Critically discuss this statement, indicating to what extent you agree Essay

Critically discuss this statement, indicating to what extent you agree with it - Essay Example Firstly, there should be a distinction on what is accepted as perception. In this case, the law should clearly define what would qualify as a perception which may warrant compensation. The second issue concerns what would be deemed as a liability arising from the damage. In this case, there should be limits which are spelled out in regards to liability. The third aspect of the law entails what is known as the threshold which concerns the recovery made as a result of a claim or legal suit. The following discourse seeks to prove that the sentiments by Lord Oliver are true. The law on psychiatric damage is paradoxical. It seeks to protect the victim while at the same time puts caution on the kind of claim that can be sought by the victim. The objective of the law is to accord justice to all people irrespective of creed or personal influence1. The law carefully outlines what ‘damage’ in case of psychiatric pain is. The damage defined by the law states that is should not have been inflicted by a physical pain. This implies that for one to be eligible for consideration of a claim for any form of psychiatric damage, it should not be a physical injury. This is the paradox that surrounds the law on negligence in relation to causes of psychiatric damage. Such a situation evokes different reactions from law and policy makers. In fact, it makes one understand the sentiments, ‘I cannot, for my part, regard the present state of the law as either entirely satisfactory or as logically defensible’ (Alcock and Others v Chief Constable of the South Yorkshire Police [1992] PIQR 1, 26. When it comes to negligence that leads to medical conditions, the law is a bit clear. However, when it comes to psychiatric damage, the law tends to be a bit ambiguous. For instance, the law defines forms of injury as those that can be proven medically. However, in technical terms, a mental damage can be so abstract to even have a medical proof. The human psychology is a

The Purpose Of Life Is A Life Of Purpose Essay Example for Free

The Purpose Of Life Is A Life Of Purpose Essay In each one of us, there burns a soul destined for greatness. In every generation, a few are chosen to proven†¦ and sometimes, it happened while others are in the bathroom. Life: No one knows where it will take us. Is it our own decisions that guide us or does fate play a big role in dictating the road that we travel? Which course we will be steering? What twists we must endure? One thing is for certain; there is no certainty. No wait too long and everything can change in an instant. In a flash, the things we hold so close can disappear. Vanished like a lost thought. Lifelong trust can turn on you. Blind faith can betray you†¦ and the future you foresaw, gone. Life should be seen as an eternal process of joyous spiritual discovery and growth: in the beginning stages of earthly life, the individual undergoes a period of training and education which, if it is successful, gives him or her the basic intellectual and spiritual tools necessary for continued growth. When individuals attain physical maturity in adulthood, they become responsible for their further progress, which now depends entirely on the efforts they themselves make. Through the daily struggles of material existence, people gradually deepen their understanding of the spiritual principles underlying reality, and this understanding enables them to relate more effectively to themselves, to others, and to God. After physical death, the individual continues to grow and develop in the spiritual world, which is greater than the physical world, just as the physical world is greater than the world we inhabit while in our mothers womb. This last statement is based on the Bahà ¡Ãƒ ­ concept of the soul and of life after physical death . According to the Bahà ¡Ãƒ ­ teachings, the true nature of human beings is spiritual. Beyond the physical body, each human being has a rational soul, created by God. This soul is a nonmaterial entity, which does not depend on the body. Rather, the body serves as its vehicle in the physical world. The soul of an individual comes into being at the moment the physical body is conceived and continues to exist after the death of the physical body. The soul (also called the spirit) of the individual is the seat or locus of his  or her personality, self, and consciousness. The evolution or development of the soul and its capacities is the basic purpose of human existence. This evolution is towards God and its motive force is knowledge of God and love for Him. As we learn about God, our love for Him increases; and this, in turn, enables us to attain a closer communion with our Creator. Also, as we draw closer to God, our character becomes more refined and our actions reflect more and more the attributes and qualities of God. A life of purpose Do something important with your life, make a difference or make some kind of impact on your world. I think its the kind of thing you have to define for yourself though. Were all here for a reason, decide what your reason is. Sometimes my life feels pointless and I truly want to give up, but I think about my closest friends and their futures. The thought of that makes me want to see them become successful and start families. I feel like were here to learn lessons and to see how much we can make a difference. But from social views, I feel like were only here to leave impressions and to try to hold on to temporary fame and fortune forever. We are here on Earth because our souls have chosen to be born again from Heaven with a hope and free will to resist the evil temptation and ultimately enter the Kingdom of God from the 7 Churches/House of Righteousness of Jesus in Heaven. Life wouldnt exist without a purpose. Learning and passing on information to the next generation to make life easier is definitely one purpose. People will always argue about any other reason. i feel the purpose of life is to find God and i also believe that each moment of our life can be made enjoyable if we believe in God,some people say that they donot want to live,being fearful of God all the time.but the fact is u neednot fear anything else if u fear God,u r not afraid of darkness,nor of thunder lightning,not even Death,bcos u know that u are returning to God after life has been taken away from you.but God also created us so that  we can love Him and place our Fears and Hopes in Him.a person who firmly believes in God never doubts his existence,but,at some point or the other,the atheist calls outGod,if You Really are there,Please Help Me out. well,each person has his own belief.like each member of the family has different tastes and each person believes God in differently,its up to each of us to search till our Hearts find Rest,but the ultimate aim is always,Happiness Rather than having an aimless day-to-day existence, those who are truly successful find meaning and purpose in life. Their life is not founded on the unstable conditions of this system of things. Their goals lead to real and lasting satisfaction, as they are centered on the very purpose of life. What gives one purpose in life? â€Å"Fear the true God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole obligation of man.†Ã¢â‚¬â€Ecclesiastes 12:13. Hope: Having God as our Friend also gives us hope for the future. The apostle Paul urged Christians â€Å"to rest their hope, not on uncertain riches, but on God.† In this way, they would be â€Å"safely treasuring up for themselves a fine foundation for the future, in order that they may get a firm hold on the real life.† (1 Timothy 6:17-19) To have true purpose in life is to have a reason for living, a clear objective, and a focal point for our efforts. The fact that we are endowed with intelligence, conscience, and the ability to reason implies that the Creator had a good purpose in putting us here. Logically, therefore, we can find and fulfill our true purpose only by living in harmony with the Creator’s purpose. Making a difference, doing something of value, and having a purpose in life. They all stem from a common human need that doesnt disappear with age. However, the perception that youre making a difference may well decline sharply after the end of a career, and the close of a professional life with decades of rich experiences and relationships. And as we get older, our self-perceived worth can take another hit if people have trouble looking beyond our age when they interact with us. All too often, older people arent valued for what they can offer, and often arent even expected to participate in activities. Your intentions determine your actions, your actions inturn determine the road you take. Keep your actions constructive, long-term oriented, for the welfare of not only you but even others around and each will be a building block to another which in turn will automatically pave the path you take. Keep ambitions high yet actionable and within reach! One does not need to be on a constant hunt to determine the purpose of life, you are born and so there is a purpose decided by default. Just