Children and Happiness Essay

What makes children happy? ‘That’s easy,’ you might say, ‘a new toy, an ice cream or a trip to the amusement park.’ While these things bring an immediate smile to many children’s faces, they are probably not the things that will keep them happy day by day, or turn them into happy adults. The basic ingredients that make children happy during childhood seem to be the same ones that help them to become happy adults: a secure relationship with parents gives the base to confidently explore the world and develop a sense of mastery and recognition, all important components in the recipe for happiness. However, in the short term, the new toy might provide a smile too! Man has to pass through many stages of life, since he is born until he dies. He passes through infancy, childhood, boyhood, youth, middle age and old age. Childhood continues from the 6th to the 12th year of age. Boyhood continues from the 12th to the 19th year of age. Youth lasts from the 20th to 35th year of age. Middle age lasts from the 36th to the 55th year of age. Old age continues from 56th year until death. Of all the stages of life childhood is the most important. Because it is the formative period of life. It is also the first conscious stage of life. Important of childhood: Childhood is the formative period of life. Human character takes its shape in childhood. Man gets deep and lasting impressions in his childhood. Because at this stage men’s mind is soft, receptive and plastic. It is just like the potter’s clay. So human character should be properly shaped in childhood. What should be done in childhood: Childhood is one of the growing stage in man’s life. The human beings grow up to 24th year of age. So, the health of the child should be properly looked after. He should be given balance diet. He should be encouraged to from healthy habits like early rising. He should be taught to be neat and clean, to do exercise regularly, to eat, sleep, read and play at habits. He should be kept happy and cheerful. All these will help him to grow healthy in body and mind. Proper and appropriate food should be provided to the child’s mind. He should be given the most carefully chosen books to read. he should be given children’s magazines. He should be given interesting and instructive pictures. At this stage, records should be kept of the child’s inclination, aptitude, knack, mood, temperament, interest, abilities and his latent qualities. On the basis of these records, the future of the child should be planned. The child should be trained on the basis of this plan. Care of parents and teachers: In the modern system of society and education in India, nobody takes the responsibility of the child’s welfare. The parents think that it is a responsibility of the teachers, because the child stays in the school for six hours a day. The teachers think that it is the responsibility of the parents, because the children belong to their parents, and in future the children will come to any use only to their parents and families. But in the interest of society, nation, country and above all mankind all have responsibility for the welfare of the children. Conclusion: It is the foremost duty of the Government to see to the welfare of the children. But in India we find that a lot of children in schools are dying by food-poisoning in the Government Mid-day meal system. The school buildings are defectively constructed. So the buildings breakdown and many children die underneath. the milk-powder that comes to Panchayats and Block offices is said to be put to black-marketing. Government should look to all these affairs. Childhood is the most important period in a men’s life. So, the Government should take utmost care of it.

An Analysis of 13 Days

Professor O’Neill Atlantic Worlds II April 16th 2010 Characterizing the First World War as an epidemic of miscalculation, President John F. Kennedy pondered, â€Å"they somehow seemed to tumble into war †¦ through stupidity, individual idiosyncrasies, misunderstandings, and personal complexes of inferiority and grandeur† (49). Reflecting upon these miscalculations, Robert F. Kennedy’s Thirteen Days documents the Cuban Missile Crisis and catalogues the President’s contemplative action amidst potential disaster.Considering the misjudgment that drove conflict in the early twentieth century, and the socio-technological paradigm shift of war, President Kennedy found remedy in the maintenance of open channels of external communication, while regarding the international domino effect of each action, and exhibiting constant skepticism in pursuit of a peaceful resolution. German sociologist Max Weber wrote of the Great War, â€Å"this war, with all its ghastl iness, is nevertheless grand and wonderful. It is worth experiencing† (EP 768).Embellishing the heroism of warfare, Weber reflects a common acceptance of war in the early twentieth century as one of sport and necessity. However, with the development of nuclear arms came a paradigm shift concerning war and its role amid international powers. Acknowledging the destructive potential of nuclear warfare, Kennedy adamantly stated, â€Å"We were not going to misjudge or challenge the other side needlessly, or precipitously push our adversaries into a course of action that was not intended† (75).Using historical precedent as his guide, President Kennedy acts upon the belief that war is rarely intentional, while also recognizing the evolving dynamic of war as one of an arms struggle. The application of this lesson exists in Kennedy’s resolution to utilize quarantine as opposed to armed conflict at the Soviets Union’s initial threat. Foreign ships given orders to re treat would be afforded such an opportunity, any vessel refusing to stop would have its rudders disabled to avoid loss of life, and ships not belonging to the Soviet Union were the irst and only to be boarded, as to not incite a military response. Executing such action demonstrates the President’s clear understanding of past misjudgment, and the paradigm shift that now characterized war as something not of sport, but of mass destruction. Robert Kennedy reaffirms such in declaring, â€Å"If we erred, we erred not only for ourselves and our country, but for the lives of those who had never been given an opportunity to play a role† (81). This statement epitomizes the overwhelming burden of nuclear war, and the cognizance necessary to avoid it.Vital to the avoidance of miscalculation and the development of a mutual understanding were open channels of communication during the Cuban Crisis. President Kennedy recognized the importance of consistent communication to evade impu lsive action, and promote logically sound decision-making. Such an example exists in Robert Kennedy’s Thirteen Days in which Soviet Chairman Khrushchev and President Kennedy exchange messages outlining the guidelines towards peaceful resolution. We must not succumb to petty passions, or to transient things, but should realize that if indeed war should break out, then it would not be in our power to stop it, for such is the logic of war† (66). Stated by Khrushchev in pursuit of mutual amity, such communication demonstrates the importance of clarity and transparency under desperate circumstances. This quotation further exhibits recognition of the warped nature of warfare, and acknowledges history’s wrongdoings that provoked destruction.President Kennedy concluded deliberations in stating, â€Å"the effect of such a settlement on easing world tensions would enable us to work towards a more general arrangement †¦ the United States is very much interested in red ucing tensions and halting the arms race† (79). The clear and concise nature of this exchange lends praise to the diplomatic nature of Kennedy’s tactics, providing both the United States and Soviet Union with the opportunity to ultimately avoid nuclear holocaust. The snowball effect exhibited through the First World War demonstrates the danger of tumbling into conflict through allied obligation and diplomatic stupidity.President Kennedy’s ability to tactfully neutralize the Cuban Crisis demonstrates an awareness of that danger, and an appreciation for the international domino effect that warfare would generate between nations. Strongly stated by Robert Kennedy, â€Å"we had to be aware of this responsibility at all times, aware that we were deciding for the United States, the Soviet Union, NATO, and for all of mankind† (75). Such concern for the global repercussion of warfare can be observed in President Kennedy’s constant scrutiny of military recom mendations and their effect upon the entire western hemisphere.Seeking alternative solutions to war as well as the approval of global powers, Robert Kennedy further states, â€Å"we were able to establish a firm legal foundation for our action under the OAS charter, and our position around the world was †¦ unanimously supported for a quarantine† (40). This diplomatic strategy, founded upon the support of strong European and American allies, aided the United States in considering the implications of all possible courses of action as to ensure a promise of peace for themselves and the global community.A final strategy, central to the diplomatic triumph of the Cuban Missile Crisis, refers to the establishment and success of Kennedy’s Executive Committee of the National Security Council. While each proposed solution held inherent weaknesses, this committee would allow for constant deliberation, argument, and debate. The ability to scrutinize each proposal reinforced a reasonable decision-making process, thereby diminishing the risk of the impulsive miscalculation or misjudgment that had prompted war only decades earlier.Embodying the significance of the Executive Committee, Robert Kennedy declares, â€Å"everyone had an equal opportunity to express himself and to be heard directly. It was a tremendously advantageous procedure that does not frequently occur within the executive branch† (36). Furthermore, President Kennedy is reported to have gone through â€Å"considerable lengths to ensure that he was not insulated from individuals or points of view because of rank or position† (89).While such an arrangement seems idealistic, President Kennedy’s recognition of all available viewpoints provided an extremely broad base of knowledge upon which to draw conclusions. It was this open-minded and reasonable approach that was heavily lacking prior to the Great Wars of the early twentieth century, thereby leading to global disasters t hat may have been averted under more logical circumstances. The measures taken by President Kennedy, as presented through Robert Kennedy’s Thirteen Days, lend overwhelming praise to his diplomatic triumph during the Cuban Missile Crisis.His success is reported as being founded upon the miscalculations of history, and a correction of those past errors in pursuit of peaceful relations. However, the idealistic manner in which the President’s actions are portrayed reek of both brotherly admiration and posthumous praise. Such a utopian presentation only serves to diminish President Kennedy’s heroic role amidst the crisis, and leads the reader to question how pivotal his leadership actually was. A personal memoir of Robert F. Kennedy, Thirteen Days must be read with a grain of salt to properly assess its validity as a historical record.While the President certainly acknowledged the socio-technological paradigm shift of modern warfare in addition to the stupidity from which the First World War emerged, Thirteen Days most obviously dismisses crucial events preceding the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Bay of Pigs Invasion, an unsuccessful attempt by American-trained Cuban refugees to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro, completely contradicts President Kennedy’s supposed cognizance of the dangers of nuclear war and impulsive military action.The failed invasion, initiated only three months after President Kennedy’s inauguration, humiliated the Administration and made communist nations distrustful of the United States. In addition, John F. Kennedy is consistently praised throughout his brother’s memoir for welcoming the viewpoints of not just government administrators, but regular people. For example, â€Å"he wanted the advice of his Cabinet officers, but he also †¦ wished to hear from Tommy Thompson† (89). However, not once throughout Kennedy’s memoir does he mention speaking to field soldiers or their names. The generic label of Tommy Thompson reduces the author’s faith in such sources, and President Kennedy is even shown to mock military figures in stating, they â€Å"lacked the ability to look beyond the limited military field† (90). Such evidence cannot be overlooked in determining the validity of President Kennedy’s success, and reduces the objectivity of this historical source. However, the ultimate success of President Kennedy’s historical reflections and peace-seeking measures cannot be denied.While Thirteen Days nearly emits audible applause for his actions, it accurately reports the measures taken to subdue the Cuban Missile Crisis, the effectiveness of quarantine and the importance of bargaining and communication. These actions, prompted through the establishment of the Executive Committee, resulted in the removal of nuclear arms from Cuba and the reestablishment of the global status quo. Rescuing our nation on the brink of nuclear war, the reader h as no choice but to close Thirteen Days with a deeper admiration for the courage and wisdom of President Kennedy.

