A Review Of Pixar Animation Studios Commerce Essay

A Review Of Pixar Animation Studios Commerce Essay Pixar(2010) Pixar is an American animation production company based in California, United States. The company was started in the year 1979 as the part of the computer division of Lucasfilm and was bought by The Walt Disney Company in the year 2006. The company during its 17 years of existence has delivered several movies that has redefined the world of visual technology and animation. Pixar is known for its some of the basic values that form the foundation of its unbeatable success. People at Pixar are extremely talented and there exists an open collaboration among people coming from multiple disciplines. However, a formal structure is followed at the company where it is necessary for every member to ensure enhancement of three inter-related facets of the business, namely, leadership, process and accountability. Leadership is taken very seriously at Pixar and it is ensured that leaders are able to tune their communications, and value the vision of the organization and come up with the ability to provide lots of ideas (Jeremy, 2010) Managers as well as workers of the enterprise have the freedom of expression so that their vision and ideas can be communicated freely that helps the organization to come up with innovative ideas ensuring a sustainable position in the market (Morris, Jeremy, 2010). Another important element of Pixars environment refers to its collaborative approach towards work. It is fine to have talented people hired in the company, but it is equally important to make these people work in a motivated manner towards achievement of organizational goals (Milter and Matveev, 2004). At Pixar, everyone is made to understand that his/her success lies in the success of all other members. This helps in moving in a collaborative manner to ensure that everyone working in the company succee ds. The team spirit at Pixar helps in development o fold hires and new hands in a similar fashion with a healthy respect for each other resulting in an environment of credibility and trust prevailing throughout the organization. Apart, from these two elements, accountability forms the foundation of the working environment at Pixar. Leaders and managers at Pixar follow a clear line of accountability that helps them in seeking ways to improve themselves. Every project is headed by a Director/Producer duo, to whom all members of the project are accountable. These directors and producers are in turn accountable to leaders of the company and have the opportunity to utilize the experience and knowledge of senior filmmakers who are the part of top management of the company. In short, Pixar follows a highly structured process aims at fostering a meaningful collaboration resulting in a culture that comprise of value for ability and contribution of others. Cultural Analysis Before going for a discussion on cultural analysis, we need to understand the meaning of culture in a proper manner. Various scholars and academicians have given several definitions for culture. Formally, culture has been defined as a pattern of shared beliefs that were developed by a group during the process of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. Martin (2002) explained that everyone knows about the groups, organizations, and societies in which certain beliefs and values prevail at cross purposes with the beliefs of others, resulting in a condition where conflicts and ambiguity prevails in a high degree. This is often the result of insufficient stability prevailing among members, insufficient shared history of experience, or the presence of several subgroups with difference in their personal experience s (Thorngate, 2004). Many a times conflicts and ambiguity also results because of the fact that an individual is not a part of a single groups but belongs to several different groups and this has an impact on the assumptions and beliefs that one brings to a particular group and is influences by the assumptions that re appropriate to some other groups to which an individual belong. Khan (2005) argued that it is necessary that people are matched with the organization in order to ensure success of the company. There is a set of collective rules through which a company operates, which is termed as the culture of the organization. (Conolly, 2008) explained that employees of the enterprise should be well aware of their workplace that will clearly define appropriate and inappropriate behavior. In the present paper, an analysis of cross-cultural issues arising out of the merger of The Walt Disney and Pixar will be undertaken. It makes it necessary to understand the meaning of cross-cultural analysis. Under a cross-cultural analysis, an investigation is made into the ways through which people coming from different backgrounds communicate with each other. Whenever any merger takes place there is an amalgamation of the culture of the two organizations participating in the merger (Stening, 2002). Here several cross-cultural issues may arise because of the interaction of people coming from two different groups with different background, beliefs, values and functions. Cross-cultural analysis thrives to harness the utilitarian function of culture in order to use it as a mode of increasing the adaptation of people and bringing an improvement in patterns of communication (Nigel, 2001). It is one of the discipline of international management that focus on cultural encounters, aiming at discovery of methods that can be adopted to handle cultural differences that often give rise to conflicts, ambiguity and miscommunication. There are several different models that can be used to conduct a cross-cultural analysis. Various models includes those suggested by Hawkins (1992), Terpstra and Sarathy (2000), Hofstede (1994), and Wills (1991). The framework suggested by Hawkins and Terpstra are similar in nature and explains some of the common elements such as values, education and learning, social status and organization. Hawkins has tried to approach culture from the perspective of a consumer lifestyle, while Terpstra approaches culture in somewhat wider contexts. Thus, it is much more easy to use the model suggested by Terpstra and Sarathy. In addition, Hofstedes model will be used to understand the various dimensions of culture that are based upon individualism, power distance, masculinity and uncertainty avoidance. Wills (1991) considered learning as the key element of their model of culture. This will explain the basic idea of culture at Pixar as after the merger with The Walt Disney, the major aim of the co mpany was to establish Pixar as a learning organization. The dimensions of learning are used to consider a model of cross-cultural analysis suggesting a relationship between high/low context of a culture and the rate at which new products are adapted. In addition, it is to be noted that culture and leadership are interconnected. These are viewed as the two sides of the same coin, in that leaders first create cultures when they create groups and organizations (Edgar, 2004). Once cultures exists