be open-minded, open to giving sharing, free learner and the purpose will come to you. As your life purpose and intentions become clearer, your life is bound to move more powerfully in the direction you want it to go. And you will be the master craftsmen of your own destiny. Every individual is born with purpose. If you see yourself that your presence on the planet is for the divine cause, it means that. The menifestation of your presence for the divine cause should be left to the universe. Let universe handle of journey on the planet. But believe me if you are born for divine cause you will mark the difference thats for sure. I have always heard that not having a purpose in life can make your existence confused and empty. After all, aren’t we all supposed to have one big goal, to focus on it our whole life so as to achieve it, and to try to make the world better? Well, that was my way of thinking when I was a little girl, and to be honest, my only aim at that time was to become a pink Power Ranger. Even though my purpose was to make the world a better place, I soon realized that it was going to be difficult to achieve, so I tried some years later to create a purpose for my life. Meanwhile, I just started living, in this huge, strange world full of issues but peopled of many different strangers who are all trying to feel fulfilled by their way of living and to leave a mark on the world in their own way. I discovered that for some people, living was in itself a challenge, as waking up and feeling good was for others. Also, even if I’m sure that the common first answer to the question â€Å"What’s your purpose in life?† is â€Å"to become rich,† I know that  some people really want to make a change and face challenges, while others just want to get busy and to play the game. So can’t we say that the purpose of life is not a life of one purpose but a life of many purposes? Maybe focusing on only one purpose is not the right way to avoid emptiness in life; you also need to focus on your motivation and your potential and how much you utilize it. The word â€Å"purpose† can have many different meanings and all of them are the pieces of the same puzzle. Of course, knowing what we want is essential so as to be on the path that best suits us, and staying motivated and positive along the way is absolutely essential when facing obstacles and difficulties. We all have been confronted by some problems that at first seemed to be impossible to resolve but we eventually overcame and led us to find the unexpected opportunities for which we have been waiting. To quote Charles De Lint, â€Å"the roads leading to goals do not separate you from the destination; it is essentially a part of it.† It seems that it is on these routes that we find the pleasure and the fun of all the journeys which can be really worth it. As for me, I still want to improve the world and I’m still wondering how, but at worst I can always cling on to my Power Ranger idea. So if you are still on the road, too, dream big, travel your own path, and stay open to the unexpected.

Child Friendly School Policies

Child Friendly School Policies The purpose of this essay is to explore what Child Friendly School policies could learn from Comparative and International Research. Reference to CFSs in Kenya will be made with emphasis on the background of CFSs, current practices and emerging critics, success stories, problems and pitfalls and what CIR can do to subjugate some of these challenges. I will start by examining the rationale for exploring CFSs, based on literature and my professional experience. Following this background will be literature surrounding the concepts of CIR and CFSs in relation to global agendas, exploring how CFSs came into existence and the driving forces behind it. I then go on to focus on a case study of CFS in Kenya, discussing the role of CIR in the Kenyas CFS, arguing that CIR is used as a political tool in creating educational policy, rather than a research method or an intellectual inquiry. I will further critically analyze challenges facing CFSs and how knowledge on CIR can contribute more effect ively to successful implementation of CFS policies. A conclusion based on the literature and authors experience will then be drawn. Throughout the essay, I build a case in favour of CIR arguing that CIR stimulates critical reflections about our educational systems by investigating commonalities and differences across national borders. Background and Rationale Comparative and international education is one of the main fields of education with many benefits, judged by the volume of studies reported in the literature. Central to this is that many countries around the world have formulated some of their educational policies based on knowledge and research from CIR. With the current wave of globalization, researchers and experts, especially in the field of education, are always trying to find ways of streamlining their educational policies with the global trends. According to Giddens (1990:64), globalization is the intensification of worldwide social relations which link distance localities in such a way that local happenings are shaped by events occurring many miles away and vice versa. Global forces therefore have an impact on shaping local practices at grass root levels. In order to do this tactically and critically, comparative and internal research remains cutting edge in informing people about the realities, the challenges and the possible effects of uncritical transfer of ideas. One of the key developments in education has been the prioritisation of basic education as opposed to adult education or higher education. In Africa, this would be probably because, as Oketch (2004) points out, basic education yields higher rates of returns compared to higher education. This has subsequently influenced government and non-governmental organizations to focus more on improving the quality of basic education. Child-friendly schools (CFSs) in Kenya is an example of a initiative sponsored by UNICEF with the aim of not just providing children right to education but the right to the right education. In other words, CFSs are more concerned with the quality of basic education in addition to its access. The emergence of CFSs in Kenya was catapulted by the forces of agendas 1 and 2 of Millenium Development Goals (MDGs) which emphasizes on the provision of basic education. One of the six Education For All (EFA) goals agreed by the World Education Forum (2002) concerns education q uality. The term quality in education is dynamic because of the social, political and economic context at which it is used. Milligan (2011:276) adds that quality has, thus, been placed as an integral cog in the educational development machine although how educational quality is defined is a matter of great contention. Because of differences in contexts, it is imperative that knowledge of comparative and international research be used in designing policies and pedagogy in CFSs that fit that particular context. Furthermore, with the fear that some countries may lag behind as others move forward, countries from sub-Sahara Africa are now engaging in various practices in order to achieve these educational goals, a race against the 2015 set deadline for attainment of EFA goals. As the clock ticks towards the year 2015, priority goals in education may change for post-2015 and the worry is further elevated. One of the efforts the government of Kenya is doing to improve the quality of education is by integrating CFS model into the basic education system. Two major questions arise here: First, how is CFS realistic considering myriad challenges facing the FPE policy in Kenya? Secondly, if integrating CFS model into basic education will help in improving the quality of education, what lessons can CFS policies learn from CIR? It is against this background that the purpose of this essay hinges. Literature Review In this section, I will look at the concepts of Comparative and International Research (CIR) and Child Friendly School (CFS) based on the literature and merge them with the global forces that influenced the emergence of CFS with an attempt to unveil the voices behind the introduction of CFS in Kenya. In addition, I will use an example of PRISM experience in Kenya to reinforce the understanding of the role of international bodies in promoting quality through well strategized and executed projects, arguing that lessons from PRISM experience can be used as insights to successful implementation of CFS policies. Concepts of Comparative and International Research (CIR) and Child Friendly School (CFS) CIR is a fusion of two broad areas of research: Comparative Research and International Research. To understand its full meaning, it is important we define the two areas of research separately. In his definition of comparative research, Mills et al (2006:621) argue that: Comparative research is a broad term that includes both quantitative and qualitative comparison of social entities. Social entities may be based on many lines, such as geographical or political ones in the form of cross-national or regional comparisons. A similar perception was echoed by Noah and Eckstein (1969:127), who viewed