Touch Screen Systems for Health Care Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Touch Screen Systems for Health Care - Essay Example It would serve as a vital tool within healthcare system. The Touchscreen kiosk would have several objectives that would mainly be for the benefit of the hospital and for creating greater awareness in patients so as to improve the quality of care. There would be some risks with the project including refusal from various quarters of the hospital to help with the delivery, improper location of the kiosks, sudden decisions taken by the management not to support the project, database/server failures, networking issues, power failure, poor hardware and software quality causing dysfunction periods, poor user interface, graphical designs, etc. The implementation costs of the TKIP would be around $500,000 with the running costs of $5000 per month. A revamp of the kiosk system would be planned every 3 to 4 years. The hospital has planned the implementation of the kiosks after a one year period when the procurement of resources, setting up network points and installing the kiosks, running the h ardware, developing the user interface and creating the content would be ready. The funding from the same would come from the IT budget that is print for the hospital. Internally and externally content management software would be required along with an interface to provide remote support to the various kiosks deployed in the hospital and in remote locations. In terms of scope, the customer expects to obtain greater knowledge and be able to make informed decisions regarding the healthcare. In this way, the customers can feel that they are fully in control of their body and, hence, the quality of services provided would increase. The entire project would be implemented by the Project Management Team which would work in coordination with the Department of Medical Informatics and Healthcare IT (DMIHIT) of the Hospital. The project proposed is for the implementation of touchscreen

Revising and Editing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Revising and Editing - Essay Example When revising a paper, one needs to focus beyond the simple grammar issues such as punctuation, spellings, and vocabulary use. Instead, revision must involve revisiting the paper and working on the weaknesses in the paper. First, one should ensure that the structure and organization of the paper is correct, with no component missing. The introduction, thesis statement, and conclusion must all be in place. Bearing the assignment topic in mind, one must read the paper to ensure the content of the writing marries the assignment topic. This is important to avoid irrelevance. The flow of ideas from topic to topic in the paper is also paramount during revision. One may also focus on the transitioning between paragraphs as an aspect that enhances flow of work. In addition, one must check that their ideas in the paper, as well as their arguments are in line with their thesis statement. Since revision is an involving process, one may need to re-write paragraphs to bring them to right desired standards.Revising mainly serves the function of ensuring that the presentation of the writing to the audience is effective. This is why revision focuses on the readability of the writing, the clarity of the work, as well as the logic of the paper. Failure to focus on these during revision may lead to misrepresentation and misinterpretation of the ideas, irrelevance in the work, and generally a poor quality paper. Editing, on the other hand takes a different focus on the paper. It mainly entails proofreading the work.

A Cloth Retail Business and Benefits of Ecommerce Case Study - 1

A Cloth Retail Business and Benefits of Ecommerce - Case Study Example As the workload increased so E-Kin had to increase the number of people working in the firm. Maria Winner was employed to handle the customer service and distribution of the products. With time the business took a turn up and grew to make the company to hire a CIO in the form of Cam Crawford, a CFO in the form of Won Dour Trump and a Purchasing Director in the form of Eric Zachary. With the increase in sales of the business and expansion into new products, E-Kin had to increase its reach. The expansion had to be from not only the people who could reach up to their retail outlets or call upon their number and order products but to people who lived miles away and even in other countries. As the pressure from competing for retail firms had started increasing, a step forward into the market had to be made in order to expand their firm and to attract and maintain new costumes for their products. With the advancement in technology and pressure from other competing firms, the only way possible for E-Kin to achieve this goal was to expand their business services into E-commerce. But before that, they had to think up of the positive and negative aspects of doing so because they now are already a well-reputed company who not only has to expand but also has to maintain its brand image. The suggestion by the Sales and Marketing Director of E-Kin that is Ken E. Sellit of taking the business into E-commerce has its own benefits and drawbacks. The potential benefits of using e-commerce to E-Kin can be that E-Kin can expand their potential buyers also known as their product market from their city to the national level and even to the international level with the minimal amount of investment. With e-commerce E-Kin can easily approach more customers without having to open their outlets in new cities, and without employing new and more workers. E-commerce can also help E-Kin to digitalize their company’s information hence reducing the costs of the paper-based information storage system. It is also a common perception that online presence enhances the brand image of a retailer.

Should the tax laws be reformed to encourage saving(pro and con) Essay

Should the tax laws be reformed to encourage saving(pro and con) - Essay Example When similar activities are subjected to different tax treatments, households and businesses respond to the tax code rather than the underlying economic fundamentals. Economic efficiency is increased by broadening of the tax base and lowering of the tax rates. The costs of distortions caused by high tax rates will be reduced. These are approximately proportional to the square of the tax rate. Also, a simpler tax code would reduce the considerable resources which are presently devoted to complying with current tax laws; and the freed-up resources could be used for more productive purposes. Another important principle is that some predictability in the tax code would facilitate better forward-looking economic decision-making by households and businesses. (Greenspan, Allan: Chairman 2005) The tax code includes many incentives intended to increase savings to finance retirement, health care, higher education, and so on. These savings incentives, which exempt some income from tax, have moved the current tax system in the direction of a consumption base. Researchers have raised questions about how much if any, net new savings they stimulate. (21st Century Challenges†¦p.73). If designing a tax system from scratch, one based on consumption rather than income, would be better for promoting economic growth. A consumtion tax is likely to encourage saving and capital formation. The retail sales tax, value added taxes, the personal consumption tax and the flat tax are all types of consumption taxes. They vary in their collection points and structure. In future it will become increasingly important for the nation to boost resources available, through greater national saving and enhanced incentives for participation in the labor force. The tax system has the potential to con tribute importantly to those goals, and so at the very least tax reform should not hinder the achievement of those objectives. Importantly, fundamental, thorough tax reform include difficult choices

Global Marketing and the Digital Revolution Research Paper

Global Marketing and the Digital Revolution - Research Paper Example line, the development of the paperless society and the increasing influence of electronic money transfer, the innovation in mobile apps and internet enabled mobile phones, the development of electronic data exchange (EDE) and the increasing development of social media represents some of the developments arising out of the digital revolution. The advent of the internet and its related social media networks has significantly affected and influenced the concept of marketing and the specific roles of marketing professionals (Jurras, 2012). Social media networks such as Facebook, instagram, pinterest and twitter are forever transforming the landscape of the marketing function and how consumers interact with each other, products and organizations. Jurras argues that with many consumers having online presence and finding it increasingly convenient and safe to engage in online purchases and payments, only firms with an effective social media strategy will achieve a cutting edge in the highly competitive global industry. Social media networks represent an online community of customers with shared attributes, characteristics and interests. These social media sites employ virtual and internet accessible technologies such as smart phones and tablets to facilitate real time interaction and connectivity of online consumers. The customers share their thoughts, experiences with products and organizations, their perceptions regarding the ability of certain products to meet their needs and preferences, and their likes and dislikes about particular brands (Field, 2013). Astute social marketers are increasingly recognizing the importance of social media sites, especially instagram, to interact with the online consumers, develop and enhance brand awareness, and implement their market communication strategies and campaigns. Field (2013) observes that small and local businesses are no longer disadvantaged in regards to size and financial capital because they do not need to be

Gem Infosys Incident-Response Policy Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Gem Infosys Incident-Response Policy - Coursework Example The first is the initial evaluation/assesm1ent.This entails determining whether an incident exists or not so that appropriate response established. The second policies involve defining the communication channel that will be followed to inform the leaders that an incident has identified. The third policy is risk/damage minimization. This is where the risk of self-replicating warms may be minimized by making sure that the workstation is disconnected from the hub to prevent further replication of warms. The fourth policy involves determining the severity of the warms attack as well as exact point of origin where those warms are coming from so that they can be contained. The fifth policy entails protecting the other systems against the identified security threats to avoid further losses. System security against warms may be enhanced by installing firewalls as well as transmitting organization data via secured networks. The sixth policy involves system recovery. This is where; the data an d information that was damage through network breakdowns may be recovered using special software such as Acronis. The seventh policy involves assessing the cost and damages caused by the incident for proper responses. Lastly but is updating the policies on a regular basis so that they remain relevant to organization needs (Shimonski, 2003). In order to prevent future network breakdowns, Gem Infosys should carry out the following activities namely: reduce the number of systems severity, integrate the activities of Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT), damage control, and having a well-defined incident response plan. The Computer Security Incident Response Team (CSIRT) should formulate and monitor the incident response plan.  

