A Comprehensive Guide to Writing University Education Essays

What exactly is a university education essay? If youve ever been assigned a persuasive or argumentative essay, you could compare the two. There are plenty of similarities between these types of essays, the only difference being the university education essay topics to be discussed. Several people tend to believe that college isnt a necessary feat to be a success in the world. While some people go through their entire life without even stepping foot into college. So, how do you know whats best? The easy answer, you dont. But, for the sake of university education essay writing, you must take a stance on which side you prefer. These scholarly essays are designed to get you to critically think about the role higher education plays and forces you to find facts to support that cause. Its okay if you dont honestly believe one or the other, as you can also write an essay thats for and against higher education. The primary purpose of university education essay writing is to persuade your audience to believe or at least consider what youre saying may be right. Using the information to your advantage, you can make a few points and use supporting evidence to convince your readers. So, writing a university education essay topics may be difficult, but well do our best to walk you through the entire process. Begin By Debating Where You Stand A University education essay outline requires you to take a standpoint. The first step youll need to consider is deciding which side youll stand on. As for the best method to select, we often suggest that you take a look at your personal beliefs. Do you see college being a good idea for you? What about the experiences of others around you? Use your own experiences to help guide which side you want to take. After this, you should also take the time to learn about the different effects college has on individuals. This can be done by looking for specific demographics and statistics of graduation rates and employment rates after college. Maybe start by checking the universities in your local area to draw inspiration for your essay about university education. The next step that you should take is talking around with your fellow students, get a better idea of the situation, and possibly send out surveys for how students enjoy their university. Youll be surprised that a majority of them may tend to not believe in college even though they are attending it. Start Writing Your Introduction Now that youve chosen a standpoint, its best to start with your introduction. The first sentence in the introduction is called a thesis and should entail what the rest of the article is about. Youll need to write your title page and abstract according to your professors instructions. After this, you can then begin writing your thesis. Its ok if your thesis isnt the best sounding at first because it takes a few drafts before it sounds better. You dont want to write anything specific; instead, give a general idea of what the rest of the paper will be talking about. Introduce your viewpoint, a few reasons why, and what else you plan to cover in your essay. Honestly, we always recommend saving this section until your paper is already written because youll be able to write more clearly. Other than that, youre set and ready to go into the main body. Once youve checked to see that your introduction is decent enough, its time to move onto the main body. Writing The Main Body The Main body will require you to research and find useful information that can help convince your readers that your argument is good. That means finding facts to help support your cause. For example, instead of going to university, you can instead use another form of the institution to get a certificate degree and continue to work in a job for years to come. Some of these jobs offer higher pay an even only require a year or less to qualify. However, if yours is an essay about university education, then you may need a different standpoint. Research and find high graduation rates, see employment rates, and see whos even working in their job field. Theres also drop out rates, those transferring, or just not showing back up after a few classes. Using all this type of information can likely help your cause. As youre writing, youll want to pay close attention to the rubric that was handed out in class or posted online. This can give you valuable information that helps dictate your grade. Its essential to read this before you start or at least when youre starting the main body paragraphs. From here on out, use the rubric on everything you do to get the most points possible. Writing The Conclusion A well-written conclusion can only happen if youve gathered enough information in your main body. Youll want to wrap up all loose ends when it comes to your conclusion and reinstate your standpoint on the subject. So, be sure to include a few key ideas from the main body and mention them in conclusion. However, you should avoid writing any new concepts or ideas. A conclusion is all about wrapping up loose ends, so by adding more youre confusing the reader. Its reinforcing your stance. And if you have a subpar position or are confused about which viewpoint you believe in then, youll likely scare away your audience. Be strong, confident, and reinforce your viewpoints. For example, if you started your essay on a university is a waste of time, no one should go. Youve stated a bunch of facts with specific rates on dropouts, low employment, or those who dont even use their degree. Use these facts and state something like I still believe that a university education is not right because of the low employment rates, dropouts are increasing, and a majority of graduate students find work in other fields. This will help reinforce the idea while also taking up any loose ends. References All information used in your university education argumentative essay should come from reliable sources. Its easy to use a webpage or Wikipedia, but its not the most effective in conveying the truth. Peer-reviewed journals, surveys, and other reliable sources tend to do a better job at convincing your audience that your viewpoint or stance is the better one. Another trick about your references is only to use the most recent data you can find. If youre on the hunt for data, you may run into studies or statistics from the past decade or so. While the information may be suitable for a different type of project, its not suited for yours. Youll need to use information that was found within the last five years at most. This will be the most conveying when it comes to convincing your audience. Extra Tips For a Better Grade Weve covered all the main sections in your essay, but nows the time where you dont want to lose focus. We can help you achieve more points in your essay with just a few tips and tricks. Its possible that by doing everything right, you could still end up with a C on your essay. To avoid this, we want to provide you with tools that can help you boost that score hopefully up to an A. We will help you possibly raise your grade and also give you a few ideas of how you can improve your essay and go above expectations of your professor. 