Dance and Fashion Essay Example for Free

Dance and Fashion Essay There’s an exciting fashion trend happening – dance. The dance and fashion industries seem to be increasingly joining forces, with dance companies commissioning high profile designers and fashion labels turning to dancers to optimally show off their clothes. The collision of the worlds of fashion and dance creates alchemy beyond the reach of either one alone. Fashion is made to move in the world, and dance is extreme motion. The interaction between dance and fashion inspires new ideas for stories and forms of expression, and brings new audiences to both art forms. This season, as the fashion industry becomes more competitive, a string of in-demand models with serious dance backgrounds literally have a leg up. At the same time, as the pages of this fall’s set of weighty magazines attest, professional dancers are influencing fashion in ways never seen before. The pathway to becoming a dancer may vary, but most people start by taking classes at a local dance school. If the goal is to become a professional dancer, this is followed by auditioning for an organization that specializes in full-time dance training, completing an accredited course, and then taking part in an array of auditions for various companies or project work. The transition from being a person who dances for fun to a person who wishes to pursue dance as a career offers a mixture of challenges, rewards and in some cases disappointment. The competitive reality of gaining dance employment requires confident individuals who are physically, technically, artistically and socially equipped to sustain the standards associated with the profession. (The Australian Ballet, 2010). For some people, dancing is their everything, wherein it is their way of exercising, expressing and meditating. It is also a reliable source of income. So many people do not believe they can dance. They think they are uncoordinated, have no rhythm and most of all, they assume the ability to dance is either something you have or you don’t. They see dancers as members of an unattainable and exclusive club of good posture, hours of practice and perfect young bodies with plenty of technique. Dancers are often called the athletes of the arts and like athletes they undergo years of hard physical training in pursuit of excellence. It is exhilarating watching human beings perform extraordinary and courageous physical feats. In dance, this energy is used to tell stories and convey ideas, creating very powerful experiences that can be dramatic, moving and even funny. (The Autralian Ballet, 2010) However, if you are one of those people who have always thought you had two left feet, or are just starting out, don’t allow any negative thoughts deprive you of the happiness that dancing brings. No matter what style: jazz, ballroom, belly dance or just plain shaking it to your favorite tune, dancing is one of the greatest joys in life. It can transform your attitude in a second and transport you into pure bliss. Dancing is for everyone. On the other side of the coin, being a supermodel is somewhat the same as being a dancer wherein there are certain challenges that need to be surpassed and most importantly you should’ve the skills to become one. Gracing the covers of Vogue magazine, parading the catwalks, travelling the world, being snapped by photographers constantly, oh these are just the wonders of being a supermodel. And who doesnt wish of becoming one? This job has all the perks. The star treatment, the attractive salary, the designer clothing, the great figure and desirable features, liaising with the rich and famous, being whisked off to exotic destinations. So many young women from all areas of the world aspire to become a supermodel and have the lifestyle they dream of. However, due to the appeal of the job role it is no wonder there is such stiff competition. Being both dancer and a supermodel is quite difficult. But in today’s generation there are some people who are lucky enough to have these talents that some may not have even one of those. This people have that confidence and charisma to be able to combine the two major forces of arts that could influence the audience and the society as well. The people whom I talking about is Coco Rocha and Karlie Kloss they are powerful in their own ways through their talents and in that way could amazed us. Introducing the beautiful, popular and charismatic supermodel and Irish dancer – Coco Rocha. Discovered at the young age of fourteen by agent Charles Stuart, Coco (born Mikhaila Rocha on September 10, 1988) had never considered modeling or fashion as particular interests, She is trained in ballet from age 4 and planned to become a professional dancer until she was spotted at an Irish dance competition in Vancouver, British Columbia, her hometown. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Coco grew up in Richmond, British Columbia. She has two siblings, and her parents are both in the airline industry. Coco says her parents are supportive of her career, if a bit out of touch. (Rota, 2011) Did you know Coco Rocha used to be a serious Irish dancer? Yep, the illustrious model was jigging all over the place as a child and Irish dancing actually played a major part in propelling her modeling career. She was discovered at an Irish dance competition and became known as the Irish dancing model after Jean-Paul Gaultier asked her to jig down his runway in 2007. Apparently, Irish dance still holds a place in Coco‘s heart. Coco Rocha is loved by the media and fashion industries. Her practice of Irish dancing has endeared her to both the general masses and industry giants, and her earthy appeal and classic looks have won her sought after contracts with cosmetic giants YSL and Rimmel. Now, Coco is more focused in her modeling career as she is part of the 7 modeling agencies all over the globe and has walked down the runways of Marc Jacobs, Versace, Prada, Miu Miu, Louis Vuitton, Anna Sui, Dolce Gabbana, Chanel, Balenciaga, and Jean Paul Gaultier. She has the talent frequently attributed to her background as a dancer and performer. (E-Money, 2012) She works regularly with the most important photographers including Steven Meisel, Patrick Demarchelier, Arthur Elgort, Nathaniel Goldberg, Mikael Jansson, Greg Kadel, Steven Klein, Annie Leibowitz, Peter Lindbergh, Craig McDean, Nick Night, David Sims, Mario Sorrenti, Solve Sundsbo, Inez Van Lamsweerde Vinoodh Matadin. Her advertising campaigns include Christian Dior, Chanel, YSL Beaute, YSL Fragrance Elle, Balenciaga, Lanvin, Dolce Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, The Gap, PHI, Nicole Farhi and DeBeers. (Model Scouts, 2012) These are just some of the most famous names in the fashion industry and Coco being part of it was just exemplary. Who would have thought and seen a model doing an Irish dance in the runway and entered the fashion industry at the age of 14. Well, she is Coco Rocha both dancer and supermodel. Karlie Elizabeth Kloss was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 3rd, 1992. Her family her father an emergency room doctor mother, an artist, and three sisters relocated to suburban town of St Louis, Missouri in 1995. Kloss began studying classical ballet at Castons Ballet Academy in 2002 where her talent in dance improved tremendously. Kloss was discovered at the age of 13 by model scouts Jeff and Mary Clarke when she walked in a St Louis charity fashion runway show in 2005. (Vogue) Karlie Kloss is an American model and 12-times Vogue cover girl. Since being discovered in 2005, at the age of just 13, Klosss meteoric rise to success has seen her become a household name. With grounding in classical ballet, Kloss is famed for her mesmerising stage presence and unparalleled walk. She moves like a cat. I love the way she walks. For me, its more important than beauty, Carolina Herrera said in 2011. This poise translates to film as well. John Galliano has referred to her as a chameleon: On set she smolders. She becomes this other creature in front of the lens. (Vogue) Once just another little girl with big dreams of being a ballet dancer, growing up in St. Louis, Montana, Karlie Kloss is just like Coco Rocha that they haven’t expected this kind of path they would’ve walked and be known in the fashion industry worldwide. The young fashion model’s entrance into the big leagues has of course led to a crossfire of rumors and criticism but, like a free spirit, Karlie has brushed off the negativity and gotten right back on her feet, quite literally sometimes. She has taken painful-looking falls on the runway walking for Fendi and Prada and, like a true supermodel, the skillful Karlie rose to her feet each time to finish her walk gracefully. That is normal in the life of a supermodel, there are ups and downs. Little do we know that there are still people that exists with these amazing and one of a kind talents. Hence, fashionable dance or danceable fashion, either way it works. Works Cited E-Money. (2012, February 23). Coco Rocha Dances: White House | Black Market Spring Commercial. Retrieved January 28, 2013, from http://www. yourstrulybrand. com/2012/coco-rocha-tap-dances-white-house-black-m

New Media Technologies Adoption Challenges Information Technology Essay

