Leisure and recreation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Leisure and recreation - Essay Example The media boom has definitely resulted in the "active" forms of entertainment taking a back seat. Leisure is time spent in non-compulsory activities. Because leisure time is free from compulsory activities such as job, running a business, performing daily chores, academics and other routine tasks, it is often referred to as "free time". The distinction between leisure and compulsory activities is not strict, as compulsory activities may be done for pleasure as well as for long-term utility1. Capitalist societies often hold a positive view towards active leisure activities. Many active leisure activities require an investment of time and money. Thus, it is more difficult for the e lesser privileged to engage in such activities and they remain confined only to the affluent section of the society. Capitalist societies often accord members who have more wealth with greater status. Some types of inactive leisure that also require an investment of time and money, such as "doing nothing" in a vacation atmosphere, are also viewed positively. On the other hand, an individual who "does nothing" at home is often referred to as "lazy" by others in the capitalist society, regardless of their financial and socio-economic status. The wealthy person who does nothing but lounge around the pool at home is seen as lazy. However, the individual's financial investment helps assess the level of status an activity can give a person. So it is that "doing nothing" by your own pool has higher status than "doing nothing" watching television without cable. The term "Workaholics" describes those who work compulsively at the expense of other activities. These individuals prefer to work rather than spend time socializing and engaging in other leisure activities. Many see this as a necessary sacrifice to attain high-ranking corporate positions. However, these days increasing attention is being given to the effects of such imbalance upon the worker and the family. Historically, "workaholics" would not have been considered a negative asset , rather they would have been highly commended in the US. In earlier days, American society was driven by the Protestant work ethic which was inspired by the Protestant preacher John Calvin. There are a variety of Protestant sects that stem from Calvinism. A socialist society would probably tend to view activities that do not contribute to society in a negative manner. However, there are different forms of socialism. According to Kent State University professor Marcus Verhaegh, there were Americans who believed in the concept of leisure socialism in the 1960s and '70s. The general belief was that we live in a world of plenty. Thus, if everyone is content with a smaller piece of the pie, everyone can then have their basic needs met. If everyone's basic needs are met, many in society can use their free time to pursue the arts, mysticism, athletics, various hobbies and other leisure activities. Socialist writer E. Belfort Bax wrote in 1884 of a similar vision for socialist Europe in the article "Socialism and the Sunday Question" for Justice Again that work should be spread about so that everyone is provided with times of rest. His focus was on the elimination of one universal day of rest, but the general ideas are quite similar to those that emerged in nineteenth century America. Recreation is defined as the employment of time in a non-profitable way, in many ways also a therapeutic refreshment of one's body

Developing and Non-Developing Economies Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Developing and Non-Developing Economies - Essay Example Kenya is emerging as a strong economy both in Africa and also in the world, due toseveral factors. First, the geographical location of the country is favorable, since the country serves as the gateway to the East African region, with a total population of 140 million consumers (Ho, n.p.). Coupled with the free trade agreement in the East African and the South African region that the country has entered into, it has access to a total of 600 million consumer markets, making the country account for 40% of the total East African GDP (Ho, n.p.). Further the country has surprised the world with its technological capabilities and innovations that have seen the major global technology giants such as Facebook, IBM, Google and General Electric enter the country looking for technological investment opportunities (Ho, n.p.). The technological innovativeness of the country has been contributed by its highly educated English speaking youthful workforce that constitutes 65% of the country’s total population. On the other hand, Malawi is ranked the poorest and the least developing economy in Africa and also among the poorest countries in the world, according to the latest World Bank rankings. This is occasioned by the fact that Malawi has a very high unemployment rate, with a very small economy having a GDP per capita of $267. The situation has also been worsened by the overreliance of the Malawian population on government to offer jobs and subsidies for all goods, while remaining less innovative businesswise (Yakobe, n.p.)

