...Michael Aiken talk about two different ways of measuring distribution of power. They collect data by conducting survey in 16 hospitals and welfare organizations of which 10 are private and 6 are public. The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between centralization of power and two critical aspect of organizational social structure, namely; the degree of formalization and the degree of complexity. Here, Hage and Aiken measure the degree of complexity using three factors, namely; the number of occupational specialties, the amount of professional training and professional activity while on the other hand the degree of formalization is being measured in terms of degree of job codification and the amount of rule observation. The author Jerald Hage is a Professor Emeritus and Co-Director of Center for Innovation, University of Maryland. He completed his Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A.), marketing from University of Wisconsin and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in sociology from Columbia University in the City of New York. The author Michael Aiken, His career, spanning more than forty years has taken him from research fellow in the University of Michigan to be Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Prior to that, he had been Chair of the Sociology Department at the University of Wisconsin.1 Target Audience The scope of this paper is not limited to...
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...Intellectual Background and Social Context: In the recent years the EU has increasingly been studied as a particular kind of international actor with a focus on the ways in which its international policies are made and pursued. Such scholarly endeavors reflect both empirical importance and analytical challenge regarding the EU’s status as a global actor. Empirically, the EU carries importance in global economy, international diplomacy, soft security, and broader world order. Analytically, it poses major challenge by virtue of its status as a something more than an intergovernmental organization but less than a fully-fledged European state. Therefore a tendency has prevailed that the EU’s external behavior can be understood through a combination of understanding the EU’s sui generis qualities, and a reliance on the tools of comparative politics. Consequently, the subject of international relations of the European Union’ is a neglected one. This volume/book widens the perspective from ‘the EU as a global actor’ to ‘international relations and the EU’. This focus does not rule out consideration of the EU’s credentials as an international/global actor, rather it connects this issue to the broader study of IR and of international policy-making. Thus ‘International Relations and the European Union’ is about both the place of Europe in the world and the way the world contributes to the shaping of Europe. At the same time, it is about the place, actual and appropriate, of the EU in the...
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...Company Profile: Kellogg's Company - Headquartered in Battle Creek, MI. As the world's leading producer of cereal and the second largest producer of cookies and crackers, Kellogg's is a global company in 4 regions, North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia Pacific. In 2011 they had sales over $13 billion and an estimated 31,000 employees worldwide, manufacturing products in 18 countries. Kellogg has received a number of awards and recognition throughout the years. Their vision and purpose is "to enrich and delight the world through foods and brands that matter, nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive." Focus: Quality of Work-life Programs Observations: Quality of work-life is an area at Kellogg that offers a number of health, wellness, and benefit programs in an effort to support employees well being. The programs offered differ by country as they try to meet the needs of employees in all location. Within the United States they offer many medical benefits trying to meet everyone needs. They encourage communication and the use of online tools to aid employees with their decisions during the open-enrollment time. They also offer and support the involvement of a number of health management plans that includes flu shots, quit smoking programs, and health screening and assessments. In November 2011 the celebrated their first National Kellogg Wellness day, this day offered many activities that got employees to think about and look at their own health. During...
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...Accounting Theory Learning Objectives Definition of theory and accounting theory The needs, purposes & benefits of AT Inductive & deductive approach to construct theory Descriptive, decision usefulness & welfare approaches to the construction of AT Structure of AT Relationship between AT & AP 1 Accounting Theory Defined as: A set of broad principles that provides a general frame of reference by which accounting practice can be evaluated and guides development of new practices and procedures. (Hendrickson, 1982) or A cohesive set of conceptual, hypothetical and pragmatic propositions explaining and guiding the accountant’s action in identifying, measuring and communicating economic information. 2 Nature and Purpose of Theory Theory can be defined as a set of general propositions, used as principles of explanation of the apparent relationship among certain observed phenomena, events or things. Proposition – statements concerned with the relationship among concepts. Concepts – generalized idea or expression in words about events observed in the real world. Theory is used as basis of explanation with regard to how/why certain phenomena happens the way they do. Explanation as well as prediction offers by theory is important as it enhance our understanding of the phenomena that exist in reality Generally theory is sometimes said to deal with the creation of scheme of ideas which provide definition of the problem observed and the understanding of it. 3 Needs and Importance of...
