Online Personality Tests Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Online Personality Tests - Essay Example I can tell that the test was valid because occasionally, it asked for a response to a question and later again asked for a response to a statement negating the prior question. For example, if a respondent said â€Å"very accurate† in response to the statement â€Å"I easily get upset†, he/she should say â€Å"very inaccurate† to the next statement â€Å"I am not easily frustrated†. After the test, the next screen explained my personality using adjectives constituting one to two words like â€Å"fun-loving and broad-minded† etc. I think the descriptions offered by test results were the true reflection of my personality. Such online tests give a person a clear insight into his/her personality so that he/she can know what can he/she change about his/her behavior to convert into a better person. Such online tests can be occasionally dangerous if an individual starts believing them blindly. It was a long test based on 45 general and about 20 particular questions that pertained to investigating the demographics of an individual. As the name implies, the test was designed to measure five key personality traits namely, â€Å"openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and neuroticism.† I would criticize the test for a number of reasons. First, it was too taxing to answer about 70 questions in order to get a computer assessment of my personality. Often, the statements were too long and cumbersome. Secondly, the test had some unnecessary details about myself. The items constituting the test were fundamentally assessing my behavior. I can tell this from the fact that the five personality traits I have mentioned before are the most underlying components of an individual’s behavior. The screen that popped up once I submitted the completed test showed a grading for my personality on the scale of the five personality traits as named befor e. The grading was

The Similarity and Differences between Chinese Supermarkets and Essay

The Similarity and Differences between Chinese Supermarkets and British Supermarkets - Essay Example Cohen named the brand Tesco Tea even before the business acquired the name Tesco. The name Tesco was drawn from the initials of a partner in tea suppliers TE Stock well and Jack’s surname Cohen. The first Tesco supermarket in the UK was opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak and in 1932; Tesco became a private limited company. This enabled the company to expand its operations using the additional capital from shareholders. In 1934, Jack Cohen acquired a plot in Edmonton to establish Tesco’s headquarters and a warehouse (Tesco Plc, 2012). Tesco’s stocks were first sold at the Stock exchange in 1947 at a price of 25p. The entry to the stock exchange was a huge step in terms of additional capital and Tesco’s competitiveness. The first Tesco supermarket was opened in Maldon in 1956. Tesco made a huge step in 1960 when the company acquired 212 stores in Northern England and 144 stores between 1964 and 1965. Tesco opened its first petrol station in 1974 and by 1982, Tescoà ¢â‚¬â„¢s annual sales had exceeded 2 billion. A plan to build 29 additional stores began in 1987 and the first Tesco Express was established in 1994. Today, Tesco has established its operations in 14 markets in Europe, Asia and the United States. In these markets, Tesco develops its competitiveness through pricing strategies, high quality products, a wide range of products and constant innovation. Tesco is the third largest retailer globally after War-Mart and Carrefour (Tesco Plc, 2012). 1.1.2 Carrefour in China The Fournier and Defforey families established the Carrefour Company in 1959. The company opened its first supermarket in Haute-Savoie in the following year. Carrefour explored a new concept of hypermarkets in 1963 and established its first hypermarket in Sainte-Geneva ve-des-bois in the same year. Another hypermarket was opened in Belgium in 1969 and in the following year, Carrefour was listed in the Paris stock exchange. The first Carrefour in Spain was established in 197 3, Brazil hypermarket in 1975 and in Argentina in 1982. Other hypermarkets were opened in Taiwan, Italy, Turkey, Mexico, and Malaysia in the 1990s. Carrefour entered the Chinese market in 1995 and managed to open 100 stores in a span on 12 years. By 2006, Carrefour had 40, 000 employees, 98% of which were Chinese. Carrefour was serving over 300 million customers annually. The Carrefour group purchases products from about 22,300 suppliers from China. Carrefour entered the Chinese market through a joint venture with Zhong Chuang to form Jia Chaung (Carrefour, 2012). Changes in the Chinese market have caused Carrefour to evaluate and adjust its management strategy from time to time. The management strategy differs across various regions in China due to difference in market characteristics. Carrefour’s aim is to be the preferred retailer in every market. Carrefour works towards ensuring that each store attracts and retains its customers. This is achieved through offering high qua lity products, competitiveness prices, and high quality customer service. The company analyses customers’ needs in every market and provides products and service that meet those needs effectively. Social commitment and good employee relations have also helped Carrefour to expand its client base in local and international markets. The company has adopted a client-oriented culture that enables it to understand its customers and therefore offer better services. Another strategy in Carrefour is continuous