Relationship Between Marketing and Consumer Demand

Relationship Between Marketing and Consumer Demand From the past decades to the new 21st century, the global economy had grown vastly over the years and the organisations had come to a realization of the importance of customer demands and the need for marketing. For most of the companies, their main objective was to make a certain amount of profit. Profit can be earned by satisfying the customers’ need through the use of marketing philosophies. Hence, customer value is an essential component for marketers to examine through the process of producing a product/outcome. In order to understand marketing and consumer demand, we will have to first elaborate the concept of what is marketing and look at the customer values. And the remaining essay would elucidate the relationship between the two. No matter in what type of industries or how large were the organisations, the company would have a certain amount of skill in marketing. So, what is marketing? Most of the people may picture a salesman straight away as they believe marketing were equivalent to the word ‘selling’. However, selling was only one of the several functions of marketing. â€Å"Marketing is the activity, set of institution, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.† (AMA, 2013) The first part of the definition, ‘activity, set of institution, and processes’ recognizes the broad scope of marketing. It indicates the roles/functions that need to be performed by marketers such as perform market researches and choosing target markets. The second part of the definition is ‘creating, communicating, delivering’. This suggests that marketing is to get the right goods and services to the right people at the right place at the right time at the right price (Elliott, Greg, Thiele Waller, 2012, ). This part of the definition included the creation and the delivery process of marketing. The third part of the definition ‘exchanging offerings that have value’ includes the process satisfying customers’ needs and wants through exchange which is one of the ways for individuals to get what they desired by offering certain things that the other party desired. For instance, money or other products. The last part of the definition â⠂¬Ëœcustomers, clients, partners, and society at large’ outlines the beneficiaries of the process of marketing. The benefits were not only received by the organisations and the consumers, the suppliers and the society can also gain benefits from marketing. The society can be benefited from marketing as marketing creates employments and society welfares and wealth as more people are spending and thus indirectly speeds up the GDP. Marketers have to perform functions such as identify the need, development of the product, pricing, distributing and promoting the product. Their main aim is to make selling superfluous. (Kotler Philip, 1983, p. 4) Apart from the definition, marketing can also be examined from the five philosophies of marketing. The production philosophy assumes the consumer would favor in the product and the main aim is to improve the efficiency of both production and distribution. The product philosophy looks at the quality of the product while assuming the consumers would favor the product. The selling philosophy involves organisations stimulate customer’s interests. The marketing philosophy questions the organisation, whether they did satisfy the customer’s needs efficiently and effectively or not compared with their competitors. And lastly, the societal marketing philosophy considers whether the organisation enhanced the consumer’s and the society’s well-being based on the marketing philosophy. For a product such as the Membership to Zoos Victoria, the marketers would have done market researches and targeted the membership to families and children as they had packaged a lot of benefits for children or family. For instance, there are 15% discounts from the stores in the zoo. Membership to Zoos Victoria also creates and deliver the good at the right time and right place, the product can be brought from online or at the zoo and even if the consumers purchased the membership after the visit to the zoo, they could get refunds for the ticket money. As mentioned in the previous, the zoo’s main target is family and children, as the kids can satisfy themselves while they visit the animals, the exchange was proceeded as the consumers, parents/families does gain happiness within the tour. Before we discuss about the customer value, I believe it is essential for us to understand value. Value is the worth, desirability or utility (Grà ¶nroos, C., 1997). On the other hand, customer Value is the difference between the benefits a customer sees from a market offering and the costs of obtaining those benefits (Quester, P., 2007). By all means, in order to make customers receive the benefits, they would have to give up certain things for the exchange of the product. In decree to get better acknowledged about the customer value, we can apply the diagram beneath. Functional/instrumental value is concerned with the products usability; the products unique characteristics and its desired function. This value is basically generated by the purchase and use of the product. Under the functional value, there are three main areas the correct attributes, appropriate performances and outcome. The correct attributes concerns with the characteristics a product has as consumers would prefer to buy a product that has the most suitable characteristics that they desired. Appropriate performances look at the quality of the product. So, the customer would be satisfied if the product is able to perform as