comparative education as an intersection of the social sciences, education and cross-national study [which] attempts to use cross-national data to test propositions about the relationships between education and society and between teaching practices and learning outcomes. In light of this definition, comparative research in the context of education can be defined as a study of two or more entities or events (Crossley Watson, 2003) with the underlying goal of searching for similarity and variance. Cross-national or regional comparisons may include comparing educational policies, pedagogy, educational leadership and so on. According to Mills et al (2006: 621), the search for variance places more emphasis on context and difference in order to understand specificities. International education, on the other hand, can be defined as the application of descriptions, analyses and insights learned in one or more nations to the problems of developing educational systems and institutions in other countries (Wilson 2000a: 116). Therefore, international research is concerned with research carried out across two or more countries, often with the purpose of comparing responses between them. This might be done in order to devise strategies that work well across both or all these cultures or to suggest local adjustments to a global strategy There is a close relationship between comparative and international education. Epstein (1994: 918) points out, that international educators use findings derived from comparative education to understand better the processes they examine, and thus, to enhance their ability to make policy. We can therefore draw from the above two definitions that CIR in education as a method of comparing both qualitative and quantitative entities in education across different countries, societies or cultures with the aim of identifying similarities and differences. It is however important to note that not all international research is comparative, and not all comparative research is international or cross-national. According to UNICEF (2007), a child-friendly school is both a child seeking school and a child-centred school: It is child seeking because it actively identifying excluded children to get them enrolled in school. It is a child-centred school because it acts in the best interests of the child leading to the realization of the childs full potential, is concerned about the whole child: her health, nutritional status, and well-being and concerned about what happens to children before they enter school and after they leave school. A CFS system recognizes and respects childrens right and responsibilities; it provides the enabling environment to realize childrens right not only in schools, but also in childrens home and their communities. These include children from conflict zones, street children and children with disabilities. According to UNICEF Global Education Strategy (2007) the Child-Friendly Schools model (see fig 1) is based on simple, rights-based concepts as described in Table 1. Concept of CFS Description Rights Based School CFS proactively seeks out-of-school children and encourages them to enrol, irrespective of gender, race, ability, social status, etc. Gender Sensitive School CFS promotes equality and equity in enrolment and achievement among girls and boys. Safe and Protective School CFS ensures that all children can learn in a safe and inclusive environment. Community Engaged School CFS encourages partnership among schools, communities, parents and children in all aspects of the education process. Academically Effective School CFS provides children with relevant knowledge and skills for surviving and thriving in life. Health Promoting School CFS promotes the physical and emotional health of children by meeting key nutritional and health care needs within schools. Table 1: Description of a CFS Fig 1: Model of the Child-Friendly School Source: UNICEF, Global Education Strategy (2007:1) The CFS model provides a framework for planning (and monitoring the effectiveness of) strategies for increasing access to quality basic education with the specific focus on the development of strategies to include those children hitherto excluded from education (UNICEF, Global Education Strategy, 2007). It is important to note that CFS model is not a one-size-fits-all model. The model may differ from country to country depending on the context. International and Local Pressures and their influences to formation of CFS in Kenya Education in sub-Sahara Africa, and indeed in Kenya, is crafted from both influences by global trends in education and the legacies of colonialism. Chisholm and Leyenderker (2008) observe that: Since 1990, the goals and purpose of education in sub-Sahara Africa has been reshaped by four interconnected developments: globalisation, the changed focus of international aid agencies towards development assistance, the adaptation of sub-Sahara African countries to the new world order with its new political emphases, and the spilling over of new pedagogical ideas from the USA and Europe into sub-Sahara Africa. (p 198) Kenya is a signatory to a number of conventions in education, including the Convention to the Rights of the Child (1989), the World Declaration on Education for All (Jomtien, 1990), the Dakar accord and the Millenium Development Goals (2000). In achievement of education development goals, Kenya is bound to, among other things, quality education by MDGs. The Jomtien call for access for access, equity, quality and democracy in education appeared to promise both social and economic development (Chisholm and Leyenderker, 2008). Social and economic development, and continues to be believed, requires educational change and educational change is necessary for social and economic development (ibid:). Educational change, in turn, is perceived to depend on, amongst other things, the input from relevant development assistance projects. These projects, in the arena of education, are typically formulated with reference to internationally negotiated development agendas (like the MDGs) and priority (Crossley Watson, 2003). An example of these projects in Kenya is CFSs which are supported by United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF). The Education Section of UNICEFs Programme Division introduced the Child Friendly Schools (CFS) framework for schools that serve the whole child in 1999 (Chabbott, 2004). Rationale for introducing CFS framework in Kenya The increased reliance of foreign aid to support education reform in Kenya has been accompanied by a transition, from understanding education as a human right and the general good to viewing it primarily in terms of its contribution to national growth and well-being through the development of the knowledge and skills societies are deemed to need (Arnove Torres 2007:359). Occasional voices continue insisting that education is liberating, that learning is inherently developmental (ibid: 359). With the global concern that Sub-sahara Africa countries may not achieve Universal Primary Education (UPE) by 2015 unless the progress is accelerated (Carceles et al., 2001; Bennel, 2002), Kenya responded by introducing Free Primary Education (FPE) policy in 2003 with both local and global pressure. The rationale behind introducing FPE was (apart from the pressure from global and international agendas) to alleviate poverty attributed to lack of literacy skills. The success story behind implementation of FPE policy is increased enrolment at primary school level by approximately 50% from 5.9 million in 2003 to 9.38 million pupils according to the Kenya Economic Survey 2011. However, there are myriad challenges facing the implementation of FPE policy which include high teacher-pupil ratio, inadequate infrastructure, overcrowded classroom, inadequate textbooks and many schools lacking sanitation facilities. All of these challenges militate against the provision of quality teaching. There is no magic wand for fixing this problem of quality in education. In response to this CFS were introduced in Kenya. According to UNICEF Child-friendly Schools Manual (2006:1): The challenge in education is not simply to get children into school, but also to improve the overall quality of schooling and address threats to participation. If both quality and access are tackled, children who are enrolled in primary school are likely to continue, complete the full cycle, and achieve expected learning outcomes and successfully transition to secondary school. The CFS framework (see appendix 3) aims at promoting child-seeking, child-centred, gender-sensitive, inclusive, community-involved, protective and healthy approaches to schooling and out-of-school education with a general goal of improving the quality of learning. Since CFSs are concerned with the quality of learning, it is important we look at the meaning of quality. The national examinations to obtain the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) at the end of primary cycle and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) at the end of secondary cycle are designed to evaluate the extent to which the primary and secondary graduates master the curriculum content. In other words, the