Review of a qualitative research article

Review of a qualitative research article This essay is a review of a research article of how Local Authority Social workers make decisions when they are considering referrals of children. The title of the study is Threshold Decisions: How Social Workers Prioritize Referrals of Child Concern by Dendy Platt (2008). I would attempt to critically appraise this Qualitative journal article based on essential elements of the research which include the Title, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Findings and Conclusion. The study examined how social workers make choices on individual cases of children concern referrals, if to carry out a an initial Assessment i.e. Sect 17 of the Children Act 1989 or if to undertake the Child Protection Procedure under the Sect. 47 of the Children Act 1989. The major finding suggests that Social workers prioritize their referrals based on five key areas, Specificity, Severity, risk, parental responsibility and corroboration. It was refreshing to know that data were collected from Social workers and that Parents were also involved. Title It is worth noting that the title adequately prepares the reader as it gives good insight into what the study is about. The title of an article is very important as it exposes the reader to an article. The key words were appropriate and sufficient as they did retrieve the article upon typing the key words in the search engine. (According to Descombe 2008 p.88), a topic needs to be a very much more narrowly defined area of its study. Abstract The major finding in this article suggests that social workers evaluate referrals based on five key factors, specificity, severity, risk, parental responsibility and corroboration. It is worth noting the abstract did prepare a reader for this study. The abstract clearly highlights that the aim of the study is to find out how social workers reach decision when to carry out an initial assessment (Sect 17 of children act 1989) or a core assessment, (Sect 47 of children Act 1989) when considering referrals about child concerns. The abstract clearly stated that the study chose a qualitative approach. According to (Punch 2000 p. 243), qualitative approach is often sensitive to context and process to lived experience and local groundedness, where the researcher tries to get closer to what is being studied. Using qualitative method allows the researcher to find out a lot about the study. He went further to explain thatqualitative research methods are the best way we have of getting the insiders perspective (Ibid) Qualitative method allows the researcher to generate new theoretical ideas. This happens because they are able to observe and speak to the people (person) being studied and allows them to come up with new ideas through out the study. Being bias is one of the limitations of qualitative research method because researchers can write their own view or even opinion on the matter. But as we can see that reaching difficult area is a great advantage to qualitative research method.) Introduction Looking at the introduction, it seems clear that the problem that led to the research was that the interpretation of the developments of the refocusing initiative has contributed to a climate where social workers work often feel pulled and pushed in different directions by political and popular opinion. The introduction touched on relevant government policies and initiatives such as refocusing initiative which was initiated by the government in 1990 and the framework for Assessment of children in need. In my view, the author attempted to appraise the refocusing initiative policy which attempts to refocus social work practice and to initiate any necessary changes. I partly agree with this notion as the study may bring about positive changes in the child protection climate. But also the author needs to acknowledge where he points on that the climate of child protection is one of uncertainty, that social work itself is a profession full of uncertainty. The researcher explained that the implication of the refocusing initiative is the rise in the threshold for acceptance of a child protection referral as it was thought that the cost to family of child protection procedures were not acceptable in the cases where allegations are minor. In my view, the identification of gap of knowledge shows that the problem has significance for social work practice and the research may positively inform practice. Interestingly, the researcher acknowledges and analyses previous work on the child protection field ( what is known) but also points out the knowledge gap as it demonstrates how application of these factors differs between cases of child concern and cases of child protection (What is desired to be known). I would argue that these reasons amount to sufficiently justification of this study. Literature Review Knowledge gap was identified but author did not explain how his work would attempt to close the gap. Author made an effort to critically review the work of others and points out inconsistencies. The purpose of the research is to examine ways social workers in England made decisions at the initial referral stage. It is my believe that since the author decided to collect information form social workers and families suggest that research is from a grounded theory approach. According to Punch (2000 p.163) Grounded theory is best defined as a research strategy whose purpose is to generate theory from data, To be grounded means basically the theory is generated from data. (ibid) My rational for asserting that a grounded theory approach was implemented is that the author made sense of the data through concepts primarily informed by social workers and the discovery of these concepts begins from the interviews with the social workers. (Somekh and Lewin 2006p.49) point out that grounded theory is best described as an integrated theoretical formulation that gives understanding about how organization experience and respond to events that occur. From this definition, it could be argued that grounded theory was the most effective way to approach this study. Researchers do bring perspective to the research, although these perspectives tend to guide the question and influence interpretation, but they dont drive the research. (ibid p.51). However one of the drawbacks from this approach is that research may be influenced by the researchers personal experiences and previous studies which thus disable the research in approaching the study with an open mind. Finding In my view, the researcher study has a strong internal validity, the researcher made a good effort to eliminate the alternative explanations in his findings. The result however cannot be applied beyond the sample. It would be clearly naà ¯ve to believe that the findings reflect how social workers in the UK decision making. Method The Researcher implemented ethical principles. The social workers involved have to be made aware of what they were getting into before deciding to collaborate. I would argue that appropriate procedures were implemented; also the participant understood what the purpose of the research. The researcher effectively anonymised participants identities, which protected participants privacy. The likely outcome the research aim to achieve include possible changes in policy, examine practice issues for social workers carrying out initial assessment, where in the past, it would have been a child abuse investigation ( Sect 47 of the children Act 1989) One of the strengths of case study is that multiple methods and data sources can be used to explore and interrogate case study thereby leading to a good description of a research from the perspective of the participant (Someth and Lewin 2006 p.33). I do admire the fact that the research implemented the case study approach as this gives the reader a very rich description of the study and also gives a reader a good understanding on the issue. Reliability of the finding was promoted by the data collection from two local authorities who have a very different procedures and practice, also All interviews were tape- recorded. According to (Silverman 2006p. 285), working with the audio and video recordings eliminates at one stroke many of the problems that researchers have with the unspecified accuracy of field notes and limited public access to them However the generalization of the research may not be possible. The weakness of case study is that it is not possible to generalize statistically from a small number of cases to a population as a whole (Someth and Lewin 2006 p.34) References Punch, K.F. (2000) Introduction to Social Research Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches. London: Sage Publication. Somekh, B. and Lewin, C. (2006) Research Methods in the Social Sciences. Sage Publication: London. Silverman, D. (2006) 2nd Edition. Qualitative Research. Theory, Method and Practice. Sage Publication: London. Denscombe, M. (2008) Ground Rules for Good Research, a 10 guide for social researchers. Open University: Buckingham.

