Confidential COMPANY CONFIDENTIAL 20

The Role of Local Culture and Context in English Language Teaching

The Role of Local Culture and Context in English Language Teaching -Mabindra Regmi The Relation between Language and Culture The structuralists portrayed language as an entity that could be segmented and through learning these segments, the totality would also be learnt. This method has been tested, challenged and in many cases discarded in the world of linguistics. The conception, propagation and inevitable discontinuation of ever new methods has prompted Sowden to express â€Å"there has indeed been methodological fatigue, leading many to the pragmatic conclusion that informed eclecticism offers the best approach for the future. (Sowden, 2007, p. 304). Perhaps, eclecticism is the right trend while implementing ELT methods. One of the factors that should be considered, however, is that there seems to be a deep connection between language and culture unlike the belief of the structuralists. The concept of language teaching now is that of concentration in what the learners learn or w ant to learn rather that what is to be taught. As the classrooms get more learner-centered, it can be assumed that the attitude and the initiatives from the learners’ side will be more prominent.Since a person is shaped by ones culture and local setting, we can assume that the importance of cultural context in language teaching will grow as learning becomes more learner centered. It is in conjunction with this shift of emphasis away from teaching and towards learning, that there has appeared a growing awareness of the role played by culture in the classroom. (Sowden C, 2007, p. 304) It is not only the learners that come with their own culture in the classroom, the teachers also bring their own culture. This is particularly true if the language teacher is not from the locality.Sowden warns the teacher â€Å"to be aware not only of the cultures of their students and their environment, but also of the cultures that they themselves bring to the classroom† (Sowden, 2007, p. 305). Thus, it can be seen, however inconclusive, that culture of both the teacher and learner plays an important role in the language learning environment and they have to be addressed for effective learning to take place. This intricate mutual relationship between language and culture may be the key to unlock the language teaching methodologies of the future. Whenever we talk about anguage and its use, it is important to figure out the relation between language and culture. There are few things we need to ask ourselves in this regard. Can language exist independent of culture? Is learning a new language (English) definitive of learning the culture of native speakers of English? Who are the native speakers of English? Will the culture of the native speakers be appropriate in the setting of the language learner? Can language exist independent of culture? A language cannot exist in vacuum. It has to express some objective function when utterances are made or some text is written.Whe n we do make use of language, the production made is generally about what we know or what we have experienced. What we know and experience mostly confines within the local setting that we have grown up and where we are residing. Thus, local context becomes inseparable from the use of language. Is learning a new language (English) definitive of learning the culture of native speakers of English? When we learn a new language, we need to adopt the culture of the target language to a certain extent because the cultural aspect comes amalgamated with the target language. But what about the learners?The learners have their own set of cultural experiences and objectives of using a language. They have their own cultural amalgamation which has to be addressed during target language learning process to make it meaningful and relevant to the learners. We can assume that integration of local culture and context is inevitable while learning a target language. Who are the native speakers of Englis h? The distinction that makes a native speaker is generally very vague and often misleading. It might be important to look into the terminology if we are to explain what English is.A dictionary definition might say that native is belonging to a certain geographic location. In the case of English we must consider the fact that it is spoken in many parts of the world and more and more people are adopting it as the first language of communication. In this setting we must consider the appropriateness of calling certain speakers native and others not. Furthermore, even within the native speakers we find many varieties as in the British English, American English, Australian English, or South African English. If the English language is to be made a ruly global one, one must leave the notion of ‘native speakers’ behind. Will the culture of the native speakers be appropriate in the setting of the language learner? The culture and context of the learner and the native user of Eng lish may differ very contrastively. The traditional native speakers of English have their own cultural and contextual setting and it creeps into the language that they use. It should not be surprising thus, that the English used in non-native setting has the purpose of academia without much cultural interference.But can English have the same purpose if it were to only transfer the cultural and contextual nature of the target language? In order to make English learning a holistic experience, it is important that culture and local context are integrated so the learner has a more comprehensive grasp of the language. Different Views Regarding the Role of Culture in Language Class Different people have expressed their opinions regarding the role of culture in language class. Phyak, P has collected four such opinions from various personnel in his article integrating local culture in the EFL context of Nepal: An ignored agenda?The first view expressed by Byram and Flemming (Byram, 1997; By ram and Fleming, 1998) states that the target language culture should be taught in ELT in order to help learners to acculturate into the culture of English countries. The second view expressed by Karchu, Nelson and Canagaraja (Kachru, 1986; Kachru and Nelson, 1996; Canagarajah, 1999) opines that there is no need of teaching target culture especially in the contexts where different institutionalised varieties of English are in practice. Similarly, the third view by Kramsch and Sullivan (Kramsch and Sullivan, 1996) states plainly that ‘local culture’ in TEFL should be taught.Finally, the fourth view by Alptekin, Jenkins and Seidlhofer (Alptekin, 2005; Jenkins, 2005; Seidlhofer, 2001) says that since English is a lingua franca, it should be taught in a culture-free context. In the same article Phyak gives a fifth opinion regarding the use of culture in language class by assimilating the highlights of the above opinions where he advises the teachers to use both target and n ative cultures with priority to local culture (Phyak, P). Whatever the views of applied linguists all over the world, we cannot disregard two core realities.The first is that while learning a second language, the influence of the culture of that language is inevitable. The second fact is that the learner of second language comes equipped with the culture of the first language. If no association is made between the culture of the first language and the learning of the second one, the learning will not be as effective. Therefore, inclusion of local culture and context should be more prominent in the initial phases and gradually gear more towards the target culture so that the integration is seamless in the end and language skill transition is more comprehensive.English as an International Language Hegemony of English language is a global phenomenon and the onset of modern technology, the computer; and as the choice language of the academia will further strengthen it. Eventually, the s pread of English will probably be the root cause for disappearance of majority of world languages. Having said that, one must accommodate the fact that the use of English in international communication is increasing, and thus, it is gaining momentum as being an international language. The rise of English as an international language has created many concerns among the laymen, experts, anglophiles and chauvinists alike.The concerns can be divided into two factions. The first leads us towards convergence of all world languages into one giant English language. Because of the advent of printing, and more recently, media; languages, specifically English; are being standardized so that there is uniformity in the manner we write and speak. Many believe this to be a positive step towards world unification. There may be advantages to uniformity, but the question is; does it outweigh the disadvantages that it might bring in the form of ‘language death’ as expressed by David Cryst al or loss of identity?The other faction is made up of personnel who are asking this very question. The prominence of English might be an indicator of decline of other languages. When a language is lost, it is not only the means of communication that is lost with it. There are contextual and cultural associations with languages, and in addition; it also forms the corpora of accumulated knowledge of a community. All this will also be lost with the dying language. Moreover, there is a strong affinity of the language with the identity of a person or a community.Although English may provide with alternate identity, as shall be discussed later in this paper, the primary form of identity shall be lost, especially if the learning of English is subtractive in terms of the first language. Discrepancies aside, internationalization of English is inevitable. The question now remains is how we are going to bring about policies for other languages that are in existence. In order to understand why English is fast becoming a global language, we must try and analyze why is it important for us to learn English.There are many reasons why an individual would want to learn English. i. English may be a factor for obtaining better employment opportunities. ii. English is the medium of communication for