Outline and evaluate explanations of conformity Essay

Normative social influence occurs when a person desires to be liked and accepted by a group. They will publicly conform and change their behaviour but they will still privately reject their views. This change in behaviour is often temporary as this type of social influence leads to compliance. Informational social influence is where someone conforms to the views and behaviours of the group because they both publicly and privately agree with them. This type of conformity is called internalisation and stems from the desire to be correct. It occurs when a person is in a new or ambiguous situation and doesn’t know what to do. Therefore, they look to the group for guidance as they assume they have better knowledge. Because of this, the change is often permanent as they believe their behaviours and actions are correct. AO2: One strength of this theory is that it has research to support it from Asch’s 1951 study into conformity. The interviews that were taken after the experiment had finished, stated that there were two main reasons that the participants conformed. The first reason was that they didn’t want to be ridiculed by the rest of the group from differing in opinions. They wanted to fit in so went along with the majority group, typical of normative social influence. The second reason was that they honestly thought that the rest of the group knew better than them and that their own judgements were incorrect, typical of informational social influence. Although some psychologists will argue that the two processes work in sync instead of two separate influences. For example, upon seeing a queue in a shop a person may join the end of it because that is what everyone else is doing but they may also be guessing at the same time that the people in the queue know that this is the queue that is needed to pay for their items.

Equal Opportunity in Education Essay

The whole object of education is†¦to develop the mind. (Sherwood Anderson) The United States of America has developed a system to educate its youth by a publicly funded system. It is the law and born civil right of each citizen to attend some form of education by a particular age. The public school system is set in place for those who choose not to send their offspring to private, religious, or charter schools. This is the present incarnation of the public school system. It is said to be equal in all manner throughout the country. That has not always been the case in this nation. That has brought forth numerous laws and enactments to grant those who find themselves on the lesser side of gaining knowledge more of an equal footing where education is concerned. In this land of opportunity, there is an expected level of availability that is expected. In a world of intense competition from within and outside of the country education one of the few ways of balancing the scales of the socially or monetarily disadvantaged is proportionate education. In this nation children have at one point or another in history been systematically held back for one reason or another. The reasons differ in the once beliefs that they were not able to learn or personal thought of not being worthy to be taught. In 1896 Plessy vs. Ferguson granted the states the right to uphold the separate but equal doctrine that ruled the land. This was a great lost to all those that held a hope those later generations would do better than those who came before. Education began to become more balanced when separate but equal was pushed aside by the landmark case of Brown vs. The Board of Education. In 1954 The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Henry Billings Brown. This would begin the integration of public school which was the first step into equal opportunity for students nationwide. The Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was the next big step creating a system that would seek a fair learning experience for all. Its basic notion is that state and local funds for schools should be equitable before federal Title I funds are added to schools with large concentrations of low-income students. (americanprogress.org) The Title I funding has a slight problem in its workings that has been a detriment to the children who attend these schools. The amount of money allocated to the schools is based on the salaries of the teachers. That is a problem for schools with a high turnover ratio. Schools that have moderately younger staff that is relatively new to the task of educating young minds make less than the veterans of the better school districts. This translates into less money per teacher and that equals less money for the school and the children. It is unfortunate that less money ultimately means less of educational opportunities. The fact is that children in low income areas do not receive a fair share of money. The student need is not met by the standards laid out by the government. Money is the root of a proper education in this high end technological world. Without proper funds the simplest of supplies cannot be purchased. Computers, books, calculators, or simple printer ink is not available on a scale that is considered suitable. The eventual sharing of materials is a detriment to the students who are not allowed to have their own because of lack of equipment ready for use. The civil rights case would eventually open the door for other minorities. One that would take advantage of the Brown ruling was those with disabilities. In Brown the Court declared that it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. (web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu.) They would use this to rally their forces and demand equal opportunities for cognitively i mpaired children. Mills vs. the Board of Education of the District of Columbia and the Pennsylvania Association for Retarded Children vs. Pennsylvania were two cases that brought the plight of these students to the light of day. The law would be changed to give them the rights that they so richly deserved. The newest in leveling the field of education has come through the No Child Left Behind Act which was signed into being by former President George W. Bush in 2002. These reforms express my deep belief in our public schools and their mission to build the mind and character of every child, from every background, in every part of America. (George W. Bush, 2001) No Child Left Behind puts an emphasis on improving the quality of public education. It calls for increased accountability, more choices for parents and students, putting reading first, and a higher emphasis on standardized testing. However the standardized testing is one of the biggest problems of the act. The majority of teachers has a problem with the testing and calls it bias. They also put forth that the testing takes away from the true teaching of knowledge, rather they now teach to test. This makes the education of the nation less than competitive with other countries. To combat these problems in our ever changing world we must go back to the beginning. In that thought process society must rethink its past transgressions. The country must avoid the same mistakes of the past. Politicians are not the ones who should make the decisions to lead the future of United States of America. Educators should be in charge of educating the youth. Those who have spent their lives gaining knowledge to teach the children of their world should be tasked with the job of finding a way to educate equally. This task should be given to those who best fit the job description. The assignment should be outsourced if it is needed. Other countries excel in education and this nation could learn from those who educate on higher levels. Educating the masses on a more equal platform will only add to greatness. Reference Quotes on Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/eduquote.htm Ensuring Equal Opportunity in Public Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2008/06/comparability.html Plessy v. Ferguson (n.d.) Retrieved May 20, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plessy_v._Ferguson OVERVIEW Executive Summary (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://www2.ed.gov/nclb/overview/intro/execsumm.html The Need for Equal Opportunity and a Right to Quality Education (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/detail? Equal Opportunity (n.d.) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer An American perspective on equal educational opportunities (2002) Retrieved May 21, 2011, from http://web.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?