1. Dont Forget Facts A persuasive essay doesnt necessarily require you to use cold hard facts. In fact, people can be very compelling without the use of any facts as long as they word it right. However, if you want your stance to sound like its logical and truthful, then using facts can help support your viewpoint. On top of that, youll always want to use the most recent statistics to help back up your claims if you can find one from just the past year, if not even this year thats going to be more supportive than if you were to discern facts from ten years ago. However, if you lack information, then its still ok to throw those in your university education argumentative essay. Next, one way to ensure that you have recent facts and data is to do a survey yourself. However, not all professors allow this as a source. Surveys and interviewing people around campus or even just out on the streets can give you lots of information to use for your study. Just be sure to design a survey that is good for all ages. 2. Learn To Manage Your Time Its so tempting to wait until the last minute and then try and write your essay later. The problem with this method is that youll end up missing out on many essential points and possibly risk not passing the class. Understanding how to manage your time can be a huge lifesaver and can get you more points because you didnt miss any errors or mistakes. Plus, youll have time for each section and will be able to dedicate enough research to each paragraph, ultimately getting you more points. First, we always suggest that you do a rough draft for your introduction and conclusion first, and then go back and redo them when youre done with your whole paper. It will not only reinforce the essay but also make your argument look stronger. 3. Dont Diverge From The Topic A common error many of us are guilty of is that we tend to go off topic and put too much information about something unrelated into our essay for university education. We dont want to do this because it weakens our argument and draws the audiences attention elsewhere. An excellent tip to avoid doing this is why rereading your paper or having someone peer review it for you. They can help you week out any details that dont make sense or dont add any significance to the essay. Always do a last check before turning the paper in, as this can also help you catch anything that seems off last minute. 4. Always Edit, Edit, Edit! We know it seems a little redundant always to say to edit your paper, but its the truth. If you want the highest grade possible its best to not miss out on little points here and there that add up over time. Just a few points can make a difference between an A and a B, so its best to be careful for your essay for university education. Overall, we believe that using editing software such as Microsoft Word, Grammarly, etc. may be able to help you weed out some of those errors. If you happen to do a peer review, then you can also find small details. However, we find its more efficient to put it through a checker and then reread the essay before you submit it. This can help you get the most points possible and have you avoid any careless mistakes from slipping through. 5. For University, Against University, For and Against University There are three main standpoints youll usually be given as a choice for a stance. If youre starting your essay and are still confused about how to choose, then its best to understand what each position means. Well give you a short rundown of what each type looks like. University education essay example requires that you have a full position on supporting a higher degree of education. Why? Well, thats what youre supposed to research and find out. A higher degree of education can lead to plenty of opportunities, give you better job advancements, and open the world to doing new things. An against university education essay example is the opposite outlook. Not only is college expensive, but plenty of people tend never to finish college even if they enjoy going. Theres also plenty of issues with the system and get your classes. Sometimes youll have to wait years on end if specific classes arent being taught or if you need to take some time off you may not be able to go back. A for and against essay is where you see the pros and cons of both situations. These are often easier to defend because you can primarily use your main body to support a few facts from the supporting side and a few facts from the against the side. However, it depends on what your professor allows. Some prefer that you choose one or the other because they will enable you to think about the situation critically. 6. Ask Questions When Stuck We all know that dreaded feeling of when were stuck and dont want to ask our teachers for help. Well, luckily asking a professor is one of the critical methods for avoiding a mistakes for your university education essay. They can give you clear advice on where youve gone wrong or point you in the right direction. Besides this, they can also provide pointers on where to find information, if anything looks too weak on your university education essay, and give you other students who are willing to peer-review. Asking other students can also come in handy if youre unsure where to go with your project. Of course, you cant copy or take anyones work as that can end with you being educationally disciplined and you could get in trouble for plagiarism. However, you can get feedback and advice from people around the class and even some friends. Conclusion As you can see, theres plenty of methods for learning how to write a university education essay outline. While it may seem steep at first, it gets much easier if you take the time to practice and research beforehand. Plus, reading our guide can help you learn where to start and how to write the essay from scratch. Our tip section can also help you avoid mistakes and get you more points than you initially might have. Hopefully, youve found our guide helpful and that it will make a difference when writing your university education essay. While these types of essays are not hard to write, they do require a significant amount of research and effort. As long as you remember to include facts, data, and recent statistics, youll be able to convince your audience. Just remember to back up each fact with two to three pieces of evidence, as this will strengthen your argument. Dont leave anything out, and the more information you provide, the better.