Matsushita Electronic Industrial Essay -- essays research papers

Matsushita Electronic Industrial Pham Thach Executive summary: Matsushita Electronic Industrial (MEI) is a very successful company in both Japan and the global in the 1970s and 1980s. MEI’s success in this period came from its diversification of productions, dominance domestic market, unique corporate culture, and divisional structure in both domestic and international market. However, in 1987, under new circumstances, such as the change Yen prices, and the pressure of integration of information technologies that need international transfers, sharing, and synergies, MEI’s faced declines in sales and profits because its structure was exposed some weakness. To overcome these problems, MEI should choose Worldwide Product Division Structure. Matsushita Electronic Industrial (MEI) was established in 1918 by Konosuke Matsushita to produce a double-end socket in Japan. This company grew rapidly, in 1977 MEI was praised by Fortune as â€Å"the most dazzling corporate success in Japan†, and then ranked 20 on Fortune list of the world’s largest by 1985. In the 1980s, MEI became the world’s largest producer of customer electronics product, and the forth largest electrical and electronics firm in the world with the compounded annual sales growth and annual growth in net profits was 11.6 percent and 14.6 percent, correspondingly. The success of MEI in the 1970s and 1980s is contributed by its global strategy in which, its diversification of productions, dominance domestic market, unique corporate culture, and divisional structure in both domestic and international market. Contributing to MEI’s rapid growth and consistent profitability in the highly competitive world consumer electronics industry in the 1970s and 1980s was its diversification of productions. Originally, MEI only produced double-end sockets, then its list of products was unceasingly expanded. MEI introduced various of products to markets: battery-powered bicycle lamp and an electronic iron (1923), radio (1931), Domestic fans and light bulbs, small motors for domestic appliances, then appliances (1935), black and white TV sets (1952), transistor radios (1957), stereos, tape recorders, air conditioners (1958), driers, and disposal unit (1959), color TVs, dishwashers, electric oven (1960). In term of the numbers of its products, MEI outdistanced its competitors. MEI grew rapidly and gained consistent profitabil... ...mashita initiated Operation Location and Action 86 programs to shift more activities to its vast oversea operation, and shift its business emphasis. However, some subsidiary managers worried that this program could weaken their relationship with headquarters managers and reduce their access to central resources and expertise. Some managers were afraid that by deemphasizing traditional products, the company might lose its competitiveness in its existing market, and its capabilities in responding quickly and flexibly to market changes, change Matsushita’s culture and philosophy, undermined its source of strength. However, under new circumstance, the traditional structure were exposed these flaws mentioned above, and its impact was the decline of MEI sales and profits. To be a firm that was reasonably diversified and, accordingly, originally had domestic structures based on product divisions, MEI could apply Worldwide Product Division Structure. By that, MEI could easier to p ursue the consolidation of value creation activities at key locations necessary for realizing location and experience curve economies, and to transfer of core competencies within a division’s worldwide operation.