Strategic Human Resources Management Assignment

Strategic Human Resources Management - Assignment Example ger responsibility requiring the involvement of different organizational capabilities is much higher than when recruitment is considered the sole responsibility of a small group of people hired for the purpose of administering recruitment activity. Armstrong (2009, p. 87) underscores that ‘No single aspect of HR strategy should be considered in isolation. The links between one area and other complementary areas need to be established so that the ways in which they can provide mutual support to the overall strategy can be ascertained.’ Burke describes the impact of incorporating Likert’s System 4 of Participative Group Management. This organizational decision led to internal habit changes and recruitment process changes. Top management representatives drove this organizational change and ensured active participation by the various departments. The recruitment process included observation of candidates in different situations and the decision of recruitment was given in the hands of the people who were to be worked with. The selection process included a feedback session with the candidate that explained the reason the candidate’s acceptance or rejection. (2002, p. 86) This experience highlights the need for an organizational view about the manner in which recruitment and selection processes should be designed, who alongside the recruitment function should be party to the process design and gauge system and manpower capabilities to sustain the processes. The recruitment function holds primary responsibility for the implementation of the process but organizational involvement is necessary to review contradictory practices and curtail unrealistic expectations. Industry performance, competitor action, customer expectation and shareholder satisfaction form the factors that determine the competitive advantage of the firm. Companies adopt hiring practices to suit the supply-demand situation of the labor market. The labor market, competitive industry practices

Classical Mythology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Classical Mythology - Essay Example Fans of a particular stable/faction identified themselves with their stable colors in those race competitions. The stables encouraged this loyalty by establishing an equivalence of â€Å"clubhouses† in Rome to entertain their fans. This trend later spread to other cities as chariot racing grew. Charioteers who rose to heroism and some to freedom after they died had their victories written on their gravestones. Charioteers with decorated careers had monuments erected with engravings of their victories and achievements either by themselves or by others (Roberts, p150). Historical evidence indicate that, almost all the charioteers came from a very low social class (slaves) with exception of a few. The charioteers started very young, rose to fame and eventually died while still young. From the evidence, Roman charioteers lead a similar life path. A majority rose from slavery, started racing very young, bought their freedom and finally died while still young (most died before attaining thirty years). From sources 2, 3, 4, and 7, the charioteers started their racing careers young and met their demise before their thirties. Source 2 describes the life and achievements of Fuscus. He was 24 years old and a driver for the Green Company. He won 53 times and was the first driver to win on the first day of racing. A pillar was erected in the consulate of Gaius and Marcus Servilius and curved with his achievements. Source 3 does not provide the name of the driver as his name was not engraved on his gravestone. He died at the age of 25 in the consulate of Appius Annius. He was a driver for the blue stables. Crescens was born in Mauritius (evidence suggests that, he was of an African origin). He started racing when he was 22 years in the consulate of Lucius Vipsanius. He was a driver for the blue faction. Just like the other drivers he died before reaching the age of 30 years. Finally, Marcus Aurelius. He died at the age of 29 years. His career

Customer Service-Customers for Life-repost Personal Statement

Customer Service-Customers for Life-repost - Personal Statement Example Real experience such as the Company chipping in to help customer during losses of property amplifies loyalty. Firms should be quick to react when customers seek their help and extend Olive branch to customer’s home to strengthen customer’s relation and building on its reputation. Credit facilities offered to customers at affordable terms and conditions serve both firm and customers interest. Lifelong customers are retained when they are made to feel as part of the Company and in particular, when faced with challenges so as to help them overcome stress via suggesting rational solutions. Standing with a customer during their difficulties by firms make customers relieved from some burdens and aid in restoring normal mind set. Customers are thus pinned strongly to such companies that recognize and appreciate the existence of their customers. Firms thus benefit from increased customer loyalty as such customers suggest that particular Company to their friends and relatives and such chain is extended leading to a greater pool of loyal customers resulting into competitive advantage accompanied by increased market power. This thus culminates into increased

