Understand How to Create Inclusive Learning in Lifelong Learning

|Unit Number: |CU3813: Roles, Responsibilities and Relationships in LL | |Summary/Introduction: |The roles and responsibilities of a teacher in the sector of a lifelong learning are the key relationship | | |between the learner and the teacher, the teacher is endeavoured to treat each learner has an individual, | | |practising equality and diversity among the learners always.Having effectiveness of a good communication skill,| | |and the importance of self-evaluation and feedback. The use of the training circle and the Learning Styles | | |(VAK). The completion of attendance records, induction of learner for the course to identify their learning | | |style, which would, helps a teacher to plan the session more effectively, to be able to know the learners | | |learning styles, a learning styles test or skill scan needs to be carried out on the learner.After obtain the | | |learning style, boundaries and ground rules are established between learner and teacher to know their limit. | | |Having a duty of care for the learner, carrying out a one-one feedback with learners where needs arise. | | |Maintaining a record of the learners’ progress.Referring learners to others when necessary. Be aware of the | | |different types of levels of learning, the need of a good verbal skill, intellectual skill, cognitive strategies| | |and a good attitude towards the learners and the organisation. |Learning Outcome 1: |Understand own role and responsibilities in LL | |AC 1: | Aspects of Legislation and code of practice are: | |Summarise key aspects of |Equal opportunities 2000: | |legislation†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. |Learners must be treated as individual regardless of their gender, race, ethnic origin, religion, disability, | | |sex, civil partnership, age.Treating each learner fairly and according to their needs. Rights for learner to be| | |able to attend and participate in any session. These differences create productive environments where everyone | | |feels valued, talent s are fully utilised and organisational goals are met. | | |Data Protection act: | | |Processing of learners information to be kept under confidentiality, not to be disclosed to another party. | |Personal data must be accurate and kept up to date where necessary. Personal data shall be processed in | | |accordance with the right of the data under the act 1998. | | |Health and safety act 1974: | | |The responsibility to be able to protect yourself and all others around you, who may be affected, Learners are | | |entitled to learn in a safe environment.And be aware of rights as an employee to the employer. | | | | |AC 2: |Responsibilities in promoting equalities and valuing diversity; always treat the learner has an individual with | |Analyse own responsibility in |different needs and abilities, each learner is entitled to be treated with adequate respect and dignity, | |promoting equality and valuing |ensuring equal support to all learners and no favouritism, ensuring equal access o pportunities to learners to | |diversity. |fully participate in the learning process.Ensuring the policies, procedures and processes are not | | |discriminating. Learners may come to an educational organisation and therefore act differently in this | | |environment from the way they would at school, all must be treated and according to various needs. Teacher has | | |to be Honest, not to say you don’t know something, but better to say I will find out, communicating effectively;| | |involving learner activity and listening to what they have to say.Giving constructive and positive feedback | | |(University of Edinburgh). | |AC 3: | Areas of work: Health and Social care. Roles of learning are; Preparing the material according to the syllabus,| |Evaluate own role and |Following ethics and values, keeping records of learners’ progress, carrying our one to one feedback/tutorials | |responsibilities in lifelong |with learners.Maintaining confidentiality and a positive learnin g experience. Applying lifelong learning skills| |learning. |obtained, Developing skills by outdating and regularly. When applied to benefit the organisation goals, e. g. | | |Customer service, good telephone manner, be a people person, listening and customer satisfaction been met. | | |Identify needs and deficits, working towards it. Gram training| | |PowerPoint) | |AC 4: | The organisation must provide a syllabus to use, to develop the course content on the subject to be taught, the| |Review own role and |learners needs should start from skill scan, induction/interviews, to be able to identify their styles, needs, | |responsibilities in identifying|and potentials.And be able to identify the level of assessment they are able to learn. Set a time with | |and meeting the needs of |organisation to review the learning plan, with this learning plan to set a target with supervisor, keeping | |learners. |records (portfolio) of the life long learning, having a mentor to meet regularly. Kn owing your learning styles,| | |to be able to identify weakness and strengths and devise a plan on how to improve it.This plan has to be | | |measurable, realistic and achievable, Facilitating learning in a conducive environment, been a facilitator makes| | |learning enjoyable for the learner. ( Gravells A Simpson S 2008) | |Learning Outcome 2: |Understanding the relationships between teachers and other professionals in Lifelong Learning. |AC 1:Analyse the boundaries |Every organisation has professional boundaries within to work, and it’s a tutor duty to abide by the | |between the teaching role and |organisation rules, been. Unprofessional. i. e.. been too familiar with the learner. In the teaching role, | |other professional roles |ground rules are made and all learners are required to work within it, its makes the learner to know their | | |limit, their routine and be organised.In adult learning there are responsibilities to learning by them self, | | |learning by observat ion, discovery, evidence-based and trial by error. Contract is drawn between learner and | | |teacher, which could consist of a learning duration of 12 weeks, 1years etc. A module is followed, either theory| | |based or practical or combined. Ability and competences is required. Belbin 1996) | |AC 2: Review points of referral|Individual learning: teaching on a one-one basis, learner may respond differently then when learning within a | |to meet the needs of learners |group. A learner can be referred to another professional, if learning needs are not met in the one-one | | |learning. When learners are not responding to teaching, or the resources been used are not fully utilised. | |Explaining to learner that the other professional is more specialised in the learners learning styles. | | |(Daines JW 2006) | |AC3:Evaluate own |As a teacher working, within a value base organisation with a code of professional practice, set by an external | |responsibilities in relation to|body. hen teac hing value must be added to get a good outcome, remaining professional and retain self respected,| |other professionals |been passionate about the course been taught, Helping to motivate the learners and their learning experiences,| | |not only are they learning the subject but, they are also observing the way the teacher is been conducted, | | |composed, dresses, responds to feedback and support them. Identifying their needs, planning, designing, | | |facilitating, and evaluating their learning plan and styles. Reece, walker, 2007) (Gravells, Simpson | | |2008) | |Learning Outcome 3: |Understand own responsibility for maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment | |AC 1:Explain how to establish |Suitable/Safe learning environment; | |and maintain a safe and |Preparing the presentation in advance. | |supportive learning environment|Setting up the room according to delivery method. | |Ensuring the venue has accessible facilities, (toilets, refreshments areas, fire exit and evacuation procedures,| | |and ventilated room). | | |Considering flexible breaks and other individual needs are met, informing learner how long the break is. | | |Informing learners the importance of learning and how what they are learning has value and meaning, giving | | |precise targets of the subject and summarising occasionally. | |Making learning interactive, by giving groups discussions, role-play. | | |Introducing yourself, and getting to know your learner by name. | | |Informing learner on any useful resource material they might need. | | |Making special requirement is any of the learners has Disabilities. | | |(Learning and skills network lsneducation. org. k) | |AC 2:Explain how to promote |Appropriate behaviour between learner and teacher must be addressed immediately with the learner, informing the | |appropriate behaviour and |learner of the ground rules and boundaries and the reasons for instigating the rules, for the learners to know | |respect for others |their li mits. Learners should be engaged in an activity relating to the session to avoid boredom and class | | disruption. group discussions or role play among one another make the learner more interactive and focus, having| | |a one-one session with them to improve working as a team and good feedback being professional always, whatever | | |the feedback good or bad. Having a positive approach towards the learner and self, not losing temper at the | | |learner staying in a relaxed and positive manner. National programme for specialists of behaviour and | | |attendance) | | |(Wallace 2007) | |Evaluation: |What Have I learnt? | |The use of Planning in advance all materials needed, Identifying the needs of the learner, Facilitating the | | |learners learning styles; giving clear and precise instruction and summarising the subject regularly, | | |encouraging the learner to ask questions, treating each of the learners has individuals.Assessing the learners | | |at the end of the session or duri ng the session, to ensure they have learnt the knowledge and skills. Feedback| | |from the learners to ensure how to deliver next sessions. Taking into account equality, entitlements, | | |inclusively and diversity of all learners, always having a positive and professional attitude, most importantly | | |Listening to learner, having eye contact.Making sure the Aim of teaching is delivered and reflected on the | | |sessions to develop future delivery. | |Bibliography |What text have I researched or used to answer the assessment criteria? | | |Books | | |Berlin M, Team Roles at work, (1996) | | |Gravells A, Simpson S, Planning andEnabling in the Lifelong Learning Sector, Learning Matters. (2008). | | |Daines JW, Adult Learning, Adult Teaching, (2006) | | |Reece I, Walker S, Teaching, Training and Learning, (2007) | | |Wallace S, Achieving QTLS: Teaching, tutoring and training in the Lifelong Learning Sector, 3rd edition. (2007). | |Gram Training, PowerPoint (Handout), July (2012) | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Websites | | |City & Guilds – www. cityandguilds. com | | |City & Guilds 7303 – www. anqdevelopment. co. uk | | |Educational sites and resources – www. support4learning. org. uk | | |Learning and Skills Network – www. lsneducation. org. k | | |National Programme for specialists of Behaviour and Attendance – www. teachernet. gov. uk | | |University of Edinburgh – www. ed. ac. uk | | |GSS Training – www. gsslimited. co. uk | | |Ask Jeeves – www. ask. com | | | |

Once Upon A Family Essay

In the book (Daley, 2007) â€Å"Once Upon A Family† by author Margaret Daley, we read about a character by the name of Sean Williams who is helped by his principal at Cimarron High, where he attends school, by the name of Peter Stone. Laura Williams was extremely nervous as she stands before the high school principal, who is tall, dark and handsome, as she worries so much for her oldest child who had always been a good student. Peter Stone explains that Sean wasn’t willing to talk very much about the fight that he took part in and wonders if the new move had anything to do with this sudden change in Sean’s behavior. Peter takes a special interest in Sean’s mother and realizes that he can help her, her family and himself in finding completeness in their lives. Peter Stone lives on a beautiful ranch and is a religious man who learns not only to care for Sean, but also for his mother; Laura and Sean’s siblings. The Williams family attend Peter’s church many times and learn that God has special intentions for their lives and also that all problems can be solved through prayer. Laura Williams is a good hearted, self-sacrificing widow, while Peter Stone worked at his job at the high school where he could make a difference in the lives of the young and attended church, faithfully to fulfill his religious needs, but he still needed the Williams family in his life to fill an empty void and just as desperately as they needed him. We learn from this book that God has a special way of bringing people together and he always knows exactly what we need.