Critical analysis of ''The National Council for Voluntary Essay

Critical analysis of ''The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO)'' - Essay Example His vision has multiplied and is felt all over the world. Individuals such as S.P.Grundy could be accredited with the success and the loyalty that he has shown his friend from the commissioning before he died .He told him, Grundy â€Å" If I am scuppered I’m leaving $ 1,000 to do some of the things we talked about†. It is from this inheritance that the organization has grown to be what it is today. This is a big challenge to many organizations and they should be encouraged to partake in such kinds of acts. This has been the spirit since its inception with many companies have coming up as a result.( National Council For Voluntary Organizations) . The organizations which would essentially be regarded as projects of the NCVO include;- 1. Citizens Advice Bureaux 2. Age Concern 3. Charities Aid Foundation, 4. ACRE 5. Community Matters 6. Marriage Guidance Councils 7. SIA 8. Standard Committee of Women’s Social Services 9. Young Hostels Associations 10. Young Farmersâ €™ Club among many others These are some of the main projects that through which the NCVO has seen considerable change and impact. Most of these movements for instance the Young Farmers’ Club has gone global to reach continents such as Africa and to be incorporated into the curriculum of these schools. The company conducts its operations from its head office at Regent’s Wharf, London. NCVO as began by Edward was to do its operations in the spirit of helping the community. The organization has over 8300 organizations or members under its umbrella and makes to be the largest organization in the world to have such following. (National Council For Voluntary Organizations ) In the year 2009, the organization celebrated 90 years of serving the world in voluntary and community service. During the celebration, the company indicated that it looks forward to serving the people for another 90 years. The organization has various numbers of functions. These functions are specif ically a reflection of its vision and mission statement. The company’s vision is that whereby all people are influenced and in fact driven to make a positive impact in their diverse communities. The organization’s mission on the other side is such that it aims at being the voice of the people and to provide support for the people especially the voiceless in their communities. The organization also has certain values that it upholds and considers that for every organization under its umbrella has to observe. These values are Independence , it encourages the independence of all organizations under its umbrella, Innovation, in this the organization believes that its members are creative and it will help and uphold this value, collaboration in the sense that NCVO believes that if these organizations interact and do work as a team , then this will aid in the achievement of the goals, Inclusiveness, the NCVO appreciates that these organizations are diverse and it helps this in the sense that it focuses on including all these aspects in the work of the organization, Passion ,the NCVO believes that success of these members is driven by their passion and in so doing it shall uphold ,promote and enhance this value.( National Council for Voluntary Organizations ). Some of the aims of the organizatio

Online Hotel Reservation Essay Example for Free

Online Hotel Reservation Essay -According to Mrs. Michelle Amir,co-fouder and CEO,says:,†I am proud to say that by the third quarter 2008 we will have succeeded in our goal to become a global hotel booking agency. During three consecutive years our company results have shown a tremendous annual increase of much more than 100 %. Over 2007 we boasted gross sales of over 36 million. We expect to reach 75 million in hotel reservation in 2008. The first quarter in 20087 looks promising. With over 13 million gross sales we start the year ahead of budget. We achieved this with a mere three destinations. Therefore,with so many more destinations,we expect our results to continue to increase significantly. We also expect many more repeat visitors and actual bookers due to the added cities. † -Callista Hospitality is a reservations and management system for motels, lodges and small to mid-sized hotels. It incorporates powerful, easy-to-use features which are normally available only in high-end, expensive reservations software systems. Electronic reservations, easy checkin/out, automatic management of online reservations and all changes in room availability, integrated and automatic guest call logging and allocation with user-defined margins per call type, multiple accounts per guest room, automatic confirmation emailing, user-defined in-house charge allocation, on/off peak calendar, complete guest history, integrated guest billing and automatic scheduled reporting for management, statistical analysis, financial analysis and operations and much more are all available in this innovative, inexpensive, easy-to-use system. A fully automated checkin wizard makes checkin fast and efficient even for the most novice user. The online hotel reservation is the only growing section between the different methods of reservation. The 40% of rooms in cities were reserved online in 2009 and this rate is increasing because there is more and more online reservation system. Online reservation systems are very useful because the traveller can compare prices, can see the other travellers opinions and ratings from the hotels and their services. In this way it is easier for the client to choose the right hotel. It saves time and money for travellers.

