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Crafting and Executing Diversification Strategy of Spectrum Brand

Crafting and Executing Diversification Strategy of Spectrum Brand

Different companies have different strategies that they embark on as their game plan to grow with time. A sound strategy should enable the company plan out how they can achieve customer satisfaction, conduct operations while competing successfully and all in all achieve their set out objectives with time to grow their business. A good manager should be able to come up with a strategy that enables the company to grow and keep the company in the market (Pisnar 2008).

David Jones outlined a strategy plan which was about Spectrum Brands globalizing and diversifying in order for the company to stay in the map. Jones diversified the battery and flashlight manufacturing industry to indulge in more products. These included venturing into personal grooming line products home appliance, lawn and garden utilities and products, insect repellants and pet care products. The company also diversified to having companies and expanding their market to US, Europe, North and Latin America.

The strategy the company picked has a couple of factors working for them. These are factors such as creation of market opportunities in new boundaries and new fields. Venturing into different products and globalizing enabled them to meet different customer needs. The challenges that spectrum brand faced were market competitions arising from different other companies in the market. The products that the company did venture in as a diversification strategy, portable lighting products, electric personal care products and household insect control also did not make sales or add more profits to the company.

The diversification strategy that Spectrum brands embarked on was indeed a good strategy. It incurred additional costs due to marketing employed for different products but employed a business structure that was bound to eliminate double functions therefore cutting salary costs and in turn operating efficiently and profitably.

References

Pisnar M. (2008). Strategic Management: Management Policy and System Analysis. HYPERLINK “http://homepages.bw.edu/~mpisnar/2008%20Text.pdf” http://homepages.bw.edu/~mpisnar/2008%20Text.pdf

U.S Economies

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U.S Economies

Currently, years after recession the GDP per capita and unemployment are very low instead of growing because the crisis was caused by systematic banking. Systematic financial crisis tends to deeply influence a nation’s financial system compared with borderline crises. Economic recovery for a normal recession takes shorter time especially in a V-shaped recovery where the economy returns to trend within a year or two. The post WWII systematic crisis took four and half years to recover. The Great Depression’s recovery was the strongest in U.S history unlike the current 8% growth which is considered as low.

Moreover, there is another issue of cumulative population growth where a 2% real GDP growth did not have any effect on an average person’s income. However, presently, 2% annual GDP growth implied a more than 1% increase in real income per individual. Reinhart and Rogoff argue that the vigorous recovery that followed post WWII crisis returned to its peak faster yet the current financial crisis is still hitting U.S so hard since 2007 (Web). Aftermath of US financial crisis is different from the post war systematic financial crisis that was experienced around the world.

The post war recovery preceded the creation of deposit insurance in 1933 as well as the establishment of a central bank in the U.S. The government played a major role in the economic recovery during the post-World War II leading to faster recovery. According to Reinhart and Rogoff, U.S has fared well compared to other advanced economies which underwent borderline episodes when assessed in terms of GDP per capita (Web). Systematic financial crisis has however made U.S track worse than the countries that did not experience it. Post WWII saw a huge contraction in per capita GDP when compared with the recent crisis. Vigorous growth in output per capita had hardly been experienced in the historic systematic financial crises.

Also, unemployment rate is meaningfully low and may closely be associated with lower rates after 1907 panic when compared with the post WWII unemployment rates. Reinhart and Rogoff assert that unemployment rate during the post WWII was not that serious even though it involved a severe systematic financial crisis (Web). Employment recovery is weaker in the post-WWII compared with the current recovery. The unemployment rate has remained constantly high since 2007-2008 crises unlike post WWII when employment peaked off immediately. Generally, the recent recovery is slower than the post-WWII.

Works Cited

Reinhart And Rogoff. This Time Is Different, Again? The US Five Years after the Onset Of Subprime. VOX, 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2013. <http://www.voxeu.org/article/time-different-again-us-five-years-after-onset-subprime-0>.

Craig, Anderson, et al the influence of media violence on youth, psychological science in the public interest, 2003, Vol.4 (3

Craig, Anderson, et al the influence of media violence on youth, psychological science in the public interest, 2003, Vol.4 (3) p. 81-110.

The article “the influence of media violence on youth” was published for the National Institute of Mental Health but due alterations effected by the surgeon general without prior knowledge of these authors; they opted to publish it on their own. They modified the report and updated several sections before publishing it in the psychological science in the public interest. The report was then availed to the public through the periodical’s site.

There are a total of eight authors who have served in different capacities in the department of psychology from their respective universities and colleges. The lead author, Craig Anderson has been awarded a Fellow status by the American Psychological Society and the American Psychological Association. The other authors have diverse knowledge on psychology and other related areas as they have written several publications on psychological issues. Present among them is the dean of the college of communication thus providing great assistance in the area of communication and its impact on the society. One can therefore say that the article was written from an expert’s point of view since a great deal of consideration was taken before the publication was made public. The fact that they felt the Surgeon General’s copy was mere representation and not an actual publication was clear indication that they took their time and would not provide anything less than the actual report.

The authors have taken a new method of looking at media violence and whether adverse effects are as a consequence of these games. They look at scientific methods within which they can either prove or disapprove the previous studies that have implicated media violence on causing aggression among the viewers. They also want to look for ways within which they can create mitigating measures for any adverse effects that may be perpetuated by these games or interactive media. They begin by classifying the different types of aggression that are possibly not well elaborated in the many researches that are carried out. Several federal agencies like the 2000 federal commission report; professional groups like the Eron, Gentry & Schlegel’s 1994 report for the American psychological association; and individual researchers like John Steinfield have all in one way or the dealt with the issue of media violence and its effect on the youth (p.82).

The purpose of these authors is to bring out the scientific conclusion on the effects of media violence on the youth by answering five critical questions (p.82). First, what does research say about the relationship of violence, aggression and the media? Secondly, the theoretical explanations on how media violence produces its effect on aggressive and violent behavior. Third, what moderator effects can be applied to reduce the influence of the characteristics that are most influential? Who are most susceptible to the characteristics? Fourthly, how accessible and widespread is violence media especially to the youth? Last but not least, how can the society counteract the effect of media violence on the individuals most susceptible? These questions provided a basis for their research and the basis for this report. They prepared this report to suite all types of audiences that may be interested in reading such a research. Whether professionals or not, the audience can readily understand what is being relayed by the authors. The research carried out by these authors is conclusively detailed to fit the audience that comes across these findings.