New Media Technologies Adoption Challenges Information Technology Essay Latest advances in information and communication technologies (ICTs) have continued to be a major factor that is catapulting modern society to a high technology one. With cutting edge and far-reaching developments in science and technology in the late twentieth century, Ipad, ipods, new video games, cellular phones, electronic banking, and satellite television are just a few of the ICT innovations that have taken our modern life by storm. The Information and Communication Technologies in this study is operationalised to mean the new media technologies, including satellites, telephony, the Internet, the Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM), other components of computer- assisted reporting and multimedia systems. These are new improved technological facilities that facilitate the creation, storage, management and dissemination of information by electronic means. No doubt, this wave of new media technologies within the fabric of todays globalised village has continued to pressure everyone to adopt ICTs as the whole world is being shrunk into one small entity and computing, telecommunications, broadcast and print media continue to converge on common digital-based techniques. Since the great inroad of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into the global scene at the dawn of the 21st century, significant changes have been recorded in the way man does things. In virtually every profession, the traces of the ICTs are clear, bringing radical changes and improvement. Specifically, media practice the world over has witnessed a great change; and traditional journalism has been replaced with hi-tech journalism (Obe 2008). The use of the facilities of the New Information and Communication Technologies has given birth to the components of Computer-Assisted Reporting (CAR) which are commercial online databases, CD-ROM, Electronic Bulletin Boards (BBS), Electronic morgue, in-house topical databases, electronic public records and the Internet (Davenport et al, 1996). Besides, the use of ICTs facilities to disseminate news and information at jet speed, as in Electronic News Gathering (ENG) and Satellite News Gathering (SNG), have really taken journalism practice by storm. Evidences suggest that in no distant time, virtually every practice of the media will be carried out with the use of ICTs. Very soon, if not now, media practitioners will have no other option than to search the web, use e-mail attachments, navigate newsgroup, setting up list servers, downloading of web files and analysis of databases and so on. With these new communication technologies, interpersonal communication has been greatly improved upon with facilities like fax machines, communication satellites, e-mails, personal digital assistants, cellular phones and the Internet. These days, everybody is within the reach of everybody else. The emergence of the computer and its interlinked network the Internet, has ushered in a new opportunity for the ICTs-induced communication. The real motive behind the communication is to create a virtual global village where information flow cannot be disrupted. When ICTs are fully adopted and used, the socio-economic and developmental lives of the people will be greatly enhanced. The aim of this paper is to track the adoption and use of ICTs by media professionals in Nigeria. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Most developing nations of the world are confronted with socio-economic problems ranging from poverty to corruption with no solution in sight. The assumption is that one of the safest routes to escape from the problem is for most developing nations of the world to adopt and use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). That is why most developing nations are trying to subscribe to the modern day developmental magic with a view to transforming their societies for good. The argument as to whether Africa can actually utilize ICTs for her development in the face of the prevailing circumstances is gaining robust dimension. In their UNESCO-sponsored pilot study on adoption of ICTs in Africa and Asia-Pacific, Obijiofor et al submit: In Africa, ignorance is far more major obstacles and those aware, mostly the educated and literate people in the private sector, say as much as they appreciate the need and importance of ICTs, the economic situation in their countries and general poverty make it difficult for people who need these ICTs to acquire them. In Ghana, for example, the per capital income is US$400 and the average cost of a computer (plus modem and telephone line etc) is US$1500. Also in Nigeria, to acquire a computer/modem, ISP subscription and telephone line would require the total annual income of a graduate. Considering the above statement by Obijiofor et al, there is arguably a concern over the general poverty mentality on the part of media professionals which could tend to make them see acquisition of computers as luxury and as status symbols or statement of ones hierarchy in society, as such, consider purchasing ICTs as purchasing a diamond or gold. For instance, a longitudinal study aimed at tracking the adoption of computer-based information sources by Nigerian newspapers conducted in 2004 reveals that there is a zero or near-zero use of most of the components of computer-assisted reporting (CAR). For example, no Nigerian newspaper is currently using electronic morgue and electronic public records. There is also very little use of CD-ROMs and commercial online databases (Okoye, 2004). This however calls for a serious concern on whether the journalists can appreciably use ICTs to really deliver developmental and investigative journalism required to sanitise the society. Hence, the st udy sought to address this concern by examining how media professionals use ICTs to deliver their task. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY The specific objectives of the study are: To track the level of adoption of ICTs by media professionals in Nigeria To determine specific ICTs tools that is in use among Nigerian media professionals. To determine the challenges surrounding the adoption and use of ICTs by Nigerian media professionals. SCOPE OF STUDY The study narrows down to media professionals working with selected media organizations in Lagos, Nigeria as respondents. The study location is adopted because there is a high concentration of media professionals and their organizations in Lagos, the nerve centre of the Nigerian Press. Besides, Lagos is today regarded as the city with the most developed, vibrant and dynamic media industry in Africa (BBC poll). The media professionals include staff of major ICTs-driven print media (Newspapers and magazines) organizations that are registered by Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and the broadcast media outfits licensed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). The media professionals in each of the media organisations are the reporters at all levels (including freelancers), editors, newscasters, studio engineers and prepress staff. The respondents were limited to these categories because those are the people believed to be leading in media technology in Nigeria media industry. RESEARCH HYPOTHESES Two research hypotheses were raised for this research. Research Hypothesis 1 H1: There is an inverse relationship between the cost of acquisition of ICTs and adoption and use of ICTs by media professionals in Nigeria. Research Hypothesis 2 H1: Use of specific communication strategies is dependent on the income level of media professionals in Nigeria. Brief Review of Literature Previous studies on the rate of adoption and use of communication technologies in Africa had been slow and gradual and couldnt match up with the sporadic rate of adoption of ICTs which was unprecedented in world history. For instance, it took radio thirty-eight years; television took thirteen years, while cable took ten years to hit the mass medium status, whereas it took the Internet only six years to reach the fifty million users mark (Kaye and Medoff, 2001). In Nigeria, it did not take up to three years for the Global System of Mobile Communication (GSM) to hit appreciable number of adopters and users. The universal adoption of Internet is revealed through universal access data in various countries in the region. Topping the list of countries with high internet access are Korea 56% and Singapore (44%). In the median section are Malaysia with 14% and Brunei Darussalam (11%). Further down the line are Philippines (6%), Thailand (4%), and Indonesia (1%). Countries like Cambodia and Myanmar are at the bottom of the heap with less than 1% Internet diffusion. Among countries in the Caucuses and Central Asia, the internet is primarily accessible in the largest urban centres and technical services and support are often slow and expensive (Asian Womens Resource Exchange 2001: 36). Theoretical Orientations A concept that was employed in this study is Technological Determinism which assumes that changes in communication technology inevitably produce profound changes in both culture and social order. The concept holds further that technology inevitably causes specific changes in how people think, in how society is structured, and in forms of culture that are created. Marshall McLuhan who is a chief proponent of this concept staunchly believes that all social, political, economic and cultural change is inevitably based on the development and diffusion of technology. These and many other theories related to the work shall be fully explored in the main report. The concept of critical mass theory as it applies to the adoption of new communication technologies is desirable and would be used. The term comes from physics, where critical mass refers to the minimum amount of material needed to trigger and sustain a radioactive chain reaction. The