Future Of Globalisation And Its Impact Economics Essay

Future Of Globalisation And Its Impact Economics Essay It is a known fact in the modern world that globalisation has become the main ingredient for the success of developing countries and their businesses. Globalization became a major worldwide force to reckon with since the end of the cold war in the 90s and the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Countries opened their boundaries to marketplace financial system making business increasingly international. A procedure of structural modification urged through the affects and studies of the World Bank and other global firms was born in numerous developing nations. Moreover, globalisation has opened up fresh chances for growing countries. It has provided better entrance to urbanized state marketplaces and technology which in turn guarantees enhanced efficiency and advanced living status (Lim and Lim, 2007). On the other hand, there are arguments that state globalisation has given unwanted confronts such as rising imbalance all over the world, instability in the monetary market and ecologica l worsening. A different unenthusiastic feature of globalisation is that an immense mainstream of growing nations stay separated from the procedure. Till the 90s, countries like India were quite opposed to the idea of globalisation. The phenomenon of globalisation was opened to the Indian economy through the introduction of the New Economic policy in 1991. It was the initiation of this policy that resulted in the transformation of the Indian economy to open up to liberalisation of business and broadening of investment opportunities. Since then the world has seen gradual decrease to the obstacles and acceleration in the rise of globalisation. In this particular topic review, we try and concentrate on the impact of globalization on countries, businesses and public sector. On the basis of my findings from relevant literature, I will try to comprehend the concept of globalization and its future. Globalization: Globalization can be explained as a continuing procedure through which local economies, cultures, and traditions have been incorporated by a world-spanning system of interaction and implementation. The word is many a time employed to purposely refer to the internalisation of economy. It can also signify the incorporation of nationwide economies into the worldwide financial system by business flows of capital, FDI, immigration, and extend of skill. Though, globalization is typically documented as being forced through an amalgamation of economic, political, sociocultural, technical, and organic issues. The word may furthermore submit to the intercontinental movement of thoughts, tongues, and otherwise famous culture by acculturation (Lim and Lim, 2007). Though the exact meaning of globalisation remains elusive, some interpretations are universally acceptable. Lim and Lim (2007): say that the procedure of globalisation not just comprises beginning of business world widely, growth of higher sense of interaction, internationalization of fiscal marketplaces, increasing significance of multinational corporations, population relocations and further normally amplified mobility of people, capital, products, information and concepts other than moreover pollution, illnesses and infections. Globalization Impact across Countries: Significantly, the growth of India and China is a just element of a bigger picture which exposes extremely rough allocation of the advantages of internationalization between nations. The developed nations, with their powerful primary economic stand, profusion of ability and capital, and technical guidance, were comfortably situated to increase considerable advantages from rising internationalization of the world economy. Growing worldwide marketplaces for products and facilities offer fresh stores for their exports. Whereas, the appearance of worldwide manufacturing methods and liberalized investment regulations produced fresh chances for their multinational enterprises, rising their worldwide operations and authority of marketplace (Cetinic and Goran, 2008),. Likewise, the development of worldwide fiscal marketplaces offered developed nations chances for speculations with advanced incomes in rising marketplaces. As well as, their technical control, jointly with the intensification o f global regulations on IPRs by the World Trade Organization, raised their incomes from licensing fees and royalties. Though, these advantages were partially counteracted through internal issues of alteration that generated fatalities for several employees. But one cannot deny the fact that another cluster that gathered important advantages was the alternative rising nations that have been extremely victorious in mounting their exports and in magnetizing great inflows of foreign direct investment. Chiefly, among the benefactors have been the unique NIEs of North Asia that have currently congregated on developed state revenue heights and financial systems. Several further Asian middle-income states, the Europe succession nations, and Latin American nations for example Chile and Mexico moreover seem to be on path to accomplish this (Daianu and Daniel, 2008). Globalization Impact on Indian Economy: There are several insinuations of globalization for a state economy. Globalization has strengthened interdependence and rivalry among countries in the globe marketplace. These financial reorganizations have received the subsequent important advantages: India had received positive impact through globalization on the whole development rate of the market. This is a chief development considering that the development rate of India in the 1980s was extremely little at 4 per cent and Gross Domestic Product raise in nations such as Korea, Mexico, Brazil, and Indonesia was in excess of double of that of India. However Indias standard yearly increase rate was approximately twice in the 80s to 6.3 per cent, still it was inferior to the development rate in Indonesia, Korea and China. The lift up in Gross Domestic Product development has resulted in a respectable transformation in the worldwide position of India (Daianu and Daniel, 2008). Therefore, the place of India in the worldwide economy had enhanced from the ninth position in 1992 to fifth position in 2002; when Gross Domestic Product was estimated on a buying power equality foundation. Throughout 1990-91, due to Raos( then Prime Minister of India) modifications plan, the Indian market developed through 0.11 per cent simply, although the Gross Domestic Product boosted up to 6.2 per cent in 1993-94, and 7.1 per cent 1994-95. A development rate of over 9 per cent was an accomplishment for the Indian economy by the year 2006-07. Increase in the Gross Domestic Product development rate may be perceived as sign of good things to come in the future (Cetinic and Goran, 2008). Uncertainty in Europe due to Rising Phenomena of Globalization: Globalization is a happening; you cannot fight it or stop it. It is a predictable procedure which can be regulated and adapted. Due to globalisation local skilled labour employment rate was decreasing in almost all over the globe. This resulted in amalgamation of societies that had earlier been totally divided from one another. It was as if they were fighting a common enemy. The EU sceptics were of the view that globalisation would lead to labour exploitation and local unemployment rather than growth for the respective nations. Most of Western Europe believed that availability of jobs would result in mass immigration of foreign workers. The fact that they would be available on the cheap would threaten local citizens. Those that opposed internationalization were unified in their belief. Several were opposing it because they were convinced that MNCs were basically evil. These countries formed the basis of the worldwide anti-capitalist faction. The primary concern was to defend home job s in the western region, although this myopic hypothesis left local employees unable to compete and advance themselves. Basically, this crippled the globe with dishonest jobs, with no honest earnings and with no honest chances (Bartlett and William, 2007). As a result Central banks were at a failure. As assets soared all over the globe at a continuous pace, nations would locate themselves with a huge equilibrium of extra expenses and shortages. Policy makers found themselves in a position where imaginative resource flows were in risk of turning into a chief source of unsteadiness. The equity fizz that was considered ingenuity at the start of the innovative millennium was nearing boiling point, as plan makers were scratching their heads in the delusion that economies might carry on to develop no issue how lofty the stage of debt of private sector (Bartlett and William, 2007). Globalization Impact on Australian Economy: Business plans of Australia, since the mid 1990s, have been rapidly increased to start home businesses to cater to the worldwide marketplace. The main area of concentration of structural reform has been to focus the private region in Australia to further rivalry from equally local and worldwide resources (Gligorov and Vladimir, 2007). Australia has usually had elevated stages of security in the 1960s in regions like fabrics, footwear and clothing and vehicle. By the beginning of 80s the successful fading of security in the TCF businesses was in surplus of 190 per cent and 56.2 per cent for traveller motor cars. Although, several people would argue that cutting security will decrease service. It is a proven fact that several businesses that were greatly defended throughout the 1980s and 1990s still face reduction of service and were unable to establish themselves in export marketplaces. Yearly Growth in Exports, Each Sector, 1998-99 to 2008-09. Sector % Manufacturing 15.6 Services 9.9 Minerals and Fuels 6.8 Rural 4.8 (Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, (2008), Australian National Accounts, 5206.0.) Globalisation Impact on Financial Markets: Over 52 per cent of the every day foreign exchange income experiences changes and alternatives. This enlargement in temporary fund shifts and hedging has augmented instability of exchange rate. The changes in the dollar of Australia in February 2002 appropriately reveal this. The declaration of a 1.1 per cent decrease in interest rate through the United States Federal Reserve direct to a plunge in the dollar of Australia through approximately 2.30 per cent within 22 hours (Kim and Kim, 2008). Usually, a decrease in interest rates must have raised the dollar of Australia other than foreign exchange dealers think that the decrease in rates of interest would raise returns in the United States, in the near prospect, therefore would raise the value of dollar in United States. But instantly after the next 48 hours the dollar of Australia had increased 4%. At this point dealers decided that the 1.2% rate decline could not be ample to stop a slump in the financial system of United States. Th ese indecisions and conjectures have raised the instability in the prices and therefore the proper forecasting of these variations is essential (Kim and Kim, 2008). FDI Inflows distribution among developing countries, Total for 2000s (in per cent) (Source: Kovac, Oskar (2008), FDI flows among developing countries and opportunities with Globalization, Paper prepared for the AAASS Conference in Boca Raton, Florida, November) A Brief Comparison among Developing Countries: In the case of global trade The share of India of exports of merchandise to world raised from .06 per cent to .08 per cent in the previous 2 years. In comparison, in the same period of time Chinas share has tripled to approximately 3.9 per cent The share of India in the worldwide business is same to that of the Philippines but the market is 5 times lesser according to International Monetary Fund approximations. In the past periods foreign direct investment streams into India have a standard of approximately 0.6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product against 4 per cent of Brazil and 6.1 per cent for China. Foreign direct investment flows to China currently surpasses United States USD 55 billion per annum. In Indias case it is USD 5bn. (Hunter, 2008) Reasons behind fast growth of global trade: Development in worldwide interactions Fast development of the Asian Giants and emerging economies like India and China Improved status of living Control to market systems in Eastern Europe liberalization and Personalization of nationwide economies Deregulation of international resources economies Liberalization of business assisted through WTO, development and extension of the European Union Dip in transportation rates (Ronkainen, 2008) Businesses affected by the Globalization: Cross continent or border trades in the age of globalization is not considered risky or expensive work as earlier. In modern times, to stay in the market; aggression and assertiveness is the sure shot to success. Initiation of international trade would expose the entrepreneur to global dimensions and an understanding of the macro nature of todays market place. In contrast, if a company does not intend to be global and does not expose itself to global marketplace, it is unknowingly harming itself through lack of consumer demands which are so essential in modern business. It is devoid of important feedback which would have provided by the international customer. The business world today is a consumer driven market and competition is fierce. In these times time of globalization whoever caters first to the consumers survives and improves its long term prospects. With raise in customers insists and destruction of worldwide marketplace the global trade is anticipated to help numerous marke tplaces in a satisfactory mode (Kretschmer and Hansjorg, 2008). Unseen and gradual shifting of financial changes in the current business scenario of the world might eventually damage trade. Investigations might cite that internationalization of globe trade has led to petroleum price problems, dip in share marketplaces, housing catastrophes, limited availability of assets, and on the whole a sense of constant survival like never before. With some unwanted characteristics in world market due to internalisation, traditional financial theory suggests that the interest rate these days bear resemblance to that of 1990. But these are just apprehension rather than facts with no proper evidence to back it up. The modern marketplace is the result of a international financial system which is performing the job of an easing aspect is a proven fact with all the data of developed and developing countries. It has been projected that by 2014 the mounting markets will report for 52 per cent of world Gross Domestic Product (Lopandic and Dusko, 2008). Globalization Modern success stories Starting of closed market systems: Several successful increasing markets have been engaged in systematic reform of essential society standards which have gone unnoticed in the urbanized countries. The aspects which cause development and financial combination integrate possessions freedoms, legal process, published principle, personalization of state owned organizations, elimination of assets administration, and liberalization of standards connected FDI (Simic and Predrag, 2008). Business need: All multinationals are aware of the ethic that development in the fiscal position for the continuation of international organizations is dependent upon the services provided to the employees. Nowadays institutions are concentrating on better communications growth utilities, Interactions, and well-provided transport facility. These initiations has progressively enhanced in comparison to what was a few years ago as a result of international standards. Increasing economies: Over the last decades India and China has observed a 10 per cent and 8 per cent of yearly development correspondingly. Markets currently typify younger society, growing number of educated and skilled people, rising middle income group populations, inspiring profits and development (Simic and Predrag, 2008). Measures responsible for the development of multinational corporations: Increases the life cycles of product Economic growth through globalization Initiatives are taken for lessening manufacturing costs Maintains a controlled production by cheap employment Deregulation of assets marketplaces Reduction in transport costs Exploration of rising marketplaces Prevention of excise and non excise obstructions Endorses vertical merger (Schott, 2008) Globalization is extremely significant to every executive nowadays, particularly those leading Information Systems plan in a business. This idea is particularly significant nowadays where they discover their selves challenging with industries or doing trade within the globe. According to Kretschmer and Hansjorg (2008), though several big corporations have internationalized for many past years, the Web, in excess of several further incident, has facilitated the smallest corporation to have a worldwide existence. The supports of the mobile devices and internet have raised the bar of internationalisation to new height irrespective of the fact that it is controlled by a man or machine. Worldwide delivery systems and Outsourcing, receive the benefits of the technology that is accessible to overcome the gaps among industries, their customers, providers, consumers and workers. Globalization gives new opportunities: Globalization is an event that has hastened in current periods, calling for further speedy response from undersized nations, several of which have restricted sources and capability to take action. Therefore, globalization carries chances in addition to challenges for small nations. So as to obtain benefits of such a process, these nations will have to assume what many have explained as a planned worldwide relocation of their economies (Watts, 2008). Policy Development by Public and Private Sector for Exploring New Opportunities: Measures on top of plan fronts and the skill to distinguish transforms, to take on and acclimatize to fresh technology, and to restructure quickly will decide the capability of the industrious segment in small nations to take action to the latest chances. Governments, organizations, and human beings should obtain familiar to a need of durability. Cash facilities and employ of IT and electronic commerce show two instances of the type of innovative chances on offer to small nations in the latest worldwide market. Previous parts of the mission team account, on the changeover to a novel worldwide business atmosphere and making capability, embark the type of home plans and outside help that will place small nations to receive benefits of these chances. The chances of manufacture of products and services in developed countries are based on their organizations capability to look for planned business unions. Corporations have to be supple, receptive, aggressive, pioneering, competent, and consumer-focused. The disintegration of global production procedures into divided phases in dissimilar nations and planned business unions has made it promising for systems of small organizations to defeat the restrictions of dimension and fight successfully against big companies. (Lopandic and Dusko, 2008) Conclusion: Globalization as a phenomenon is a very complex one. We have seen instances where developed nations might face a situation of stagnation, whereas some nations had have undergone financial catastrophe and practiced economic retrogression due to internalisation (Schott, 2008). Furthermore, we cannot deny the surprising emergence of upcoming powerhouses like China and India. They are proofs that global liberalization and competition enhances consumer price. It is safe to state that globalization has its benefits and ill effects. It impacts distinctive sectors, countries, businesses and sections in a dissimilar way. Even though developing countries might reap great rewards from it, uncontrolled and unregulated globalization may lead to economic turmoil. What we all agree upon is the fact that market economy in the hands of private enterprises and capitalists without proper supervision might lead to difficult situations reminiscent of neocolonialism. Essential steps should be taken at a n ational and international level to neutralize the harmful effects and to achieve the accolades of globalisation. Love it, hate it, the fact remain that globalization is here to stay. (2008, Cherunilam) The future of globalisation lies in these very handsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦Ãƒ ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the future of globalisation lies with us. It is people who are the objects of globalization and at the same time its subjects. What also follows logically from this is that globalization is not a law of nature, but rather a process set in train by people.