they determine the criteria for leadership and thus determine who will or will not be a leader. The unique function of leadership helps in managing the existing culture in case the elements of a culture becomes dysfunctional. Leadership also manages evolution of culture and change in such a way that the group is able to thrive in a changed environment also (Bal, 1999). Thus, it is right to say that it is necessary to understand the culture both for group members as well as for their leaders. The cultural analysis in relation to leadership roles will also be discussed and analyzed for Pixar. Cross Cultural Issues at Pixar The Walt Disney acquired Pixar with the view that Pixar would be able to bring some creativity to Disney, which had lost the luster in its animation. However, various major factors of the success of a merger were recognized by both the parties and they emphasized on The concept of transformational leadership and the importance of its existence for the success of the merger Creating a new strategic vision and mission for the new organization that is shared by both the parties to the merger Developing and maintaining learning teams resulting in fostering a learning environment throughout the organization. Creating and maintain a learning culture throughout the merged organization. Pixar is well known for its culture of collective creativity. Management think in a way to build capability to recover when some failures occur and not in the direction of preventing the risk. It is believed that smart people are more important as compared to good ideas (Catmull, 2008). The company aims at enhancing the power of creative people and builds a creative culture on the foundation of active feedback among peers. An open culture and communication prevails in the organization where people at all levels support each other and help each other to turn out their best (Catmull, 2008). All members of the organization respect each other and there are very rare cases of any unhealthy conflicts with groups having considerable problem-solving powers that act as an inspiration to be creative and innovative. However, with the merger of Pixar with The Walt Disney, the culture of the two organizations also merged and then arouse several cross-cultural issues that could have resulted in a failure of the merger if not managed properly (Haspeslagh, 2006). The Walt Disney is characterized with a highly regimented culture while Pixar is known for its unique, free-spirited, independent work dynamic culture (Lam; Chi and Lee, 2007). The successful combination of these two totally different cultures was the hallmark for the success of the merger. In case Disney would have made any attempt to get the people of Pixar work under pressure to generate efficiencies, even though the way of increasing its productivity or bringing about an elimination of the overlapping support positions, would have resulted in high rates of turnover with skilled employees leaving the Disney Pixar (Lam and Lee). It is to be noted that many a time sin such highly skilled industries such as animation and communication, people are allowed to let go because of skill gap. However, it is the issue of cultural gap that makes most of the skilled people switch companies frequently in animation and communicat ion industry (Keating, 2006). It is the clear understanding of magnitude of synergies that makes the mergers successful. Analysis of the cross-cultural issues at Disney Pixar As discussed in the previous section, to manage cross-cultural issues at Disney Pixar, management concentrated on four important elements of transformational leadership, shared vision, learning team and learning culture. These elements and Disney Pixars approach to these are discussed as follows: Transformational Leadership at Disney Pixar It is necessary that an organization have transformational leaders in order to develop creative thinking and problem solving to foster organizational growth. Transformational leaders are those who lead through social exchange. They help their followers grow and develop into leaders by responding to individual followers needs by empowering them and by aligning the objectives and goals of the individual followers, the leader, the group and the larger organization (Riggo and Bernard, 2008). It is the elements that can encourage organizations to develop and change more rapidly so as to be able to meet challenges of dynamic and competitive environments. Disney Pixar followed the approach of defining and developing the transformational leadership. The company decided to follow the approach in order to make employees easily adapt the new culture, which is a mix of the cultures of two organizations. It is believed that creative powers come from creative leadership (Riggo, 2008). It is so because effective leadership helps in effective development of support structures, the necessary resources and access to the experience and knowledge of the top management of the organization. At Pixar, access to the brain trust of the organization was easy for all individuals because of its independent and free-spirit culture. However, it was for Disneys culture to adopt this key feature in order to be successful in the competitive environment. Transformational leadership was chosen as a route to achieve this objective and make Disney Pixar a learning organization. Shared Strategic Vision Another key element ensuring the success of a merger is the sharing of a shared vision of goals and objectives by the merging organization. This helps in providing proper guidance and reducing the anxieties and uncertainties associated with the process of merger. It is necessary in case of a merger to develop an environment of learning throughout the organization. This is possible only if there is an availability of diverse learning teams that are led by leaders who are sharing a common strategic vision. An organization is able to create a sustainable competitive advantage through such a process (Jemison, 2006). This further makes it easy to manage the increasing complexities associated with economies of scale and then competitors find it more difficult to copy a companys operational methods (Janik, 2006). As explained by Gill (2010), managing through a shared vision proves to be much more productive as compared to the management done through coercion or control. Creation of a shared vision refers to the process where a consensus has to be achieved on the direction of the group and on the desired results. The basic aim is to make the members of a team approach their work with aim of achieving same goals for the future and being guided by same principles. A shared vision is also necessary for developing and fostering learning and change in an organization. In the case of Disney Pixar, a formal team of leaders was created in order to integrate the two companies. Among these steps, the Vice President of Pixar was appointed as the chief creative officer of Disneys and Pixars animation studios. Despite of his having the authority to green light films for both the studios, the ultimate authority to approve rested in the hands of