Community Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Community Design - Essay Example One of the important elements which has contributed to Pro Bono Design Collaboratives success is the specialized scope of services offered. Collaborative volunteers dedicate their time and effort to the inception of the project. Traditionally, not for profit organizations have found it a challenge to encounter the appropriate professional expertise. This challenge has been in regards to pre development planning. The dilemma is that there is no capital funding without the pre development of the projects. There are scarce resources to delegate to pre development personnel until the pre development phase of the project is completed. This is where the pro social volunteers of the neighborhood come to the assistance of the Pro Bono Design Collaborative. The progressive neighborhood influence requires that there should be some personnel with expertise in practical problem solving. This neighborhood requirement inspired the formation of Public Architecture. Consequently, the 1% solution pro gram was created. The designation of 1% was given to the program. The Pro Bono Collaborative provides the necessary pre development services, thereby encouraging the construction phase of the proposed projects. The scope of these pre development services may also be speculative neighborhood endeavors and other professional services which include research. The motivations of these endeavors are to benefit the greater good. The causal attribution of the laissez- faire perception is that there has been scarce professional encouragement in the field of architecture. The architectural professionals in the community have not perceived the pro social volunteer work as an essential to a successful business model (rastorfer-darl-the community design collaborative.pdf). Public architecture is a not for profit organization which encourages the community professionals in the architectural field to participate in the enhancement of the public good. The Pro Bono

The Progressive Era Essay Example for Free

The Progressive Era Essay The Progressive Era began in the mid 1890’s and continued through World War I.   It was a time when individuals were beginning to have concerns with the state of society and how government was going to handle the problems.   It also brought about a belief in human compassion and how new innovations along with scientific investigation could somehow show what the problem was with ways of solving the problems.   Two prominent figures during this era were Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson who were both national spokesmen for the movement.    The sediment it spread changed society to what we know today, â€Å"it affected large numbers of people and expressed at many levels the excitement of progress and change† (633).   Muckraking was a term used for a journalism style of that time.   Theodore Roosevelt coined this term in 1906 to â€Å"describe the practice of exposing the corruption of public and prominent figures† (632).   This journalistic voice spread progressivism and the ideals associated with this movement very fast and to a large audience.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Progressivism was enmeshed in all parts of society.   In the political arena it called for reformation of problems that involved city, state and nation.   Intellectually, â€Å"it drew on the expertise of the new social sciences and reflected a shift from older absolutes of class and religion to newer schools of thought that emphasized physiological explanations for behavior, the role of the environment in human development, and the relative nature of truth† (633).   It brought about a cultural change that included expression in dance, film, painting, literature, and architecture.   It became the attitude and a movement that society as a whole embraced fully.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The appeal of this movement involved a wide variety of individuals that included the middle class, laborers and farmers.   In the business community it gained a large following with ideals of expansion and money.   The leaders were young educated men and women that had experience in â€Å"law, medicine, religion, business, teaching, and social work† (633).   With these young leaders came the ideology of an improved society using their expertise. There was not one single cause to unite the group, but their one single goal and that was to help create a better world in helping people to achieve this.   Their belief was strong â€Å"the high compliment of believing that, once they knew the truth, they would act upon it† was said by the social reformer Florence Kelley an active participant in progressivism.     Knowledge was an important key in this movement and formed a bond between people bringing them together instead of dividing them and pulling disheartened groups together in an effort to improve the well-being of everyone in society.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Where Populism came out of rural America, Progressivism gained support across the whole country.   Its starting ground came from cities with individuals that were feeling the pressures of urban living and factory life.   This social justice movement had its attention on the national need for housing laws, better child labor laws and better working conditions for women. Individual groups of reformers were also able to pressure municipal agencies â€Å"for more and better parks, playgrounds, day nurseries, schools, and community services† (636).   These reformers wanted a cure to suffrage rather than using charity as a bandage.   Instead of individual needs they wanted to focus more on scientific analysis of neighborhoods, occupations, and classes of people for a change to better society as a whole.   This group was most successful in passing state laws limiting the work hours for women and their right to vote. Another doctrine to come from this era was pragmatism.   A psychologist, William James had a view on the role of environment and its effect on human development along with the role humans had on the environment.   This doctrine became the main mindset for Americans from 1890’s to World War I.   He believed there were no abstractions to truth, â€Å"True ideas are those we can assimilate, validate, corroborate and verify.   False ideas are those we cannot† (639).   Everything was pretty much black and white at that time.   John Dewey applied this doctrine to education reform and the theme to emerge was that â€Å"thought evolves in relation to the environment and that education is directly related to experience† (639).   