business, recreation and competitive tournaments. iii. English is almost mandatory for learners pursuing higher academic achievements and publishing of one’s findings. iv. The knowledge of English may provide higher social standing or identity in many cases. We can see that English language empowers a person both in terms of social and material power.Thus we can see the attraction towards learning English. The choices that the language communities have is either to have subtractive learning of English and forget one’s own linguistic heritage, as is happening mostly in developing countries like Nepal; or to make the learning process additive by retaining one’s own language intact. It can be assumed that the later alternative is more acceptable. The reason for the long windedness of the explanation above brings us back to the core discussion of this paper: local context and culture in teaching or learning English.Now as we have made a huge circle from the inevitable internationalization of English to the better alternate of additive learning of English; it is time to ponder over how we are going to teach English language. English Language, Local Culture and Social Identity If we want to have mastery over English language, then I believe we must find a way to make the language practical to its learners. Just reading the literature of the language or using the language in stereotype British or American cultural setting will not hold much significance to the learner of English as a foreign language.What needs to be done is to bring about association between the language being learnt and the experience of the learners. This will provide platform f or practicality of the language being learnt. In order to understand why local context and local culture must be integrated into teaching of English language, we must also be familiar with how culture and local context plays a role in language learning. Culture and Language Reflect each other The common notion regarding the purpose of language learning has been related to communication.Because of the researches done in sociolinguistics and discourse, we should consider the fact that language is not only ‘understanding’ what the other person is expressing but it is also necessary that we understand the text at a discourse level where cultural and individual background conveys deeper meaning to the language items used. Language is not only communicating with words but we have deep rooted cultural and contextual schemata and frames which are reflected in the language that we use. Thus it is important to analyze the meaning of discourse at cultural and contextual level.The reason that we should consider the Frame and Schema theories of discourse analysis when talking about the language is that if we are not able to express or comprehend the schema created through cultural setting, only understanding the text in communication will not be able to justify the meaning that should have been understood. Only through associating and integrating the language that we are trying to learn (English) into social and cultural setting shall we be able to exploit the nuances of the expression made in a language.Englebert believes that there is a cultural variation between the learner and the language and that the â€Å"teacher hosting foreign students must come to terms with the fact that those students are immersed in a culture with which they are not familiar, and that they bring with them not only their limited knowledge of the language, but a myriad of assumptions based on generations of cultural indoctrination†. (Englebert, 2004). These assumptions based on â€Å"cultural indoctrination† are at the core of schema of the learner.Not only the culture of the target language but even the prescribed packaged methodology might create confusion in teaching English as a foreign language. In her study among the Asian students studying in New Zealand, Li found that â€Å"the interactive teaching methods adopted by New Zealand teachers are culturally incompatible with Asian students’ learning conceptualizations. The findings suggest that some teachers’ adoption of the communicative or interactive teaching approach led to Asian students’ negative learning experience in New Zealand† (Li, 2004).This shows that the cultural background and the mindset of the learner should be considered while teaching English. Subsequently, it also indicates the integration of local context and culture of the learner for smoother and more effective teaching learning experience. If the learner of English is only familiar with her o wn experience based on her own cultural and local setting, trying to incorporate a different language with a different setting will make it literally ‘foreign’. The ‘foreignness’ can be significantly eliminated if local context and culture of the learner is being used in the target language.Thus integrating the cultural and contextual setting in language learning will be important. English Language and Social Identity Bonny Norton has explained that in the current social situation, English language helps create a more powerful identity for the individuals because of the advantages associated with the proficiency of English Language (Norton, 2007). She further explains that construction of identity through learning English are complex and dynamic. The five examples that she has taken in her article all give different perspectives people have for English language based on their cultural and contextual backgrounds.If individuals from different social and ethni cal backgrounds have different concepts about how English should be taught and learnt, then we can assume that it is the experience of the learner that is influencing such perspectives. An individual is the product of the local culture and context, so we cannot ignore the importance of inclusion of local context and culture in English pedagogy. Norton recommends that we should not overlook the focus on individual account while teaching English.She further explains that the researches on language teaching and identity is fragmented and it has to be made more organized, and if English belongs to the people who speak it, expansion of English in this Global era is better (Norton, 2007). Inclusion of Local Context and Culture in ELT in Nepal Along with the gathering momentum of inclusion of local culture and context in language teaching across the world, an initiative has been started in Nepal where linguists and social activists are advocating for inclusion of local context and culture, namely, ethnic languages in mainstream education.Alongside with this initiative there are many linguists and teachers of English language who are advocating for inclusion of local context and culture in English Language Teaching. The problem that the Nepali society is facing is how to bring about the implementation of such content and context in English language. Looking at the coursebooks and educational materials, it is evident that the English teaching is heavily influenced by the culture of target language users. Although some content and stories seem that they have local context, but the exercises that follow again reflect to the target language culture.On the other hand, the teachers are also imparted trainings and education aligning with the target language culture. In this ambience, it will be difficult to implement inclusive local content and culture while teaching of English. In order to overcome this impasse, some measures can be taken so that there is a momentum towards progressive implementation of the discussed issue. First, the language policy makers and the educators of the country need to come together to make a master plan on how to develop materials, train teachers and set objectives on inclusion of local culture and context in ELT.Only when a concrete set of objectives and a clear vision of the implementational procedures have been codified, the initiative can move forward. Second, there has to be a mass drive for collection of local content in the form of stories, poems, articles and the like which also reflects local culture. The content corpus has to be exhaustive so that all the major aspects that need to be covered are covered. Agencies like Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association, NELTA, can be instrumental in taking the necessary initiatives.It is wise to include people from different academic, professional, age group, ethnic, gender, and geographical backgrounds to make the corpus comprehensive and complete. Third, the gathered content has to be carefully cataloged, edited and selected for practical use. There may be many ways by which the content can be used. The content can be an integrated one where a little of everything is included, or it might also be ethnic or locality specific where different communities make use of different relevant parts of the corpus.The fourth, which might also be the most important, is to enable the teacher of English to believe that local content and context is not only necessary but is the most effective way of teaching or learning a language. The teacher should also have autonomy to develop content from her own locality adjusting to the need of the learners there. Perhaps the most difficult part of this endeavor will be to discard the prevalent target culture based content in favor of local culture based one. But once the importance is felt and the initiative commenced, language learning process will take a meaningful and applicable turn.The learners then will not be learning English in vacuum but they can associate their own life experiences to the language being learnt. Finally, a monitoring and evaluation mechanism should be developed in order to judge how successful the implementation of the initiative has been. The monitoring and evaluating body can also make necessary changes in the whole process as the problems arise. Association and Comprehension through Local Context in ELT If there is association between the local context and culture, and English Language teaching; the learners might benefit in many different ways.As Lengkanawati states â€Å"we can conclude that the choice and the intensity of using language learning strategies is influenced by many factors, one of which is the students’ cultural background† (Lengkanawati, 2004), the association of local culture and English language teaching might help the learner build better learning strategies. It will lead the learner to grasp deeper meaning of the target languag e and use it efficiently and productively. Moreover, the differences that lie within the variations of English will make the learner appreciate that context and culture are essential for language learning.All this will lead to a global culture where one retains her native culture while learning that of the target language and thus of the whole world. We have discussed previously about the nature of association between language and culture. In addition, we also discussed about the emergence of English as an international language and the advantages of learning it. Then we went on to how local context and culture can be integrated into teaching English in Nepal. Now, we shall focus on advantages there might be in integrating local context and culture while teaching English in three different stages.The association of local context and culture can be done in three levels: using local context and culture while learning English, Using the context and culture of the target language, and i ntegrating the two cultures to create multicultural or global comprehension. 