The most important aspect that is perpetuated by these authors is that there are several factors that should not be overlooked by other researchers who would like to venture in this area of psychology. They also serve to dispel allegations that media is the sole cause of aggression but reiterate that there are a number of factors that come to play when violence is looked at greater details. Violence is as a result of various effects that come from long term conditions placed on an individual. Other than media, other factors come alive when an individual becomes aggressive (p.84). The authors try to look at these other aspects and alienate the ones that are directly linked to the media and violent interactive media. They look at the meta-analysis of different researches that have been carried out over the last four decades and look for evidence that directly links media to aggressive behavior. The authors try to distinguish between inherent factors and external factors that lead to aggression and look for intervention measures that would otherwise be used for moderating these behaviors. Sparse reviews suggest counter-attitudinal and parental mediations as core interventions that could be used to reduce these characteristics. They cite reports that have been published earlier to show just how different researchers perceived violence depicted by the media (p.90). As a basis for their discussion, they look at the meaning of different aspects portrayed by other researchers on the area of violence and tend to delineate the media from being the major cause of violence. Though studies show that children who watch other children fighting in the media are less likely to call an adult when faced with a similar situation, the authors contemplate that an individual who takes violence as a means of settling quarrels will definitely accept violence as a solution.

The authors’ approach on this topic is very insightful they offer new directions on the way the media can be involved and how certain measures can be taken to drastically reduce the expected results. They look at a myriad of solutions that distinguish the major types of aggression and how they can be detected and solved. They term short term effects of violence as coming as a result of observational learning, imitation, arousal and excitation, and priming. This may be true but according to social cognition, these imitations could only occur if an individual has had a pressing issue that he sees solved particularly via violence. If there are any issues at home and an individual sees someone in the same situation solving it through murder, the individual will then take that as an option. If a male adolescent has in any way been harassed by a female and then sees a violent treatment of women in a movie, then there are higher chances of the individual being assaultive in the way they handle women (p.95). Long-term effects are seen as a result of observational learning, atomization of aggressive schematic processing and emotional habituation. So far, the authors agree with my point of view that the media is not the direct cause of violence and aggression but a recipe for an aggravated individual who has not found a way of dealing with their own problems.

My idea is that violent media does not lead to aggressive behavior and these authors have just proved that. They suggestive that violence will only be a result if the model used is attractive or similar to the viewer in that they can identify with the situations presented. Only associated stimuli cause resultant behavior which in this case is aggression. This, the authors cite, is critical especially when the society is involved. If the society condones violence, then the situations affecting the individual could be related to that environment and solved in such ways. They answer questions concerning the use of scientific research to quantify behavioral practices in a way that is easy to understand and digest information therein. They tackle the critical questions adequately and provide detailed information that is helpful for other researchers willing to carry out extensive research in this area. They also provide a basis for others who would like to use this information as their foundational argument. For the readers, they aid them in understanding the various ways in which they can assist individuals addicted to these games and different ways in which they can help reduce cases of aggression especially among the youth.

Works cited:

Craig, Anderson, et al the influence of media violence on youth, psychological science in the public interest, 2003, Vol.4 (3) p. 81-110.

Space according to Virilios’ Overexposed City

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Space according to Virilios’ Overexposed City

Virilio argues that technologies like automobile, train and airplane did not fundamentally present problems for the representational paradigm that understands speed and communication forces to produce effects that are visible, but distorted and interrupted the rationalized space of the industrialization city of the 19th century. To him surfaces of architecture formed boundaries and cities still well composed on locale clusters and space was still managed appropriately. Guided by his proximity law, Virilio argues that the relevant analysis interval shifts to time from space and finally to light- to the waves that allows the relativization and interactivity of time and space, with the passage to the absolute speed of today’s telecommunication from the mechanical transport of a past era. To him, the future’s city is the pleasure or the result of interval. As it follows, when the interval is light, essentially proximate space results to electromagnetic proximity and the grid of the city to the network of information; teleaction replaces immediate practice and chronopolitics replace geopolitics (Virilio 542- 49).

According to Virilio, this is the city that is overexposed, whose images range from the moderately benevolent ubiquity of computer screens, televisions and fax machines to the horrifying forced entry of the nuclear flash into the darkest recesses of Hiroshima. To him, space has disappeared. For in the city that has been overexposed, the organism of architecture is not opaque anymore, it is not occlusive and it has been inscribed with information that is visible just like the body of humans, on which it took its ideas and inspiration from, vulnerable and porous to the intrusion forces that are just as visible as an electron, and just as less real. These distinctions, there and here, exterior and interior, and private and public, on which architecture depends on, are no longer useful and they no longer hold, and the resulting territory insecurity ranges into one’s own body from the cities (Virilio 542- 49).

His later works pursued the notions of the fusion of biology, technology, and the way the environment is arranged, and points out to us that destruction and perception can be distressingly coterminous. This article, however, explores the notions of disappearance and shows new ways which one can use to analyze the structures of a city that can no longer be seen in the locations and materials that realize it. Since the current system of the world is not as global as fundamental, like a shot of a cinema of the night tables of the author receding into pixels that are one dimensional, information technology becomes the only representational solution to the new representational challenges. According to these arguments, it is clear that Virilio thinks and indicates that space has disappeared (Virilio 542- 49).

To further indicate and express this point, an example of a statement made by the mayor of Philadelphia in the 1960s when the black revolts were in full swing is used. The mayor pointed out that ‘….from now on, state lines cross inside the city….. (Virilio 543). While this statement was largely a political reality for numerous individuals in the United States, it more essentially opened onto a dimension that was more meaningful and wider especially because the Berlin wall had just been put up. Since this time, the statement the mayor made kept on being proved true. This is exemplified by the case of Belfast and Londonderry whereby the two streets recently were marked with a yellow line. This band was supposed to divide Catholics and Protestants, before the two warring groups moved away leaving a no- man’s land behind that even created a stronger division between these two neighborhoods (Rondanini 234- 54). After this, another city, Beirut followed suit with its west and east regions, its local frontiers, mined boulevards, and tunnels. It is argued that this declaration made by a large American metropolitan leader underlined general phenomenon that affected provincial cities and capitals (Virilio 542- 49).