This revolution in education addressed the needs and capabilities of the children.   Not only was this theory applicable in education it could be applied to law.   Because law reflected the environment that it shaped, this was throwing away the old concept that law was universal and unchanging.   It was understood that variables in the environment affects the actions of humans. Reformation of city’s and states was another accomplishment of this era.   Municipal governments were desired that would tighten its grip on corporate activities, helped to widen utility regulations and to restrict city franchises.   Efficiency and results were the theme and it was a generation of the belief in civil service.   Though this thought was micro a macro theme was needed and it was understood that government beyond the city limits would need to become universal for society as a whole to get along .   State government during the 1890’s to 1920 worked to stiffen laws that regulated â€Å"the labor of women and children, create and strengthen commissions to regulate railroads and utilities, impose corporate and inheritance taxes, improve mental and penal institutions and allocate more funds for state universities, the training ground for the experts and educated citizenry needed for the new society† (642). During these years the industrial system had great changes employing thousands of workers and equipped with assembly lines to produce large numbers of any product that they were producing.   Results and efficiency was required to expand the company and managerial skill of the business world be used to achieve this goal.   The innovation of the model T and using the assembly line system was the seed for success of businesses today.     Ã‚  This was a time when big business was swallowing up the small business.   With this huge growth of business came the debate over trusts which influenced politics throughout the Progressive era.   Mass production enabled industry to create bigger, better and more products.   Yet this also is the time when jobs were very dangerous and unchecked.   It wasn’t until a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company that killed over 500 men and women immigrants that attentions on unsafe working conditions were recognized.   Union membership was founded and striking became a way to change how the companies handled their employee who worked for them.   This created more leisure time for employees giving room for play and enjoyment of the arts. Past time games of football created the fans and movie theaters opened to audiences during this era.   When thinking of the reforms of this era you can’t forget the changes to how Americans spend their leisure time or for that matter just having leisure time.  Ã‚   Dancing, music, and even literature the director of the New York Metropolitan Museum said in 1908, â€Å"There is a state of unrest all over the world in art as in all other things, it is the same in literature, as in music, in painting, and in sculpture† (654).   This and all that is what came out of the Progressive Era. Works Cited Divine, R.A., Breen, T.H., Fredrickson, G.M., Williams, R.H. (1987). America Past    and Present 2nd. Ed.   Illinois: Scott, Foresman and Company.

Analysis of Article The Weight of What If Essay example -- Anna Quindl

In her article â€Å"The Weight of What If,† Anna Quindlen writes about the tragedy of fallen soldiers. She says that we often forget how each soldier is a life unlived, and we often forget â€Å"what if† they had lived. Speaking in a balanced tone, she deals with the Iraq conflict, as well as World War II and Vietnam. She forces us to ask questions about war and the effect it can have on us. Quindlen clearly wants us to think more compassionately about the veterans. Because we are so far removed from Iraq, we may think that â€Å"the spectacle of hometown kids’ leaving home to be killed or maimed is bearible only when it’s given an antiseptic name.† We sometimes only see war as a lot of strategy and far-away fighting, when it is something personal that affects us all. At one point, she quotes Ernest Hemingway, who asks, â€Å"Why don’t we stop fighting?† This is obviously a very personal issue for Quindlen. She is passionate about what she is writing about. She brings up powerful examples of the lives never lived. When she talks about her past, it resonates with us because we can imagine her fear. Th...

The Sexist Prejudices Affecting Women in the House on Mango Street

The Sexist Prejudices Affecting Women in The House on Mango Street In my essay I am going to write about the Mexican gender based prejudices and stereotypes which affect the women of Esperanza’s neighborhood in Sandra Cisneros’s novel The House on Mango Street. I would like to point out the lives of the main women characters and their dealing with the prejudices in everyday occasions.Futhermore, I want to talk about Esperanza and her attitude towards the surrounding situation and also mention the historical background of the problem. From my point of view, the fact that the women come from the Mexican community has essentially influenced their lives. It has actually predetermined them in a way that the women are not able to set free for the rest of their lives. During the novel the reader gets to know some of the Mexican prejudices in relation to women which all the female characters have to face.The sexist prejudice is clear from having read few lines of the novel wher e Esperanza, the narrator, explains the meaning of her name with the connection to the Chinese signs of the zodiac, â€Å"I think this is a Chinese lie because the Chinese, like the Mexicans, don’t like their women strong† (Cisneros 10). This tells the reader one important fact. The Mexicans are proprietary towards their women and wives and they tries to take over the women’s lives. It is very difficult for the women coming from the Mexican community to live their own life themselves and to be independent of their social background.This observation is confirmed by Elizabeth Coonrod Martinez in her work on the relationships of women with men in the novels based on this phenomenon, â€Å"women characters do not initiate events in their own lives; instead they endure poverty and racism from the society at large and oppression under the men in their lives. They do not get to choose their spouses, and when they do pick a boyfriend, and get pregnant, they are conside red bad girls. They do not have choice-before or after marriage† (131). The author of the book gives a notion what the status of women in the Mexican community in the novel is.They are supposed to stay at home, preferably, â€Å"behind a rolling pin† (Cisneros 31). Moreover, many of the women are locked at home or