Effective Communication In Health and Social Care Essay

Understand effective communication and interpersonal interaction in Health and Social Care †¢Produce a staff handbook for new staff at a residential setting for people with learning difficulties and other communication difficulties including different forms of communication needs and preferences and the role of effective communication in team work and supporting individuals. Emily Rhodes Contents Page The two main contexts in which health and social care workers use the communication cycle are one-to-one and group communication. One-to-one Communication – This interaction often involves a three stage process. 1) Greeting or warming up, 2) conversation or information exchange, 3) farewells or winding down. When you start a conversation with somebody you have to try and make them feel relaxed and it is important to create a positive emotional atmosphere. Very often people will start a one-to-one communication with a greeting such as ‘Good Morning’, as this shows you are helping them to feel relaxed by showing a positive and friendly attitude. This type of communication is effective within a health and social care environment because, if a nurse/carer had a new resident, then they have to set an example, so that the resident will feel safe, and will be able to build trust with the nurse/carer. Group Communication – This type of communication is only effective if everyone within the group wants to be involved. It is right that the group has the right emotional atmosphere, as people may feel threatened, or may  not be confident enough to speak up within a formal group conversation. Group maintenance is important, as this enables people to create the right atmosphere. Having a group leader can be useful, because they will be able to encourage people to express their ideas, and make sure people take their turn when talking. This type of communication is effective within health and social care as there are many meetings, which could be discussing a resident’s needs/preferences. This is effective because everyone’s ideas will be taken into consideration and will be able to get the best outcome. However this type of communication can be confusing for people with hearing impairments, as if a person is deaf, they focus on one person to do sign language so it’s not too confusing for them, but in a group, a lot of stuff can be misunderstood and would be too confusing. Communication between colleagues – Communicating with people at work is different that communicating with friends and family. This is because it is important to show respect to your work colleagues, as if this happens, you may fail to show respect to the people who use care services. Also colleagues have to develop trust with each other, and it’s important to show that you have respect for the confidentiality of a colleague. This type of communication is often informal but it is important that care workers use skilled communication in order to develop respect and trust. This type of communication is effective in health and social care, as it can boost productivity and improve employee satisfaction. Formal – Formal communication is quite common within health and social care work. This type of language shows resect to others and shows your powerfulness, however formal language can sometimes come across as being ‘too posh’ or pretentious. This type of language is understood by a wide range of people, however some ‘speech communities’ may find it hard to understand so care workers usually adjust the way they speak in order for them to understand. An example of formal language in a health and social care setting would be a social services desk, they may greet you with a ‘Good Morning, How may I help you?’ rather than ‘What you after then?’. It shows respect and makes the person they are speaking to feel more welcome. Informal – This type of communication is often used when we know them person we are speaking too, well, for example friends and family. These types of groups may use language that can only be understood between them, or local groups from particular areas may only use language that they understand. In health and social care this type of communication may only be used between staff. This is because if a care worker was to use informal language to a resident or patient, they may not understand or they may feel uncomfortable with how they are being spoken too. However if staff were to say to each other ‘hiya, how’s it goin’ they may just feel like this is a warm friendly greeting. Communication Forms: Communication enables us to give ideas and information. It helps people to feel safe, to form relationships and develop self-esteem. Text Messaging – This type of communication within a residential setting for people with learning and communication difficulties, would be effective as if a person is deaf, or with hearing impairments than text messaging things like doctor’s appointments would not only make sure that they are reminded, but also that they have understood properly. They also would be able to correct themselves if they have misunderstood a translator. Written Communication – This type of communication would be effective as when something is written down you can analyze it and change any mistakes or add anything in, which makes it reliable, whereas if you’re talking, changing your words all the time can be misinterpreted or it can cause service users to receive the wrong care or cause conflict between people. If a resident has autism for example, they find it difficult to form social relationships with people, so oral communication wouldn’t be as effective, whereas just writing something down could make them feel more comfortable. Oral Communication – This type of communication would be effective in this particular health and social care environment, as if there is a person with dyslexia, it may be easier to speak to them orally, and repeat yourself, for them to understand, rather than writing something down which they may not be  able to read properly and this may be easier for them to misinterpret what you’re trying to say. It is also used in many other care environments, like doctor’s surgeries, hospitals and old people’s homes. Oral communication in this environment would be effective as it enables care workers give important information quicker than written, and also explain medication so that the patient knows what to do. It can also help someone to gain trust for their doctor etc., as they will be able to comfort them through oral communication. Symbols – The use of symbols whether it be written or diagrams, all communicate different messages to people, such as traffic signs. In this particular setting, the use of Makaton will be used greatly, due to it helping people with learning disabilities, develop their language skills. Makaton may speak a word and perform a sign using hands and body language, and also there is a large range of symbols which also help people with learning disabilities communicate with others. Technology – Information technology helps to provide enlarged visual displays of voice descriptions for people with visual impairments. This type of communication can support the residents because there is also voice typing for people with dyslexia, which can turn speech into writing. Some of the electronic communication systems can be activated by air pressure, meaning that a person can communicate using an oral tube connected to computerized equipment. However a more simpler way of using technology to communicate would be things like flash cards or picture books, which will improve the communication for people who do not use a spoke language or signed language. Interpersonal interaction. Speech – Speaking clearly is essential when working with people with service users, as they may have problem with receiving or giving messages. Different localities, ethnic groups and work cultures all have their own words that they use; these may be referred to as different speech communities. Some people may feel threatened or excluded by these different speech communities. Some people think that just using formal language will solve the problem, but that is wrong, because care workers, who use jargon, can  also create barriers for people who are not part of that different speech community. So in this type of setting speech would be very important as if a person has learning disabilities or hearing impairments for example, then speaking clearly would allow them to lip read, and understand what is being said. First Language – This is the language in which you are brought up from birth to think and communicate with. People who learn a second language later on in life can’t communicate their thoughts as effectively as they can with their first language. This is usually the preferred language as they have been learned to think like that growing up. In a care setting, this type of interaction is important as if someone has learnt a different language, like polish for example, then their accent may change from their English accent, and make service users find what they are trying to say, hard to understand, as they have learning disabilities, they may get confused. Non-verbal communication – This type of communication is a way of studying a person so that you can understand whether they’re feeling sad, tired, happy, angry or frightened without speaking. It refers to the messages we are sending but without using words. These messages are sent by our eyes, tone of our voice, facial expressions, position of hands and arms, gestures with hands and arms, the angle of our head and body posture. This type of communication is important in health and social care because it allows the care worker to see if a person is feeling sad or If they care worker has suggested something, and the patient/resident agrees with what they have said, they may not be thinking that, and show this with their emotions, so then the care worker can see this and then adjust what they have said. It is important in this setting because people with learning disabilities like autism, find it difficult talking to people about their emotions, so care workers can interpret this and help them without them having to struggle, however a care worker may also interpret it in the wrong way and do the wrong things. Posture – The way that you sit or stand can make a difference to how a person receives messages from you. As a care worker you can sometimes be misinterpreted, as if you have your arms crossed it can mean ‘I’m not taking any notice’ but even if you just find it comfy, as a care worker you should never have your arms crossed, as it doesn’t make you look respectable.  Leaning back whilst sat down can send messages like your relaxed or bored. So sitting forward would make you look involved and like you are bothered and interested. This is important as a care worker, working with people with disabilities as they may already feel lonely etc. so when you are folding your arms and leaning back this can make them feel worse. Facial Expression – Your face can indicate your emotional state. If a care worker was listening to what a resident was saying, then it is important for the care worker to convey the right impression. If the care worker was to smile it would indicate agreement or approvement of the message being received, where as a scowl would indicate dis pleasure and disagreement. Most people can recognize emotions from others, but you also have to understand your nonverbal behavior may influence others. Touch – Touching another person can send messages of affection, care, power over them or sexual interest. To help you to understand what their touch may mean, the social setting and body language will play a massive part in helping you understand, however touch can be easily misinterpreted. A care worker may hold a person’s hand to reassure them and comfort them, but this can be interpreted as an attempt to dominate them. In health and social care, this type of interaction is helpful as it is a way of communication without words, for example if a person was unable to speak, they may have dyslexia, then touch would allow the care worker to communicate to them without having to speak or make them speak, if the resident was to need a bit of affection, to reassure them, they may touch the care worker for them to touch back, however making sure this is done in an appropriate manner. Proximity – This is the space between you and the person that you are communicating with. It shows how friendly or intimate the conversation is. There are different cultures which have different customs regarding the proximity between people when they are talking. In Britain there are expectations for how far you should be away from someone. An arm’s length away would be when talking to strangers, although shaking hands may bring you closer. Relatives and partners may not have restrictions as to how far or close they can come. In this setting, proximity is very important as if a care worker assumes that it is fine to enter the personal space of a service user, without asking or explaining why then this can be seen as dominating /or being aggressive. Communication and Language needs and preferences: the individuals preferred method of communication. It is important to understand that many people use different types of communication which are specific to them. If a person uses British Sign Language for example, it may be important to employ an interpreter. However some carer’s learn these things so that they are able to communicate with people. A person who is blind or has visual impairments may use braille as opposed to text, so that they can read information. British Sign Language – BSL is the preferred language for many deaf people within the UK. It was recognized as an official language for deaf people in 2003, which has led to funding and an increased awareness of the language and how much it helps deaf people to communicate. In this health and social care setting, BSL would be important for communicating to the residents who are deaf, as it is important to talk to them about their medication, needs or preferences. It’s also important for the care workers to be able to understand what the deaf people are trying to say, and so that the care workers understand what they want. Makaton – This is a language programme using signs and symbols to help people to communicate. It is mostly commonly used for people with learning disabilities, as it is designed to support spoken language and the signs and symbols are used with speech, in spoken word order, so that if the speech is unclear, the symbols may help a person to understand. So if the child or adult with the learning disability has trouble with their speech, Makaton will support this and then many people drop the signs and symbols naturally at their own pace as they develop speech, but some people use Makaton for their whole lives. Braille – Braille is used for people who are blind or visual impairments. It allows them to read text and write information. It is a system of raised marks that can be felt by the fingers. It can be processed by modern  computer software, and be printed out using special printers. It is effective as it allows the blind to be able to read and write through touch, meaning that they can communication with other people, important in health and social care, as they will be able to explain pain or read their own medication etc. Argyles Communication Cycle For communication to be effective it involves a two way process in which each person tries to understand the view point of the other person. Good communication involves the process of checking, understanding, and using reflective or active listening. An example of this would be when working with a resident and the care worker using touch when listening to a resident, as this can be shown as effective, and can show that the message was received and decoded, but this can be misinterpreted if not used in the right way. Another example would be if a care worker is explaining something to a patient, the patient will show understanding by nodding or using other nonverbal communication. This shows that the patient has received the message clearly and has understood the care worker, which will then allow the care worker to know that the patient is sure what has been said. This is important in this setting as people with learning disabilities find it more difficult to understand things, so sh owing understanding will allow the care worker to either help the resident or know that they understand the conversation. This is the communication cycle: 1 An idea occurs – You have an idea of what you want to communicate 2 Message coded – You think through how you are going to say what you are thinking. You put your thoughts into language or into some other code such as sign language. 3 Message sent – You speak or perhaps you sign, write, or send a message in some other way. 4 Message received – The other person has to sense your message, they hear your words or see your symbols. 5 Message decoded – The other person has to interpret your message. However this is not always easy as the other person may make assumptions about your words or  body language. 6 Message understood – If it all goes well then your ideas will be understood but it might not be the first time. Tuckman’s Stages of Group Interaction The communication within groups can be influenced by how people feel with each other. When people meet for the first time they often go through a process of group formation, which will allow them to communicate effectively. Tuckman’s theory is set into four stages: 1 Forming 2 Storming 3 Norming 4 Performing 1 – Forming is the first stage which involves group members to form a team or group discussion. At this stage the members would ask questions about the purpose or aims of the group and also share information. This stage is important because it allows people to exchange personal information and get to know each other. 2 – Storming is the second stage which involves the growth of the group. This stage eliminates the strong groups from the weaker ones, and some groups may not make it past this stage. The relationships will either be made or broken at this stage, it is important for the team to have a strong leadership at this stage. 3 – Norming is the third stage in which all the team agree on the rules and values by which they operate. They begin to trust each other and individuals may take greater responsibilities so the leader can now take a step back. Personal, intimate and realm opinions are expressed in this stage. 4 – Performing is the last stage and not all teams make it to this stage. Structural issues are resolved in this stage which allows roles to become flexible and functional and group energy is channeled into the task. There is a high level of respect in the group and they are more strategically aware of what is to be done.