Mcdonald’s Practices/Operations in Turbulent Environment

McDonald’s strategic plan is called ‘plan to win’ which helps McDonald’s to be the best fast food restaurant chain rather than the biggest fast food restaurant chain. (kspain, 2008) In turbulent environment, McDonald’s tries to achieve high performance by applying the 5 P’s: people, product, price, promotion, and place or distribution. Product involves both intangible and tangible offerings of the business which customer can see, feel, taste or smell. (Kukreja, 2011) Next, price consists of all the costs of production and delivery of the product or service. Then, promotion comprises all the types and manner of communication that companies use to make products or services known to the customer. Finally, place or distribution is the channel that connects the products or services to the consumers. McDonald’s focuses primarily on its people or focusing on maintaining and improving employee satisfaction in order to maintain good relationship between the employees and the customers. In order to improve employee satisfaction, McDonald’s uses flexible schedules for the employees to fit their working schedule into the way they live their life. McDonald’s also uses celebrating diversity in their hiring way to combining their ideal work force with different people from different backgrounds with different interests. (Mcdonalds, 2011) Besides that, McDonald’s also simplifies the restaurant environment for their staff and customers in a faster speed. To enhance the relationship between employees and the customers, McDonald’s ensures their staffs are friendly and as well as fast with hospitality training. Finally, McDonald’s also provides cost-efficient, relevant training for their world-wide workforce and provide career opportunities for people to achieve their potential. In the product strategy, McDonald’s offered a wider variety of food. McDonald’s strategic planning focuses on breakfasts, chicken, beverages and convenience. The Southern Style Chicken Biscuits are launched for breakfast in McDonald’s. However, the Southern Style Chicken Sandwiches are launched for lunch and dinner. McDonald’s introduced new hot specialty coffee offerings on a market-by-market basis in their beverages business. Besides that, McDonald’s also offered burgers-and-fries instead of just offering snack foods and desserts. Despite of negative image of McDonald’s for the unhealthy food, McDonald’s offers oatmeal and salads to replace high calorie breakfast sandwiches for somewhat healthier options. Lastly, the Happy Meal is one of the good product strategies which aim kids providing kid’s favorites such as small French fries and chicken nuggets along with a small toy. ECUATORIALL, 2012)These planning enables McDonald’s to satisfy customers’ desire for food that fit into today’s lifestyle. For the price strategy, McDonald’s had introduced value meal for their customers. The value meal allows customers to buy a sandwich, French fries, and beverages at a discount price when purchased together. McDonald’s restaurant offer seven to twelve value meals for the lunch and breakfast menu. McDonald’s also offers a dollar menu which consisting many individual items costing only $1. 00 each. investopedia, 2009) Other than that, some of the individual franchise owners offer daily specials of special menu items with lower price such as Big Mac Mondays. These helps McDonald’s to offer affordable prices to customers and also to be profitable for the company. McDonald's spent huge amount of money on promotion which is presented in marketing, leadership and trust. McDonald’s focuses primarily on targeting the children. With this, McDonald’s offers happy meals which targeted children by giving along the small toys with the meals. ECUATORIALL, 2012) McDonald’s also offers various schemes for winning prices by giving lucky draws and also scratch cards when an order is placed on various mean combos. On the other hand, McDonald’s also does its promotion by advertising to make people aware of an item, feel positive about it and remember it. They do their promotion through television, hoardings and bus shelters. Some of the most famous marketing campaigns of McDonald’s are â€Å"You Deserve a break today, so get up and get away- To McDonald’s†, â€Å"Aap ke zamane mein ,baap ke zamane ke daam†, â€Å"Food, Folks, and Fun† and â€Å"I’m loving it†. (scribd)