This phenomenon of compulsory bashfulness, in which industrial companies, just like cities, suffered the first effects of an economy that was multinational, led to an essential redeployment of cities. On one hand this led to the disruption of some cities that were predominantly working – class cities like Sheffield, and Liverpool in England, St. Louis and Detroit in the US, and German’s Dortmund. On the other hand, new city centers came up around large international airports- what are referred to as the metroplex. These airports were build with the beginning of the international economic crisis that occurred in the 1970s for the purposes of conforming to the imperatives in defense against buildings that were hijacking cities and were no longer build in respect to the traditional constraints of technology, but were build to reduce the risk of contamination by terrorists (Virilio 542- 49).

Sites were designed to discriminate between a non- sterile zone from a sterile zone. All circuits and breaks of circuits, as well as, the general traffic flow were put through a discriminatory system of transit. As it follows, the architectural forms of the buildings became less the outcome of the individual personality of architects than of the required precautions taken for the safety of the public. As the last gateway of the state the airport was more established as a fort, the train station or the harbor of the past, the place where it is necessary to regulate communication and exchange. For the same reason, it also became the appropriate field to exercise high surveillance and intense control experimentation. A border and air patrol was also established, and their exploits on antiterrorism made news headlines.

From this time, it was not simply matter of segregating the suspected or contagious person through confinement like it was done in the past, but rather of intercepting the threat in the course of their journey so as to examine his clothing and baggage electronically; thus the sudden abundance of cameras, detectors, and radar at compulsory passageways (Virilio 542- 49).

Absurdly, the very equipment and technology designed and developed for the greatest freedom in travel provided for a model for prison incarceration. In the past, in a number of residential areas in the US, security was performed only by televisions that well closed- circuit connected to police headquarters. In supermarkets, banks, and highways, several tollbooths were erected to resemble the old city gates, too show that the passage rites are no longer broken, that they have in turn become immanent (Virilio 542- 49).

With such a perspective without horizons, the manner through which an individual gains access to a city is not through a city gate, or a triumph arch, but rather through an audience system managed and controlled electronically whose users are not really inhabitants of the city or privileged residents as they are interlocutors who are permanently on the move. From this point, continuity breaks occur a few times within the boundary of an urban space that is physical or its register than within a time’s span, a span that industrial and technology redeployments have incessantly restructured through sets of interruptions like unemployment, company closures and work schedules that are variable; and through simultaneous or successive transformations that have managed to reorganize and organize the milieu of the city, like, for example, the large townhouses located near Lyons whereby the inhabitant turnover rates went so high that it resulted to the destruction of a residential complex otherwise seen as satisfactory (Virilio 542- 49).

It is argued that since men first began to make use of enclosures, the idea of what a boundary was has gone through different changes which concern both what it faces and façade. To the screen from the fence, the surface of boundaries has been continually altered, either imperceptibly and perceptibly. Its more current changes are maybe that one of the interface. The queries of a city’s accessibility then must be rephrased to ask whether a greater metropolis still has a façade. To ask at what time the city can be indicated to facing us. The author further argues that the popular expression of the past century that people had of saying that they are going into the city has been notably been replaced by going to the city. This according to the author embodies an uncertainty concerning relations or associations of the opposites, as if individuals were no longer ever at the city’s front but always inside it. If the city still is located and takes a considerable amount of land, or a geographical position, it no longer keeps in touch with the ancient division between a country and a city, nor with the opposition between periphery and center (Virilio 542- 49).

The axiality and the localization of the layout of the city faded some time ago. It is argued that the suburbia was not the sole culprit of this dissolution. The very opposition extramural versus intramural was itself made weak by the revolution in the communication and telecommunications development and in transportation, which in turn resulted to the vague conurbation of a city fringe. The author puts it that we are currently witnessing a phenomenon that is paradoxical in which the construction opacity materials is virtually being done away with. With the emergence of structures that are portative, curtain walls made of transparent materials and light are replacing the faced made of stone at the same time that the paper used for tracing, plexiglass and acetate used in project surveys are replacing the opaque characteristic of papers (Virilio 542- 49).

The issue of disappearance of space is further emphasized by Henri Lefebvre who launched a search for a unitary theory of mental, physical, and social space with the declaration that, ‘…..the fact is that around 1910 a certain space was shattered. It was the space of common sense, of knowledge, of social practice, of political power, a space hitherto enshrined in everyday discourse, just as in abstract thought, as the environment of and channel for communications…..’ (Lefebvre 177). He further points out that perspective and Euclidean space have disappeared as reference systems, along with other past commonplaces like history, town, paternity, traditional morality, the tonal music system, among others.

Daniel Defert, on the other hand, argues that for almost twenty years, spaces remained substantially misunderstood and unexplored. He further puts it that urbanism and architecture do not constitute an entirely autonomous or isolated field (Defert 280- 81). Tom McDonough is another author who talks of disappearing and disappeared space. This particular author argues in one of his articles that under capitalism that is advanced, ‘…. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation…..’ (McDonough 254). Just as Lefebvre argued, this author puts it that the corollary to this in spatial discourse was that space that was directly lived in or what he referred to as the representational space had gone away into the space of the perceived and conceived or what he called the representations of space. He argues that concrete, social space was denied in favor of abstract, mental space, or commodity’s free space. According to him, however, this thoroughly dominated space was not faultless, in fact, he argues that it was filled with contradictions, hidden and covered by an ideology that was homogenizing.

These contradictions are what according to the author made it possible for the struggle resulting from the situationist project; the construction of spaces and exploration of psychogeography that made the difference. The experimental behavior of situationists and their inhabiting practice was an operation or activity in space that had become dominated that meant to contest or compete for the retreat of the directly lived into the representation of realm, and hence, to compete or challenge the society’s organization of the spectacle itself. This, just like the other two authors, supports that claims by Virilio that space has already disappeared.