Crucial Role Of Traditional Healers Health And Social Care Essay

Crucial Role Of Traditional Healers Health And Social Care Essay In this paper a comparison of Western medicines and African traditional medicines shall be made. The purpose of this paper is to identify similarities and differences between Western and African conceptions of diseases, cure and effective patient care. According to Germov (2007, p. 8) Western Medicine is the conventional approach to medicine in western societies, based on the diagnosis and explanation of illness as a mulfunction of the bodys biological mechanisms. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness Hewson (1998). WHO defines Traditional medicine as the sum total of knowledge, skills and practices based on theories, beliefs and experiences indigenous to different cultures that are used to maintain health, as well as to prevent, diagnose, improve or treat physical and mental illnesses. Traditional medicine that has been adopted by other populations outside its own culture is often termed alternative or complementary medicine (WHO, 2008). Helwig (2005) claimed that primary healers in traditional African medicine are midwives, herbalist and diviners. Diviners focus on the root causes of sickness by the ancestral spirits (Helwig, 2005). Midwives use herbs and local plants to assist with pregnancy and childbirth (Helwig, 20005). Herbalists use animal, plants and mineral based medicines to cure diseases (Helwig, 2005). Herb market and herb trading is a very common practice in many African countries (Helwig, 2005). According to Okpako (2006) traditional African communities have three main groups of plants they use to cure serious illnesses, poisonous plants and plants for minor illnesses. Plants used for minor illnesses treat illnesses such as headaches; bruises and pain fever are used without consultation of spiritual healers (Okpako, 2006). Plants used for serious illnesses are used when dealing with life threatening illnesses and need the intervention of spiritual healers, what the patient gets is holistic treatment (Okpako, 2006). Okpako (2006) stated that as for the poisonous plants, many African communities recognise it just from experience with it or from accidental poisoning. Okpako (2006) claimed that in most African countries, many people western medicines are out of their reach as they do not have money to buy the drugs and so they resort to traditional medicine is it cheap. Traditional African medicine is based on accumulated experience of ancient Africans (Okpako, 2006). Traditional African medicines mode of transmission is spread by word of mouth and has hindered emergency of a generally accepted theory and hence of the systematic development of traditional African medicine as a self-regulating profession (Okpako, 2006). Traditional African medicine practitioners are healers who believe that their methods can cure many conditions including cancer, AIDS, mental problems, infertility, some sexually transmitted diseases, wounds and burns as well as many other ailments and conditions (Helwig, 2005) Good health is linked to a correct relationship between people and their supernatural environment (Helwig, 2005). According to Helwig (2005) among the traditional healers, being able to diagnose an illness is considered a gift from both God and the ancestors. Helwig claimed that a major emphasis is placed on determining the root cause underlying any sickness or bad luck. Illness is said to stem from lack of balance between the patient and his or her environment, (Helwig, 2005) Diviners may use plants not only for healing purposes but also to control weather and events, (Helwig, 2005). Helwig (2005) stated that in addition to plants, traditional African healers may employ charms, incantations and casting of spells. They are also skilled in psychotherapy and counselling (Helwig, 2005). African healing systems recognise the influence of the mind on the human well being (Helwig, 2005). They recognise the negative emotions such as fear, guilt and hate can lead to illness (Helwig, 2005). Rituals are undertaken to appease the angered ancestral spirits, patients need to make confessions in order for the spirits to forgive them and be well (Helwig, 2005). The rituals accompanying the use of herbal medicine is referred to as incantation. Incantation is a collection of carefully chosen words used to bring healing effect or resolving emotional conflict in the mind of the patient (Helwig, 2005). Spirits of the ancestors protect their living descendants, however ancestors demand from their descendants strict adherence to the moral laws laid down (Helwig, 2005). An immoral act for example incest is believed to annoy the spirits resulting in serious illness or misfortune (Helwig, 2005). According to WHO, 80% of the African population depends on traditional medicine for primary health care. In Ghana, Mali, Nigeria and Zambia, 60% of children with high fever resulting from malaria use herbal medicine at home. Lovell (2009) claimed that individuals suffering from pain, anxiety, depression, headaches and fatigue use alternative medicine. WHO estimates that several African countries practice traditional birth with the help of traditional midwives who uses indigenous plants to aid childbirth. WHO (2008) claimed that 70% to 80% of the population in western countries has used some form of alternative or complementary medicine for example acupuncture. As noted by Germov (2007) there are varied reasons why alternative medicine is so popular at the expense of western medicine. When people get sick they need to know the causes of the illness, suffering or even death (Germov, 2007). In Western medicine, the traditional view that illness was caused by spiritual evil is no longer valid. Alternative medicine that have an explanation to causes of illnesses and suffering have a greater appeal (Germov, 2007). The desire to achieve a more holistic form of care may be a motivating factor as to why patients choose traditional medicine (Lovell, 2009). In most African countries, drugs are out of reach to many people as they do not have the money to buy them. The only solution available is to resort to traditional medicine as it is cheap and reliable (Okpako, 2006). Most African people are so skeptical to try western medicine. The main reason is that they are afraid to try something new and prefer to continue using their old way of seeking medical help that is the use of traditional medicine(Okpako, 2006). As stated by Germov (2007) people have lost trust in western medicine. Many toxins found in the drugs have drove people away from the use of it. People have also lost trust in scientific experts, they blame them on almost all the environmental problems such as global warming, oil spills and even acid rain (Germov, 2007). Germov (2007) claimed that there is a good relationship between personal healer and patient. Personal healers take their time to listen and provide tailor made treatment to the individual client. By so doing they create a strong bond which can lead up to trust and loyalty. Wilcox Bodeker (2004) reported that in most African countries the rise in drug resistances and problems in accessing effective anti -malarial drugs in both remote and underprivileged areas has forced people to resort to traditional medicine as their source of treatment. As noted by Marlise (2004) friction is evident between western medicines that look at material causation to understand and treat an illness and traditional medicine that generally looks towards the spiritual origin such as witchcraft and displeasure by ancestors in order to cure an ailment. According to Marlise (2004) there has been media reports of traditional healers claiming to have a cure for AIDS and submit their patients to dangerous or ineffective treatments. Marlise (2004) stated that amongst some people in Africa, it is believed that if a sick person does not get treatment and dies, his or her spirit will cause more diseases. According to Marlise (2004) a number of traditional healers have seen a lucrative opportunity of curing people living with HIV/AIDS in the absence of biomedicine and a number of developing countries do not have access to anti-retroviral medication or adequate health care to those living with HIV/AIDS. The WHO describes the problems related to clinical data on traditional medicine as steming from the poor quality of data and also the methodology used as being below the stipulated standard. WHO (2008) claimed that traditional healers need to promote both their published and unpublished data inorder for them to gain support from the whole world. Lovell (2009) stated that the gap between western medicine and traditional medicine practitioners is increasing. As stated by Lovell, traditional healers do not believe that their practices are guaranteed worldwide and their argument is that the efficacy of their product has stood the test of time. All in all the use of western and African traditional medicine depends on an individuals beliefs and culture. It also depends on the availability of funds to seek treatment. In Africa most people cannot afford to source western medicine mainly because it is very expensive and so they resort to their traditional medication mainly because it is cheaper. Precautions need to be taken carefully as there are a lot of side effects associated with the continued use of traditional medicine. Some of the side effects might lead to convulsions or even death.