term has been loosely applied to communication and refers to the minimum number of people needed as adopters before a new communication technology can have a permanent place in the society (Kaye and Medoff, 2001). Williams, Strover and Grant (1994) corroborate: An interesting aspect of the critical mass perspective is that widespread use appears to have a snowball effect. Once a perceived critical mass is using the technology, those without it are strongly motivated to adopt it. The reasoning here is that despite the drawbacks, such as cost or difficulty in using the technology, people (and institutions) are pressured to adopt the technology because failure to do so may exclude them from existing communication networks (p34). Before any medium can be considered a mass medium, a critical mass of adopters must be reached. Generally, critical mass is achieved when about 16 percent of the entire population has adopted an innovation, although in the case of mass media, fifty million users seem to be the milestone (Markus,1990; Neufeld, 1997 cited in Kaye and Medoff, 2001). Researches have shown that the rate of radio adoption crawled along for thirty-eight years before hitting the magic fifty million users; television took thirteen years, while cable took ten years to hit this mass medium status. In less than six years of its existence as a consumer medium, Internet has reached the fifty million users mark. Between 1995 and 1997, the estimated number of US online users ranged from 51 million to about 58 million. (About One in Four Adults, 1996; American Internet User Survey, 1997; CommerceNet and Nielsen Research, 1995; GVUs seventh www user survey, 1997; Hoffman, Kalsbeek, and Novak, 1996a; McGarvey, 1996; MIDS, 1995; OReiley Survey Sets, 1995; Taylor, 1997). In 1998 and 1999, between 57 million and 64 million people in the United States used the Internet (Decotis, 1999; Relevant Knowledge Rank the Sites, 1998). In 1999, Jupiter Communications claimed that in the United States alone, there were as many as 90 million Internet users (Guglielmo, 1999). The Computer Industry Almanac claims that the use has topped 100 million people 40 percent of the population (US tops, 1999). More alarming is the Data monitors claim that by year 2003 about 545 million Internet users will be around the world (Data monitor: 545 users, 1999). The BBC has greatly adopted the new media technology in its operations. Its new media division, the BBC online, has become one of the UKs most popular website, with over 190 million page impression requests per month. Besides, it has also introduced the BBCi meaning, the BBC interactive that takes in computers and interactive digital television across Sky, ITV Digital and the cable companies. CNN and other leading broadcast stations in the world are following. Various arguments have been advanced for and against the adoption of ICTs. Stevenson, Burkett and Myint (1993) argue that the new communication and information technologies can strengthen the centralized, industrial, command economy or decentralize empowerment for finding creative solutions to local and global problems through new social technologies. Other pro ICTs scholars point out that new technologies lead to speedier, more accurate, and improved outcomes that increase our capabilities and make us more efficacious (Dickson, 1974; Florman, 1981) In terms of the Internet, we are able to communicate far more effectively, with more people and in more ways, than before (Rowland, 1997). The advancement in the production and availability of sexual material can be viewed as a function of technological advancement (Durkin Bryant, 1995; Lane, 2000). It is arguable that all media technologies, from print to the Internet, have been used for sexual purposes (Noonan, 1998). In their argument against ICTs, Inayatullah insists that ICT causes further cultural impoverishment by continuing the one-way communication between North and South and much more that ICTs create information based economy and not a communicative society (Inayatullah, 1999). Lerner and Schramm (1976) throw more weight: Throughout the less developed regions, people have been led to want more than they can get. This can be attributed in part to the spread of the mass media, which inevitably show and tell people about the good things of life that are available elsewhereà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦As people in the poor countries were being shown and told about goodies available in developed countries, they were also being taught about their own inferiorityà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦at least in terms of wealth and well-being. Recognition of the disparities between the rich and poor countries produced among some a sense of aggressiveness. Both apathy and aggression usually are counter-productive to genuine development efforts (Lerner and Schramm, 1976:341-342) METHOD OF RESEARCH This study employed survey research method. This involves design of questionnaires which were administered to the respondents. Pertinent questions that bother on the adoption and usage of ICT constitute the bulk of the questionnaire design. The methodological procedure established includes the study population, sample size, the sampling procedures, the research instruments, the data collection exercise, problems of data collection, data preparation and entry as well as the analytical techniques adopted. STUDY POPULATION The study population comprises media professionals working with selected media organizations in Lagos. The media professionals are mostly journalists believed to be using ICTs to enhance their work. The media professionals fielded questions on their adoption and usage of ICTs tools. The media professionals include staff of major ICTs-driven print media (Newspapers and magazines) organizations that are registered by Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and the broadcast media recognized and licensed by the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). The media professionals in each of the media organisations are the reporters at all levels (including freelancers), editors, newscasters, studio engineers and prepress staff. The respondents were limited to these categories because those are the people who use ICTs facilities in the media industry. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE The simple random sampling technique was used to select the required media organisations for the study. Within the selected media organizations, the simple random sampling technique was equally used to select respondents within the media organizations under study. This was desirable as it rules out bias and subjectivity in the choice of respondents. STUDY SAMPLE As at the time of conducting this study, 47 print media organisations were registered by Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and out of the 47, only 18 Lagos-based print media houses weer still in circulation. Out of the 18 functioning, six print media organisations were selected for this study. The selected six media houses consist of four newspapers and two magazines (for the print media). Out of the existing broadcast stations licensed by NBC, four were selected which consist of two television stations and two radio stations. This made the total number of media organizations studied to be ten in number. The print media organizations selected are: Punch Nigeria Limited (publisher of the Punch Titles); Leaders and Company Limited. (Publisher of ThisDay Titles); The Sun Publishing Limited (Publisher of The Sun Newspaper); Financial Standard newspaper; Independent Communications Network Limited (Publisher of TheNEWS magazine and Newswactch Communication Limited (Publisher of Newswatch magazine). In the broadcast media, the four media stations selected are African Independent Television, Lagos (AIT) and Nigerian Television Authority, Lagos (NTA Channel 10) (Television) and Raypower 100.5 FM, Lagos and FRCN, Lagos (Radio Nigeria). SAMPLE SIZE Among the ten media organizations selected for this study, 200 communication professionals were chosen as respondents. The 200 consists of twenty respondents from each of the ten media organisations. Some of the media organizations studied do not have up to two hundred journalists, except for NTA and FRCN which are government owned. Nevertheless, it was estimated that 20 of the existing number of journalists in each of the organizations should be representative enough for generalization to be drawn. RESEARCH INSTRUMENT The main instrument for this research is the questionnaire. The questionnaires were designed using both the open-ended and closed-ended approaches. The first section of the two questionnaire schedules contained questions on respondents background, socio-economic and other demographic characteristics. These include questions on respondents sex, age, marital status, monthly income, educational attainment of respondents. The second section of the questionnaire dealt with information on adoption and use of ICTs. Respondents were asked to state their area of media practice and name of their media organizations and the department of the media organization in which they work. Specific questions about the time of their adoption of ICTs and that of their media organizations were raised. The questionnaire equally sought to know what specific ICTs tools are commonly or easily in use by the media professionals. The second section also probed into the adoption of the components of computer-assisted reporting. It used likert-like scale to really ascertain the degree of their adoption and