Works cited

Defert, Daniel. ‘Foucault, Space and the Architects’. 1997. Print

Lefebvre, Henri. From ‘the Production of Space.’ From La Production de l’espace. Paris: Anthoropos, 1974. Print

McDonough, Tom. ‘The Naked City’.

Rondanini, Nunzia Architecture and Social Change Heresies II, Vol. 3, No. 3, New York, Neresies Collective Inc., 1981. Print

Virilio, Paul. ‘The Overexposed City.’ La Ville Superposee from L’espace critique. Paris: Christian Bourgeois, 1984. Print

Craigs Crocodiles, Inc. Income Statement For The Year Ended 31st Jan. 2009

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Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc. Income Statement For The Year Ended 31st Jan. 2009

2009

Operating Activities $

Revenue (Sales)300,000

Credit Sales 160,000

Net Sales 460,000

Purchase (300,000)

Gross Income 160,000

Expenses

Warehouse hire24,000

Office space12,000

Bad debts60,000

Shipping cost25,000(121,000)

NIBT 39,000

Workings

Bad Debts and Collection Expenses = 0.2 x 300,000

= 60,000

The Lease Contract between Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc. and Pauly Property Management Services

Opening

The two parties entered into an agreement over lease of warehouse and office spaces. The three year contract was signed by both parties in January 2008. Since Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc. did not have enough resources to construct their own properties (offices and warehouses) for the crocodiles, the company opted to outsource these services from Pauly Property Management Services. In the process, a contract was signed, an indication agreement. However, having realized significant growth and development in their investments, Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc. opted to have bigger space with the capacity to accommodate their growing numbers. Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc. now feels that it is time to move to relatively bigger and spacious rooms.

Findings

From the above case, it can be established that the two parties has entered into a contractual agreement over a specified period of time, 3 years in this case. This constitutes a contract, then, it represents a deliberate, voluntary, and legally bidding contractual agreement between these two competent parties. Whether written or implied, this lease contract is part of the common law that holds the parties to it and must be honored. This contractual relationship between Craig’s and Pauly Property is evidenced by the offer, acceptance of this lease offer, and the valid (valuable and legal) consideration. Therefore, both Pauly Property Management Services and Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc. acquire the duties and rights to each other. Though the existence of this contractual-relationship should not apply that it is not avoidable, not void, or not enforceable, all the parties to the lease contract are legal protected.

Since this is a lease contract, the contractual arrangement therefore calls for the user (lessee) to honor his part of the agreement by paying the property owner (lessor) the agreed monetary compensation for the use of the asset (warehouse and office spaces in this case). Given that the warehouse is a tangible property, this lease contract is therefore referred to as rental agreement as the user agrees to rent the warehouse rented out by Pauly Property Management Services. Since this is a periodic lease, the Craig’s Crocodile is under no obligation to honor the contractual agreement for the specified lease period (3 years).

Closing

Any attempt to terminate the lease contract before the 3 years period elapse is contrary to the contractual agreement and constitute a breach of the lease contract between the parties. Craig’s Crocodile intention to pre-maturely terminate the contract without the consent of the lessor (Pauly Property Management Services) attracts legal actions that include compensation for the damage caused. Therefore, Pauly Property Management Services is justified and legal correct to demand a financial compensation for the lost lease rent for the remaining two years of the contract. In addition to the lost rent, Pauly Property Management Services will suffer other damages that attract compensation of a fair financial value.

Pauly Property Management Services should also sue and be awarded for punitive damages (exemplary damages) that the breach of lease contract has caused them. Punitive damage is often awarded to the injured party as compensation to the plaintiff for the damages and losses suffered as a result of the harm that Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc. has caused the lessor. This penalty is also aimed at punishing Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc. (the defendant) for their outrageous misconduct, hence deterring the defendant from any similar misbehavior done intentionally, like in the case of Craig’s Crocodiles, Inc by disregarding the contractual interests and rights of Pauly Property Management (the plaintiff). This punitive damage is the “quasi-criminal” because it stands halfway between civil and criminal law. Therefore, the $300,000 punitive damage fine is justified and legally backed.

Summary of Three Articles

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Summary of Three Articles

This article on higher education by Clark Kerr brings and shows the research university in a new light, that of a new century. In the article, the author argues that the multiversity is now facing numerous challenges with few certainties. It is shown how university leaders can assume different roles like those if foxes or hedgehogs in the current world. To show what attitudes universities should adopt in this age, he gives five different points of recommendations. One of them is that universities should be more privatized, and that they should rely more on tuition. Another point is that there should be more federalization, with the third point being that there should be more cultivation of general support from the public. The other two points are that more attention should be paid to using resources effectively and that universities should focus more on pluralistic leadership (Kerr 186- 196).

The other article is by Ellen Goldring and Claire Smrekar, and is about magnet schools. The two authors argue that these schools are being established in more systems today to allow for racial diversity and improve scholastic standards and come up with a wide range of activities and programs for the better satisfaction of the needs, interests and talents of all students. The authors utilize a number of surveys to indicate the importance of magnet schools and point out that there is a huge need for the desegregation of schools in current times for the better satisfaction of needs and talents of all students (Goldring and Claire 17- 34).

Frederick Rudolph the author of the next article that talks about college movements. He talks about different movements that occurred in different universities and colleges like the movements that happened in the University of North Carolina, Princeton, New Miami College, Wabash College, and Emory College among others. The author argues that the institutions in these movements in the US intended to be institutions that are democratic for a democratic society. As it follows, they represented of the best and worst of a society. He implies that these movements at the most resulted from individuals putting their faith in man, and their belief in progress (Rudolph 45- 67).

Works cited

Goldring, Ellen and Claire Smrekar. Magnet Schools and the Pursuit of Racial Balance, 17- 34. Print.

Kerr, Clark. The uses of the University, 186- 196. Print

Rudolph, Frederick. The College Movement, 45- 67. Print.

Crate Training Program Dealing with Sexual Harassment in the Office

Crate Training Program: Dealing with Sexual Harassment in the Office

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Training module:

Training Module for Dealing with Sexual Harassment in the Office.

