Multicultural Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Multicultural Education - Essay Example As the paper discusses  multicultural education means different things to people and this has led to its complexity and since it has so many definitions teachers or instructors implement it in a variety of ways, based on their own understanding of this type of education. There are many reasons why teachers introduce multicultural education in their classrooms and these reasons are implemented to address the following issues: the development of ethnic and cultural literacy; the personal development of individual students especially those from underrepresented communities; the clarification of attitudes and values among students; and finally, the development of a multicultural social competence.  From this discussion it is clear that the main reason for the use of multicultural literature in class is to get the students to appreciate each other’s culture in order to have a positive understanding and respect for each other, no matter their background. This encourages the posi tive development of common relationships, honesty and interest in the others’ culture. Multicultural books should also be used to engender racial pride in students and not to only create an appreciation of the culture of others. Literature affects how students look upon themselves and if some of these students are from a minority background for example, and the literature taught in class does not have any minority character as a hero, then this would lead to a low opinion of their own people, hence a low esteem of themselves. There are many multicultural books that have come into the market and some of these are not the best type of literature to teach to a multicultural class. Teachers should therefore be very careful about the quality of multicultural literature that they introduce to their classes. Given the rising cost of books, teachers might be tempted to only get those books that are cheaper, not considering their quality, as long as it is a multicultural book. However , teachers should always do their best to ensure that their students get only the best quality of material for their classes, no matter their cost. According to Keengwe (2010), teachers should select books that do not display racism by modern standards and should avoid those classics, which openly display racism as well as cultural hatred. They should not only select those books that portray minorities in a positive light, but they should also look at the language quality of each of the books they get because language is an essential part of how students receive the message that the book is attempting to convey. Most teachers have very little understanding of the kind of multicultural literature they should introduce in their classes and because of this, it would be best for them to carefully do their research before making any

Summary on The Populist Addiction By DAVID BROOKS Essay

Summary on The Populist Addiction By DAVID BROOKS - Essay Example author also points to the fact that irrespective of which side wins, it is the elite within that group which ultimately benefits and not their supporting contingency. This is illustrated by the fact that irrespective of whether those holding M.B.A degrees or those holding Ph.Ds come to power, the general population is generally left out of the equation. And the voting population is aware of the flaws in the system to not take populist rhetoric too seriously. Brooks cites historical examples when political leaders espoused anti-populist views. Foremost among them are Alexander Hamilton and Abraham Lincoln, who had the foresight to see the folly in populist politics. Both these historic figures encouraged free-market economy and capitalist enterprise. They believed that such a framework is the best that a government can adopt to ensure growth, industrial development and job creation. In essence, Brooks is advocating moderation on part of those critics who attack investment banks such as Goldman Sachs while not criticizing the general public being ineffective exercising their franchise. Indeed, Brooks contends that populist politics will never work – it will only divide the people of the country and incite class

Westward Hilton Hotel Competitive Advantages Case Study

Westward Hilton Hotel Competitive Advantages - Case Study Example It is evident when Enz (472) says that hotel revenue per available room rose from a rate of $66.65 to $123.10 within a period of seven years. In addition, customers could quickly locate the hotel from afar due to its strategic position made it easy to access. The competitive advantages enjoyed by Westward hotel were sustainable. The hotel had the ability to accommodate many transient travelers. Enz (456) says that the hotel was located in a 13-story building with 300 guest rooms. It is evident the hotel was spacious enough to hold a large number of businessmen and visitors at a go. The hotel management had also employed enough staff to cater for the large visitor turn out. Additionally, though transient travelers do not have a demographic preference, the hotel was strategically located for the tourists acting as an added advantage. The human practices and culture at Westward hotel were not easy to imitate for competitors. For the most competitor, time was an essential and significant component in the production. Efficient utilization of time was the primary cause of success in most hotels. Few if none could allow their members of staff to sleep while on duty. Westward was different as they tolerated some of their elderly workers to take a nap. According to Enz (471), the Westward Company was tolerant and trusted their workers. They allowed an older woman, who worked at the laundry, thirty minutes nap daily while on duty. In addition, Westward had a family environment where managers interacted closely with employees. The hotel management took good care of their employees motivating them and their families. They showered their employees with a seasonal gift during festive holidays like Christmas. Enz (471) further states that Westward gave their employees a chance to be and express themselves. In most business e nvironments, employees are expected to stick to the company rules and regulations.