1. Using the local cultural and contextual setting while learning English. Using local context and culture will enable the learners to grasp the deeper meaning of English because they can associate the cultural and contextual meaning that they are familiar with.In Barfield and Uzarski’s findings, â€Å"the classroom observation showed that students in pair and group works were more interactive when they had to discuss on their local cultures than when they had to discuss on different stories or texts which they were not familiar with. † Contextualization will further enable the learner to be proficient in the language at a faster pace. The learner will understand how a different language is not very different from one’s own. This methodology needs to be applied on the learners at least at the beginning.The learners must be given ample opportunities to interact in the target language. Th is is only possible if the content that is being used is related to local context or culture. If target language culture is given as a topic of interaction, the learners may have nothing to contribute and will be less willing to proceed further. 2. Using the culture and context of the target language The users of the target language are varied. There is no single context or culture that defines a language like English. Therefore, it will be difficult to identify the target culture when we talk of English.This also indicates that even within the same language there is influence of local context and culture. This will make the learner understand that the language is not entirely free from the culture and context of a community. For example, we can take metro English that the Londoners’ use. It is very different from the traditional Standard or BBC English that we learn in Nepal or the other parts of the world. Sometimes there is a discrepancy in lexical meanings and pronunciati on too. A pavement for the British might be sidewalk for the Americans.A mate is a friend in Australia and spouse in England. The fact that even among the native speakers of English in different countries the linguistic items have different meanings will enable the learners to realize that culture or local context is the key factor in using and understanding a language. It will also give an insight that language is culture and context specific and not medium specific. To clarify this statement we can safely assume that the people coming from same cultural and contextual setting will share more meanings than people from cross-culture sharing the same language.This demarcation will be of vital importance because the learner will be able to comprehend that to understand a person is not only understanding the language but understanding the local context and culture as well. It will further inspire the learners of English to be familiar with different cultural settings of the people that use the language. This kind of interpretation of language should be carried out at intermediate and advanced levels where the learners have been made familiar of the inclusion of their own cultural and local contexts while learning English. 3.The emergence of a Global culture When more and more people start becoming familiar with the local culture and context of more and more places, then a common, integrated culture will emerge. This is the Global phenomenon that has been extensively discussed in every sphere of modern human civilization. This global concept of the language and cross-cultural integration should be the ultimate outcome of language learning. When we are able to identify issues of global importance and contribute to it in a local way, then we will be adherent to the post-modernist maxim of â€Å"think globally, act locally†.This is a concept that might be difficult to understand for many learners. There is also a paradox of going local to harbor a global outlo ok. This in turn complicates the nature of language that we use in the modern world. The learners of languages, and specifically of dominant language like English, should consider the integration of local context and language. Considering the complexity of the process and inputs, learners of the tertiary level of English should be taught at this comprehensive level. Assimilation of Various Cultures for Global InterpretationBarfield and Uzarski have a very interesting notion regarding language integration when they opine that even if an indigenous language is lost, which is happening at an alarming rate all over the world, through integration it can be preserved within another language like English. Interestingly, despite the loss or future loss of an indigenous language, the â€Å"roots† of that indigenous culture can be preserved through the learning of another language, such as English. (Barfield and Uzarski, 2009) This is one notion that can be construed as positive aspect of assimilation of local culture into a Global one.Even though we might have strong opinions regarding local languages and cultures that we have inherited, and feel strongly towards dominance and ultimate displacement that a language like English will do to other local languages, the only way to actually save a part of the culture and local form of language might be through English. In order to achieve this, it would be important to integrate local context and culture in teaching languages like English. On the other hand, because English is fast becoming the lingua franca of the world, there should also be a global ownership of the language.If we consider only one of the cultures of the native speakers then the globalization of the language will not be possible. In order to truly make a language like English a global one, and for all the cultures to feel that they are also a part of this global phenomenon, integration of local culture and context is important. So, at the end, every individual language community can feel the ownership of global English through integration and assimilation. Contrastively, the cultural and local contexts of societies that use English language are varied and it would be impossible to integrate everything about all the cultures.To make it comprehensible in the global arena, we should find out commonalities that exist in all the cultures and localities across the world and try to establish a common contextual and cultural condition for the language to evolve into a Global Language. Such understanding and cohesion will provide â€Å"the abilities to perform effectively and appropriately with members of another language-culture background on their terms† (Barfield and Uzarski, 2009). Conclusion This article has assumed certain developments in English language based on current global trends.It has assumed that English is fast becoming a global language and it will become more so in the future. It has also assumed that the local languages will decline and decay in the face of English as their adversary. Considering these base assumptions, the article has provided insight into understanding the importance of English language and equal importance of using local context and culture while teaching English. In conclusion, we can reaffirm the essence of the whole discussion in the following manner: first, we need to understand that we use English as a method of communication and this language is fast becoming a global anguage. Because we use it in our communication, the language cannot be excluded from the local context and culture because they are what we are likely to be communicating about. There may be differences in opinions regarding how or if local context and culture should be used in teaching English, but it is essential that we integrate local context and culture. Second, use of local context and culture in teaching English will depend on the nature of the local setting. Same system may not be applicab le in all communities.Therefore, how the integration is to be done should be tailored to suit the needs of a particular community or a country. In case of Nepal, this can initiate with development of content corpus based on multilingual communities existing in the country and making a broad plan on what and how to integrate the content thus collected and selected. Third, the use of local context and culture can be done following a procedural format where local context and culture can be given more priority in the earlier stages of learning English language.Slowly, learning of the culture and context of the target language is to be achieved for more comprehensive understanding. When integration is done among various communities and language groups, then English will emerge as a true global language with global ownership. Finally, we should also consider the possibility that many present languages of the world might one day die. And the only possibility of its context and culture to b e passed on may be through integration into a dominant language like English. All these expositions make the use of local context and culture in English Language Teaching a necessity.