HND Busniess Essay

Assignment front sheet Qualification Unit number and title Pearson BTEC Level 5 HND Diploma in Business Unit 5: Aspects of Contract and Negligence for Business) Assessor name Student name Barrister A S M Sayem Uddin Khondoker Date issued Completion date 03 February 2014 ____/_____/ 2014 Assignment title Submitted on Contractual Aspects and Business Negligence: Application in Business Context Learning outcomes Assessment criteria for pass The learner can: LO1 Understand the essential elements of a valid contract in a business context 1.1 explain the importance of the essential elements required for the formation of a valid contract 1.2 discuss the impact of different types of contract 1.3 analyse terms in contracts with reference to their meaning and effect LO2 Be able to apply the elements of a contract in business situations 2.1 apply the elements of contract in given business scenarios 2.2 apply the law on terms in different contracts 2.3 evaluate the effect of different terms in given contracts LO3 Understand principles of liability in negligence in business activities 3.1 contrast liability in tort with contractual liability 3.2 explain the nature of liability in negligence 3.3 explain how a business can be vicariously liable LO4 Be able to apply principles of liability in negligence in business situations 4.1 apply the elements of the tort of negligence and defences in different business situations 4.2 apply the elements of vicarious liability in given business situations. Learner declaration I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are fully acknowledged. Student signature: Date: Contractual Aspects and Business Negligence: Application in Business Context You have recently assumed the position of a management trainee at Green Pharma Plc, one of the major British pharmaceutical companies. The company is committed to its customers worldwide to deliver the safest products at the most competitive prices. Green Pharma has got numerous contracts with its vendors, suppliers, employees, banks and other external parties. You are given the responsibility to handle the legal department to make sure Green Pharma is doing everything according to the codes of law. Accordingly, the case presents a number of scenarios/tasks designed to ensure that you have met all the learning outcome targets. Task 1: Elements of Valid Business Contracts Q1.1: What are the essential elements of forming a valid contract? Explain the importance of each element by providing relevant legal principles derived from decided cases. 275 words Q1.2: Describe different types of contract usually undergone in business context. Critically analyze the legal impact of distance selling contract. 125 words Q1.3: Analyse the contrasting aspects of different kind of terms generally used in a commercial contract. ‘Implied terms are more sensitive to deal with than express terms in a business contract’ – how far would you agree with this comment? 200 words Task 2: Application of Contracts in Business Situations Q2.1: (a) Green Pharma put an advertisement in a trade journal stating: ‘for the wholesale buyers only, our ‘new moisturizing creams’ are now at a special low price of  £10 per dozen.’ Mr Khan, one of Green Pharma’s trusted vendors, rushed to one of your show room and wanted to place a large order. Meanwhile the company made a new decision not to sell the creams any more. Mr Khan became cross and he wished to pursue a legal action against the company. Advice Green Pharma about the possible legal consequence. Justify your comments with reference to similar case precedents. 125 words (b) You work into the night to complete ‘an important report’ for your immediate boss, Tania. Tania is very pleased with the report and says ‘I know you have worked very hard on this, I will make sure there’s an extra  £200 in your pay at the end of the month. Can you enforce this promise? 100 words (c) Joe works in the purchase department of Green Pharma. He lives near to you. By an agreement he provides you with a lift to work in return for a contribution towards the petrol. Would this contract be legally enforceable? Justify your answer with legal arguments. 75 words Q2.2: Alban is the business development manager of Green Pharma. Four months ago he bought a ‘Landmaster’ car from Brenda’s Garage Ltd for use in his business activities. He paid  £12,500 for the car and was given a written guarantee in the following terms. ‘Brenda’s Garage Ltd guarantees that, for three months from  the date of purchase, it will put right free of charge any defects in the vehicle which cannot be discovered on proper examination at the time of purchase. Thereafter all work and materials will be charged to the customer.’ The sales manager recommended to Alban that he should take out the ‘special extended warranty’ under which, for payment of  £350, the car would have been guaranteed in respect of all defects for a further two years, but Alban declined. Last week the engine and gearbox seized up. The repairs will cost  £2,000. Advise Alban. Would your answer differ if he bought the car only for his personal use? 200 words Q2.3: Explain the effects of the following in the running of a Pharmaceutical company such as Green Pharma: a) breach of conditions, warranty and innominate terms, b) Legality of exemption clauses. Please include relevant examples to explain different aspects of the terms. 200 words Task 3: Principles of Liability in Business Negligence Q3.1: In what aspects, liabilities in tort are different from contractual liabilities? Give examples of ‘duty of care’ in the context of some day- to- day situations. Explain the concept of ‘causation’ and ‘remoteness’ in the tort of negligence. 220 words Q3.2: Explain the nature of liability in negligence by giving reference to different scenarios. 125 words Q3.3: Explain the legal requirements to hold employers vicariously liable for the torts committed by their employees. 175 words Task 4: Application of Principles of Liability in Business Situations Q4.1: By applying the relevant legal principles answer the following: (a) What is the level of duty of care to be shown by (1) a learner driver (2) a Chinese herbal doctor working in England and (3) Junior doctor in a hospital? 125 words (b) Green Pharma engages Mr Ken, a local electrician, to rewire its office. Two weeks later Leo, a visitor, is electrocuted. Discuss Green Pharma’s liability in tort. Would your answer differ if Green Pharma put the following notice at the entrance: ‘Persons entering these premises do so at their own risk’? 125 words Q4.2: (a) John is a van driver employed by Green pharma. While on his rounds, he stops to collect his own television from a repair shop. He parks his van carelessly and it moves off, injuring Kelly, a pedestrian. Is Green Pharma vicariously liable? 100 words (b) Robert, who is a security guard in Green Pharma’s head office, has been encouraged by the company to keep order by force – if necessary. One night he grabbed one Mr Mattis on suspicion and stabbed him in the back. Discuss the potential vicarious liability of Green Pharma. 100 words —End of assignment—