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... Contents What indicators tell us about the wind 1. Introduction 2. Indicators Only Indicate 3. Types of Indicators 4. Qualitative and Quantitative Expressions of Indicators 5. Selecting Indicators 6. Indicators are Practical and Observable 7. A Shared Commitment With Partners 8. Baseline, Target and Timeframe 9. Indicator Data Collection 10. Conclusion Figures 1. Assessing performance along results 2. School enrolment as an indicator of access to education Tables 1. Examples of outcomes and outcome indicators 2. Indicators according to relationship between output, outcome and impact 3. Examples of output and outcome indicator scales 4. Qualitative observation of advocacy and upstream policy results 5. Selection criteria for indicators 6. Sample indicator monitoring plan What indicators tell us about the wind Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I. But where the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by. – The Wind, Christina Rosetti, 1830-1894 If we want to know if the wind is blowing, the bowing treetops are a good indicator. That the treetops are bending may tell us many different things: the coming of a change in seasons; that it is a good day for children to fly kites; or that bird nests may fall down. What it tells us depends on who we are and what we want to know. For some, however, the fact that treetops are bending may not represent the most important thing they...
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...one employee or multiple employees? What are the company policies for customer service? DQ 3 Quantitative data is easier to read it can be translated to numerical expression. This is much easier to use when trying to determine if they should change something and how things are going. DQ 4 The essential characteristics distinguishing a true experiment require experimental and control groups and making sure that all parts of the experiment are validated. When conducting experiments with humans things can change constantly making it hard to validate. DQ 5 Some of the focus group questions I would use are. Does the IPhone have the capability to do what you need it to? Are there any features you do not like about it? How was the battery life? Were all the features easy to navigate? DQ 6 A method of sociological investigation that uses question based or statistical surveys to collect information about how people think and act. For example, a possible application of survey research to a business context might involve looking at how effective mass media is in helping form and shift public opinion” (Business Dictionary. 2013). If not done correctly or aimed at the proper population you can get biased opinions or bad data. Some advantages are they are cost effective; you can collect data from larger groups of people. DQ 7 I think that indirect observation and direct observation would have been two major observations that played a rule in redesigning the...
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...of most of its elements as this would help a lot in making a correct decision. The research problem can be said to be complete only if it is able to specify about the unit of analysis, time and space boundaries, features that are under study, specific environmental conditions that are present in addition to prerequisite of the research process. Research Process Research process is very commonly referred to as the planning process. One important point to be kept in mind here is to understand that the main aim of the research process is that of improving the knowledge of the human beings. The research process consists of the following stages – 1. The Primary stage :– This stage includes – a. Observation – The first step in the research process is that of the observation, research work starts with the observation which can be either unaided visual observation or guided and controlled observation.It can be said that an observation leads to research, the results obtained from research result in final observations which can play a crucial part in carrying out further research. Deliberate and guided observations also play an important part in this primary stage. This method is very simple and helps a great deal in framing of the hypothesis as it is very accurate in nature but it also has some major limitations like some of the occurrences may not be open to the observation and the occurrences which may be open for observation may not be studied conveniently. b. Interest – As...