Effective Leadership in a Hair Salon Essay

Abstract An effective leader has the power to improve the success in an organization. This paper will demonstrate the characteristics and behaviors of Tava Jackson as an effective leader in managing her hair salon. It will discuss her personal power, political skills, and decision making style. The four dimensions of transitional leadership behavior will be the main focus of Mrs. Jackson’s leadership performance in the workplace. Critical thinking steps developed by Browne &Keeley (2010) and theories explained by Colquitt, Lepine, and Wesson (2013) will support how Mrs. Jackson is an effective leader and her impact on me in the salon. Introduction Colquitt et al. (2013) defines leadership as, â€Å"the use of power and influence to direct the activities of followers toward goal achievement† (p. 450). Tava Jackson upholds suitable skills in her salon, empowering her employees to achieve their goals. This paper will discuss her ethical leadership qualities, supported by scholarly articles, and explain how it has impacted me as her employee. I will demonstrate her abilities by explaining the following: How her personal power influences the behavior of her employees?; the political skills in networking ability and social astuteness to increase her understanding of employees; and her consultative style in leader decision- making allowing the organization to work as a team. Idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized considerations are the four dimensions of transitional leadership behavior that will emphasis her effective leadership skills. I will analyze the reasons, assumptio ns, logical agreements free from fallacies, verifiable evidence, causes, significant information omitted, and reasonable conclusions. The finalizing will be of Mrs. Jackson personal  reflection as a leader. Context Tava Jackson, owner of Hairtopia Salon, as owned her salon for over five years. Her business constantly grows because of the characteristics and behaviors she maintains in the workplace. Over ten years ago, she received a license to teach individuals the art of hair. Within her salon, Mrs. Jackson not only hires individuals to work, but provides them with the knowledge to be better in the cosmetic business. She has taken specific classes to enhance hair abilities, maintaining awards in outstanding achievement by John Amico and advanced cut and color by TONI &GUT TIGI. I have worked with her since sixteen years of age, and she has continuously impacted me through her influential abilities, determination to achieve in the workplace, interaction with client and employees, and capabilities of making rational decisions. I would like to own my salon in the future, and she has impacted me has a leader to follow certain strategies and techniques with the abilities I obtain to achieve that go al. She is an effective leader who inspires individuals through her job performance and work ethic. Theoretical Framework Yunus and Anuar (2012) state that, â€Å"transformational leadership empowers others to become open-minded, independent individuals capable of exercising leadership† (p. 651). Transformational leaders are effective leaders in a salon, with the accumulation of personal power, political skills, and consultative style of leadership decision making. Power can come from the management position an individual has in a salon. It can give the person the capability to award or discipline others. Colquitt et al. (2013) mentions, â€Å"expert power derives from a person’s expertise, skill, or knowledge on which others depend† (p.421). Individuals with power have a talent or skills that others don’t possess, attracting others who want to retain that skill. Salon managers hold high positions based on their extraordinary performance, problem solving skills, and understanding of the tasks needed to accomplish the jobs mission. Political skills is the aptitude to efficiently understanding others at work, and using that understanding to influence others in ways that increase personal and/or organizational objectives (Colquitt et al., 2013, p.427). Networking ability and social astuteness are  two parts in political skills. Moss and Barbuto (2010) explain network ability to be the strongest display of a successful leader (p.156). Network ability shows the impressive valuation of job performance. A personal skill that permits an individual to understand and respond effectively to the work condition is social astuteness. Moss and Barbuto (2010) discussed social astuteness as â€Å"the ability to understand men and women, boy and girls- to act wisely in human relations† (p. 159). When a leader discussed a problem with employees, taking in opinions and suggestions before finalizing a decision in the work place is consultative decision- making (Colquitt et al., 2013, p.427). A salon manager essentially needs to make ethical decisions as a leader. Their decisions can have a particular influential consequence, since it involves numerous business deals and interactions with so many people (Woiceshyn, 2011, p.311). Transformational leadership is defined as â€Å"the capability of the leaders who influence changes in visions, strategies, and cultures of an organization† (Sookaneknun and Ussahawanitchakit, 2012, p. 79). Idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized considerations are the four dimensions of transitional leadership behavior. Idealized influence is when a leader can deliver their ideas to their employees and be an influential role model for the employee. Inspiring and motivating employees to visualize what they will receive from accomplishing the business goals is inspirational motivation. Intellectual stimulation is the skill a leader obtains to develop the employees capabilities. Showing care and importance to the employee allows them to feel valued in the business is individual consideration. Transitional leadership is seen as an additional motivational method to leadership than other management methods (Colquitt et al., 2013, p.462). Framework: ————————-> Application and Analysis What makes Tava Jackson an effective leader in her hair salon? How has her leadership impacted me personally in the salon? Colquitt et al. (2013)  explained leadership effectiveness as, â€Å"the degree to which the leader’s actions result in the achievement of the units goals, the continued commitment of the unit’s employees, and the development of mutual trust, respect, and obligation in leader–member dyads† (p. 452). The main concepts that are defined are that leaders use power and influence. Her inimitable qualities that make her an effective leader are the power and influence she maintains in the workplace. Mrs. Jackson’s personal power influences the behavior of her employees by ensuring that they are skilled in the field and updated with new techniques of the season. Her awards received from her work performance by John Amico and large clientele influences her employees to want the same knowledge and expertise skills to increase their clien tele. Mrs. Jackson takes time to understand what each employee is talented at, influencing them to expand that talent by networking. Moss and Barbuto (2010) stated how networking can bring promotion and increased salary impacting leadership performance (p. 160). The ability she possess to socially astute her employees displays her capability to understand her each individual. Every employee in the salon is affect from decisions made by Mrs. Jackson. She cares about the opinions her employees have, so when decisions need to be made she listens to their suggestions. Her consultative style in leader decision- making expressions her ethical understanding to make employees feel heard in the workplace. Mrs. Jackson empathy toward her employees my cause them to trust and respect her more. â€Å"Transformational leadership is a type of leader that can promote organizational innovation capability† described by Sookaneknun and Ussahawanitchakit (2012, p. 79). Mrs. Jackson is an idealized influence when she plans meetings to inform staff on ways to increase profit with her various ideas. She lays out a vision that ins pires other to be part of the project. When she goes to different classes, to stay updated in the cosmetic field, it is motivational and inspires others to follow her tactics. Mrs. Jackson intellectually stimulates her employees by taking them to hair shows like, Bonner Brother, Nirobi, and Dudley, to let them see skills outside of the workplace that will inspire them to try new techniques. This brings out talent that individuals may not have known they obtained. Skills are developed from Mrs. Jackson’s effort to open minds to innovative things. She cares about her employees by individually considering their needs to advance and improve in  the field, by personal training when they feel they need more understanding. Conclusions and Reflections Tava Jackson is a transitional leader that has impacted me personally I have been through about four salons. I started out at Hairtopia Salon, but while in college I had to relocate. I have seen poor leadership in managers, not being considerate or willing to provide professional knowledge to improve their employees in the workplace. She personally impacted me through her influential abilities. I am not sure how she continues the have these skills, and what she went through to gain the skills she obtains. Mrs. Jackson acquires numerous abilities from research found, explaining her growth and the growth of her employees. In the ethical decision- making assessment I scored a 41/50 showing I possess good skills in ethical decision-making. This research shows that there are multiple qualities that can be obtain to be an effective leader in a hair salon. My manager’s effective leadership behaviors and characteristics opened my mind to other capabilities I will need for future skill in managing my own salon. References Browne, M.N., & Keeley, S.M. (2012). Asking the right questions: A guide to critical thinking. (10th ed.). Boston: Pearson Colquitt, J.A., Lepine, J.A., & Wesson, M.J. (2013). Organizational behavior: improving performance and commitment in the workplace (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Mc-Graw- Hill Irwin. Moss, J.A., & Barbuto Jr., J.E. (2010). Testing the relationship between interpersonal political skills, altruism, leadership success and effectiveness: A multilevel model. Journal of Behavior &Applied Management, 11(2), 155-174. Sookaneknun, S., & Ussahawanitchakit, P. (2012). Transitional leadership, organizational innovation capability, and firm performance of cosmetic business in Thailand. Journal of International Business & Economics. 124), 77-91 Woiceshyn, J. (2011). A model for ethical decision making in business: Reasoning, intuition, and rational moral principle. Journal of Business Ethics, 104(311-323). Doi:1007/s10551-011-0910-1 Yunus, N. J., & Anuar, S. (2012). Trust as moderating effect between emotional intelligence and transformational leadership styles. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 3(10), 650-663

Case Study The Vermont Teddy Bear Co Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Case Study The Vermont Teddy Bear Co - Essay Example This study will carry out an environmental scanning basically to assess the elements having profound bearing on the Vermont Teddy Bear Co. Accordingly, a SWOT analysis has been conducted to identify the strategic factors (external and internal both) which will determine the future of the company (Wheelen, 2006, p. 9). While considering opportunities in external factors, on top of the list is the bear grams. Despite the huge toy market, Vermont Teddy Bear Company has remained a front runner in this field. As pointed out by the Wheelen and Hunger "Bear-Grams were personalized teddy bears that were delivered directly to recipients as gifts for holidays and special occasions. Bear-Grams were gift-boxed in unique containers complete with air holes for the bear"(2006, Case 22-9). This reflects the exclusivity and distinctiveness of the product. The second factor considered is the distribution method. After having experimented various methods, the company concluded that the direct marketing strategy of Bear-Grams was the most profitable. Methods of distribution used were the company owned retail stores, direct mail catalogs, and licensing and wholesale agreements. In order to expand its product line and cut costs, the company went into offshore sourcing.

Information, Knowledge and Learning Organisation Essay

Information, Knowledge and Learning Organisation - Essay Example According to Beckman, (1999) the best way to organize knowledge is through some debate. The most powerful and supportive classifications of KM is based on a blend of knowledge accessibility (knowledge stored or located where and in what form?) and knowledge transformation (the flow of knowledge from one place to another and from one form to another). Innovation or knowledge happens as a result of the flow and alteration of knowledge. Based on the â€Å"knowledge matrix† of Nonaka & Takeuchi knowledge is classified as either explicit or tacit, and either individual or collective. They state that knowledge is transformed from one form to another i.e., socialisation (from unspoken to unspoken, where an individual acquires tacit knowledge straight from others through shared experience, observation, imitation and so on); externalisation (from tacit to explicit, through expression of tacit knowledge into explicit concepts); combination (from explicit to explicit, by a systematisation of concepts drawing on different bodies of explicit knowledge); and internalisation (from explicit to tacit, through a process of "learning by doing" and through a verbalisation and documentation of experiences). Boisot's I-Space Model Boisot (1998) proposes a model of knowledge asset development which has an extra dimension to the model developed by Nonaka and Takeuchi. His model introduces abstraction, meaning that knowledge may become inferred to different situations. In Boisot's strategy, knowledge assets can be situated in a 3 dimensional space distinct by axes from "uncodified" to "codified", from "concrete" to "abstract" and from "undiffused" to "diffused". He then suggests a "Social Learning Cycle" (SLC) which makes use of the I-Space to mold the energetic flow of knowledge through a sequence of 6 stages: 1. Scanning. 2. Problem-Solving 3. Abstraction 4. Diffusion 5. Absorption 6. Impacting It is clear from both Boisot's and Nonaka & Takeuchi model that the course of growing and increasing knowledge assets inside organisations is constantly changing. APQC International Benchmarking Clearinghouse Study based on business process Karl Wiig (1997) and the APQC (American Productivity and Quality Center) acknowledged 6 budding KM strategies. The strategies mirror the diverse natures and intensities of the organisations concerned (Wiig, 1997; Manasco,