Lifting the Veil Essay

The general reasoning of the Court in this area of Veil Lifting the Corporate veil has been confusing and, at times, contradictory: Discuss The question requires an analysis of whether the parent company (A); will be liable for the claims against its subsidiary, (b): in other words, whether the corporate veil can be lifted in this group structure. Both the parent company and its subsidiary are incorporate which have been legally formed. A company once incorporated, is a separate, and distinct legal entirely from the people who set it up: The Veil of incorporation is created by the principle of separate legal personality and that limited liability which are established in Salomon v Salomon & Co Ltd (1897) A company, once incorporated is a separate and distinct from the people who set it up. In a company limited by shares, a member’s liability for the company debts is limited to his subscribed shares. The courts are very protective of the Salomon principle and only lift the Veil in a small number of exceptional cases at common law and by statute. As there are no clear rules or guidelines for lifting the corporate veil, it is correct argued that this area of law is confusing, contradiction and difficult to rationalize. Example: in Solomon v Solomon& Co Ltd (1897): In a company limited by shares, a shareholder is not liable for the company’s debts. As (A) hold shares in (b) , it enjoys the protection of limited liability in respect of debts of (b), if the corporate veil could be lifted and the separate legal personality of (b) be ignored, (a) would be liable for claims against (b). The court may lift the corporate veil if the corporate group structure is used as the: example in Adam v Cape Industries plc [1990] Cape Industries plc (cape) was an English mining company and its products were marketed through its subsidiary companies in the United State. A number of workers suffered from inhaling asbestos. The question can Cape mother company in England be liable for the subsidiary in the state. The judgment in Adams v Cape Industries Plc [1990] has significantly narrow the ability of the court to lift the Veil in case, subsidiary companies were incorporated in the United States of that the parent company in the United Kingdom could avoid future asbestosis claims in the United State. The Court  of Appeal reviewed this complex area of law and concluded that the Veil could only be lifted in three circumstances.. The only way that the veil of incorporation would be lifted by the Court was only in thee circumstances, (i) view cape group as a single entity, (ii): find the subsidiary as a mere faà §ade, (iii) the subsidiary were agents for cape. The Court exhaustively examine all the three possibility (i): find the subsidiary as a mere faà §ade First, the veil may be lifted when the corporate structure is a mere sham or faà §ade concealing the true fact. It is difficult to clearly define mere faà §ade or decided whether the arrangements of a corporate group involve a faà §ade. In Adam v Cape the Court of Appeal held that the company structure was a faà §ade when it had been used by a defendant to evade limitations imposed on his conduct by law or when it had been used to evade rights which third parties already possessed against him. In Gilford Motor Co v Horn [1933] A former employee who was bound by a covenant not to solicit customer from his former employers set up a company to do so. The defendant formed the company as a device to avoid liabilities in breach of his pre-existing legal duty and the Veil was lifted . Jones v Lipman [1982]: The Veil was lifted when the company was set up by the defendant to avoid specific performance in relation to transfer of land. The Court described the company as a device, a sham, a mask which he hold before his face in an attempt to avoid recognition by the eye of equity. The defendant formed the company as device to avoid liabilities in breach of his pre existing legal duty and the Veil was lifted. The company structure is a faà §ade only when it has used by a defendant to evade limitations imposed on his conduct by law ; Example in Jones v Lipman [1962];  Mr. Lipmann had entered had entered into a contact with Mr. Jones for the sale of land. Mr. Lipman then changed his mind and did not want to complete the sale. He formed a company in order to avoid the transaction and conveyed the land to it instead. He then claimed he no longer owned the  land and could not comply with the contract. The judge found the company was but a faà §ade and granted an order for specific performance. But the of Appeal in Adam Court in held that each company was a separate legal entity from its shareholders and the presence of the US subsidiaries did not automatically amount to the presence of the English parent company. (ii): view cape group as an Agency: Secondly, the Court may lift the veil if a express agency relationship exist between a company and its shareholders, or between a parent and subsidiary company in a group structure. Although a company is a separate legal entity instead an agent of its shareholders, it is possible that there is evidence of day to day control and that an agency relationship can be established on particular facts. It is, however, difficult to prove an agency relationship without express agreement. Somme guidance is provided in: Smith, Stone & Knight Ltd v Birmingham Corp [1939] In order to maximize the amount of compensation, the parent company argued that the subsidiary carried on the business as its agent. It was held that whether there was an agency relationship was a question of fact in each case, such as who was actually carrying on the business, who received the profit, who was actually conducting the business and who was in effective and constant control of the business. As the subsidiary was operating on behalf of the parent company the court lifted the Veil on the basis of the existence of an agency relationship. It can be argued that third is not a true exception to Salomon principle it is merely an instance where the normal agency principles applies. In the absent of an express agency agreement or the evidence of day to day control, it is very difficult to establish an agency relationship: In Smith, Stone & Knight v Birmingham Corporation [1939] In Smith, Stone and Knight Ltd v Birmingham Corporation (1939) All ER 116, Atkinson J lifted the veil to enable a subsidiary company operating business on land owned by the holding company to claim compensation on the ground of agency. The parent company held almost all the shares in the subsidiary and profit of the subsidiary were treated as the profits of the parent was in effective con troll of the business and also the personnel who conducted the business and also appointed the personnel  who conducted the business. It was held that whether there was an agency relationship was a question of fact in each case, such as who was really carrying on the business, who received the profit and who was in effective and constant control of the business. The veil was lifted in this case on the ground of any agency relationship. Although (a) hold all the shares in its subsidiary and all the profit flow back to it, there is no evidence of day to day control of an express agency agreement. It is therefore unlikely that the court would consider (b) as the agent of (a): (iii): view cape group as a single entity 🙠 Single economic Unit): Third, in relation to the debate on single economic unit, Lord Denning in: DHN Food Distributors Ltd v Tower Hamlets LBC (1976): Argued that a group of companies was in reality a single economic entity and should be treaty as one. This view was disapproved by the House of Lords in: Woolfson v Strathclyde Regional Council (1979) Which held that the Veil would be upheld unless it was a faà §ade, In Adam v Cape held that, whether or not this is desirable, the rights to use a corporate structure in this manner inherent in our corporate law. The fundamental principle is that each company in a group of companies is a separate legal entity possessed of separate legal rights and liabilities. The Court, however, will ignore the distinction of particular statutory or contractual provisions, the meaning of which is disappointingly unclear. There is controversy as whether the Veil can be lift in the interest of justice. This idea of lifting the corporate Veil in pursuit of justice was championed by Lord Denning in: Wallesteiner v Moir [1974] It is held in Adam v Cape that the Veil cannot be lifted merely in pursuit of justice. Another ground for lifting the Veil is where the Country is at war and it is in the Country’s interest to do so. Daimler v CRT (1916) : The application of this category is limited and it is more about politics than law. In addition to the examples at common law, the courts may lift the Veil and hold individuals shareholders or directors liable for the company’s liabilities according to statutory provision. Section 761 of the companies  Act 2006, for example, reauires that the directors of a public limited company be jointly and severally liable to indemnify the other party in respect of any loss or damage suffered by reason of the company failure to comply with the provision that company should not trade before its registration. According to section 213 of the insolvency Act 1986 on fraudulent trading, the Court may declare that any person, who carries on the business with the intention to defraud the company assets. Lord Diplock in: Dimbleby v National Union of Journalists [1984] States that the statutory provision must be in clear and unequivocal language The judicial approach towards lifting the corporate Veil is still unclear and lacks precise guidance despite the judgment in Adam v Cape. The Courts appear to proceed on a case-by-case basis in deciding whether to lift the corporate Veil. The few number of examples at common law and in statute reflects the court reluctance to ignore the Salomon principle which are the foundations of company law and have promoted the economic growth. This theory was first put forward by Lord Denning in:  in the case DHN Food v Distributors’ Ltd v Tower Hamlets (1976); who agreed that a group of companies was in reality a single economic entity, and should be treated as one; the court was entitled to look at the realities of the situation to lift the corporate veil. The Court in Adam rejected the argument by stating that there was no general principle that all companies in a group of companies were to be regard as one. The fundamental principle is that each company in a group of companies is a separate legal entity with separate legal rights and liabilities. The disapproval of the single economic unit theory was confirmed in the case Ord v Belhaven Pub Ltd (1998): where the Court did not allow a plaintiff with a claimed against one subsidiary company to substitute the parent company as defendant merely because the group might be a single economic units. Lord Denning in the Court of Appeal examined the major single economic units’ case where group structure were as single entity. It found that the case all involved the interpretation of the statute or a document. The Court reject the argument that cape was the group should be treat as one; and  confirm the principle of Salomon. It can be argued, therefore, that the group structure of (b) and its subsidiaries is legitimate and it is very unlikely that the court will hold the parent liable on the ground of fraud, sham or mere faà §ade. Conclusions Given the judicial reluctance to ignore the Salomon principles, it is highly unlikely that the court will hold (a) liable for the claims against (b) on the basis that the group structure is a mere faà §ade, or there is an express agency relationship between them or that they should be treated as one economic unit