use. The section of the questionnaire did not stop there, it tested the adoption of database journalism as well as the practice of computer-assisted investigative reporting. The questionnaire also probed into the economic aspect of ICTs, where questions that link cost and other economic considerations to the use and adoption were raised. VALIDATION OF RESEARCH INSTRUMENTS As a way of validating the instruments used for this research, face validity check was carried out by two senior university academics. Besides, a pilot study was conducted by the researcher in 2007. The pilot study aimed at tracking the adoption and use of ICTs by media professionals in Nigeria. The study was a follow up to an initial study conducted by Okoye (2004) at the University of Lagos. The success of the pilot study is an indication that the research instrument was tested with positive results. Problems Encountered A study of this magnitude cannot be completed without challenges, especially during data collection. The first problem was created by the corporate affairs manager of Daar Communications Plc, owner of AIT/Raypower who ordered the security operatives to usher the researcher out of the premises when the researcher had started administering the questionnaire copies to AIT staff before realizing that such must first pass through the corporate affairs manager for scrutiny. The managers seemingly rude approach at correcting visitors annoyed the researcher which led to minor altercations. This was later settled, but the researcher had to drop copies of the questionnaire to come back for it three days later, thereby making the wait-and-get approach unworkable in AIT. One major problem is the lackadaisical attitudes of media professionals towards academic research. Most of them claimed they were very busy to attend to us while others complained that the items on the questionnaire design are too many to answer. Some of them would ask us to wait till he finishes his report which could take an hour or two. There were instances of refusals, especially when the receptionist had to confirm the willingness of the respondents. The brown envelope mentality of the press was equally expressed here, although with few journalists when they openly requested for gratification or bottle of coke before filling the copies of questionnaire. Since this was anticipated by the researcher during the training, the field assistants were asked to use their initiatives and parley the respondents by creating much needed rapport. This eventually yielded positive efforts. Another major problem encountered is that few of the respondents, especially the senior staff had the propensity to lie about their adoption and use of ICTs for one major reason: they want to impress the researcher that their organization is standard and ICT-compliant, so in cases where they have not adopted a particular component of ICTs, they tend to say they have. The researcher and field assistants overcame this problem by demanding to see and probably take a photo shot of such facilities for the archive. For instance, in Punch, the Chief Librarian claimed they have adopted electronic morgue but when the researcher requested to see it and take a photo shot, she mellowed down and said their electronic morgue is still under construction. Data Preparation and Data Entry Having returned the survey data from the field, the data were carefully edited by the researcher himself to ensure completeness, legibility, clarity and consistency. After these internal checks, a total of 172 copies of the questionnaire were adjudged usable for analysis out of the 181 that were completed and returned. After this, data were entered and the statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for programming and analysis after the data entry. The SPSS and data entry were done by a database administrator with the assistance of the researcher. Discussions of Findings The data elicited from media professionals show that there are more male media professionals than their female folks as respondents in the research work and that majority of the respondents are young persons who are within the age range of 30-49 years. Besides, there is preponderance for married persons. Majority of the respondents have first degree/higher diploma as highest academic qualifications. The monthly salary of most of the media professionals falls between the range of N10,000 and N39,999. This shows most media professionals in Nigeria earn below N40,000. Most media organizations in Nigeria adopted the tools of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in their operations between 1999 2000 and 2001-2005. This period coincided with the time Punch newspaper house sacked all its photographers and abolished the use of film development process in the production of photographs. Instead, they adopted the use of digital camera which no longer requires the use of tedious traditional dark room film development processes. Of all the tools of ICTs available to media professionals, the Internet was mostly in use. In other words, the respondents use Internet more than any other tools. This confirms the findings of the pilot study conducted to validate the questionnaire for this study which revealed that out of the tools of ICTs, the Internet has the highest adopters. The respondents are however, divided about the description of their current state of adoption and use of ICTs. While some indicated that the current state of adoption and use among them is high, another good numbers do not share the high belief but rather describe the adoption and use as moderate. From the data gathered, the greatest challenge militating against the use of ICTs by media professionals in Nigeria is the cost of acquiring the facilities. This was followed by lack of base infrastructure like electricity. Only very few attributed why they do not use ICTs to unfavourable government policies. More importantly, majority of the respondents hold that the cost of acquiring ICTs tools is high. Although, respondents gave different opinions on cost of ICTs , but what remains clear is that there is a preponderance for respondents who see the cost of acquiring ICTs as being on the high side. Another important finding is that the income level of the respondent is a barrier to their acquisition of ICTs, The data had earlier established the fact that a greater portion of the respondents earn between N10,000 and N39,999 monthly. However, the bulk of the respondents opined that the benefits inherent in the use of ICTs are enormous. The data reveal that very appreciable number of the respondents are quite aware of Electronic Newsgathering and Satellite newsgathering (ENG and SNG), Very few numbers of the respondents unaware of ENG and SNG. The respondents are again divided on their level of agreement of the fact that ENG and SNG are needed in every contemporary media organization. Very many of them strongly agree while only few strongly disagree. Highest percentage of the respondents equally opined that ENG and SNG are the best in performing news gathering functions. In the same vein, the respondents indicated that ENG and SNG have done the following good to media organizations: betterment of broadcast production quality; great improvement in broadcast media practice in Nigeria; attraction of more audience to media organizations; positive change in the news processing and techniques. To cap it all, most of the respondents indicated that the benefits derived from ENG and SNG outweighs the challenges therein. Summary of findings and Conclusion Most media organizations in Nigeria adopted the tools of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in their operations at the dawn of the millennium and of all the tools of ICTs available to media professionals, the Internet was mostly in use. Data showed that the monthly salary of most of the media professionals falls between the range of N10,000 and N39,999. This means that most media professionals in Nigeria earn less than N40,000; the average income is N25,000 ( £130). The media professionals were mostly reporters, newscasters and prepress staff, a handful were editors and top management staff. The greatest challenge against the use of ICTs by media professionals in Nigeria is the cost of acquiring the facilities. This is compounded by lack of base infrastructure like electricity. Only very few attributed why they do not use ICTs to unfavourable government policies. More importantly, majority of the respondents held that the cost of acquiring ICTs tools is high. This study concludes that the adoption of ICTs by Nigerian media professionals is relatively low, though its use is noticeable but relatively insufficient. It is low and insufficient because there are prevailing circumstances militating against the adoption and use of ICTs by media professionals. One of the most fundamental challenges that media professionals are being faced with is the cost and affordability of ICTs tools. The research is of a strong conclusion that the income level of the media professionals could not match the cost of acquisition of ICTs. This means that what the media professionals earn as income cannot enable them to afford buying ICTs tools without sweat. In contemporary Nigeria, to buy a digital camera, computer laptop, with modem and payment for Internet subscriptions costs around two hundred and fifty thousand naira ( £1000) depending on the sophistication and configuration of the ICTs tools. With the average monthly income of media professionals put at Tw enty five thousand naira ( £120) monthly and three hundred