Thursday, October 31, 2019

The Leader Affects the Outcome of an Ethical Situation Essay

The Leader Affects the Outcome of an Ethical Situation - Essay Example The health provider and any other concerned person must respect any decision by the patient. The case of Eduardo Rosas Cruz, a 25-year-old tuberculosis patient, is an example of a patient that refused treatment, according to the principle of autonomy. The man who is from the northern California disappeared immediately he was diagnosed with tuberculosis (Fauria, 2014). He was arrested and taken to a medical center and kept under guard. The leader who is the health care provider influences the outcome by ordering the patient to remain in a hotel room under isolation. The patient violated the orders and escaped leading the health providers worried about the security of the uninfected. As a nurse leader, I would create a quarantine room in the hospital for infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and offer quality services for those quarantined. The action will help the patient to feel comfortable and recover fast. I would also ensure that any other patient diagnosed with a similar disea se undergoes thorough counseling in the psychiatry department. American Nurses Association,. (2015). Short Definition s of Ethical Principles and Theories Familiar Words. What do they man. Retrieved 25 May 2015, from http://www.nursingworld.org/MainMenuCategories/EthicsStandards/Resources/Ethics-Definitions.pdf Fauria, K. (2014). Arrest Warrant Issued For Santa Barbara TB Patient. The Washington Times. 26 May 2015, from

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

How are fashion and appearance central to the construction of social Essay

How are fashion and appearance central to the construction of social identities Discuss, with reference to specific examples - Essay Example Fashion plays a very important role in this process, for it is a way to express our personality, to state our beliefs, to communicate our likes and dislikes. Fashion is a skilled architect for our bodies, using colours, shapes and textures to create pieces of clothing, which combined in a particular way produce, at their turn, a graspable, yet unique image of our identity. As Bennett states in Culture and Everyday Life (2005) â€Å"fashion embodies a range of symbolic values which are collectively understood within and across different social groups†. Therefore, by dressing in a certain way and creating a particular appearance for ourselves, we can send out particular messages about our character, education, financial success, interests and intentions, even sexual preferences. After all, in this fast and complicated world we have very few seconds to make an impression, this is why fashion is a key factor which will help us express all of who we are trough our style and choice of clothing. A piece of clothing can make one feel inhibited, or on the contrary, free and daring, nostalgic for the past or a visionary of the future. The right clothes can help us accomplish our goals and better interact with the people surrounding us. Therefore, given the complex nature of fashion as a central part of our society I will focus on three major aspects: feminism and the way fashion has helped women define and change their social roles and identities, youth and their use of fashion to make statements about their place in the society, as well as their personalities and in the end, intercultural exchange and the way one can create a unique style by combining fashion elements from different cultures. I will start with a short historical map out and thus begin with the Medieval times, since it is considered a period marked by darkness, rigid ideology and strict social delimitations. This is why fashion did not suffer any exceptions: clothes were used to set specific socia l boundaries and thus, dictate social identities. First of all, fashion was inspired at court and it included carefully tailor garments, which offered information about the social status of the person that was wearing the clothes. It included heavy dresses, which did not allow women the privilege of fast movement and which transposed into society as little involvement and obedience. The clergymen’s simple tunics were supposed to represent their penitence and modest life. The peasants’ poor dressing was a result of their placement at the bottom of the Feudal Pyramid of social order. As we slip into the modern era, towards the 18th and the 19th century, fashion still remains a wealth-dominated area. However, new social roles appear, such as public magistrates and the militia, which mark their social identity by particular clothing and uniforms. The tailoring business develops rather faster and cheaper replicas of high-fashion, designer clothes became more accessible for women belonging to lower social classes and disposing of smaller wealth. Luxury was not limited to the elite or the metropolitan any more (Breward, 1995). However, women continued to be restrained in movement by their clothes, which included the corset and the long dresses: women’s dresses were composed of large quantities of fabric and different occasions needed different kinds of dresses, factors which

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Kurdish Conflict Regulation

Kurdish Conflict Regulation 1.4. Definitions As Milton- Edwards says, before examining the specific manifestations of the main subject, it is important to outline some of other important related definitions (2008). To analyze and discuss Kurdish conflict regulation in the Republic of Turkey, one needs to define Turkey’s system in relation to the Kurds as an ethnic minority in that country. Ethnicity and its related issues are important enough for scholars to consider it as one of main forces to shape the world. Brass claims â€Å"ethnicity and nationalism, interethnic conflicts, and secessionist movements have been major forces shaping the modern world and the structure and stability of contemporary states† (1991). Zuelow in ‘Nationalism Journals’ like Brass about national identity and its potency says national identity has been one of the principals force shaping the course of history, certainly since the French Revolution† (1999). In addition, he believes that national identity has played a key role in revolutions, wars and state-formation (Ibid). When people of different ethnicity are living in one territory and one group generally has the majority rule on other groups in non-democratic ways, it is the starting point of conflict. Bruce Gilley defined â€Å"ethnic conflict as sustained and violent conflict by ethnically distinct actors in which the issue is integral to one ethnicity† (2004, 1160). In the same source, he uses other terms such as ‘ethnic violence’ or ‘ethnic war’ for ethnic conflict (Ibid, 1155). ‘Ethnic conflict regulation’ is the other term should be defined here. There are many definitions for ethnic conflict regulation in different references. Wolff believes â€Å"conflict regulation comprises three elements: prevention, management, and settlement: Conflict prevention aims at channeling conflict into non-violent behavior by providing incentives for peaceful accommodation. Conflict management is the attempt to contain, limit or direct the effects of an ongoing ethnic conflict. Conflict settlement aims at establishing an institutional framework in which the conflicting interests of different ethnic groups can be accommodated to extent the incentives to non-violent and cooperation condition† (2009, 1). Ilievski Wolff define ethnic conflict regulation through institutional design that conflicts can be resolved via an institutional bargain that establishes macro-level structures through which disputes among the conflict parties can be addressed politically and without recourse to violence† (2010, 5-6). McGarry and OLeary claim, â€Å"The term of ‘regulation’ is inclusive and it covers both conflict termination and conflict management. Eight distinct macro-methods of ethnic conflict regulation can be distinguished into two methods for eliminating differences and methods for managing differences† (1993, 4). The Republic of Turkey was founded on the main principles, or ‘six arrows’, of Kemalism. These principles are republicanism, nationalism, secularism, populism, statism and revolutionism (Los Angeles Times 2014). Kemal Ataturk and his followers have defined Turkey as a pro-Western, modern and democratic country. The two subjects of ethnic minority rights and Islamism, based on two principles of Turkish nationalism and secularism, were taboo for many decades. The Welfare Party in the general election for the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) in 1995 captured the majority of seats. Necmettin Erbakan came to power as the first Islamist Prime Minister in the Republic of Turkey in 1996. Although the age of his