Disneys CEO. The main aim was to maintain the Pixars culture. However, it is not enough to develop teams of leaders. It is necessary that leading teams emerge throughout the organization and leaders try to develop learning of each and every individual about the new cultural values, mission and vision of the organization and the objectives for which the various operations are being carried out in the organization (Gancel and Rodgers, 2002). Every individual is required to have a commitment towards the strategic vision of the merger. There is a need of combining the best skills as two organizations to enhance the shar ing of the strategic vision and avoid any cultural issues. Developing Team Learning At Pixar, it is believed that providing freedom to take decisions helps in development of teams. People are given full chance to be creative and use their ideas in order to learn from their success or failures. The cofounder of Pixar and his executives gives tremendous authority to their directors. All decision-making authority rests in the hands of teams and no single individual is considered as a decisions making authority. The rule is that the opinions and advice received from the brain trusts of directors will be used only as an advice and directors have full authority to refuse their suggestions if it does not fit their plans. However, Disney having a tight control culture, followed an approach where corporate executives micromanage by keeping tight control over budgets and entering in the departments to take final creative decisions. These two different approaches resulted in several cultural issues after the merger. Many of the key employees left the company because of Disneys dominating cultural values. Ed Catmull, the cofounder of Pixar had recently changed his vision to build the organization where everyone work in the direction of creating a magic even when the directors and cofounders are gone (Prokesh, 2008). This called for a strong transition in the culture of the organization where executives were expected to do something of themselves even when people carrying out the organization were not there. Same was expected out of Disney, and unfortunately Disneys staff lacked the spirit and failed to develop a strong learning approach towards their work. Creating a Learning Culture Traditionally, organizations used to follow a top to down bureaucratic, controlled and narrow approach to management. This approach used to limit the learning process in the organization. In case of a learning organization, new directions of growth and development can be identified and recognized that makes it possible to handle challenges and problems. In todays competitive global era, diversity and cross-cultural complexities have become the synonymous to the challenges that a business organization face while improving their operational efficiency. Disney Pixar failed to recognize the method through which an organization can turn into a learning organization (Keating, 2006). The process is being undertaken successfully at Pixar through developing relationships and recognizing the fact that talent is rare and thus its retention is essential. Ed Catmull believes that the assumptions of the organization must be constantly challenged and the search for flaws that can destroy the culture of the organization should not stop throughout the operations of the organization. However, the process could not be undertaken successfully at Disney Pixar and resulted in several cultural issues. The new company was unable to keep Pixars talent together as there were vast differences between the cultural values and working styles of the two companies (Haspeslagh, 2006). Management was not successful in creating a learning culture throughout the organization and the unionized culture of Disney may not successfully coexist with non-unionized culture of Pixar. Recommendations Disney Pixar has failed at many levels while making the merger successful. The company has taken strong steps to initiate learning in the organization but it is doubtful whether such learning will be institutionalized throughout the organization. Some recommendations to foster learning and avoid any cultural clashes are discussed as follows: A utilization of differences can be made through the use of matrix strategy. This will help in finding a perfect balance between the competencies of managers of both the companies. In addition communication plays an important role in managing cultural differences (Lodorfos, 2006). Leaders should allow open communication and integration between team members as well as between teams to ensure smooth flow of knowledge and information. This will help in people from both the organization understand each others values, beliefs and working style resulting in more respect for each others culture (Harding and Rouse, 2006). Treating the partner company members with respect is the key to the success of a merger. Additionally, formal as well as informal training should be provided to the employees of Disney in order to adjust themselves with the open and free culture of Pixar. The decision making authority should not rest in the hands of few authorities and managers must be delegated more and mo re decision making power as in case of Pixar. Furthermore, Disney and Pixar studios are kept separate in order to reduce the complications. However, it is advised to design a single studio where a combined set of values coming from the combination of the ideas of both the companies should be fostered to ensure success of the merger. This is so because keeping the two parts of the Disney-Pixar merger as separate organizations can create the conditions for separation in future. Such a separation will result in more differences on account of cultural values and style of leading to more clashes and conflicts among the individuals of two companies. Disney-Pixar should aim at developing a learning organization through efficient flow of information and knowledge throughout the organization in order to be successful in future. Conclusion From the above discussion, it can be concluded that proper management of cultural differences is one of the key factors in success of a merger. Todays business environment is characterized with an increasing number of organizations desiring to avail the advantage of globalization. Many of the companies take the route of mergers and acquisitions to achieve the objective. Many of such mergers fail due to cultural clashes among people of different organizations. Each of the merged company is required to integrate the corporate cultures of their organizations. It is the leadership style, management styles and communication lines that are necessary to be developed and managed in order to be successful in managing cross-cultural issues. It is evident that there is always a possibility of cross-cultural issues in case of a merger that cannot be avoided at any cost. However, it is possible to manage these issues through developing the organizations into a learning organization in order to fo ster knowledge sharing throughput the organization resulting a in a successful merger.