thousand naira ( £1200) annually, one could infer that it takes close to the total annual income of media professionals in Nigeria to buy a digital camera, computer laptop, with modem and payment for annual Internet subscriptions. This research is in agreement with a UNESCO-sponsored research on impact of ICTs on Socio-economic development of Africa and Asia Pacific where it was found out that it takes the total annual income of a graduate in Ghana, to be a computer-assisted journalist (Obijiofor et al 1999). The case among freelance journalists who do not receive specific salary and live on brown envelope is even worst as they survive on gratification offered by newsmakers. The implication of this is that journalists who should be maximizing the benefits inherent in ICTs do not see computers as useful compared with vehicle or calculator. In other words, these journalists see computers as luxury tools that could only be acquired when one is economically comfortable. To them, it is a question of scale of preference: if you have to feed and if you have to think of having a computer laptop, you will want to feed first, because if you dont feed, you are not likely to survive. Another challenge to the use of ICTs is the non-availabilty of Infrastructural support and one of the infrastructural facilities that constitute a barrier is inadequate supply of electricity/power. In Nigeria, the power generating authorities have been changing their names from NEPA to PHCN. When the name was NEPA, Nigerians, out of frustration gave their own coinage of NEPA as Never Expect Power Always as against the official name of National Electric Power Authority. As it is, most telecommunications base stations run on generators because electricity is a very scarce commodity in Nigeria. This hampers smooth telecommunication networks. Most places in Lagos do not have electricity for a week or more, and when there is, the supply comes in an interrupted way. This makes one to be switching from NEPA to generator which resultantly could damage the computer system and hampers the server and Internet network connections. Supporting this position of electricity challenge are Baffour Kojo, Asiedu and Lu, Song Feng (2003) in their work published in the Pakistan Journal of Information and Technology and titled Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Internet as a Tool in the Developing World, Challenges and the Way Forward submit: The main problem with an e-mail system for most of the developing world (and much of Africa) is the unreliability of electricity and telephone lines, which are often out of order for days on end. Even when they are workin

Universities of the Future :: Technology Education

Universities of the Future Universities progress as technology advances. A vision of Universities of the future is only possible with a vision of the technology of the future. With the current pace of technological growth it is almost impossible to imagine what is in store for the future of the university. It is exciting to think of what State U. will become in both the near and distant future. Laptops, wired classrooms, and technologically enriched curriculums are only the beginning. As visions of State U's future develop, dreams of newly renovated classrooms, dorms, and offices materialize. However, newer looking buildings are only pleasing to the eyes. What will make these new classrooms, dorms, and offices key to the development of a more powerful mind are computers, machines, and other new innovations. Instead of a mere few, all classrooms will be â€Å"wired,† and all students will have access to the new learning opportunities, which are brought forth with computers in the classrooms. New machines will create better security systems for a safer learning environment. Advancements in cameras may make it possible for students to meet with professors face to face with out ever leaving their dorm room. Considering how far Clemson has come in the past few years, it is almost overwhelming to imagine what may be in its future. With these new and exciting advancements it will be exciting to see how the new classrooms, new dorms, and new offices will affect the progress of Clemson students. The country seems to be split on the issue of how technology is affecting student progress. Are these advancements a hindrance or a blessing? Well, like all gifts, technology can be used for good and for evil. In an age where students can use buttons to do everything from translating French papers to calculating complex math equations it is important not to loose sight of the need to learn the basics. Many people feel that this â€Å"button-pushing† era will take away from learning rather than add to it. But who has the right to stop progress? In the eighteen hundreds, John Henry Newman wanted to stop the progression of liberal arts colleges by preventing the creation of what is today considered a â€Å"major.† He felt that this separation of the university would take away from overall learning (Newman).

Biographical Writing :: Papers

Biographical Writing It started the day he moved in. My grandfather came first to get everything organized. That was when everything began to happen. It started with the door knocker. Whenever the door was opened, the knocker would hit the door and make noises. Well, the first night alone he heard the door open and close. Then, he heard footsteps walking into the kitchen and opening the refrigerator door. He heard the door close and the footsteps continued to walk around the kitchen and into the dining room. Through the dining room, they persisted into the living room and on to the basement. My grandfather searched the house top to bottom. He found no one. As he walked upstairs, he heard the footsteps again. This time, they were walking back through the house and out the front door. These footsteps were heard often. My aunts and uncles heard noises also. There was a pool table in the basement for my five uncles. They were playing one day when they heard the mysterious footsteps upstairs. Each uncle grabbed a weapon. They were armed with pool sticks, knives and bottles. They searched the house top to bottom finding nothing. As they walked back downstairs, they heard the footsteps go out the front door. My brother is the only one to have actually seen this intruder. He was five and forbidden from going downstairs because of the pool table. My mother couldn't find him anywhere so she went downstairs. She found him and asked why he was in the basement. He told her that he was talking to "the lady with the big teeth". My mother freaked thinking there was someone in the house that wasn't supposed to be there. So, one of my uncles went downstairs to see who was there. They couldn’t find any trace of anyone, but it did scare my mother badly. Part 2: My sister and I were very interested in the Ouija board. So, we borrowed a friend's board. At first we were skeptical about it

The Ego, the Superego and Kizer’s Bitch: Freud in Poetry Essay

Carolyn Ashley Kizer was born on December 10, 1925. Her father was a lawyer and her mother a labor organizer in the Pacific Northwest, although she held a doctorate in biology. Her parents were older than the parents of her friends, but filled the house with a rich intellectual atmosphere that surely influenced the young Kizer (McFarland). Throughout her childhood her parents would read her the works of Whitman and Keats before bed (Schumock), but it wasn’t until she was middle aged that she devoted herself to literary pursuits. It is strange that such a revelation happened so late in life, considering the poet Vachel Lindsay was a houseguest of her parents not to mention the academically freeing ambiance. But Kizer herself references this change of direction to repressed â€Å"psychic energy† (O’Conner) after her divorce from her first husband and the tutelage of her mentor and teacher Theodore Roethke. Through this awakening and beyond, Kizer has left a trail o f politically, socially and culturally relevant poetry that has won her many awards and accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize in 1985 for her collection Yin. One of her most well-known works, entitled â€Å"Bitch†, was published in 1984 in the collection of poems Mermaids in the Basement. The poem written in a single stanza of 34 lines depicts the scene of a woman meeting an ex-lover in a random encounter. What is later depicted in the poem is an intricate display of contrasting emotions and thoughts. Outwardly, the woman is polite and pleasant to the man, but inwardly her â€Å"bitch† fumes at the meeting. Her inner â€Å"bitch† remembers the relationship and wants the woman to outwardly display her disdain. The woman’s internal dialogue subdues the wanton wanting of her harsh inner cri... ... rare glimpse at this dynamic, and in turn, gives the reader not only a good tale, but also a closer look at themselves. Works Cited Kizer, Carolyn A. "Poetry Magazine." Bitch by Carolyn Kizer. Copper Canyon Press. Web. 27 May 2012. . Kuhn, Elisabeth D. "Kizer's Bitch." The Explicator 66.2 (2008): 108-11. Print. McFarland, Ron. "Carolyn Kizer." Cyclopedia of World Authors. 4th ed. Pasadena, CA: Salem, 2003. MagillOnLiterature Plus. 28 Dec. 2011. Web. 27 May 2012. O'Connell, Nicholas. At the Field's End: Interviews with 22 Pacific Northwest Writers. Seattle: University of Washington, 1998. Print. Schumock, Jim. Story, Story, Story: Conversations with American Authors. Seattle: Black Heron, 1999. Print. Wurtzel, Elizabeth. Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women. New York: Doubleday, 1998. Print.