Cabinet was just one year, it was enough to break the taboo of the secularism principle as a ban for Islamist political parties. Nonetheless, the years of 1990s and Ãâ€"zal’s speeches about Kurdish people as an ethnic minority in Turkey, can be looked as a s tarting point, at least one decade was needed to start to break the one-nation-one- state idea in Turkey. In respect of Kurdish ethnic regulation in Turkey, the definition of ‘Double Standard’ seems to fit with institutions and constitutional laws in Turkey. â€Å"Double standard is a situation in which two people or groups are treated very differently from each other in a way that is unfair to one of them† (merriam-webster dictionary 2014) or â€Å"a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another† (QA.com) and (Ibid). Park, referring to Guney (2006-2007) and Uslu (2008a) says, â€Å"a major explanatory factor behind Turkey’s resistance to the adoption of more contrition to the Armenian fate, or a more inclusive embracing of its Kurdish citizens, is the intensity of Turkish nationalism (2012, 23). The ‘Turkish history thesis’ insist that the Turks of central Asia constituted the world’s first civilized people, who had provided the root of all other world civilizations (Park 2012,23). Associated with the history thesis was the ‘Sun language theory’ which claims that â€Å"Turks were the originators of language itself and that all other languages were thus derived from or linked to it (Cagaptay 2002; Arkman 2006)† (Park 2012,24). Security systems, militaristic approaches, economic and human rights conditions in West and Center of the country, or overall for Turks, has been different from non-Turk minorities in Turkey. Kurds, as approximately 20% of Turkeys population, have been forbidden from the basic rights for about one century. In the meantime, supporting the rights of the Turkish language population as citizens of other countries has been one of the main principles of Turkeys Foreign Policies. These types of different approaches can be described as forms of a double standard policy. Sometimes these dual policies have caused conflict for Turkey and have pushed the country from a zero-problem to a zero-friend situation. Park, when defining the Republic of Turkey, refers to Yavuz and Eposito (2003:xx1) in that they claim â€Å"when Ataturk died in 1938, Kemalism was ‘neither democratic nor liberal but Authoritarian, elitist, and ideological† (2012, 13). However, Urrutia and Villellas look at Turkey as a ‘consolidating democracy’ (2012, 2) in their description of Turkey’s system. Gulcan Saglam (2012) looks at Turkey under the rule of AKP as a ‘semi-democratic state’ that may be more compatible with the current conditions in Turkey and useful for this study. A semi-democratic state is defined as a state that has democratic principles and an authoritarian rule in practice at the same time, but they are neither entirely authoritarian nor fully democratic. The semi-democratic state, by Akinola (2013) definition, is â€Å"a state that supports democracy as an idea, but fails to reach the application of its principles.The principles of freedom speech and association, free and fair election as well as transparency in government constitute essential characters of the democratic state†. Saglam says â€Å"in semi-democratic political settings with strong authoritarian actors, political parties that build broad coalitions consisting of various power centers in the society via group specific policy promises will be more likely to shift the balance of power in favor of themselves than actors that lack such connections† (2012, 37-8). He believes â€Å"The AKP is the first Islamist political party in Turkey that pursued this strategy, and it was these group-specific policy promises that eventually helped the Party to repel the Kemalist state structure and shift the balance of power in favor of itself† (Ibid). 1.5. The Problem and Rationale Ethnic identity and ethnic conflict have been the most complicated issues among societies and have remained as double bind ties in domestic, regional and international levels, especially in developing countries. Ethnic conflict has a connection and interrelation with other themes such as gender, political economy and democratization in different aspects (Milton-Edwards 2008, 1). Beavis asserts that â€Å"ethnic conflict studies can be seen as a source for understanding international relations but single book; concept or theory is not able to explain such a complex phenomenon in its entirety† (1999-2012). Ethnic conflict is often considered as a local or intra-state issue, but indeed, it has had effect on both intra-state and inter-state relations. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP) answers the question ‘How many conflicts were there in the world in 2011?’ (UCDP 2011) and clarifies the number and rank of ‘intrastate conflicts’ in comparison to other kinds of conflict in that year, claiming that â€Å"in 2011, UCDP recorded 37 active armed conflicts†(Ibid). Based on the same source, from thirty-seven armed conflicts in 2011 that took place in 30 different parts of the world, 27 of them were intrastate, nine intrastate with foreign involvement. Cambodia-Thailand (common border) was the only case among them registered as interstate conflict. Turkey was among five Middle Eastern countries having intrastate Kurdish conflict; that it did not introduce to a level of war until 2011. The above chart from UCDP (2013) shows the type and number of armed conflicts from 1946-2012. It shows the extra state conflict just until 1974, interstate conflicts have decreased and internationalized conflicts have had slow increase since 2004. However, the numbers of intrastate conflicts have had significant increase especially from the 1960’s. In comparison with international wars from 1950s, Civil Wars have been more frequent and more durable. Ethnic wars have been main part of civil wars. For instance, 55% in 1970 and 72% in 1991 of civil wars have been ethnic wars. During the 1990s, more than 200 ethnic minorities or subordinate majorities in the world have struggled to achieve their political rights ( Johnson 2008). Caselli and Coleman refer to Fearon and Laitin (2003) in that from 1945 to 1999, the numbers of ethnic civil wars have been 58, equal to 51% of all civil wars in that period; and they believe that more silent and worth noting are the non-violent conflicts (2011). In some countries, ethnic groups compete through overtly ethnic parties, and compete for power, but in others, a dominant group discriminates against and exploits the others (Ibid). â€Å"Esman (1994, 229) believes when an ethnic group gains control of the state, important economic assets are soon transferred to the members of that community† (Ibid 2011, 2). Gilley disagrees with some definitions of the concept of ethnic conflict and looks at it as a critic, but, he accepts the importance and widespread of this conflict in reality. He looks the rise amount of researches and academic studies in this field as a ‘major growth industry’ and he has made reference to the number of published books and online articles in specific periods in comparison with previous periods. He claims that the ethnic conflict issue is a more attractive subject to be studied by new journals and research centers. He announces that the numbers of published books and online articles in the English language under the title of ‘ethnic conflict’ have been 43 books since 1990 in comparison to 17 before that and 249 online academic English-language articles with the title of ‘ethnic conflict’, but just 23 articles under the ‘class conflict’ title for the same years (2004). McGarry and O’Leary refer to deep geo-political changes in different parts of the world, especially in Africa; for instance in Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe and finally in South Africa by extinction of Apartheid regime in the last decades of 20th century. All of them show the power of ethnicity to mobilize populations and create mass movements to redefine the borders. They say, â€Å"The renewed instability of state frontiers is merely one symptom of the global political power of ethnic consciousness and conflict† (1993, 2), and they say, â€Å"a reason why ethnic questions are potentially explosive, and raise the possibility that some people(s) will be tempted to exercise self-determination through secession is simple. Ethnic questions raise relatively non-tradable issues. It is obvious nationality, language; territorial homelands and culture are not bargain-able products (Ibid 1993). Previous explanations and definitions show the importance and role of ethnicity, nationalism and ethnic conflicts and its rank in academic research. Kurdish ethnic conflict is one of the most complex issues in the Middle East. Kurds have struggled for more than one century for freedom and to achieve self-determination in Kurdish regions. The states that have controlled parts of Kurdistan have denied, suppressed and assimilated Kurds. It has brought unfavorable consequences for all sides. Turkey as having approximately 20% of its population as Kurdish minority, basing its state on Kemalism ideology and Turkish nationalism, has been one of the most atrocious regimes against Kurdish political movements. The bloody violence from 1984 between PKK and Turkey’s military has taken place. The consequences of that war have been more than 40,000 deaths, more disabled people, imprisonment and millions forced to be immigrants and refugees. In the past few years, Turkey with PKK and its in jailed leader, Abdulla Ó ¦calan, has entered into peace negotiations. This subject is a new opening in Turkish nationalism. The first sign of change was in the speeches of statesmen about the Kurdish ethnic conflict regulation, back in the 1990’s and Ó ¦zal; who believed in a multicultural society for Turkey. The most behavioral and practical changes have been attributable to Erdogan and the AKP administration from 2002 to 2014. This current issue and its effect on the Kurdish political condition in Turkey and other countries and the democratization process in local and regional realms, has become worthy enough for academic research study.