An Operational Analysis of Subway Restaurants

Each team member was charged with the task of visiting a Subway location near their residence. This way each member was given the opportunity to observe the concrete steps required for Subway to complete a service from beginning to end. When you hear the words â€Å"fast food,† you imagine being offered a service in which you are quickly in and out with your order, and nothing else to it. In this instance that is not the case; Subway did not become one of the largest sandwich chains overnight. It has taken years of productiveness from the owners, top managers, employees and each customer of Subway. Throughout this paper we will analyze Subway’s operations by identifying the type of process used and the basic layout of their facilities. We will also provide a detailed service blueprint that will help to get a better understanding of the service process from the beginning, when the customer places an order, to the end, when that paying customer walks out the door with their subway sandwich. After visiting our Subway locations, we will also be able to explain the strengths and weaknesses that we observed from the interaction between employees and customers and the overall Subway experience. One of the locations visited and observed during hours of operations was the Subway restaurant located at 19214 Clay Road, Suite A, Katy TX 77449. This restaurant has been serving the Katy community for approximately ten years. This particular location was observed in order to help create the service blueprint. The service blueprint lists all of the service functions that are performed and the average time expected to achieve the completion of each function. It begins with the customer’s action; the customer walks into the store and places an order, the employee then acknowledges the customer’s request. This is followed by the customer deciding on the size and type of sandwich they would like made. The Subway employee then begins to prepare the customer’s sandwich with their size and type specifications in mind. At this point, the employee asks the customer to decide on their type of meat and cheese, once the customer communicates this decision, the employee adds the requested meat and cheese. He/she gives the customer the choice of having their sandwich toasted or not. If the customer decides to toast the sandwich the employee then proceeds to put it in the toaster for a minute then moves on to adding the dressings and sauces. If the customer does not want their sandwich toasted, the employee continues along with the process. The interaction continues with the choosing of any vegetables and final touches which may include adding oil and vinegar or salt and pepper at the customer’s request. Finally, as we approach the end of the service process, the employees wraps the sandwich and offers the customer the option of adding a cookie or the option of making their sandwich purchase as a meal, which would then include chips or a drink for a set additional price. Once the customer has chosen, the employee then collects payment to complete the transaction, and hands the order over to the customer, thus concluding the service process. This entire process happens in between the line of interaction. A line of visibility does exist in all Subway locations, on one side you have the components that are visible to the customer, which include the bread baking and all of the products and produce used to make a Subway sandwich. On the other side of the line of visibility, you have those items not visible to the customers’ eyes, which include the preparation of the bread before baking it, the extra vegetables, meat, and cheeses to be cut and prepped, the chips and drinks used to stock the storefront, as well as the storage of all the other products necessary to perations such as paper products, bags and any office supplies. All of this is required in order to ensure the success of the service process. Even though the customer does not realize what exactly occurs behind the line of visibility, it does not mean they don’t care. Every paying customer hopes and expects that their food is being handled and prepared in the safest and best way possible. This means that employees must be equipped to complete all tasks required in the minimal time possible, while maintaining the utmost standards of sanitary handling and preparation. Please refer to blue print 1 for a visual representation of how the actual process explained above works. After getting a closer look at how the service process works by completing the blue print you can see that the employees work diligently to complete the process in less than five minutes. From this you can learn that during peak hours which include lunch and dinner rush, employees work faster than normal to meet the 5 minute process standard. This way may cause a customer to feel rushed. For instance if the employee sees that the customer line has exceeded more than five it begins to rush the process; this causes the customer to make abrupt decisions on what they want in their sandwich. At the same time this can easily cause the employees to make mistakes during the process. For instance they can accidently add the wrong vegetables or sauces simple because they are trying to rush through the process in order to get the customer in and out. This urgency of completing the process faster than usual can turn a customer away. Many paying customers like to have the undivided attention of the employees since they do feel like they should get their money’s worth through the service. To help both the employees and customers during this circumstances the manager should ensure the employees that yes you might have to pick up the speed to meet the lunch rush demand; but they will have to be courteous without making the customer feel rushed. ——————————————– [ 1 ]. Subway location 19214 Clay Road, Suite A, Katy TX 77449

Mastectomy for Ductal Carcinoma insitu, impact on patient Essay

Mastectomy for Ductal Carcinoma insitu, impact on patient - Essay Example In fact, DCIS accounts for approximately 20% of all new breast cancer and precancerous condition diagnoses (Clause Stowe & Carter 2001). With or without treatment, DCIS patients have a very high survival rate; and, for most women diagnosed with DCIS, it is not considered to be a life-threatening condition. Mastectomy is the preferred, and most effective, treatment option for DCIS patients (Katz et al. 2010). However, there is currently very little research regarding how patients are actually affected by choosing mastectomy to treat DCIS; and, since the number of new DCIS diagnoses is continuing to increase, much more research is needed. DCIS, also called intraductal carcinoma, is a condition whereby the cancer cells develop in the milk ducts of the breast and have not moved out of the duct into any of the surrounding tissue (National Institute of Health 2009). As mentioned above, there is disagreement as to whether or not DCIS should be called cancer; and, some experts often refer to it as "stage zero breast cancer" ( Harris & Morrow 2009). Even though DCIS itself is not considered to be harmful, it is a known risk factor for invasive breast cancer (Zuckerman 2009). While most DCIS patients do not develop invasive breast cancer, approximately two percent (2%) of DCIS cases show evidence of metastases and an even smaller percentage of cases do actually develop into invasive breast cancer (Cornfield et al. 2004). Certain biomarkers may help to identify whether DCIS patients are at high or low risk of developing invasive breast cancer; however, more research is necessary to make more accurate risk predictions (Welch et al. 2008). Currently, however, there is no way to determine or predict which DCIS cases will in fact develop into invasive breast cancer. This paper will try to determine the available information on the rationale for selecting this modality; explore literature regarding the physiological/biological basis of the treatment or how the treatment manage s the disease, critic the impact this treatment had on the individual and the nurses’ role in addressing this, and consider how the patients’ experience could have been improved. Discussion Overview: Even without treatment, most women diagnosed with DCIS do not go on to develop invasive breast cancer. DCIS patients that do opt for treatment have surgical options, the most common being lumpectomy (with or without radiation therapy) and mastectomy. Lumpectomy followed by radiation therapy and mastectomy have the same high survival rate of 96% and above; however, mastectomy does have a slightly lower recurrence rate than lumpectomy with radiation which has a lower recurrence rate than lumpectomy alone (Holmberg et al. 2008; Hughes et al. 2009). Other factors have been found to affect DCIS recurrence rates

The rehabilitation act of 1973 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The rehabilitation act of 1973 - Research Paper Example It is one of a number of United States laws concerned with discrimination such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, (1990), the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act, ( 1997) and the Fair Housing Act ( 1968). The act has been amended twice – in 1993 and then once more in 1998, perhaps reflecting changes in public perceptions. The legislation has its own administrators - the Rehabilitation Services Administration. The aim is to prevent any discrimination, intentional or unintentional, which has its basis in a person's disability. Under Section 501 there is a requirement for affirmative action and an absence of discrimination in employment. Section 503 is concerned with contractors and sub-contractors. The next section, 504 allows for what are described as ‘reasonable accommodation. It provides for the provision to be incorporated into new constructions. Each of the federal agencies have their own version of the sections 504 regulations, for which the individual agency is responsible for regulating. Although these rules do vary, they have a common core which includes making accommodation for their disabled employees, making programs accessible and ensuring effective communication, especially with those people who have hearing or sight difficulties. The regulations allow funding for the provision of accessible new constructions as well as for making alterations to existing establishments. Section 508 includes a requirement for Federal electronic and information technology to be made accessible to those with disabilities. This means that such information must be available in a number of formats so that it can be used by those without disabilities as well as those with sight or hearing problems. This includes state employees, but also for members of the public who need information provided by such agencies. This begs the questions of definitions, of what is a disability and what can be considered to be ‘reasonable’. The research article in Appendix 1, Diabetes and the Rehabilitation Rights Act, ( 2007) gives the example of someone with a facial deformity which does not prevent them carrying out a particular job without any specific accommodation and is therefore not considered to be a disability. In the case of those with diabetes, under this legislation, students with diabetes have the right to ask for an Individualized Education Plan. However diabetes, like a lot of other such conditions, is a very variable problem, even within one person. There will therefore be times when the condition is well controlled and all that is required is somewhere private where medication can be taken. This should not mean having to do the necessary injections in a toilet cubicle, with all the possible risks of infection involved, even if care is taken. It would be reasonable to require the provision of a safe and private place for medication to be administered. If the condition is proving harder to control then the student m ay require more support such as staff who know what to do in an emergency if he collapses or shows signs of doing so. There needs to be an action plan in place. The bill is concerned with protecting the person from the ignorance of others - this can be merely to do with ignorance of the condition, but also includes such things as feeling that diabetes are somehow

Cal report Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cal report - Essay Example We further, get to know and understand about the concepts of evidence based management along with the consideration of the management knowledge and profession in the category of science or art. After researching extensively on the management related issues, I learnt that research plays a significant role and gives in a major contribution in acquiring foundation knowledge and updated information. Through my analytical understanding, I came to conclude that the element of knowledge can be only created if we perform a task which results in value addition. While, the learning that that we obtain in our class is called experience. The process of creating knowledge, and gaining experiences has already begun altering my life and making it useful for further experiences. It was all in the course of my active role playing in the rigorous process of my learning that I started to determine and discover my position in the company. I began to investigate and figure out as to how and in what ways it is possible to learn for the experiences of other people around us.