Data Leakage Detection System For Cloud Based Storage Systems

Data Leakage Detection System for Cloud-based Storage Systems K.Haritha+ M.HariPrasad+ D.LakshmiTeja + CH.ManiTeja+ *G. Rajesh Chandra *Assistant professor, Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, K L University, India. B Tech, Department of Electronics and Computer Engineering, K L University, India Abstract: In this age of cloud computing the incidences of theft/leakage of valuable, sensitive data is on the rise. Data security has gained greater significance than ever before. This paper attempts to deal with the problem of data leakage and its detection, a rising phenomenon especially in big organizations. We are all too familiar with stories of data loss from laptop theft, hacker break-ins, and backup tapes being lost or stolen, and so on. It is possible only by Data Leakers, who usually are authorized persons. The identification of the Data Leaker is very big task. In the past methods such as Watermarking and fake data addition were used to identify leakers. But in such methods reliability, consistency is very low and largely incompetent in the present age. Thus a sophisticated system to confront such activities with reasonable competence is highly essential. This paper proposes a highly effective system employing various techniques to cleverly detect data leakage and the le akers. Keywords: Watermarking, Guilty party, Forged Data. 1.Show MoreRelatedCloud Computing Is Becoming The Most Popular Topic1693 Words   |  7 Pages Cloud computing is becoming the most popular topic in the realm of Information technology. Its popularity stems from the ability to allow with limited knowledge, to be able to access their information anytime and anywhere while reducing overhead and costs. Additionally, reduces the need for backups; this is because backups are done automatically, between different servers in the â€Å"cloud†. 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Comparative Essay David Hume vs. John Locke - 1050 Words

Comparing John Locke against David Hume : Empiricism John Locke and David Hume, both great empiricist philosophers who radically changed the way people view ideas and how they come about. Although similar in their beliefs, the two have some quite key differences in the way they view empiricism. Locke believed in causality, and used the example of the mental observation of thinking to raise your arm, and then your arm raising, whereas Hume believed that causality is not something that can be known, as a direct experience of cause, cannot be sensed. Locke believed that all knowledge is derived from our senses, which produce impressions on the mind which turn to ideas, whereas Humes believed that all knowledge is derived from experiences,†¦show more content†¦Hume rejected lockes theory of experiencing cause. He argued that you do not feel the connection between your mind and arm, and thus dont sense the cause of the muscles contracting to raise your arm. Cause, in Humes mind, is a synthetic experience used to explain the unobser vable things in reality. To help explain he used the billiard ball experiement. Ball A is hit and put into motion towards ball B.When ball A collides with ball B the cause of ball Bs movement is not experienced, there is no observable connection between the two. This would mean that there is no way to be certain that everytime Ball A collides with ball B that ball B will move, ball A could just as likely bounce off and begin rolling in a random direction. He believd that there is no way of knowing for certain the outcome of an event without being able to perceive the cause. John Lockes theory of knowledge stated that all knowledge is derived from the senses, that are converted into impressions, that are then made into ideas, either simple or complex. Simple ideas are ones that involve only one sense, whereas complex ideas consist of multiple simple ideas being combined to create a vivid one. Ideas have two qualities, primary qualities, and secondary qualities. Primary qualities are things that are perceived the same for everyone, and secondary qualities are the individual perceptions ofShow MoreRelatedCleanth Brookss Essay Irony as a Principle of Structure9125 Words   |  37 PagesHistory and Class Consciousness Preface THE collection and publication of these essays in book form is not intended to give them a greater importance as a whole than would be due to each individually. For the most part they are attempts, arising out of actual work for the party, to clarify the theoretical problems of the revolutionary movement in the mind ,of the author and his readers. The exceptions to this are the two essays Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat and Towards a MethodologyRead MoreStephen P. Robbins Timothy A. Judge (2011) Organizational Behaviour 15th Edition New Jersey: Prentice Hall393164 Words   |  1573 Pages(Prentice Hall, 2012) Management, 11th ed. with Mary Coulter (Prentice Hall, 2012) Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 10th ed., with David DeCenzo (Wiley, 2010) Prentice Hall’s Self-Assessment Library 3.4 (Prentice Hall, 2010) Fundamentals of Management, 8th ed., with David DeCenzo and Mary Coulter (Prentice Hall, 2013) Supervision Today! 7th ed., with David DeCen zo and Robert Wolter (Prentice Hall, 2013) Training in Interpersonal Skills: TIPS for Managing People at Work, 6th ed., with Phillip