Dual-career families Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Dual-career families - Essay Example , couples in a dual-career relationship have jobs that require a high degree of commitment and effectively the developmental nature of the professions these couples engage in is high. In effect, such couples pursue careers while still performing their main roles in parenting. These relationships have certain characteristics such as economic rewards for the couples and ultimately to the family. In addition, the family derives an added social prestige when both parents are working. Furthermore, a personal investment on the part of both partners is evident when they commit their time and energy to their careers. However, the commitment of time and energy can influence the relationship of the couples within the family setup. Hamner & Turner (2000) noted that, many working couples with children experienced conflicts in their work and family relationships effectively influencing their performance and creating stress at both work and in the family. Such conflicts influenced greatly on the children’s behavior. In this regard, one big issue in dual-career families concerns absentee parents. As such, house helps, who at most instances lack the basic knowledge in parentage, have the biggest responsibility on children. On the other hand, commitment to work drains the energy out of the parents once they reach home and eventually fail to spend quality time with their children. Effectively, children will pick behavior, at times undesirable, from other people since the parents are not monitoring their children progress closely as should be the case. Faced with such challenges, there are various ways that dual-career families can overcome them. According to Hester & Dickerson (1984), different programs devised by extension personnel are essential in training couples on ways of improving their relationship. Such programs establish unique responsibilities in each relationship advising each couple on the best way to parent their children while both juggle with their careers,

Audience Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Audience Analysis - Essay Example This in turn puts most of them in a comparable social-economic status. Majority are students and either unemployed or doing part-time jobs. In terms of interests, there is the aspect of politics and religion. My audience is comprised of young people who have opinions on virtually everything. They do appreciate politics, maybe not in a similar way though. As for religion, it is all diverse; they belong to varied religious groups from Christians, to Muslims to atheists. I would say that personally, I am quite similar to my audience in all aspects; the ultimate reason for the connection. Altogether, I expect that my audience will be appreciative of my document and me. This is because I voice the concerns of many of them. They are merely youth who seek to be heard by the authorities. They do have needs and expectations; desire for better education, better jobs, and better lifestyles. Perhaps there is a chance that they might dispute my opinion of exercising patience with the authorities as they are all out of it. I do hope though that they will find hope and motivation in the fact that I am willing to speak for them. My readers are well aware of details concerning my topic as it affects them directly. Therefore, they won’t have a problem with comprehension. We all do speak the same language as we belong to a similar affiliation. I will try and use simple enough language for everyone’s comfort. I realize that they may have issues about how I will exercise practicality with my document. I plan to work on this before writing

Summary of Chua Essay Example for Free

Summary of Chua Essay To change the emphasis of mainstream accounting research from hypothetico-deductivism and technical control assumptions to alternative views and obtain a fundamentally different and potentially rich research insights. Aim 1. To enable accounting researchers to self-reflect on the dominant assumptions that they share and, more importantly, the consequence of adopting this position. a. Limited the types of problems studied b. The use of research methods c. The possible research insights that could be obtained Author believes that such limitations can only become clear when they are exposed to the challenge of alternative world-views 2. To introduce such alternative set of assumptions, illustrate how they change both problem definition and solution, and offer research which is fundamentally different from that currently prevailing. 3. To argue that, not only are these alternative world-views different, they can potentially enrich and extend our understanding of accounting. Authors intended audience Positivist researchers, Public, Professionals, academics, All researchers Arguments presented to support main point Recent classifications of accounting perspectives Cooper (19830 ad Hopper ad Powel (1985) rely on the sociological work of Burrell and Morgan (1979) * Classification of accounting literature: 1. social sciences – includes assumptions about: * ontology of the social world (realism v. nominalism) * epistemology (positivism v. anti-positivism) * human nature (determinism v. voluntarism) * methodology (nomothetic v. ideographic) 2. society – characterizes it as orderly or subject to fundamental conflict Burell and Morgan (1979) Four paradigms used to classify accounting theories * Functionalist * Interpretive * Radical humanist Radical structuralist Problems persisted so accounting perspectives are differentiated with reference to underlying assumptions about knowledge, the empirical phenomena under study, and the relationship between theory and the practical world of human affairs. A classification of assumptions â€Å"knowledge is produced by people, for people, and is about people and their social and physical environm ent† Beliefs about knowledge Epistemological assumptions * Decide what to count about acceptable truth by specifying the criteria and process of assessing truth claims * E. . an epistemological assumption might state that a theory is considered true if it is repeatedly not falsifiable by empirical events Methodological assumptions * Indicate that research methods deemed appropriate for the gathering of valid evidence. * E. g. large-scale sample surveys or laboratory experiments that are â€Å"statistically sound† may be considered acceptable research methods. Both sets of assumptions are closely related. What is a â€Å"correct† research method will depend on how truth is defined. Belief about physical and social reality Ontology Object of Study * People may be viewed as identical to physical objects and be studied in the same manner * Criticism: people cannot be treated as natural scientific objects because they are self-interpretive beings who create the structures around them (Habermas, (1978) and winch (1958)) How people relate to one another and society as a whole * Every social theory makes assumptions about the nature of human society-is it, for example full of conflict or essentially stable and orderly Relationship between theory and practice Questions Purpose of knowledge in the world of practice, How may it be employed to better people’s welfare * Theory may be related to practice in several ways, each representing a particular value position on the part of the scientist (Fay (1975)). Unlike Burell and Morgan, this set of assumptions is used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of alternative perspectives in accounting. This is not an attempt to describe world-views in a value-free, non-evaluatory language