national test scores are used as the indicators of quality. The limitation of this indicator is that it does not take into account the context at which learning takes place i.e. the learning environment, learners unique characteristics etc. There are many definitions of quality but one of the descriptions of quality which emphasizes on the context was by Tikly (2011:10) who argued that: A good quality education is one that enables all learners to realise the capabilities they require to become economically productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute to peaceful and democratic societies and enhance wellbeing. The learning outcomes that are required vary according to context but at the end of the basic education cycle must include threshold levels of literacy and numeracy and life skills including awareness and prevention of disease. In his description, Tikly believes that a good quality education arises from interactions between three overlapping environments, namely the policy, the school and the home/community environments. In his perception of quality education, Tikly puts context into consideration i.e. needs of the learner, cultural and political contexts. In addition, he emphasizes on the relevance of what is taught and learned and how it fits the nature of particular learners in question. This encourages policy makers to take cognisance of changing national development needs, the kinds of schools that different learners attend and the forms of educational disadvantage faced by different groups of learners when considering policy options'(ibid:11). The fact that CFS emphasizes on learner-centered pedagogy and puts the child at the centre or focal point in the learning process raises the idea of what is regarded as valuable knowledge and how this knowledge is acquired in this particular context. This leads us to the inquiry on the school of thought or paradigm behind introducing a contextualized CFS framework. CFS as an approach to education is premised on constructivism, a theory of knowledge arguing that humans generate knowledge and meaning from interaction between ideas and real experiences. According to constructivists, the notions of reality and truth are socially constructed and in different context with the understanding that knowledge is subjective and embedded in multiple realities. Thus, quality of learning should be viewed in the context in which it is occurs. Towards Quality Basic Education In Kenya: Developing Research Capacity and Evaluation Before we acknowledge the contribution of CFS in providing quality education to the children at Primary school level, it will be prudent to review some of other contributions that has been made by international organizations in collaborations with the local government in promoting quality of education at grassroot levels in building research capacity. Kenya has had a history of benefiting from international assistance in its education sector. One of the programmes is the Primary Schools Management (PRISM), an initiative of DfID through the Ministry of Education, which places a lot of emphasis on participatory approaches and emphasis on mobilising community support, resource management and utilisation, supporting learning of pupils and developing action plans. It targeted teacher training and management and the impact of this is overall effectiveness of an education system which has a direct bearing on quality of education. According to Otieno Colclough (2009:26), PRISM is regarded as one of donor-funded programmes which had most positive impact on quality of basic education and CFS can learn from it. As Crossley et al (2005) note, the main objective of PRISM was to improve the quality of primary education through the training and support of head teachers in practical management skills. Borrowing from the PRISM experience it is wo rthy learning that well planned and organized CFSs policies involving community participation at grass root level could help amplify local voices and lead to successful implementation of educational policies not only in Kenya but also other parts of African contexts. Challenges in implementing CFS in Kenya In this section I will explore common challenges associated with the CFSs with an aim of illuminating and critiquing the gap between policy and practice in CFSs. Access and Quality Dilemma: Which one should be first priority? As I mentioned earlier, one of the role of CFS in Kenya is to improve the quality of learning. But the access to education is still a challenge in Kenya and there is fear that Kenya will not have achieved EFA goals 1 and 2 by the year 2015. Many comparative researchers argue that different countries have different educational problems and it is the countrys obligation to identify what should be the priority and why. Aksoy (2008: 218) observes that: While developed countries are mainly engaged in activities to increase the quality of education, or they practice and seek new techniques and methods of learning and teaching, developing countries struggle to provide equal opportunities for education, trying to increase the rate of participation of all citizens in basic education, which is actually compulsory. To deal with its educational problems, each country works out countrywide or local solutions, depending on the nature of the problem. The tone of such statement is more closely allied to the question of priority. Priority in one country may not be a priority in another. In Kenya, the major problem basic education is facing is of access while higher education is facing the problem of quality. CFS focus more on quality, but in the Kenyan context, access to education is still a problem in basic education even after the introduction of FPE. The CFS concept of quality can however suit very well in some small state commonwealth countries which have almost universal access to basic education. It has been noted that small sates have now shifted education priorities towards focus in school effectiveness, quality and inclusion (Crossley, 2002) after ensuring that all children have accessed basic education and CFSs in Kenya should learn from small states that the priority should now be on access to basic education before shifting to quality. Atomizing the child: is child-centred the solution to quality CFS? A key feature of a right-based, CFS system is that it is linked tightly to the child-centred learning process. CFS advocates for child-centred learning where a child is treated as a single entity or an atom in learning processes. The idea of atomizing a child has its drawbacks derived from child-centred learning. First, there is an oversight on early year development behaviour of the child. Psychologists believe children undergo various levels of development and their learning behaviours are different at each level. For instant, Vygotskys (1978) concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) implies that a child cannot ordinary create ZPD by himself; he needs the more expert individual to bridge the gap between his current development level and his proximal level of development. Secondly, a child-friendly, democratic learning environment may not work successful in overcrowded classrooms and school with limited resources like it is the case in Kenya. Thirdly, child-centred learning weakens the role of the teacher. The idea that a child must be active in construction of knowledge is often understood to imply a diminishing role for the teacher in learning process who now becomes a coach or a facilitator. A call for paradigm renovation, from an exclusively child-centred learning to a combination of both child-centred learning and teacher-centred learning approach is important so that the weakness of one method is complemented by the other method. What Lessons can Kenya learn from other Countries in Implementing CFS? A Review on the Contribution of Comparative Research King (2007) emphasizes the need to explore the tension between the national and the international policy agendas in Kenya in order to make informed decisions when crafting educational policies. Clearly, this is a view that acknowledges the contribution of CIR researchers in bridging theories, policies and practices with both local and global minds (Crossley, 2000) in trying to identify betters grounds to critically reflect and determine appropriate course of action. Apparently, the term that is commonly used in Kenya and indeed many Africa countries in the initial processes of designing an educational policy is benchmarking. Essentially, this is usually a comparative study which is carried out locally and/or internationally in trying to compare different models of policy framework with the aim of critical adaption or adoption. Lessons are well learnt when a comparisons are made, and this underscores the strength and significance of comparative research. Moreover, since problems transcend national borders, it is prudent to seek possible solutions by learning from a similar experience in another country, and this explains why international research is important. Kenya can learn from other countries that are either progressing or failing to implement CFS policies because lessons can either identify