Approaches to Child Protection Issues

Approaches to Child Protection Issues What we need in child protection is for workers to take a lighter touch approach, more supportive and less intrusive. Discuss and evaluate this proposition. Introduction Where it has been estimated that a child may be at risk then a social worker has a duty of care under the 1989 Children’s Act. Furthermore, he or she is also bound by a requirement to act within a framework that is informed by the Human Rights Act of 1998. This means that the social worker, and any other agencies who may be involved, while having a duty to protect that child, should, nevertheless, also bear in mind the rights of the family. History tends to suggest that these rights are often ignored. How can workers be expected to take a less intrusive approach to child protection issues when the history of Government policy making actually places the onus on them to take more of an interventionist approach? Arguably, the question is almost impossible to answer when social workers are hidebound by the increasingly intrusive policy making that has been the legacy of successive political parties. This paper will look at what is needed in child protection, is for workers to approach cases with a lighter touch. It will begin by looking at the changing concept of childhood and then at successive Governments’ policies since the beginning of the Welfare State. The paper will also look at some research studies which argue that there is a need for intervention and support and how the concept of needs has been substituted for a concept of risk, particularly since the introduction of market principles into social care. Finally the study will argue that while workers should apply a lighter, less intrusive approach to child protection issues, social workers are prevented from doing so as a result of changing market forces and Government policy making. Changing Views of Childhood In pre-industrial societies there was little distinction between youth and adulthood and children were not subjected to codes of behaviour that were different to those of adults. With the rise of the factories and the shift from rural to urban life this began to change and by the 18th century parents were deemed to have responsibility for their offspring and to see that they had a safe and disciplined upbringing. The idea of childhood was a novel one, particularly among the poor where everyone was expected to be economically active, how childhood was understood, therefore depended largely upon class. While ideas were changing children were generally regarded as their parents’ legal property and child cruelty did not become an offence until 1889. Increasingly childhood and adolescence have become problematic concepts and young people are perceived as different and more difficult, than their forbears, thus the perceived need for a different approach to policy making. Young people are often in situations where they are deemed to be ‘at risk.’ Giddens (1998) has argued that the modern world is characterised by manufactured risks, .practices, and policies that are meant to reduce risk or minimise harm but often have unintended consequences. As Giddens maintains with regard to warnings about risk: We just cannot know beforehand when we are actually ‘scaremongering’ and when we are not (Giddens, 1998:30). Need and Risk More recently Kemshall (2002) has raised the question of whether government and social services’ focus have changed from a concept of need to a concept of risk. Recent, further extensions to the concept of childhood have meant that children are viewed as a vulnerable group in need of care and protection. Corby (1993) maintains that historical evidence suggests that while notions of what proper parenting might be said to be, has varied over time there has always been a concern over child abuse. However, Corby argues that despite this concern, childcare and child protection policies over the hundred years leading up to the 1989 Children’s Act were largely ambivalent. Hemshall (2002) argues that rather than late twentieth century policy making remaining ambivalent, an interventionist approach to child protection began to appear from the time of the inception of the welfare state. The interventionist approach, it might be argued, was also a class based system whereby certain types of families (most often the very poor) were identified as problem families. This resulted in new categories pertaining to child abuse and what was meant by the term ‘at risk’. With the emergence of these discourses state powers with regard to family life were increased. This resulted in the Children and Young Person’s Act of 1952. This Act gave greater powers to children’s departments to identify families who were deemed to be ‘in need’ and to oversee their protection. Problem families were associated with ‘cycles of deprivation’, and child abuse was medicalised as the ‘battered baby syndrome’ (Kempe et al, 1962 and Okell and Butcher, 1969, in Kemshall, 2002:71). Over the next fifteen to twenty years both the concept of abuse and the areas where children were considered to be at risk, were extended to include such things as a failure to thrive. The case of Maria Colwell in the late 1960s was given extensive media coverage. This was a new aspect to the debates about children at risk and had the effect of raising public awareness and concern over what was seen as a failure to protect on the part of social service agencies. Subsequently the profession was increasingly held to account for its failure to identify risk and to intervene. Cochrane (1993)[1] maintains that the continuing number of enquiries that took place between the early 1970s and the 1980s resulted in social work being practised in what he describes as a beleagured context for the profession (Cochrane, 1993:82). Scaremongering about perceived risk raises public disquiet and leads to unforeseen outcomes. Nowhere was this more evident than the mistakes made in Cleveland in the late 1980s when widespread child abuse was believed to have taken place and numbers of children were removed from family homes on flimsy evidence. Serious mistakes were made in an attempt to prevent harm. The accusations were later proved unfounded, but some parents had to go to the European Courts in order to get their children returned. Kemshall et al (1997) are of the opinion that while this was the case, rather than recommending a lighter touch, Government policies tended towards even greater intervention. This altered the whole concept of what social services had originally been about, that of helping people in need. The Market Economy, Needs and Risks In the market based economy that Britain had become under Thatcher, needs were to be met by the community in an effort at cutting welfare costs. These developments meant that by 1989 the context had changed from families in need to children at risk. †¦the notion of the ‘child in need’ and the ‘child at risk’ is constructed through the dominant discourse of modernity’s welfarist normalisation of families. This locates children in a bounded space within which certain behaviours, activities and attitudes are seen as normal or deviant (Kemshall, 2002:73 citing Moss et al, 2000). As Kemshall (2002) maintains we have become defensive about risk and see it in terms of harm to be avoided this negative view of risk can lead, as Douglas, (1992) contends to a culture of blame. The (system we are in now is almost ready to treat every death as chargeable to someone’s account, every accident as cuased by someone’s criminal negligence, every sickness a threatened prosecution. Whose fault? Is the first question (Douglas, 1992:15-16).