cannot leave the house without their spouses’ permission. This fact is obvious at many times in the novel. At first, when Esperanza talks about her great-grandmother, she describes her as a woman that had spent all her life on her elbows by the window. At this point, where Esperanza describes her great-grand mother, she also says something about herself, â€Å"I don’t want to inherit her place by the window† (Cisneros 11).Later, this fact is emphasized by the story of the woman called Rafaela, whose fulfilment of the life is to sit by the window. As the narrator reports, â€Å"Rafaela, who is still young but getting old from leaning out t he window so much, gets locked indoors because her husband is afraid Rafaela will run away since she is too beautiful to look at† (Cisneros 79). The women are regarded as the property of their husbands or their fathers, never independent. In my oppinion, the situation is even made worse by the fact that the protagonists are living in the United States.The women maybe would have accepted this role if they had lived in Mexico, where they would not see any difference in other women’s lives. That is impossible for them now, to fit in the community rules that are expected to be obeyed. Instead, some women pretend to be a part of the traditional society on the one hand, but on the other, they are more American than Mexican. This is the case of Sally, a young Mexican girl from the community of Chicanos, with a strict father and brought up in a very strict, religious and tradionally Mexican family. Sally who must obey her father and accept his way of life and who wants to be an American.For a clearer explanation, her behaviour is described as follows, â€Å"and why do you always have to go straight home after school? You become a different Sally. You pull your skirt straight, you rub the blue paint off your eyelids. You don’t laugh, Sally. You look at our feet and walk fast to the house you can’t come out from† (Cisneros 82). This girl struggles with two different worlds but unfortunatelly, the vicious one for her wins. She becomes a part of the sad community of women who are locked at home and their only release is in their dreams.Sally’s fate is deteriorated due to the relationship with her father, who strikes her because she is a girl and her father wants to take over her life, â€Å"until the way Sally tells it, he just went crazy, he just forgot he was her father between the buckle and the belt. You’re not my daughter, you’re not my daughter. And then he broke into his hands† (Cisneros 93). The story a bout Sally is a typical example of the struggle. At the end, Sally gets married and her life turns out to be the same sad story. The narrator comments on this, â€Å"Except he [husband] won’t let her talk on the telephone.And he doesn’t let her look out the window. And he doesn’t like her friends, so nobody gets to visit her unless he is working. She sits at home because she is afraid to go outside without his permission† (Cisneros 102). Sally, like the rest of the women characters, ends up in this kind of relationship with her husband, even if she had the opportunity to escape from her fate, because if she had been more determined in her struggle, she would have succeed. The narration about Sally is important in the novel because it shows Esperanzas’ feelings towards the sexist and racial prejudices she lives in.Esperanza, as the narrator, gives the personal outlook on the women from her surroundings. Esperanza is the exception of all the women ch aracters in the novel. She is aware of the poor situation and even of a poorer shift from it. â€Å"Esperanza is handicapped by her Hispanic background and the family’s modest financial means† (Szadziuk 115). She observes the world around her and feels lonely in her feelings, nobody shares her thoughts, her ideas. She feels like the trees down the street and as she admits, â€Å"four who do not belong here but are here. Four raggedy excuses planted by the city† (Cisneros 74).Like a struggling tree, Esperanza copes with obstacles that would suppress her, and her inner strength will help her reach towards a better life. This young girl is the only women in the novel who is deeply determined to change her life, to set free and to be on her own. She might seem naive in her way of achieving it, â€Å"Not a flat. Not an appartment in back. Not a man’s house. Not a daddy’s. A house all my own† (Cisneros 108). Nevertheless, the escape from it will n ot be as easy as thought at first. Once is Esperanza told by her friend, â€Å"when you leave you must remember to come back for the others.A circle, understand? You will always be Esperanza. You will always be Mango Street. You can’t forget who you are† (Cisneros 105). The circle is closed and fulfilled. Even if Esperanza escapes, she will not be free of her background. In comparison with other women characters in the novel, Esperanza has the support of her family, especially the support of her mother who encourages her and her siblings to be determined and to be strong in gaining their dream. The mother’s support is based on her own life and unhappines, â€Å"shame is a bad thing, you know. It keeps you down.You want to know why I quit school? Because I didn’t have nice clothes. No clothes, but I had brains† (Cisneros 91). Mother who suffered from discrimination is now resolved to protect her children from having a similar experience. Unfortunate lly, Esperanza experiences some oppression anyway and she describes it, â€Å"Those who do not any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we’re dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives. They are stupid people who are lost and got here by mistake† (Cisneros 28). Little Esperanza learns about a hardship very early in her life.She does not understand it at first but afterwards she fully realizes what means the arrogant voice of nun who asks her where she lives. Esperanza, unaware of anything, points to her house. Just later she realizes how important for her is to escape from this social oppression and racial discrimination and longs for her own house, a house she would not be ashamed of, a house she could point to when someone aks where she lives. Futhermore, the women characters and all Mexican immigrants living in the United States in general suffer from a particular feature typical of the immigrant community.Their poor situation is mad e worse by it. That is the homesickness. This is very difficult to explain because in this case it has a historical connection to 1848 when the former Mexican lands became American property and millions of Mexican citizens suddenly lived on American territory. For an illustration of this event: Chicanos and Chicanas have always been