Commercial Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

Commercial Law - Essay Example For the agreement to be effective, the assured has to inform the insurer of certain information about the thing that he or she wants to be insured. The assured can be an individual or a company and is expected by law to insure something that has money value. In other cases, the person or the company can insure a person who she or he values, for example, a wife insuring her husband. Scenario Steve is a customer who has an insurance policy to cover the house which he constructed in 1940. When he was agreeing with Home Protection Insurance to cover his house, he said that the house was built using concrete blocks but in reality it was built using straw bale. He failed to provide information on the strength of the building materials even though the company asked him. One month after getting the cover to protect his house, a severe storm damaged his house together with the items inside the house (Kelly, 1997). Analysis and facts Steve should have been aware of the following facts so that the Home Protection Insurance Company could compensate him when his house was damaged by a severe storm. The request to insure the house by Home Protection Insurance was intended by Steve but he forgot to disclose all the information concerning his house. For example, he did not mention that his house was very old and that it was built with materials that could not last long, therefore, increasing the risk to the company. If the company could have known this information by the time they were writing the policy they could have maybe increased the premium per month (Dobson, 1997). The communication between Steve and Home Protection insurance was not properly done and what was insured was not clearly described. The communication process was also not clear because the kind of damage which Steve insured against was not disclosed. For example, neither Steve nor the Home Insurance Company stated whether it was a fire insurance or burglary. Steve did not also take time to test whether the i nsurance cover could work for him before officially signing it. The law of insurance states that, â€Å"the alleged offer must be in force at the time when the other party purports to accept it.† The time taken before the insurance fully comes into force is important because the customer can gauge how well it can work for the intended needs. Steve did not take this into consideration when he was taking the cover (Ellison, 1997). The agreement between Home Insurance Company and Steve is important when claiming the insured value of money after damage has occurred. A detailed analysis of every factor that can arise and affect the agreement should have been discussed. The facts which are known to the Home Insurance Company about house insurance covers, should have been discussed. Home Protection Insurance Company is well experienced in issues dealing with house insurance and, therefore, it has fine details that people do not recognize when it comes to dealing with house covers. A nother important detail the law of insurance is concerned with, and that should be captured when formulating an insurance cover, is the information which is hidden. However, Home Insurance Company can get this information by deeply interviewing the customer (Dobbyn, 2003). Although the insurance company tried to interview Steve, most of

Netscape IPO Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Netscape IPO - Essay Example That Netscape would now be in the dustbin of history, having been demolished by Microsoft during the browser war when it buckled under the killer strategy of Bill Gates’ bundled Windows operating system with the its browser, Internet Explorer and having bought by AOL in March 1999 – many questions still abound on what went wrong, and what could have been avoided. The company was led by both the talented (Marc Andreessen and the experienced manager (Jim Clark) and had the backing of the well-known venture capitalists in Silicon Valley. No less than Morgan Stanley would be the lead underwriters for its IPO. In the end, the dilemma faced by the board of directors of whether to give in its Wall Street underwriters’ proposal of raising the initial stock price form $14 to $28 and increasing the number of shares to 5 million due to favorable response to the investment roadshow or risk a public verdict of opportunism for doing so (Backstrand 7)– was rendered moot and academic. Netscape opened to an overwhelming response from investors who took the stock price to as much as $75 after a delayed opening of $71 per share. On the other hand, the question of whether the investors made a good decision in paying so much for the stock an untested company had to place it in the context of the condition of the industry, Netscape’s company strategy and how IPOs in general fare as investments. ... Condition of the industry: In the mid-nineties, the Internet industry was at the start of its boom period. There were no clear indicators where it would be headed - a condition that had been comparably described when the PC was thought of in the early 1980s when the IPO of Apple Computers mirrored the wildly exuberant public reception of Netscape's IPO (Blodget n.p.). There were various theories of what the Internet would be - some thought that it would be like glamorized surfing of TV shows and those who would be winners in the era would those sites that would offer great design and content (Blodget n.p.). Fast forward to a decade later - the winners would be a search engine called Google, a book seller now an around retailer, Amazon.com and an on-line community of buyers and sellers called ebay.com. Netscape was proclaimed a winner too soon in the game, like Apple was. Though Apple Computers remains as a company today, the big winners of the IPO era of the PC industry were those who entered it later in the phase - as could be seen in Microsoft IPO in 1986 and Dell in 1988 (Blodget n.p.). The Internet community more than ten years ago was miniscule (57 million users according to the International Data Corporation) compared to what it is today, but even by then, it was growing by leaps and bounds. The web browser market in 1994 was dominated by the Mosaic web browser program that was created by Netscape co-founder, the 23-year old Marc Andreessen (Backstrand 3). When Andreesen teamed up with middle-aged Jim Clark, the founder of Silicon Graphics, Netscape successfully set a new industry standard through its Netscape Navigator program and wrestled market leadership from Mosaic. Netscape's share of the market by 2005 was at 75% while Mosaic,