Anti-politics Sentiments; Analytical and Policy Response Essay

Anti-politics Sentiments; Analytical and Policy Response - Essay Example The concept of political systems was built on the premise of public involvement and participation. The public trades power for protection of their rights. However, the political class over the years has increasingly alienated the electorate from participating in decisions that affect their lives. This has caused the rise of anti-political sentiments and gradual decline of citizenship. The political class has continuously accrued benefits at the expense of the people they claim to represent. To eliminate the rise of anti-political sentiments, the nationalism sentiments must be promoted through equitable distribution of resources. Self-serving politicians have caused the populace to develop a strong dislike for politics. The low political interest and anti-political sentiments can be overcome through intentional steps understand the needs of ordinary people. Therefore, politicians should take time to discuss with their policies with the public even when they are occupying powerful posi tions. It is recommended that politicians make policies through consultative processes. Structured decision making processes ease tension and reduce anti-political sentiments.... People are losing confidence in the democratically established institution. Clearly, the rise of anti-political sentiments should be a major point of concern. The purpose of essay is to discuss the rise of anti-politics sentiments and the potential impacts on governments. People and democracy In many parts of the world, people have been developing disenchantment from politics. The persistence in alienation has been increasing. According to Hansard -Audit of political involvement-, the start of the 21st century assessment indicated the desire of the British people to have meaningful and significant improvement in the government and political systems. Over six out of ten Britons had little or no faith in the political systems. An increasing number of people have lost confidence on the political system. This has been clearly seen through the desire to have an overhaul of the electoral system. The focus has been to make a system that is inclusive and reflective of the needs and desires o f the people. Political participation by citizens is a multidimensional issue. Main argument The rise of anti-political sentiments has been stirred by poor governance and insensitivity from the leadership. There is a dire need to develop policy that encourages inclusiveness and political equity (Hogan 2007: 9). There are calls to increase and develop the political capacity of the citizens and to establish new politics that respect with concerns of the citizens. Globalization has redefined participation. Therefore, there is a crucial need to rethink the political membership and participation (Zittel and Fuchs, 2006: 15). The virtual platform has become an important tool for citizens to express outright resentment to politicians and in extreme cases

The Role of Fluency in Comprehension Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Role of Fluency in Comprehension - Essay Example This paper, basically, examines the effects of reading fluency on comprehension. Fluency refers to the ability to read aloud automatically and expressively with understanding (Fountas & Pinnell 62). Fluency is one of the requirements for becoming an excellent reader. Excellent readers are efficient problem solvers, who utilize syntax and meaning as they quickly decode unfamiliar words efficiently. Fluency should, however, not replace the meaning as the main focus of reading (Fountas & Pinnell 64). According to Mrs. Pepper, a speech pathologist in Athens, fluency is the ability to pronounce the words without struggling. She suggests that struggling to call words affects people’s thoughts. The National Reading Panel defines fluency as the ability to read comprehension accurately, quickly, and with proper expression (Fountas & Pinnell 68). The study of fluency among school children became a significant concern, after NRP realized the children were not getting the proper fluency r equired out of them. Limited fluency makes it difficult for the children to understand what they reading. The researchers analyzed two teaching approaches since they had not settled on one. The first approach requires students to read comprehension orally with feedback and guidance (Fountas & Pinnell 65). This includes paired reading, assisted reading, repeated reading, and shared reading. The second approach encourages students to read extensively. This includes programs such as accelerated reader, drops everything and read (DEAR), sustained silent reading (SSR), or any other appropriate incentive program (Fountas & Pinnell 67). The researcher at NRP established that Guided Repeated Reading procedures are efficient enough to improve reading fluency, and general reading achievement. These procedures improve word fluency, recognition and comprehension (Fountas & Pinnell 70). However, the researchers found out that children do not improve their fluency if they are left to read on thei r own. It is also necessary recognize that these programs do not improve reading skills. Fluency is usually analyzed with respect to comprehension. After the Pre-Kindergarten level, children are expected to begin reading independently. As the complexity and volume of reading materials and expectations get wider, children who still have a problem in reading fluency usually have difficult times understanding and handling schoolwork (Fountas & Pinnell 69). Students who cannot read and understand passages lose both the academic and intellectual grounds. The NPR identifies a strong correlation between comprehension and fluency. Fluency frees reference materials to process meaning. Fluency is something that is instantly acquired, and therefore, it is long-term. Classroom activities and strategies like repeated reading can encourage students achieve fluency (Fountas & Pinnell 72). There are various strategies that tutors can use to develop, and improve fluency among their students. For ins tance, teachers and students can do repeated reading in classroom, try readers’ theater in class, and model fluent reading (Fountas & Pinnell 65). Modeling provides approaches through which the teachers demonstrate unfamiliar reading strategy or skill to the students. Teachers are experienced readers, and they do modeling whenever they participate in literacy activities. Pre-Kindergarten students learn from their teachers when they turn pages, hold books, and read from left to right. They also listen to the tonal variation and

Psychology-Personality Assessment and Theories Essay - 1

Psychology-Personality Assessment and Theories - Essay Example tors include upbringing, environmental factors, physiological factors and various cognitive processes that are responsible for giving rise to a certain behaviour or trait of an individual. In order to further define personalities they are divided into psychological classifications of different people. (Engler, 2008) Personality types actually originated from different sets of personality traits and these types also signify the degree or intensity of the set of traits that characterize the personality type. The notion of personality types emerged from the theoretical works and researches of a renowned psychologist named Carl Jung. According to the Jungian theory of personality, the unconscious plays a great role in the molding and shaping the characteristics of an individual and it is the unconscious thought processes that give rise t various conscious thoughts and cognitions. (Wilde, 2011) Is theories had strong concurrences with the Freudian theory of personality, but the schism between the two theorists was their beliefs regarding the factors that constituted an individual’s unconscious and as Freud was largely focused on sexual desires and interactions between humans, whereas Jung just deemed it another component of the unconscious and not the most fundamental one as Freud thought it to be. Therefore, to illustrate this aspect of his theory, and people can easily find the class that their personality falls into by taking a simple test. There have been a number of speculations regarding the validity and reliability of these tests but they d serve their purpose in providing ample amount of insight into an individual’s personality. (Wilde, 2011 & Plante, 2010, p. 115) Jung classified various types of personalities and this theory was further developed by Katherine Myers and her daughter Isabella Briggs, and drafted out a test called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator that consisted of 72 questions that enabled an individual to describe the degree of intensity

Dairy Company Negotiation Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Dairy Company Negotiation Exercise - Essay Example Dispute in an organization is a manifestation of differences in the opinions, leading to a disagreement. While disputes may be unhealthy in an organization, they are inevitable and have to be resolved as soon as they occur. In the Dairy Company, a dispute exists between the employees and the management and there is a necessity for an effective negotiation plan if the workers have to secure their rights and reach a concession with the management of Dairy Company. As Dairy Company workers, the two most important issues is to negotiate for wage increment and the manner in which employees will be nominated for training. In any negotiation process, it is crucial for every party to establish the most critical issues that need special attention. As Fells (2012) points out, matters that have a direct impact on the parties should be given priority in a negotiation. The comfort of an employee depends on their wages and hence this matter is a priority. The issue on employee training is crucial since it has a long term impact on the employee position in the company. On the other side, the issue on the duration of the negotiation will be regarded as least significant.

Importance of Communication to Criminal Justice Professionals Essay - 1

Importance of Communication to Criminal Justice Professionals - Essay Example Barriers to effective communication as well as probable solutions have also been identified. Communication can either be verbal or nonverbal. Verbal communication uses the spoken language to convey a particular message. It can be used to respond to verbal or nonverbal communication. Nonverbal communication does not involve speaking. Rather, it employs the use of signs and gestures to convey information. It involves extensive use of the body organs in communication. There are various components of communication. These include; the source of information, the message or the information itself, the method or the channel through which the information will reach the recipient, the recipient as well as the feed back of the information. All these are significant in the communication between professionals in the criminal justice and also between them and their clients. In order for accused persons to be judged of a certain crime, the professionals need to analyze and evaluate the in formation provided by the accused or the aggrieved. Effective communication becomes essential in order for the parties involved to understand the matters and make an informed decision. The process of communication is vital in the criminal justice. It should present all the involved parties with a chance to put forward complaints or defense regarding particular cases. Professionals in criminal justice should offer assistance depending on the information provided by the victim. Sharing of information is important in order for each and every player to understand his or her role in the process. The process involves sharing information from one level to another (Casey 2000). The components of communication are significant in this process since the judge highly depends on them to make the evaluation. The prosecutor presents his/her information against the accused who is also supposed to be effective in communicating in defense. The second most important component is the message or

The Changing Interaction of Finance, Information and Technology Coursework

The Changing Interaction of Finance, Information and Technology - Coursework Example This has raised questions on the efficiency of the IT departments of companies in carrying out the requirements as stipulated in the act. There were also criticisms about the failure of SOX act in various aspects related to the IT. This paper discuss about the impact of S-OX act on the IT department and a review about the various aspects about the act. â€Å"IT supports the corporation’s drive to comply with SOX by securing and protecting financial data on the network.† (Networkinstruments.com, 2011) The Act requires the companies to impart the compliance process as an integrated business process. The Act also requires continuous risk management and also regular checks about the IT control measures that are put into place as per the Act. The act also put additional accountability on the officers or firm which attests that the companies’ financial reports are true and represents the present state of the firm. The relevant components for the S-OX are internal envir onment, Risk assessment, Control activities, Information and communication and Monitoring. (COSO framework) Sarbanes Oxley Act- Implementation and Impact upon IT departments In order to implement the act effectively, it is very crucial to keep the program cost effective and also sustainable. There should be a cost-effective process in place to provide a greater transparency into the infrastructure and control measures to assure the correctness of the financial reports. In order to keep a continuous track on the system it is very much important that all the processes must be automated and sustainable. When we try to understand the impact of S-OX on IT departments, we need to keep in mind that the act was primarily created for the detection of accounting fraud, make the higher management accountable for the malpractices if any in the organization. The IT comes into picture where it assists the financial practices undertaken in picture. Since all transactions would be recorded in the f ully computerized work environment and also all the audit processes would be recorded, the role of IT comes in. They are responsible for keeping a tab of all the transaction and audit and to retrieve these data when it is required. This essentially means that the pressure created on IT departments is not a direct result of the implementation of S-OX act, since the act is focussed on the accurate disclosure of the financial statements and making the people accountable for their actions. The pressure on the IT departments is coming from within the company as it is the only department which can realistically overview and keep a continuous track of the activities of a firm. â€Å"Companies are increasingly turning to technology in their Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance efforts in order to automate internal controls or streamline their activities, according to new research and interviews last week with corporate executives.† (Hoffman, 2005) Involving IT would help to reduce the time and efforts that needed to create the compliance reports at quarterly and annually. This would also reduce the costs involved in the process. Benefits to IT department while adopting the Sarbanes Oxley Act The benefits of the Act cannot be limited as benefit to IT department alone. Since the positives would finally impact the performance of the company.