Cola Wars paper

Cola Wars paper Cola Wars paper Coke and Pepsi – Cola Wars A1) Porter’s five forces analysis of why this industry has been profitable: Threat of new entry – Extremely low There are many different barriers to new entry in the CSD industry. Some of them mentioned in the case are: Bottlers – Pepsi and Coke have exclusive franchisee agreements with a lot of bottlers since they are a crucial step in the chain. The exclusivity of these restricts the bottlers from working with anyone else so newcomers would be at an extreme disadvantage having to do this in-house. Bottling is the most expensive part of the chain so this would increase the cost to entry since the firms would need a very large capital investment to start off with. New plants with a 40 million-case bottling capacity costs $75 million in 2005. The acquisition, consolidation and tight integration of the bottlers with the concentrate producers, results in very few bottlers who would want to work with any newcomer to provide distribution. The geographic area rights in perpetuity, provided in the negotiated agreements, incentivize the bottlers to stick with their current clients. Brand Loyalty: Coke and Pepsi have a large amount of Brand equity, which seems insurmountable to the competition, especially if just entering the market. Expenditure on Advertising and Marketing: The new entrants cannot even begin to compete based on the high costs of advertising and marketing, which are borne primarily by the concentrate producers. In 2004 these would have been almost $3.46 billion (0.51 per case * 6.8 billion cases). Price undercutting, a strategy frequently employed by Pepsi and Coke, would drive out new entrants as they would be squeezed on their margins constantly and would not have the advantage of economies of scale in the beginning. Retail Channel: Entrenched relationships with Coke, Pepsi and Cadbury Schweppes are hard to compete against as a new entrant. The channel members are heavily incentivized at the cost of profitability of the concentrate producers in some cases (Coke and Burger king, Page 4); a move that a new entrant can just not afford. Together the big players have taken control of buying, installing and servicing vending machines as well as developing vending technology. Buyers – Can exert power and discriminate but managed through partnerships The buyers are the channel members and include Supermarkets, fountain outlets, vending machines, mass merchandisers (Super centers, mass retailers, club stores), convenience stores, gas stations and other outlets. Their power to exert downward pressure on prices depends on their share of industry volume (relative to other buyers) and their cost of switching to another brand. Coke and Pepsi have been able to consistently maintain profitability by testing price sensitivities with expanding products, innovating to drive impulse purchases and target different segments using separate retail channels. A big reason behind this profitability is also the partnerships and ongoing investments concentrate producers and bottlers have maintained with the retail channel to distribute CSDs. Supermarkets: CSDs are a big draw to the supermarkets and annual sales reached $12.4 billion in 2004. Since they result in the highest volume of distribution, the existing duopoly fights very hard for shelf space, which is at a premium. Impulse purchases and expanding product lines keep profitability consistent. Fountain outlets: Many existing producers are already incentivizing fountain outlets to carry their product (like Coke to burger king) despite a hit on their profitability. The expectation is that over time this may lead to high profits due to consistent recurring sales. Vending machines: The bottlers have taken over the buying, installing and servicing of machines while incentivizing store owners with negotiated contracts. Concentrate producers encourage this investment and also play a role in the development of vending technologies. Mass merchandisers: An

How Physical activity affect the heart rate Assignment

How Physical activity affect the heart rate - Assignment Example Cardiovascular related complications occur mostly due to the situations that are work related. The body’s physical activities affect the rate at which the heart beats per unit time. The change in rate of the heart is resulting from the case where the body is trying to replenish the oxygen that is consumed during the metabolism when the food is converted to the energy and the carbon dioxide (Jackson, 2009). The energy that is produced during metabolism is used by the body during the physical activity. The physical activities of the body of a human being either little or high may pose a great danger to the heart of the individual (Moser and Riegel, 2008). A body which is subjected to the right quantities of the physical activities is less vulnerable to the heart diseases while the body that is subjected to the high activities or heavy weight lifting is more vulnerable to the heart attack. There has been a case where the heart diseases have been associated with the performance of excess work that means close monitoring of the rating activity may assist in the occupational risks assessment. The heavy weight lifting has a high risk of causing a heart attack. For the cases of manual activities, the body tends to have repetitive and fast exertions together with fatigue. The heart rate can be monitored using the electrocardiogram that records the rate at which the heart is beating per unit time. There are various factors that influence the heart rate both extrinsic and intrinsic. The external factors are the one that are responsible for causing the heart rate to change considerably. For a person who is involved in a more manual activity will tend to have higher heart beat compared to the one who is resting (Moser and Riegel, 2008). The heart rate may be argued to be directly proportional to the type of the activity the individual is engaged in. Wake

