Rhos-Y-Gwaliau Outdoor Education Center Essay Example for Free

Rhos-Y-Gwaliau Outdoor Education Center Essay Hello, Im here today to talk to you all about work experience. I can see a few anxious faces when I mention the words work experience, but I hope that my talk today will change that. Incase some of you are not exactly sure what work experience is, its a placement that you personally choose yourself, and than you will go there for a period of two weeks. I now it might seem a long time, two weeks but when youre there time just flays, and itll be worth it. And if youre lucky you might decide what you would like to do in the future from this experience, you never know!! Getting a placement is quite straight-forward you know. Well it does depend on were youre thinking of going. You can either phone them, e-mail them or send them a letter. What I did was phone them because I believe this was the most affective way and this way you are also able to find out more necessary information. All I had to do after I phoned was go and visit my placement to get to know everyone and to get to know the building. The day before I started on my work experience I was very anxious, but at the same time I was looking forward. So dont worry if you have similar feelings before you start your work experience because theyre just normal. The only advise I can give you is that you have an early night before you start your work experience so youll be rearing to go the next morning. Also on your first day you should make sure that you arrive at your placement right on time, so you make a good impression to your co-workers and employer. Its also important that you have a reliable transport. I was very lucky with my transport because my mum passed my placement on the way to her work, and it was very convenient. I went to Rhos-Y-Gwaliau Outdoor Education Center for my two weeks. I was very anxious before I got there each morning because I had no idea what was in store for me. The whole experience wasnt half as bad as I had predicted, I hope your outcome at the end of your work experience will be the same as well. Where I went on my work experience I didnt really have a typical day. Each day I did something different, sailing, canoeing, canoeing, climbing, hill trails and gorge walks. I arrived at the center at 8am each morning, then I had to make sure that all the children that were in my group had packed all the necessary kit they needed for the day. The we would all gather in the canteen, and make our lunches ready for the busy day that we had planned in front of us. Then we would all set off in our individual group and head towards our activity location. I had so much fun from my experience at Rhos-Y-Gwaliau Outdoor Education Center, and I found out a lot about myself. I do hope that you will choose a suitable placement for yourself and gain a lot of experience and knowledge. I sure did, and this whole experience will always stay with me. I dont have to tell you how much I enjoyed my work experience, because Im sure you can imagine. There was nothing I really disliked about my work experience, well the hours were a bit long, because twice a week I had to be there from 8am till 9pm, which I believe was a very long shift, but that didnt bring me down the slightest bit more enjoyable. The whole experience at Rhos-Y-Gwaliau Outdoor Education Center has definitely helped me choose what I would like to do in the future. This is an ideal work I would love to do when Im older. I found out that Im able to work with people from all ages and I truly enjoy working with children because you are able to see all the progress they have done and youre able to see the amazement on the childrens faces when they achieve a new skill. When I help people I get a warm feeling in my heart. I wish you all the best for the future, and I hope that my talk today has reassured you all, and you have a better incline of what to expect when youll be starting work experience in couple of weeks time. And I truly do hope that you will have two fantastic weeks at your placements, and try your best to enjoy them. Thank-you for listening to my talk today, and I hope that I have helped some of you, and you now know a little bit more of what youre in for. All the best to every single one of you. And thank-you for being such a good audience.

Social Insurance Essay Example for Free

Social Insurance Essay Social insurance funded programs include Social Security, Workmen’s compensation, Medicare, and unemployment benefits. Each of these programs is funded by a portion of a person’s check. A certain amount is taken out of each check and put in an â€Å"account† for future use. Some of these programs even include a match payment made by the employer. This is mostly used for Social Security. The benefits from each of these programs are used in the event of a future time of unemployment. The benefits from Social Security are used when a person is old enough to retire. Workmen’s compensation benefits are available to workers that have been hurt upon the job and are no longer able to work for a certain amount of time. Benefits that are available when a person is unemployed are only available if the person is terminated by no fault of their own. I have found that there is one major drawback to social insurance, the growth in our population. With an increase in population and a decrease in the job market, it is harder for people to go back to work when they have been laid off. Our economy at this point is still unstable. With more and more workers joining the workforce each day and our jobs being sent overseas it is easy to see the drawback to social insurance programs. The one drawback for Social Security according to Chambers Wedel (2005) is that if we are to make it to the projected year of 2040, those who are in workforce will be forced to provide a higher amount of money out of their checks. I feel that any drawback related to social insurance funding is based upon the growth in population and the decrease in our economy.