Friday, October 25, 2019

Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History by Romila Thapar Essay

It was during the year 1026 that Mahmud of Ghazni raided the Somanatha temple for its wealth, leading to the destruction of its many idols. In Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History, Romila Thapar explores the distinct narratives that were written at the time by placing them into the historical context of the period. Her goal, through this monograph, was not to reestablish how we perceive the history of the raid, but to instead study the diverse perspectives and views represented in the various sources collected on the topic. Historical interpretations range from the Turko-Persian narratives of the period to the Colonial writings long after the raid. Through the investigation of the sources one would hope to point out the variations in the texts, and then analyze why these deviations in the story came to be. Thapar’s findings would assist any historian in determining the nature of these sources and the way they are currently used. One must remember that any and all sources co uld be of significant importance when looking at the attitudes of the individuals of the time. The Turko-Persian narratives contain a multitude of different versions of the raid on the Somanatha temple by Mahmud of Ghazni. Persian scholar Al-Biruni provides historians with the most realistic version of the events surrounding the raid. He believed that because the Somanatha temple was constructed of stone and placed in an area surrounded by sea on three sides it had to be guarding wealth. Mahmud was in fact able to conquer the Somanatha temple for its wealth, subsequently taking pieces back to Ghazni. Turkish raids to India were originally focused on obtaining animal herds, but the reason for them now was to loot urban treasuries and capture prisoners of war... ...itish Colonials’ short term goals, but this course of action would leave long lasting effects on the people of these two cultures. All in all, Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History hopes to study the diverse perspectives and views represented in the various sources collected on the topic. The hope is that this will allow historians to better understand the various perspectives on the period. In order to get the true picture of an event one will need to analyze all of the possible views of what actually occurred. Historical interpretations range from the Turko-Persian narratives of the period to the Colonial writings long after the raid. Any event, such as the raid on the Somanatha temple, can prove to be more complicated then one would ever believe at first sight. Works Cited Thapar, Romila. Somanatha: The Many Voices of a History. London: Verso, 2005. Print.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Social Work Management and Its Relevance to the Social Work Profession

SOCIAL WORK MANAGEMENT AND ITS RELEVANCE TO THE SOCIAL WORK PROFFESSION LAUREN DA SILVA Introduction. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 4 The social work profession †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 5 {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} Definition of management†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. {text:list-item} What is social work management?†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â ‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 8 {text:list-item} {text:list-item} Case Study: Management in One Way Community Services†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 13 {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} {text:list-item} Conclusion†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 9 Appendix 1†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 20 List of Sources†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. 21 INTRODUCTION: Management and the study and refinement of management sciences are by no means a recent field of study. Basically, as long as human beings have been organizing themselves in groups to fulfil a common purpose or goal, some form of management has been employed to keep things under control, running smoothly and more effectively. In fact, one of the earliest recordings of a management technique can be found in the Christian Bible in chapter 18 (verse 25) of the book of Exodus where after encountering numerous problems resulting from being the only direct report to millions of Israelite people, Moses decides to â€Å"choose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens† (Exodus 18:25 New International Version). Considering management has been used by human civilization since the beginning of its existence (even if it is done completely unwittingly), I find it rather surprising that management as a field of study has only been in existence since around 1890, when Frederick Taylor developed the â€Å"Scientific Management Theory†, which characterized the emphasis on scientific measurement of tasks and use of highly mechanized, assembly line and routine activities by workers (Very Brief History of Management Theories). From between 1930 and 1950; Taylor’s management theory began to give way to Max Webber’s â€Å"Bureaucratic Management Theory†. He â€Å"focused on dividing organizations into hierarchies, establishing strong lines of authority and control† (Very Brief History of Management Theories) and emphasized detailed, standardized operational structures with very little room for flexibility (Very brief history of management theories). From then on human rights groups like trade unions began to heavily influence governments which in turn began creating legislation which reacted to these inhuman management structures. Human resource divisions were added to companies and it became common to relate the prosperity of the organization to the wellbeing of its employees. Added to this, breakthroughs made in the human sciences fields of study played a strong role in helping management to understand and take into consideration the needs of workers (Very brief history of management theories). So, with the momentum that management as a field of study has gained over the past century and the mark that it has left on organizational functioning (hopefully for the better) as it has developed, it’s relevance to the social work profession is an important topic of discussion. Over the course of this assignment I will be critically discussing social work management and its relevance to the social work profession. I will also use a case study to explain how management influences the effectiveness and efficiency within One Way Community Services (the non profit organization with which I have been placed for my practical work for this year). I will start off by introducing the social work profession as it will be discussed in this essay, specifically within the context of non-profit organizations. I will then define management as it is applied to both for and non -profit organizations and how these practices influence the success of non profit organizations. Then, I will define social work management specifically and its relevance to the social work profession. Finally I will discuss the influence of social work management on social welfare service effectiveness within the non-profit organization with whom I have been placed for my practical work (One Way Community Services) before I conclude with some final thoughts on social work management. THE SOCIAL WORK PROFESSION In order to understand the relevance of social work management to the social work profession, I