Andy Warhol's Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Andy Warhol's Life - Essay Example The essay "Andy Warhol's Life" focuses on the life of the important figure in the pop art, Andy Warhol. He was growing up during the Great Depression in the metropolitan environs of a smoky industrialized city and at a very early age he showed a magnificent talent for sketching the city’s sceneries. Due to an infection when he was 6 he was confined to bed; Andy’s mother and brothers would keep him company for hours while he drew, traced and printed. After this, he grew up loving art, which is said to be the only hobby he had in his childhood. When he turned about nine years old, his father bought him his first camera. Andy took pleasure in taking pictures, so much so that he even developed them on his own in his basement. His father died in 1942, the very same year that he got into Schenley High School. Andy would go on to become the first in his family to go past high school. He nearly failed during first year, but a compassionate professor gave him with one more chanc e by making him to sign up for a summer class. During this summer, he helped his eldest brother, Paul, sell fruit and vegetables from a van. Andy used every opportunity that arose to do quick on-the-spot portraits of the consumers. The drawings not only helped get him readmitted but also they made him get a small scholarship until when he graduated at the tender age of sixteen in 1945, he had become position 5. His father was a bright man who had recognized his son’s talent and had saved enough money for his college education. Andy went to Carnegie Institute of Technology from 1945 to 1949 where he attained a degree in Bachelor of Fine Arts majoring in Pictorial Design. He had a goal of becoming a business illustrator. When he wasn’t in class, he was working in the exhibition section at Horne’s department store creating window displays. It was while he worked there that he was initiated into the world of fashion, which would be the primary influence of his inter est in becoming an commercial illustrator. Carnegie institute fostered his enthusiastic sense of drawing, designing and honed his ability to create visually. Almost immediately after graduating, Andy moved to the city of New York to start his profession as a commercial artist. His work made it to Glamour magazine in September of 1949 and after this Andy became one of the most flourishing illustrators of the next decade. These fetes enabled him become rich and win many awards. He had an exceptional, capricious style of sketching that contradicted its everyday sources: traced pictures and imagery. At times Andy engaged the delightfully unusual calligraphy of his mother, who was always recognized in his credits as -Andy Warhol’s Mother-. She had left Pittsburgh sometime in 1952 to live with her son she stayed there for almost twenty years before dying in Pittsburgh in 1972. Andy pleased himself for his work by going on an around-the-world holiday with his buddy Charles from June to August of 1956. They visited Hawaii many countries in Asia, Africa and Europe. Serendipity 3, a stylish eatery and ice cream shop in Manhattan is East Side, was one place where Andy sometimes displayed his work. He frequently held social gatherings there where his friends could spoil themselves and their wives on the restaurant’s signature beverage called â€Å"frozen hot chocolate† and all this time helping Andy hand-paint his self-published artists’ books. In April 1961 Andy had his first chance to show his latest art. He

Compare and contrast a work of art in a specific classification Essay

Compare and contrast a work of art in a specific classification (Renaissance or Gothic) - Essay Example Renaissance paintings such as A young Hare and Sistine Chapel Ceiling marked the turning-point from the Medieval Era to the early Modern Age in European. The creation of the paintings in 1502 and 1508 respectively, clearly marked the huge influence of the Renaissance sensibilities that are believed to have taken off in the early 16th century. This paper compares and contrasts A young Hare and Sistine Chapel Ceiling. A Young Hare (fig. 1) is a painting that was made in 1502 by an artist known as Albrecht Dà ¼rer. The item measures 25cm by 23 cm and is available in a repertoire set up by the Graphische Sammlung, Albertina, Vienna (Nichols, 2013). The Northern Renaissance piece of art was created in the German artist’s workshop in 1502, and since then it has been popularly referred to as a classic example of an observational masterpiece. The English title of the item â€Å"The Young Hare† is ironically used to refer to the rather mature animal. Perhaps the German name â€Å"Feldhase† which literally means Field Hare is a more suitable title for the masterpiece. Durer made numerous visits to Italy from his homeland, Germany, during his long career perhaps to grasp and use some of the best qualities of Renaissance art in his work. Upon his comeback to Nuremburg in 1495, the artist opened a workspace where he made The Young Hare and several other items. As Nichols (2013) has said, Durer created the painting using a combination of body colour or gouache and watercolour; materials that he is known to have used almost on every item he made. The painting portrays a lonely hare, which is a clear depiction of the confusion and gloom facing the ancient European society in the wake of a dying Medieval Era and the uncertainty of the philosophical influences of the early Modern Age. Despite the solitary, thoughtful mood of the art, Durer managed to present a highly comprehensive and perfect depiction of a hare. The colour of the hare is a blend of