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...t h o s e o f the a u t h o r ( s ) a n d d o n o t necessarily represent those of the Fund. WP/98/68 INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND Policy Development and Review Department Inflation, Disinflation, and Growth Prepared by Atish Ghosh and Steven Phillips1 Authorized for distribution by Timothy Lane May 1998 Abstract Although few would doubt that very high inflation is bad for growth, there is much less agreement about moderate inflation's effects. Using panel regressions and a nonlinear specification, this paper finds a statistically and economically significant negative relationship between inflation and growth. This relationship holds at all but the lowest inflation rates and is robust across various samples and specifications. The method of binary recursive trees identifies inflation as one the most important statistical determinants of growth. Finally, while there are short-run growth costs of disinflation, these are only relevant for the most severe disinflations, or when the initial inflation rate is well within the single-digit range. JEL Classification Numbers: E31, 040. Keywords: inflation, growth determinants, growth regressions, robustness. Authors' E-Mail Addresses: Aghosh@imf.org; Sphillips@imf.org 1 We would like to thank Kadima Kalonji for research assistance, and Alan Taylor and Maurice Obstfeld for making available their computer programs. Hugh Bredenkamp, Sharmini Coorey, Peter Doyle, Stanley Fischer, Manuel Guitian, Javier Hamann, Timothy Lane...
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...politics effectively has led to the emergence of political science, which covers the study of governments, political systems and process, and political policies. On the other hand, science refers to a methodical approach that is used in understanding the natural world (McLelland 1). Science is one of the most fundamental disciplines that can be relied upon in an effort to transform the society through effective decision-making. This observation arises from the fact that, science leads to the formulation of scientific theories, which are comprehensive and well-integrated set of facts. The objective of this paper is to analyze if there are any dangers to this effect. The credibility of scientific ‘facts’ arises from the construct that, the facts are repeatedly tested and accepted, thus increasing their effectiveness in making predictions on certain natural phenomena. McLelland posits, “Science is a human endeavor, which subjects it to bias, misapprehensions, and personal prejudices” (4). This argument is in line with the assumption that humans can accurately observe and measure a given phenomenon in an effort to understand the universe. However, the conclusions arrived at by humans is limited by how effective they can make sense out of the observations made. Through science, individuals can verify and reproduce the observations made. Additionally, science provides an opportunity to overcome possible weakness that might arise through experimental results (McLelland 1). Over the...
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... ET AL . Conclusion: Knowledge and Skills for Professional Practice Tim W. Clark Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Institution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale, Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative Murray B. Rutherford Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative Kim Ziegelmayer Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Michael J. Stevenson Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Most professionals beginning their careers in species and ecosystem conservation conceive of their future work in terms of hands-on tasks in the field (“doing something important in the real world”). Whether on the domestic or the international scene, typically the forester sees themselves laying out timber sales, the fisheries biologist looks forward to surveying streams, and the range specialist expects to be classifying grasslands. Current curricula in most universities largely mirror this common view. We train future foresters to address logging problems in the Pacific Northwest or in the tropics, or conservation biologists to design a reserve or study an endangered species. But in actual practice, most professionals spend only part—and sometimes a small part—of their time attending to technical tasks in the field. Professionals, over a career or a lifetime, participate in many activities well beyond fieldwork, and there is much more to building a successful professional practice today than skills...
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...There are _ Roles an _ plays2, Economist Economist Role #1:As a Scientist Economist Role #2:As a Policy Advisor How is an Economist and a Scientist alike?They work together to EXPLAIN the world. How is an Economist and a Policy Advisor alike?They work together to IMPROVE the world. What method do both Economists and Scientists use to explain the World?The Scientific Method; through Observation, Theory and more Observation. What are Assumptions?Statements that help simplify the complex world, making it easier to interpret and understand. What are Models?Simplified representations Economists use to help understand the complex reality. The Production Possibilities Frontier and Circular Flow Diagram are:The Main models Economists use to portray and represent the Closed Economy. The Circular Flow Diagram contains 2 Actors (Decision Makers):1) Households 2) Firms The Circular Flow Diagram contains 2 Markets:1) Goods and Services 2) Factors of Production What are the roles of Firms?PRODUCE Goods and Services, Using Inputs: Labour, Land from Natural Resources and Capital such as buildings and machines. The Inputs that the Firms use from are also called:The Factors of Production, Raw Materials, from Resources What roles do the Households play?They OWN the Factors of Production, and CONSUME the Goods and Serviced produced by the Firms. What is "special" about the Households?They have the ability to CONTROL and OWN every single Firm...