The Role of the Practice Mentor Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

The Role of the Practice Mentor - Research Paper Example However, when prior knowledge is inaccurate, activated, inappropriate or insufficient for the task or inert it can interfere with or impede new learning. Students obviously make connections between pieces of knowledge. Those connections form knowledge structures that are meaningfully organized and accurate and hence the students are well able to apply and retrieve their knowledge efficiently and effectively. (Sullivan & Glanz, 2005. p97-101). Conversely, when knowledge is connected in random ways or inaccurately, students fail to apply or retrieve it appropriately (Bigge & Shermis,1998. pp210-231). Students’ motivation decides, sustains and directs what they do to learn. As students go into college and gain greater independence over how, when and what they learn and study, motivation plays a vital role in guiding the persistent quality and direction of the learning manners in which they indulge. When students find positive value in a learning activity or goal, they are likely to be strongly motivated to learn. This happens when they perceive support from their environment and expect to achieve the desired learning outcome. Students must practice  to acquire component skills and integrate them, know when to apply what they have learned to help develop mastery (Bigge & Shermis1998 pp210-231). Students must develop not only the component knowledge and skills necessary to perform complex tasks but that also practice on integrating and combining them to develop greater fluency. Finally, students must learn how and when to relate the knowledge and skills they learn. For instructors, it is significant that they build up the consciousness of these elements.

Air pollution Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Air pollution - Essay Example The paper "Air pollution" discovers the problem of air pollution. If the government rewards environment-friendly businesses and actions, it will be an example of positive consequence. On the opposite, instilling habits through adverse effects would be imposing financial penalty on an industry that is exceeding the limit of emitting pollutants in the air. Where technology has given so much to life, it has also been the source of many predicaments. Technology has given human beings too many machines that they constantly engage with and consume energy. In the end, environmental policies and their proper application can significantly contribute towards a healthier greener planet. Climate change and environmental pollution are the most crucial issues in the world. One needs to study them carefully and understand their magnitude. Recently, international attention has shifted towards studying this relationship of rapid development and the resulting environmental problems. In the last few de cades, an immense development has been observed around the world but this development comes at the cost of diminishing natural resources and negative impact on the ecosystem. One of the many problems facing Saudi Arabia is air pollution. Air pollution means the introduction of different gases and solid fumes into the atmosphere. These gases and particles are composed of biological, chemical and other dangerous components. Air pollution is becoming a major concern for the citizens of Riyadh. It is one of the largest metropolitan areas.

Macro Economics Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5

Macro Economics - Assignment Example It also provides individuals to act based on their self-interest regarding the decisions in the economy. This thought ensures that the economic resources are allocated based on the desires of businesses and individuals. The classical economists uses the value of money in determining the prices in the market. On the other hand, the Keynesian school of thought depends on the aggregate demand and spending in defining the economic marketplace. The Keynesian economists believe that the private and public decisions influences the aggregate demand. Public decisions entails the municipalities and government agencies. Private decisions entails the businesses and the individuals found in the economic marketplace. Government spending is not one of the major forces in classical economic literature. Business investments and consumer spending represent the most important section of the country. Too much government expenses takes away the resources needed by businesses and individuals. On the contrary, the Keynesian economics relies on the government spending to jumpstart the nation (Nikaido, 546). The classical school of thought focuses to create long term mitigation for economic problems. The issues on inflation, government taxes, and government regulations are the main agenda for the classical school of thought. The Keynesian school of thought focuses on the immediate outcome in the economic theories. The policies set by the Keynesians were short term and required instant corrections to the nation. This is the reason why government spending is the main cog in this school of thought. From the classical model graph, the aggregate supply curve is illustrated by the vertical line. From the Keynesian model, the aggregate supply curve slopes upwards based on the Keynesian school of thought. The two school of thought represents the aggregate supply and aggregate demand and they

Undercover Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Undercover Operations - Essay Example They could play lovers, prostitutes, drug dealers or crime bosses. Undercover work has facilitated the prosecution of criminals operating in a complex setting and uncovering of operations of criminal gangs. Despite its benefits to the society, some people are against the use of undercover work as a means of collecting evidence of crime. Some of the reasons they give are that its increase crime, do not respect privacy, involves deception, allows the government to do what it is prohibiting others to do among other reasons (Pollock, 2004). Personally, I support the use of undercover work by law enforcement officials. Although it involves unethical actions, it is also ethically justifiable. When it is examined from the utilitarian viewpoint, it is a noble-cause corruption in which the end-justifies the means. It leads to the good of the greater population and thus it is justifiable if it is used to obtain useful and important ends. For example, it is important in the prevention of crimes when there are specific hints and reasonable grounds to suspect that some people are planning a serious crime or have done it. It helps to uncover the truth, collect evidence and make arrests. Victims of some serious crimes do not report their experiences and rarely are such crimes reported. These include pornography rings, drug distribution networks and fences of stolen property. In this case, underground work is the best investigation tool. Undercover work is ethical when the targets are individuals or gangs who commit crimes they are aware that they could call for the use of deceptive police practices for example drug distribution. It could also be risky for the law enforcement officers to investigate some of the crimes openly and thus underground work justifies the use of special risks. In this case, it is ethical and justifiable as the best means towards the collecting of evidence and making arrests in some crimes. Pollock

Centrifugal fan failure Essay Example for Free

Centrifugal fan failure Essay Research conducted by (Reddy Gartling 2002) have historically illustrated that concurrence of towering order aural modes and occurrences within the fan housing and structural modes and occurrences of the impeller perform an integral aspect in vibrant loading of the impeller. Long understanding has proved that concurrence of the structural and aural dual joint diameter mode facades and frequencies is fastidiously lethal to the vibrant quivery loading of the impeller. The observable fact here is that a dual nodal diameter mode shape with its affiliated structural occurrence corresponds to the lowest shaft-self-sufficient impeller disk form considered most susceptible to pulsation. This report presents proof that the fan impeller was unsuccessful structurally owing to structural-acoustic blending, which emanates from a match in a dual nodal diameter form silhouettes and concurrencies. In the event to precluding such anomalies, overt happenstance, i.e., harmonizing of form prototype and concurrencies, ought to be shunned. The brunt of the compartment is not altering the acoustic concurrencies to any basic degree although, moderately, to deform the acoustic fashion figures adequately to lessen the extent of structural-acoustic pairing. (Reddy Gartling 2002) The composition forms of the impeller disk could interact in a special way with acoustic modes within the machine housing and, consequently, causing the disk to vibrate hence leading to a potential dysfunction. Nonetheless an exceptional condition of great apprehension is the state of absolute concurrence of composition and acoustic modes. The central structural forms susceptible on the impeller disk include; the plane diametral modes m, where m stands for the amount of complete structural brandish of the numeral of nodal breadths, the diametral form is collectively assimilated with the perimeter as well as the radial manner n, in addition to a complete mode order of m, n. the acoustic modes within a tube like machine housing are identified with diametral p, perimeter as well as radial q, and axial r mode orders, where p as well as q stands for the number of nodal diameters and nodal circles, repeatedly and r demonstrating the nodule hierarchy in the canister axial bearing. (Reddy Gartling 2002) Basis and Remedies of heat rise Functional temperature is a variable to consider in optimizing the viability of fan bearings. The functional temperature of wave bearing ought not to elongate far ahead of 200 degree centigrade. Uncharacteristic hotness smashes up bearing components, particularly the enclosure and fastens, and demeans the oil. Employing of comparatively stumpy thermal conductivity material could help to curtail the heat. Stainless steel for instance has low conductivity than carbon steel, hence could be the best material in minimizing the heat. Embedding a heat flinger; a diminutive centrifugal fan veer constructed from material with optimum thermal conductivity like aluminum to the tube flanking the fan housing and non drive end bearing also dissolves heat. (Kelecy, F 2005) Padded fan housing can also preclude heat emissions from blistering fan as well as heat shield. Insulation curtails on the exterior temperature of the casing perimeter, hence reducing radiation. A radiation guard, nonetheless, accumulates between the bearing and housing, securing the bearing assembly from direct emissions. The housing could be integrated into a protection for the flinger. Poorly maintained or even non-existent, insulation is a common anomaly visible in higher temperature applications. (Kelecy, F 2005) Other factors Low viscosity oil could be employed to curtail the heated emitted by friction within the bearing. However, the viscosity preclusion needed to lower the hotness proficiently could bring about an increase that is too light for adequate greasing. By and large, the lowest required (Kelecy, F 2005) viscosity at the bearing functional hotness is 70 SUS for sphere bearing and 100 SUS for spherical roller bearings. In conclusion, the functional bearing temperature differs almost directly measure for measure with ambient temperatures. Strategic fan positioning is the best way to control temperatures. Placing the fan in a cool region is preferred. Ceilings and corners should be avoided by all means possible since heat is highly concentrated at these points. (Eck S 1999) Maintaining proper lubrication Lubrication is an imperative aspect that maintains a proficient bearing operation. It’s important in the sense that is reduces friction at contact points in the bearing, protects the interior components from oxidation, thwart dusts as well as other impurities. (Eck S 1999) Monitoring vibration Vibration is also a supplementary aspect that could lead to fan dysfunction. Vibration hampers the fan rotor as well as the tube, creating fissures and eventually disastrous impairment. Bearing wear is also increased. Additional vibration is symptomatic (Eck S 1999) that the bearing may be supporting an excessive load and is put under hardships that finally break about the breakdown. References: Eck S (1999) Fans: Architecture and function. Oxford; London Press Kelecy, F (2005) Review illustrations and Model in Predicting Fan Behaviour; journal of articulate programme end users; Princeton University Press; Reddy Gartling (2002) The Finite Element Formulae in Radiation Transfer and Liquid Dynamics. Harvard University Press.