Labor mobility Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Labor mobility - Research Paper Example Frank Barry said that in the Harris-Todaro approach, perfect labor mobility is assumed (Fodders and Langhammer, 2006 p. 37). Here, migration utilizes utility across locations and it results to complete depopulation. This kind of perfect mobility yields a restrictive result, however, outside options will be held constant, the individuals welfare will be affected. To have a simpler model, let us consider Ehrenberg’s and Smith’s (2003) definition of mobility as an investment with costs at the start in exchange for future earnings or returns in the long run. The mobility decision is influenced by the benefits that will be acquired minus the costs of moving. Ehrenberg and Smith (2003) mentioned that the theory of human capital predicts the direction of migratory flows among workers. Labor will move to economies that offer higher earnings but this does not imply that their place origin has the worst opportunities available. Wage differential is one the reasons that labor migr ation occur. Table 1. Educational Attainment of Persons Going Out of the United States: 2009 to 2010 Educational Attainment Total Not a high school graduate 109,000 High school graduate 87,000 Some college or AA degree 76,000 Bachelor’s degree 166,000 Prof. or graduate degree 122,000 Persons age 1-24 385,000 Source: U.S. Bureau of Census, Geographical Mobility: 2009-2010, Table 1, http://www.census.gov/hhes/migration/data/cps/cps2010.html Education is the best determinant as to who will move within an age group (Ehrenberg and Smith, 2003). As we can see from Table 1, people having a bachelor’s degree are more likely to go abroad. With globalization and the continued advancement of technology, looking for job opportunities abroad will be easier especially for persons with a college degree or higher. They are considered as high-skilled laborers (Vinokur, 2006) belonging to the professional, technical, and kindred or related workers (Martin, Abella, and Kuptsch, 2006 p. 5 5). Radcliffe (2009) cited several ways how immigration could affect a recipient country’s economy. First, there will be an increase supply of labor. The arrival of migrant workers will increase the total labor supply of the recipient country. If labor demand will not increase, the increase in labor supply will result to a decrease in wage rates. Also, if available jobs will remain the same, the rise of labor supply will result to unemployment. There is also a positive effect that is brought about by immigration to the host country since some laborers added have specialized skills. These skills will contribute to the increase of productivity in their areas of concern. Most economists perceive that having immigrants will be beneficial to the country of origin for three reasons (Martin et al, 2006 p58). First, production loss especially in boom sectors will be minimized since the migrants can work on the vacant jobs until more local workers are trained. Second, they can increas e the diversity of work teams contributing to the increase of productivity. Lastly, they can hold down wage increases in their concerned sectors. Though this can be can be considered a loss to the local workers, this can be beneficial to the local populace since this would also imply that the price of the services they provide will still be easier to pay. In the perspective of the country of origin, the movement of their labor force outside the country is viewed in another manner. Brain drain

The Effect of the Increase and Decrease of Inheritance Tax in the UK Essay

The Effect of the Increase and Decrease of Inheritance Tax in the UK Economy - Essay Example Exchange rate is the value of two currencies relative to each other, like exchanging the US dollar for a certain number of British pounds. This may be floating which means it changes from day to day or it may be pegged to another which means that it may have a certain amount of its currency held in another currency. The former is volatile while the latter is more stable since their setting is by the government fiat. [Aguirre, A., Ferreira, A. & Notini, H., 2003] The exchange rates have been experiencing fluctuations in different regions of the world and this has had major impacts in these regions which have involved the private sector as well as the government and in some cases the government has had to play the role of the private sector so as to stabilise the rate. In this context the exchange rate rise has been on the fore front and this has had adverse effect and implications on the economic activities as well as the social aspect of the people in these regions. The rise if the f oreign exchange affects the foreign direct investment [FDI]. This is an international flow of capital that provides the multinational organisations and companies with control over foreign affiliates. The foreign exchange can influence both the total FDI and the allocation of this investment across different countries. The increase reduces the countries production costs and the wages relative to those of the foreign country. This means that the value of its currency depreciates relative to that of the other country. This means that the overall rate of return to foreigners is increased and this contemplates the overseas investment projects in a country. The increase in the foreign exchange may be sometimes anticipated and this will leads to higher costs of financing of the projects due to interest rate parity conditions. In these cases, multinationals prefer to fund their overseas projects from the local kit as financing from the local become relatively expensive. This covers their mo nitoring costs and even the capital that keeps on increasing. The volatility of the exchange rates affects the production flexibility and also the risk aversion. There arises a problem where the producer produces the goods without the knowledge of the exchange rates as they affect the rate of production and the actual level of employment. Where there was risk aversion, the investors demand that they be paid compensation for the risks they incurred as the higher exchange rate raises the variability of and lowers the certainty. In this case therefore, the high rates of exchange tend to raise the values of the investment projects and due to the high costs; the profits are reduced. [Goldberg and Kolstad, 1995] The Australian bank decided to leave the rate of cash unchanged, while the central bank highlighted on its ability to lower the benchmark of the nation’s interest rate so as to ease the inflation pressures. Fig 1: Graphical illustration of Australian Interest rates from Jan uary 2004 through January 2010 This rising exchange rate leads to the tightening of the monetary policy. This in effect raises the interest rates to higher levels which are visibly seen to rise faster in the short run than in the long run. The result of this is that the foreign investors hold foreign assets because of the increased rate of return on the domestic assets with the tightened monetary policy and they expect that the domestic value will fall in future. There arises foreign debt due to the high appreciation of the real exchange rate. These may make the local currency to reach parity against the foreign currency like it was for the euro against the dollar between Australia and US. [Aron, J., Elbadawi, I.A. & Kahn, B., 1997] Identify the possible causes of this appreciation and analyse the extensive implications on the Australian economy which was saved by the collapsing economy of the Australian government and economy. The appreciation of the real exchange rate brings diver se effects which are extensive the short term aspect of