One Sony Analysis Essay Example for Free

One Sony Analysis Essay Sony is Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation with the revenue of US$71.87 billion (FY11). Sonys principal business operations include Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Mobile Communications, and Sony Financial, which are engaged in business through 4 segment: Electronics, Motion picture, Music and Financial services. This conglomerate corporation is known with slogan: â€Å"Sony. Like no other†. Growth from a company with initial capital of US$2000 in Nagoya,Japan in 1946, becomes one of Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders, third-largest television manufacturer in the world, after Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, third-largest mobile manufacturer in the world after Samsung Mobile and Apple, but Sony now is in the hard time and in process of recovery. Before the current reorganization, Sony have implemented quite many of reorganization but they seem didn’t work, in the first months of 2012, Sony have been face with foundering TV business and the massive tax charge, that make them lost US$6.4 billion. Come up with the newly strategy â€Å"One Sony† in April 2012, new CEO Kazuo Hirai aims to revitalize and grow the electronics business to create new value, strengthen the core business which are: 1. Strengthen core business: Digital imaging, Gaming, Mobile. 2. Turning around the TV business 3. Expandiing business in emerging markets 4. Creating new business, accelerating innovation 5. Realigning the business portfolio and optimizing recources (Source: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201204/12-056E/index.html) The new CEO have plan to reorganize the corporate, sell some business, reduce by 10,000 job to have fund for the return of Sony and no information for Sony Financial change. Sony target US$67.42 billion revenue and operating income margin of 5% in its electronics business and sale of US$ 95.51 billion, operating income margin of more than5%, and ROE of 10% for the Sony group overall (FY14). I. Environment analysis: 1. Marco environment: 2.1 Economics: With the globalization, the world now is more â€Å"flat†, allow to customer from  more and more countries can access to foreign products, also it enhanced the production, created more value for human on the world, so the demand of product is expanding rapidly, Sony ‘s products are one of the highest expanding demand products. Although the world economy continues to struggling with post-crisis started from US in 2008 and the global economic growth have weakened further, the world still witness the success in business of big electronics and mobile company such as Apple, Samsung 2.2 Social and demographic: According to UNICEF, the world’s population is 7 billion as the end of 2012 and expected to increase in next 5 years. This means that the demand of all the products will increase along. There are more than 67% of American household play video games, 40% were women and they almost under 25 year old. This show that this form of entertainment is mainstream now in US. The trends are similar in Europe and Japan. The other country market show the optimistic with the rapidly increasing of gamer. The demand of the other electronic entertainment and mobile is clearly growth in the past decade. 1.3.Technological: Coming along with the rapid growth of the Internet is the new services on it such as internet storage (Mediafire, Dropbox, Box.net,†¦.), internet integrate with TV (which is now one of Sony ‘s TV line), internet calls, internet service on mobile,†¦creating wider market and more direction to expand business for Sony. But also there are difficulties for Sony, the margin for technology advancement is now diminishing, which is unfavorable for the pioneer of technology such as Sony. 1.4. Political: As one of the biggest company and contributed significantly for the growth of Japanese economy, Sony have received the back up from Japanese government. For instance, in the last months of 2011, Japanese government provided US$2.6 billion to Sony, Toshiba Ltd and Hitachi Ltd for their plan  to merge their liquid-crystal display operations, in the effort to compete with the rivals from Taiwan and South Korea. 1.5. Legal: Intellectual property as well as commercialization and protection have given the corporation a significant source of comparative advantage. So the macro environment is favorable for Sony to implement it’s new strategy â€Å"One Sony†. 2. The competitive environment: 2.1 The threat of new entrants: The threat of new entrants is low. The electronics industry requires huge capital to build the manufacture, buy the equipments, fund to RD; economics of scale; technology and innovation to produce the produce and create product differentiation. Moreover, the new entrants will meet a lot of difficulties with prevention of the big companies in the industry such as Sony, because these companies have huge capital and power to create a lot of barrier to the new comers and usually buy the new comers if they have potential to gain profit (unique technology, intellectual property,†¦), then turn them as one of the company’s SBU. One thing need to mention also is the legal requirements, to enter the electronics industry, the new entrants are required to obtain approval from the government, which require plenty of high requirements. These make the potential entrant in the low level. 2.2. The bargaining power of buyers: The power of buyers is high. With the access to the internet, the customer can get the information about the product fully, including the price, the hardware, the software, methods of delivery and compare between difference companies to choose the best set for their demand. Moreover, the switching cost from one brand product to another is almost zero, especially in Europe, USA and Japan. Hence, the companies always try to optimize and offer the customer their best set to satisfy the customers to pull them to the company 2.3. The bargaining power of supplier: The power of supplier is low. Sony do not buy the supplements from one supplier but it buy them from the best offer. Like another conglomerate corporation, Sony have their own research centre to create their own product differentiation and avoid from rely on the supplier. 2.4 The intensive of rivalry among competitors in the industry: The competition in electronics industry is high. The product between different brand is not different much, the margin of technology advance is now shorter, the product cycle therefore is shorter too while the cost for RD is more and more higher. 2.5 The threat of substitute products and services: The threat of substitute products and services for electronics industry is low due to the growth quickly of the electronics industry (although it have slower than the period of 1980-2000), there are no type of product and services can compete with electronics nowadays and if it have, the big companies on this industry will the first who have them. So the electronics industrial will not the good for the new players, it just the ground for big player such as Sony, Samsung, Apple, HTC, Nokia,†¦ to compete each other, mainly in the new technology , differentiate their products. 3. Internal environment: According to Value chain analysis mode which devised by Porter(1985), a company have primary activities( inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketingsales, service) and support activities(firm infrastructure, human resources management, technology development, procurement). The analysis below will show the pros and cons of Sony. 4.3 Inbound Logistics: Ability to conduct the various complex in-bound logistics activities well to facilitate smooth operations and productions 4.4 Operations: The religious zeal to innovate coupled with tacit knowledge to build revolutionary products that memorise customers into buying them. The long  tradition and experience will help Sony create the best optimize for its operation. 4.5 Outbound Logistics: Possess the capability to train employees and associates to manage and perform the vast and complex out-bound logistics activities that enhance operations protocol. Moreover, the logistic companies will be the considerable choice for Sony’s logistics activities when needed or to cut-off some activities and concentrate to the main ones. 4.6 Marketing Sales Possession of a world-class marketing acumen and tacit knowledge that has made Sony a global mega brand. 4.7 Services Able to integrate the various resources and functional activities to meet the needs (innovative, quality and reliable) of global customers. 4.8 Infrastructure Finance Possess the necessary physical resources to help generate value-creating competitive advantage as well as a large reserve that can be leveraged to invest in infrastructure to further lower costs. 4.9 Human Resources Able to leverage on financial resources to provide competitive numeration packages and training that help to motivate and insentitives. Staff who shows managerial potential is cultivated to take over leadership posts. With the middle-managements and low level managements, Sony provided the training in management, updating market information, delivery by in-side or out-side â€Å"teacher†. 4.10 Technology Able to leverage on technologies well and ahead of its competitors to create innovative and high quality products, be one of the pioneers on the new high technology products. 4.11 Procurement Possess procurement know-how that leads to quality input at lower costs. With above analysis, we can see Sony have capabilities and advantages to implement a strategy take Sony back to the track and make more and more profits in the years after. II. One Sony strategy: Sony offer different products for different customers, it’s product line is very large with electronics products (video equipment, audio equipment, television, mobile, components), entertainment products( famous PlayStation, games, movie and music). â€Å"One Sony† strategy with key initiative to transform the electronics business are: 1. Strengthen core business: Digital imaging, Gaming, Mobile. 2. Turning around the TV business 3. Expanding business in emerging markets 4. Creating new business, accelerating innovation 5. Realigning the business portfolio and optimizing resources. (Source: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201204/12-056E/index.html) In this period of time, the global economy is still struggling post-crisis and the growth of economics is slower further, the customers are still cut-off their spend on buy products, the competitive in electronics industry is more and more. The One Sony strategy ‘s one aim to accelerating innovation, create the differentiation but mostly they still focus on the core business: Digital imaging, Gaming and Mobile. In the core business Sony have the advantage as one of the leaders of the market with wide-known product such as Xperia mobile, PlayStation console game, Home theatre,†¦ This will retain Sony as the famous company in the electronics industry, know world-wide (keep them from the situation as Nokia), the profit of the core business will provide fun for RD, which essential for any companies in the electronics industry, creating new business, accelerating innovation. Although Sony choice the focus strategy, but as any strategy, Sony then have to create differentiation on its products (create new business, accelerating innovation) come along with reduce cost (realigning the business portfolio and optimizing resources). This movement will help Sony have the advantage on compete with the rivals, whom desperately want to gain more market share.