A Simple Definition Of Innovation - 1853 Words

A simple definition of innovation is the application of new forms or ideas to elaborate different process, products, services or in a broader level changing an entire organization, aiming to increase as well to attribute value to the business. In a competitive industry this value can represent a large contribution to earn market share and competitive advantage, using the capacity to encounter opportunities and detect connections. Competitive advantage can be accomplished by innovation, approaching it in an ample concept, that includes new forms of doing things and technology (Porter, 1990). In other words, as per O’Sullivan and Dooley (2009), innovation is responsible for the company’s growth, which can be dimensioned by profit and turnover. For them, innovation consists in proposing changes for things already established and in this way creates something distinct. 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Moral choices facing employees free essay sample

When employees sign a contract with a compamy, they are agreeing to perform certain tasks in exchange for a finacial reward. It is possible that employees are obligated to do their jobs only to get paychecks, but do they have an obligation to help the company past what they are legally responsible to do? What if their company’s interests conflict with their own? Should an employee speak out on immoral decision made by the company? Theses are just a few of the questions that an employee may have to consider while working for a company. Employees face tough moral choices including company loyalty, conflicts of interest, bribes, and whistle blowing. An employee has a legal obligation to the firm through his contract, but how loyal he is outside of legality is his choice. He can choose whether he wants to be completely loyal, not loyal at all, or if he will have a balance with his employer. Obedience loyalty, an extreme, is where an employee believes that he is worthless and his company is the only thing that matters. While this is a rarity, it is still present throughout some professional fields, such as the military. Obedience-loyal employees would put their lives in danger for their company and give up any personal life to do their job. A good example of this was April Leatherwood, a Memphis policewoman who went undercover for an entire year, putting family, friends, and her own hygiene behind her (Brusseau). Most employees do not display this type of loyalty but would rather have a balance between themselves and the company. Balanced loyalty occurs when an employee might sacrifice some things for his job but not as extreme as his own wellbeing. This is a more common form of loyalty and is displayed in more areas of work. An employee who has balanced loyalty may be asked to move for his job, might talk to his friends about how awesome his company is, or might choose political beliefs that are in the best interest of the company (Brusseau). The employee is not asked to make rash decisions (such as giving up his personal life for a whole year) but is still very loyal to the company and looks out for its best interest. Sometimes it is in one’s self interest to not be loyal to his company at all. The third form, free agency loyalty, is at the opposite end of the spectrum. An employee who practices free agency loyalty lacks any faith to his company at all. The argument behind free agency is loyalty only exists â€Å"in a reality where individuals stand by others to some extent without conditions† (Brusseau). Usually, in a profit-making company, they only look out for what is best for maximizing profits and not necessarily employees’ interests. If an employer isn’t loyal to its employees, than why should employees be loyal to the employer? Companies should have just as much loyalty in their employees as their employees have in them because it is the choice of the employee to stay. Even the most loyal of employees will find that their self-interests can sometimes conflict with the rules of their contract and the company. The problem may be as small as one wanting to wear a dress shirt and khakis to work but the dress code calls for a full suit. Or the problem could be larger like an employee believing he deserves a six-figure salary while he is only earning four figures. There are conflicting interests in almost every job and it is up to the employee to decide what he should do. Conflicts of interest can arise when â€Å"employees at any level have special or private interest that are substantial enough to interfere with their job duties† (Shaw 388). The conflicts in the workplace are usually small and only affect a few people, or can be large and affect the entire company. In his book â€Å"The Business Ethics Workshop† William H. Shaw describes one example of a financial case with Bart Erdman, the sales manager for Leisure Sports World. Since his brother-in-law is the company’s CEO, Erdman gives all of the firm’s promotional work to an outside advertising company raising advertising costs by fifteen percent. He has allowed his choices