Management Challenges to NGOs

Management Challenges to NGOs INTRODUCTION Management has been defined by Weirich Koontz as the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals, working together in groups, effectively accomplish selected ends or goals (Weirich Koontz, 2005). They also submitted that management is applicable to all kinds of organizations (public, private, not for profit) and that no matter the organization, managers responsibilities are to plan, organize, staff, lead and control in such a way that surplus is created authors (Werich and Koontz 2005). This surplus could mean profit as in the private sector, or meeting a need or having a positive effect, as in the not for profit sectors. So whether an organization was set up in order to sell cars at a profit e.g. Toyota, or set up to meet the dire needs of the poor e.g. Food Aid, management is important if the goals are to be met. However, while the importance of management in all spheres of human living has been highlighted by several authors, the reality of NGO management differs significantly from what obtains in the Public or the Private sectors. Fundamentally, management or managerialism has not been a major concern for many NGOs until very recently. Why was this so? What are the peculiar features of management in this sector? What are the important management challenges facing NGOs and why are they important? While management challenges abound in all sectors, this essay will explore those peculiar in the management of NGOs in order to answer these questions. It will also critically analyse the case study of Project Literacy, a South African NGO to illustrate how some of these challenges were responded to. The essay will focus more on the most important management challenges, which have been taken to be leadership, funding, accountability, performance monitoring evaluation, and scaling up. There are many different kinds of NGOs, however for the purpose of this essay NGOs will be defined as are organisations that are non-political, non-profit, non-governmental, and accountable to their stakeholders and involved in welfare and socio-economic development of people (Rahman, 2007). WHY NGO MANAGEMENT? Since 1960, the number and size of non-profit organizations involved in international relief and development have grown substantially (Carroll, 1992; Clark, 1991; Fisher, 1998; Fowler, 1998; Edwards, 1999). As the sector has expanded, it has been subject to new competitive pressures. In the past, the word management was considered synonymous with business management, but for NGOs, commercial activities are presumed to be against their non-profit mission and scored negatively. Since the last two decades NGOs themselves have realised the importance of management, and academicians along with NGO executives have also started thinking over the issues of vision, mission, strategic planning, goals, effective coordination and communication, human resource development, motivational strategies, bottom lines and leadership. Today more NGOs compete for increasingly scarce donor resources. Both private and institutional donors demand greater financial accountability and more concrete evidence of program impact. Small, independent NGOs find it hard to keep pace with more efficient, larger ones that take advantage of economies of scale in marketing, operations, and support services. The world of competitive market dynamics presents difficult paradoxes to many who work in the NGO sector. They believe that their organizations strength, fuelled by the staffs primary motivation, is in its determination to help people improve their lives. But in this more competitive NGO world, it is no longer enough to simply have good intentions and a strong value orientation. As noted by Lindenberg (2001), those working in the NGO sector now recognize that NGOs that do not adapt their strategies and promote greater impact, efficiency, and accountability run the risk of bankruptcy as well as irrelevance. Yet they fear that too much attention to market dynamics and private and public sector techniques will destroy their value-based organizational culture. It has also been argued elsewhere that the management system for NGOs is supposed to be different from traditional management thoughts given by Fayols Modern Operational Management, Taylors scientific management and Webers Bureaucratic Model, because of their distinctiveness in vision, mission, organisational culture, goals and values from the other two sectors (Rahman 2003). Stemming from Henri Fayols (1916) definition of management as forecasting, planning, organizing coordinating and control, Rahman (2003) gave a possible definition of NGO management: To manage an NGO is to forecast with shared vision, to plan strategically, to operate professionally and to lead culture friendly. In this definition the word organise used by Fayol has been replaced by operate in order to give a more functional touch, and the word control has been replaced by lead because there is a minimum use of control in NGO management as the shared values of NGOs discourage the concentration of power at the hie rarchical levels and in their functions. Having agreed that management has gained importance for NGOs, what then are the key management challenges for NGOs? Though management challenges abound also in the public and private sectors, the NGO sector has a unique complex nature with its own characteristic management challenges ranging