Explaining the change management at British Airways

Explaining the change management at British Airways This report focuses on explaining the change management at corporations. It includes the example of British Airways that has once successfully applied change management in their corporation. Change Management is the concept organizations apply in order to deal systematically with change. When British Airways was formed after its merger, it wasnt doing well. This was mainly because of the cultural and status differences of the employees of the corporations that were merged. There was no leadership and the company lacked the required competence to deal with the emerging problems. In order to deal with that dilemma it was decided to appoint a new Chairperson and Lord King was appointed. He later on, appointed King Marshall as the Chief Executive. Both the leaders knew that change was needed within the company. They saw that valuable resources were being wasted, company was working inefficiently, cultures differences existed, needs of the customers were not identified correctly and attitudes within the company were to be changed. They took major change management steps and came up with different programs and strategies to deal with the situation. It was made sure that the employees are fully supported during the process of change and needs of everyone are catered. Hence, a successful change management was implemented that helped the company to come out of crisis and emerge as a strong competitor in the airline industry. Introduction: Change Management is a word heard often now in most of the corporations. It has been around for a while now, but is famous in corporations that are interested in initiating a change to their processes which includes both culture and work tasks. Change management is defined commonly as employed set of the processes to ensure that considerable changes are implemented in a systematic, controlled and orderly fashion to result in organizational change. (Hiatt Creasey 2003) Five principles of Change: While implementing change management there are five basic principles that the managers need to keep in mind: Different people tend to react in a different way to the change. Everyones fundamentals needs are to be met. Change also involves loss at times and people need to go through the loss curve. The expectations of all are to be met in a realistic way. Fears of all are to be dealt with. Organizational Change Management: According to organizational change management both the tools used by managers and the processes are to be taken into consideration. Mostly organizations want the change to be implemented with least resistance. For this to happen change must be implemented with a structured approach so that the transition of one behavior to another is as smooth as possible. Managements Role in the Organizational change: It is the responsibility of the management to spot out the behaviors and processes that are not proficient and come up with new ones that are more effective for the organization. Once these changes have been identified, managers should estimate the impact it will have on the organization and its employees. Management should also assess the reaction of employees to the implemented change and try to understand the reaction as well. It is the job of the management to completely support their workers through the process of change. Finally the management should help employees to accept these changes and help them to adjust well and effectively once the changes are implemented. (Hiatt Creasey 2003) British Airways: British Airways is the flag carrier airline for the United Kingdom with its head quarters in Waterside. The main hub of British Airline is at the Heathrow Airport of London; its second hub is at Gatwick Airport and the third one is at London City Airport which is served through BA CityFlyer a fully owned subsidiary of British Airways. British Airlines happens to be the largest airline of UK on the basis of its international flights and destinations and their fleet size. In the year 1971 British Airways board was formed to manage the two airline corporations, BEA and BOAC, and relatively two smaller regional airlines Northeast Airlines from Newcastle and Cambrian Airways from Cardiff. But in the year 1974 all these airlines were dissolved to form one major airline British Airways (BA). The airline was created aiming at being the worldwide network and achieving economies of scale. The merger of these airlines resulted in 50,000 staff members and 215 aircraft, which are considered to be grossly overstaffed along with many levels incompatible management structure. Problems were being created because of the cultural differences between the airlines along with a class distinction amongst the staff members. When the middle oil crisis arrived in the world and resulted in reduction of market, it left the already overstaffed BA airline with massive losses, a very poor service reputation and 20,000 potential redundancies. The union was so strong in the company that it made difficult for the company to take any remedial measures. By the year 1980 the fleet was downsized to 174 aircrafts but still the company was loosing money at the rate of  £200 pounds per minute. With the government supporting the company, there was no internal urgency for the change to take place and outside competition to be adapted. (Lundy Cowling 1996) By the year 1981 British Airways appeared to be a failing company making multimillion pound losses. It gained the reputation of being a major international airline giving the worst service. The only solution than was seen to make a change in the culture of the staff. For 13 years it remained a nationalized company and in February 1987 it became privatized as a plan of the conservative government of that time. Major Problems being faced after the merger: When British Airways was formed after the merger it faced a number of problems and issues. Main problem was encountered in terms of the culture differences of the companies. When the members of organizations belonging to different and diverse cultures interact with each other and one of the cultures is required to adapt the practices and methods of another culture it results in disruptive tensions. Same situation took place between he employees of BEA and BOAC the two emerging industries of that time. This problem can be explained as a culture clash or acculturative stress. Another issue arrived in terms of the management system being imposed in the company. BA implemented a very inflexible, preoccupied and hierarchical management system creating status differences which was also evident from their uniforms. The company also had problems being rule oriented. The new management had problems in identifying and addressing the needs of their customers. The company emphasized more on their inward looking management approach and on maintaining their various routes and all this resulted in customers being unsatisfied. Change in direction: In the year 1979 Mrs. Thatchers new conservative government took the decision to privatize the airline. At that time the European airline market was developed majorly and most of the airlines were state owned. A whole process was put in place for the privatization of airline. Eight years of time was taken to make it happen, stand on its own feet and emerge to succeed as a commercial body. This included a whole process of culture change and cost cutting. Hence the different models of change process were being applied in the form of Theory O (through focusing on changing the behavior and culture) and Theory E (through cost cutting). Because of the restructuring of the airline there was a reduction in the number of routes served, the college of air training was closed, catering operations were transferred to outside contractors and property interests were divested. (Horner Swarbrooke 2004) The airline was shown to be a peasant class of travel and showing general subservience to the pressures of trade unions. However, the internal studies showed that jobs of the managers of highly specialized, communications in between the departments were highly poor and technically the airline was bankrupt. Major management