Relationship Between Firm Resources And Performance Commerce Essay

Relationship Between Firm Resources And Performance Commerce Essay Many researchers have point out that the relationship between firms resources and performance are always the crucial area of interest in strategic management (Barney, 1991; Peteraf, 1993; Wernerfelt, 1984). Resource-based view (RBV) highlights the internal environment of the firm in crafting strategy to accomplish a sustainable competitive advantage in it. Consequently, RBV can be consider as the best strategy route in the development of a firms strategy. However, the relationship among strategic resource and firm performance may be quite complex and need to be examine, there is also many different factors that can influence the relationship. In fact, there is no one best strategy that will suits all situation for a firm. Moreover, RBV also been compared to others strategy development methods like Porters industry analysis. Based on this assignment, we will be focus on the contention that RBV analysis has a strong relationship with firms performance especially in achieving a sustaina ble competitive advantage for certain industry only. Resource in RBV can be defined in an extremely board way. For instance, Wernerfelt (1984) comprises all strengths and weaknesses of a firm. Concepts like dynamic capabilities (Barney et al, 2001), entrepreneurship (Alvarez and Busenitz, 2001) and management (Barney, 1994; Mahoney, 1995) are usually regarded as strategic resources. Similarly, RBV also has been defined as stocks of available factors that are owned and controlled by the firm, these factors can be classified into physical, reputational, organizational, financial, human intellectual and technological, which are transformed into final products or services efficiently and effectively (Amit and Schoemaker, 1993; Capron and Hulland, 1999). As we know, resources are exploited by people, not by themselves. Human beings have differ considerably concerning to the sorts of skills they have, also their degree of skilfulness and their intelligence to view opportunities (Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000). According to Brown et al. (2001), in order to develop entrepreneurial performance within the firm, managers must inspire the coordination of key resources, allow flexibility, encourage members to search for opportunity and rewarding them for pursuing new opportunities in order for it to prosperous. Besides, RBV assists management to create a culture where there is valid and value for new knowledge by encouraging the perplex process of recombining existing knowledge with new knowledge (Prahalad, 1998; Shih-Wei, 2005; Montalvo, 2006). RBV can be treat as the best strategy route in the development of a firm strategy, because RBV analyze and explain resources of the firms to grasp how organizations accomplish sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, RBV centralize on the concept of hardly to imitate attributes as sources of higher performance and competitive advantage for the organization (Barney, 1986; Hamel and Prahalad, 1996). In the same manner, resources are hardly to be transferred and acquired, that need a lengthen learning curve or a major modify in the organization climate and culture, hence more difficult to duplicate by rivals because of a range of isolating mechanisms and very likely to be unique to the organization (Rumelt, 1984; Mahoney and Pandian, 1992; Peteraf, 1993; Hoopes et al., 2003). Based on Conner (1991), performance variation between organizations depends on its possession of unique inputs and capabilities. For example, Honda following RBV strategy, built its company strategy around t he firms strength, capability and expertise in building petrol based engines, at last the company utilize it unique resource and capabilities to build a world class petrol based engines and became the largest engine manufacturer in the world. Firm must possess valuable resources in order to build resource-based advantages. For the purpose to outperform with competitors, many RBV researchers assert that organizations must exploit the resources that they possess. An organizations succeed or fail in the marketplace is depend on the particular perspective on an inside-out view of firm from RBV (Dicksen, 1996). According to Barney (1986) valuable resource must enable a firm to function and behave in ways that lead to high sales, low costs, high margins, or in others ways add financial value to the firm. A firms ability to innovate successful is also a factor of unique capability which is sustainable and appropriable. For example, an innovative products such as Apples iTunes and iPod. The companys first class innovation in product design and practicality is proving not an easily act for rivals to copy. Apple avoid to sit back complacently, although the company maintain at the front position of the digital media with its iPod an d iTunes online stores. In 2007, Apple introduce of its iPhone and entered into the mobile phone market, this continuous innovation and product creation keeps rivals such as Sony, Samsung guessing about what products Apple will bring out in the future and provides a factor of outperform as rivals struggle to substitute their achievement. In other words, strategic resources are also concerns on non-monetary factors such as knowledge based, human resource management activities on their customer service department to result in a competitive advantage. . To obtain a competitive advantages over the others is easy, however to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage is rather hard. Way to maintain sustainable competitive advantages for sustained superior performance, firms must be unique and core competencies and resources that are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable (Barney, 1991) as well as visualize of value-creating ways to exploit them. Intangible resources such as intellectual, technological resources are more appropriate than tangible resources which are human, financial resources to generate competitive advantage (Hitt, Bierman, Shimizu and Kochhar, 2001). Particularly, intangible resources like knowledge allow firms to add up value to incoming sources of production (Hitt et al., 2001). It indicates firms achieve competitive advantage (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; Collis and Montgomery,1995; Post,1997; Markides,1997; Bogner,Thomas and McGee,1999). Such resource is built over time and difficult to be imita ted and is valuable. For instance, Tesco, Sainsburys and Asda all compete in the same environment, yet Tesco is a superior performer. It is not the environment that distinguishes between them but their internal strategic capabilities. It is difficult for one organization to obtain or copy the capabilities of another. Like Sainsburys cannot readily obtain the whole Tescos retail sites its management or its experience. As a result, Tesco is achieving a sustainable competitive advantage. On the other hand, firm must develop one or two value creating activities to some extent that creates more general value than rivals do to attain competitive advantage. Porter (1985) point out two generic strategy, the first is lower cost strategy, to reduce activity cost by lowering the cost of the inputs than rivals, while retaining average quality and prices. Secondly is differentiation, to induce customers willingness to pay an above-average price, including value of the ancillary service or the im age of the product. Managers who carrying a general knowledge of their rivals activity sets can apply this information to analyze their position relative to its rivals (Ghemawat, 2006; Porter, 1985, 1991). Besides, Porter (1985) also identified the value chain framework to help managers in understanding, enhancing and executing a lower costs or differentiation strategy. The value chain can be defined as a general activity model that is used to decompose the firm into the single activities it manages to form value for the consumer. In conclusion, both activity-based and RBVs complement each other and share an objective of discovering and exploiting factors that lead to higher competitive performance Even though the RBVs principle for a firm is to achieve and sustain a competitive advantage by exploiting valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable resources is instinctive and theoretically satisfying, it is essential to recognize that value, rare, inimitability and non-substitutable are not completely invariables. In fact, facing of radical, volatile changes in the environment, value, rare, inimitability and non-substitutability are very considerably over time. In other words, RBV state have their fall like in the valuable attribute, the need for planning and investment to develop such resources are external factors, which means the RBV may overstate the profitability of firms by exploiting these resources, because the cost of acquisition and accumulation had been avoided. As a result, it is difficult for the RBV to tell why firms invest in such a valuable resource instead of in other type of resources. Moreover, if the organizations want to increase their profit from the re sources they possess, they have to think over the demand side attributes that effect on the final price of the product. Furthermore, in the concept of rareness resource, it does not essentially attain the competitive advantage of the firm, in spite of the resource produce a great rent due to its relative shortage. Rents can be defined as the prices of services yielded by resources (Lewin and Phelan, 2002). Regardless of the rents are rare or not, in this stage rent is nothing more than the rental price of the service of the resource. There are no any profit has been earn to the firm, after paying remuneration to all the factors of production (Demsetz, 1973; Barney, 1986a; Rumelt, 1987). However, the firm may grasps some part of the rent from the possessor of resources, if the firm is gaining any profit left from the resource. Member or staff who have capabilities such as knowledge based will have benefits of bargaining power, hence being able to appropriate extra rent. Barney (1991) point out that the strategic resource possess rareness, inimitable and non-substitutable criteria may be independent of the firm, but when the belief of the heterogeneous distribution of resources is taken into account it is not easily to visualize that the resource given by the value is similar for all firms. For instance, intangible resources such as innovative capability or diverse production capabilities have been recognized as essential strategic resources and are extremely dependent of other resources in order to act properly. On the other hand, some resources might prevent firms from operating higher performance. For example, a Formula One engineer might be a key resource for a sports car manufacturer due to his ability to built high-performance engines, while car companies with key resources in the aspects of an image for safety or high environmental standards might not be suitable to gain advantage from possessing such capabilities. These examples result the complication o f resource interactions (Smith et al., 1996) and also the value of resource is different among companies. Conclusion According to Barney (1991), Mahoney and Pandian (1992), Porter (1991), they agree that both internal and external factors must be taken into account when analyzing firm performance. For example, if a firm is able to acquire a key resource, it often require a diversification in the product market (Anderse ´n, 2007a). The result of such a diversification is to a great extent dependent on the organizations prior market experience or market that relevant to existing product lines (Pehrsson, 2004). In consequence, if a firm is not able to use its product effectively in the appropriate product market, the product will not benefit from these resources even though the company possess with superior production skills and great valuation. Therefore, firms can actually fail to attain higher performance while posses several strategic resources, if the marketing capability are poor. In conclusion, both internal and external environment are complement to each other in achieving a sustainable comp etitive advantage for a firm. (1863 words) Bibliography List Andersen, J. (2011) Strategic resources and firm performance Management Decision Journal. 49, 87-98. Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R. (ed.) (2008) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. 8th ed. London: Prentice Hall. Newbert, S. L.,Gopalakrishnan, S., Kirchhoff, B. A. (2008) Looking beyond resources: Exploring the importance of entrepreneurship to firm-level competitive advantage in technologically intensive industries Technovation Journal. 28, 6-19. Oup.com (2011) The Internal Environment: A resource-Based View of Strategy http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199288304/henry_ch05.pdf [accessed 24 April 2011]. tamanpowell.com (2007) Resource Based View Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Strategic Management. http://tamanpowell.com/Writing/assets/Resource%20Based%20View.pdf [accessed 24 April 2011]. skynet.ie (2001) The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Strategy Formulation http://www.skynet.ie/~karen/Articles/Grant1_NB.pdf [accessed 24 April 2011]. Halawi, L. A., Aronson, J. E. and McCarthy, R. V. (2005) Resource-Based View of Knowledge Management for Competitive Advantage The Electronic Journal of Knowledge Management. 3 (2)75-86. www.ejkm.com/issue/download.html?idArticle=55 [accessed 24 April 2011]. Madhani. P (2009) Resource based view (RBV) of Competitive Advantages: Importance, Issues and Implications Indian Management Research Journal. 1 (2)2-12. http://ssrn.com/abstract=1504379 [accessed 26 April 2011]. Tokuda Akio (2005) The Critical Assessment of the Resource-Based View of Strategic Management: The Source of Heterogeneity of the Firm Ritsumeikan International Affairs. 3, 125-150 http://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/acd/re/k-rsc/ras/04_publications/ria_en/03_8.pdf [accessed 27 April 2011]. Pertusa-Ortega, E. M., Molina-Azorin, J. F. and Claver-Cortes, E. (2010) Competitive Strategy, structure and firm performance: A comparison of the resource-based view and the contingency approach Management Decision Journal. 48, 1282-1303. Sheehan, N. T. and Foss, N. J. (2007) Section 4. Hierarchical Strategies and The Resource-Based View: Enhancing the prescriptiveness of the resource-based view through Porterian activity analysis Management Decision Journal. 45, 450-461. quickmba.com (2010) Competitive Advantage Strategic Management. http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/competitive-advantage/ [accessed 30 April 2011].