from funding problems to leadership, performance monitoring evaluation, accountability, scaling up, human resources, organization culture, and professionalization. The following sections will however focus on the first five challenges I believe a key in NGO management. FUNDING AND INDEPENDENCE Funding is a very major challenge in NGO management. NGOs require funds to carry out programs and maintain the organization. Unavailability of funds for an NGO could mean a total standstill. NGOs could most time depend on government for funding. However, NGOs that depend largely on public finance run the risk of becoming mere government subsidiaries by implementing activities formerly carried out by their own governments or multilateral institutions (Senillosa, 1998). Government policy may differ from the NGOs objectives and/or the beneficiaries interests, which may lead to a conflict of interest. The availability of substantial government grants may tempt NGOs or the program beneficiaries to become involved in programs inconsistent with their own objectives and capacities. The sheer size of government grants and certain government grant restrictions (specific countries, certain social groups, special forms of assistance) may lead to an imbalance in the NGOs programs. Some NGOs have, more or less, become contractors to governments, particularly if they do not have other programs or funding sources. NGOs may become unwilling to criticize government publicly thus softening their advocacy work and/or human rights campaigns. Also, as government funding may be comparatively easy to obtain, there is the risk of the NGO ignoring or downgrading their traditional sources of private funding and traditional relationships with their constituencies. In addition, as non-governmental providers of development services, NGOs (and their programs) became subject to the availability of government funds (with associated uncertainty about magnitudes and timing), to some degree of governmental control and supervision, and to the rules and procedures that went with the receipt and use of public funds. This tended to impose heavy and sometimes excessive requirements on NGO administrative and audit capacities (Van Der Heijden, 1987). Another problem with funding is the issue of rejection of core funding- a situation whereby donors are only willing to pay project costs. According to Bornstein (2003), NGO managers that are not competent enough to incorporate core costs within project proposals usually have their key functions not being funded. Organizational development, experimental pilot approaches and long-term impact analysis are being abandoned due to lack of funds. Finally, financial uncertainty affects planning for NGOs. It has also forced them to look for more financial sources and adopt private sector-like methods like downsizing. Take for example; shortage of funds is forcing many South African NGOs outside the donor loop to diversify income sources. They are redefining their relationships to the state and the market, taking on government contract work, selling services to the private sector and charging user fees. Some have had to downsize and depend on short-term contract staff while others are experimenting with their legal status and turning into non-profit companies. (Bornstein 2003). LEADERSHIP Leadership in NGOs is a matter of concern considering the highly personalized nature of leadership in the sector. The sector is full of anecdotal stories about the detrimental impact of paternalistic founder leaders, charismatic autocrats, or the guru syndrome (Hailey, 1999). On one hand such leaders demonstrate a drive and commitment, and a remarkable ability to mobilize people and resources. While on the other hand they are criticized for dominating organizations, being unaccountable, and failing to adapt to changing circumstances. Chambers (1997) points out that such NGO leaders can achieve many things through their guts, vision and commitment, but the way they use power is a disability that jeopardizes organizational effectiveness. He argues such charismatic leaders are vulnerable to acquiescence, deference, flattery and placation (Chambers, 1997). They are not easily contradicted or corrected. As a result they actively suffocate promising initiatives that may threaten their powe r base, relationships, or position of patronage. The concept of leadership in NGO could also at times be antithetical to the participatory culture espoused by many NGOs. In a sector that believes itself to be more value driven, participatory, and less managerialist than the for-profit business sector, there is an unwillingness to concede the important influence of any one individual leader. Managers in this new era thus have to be conscious of the greater credence given to ideas of equality and participatory democracy in this sector if they are to succeed (Hailey James 2004). Effective NGO leadership also requires the ability to balance a range of competing pressures from different stakeholders in ways that do not compromise the leaders individual identity and values (Hailey James 2004). The leadership of development NGOs face extraordinary challenges as they work with very limited resources in uncertain and volatile political and economic circumstances to help the most marginalized and disadvantaged members of their communities. Civicus referred to the growing deficit in leadership abilities in NGOs. In particular they pointed to rapid turnover of NGO staff in leadership positions into business and government and the difficulty NGOs have in replacing them (Civicus, 2002). All too often this failure of leadership results in programmatic dysfunctionality and even organizational collapse. MONITORING AND EVALUATING PERFORMANCE NGOs are making significant efforts to show how they are performing, a trend impelled by three factors: stricter requirements attached to official aid; doubts about NGO claims to be more effective than governments; post-Cold War shifts in the role of NGOs, which increase their own needs to know what is being achieved, in order to manage the processes of organisational reorientation and transformation. However, almost without exception, NGOs are finding it very difficult to come up with sound, cost effective methods to show the results of their development activities, or even to demonstrate their effectiveness as organisations (Fowler, 1996). Rick