Introduction

I settled on designing a training module for the employees to create awareness on sexual harassment and mechanisms of combatting it. These are outrageous sexual acts subjected to all genders at work place whilst most of the employees are ignorant of the handling this issue. Their ignorance leaves them vulnerable to the perpetrators who have the audacity to continue victimizing them while taking advantage of their ‘illiteracy’ on it. Employees of all genders are the ideal audience for the program. The senior officers such as Supervisors and managers will be enlightened on how to handle, engage their junior officers without perpetrating this indecent and assisting them in case they are victimized. By the end of the program, I hope the employees will have in depth understanding of the issue and the proper measure that should be taken by the employees when they are victimized.

Syllabus

Sexual Harassment

Manifestations of sexual harassment

Common perpetrators of sexual harassment

Common victims of sexual harassment

Course of Action for victims

Reporting to a senior

Asking for immediate help for extreme cases such as rape

Legal action

Personal precautionary measures.

Description of training:

The training module will enlighten the employees the sexual harassment acts and how the victims can approach the issue successfully. Both male and female employees will be the target audience. The whole training session is expected to last for around three hours with two breaks that last for seven minutes at different intervals.

Purpose of training:

Creating sexual harassment awareness in workplaces can promote mutual respect and decency how employees interact with each other. Most of the employees do not totally understand acts related to it what makes it important to enlighten them. Therefore, this training module is aimed at teaching the employees what sexual harassment, discipline its perpetrators and the measures that should be taken in case they happen to be the victims. The managers should be reliable in offering legal assistance to the victims. The employees will feel that their respect is adhered therefore promoting their confidence at work. The perpetrators will have to change their indecent behaviour since their victims will no longer be ignorant on the issue.

The objectives of this course are:

To shed light on various types of sexual harassments that workers face in offices.

Explaining to employees the characteristics of a sexually harassed workers in order to enable them to identify them and offers all the essential assistance required such as ensuring that the culprits are accountable of their indecent actions.

Teach the employees the legal approach to sexual harassment and legal actions that the victims should undertake in order to have justice.

Ensure employee understand various ways in which they can keep sexual bullies at bay.

Teach employees the actions or measures that one needs to take at a personal level to reduce cases of sexual harassment in the office.

Course Outline

Introduction

Sexual harassment is a common crime around the office that often goes unreported.

The victims avoid reporting victimization due to the shame associated with it since it’s a form of sexual abuse.

Sexual harassment refer to sexual requests in order to make favours, sexual advances, physical or verbal harassments which are sexual in nature.

Types of Sexual harassment that occur in the office

Groping

Rape

Requesting for sex for favours.

Physical or verbal harassments which are sexual in nature.

Inappropriate sexual advances.

Common perpetrators of sexual harassment

Managers

Supervisors

Project leaders

Chief Executive Officers

Recruiters

Progress assessors

Common Victims

Female or male secretaries

Female junior or new employees

Young or junior male employees

New job applicants.

Employees seeking promotions.

Dealing with Sexual Harassment

Reporting to a senior

a) The victim can report the perpetrator to a manager or team leader

b) If the perpetrator is a manager, reporting to an even more senior manager can help

c) It is also advisable to report to law enforcement if necessary

Asking for immediate help for extreme cases such as rape.

If caught unawares by an office rapist, employees need to shout.

They also need to call other employees as they fight back.

Legal action

There are times when the company or employer might be reluctant to take action or be the perpetrator

At such times legal action is necessary

Gather evidence and give it to an attorney

Be confident while going through all these and seek psychological help if necessary

Confide in a trusted friend as you handle the legal issues

Personal precautionary measures

Dressing in a respectable manner

Keeping off sexual talk if it sends wrong message to others

Knowing to spot potential perpetrators and avoiding them

Reporting minor harassment as it leads to major harassment later on

Trying to be in the company of someone around the office as much as practicable.

Lesson Plan

Duration: 2 hours (15minutes break).

Participants: 40-50 participants per session.

Goals

Describe Activities Materials Feedback/Assessment Time

Introduction

By the end of this segment, trainees will:

a) Explain what sexual harassment is and give examples. -Defining sexual harassment

Video depicting sexual harassment Letting trainees give ideas on what has been discussed 30 min.

Perpetrators and Victims By the end of this segment, trainees will:

Name perpetrators

Name victims -Defining a victim,

Perpetrator and their differences.

Literature on sexual harassment Letting trainees discuss the shared ideas 30 min.

3. Dealing with sexual harassment

By the end of this segment, trainees will be able to:

Explain what Anti-Discrimination Act is

Explain the role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Show how the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits sexual harassment

Explain personal precautionary measures against offenders and sexual harassments legal approach. -Explain ADA and EEOC

-Ask trainees to share ideas on what they think needs to be done

-Show the role of public officers such as sheriff and attorney in sexual harassment.

Video, PowerPoint presentation on ADA and EEOC Letting trainees share what they have learned in the segment 30 min.

Conclusion: Trainees should have in depth understanding of sexual harassment at the end of the program.

-Ask trainees pointed questions on what has been covered. Video content Letting trainees share ideas on the content. 30

min.

Material and resources:

Video player and screen.

Sexual harassment hand outs.

Spacious hall or room.

PowerPoint projector.

References

Civil Rights Act of 1964 (1964). Civil Rights Act Transcript. Retrieved October 6, 2013 from Civil Rights Act

United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1967). The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967. Retrieved October 6, 2013 from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/adea.cfm

Cream Learning Strategy. CREAM is a learning strategy. A group of methods makes you a fruitful learner.

Cream Learning Strategy      

Name

Affiliation  

CREAM is a learning strategy. A group of methods makes you a fruitful learner.

The letter “C” stands for the word Creativity. This is an erudite innovativeness. An imaginative individual has certainty to utilize individual style in his work (Hayashi, Bourdeau & Mizoguchi, 2010).

The letter “R” stands for Reflective. An individual with this examines and assesses his own execution and draw lessons from it. To be an intelligent individual one ought to gain from his past encounters and apply them in future, he ought to gain from his mix-ups and make an effort not to rehash them.

The letter “E” refers to the word effectiveness. An effective individual sorts out his space, time and needs. Successful study aptitudes must be drilled keeping in mind the end goal to be composed and enhance your learning propensities and styles (Hayashi, Bourdeau & Mizoguchi, 2010).