changes were being considered in order to change this reputation of poor services. This was known to be the change management which is incorporating change in to the working systems so that the company becomes more efficient is satisfying the needs of customers or clients. This served as a basis for the appointment of Lord King as chairman and as Chief Executive King Marshall was appointed in the year 1980. Hence, first change took place in the form of leadership change where these leaders with their authority, later on made organizational changes. When this Chairperson started working, noticed that a lot of valuable resources were being wasted and the company was working inefficiently. In order to make the company more profitable, it was decided to restructure the whole organization and change methodology change management plan was seen as the best way to do that. Measures of Change Management: The second most important change took place at the group level in the form of operational change when it was identified by the leaders that there was inefficiency existing in the system. Measures like reducing staff level and cut in production costs were taking place and this change can be classified as fine-tuning. (i.e. Scale Type 1 of Dunphy and Stace (1993)). The company started decreasing their workforce very systematically. But before doing so, through the change management leadership of the chairperson, Lord King gave reasons for the privatization and restructuring so that the employees get prepared for the up coming changes. (Horner Swarbrooke 2004) In order to investigate the ways of improving customer service in the year 1983 a steering group was established in the British Airways. It was identified that for British Airways offering customer service is the key cornerstone in the market place. Two courses of actions were then recommended by the steering group which changed the way the company decisions were made. A marketing policy group was created for the re-organization of the company. Also, by the name of Putting People First a program of courses was employed throughout the whole organization. This program was aimed at improving self image, to achieve the greatest possible standards of customer care and to change attitude towards the external and internal customers. Another program with the name of Managing People First covering the perception of the contact staff and their managers was started. (Lundy Cowling 1996) After identifying the inward looking rigid culture existing at the top of management hierarchy, the Chief Executive appointed a new top management team whose job was to strength customer oriented culture within the company. Transformation in the management, culture, strategy and operations took place on a large scale. These changes were both organizational and strategic. An external audit company conducted a two way audit that covered the perception of customers of the services being offered by BA. The frontline employees were awarded with the required authority and also the information to deal with the customers. The process was started by eliminating layers of the management structure and emphasize from divisional was changed to a functional structure. The personnel function was restructured by Marshall and for the mammoth task ahead a human resource department was created. To give a break from the old BA image Chief Executives two main image fronts which were the uniforms of customer contact staff and the company livery, were improvised. (Lundy Cowling 1996) But changing external face is never enough so attitudes within the company were to be changed. Time Management International designed a training program for BA in order to respond to the needs identified in the audit. The final step and the logical step which was taken was linking performance with pay. Strong leaders were recruited as a part of the change management. The segmentation policies were clearly defined and these were targeted in well developed branding programs. (Horner Swarbrooke 2004) All the actions can be seen as an amalgamation of both planning (revolutionary) and incremental (evolutionary) change. The evolutionary change is seen valuable in the short to medium term and revolutionary in the long term. These changes emerged to work for the company in the form of delivering excellent service and quality to the customers and developing relationships with them and in the long run the company appeared to be the largest airline for UK. (Clarke 2001) Stakeholders Analysis: In order to facilitate the stakeholders during the process of change the leaders gave their full support and time. The Chief executive and the Chairperson acted as the change agents for the company. The heavy support from the top management (Marshall attended a number of staff and management programs and spent 20% of his time in this activity) and the continued training softened the harsh impact of cultural and organizational change. Although this change was bumpy incremental as there were staff cuts this type of change is called Adaptation by Balogun and Hope-Hailey (2004). As a part of the cultural change program two days were given to the employees and five to the managers. Around 40,000 of the workforce were put through this program and this was fully supported through evaluation and compensation in the form of bonus payments. (Clarke 2001) The leadership style here was democratic and the leader Other supported measures included, action groups, updated performance management, implementing total quality management (TQM), educational seminars and the staff newspaper British Airways News. (Lundy Cowling 1996) Success of the Change Management: The main objectives of imposing the changes were to become competitive in the airline industry and survive in the market place. The changes which were implemented by British Airways helped it to become more customer oriented by delivering excellent services and quality to the customers. Also, these changes helped the company to improve their relationship with the employees as well as the relationship of the employees with the customers. The expensive and time consuming investments which were a part of the change taking place also paid off when the company won in the year 1989 the award of Worlds Best Airline which is a prestigious business traveler award. The company after changes became more competitive in the UK market. The implemented human resource management and the strategies served as a basis to help the company emerge as a strong competitor in the airline industry. (Lundy Cowling 1996) The company achieved reduction in their costs through savage labor cuts, concentrating on key strategic business areas and slimming down of the business. All the moves taken by the company and the programs being conducted resulted in revue of the management structure. The overall age profile of the team was decreased and only those were chosen having entrepreneurial abilities. The major aspect of success for the airline was their marketing strategies. Some of these were campaign of the Advertiser of the year, Fly the Flag and We take more care of you promotion, Red eye advertisement etc. All this and much more helped the company to come out of the difficult times. (Horner Swarbrooke 2004) Conclusion: The leadership of the company directed it through difficult times by applying a change management in the company. British Airways still happen to be the major global airline but now its reputation is declining. This can be because of the inappropriate decisions taken by the management, but mostly it reflects the hard times and the difficult business environment that exits for all the airline companies. The management again aims at implementing new strategies and programs within the company through a marketing communication in order to create a better image. Also, the current management realizes the need of leadership and entrepreneurial competence which could wipeout all the problems from the company. For the company to fully run again on the track of success the management should identify the problems existing within the company. They should try to resolve the issues and come up with effective change management programs that can again benefit the company.