Inclusive Education Essay example -- Education

What is inclusive education? Inclusive education is concerned with the education and accommodation of ALL children in society, regardless of their physical, intellectual, social, or linguistic deficits. Inclusion should also include children from disadvantaged groups, of all races and cultures as well as the gifted and the disabled (UNESCO, 2003). Inclusion tries to reduce exclusion within the education system by tackling, responding to and meeting the different needs of all learners (Booth, 1996). It involves changing the education system so that it can accommodate the unique styles and way of learning of each learner and ensure that there is quality education for all through the use of proper resources, suitable curricula, appropriate teaching strategies and partnerships within the community (UNESCO, 1994). Inclusion will not happen instantaneously but requires careful planning and thinking, positive attitudes and behaviour and utilising the necessary specialised support, accommodations and adaptations to ensu re all children become part of the school (Burstein, Sears, Wilcoxen, Cabello & Spagna, 2004), actively participate in the education system and later become fully contributing members of society (Department of Education, 2001). Inclusive education is about ensuring that schools can meet the needs of all learners. It is thus the responsibility of an inclusive school to embrace the diversity and special needs of all its learners, (Flem, Moen & Gudmundsdottir, 2004) identify and minimise the barriers to learning (Department of Education, 2001) and create a tolerant and respectful atmosphere in which people are valued and stigmatisation is minimised (Carrington & Robinson, 2004). All children thus need to be given the su... ...eps: Stories on Inclusion in Early Childhood Education. Received from the World Wide Web on 20th July 2005. Web Address: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001102/110238eo.pdf UNESCO. (2001). Including the Excluded: Meeting Diversity in Education. Received from the World Wide Web on 20th July 2005. Web Address: http://dit-fs1.hq.int.unesco.org/ulis/docs/0012/001226/122613eo.pdf Van Kraayenoord, C. (2003). "The Task of Professional Development." In International Journal of Disability, Development and Education 50 (4): 363 - 365 Wong, A. I. P, Pearson, V & Kuen Lo, E. M. (2004). "Competing philosophies in the classroom: a challenge to Hong Kong teachers."