Louis V. Gerstner Jr Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Louis V. Gerstner Jr - Research Paper Example Question is: Is leadership is different from management? Since the answer is yes, was Gerstner an effective leader? In his book â€Å" Elephants Can’t Dance â€Å", Gerstner during his first day at IBM stated the following â€Å" I’d like to say to all of you is that the last thing IBM needs right now is a vision†¦what IBM needs right now is a series of very tough-minded, market driven, highly effective strategies for each of its businesses† (Gerstner, 2002, p.68). After his speech, he began putting his hands on the dirty job which included letting go of no less than thousands of employees. He was serious about the business of keeping IBM afloat and popularity of his decisions was the least of his concerns. IBM learned a painful lesson in management and leadership from Gertsner but it was able to go back to its feet and survive tougher circumstances like the recession today. A study published in the journal Industrial Management identified practical qualities of effective leaders. Gerstner has at least two practical qualities that made him an effective leader, namely: â€Å"lead by example and read situations and people well â€Å"( qtd. from Enterprenuer.com). Gerstner employed these three practical qualities when he read IBM’s situation clearly because he knew what has to be done despite the surmounting odds way back then. This is not definitely pure luck as this quality was honed by years of experience at a previous company – American Express. It is possible that good instincts and lessons learned from mistakes developed Gertner’s keen observation of situations and people in a business environment. When he was hired as consultant for the fledgling Sony, Gerstner again read the situation as he said†   "The cultural issues, as I found at IBM, are the most fundamental, the most difficult."( Gunther, cnnmoney ,2006) In shor t, he mentored Stringer through

English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 27

English - Essay Example The author carefully creates a controversial issue in this story where it can be seen that the storm is brewing in an otherwise happy family. The author tries to evoke the feelings of the readers to sympathise with Holly who is trapped in a difficult situation which has resulted in clashes of interests. For instance, she has to answer the phone call from Owen while at the same time attending to the needs and interests of the family such as preparing dinner for them. Therefore, Holly is supposed to balance between the needs of two separate but very important groups of people in her life. She cannot ignore her brother while at the same time she should also cater for the needs of her family as the mother. The author uses imagery to make the story more authentic. In order to show that Steven is not impressed by the behaviour of Owen he says, â€Å"He can’t sleep at night. Sometimes he sleeps during the day so it’s night for day for him† (160). The author tries to show how Steven is frustrated by these incessant calls which apparently are made between six and seven every day when wholly is supposed to be concentrating on family chores such as preparing dinner for them. Through the use of the above statement, the author tries to show that Owen wants his problem to belong to everyone. In Steven’s view, such calls should be made during the day when Holly is not very busy with family chores. Oats also uses imagery when Steven says to her wife, â€Å"He is eating you up alive,† (160). The readers are forced to imagine such a situation where a person is ‘eaten’ alive. Though unimaginable, the author tries to make the story vivid so that the rea ders can be in a position to imagine the dire situation Holly is in. Holly’s love for her brother is now jeopardizing her marriage since this is now creating unprecedented problems between her and the husband. Holly’s commitment to her brother Owen

Culture and communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Culture and communications - Essay Example People meeting these two Asian groups get confused because their outlook is also remarkably similar to differentiate them (Howe 1996, p. 222). It is necessary to have a look at elements in each of the country as it will give a clear picture of similarities and differences present. This will also help in understanding the differences and similarities between Chinese and Japanese cultural elements. The first similarity evident in the culture of the two Asian countries is on how they do their naming. The culture of the two countries dictates that a person’s first name should be that of the family and the preferred name should be the last. The family name should resemble the community and this simply indicates that these two cultures do not take their interests first but focus on communal interest first. The norm of using family names has also been extended in Chinese and Japanese businesses, and they name their companies after family names. Employees view their businesses as an extended family where people working in their companies are considered as members of the extended family. This is indicated as one reason why Japan is growing at a high rate in its corporations and can withstand the financial crisis that sweeps economies of most world powers (Howe 1996, p. 225). The other similarity is in their language. Japan’s written language is mostly borrowed from Chinese culture. The Japanese did not have a written language, and they only got it when they started interacting with the Chinese. Japan’s written language, referred to as Kanji, is created from characters that originated from the Chinese symbol language. People from the countries who cannot communicate effectively verbally rely on the symbol language for their communication. Japanese students who studied in China impacted the development of the Kanji language in Japan once they returned back. In addition, Japan is credited for coming up with new words, which refer to similar things and

GM crops food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

GM crops food - Essay Example he customers or the industrial world consumers play a significant role in the GM crops food, as they are the potential basis on which the biotechnology organization can evaluate the effects of these foods on human health (Canavari, 2009). For the biotechnology industry of GM crops food, social media could be a better tool of communication as it will provide information to the public about his product, the services, and the enterprise itself. From this tool, the industry can get back the opinions from other people and try to rectify where critics are experienced. This can help the producers look into the health aspect of the food in a better way (Smith & Zook, 2011). Consumers on the other hand can use direct mails to the organizations whenever they find an issue regarding the product. This aims at making the suppliers to act immediately basing on the feedback from the customers. An example of a direct mail may be a suggestion for a certain method to reduce the health risks in the foods. Retrieved 2 Dec. 20120 from http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/Viewpoints

Reflection on Leadership Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reflection on Leadership - Essay Example The leadership experience that I have gained is only from my studies especially when associating with my peers. My main strong point is my ability to communicate. I believe that communication is the main contributor to success. I therefore base my communication skills as my strong points. The area that I need some improvement on is the ability to work in a group setting. I tend to find myself more independent as opposed to been interdependent. I should improve on that so as to be able to work in a group setting. The activities that would help me improve on the skills are to engage myself in more group settings so as to be used to working with people. The other activities would be to engage in social activities so as to get used too many people. That means that I will be able to work in a group and I will also be able to engage my communication skills in the group setup (Luthans, and Avolio,

Information Systems in Business Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Information Systems in Business - Coursework Example Other data such a s population and demographic data that is important for forecasting can be sourced from government institutions and agencies (Paul, 2001). (ii) Data warehousing for Wal- mart will enhance decision making in the company with regards to inventory management, price control and sales monitoring. The data warehouse will provide data on a real time basis that will effectively aide in quick decision making on supply chain management and customer relationship management (Paul, 2001). Data mining which involves extraction and acquisition of data from the relevant sources to be stored in the data warehouse enables the company; to have up to date and real time data from all its retail stores. This allows real time analysis of the data and facilitates decision making that is appropriate for each store based on the data available (Paul, 2001). (iii) ECM applications are basically provides formalized techniques by which an organization can store and its documents, contents records and other content that is related to business processes and transactions. It entails strategies, tools and methods that used throughout (John, 2013). Hierarchical model where data is structured in a hierarchical manner following a sort of sequence exhibiting a tree structure. There is a root that has branches emanating from it. Network data base model that exhibits a many to many relationship. Items in this model can connect to any item in the database creating a network. Most databases that are used on the Mini and Micro computers are normally based on either hierarchical or network database model. Relational database model has data organized in two dimensional tables with rows and columns populated with related data. Most of the Database software packages available on microcomputers (PCs) are of relational model (Graham & David, 2008). Other database structure models used include the multimedia database that

Stress Essay Introduction Essay Example for Free

Stress Essay Introduction Essay People experience stress in private life and at work place. People have to work effectively against time and within the parameter of various rules and regulations. It is not always possible to create an organizational climate conducive to work. Various departments, groups and external environment factors affect individual behaviour. Minimal level of stress is required for organizations to operate effectively. Excessive stress is harmful for the individual as it causes mental and physical disequilibrium and subsequently leads to physical and mental disturbance. People suffer from high blood pressure, heart attack when stress is beyond control of the human beings. It is therefore necessary to identify causes of stress and modify behaviour so that the individual energy is directed towards organizational productivity and healthy organization climate is created. Sports have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and I know from countless experiences how stress and anxiety can affect ones performance. Anyone involved in sports in anyway will understand the feelings that rush through you when you are in a high risk, and high pressure situations. Those final moments of a close game, or even the night before your big match or competition, are great examples of situations that would create the sudden rush of these feelings; and therefore, triggering a spike in anxiety. Whether you are in the stands, on the bench, playing or coaching, you get that â€Å"butterfly† feeling in your stomach. The difference between success and failure is how you deal with high pressure situations. If you let nervousness and anxiety overcome you, it could cost you and your team the match or that podium spot you worked so hard for. The question is, how do you control it, and how important is it that you control it?