What Literacy Means Essay Example for Free

What Literacy Means Essay For me literacy is very important and has a really strong impact in my life. When I was a kid I remember my father always telling me â€Å"the more you know the better it is†. I never really understood what he meant nor did I pay that much attention. I must admit that I was pretty rebellious back in those days, I wanted to be independent, I dropped out college in my freshman year, started partying, binge drinking, to sum it up I just didn’t wanted to listen or take any advice from my parents or the people that cared for me. They saw the mistakes I was making and the destructive path I was heading to, it was like they were foreseeing the future. It wasn’t until I left my country (Dominican Republic) to live in the united states that I understood what they were trying to tell me, out all the advice they gave me I could only remember the say that my father used to tell me. Society has proven time and time again, it will reward those individuals who are competent and impede those who are not, whether expressed in terms of employment opportunities (job success) or just on a social level. One needs look no further than their everyday activities in order to realize how important literacy is. Without adequate literary skills one may not be able to identify on a label the correct amount of medicine to give a child, or read and interpret a sign giving instructions on what to do in case of a fire. These two examples bring perspective to literacys importance. Nevertheless, recent surveys have indicated that, 4. 5 million Canadians, representing 24 percent of the eighteen-and-over group, can be considered illiterate (Adult Illiteracy 5). Illiteracy is truly a problem within Canada. Although many groups are working to render the problem of illiteracy, much work still lies ahead. As our society moves on into the next century literacy is proving vital to economic performance. Without basic literary skills in ones possession they will become lost in our rapidly changing society. The modern worker must be able to adapt to the changing job-scene. This often means gathering new skills and knowledge from printed material, whether instruction manuals, computer programs, or classroom training (text books). It is quite commonly the case that highly skilled jobs require a high level of literacy. Therefore, literary skill level is an important factor in predicting an individuals economic success. It will affect an individuals income, their employment stability and whether they even receive employment opportunities. Presently, our world revolves around literacy. Simply being literate allows one to continuously upgrade ones literary skills to a higher level. It allows one to stay informed of happenings in and around the world through mediums such as newspapers and magazines. Knowing current news about what is going on in this ever changing world of ours is the key to staying ahead. Another thought to ponder is this, we rely on those with high literacy levels to record and document findings and happenings for future generations to reflect on. These writings would most likely be dull and inaccurate or would not exist at all without our current levels of literacy. When viewed from a social standpoint, literacy remains just as important as when viewed from the economic standpoint. Linda Macleod of the National Associations Active in Criminal Justice, points out that, 65 percent of people entering Canadian prisons for the first time have trouble reading and writing, low literacy is part of a constellation of problems that can limit choices in life and thus lead people to criminal activity (20). Somebody in possession of a high level of literacy will most likely be well informed and tend to make wiser decisions. By obtaining this level of literacy they have also gathered a large vocabulary giving those many words to choose from to express their ideas and feelings. Conversely, many would agree that a conversation with one who has a good grasp of the English language is always more delightful than with one who is less educated. Literacy can act as a window, opening ones view to the world. Presently, we are being bombarded with information, news, trivia and gossip (not that this is always a positive feature in our lives). Without sufficient literary skills one cannot even absorb any of this information. These people will miss out on many of lifes benefits, socially as well as economically. Without sufficient literary skills one would have a tremendously difficult time functioning in our current world. Think about your average day, consider how many times you refer to your literary skills to aid you, could you function without those skills? Finding an address, reading a map, reading a menu, performing a bank transaction, these are just a few common tasks that require your literary skills. Also, when looking at the importance of literacy to our nation, its value is evident. High levels of literacy throughout all sectors of Canadas workforce are necessary, low  literacy levels of workers affect Canadas ability to perform in the increasingly competitive international marketplace (Literacy 7). Literary skills become building blocks. By first creating a well-educated society, then a highly skilled labor force which can compete and adapt to the changing market. These factors lead to an increase in economic growth within the nation which in turn, results in a higher standard of living for its people. As our society moves forward into the future, a higher level of literacy will become more important to ones level of success. Where would our society be without our ability to exchange knowledge and information? How many times have you made a purchase that read on the outside instructions inside? You and I think nothing of this, and in a sense take our gift for granted. For many, deciphering written instructions is a near impossible task, asking for assistance does little more than to further lower their self esteem. Literacy is important. To truly seize the benefits possible in ones life it has to be accepted that literacy is the key. Society will continue to reward skilled individuals and disadvantage those who are not.

Transformational Leadership in Nursing

Transformational Leadership in Nursing Ashley Freeman Introduction Transformational leadership theory is the process whereby the leaders attends to the needs and motives of their followers so that the interaction advance each to higher levels of morality and motivation (Yoder-Wise, P., 2014, pg. 10). In its most optimal form, it produces positive and valuable change within the followers with the purpose of developing the followers into leaders. When a leader embodies transformational leadership, they enhance the morale, motivation and performance of followers with various techniques. These techniques include helping the followers to connect their sense of self and identity to the mission and the collective identity of the organization; inspire followers by being their role model; challenge followers to go above and beyond what is expected of them, and understand their strengths and weakness, so the leader can assign tasks to its followers that can optimize their performance. Background In 1978 leadership expert, James McGregor Burns developed the first concept of the transforming leadership theory. He created this theory to address the aspects of an organization in which leaders focus on the beliefs, success, needs and values of their employees. According to Burns (1978), the transforming approach creates significant change in the life of people and organizations. It redesigns perceptions and values, and changes expectations and aspirations of employees. In 1985 Bernard M. Bass extended the work of Burns by explaining transforming leadership, but using the term transformational instead, that the followers of such leaders feel, trust, appreciation, constancy and respect for the leader because of the attributes of the transformational leader willingness to work harder than anticipated. Transformational Leadership in Nursing Transformational leaders have the following characteristics: model of integrity and fairness, effective communication skills, provides support and recognition, sets clear goals, visionary, encourage others and has high expectations (Yoder-Wise, P., 2015). My current nurse manager, Cathy, is a transformational leader. She allows the Patient Care Coordinators (PCCs) or charge nurses and sometimes the staff to participant in the decision making. As one of the PCCs, Cathy lets me make decisions about staffing and I am responsible for scheduling the staff. She provides constructive criticism, offers information, makes suggestions, and ask questions (Blais Hayes 2011, p. 167). Cathy lets me know when I am doing a good job and gives me recommendations on how I can make improvements. She gives us complements and rewards for working an extra day, orienting new staff or mentoring student nurses. Cathy is open and encourage openness, so that real issues are confronted (Blais Hayes 2011, p. 16 8). She respects each individual and values and uses each staff members contribution (Blais Hayes 2011, p. 168). She encourages everyone to be a team player because when everyone is working together, there is a higher job satisfaction, less nurse turnover, better patient satisfaction and outcomes. She comes to work with a smile on her face, says good morning and how are you doing to everyone. She builds relationships with the staff and gets to know everyone on a personal level. She is straightforward and gives you her honest opinion. Cathy is a good leader and remodel. Since I am a member of the leadership team as a PCC of a critical care unit, we must be able to contain cost while ensuring staffing productivity and competency, along with improving patient outcomes. One major area of cost containment where I work is staffing productivity. My hospital uses a predictive model to determine the number of full-time staff each department can have based on the number of patient that were seen that month from the previous year. I work in an eight beds intensive care unit and our staffing grid is the following: eight or seven patients four nurses and one patient care tech. (PCT); six patients three nurses and a PCT, five patients three nurses and a PCT, unless we are tight on man-hours then we can only have two nurses and no PCT, however if there is a patient(s) that needs behavioral observation (sitter), then we can have that extra person; four patients two nurses, unless patient(s) need a sitter, then we can have an extra person; three patients two nurses and no PCT; two patients two nurses and no PCT and one patient one nurse and no PCT. When we have an odd number of patients, we tend to go over in man-hours, so we must follow our staffing grid to ensure that we dont have to answer to administration. As a nurse manager, you educate, encourage and support staff through the changes to come within health care. Its the nurse manager role to ensure that all staff is maintaining the current acceptable level of care. Along with maintaining adequate staff for patient safety, while controlling the budget. One of my responsibilities is to help motivate the staff to buy into different policies and procedures changes. We recently had our blood culture collection policy changed and I had to educate all the staff about the new changes. One of my biggest attributes is that I am a visionary leader because I can envision the potential reality, think outside of the box and I have innovative ideas. I can come up with new ideas and new ways of looking at situations. I am a big thinker and I dream even bigger. The critical care unit that I work in has eight beds, so relatively small, and it is on the third floor. We will be expanding, which means more beds, however, I requested through my manager for the unit to move down to the first floor because it makes more sense for us to be down there, close to the ER, OR and radiology, but I was told that was not going to happen. That was just one of the many ideas that I had. As health care continues to transform, hospitals should work to improve current practices for the future. Whether you are a leader, a follower, or a manager, being able to visualize in your mind what the ideal future is becomes a critical strategy (Yoder-Wise 569). The Wise Forecast Model would be useful because it allows us to be proactive in preparing for the future instead of being passive and reacting to the changes as they happen. There are three steps: 1. Learn widely, 2. Think wildly and 3. Act wisely. Learn widely means to extend your knowledge beyond your own clinical role and area. Think wildly means to think outside of the box, dream big, and know that we are only limited by our imagination. Act wisely is bringing thoughts and/or ideas back down to reality and doing what is possible with the resources that is available (pg. 570). Conclusion Transformational leaders provide their followers with an inspiring mission and vision to give them an identity, rather than just working for self-gain. The followers are motivated and transformed through their leaders charisma, encouragement and individual consideration. These leaders encourage their followers to think of new and unique ways to challenge the status quo and to adjust the environment to support them being successful. References Blais, K. K., Hayes, J. S. (2011).Professional nursing practice: Concepts and perspectives (6th ed.) [Vital Source Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com Burns, J.M. (1978) Leadership, New York: Harper and Row. Yoder-Wise, P. (2015). Leading and Managing in Nursing. (6th ed.). United States: Elsevier Health Sciences.