Davies attributed the problems of monitoring and evaluating the performance of NGOs to ambitious expectations, complexity caused by scale (hierarchical differences in goals and expectations at various actors levels), diversity of NGO activities, vague objectives, fault-able measuring tools, and absence of baseline information adequate monit oring systems (Davies, 2000). Unlike commercial companies development NGOs do not have the bottom lines of market feedback, profitability, and returns on financial investment, nor do they receive the judgement of citizens through social unrest or the periodic vote. In other words, consumers and voters are the source of performance standards for business and government- but not for NGOs (Fowler, 1996). According to LeCompte (1986), the difficulty in measuring the development performance of NGOs stems from the basic incompatibility between the assumptions on which the aid system is based and the actual process of socio-economic change. Social economic change is mostly contingent as different from the linear model the aid system presupposes. There are three problems with this approach. Firstly, the right ways of doing things cannot all be sufficiently predicted in advance? Secondly, the assumptions seldom hold. And, thirdly, development in the sense of sustained improvement in the lives and circumstances of people who are poor or marginalised does not take place in a linear way under the influence of one single intervention (LeCompte, 1986). As resources move down the aid chain, several things happen which undermine the project approach, and hence limit the ability simply to tie resources and activities to NGO performance in terms of development? Furthermore, the measures of development are very complex, containing both tangible or physical elements and intangible factors of human and organisational processes and capacities. Also, the possibility of attributing the cause of change to an NGOs work is very restricted. ACCOUNTABILITY Who are NGOs accountable to, for what, and how? Concerns about the role and accountability of NGOs have been voiced from different quarters in recent years. As the World Bank (2005) noted, with growth in the influence of NGOs so also are they attracting greater public scrutiny, prompting calls for greater accountability. Some donors, governments, corporations, and international agencies raise important questions about the effectiveness of NGO work and the legitimacy of their advocacy. Some NGOs have also recognized the need to ensure good practice in the wider voluntary sector. The question of accountability is seen as a bureaucratic hurdle at best, and at worst as a threat to achieving an NGOs aims. Some fear that any toughening of accountability may lead to an overbearing influence from funders and governments, which could then lead to cooptation and a deflection of original purpose (Najam, 2000), or lead to the stymieing of innovation and reducing the diversity of NGOs (Cnaan, 1996). The problem of to whom accountability should be towards also arises many times. Accountability is usually upwards to donors and not to the poor who are the most immediately concerned. NGOs just want to show that money is not being misappropriated and that the approved activities are completed rather than that desirable change was achieved, let alone sustainable. Bendell (2006) however argued that democracy and human rights should firmly be at the centre of the debate about NGO accountability. By democratic accountability he meant that NGOs should be more accountable to those with less power who are affected by the organizations actions or decisions the poor. SCALING UP Much has been said about the need for NGOs to increase the impact they are having rather than applying small piecemeal efforts to large scale problems of poverty. Edwards and Hulme (1992) described strategies for scaling up to meet this demand for more impacts. Some NGOs are contented to focus on a single small community within which they work taking a small is beautiful approach to their work (Lewis 2001). Edwards and Hulme (1992) noted three kinds of scaling up for NGOs as; additive (increase size and coverage of programs), multiplicative (gain more leverage by influencing other development actors, thereby reaching more people), and diffusive (transferring its approaches beyond the organizations immediate sphere of influence). Bangladesh Grameen Bank was able to effectively manage the challenge of the scaling up process. The bank impacted a lot of poor people in the immediate community, but rather than growing any larger as an implementing organization, it encouraged the adaptation of its original microcredit delivery model around the world (Lewis 2001). CASE STUDY: PROJECT LITERACY, SOUTH AFRICA This case study is about Project Literacy, an NGO based in South Africa. The NGO was founded in 1973 by Jenny Neser to help provide an opportunity for non-educated marginalized workers to learn how to read, write and learn other basic life skills thereby tackling the problem of very low educational level in the society (projectliteracy.org.za). Just like most NGOs, it started with the leader identifying a need in the society which neither the government nor the private sector is making provision for. The NGO started out making use of church facilities for the training and getting volunteer teachers to help out with the training. Much of the funds at this initial stage were from the founders purse and little fees affordable by the beneficiaries. Even at this early stage, some other churches too started to copy Project Literacys programme, thereby increasing their impact (multiplicative scaling up). In 1985, the NGO enrolled up to 200 learners in its Adult Basic Education Training (ABE T) programme and had an annual budget of approximately R4000. The first major turnaround however came when the NGO received a donation of $10,000 (worth R33, 000) from USAID. With this, the NGO registered Project Literacy Trust Fund, and with additional fundraising drive, built its first mini office. By 1990, trainings for community based organizations and commercial clients were initiated. This helped in further diversifying the NGOs income source. The program also enjoyed a lot of support from other bodies like the South African Council of Churches and the Independent Development Trusts which both gave funds for the further development