The letter “A” stands for activeness. An active learner strategy is the point at which you include yourself by and by in work, and afterward endeavors to get it going. To be a dynamic learner one ought to participate effectively in every one of his activities.

The letter “M” stands for motivated. A motivated learning strategy is the point at which you appreciate learning. To be a spurs learner one ought to dependably discover approaches to make your learning fun and intriguing. In the event that an individual has all these learning systems, he will without doubt be an extremely effective learner (Hayashi, Bourdeau & Mizoguchi, 2010).

Reference

Hayashi, Y., Bourdeau, J., & Mizoguchi, R. (2010). Strategy-centred modelling for better understanding of learning/instructional theories. International journal of Knowledge and web Intelligence, 1(3), 187-208.

Create a quotes page that will list all of the possible information you could use from your sources

Quotes

ASSIGNMENT

Create a “quotes” page that will list all of the possible information you could use from your sources. The plan is that the information in this page is quotable, worthy of paraphrase, or able to reference in some way in the final paper. You must include all of the source information (in MLA, APA, or CMS format) after each block of information. You may organize your page in any of the following three ways:

Organization of quotes 1—using the working bib, add the copied information under each citation. Follow every chunk of information with an in-text citation, as well.

 

Organization of quotes 2—create an unorganized list of copied information from your sources. Follow every chunk of information with an in-text citation.

 

Organization of quotes 3—create section headings to organize the information, and then include the appropriate information within each section. Follow every chunk of information with an in-text citation. Example sections could be: Definitions, Topic History, Proponents of My Argument, Opponents of My Argument, etc.

When copying the information into your document, be sure that you are copying it exactly as it appears in the original. Be careful not to retype information incorrectly (typos, skipping lines, skipping words, etc), otherwise you will have incorrect information from which to quote, paraphrase, or reference. Use quotation marks around the information so you remember that you have copied the information exactly. Be sure to also have the correct in-text citation after every quotable bit, otherwise your page is nigh useless when it comes time to type your essay.

The purpose of this activity is to help you minimize a giant stack of sources to just a small collection from each source of the information that you might want to actually use in your essay. While you can look back at your sources any time, it is often helpful to have a single document that contains things you might want to quote, paraphrase, reference. This minimizes stress and workload when you’re trying to write your final essay. Try this activity, and if you like it, you might want to use it for all of your research endeavors in the future. If you hate it, at least you tried it.

Here is a brief example, using MLA format, of what your document might look like if you chose option #3:

History

“In 1911, there were 50 Himalayan kittens adopted in the United States” (Smith 32).

“Himalayan cat breeding has become a hobby of many cat lovers. Very often, the Himalayan’s are bred with other pure breeds for a unique and equally treasurable mix” (Williams and Thompson 405).

QUOTES INFORMATION

In your essay, you will use your research to refer, discuss, analyze, and argue with or against. Remember, the point of the essay is to join the conversation on the topic, which means you must in some fashion acknowledge the conversation. Any reference to another source must be accompanied by a Works Cited page. If you want to look at it this way, these references are part of your “ethos,” or let’s even call them your references at the end of your resume if you want. They prove that everything you’re saying isn’t b.s.

When it comes to acknowledging others in the field, depending on your field of study, you’ll reference the sources using a particular citation style that emphasizes what’s most important in that field.

The sciences use what is called APA (American Psychological Association) because science values the date of publication, so all references using APA will emphasize the date of publication.

The journalists and publishers use CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) to emphasize notes and remarks directly on the same page as the original text.

There are other lesser known source styles that radiologists and other fields will use, such as AMA.

In the humanities, we use MLA (Modern Language Association) because we value most the researcher and source.

All of these styles achieve the same goal: give credit to the author with in-text citations for quotes and paraphrases and a works cited page/annotated bibliography for complete source information. The styles differ only in how the sources are listed and what information is listed.

No matter if you’re quoting, paraphrasing, or using an idea, you must cite your source. A common mistake is that if it’s not quoted, it doesn’t have to be cited. WRONG. If you use anything from another source, you must cite that both in the text and in the works cited page. Make sure the in-text citations and the works cited page match exactly. There cannot be works in the works cited page that are not cited with parenthetical citations in the text, and there cannot be parenthetical citations in the text that are not listed in the works cited page.

QUOTING

A quote is something you do, not something you find in a text, meaning, you’re not looking for “quotes” in a text. Don’t think you’re scanning a text for sentences in quotation marks. What you’re looking for is something, anything, the source has said that sounds impressive and helpful for your essay. You’re looking for sentences or statements that support you, argue against you, summarize your point, or just sound very witty. If you find something like that, and it happens to be worded so perfectly that you want to use it exactly how it appears, then mark the sentence(s). In your essay, you’ll copy the words as “quotes” by putting the sentences in quotation marks to show the words are not your own but instead from the original source.

Rule of thumb: quoting makes you look like a good researcher. It’s more impressive to use quotes than to steal words. Give the original credit for the words by placing the quotation marks and citing in the text. If the original source has already quoted something, you’ll use single quote marks around what the original quoted: “Kirkpatrick mentioned in his text that the ‘language is always evolving’” (Payne 23).

Length: Avoid quoting anything over 10 lines long. 10 lines is waaay to long for a quote. If you’re quoting that much, then you can very likely cut out most of the words in the quote or paraphrase instead of directly quoting. When quoting anything, be sure to look up such things as Block Quotes, and Ellipses for editing sentences and words in the quotes. You want to quote appropriately. For a taste of what the MLA handbook has to offer, what do you do if your quote is over 4 lines or 42 words? Better check the handbook!

Sample 1:

“Thus, though the firepower of contemporary militaries appears to be going off the scale, in some respects smart weapons are less cruel than what they supplant” (Easterbrook 19).

Sample 2:

Michael Kelly writes, “You couldn’t turn around without seeing something taken out” (21). Another writer noted that President Bush remarked “These weapons are miraculous, but we can’t lead people to believe that we’ve hit every target” (Barnes 16).