My Feelings on English language :: essays research papers

My feelings about the English language, including both grammar and literature, have changed several times throughout my life. These changes took place as I was influenced by my family and by the different teachers that I have had throughout my academic career. As a young boy, I knew very little about the English language, but the instruction which I have received throughout my academic career has worked to shape my feelings about the English language. My parents began reading to me when I was very young. When I was only six months old, my parents bought me a number of plastic books. Using simple picture books, my parents taught me to recognize pictures of objects and how to associate those objects with their specific names. I learned how to talk when I was only a year old, and my parents continued to read to me in order to help me build up my vocabulary. I specifically remember my mother reading Sesame Street books to me. When she read to me, she used a different voice for each of the characters. I heard the same stories read to me so many times that I began to memorize them. I was able to recite my favorite stories before I could read them for myself. While I was unable to read, my skills with the English language were developing as I learned and used the words that I heard my parents read to me. My parents, my first teachers, made learning the English language an enjoyable experience for me at a young age.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   I began attending preschool at the age of three, and I have a number of memories from that period in my life. My preschool teachers made learning about the English language fun. They ingrained in me the letters of the English alphabet using a number of techniques. I remember gluing uncooked macaroni noodles onto construction paper in order to form different letters of the alphabet. The letters or words that we learned were usually associated with a fun story or with a specific color. The teachers also read a great deal to me and my fellow classmates. Story-time became something that I looked forward to. Because my preschool teachers made learning fun, I looked forward to learning more about the English language at a very young age. My parents further reinforced what I learned in preschool by continuing to read to me at home.

All Quiet On The Western Front :: essays research papers

The story centers around a young soldier named Paul in some unnamed regiment in the German army. They fight the Allied forces of the United States of America and Europe, plus their friends. The story is about how Paul and the other soldiers with him, who are also his closest friends, deal with the many aspects of the war. They do this in the only way that they know how, and they are not always successful. Remarque deals with the characters' fears and thoughts by mixing them together into the story. You form a kind of bond with the various characters throughout the book. Although the author does not offer great detail on any one character, you still find yourself caring and hoping for each of them as they fight, love, hate, and in many cases, die. This is mainly through each of the character's personalities, which are so well-developed that you find yourself wondering if these were real people at some time or another and you might travel to Germany to meet them. The plot is not linear , and in most cases I would say that this is a negative thing. However, in the book the author actually uses it to enhance the storyline by not dwelling on any one scene for too long. Many chapters end and you find yourself wondering if there was supposed to be more. By the end, you realize that it actually enhances the plot greatly. One moment the people might be eating and bathing in the barracks, and the page after they are fighting on the front lines. It skips around a lot, but I became used to it. I may even grow to miss it in the future. This story's real strength lies somewhere else, though. This is in the portrayal of the characters' thoughts and feelings. Each character reacts to situations so realistically that many times I found myself thinking: "That's what I would have done!" This blends well with Remarque's many ventures into human nature throughout the book. He uses his characters to go into the depths of all of our souls, and he does it with skill. Especial ly well done was the part where Paul gets some leave of his duties and he goes back home to his family for a few weeks. While there, he realizes that he is no longer one of these people, that he is changed forever from what he has seen and what he has done.

Frankenstein and If Nights Could Talk Essay -- comparison compare cont

Frankenstein and If Nights Could Talk      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Even though most people associate the word "monster" with ghouls, goblins, and other creations of the horror genre, monsters can exist in the more common shape of human beings. People who have suffered sexual abuse, people who suffered neglect as children, and people who have chemical imbalances in their brains have committed worse crimes than Bram Stoker's Dracula ; Adolf Hitler seems more of a monster than Mary Shelley's. However, most people who can behave so horribly towards other humans were not born monsters; rather their experiences and relationships molded their hideous forms. As Shelley's Frankenstein and Marsha Recknagel's memoir If Nights Could Talk demonstrate, the experiences of those who care for these creatures affect their fates as well.    Mary Shelley, or perhaps Victor, neglects to give the monster a name and refers to him as "the monster" or "the daemon" throughout the novel, however he does not truly become a monster until he commits William's murder. The monster had no murderous impulses when first created; Victor simply called him so because of his hideous appearance. While spending his first night alone in the forest, the monster felt "...half frightened, as it were, instinctively, finding myself so desolate...but feeling pain on both sides, I sat down and wept" (Shelley 71). Like a child, though not in the shape of one, the monster helplessly suffered as he tried to find his way in a strange world without a parent to guide him. When he finally finds himself at De Lacey's cottage, the monster shows interest in humanity and a longing to become a part of society. He reads Milton's Paradise Lost, Plutarch's Lives, and Goethe's Sorro... ...ered his family. As nurturers, Marsha and Victor's experiences with being nurtured affect the monster and Jamie, as well as their own experiences with mankind. Perhaps these two stories demonstrate the idea that parents raise their children either exactly the same as they were raised or exactly the opposite. While both choose to raise their monsters in opposite ways from which they had been raised, one monster changes back into a man though the other does not change his shape but perhaps he could not. When Jamie changes his name to Dante, he reasons that both he and Dante went to Hell and came back; but for the monster he cannot come back from his Hell, rather it exists all around him.    Works Cited Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1994. Recknagel, Marsha. If Night Could Talk New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001.   

Oedipus the King Essay

In Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the themes of fate and free will are very strong throughout the play. Only one, however, brought about Oedipus’ downfall and death. Both points could be argued to great effect. In ancient Greece, fate was considered to be a rudimentary part of daily life. Every aspect of life depended and was based upon fate (Nagle 100). It is common belief to assume that mankind does indeed have free will and each individual can decide the outcome of his or her life. Fate and free will both decide the fate of Oedipus the King. Both sides of the argument can be greatly supported. The Greeks believed in the idea that personality of the individual greatly affected his or her life (Nagle 120). Their personality was what decides their own free will. A wise man will make good decisions in his life; an ignorant and stubborn man won’t be so fortunate. The character traits of a person have a certain positive or negative affect on the choices that he or she makes. For Oedipus, one of these attributes was the desire for knowledge and truth about his own existence. This driving force in the play led to the truth of his origin. This ties in with his own aspect of free will. His free will is based on his drive for knowledge. Throughout the entire play, Oedipus pushes Tiresias, Creon, Jocasta, the oracle, the messenger, and the shepherd for information regarding his beginnings. Each one of these characters in some way or form refused to give him a thorough answer. As he draws closer to the answer, another character tries to stop his journey. Oedipus continues moving onward even though others request he didn’t. â€Å"Oh no, listen to me, I beg you, don’t do this†¦. Listen to you? No more. I must know it all, see the truth at last † (Sophocles 195). His desire for truth kept pushing him to continue his search, ultimately leading to his downfall. The entire time Oedipus had the capability to discontinue the plight. However he made the independent decision to continue. Another instance where choices directly linked Oedipus to the prophecy was at the crossroads. Oedipus demonstrates an important trait in his character, stubbornness. This trait is visible when Oedipus reacted to the man pushing him aside at the crossroads. â€Å"the one shouldering me aside, the driver, I strike him in anger! †¦. I killed them all–every mother’s son! † (Sophocles 189). In ancient times when a caravan was coming down the road they usually pushed you to the side. Oedipus didn’t like this and flipped out, killing all of them. It was his stubbornness that caused this to happen. His personality led to the decision to kill the caravan and unknowingly, his father too. If he were a wise and content man, then his decision would have differed. When Oedipus defeated the Sphinx by solving the riddle, he could have refused to take the missing king’s throne. He could have also declined to marry the former king’s wife, unaware that the queen was his own mother. He accepted both of these without any regrets. If his decision was different it might have altered the course of events in the future. His personality made sure that the decisions went the way they did. These choices were made by Oedipus with his own free will, his own decisions. He didn’t have to accept these gifts, but did none the less. These conclusions would lead to his own demise, but they were his own mistakes, not fate. Free will can also be found in the actions of Jocasta and Laius. The choices they made were not made by their own judgement, but rather reactions to a situation that neither of them was prepared to deal with. Upon hearing the prophecy that foretold the future sins in their household; they made a harsh decision out of fear. They had little Oedipus sent to die at the foothills of a mountain. This reaction seems very cruel, but back in ancient times it was very natural. Being that an oracle foretold the prophecy, Jocasta and Laius responded as any Greek parents would. They solved the problem by removing Oedipus from the equation, but in the end their decision wasn’t the right one. This leaves the readers of the play to wonder what might have happened if Jocasta and Lauis never sent Oedipus to die as an infant. Would the prophecy still have taken place? It seems that it wouldn’t have, because Oedipus wouldn’t have engaged in the misled wandering after he left his adopted home. Oedipus would have had no reason to fulfill the prophecy, but that is another question that we don’t know. On the other hand, if Oedipus didn’t listen to the prophecy suggested to him in Corinth, he never would have returned to Thebes to carry out his destiny. All these instances can be looked at that free will was the deciding factor. Was it really? Fate can also be looked upon in every instance, equally a strong argument against free will. Oedipus’ desire for knowledge can also be looked at by the standpoint of fate. He was born with his own stubbornness. The Gods themselves made him that way and it can not be changed. No matter what his decisions were, their gift to him will lead to the path they gave him. He can’t escape the fate the Gods have given him. He kept pushing farther and father, but it just led to his downfall. Nothing he could have done would have stopped that. The prophets make this clear in their prophecies throughout the text. All the premonitions they say come true. They can’t be avoided because the Gods made you with your personality and it controls your life. Ultimately they control you. When Oedipus reaches the crossroads, it was fate that led to the events that took place. â€Å"Short work, by god-with one blow of the staff† (Sophocles 189). This quote reveals that the gods did play apart in the events that took place. Oedipus’ prophecy was to kill his own father. Unwillingly because of his stubbornness Oedipus struck down and did indeed kill his father. Because the gods gave him this trait, his fate was unavoidable. The traits of Oedipus would generate the right sequence of events that would eventually lead to his prophecy coming true. Oedipus’ personality was the cause of the events. His free will blended in with the fate given to him by the gods. All together it was fate that decided these actions. The prophecy given to Lauis and Jocasta is also another example of unavoidable fate. Even though it wasn’t there own choices to get rid of their son, their reaction to the prophecy set up the events for the future. If they never sent Oedipus to die at the mountainside, he most likely never would have killed Lauis at the crossroads. Their reaction was to a message given to them by the Gods. The Gods dictated what was going to happen. They told the prophet to give out the prophecy. Leading to the vanquishing of little Oedipus. All along every action leads to ones fate in life. The greatest show of fate in the text is when Oedipus gauges his eyes out with the golden clips. He does this in reaction to the events that take place. Oedipus was aware that he alone was responsible for his actions and gauged his own eyes out. That is the free will standpoint on the issue. Oedipus was at the same time not responsible for his actions. The gods controlled his personality and therefore controlled the outcome of his life. If Oedipus realized this he might not have taken his own sight. The gods use their power to provoke human’s free will. They were responsible for the demise of Oedipus, but in the same time convince the human that it was there fault. Free will and fate can be related to every aspect of Oedipus the King. The gods who control fate manipulate the thinking and concepts in human’s free will. Ultimately fate is what overcomes all. It may not seem like it, but free will was given to mankind by the gods or God. So in turn the gods decide the fate of everybody when they created man. It was already decided and can not be changed. One can still argue the position that free will is more dominant, but if you relate to creation and how the gods made man, fate overcomes. In Oedipus the King, Sophocles made it clear to his fellow Greeks that mankind has the ability, even with prophecies and oracles, to make choices free from influence of divine forces. He also shows that fate does play a part in human’s lives too. They tie into each other for a direct balance. Overall, fate is the divine power that controls free will and determines one’s life.