feel that it is of importance to have a clear understanding of the history of the social work profession, how it is currently defined and the context it operates in. {text:list-item} {text:list-item} When Christianity was legalized by Emperor Constantine the first, the church started setting up poor houses, orphanages and homes for the aged and these were funded in part with grants from the Roman Empire. By 590, the early church had an established system of circulating food and consumables to the poor. In the Middle Ages, giving to the poor was considered part of one’s religious duty and although it was common to give items like food and clothing, the root causes of poverty however, were never addressed (History of Social work – Wikipedia). {text:list-item} As a profession, social work began in the 19th century in America and the United Kingdom – mainly because the poor were seen as threatening to the social order. When the industrial revolution began, the leap in technology and science also led to increased migration to urban areas which in turn lead to increased social problems which naturally lead to an increase in social activism. The settlement movement, during this time focused on the causes of poverty – Research, reform and residence. They provided educational, legal and health services that advocated reforms in social policy. Workers in the settlement movement pioneered the immersement of workers in the culture of those they were helping. Two pioneers in the establishment of social work as a profession were Mary Richmond (Mary Richmond's Charity Organization Society) and Jane Addams (Jane Addams's Settlement House Movement). They debated whether or not problems should be taken from a scientific method (Richmond) or immersion into the problem which blurred the boundary between professional and client (History of Social Work – Wikipedia). The first social work class was offered at the University of Columbia in 1898 and in 1947 Lindeman â€Å"affirmed criteria† by which it could be seen as an actual profession. In 1957, Lindeman described social work as being a profession but on the lower end of the development continuum. Encyclopaedia of Social Work(in SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:3). After a few decades of the increased formalisation of social work, and an increased understanding of the skill it requires to understand people fully and to assist them in helping themselves (SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:4), Spiro et al (in SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:4) describes social work as having achieved a â€Å"full-fledged professional status†. Since then social workers have taken the lead in developing programmes and organizations that have made a difference in the lives of people in need (NASW –History of Social Work). 2. 2 CURRENT DEFINITION OF SOCIAL WORK The social work profession is described by the International Federation of Social Workers as a profession that; â€Å"†¦ promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work. † (International Federation of Social workers – definition of social work) It is further defined by the National association of social workers as; â€Å"the professional activity of helping individuals, groups or communities to enhance or restore their capacity for social functioning and to create societal conditions favourable to their goals. Zastrow (in SCK 102-X Study guide 1:57) Basically, social work profession definitions all point to people’s relationship between themselves and their social environments, a concern for social functioning, problems, needs, policy, institutions and wellbeing and ongoing interaction between individuals, groups and communities (SCK 102-X Study Guide 1:59). {text:list-item} The social work profession needs to und erstand the contexts within which it works (SCK 407-G Study guide 1:4), and for the purposes of this assignment, one of those contexts is the organization. Social workers hardly ever operate by themselves, in isolation of some sort of organization – most of the time the organization is a non-profit but it not unheard of to find a social worker being employed by a for-profit organization for the sake of the wellbeing of its employees. Organizations exist to meet the needs of people and as history has evolved, people have realized that human needs are better met with collective efforts (SCK 407-G Study guide 1:5) and social needs are no exception, thus social work is also practiced in organizations, particularly welfare or non-profit organizations (SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:5). In addition to this, social worker’s actions are sanctioned and accountable to these organizations (SCK 408-H Study Guide 1:3). A non-profit organization is characterized most importantly by the fact that the people involved for a reason other than benefitting financially (they are actually banned from doing so) and that a non-profit organization usually meets a need or goal of the public or a subsection of the public that supports its existence (SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:7). As mentioned earlier, one type of non-profit organization in which the social work operates in, is the welfare organization (and for the purposes of this assignment will be used inter-changeably with the term non-profit organization). Dealing with people directly The core activities are interactions between the public (customers) and the staff of the organization The results of the rendered service are difficult to predict There are many interested partied involved The organization is staffed by professional people all belonging to organized professions Organizations are highly dependent on their environments. Organizational factors influence how social work services are organized, delivered and evaluated (SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:24) and so it makes sense that the management of this organizational context would play a big role in the quality of social work services that are rendered, the next section we will introduce the concept of management and how effective management of a non-profit organization can improve its services before exploring how a specific type of management (Social work management), is specifically needed for the special challenges facing the social work profession within the non-profit organizational context. DEFINITION OF MANAGEMENT: Management is defined by dictionary. com as being: â€Å"The act, manner, or practice of managing; handling, supervision, or control: management of a crisis; management of factory workers; the person or persons who control or direct a business or other enterprise; skill in managing; executive ability. † (Dictionary. com: Management) It is also defined by Kroontz & Weihrich (in SCK 408-H Study Guide 1:6) as: â€Å"the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups, accomplish efficiently selected aims. From this definition we can infer a number of things: Management helps to facilitate & guide the actions of people and the use of resources towards accomplishing a specific goal. Management is responsible for creating an environment in which people can perform optimally – thus increasing productivity. Management can be utilized in any type of organization Management also consists of 4 or so (de pending on the source) basic management tasks which are perfomed in order for every task that is carried out. These basic management tasks are: planning, organization, activation & control. text:list-item} Management has a number of benefits when used correctly in any organization, adapted from Weinbach (in SCK 408-H Study guide1:28) a number of which are listed below: Management provides a structure for employee accountability. Management provides a structure for employee discipline. Management provides a structure for the co-ordination of a number of activities by a number of people all resulting in the accomplishment of the desired goal. Management provides the structures and means for evaluation of employee and organizational performance. Management provides an indication of where the organization stands within the greater environmental context Management structures provide guidelines for employee behaviour Management provides a vehicle for the improvement and expansion of employee knowledge and skills. Aside from the many benefits management has for the organization as a whole, good management is also associated with a number of benefits experienced by employees. Here are a few as listed by Brian Amble (Benefits all round from good talent management): Employees feel more engaged by their work Employees feel more satisfied with their jobs overall Employees feel more satisfied with their companies overall Employees are more likely to have confidence in the future of the organizations at which they are employed Employees have a positive