My Adventure with Drugs :: Personal Narrative Writing

My Adventure with Drugs My brother David decided one afternoon that he was going to take me on an adventure. He came to this decision after smoking pot and watching the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland. I, being a child of nine, thought it sounded fun. My parents weren't home and my brother was supposed to be watching me. Mom and Dad usually didn't like me going too far from the house when they weren't there. That's why I questioned was how long it would take. â€Å"We'll be back before they get home,† he told me. That sounded good to me. I said I'd go with him. We started off by walking over the hills and crossing the stream in the cow pasture that's across the road from my house. I showed him the group of trees near the far end of the field that was over grown and full of vines to swing on and logs to hide behind. I told him I called it Sherwood Forrest. It seemed like great news to him because he acted very excited, but to my disappointment we did not stop there. It seems that my brother had a destination in mind. We left the pasture and crossed through the corner of the forested ridges that begin around my house. We followed a path that my neighbor used to ride her horse on. We walked through freshly turned fields and grassy ones that had no productive purpose. Finally after all of the open land we ran into an obstacle. The obstacle is called route 283. My brother and I hopped the fence that is meant to keep people and animals away from the highway. It wasn't until my brother climbed the embankment and had a leg over the metal barrier set up to keep cars from crashing into the ditch I stood in that I had enough courage to ask him a question.

History of rock and roll music outline :: essays research papers

History of the rock music industry Introduction: I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  How has an industry grown to become a 32 billion dollars a year machine? II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ill tell ou how, by scouting new talents from each and every corner of the world to bring us the music that each of us desires. III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This is the recording industry which even though their sales have been steadily declining due to internet piracy it is still an industry which has great importance in our lives. As college students alone spend about 450 million dollars on music, according to Harris Interactive a worldwide market research and consulting firm. Ever since the birth of recorded music, it has defined our eras and defined each and every one of us. Music has been and always will be the soundtrack of our lives. IV.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Today I will try and familiarize you with the great changes this business has gone through. V.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To make this short I will start in the 50’s the golden age of rock and roll, continue to the 60’s with beatlemania, on to the 70’s with disco and punk rock, then the 80’s on through today. Body: I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  First I will start by discussing the various genres that created rock music in the 50’s and 60’s. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Rhythm and Blues 1.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly 2.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Their influences II.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Second I will tell you with more detail the numerous events of the 60’s that shaped the way the music industry was ran and the way rock music sounded. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Beatles, and other pop acts and their influence. B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The shift of interest towards profits instead of creativity in the Industry. C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The emergence of counter pop movements. D.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Record labels look to capitalize on these movements. III.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Third I will discuss the seventies. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Folk rock and other sub-genres B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Disco C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Punk rock and its deviance from major record companies IV.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Fourth and last I will talk about the eighties on through today, and how this industry morphed into what it is today. A. The beginnings of rap. B. â€Å"Hair Bands† C. Grunge (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden†¦) D. Hip – Hop and music today. Conclusion: I.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  I now come to an end of explaining the changes the music industry has gone through from the fifties on through today. The fifties with its rhythm and blues that gave way to rock and roll, the sixties with the rise of big record labels and their attention shifting more towards pop music that would drive their profits sky high. The seventies with the advent of what we now know as rock.