Signaling and Screening Approaches in Car Manufacturing

Signaling and Screening Approaches in Car Manufacturing Signaling and screening are key approaches to minimize judgmental errors in situations where there is asymmetric information. One such situation occurs when a firm wishes to assess individuals for consideration as a prospective employee. This report reviews and applies the different concepts studied to a car manufacturing company, Audi. The structure of the paper will be as follows: elaboration on various signaling approaches, an evaluation of the firm’s effectiveness and relative costs with respect to Audi, followed by showing the business outcomes subsequent to the use of different approaches. Finally, recommendations are made to allow Audi to boost its effectiveness in identifying the most suitable applicants. The Audi Group (AG) has been named one of the most successful car manufacturers in the premium and supercar segment. A total of 1,751,007 cars have been delivered by the company to clients compared to the 1,634,312 cars in the past fiscal year. Conversely, a new record was constructed when the main brand ‘Audi’ amplified its total number of units delivered by 8.3% to 1,575,480 vehicles. The AG manufactures in ten sites worldwide and these production sites consist of two plants in Germany while another eight other facilities are in Belgium, China, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Russia, Slovakia and Spain. Moreover, its front-line logistical practices; synchronised Audi assembly system and an extremely competent workforce of approximately 73,751 assure uniform standards globally. Since each Audi production site attains high standards of excellence, productivity and conservational suitability, this could be the reason for the many awards received by the AG in 2014 which includes the ‘Best Employer Award ’and ‘World Car of the Year’. While some theories hold common views, others have conflicting ones. For instance, the human capital theory identifies that an increase in level of education has critical impacts on profitability and productivity. On the other hand, pure signaling theory states that education does not result in productivity towards the society and questions the investments which individuals made when seeking them. Under human resource management, signalling often occurs during the recruitment process. This is illustrated by Spence (1973), where it shows that signaling theory is concerned with reducing information asymmetry between two parties. Spence (1973) developed the labour market to showcase education as a signal. As employers have limited information regarding on the quality of job applicants, these applicants thus obtain education to signal their quality and reduce information asymmetries. Hence, Spence’s model emphasises on education as a way in transmitting characteristics that are unobservable of job applicants. The next signaling theory utilises two variables- high and low quality firms. In this model, imperfect information exists, where firms know its own worth, while external sources such as investors and customers do not. A choice is then made by each firm on whether to signal its true qualities to outsiders, based on the different payoffs that are presented to them. For each of the different quality firms, two payoffs will result for the various decisions made. The high-quality firm will receive payoff A if it chooses to signal and B if it chooses not to. As for the low-quality firm, it will receive payoff C and D for the respective decisions. Since both firms are assumed to make rational decisions, they would choose whichever option which gives them a higher payoff so as to be better off. With this assumption, there would be a separating equilibrium where high-quality firms are motivated to signal and low-quality firms are not (i.e. when payoff A is greater than payoff B and payoff D is larger than payoff C). It also effectively enables external sources to identify high-quality firms from low-quality firms. However, a pooling equilibrium occurs when both types of firms benefit from signaling (i.e., A > B and C > D) and outsiders can no longer differentiate between the two firms. From the financial economists perspectives, firm debt and dividends are used as representation of signals on firm quality. These signals will influence the external environment of its opinions on the quality of firms. Ross refers to this quality as ‘‘an unobservable skill of the business to earn positive cash flows in the future using financial structure and/or managerial incentives as signals’’. By doing so, only firms of high-quality are able to make interest and dividend payments over a long period of time as low-quality firms cannot bear such payments. Understanding the concept of quality is important since it is a distinctive factor in most signaling models. Quality refers to the fundamental, unnoticeable capability of a signaller to satisfy the demands or needs of an outsider observing the signal. This idea of quality may be similar to reputation and prestige, but are essentially derived from the signaler’s unnoticed feature. Based on the understanding of concepts from various approaches, three elements of the signaling process are identified: the signaller, the signal and the receiver are looked upon. Moreover, each of these elements below will be illustrated using Audi, the selected manufacturing company. Firstly, signallers