in New Mexico, Texas, California, Colorado, Illinois and other North American states. The Gonzalezes, the Dominguezes, the Garcias, the Fernandezes have lived in these states ever since they can remember.Their great, great grandmother had a house in San Antonio, or in San Diego, or in Sante Fe, long before 1836 and 1848 when these territories became American. (Poniatowska 39) From the citation of Elena Poniatowska it is obvious that the Mexicans are not initially responsible for the problems of the Mexican community in the United States nowadays. They miss their native country so they try to compensate the sorrow for living more culturally orthodox life abroad. In the novel, the problem of homesickness is portrayed mainly in the story of Mamacita, a mother of one of the inhabitants of Mango Street.Even if she is not a one of the descendants of the immigrant family but actually a Mexican citizen, Mamacita comes to Mango Street to live with her son, who sees his future in reaching the American dream. As she does not speak English, the difference between the Mexican and the American culture is much more visible. Mamacita represents the old, initial kind of immigrants, who long for going back to their native country whereas her son presents the young, Americanized population of the Mexican community. Two different worlds which can never be united.The reader learns more about it through the eyes of Esperanza, as she reports, â€Å"She sits all day by the window and plays the Spanish radio show and sings all the homesick songs about her country in a voice that sounds like a seagull† (Cisneros 77). Mamacita is unwilling to adjust a nd wants to go back to her native Mexico even if life can be harder and poorer there. Esperanza continues, â€Å"Ay, she says, she is sad. Oh he says, Not again. Cuando, cuando, cuando? She asks. Ay, caray! We are are home. This is home. Here I am and here I stay. Speak English.Speak English. Christ† (Cisneros 78). Mamacita and her son are examples of eternal fight for the unity of two different worlds which can never link up the gap between each other. In conlusion, the racial, gender based and social prejudices in the Mexican community in the novel are very essential. In every story the reader may see the stereotypes which affect the protagonists. Each of them deals with it differently but with the same result. They are not able to set themselves free from their social background and their origin pursues them all their life.Nonetheless, some of the women characters chose this way of living from their own choice, voluntarily. Specifically, the words of Elena Poniatowska poin t this out, â€Å"To say that Mexico abandoned its people would not be false, because Mexico abandons all poor Mexicans. The poor choose the American dream and the American way of life on the other side of the border, because they don’t see a future for themselves in their own country† (Poniatowska 41). Whether the immigrants have chosen to live on the margin of society in the foreign country of own accord or not, their cultural heritage follows them all the time.Works Cited Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. New York: Vintage, 1984. Martinez, Elizabeth Coonrod. â€Å"Crossing Gender Borders: Sexual Relations and Chicana Artistic Identity. † Melus 27. 1 (2002): 131-50. < http://lion. chadwyck. co. uk> Poniatowska, Elena. â€Å"Mexicanas and Chicanas. † Melus 21. 3 (1996): 35-42. Szadziuk, Maria. â€Å"Culture as Transition: Becoming a Woman in Bi-Ethnic Space. † Mosaic 32. 3 (1999): 109-30. < http://lion. chadwyck. co. uk>

Social Philosophy Has Its Place in Social Work Practice

Social work as a discipline concentrates on theoretical and philosophical positions such as social justice, equality, and empowerment and these may be described as â€Å"philosophies of social work†. (Mackie, 2007) Historically during social works early years, moral concerns laid the foundations for the development of social work and the principal values of the profession, with particular emphasis on the significance of individual worth and dignity and service to humanity (Bisman, 2004).Many of our contemporary professional social work values and ethics have been constructed on the basis of Kantian and Utilitarian philosophies and although mutually they are considered as alternatives; both theories of are based on the assumption of the human being as a freely acting individual and indeed the philosophies share and hold the following approaches: †¢ The moral value of individual persons as autonomous rational beings; †¢ The universality of values and principles; †¢ The possibility of deducing moral ‘laws’ through rational reflection; †¢ The goal of individual liberty; freedom and emancipation and in the just ordering of a society.Human rights and social justice are clearly draw from Kantian and Utilitarian social philosophies and today are regarded as fundamental principals in the practice of social work (Banks 2001). In this paper the author will consider what social philosophy is and what effect if any it has on social work practice in 2011/2012. Political philosophy is influenced by social philosophy which in turn has an impact on the work has carried out by social workers ‘a rigid demarcation between political and social philosophy is impossible, and social philosophers, have influenced recent political philosophy.Social philosophy also deals with philosophical issues relating to institutions such as the family, religion and education. (Bunmin, 2004) Philosophers observed that the development of human behaviour wa s shaped by their social environment and mainly competitive in nature. From these philosophical origins collectivism grew into what we now know as collectivistic or socialist theories Kantian deontological ethics is a principle-based ethics wherein reason is central. Reasons motivate or predispose action. Gray, 2010)Kant’s ethical theory is grounded in the respect owed to individuals because they are rational moral agents. As social workers we work with service users to determine ‘what is the right thing to do’. Reasons are seen as more reliable when making moral judgements than emotions. This is not to say that Kant overlooks the importance of emotions, merely that they do not give the moral agent reason for action. Moral motives are attached to moral principles that lead people to do the right thing. (Gray, 2010) Autonomy and freedom are two absolute values for Kant.He believed that since people were rational beings, they had the ability to create universal law s and follow them. Furthermore, people were self-regulated by their own rules/laws because they were free to determine for themselves without laws imposed by others. Thus, the two