[2] Agencies, both statutory and non-statutory, have a duty with respect to safeguarding children. This was highlighted in research evidence and further documented in the Department of Health 1999 Report Working together to safeguard children. While it might be argued that this view can lead to mistakes such as those made in Cleveland, and there are still many cases where perfectly innocent parents have had their children removed from the family home, social workers try to do their best in very difficult circumstances. This means that there are times when they are over zealous and intervene in cases where a child was never at risk, and at other times they miss the warning signs and make mistakes. The public tends to remember the mistakes rather than applauding the good work that is done. This is because when mistakes are made they can lead to horrifying consequences as the case of Victoria Climbie demonstrates. Since that time guidance on when and how to act has tended to be clearer and more precise. Most of this has been in response to the recommendations of Lord Laming after his work on the Victoria Climbie enquiry (Laming, 2003). A whole series of measures have since been put in place aimed at those families and situations where a child could legitimately be deemed to be at risk.. The Joint Chief Inspector’s Report, Safeguarding children (2002) defines safeguarding children and their families in the following way: All agencies working with children, young people and their families take all reasonable measures to ensure that the risks of harm to children’s welfare are minimized, and where there are concerns about children and young people’s welfare, all agencies take all appropriate action to address those concerns, working to agreed local policies and procedures in full partnership with other local agencies. Class still appears to be a problem when it comes to identifying children who are at risk and the authorities are more likely to suspect abuse when dealing with children from poorer homes than they are with those from middle-class homes. This raises the question of whether Becker’s (1967) labeling theory was correct in the assumption that when you treat people in a certain way they tend to act out those assumptions. It is unfortunately the case that there have been a number of research studies which tend to suggest that factors such as poverty and unemployment do sometimes lead to child safety issues. One study of parents who had children on the At Risk Register, found that children in homes where there was unemployment and financial problems ran a greater risk of being abused than children who did not live in that situation. The research argues that the findings suggest a clear link between social and economic deprivation and the risk of child neglect and/or abuse (Sidebotham et al, 2002). Some studies also suggest that in homes where the parents have alcohol or other substance abuse issues, children are more likely to be at risk. Harwin and Forester (2002) found that in cases where the parents misused drugs or alcohol, the children often came to the attention of Social Services as a result of concern for their safety and well being. In a study of more than 290 cases across four London Boroughs, a third of those children who needed long term intervention lived with one or more parents who had some form of substance abuse issues. Research such as this raises concern in a number of areas, particularly in homes where there are children under the age of six. This did not mean that these children were necessarily victims of their parent’s cruelty, rather it was the case that the family needed some support to help with these problems. The terms of Section 17 of the 1989 Children’s Act mean that families in crisis should be offered some service provision in order to ease problematic situations. The idea being that such support will result in better prospects for their children’s emotional, physical and social development. Gardner (2002) in a study undertaken for the NSPCC found that support services could be of significant help under these circumstances and that 58% of children who were considered to be at risk, and who had access to support services, showed significant improvement in their  development after these measures were put in place. In 2001 the Government commissioned the Children in Need Census[3] which attempted to establish why children accessed children in need services, what type of provision they accessed and the costs associated with that provision. Moore (2002) maintains that guidelines, policies and procedures relating to child safety issues are constantly under review. Since the 1990 NHS Care and Community Act there has been an increasing stress on inter-agency co-operation and working together in all areas, not just child protection issues. However there is an increasing need for greater co-operation between agencies when it comes to suspicions that a child may be at risk. With regard to cases of outright physical or sexual abuse health workers and social workers are not always clear on who has the responsibility in this area. While the 1970 Act placed that responsibility solely in the hands of social services departments, the stress on inter-agency working has muddied the waters somewhat in this area . Under the terms of the 1990 Act there is a stipulation that health and social workers should work and plan together to assess and meet service users needs. However, past history tends to reveal clear lines of professional delineation and a failure to agree on what is best and who should be responsible such an arrangement means that working together can often result in conflict. This makes agencies wary of taking a decision with regard to the responsibility of care (Parrott, 2002). Clearly, where the NHS and social services fail to co-operate in assessing need and delivering care then service users suffer and are failed by the system. The more recent Health and Social Care Bill of 2001 gives Government powers to ensure that health agencies and local authorities, whose services are failing to pool their resources comply with this legislation. However, there is nothing in place to delineate how this might be done and without a clear working agreement on who is responsible for what services will continue to fail. This means that those members of society who are least able to help themselves will lose out, and will not have their needs met. Each area now has an Area Child Protection Committee which is comprised of health representatives, social workers, teachers, probation services and the police. Each of these committees is required to produce a set of guidelines for all of those people who work with children, either in schools, in hospitals or in residential acco mmodation. The guidelines do make suggestions as to courses of action when any kind of child abuse is suspected, but there is still no clear cut ruling as to how this might be carried out. Yet another of the Committee’s duties is to oversee the child protection register. This is a list