Ekpeye People of Nigeria Essay

It became a serious problem that the elderly indigenes of the town had to cry out for help so that their innocent youths would not be taught this new way of life. It is true that there are many tribes in Nigeria that are still holding to the moral standard of their culture. But in a country where a lot of people migrate everyday away from their tribe and culture to other people’s culture for reasons like admission into higher institutions of learning, youth service, employment, etc; it becomes imperative to consider and treat cohabitation as a very serious anomaly. The Ekpeye tribe, one of the numerous tribes in Rivers state of Nigeria is a very good example of the tribes that are now involved in cohabitation. Working among the Ekpeye youths, one will discover a high rate of premarital sexual relationship among the youths. Many of these youths cohabiting with one another are not unbelievers; many couples in the local churches are not married, at least according to the customary law. Majority of these young people came together as a result of premarital sexual relationships which resulted in unwanted pregnancy. Sad enough, many of these people are church members serving in one capacity or another; in fact, there are pastors among them. It has become the order of the day, a common thing that goes on from one town to the other. Majority of these youths, including Christians go into it with the knowledge of their parents and community leaders. This is gradually becoming a serious temptation to many Christian youths who want to uphold the standard of God for marriage and stay faithful to marriage vows. It  Ã‚   is also standing as a barrier to evangelize those outside the church. This research paper is focused on this people group with the intention of knowing their marriage custom, how cohabitation gained access into the culture, the way cohabitation is practiced and the effects that cohabitation has on the cohabiting families and the church. Ekpeye Tribe and Its Marriage Custom Ekpeye tribe is one of the local tribes in Rivers state. Ekpeye tribe as seen in the map is in Ahoada East and Ahoada West local government areas in Rivers state. There are four traditional groups in Ekpeye kingdom. They are Akoh, Ubie, Upata and Igbuduya. 8 The main occupations of Ekpeye traditional society are farming, hunting and fishing.