Cultural Conflict Essay

Culture is a lot more than what language a person is speaking how they are dressing and what kind of food they are eating. Cultural groups share nationality, race and similar ethnicity. However, culture could also include religion, sexual orientation, gender and even generation. Although culture is not visible, it plays a major role in how we handle conflict. It is often the starting place of our thinking and our behaviors. Cultures are sort of implanted in every conflict because conflicts arise in every human relationship. When it comes to handling conflict, we tend to handle it by using lifelong messages that we have received due to our culture. Cultural messages are unique in different cultures. The message one culture sends could be perceived and interpreted to totally something else by a different culture receiver. Living in a world with so many different cultures, we almost have to be cultural fluent. Cultural fluency means being familiar with different cultures, how they work and how they intertwine with our relationships when it comes to conflict. One of the major dimensions of cultural fluency is communication, which refers to different starting points about how to relate to and with different culture groups. Two of the different variations of communication are high and low context. Besides being used in individual communication, high and low context is also used to understand different cultural groups. In high context communication, large part of the message conveyed lies in the physical context, including tone of voice, facial expression, and gestures. In low context communication, the spoken word carries most of the meaning, whatever is trying to be conveyed is simply said directly. Coming from a big Armenian family, culture and conflict are very high context between me and the rest of my family members. Every little tone of voice, facial expression, and gesture has a major meaning behind it, to decode the true meaning you would have to be part of the family. Growing up, my parents were not strict at all with me and my brother. However, we knew how to decode them without them even saying anything. If I brought a new friend to my house, just by the way my mother would look at me I would know that this person is not coming to my house anymore. Even in conversations, a two word response from my parents meant a lot. Going to a restaurant owned by another Armenian person with Armenian employees is also involved in high context communication. You simply know how to act, what to do, what to say and what not to say. When it comes to conflict, I have friends of different nationalities. Being in an argument with one of my fellow Armenian friends is way different than being in an argument with a friend that was born and raised here in The United States with parents that were born and raised here also. A few words back and forth with my Armenian friend would simply end the argument with both of us understanding who was right and who was wrong. However, when involved in an argument with one of my friends who comes from a low context background, I almost have to argue with him in a low context matter by explaining every little detail. A few different gestures and facial expressions do not mean anything to him and it does get frustrating at times. A person’s cultural background affects communication in a major way when a high and low context communication is involved. How things are perceived and interpreted depend on the person’s cultural background. In low context cultures individuals rely more in spoken words. In high context cultures there are more contexts involved, like tone of voice, facial expression, and gestures. Growing up in a high context family and having different perception of things embedded in me, I have learned how to deal with conflict in a high context matter. Also, having friends who come from a low context culture, I have dealt with communicating differently and also have experienced situations differently than them. In order to better communicate with the people involved in your life you have to understand how they perceive and interpret what you are communicating with them.

Debate the proposition that employers are more concerned with controlling employee behaviour than they are with eliciting employee commitment. Essay

It can be said that employers have become increasingly concentrated towards controlling employee’s behaviour than endeavouring to attain employee commitment in organisations. Control can be defined as â€Å"To exercise authoritative or dominating influence over† . However this can become controversial when applied to working with people therefore as a countermeasure commitment has been introduced to even the balance. This can be defined as â€Å"a combination of commitment to the organisation and its values and a willingness to help out colleagues (organisational citizenship). It goes beyond job satisfaction and is not simply motivation. Engagement is something the employee has to offer: it cannot be ‘required’ as part of the employment contract. Commitment is therefore intrinsic to the individual employee and difficult to measure what exactly makes each one motivated therefore control should be utilised to a greater extent. This shift to controlling employees rather than endeavouring to ensure that they are committed has led to a majority of staff feeling undervalued and therefore unable to achieve their potential in the workplace. A study has shown that controlling employees has led to a drop in productivity due to the fact that a 26% or three quarters of staff members, feel that they are being manipulated rather than being utilised to their potential . Therefore, this illustrates that companies are now shifting towards compliance from their employees to follow Manager’s directives in lieu of commitment that is attained through the use of de-centralised management e.g. Matrix structures. However if companies therefore wish to therefore use centralised management the possibility for employee commitment is therefore limited. Matrix structures do have the effect of improving commitment as they include no hierarchy and equal standing by those in them however they must be monitored to ensure that they are still effective and not misused  for their less stringent management style and that some structures favoured over others . McGregor’s (1960) XY theory is a method to illustrate the management style of an organisation to determine whether it favours control or commitment from its workforce. Employee behaviour which is heavily controlled follows the pattern of Theory X, as opposed to the Theory Y which is intended to generate employee commitment. Theory X favours that managers exercise control and directed to achieve the organisational objectives with little flexibility for employees to use their initiative, whereas Theory Y believes that commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their achievements . Theory X managers have somewhat receded however employees are still being controlled under the assumption that businesses are using commitment methods for example flexible working practises and appraisals which will be discussed later. Commitment is intrinsic which requires more resources, however control is external and can be done more effectively than commitment. See appendix one for a model of McGregor’s theory. To control employee behaviour a number of measures have been utilised in the office environment that have enabled them to be observed by managers and recorded in order to monitor them while they are on the premises. By installing these devices it motivates the employee to work as they are constantly being monitored and therefore provides a sense of motivation for them to work as signs of slacking/unauthorised absence are recorded and used as evidence to support that fact . CCTV has evolved in recent years for businesses. Before, it was used as a common security device for the building, now, it has become a performance tool for mangers in which as a further measure to control their staff. This is done by highlighting those employees who are slacking to ensuring that proper procedure is being adhered to while on the premises. . This constant monitoring can have the effect of de-moralising employees as their every move in the workplace is being scrutinised. Job commitment however relegates CCTV to its previous function of security as management entrust employees to do their jobs, but now that CCTV has been turned in towards employees it is evident that control measures are being used instead of trying to create commitment. Yet CCTV is but one way of retaining control of staff in the workplace. For  instance, in McDonalds through the use of CCTV cameras, productivity has increased through unobtrusive CCTV coverage of workers and customers . An additional method which a business can use technology to monitor employees is the practice of electronic â€Å"clocking in† systems. These devices have been implemented in large businesses that employ a multitude of staff in which individual movement of employees can be difficult to trace. A business which has done this exactly this is Poundworld in which employees are electronically scanned into at the start of a shift and have the consequence of deduced salary if this process has been neglected . As a