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...Towards a Definition of Socio-Economic Research for the RESPECT Project A draft working paper by Ursula Huws, RESPECT Project Director Introduction The term ‘socio-economic research’ is in widespread use in the European Commission’s work programmes and elsewhere. In the Fourth Framework Programme, for instance, there was a programme entitled ‘Targeted Socio-Economic Research’ (TSER) and in the Fifth Framework Programme there were numerous calls for proposals to carry out socio-economic research related to Information Society Technologies (in the IST Programme) and to other issues of relevance to EU policy. At national level, there are also economic and social research funding councils in most European Countries. However, nowhere in this documentation, as far as I can tell, is any definition offered of ‘socio-economic research’. For the purposes of the RESPECT project, however, it is necessary to have some sort of functional definition. This short discussion paper is designed as the first step towards the development of such a definition. As the project develops, this definition will be tested in relation to the actual practices of socio-economic researchers, whose activities, qualifications and professional affiliations will be profiled as part of the project’s work. In the meantime, a brief survey of projects described as socioeconomic research projects indicates that they cover a very broad range in relation to the backgrounds and qualifications of...
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...affect many areas of school life, such as parents evenings governors meetings, senior management decision making, appointments and promotions, as well interactions in the classroom and staff room schools have gender equality policies. As a result, pupils and teachers may disguise their real attitudes towards gender and this may make it difficult for the researcher to get at the truth. Sociologists are interested in the reasons for gender differences in subject choice. These include primary socialisation in the home peer group pressure, subject images and gender career opportunities. Question: Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the strengths and limitations of participant observation for the study of gender relations in schools. There are two types of observation, covert and overt. The difference between them is that covert observation is when the people being observed do not know they’re being watched or studied, and overt observation is when they have been told and given consent to be observed by the researcher. Observation can also be done in two ways. This is called participant and non-participant observation. In participant observation the observer joins a group and observes their activities, while at the same time taking care to observe what is going on. Often that means writing notes and reflections later on. In Non Participant observation, the sociologist simply observes the activities, but doesn’t take part in them. For example OFSTED; he...
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...This is due to the fact that although childhood is obviously a time of tremendous change, people also continue to grow and develop during the early adult, middle age, and senior years. Inclusive in this field are related topics such as child development, intellectual development, cognitive development, and the aging process. In simpler terms then, developmental psychology is defined as the scientific study of age-related changes that occur in human beings cross different domains over the course of life. The direct focus of developmental psychology on human growth involves thorough observation and examination in order to be able to categorise and label a being. This marking of belonging to a certain group is another transformation underwent by developmental psychology from being descriptive to prescriptive; from making observations to describe and re-tell the doings of a person to making observations to measure a person against a specified standard. The setting of a standard implies that there is a specific expectation for how things happen and this should be the way that they do. For psychological development this means...
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...uses all that risk and quality management can offer. Pharmacy is the organization that was chosen using background knowledge and new information. Pharmacy is “the branch of the health sciences dealing with the preparation, dispensing, and proper utilization of drugs.” Pharmacies deal with prescription drugs and fulfilling out prescriptions to patients. Pharmacists employ the use of science and the knowledge they gained during their schooling. With this knowledge they perform tasks such as helping over physicians decide was is best for their client in terms of selection and compatibility with other prescriptions. However, they do not only help in providing information but gathering information as well though observation and communicating with the client. Through observation and communication, pharmacists can provide quality medication to clients and help them with their health in other ways. Pharmacists are not limited to just helping with prescription orders but can aid in weight loss, dieting choices and help with high blood pressure. Pharmacists can choose to either have their own approved pharmacy or choose to work at a prominent pharmacy. This means that pharmacies have more freedom when it comes to ensuring good quality however they have less freedom when it comes to risk management. Both risk management and quality...
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