impression of the people in management positions – they believe that the work load is managed effectively and that people in senior positions value the input of all employees and see it as an important contribution to the success of the organization. Employees feel a strong sense of job security Employees feel that their performance is evaluated fairly Employees experience more feelings of personal accomplishment In summary, when employees are satisfied, productivity increases and when productivity is high in any given organization, it can be said with great certainty that the management of that organization is fulfilling its role in making sure that the organization is running as effectively and efficiently as possible, resulting not only in a more competitive organization but an organization that is a better place for its employees to work. WHAT IS SOCIAL WORK MANAGEMENT? Social work management is defined by Trecker (1971, in SCK 408-H Study Guide 1:6) as the following: â€Å"Social work administration (management) is the process of working with people in ways that release and relate their energies so that they use all available resources to accomplish the purpose of providing needed community services and programs. Here one can see that this definition that relates specifically to social work management but that the definition is exceptionally similar to those of management as stated in the previous section in the following ways: Both refer to the co-ordination of people and resources to facilitate the accomplishment of a specific goal. Both refer to the creation of an environment in which an organization and the people in the organization can function optimally (ensuring maximum productivity). On first glance it would appear that management and social work management are two terms which refer to the same thing, but that is not really the case. Although the functions of management and social work management are essentially the same, the difference is that in the case of a non-profit or welfare organization, although effective management is most definitely required, social work management is the ideal. This is because success for this type of organization requires more than just management, it â€Å"requires a breadth of view, rooted in social work knowledge and values† Teichman in Slavin (in SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:33). An article by Mind tools called â€Å"Managing in non-profit organizations†, states that managers need more than just management skills to succeed and that they need a clear understanding of the very specific nature of non-profit organizations (Managing in non-profit organizations). Teichman goes further to state that employing a manager instead of a social worker could actually have a negative impact on this type of organization. Teichman in Slavin (in SCK 407-H Study Guide 1:33). The purposes of a non-profit or welfare organization are best accomplished when someone has a professional social work education and some experience. This in combination with a strong identification with social work values and ethics AND training in management is ideal and exactly what a welfare organization needs to fully accomplish its goals in the most productive way possible (SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:33). {text:list-item} The relevance of social work management can be found when the unique challenges facing non-profit and welfare organizations and the wider context in which these operate are considered. text:list-item} A challenge facing social work management which does not exist in other organizations is the absence of the profit motive. In for-profit organizations the motivation for the existence as well as personal involvement in the organization is financial gain (profit), this motive does not usually exist in non-profit organizations as the organization exists to provide a s ervice to others and if workers are paid employees, remuneration is generally not as high as with for-profit organizations. For this reason it is fair to say that people choose to work in non-profit organizations because they identify with the mission and/ or vision of the organization or because they have other personal reasons for joining the organization (it is important to note however that this is not always the case and there are some exceptions). It is thus important for social work management to understand what motivates their paid team and to use this motivation to increase worker effectiveness and efficiency. Providing incentive that links the worker personally to the organizational mission rather than career orientated incentives like promotion might be more effective (Managing in non-profit organizations). A social worker in management is more qualified for this type of thing because social workers are especially trained in the art of understanding people in their totality and these skills can easily be used in different contexts including management contexts. text:list-item} In for-profit organizations, profit gives an overall measure of effectiveness and efficiency of the organization as it is concrete and easy to measure(SCK 407-G study guide 1:29). In non-profit organization it is not as easy to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization as firstly, each organization decides for itself (depending on its vision and mission) what the criterion are. Social workers have an advantage in that their understanding of human condition and the root causes of poverty and this might help them to quantify a way that would enable them to notice if the services of the non-profit organization in question have actually improved it. For this reason I believe that social work management is relevant to the social work profession. {text:list-item} In a non-profit organization income is not really proportional to how many people make use of your product or services in comparison to for-profit organizations where this relationship is directly proportional (SCK 407-G study guide 1:30). Non-profit organizations need to rely on grants from government and donations from other organizations and individuals in the public for the means to continue its existence (as adequate finances are indispensible for the increased frequency of service provision as well as the improvement in quality of these services). An added dynamic is that non-profit organizations normally cooperate with other organizations (discussed later), but have to compete for limited finances. This means that social work managers need to be very careful when using their resources responsibly, in a sustainable way and at the same time balance donor expectations (which usually involve wanting to see money go directly to the beneficiaries when a lot of money also needs to go into operating expenses)(Managing in non profit organizations). In addition to this social workers also need to master another skill which a manager in a for-profit organization would probably never need. I do not believe that a social work manager would necessarily be better at this task as in my opinion it would not really require skills specific to the social work profession but rather skills specific to financial management, public relations and marketing. {text:list-item} Non-profit organizations are also different to for-profit organizations in that instead of competing with other organizations that render similar services, it actually pays to cooperate with them. This is because a non-profit organization’s situation improves if ts clients are made independent of its services or if it has less customers than its capacity limit. It also ensures better service to the client. Cooperation with similar organizations is a good way to achieve this (SCK 407-G Study Guide 1:31). A special skill required for the social work manager is that of the ability to network and form partnerships with other organizations. This includes the ability to influence these relationships for the org anization’s and clients’ benefits (Management in non-profit organizations). text:list-item} Social work management also has the unique task of managing unpaid staff as in a non-profit organization, volunteers could sometimes out number paid staff. Volunteers need to be managed like any other human resource – staffing planning, job descriptions, performance management and evaluation as well providing appropriate awards and actions that could lead to the termination of services (non-profit specific management skills). In addition to this, a manager needs to manage volunteers and paid staff in such a way that ensures that all feel valued and motivated equally. Social work management is also more effective in terms of this challenge as in addition to management skills which they possess which allow them to create suitable job descriptions, planning the roles of volunteers into the organizational structure and managing them with the same professionalism as other volunteers, they possess skills needed to understand human behaviour and what motivates people, and then using this understanding to ensure motivation of volunteers as discussed in section 4. . 