notions of autonomy and freedom were identical in Kantian theory and interdependently connected (RHODES, 1986). In contrast with other theories on ethics, such as hedonism and utilitarianism, Kant believed that the purpose of ethics was not to teach people to reach for their personal happiness.On the contrary, ethical living for Kant was achieved at the cost of our urges and instincts. However it is necessary for individuals to be aware of their own personal needs and wills. Concerning social work ethics, the Kantian ethic of self-determination is one of the most important ethical commitments of the social work profession. Social workers are educated to intervene in human lives in a way that their actions preserve the right of all humans to determine for themselves.Self-determination is a fundamental value that entails us as social workers to respect the person and encourage the person to act for themselves(Parrott, 2008). Based on the dual focus of the Kantian theory in autonomy and freedom, the ethic of self-determination reflects a belief that everyone is a rational being who can decide on their own about what is good or bad. Therefore, a rational being can also understand the meaning of punishment when their actions infringe on the freedom and the autonomy of others (Clark, 2000).Furthermore, social workers are also committed to act with respect for one’s dignity, and this also demonstrates Kantian thinking and its absolute ethical obligation to see every person as an end and not as a means (Rhodes, 1986). However social workers need to be conscious, that self-determination in practice may be unclear and can be seen as ‘professional ideology—an inter-related set of values and ideas. The concept is derived from a number of ideas and values outside social work, but it appears to have little direct relevance to social work in practice. (SPICKER, 1990) Kant’s principle of respect for persons, which is very relevant for current social work is as an end in itself, and is tied to his view of individuals as rational beings with autonomy and the capacity to exercise choice (Gray, 2000). It is this condition of human agency that sets the object of moral requirement in place and places limitations on our actions. It is precisely this view of the individual that social work adopts. It leads to attention being paid to responsibility as the flipside of duty or obligation and to ethical decision making as a rational activity.The classic utilitarian’s believe that the ultimate good is something that most people actually desire, such as happiness or pleasure. Specifically, the doctrine of ethical hedonism and most of the modern utilitarian’s take pleasure as the ultimate goal to which we should aim. In its simplest form, utilitariani sm states that in any situation where there is a moral choice, which is likely to produce the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people or the least harm to the world as a whole.Therefore, everyone ought to obey the laws that ensure the balance between the good for the individual and for the society as a whole (Rhodes, 1986; Clark, 2000) However focusing on a utilitarian outlook loses sight of the individual and their values and the riots that took place in England over the summer highlights this. The government â€Å"blamed a â€Å"broken society† for the wave of rioting and looting that spread through London http://www. guardian. co. k/social-care-network/2011/dec/09/live-reading-the-riots-social-careand there was a loud national outcry to deal robustly with the people that that took part in the riots and to give them sanctions like i. e. eviction from social housing, loss of state benefits, jail sentences However there were no considerations made for individual s and rhetoric like ‘social fight back’ gave such a combative position from the government. The summer riots emphasised the need for social workers to adhere to the GSCC codes of practice and to hold fast to ethics and values that under pin the discipline in the face of the moral panic.As emphasised by Theresa May’s and David Cameron recent speeches â€Å"The riots weren't about protests, unemployment, cuts,† she said. â€Å"The riots weren't about the future, about tomorrow. They were about today. They were about now. They were about instant gratification. Because all the riots really come down to was money. † â€Å"Parts of the state and its agencies had become demoralised from a moral collapse that has seen children without fathers and alienated, angry young people. The riots were not about race or poverty, but about behaviour and moral breakdown and people without proper boundaries. http://www. guardian. co. uk/social-care-network/2011/dec/09/l ive-reading-the-riots-social-care This highlights the challenge that social workers face in contemporary social work, as ‘agents of the state’ how do we work with these service users and empower them to make their own decisions when the current government belittles their frustrations and dismisses the inequalities that they experience on a day to day basis and ignore their feelings of powerlessness, voicelessness and under-representation.The government outlook does not take into consideration the evidence which suggests that rioters were generally poorer than the country at large. Analysis of more than a 1,000 court records suggests 59% of the England rioters come from 20% of the most deprived areas of the UK. Other analysis carried out by the Department for Education and the Ministry of Justice on young riot defendants found that 64% came from the poorest fifth of areas and only 3% from the richest.This viewpoint makes it difficult for service users to not regard socia l workers with an air of suspicion ‘social workers have always been viewed by some people, on the far left of the political spectrum, as part of the social problem because they are agents of the state. This perspective sees social workers’ role as a sop for the poor and the marginalised by a brutal capitalist system. (Okitikpi, 2011) Although this may be difficult for some service users, ultimately as part of their code from The British Association of Social Workers (BASW, 2002): â€Å"social workers have a duty to†¦ ring to the attention of those in power and the general public, and where appropriate challenge ways in which the policies or activities of government, organisations or society create or contribute to structural disadvantages, hardship and suffering or militate against their relief (BASW, 2002, Section 3. 2. 2. 