are known as insiders that can acquire information concerning an individual, product or organisation that external parties are not entitled to. The insiders include directors or executives of the Audi Group. Information obtained can either be positive or negative and usually consists of confidential and high level details on Audi’s products or facilities. As the information is confidential to the insiders, it allows for some aspects of privileged perception on the primary quality of the individual, product or organization. The next element is the signal itself. This is the point when insiders make a decision on whether to share the information to external parties. In a signalling theory, the focus is on relaying positive information to achieve positive organisational attributes. For example, distribution of shares is a form of negative signal which displays that executives believe the company’s stock price is overvalued. The insiders’ main aims are to reduce information asymmetry while the negative signals sent are often an unplanned consequence of the insider’s action. An efficacious signal comes in two forms signal observability and signal cost. ‘Signal observability’ refers to the extent to which external parties are able to notice signals. When the steps taken by insiders are not easily detected by outsiders, communication with receivers will become unlikely. ‘Signal cost’ under the signaling framework will contain the fact that a number of signallers can absorb the associated costs better than others. For instance, the costs related with gaining ISO9000 certification (a certification which considers different aspects of quality management) are high due to the process of accreditation being relatively time consuming as well as preventing false signaling. Nevertheless, a high-quality manufacturer would find ISO9000 certification less costly unlike a low-quality manufacturer as a manufacturer that is of lower quality would need to implement more changes in order to be presented the accreditation. False signaling occurs when a signaller does not have the basic qualities connected with the signal but trusts that the benefits of signaling outweigh the costs of producing the signal. Therefore, in order for signaling to remain effective, signaling costs have to be planned so that false signals do not pay. The final element is the receiver. Based on the signalling models, receivers are the exact opposite of signallers whereby receivers do not have access to information regarding Audi but wants to have it. Hence, there is a conflict of interest such that any deceit would allow the signaller to have an advantage over the receiver. Signaling ought to have a strategic outcome which typically comprises selection of the signaller in favour of other possibilities. The approach on this signaling is that outsiders will benefit directly or collectively with the signaller from the decision made based on the data attained. To illustrate, the receiver can choose between hiring, purchasing, or investing. By reading the signals carefully, interested applicants will be able to identify if the skills and capabilities that the individual have are the right fit for respective firms and thereby do a self-selection for the firm to consider the applicant on hiring prospects. Audi engages using various aspects, besides putting in place attractive monetary benefits, to send out indirect but positive signals to show that Audi cares about the employees’ well-being. These aspects include the provision of job security, professional development, and healthy working environment between coworkers and supervisors along with other attractive non-monetary incentives. Audi is dependent on the skills and commitment of employees of excellent traits. Thus, feedbacks are often performed amongst employees to measure the extent of satisfaction levels. Due to its prominent existence and continuous international growth, Audi is capable of using its national and international ratings to signal themselves as an attractive employer worldwide. For example, it is known that Audi has the biggest manufacturing facility in Germany and has even invested in an institution that provides training and learning opportunities to employees. This effectively allowed Audi to become the few top employers in the region with over 33,729 employees. Employers need to find ways to motivate employees in order for signaling to be effective as dedicated and well-trained staff is vital for Audi to progress and succeed. One way is through personnel development where employees are led, challenged and cheered on in the beginning so that their fortes and ideas can be applied. Thus, an organized, intensive and reliable model for the ideal improvement of all workers is being executed. The organizational structure of Audi is another signal that attracts many job applicants. What the company looks for is neither the rank nor the period of service of an employee, but rather the loyalty, performance and capabilities that makes them an asset to the firm. This shows that Audi has a decentralized hierarchy where specific knowledge is required and responsibility is at all levels. Hence, being a recruit may not necessarily be a disadvantage. Moreover, supervisors evaluate an employee’s performance by making the decision on his/her wages increment and future prospective of the individual by communicating with each other. This method is