of children whose circumstances may have raised concern among professionals and it is held by every social services department in the country. To protect their welfare such children have specific inter-agency plans set up for their protection. One aspect of this is that every child on the register must have a key worker and a child protection care plan. These are generally social workers who will work with the family and help to draw up and monitor the care plan. These child protection systems are continually monitored and reviewed (Moore, 2002). One problem with the child protection register is that once a child is on it they may remain on it for a very long time, long after the problems may h ave abated. It is also the case that in many departments children who come to the notice of social services for any reason may have their names put on the register – even if it is simply that the family have asked for help during a time of crisis, such as when the mother has to go into hospital. These children are not assigned a worker but there names are on a register that has negative associations for both the wider community and those working in social services departments. Conclusion This assignment has looked at the question of whether social workers should take a lighter approach when dealing with child protection issues. It has done this within the wider context of Government policy making and has found that successive Governments have taken an increasingly interventionist approach when dealing with child protection issues since the beginnings of the Welfare State. While it has to be said that there did need to be some guidelines and provisions in place for children in need or who were deemed to be at risk, it would also seem that policy making has made it almost impossible for social workers to apply a lighter touch in these matters. Social workers are there to help assess and satisfy needs that may arise in families and in the wider community, yet increasingly there has been a shift in emphasis from need to risk. It is arguably the case that this shift is due in part to the marketisation of social care because meeting needs implies a cost to local authoritie s and the whole idea is to shift that cost from off the shoulders of the government and onto the community. Child protection is a sensitive area and children have a right to be protected. However, interventionist policy making blur the lines for social workers so that it is almost impossible to decide when a light and non-invasive approach should be used, and when other measures are called for. Bibliography Aries, P. 1962 Centuries of Childhood London, Cape. Corby, B. 1993. Child Abuse: Towards a Knowledge Base. Buckingham, Open University Press Department of Health (1999) Working Together to Safeguard Children: A guide to inter-agency working to safeguard and promote the welfare of children HMSO. Department of Health (2000) Assessing Children in Need and their Families The Stationary Office Department of Health (2000)Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families The Stationary office. Gardner, R. 2002 Supporting Families:L Child Protection in the Community Chichester Valley Giddens, A. 1998. â€Å" Risk society, the context of British politics, in Franklin, J ed. The Politics of Risk Society Oxford, Polity Press. Griffiths Report (1988) Community Care; An Agenda for Action, London: HMSO Harwin J. and Forester, D. 2002 Parental Substance Misuse and Child Welfare: A study of social work with families in which parents misuse drugs or alcohol Department of Health Hendrick, 1997. â€Å"Constructions and reconstructions of British childhood: an interpretative survey, 1800 to the present† in James, A. and Proat, A. (eds) Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood. Oxford, Clarendon Kemshall, H. 2002. Risk, Social Policy and Welfare Buckingham, Open University Press Lord Lamley â€Å"The Victoria Climbie Enquiry† http://www.victoria-climbie-inquiry.org.uk/finreport/finreport.htm Moore, S. Scourfield, P. Sinclair, S. Burch, S. and Wendon, B. 3rd ed. 2002 Social Welfare Alive Cheltenham, Nelson Thornes. Parrott, L 2002 Social Work and Social Care London, Routledge. Postle, F. (2000) The social work side is disappearing. I guess it started with us being called care managers, Practice, 13(2), pp. 13-27. Sidebotham, P. et al â€Å"Children at Risk of maltreatment in Children of the Nineties: deprivation, class and social networks in a UK sample† Child Abuse 26 (12) pp 1243-1259 1 Footnotes [1] Cited in Hemshall 2002 [2] Quoted in Hemshall, 2002::9 [3] http://www.dfes.gov.uk/publications/childrenactreport/docs/DfES-Childrens Act.pdf

History of Egypt Essay -- Historical Egypt Africa Cairo Essays Papers

History of Egypt The rich history of Egypt is tied very closely with the Nile River’s fertile banks and existence as a source of water. Flowing south to north, this massive river has had a tremendous impact on agriculture, transportation, religion, migration of populations, and culture as a whole. The narrow Nile Valley as well as the surrounding deserts provided defense and isolation from the arising cultures of the time. Over many centuries, the rainfall has affected the levels of flooding on the Nile and therefore the way in which the Egyptians had to live. This region is rich with cultural and historical records of the ongoing relationship of culture and society with the environment and the Nile. Cairo is the capital of Egypt and is the biggest city not only in Egypt but the Middle East as well. With a current population of over 15 million inhabitants, the city has evolved for over four thousand years with a variety of social and cultural influences. Northern Africa has been occupied by Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, and Turks and monuments that still stand today are evidence of these influences. Cairo has been known by many names, including Memphis, Heliopolis, Babylon, and, Al-Qahira. The city was a center of religious development for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam throughout its thirty or more dynasties. Over 8,000 years ago, Northern Africa was rich with diverse wildlife including elephants, buffalo, hippopotami, and giraffe (Lamb). However by 5,000 BC, some of these species began to die out or migrate from this region, perhaps due to the increased migration of humans and settling near the Nile. The Nile was the best and only source of fresh water in the area and its annual flooding and receding le... ...In 1882, the British seized control of Egypt until it could repay its debts. Egypt gained its independence in 1952 and has continued to grow, with Cairo being the centerpiece of ongoing development (www.lonelyplanet.com). Throughout the 1960’s and 1970’s, the West Bank of the Nile River was concreted over to make room for urban sprawl. The relationship of the city with the Nile was becoming less cooperative and increasingly damaging to its natural state. Cairo expanded north into Nasr City in what has become an eyesore to the landscape. Cairo has even expanded up and over the Muquattam Hills, which once stood as a barrier to previous eastern growth. The rapid expansion of Cairo seems as if it will pose a serious problem to the Nile and its resources as transportation, industry, and residential construction litter the banks of the once coveted and worshipped Nile.