Romeo And Juliet Movie Adaptations

Romeo And Juliet Movie Adaptations Visualize guns firing, convertible cars speeding down the freeway and families (that are more like gangs) feuding. These two families loath each others very existence. The very cause of the guns firing is the pure hatred built up inside of the members like a caged tiger eyeing its escape. The scene built in your head is probably that of the Fast and the Furious. In reality what I am describing is a scene from the classic Shakespeare play, Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeaeres play are represented in many different ways, each producer altering the script to add their own flair. While the play is typically placed in 13th century Italy, Baz Luhrmann took a very unusual, yet correct, approach to his 1996 production of Romeo and Juliet. I say correct because Shakespeares plays never truly have a set script and were written in a way for the reader to interpret them how they feel fit. There never was a final Romeo and Juliet, a single authoritative or authorial version of the play. There were only versions, from the start (Hodgdon 203). Modernizing the classic, Luhrmann set the play in the 1990s. Weaponry such as swords were replaced by guns manufactured by the company Sword as well as transportation changed from horses to convertible cars. While these details of time were altered, the characters lines stayed in their original Elizabethan English form. While this may appear odd for the setting, Shakespeares plays were intended to be performed in typical clothes of the time. Therefore, when his men acted they wore clothes that a typical individual would have worn. Baz Luhrmann used this idea and created his own version that had the character in typical clothes of the 1990s. The vital information was kept intact for the play and even though the props were greatly altered the film is most definitely a correct form of Romeo and Juliet. One may look at the Baz Luhrmann version and think that it is a polar opposite to film that Franco Zeffirelli directed in 1968. Although Zeffirellis film took place in the 1400s there are multiple changes from the play to his production. His changes are far more subtle than Luhrmanns so the typical viewer may not notice them at all. But in reality, there were major cuts made from the play. Actually, Zeffirelli may have altered the script more substantially than Baz Lurhmann. Zeffirellis production has multiple instances where whole scenes are altered with the complete removals of large portions of lines. For example, Lord Paris never dies in his movie. Zeffirelli completely deleted the fight between Romeo and Paris in act 5 scene 3 instead he skipped to Romeo entering the tomb of the Capulets. Also in the play, it is let known that Lady Montague dies of a broken heart which is never acknowledged. In fact, Lady Montague is seen later on in the film during the funerals of Romeo and Jul iet. When looking at the big picture, these scenes do not change the overall outcome of the play which justifies their exclusion. Another scene that was altered resulted in the removal of a character entirely. Apothecary, the infamous character that sells the poison to Romeo against his will because he needs the money is completely cut. Instead Romeo takes off on his horse to Verona with the potion already in his possession. Where he got the potion is not disclosed to the audience. The flow of the film was kept intact by removing this scene. Instead of slowing the rising drama by making Romeo and a new character have a conversation; Zeffirelli opted to rush act 5 scene 2 which kept his audience interested. The editing of this scene did not stop there, and Act 5 scene 2 is actually far different from the original scripts. As seen in the film, Friar John simply takes too long on his journey to Mantua allowing Balthazar to pass him and tell Romeo the false news. There is no mention of a quar antine slowing his progress, which had been the explanation given by Shakespeares play script. Recall Mercutios death. If you simply watched Zeffirellis production you would see nothing peculiar with the scene. Mercutio dies in Romeos arms and questions Romeos intentions when coming between him and Tybalt. This never occurred in the book. Franco Zeffirelli chose to have Mercutio die in the presence of Romeo while the script had Mercutio and Benvolio leaving then Benvolio rushed over to Romeo to inform him of the unfortunate news. Why change the scene? Most likely this adaptation was used to simplify the scene and to add emotion. The presence of Romeo personalizes Mercutios death, adding drama for the audience. The most common change in both films is the deletion or reduction of lines. By reducing the length of the characters lines, viewers sustain their interest and do not have as much trouble deciphering what the characters are actually saying. The point is that the acting text of a play always was different from the written textà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Shakespeare habitually began with more than he needed (Hodgdon 203-4). By cutting down the script, the story becomes more understandable to the audience. This method is quite often in both the Luhrmann and Zeffirelli versions of Romeo and Juliet. In the final scene of the play, Juliet commits suicide to be with Romeo in heaven. Prior to her killing herself, she has a lengthy sequence of lines that Zeffirelli reduced to the simple line, Love give me strength. Juliets Reduction is the most noticeable of the line cuts where others are very minor adjustments for the audiences understanding. One aspect of movies that is very influential in the performance is music and sound effects. The tone of individual scenes is set by the music. Early in Zeffirellis version the music was slow and very calm because the level of action was low. This set a calming atmosphere for Romeo to talk about his problems with love and Rosaline. As fights break out and the drama surrounding Romeo and Juliets forbidden love, the music gradually takes on a frantic pace which emphasizes the growing issues of the story. Gloomy music that could make the whole crowd cry is used as the films credits begin rolling. This allows the viewer to understand the pain that each member of the Capulet and Montague family is feeling as Prince is addressing them. Notice though, that in that final scene while Prince is still talking, there is silence. The sudden absence of music puts a great deal of stress over what Prince is saying which signifies his words importance. Silence was used to grab the attention of the sp ectator because music had been used constantly and the silent background was abnormal. Music was a vital part of the presentation keying important lines and setting the mood. Baz Luhrmann also utilized music in his modern production of Romeo and Juliet in 1996. Used in similar ways,the addition of music illustrated the mood throughout each scene. Music as well as director editing make productions of Romeo and Juliet very diverse. They take on the personality of the director but overall maintain the most important details of the classic. There is no wrong way to interpret Romeo and Juliet because it was written to be interpreted in many different ways.