as an employee to be affected by his own interests, affecting the company as a whole (388). Even if Erdman had decided to pass a small amount of work to his brother-in-law, a conflict still arises. He still has a personal interest in his business transactions, which could lead him to act against the interest of the company. It starts to become a problem when the employee’s decisions affect not only the company negatively, but his own interests as well. If Bart had spent extra time and money that he didn’t have to try and get his work done, it goes against his own interest as well as the company’s. Deciding how to deal with a specific conflict can be troubling at times but an employee needs to find a balance between his company’s interest and his own. A severe conflict an employee may face is whether or not to take a bribe. According to ethicalrealism. com, a bribe is defined as â€Å"a payment made with the expectation that someone will act against their work duties† (Gray). A bribe can come from another company or from a supervisor within the company itself. Most bribes are financial, but can come can be in the form of anything the employee may value, such as a car. Bribes can also come as the form of a kickback, which is â€Å"a percentage payment to a person able to influence or control a source of income† (Shaw 396). An employer may use a kickback when he needs the employee to complete a task quickly and uses the payment as a motivation. Morally, taking a bribe is wrong but an employee may take the bribe if its benefits outweigh his present well-being. But if he takes the bribe, could he lose his job? What are the potential consequences that could affect him and the company as a whole? Whatever the controversy may be, an employee must look out for his best interest, the effects on his company and the legal consequences of taking a bribe. In the United States, it is illegal to receive and give bribes in the workplace. According to 18 USCS prec  § 201(b), â€Å"Whoever directly or indirectly, corruptly gives, offers or promises anything of value to any public official with intent to influence that person’s official act will be fined for the offence of bribery† (Federal Laws). The punishment depends on the severity of the case but ranges from â€Å"a fine of an amount not more than three times the monetary equivalent of the thing of value, or imprisonment for not more than fifteen years† (Federal Laws). A bribe may or not be worth the risks that accompany it and the employee must make the choice for himself. Many employees witness their companies’ wrongful actions and need to decide whether or not to blow the whistle. Whistle blowing is defined as, â€Å"A practice in which employees who know that their company is engaged in activities inform the public or some governmental agency of those activities† (Shaw 404). These actions can be illegal, cause unnecessary harm, or just otherwise immoral. Depending on how serious the case is, an employee may see the public interest as more important than his own loyalty to the company. But sometimes whistle blowing is not always the right thing to do and could jeopardize the company’s welfare. That is why employees must look at the five justifications of whistle blowing before making any final decisions. The first justification states that whistle blowing must be done from an appropriate moral motive. Searching for attention, profit, or stirring up trouble are not justifiable reasons for blowing the whistle. Second, the whistle blower must have exhausted all internal channels prior to going to the public. This means the employee has talked with all supervisors and officials within the company in attempt to fix the problem. Having compelling evidence of wrongful actions is the third justification that employees must consider. This is hard to do because success requires hard evidence, such as accounting records. The more specific evidence employees can get, the greater chance of justification. Justification also requires that the problems are significantly wrong and the actions would be hazardous if not corrected. The final justification of whistle blowing that employees need to recognize is what the chances are they can actually remedy the problem. If going out to the public and exposing their company will not fix the problem, employees should not try to blow the whistle in the first place. Signing a contract and binding oneself to a company may seem very simple and harmless but there are many conflicts that arise. An employee has to look out for his own self interest as well as the company’s wellfare. But if the company performs immoral actions, the employee must decide whether or not he will expose his firm, potentially losing his source of income. There may be times when a rival company presents an employee with a bribe and he must elect to take it or not. Being an employee comes with not only demanding responsibilities but problematic choices that will test one’s morals. It is up to the employee to recognize the moral choices he has in front of him and ultimately how to deal with them. Work Cited