method of control, these devices can monitor exactly when an employee has begun their shift or when they have returned from their breaks etc. to ensure that they begin work at the proper time. This also ensures proper records can be maintained should any discrepancy arise regarding timekeeping. However this monitoring of movement may hamper employee commitment as they are constantly being recorded while on the premises for timekeeping plus they can feel dis-trusted by management as they are being constantly monitored for when they started their shift. Employers have minutely contributed to employee commitment with the use of Job Design which has been utilised to effect in certain companies such as Microsoft who use elements like job share to encourage employees in their roles Job Design is when the duties and the role of an employees’ position have been analysed and decided by management before they are employed or amending parts of an employees’ position while they are employed. Job Design permits an input from employees into their role of the organisation as they collaborate with management in which their position is defined. A further example of stimulating commitment with job design is when employees and employers discuss characteristics of the position that would suit the employee’s capabilities which in turn increases their motivation as the employers are permitting staff an input into designing their responsibilities in the job. However, employers have the opportunity to use job design to influence control of over their staff with the use techniques such as job expansion and job rotation with allow them to amend or add additional workload to their job which may not be to the employees benefit.  Furthermore, an employer has the ability to change the job design of staff to suit their requirements over employees depending on the situation without any input from employees. By way of strategically/tactically controlling their staff, management are employing the use of Management by Objectives for all members of staff to analyse if targets or goals are being met. This can be defined as â€Å"A methods of management whereby managers and employees define goals for each department, project, and person and use them to monitor subsequent performance† . Controlling behaviour is being used here as management are attaining the utmost effectiveness from a particular member of staff or individual department as their desired goals are measured against their actual goals and analyse if they have been accomplished. However commitment is being given to the staff/department as the decisions to how they achieve their stated goals has been de-centralised for them to decide. As technology has increased to such an extent, a business can take advantage of employing staff that do not have to work in the office environment through the use of flexible working contracts and providing them with equipment to work off-site. These contracts enable a business to offer their employees who are unable to travel or who have other commitment so actively continue working but in the confines of their own home or on the go by the use of a laptop or mobile phones. As employees are away from the office, a main disadvantage is that their working pattern cannot be monitored to ensure that they are actually fulfilling their tasks. As controlling behaviour has become more prevalent to management, software has be embedded to the technology issued to these homeworkers e.g. tracker and keystroke logs to monitor the use of laptops and phones during the day. For example, Freedom Direct, a holiday company offers such flexible contracts and issues those involved with hardware embedded with this surveillance software to safeguard against slacking while away from the eyes of management . However some companies now prefer to control their employees from one central organisation. For example Yahoo managing director has decided to ban employees from using home working to â€Å"build on corporate culture† however this has damaged commitment as many employees have been demoralised by this  decision that may affect their future in the company. . Furthermore, to bolster the claim of controlling employees, this ban on flexible practises was instigated after an investigation of employee logs showed it fell below the standard expected for their employees and therefore cut this form of employment from the organisation. . This therefore illustrates that electronic devices provided by organisation are monitored to ensure that duties are conducted. Employee commitment is therefore given an opportunity by senior management by permitting a group of employees to work away from the office on these contracts who might not have the opportunity to do so. This increases motivation and job satisfaction to the company as they would not lose any valuable staff plus have the ability to monitor these employees away from the office with the tracker software to monitor their actions during the working day. Control is again utilised as these employees are monitored no less than their counterparts in the office and are monitored with the identical software. Control has been favoured in organisations as those with the authority to make decisions in their department must to be held to account for those decisions should they prove to be incorrect. Accountability can be defined as â€Å"the fact that those people with authority and responsibility are subject to reporting and justifying task outcomes to those above them in the chain of command† . By having a clear and define line of authority from the managing director to the clerk, it is possible to identify who should be held to account and therefore justify their decisions should they prove them to be incorrect or disastrous. This can be de-moralising as these targets are not negotiable and therefore must be achieve which adds an element of stress. Managers often therefore are hesitant to issue instructions in which they know are difficult to achieve, yet this can bolster commitment within the company as employees, if informed, that these tasks are of some difficulty may strive to attain them to receive the department recognition for doing so. This therefore increases motivation as well as assists in team-building for the department as they are united in a common goal . Employee behaviour can be controlled by the use of annual appraisals of departments. This is the discussion in which an employee and manager decide  on the objectives and the action necessary to achieve them for the coming year. Appraisals are a two way discussion in which the employee states what they wish to achieve for the year and the manager offers guidance to do so, however this is again a method for which control even though employees perceive it as being a method for commitment. The employee may see appraisals as a method in which they are in control of what they want to achieve and not what the business wants them to do. This is an opportunity for managers to input targets or goals which the employee agrees on without knowing the magnitude of the task, however they must achieve as it has been stated on the appraisal document and could lead to a poor appraisal the subsequent year. Managers can use these to implement control over employees in which to dispel rewards to the employee thus motivates them to achieve their objectives. The threat of disciplinary action for repeated failure to attain objectives set out at appraisals is a sure way to coerce commitment in the workplace as employees will strive to achieve those objectives set at appraisals. Employers have the ability to produce commitment while still using control methods by the use of a health work/life balance. This can be defined as â€Å"concept that supports the efforts of employees to split their time and energy between work and the other important aspects of their lives† . While managers are allowing an employee to split their time between a professional and a private life they can still use methods such as monitoring social media to ensure that no derogatory remarks have been made against the organisation known as reputation management. It has been reported that 80% of a company’s workforce use social media sites in one way or another therefore the scope for badmouthing a company has increased. To combat this possibility 60% of selected businesses have proposed to implement software that would detect this . It is imperative that a business conform to the laws which dictate when an employee’s professional life ends and when a personal one begins as not to intrude. Having a healthy balance between personal and professional life enhances commitment to the organisation due to employees recognising that their business does not own them permanently and are permitted a life outside the office however are unobtrusively monitored to an extent. In order for senior management to exercise control over employees while they are in the workplace, management have re-employed the use of a well-defined and structured hierarchy in organisations in which they can delegate the operational control of the business to managers or first level employees who have a greater understand of how operations of the department are conducted. Middle management positions such as Assistant Managers for departments have returned to businesses due to the fact