opportunities or gaps, based on comparative analysis. In these respect therefore, I have identified two key elements of CIR which could help implementat ion of CFS. The first element is on identification of the gap between policy and practice. Documenting the emerging good practices and lessons learned within the regions is useful in informing evidence based programming and advocacy to enable us to achieve better results. For example, a Global Evaluation Report published by UNICEF in 2009 on comparative studies of how to six countries (Guyana, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand) with different experiences implementing CFS, demonstrated the following: CFSs in varying contexts successfully apply the three key principles of CFS models-inclusiveness, child-centredness and democratic participation. Schools operating in very different national contexts, with different levels of resources and serving populations with different needs have succeeded in being child-centred, promoting democratic participation, and being inclusive. Schools that had high levels of family and community participation and use of child-centred pedagogical approaches had stronger conditions for learning, that is, students felt safer, supported and engaged, and believed that the adults in the school supported the inclusion and success of each student. (UNESCO, 2009) Kenya can use this success report to assist in providing a broader perspective on the ways in which CFSs can contribute to quality in the countrys unique context. The caution should however be that any steps taken should have hindsight of the current context in the country to avoid uncritical transfer of practice which may end up opening a Pandoras box. Secondly, through CIR, studies of educational systems from countries that share similar problems or pitfalls can provide information for learning possible consequences. A recent comparative evaluation research conducted by UNESCO in Nigeria, Gunaya, Thailand and the Philippines on CFS pedagogy gave different findings. While teachers in Nigeria and Guyana mainly focused on meeting basic instructional material needs (textbooks, paper), many teachers in Thailand and the Philippines focused on having greater access to information and communication technology (UNESCO 2009). Kenya experiences the same challenge as Nigeria and Gunaya, and data from these countries can be used to learn how they coping with inadequate basic instructional material. The caution here should be, that common problems may prevail in different countries, but common model cannot be applied because every country has different culture/context (Crossley Watson, 2003: 39). This provides invaluable information of what to adopt, modify or avoid. Conclusion It is worthy reiterating Crossley'(2003) emphasis that context matters and different countries have different needs and priorities even if they are faced with the same challenges. The value of CIR is studying foreign systems of education in order to become better fitted to study and understand our own (Sadler 1900, reprinted 1964:310) and CIR can be used as a lense to focus on adaptable or adoptable practices. UNICEF repeatedly emphasises that CFS is a pathway to educational quality rather than a blueprint and that it is counterproductive to regard the CFS model as rigid, with a present number of defining characteristics or key components (2009c, Ch. 1, p. 9). Thus, the essay sought to present an overview in favour of the contribution of CIR by highlighting what CFS policies in the Kenyan context could learn from CIR. As such, the essay acknowledges the role of CIR in stimulating critical thinking and reflections about CFSs system by evaluating its success and failures, strengths and weaknesses. This critical reflection facilitates self evaluation in our own context and the basis for determining appropriate courses of action. The essay also hints that CIR helps us understand global agendas and how they shape educational development projects from organizations and development agencies.

Prejudice- Right or Wrong? :: Free Essay Writer

Prejudice- Right or Wrong? Prejudice and racism are two major issues that many people have to deal with in their lifetime. It can effect many different people in many different ways. Various thoughts and feelings are shown in the novel â€Å"To Kill A Mockingbird† by Harper Lee, which shows a small but a very racist town towards coloured people. In the book they convict a black, Tom Robinson, of doing something we know he didn’t do but this was down to a white jury. The book shows and puts across the true way in which the world works. It shows real life situations that any of us could be in, for instance the Tom Robinson case. Many of the characters are realistic in the way they react to Atticus supporting the blacks and the way they discriminate them as many people, even today, have done the same. The characters Jem and Scout, put forward the child’s point of view. This view, however is still quite bigoted. The reason being is that they come from a background who have lived with a black and have never categorized them in any way. So they believe, due to Atticus fighting the case, that Tom Robinson is innocent and also try to take it into their own hands, by following Atticus down to the jail house one night for example, which not all people would do as everyone has their own opinion but this is a very good point in the book to show the way in which people react and live with the situation. Racism has been a steady problem all through time. One of the most troublesome areas of racism is in places of education. Finding a cure for this would be a major step towards ending racism in general. No one has ever thought of a solution yet, so racism will be as strong for as long as there isn't one. For example, In the 1960's, the governor of Alabama, George Wallace, was a militant supporter of segregation. In 1963 two blacks, Vivian Jones and James Hood, sought admission to the traditionally segregated University of Alabama. According to legislation at the time, they had every right to go there; but since the governor was so anti-black and pro segregation, he didn't like it one bit. As the two black students prepared to enter the college, George Wallace stood in the doorway blocking their way, addressing the need for segregation. He refused to move, so the national guard was called in to restore order and admit Jones and Hood to the University of Alabama. This was an important moment in black

Following a Trail of Tears Essay -- Government Iraq War Essays Papers

Following a Trail of Tears For yet another third period, I walked through the faded pink door into the fluorescent-lit room. I walked along the back wall, past the poster of the â€Å"Pledge of Allegiance† spelled out with license plates. I sat down in my seat. This would be my first of two periods in a row with Mrs. Sorenson, the quirky history/English teacher who would bring out her fiddle and sing songs based on the unit of U.S. history we were working on. This day, Mrs. Sorenson wasn’t singing any songs. There weren’t many songs she knew about the Trail of Tears. She reminded us about how the American Indians had owned the land before the Europeans came and how the new settlers wanted to keep the natural resources found in the Indians’ homelands. Mrs. Sorenson explained that the Cherokee Indians, a tribe of Native Americans, were forced off their land and marched thousands of miles on foot to be moved to the designated Indian Territory. She mentioned that many died, but more Cherokees cried. To me, this was merely information to be absorbed for the test, and then squeezed out to make room for the next unit. I had bigger problems than mere thousands of people in the past being paraded to some other place. Little did I know that in five years I would study literature extensively on the Trail of Tears for my college English class. The Trail of Tears was the Cherokee removal in 1838 from the southeast states of the United States into Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. Remembering back to eighth grade, I vaguely recall the Indians being forced off their land and moved to Indian Territory with the violent assistance of soldiers; however, all the research I have done point out that only a few were moved under sol... ...te. This knowledge could keep Iraqi citizens from dying today. It could keep Iraqi and American soldiers alive. It could feed and house homeless all around the world. I want to be able to make a difference. If getting information is all we as people need to do to make a difference, we should try and stay informed. Information is the key to a healthy and peaceful world, which is why I will make an effort to keep informed. Works Cited Anderson, William L. Cherokee Removal: Before and After. Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia P, 1991. 75-83. Jackson, Andrew. "Andrew Jackson's Second Annual Message." PBS. Comp. James D. Richardson. 4 Apr. 2007 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4h3437t.html. Johnston, Carolyn R. Cherokee Women in Crisis: Trail of Tears, Civil War, and Allotment, 1838-1907. Tuscaloosa, Alabama: University of Alabama P, 2003. 56-78.