1. {text:list-item} In most cases, there is a vast difference in the availability of technology to assist in the accomplishment of organizational goals when one compares non-profit and for-profit organizations. In for-profit organizations, the application of technology is precise in its application and in non-profit organizations there is a wide range of responses to a limited number of techniques (case, group and community work). The technology used in social work is therefore very vague and imprecise in comparison, making it difficult to predict results and link cause and effect in relation to technology used in social work (SCK 407-G study guide 1:32). The social work manager’s task is to understand the technology used in the profession and also develop means to use it the most effective and efficient ways possible – minimizing its disadvantages and maximizing its benefits. The social work manager is also better suited to handle this challenge as the social work manager spends most of his or her time in professional training mastering the techniques mentioned above and so he or she is in the best position to understand them the most and thus use them most effectively. {text:list-item} Non-profit organizations possess another unique trait in that the climate in which it operates is very often emotionally charged and draining. Employees and volunteers very often become personally involved in what they do and their clients and although this sometimes does mean that they are highly motivated and committed to what the organization does, it also leaves them drained and sometimes traumatized by the situations that they encounter. This becomes a risk factor as it leaves employees demoralized and sometimes even desensitized by their experiences and their productivity decreases. Although workers at for-profit organizations experience some form of emotional distress at their place of work, it is the nature of this distress (usually stress related to the pace at which the organization moves and not the emotionally content of the work done) which makes it different to what is experienced at non-profit organizations It takes a wise and highly competent manager to negotiate this challenge in such a way that does not create a sterile and uncaring environment which at the same time does not create a space which leaves employees emotionally drained and exhausted. This, according to Jean Roberts requires an organizational commitment to reducing the possibility of risk by allocating resources to the identification, analysis and prevention of risk and monitoring the cause and effects of this risk and managing it effectively (Added Human risk for non profit organizations). Social work managers are once again better equipped at navigating these kinds of situations because of their knowledge of and probably their experience with the nature of the social work profession and the kinds of situations are encountered. A social work manager would need to combine the social work skills of empathy and the advanced skills with skills related specifically to management (creating structures and roles as well as allocating resources within the organization) to reduce the risk of this challenge without removing the personal nature of the work done in non-profit organizations. {text:list-item} Just as much as management in for-profit organizations need a strong knowledge of the laws and policies influencing the nature of the services and products that are rovided to the public, so the management of the non-profit organization needs a strong knowledge of policies and legislation that relate specifically to the kinds of services rendered by the organization (child welfare laws, fundraising laws, laws relating to non-profit organizational management structure) as well as policies relating to employment of employees, human resources and income tax laws (non profit specific management skills). In addition to this, non-profit organizations have an ethical responsibility towards improving and changing legislation and policy to better meet the needs of the people it is supposed to help and serve (SCK411-C Study Guide 1:66). Board members and management need to have strong working knowledge of the various agencies and organizations that influence legislation as well as rules and regulations effecting government and private funding – this is most definitely a non-profit specific management skill (non profit management skills). Social work management is best equipped for this unique attribute of the non-profit organization sector. Once again social workers are trained in the knowledge of legislation and policy that specifically effects the profession and the organizations in which it operates. This puts social work management in the position it needs to be in to not only react to these policies by complying with them and making sure that the organization stays on the right side of the law, but it being on the forefront of service delivery also allows it to be in the best position to make important recommendations to how policies and legislation can be changed for the betterment of the profession and overall, to improve the lives of the people who make use of these services. CASE STUDY: MANAGEMENT IN ONE WAY COMMUNITY SERVICES One Way Community Services is a section 21 company, non-profit organization, which focuses mainly on community development. It was started as the response of One Way Community Church to the needs it saw within its local community – the Vaal Triangle (which consists of Vanderbijlpark, Vereeniging, Sasolburg and the surrounding townships). (One way Community Services Brochure). One Way Community Services was started 9 years ago and its emphasis is on community development, specifically in the focal points of children and HIV/AIDS. The organization is proudly South African and firmly believes in the â€Å"purpose and potential locked up in the lives of the people they work with† (One Way Community Services Brochure). They have six core values which they try and incorporate into everything that they do and these are: Unconditional love, compassion, faith, excellence, brightness and fun. Projects which are run by One Way Community Services include Ikageng Shelter for homeless boys, Khanya Khaya Home for abandoned girls, One Way Early learning center, Breakfast club, Princess project, Public Hospital play time and once off community renovations (more information about these projects can be found in the attached One Way Community Services Brochure). Currently, One way Community Services employs five full time staff members 2 full time volunteers. The management team consists of Ellouise Jansen Van Vuuren who is the managing director, as well as four other people from various spheres of the community (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). text:list-item} I met with the managing director of One Way Community Services, Ellouise Jansen van Vuuren who is a qualified social worker who was trained at UNISA. Ellouise fits the description of social work management as described in section 4 and that is why I decided to interview her for the purposes of this assignment. It is important to rem ember that while reading the findings of this case study that they represent the frame of reference (proposition 7 of the person centered approach) and perceptions (proposition 2 of the person centered approach) of Ellouise within the context of her organization (Grobler et al 2006: 50 &69). I have however tried as far as possible to indicate contextual information as such as it could have an effect of my overall conclusion at the end of this assignment. {text:list-item} When asked where her organization would be without management, Ellouise simply responded, â€Å"nowhere† (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). When I asked her to elaborate she said that management literally makes the difference between life and death for any kind of organization, no matter if they were for-profit or non-profit. She also said that the difference between a terrible organization, a good organization and a great organization usually has very little to do with the type of service it renders but the quality of the management. She mentioned further that administration and management keep the wheels turning in her organization and that one could have all the best intentions and resources in the world but if management was not there to administer them, they would not be used to their fullest potential (effectively speaking – effectively and efficiently)(Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). 5. 1. 