that the employees on this level support change to departments which may not be popular as well as focusing on the different strategies which have been set by the company . By re-introducing levels of management that may have been de-layered previously, companies are therefore increasing their Vertical differentiation to establish a clear line of authority in departments. This may be advantageous for commitment in departments that have a copious amount of staff as problems can be easily rectified, yet they can be seen as another level of management in which the business has established to ensure their corporate strategies are met irrespective to employee requirements. In order to control employees’ behaviour, businesses have invested in training and development programs to educate their workforce with various methods such as induction training through to university courses. Induction training is a period in which a new employee to the business is given training preceding their start in the business. This provides an opportunity for the member of staff to become aware of the procedures, policies and workplace culture that a business has. In order to train potential or existing staff some businesses have adopted a system of internal in-house training schemes that have been adapted especially to fit different purposes. Businesses such as McDonalds which have established educational institutes for potential staff to undertake for promotion or re-training or other reasons which would see those who graduate attain a recognised qualification . However due to their size and expense they are restricted to large highly profitable businesses. A purpose of these schools is to instruct that person on what is expected of them while in employment and how to undertake different duties, however these methods can be categorised as a method of control as these courses are pre-designed so that employees  should conform only to those that are taught as they expect them to be correct. Commitment can be fostered from this as employees may be more motivated and satisfied in their position as they have been trained to a degree so that they are competent in their role in the business and provide a sense of a good working environment to potential employees, plus as this is a recognised qualification this can be presented as part of an application as a symbol that they have enrolled and passed a course specifically designed to train members of staff. The drawback of control becomes the advantages of using commitment and should influence a business to implement commitment measures For example; Pfeffers’ model of high performance factors is heavily influenced as commitment measures that managers should consider to bolster the motivation of their workforce. However these are disguised as a further method of control as to attain these factors the workforce must demonstrate they are a viable working entity. The factors that constitute this model are Team working and de-centralised management, High pay and incentive, Employee Security, Extensive training and development, Narrow status differentials and Careful recruitment and selection. Cultural control is a method that managers can use to â€Å"define specific patterns of behaviour within a professional environment†. This behaviour has already been stipulated by the management of how they wish the workforce to conform and therefore expect these patterns to re-enforce organisational culture. A method in which an employee can become accustomed to the social norms of a workplace culture is through induction training. Therefore the accompanying member of staff would acquaint the new employee of the social norms that have been adopted by staff which they will conform to. This method of control is an example of how management quickly adapt staff to the methods of the workforce that have already been repeated for other staff. A company that would be perceived as having a poor corporate culture would be BP. In the wake of the oil spill in 2007 in which an inquiry was found to ascertain that intense cost cutting and efficiency measures demoralised the workforce therefore affected practises which precipitated the disaster through negligence of corporate culture. A final method in which businesses can control their workforce is through the monitoring of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The organisation will monitor their employees’ posts on these sites to ascertain they are behaving in an according manner or post any derogatory statements regarding the business or its staff. This is a method of control as staff are being monitored while they are on the premises as well as off therefore this encroaches into their personal life affecting the work/life balance. It has been reported that 60% of businesses by 2015 will have some monitor in place in order to track their workforce on social media sites in order to protect the business’s reputation or the brand they are selling . An example of a business that has used this is Proskauer Rose in which staff have it written into their contract of employment that they will be monitored on social media sites. Therefore to conclude, it would appear that mangers controlling employee behaviour has become more prevalent that endeavouring to attain employee commitment in organisations. This could be the case as controlling employees has become cheaper that resorting to measures to attain employee commitment as well as ensuring their effectiveness in the workplace as well as out of it . However there should be an even balance between control and commitment from managers to create a suitable working environment for employees as they would not prefer to working in a hostile business which treats them as a tool rather than one which treats them as a valuable resource. Using control methods such as technology and monitoring ensures that staff are adhering to policy set out in their contract. References Always Watching . (2010). Benefits of CCTV for your Business. Retrieved Feburary 19, 2013, from Always Watching.com: http://www.always-watching.com/benefits-of-cctv-for-your-business.html Anviz, Newsdesk. (2011, August). Anviz’s VF30 fingerprint time clock on Channel 4†²s ‘Undercover Boss’. Retrieved March 4, 2013, from Security Newsdesk: http://www.securitynewsdesk.com/2011/08/10/anvizs-vf30-fingerprint-time-clock-on-channel-4s-undercover-boss/ Bednarz, T. (2013, January 15). Empowered Organisations Develop Employee Commitment. Retrieved Feburary 18, 2013, from Leaders to Leader: http://blog.majoriumbusinesspress.com/2013/01/15/empowered-organizations-develop-employee-commitment/ Broome, I. (2009, July 20). How CCTV can help improve your productivity. Retrieved Feburary 10, 2013, from IanBroome.com: http://iainbroome.com/how-cctv-can-help-improve-your-productivity Business Dictionary. (2013). What is Job Design. Retrieved March 1, 2013, from Business Dictionary: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/job-design.html Chertkow, M. (2012, August 24). CCTV is not just about security anymore – it’s performance management and productivity tool, too . Retrieved Feburary 19, 2013, from IT web Techforum: http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=57970 CIPD. (2012, July). Employee Engagement. Retrieved March 7, 2013, from CIPD: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/employee-engagement.aspx#link_0 CIPD. (2012, April). Job Design. Retrieved Feburary 21, 2013, from CIPD: http://www.cipd.co.uk/hr-resources/factsheets/job-design.aspx Clark, D. (2010, October 3). Theory X and Theory Y. Retrieved Feburary 25, 2013, from Officebroker.com: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/history/xy.html Cross, S. (2013). Examples of Cultural Controls in Organizational Structure. Retrieved March 7, 2013, from Chron: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-cultural-controls-organizational-structure-13425.html Daft, R. (2008). The New Era of Management. Mason: Thomson South-Western. 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Retrieved Feburary 19 , 2013, from Reference for Business, Encyclopedia of Business 2nd Edition: http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Log-Mar/Management-Levels.html Twentyman, J. (2007). Keeping tabs (Staff monitoring). Verheul, I. (2003). Commitment or control? Appendix list 1. 1. Working on feedback: Read the feedback on your assignment carefully, then re-read the piece of work to see the areas that the feedback refers to. You might use a highlighter pen to cross-reference the feedback to your work, or to draw attention to corrections and suggestions. What has your tutor written (key points) What do you understand this to mean? 1. Good introduction, underpinned by theory 2. Critical and analytical throughout 3. Good reference base 4. Contextualised into subject 5. Good analysis 6. Must use references properly 7. Used references and examples to illustrate that points made are utilised in business. 8. Good research base 1. A well designed introduction that has been bolstered with the use of business theory to support the argument. 2. By being argumentative on both sides (control and commitment) it shows that there has been research done and concluded that one was more viable than the other. 3. A diverse range of sources has been used to collate examples e.g. journals books internet