The General Environment

SUMMARY OF UNDERSTANDING STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT CHAPTER 2: The General Environment The external environment facing the organization consists of both: a. A general environment, often referred to as the macro-environment because changes that occur here will have an effect that transcends firms and specific industries. b. A competitive environment, consists of the industry and markets in which an organization competes. In order to scan and monitor their environment, firms require tools of analysis that will allow them to factor in the changes in the general environment and evaluate their impact.One such approach involves scanning the environment to detect signals that will act as a signpost for future changes in the organization’s industry. In addition, an organization must monitor its environment to discern patterns and trends that are beginning to form and try to forecast the future direction of these trends. a. Scanning the environment Scanning, therefore, is an opportunity for the organization to detect weak signals in the general environment before these have coalesced into a discernible pattern which might affect its competitive environment. The first is that the organization may fail to identify these signals.The second is that the organization may discern a pattern that is not there but is based on the assumptions and mental models that managers carry in their heads. b. Monitoring the environment * Monitoring can be seen as the activity that follows these initially disparate signals and tracks them as they grow into more clearly discernible patterns. * Monitoring allows an organization to see how these general environment trends will impact on its competitive environment. * Monitoring uses a finer brush stroke. * There is no focus for an organization’s monitoring activities. One way in which an organization might monitor weak signals is to set thresholds such that any activity which occurs above the threshold will be monitored. c. Forecasting c hanges in the environment Three main types of uncertainty (Van der Heijden, 1996): * Risks: where past performance of similar events allows us to estimate the probabilities of future outcomes. * Structural uncertainties: where an event is unique enough not to offer evidence of such probabilities. * Unknowables: where we cannot even imagine the event. Scenario planning is a disciplined method for imagining possible future.It is ‘an internally consistent view of what the future might turn out to be’ (Porter 1985, p. 446). A scenario can be seen as a challenging, plausible, and internally consistent view of what the future might turn out to be. They are not forecasts in the sense that one is able to extrapolate using past data. However, they do deal with the future and provide a tool of analysis for the organization to structure the surfeit of information that is contained in the present. In particular, scenarios help organizations recognize the weak signals that signpost changes in its environment. The benefits of scenario planning for Shell have been: More robust strategic decisions. * Better thinking about the future by a ‘stretching mental model’. * Enhancing corporate perception and recognizing events as a pattern (the recognition and monitoring of weak signals until they coalesce into a pattern is clearly important here). * Improving communication throughout the company by providing a context for decisions. * A means to provide leadership to the organization. A process for developing scenarios is as follows: * Define the scope. This involves setting the time frame and the scope of analysis. * Identify the major stakeholders. Identify basic trends. * Identify key uncertainties. * Construct initial scenario themes. * Check for consistency and plausibility. * Develop learning scenarios. * Identify research needs. * Develop quantitative models. * Evolve towards decision scenarios. PEST Analysis * PEST analysis is simply another tool to help the organization detect and monitor those weak signals in the hope of recognizing the discontinuities or fractures shaping the environment. * PEST analysis can be used to help detect trends in the external environment that will ultimately find their way into the competitive environment.It provides a link between the general and competitive environments in that weak signals in the general environment can become key forces for change in the competitive environment. SWOT Analysis Scenario planning and PEST analysis can help to identify the external opportunities and threats (OT) facing an organization. The firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses (SW) can best be determined following an appraisal of its resources and capabilities. SWOT analysis allows an organization to assess its current strategy in light of its changing environment and to help turn potential threats into opportunities and weaknesses into strengths.A key point to keep in mind is that it is the external an alysis that precedes the internal analysis of a firm’s resources and capabilities. SUMMARY OF RM-6 â€Å"Sustaining Competitive Advantage in the Global Petrochemical Industry: A Saudi Arabian Perspective† From a global perspective, the competitiveness of some firms arises from macro-economic phenomena directed by exchange rates, deficit of the national budget or interest rates (Passemard and Kleiner, 2000). Competitiveness also arises from factors other than macro-economic, such as availability of raw materials, cheaper work force or technological superiority.Porter (1980) is credited with being the pioneer in identifying factors that contribute to national advantage. Porter (1985) made valuable contributions in identifying important factors that contribute to national advantage, that is the factor conditions of a nation, such as infrastructure and the availability of resources; demand conditions in the home country; the presence or absence of related and supporting in dustries necessary for being competitive in the global market; the firm’s strategy, structure and rivalry with other ompanies that influence how firms are established, organised and managed; and the nature of the rivalry affects the competitive advantage of industries and nations (Porter, 1990). Saudi Arabia is well known throughout the world as a leading producer and exporter of oil. For many years prior to the 1970s, a large volume of associated gas by products which were produced in the process of crude oil production, had been flared into the atmosphere.However, in the early 1970s the Saudi Arabian government initiated a plan to utilize these precious hydrocarbon and mineral resources for the production of various petrochemicals, fertilizers, iron and steel. Saudi Arabia accounts for a little more than 5% of the world’s petrochemicals production. However, Saudi Arabia is the largest producer of MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) with a global share of around 15%. I t has also a big market share in the production of methanol (around 12%) and ethylene glycol (14%). Domestic consumption in Saudi Arabia is low, due to the small size of the market.The industry in general has therefore pursued an ‘export-orientated’ strategy, as a result of which more than 76% of its petrochemicals production is being exported. The two major markets for the Saudi petrochemical exports are the Middle Eastern and East Asian region. The strength & weakness of Saudi petrochemical industry: * Strength: Low cost due to economic of scale, initial cost, feed-stock, and utilities. Presence of efficient infrastructure * Weakness: Lack of management expertise, marketing approach, product development, and technology Main issue:From those strength & weaknesses above, we could see that Saudi petrochemical industry was depending on the comparative advantage rather than the support of competitive advantage to sustain in global competition. Analysis: Using Porterâ€℠¢s five force model above, we could analyze that: * The entry of competitors: raw materials controlled by many firms, new and high technology, large & complex operational, high investment * The threat of substitutes: concerns on biochemical substitution * The argaining power of buyers: find alternative market, focus on domestic and foreign customers * The bargaining power of suppliers: change the supplier with low cost, find reasonable price and obtaining credit facilities, no substitute of aluminum alkyls high threat * The rivalry among the existing players: zero differentiation, see the competitor like SABIC, Exxon, Shell, BASF, Dow, Mitsubishi in equal size and market power oversupplySolution: * Improve human resources department to develop the technical and managerial skills of local employees * Increase the effort in marketing, distribution Penetrated global market, and research & development division to modify manufacturing process which safe for environment * Increase product ivity and cut loss, merge small to medium firms to strengthen capital base. Lesson learned: Based on analysis using Porter’s model, it is illustrate that Saudi petrochemical industry environment able to help other firms to formulate the strategy, not only consider to the general environment and competitor analysis but also to the Porter’s model itself. * Realize that external factors will influence the firm, directly and indirectly. The firm also has to formulate their strategy based on the external factor (which couldn’t be controlled), how to match the next action with their capacity.