How to Select The Right Employees Essay example -- Employment Work Job

How to Select the Right Employees Hiring and keeping competent employees is critical to business success. However, you must develop a strategy to discover them. With the right employees you can accomplish many organizational goals. Fortunately, when a conflict arises in an organization, a good business team will know how to handle the situation. Whether a person is a manager, subordinate, or president, it is very important that you avoid a bad hire. The recruitment process must be handled carefully and taken very seriously. Objectivity, responsibility, qualifications, and a good offer make it possible to recruit potential employees. Recruitment in the public sector must be fair, open, and representative. Usually, the recruitment process involves a few steps. It includes advertisement, testing and screening, preparation, and decision- making. (Denhardt, Robert, Public Administration, Harcourt Brace and Co., Orlando, FL., 1999, pg. 213) The most scrutinized process of recruitment has been testing and screening. This process can happen through interviews, references, recommendations, and proper review of the applications. You can also use higher measures such as performance, assessments, job-related knowledge, and various tests. Without accurate screening, you are likely to hire someone that will not be productive to your organization. This is a fair process to attract prospective employees. Next, you must make sure that individual s have the appropriate qualifications that meet the job description. Then, after intense review you should be able to identify the best-qualified applicant. The standard recruitment process in the federal system has been described as "slow, unimaginative, and, unassertive. (Cohen, Steven and Eim... ...ring incompetent people. Bibliography Cohen, Steven and Eimicke, William. The New Effective Public Manager, Jossey-Bass Inc. San Francisco, CA, 1988 Denhardt, Robert. Public Administration, Harcourt & Brace Co., Orlando, FL, 1999. Falcone, Paul. 96 Great Interview Questions to ask Before you Hire, American Management Association, NY, New York, 1997 Greenberg, Jerald. Managing Behavioral in Organizations, Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1999 Miner, Mary and Miner, John. Employee Selection Within The Law, The Bureau of National Affairs Inc., Washington, DC, 1978. Northcraft, Gregory and Neale, Margaret. Organizational Behavior, The Dryden Press, 1990 Stahl, O. Public Personnel Administration, Harper and Row, NY, New York, 1971 Whetten, David and Cameron, Kim, Developing Management Skills, Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 1998

Death Penalty Essay -- essays research papers

The use of the death penalty in the United States has been a great debate for many years. One of the major aspects of this debate is whether or not we should continue to use this form of punishment for criminals. In my opinion, the death penalty should be abolished because it costs taxpayers much more than sending an inmate to prison and there is no factual evidence that it has any greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One major reason that I believe that the death penalty should be abolished is because the expenses of the death penalty greatly exceed those of life imprisonment. â€Å"Maintaining a system of Capital Punishment is far more expensive than sending murderers to prison until they die of natural causes. No systematic study has reached a contrary conclusion†(Costanzo 62). When various states conducted research on reinstating the death penalty, it was found that the cost would be enormous. A study in New York showed that the cost would be $118 million dollars each year to restore the death penalty within the state. Another study conducted in Kansas illustrated that the cost of the death penalty would be $11.4 million for the first year of reinstatement, and that the expenses would only rise each year as more prisoners were placed on death row (Quoted in Hanks 125). When compared to the cost of life imprisonment, these figures are astronomical. â€Å"A life sente nce in prison without parole is estimated to range from $750,000 to $1.1 mi...

Grapes of Wrath :: essays papers

Grapes of Wrath The Grapes of Wrath There's an old saying, "Blood is thicker than water." Well, nothing proves truer than the families in The Grapes of Wrath. When faced with hardships, people leaned on their kin for support and love, and in the worst of times would even turn their backs on those they had known for years to protect and provide for their families: ...Can't think of that. Got to think of my own kids. Three dollars a day, and it comes every day. Times are changing, mister, don't you know? Can't make a living on the land unless you've got two, five, ten thousand acres and a tractor. Crop land isn't for little guys like us any more. You don't kick up a fowl because you can't make Fords, or because you're not the telephone company. Nothing to do about it. You try to get three dollars a day someplace. That's the only way. (50) The Joad family is no exception. Their trials, tribulations, and broken dreams while suffering through the harsh realities of a fallen America only bring them closer together and remind the reader of true family values. When the reader is first introduced to the Joads, as a full family, one can sense the love immediately. "[Ma] moved towards [Tom] lithely, soundlessly...And her joy was almost like sorrow (101)." Even though she hasn't seen him for quite some time, and that may be the initial reason for her wonderment, she truely loves Tom and Steinbeck does an excellent job of portraying the emotions involved. Even when Granma and Granpa come into the house, the same emotions are evident, although the actions are quite opposite. Granma repeatedly "pu-raise[s] Gawd," while Granpa "walk[s] up and slap[s] Tom, [with] his eyes grinn[ing] with affection and pride." The reader knows the Joads can hold love for a person no matter how long he's been gone, or where he's been (and in this case, prison). Former Reverend Jim Casy is even accepted as one of their own when he arrives with Tom at Uncle John's house. Ma makes sure there is room on the truck for him and Tom calls him over as if he were one of the men in the family. "[Casy] knew the government of families, and he knew he had been taken