1. The benefits of planning: Ellouise said that the management function of planning has helped her organization to increase its effectiveness and efficiency mostly in the area of how they use their finances. When it comes to government funding, the organization needs to submit a financial plan to the department of social development on how they plan on spending the money that they need almost 6 months in advance. This not only helps them to identify the resources needed for the next year but it also forces them to plan their activities and calendar ahead of time too (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). This means that things no longer happen haphazardly, but intentionally as the organization deems necessary. This type of planning allows the organization to be purposeful about its priorities. The things that they say are important to them and are priority for them to do to fulfil their goals and objectives (as well as their mission and vision) can now happen according to a schedule which allows them to be as prepared as possible for these events – this is because they know that they are coming and prepare adequately for them, and the more prepared they are, the more effective and efficient their services can be (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). . 1. 1. 2 The benefits of organizing Organizing by a manager at One Way Community Services involves meeting with people from different departments, meeting with the management committee and the marketing team and arranging with them the different activities that need to be done and who needs to do them. Ellouise, who is the managing director, oversees the various areas within the organization and is constantly concerned with the bigger picture and how every department fits in with the others but leaves the smaller details and nitty-gritty’s of running each department or project to the department or project heads. Each project head then has a team that works under them and so this ensures that Ellouise does organizing for the organization as a whole but each project has a team that organizes activities and responsibilities for that specific department or project (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). This ensures (as mentioned earlier), that Ellouise can focus on the bigger picture of the organization in that when she looks at the organization as a whole she makes sure that its meeting its mission and vision while projects and departments are making sure that they meet their own objectives (which contribute to the rganization’s mission and vision). Organizing in One Way Community Services also has an added benefit of ensuring service effectiveness and efficiency and that is because when jobs, time, departments etc are organized, things stand a better chance of actually being done. When things get done, service is delivered and when service is delivered in a certain way by certain people it is also e asier to evaluate which means that it is easier to improve (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). Ensuring that everyone has a specific role and that departments and projects are well organized also ensures employee and volunteer security in that they know what is expected of them. Ellouise has found that people who are unsure of what is expected of them and how what they do fits into the bigger picture, are less motivated and productive than their counterparts who have a clear understanding of where they fit within the organization and a specific project (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). 5. 1. 1. The benefits of activating Activating in One Way Community Services takes place by the setting into motion of the plans, people and departments that have been organized. Having everybody actually performing the role that has been assigned to them vastly increases the capacity of the organization. Ellouise noted that when you give somebody a responsibility, you need to be serious about it because a lot of the time people are given responsibilities as a token measure but they do not really functi on in it. She mentioned a simple example of telling someone they were in charge of answering the phone , sending faxes and making photocopies – if you are always answering the phone before that person and doing the faxing and photocopying yourself you are doing yourself, the organization and the employee or volunteer a disservice. For an organization to truly maximize its capacity and in doing so increasing its efficiency, you need to play people at their strengths and let them do what they are supposed to do. She said that if she was the only one doing the work in the organization, there would be no leading or future planning or big picture thinking and the organization would be limited to only what she could do – but when you start relying on other people to do what was planned to the capacity of the organization expands and you are able to do more (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). 5. 1. 1. 4 The benefits of control Control takes place in 3 key areas at One Way Community Services: Finances, staff performance and project progress (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). Financial control takes place via auditing of the organizations books which takes place once a year, an accountant on the management team that does book keeping of the books once a month, quarterly expenditure reports, 6 monthly progress reports, all the money that enters and leaves the organization (even cash), must go through the back account and there are 2 signatories and passwords on the bank account (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). All of these measures project the organization from financial mismanagement and it enhances accountability and transparency. This improves the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization because these measures ensure that funds are not easy to spend which means they are not easy to mismanage thus making them difficult to waste or spend unnecessarily. When financial resources are used optimally the effectiveness of the services provided by One way Community is increased and efficiency is improved (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). Control of staff performance is maintained through 6 monthly appraisals and weekly staff meetings. Management also does its best to create climate of trust amoungst the staff so that it is easier to talk about things (Jansen Van Vuuren). These measures enhance accountability between staff members and management but they also allow for the improvement of performance by staff members. Receiving regular feedback at staff meetings and more in-depth, specific feedback at appraisals are done in a very constructive way which encourage the improvement of performance and the development of skills. When staff members receive feedback in such a way that motivates them to improve themselves and how they do their work, effectiveness and efficiency of the organization improves (Jansen Van Vuuren). Measures that provide control for projects and different departments are department heads filling in quarterly reports which are submitted to the management team for review, strict policies regarding the spending of money and accountability measures which put project leaders directly responsible for money spent as well as objectives for each department and project which are determined before hand against which projects are evaluated. These provide a guideline for project leaders and department heads to keep track of their own performance and they know against what criteria they will be evaluated in the future (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). These measures provide both a yardstick for success as well as a means of using that yardstick. When projects and departments know how they measure success they can not only streamline their activities to meet their goals but they also have a means of evaluating their success and determining where to make changes if they are necessary. Any form of evaluation and positive change as a result can only hold positive results for the quality of the services rendered by the organization as activities that are evaluated and adjusted constantly, improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of those services (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). text:list-item} I will now discuss how Ellouise being a social worker in a management position improves the effectiveness and efficiency of social welfare services rendered at One Way Community Services. At the onset of our interview, I asked Ellouise if she felt that as a qualified social worker in a management position she had an advantage when it came to impro ving the effectiveness and efficiency of services rendered at One way Community Services, her reply was â€Å"definitely†, (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). When asked to explain why she thinks so she said that she had previously been involved in the management committee of another non profit organization and being the only social worker, she noticed that although her colleges had the best of intentions, their lack of understanding of the context of community development and how to properly identify needs, a lot of the time lead to money being put into projects which were â€Å"nice thoughts†, but made no real difference to the root causes of poverty or the real needs experienced by the people. Basically money gets wasted on good ideas when people do not have a proper understanding of the theory behind the profession. She went further to say that she wondered how much financial resource had been put into projects that made no real difference in the lives of people they were intended to reach and what kind of a country we would be living in today if management of some non profit organizations had some form of social work training (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). I will now explain the specific experiences One Way Community services has had with the unique challenges facing non-profit and welfare organizations (as mentioned in section 4. 