well as it was appeared in its description. Lastly, the appropriate outcome considers whether the product reaches the outcomes that the consumer demanded. The experiential/hedonic value looks at the products ability in creating experiences, feelings and emotions of its users. For this value, there are four parts to it sensory, emotional, social/relational and epistemic. Some retailers focus on sensory value (such as aesthetes, ambulance, aromas, feel/tone) (Smith Mark, C., 2007). The third beneficial value is the symbolic/expressive value. This value is concerned with the extent to which the product gave its user a certain degree of self-worth or self-value. It is also a value that connects with personal meanings of the product to particular consumers. The social meanings of how the others think about you and conditional meanings such as Valentines rose or the dumplings that we have for Chinese New Year Festival. In order to have the benefits, customers also has cost/sacrifice values. This can be economic losses, risks associated with the product, personal investments and psychological losses. So, by knowing the customers concerns or hold back in the process of purchasing a product, the marketers would look at the costs and tries to minimize the costs so products can be sold more efficiently. For the Victoria zoos, its product: the mem bership of zoos Victoria has complied with the four values. The product does provide services/tours for its members and it has appropriate performance and outcomes (functional values). Furthermore, the membership also blends in with emotional, relational and epistemic values as the members can both enjoy the tour and learn knowledge about the zoo animals at the same time. It also helps to enhance the relationships between the consumers (families). It gave its consumers the experience to have a close interactions with the animals. The membership contains symbolic values as it carries out personal and social meanings. On the membership website, the campaign was focused on children or family relationship and it also mentioned about the fees for membership would be used for saving extinction animals. This would make the consumers of the zoo appears to be morally respectful to the society as they are indirectly helping/saving animals. Marketing and customer value has a close relationship. Customers are the core of marketing as the consumers would only buy products that they strongly desired. Thus, in order for the company to be successful, organisations would have to be customer orientated. Before organisations produce their product, a certain amount of market research would be made and these researches would have focused on the consumer needs. As more and more businesses had opened locally and globally, each organisation faces with a greater extent of competitions, no matter in quality, price or service. This growing fierce competition had led organisations to put strong emphasis on customer value and their needs. Therefore, when companies creating their product, they would put consumers values into the consideration so their product can outweigh the competitors’ products. The same concept was also adopted by the Victoria zoo, in their product, the membership to zoos Victoria. Consumers are able to receive benefits from the exchange process as their values being fulfilled by the product. For instance, members can visit new exhibits prior to the non-members, customers and there are 15% discounts for any purchase at the zoo stores. The consumer can also receive benefits such as the freedom to visit all the zoos in Victoria and there are special name cards for individual kids. These characteristics would satisfy most of the customers as they would feel being welcomed and well considered by the zoo. The zoo’s welcome letter also addresses themselves as a family, which would made consumers to felt being a part of a family. Overall, the membership of zoo Victoria is a successful product as its advertisement campaign was very well presented, there are considerations for the customer values and it adopts the marketing philosophies well through the product. For the purposes of gaining more consumers, the organisations must have a strong understanding in marketing, both as its definition and its five philosophies and in the concept of customer value. When marketing and customer values are being understood by companies, the organisation, customers and the society can all gain benefits from it as businesses can earn more profit, customers can enjoy their life by using the product and the society can gain benefits through the interactions between the two parties. Reference List America Marketing Association – AMA. (2013) Definition of Marketing. Retrieved from https://www.ama.org/AboutAMA/Pages/Definition-of-Marketing.aspx Elliott, Greg, Sharyn Thiele, and David Waller. Marketing. 2nd Ed. (pp. ) Milton, Qld.: John Wiley and Sons Australia, 2012 Kotler, Philip. Marketing and Human Needs. Marketing in Australia. (pp. 4) New York: Prentice-Hall, 1983 Grà ¶nroos, C. (1997), â€Å"Value-Driven Relationship Marketing: From Products to Resources and Competencies,† Journal of Marketing Management, 13 (5), 407–419. J. Brock, S., Mark, C. (2007) Customer value creation: a practical framework. Associate Professor of Service Management, Faculty of Business, University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Quester, Pascale G.. Chapter One. Marketing: creating and delivering value. 5th Ed. (pp. ) North Ryde, N.S.W.: McGraw-Hill Australia Pty Ltd., 2007. Smith and Colgate. (2007) Customer value creation: a practical framework, Journal of Marketing Theories and Practices. Vol 15, No. 1, pp 7-23