Make-up Art Cosmetics :: essays research papers

Make-Up Art Cosmetics   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Make-up Art Cosmetics, also known as M.A.C. cosmetics is a highly unique corporation. Its founders and business strategies are rather simple yet extremely effective in contributing to the companies success. The company does not use any fancy business schemes and it is truly concerned with its consumers. In the beginning, the company struggled to get started, but now a multimillion dollar (and still growing) enterprise, M.A.C. probably has some of the most popular and most demanded for cosmetics available in the market. M.A.C. Cosmetics is a dynamic company which produces skin and hair care, beauty products, and cosmetics, created for everyone. Rich and poor, old or young, conservative or trendy and even for males or females. Sales for M.A.C. are growing rapidly. From 1985 ($600 000) to 1989 ($3 million), sales were steady. Then in 1990 the money really started to pour in, hitting $8.5 million then $18 million in1991. Last years sales (1996) were $70 million and now this years' estimations are a substantial $160 million. There are currently 108 locations between Canada, the U.S., and Europe, with extreme success in London, England. Although the company could easily expand to may more locations, the company would prefer not to, at least no so fast. They believe that in order to maintain high levels of quality, staying in control, (which means going slowly) is the key. Frank Toskan, 45, founder and CEO of Make-up Art Cosmetics, was previously a Canadian hairstylist, make-up artist and photographer, who developed his own professional cosmetics because he felt that the existing lines couldn't link with the harsh lighting used in photography, stage , film and video work. Over the last 10 years, 160 shades of lipsticks in 7 different finishes, 150 eye shadows, 60 blushes and hair care have been created for the public. Toskan first started at his kitchen table with the help of his high school chemistry book. With Victor Casale, his chemist brother-in-law, he blended a few new colours. One year later, Toskan formed a partnership with Frank Angelo, a veteran entrepreneur (previous owner of a chain of beauty salons). At first they were turned down by banks, they had to mortgage everything in order to get the company going. M.A.C. was officially launched in 1985, in an old, run-down location in Toronto (Cabbagetown). For years M.A.C. was looked upon as too 'weird.' In1988, Toskan and Angelo had to beg downtown Simpsons -now the Hudson's Bay Company, to take their line of products. They were given a small corner and it soon became the most popular counter in the

Comparison of Book and Movie of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest :: Movie Film comparison compare contrast

Comparison of Book and Movie of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a book written by Ken Kesey to accomplish a certain mood within it's chapters.   The feelings and moods given in the book differ greatly from those in the movie because of multiple changes in character development.   Each and every time a movie is produced from a book, the producers are forced to change parts of the story in order to suit the audiences needs for a faster paced plot.   It is impossible to capture every mood or setting which the author creates.   What is lost can sometimes be the real meaning behind the story.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The characterization of chief Bromden is a good example of the changes made from book to movie.   His past is a vital piece of information contributing to the mood and understanding of the story.   In the movie, Bromden is nothing more than a crazy Indian who doesn't want to talk so pretends to be deaf and dumb.   Much of the understanding and respect is lost in the transition between book and movie.   In the book, Bromden has flashbacks to his childhood, lighting on significant points in his childhood.   His background is never even brushed upon in the movie.   Of course it would have been nearly impossible to tell of Bromdens life in a movie, much less show the world from his point of view as in the book. Bromden is still a very interesting character but the real puzzle to his problems is lost.      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   McMurphy is a very sly, cunning man.   He knows how to play his game and does it well.   In the book as McMurphy progresses, he goes through many stages where he is rebellious, then docile, then rebellious again.   This is due to the fact that he learns exactly what it means to be committed and what it takes to be released.   Then he begins to see that all his ward mates (I don't know what you want to call them) are counting on him so he becomes rebellious again.   These reactions to his environments encourage McMurphy to be not crazy but intelligent and quick.   This is exactly the way a character such as McMurphy should act.

Kingdoms of Egypt and Nubia Essay

Historians once thought that the human race began with the white Greek and Romans. Present day archaeologists are telling us that the cradle of civilization is in the Nile Valley of Africa. Two rival kingdoms called Egypt and Nubia have much in common but they also have their unique differences. In my essay I will explore some of these similarities and differences. Egypt and Nubia were both ruled by monarchy, which shows that they had an advanced form of political organization. Archeologist’s findings show that the symbols of Nubian royalty are the same as those of Egyptian Kings. They believed that they were god-Kings and built large pyramids to spend eternity surrounded by there riches to keep them comfortable after death. The difference between the Egyptian and the Nubian monarchy is that the Egyptian monarchies were all male rulers but Nubians monarchies were both male and female and held power jointly. Egypt and Nubia both traded with other countries to acquire the goods they desired. Egypt had few natural resources but was involved in manufacturing glass, paper, perfume, cosmetics and fine linen fabric. Egypt wanted to trade these for the different products from Central Africa. Nubia had many natural resources such as gold, ivory, copper, frankincense, iron ore, hardwood timber, ostrich feathers, leopard skins and elephants. Nubia traded these along with their pottery and manufactured goods. The powerful, wealthy black Nubians Kings controlled the trade routes between central Africa and Egypt, which is one reason why Egypt eventually attacked and conquered Nubia. Egyptians and Nunians both believed in the god-Amun (the ram-head god). The Egyptians thought the silhouette of the mountain at Gebel Barkel looked like a cobra’s head which is a sign of royal power. They believed that the god-Amun lived there so they built a temple to him. Thus, it’s considered to be a sacred mountain, perhaps the holiest place in the Nile valley. It is where the pharaohs held their crowning ceremonies. The Nubians also believed the god-Amun lived in the mountain. When they conquered Egypt they called on the authority of the god-Amun. This was confirmed when archaeologists found a