1) and if social work management has been able to assist the organization in improving its effectiveness and efficiency as a result. {text:list-item} Ellouise agreed that the absence of the profit motive existed in non-profit organizations. The staff at One way Community Services are not motivated by corporate money or the ladder or promotion and success but she knows that every person does need money to survive (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). At One Way Community services, management uses principles of the person centred approach like self determination (proposition 4) (which Ellouise learned as part of her social work training) to handle problems that arise as a result of the absence of large salaries etc. They do not beg anyone to stay and freely allow any employee to leave the organization is not serving their needs. They also do their best to hire the right people for the job – people who are motivated by the desire to help others. This eliminates a lot of problems that can occur later. The organization also tries to keep their staff motivated by regular team building, staff meetings, socials and one on one chats between employees and management (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). I can see that Ellouise as the managing director has used a lot of the person centred theory she learnt as a social worker in the interaction with her staff, she however, doesn’t seem to think that her social work training has left her in a much better position than someone in management who has not had training in the field of social work (Jansen van Vuuren). 5. 1. 2. 2 The absence of the profit measure The lack of profit measure has proved a challenge for One Way Community Services management because outcomes of the services that they deliver can be very vague to quantify at times (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). Ellouises training as a social worker has however put her in a position where is better able to identify guidelines and objectives for development projects and departments that fit in with the theory that she learnt as part of her training which in turn fit in with development standards like empowerment of participants and encouraging independence in the organization’s clients. Objectives for the boy’s shelter and girl’s home for example include reunifications with families because the organization understands the importance of releasing people to independence rather than dependence on the organization. Ellouise has also promoted the importance of sustainability within the organization which is also something she learnt to be important during her studies (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). In this instance, it is clear how social work training can be used by management to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of social welfare services within an organization. text:list-item} The sources of financial support at One Way Community Services include grants from government, donations from members of the public and funds raised by the newly established marketing team (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). Ellouise said that her specific training for social work didn’t really help her in these areas. She agrees that it is a unique challenge that management in for- profit organizations would not have to face and that she would probably not have been trained in fundraising if she studied a management degree. She said that perhaps social worker students from other institutions received more input on how to raise funds and work with government funding but she did not feel that she did. She did mention that just being exposed to the social welfare context as a student may have helped her a little bit but she did not feel that as a social worker she had any real advantage over a manager without her training in social work and that she had to stumble around blindly for a while before she got her bearings and figured out how to go about things (Jansen van Vuuren 2010). I believe that the problem in this instance is not necessarily with social work management in itself but rather the training Ellouise received as a social worker. If I look at this case study in isolation, taking no other evidence from other organizations into account, I would have to say that social work management has not been able to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the social welfare services of One Way Community Services in this specific situation. text:list-item} One Way Community Services has a lot of relationships and networks with other organizations like the Vaal Alliance for Street Children, Over the Wall and One Life (to name a few). Ellouise says that networks play a big part in what they do and that they assist the organization greatly in the accumulation of financial, support and knowledge resources (Jansen Van Vuuren 2010). Once again Ellouise said that her training as a social worker didn’t necessarily prepare her for collaboration and that a lot of what she learnt about how to go about it and who to collaborate with, she learnt as she went along. She mentioned that in her specific case, what was emphasised more during her training was the specific approaches that must be followed and not really the day to day running life of organizations. She mentioned that her practical placements helped to prepare her a lot but in

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Mercedes Benz Swot, Segmentation, 4p’s

Assessment Sheet INTERVIEWEE NAME:___________________________________ DATE:__________ APPEARANCE |Poor |Fair |Average |Good |Superior | |Dress | | | | | | |Body Language | | | | | | |Eye Contact | | | | | | | | |CHARACTERISTICS |Poor |Fair |Average |Good |Superior | |Language â€Å"introduction† | | | | | | |General –What do you know about the iti OR why you | | | | | | |want to join the iti? | | | | | | |Assertive â€Å"Can you explain an occasion when you have | | | | | | |had to motivate and boost the morale of your | | | | | | |colleagues†. | | | | | | |Achievement-oriented â€Å"Describe a time when you made a | | | | | | |suggestion to improve the work in your organization. | | | | | | |Stress Management â€Å"How do you feel about working | | | | | | |nights and weekends? † | | | | | | |Strategic Thinking â€Å"if you have 2 demotivated Students| | | | | | |in your class what will you do to motivate them ? † | | | | | | |Outgoing â€Å"Wh en do you give-up? † | | | | | | |Open â€Å"why do you want to be soft-skills instructor? | | | | | | |General | | | | | | |â€Å"Tell me about a time when you were working alone and | | | | | | |needed to motivate yourself. What were the | | | | | | |circumstances, and how did you do it? † | | | | | | |Leadership â€Å"would you prefer to lead or to follow? _ | | | | | | |â€Å"if you have an idea, How do you get others to accept | | | | | | |your ideas? †Ã‚  _†what do the traits that should be found| | | | | | |in the leader? â€Å" | | | | | | |â€Å"Tell me about a time when you were working alone and | | | | | | |needed to motivate yourself. What were the | | | | | | |circumstances, and how did you do it? | | | | | | |Vision â€Å"what do you see your self after 5 years† â€Å" do | | | | | | |you see that soft skills will help you achieving your | | | | | | |goal? † | | | | | | |Ability to learn â€Å"Do you take initiative to lear n | | | | | | |something new, or you wait till you are ordered to do | | | | | | |so? | | | | | | | | |GOALS/PERCEPTION OF SELF |Poor |Fair |Average |Good |Superior | |Realistic appraisal of self | | | | | | |Reason for interest in field | | | | | | | | |OVERALL |Poor |Fair |Average |Good |Superior | |EVALUATION | | | | | | |ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: |