The Effective Use of Symbols in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Lette

The Effective Use of Symbols in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter Webster defined "symbol" with these words: "Something concrete that represents or suggests another thing that cannot in itself be pictured." This concept has been particularly applied to literature and used by writers throughout history. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter uses multitudes of symbols in such a manner. One of the most prominent, and most complicated, of such symbols is the scarlet letter "A". The scarlet letter "A" is a symbol of a daughter's connection to her mother, isolation, and the devil and its associations. The scarlet letter represents Pearl's emotional attachment to Hester. For instance, Pearl is as deeply affectionate to the letter as she is to her mother. In chapter ten, Pearl takes "a handful of [burrs], [and she arranged] them along the lines of the scarlet letter." In this instance, Pearl is showing her fondness for her mother by decorating her letter - as if the letter itself were a medium between the two. Additionally, Pearl views the letter and her mother as equals. During chapter fourteen, Hester decides to remove her letter while in the forest. Thus, Pearl is reluctant to approach her. Hester, realizing what is wrong, says, "Pearl misses that which she has always seen me wear." After she returns the letter her bosom, "Pearl kissed [Hester's] brow and both cheeks ... but ... Pearl put up her mouth, and kissed the scarlet letter too. (Hawthorne)" Because of the fact that Pearl equates the letter to her mother, the letter is as deep a symbol of motherly connection as Hester is herself. In addition to emotional attachment, the scarlet letter represents isolation. Whoever wears the letter will be feared by so... ...references to the devil and Hell make it clear that the letter is indeed infernal. The scarlet letter "A", the most intricate symbol in the novel, is extremely diverse as its meanings strongly contrast. Often times, these meanings of the symbol are directly stated, but they are frequently indirect as well. The symbol's meaning can also be expressed through a variety of methods such as character dialogue, narrative, or allusions through imagery. Despite the differences between maternal love, estrangement, and avernal entities, the letter is still able to encompass these concepts into its symbolism. Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. Langenscheidt's Pocket Merriam-Webster Dictionary. New York: Langenscheidt Publishers, Inc, 1999. Springfield, Massachusetts: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 1997.