also closely linked to promotions where Audi uses the concept of ‘‘good performance – good opportunities’’. It gives an employee the opportunity to learn as much as possible from various divisions through a manner of ‘on- and off-the-job’ selection. Most companies use salaries to signal applicants and/or employees. Audi has effectively put the signal to right use when the rewards received by employees are considerably greater than the initial negotiated amount. With profit-sharing distribution, satisfaction levels are likely to increase, in turn driving motivation. Each individual employee’s credentials, proficiency and former experiences determine the amount of remuneration he/she receives. Audi ensures that new entrants are assured a healthy work life environment where a range of benefits are available and entitlement to ‘‘open-ended contracts’’. These benefits cater to families where childcares are taken into account for employees; and to individuals where health insurance is of utmost importance to maintain as a strong health-focused workplace. More importantly, Audi takes care of its employees even after retirement through the ‘old-age pension scheme’. This may be the reason for Audi’s recent achievement of the ‘‘Best Employer 2014’’ title as employees are never hesitant about praising the company to others. The above section desribed many effective signals which Audi uses to attract potential employees. However, due to the outcome of demographic change and overall value formation processes, Audi still faces the risk of a shortage of professionals and/or skilled workers. As such, the human resource division are found to be focusing heavily on individual development, supporting the employees with extensive training programs to help them develop multiple skills. However, Audi failed to realise that these signalling approaches are very costly to the firm and needs to be reviewed through the following recommendations which could reduce cost significantly and at the same time achieve efficiency. In this model, there are two periods considered: the probation period and the non-probation period. Audi can adopt the probation model by first assessing employees during the probationary period with a relatively lower pay. If the worker is able to pass this probationary period, then a high wage is given subsequently. This effectively ensures productivity and constant monitoring of employees so that the right type of applicants is attracted to the company. By having an ‘old-age pension scheme’ for its retiring employees, it shows Audi’s valuation and treatment of its employees. A suggestion to allow senior employees of various specialties to join the senior management or board of directors for recruitment assessment of new applicants could be a relatively more cost-effective measure and the risks of selecting the wrong applicants would definitely be lowered as senior employees have the knowledge and experience to screen for potential employees. Self-selection, in the context of recruitment refers to a process whereby the right employees for the business decides to apply while the wrong employees does not. Hence, it is crucial for organisations to send signals to attract applicants and it would be an added bonus if signals are presented such that individuals perform self-selection for consideration. Bearing this in mind, Audi may consider a ‘‘piece-rate contract’’ which indicates the pay levels received by the individual when he/she attains a certain level of productivity. Thus, Audi will be able to deter less skilled workers from applying and only skilled workers are being screened. Besides conducting satisfaction surveys, Audi should instead implement a suggestion scheme where employees can provide valuable inputs to improve productivity and ensure the safe operation of manufacturing. To encourage participation, a reward in the form of extended off-day leaves or sponsored specialized education can be provided to the employee whose suggestion is acted upon by Audi. Audi can consider including other forms of incentives which consists of individual incentive plans and/or team incentive plans. Individual incentive plans can be ‘‘straight piece-work’’ system where work is less challenging and more acceptable by employees since it can be easily understood. This ensures that employees are more comfortable with the task given and will be motivated to produce efficient work. While it has been noted that Audi uses profit-sharing distribution on top of bonuses, it would probably be a better incentive for the firm to use stock ownership or options as awards instead since the effect on financial statements would be minimum and the additional profits earned by the firm could be used for further enhancement in research and development. Overall, the signaling theory is a useful indictor to describe the conduct of individuals or organizations when information is available. Normally, the sender will decide on the method and audience to send its signals to while the receiver learns to interpret those signals. However, the use of signalling approaches needs to be an appropriate fit to the business so that additional cost would not be incurred at the extent of the organisation’s and employer to employee relationship growth. Taking Audi as an example, if Audi is able to improve on its signalling approaches, the business will continue to be an attractive employer worldwide in the long run.