Evolution of Server-side Technologies

Evolution of Server-side Technologies Chris Avgerinos Introduction A fundamental change has been occurring for the last fifteen years in the way people write computer programs. Scripting languages such as Perl and Tcl replaced the system programming languages such as C and C++. There are tremendous differences between the languages due to the fact that scripting languages were designed for completely different tasks than system programming languages. The main operations of system programming languages are for building data structures and algorithms from the beginning using elements such as words of memory. Scripting languages assume the sets of powerful components and connect them together. Management of complexity is the main use of system programming languages. On the other hand, scripting languages simplify connections between components and provide rapid application development. (J.Ousterhout, 1998) The main focus of this paper is the evolution of scripting languages and the improvements on web-applications. The history of Scripting Language Scripting is as old as computers due to the fact that in order to use a computer you would need scripting. It begun in the 1950s and ‘60s were programmers subjected punch cards into mainframe operators and the machines used to ran in batch mode. The first scripting language was Job Control Language (JCL) and while they were very functional, their response time was very slow. (Delony, 2012) The idea of scriptable shells came into practice in the 1960s when programmers started developing interactive time-sharing systems. One of the earliest projects was MULTICS and late when some of the Bell Labs programmers left the project, they created another project called UNIX using their own system that they used in the MULTICS project. UNIX shells made it possible to do various complex tasks in one line of shell code using the ability to send the output of one program into the input of another. (Delony, 2012) In 1987, Larry Wall created Perl which was popular in the 90s for creating web-applications. Languages such as Python and ruby were invented and Python was the main rival of Perl. (Delony, 2012) Application areas In this section of the paper, we are going to categorize these languages in order to analyze them correctly. The four main categories are Command, Application, Markup and Universal scripting languages. Command scripting languages These are the oldest class of scripting languages appearing in 1960 when there was a great need for programs and task control managers. As we said before, the most famous of the earliest languages was JCL which was created for IBM OS/360 operating systems. We have also Sed and Awk which were text-processing languages. These languages were the first to include regular expression matching and later implemented into Perl. (A.Kanavin, 2002) Application scripting languages These languages were created in 1980s. Such a language was Microsoft-created Visual Basic and later crated its subset Visual basic for application programming. It emphasizes on user interface programming and component embedding. Later on, earlier languages such as Word Basic and Excel Macro Language were replaced by VBA as the main language for programming Microsoft office suite. Its influence spread and soon VBScript and LotusScript adapted these changes. Table 1: Command Scripting Languages In this class we have also JavaScript which is client parts of web-programming projects. This language has a few dialects such as Jscript and it was first introduced in the Netscape Navigator 2.0 browser. (A.Kanavin, 2002) Table 2: Command Scripting Languages Markup Languages Markup languages differ from the other languages due to the fact that they are not programming languages rather than special command words called ‘tags’ that markup parts of text documents which later used by programs called ’processors’ and had the ability to transform a text so it could be displayed in the browser or converting it to some other data format. The main use of Markup languages is the separation of contents and structures. In addition, they include formatting commands and interactive objects into documents. (A.Kanavin, 2002) In 1969, GML (Generic markup Language) was the first Markup language that was created by IBM. Based on the idea of GML, ISO created a standard called SGML in 1986. Among the Markup languages, TeX, HTML and XHTML became the most known languages. In 1979, Donald Knuth, created Tex which was basically designed precise description of how the documents look overlooking the complexity of the structure. This language aim at people who do not necessarily need to know how to program in contrast with Postscript, which was created by Adobe. In the scientific community, TeX achieved enormous popularity because it can fulfil the need for high-quality rendering of complex formulas. HTML is the basic language of the World Wide Web. It is basically an SGML application. XML is a simpler and streamlined version of SGML which emphasizes on transporting, storing data and exchange data between all kinds of systems. It is used for transforming complex data and hierarchical storing data. HTML was redefined in the terms of XML in 2001 and it was called XHTML. (A.Kanavin, 2002) Table 3: Markup Languages Universal scripting languages In this class, we have the languages that are well-known and were originally created for the UNIX environment. However, the goals were very different. The Perl programming language was made for report generation but it became known for its enormous popularity is the ability to write simple and efficient CGI scripts for forming dynamic web pages. First, Python was a tool for accessing system services of the experimental operating system Amoeba but later on, it became an object-oriented scripting language. Applications languages exist that are used by Microsoft.NET platform. Tcl was mainly used as an application extension but it was first created as string processing and close integration with Tk library. It differs from Perl and Python because it relies on C and C++ extensions. Other languages appeared with web services. PHP is the most popular language and is a combination of HTML and traditional programming procedures. (A.Kanavin, 2002) Table 4: Universal Scripting Languages Languages overview Python Python is an object-oriented language which provides high-level data structures. For example, associative arrays, dynamic typing and binding, etc. Python is a powerful programming language that has a flexible and simple syntax. In 1990, Guido van Rossum created Python and since then it is free and can be run on any computer. Python is modular by nature meaning that the core of Python can be extended by importing new extensions. Various standard extensions for operations such as script manipulations and Perl-like extensions are included in the Python distribution. Moreover, it has Graphical User Interface (GUI) generators, web-related utilities, operating system services, etc. Furthermore, we can create new extensions with new or old code. There has been a remarkable amount of extensions that have been created such as GADFLY, which is an SQL database manager written in Python, PIL the Python imaging library, FNORB, OmniBorker, Numeric Python, etc.(Sanner, 1999) Figure 1: â€Å"The molecule viewer application showing the protein Carmbin (1crn) with its secondary structure shown as a ribbon. The molecular surfaces corresponding to helix1 and sheet2 are displayed and colored using, respectively the â€Å"RASMOL residue† coloring scheme and the â€Å"by atom type† coloring scheme. Some pull down menus have been torn off to show the commands they provide. This set of commands can be extended dynamically by loading modules and commands from libraries.†(Sanner, 1999) Perl Perl was created in 1986 by Larry Wall and is basically a combination of C and various UNIX utilities and the convenience of shell scripting. Some of the languages strength is: easily accessing regular expressions, lists, associative arrays, the ability to treat any value as a string, resource management has become automatic. And if you want to create something, you can do it with many ways. This is called TIMTOWTDI (There Is More Than One Way To Do It). In order to handle complexity, you can use object-orientation. However, some languages force the use of it and usually add unnecessary complexity to almost every project. To tackle this problem, Perl added support for objects; it did so in a way that complex modeling can be achieved if needed.(Chip, n.d.) #!/usr/local/bin/perl $count = 0; while () { @w = split; $count++; for ($i=0; $i $s[$i] += $w[$i]; } } for ($i=0; $i print $s[$i]/$count, t; } print n; â€Å"This is a simple script that computes the average of each column in a table of data. It shows one common usage: read in the data and split each line directly to words and store these words in an array.† LISP The LISP language is designed for symbolic data processing using differential and integral calculus, electrical circuit theory, mathematical logic, game playing and other various fields of artificial intelligence. Since LISP is mathematical language, it is possible to give a complete description of it. It is different from other languages in three ways. First of all, it differs in the nature of the data. S-expressions are data arc in the form of symbolic expressions. Significant sub-expressions can be readily isolated due to the fact that S-expressions have indefinite length and a branching tree type of structure. The source of the language itself is the second difference from the other languages because it specifies in what way the S-expressions are to be processed. The third and final difference of LISP is that it can interpret and execute programs written in the form of S-expressions.(McCarthy, 1965) (defparameter *small* 1) (defparameter *big* 100) (defun guess-my-number () (ash (+ *small* *big*) -1)) (defun smaller () (setf *big* (1- (guess-my-number))) (guess-my-number)) (defun bigger () (setf *small* (1+ (guess-my-number))) (guess-my-number)) (defun start-over () (defparameter *small* 1) (defparameter *big* 100) (guess-my-number)) â€Å"This is a super simple number guessing game. Its also designed to illustrate what its like to work within a REPL.† Improving Web Application performance The need for Client-Side Scripting Nowadays, people expect that web applications function just like a windows application due to the fact that web applications have become more powerful and sophisticated. Basically, web applications reside the source code and assemblies and are processed on a web server. What a web server does is that it accepts an incoming HTTP request and then it returns the requested resource in an HTTP response. (Fote, 2013) The process of submitting an ASP.NET page to the server for processing is called PostBack. The HTML page is sent to the web server every time a PostBack happens. What happens is this: the server loads the page, it processes events and renders the new HTML back to the client but on a PostBack the entire page is refreshed. Due to the fact that large web applications consume large amount of view state, it can be very consuming for the client and as a result it will become a major problem for the web server. (Fote, 2013) Inside a client’s HTML page, there are embedded scripts which are called Client-Side scripting. What it does is that the code will be processed on the client machine rather than perform a PostBack to the web-server. Moreover, it is basically used for navigating on pages, date validation and formatting and the language that is used is JavaScript which is compatible to any browser. Client-Side scripting has two benefits. The first is that it is very fast and the second is that it requires fewer resources an the web-server. (Fote, 2013) Ajax Part of Ajax is an object called XMLHttpRequest. What Ajax does is that it makes possible the transfer of data between the browser and the server, using XMLHttpRequest API, without having to reload the web page. This object quickly become popular and web applications such as Google maps and Gmail were created using XMLHttpRequest to get new map titles without reloading the page. The requests that Ajax uses, are triggered by JavaScript code. This is what happens: your code sends a request to a URL, and then it receives a response, that triggers a callback function to handle the response. The rest of the code continues to execute while the request is being process due to the fact that the request is asynchronous.(â€Å"Ajax | jQuery Learning Center,† n.d.) Conclusion To conclude, server-side technologies have been greatly evolved over the years. Languages such as Python, HTML and Perl have raised the standards of scripting languages. Web applications have been improved with the help of Client-Side technologies such as Ajax which played a significant role in the improvement of web applications. I believe that in the future we will see new languages that will surpass the current languages by far. References A.Kanavin, An overview of scripting languages (2002) Lappeenranta University of Technology [online] Available at: http://www.sensi.org/~ak/impit/studies/report.pdf Date of Access: 25/3/2014 Ajax | jQuery Learning Center, n.d. Chip, n.d. The ascent of scripting languages. Geeks Are Sexy Technol. News. Delony, D., 2012. Scripting Languages 101 [WWW Document]. Techopedia.com. URL http://www.techopedia.com/2/28762/development/programming-languages/scripting-languages-101 (accessed 3.12.14). Fote, B., 2013. How Does Client-Side Scripting Improve Web Application Performance? [WWW Document]. Segue Technol. URL http://www.seguetech.com/blog/2013/02/07/what-are-the-pros-and-cons-of-client-side-scripting (accessed 3.13.14). J.Ousterhout, Scripting: Higher Level Programming for the 21st Century (1998) Tcl Developer Xchange [online] Available at: http://www.tcl.tk/doc/scripting.html Date of Access: 25/3/2014 McCarthy, J., 1965. LISP 1.5 Programmer’s Manual. MIT Press. Sanner, M.F., 1999. Python: a programming language for software integration and development. J Mol Graph Model 17, 57–61.