Cathedral Essay -- essays research papers

The protagonist in â€Å"Cathedral,† Bub, is a man who has several defining characteristics. Bub is insecure, insensitive, and ignorant. This is clearly shown in Bub’s relationships with his wife and Robert. Bub’s insecurities are blatantly shown when he comments on his wife’s ex-husband: Her officer-why should be have a name? He was her childhood sweetheart, and what more does he want? Bub resents the ex-husband for being his wife’s first love. He would have liked to have had that role so he negatively addresses his wife’s past relationships. Bub’s unconfident mannerisms further transpire when he comments on his wife’s relationship with Robert. He states: In time she put it all on tape and sent the tape to the blind man. Over the years she put all kinds of stuff on tapes and sent the tapes off lickety-split. Next to writing a poem every year, I think it was her chief recreation. On the tape, she told the blind man she’d decided to live away from her officer for a time. On another tape she told him about her divorce. She and I began going out, and of course she told her blind man about it. She told him everything, or so it seemed to me. This intense friendship between his wife and Robert further exacerbated his insecurities. Robert and his wife have an intimate relationship that Bub has never, and probably will never, have with his wife. He goes on to say: My wife finally took her eyes off the blind man and looked at me. I had the feelings she didn’t like what she saw. I shrugged. This relationship offers Bub only one consolation, he believes that because he can see that has an advantage. He constantly refers to Robert as â€Å"the blind man.† He never uses Robert’s name or assigns any human attributes to him. This insecurity is partially responsible for his wife’s continued involvement with Robert.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Also responsible for his wife’s close relationship with Robert is Bub’s inability to feel. He exhibits a great lack of emotional depth. Bub comments on Robert’s marriage: They’d married, lived and worked together, slept together-had sex, sure- and then the blind man had to bury her. All this without having never seen what the goddamned woman looked like. He has no feelings of sympathy for the loss of Robert’s wife. Bub goes on to comment about his wife telling him exactly happened to Robert’s wife. He says, â€Å"My wife filled me in w... ...s his freedom from his sheltered and close-minded life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The overall themes of the story were alienation and loneliness. The main characters experience, and have experienced alienation and loneliness. Bub is discontented in his work, envious of his wife, and isolated from other human beings and also from himself. Because of this, Bub resents his wife’s connections with other people. Keening this in mind, Bub makes no effort to correct this problem. When Robert arrives he makes to attempt to engage him in conversation. He prefers to remain cut off and observe. As the conversation breaks, Bub turns on the television, which is not only extremely impolite, but one that offers proof of Bub’s detachment with his wife and her friend.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The story demonstrates an interesting sort of irony. The disability that Bub condemned and presupposed was in fact a handicap that he had himself. He was emotionally blind. Robert assisted Bub in overcoming those traits that were keeping him from experiencing the most wonderful things in life. This freed Bub from his insecurities, ignorance, and insensitivities. He was then capable of truly seeing.

Sales Report Example

Table of Contents Executive Summary3 Part 1: GSM Personnel Specification4 1. Experience4 2. Qualifications4 3. Required skills5 Part 2: Key issues and Recommendations6 1. Introduction6 2. Key issues6 2. 1 Motivation and job satisfaction6 2. 2 Recruitment and selection7 2. 3 Training and development7 2. 4 Key account management8 2. 5 Sales team structure8 3. Conclusion9 4. Recommendations10 4. 1 Change the reward system10 4. 2 Set up the formal recruitment and selection process11 4. 3 Set up a standardized training11 4. 4 Restructure the sales team with the new role of KAM13 . 5 Action Plan15 4. 6 Expected Outcomes16 5. Limitations17 6. Bibliography18 7. Appendices19 7. 1 The recruitment process19 7. 2 Sales people calculation19 Executive Summary The report is divided in two parts. The first part ‘Personnel Specification’ is aimed to identify the required main skills areas of the new GSM. Those are: * Five to eight years sales experience and management; * University degre e of business or marketing management; * Excellent and proven communication skills and interpersonal skills; * Ability to reate a work environment and culture to stimulate individual’s development and motivation; * Ability to negotiate and high levels in numeracy and literacy skills; * Personal traits: high motivation, ambition in sales, enthusiasm, full commitment, and ability to work under high pressure. The second part, which is the most important part of this report, consists two main sections: key issues and recommendations. The key issues have been identified through analyzing our current company’s situations and related theories.Those key issues are: * Low motivation and decreasing job satisfaction; * The lack of formal recruitment and selection process; * The lack of quantity and quality in training and development; * The missing role of Key Account Management in the sales operation; * The inappropriate sales team structure. Based on the analysis of key issues, the fully detailed recommendations are provided in the end of this report, following with an Action Plan and expected outcomes. Part 1: GSM Personnel SpecificationAccuClean is in crucial need of a new General Sales Manager, who will be in charge of the sales team in all regions and report directly to the Managing Director, Peter Ward. Our company is facing several leadership problems and lack of focus in sales team. The new GSM is expected to bring the new fresh leadership style and able to manage the sales team in all regions to achieve the highest performance and long-term development. The personnel specification of GSM will be illustrated in details. Experience The new GSM is expected to have at least 7 to 8 years sales experience, preferably in B2B market (CPSA, 2012; Myjobs, 2012; Reed, 2012).The experience in B2B sales market is very important for our company since our customers are ranging from small to large sized companies, and many of them are with us more than ten years. He/she has a minimum of 5 years experience in business management, marketing and sales strategies and planning, and financial oversight (Inc, 2012; Myjobs, 2012). With these experiences, the new GSM is able to diagnose the management problems within our sales operation, and bring in his/ her new approach in leadership style, in order to improve sales team’s performance as well as increase the motivation and satisfaction of sales people.However, we should be very flexible in selecting candidates based on experience. If a candidate had excellent qualifications regarding his/ her education and 2-3 years experienced, we should not exclude him/ her from our shortlist. The requirement of sales experience is likely to cause a problem of excluding potential candidates (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). Qualifications The candidate needs to have Bachelor degree of Business or Marketing Management (CPSA, 2012). The university degree is necessary since the good educational background will h elp the new GSM a lot in management.Besides, the combination of education and experience for the GSM position is ideal for long-term development of our sales force. Required skills The new GSM is required to have excellent and proven oral communication skills (Inc, 2012). In addition, the candidate needs to prove his/ her skills in exceptional customer facing and interpersonal skills to enable difficult situations to be overcome successfully (JCT600, 2012). Communication skills are the most crucial qualities of sales people, especially sales manager (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006).Furthermore, the new GSM should be able to create a workplace environment and culture that allows all the sales people in the team to develop and excel their jobs (JCT600, 2012). This requirement is essential since the current leadership style in our sales operation does not seem to work very well and need a crucial change and improvement. The potential candidate is able to negotiate effectively and at the hi ghest level together with excellent numeracy skills and literacy skills (JCT 600, 2012). For both short-term and long-term development of our sales force, these skills are necessary.Besides, the most two important basic qualities that a good sales person must have are empathy and ego drive (based on the study of Mayer and Greenberg, 1964, cited in Donaldson, 2007). Empathy is defined as â€Å"the important central ability to feel as the other fellow does in order to be able to sell a product or service† (Donaldson, 2007, p. 60). Ego drive is a desire to want and need to make a sale (Donaldson, 2007). Both of these basic qualities are a must for our potential GSM since in order to be a good sales manager, he/ she should be a good sales person.Last but not least, we are looking for a new GSM with high motivation, ambition in sales, enthusiasm, full commitment, and ability to work under high pressure (Mathews and Redman, 2001, cited in Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). Part 2: Key is sues and Recommendations 1. Introduction Part 2 is aimed to illustrate the key issues regarding our sales operation in AccuClean. The analysis based on our current situation and theory is presented for every issue. Recommendations are coming in the end of this report, followed by the Action Plan and expected outcomes.All the key issues and recommendations are ordered according to its priority of taking urgent actions. Key issues 1. 