2. a. ). This a code that social workers adhere to as many social workers were initially motivated to join the profession by their desire to w ork for social justice and to have direct helping relationships. Cree, 2007)study reinforces the point that practitioners see their role as being that of an enabler and facilitator working alongside people. The entrenchment of user-involvement in all areas of the profession has also done much to reinforce practitioners’ perception of the centrality of the caring aspects of their role. A greater emphasis should be placed on social workers to practice feminist ethics ‘feminist ethics of care attempts to provide a more complete view of morality and ethics in social work of care’ (Gray, 2010).This eschews more abstract ethical perspectives and requires social workers to look at themselves and their capacities for empathy, courage and compassion. Virtue theory insists that it’s misguided to expect reason to be able to establish some infallible moral doctrine which is compulsory and often counter to human nature and emotions. Perhaps morality is not about confor ming to rules, but more about being trained to see problematic situations in a moral way. Morality may not be the rational control of the emotions but, more appropriately, the cultivation of desirable emotions (Phoca, 1999). Hugman, 2005)argues there is a growing interest in placing emotions at the heart of ethics. The helping relationship is one where the emotional content is often silent in the discussion of ethics. Feminists regard this approach as reductive in its presumptions about the overriding importance of duties and obligations, and rules and principles in moral behaviour. This implies that social workers keep clients’ confidence, for example, merely because it is their duty to do so. For feminists, there is much more to morality than this we keep confidentiality because we care about our clients. Gray, 2010) Social workers are bound by the GSCC codes of practice; there is an obligation to have regard for inequalities within society and to consider the many forms of discrimination service user’s encounter on a regular basis. Discrimination is explained by Thompson (2007); he describes discrimination with the use of his Personal, Cultural and Structural (PCS) model; the Personal refers to the psychological characteristics of discrimination and how such personal experiences impact upon our attitudes; Cultural makes reference to perceived societal norms – our shared socially

My Firm’s Acquisition Essays

My Firm’s Acquisition Essays My Firm’s Acquisition Essay My Firm’s Acquisition Essay My Firm’s Acquisition Name: School: Course/Number: August 16, 2011 Instructor Name: My Firm’s Acquisition As the CEO of McCann Erickson, I am trying to acquire Ogilvy Mather advertising company, which is the same size with our company. With its acquisition, our firm is bound to become the biggest market leader in the advertising industry. Ogilvy Mather being a foreign international company in many countries around the world, we are sure to become the market leader through an acquisition in the whole world without competitors coming in close. Considering that both firms are ion the same industry, an acquisition would come in helpful in saving costs through economies of scale and a synergetic benefit as well as added expertise and diversity of services. However, considering that majority of acquisition and mergers do not go well and end up causing more problems than benefits, a close analysis will need to be conducted to come up with the best way to go about the acquisition. McCann Erickson is one of the biggest worldwide agencies that has specialized in traditional advertising and offers a wide range of marketing services through the McCann world group that coordinates several other companies such as Futurebrand and Weber. Our company has been in existence for around 8 decades and has had a vast experience in multinational services. The firm is based in the United States of America with its headquarters in New York City. The firm uses its local expertise together with its resources to build a reputation that makes it among the biggest agencies. Ogilvy on the other hand, is an international firm. Ogilvy Mather on the other hand, as mentioned earlier is an international company in the same industry in advertising, marketing and public relations. It was established around 948 in Britain as a simple service firm of few workers to become one of the leading advertising firms in the world today. The firm is currently based in Manhattan making it ideal for neg otiations of the acquisition since it is within United States. More so, the company has engaged in more diversified activities such as providing consulting services for clients and formulating strategies for its clients that they call cross-cultural marketing practice. Procedure Considering that most of the acquisitions fail, a procedure to ensure this does not happen will be required. Most of acquisitions fail due to the amount of acquiring the firm paid especially if it was too high and outdoes the benefit of the acquisitions. However, acquiring price is not the only problem causing failure of acquisition, but also other factors such as difference between the firm cultures and operation. In my acquisition of Ogilvy Mather, I would proceed using the following steps to ensure everything goes well to avoid failing in the future. The first strep would be establishing an acquisition team to undertake the acquisition procedures that will include all stakeholders (acquisition.gov, n.d.). The best thing to do is have a team to undertake the acquisition project that will contain professionals, as well as stakeholders to ensure they are aware and contribute to the process considering that know the profile of the firms well. This way, all the team members will focus on one goal of coming up with the best strategy. The team will be issued with specific duties per person and they will be empowered to carryout their roles effectively. In this team, the senior management from both firms would be involved since they are aware of the companies’ performances and the worth of the company. The second step would be describing any problem that may arise or needing to be solved. In this step the team should be focusing I on what the firms aim to solve or improve such as the problems with the firm to be acquired consideri ng that during acquisition the problem or issues are such as reducing costs, building expertise and solving the problems within the firm. The team should seek to define the desired outcomes from both firms at this stage, whether the acquisition can help meet the organizational goals, which in our case is becoming the biggest market leader and doubling our size of our firm. The third step would be examining the market sector, both private and public so that the team can know the possibilities or opportunities in