Code of Ethics Paper

American Nurses Association Code of Ethics Erin Griffin HCS 435 Monday April 12, 2010 Bob Vella Code of Ethics Code of Ethics in Nursing is important to follow by so that staff and patients are treated with up most respect and dignity. The definition of Code of Ethics of nursing is a guide for an individual or group to follow in making decisions regarding ethical issues (Health Line Site, 2010). â€Å"What is the description of the Code of Ethics for Nurses? † â€Å"What are the ethical principles of the Code of Ethics in Nursing? â€Å"How do the grievance procedures work? † â€Å"Is the Code of Ethics of Nursing feasible of enforcing either part of the code or the entire code? † â€Å"Do I have any recommendations for strengthening potential weak areas of the codes as written? † â€Å"What is the description of the Code of Ethics for Nurses? † Ethics are the principles that guide an individual, group, or profession in conduct. Nurses do make inde pendent decisions regarding patient care; they are still responsible to the profession in how those decisions are made. Florence Nightingale wrote of specific issues of conduct and moral behavior. The Nightingale pledge that was composed in 1893 by nursing instructor Lystra Gretter includes the vow, â€Å"To abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug†, (Health Line, 2010). Nursing has evolved into a very complex professional field over the years. Nurses at the present time are faced with life and death decisions, sometimes on an hourly basis. â€Å"What are the ethical principles of the Code of Ethics in Nursing’? The Code of Ethics of Nursing has nine different provisions to follow. Here is a list of the following provisions of the Code of Ethics of Nursing from the American Nurses Association website: 1. The nurse, in all professional relationships, practice with compassion and respect for the inherent dignity, worth, and uniqueness of every individual, unrestricted by considerations of social or economic status, personal attributes, or the nature of health problems. 2. The nurse’s primary commitment is to the patient, whether an individual, family, group or community. . The nurse promotes, advocates for, and strives to protect the health, safety, and rights of the patient. 4. The nurse is responsible and accountable for individual nursing practice and determines the appropriate delegation of tasks consistent with the nurse’s obligation to provide optimum patient care. 5. The nurse owes the same duties to self as to others, including the responsibility to preserve integrity and safety, to maintain competence, and to continue personal and professional growth. 6. The nurse participates in establishing, maintaining, and improving health care environments and conditions of employment conducive to the provision of quality health care and consistent with the values of the profession through individual and collective action 7. The nurse participates in the advancement of the profession through contributions to practice, education, administration, and knowledge development. 8. The nurse collaborates with other health professionals and public in promoting community, national, and international efforts to meet health needs. . The profession of nursing, as represented by associations and their members, is responsible for articulation nursing values, for maintaining the integrity of the profession and its practice, and for shaping social policy. â€Å"How do the grievance procedures work†? How grievances are processed is outlined in the CBA. CBA stands for collective bargaining agreement. The CBA determines how and with whom a grievance must be filed, and the time limits within which the grievance must be filed and advanced to subsequent levels. Depending on the contract, the grievance is usually initially â€Å"filed† in writing. However, some contracts allow for, or require, an informal verbal attempt at resolution before the grievance may be filed in writing. At the initial grievance â€Å"step,† a meeting is usually held. At this meeting, the aggrieved employee, represented by the union, and the employer, represented by a manager, has an opportunity to present their arguments for and against the grievance to a decision-maker. Who the ecision-maker is at each step is determined by the CBA. If the grievance is upheld, the awarded remedy is implemented by the parties. If the grievance is denied, the grievance may be appealed to the next â€Å"step† in the grievance procedure. At each subsequent step of the grievance procedure, the meeting is generally attended by a correspondingly higher level of management. In addition, the employee may initially be represented by a local grievance representative and r epresented by union staff at later stages of the grievance procedure. At each step of the grievance process, the grievance meeting also tends to become more formal, with more rules governing the meeting. The number of steps in the grievance procedure is also determined by the CBA. A grievance may be settled at any step. Under most CBA's, the settlement becomes precedent, meaning that the settlement will be used in future grievance meetings to interpret the contract, unless the union and employer agree that the settlement will not serve as precedent. Most grievance procedures end in final and binding arbitration. This is the final step in the grievance procedure. At this step, an outside neutral third party, called an arbitrator, determines whether to uphold the grievance and what remedy to award, if any at all. The arbitrators' decision and award becomes precedent. If the employer refuses to implement the arbitrator's award, the union may seek court enforcement of the award, or file an unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board. With the threat of final and binding arbitration, the grievance has proven to be a valuable tool, shielding and enforcing nurses' rights (Johnson, 2006). Is the Code of Ethics of Nursing feasible of enforcing either part of the code or the entire code? † I think that the Code of Ethics of Nursing is feasible of enforcing either part of the code or the entire code because it is moral and respectable to the staff as well as the patients the nursing staff is in charge of. The code of ethics is like a Bible for nurses to go by to make their jobs easier and appreciable. Do I have any recommendations for strengthening potential weak areas of the codes as written? † I do not have any recommendations for strengthening potential weak areas of the code as written. The code is well put together and does not miss any areas that should be covered. I feel that it is a well rounded code of ethics for the nursing staff nationally and internationally to follow. The American Nurses Associa tion Code of Ethics is important to follow by so that staff and patients are treated with up most respect and dignity. The definition of Code of Ethics of nursing is a guide for an individual or group to follow in making decisions regarding ethical issues (Health Line Site, 2010). References Wilkins, Gayle G. (2002). Code of Ethics for Nurses. Retrieved from http://www. healthline. com on April 07, 2010 Unknown. (2010). Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements. Retrieved from http://www. nursingworld. org. Retrieved on April 06, 2010. Johnson, Alice. (April, 2006). Grievance 101: Understand The Process and Purpose of The Grievance Procedure. Retrieved from http://www. findarticles. com on April 05, 2010.