1 2. 1 Motivation and job satisfaction Motivation is â€Å"the amount of effort that a salesperson expends on each activity or task associated with the job† (Donaldson, 2007, p. 230). Many factors are believed to cause positive motivation, such as monetary reward, workload, promotion, degree of recognition, supervisory behaviour, targets, and tasks (based on Adams’s inequity theory, Jobber and Lancaster, 2006).In AccuClean, the first factor that causes the low motivation in the sales team is bonus system, which is perceived by many staffs as unfair. The bonus system in AccuClean is set based on achieving a sales figure above the individual sales target, starting from 5% above target sales with a bonus of 5% basic salary. Last year, only nine sales people out of 71 have been able to achieve the bonus, which gives the evidence about the inappropriate bonus system. In addition, the salary is based on individual negotiations when they joined the company, which might lead to unfairness between individual sales people in the team.According to Vroom’s expectancy theory, it is assumed that â€Å"people’s motivation to exert effort is dependent upon their expectations for success† (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). It means to what extent AccuClean sales people believe by working harder (increase effort), they will achieve 5% above target sales (high expectancy), and that higher sales will lead to higher salary – bonus of 5% of basic salary (high instrumentality), and higher salary is very important for t hem (high valence).Moreover, during the merger, there were several sales staffs left to join competitors, which may result from the lack of motivations. According to Herzberg’s motivation- hygiene theory, working conditions and company policies are two of the hygiene factors, which cause dissatisfaction, thus, lead to low motivation (Donaldson, 2007). Bonus as money is the only type of rewards that is used in AccuClean, nevertheless, there are many more types of rewards that could also be applied, in order to motivate various types of sales people.The suggested bonus system will be illustrated in the recommendation part in the end of this report. 2. 2 Recruitment and selection Bob Carter is in charge of the selection process for new sales people. However, he has no formal system for recruitment and selection as well as no job description. Formal selection process is crucially important to ensure the quality of sales persons, which can have a substantial effect on sales turnov er (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). Furthermore, hiring a sales person is very costly, much more than the basic salary.Therefore, selecting the right person for the right position is essential, and can be achieved through setting up a formal selection procedure. Another problem is Carter’s way of selection – ‘he knows a good sales person as soon as he sees one’. This bias can harm the screening process, which is part of the recruitment process (see Appendix 5. 1). Either selecting the wrong person or dropping good persons is costly (Donaldson, 2007). Donaldson defines job description as the roles and duties attached to a specific position in the organization (2007).It is necessary for AccuClean to prepare job descriptions for any new positions in the sales team, to ensure the responsibility of each team members, thus, no role ambiguity can occur. 2. 3 Training and development Training is one way for sales managers to improve the performance of the sales peopl e under their controls, broadly to meet the company objectives (Donaldson, 2007). Training and development for sales people in AccuClean are lacked due to several reasons. Any trainings or development relies on the management style and differs in every ASM.There is no formal training process since Carter believes that sales people learn best ‘on the job’. Indeed, there are many kinds of training, which includes individual on-the-job training as Carter’s opinion (Donaldson, 2007). However, good trainings can also be achieved through company-specific programs that are organized in a standardized and professional manner. The irregular and occasional training sessions, usually occur when introducing new products (currently in AccuClean), might lead to the lack of knowledge about products and new skill practices.As the merger of one cleaning chemicals and the other in cleaning machinery, training should have been taken at the early stage of the merger, in order to sup port sales people in both companies about the company objectives and targets, the knowledge of different and new products, competitors and their products, selling procedure and techniques (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). 2. 4 Key account management Area sales teams are responsible for all accounts regardless their size and importance.The treatment for key accounts, medium-size accounts or small accounts is much dependent on each ASM’s view, its current mix of accounts in the area and experience. There are in fact 21 customers; each has accounts worth over ? 4 million. Those customers are important to our business and need to be prioritized as key accounts since the loss of even one of them would significantly cause a radical drop in sales and profits (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). Key account management seems currently necessary, in order to serve our key customers with special treatment in all areas of marketing, administration, and service (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006).In additi on, key account management will help to develop a close relationship between our company as supplier and our customers, in order to enhance the communication and co-ordination between us, thus, create more in-depth penetration of DMU, which includes push and pull opportunities for buying decisions (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). 2. 5 Sales team structure The sales territories of AccuClean, which are merely geographic based, have not been changed since the merger. Geographic structure is traditional and the most widely used type of sales organization in the UK.It has several advantages such as simplicity, shorter journey times, low travel costs, and less potential for conflicts over responsibility (Donaldson, 2007). However, geographic structure has some drawbacks, which might influence to the effectiveness of the sales team and its management. Examples of disadvantages are the need to sell full range, broad expertise needed, and overhead costs for more layers of management evolved (Do naldson, 2007). In order for the sales team to work more productively and better management, it is necessary to make some changes concerning our sales team structure (see Recommendations, section 4).The number of sales people in AccuClean is currently more than necessary, compared to the number of customers. Figure 1 illustrates the current sales people in each ASM as well as the actual needed sales people based on the number of customers in each area. Territory| Number of customers| Current number of sales people| Actual number of sales people| Spare sales people| Midlands| 1973| 26| 18| 8| South| 1545| 22| 14| 8| North| 1196| 16| 11| 5| Scotland/ North Ireland| 499| 7| 5| 2| UK total| 5264| 71| 47*| 24*|Figure 1: Number of Sales people (* approximate number) 1 2 Conclusion Five key issues that have been listed and analyzed above are low motivation and decreasing job satisfaction, informal recruitment and selection process, unstandardized and the lack of regular training, the lack of key account management, and the ineffective sales team structure. Those issues are the most urgent in AccuClean that need to be solved as soon as possible, in order to improve the sales team to work more effectively. Recommendations 4. 