the market place for the firm. This way, the team can be I a position to know what opportunities are available in the industry after the acquisition and whether the goals of the firm are achievable (acquisition.gov, n.d.). After this steps, the fourth step would be developing a performance-based acquisition that would involve conducting an analysis and formulating the objectives of the firm. Then an analysis of job would follow and then complete a performance statement for the company (acquisition.gov, n.d.). This way the team would have a draft of expected performance after the acquisition and implementation would be easier. The fifth step would be developing a way of measuring performance after developing the performance-based acquisition. This will come up with the strategy to follow in managing the performance of the firm after acquisition to achieve the desired and set out goals. This would involve selection of measure for judging the performance of the firm after acquisition to find out if there is any problem with the strategy used. The sixth step would be finding the right contractor for the work, one who will understand the performance-based acquisition set out by the team (acquisition.gov, n. d.). The contractor must know what the firm needs and possess the necessary requirements for executing the strategy. Collaborating with a good contractor will help solve some of the potential problems that arise after acquisition. The last step is putting the contractor as part of the acquisition team to work together. This last step involves allocating resources to the contractor and the team to execute the plan well that involves maintaining the team, restructuring the roles and assigning responsibilities for managing contract performance (acquisition.gov, n.d.). The contractor is supposed to ensure that all goes as planned by the team. Using these seven steps, the acquisition is bound to succeed and potential problems that cause failure will be dealt with easily after the acquisition is done. Institutional-based Issues Some of the institutional issues I am likely to encounter in the acquisition are the need to responding to constraints in the institutions and transitions after the acquisition. Most of companies at most times do not fit in most of the aspects, and such issues will arise, making a bit difficult to integrate easily (Peng, 2010). Such issues can be handled prior to acquisition to ensure that after acquisition, there will be no hard time integrating the systems of the companies together. The other issue is hard behavior ad norms that may be hard to kill to get a chance to acquire the firm such as hubristic managers and who may feel that their firm is worth more and may not feel they are better in some things and may want to remain in control (Peng, 2010). Resource-based Issues Resource –based issues are such as leveraging of the management capabilities of the two firms after acquisition that may be a little hard considering the size of the firms. Ogilvy Mather could be better in some certain management than we are while we could be better at other management places such as in traditional advertisement management. The other issue that could be encountered is integrating the resources such as cash and human resource to realize the best combination of roles and maximum productivity. More so, the integration of the intangible assets such as the reputation might be quite hard (Peng, 2010). Motives of my Acquisition The first managerial motive my acquisition is synergy that comes with combining of two firms. With acquisition of Ogilvy Mather, there will be a chance to build more power in the market since all resources used by the form will be used together with ours. This way, our weak points in terms of resources will be eliminated and some of the unused resources will be used for better purposes. In addition, this will increase our economies of scale and access to more resources. With economies of scale, there is a greater possibility of reducing costs especially from attained discounts. The other motive is growth of our firm to become the market leader as well as have the biggest market share. With acquisition, we are in a position to enter markets that we did not serve while at the same time we shall maintain the market of Ogilvy Mather. Another motive is to create value of shareholders’ wealth as well s increase the value of the stock. Innovation is the other motive that will be ea sily achieved through combined expertise of the firms after acquisition since each firm has its strong brands that will build a bigger band together (Peng, 2010). With acquisition of the Ogilvy Mather, we are in position to retain their market share and make a bigger firm after combining its resources. More so, with such an acquisition, McCann Erickson is bound to be the most powerful firm in the industry that will give us the chance to the advertising industry (Peng, 2010). However, the performance of the acquisition has to be considered first before such motives. In addition, my motive is to negotiate the most successful acquisition by ensuring that its performance is quite good. Our motives can be achieved with proper implementation of the acquisition and ensuring not to offer a bigger premium than benefits that we would get to ensure a successful acquisition. Hubris I do posses hubris considering that I am confident that my organization is the best suite to perform this acquisition and ensure success. The reason that makes me possess hubris is out of my vast experience in the industry, which has made be a better CEO. I learned that confidence boost my capabilities in executing my duties. More so, it makes me more aggressive in business that further aids my guts to take up risky situations that have brought me to my current position. However, I ensure that my hubris character does not ruin my firm and I ensure to involve others in making decisions. Ensuring Success of the Acquisition To ensure that the acquisition is going to be effective, during the performance based acquisition development, we shall consider several strategies. One of the strategies is speed at which we acquire and integrate the firm with our company. It is important to assimilate an acquisition swiftly to avoid losses and realize the synergetic benefit as early as possible to avoid having to incur costs due to unplanned acquisition. With the developed performance-based acquisition, it will be easier for our firm to integrate Ogilvy Mather into our strategy considering that comprehensive analysis abut the matching of the firms shall be done before the acquisition. This will include making quick decisions about the leadership of the firm, processing the necessary