curving of a man making an offering to the god-Amun in the remains of a  large temple in Nubia. Both the Egyptians and the Nubians had a system of writing to record important events in their history. The Egyptians used picture writings called hieroglyphs that they curved on the temple walls and on tablets describing events in their lives. The Nubians used an alphabet called meroitic. Historians are hoping to understand this alphabet so that they will be able to read the Nubian’s writings and discover more about their culture. It is clear that the early African people were a politically organized, intelligent industrious, creative and civilized people worthy of our respect. Probably, due to racial prejudice, it was once thought that black Africans were not capable of producing high civilization. Nubia, the homeland of the earliest black culture may have been the home of the first human race on earth. Bibliography Edward Reynolds (1994) Focus on Africa: D.C. Health and company. CanadaWho are the Nubians? (Date N/A). Homestead. October 23, 2006. http://www.homestead.com/wysinger/nubians.htmlJamila, White. (1999). Black Kingdoms of the Nile episode 2. PBS. October 23, 2006http://www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi1/1_wondr4.htmJimmy Dunn (Copyright 1999-2003). The Yam of Egypt’s Old Kingdom. Tour Egypt. October 23, 2006. http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/yam.htm

Ethical Theories Essay

Moral dilemmas are a part of daily life and the solutions presented to them are usually dependent on the ethics that govern the individual facing them. Every person at one point in time has been faced with a moral dilemma. This can be described as the values which are used to determine the right way to handle a situation and the wrong way to go about it. Each society and community has its own moral index and in some societies, an action may be viewed tolerable or right, while the same action in another community would be viewed as intolerable and frowned upon. The moral index of a society usually goes hand in hand with religious beliefs and communities which are religiously inclined to have strict rules on what is suitable behaviour and what is not. Societies which have more secular values usually tolerate extreme or eccentric behavior. The difference in opinions of different people in what is normally right and wrong has led to the development of various ethical theories. Two of these theories are utilitarianism and duty ethics. An example of a situation which brought about different ethical stand points is the Firestone Company tire recall in 1999 and 2000. The company had discovered that its newly designed firestorm Radial ATX, ATX II and Wilderness AT tires were defective back in 1996, after 8 of the 18 times were singled out after they failed a test that tested the endurance of tires under high speed. Of the 14. 4 million tires sold approximately 6. 5 million tires had to be recalled due to defects in the details which involved the tread and one steel belt separating from the other steel belt and carcass The details has led to serious and even fatal accidents as the cars overturned when the accidents occurred while they were in motion. In an attempt to show difference between utilitarianism and duty ethics we shall consider an engineer working for the company at the time and the stand he or she would take if they subscribed to utilitarianism or duty ethics Utilitarianism can be described as an ethical theory that proposes that the action that brings good or favorable consequences to the majority is not subject to whether it is right or wrong meaning it is not subject to questioning. (Fredrick,2003) This theory was greatly championed by utilitarians such as John Stuart Mill. This theory advocates for actions that produce happiness to the greatest or largest number of people. In an ideal situation this may be possible but usually any action can produce happiness to many or a few people depending on the action. The theory does not usually advocate for the use of ethically correct actions at all times and thus actions which may be viewed as wrong sometimes bring happiness to a large group of people but the actions still remain morally wrong. An engineer subscribing to the utilitarianism way to life would have supported the company stand and the action it took. The company discovered that some tires were defective and did not recall the rest of the tires that had already been sold. This lead to accidents which caused suffering and death and it was not until an investigation into the cause of the accidents that finally forced the Firestone Company to admit liability and recall the tires. The company did not recall the tires because it feared the losses that it would face incase the tires were all defective. The company chose to protect their profits margins at the expense of their clients. (Little, 2003) As an engineer with a utilitarianism view point this action would be the best because recalling would mean great losses and downsizing in terms of job which would mean unemployment for many people working at the company affecting both them and their dependants. The duty ethics proposes that the action taken in any situation should be just and honest and respectful to all persons involved. This ethical principle advances for the upholding of principles regardless to the wrong consequences whether they will be good or bad. (Graham,2004) An engineer working for the Firestone Company would have chosen to recall all the defective tires and conducted a through investigation to the causes of the defaults without external pressure or the threat of law suits as inducement. The engineer moral compass would have guided them to make such a stand regardless to the fallout which is this case would have resulted in major losses to the company. As per the requirements of the engineering profession, this mechanical engineer was ascribed to some basic fundamental ethics and the relevant professional codes of conduct while in the jurisdiction of their duty. These are guidelines aimed at providing safety standards for the engineers while at work and the common good of the society. However, the same was objectively inadequate in the Firestone’s case. As a basic requirement, they should exercise their professional skills and also knowledge in providing contentment in the general human life. Impartiality and honesty should prevail in their service where fidelity to the public should never be compromised above that of clients and also employers. Elsewhere, engineers should pursue a continued development in their profession and bring service to their different clients without any conflict. These are the basic fundamentals of mechanical engineers whose proficiency is provided by the support of the canons of mechanical engineering. In conclusion the moral stand point taken by any individual should always be after requiring all the necessary information. This is because in every decision made, there are always individuals who love and those who benefit. As in the Firestone, the recalling decision would have resulted in loss. After careful evaluation one should decide on the decision that brings minimal losses in the involved activity.