Actions to Take in Response to Concerns That a Colleague May Be:

a. Failing to comply with safeguarding procedures: Failure to comply may put children and young people at risk of harm or abuse. I would follow the setting safeguarding policy or immediately report it to the safeguarding co-ordinator or the supervisor/head teacher. I would not discuss these matters with anyone else. b. Harming, abusing or bullying a child or young person: Any person working in schools who suspects that a colleague may be abusing a child or young person must act on their suspicions. This action will serve not only to protect children but also colleagues from false accusations. I would act immediately to protect the child by informing the supervisor/head teacher. If the allegation is against the supervisor/head teacher, I would report my concerns to the designated person for child protection or directly to the Education Authority. I would also fill in a CAF form within 24 hours. a. Failing to comply with safeguarding procedures: Failure to comply may put children and young people at risk of harm or abuse. I would follow the setting safeguarding policy or immediately report it to the safeguarding co-ordinator or the supervisor/head teacher. I would not discuss these matters with anyone else. . Harming, abusing or bullying a child or young person: Any person working in schools who suspects that a colleague may be abusing a child or young person must act on their suspicions. This action will serve not only to protect children but also colleagues from false accusations. I would act immediately to protect the child by informing the supervisor/head teacher. If th e allegation is against the supervisor/head teacher, I would report my concerns to the designated person for child protection or directly to the Education Authority. I would also fill in a CAF form within 24 hours.

Perfectionists Read This! There is No Getting It Right!

Perfectionists Read This! There is No Getting It Right! You can please some of the people some of the time. A few months ago, I received a call from a potential client who told me he had almost decided not to call me because he did not like my website. My immediate response, as a lifelong perfectionist, was to think, â€Å"I need to fix this!† I asked him to tell me more about what he didn’t like. I looked at some other web sites he said he did like. I even spoke to my web designers about what it would take to redesign my site to be more Web 2.0. Then I took a step back. This was one person. One potential client. I have no way of knowing exactly how many other people are not calling, which is what scared me and made me think I should make changes. But other people were calling me and telling me they chose my company over many others on the web because they were so impressed with my web site! Some of them even purchased my highest-value packages. Given these realities, my business coaches suggested that redesigning my site was not the best choice of investments right now. With the benefit of wisdom and reason, I decided to wait before making any major changes and to make some minor tweaks to my existing site instead. My site is performing just fine, imperfect though it is. If you are a job seeker, take this story to heart. On a conference call this month entitled â€Å"Debunking Resume Myths,† one of the participants, a resume writer, shared an enlightening story about one of her clients (I’ll call him Jim). Resume in hand, Jim began applying for positions locally. One company, which was not well-regarded in the area, criticized the resume for being too polished. Jim was undeterred and kept applying for positions using his spiffed up resume. Not long after the first company’s criticism, another company, with a reputation as an excellent place to work, complimented Jim on his decision to invest in a professionally-written resume. This company ultimately hired him, and he remains in his new position today. If Jim had spent his time trying to get it right, changing his resume every time anyone did not like it, he might have missed out on applying for a job he wanted. We have a winner! These stories prove that no matter what decisions you make with your resume, personal statements or written documents of any kind, some people will like the finished product and some will not. The best advice I can give is to create a document that you feel best represents who you are; the right company, school or client will appreciate the way you present yourself and act on their opinion! Sometimes sticking to your gunsand not striving for impossible perfectiontakes courage and patience. Sometimes you might discover after a period of time that you truly have missed the mark and need to do something differently. But if you give your best shot a chance to reap rewards, you have an excellent chance of coming out a winner. Do you have a story of a time when one person criticized your document or presentation and another person (besides your mom) loved it? Please share below.