Relationship Characteristics

1. According to p. 117 in Ch. 5 of the textbook, what are the four characteristics that define intimate relationships? Why does building relationships involve a degree of risk? The four characteristics that define intimate relationships are emotional availability, emotional attachment, and behavioral interdependence. When you meet someone new rather it is an intimate relationship or building a new friendship, it is always hard because you have to build trust and get to know that person. Then there is always the possibility of rejection, betrayal, or disappointment. People’s expectations sometimes set them up to be hurt and then sometimes their expectations are â€Å"reasonable† but the other person is just hurtful. Whenever 2 people are involved, you have but so much control over what will happen 2. Refer to Table 5. 2 on p. 132 in Ch. 5 of the textbook. What are three characteristics of a healthy relationship? Why is it important to be aware of the unhealthy characteristics of a relationship? Three characteristics of a healthy relationship are trusting and being honest with yourself and each other, resolving conflicts in a rational, peaceful way, and lastly practicing safer sex methods. It is important to beware of the signs of unhealthy characteristics for yourself and also for maybe a loved one or a friend. When someone is in a unhealthy relationship sometimes it can lead to more violent things such as suicide, death, or any act of violence. So knowing the signs in the long run can help saving a life. Also read  Driver’s Ed Module Reflection Journal 3. According to p. 119 in Ch. 5 of the textbook, there are bonds that are common to both friends and lovers. What are the five common bonds? The five common bonds that both friends and lovers have in common are nurturance, enhancement of personal well- being, mutual regard, mutual trust, and lastly security.