Case Analysis: Michael Eisner has More Problems than He Can Face

Eisner's Mousetrap Disney's CEO says the company has a lot of varied problems he can fix. But what if the real issue is something he can't face? By Marc Gunther Reporter Associate Carol Vinzant September 6, 1999 FORTUNE Magazine) – Michael Eisner, the famously hands-on CEO of Walt Disney, is up to his old tricks. Last night he screened a rough cut of Dinosaurs, Disney's big animated movie for next summer; he loved the story but complained that some jokes were stale. Today he's holding a four-hour brainstorming session about Mickey Mouse, looking for ways to keep the 71-year-old rodent relevant. One idea: a skateboarding Mickey. ) Later, he'll watch Peter Jennings' newscast on Disney-owned ABC and surf the Internet to see how the company's Websites stack up. Is this any way to run the world's most troubled entertainment giant? After all, as Eisner sweats the details, earnings are dropping, top executives are defecting, and Disney stock is plunging like a ride down Splash Mounta in. â€Å"Maybe I'm crazy,† Eisner says, â€Å"but I don't consider this a crisis. I don't think our problems are in the fabric of our company. And I don't have my head in the sand. Sitting down for a two-hour interview, he admits mistakes. He says, for instance, that he should have settled former studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg's suit against the company earlier to avoid a â€Å"parade of horrors† (see box). And he concedes that the company has sustained real damage: â€Å"It's like a train wreck, only nobody got killed. † But Eisner denies that he has lost his touch. â€Å"The criticisms of me and Disney today,† says the 57-year-old chief executive, â€Å"are as shortsighted as were the praises of me and Disney in the high economic times. Sunday nights on ABC, Michael Eisner–celebrated CEO, business magazine cover boy, and author of his own life story–still hosts The Wonderful World of Disney. The rest of the week, life is not so sweet i n the Magic Kingdom. Certainly shareholders have reason to feel grumpy, with the stock trading at about 37% below last year's high. There's no quick fix in sight either. Tarzan, the $160 million summer blockbuster, won't have much impact on earnings; the movie cost too much to make and isn't selling enough T-shirts and toys because the market's glutted with Star Wars stuff. That's one of the scary things about today's Disney: The company has grown so big and its problems are so far-reaching–ranging from the phenomenon of â€Å"age compression† to the explosion of media choices–that they can't be fixed by a couple of hit movies or TV shows or more Disney stores. The other scary thing is this: Disney seems less able than ever to cope with adversity. That's because Eisner, for all his creativity and charisma and grand plans, presides over an insular–some say arrogant–corporate culture where decision-making is hierarchical, centralized, and slow. It's an utter mismatch for the Internet age. â€Å"This isn't Mickey's house anymore,† says a former Disney insider. â€Å"It's a multibillion-dollar company. † Eisner does have a plan. He is cutting costs and reengineering a company that got bloated with success. He's making overseas growth a top priority. He wants Disney to be an Internet giant, taking on Yahoo and America Online. And, yes, he'll keep on tweaking theme park rides and screening ABC pilots and driving subordinates up the wall with his meddling, because he fervently believes that if you demand high quality and develop synergy, financial results will follow. The interesting thing about our company,† Eisner says, â€Å"which I think is extremely flattering, is that everybody takes for granted that we make good products. They think, Oh, the Disney cruise ship, they take a wand and a little pixie dust and all of a sudden you revolutionize the cruise industry from floating Vegas hotels to romantic ocea n liners. There are zoos all over the world, and up comes the Animal Kingdom. Or Tarzan, or the Lion King on Broadway–people say, ‘They have no trouble with the creative thing. Well, it's the creative thing that turns the company around. † Besides, he declares, a bit impatiently: â€Å"We are the most profitable media company in the world. We're being buried a little prematurely here. † He's right about the bottom line. Last year Disney reported revenue of $23 billion, operating income of $4 billion, and net income of $1. 9 billion–its net was far more than that of Time Warner (owner of FORTUNE's parent), News Corp. , and Viacom combined. For the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 0, Disney's revenue is expected to reach $24 billion. But all other key indicators are down, some shockingly so. For the first nine months of fiscal 1999, excluding a one-time gain from an asset sale, Disney reported declines in operating income of 17%, net income of 26% , and earnings per share of 27%. Some Wall Street analysts have cut their fiscal 1999 earnings estimates as many as five times since last summer, and 13 of 25 analysts have a â€Å"hold† on the stock, according to Zacks Investment Research. The company has simply stopped growing, and it isn't a momentary dip either: Operating income fell slightly last year too, and Disney isn't expected to match its fiscal 1997 earnings until 2001 at the earliest–a startling comedown for a company that, for a decade after Eisner took over in 1984, delivered annual profit increases of 20% and a return on equity of 20%. Return on equity, a key benchmark that has been sliding ever since Disney's 1996 merger with Capital Cities/ABC, has slipped below 10%, estimates analyst Laura Martin of Credit Suisse First Boston. Some people have the impression that Disney still is what it was–an animation company that generated great returns on capital,† Martin says. â€Å"But that may be over. † Until recently Disney was propelled by a handful of big ideas that were executed almost flawlessly. First, Disney released its library of beloved animated films on video just as VCRs took off; nine of the ten bestselling titles of all time are Disney movies, and most, like Snow White and Cinderella, were paid for long ago. Second, Eisner and Katzenberg revived Disney animation with instant classics like Aladdin and The Lion King, which made big profits at the box office and on video and spawned even bigger ancillary revenues from licensing and merchandising. Third, Disney built more than 700 retail stores in the U. S. , Europe, and Asia. Finally, the company embarked on a vast expansion of Walt Disney World, creating and updating dozens of attractions and building an astonishing 15,000 hotel rooms since 1988. (They called the strategy â€Å"Put the heads in the beds. ) Disney's market capitalization soared from about $2 billion before the Eisner era to $85 billion at its peak in April 1998. Thanks to the rising stock price, Eisner got fabulously rich too, exercising accumulated stock options that gave him pretax gains of more than $500 million since 1992. He still holds 12. 7 million shares, according to Disney's latest SEC filings, worth about $330 million at today's prices. So what's gone wrong? Sta rt with the fact that all the businesses that powered Disney, with the exception of the theme parks, are slumping. Home-video earnings have tumbled, partly because consumers now have shelves filled with Disney animation. Revenues from licensing and merchandising are down, partly because of the economic downturn in Asia, and sales and profits from the Disney Stores have declined because product lines have grown stale. â€Å"How many Mickey Mouse T-shirts can you sell? † asks Christopher Dixon, entertainment industry analyst for Paine Webber. Altogether, Disney's all-important Creative Content segment, which includes movie and TV production, home video, licensing, merchandising, and the stores, saw its operating income fall from $1. billion in 1997 to $1. 4 billion in 1998; it decreased by another 42% during the first nine months of fiscal 1999. If that were a movie, they'd call it Honey, I Shrunk the Earnings. In Eisner's view, the problems are unrelated. â€Å"A lot of things happened together to make our earnings slide,† he says. Disney is attacking each concern, slashing costly pr oduction deals in the movie business, releasing fewer live-action movies, resting its classic video titles longer between releases to rekindle demand, and merging overseas distribution forces for film and video. To boost demand for consumer goods, the company will try to coordinate marketing in big retailers such as Wal-Mart. â€Å"We'd like to have a Disney boutique to sell the T-shirt, the lunchbox, the sheets and towels,† says Peter Murphy, Disney's self-assured 36-year-old head of strategic planning. Suppose, though, that the declining sales of videos and merchandise reflect a more fundamental issue–weakness in the Disney brand. This notion is such heresy inside Disney that everyone, including Eisner, dismisses it out of hand. We have research on our brand in 20 or 30 countries, and we are almost without exception the No. 1 or No. 2 brand,† Eisner says. Disney executives say that if the brand were in trouble, Disney's theme parks would be suffering along with the rest of the company; as it is, they're thriving–even the one in France. In the theme parks and resorts segment, revenues and operating income grew by 10% and 13%, respectively, in 1998, and they've gro wn by 14% and 13% so far this year. â€Å"We have as many kids lining up to see Mickey Mouse as ever,† says Paul Pressler, 43, the president of Walt Disney Attractions. And our merchandise has done great. † Disney World has reached beyond its core audience of young families to beckon convention-goers, older people, and â€Å"pre-families,† which is Disney-speak for single people. And it's capturing more money from visitors who stay in all those new hotels. Sure, Disney's theme parks rule–it's parents who decide on family vacations–but the brand isn't holding up as well in crowded arenas like videogames and cable TV, where kids are more autonomous. Disney's interactive unit is an also-ran in the booming videogame business. On cable, the Disney Channel ranks a poor third in viewing among kids ages 2 to 11, behind market leader Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network. Both Nick and Cartoon, relative newcomers to the kids' business, exploited Disney's vulnerabilities. â€Å"The Nickelodeon opportunity was to get inside the lives of today's kids,† says Nickelodeon President Herb Scannell. â€Å"We've been contemporary. They've been traditional. † While Disney characters are drawn from myths, history, and storybooks–just about every big Disney animated feature could begin with the phrase â€Å"long ago and far away†Ã¢â‚¬â€œNickelodeon's TV shows and movies tell stories about real kids. Today the Viacom unit captures more than 50% of the audience of all children's TV programming. When Disney tries to exude a hipper aura–think of the bestselling Phil Collins soundtrack from Tarzan–the company is more likely to speak to baby-boomer parents than to their offspring. Here's where that idea of â€Å"age compression† comes into play. Kids grow up faster these days, the experts say, and start emulating teenage behavior when they're 9 or 10. They rebel against their parents and shy away from a â€Å"good for you† brand like Disney. Ten-year-old boys who watch wrestling or South Park on cable and 9-year-old girls who love Ricky Martin think Disney is for little kids. â€Å"They've never gotten past the problem that their core audience is girls 2 to 8 and their moms,† says a former Disney executive. And even among young kids, the hot properties lately are Nickelodeon's Blues Clues, PBS's Tele-tubbies and Nintendo's Pokemon, now a hit TV show on the kids' WB, yet another new kid-vid network. The cluttered kids' marketplace points to another fundamental problem facing Disney–competition on a scale the company hasn't faced before, across all its businesses. Warner, Dreamworks, and Fox do feature animation. Universal just opened a second Florida theme park. Fox Sports is taking on ESPN. Can you begin to see why managing Disney today is harder than it was a decade ago? What changed everything, of course, was Eisner's boldest stroke as CEO: his $19 billion merger with Cap Cities. That deal, cheered at the time, still appears strategically sound–the idea was to marry Disney content with ABC's broadcast and cable distribution. The problem has been execution. While ESPN and other cable properties have grown, no unit of the company is as besieged as ABC. It will lose money this year for the first time in a decade, despite a fantastic advertising marketplace, because audiences are splintering and programming costs keep climbing. (Disney agreed under competitive pressure to spend $9. 