scarlet letter, ethan frome, lesson before dying :: essays research papers

Dignity and Respect Many people try to escape the prison that suppresses them, but fail to because of their moral obligations to themselves and others. Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Ernest J. Gaines’ A Lesson Before Dying and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, portray the struggles one acquires through their own conduct. Ethan in Ethan Frome, Grant in A Lesson Before Dying and Hester in Scarlet Letter each try to elude their life dilemma’s, but are hindered due to their obligations. Ethan is obligated to his wife though he loves Mattie, while Grant is obligated to his society, but wants to leave. Hester accepts her punishment but wants to be within society though they shunned her. Wharton, Gaines and Hawthorne all use various language devices to accentuate the gain of dignity and respect through moral struggle. In Ethan Frome, Wharton uses symbols and archetypes to create Ethan’s anguish to his moral obligation to his wife Zeena which keeps him from his true love, Mattie. His moral prison is established with the headstone of another Ethan Frome and his wife that bores that they â€Å"dwelled together in peace for fifty years,† which interests Ethan (Frome 66). Later on, his own neighbors â€Å"don’t see there’s much difference between the Fromes up at the farm and the Fromes down in the graveyard† (Frome 140). The symbol of â€Å"the Fromes down in the graveyard† establishes Ethan’s similarities to the dead illustrating his moral obligation to Zeena for eternity (Frome 140). When Ethan feels Zeena’s presence, coincidently Zeena’s grey cat â€Å"[elongates] its body in the direction of the milk-jug, which stood between Ethan and Mattie† (Frome 69).The cat then tries an unobserved retreat and â€Å"[backs] into the red pic kle-dish, which [falls] on the floor with a crash† (Frome 69). The color archetypes of ‘red’ establish Ethan and Mattie’s love while the ‘grey’ cat establishes Zeena who breaks their love, the dish. Ethan is always besieged by Zeena even when lacking her presence. He wants to stay with Mattie yet his obligation to his wife thwarts him from her. When Ethan and Mattie finally reach the point by his mill â€Å"they descended [and] the darkness descended with them, dropping down like a black veil† (Frome 125). The â€Å"darkness† symbolizes Ethan’s obligation and his moral duty to his wife (Frome 125).He cannot leave her though he scorns her because it is his morally obliged to reside by her side.

Jim Morrison :: essays research papers

Mr. Mojo Risin’ and Fallin’: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison He is often referred to as the "electric poet" for his tantalizing words and mesmerizing music, and called to be the "Lizard King" for his deep obsession for all creatures of nature. His name is James Douglas Morrison. Jim Morrison is one of the most influential artists in history. His life brought inspiration to many young people’s lives, and his death continues to weave us into the mysteries that he left behind for us to break through. One certain mystery happened the night his soul passed on. No one really knows what happened to Jim that made him leave the world that night. There are rumors of death from natural causes, a heroin overdose, or even that he is still alive and well keeping the rest of his life a secret to us all. To better understand Jim Morrison himself, a background of his life and especially his character is necessary. James Douglas Morrison was born on December 8, 1943, in Melbourne, Florida (Hopkins 5). He was the first child of George Stephen Morrison and Clara Clark Morrison. He had two younger siblings, Anne and Andrew ("James" 1). His father was an officer in the United States Navy and his mother remained a housewife to act as the "dominant parent" over the three kids (Hopkins 22). After graduating from Florida State University, he attended film school at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1964, where he met Ray Manzarek. A year later, the two form a band called The Doors with Robbie Krieger and John Densmore after Jim reveals to Ray some songs that he had written (Rocco 172). Jim Morrison was on vocals, Ray Manzarek on organ, Robbie Krieger on guitar, and John Densmore on the drums. The Doors became a very successful band, recording fourteen albums al together, not including bootleg recordings (Rocco 184). In 1971, the four Doors break up after Jim decides to move to Paris to pursue a writing career. Jim Morrison was intelligent, intimidating, sensitive, wild, just about everything a person could be rolled into one. In a publicity bio recorded by Elektra, Jim says, I’ve always been attracted to ideas that were about revolt against authority-- when you make your peace with authority, you become an authority. I like ideas about the breaking away or overthrowing of established order---I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, especially activity that seems to have no meaning (Hopkins 107).

Steroid Usage Essays -- Sports Athletes Steroids Essays

Steroid Usage Why do so many people use steroids when there are so many health risks and side effects? Do people take steroids because they are not aware of all the risks? Not likely, steroids have been around since the 1930’s when Nazi scientists tried to invent drugs that would make German armies more powerful (Banks, Substance Abuse in Sport: The Realities, pg. 13-21). Though steroids were considered harmful and made illegal in 1991 (Berlow, Sports Ethics). Some side affects of steroids are baldness, high blood pressure, lowered sex drive, acne, nosebleeds, liver disease, kidney disease, and many more (Williams, Drugs and Athletic Performance, pg. 88-90). It may sound ridiculous and idiotic, to those who use steroids, with all the risks involved, but the temptation and pressures in using them are sometimes unbearable. In today’s society there are many pressures to be the best athlete and to look a certain way. Nobody wants to take second place, or look scrawny and wimpy. People w ant to be the winner and want others to turn their heads to look at them when they walk into a room. The fastest and easiest way to do that is to take steroids. People take steroids to be bigger and better at sports and also improve physical appearance.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In today’s athletics, athletes are getting bigger, stronger, and faster. Whether an athlete plays high school or professional sports, it is getting harder for athletes to compete at a high level with all the competition. When an athlete is not good enough to make the team or is on a team and does not play much the athlete will do just about anything to improve themselves. Many athletes spend numerous hours practicing and lifting weights trying to get better at their sport, and still they lack what it takes to make the team or be the best. Steroids are the solution to their problems and a way to make their dreams come true. If you were offered the opportunity to lose body fat, get stronger, add more muscle within six weeks and have more motivation to work out more consistently then you do now, would not you try it? Sure it is illegal and it is unfair for all the other athletes who do it the hard way, but most do not care. Many young men are taking steroids a t a young age. Reports from the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission issued a report that steroid use increased 2.6 percent from 1997 to 1999. Also, a report from th... ...unless they take steroids. Should the athlete take steroids and be a starter, or do not take steroids and never play?   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In today’s athletics, nobody wants to watch a losing team. Whether the person plays on a team, or an individual sport. People want to see their team or favorite athlete succeed. Everyone is getting bigger and better at the sports they play. Some of the pressure that athletes receive is from the fans.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   There are many pressures in society today. Some people take steroids so they will make the team or do better in the sport they play, and others just want to look good. The rest are pressured into taking steroids from there coaches, media, and even fans. Are taking steroids worth all of the risks involved? Well, for the people who take steroids they are worth all the risks. In athletics there is no second place; either you are a winner or you are a loser, and nobody likes to be a loser. There are many reasons people use steroids. Although steroids are not safe, people continue to use them. It is not right for people to use steroids, but as long as there are pressures to win, look good, and to get bigger and stronger there will be people using steroids.