Accounting Education: an international journal Essay

ABSTRACT This study into the perceived importance of oral communication skills in accountancy included the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data from a national survey of New Zealand accountants, followed by a series of semi-structured interviews. Survey and interview data reveal agreement with existing literature: New Zealand accountancy employers find all oral communication skills somewhat important and a number of specific skills extremely important, but employers also report seldom finding the required level of oral communication proficiency in new university graduates. The study produced an inventory of 27 individual oral communication skills that will be useful to similar investigations in different national contexts. Additionally, the findings of this study may be useful to curricular development both in the New Zealand and international contexts. See more: Satirical essay about drugs KEY WORDS: Oral communication, workplace communication, listening, presentation skills, telephone skills 1.Introduction Academics and practitioners do not always concur but, in the case of communication skills in accountancy graduates, these two sets of stakeholders are in firm agreement: both written and oral communication skills are extremely important in the accountancy work- place (Albin and Crockett, 1991; Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Borzi and Mills, 2001; Hock, 1994; Johnson and Johnson, 1995; LaFrancois, 1992; McDonald, 2007; Morgan, 1997). This agreement extends across international boundaries, as a number of studies around the globe have reported the high value placed on communication skills, for example in the UK (Morgan, 1997), USA (Smythe and Nikolai, 2002), and Australia (Tempone and Martin, 2003). In New Zealand, the site of the present study, academic studies into the importance of communication skills in accountancy and the challenges of teaching those skills (Gardner, Milne, Stringer and Whiting, 2005; McLaren, 1990) have multiple corollaries in the workforce. Accountancy job advertisements regularly request both oral and written communication skills; competency in oral communication is emphasised on the website of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA); and oral communication is an explicit component of the assessment structure of the PCE2 examination, which concludes the second (and final) stage of training towards becoming a Chartered Accountant in New Zealand. However, both formal studies and anecdotal evidence suggest that new accountancy graduates often do not possess communication skills sufficient to meet the demands of the workplace, particularly in the area of oral communication (Adler and Milne, 1994; Courtis and Zaid, 2002; Gray, 2010; McLaren, 1990; Zaid and Abraham, 1994). Students in New Zealand may graduate with a university degree in accountancy after three years of full-time study. (Accountancy may also be studied in less rigorous programs at polytechnics and institutes of technology.) The intensity of the university programs of study, which are accredited by NZICA, means students have a challenging workload of technical study and very limited opportunity to take elective or ‘liberal’ courses. Of course, limited class time and the resultant curricular pressures and inadequate skill mastery are not unique to the New Zealand accountancy classroom (Pittenger, Miller and Mott, 2004; Wardrope and Bayless, 1999). The globally-recognised problem of insufficient oral communication skill in accoun- tancy graduates leads to a series of questions that need practical answers: . How should university educators respond, strategically and pedagogically, to this reported lack of oral communication skills in new graduates?. What approaches and assessments within university courses will best meet the needs of students aspiring to successful accountancy careers? . To what extent is the development of such skills in students the responsibility of the university and what is the role of the workplace in developing oral communication skills? Before university educators can make any meaningful decisions concerning pedagogy or curricula, and appropriately teach the oral communication skills needed for a successful accountancy career, they need concrete information regarding exactly which specific skills are most valued and most needed in accountancy. Thus a research question was formu- lated: to ascertain the value of specific oral communication skills in new graduates, as perceived by New Zealand accountancy employers. It was hoped that answers to this research question would provide educators with specific information with which to consider their optimal pedagogical responses. The research question led to the construction and implementation of this longitudinal study. Initial research objectives were: . To determine how much importance New Zealand accountancy employers place  on oral communication skills in the new graduates they hire. . To determine what specific kinds of oral communication skills are required by New Zealand accountancy employers in new graduates. . To determine the degree to which accountancy employers are finding the required oral communication skills in newly-graduated accountancy students. The study included the collection and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, from a national survey of New Zealand accountants, followed by a series of semi-structured Oral Communication Skills in New Accountancy Graduates 277 interviews. Initial findings from the first-phase survey have been reported elsewhere (Gray, 2010). Overall, survey and interview data revealed that accountancy employers find all oral communication skills somewhat important and a number of specific skills extremely important, but that the required level of overall oral communication skill was seldom found in new graduates. Accountancy employers agreed that the possession of strong oral communication skills improves a graduate’s chance of succeeding in the hiring process and also of progressing in his or her career. The study produced an inven- tory of 27 individual oral communication skills, of which listening skills were most highly valued by accountancy employers, and formal presentation skills were considered least valuable, although there was disagreement on this point. It is hoped the oral communi- cation skill inventory will be useful to similar investigations in different national contexts. Additionally, the findings of this study may be of use both in the New Zealand and inter- national context in the long-term planning of curricular development. 2.Literature Review Studies of communication in accountancy agree broadly on the importance of written and oral communication skills. Many formal and informal studies to this point have tended to use general terms such as ‘communication skills,’ or the even vaguer term ‘generic skills’;1 it is difficult to ascertain the precise meaning of such all-encompassing terms as they apply to chartered accountancy. For example, Zaid and Abraham (1994) studied the problems encountered by accountancy graduates early in their employment careers, and reported a primary area of difficulty to be in ‘communication with others.’ Baker and McGregor (2000) compared the importance perceived in communication skills by a number of accountancy stakeholder groups; this study, too, only uses the broad term ‘communication skills.’ De Lange, Jackling, and Gut (2006) surveyed Australian accoun- tancy graduates and found that students reported themselves to have a significant skill deficiency in the specific areas of ‘interpersonal skills’ and ‘oral expression’; these two broad categories, however, were no more closely examined or defined. Within the smaller number of studies that have examined a particular set of communi- cation skills in accountancy, most have focussed on written communication skill (Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Ashbaugh, Johnstone and Warfield, 2002; English, Bonanno, Ihnatko, Webb and Jon; Ng, Lloyd, Kober and Robinson, 1999; Webb, English and Bonanno, 1995). Very few studies have examined oral communication specifically, or identified individual oral communication skills. Morgan (1997) is an exception: in a study of accountancy professionals in England and Waleses, 1999; Hall, 1998 he identifies 13 individual skill areas within oral communication activities in accountancy. There is no agreement on a classificatory inventory of such skills. One study into oral communi- cation, by Maes, Weldy and Icenogle (1997), surveyed American business employers from a broad array of industries on graduates’ possession of another 13 distinct oral communication skills. Maes et al. (1997) and McLaren (1990) both specifically list ‘listening’ as a desirable communication skill and, more recently, Goby and Lewis (2000) have examined listening as a specific business communication skill. Other research has variously investigated a number of individual oral communication skills across a range of business industries, including conveying expertise through spoken communication and giving intelligible explanations (Smythe and Nikolai, 2002), delivering formal presenta- tions (Wardrope, 2002), and participating in a range of more informal presentations (Crosling and Ward, 2002). The first phase of this study drew together the foci and findings of previous studies in relation to the  production of a comprehensive list of oral communi- cation skills (Gray, 2010). 278F. E. Gray and N. Murray Ascertaining the particular requirements of accountancy employers in regard to specific communication skills should be of assistance to university educators planning the curricu- lar content and assessments of university courses, as academics and practitioners agree that written and oral communication skills are two major areas needing more attention in the university accountancy curriculum (Albrecht and Sack, 2000; Henderson, 2001; Simons and Higgins, 1993). However, the relationship between workplace demand and classroom instruction is not necessarily simple. While a considerable body of scholarship has recommended a variety of curricular improvements for university level accounting education (see, for example, Henderson, 2001; Sin, Jones, and Petocz, 2007; and Usoff and Feldmann, 1998), the literature reflects a significant concern in relation to the transferability of taught communication skills from the university classroom environment to the ‘real-world’ environmen t of the accountancy workplace (Beaufort, 1999; Cooper, 1997; D’Aloisio, 2006; Davies and Birbili, 2000; Kemp and Seagraves, 1995; Thomas, 1995). A number of academics and employers suggest that universities should not bear the entire responsibility for developing ‘workplace-ready’ communication skills in students. They argue that organisations employing new graduates—and graduates themselves— should share the responsibility for developing contextualised and discourse-specific com- munication competencies (Ford, 2009; Hayes and Kuseski, 2001; Muir and Davis, 2004; Triebel and Gurdjian, 2009). Such competencies, after all, are developed by means of a number of contributing factors, including age and maturity, as well as familiarity with and length of exposure to a specific discourse community. University training, however comprehensive, cannot encompass all these variables. Research into accountancy education has also recognised the particular problems faced by English second language (ESL) speakers striving to develop written and oral communi- cation competency as well as the technical proficiencies required in accountancy work- places (Andrews, 2006; McGowan and Potter, 2008; Webb et al., 1995). Several studies in New Zealand and internationally report on the difficulties that ESL accountancy gradu- ates  face in a competitive hiring environment (Birrell, 2007; Jacobs, 2003; James and Otsuka, 2009; Kim, 2004). With regard to the specific question of developing communication skills within univer- sity-level accountancy instruction, scholars have suggested an array of learning and assessment approaches (Adler and Milne, 1997; Milne, 1999; Milne and McConnell, 2001; Tempone and Martin, 2003). This study recognises that developers of curricula must balance data regarding workplace demand with institutional and accreditation- related demands and a number of other pedagogical considerations. Notwithstanding, educational responses to the challenges of developing oral communication skills in students may be usefully informed by empirical data identifying the particular skills most highly valued and most pressingly needed within accountancy, as perceived by employers themselves. This study provides such data. 3.Method The project was conducted in two stages over the course of approximately six months. In phase one, a questionnaire was mailed to all New Zealand chartered accountancy firms, and this was followed in phase two by a series of telephone interviews with accountancy professionals. Prior to data collection, ethics approval was sought from and granted by the Ethics Committee of the authors’ institution. Questionnaire and interview respondents were provided with a written description of the project, were assured of confidentiality, and granted permission before their responses were recorded. Oral Communication Skills in New Accountancy Graduates 279 3.1Questionnaire In the first stage, a questionnaire was sent to all New Zealand chartered accountancy firms, containing a series of questions concerning the quality of oral communication skills pos- sessed by new accountancy graduates, the specific oral communication skills which employers desire, and the role of oral communication skills in the hiring process (Gray, 2010). The majority of the questions were designed to be answered on a five-point  Likert scale, but the questionnaire also included several short-answer questions. The questionnaire instrument was developed through a series of iterations. The findings and design of previous New Zealand and international research studies that had identified specific communication skills were consulted (including Gray, Emerson and MacKay, 2006; Maes et al., 1997; McLaren, 1990; Morgan, 1997; Smythe and Nikolai 2002), and the individual oral communication skills collated. The catalogue of individual skills was further extended through conversations with university colleagues in the communi- cation and accountancy departments, and then the input of New Zealand accounting prac- titioners was solicited from a pilot study. The aim of these iterations was to create the fullest possible inventory of oral communication skills, and to reflect the unique aspects of the New Zealand accountancy context. A foundational study was McLaren’s 1990 investigation into communication skill in New Zealand accountancy. One important construct borrowed from McLaren was the distinction between listening attentiveness and listening responsiveness. Constructs were also adapted from studies conducted by Morgan (1997), Zaid and Abraham (1994), and De Lange et al. (2006). Smythe and Nikolai’s oral communication concerns model (1996, 2002) proved particularly useful in the construction of this questionnaire. This model identifies three categories of concern as a framework for grouping oral com- munication skills: self-concern, task-concern, and impact (or outcome) concern. Smythe and Nikolai postulate that a progression takes place from one category of concern to the next in line with a person’s career progression and his/her growth in experience and confidence in communicating orally in the workplace. Since the target population for this study was a constituency at a mature career stage within chartered accountancy firms, Smythe and Nikolai’s ‘progressive’ divisions were not retained (although a number of their questions were incorporated, particularly in the areas of task concern and impact concern). Instead, divisions between questions were created in relation to different audiences, building on the finding of a related study (Gray et al., 2006) that New Zealand employers report new graduates to significantly lack audience awareness in their communications. After a comprehensive list of specific oral communication skills was generated, the questionnaire draft was piloted on four accountancy professionals, and their feedback enabled  questions to be refined. A number of skills that were initially individually ident- ified were modified and condensed into a smaller number of broader and more inclusive skills: for example, ‘Building audience confidence in recommendations’ and ‘Projecting an image of sincerity and commitment’ (both ‘impact concerns’ from Smythe and Nikolai’s taxonomy) were combined into the one, more inclusive skill category, ‘Convey- ing a knowledgeable and confident demeanour.’ Additionally, feedback from the pilot study led to the second of the two specified listening skills being more fully explicated, thus: ‘Listening responsiveness: (that is, acting appropriately on messages received).’ Again building on feedback from the pilot regarding usability, the questionnaire as a whole was divided into three sections. Section A captured introductory information including the size of the organisation and the qualifications held by new graduates hired in the last three years. Section B listed the full, final inventory of 27 individual oral 280F. E. Gray and N. Murray communication skills, collected into the following audience-related divisions: I. Listening skills; II. Collegial communication skills; III. Client communication skills; IV. Communi- cation skills with management; and V. General Audience Analysis Skills. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of each skill, as well as the frequency with which this skill is found in new accountancy graduates. At the end of Section B respondents were invited to add to the questionnaire any other oral communication skills that they con- sidered important for new accountancy graduates. Section C, Final Questions, asked respondents whether oral communication training was available in or through their organ- isation, whether oral communication training should be included in university accoun- tancy education programmes, and finally to estimate the hours per working week a new accountancy graduate would be engaged in communicating orally. At the close of the questionnaire, respondents were given the option to volunteer for a follow-up interview. 3.1.2 Respondents.The questionnaire was sent to all chartered accountancy firms listed on the New Zealand online business directory, and was addressed to the Practice Manager as the individual most likely to have  in-depth knowledge of the process of hiring new graduates. New Zealand’s professional accountancy body, the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants (NZICA) reports that 40.7% of its members work in the private sector, while the second largest percentage, 27.5%, are employed in Chartered Accountancy practices (2008 annual report). Working on the assumption that CA prac- tices hire a percentage of new graduates proportionate to their sizeable percentage of NZICA members, CA practices were chosen as the focal population for this study as they represent (in contrast to the private sector) a readily identifiable and readily contact- able group of employers.2 While the New Zealand online business directory listed 1,111 chartered accountancy firms as of 1April 2008 , a number of listed organisations had ceased operations or were uncontactable, and the questionnaire was eventually mailed to 760 firms. Of 760 mailings, 146 questionnaires were returned, producing a response rate of 19.2%. While this response rate was higher than the 15% usable response rate reported by McLaren in her 1990 study of New Zealand accountancy professionals, it remains margin- ally lower than the typical response rate for postal-based questionnaires (20 – 40%, as given in Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 1996). Possible reasons for this relatively low response rate include the fact that time and funding did not permit follow-up mailings, and also the fact that the target population is frequently time-poor and frequently surveyed. While non-response bias is an unavoidable concern when the response rate is less than 100 per cent, a low response rate does not necessarily equate to a non-response bias (Gendall, 2000). A degree of representativeness was observable in the geographical spread of respondents, the positions held by respondents (see below), and the types of businesses responding, suggesting generalisation across a range of accountancy business types is viable. The questionnaire was mailed to separate groups of potential respondents in six post- ings, each approximately 10 days apart. The order in which responses were received generally mirrored the order in which postings were mailed: that is, the first group’s responses were received before the second group’s questionnaires began to be returned, and so on. As a record of receipt for each individual survey was not kept, early versus late response bias cannot be checked. As a single mail-out technique was used for each individual, it  may be argued that differences in respondent type are not as applicable as may be seen in a survey where some participants responded early, whereas others received several reminders and mail -outs before responding. Analyses were undertaken treating the six postings as separate groups to determine any potential differences by respondent type. All groups were similar in claiming that oral communication in general was either ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ in the accountancy profession. Furthermore, oral communication skill was ‘always’ important as a hiring factor for all mail-out groups. When comparing each group on importance and frequency of communication skills using a Kruskall-Wallis test, only one significant difference was found for frequency of listening skills seen in new graduates, x2  ¼ 11.60, P ,0.05. Post- hoc Mann-Whitney U tests subsequently revealed no significant differences in frequency of listening skills seen in new graduates between any of the six groups (using a Bonferroni correction). While the questionnaires were addressed to the Practice Managers of each organis- ation, respondents revealed a degree of variability. The majority of completed question- naires were anonymous, but the respondents who identified themselves ranged from partners in large firms, to senior employees in very small firms, to Human Resources directors. 3.2Interviews The second phase of the study involved employer interviews. Forty-five questionnaire respondents volunteered to be contacted for follow-up interviews, and 19 volunteers could subsequently be contacted by telephone for complete interviews. The interviewee sample size was considered adequate due to its purposive nature and the recent finding that, within such samples, data saturation (including metathemes and subthemes) occurs within the first 12 interviews (Guest, Bunce and Johnson, 2006). It was intended that the qualitative data from interviews would triangulate and extend conclusions arising from analysis of the quantitative data. The interview data incorporated into the study an ethnographic element, ‘thick description, a rich, detailed description of specifics’ (Neuman, 2003, p.  367), which helped produce more robust and credible conclusions. Telephone interviews were conducted between October and December 2008. Intervie- wees ranged from accountancy practice managers to sole practitioners, to partners in large firms. The semi-structured interviews ranged in length from 15 to 45 minutes and sought clarification of a number of issues arising from the questionnaire data, including the impli- cations of globalisation for oral communication in accountancy, the impact of new technologies and the importance of telephone skills, the centrality of listening skills, and the desirability of presentation skills for graduates new to the accountancy workplace. 3.3Data Analysis Once the data from the questionnaires was collated, statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. Mean and median scores were calculated with regard to the importance scores given to each individual oral communication skill, and to the frequency scores (how often each skill is observed in new graduate hires). Each mean was the product of the addition of all the individual importance or frequency scores for each communication skill, divided by the sample size. The standard deviation (SD) of each mean score, as well as the inter-quartile range for the median, was also calculated to indicate the relative spread of responses, with higher figures equating to wider ranges of scores. Owing to a number of missing responses, the denominator of responses to each question shows some variation. As the skill variables violated the assumption of normality (expected given the general level of agreement in employers’ perceptions), non-parametric tests were used. Where relevant, all assumptions of the named tests below were met. 282F. E. Gray and N. Murray As mentioned in 3.1, Section B of the questionnaire invited respondents to write in any further oral communication skills which they felt were important for new accountancy graduates to possess, distinct from the 27 skills listed. Comments identifying additional skills were received from 36 respondents; these comments were recorded and analysed for thematic consistency. Once the interviews were transcribed, themes were also  identified and analysed. Grounded theory was applied to analyse these themes, that is, inductive analysis in which data produce meanings, rather than meanings being applied from exterior theory (Strauss and Corbin, 2000). 4.Findings 4.1Research Objective 1: How Much Importance do New Zealand Accountancy Employers Place on Oral Communication Skills in the New Graduates they Hire? The questionnaire data presented a clear answer to the first research question. Oral communication skill in general was considered to be ‘essential’ in a new graduate by 49.6% (n  ¼ 133) of respondents; a further 41.4% reported it to be ‘very important’. On a rating scale from 1 to 5, where 1 was ‘not important’ and 5 was ‘essential’, the overall mean for oral communication skill in general was 4.39 (Md  ¼ 4.00). A Kruskal- Wallis test found no significant difference in the importance value assigned to oral communication skill depending on the size of the organisation, x2(4)  ¼ 5.48, p . 0.05. During the second phase of the study, interviewees strongly reiterated the perceived importance of oral communication skill: CL called oral communication ‘a career divider,’ meaning it was indispensable to success within accountancy, and EK labelled strong oral communication ‘a distinguishing factor’ setting goo d accountants apart from the mediocre. SWS stated: ‘Being able to communicate is a number one priority .. . [and] it’s going to get more and more important.’ Interview data also supported the signifi- cance of a theme that emerged from written-in comments in the questionnaire: the impor- tance of oral communication skills in accountancy is perceived to be increasing rapidly as a direct result of globalisation, and an increased speaking flexibility and cross-cultural adaptability are considered particularly important in this context. Reporting that they ‘always’ take oral communication skill into account in hiring decisions were 64.1% (n  ¼ 131) of questionnaire respondents (a total of 90.8% reported this to be a hiring factor either ‘always’ or ‘often’). RT stated that strong oral communi- cation skills often proved the decisive factor in a hiring decision: The person who presents well †¦ verbally, if you had to toss a coin between two of them, same grades and all that, the one who can communicate better, you’d give it to that person I think. [.. .] It has to be one of the most powerful strengths or powerful weaknesses that people have. No questionnaire respondents reported ‘never’ taking an applicant’s oral communi- cation skills into account in the hiring process, and several interviewees reported incorpor- ating specific checks of a candidate’s oral competency into their hiring process. For example, TB stated that he telephones all job applicants prior to an in-office interview, in order to gauge their skills in speaking on the telephone. 4.2Research Objective 2: What Specific Kinds of Oral Communication Skills are required by New Zealand Accountancy Employers? Figure 1. Perceived importance of communication skills by perceived frequency of new graduate ability  importance of the individual communication skills against the perceived frequency with which these skills are seen in new graduates. Figure 1 shows that the importance and fre- quency measures follow a similar pattern. This may reflect the influence of the workplace in focussing on developing certain communication competencies in new graduates, or hiring based on those competencies being present to a certain degree. However, there is still an obvious gap between the importance of each skill and the degree to which it is seen in new graduates. 4.2.1Listening skills.On a rating scale from 1 to 5, where 1 was ‘not  important’ and 5 was ‘essential,’ the two skills considered most important were those of listening attentive- ness and listening responsiveness, valued respectively at 4.81 (Md  ¼ 5.00)—82% of respondents ranked listening attentiveness as ‘essential’—and 4.80 (Md  ¼ 5.00)—a further 82% of respondents classifying listening responsiveness as ‘essential’. In sub- sequent interviews, KC described listening to another person as being a more important skill than that of articulating one’s own thoughts: Sometimes, speaking less is better than speaking more. Sometimes you have to have more listening ability. That listening ability will give you the timing of when to say things and when not to say things.. .. A number of interviewees linked listening skill to a related set of competencies concern- ing a speaker’s ability to create rapport and adjust to audiences’ needs. These interviewees spoke of the need for accountancy professionals to communicate with others (clients, colleagues, and managers) ‘in their own language.’ We learn to use sometimes slightly different language in order to be able to communicate to different people and that’s certainly part of our job when we’re in a service industry like 284F. E. Gray and N. Murray  accountancy. We need to talk to people in their language and us[e] words and conduct that they are comfortable with (BR; emphasis added). It’s important to understand your client so that †¦ you’re speaking almost in ‘like language’ so that you know who you are talking to [and] you know they are understanding (SWS; emphasis added). I think it’s a horses for courses [principle], you’ve got to know†¦ your clients or the people you’re dealing with. If you happen to know someone didn’t like a certain style or you could pick from their responses †¦ [then] you reply with like with like (DW; emphasis added). JC mentioned adjusting vocabulary and PW mentioned adjusting message  channel, in relation to the particular needs of the audience. MT emphasised the importance for accountancy graduates to gauge appropriateness of language: They’ve got to realise that when they’re dealing with clients, or senior members of organis- ations, that they’ve got to communicate it appropriately and not in a manner that they may always communicate with their friends or colleagues. Interviewees agreed that this kind of reflective adjustment to an audience’s preferred register is dependent on a speaker’s ability to listen and make appropriate communicative changes. 4.2.2 Vocabulary and slang. Several individual oral communication skills identified in the questionnaire concerned engaging in dialogue and using language and channels preferred by the communication partner. These included ‘explaining or making a topic intelligible’ to colleagues (x  ¼ 4.28, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked ninth); ‘giving feedback’ to clients: (x  ¼ 4.17, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked 13th); and ‘using appropriate vocabulary for the audience’, a general audience skill: (x  ¼ 4.21, Md  ¼ 4.00, ranked 10th). Follow-up inter- view questions seeking more information concerning the importance of explanatory and vocabulary skills elicited a number of specific concerns with the use of slang by new accountancy graduates. TO stated: ‘A lot of them have devolved into .. . use of a lot of colloquialisms that may not be acceptable to the older generation.’ According to NM, overly casual language destroys credibility. It’s hard enough for a young person to break in and to be heard, I guess in a business sense when you’re trying to sell to, I guess older people or experienced people. If you come out with schoolyard slang, you don’t stand a chance. Interviews emphasised the desirability in new graduates of a wide-ranging and flexible vocabulary (described by one interviewee as a mental ‘drop-down menu’ of words), oper- ating in tandem with the ability to access the  correct level of spoken formality. After listening attentiveness and listening responsiveness, questionnaire results ident- ified the next five most highly valued individual oral communication skills as being: ‘Con- veying professional attitude of respect and interest in clients’ (x  ¼ 4.68, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Asking for clarification or feedback from management’ (x  ¼ 4.57, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Speaking on the telephone/making conference calls with clients’ (x  ¼ 4.53, Md  ¼ 5.00); ‘Describ- ing situations accurately and precisely to superior(s)’ (x  ¼ 4.47, Md  ¼ 5.00); and ‘Convey- ing a knowledgeable and confident demeanour to clients’ (x  ¼ 4.45, Md  ¼ 5.00). Please see Table 1 for a complete record of the average and median importance values accorded to each oral communication skill, as well as the reported mean and median frequency with which each skill was found in new accountancy graduates (see also, Gray, 2010).