2 billion–that's right, billion–for NFL rights for ABC and ESPN through 2008. ) Operating income for the company's broadcasting segment, which includes ABC, its TV stations, 80% of ESPN, the Disney Channel, ABC Radio, and stakes in Lifetime, A&E, the History Channel, and E! Entertainment, grew by just 3% last year; it's down 18% so far this year, mostly because of ABC. I'd be the first to say the results of the ABC television network, particularly in prime time, have been disappointing since the merger,† says Robert A. Iger, 48, the lifelong ABC executive who is chairman of ABC Inc. While Iger's bailiwick extends way beyond the network, he keeps a close watch on programming and told FORTUNE in 1997, â€Å"Prime time is my No. 1 priorit y. † Since then, ABC's ratings for its 18- to 49-year-old target demographic have fallen by another 13%, leaving the network No. 3, behind NBC and Fox. Oops. Wait, it gets worse. Remember how the merger was supposed to marry content and distribution? That's not working well either. Owning and broadcasting a hit, then selling the reruns, is the best way to make big money today in television. Just ask Rupert Murdoch, whose Twentieth Century Fox TV studio not only owns the biggest hits on Fox–The Simpsons, The X-Files, and Ally McBeal–but also produces The Practice and Dharma & Greg for ABC, as well as key shows for NBC, CBS, and the WB. By contrast, Disney's Touchstone Television production studio has failed to develop a prime-time hit for ABC or anyone else since creating Home Improvement in 1991. Out of sheer frustration, Eisner last month merged the Touchstone studio into ABC; the idea is to save money and force the two units to cooperate. â€Å"It's a fantastic opportunity to reengineer the way television is done,† says Lloyd Braun, the studio president who co-chairs the merged unit with ABC's Stu Bloomberg. Like a movie studio, ABC Entertainment now will develop, own, finance, and distribute more of its own content. The trouble is, the new model could seal ABC off from the rest of the television world. While ABC executives say they'll still buy shows from studios like Warner Bros. nd Fox, the studios worry about doing business with the new, vertically integrated ABC. â€Å"You're going to have to demonstrate to me in tangible ways that I'm going to get a fair shake,† says Sandy Grushow, president of Fox's Twentieth Century Television. The other networks, meanwhile, suspect that any show they get pitched by a Disney entity will be an ABC reject. Beyond that, t he merger adds another layer and the prospect of infighting at ABC Entertainment, now run by a posse that includes newcomer Braun, programmers Bloomberg and Jamie Tarses, network President Pat Fili-Krushel, ABC Inc. resident Steve Bornstein, and Bob Iger, who still reads scripts of key ABC shows on weekends. Nor is Eisner shy about weighing in; he helped shape the fall lineup and ordered ABC to negotiate tougher deals with its affiliates and program suppliers, which are not happy. This management by committee has never worked in television, and it's not working at Disney-ABC. There is much more at stake here than the unwieldy operation of the TV unit. The new ABC structure is emblematic of what may be Eisner's thorniest problem, if only because he doesn't seem to recognize it: It's Disney's corporate culture. Under Capital Cities, ABC was run in a determinedly decentralized way; executives were given authority and responsibility as long as they exercised fiscal discipline, and the company was generally well run. The Disney approach reflects different values: centralized control, an obsession with synergy at the expense of individual business units, a suspicion of outsiders, and a muddying of responsibility. The results speak for themselves. Writing about the Disney culture is tricky because knowledgeable critics are unwilling to speak on the record; the company's just too powerful. But talk to enough people and you hear similar complaints. One persistent theme: Eisner insists on making too many decisions himself, which clogs the decision-making process. So do the roomfuls of strategic planners who analyze everything. A second complaint: Eisner's too tough. Working with Disney is notoriously difficult, so much so that a group of partners, including Coca-Cola, AT;T, Delta, and Kodak, used to meet informally to trade tips on how to cope. A related point about Eisner: In spite of his affability, he doesn't really value other people. That's one reason the death of his longtime second-in-command, Frank Wells, in 1994, was a seminal event. Wells commanded Eisner's respect like no one else, told him when he was off-base, and deftly softened his edges. They were a great team. Eisner tried to replace him with Michael Ovitz, a crucial error at just the wrong moment. Ovitz's management got the ABC merger off to a dismal start, and his 16-month tenure scarred the company. Since then, strong executives have left, among them former CFOs Stephen Bollenbach and Richard Nanula, Internet guru Jake Winebaum, and former ABC executives Geraldine Laybourne and Steve Burke. Finally, the critics say, the company has simply grown too big to be run from the top down. Eisner's approach worked for the old Disney, where the focus was on a single brand; he could gather a cadre of executives at his Monday lunches and get things done. Now Disney must manage multiple brands in a world where speed counts and partnerships are vital. A respected ex-Disney executive told me, â€Å"The company has changed and the world has changed, but Michael hasn't changed. Now he's got to change. † Eisner and his lieutenants bristle at the criticism from unnamed sources, and you can't blame them. Yes, they say, Disney is tough, but so are GE and Microsoft–which, by the way, lose lots of executives, too, because they have an abundance of talent. To the charge that he meddles, Eisner pleads guilty with an explanation: He wants Disney to excel. (Even his detractors say he has great instincts. ) When he heard from a friend that the cast members at Disneyland Paris weren't as helpful as those at Walt Disney World, he recommended better training. â€Å"Is that meddling or is that insisting on a high standard of excellence? † Eisner asks. â€Å"If there's an area where I think I can add value, I dive in. Yes, at certain times I paralyze people. I'm never satisfied. It gets people crazy, I know that. † But Eisner also says he leaves his best executives, like theme park chief Pressler, alone. â€Å"There's no brain drain,† he says. â€Å"We have unbelievably strong management. † Eisner's turnaround strategy focuses not on Disney's culture but on operations, fiscal engineering, and growth. Consolidation and cost cutting are already under way across the board, with the movie division leading the way. Studio chief Joe Roth has already cut spending by about $550 million annually, by making fewer movies. It focuses everyone much more closely on the films at hand,† Roth says, â€Å"and ironically, I am quite sure that–for the fifth time in six years–we will be No. 1 in market share again this year. † Disney is also looking to sell Fairchild Publications, a magazine company. Sources say Disney also expects to write off a big chunk of the $9. 2 bi llion NFL deal. In a move that should please Wall Street, CFO Thomas O. Staggs is reworking Disney's compensation system so that executives will be evaluated on cash flow and return on equity as well as on reported earnings; that's designed to encourage business units to use capital more efficiently. The theme park segment, in particular, has been a huge consumer of capital, but it will use less after new parks open near Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland in 2001. Disney's best growth opportunity probably lies overseas. Right now, the company gets about 21% of its revenues from abroad, less than other global brands like Coca-Cola (63%) or McDonald's (61%). That's why Bob Iger's recent promotion to president of Walt Disney International puts him in a crucial role, spearheading what Eisner calls â€Å"a monumental change in the way the company is structured. Iger has begun to overhaul all of Disney's operations outside the U. S. , which grew up haphazardly as each business–film, TV, the stores, cable, or theme parks–built foreign outposts that reported back to the home office. Now those businesses will also report to regional executives in charge of continents or key countries; each territory will also get its own CFO and brand manager. That may sound like more Disney l ayering, but Iger says it offers major advantages. First, the company will save money through consolidation, whether in renting office space or buying advertising. Disney also expects to do a better job of tapping into local trends. Iger cites a revealing example: â€Å"It's having someone in Japan who would see the Pokemon phenomenon at an early stage and have the clout, really, through me, someone who has a seat at Michael's table, to be able to raise the consciousness level of the company about that potential quickly and effectively. † Interestingly, the idea is not to delegate authority but to shorten the distance between the rest of the world and Eisner. Eisner's other major focus is the Internet. Here, too, centralization is the watchword. Last month Disney agreed to combine its Internet assets with Infoseek, a search engine and portal company that it is buying outright; the properties, including the Go portal, ABCNews. com, ESPN. com, Disney. com, Family. com, and others scattered in five locations on both coasts, will operate as a single unit under a CEO to be named later. â€Å"This is to consolidate the Internet assets so that we can have them under common management with one agenda and one vision,† says CFO Staggs, the 38-year-old architect of Disney's Internet strategy. The company will then issue a tracking stock called go. com that can be used as acquisition currency and a way to compensate talent. Disney's assets should make it a force online. Its ESPN. com and Disney family sites are category leaders, and the company has unparalleled promotional platforms in ABC and ESPN. In a matter of months, they helped make Go the fifth-ranked portal, behind AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft, and Lycos. And all the Disney Websites should sing when high-speed access makes it easier to watch video online. â€Å"As bandwidth expands,† Eisner says, â€Å"content becomes more important. You must have sports and news and entertainment, or you are going to be a Western Union messenger in a fax world. † He envisions a universe in which ABC News clips, ESPN game highlights, and movies like Aladdin are distributed online, cutting out middlemen like cable operators or Blockbuster Video. â€Å"I believe the entire company's product will mostly be distributed through the Internet,† Eisner says. He's a passionate Internet user too, peppering his web guys with suggestions. Says Staggs: â€Å"The only person I get more e-mail from than Michael is my mom. † The strategy sounds smart. Of course, buying ABC sounded smart too. Once again, it'll come down to execution. Patrick Keane, a Jupiter Communications analyst, likes Disney's web assets but worries that â€Å"diversified media companies move at glacial speed when it comes to the Internet. † Disney can't be as focused on new media as people at AOL and Yahoo are every day. And the straitlaced Mouseketeers will have to learn to live in an unbuttoned Internet culture, says new-media consultant Gary Arlen of Bethesda, Md. â€Å"Have you ever been to Disney World? † he asks. â€Å"You walk out of a ride and land in a place that sells souvenirs. They'd like to manage the Internet that way. Even with perfect execution, Disney's Internet investments need time to pay off; in the meantime, they'll dilute earnings. Time is what Eisner needs too. Time for the cable and phone companies to help make his broadband Internet vision a reality. Time to build overseas. Time for DVD to take hold and provide another chance to resell the library. Time to creat e the next Tarzan and a hit for ABC, time for new theme parks to open, time to reinvent Mickey once more. Time, perhaps, to appoint a strong second-in-command with clout, whether it's Bob Iger or Paul Pressler or a dark horse who has yet to emerge. Because he enjoys the support of the Disney board, Eisner can be patient. â€Å"We're in a transition period,† he says. â€Å"I would rather have every quarter be up. It was for 13 years. Everybody loves you. [But] you can't manage a company like ours quarter to quarter, maniacally, so that the media will write good things about you. † He likes to quote Warren Buffett, whose Berkshire Hathaway, at last count, owned 51 million Disney shares: â€Å"I close my eyes and think about what a company's going to look like in ten years before I invest. Paine Webber's Chris Dixon says Disney's assets are top-notch: â€Å"It may take time, but we believe the values are there. † Other investors won't wait. They note that despite the earnings downturn, Disney is still priced as a growth stock; it trades at about 35 times this year's projected earnings, a 25% premium to the S;P 500. The Capital Research ; Management Group, whose entertainment industry investments are managed b y respected media analyst Gordon Crawford, used to be Disney's largest institutional shareholder, with 41 million shares as recently as last year. Crawford has sold them all. So be it, says Eisner. â€Å"You can always tell your friends through the rough times,† he says. He still gets to go to the movies, test-drive theme park rides, surf the Net, and call it work. And maybe it's just his turn to suffer in the media doghouse. After all, CEOs Gerald Levin of Time Warner and Sumner Redstone of Viacom fell out of favor when they struggled to get their arms around companies engorged by big acquisitions. Such mergers aren't easy. The challenge for Eisner is to learn from experience, show a little humility, seize the opportunity to shake up his company, and, perhaps, change his own stripes and let go a little. That's a lot to ask of anyone who's been as successful as he has for so long. But this isn't the old Disney. And the old Disney magic just isn't working anymore. REPORTER ASSOCIATE Carol Vinzant http://money. cnn. com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/09/06/265291/index. htm