George Orwells Animal Farm :: George Orwell Animal Farm Essays

George Orwell's Animal Farm Introduction:Animal Farm is a short story written by George Orwell in 1945. He had a lot of difficulty getting it published due to its underlying criticism of the political situation in Russia at the time. The story takes place on a farm somewhere in England. The owner of the farm, Mr.Jones, comes into conflict with the animals. The animals rebel, and finally scare him away. Two of the strongest animals, Napoleon and Snowball (two pigs), think that they can run the farm. Napoleon: Both Napoleon and Snowball felt that they should both be leaders in the early stages of the Revolution. Snowball had many ideas about how the Farm should be run but he came into conflict with Napoleon over many of them. Napoleon, was a shrewd pig who could see that he could not carry on working with Snowball. This was shown when the two of them could not agree on the building of a windmill.When it looked as though Snowball might win the arguement, Napoleon "uttered a high-pitched whimper of a kind no one had ever heard him utter before" and the vicious dogs ran in and attacked Snowball and ran him off the farm. Eventually Napoloeon won and the windmill was built, and soon after Napoleon ran Snowball off the farm. In order to make sure that he would stay leader in the future, Napoleon told the animals that Snowball was against them and was friendly with the old farm owner, Mr.Jones. The similarity between Napoleon and Joseph Stalin (the Russian leader), is very clear. Without being elected both became leaders, surrounding themselves with powerful guards (the dogs in the case of Napoloeon), living in luxury while the workers were forced to work hard. At first Napoleon seemed to be a good leader, but very quickly became greedy and power-mad, causing conflict among the animals. As in Russia, the idea of Socialism soon changed to a virtual dictatorship, with Napoleon ordering animals to build and work while he sat around. When some of the other animals decided that he should no longer be a leader, Napoleon set the dogs on them and had them slaughtered. He had become power mad, going totally against the ideas of socialism, and ruling through fear, as did Stalin. As time went on, he became like Mr.Jones, caring for himself without thinking about the others, which was partly the reason for the original Revolution. Food rations were under his control, making sure that he got plently but the animals got just enough to keep them working. Soon after the Revolution the animals got together to make seven commandments that they should all stick to, but Napoleon slowly

Musical instrument Essay

Trumpet The trumpet or cornet is the smallest and highest member of the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by buzzing the lips into a mouthpiece. Clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et (meaning little) to the Italian word clarino (meaning a type of trumpet), as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed. In jazz contexts, it has sometimes been informally referred to as the â€Å"licorice stick.†[1] French horn A wind instrument usually of the lip-reed class. Horns for signalling have been made from conch shells, wood, animal horns etc as well as metal. Horns capable of many notes usually consist of a conical brass tube in a curved, coiled or folded shape. This article is concerned with the European orchestral horn, or french horn. Cello The cello is a string instrument and a member of the violin family. It is a wonderful instrument for a child to learn at an early age. It is the most versatile of the string instruments The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin but is larger in size and more variable in its proportions. A â€Å"full-size† viola’s body is between one and four inches longer than the body of a full-size violin (i.e., between 15 and 18 inches (38 and 46 cm)), with an average length of about 16 inches (41 cm). Small violas made for children typically start at 12 inches (30 cm), which is equivalent to a half-size violin Violin The violin is the smallest member of the string family. Sound is produced by drawing the bow across one of the four strings or by plucking the string with a finger. Flugelhorn Flugelhorns have a short, wide mouthpiece; three or four valves; and a flared bell. They range in size from bass instruments with wider bores (the bore is the inside diameter of the tubing) to small soprano horns in f or e flat. Tuba tuba is the largest and lowest pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or â€Å"buzzing† the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the ophicleide. Trombone he trombone is a member of the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by buzzing the lips into a mouthpiece. A unique feature of the trombone is the slide. While other brass instrument change pitches by pressing valves to change the length of the air flow, the trombone player simply moves the slide in and out to the change the length of the instrument.