administration operations such as compensation, the business cards, and integrating the human resource to ensure harmony among the employees (cpstrat.com, 2011). The other strategy to ensure success of the acquisition is integrating sales to have one or combined sales team, marketing and service deliveries to ensure that everything id run smoothly and to enable tracking of performance. Considering that staff will play a big role in the success of the acquisition, there will be a staff rearrangement where the best will be retained and those that may not fit within the new working culture will be eliminated to ensure only productive ones are left. There will be a clear vision outlined that supports the new acquisitions and considers goals of the new entity formed after acquisition. The statement will be for all stakeholders to understand. Moreover, many acquisitions have failed to lack of better communication and joint management. Before our acquisition, we shall have a selected team of leadership to ensure the acquisition will not waste time on selection of top management after acquisition. The selected leadership team will be served with the responsibility of integrating the employees after the acquisition and ensure communication flows freely from top-down and down to top (cpstrat.com, 2011). Conclusion Acquisition of Ogilvy will not be easy, however, with careful planning the right team it is bound to succeed. With the strategy mentioned above, it is my intention to ensure that I dedicate my self to ensuring it goes as smoothly as possible so that our desired goals and objectives of doubling the size of our firm is achieved. Io intend to work with the management team of the Ogilvy Mather company to ensure that we come to a deal that will be of benefit to all of us including the shareholders who want to realize the best value of their investment. I call upon all the personnel that will be involved to cooperate and make sure the process runs smoothly and fast enough as it would be necessary. References cpstrat.com. (2011). Merger and Acquisition Success Strategies. Retrieved from cpstrat.com/merger-and-acquisition-success-strategies acquisition.gov. n.d. Seven steps to performance-based acquisition. Retrieved from https://www.acquisition.gov/comp/seven_steps/home.html Peng, M.W. (2010). Global Business. Hoboken, N.J: Cengage Learning.

Changing World Lasting Values Essay Essay Example

Changing World Lasting Values Essay Essay Example Changing World Lasting Values Essay Essay Changing World Lasting Values Essay Essay You hear many narratives presents - that the universe is absurd. that everything has changed. that old moral values have died. This is all non-sense. for if you look for world beneath the jumble of words which hide it. you will rediscover the ageless adult male. True values were non invented for the pleasance of doddering moralists. They exist because without them. neither society nor felicity could last. Here. so. are a few regulations every bit old as civilisation itself which remain true despite the progresss of scientific discipline and engineering. The first is that adult male must populate for something other than himself. The adult male who meditates endlessly about himself finds a 1000 grounds to be unhappy. He has notaccomplished everything he wanted to or should hold done ; he has non gotten everything he thought he deserved ; he has non been loved as he dreamed of being loved- But if he lives for ideals outside of himself - for his religion or his state. for his friends. his married woman and household. he miraculously forgets all his junior-grade concerns. In seeking to do others happy. he besides makes himself happy. The regular interior universe is the regular outer universe. â€Å" The 2nd regulation is that adult male must move. â€Å"The joy of the psyche is inactivity. † Alternatively of keening the absurdness of the universe. allow us seek to transform our ain small corner. It is non impossible. We can non alter the whole existence. but who hopes to make that? Our aim is much more simple: to make our occupation and make it good. to go a maestro at it. Each one works in his ain field. I write books. the carpenter assembles my bookshelves. the policeman directs traffic. the applied scientist. concepts. the curate governs. All of them. maintain busy at work which they know how to make good. are happy. This is so true that when people have leisure clip. they keep busy with seemingly useless activities such as games and athleticss. As for utile action. we know from experience that it is effectual: an active city manager makes a metropolis comfortable ; an active priest brings verve to a parish. â€Å"Happy are those in whose eyes work forces look for order. † The 3rd regulation is that one must believe in the power of the will. It is non true that the hereafter is predetermined- A great adult male can alter the class of history. Any adult male who has the bravery and the will can alter his ain hereafter. Naturally. none of us is all- powerful. Each man’s freedom has its bounds. Freedom lies between the boundary line of the possible and the will. It is beyond my power to forestall war. but I can execute an act which. multiplied by 1000000s. will be effectual. It is non possible for me to win a conflict. but it is up to me to be a brave soldier. Since this restriction of the will is dependent on what one dares. one must non worry about his restriction ; but do the best he can. Finally. the 4th. and most cherished of all values. is faithfulness. Fidelity to promises. contracts. to others. and to oneself. One must be among those who can be counted upon. Faithfulness is non an easy virtuousness. Thousand of enticements are thrown across our waies. â€Å"Faithfulness in matrimony. † said Bernard Shaw. is no more natural to adult male than the coop to the tiger. † Undoubtedly. fidelity is â€Å"natural. † It is born of a voluntary determination. invariably renewed. which helps us to lift above our natures. But it gives us the enduring joy of being at peace with ourselves. I may predate an immediate pleasance to guarantee myself the great joy in the hereafter of looking at my yesteryear without shame. but with pride. Every society in which citizens live for naught but fugitive pleasances. where work forces no longer swear each other. and whose members let themselves travel is doomed. When Rome let travel and ceased to put shop by the values which made her great. she perished. When France clung to eternal values she was saved. Modern engineering may alter one’s manners of action. but they change neither its values. the grounds for it. nor the responsibility of fidelity. Thus it was in the beginning and so it will ever be.