of an ABET teacher training programme and development of suitable ABET materials. The NGO was able to build its central office in 1994 through a donation from the Joint Education Trust. However, the direct funding enjoyed by most South African NGOs from international donors soon dried up. With democracy in South Africa in 1994, donors began entering into bilateral agreements with the elected government rather than directly with NGOs, resulting in the folding up of most NGOs. This highlights the centrality of funding to the operations of these NGOs and probably their overdependence on it. Project Literacy however, was able to survive this period by identifying the opportunity in this challenge (Farouk, year unknown). The new Government saw the need to provide sector wide training to meet the education and skill needs of its work force and the unemployed. This was done through the establishment of Sector Education Training Authorities (SETA) e.g. agriculture SETA will attend to needs in agriculture. Project Literacys strategy was to build capacity to tender effectively for government contracts, and the organization moved from direct delivery to service delivery. It al so restructured its financial management structure, retrained staff, and adopted a robust marketing strategy, all of which were not normal practices in the sector. This sort of bold move required strong leadership able to venture into areas not treaded before. By 1999, the NGO had gained national notoriety, with offices in all of South Africas provinces. Also critical to Project Literacys success was its leadership structure. Unlike most other NGOs that depend on the charisma of the leader and his influence or connections, Project Literacy was able to put in place a standard structure with board of trustees and board of directors, with a management team. By 1995, Jenny Neser the founder resigned and a new CEO was appointed. Continuity was thus ensured. Growth however has its challenges, and Project Literacys biggest challenge ever came in 2010 when it lost a major government contract worth R 90m. By this time the organization spent up to R1.2m monthly to maintain its offices nationally. The loss of this contract resulted in the need for the organization to close all its provincial offices and lay off 47 out of its 78 staff members (Independent online, 2010). This highlights the danger of a growth dependent on government funding, and also the danger of additive scaling up. Politics could play a major role in who gets governments contract, and a domineering monopoly might not be the best mode for NGOs to adopt in their bid to scale up. Whether or how Project Life will be able to handle the current management challenge remains a question to be answered, but the lessons learnt from it will be invaluable to every aspiring NGO. In conclusion, this essay has highlighted the importance of management with respect to NGOs and how it differs from management in the public or private sectors. It has also considered the management challenges of leadership, funding, accountability, monitoring evaluation, and scaling up as the most important management challenges facing NGOs. The case study of Project Life has shown that management in the NGO sector could be likened to a rollercoaster ride, monumental success could bear with it seeds for colossal failure. NGOs in the foreseeable future will have to continue to work in a very unpredictable environment, adapting quickly as the need may be in order to survive diverse challenges that will continue to face them.

Verbal Aggression :: science

Verbal Aggression Verbal aggression is message behavior which attacks a person's self-concept in order to deliver psychological pain.(Infante, 1995) Studies of verbal aggression have focused primarily on children and adolescents in educational and social settings. Very few studies were found to examine verbal aggression in adults in the workplace.(Ebbesen, Duncan, Konecni, 1974) The consequences of verbal aggression in the workplace can lead to social isolation, job related stress, health related problems, as well as problems in career advancement. It therefore should be considered important, for the individual and management, to identify and address the causes of verbal aggression. This program attempts to understand verbal aggression by 1) identifying the various functions of verbal aggression. 2) identifying the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. 3) Avoiding the antecedent conditions of verbal aggression. Method Subject The subject, Shirley J., is a 49 year old African American female. Shirley J. has several advanced degrees and is employed as a school psychologist in a metropolitan school district. She is married with two adult children. The subject readily agreed that the target behavior, verbal aggression, is a problem as it interferes with her relationships with others. She was enthusiastic in her desire to reduce, if not eliminate, this behavior. It would seem that self-monitoring for verbal aggression and antecedent control would be valuable as it would allow for consistent avoidance of verbal aggression. As a school psychologist the subject was very familiar with the basic principles of applied behavioral analysis and frequently offered programmatic suggestions. A behavioral contract was developed jointly between the therapist and subject. The contract outlined the target behavior, success criteria, and individual responsibilities of the therapist and subject. (see Appendix A) Apparatus A basic checklist was used to document the frequency of verbal aggression on a daily basis. The checklist was designed to track only the occurrence of the behavior. It was felt by the therapist that the content of the verbally aggressive message would be too open for subjective interpretation and that no meaningful data would be gained from such documentation. In addition the subject made frequent comments of significant success or failure in avoiding verbal aggression for discussion with the therapist. The weekly discussions were used to evaluate the appropriateness of the procedures used and make any necessary adjustments to the program. Procedure For the first two weeks of the program no intervention was applied. Given that the subject self-reported that verbal aggression was a problem it was important to determine if the frequency of the behavior merited intervention.