Impact Of Social Networking Sites on Youth

Impact Of Social Networking Sites on Youth Just when many of us thought we understood how to use email, could shop online, and search the web for recipes or the long- lost instruction manual for a piece of equipment in the garage, the web is evolving. Now we hear about blogs, podcasts, Facebook, Myspace and Orkut. These are some of the tools and technology associated with a recent phenomenon called social networking and it is everywhere. Social networking has become part of the daily life experience for an increasing number of people. The rapid adoption of social network sites by teenagers in the United States and in many other countries around the world raises some important questions. Why do teenagers flock to these sites? What are they expressing on them? How do these sites fit into their lives? What are they learning from their participation? Are these online activities like face-to-face friendships or are they different, or complementary? (Danah Boyd, 2007). Penuel and Riel define social networking as a set of people and the relationships between them. That definition is found today in the social networking services that promote the development of online communities of people. Social networking such as Facebook, Orkut, Myspace, Flickr and Youtube are sites where users apply for membership and maintain their personal profile information in a centrally organized database. Each network members controls access to t heir profile by accepting or declining requests from other network members to be friends. By expanding and developing their network of friends, social networking members are able to maintain online relationships for work, study, special- interests or leisure- related purposes. Social networking services utilize the participation technology and software tools to facilitate communication and interaction between members. Social software communication tools include blogs, wikis, instant messaging, chat rooms, message boards and social bookmarking. Members use these tools to share online ideas, documents, photos, videos, and favorite websites actually almost anything. As more people participate in social networking, the question becomes is it merely a social activity or are they involved in learning? And social networking websites is very popular among the youth so that they contribute the majority percentage of the users of these sites. So, the researcher wanted to study the impact of these social networking sites on their education. LITERATURE REVIEW Jeff Cain (2008), in the research paper Online Social Networking Issues Within Academia and Pharmacy Education has discussed that Facebook is a tool that aids students in developing their identities and finding their fit within a college community. Helping students connect and stay in contact with old and new friends is touted as one of the significant benefits of Facebook. Making connections on campus which help them feel that they belong may be an important factor in student retention. These capabilities along with the many facets of communicating with their friends make social networking sites very appealing. Although extremely popular, especially among younger generations, social networking sites are not without their issues. Controversy surrounds the use of these sites, specifically in terms of privacy, safety, and attitudes toward revealing personal information to the world. Most of the press concerning these sites has been negative in focus. Newspapers and magazines related to higher education are replete with cases of college students who experienced negative repercussions from questionable activities that were made public online.9,15-26 The list of incidences are long and revolve around a myriad of issues related to photos, posts, and/or personal profiles. Social networking sites such as Facebook provide individuals with a way of maintaining and strengthening social ties, which can be beneficial in both social and academic settings. These same sites, however, also pose a danger to students privacy, safety, and professional reputations if proper precautions are not taken. Colleges and schools of pharmacy would be advised to consider how these issues might affect their students. At a minimum, schools should take appropriate steps to educate students about these matters. Research is needed on professional students usage and attitudes toward online social networking sites. Monitoring and usage of these sites by institutions venture into legal grey areas concerning the Fourth Amendment, the right to privacy, and duty of care, and should be approached with caution. Discussion is warranted on how, if at all, material found on student social networking sites should be used in colleges of pharmacy admissions decisions and/or matters of a discip linary nature. Further research is needed on how best to address the issues surrounding online social networking. Ana M Martinez Aleman, Katherine Lynk Wartman and M Aleman Ana (2009) in their book Online Social Networking on Campus said that Teenagers online social needs are similar to those of college students. High school students want to stay up to date with their friends status; they plan activities online; they are social searchers who investigate other users with whom they have a real- life connection, and also like college students, they perceive their Facebook community to correspond to their existing real-life social relationships at school or other institutional affiliations (sports teams, music groups, etc.). Though perhaps not a user community that engages in social browsing to connect with other users offline, the high school user seems less alien and disparate to Facebooks traditional and original niche user than the older adult user. Henk Huijser (2007) explores potential educational applications of Web 2.0 technologies, and cuts through some of the hype generated around these technologies, as well as around characteristics of Generation Y, and their implications for learning and teaching. Web 2.0 technologies both reflect and drive a blurring of the lines between students and university educators, which has a potentially profound impact on learning and teaching in higher education. This paper argues that Web 2.0 technologies, and Social Network Sites in particular, offer exciting opportunities but that educational applications of these technologies should be based on sound pedagogical principles and driven by empirical research and careful evaluation, if they are to effect meaningful learning experiences for all students. Vincent Miller (2008) in his research paper New Media, Networking and Phatic Culture has discussed that This article will demonstrate how the notion of phatic communion has become an increasingly significant part of digital media culture alongside the rise of online networking practices. Through a consideration of the new media objects of blogs, social networking profiles and microblogs, along with their associated practices, I will argue, that the social contexts of individualization and network sociality, alongside the technological developments associated with pervasive communication and connected presence has led to an online media culture increasingly dominated by phatic communications. That is, communications which have purely social (networking) and not informational or dialogic intents. I conclude with a discussion of the potential nihilistic consequences of such a culture. Doris de Almeida Soares and Escola Naval (2008) in their resarch paper Understanding class blogs as a tool for language development it has been said that Web 2.0 has allowed for the development of cyber spaces where any computer user can create their own public pages to share knowledge, feelings and thoughts inviting linguistic interactions with people around the globe. This innovation has caught the attention of language practitioners who wish to experiment with blogging to enhance the teaching and learning experience. In 2007 I set up a class blog with my nine pre-intermediate EFL students in a language school in Brazil. This experience gave rise to two central questions: a) did my students see our blog as a learning tool? and b) what was blogging like in other language teaching contexts? To answer the first question I carried out some Exploratory Practice for three months. As for the second question, I designed an online survey which was answered by 16 members of a community of pr actice called the Webheads. Ultimately I learned that my students saw our blog as a learning tool and that blogs are being used in different ways around the world. This article presents the rationale behind using blogs in language classes, describes my research process and discusses the understanding my students and I have gained from exploring our own practices. R. Cachia, R. Compano and O. Da Costa (2005) in their research paper Students Actually Use the Internet for Education says that New research released by the National School Boards Association reveals data showing we all might need to reevaluate our assumptions: It turns out kids are actually using the Internet for educational purposes. In fact, according to the study, Creating Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Socialand EducationalNetworking, the percentage of children specifically discussing schoolwork online outpaces the percentage that spend time downloading music. For the survey, the NSBA teamed up with Grunwald Associates to poll 1,277 9- to 17-year-olds, 1,039 parents, and 250 school district leaders who make decisions on Internet policy. It found that a full 50 percent of students who are online spend time discussing schoolwork, and 59 percent spend time talking about education-related topics, including college or college planning; learning outside of school; news; careers or jobs; politics, ideas, religion, or morals; and schoolwork. Further, these students are spending almost as much time on the Internet visiting websites and social networking services (nine hours per week for teens) as they spend watching television (10 hours). A full 96 percent of students surveyed responded that they use the Internet for social networking purposes, including Facebook, MySpace, Webkins, and Nick.com chat. Seventy-one percent said they use these services at least on a weekly basis. Yet, the study asserts, the vast majority of school districts have stringent rules against nearly all forms of social networking during the school dayeven though students and parents report few problem behaviors online. Indeed, both district leaders and parents believe that social networking could play a positive role in students lives and they recognize opportunities for using it in educationat a time when teachers now routinely assign homework that requires Internet use to complete. In light of the study findings, school districts may want to consider reexamining their policies and practices and explore ways in which they could use social networking for educational purposes. Jeff Cain (2008) in Online Social Networking Issues Within Academia and Pharmacy Education it has been said that Facebook is a tool that aids students in developing their identities and finding their fit within a college community. Helping students connect and stay in contact with old and new friends is touted as one of the significant benefits of Facebook. Making connections on campus which help them feel that they belong may be an important factor in student retention. These capabilities along with the many facets of communicating with their friends make social networking sites very appealing. Although extremely popular, especially among younger generations, social networking sites are not without their issues. Controversy surrounds the use of these sites, specifically in terms of privacy, safety, and attitudes toward revealing personal information to the world. Most of the press concerning these sites has been negative in focus. Newspapers and magazines related to higher education are replete with cases of college students who experienced negative repercussions from questionable activities that were made public online.9,15-26 The list of incidences are long and revolve around a myriad of issues related to photos, posts, and/or personal profiles. Social networking sites such as Facebook provide individuals with a way of maintaining and strengthening social ties, which can be beneficial in both social and academic settings. These same sites, however, also pose a danger to students privacy, safety, and professional reputations if proper precautions are not taken. Colleges and schools of pharmacy would be advised to consider how these issues might affect their students. At a minimum, schools should take appropriate steps to educate students about these matters. Research is needed on professional students usage and attitudes toward online social networking sites. Monitoring and usage of these sites by institutions venture into legal grey areas concerning the Fourth Amendment, the right to privacy, and duty of care, and should be approached with caution. Discussion is warranted on how, if at all, material found on student social networking sites should be used in colleges of pharmacy admissions decisions and/or matters of a discip linary nature. Further research is needed on how best to address the issues surrounding online social networking. Danah M. Boyd and N.B. Ellison (2007) in their research paper Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship it has been said that Social network sites (SNSs) are increasingly attracting the attention of academic and industry researchers intrigued by their affordances and reach. This special theme section of the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication brings together scholarship on these emergent phenomena. In this introductory article, the authors describe features of SNSs and propose a comprehensive definition. They then present one perspective on the history of such sites, discussing key changes and developments. After briefly summarizing existing scholarship concerning SNSs, they discuss the articles in this special section and conclude with considerations for future research. The work described above and included in this special theme section contributes to an on-going dialogue about the importance of social network sites, both for practitioners and researchers. Vast, uncharted waters still remain to be explored. Methodologically, SNS researchers ability to make causal claims is limited by a lack of experimental or longitudinal studies. Although the situation is rapidly changing, scholars still have a limited understanding of who is and who is not using these sites, why, and for what purposes, especially outside the U.S. Such questions will require large-scale quantitative and qualitative research. Richer, ethnographic research on populations more difficult to access (including non-users) would further aid scholars ability to understand the long-term implications of these tools. They hope that the work described here and included in this collection will help build a foundation for future investigations of these and other important issues surrounding socia l network sites. M. Brendesha Tynes (2007), in Internet Safety Gone Wild? Sacrificing the Educational and Psychosocial Benefits of Online Social Environments it has been said that Many Internet safety and parenting experts suggest that parents prohibit their teens from social networking sites and other online spaces where predators may lurk. But we may do adolescents a disservice when we curtail their participation in these spaces, because the educational and psychosocial benefits of this type of communication can far outweigh the potential dangers. These benefits include developing