1 Change the reward systemBonus (monetary reward), which is the only form of reward using in AccuClean, shows its limitation, therefore, improving the bonus system is crucial. The starting point of 5% should be set lower and dependent on different products and accounts. There should also be other chances to get commission, which can be based on the annual sales revenue and profits. In addition to the monetary reward, AccuClean can apply many other types of rewards such as promotion or workload (based on Adam’s inequity theory, Jobber and Lancaster, 2006).Not all sales people highly value money; some of them might place higher value on promotion, responsibility or recognition. Thus, the variable of rewards will motivate different type of sale s people, in order to maximize the expectancy and value of reward (Vroom’s expectancy theory, Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). A study of sales force practices by Chartered Institute of Marketing showed that sales people are mostly motivated by individual meetings with supervisor to discuss career, job problems, etc. The second ranked motivating factors is ‘regular accompaniment in the field by the sales manager’ (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006).These methods of improving leadership style should be aware by ASMs and higher management. 4. 2 Set up the formal recruitment and selection process The formal recruitment process is proposed as below (according to Jobber and Lancaster, 2006, p. 384). Bias in selecting applicants should be minimized by carefully preparing job description and personal specification. Of course, the experience of employer should be used during the selection process. However, those five steps above should be strictly followed to avoid any mistakes dur ing recruitment. 4. Set up a standardized training Good training programs will help to equip our sales people with sufficient knowledge and skills. Besides, it plays as a motivation factor for sales people and positively influences the job satisfaction. 4. 3. 1 When should our company train our sales employees? According to Donaldson (2007, p. 208), the training should be held properly when: * New sales person is recruited * A sales person takes on a new territory * New products * New business, new market segments * Company new policies or procedure * Selling habits are poor or inappropriate An individual is being considered for promotion The sales techniques are very important to train all sales people in the organization (69% of North European firms providing sales techniques training). The market and customer knowledge is also essential in training (42% of firms providing this, based on Roman and Ruiz, 2003, cited in Donaldson, 2007). 4. 3. 2 Who should do the training? Sales tra iner can be senior managers (i. e. ASMs, GSM), technical specialists (from Production department), external specialists, or inside experienced sales people (i. e. from other ASMs).In many cases, training is more likely to be provided by inside company specialists, who not only have the best understanding about the organization and individual needs, but also can tailor training programs to suit both internal and on-the-job requirements (Donaldson, 2007). 4. 3. 3 Where should training be done? The training can be organized in internal single location (different ASMs), a centralized external location or a decentralized location (on the job). It depends on the purpose of training and variable factors to decide where to hold the training.Below is the nine possible options that are proposed by Donaldson (2007, p. 210). 4. 3. 4 What methods of training should be used? Lectures, films, role playing, case studies, or in-the-field training are options of training methods (Jobber and Lancaster , 2006). Each has its advantages and limitations. The point is how to use them properly for different training purposes, in order to achieve the best results and highest satisfaction of participants. 4. 4 Restructure the sales team with the new role of KAM New proposed sales team structure is presented in Figure 2 with two radical changes. ASM North and ASM Scotland will be combined into Regional Sales Manager of North and Scotland * Key Account Manager is added to our sales team structure as one independent function Figure 2: Sales Team Structure (proposed) The Regional Sales Managers are formed to ensure the number of sales people is interrelated to the number of customers in each region. The number of customers in the North and Scotland, which is 1196 and 499 respectively, is much fewer than the number of customers in Midlands and South (1973 and 1545 respectively).Therefore, it is appropriate to merge two ASMs North and Scotland together, in order to enhance the performance in t he broader area, and increase the influence on organization’s decision-making of sales people in the North and Scotland area. The Key Account Manager is added to be in charge of all key accounts in the whole UK. KAM’s responsibility is to manage all sales people, who are managing those key accounts in different regions. Moreover, KAM is also responsible for potential key accounts and complex DMUs. The communication and leadership style are crucially important to be successful in managing sales people in different areas.Monthly meeting can be organized and the advanced record system (computer based) should be built up to develop the whole sales team’s communication flows in long-term. This proposed sales team structure is based on all forms of selling simultaneously: KAM for very big accounts, general territory representatives (Regional Sales Managers) for the medium and small- sized accounts (Jobber and Lancaster, 2006). The number of sales people in AccuClean i s currently more than necessary, as calculation based on the current number of customers. In fact, it is difficult to get rid of 24 sales people at once, and should not be done in that way.AccuClean can evaluate sales people in the whole company by their performance, motivation and achievement in past years. In a period of 12 months, it is expected to dismiss six sales people. After two years, 12 sales people in total will be fired. AccuClean may attract more customers in the future and need more sales people; therefore, it is dependent on the situation at the time to decide how many more sales people have to leave. 4. 5 Action Plan 4. 6 Expected Outcomes Limitations The merger of two ASMs North and Scotland into one Regional Sales might cause problem in the span of control.The new RSM will manage 20-23 sales people, which might lead to the role ambiguity and lack of coaching and supervision. The Action Plan illustrates many tasks that need to complete in the first year, thus, it mi ght be very challenging in the first year for the new GSM. It is a tough decision to fire some sales people in the next two years. It might cause several problems within the sales team concerning rumours or miscommunication. Therefore, it is necessary to have a serious evaluation based on a formal checklist and consultancy from different people in the team.Furthermore, the training needs to be held at the beginning of the year, to inform the sales team about new changes, thus, reduce miscommunication. Bibliography CPSA (2012) Sales Manager Job description [Online]. Available from :< http://www. cpsa. com/pdf/src/tools/Sample%20Sales%20Manager%20Job%20Description. pdf> [Assessed 16 December 2012]. Donaldson, B. (2007) Sales Management. 3rd ed. NewYork: Palgrave MacMillan. Inc (2012) General Manager Job description [Online]. Available from :< http://www. inc. com/tools/general-manager-job-description. html> [Assessed 16 December 2012].JCT 600 (2012) General Sales Manager Job descripti on [Online]. Available from :< http://www. jct600. co. uk/data/cm/careers/1028. pdf> [Assessed 16 December 2012]. Jobber, D. And Lancaster, G. (2006) Selling and Sales Management. 7th ed. England: Pearson Education Limited. Myjobs (2012) Senior Sales Manager (Oil Machinery) [Online]. Available from :< http://myjobs. classifiedpost. com/index. php/Job-Search/ENGINEERING-GENERAL-BUSINESS-DEVELOPMENT-ACCOUNT-MANAGEMENT-Job-Description/SENIOR-SALES-MANAGER-OIL-MACHINERY/597925> [Assessed 16 December 2012]. Reed (2012) General Manager – Milton Keynes [Online].Available from :< http://www. reed. co. uk/jobs/general-manager-milton-keynes/22306659#/jobs/general-sales-manager-in-milton-keynes> [Assessed 16 December 2012]. Appendices 3 4 7. 1 The recruitment process 7. 2 Sales people calculation The Figure 1 calculation will be illustrated in details as below. Based on: Number of sales people = (Number of customers x Number of call pa) / (number of calls per day x Number of working day s per year) Suppose there are 225 work days per year, 12 times calling per customer per year (once a month) Each sales person supposes to make 40 calls per week, 10 of those are to be made to prospects.Therefore, each sales person has to make: (40-10)/5 = 6 calls per day. * Number of sales people in Midlands = (1973 x 12) / (6 x 225) = 18 * Number of sales people in South = (1545 x 12) / (6 x 225) = 14 * Number of sales people in North = (1196 x 12) / (6 x 225) = 11 * Number of sales people in Scotland/ North Ireland = (499 x 12) / (6 x 225) = 5