PARAPHRASING

Paraphrasing is similar to quoting in that you have found a useful sentence or two to use in your essay. The difference is that the idea is too long to quote, you’ve already used too many quotes, or the wording isn’t very good. Paraphrasing is far more common than quoting since a writer is better able to keep the flow of an essay and incorporate more sources by summarizing what a source says rather than directly quoting. Quoting breaks the flow of an essay, no matter how you look it, because it is the words of someone else, not yours.

To paraphrase, simply rephrase the original to your own words. The error in paraphrasing is when not enough is changed from the original. Many times, writers will believe they’re paraphrasing when they’re actually plagiarizing because they’ve only changed a word or two of the original.

Sample:

Original Source: Critical care nurses function in a hierarchy of roles.

Incorrect Paraphrasing: Critical care nurses have a hierarchy of roles (Chase 156).

Better Paraphrasing: Chase describes how nurses in a critical care unit function in a hierarchy that places designated experts at the top and the least senior staff nurses at the bottom (156).

Quality Paraphrasing: In her study of the roles of nurses in a critical care unit, Chase also found a hierarchy that distinguished the roles of experts and others (156).

USING AN IDEA

During your research, you’ll need to gather background information or even read multiple sources on the same topic. When you start writing the essay, you’ll find yourself using that background information or wanting to include some piece mentioned by several authors. It’s doubtful you’ll quote any of it since it’s not that important to the essay, and it’s even doubtful you’ll paraphrase it. But, you just might want to in some fashion incorporate the idea expressed in the original source(s). Well, if this idea isn’t something that you came up with off the top of your head or isn’t “common” knowledge to the Average Joe, then you still must cite it. Just let us know where you read the information through an in-text citation. There is no need for quote marks. Just cite the idea. If the idea came from several sources, then cite them all! If the idea came from a single page, then give the single page, but if it came from multiple pages (say an entire chapter), then give a page range. Give the reader enough to go by in case s/he wanted to read the idea from the original source.

Sample 1:

The critics’ reactions to Orwell’s writing style in 1984 is wrong. Most critics charge that the novel’s style is dry and lifeless, attributing this either to Orwell’s career as a journalist or to the novel’s dreary topic (Keis 229-31).

Sample 2:

Indeed, the few critical remarks about Orwell’s use of language have generally been negative (Keis 229-31; Walker 43-50; James and Parker 20; Wilkinson 541).

For this assignment:

Writing an essay is stressful and even intimidating. Completing your research before you write the paper will help ease the stress and even the time you spend writing the essay, as you will have found plenty of ideas and helpful information about the topic to guide your essay, and you won’t have to stop mid-page to spend another day doing research (which means by the time you get back to the essay, you’ve probably lost the motivation). The “quotes” segment is where you prepare everything for the writing of the paper so you don’t stop the essay-writing flow once it’s started.

For this section, you’ll peruse the sources from your Annotated Bibliography to see what’s helpful, what’s not, and what else might be out there to add. As you work through the sources, mark the information. Don’t highlight every paragraph. Don’t underline everything. Just mark what will be the most useful for your essay. What you mark is what you’ll have sitting on your desk as you type your essay so you can refer to as you type. If you’ve highlighted pages and pages of text, you’ll get stuck in re-reading what you’ve already read. So be stingy with your markings.

Compile everything in whatever way works for you. Some researchers prefer to keep their original sources handy during the writing of the essay in case they want to look back at the source for context or additional information. If this interests you, then mark directly on the source by highlighting and underlining or making notes.

Other researchers can’t stand the stack of books and articles—such a mess! They prefer a tidy multi-page document that lists only the information they plan to use. If this is you, copy/paste or type the possible quotes and the important information you might want to use for your essay, then you’ll have everything in one document, and you can trash the originals.

If you’re a really organized person, you might even want to copy/paste or type the quotes and information directly into your annotated bibliography so that everything is together.

Either way, be sure to note on all photo copies and all copied/pasted quotes and tid bits the MLA-required information for each source. Otherwise, you’ll be in the middle of typing your essay and want to use that fabulous quote you found, but, you won’t remember what book, author, or page number it came from—which means you cannot use it, no matter how good it is.

Create A Scoring Rubric For An Essay Exam

Create A Scoring Rubric For An Essay Exam

Author

Institution

Introduction

The United States civil war was arguably one of the most monumental occurrences in the history of the country. The war took place between 1861 and 1865 and resulted in more than 618,000 casualties. There exists quite a number of explanations as to why the war occurred or took place in the first place. However, it is obvious that the civil war’s causes may be traced back to the tensions that had formed quite early in the history of the nation. Varied scholars have taken it upon themselves to explain the causes of the War that pitted the various American states against each other. Sectional tension that was enshrined in the constitution led to a brutal war that cleaved the United States into two. Many have floated the idea that slavery was one of the primary causes of the conflict. At the end of the war, the Thirteenth Amendment eliminated the practice but race relations went on dominating the American politics, as well as the society in the following days. Scholars have the opinion that, the civil war had a silver lining or some impressive results in the form of increased economic power of the nation up to the time when it rivaled and even surpassed that of many countries. In addition, Americans gained a new sense of brotherhood and a sense of being components of one nation rather than a conglomerate of states with distinct histories and institutions. As much as there is agreement as to the result of the American civil war, there is relative variation as to opinions on the causes or triggers of the Civil War.

One of the most touted causes of civil war is the social and economic variation between the South and the North. After the cotton gin had been invented in 1793, the profitability of cotton increased tremendously. The machine reduced the time taken to separate cotton from the seeds (Elkins, 1987). It is worth noting, however, the increased number of plantations that were to be converted to cotton from other crops meant an increase in the demand for cheap labor, which was in the form of slaves. In essence, the southern economy evolved into a single crop economy (Elkins, 1987). The northern economy, on the other hand, was primarily industrial rather than agricultural. It goes without saying that these two different modes of production brought about differences as far as the economic situation in the North and the South was concerned. The economic disparity between the North and the South brought about a key variation in their economic attitudes (Elkins, 1987).