cognitive skills that are consistent with those required in educational settings and perspective-taking skills that are necessary for citizenship in an increasingly multiracial society. Alternative strategies for keeping adolescents safe online should build on the increasing technological awareness and sophistication of teens themselves. Danah Boyd (2007) in her research paper Why Youth Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life has said that Although news media give the impression that all online teens in the United States are on MySpace, this is not the case. For this reason, I want to take a moment to discuss who is not participating. In 2004, PEW found that 87 percent of teenagers aged twelve to seventeen have some level of Internet access.5 In a study conducted in late 2006, they found that 55 percent of online teens aged twelve to seventeen have created profiles on social network sites with 64 percent of teens aged fifteen to seventeen.6 While these numbers are most likely low,7 it is very clear that not all high school students participate in online communities that require public content creation like social network sites. Gender also appears to influence participation on social network sites. Younger boys are more likely to participate than younger girls (46 percent vs. 44 percent) but older girls are far more likely to participate than older boys (70 percent vs. 57 percent). Older boys are twice as likely to use the sites to flirt and slightly more likely to use the sites to meet new people than girls of their age. Older girls are far more likely to use these sites to communicate with friends they see in person than younger people or boys of their age.10 While gender differences do exist and should not be ignored, most of what I discuss in this article concerns practices that are common to both boys and girls. The research paper Exploring the Educational Potential of Social Networking Sites: The Fine Line between Exploiting Opportunities and Unwelcome Imposition by Henk Huijser (2007) University of Southern Queensland explores potential educational applications of Web 2.0 technologies, and cuts through some of the hype generated around these technologies, as well as around characteristics of Generation Y, and their implications for learning and teaching. Web 2.0 technologies both reflect and drive a blurring of the lines between students and university educators, which has a potentially profound impact on learning and teaching in higher education. This paper argues that Web 2.0 technologies, and Social Network Sites in particular, offer exciting opportunities but that educational applications of these technologies should be based on sound pedagogical principles and driven by empirical research and careful evaluation, if they are to effect meaningful learning experiences for all students. In the research paper Social networking sites within Higher Education threat or opportunity? by Neville Palmer, Jomo Batola, Margaret Jones and Sheila Baron (2007) it has been said that a Southampton Solent University, students predominantly use Facebook to advertise social and sporting events, make new friends, or chat among existing friends. There are currently over 6,200 members of the official Southampton Solent network, which represents around 40% of all students at the University, though there may be more in other groups. Currently there seem to be at least 150 different groups representing areas of interest under the umbrella of the University, ranging from the bizarre to sports clubs, social activities and academic related interests. Most of these groups have a small membership. There are also alumni groups, and some specific course related groups. These seem to have been formed, not by staff, but by students. For example there is a group for journalism students and another for business studies. There is a mixture of social chitchat, but also course related self help discussion. The journalism students are also giving each other leads on where they can get work experience. Forums are a form of Social Software that can be a useful tool in education. Forums are also related to Blogs, though a blog is centered on an individual, whereas a forum is centered more on an area of interest (Holzsclag 2005). There are many blogs on the Internet posted by individuals to discuss subjects ranging from their personal lives to World events. However some students are using blogs to post and discuss their work and ideas so that others can comment and advice on it (Polly 2007). A forum can be useful when a particular topic or area of interest requires discussion on the Web. This concept is being used at Southampton Solent University. In the research paper Youth Impact I has been said that A combination of the words iPod and broadcast, podcasts are digital media files distributed over the Internet and listened to on a portable media player. A related term is vodcast, which describes podcasts that incorporate video. Podcasts were originally conceived as a way for people to create their own radio shows without needing a recording studio or transmission network. They evolved into a means of recording and distributing speeches, classes and training sessions, and public safety messages. They are especially popular in K-12 schools and colleges: Teachers and professors use them to record lessons, debates, and guest speakers for absent students or later use, and students use them to record their presentations, projects, and experiments Podcasters and vodcasters record their audio and video sessions, edit them, and upload them to a feed. Listeners and viewers use a podcatcher service such as iTunes to search for and subscribe to one or more feeds. When a new podcast or vodcast is released on the feed, the audio or video file will download automatically to the subscribers iPod, computer, or other device so that they can listen to or view it at their leisure. The review of literature gave a clear idea on the use of social networking websites and the aim of the study was formulated to find the Impact of Social Networking Websites on the education of Youth and the objective is to find the trends in the Internet use by youth and to study the impact of social networking websites on the education of youth. METHODOLOGY For conducting the research, the researcher has chosen the following two methodologies: Survey and In-depth Interview. The researcher adopted the Stratified Random Sampling technique. Stratified random sampling is done when the universe is heterogeneous i.e. if the people are of different kinds. So the universe is sub-divided into many homogeneous groups or strata. And the random sampling is done in each stratum and the sample size from each stratum is taken proportionally. The total number of samples taken were 500 i.e., 125 in each stratum. The researcher has sub- divided the universe as following strata Stratum 1- +1 +2 students Stratum 2- Engineering students Stratum 3- medical students Stratum 4- Arts Science and others Also, the researcher has interviewed experts from the field to know their perspectives of the impact of the Internet on education and to know the impact of social networking sites and how far it complements the students education. ANALYSIS Survey: Statistical Analysis Survey has been done among five hundred respondents, one hundred and twenty five students from each stratum. Among the five hundred respondents 295 were male and 205 were female. 100 students accessing Internet for more than five years, 140 students for 3-5 years, highest of all- 205 students for 1-3 years and the lowest of all- 55 students for less than a year. 210 students access Internet several times in a week, 125- once in a week, 70- once in a day, 45- several times in a day and 50- rarely. When asked about the number of years the students are using social networking sites (SNS), majority of the students from all stratum have selected the option 1-3 years. Majority of the students sit in the social networking sites several times in a week. Next highest is the option once in a week. The lowest is several times a day. Maximum number of respondents uses social networking sites more than one hour and exactly only 185 students sit for less than hour. Maximum respondents said the SNS is rarely useful for their education and 140 students said it is useful only during the exams. 65 said it is useful for the education at all times and 85 said it is never useful for the education. 310 students said SNS is time consuming, 195 said they use SNS for education and 135 said they chat regarding academics in SNS. 190 students have not agreed that social networking is time consuming. But out of 190 students, 150 of them sit in SNS more than hour. 75 of them sit for 2-4 hours and 5 sit for more than four once they access the social networking sites. 260 students said their academic performance didnt change because of using SNS and only 15 students said that it has decreased. Others said it has improved. 455 students have an account in Orkut and some of them have account in Facebook, Hi-5 etc. But next to Orkut many are familiar with the Youtube website and the next is Facebook. SNS is highly used by the students as a messenger, then it is used for sharing photos and videos and then it is used to find new friends. Only 140 students have joined in the communities regarding academics, out of which 110 had said that those communities were helpful for the education. And only 40 students have said that the social networking sites distract them from the studies. Thus, from the percentage analysis of the survey data, it is found that 41% of the students are accessing Internet for 1-3 years and 28% for 3-5 years. 42% access Internet several times in a week and 25% once in a week. Apart from social networking many students use the Internet for sending e-mails and chatting. Apart from social networking 51% of the respondents use Internet for downloading music/videos, 76% for sending e-mails/chatting and 60% for educational purposes. Maximum percentage of the students accessing social networking sites for 1-3 years. Figure 1.1 No. of years students accessing SNS 33% of the students access SNS several times in a week, 28% once in a week, 18% rarely, 14% once in a day and 7% several times in a day. More percentage of the students sits in SNS more than an hour when accessed. Figure 1.2 Time spent in SNS 13% said that SNS is useful in education at all times, 28% said it is useful only during exams, 42% said it is rarely useful and 17% said it is never used for education. Figure 1.3 SNS in education 62% had accepted that SNSs are time consuming, 39% agreed that they use SNS for education, 27% chat regarding academic subjects in SNS. Figure 1.4 SNS is time consuming 52% of the students said that their academic performance didnt change because of using SNS and only 3% said that it has decreased. 39% said it has improved and 9% said it has improved a lot. Figure 1.5 Academic performance Interview with Prof. V. Sundareswaran Dr. V. Sundareswaran, the Professor Head, Department of Media Sciences, Anna University Chennai has thirty one years of experience in the teaching field. When asked about the difference between knowledge level of students ten years back and the students at present he said that retrieval or gathering of information was very difficult in those days. It took a lot of time to reach the source materials which are in libraries. But nowadays students gather lot of information very quickly and easily using Internet. And said because of the Internet the students at present are more knowledgeable than the students in the past. And also added at times students know more than the teachers also. He said no one knows about how students are using the Internet. When a student is at home, teachers doesnt know how and for what he/she is using the Internet and when the students are at the institution, parents doesnt know what he/she is doing. When asked about students- teachers interaction via Internet he said that it is a good and easy way for a student to reach the teacher and clear some doubts or get some guidance at any time. But nothing is equivalent to the conventional class room. He always prefers the traditional classroom teaching method and specifically chalk and board teaching. He doesnt prefer to use the Over Head Projectors and Powerpoint slides also. When asked whether he thinks the information is better conveyed through the interactions with the teachers by the students in the Internet, he said he dont know as he doesnt use Internet much. He rarely uses Internet only to guide his research students. When asked about websites like Orkut and Facebook, he said he dont know about those sites and remembered me his point that at times students know more than their teachers. Interview with Mr. Kiruba Shankar Mr. Kiruba Shankar, CEO of f5ive technologies, a web based company is also a social media enthusiast. When asked about his opinion about the social networking sites like Orkut and Facebook they are wonderful tools to expand ones contact beyond the first circle of friends. Its a wonderful way to keep ones friends updated about whats happening in his/her life. That said, Social Networking sites are like a two edged knife. While they can be extremely useful, they can also be misused and become a time sink. He doesnt think social networking sites help improve students education. But what they do well is improve connections which can be quite useful in the real life. In corporate life, connections and contacts are everything. He believes that SN sites in colleges helps prepare for the real world. He said most students are using SN sites for the following 1) To maintain friendship connection with existing friends 2) Reaching out to friends of friends who they would like to be in touch with 3) To improve the brand image of the person in the community 4) Reach out to the opposite sex. He says that these websites definitely distracting the students from their studies. These SN sites are a big time sink and before we know it, they would have sucked away a lot of our time. It can easily become an addiction. He also said that in future, academic institutions will embrace the concept of SN and tweak it to be an integral part of the education system. Thats the right way of doing it. Elements like blogging, podcasting and wikis are already being actively used in documenting the lessons. FINDINGS CONCLUSION The study reveals that 41% of the students are accessing Internet for 1-3 years and 28% for 3-5 years. 42% access Internet several times in a week and 25% once in a week. Apart from social networking many students use the Internet for sending e-mails and chatting. Apart from social networking 51% of the respondents use Internet for downloading music/videos, 76% for sending e-mails/chatting and 60% for educational purposes. More percentage of the students accessing social networking sites for 1-3 years. 33% of the students access SNS several times in a week, 28% once in a week, 18% rarely, 14% once in a day and 7% several times in a day. More percentage of the students sits in SNS more than an hour when accessed. 13% said that SNS is useful in education at all times, 28% said it is useful only during exams, 42% said it is rarely useful and 17% said it is never used for education. 62% had accepted that SNSs are time consuming, 39% agreed that they use SNS for education, 27% chat regarding academic subjects in SNS. 52% of the students said that their academic performance didnt change because of using SNS and only 3% said that it has decreased. 39% said it has improved and 9% said it has improved a lot. Though students dont accept that SNS distracts them from their studies, it is clear that SNS is time consuming which