Other scholars opine that the civil war was triggered by the struggle between the federal and state rights. After the Revolution, there emerged two camps. One camp wanted the control by the federal government to be increased whereas the other group wanted the state to have enhanced control. The constitutional convention came up with the United States’ Constitution, after the federal government was seen as weak (Craven, 1957). However, strong proponents of increased control of the States such as Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson were absent at the convention. It is worth noting that, many people felt that the new constitution did not pay attention or any regard to the rights of the states as far as acting independently was concerned. They opined that states should incorporate certain rights to decide whether they were willing to ramify certain federal acts (Craven, 1957). This led to the idea on nullification, in which case states had the right to render the acts of the federal government unconstitutional. The nullification did not work, and states felt that their rights were not respected in which case they wanted secession (Craven, 1957).

In addition, the war was triggered by the fight pitting nonslave state and slave proponents. There was the contention on whether new states that were admitted into the union had to be slave free (Jaffa, 2009). The Missouri Compromise that was passed in 1820 had a rule that barred slavery in the states of the former Lousiana Purchase. Apart from the issue on slavery, there was the contention over the Kansas-Nebraska Act made in 1854. This act established new territories and allowed the states to decide on whether to be free or encourage slavery through popular sovereignty. It is worth noting that Kansas stood against slavery while Missouri supported slavery (Jaffa, 2009). Missourians moved to the state trying to force it to be a slave state. This triggered violence in Lawrence Kansas with a fight even erupting in the floor of the senate where Charles Sumner, an antislavery proponent, was beaten by South Carolina’s Preston Brooks. This tension between proslavery states and antislavery states led to the civil war as every state tried to establish its authority on this matter (Jaffa, 2009).

In addition, scholars opine that the growth and development of the abolition movement. It is worth noting that the Northerners had grown increasingly polarized against slavery. There was an increase in sympathies for people fighting against slaveholders and slavery, as well as abolitionists (Litwack, 1961). This took place especially after some key events such as the passage and enactment of the Fugitive Slave Act. This piece of legislation held people responsible for housing or harboring fugitive slaves even in cases where they were situated in states that were nonslaves. This tension created by this piece of legislation and the increased sympathies for abolitionists and against slaveholders and slavery in general resulted in violence among states (Litwack, 1961).

There are also scholars who believe that the election of Abraham Lincoln as president in 1860 triggered the civil war. It is worth noting that, after his election, South Carolina issued what was called “the Declaration of the Causes of Secession”. This state believed that Abraham Lincoln was favoring the interests of the North and was against slavery (Zarefsky, 1990). In addition, it is worth noting that prior to Abraham’s election as president, about seven states had separated or seceded from the union. These were Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas and South Carolina. This triggered tension between the states that were for the election of Abraham Lincoln and those that were against it (Zarefsky, 1990).

As much as there were variations in the probable causes of the American Civil War, it goes without saying that the key or primary cause was the issue of slavery. Scholars have varied causes that they believed as having triggered the civil war, but it is evident that they had a common denominator in slavery.

However, it is evident that there were variations in the things that triggered the tension. For some, it was the variation in economic between varied states, whereas others had a problem with the election of Abraham Lincoln. In some cases, it was the variation between the state control and the position of the federal government as far as governing is concerned.

Rubric Template

This rubric template attempts to outline the performance of the varied schools of thought as to the causes of the American Civil war. It measures the performance of the proponents using an essential criterion for the task, as well as performance levels. These are represented using the numbers 1 to 4, with 1 representing poor performance, 2 for satisfactory, 3 for good and 4 for excellent.

Analytical Scoring Rubric

1= poor 2= satisfactory3= good4=excellent

Aspects Criteria (Descriptions of Scoring Levels) Score

Editorial Aspect 1:

Thinking and inquiry. Provides a clear focus of the project. States clearly the motivation behind the cause. 4

Attention-grabbing right from the start. Description of a clear purpose behind the theory or cause Provides a clear connection to affirming or adding diversity. Editorial Aspect 2:

Organization

The paper has a clear beginning, middle and an end 3

It is easy to see the connections to affirming the theory. The relationship between the class topic and the theory presented is clear. It is not confusing and is understandable to all. Editorial Aspect 3:

Creativity

There is a clear authenticity and distinctiveness of effort. 3

It is thought-provoking. It triggers an emotional response. It offers strong “otherness” expression. Editorial Aspect 4:

Knowledge and understanding

Thorough research that goes beyond the class lecture. 4

The presentation is effective and imaginative and effective passing the message to the reader. The paper covers all the questions and presumed assumptions of the reader.

The paper shows how the assumptions made and the perceptions may have been altered. Content Aspect 1:

Conventions

All punctuation, grammar and spelling have been done correctly. 2

The paper is typed, well formatted and numbered appropriately. The paper is neatly presented. The subject-verb agreement is taken into consideration. Content Aspect 2:

Reflection

The paper clearly indicated how the ideas presented may affect future lessons. 4

The paper is open and honest to the varied ideas presented. The paper demonstrated a deep and clear understanding of history using accurate and relevant detail to support the main idea. The paper is centered around a thesis that exhibits a highly developed awareness of the social and histographic issues, as well as a high conceptual capability. Content Aspect 3:

Communication The paper shows depth of historical understanding through the incorporation of accurate and relevant detail to support the main idea. 3

The paper has a clear analytical structure with a precise thesis statement. The flow of the paper captures the attention of the reader with a clear line of development. All the possible questions of the reader are clearly answered in the paper. Content Aspect 4:

Grammar and format The rules of the grammar, word usage, spelling and punctuation are in line with the formal, written work. 2

The text, reference pages and the title page are entirely in line with the APA format. All information and ideas from outside sources is appropriately cited in the text. The pages in the paper are appropriately numbered. References

Jaffa, HV (2009). Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, 50th Anniversary Edition. New York: Chicago University Press

Elkins, SM, (1987). Slavery: A Problem in American Institutional and Intellectual Life. New York: Chicago University Press

Craven, AO (1957). The Coming of the Civil War. New York: Chicago University Press

Litwack, LF (1961). North of Slavery: The Negro in the Free States. New York: Chicago University Press

Zarefsky, D (1990). Lincoln, Douglas, and Slavery: In the Crucible of Public Debate. New York: Chicago University Press

(Zarefsky, 1990) (Litwack, 1961) (Craven, 1957) (Elkins, 1987) (Jaffa, 2009)