Curriculum Trends Paper [Education] Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Curriculum Trends Paper [Education] - Essay Example Consequently, the academia across the world, especially the educational curriculum needs to undergo far-reaching transformation so that our children can effectively meet the needs of the changing times. The compulsions of the present times require versatility in the work ideology and functioning, thus making it imperative that new skills and strategic paradigms are evolved to meet the emerging challenges with efficiency and unmatched proficiency. The process of globalization and advancing technology which has brought about huge plethora of issues, need to be incorporated in the curricula. Education serves as the most effective platform to introduce changes within the social fabric of countries across the world. The graph shows the two years comparative of completion and persistence of post secondary students (graph 1, appendix) UNESCO has observed that â€Å"the diversity, complexity, and changing nature of basic learning needs of children, youth and adults necessitate broadening and constantly redefining the scope of basic education† (UNESCO, 1995). Four major factors have been identified that have major impact on the society and the incorporation of strategic flexibility i n the curricula is expected to facilitate the wide ranging ramifications of these factors. In the next ten years, the curriculum is expected to incorporate the following changes within its strategic goals and objectives. Globalization has brought together people from different cultures, religion, nation and races. The need to evolve common values and collective goals for societies so that people from diverse fields comprising different race, religion, color and culture may coexist in relative harmony and mutual cooperation has become imperative. The table indicates gender wise ethnic diversity in United State (table 1, appendix). Huntington reflects that â€Å"the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural†(Huntington, 1993). Some of the negative

Small groups and Team communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Small groups and Team communication - Essay Example Every team leader and manager should be an expert in dealing with small groups to achieve success. â€Å"Individual commitment to a group effort -- that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work† said Vincent Lombardi. The duty of every leader is to bring out this personal dedication from every person working under them. Every team member is like a horse tied to a chariot. The team leader should control this group of horses using ethics as the whip and identification plus appreciation as the carrot for the horses. As a charioteer, the leader is completely responsible for making his team win or lose the race. A leader has several responsibilities like understanding the specific problems associated with the project, running the team smoothly without any ego clashes, extracting the best from the new performer as well as the star performer, meeting the deadlines and the expectancies of the management without compromising the basic rights of the city clean team, etc. With the concept of global Village gaining popularity day by day, working with people from different countries in multicultural workspaces is unavoidable. When people from various races and countries join together to work in a single group, conflicts arising because of cultural differences are very common. For example, Americans consider it an honour to give each other enough space. They do not interfere in another person’s personal life. At the same time, people from traditional European countries consider it a symbol of friendship to act very close to each other. Handshaking is considered as the polite act in some cultures, while kissing on the cheeks while greeting a woman is mandatory in others. The same act is considered taboo in eastern cultures. Several conflicts might arise due to these misconceptions. It is up to the leader to run the team smoothly

Should Corporate Parents Interfere in the Strategies of Diversified Essay

Should Corporate Parents Interfere in the Strategies of Diversified Groups of Companies - Essay Example Maybe the child company does the same type of product or service as the parent but more than often not. Some corporate strategies involve micro-managing the interests of the subordinate while others believe that letting the child manage its own affairs will result in a profitable win-win for both. So the question remains then, how much control should the parent exercise over the child? Discussion In the perfect corporate parent and child relationship the parent corporation is simply there to guide as it were. As in the physical parent and child relationship, the parent hopes the child will grow and prosper. No parent would ever expect his four year old child to stagnate there and on the same token the company that prospered in1998 to keep the same strategies as then. Times change, peoples’ needs change, and companies should be flexible enough to keep abreast of those changes. If not, the â€Å"cash cow† of 1998 might have turned into the dog of 2012. Therefore, the parent company should train and coach, while helping the child prepare for the future, only intervening when absolutely necessary for both of their continued successes. A good example of a company that failed to envision the future and failed to intervene was the now defunct Packard car company. From the early days of the automobile, the Packard name stood beside Cadillac and Lincoln as the symbol of luxury American cars. Yet the company made a fatal mistake when it acquired Studebaker in 1953, in response to decreased sales because of cutthroat competition by the Big Three. Even though it was financially solvent, Packard executives failed to see how troubled Studebaker actually was. A short five years later the last Packard was made and the Company tried to continue on as its child. By 1966, the entire company was bankrupt. Speaking of car companies, in 2008 General Motors found itself in financial trouble and received a Government loan. As part of its restructuring activities, and under pressure from Congress, the conglomerate agreed to divest itself of three divisions, one of which was Hummer. Although fairly profitable, Hummer was seen as a ball ast company that would eventually be driven out by its gas-guzzling SUV’s. So GM tried to sell the division but the deal fell through and Hummer was retired in 2010. The above were car companies though that owned other car companies. What about when the child’s core business is totally different from the parent’s? Back to GM, they owned appliance giant Frigidaire for sixty years. Yet their meddling in company affairs and trying to adapt the car model to home appliances, as well as foreign competition, caused Frigidaire to lose a whopping forty million dollars in1978. So GM saw them as an underperforming dog and sold the company to White Consolidated Industries in 1979. White likewise interfered with company business in such a manner that research and new product development was retarded for over a decade, almost a fatal blow to the ever volatile appliance business. Fortunately, White was likewise acquired by the Swedish firm Electrolux in the late eighties. Appl ying the European model to Frigidaire and making the brand visible helped them dramatically by the middle 1990’s and although behind industry leader Whirlpool in overall sales revenue, Frigidaire is still around and fairly healthy (Frigidaire). PepsiCo is a good example of a global corporation that leads its subsidiaries properly and makes just enough interference to ensure that profitability is obtained by both parent and child. True, most if not all of the conglomerate’s secondary companies deal with some segment of the food industry

Discuss the development of Chinese tea art from the Tang dynasty until Essay

Discuss the development of Chinese tea art from the Tang dynasty until recent times in China or overseas - Essay Example Despite the increasing market share of modern drinks such as soft drinks and alcohol drinks, tea has never lost its popularity, especially in recent years, when people are increasingly aware of the importance of organic foods and drinks, tea is being considered one of the most natural and healthy drinks which is promoted by more and more people around the world† (Wang 2011, p. 13). At the beginning tea was used for phytotherapy and mainly on the territory of churches. Monks started drinking tea because they liked its sedative effect and also to demonstrate the respect for nature. Chinese tea ceremony was also born as a result of respect for nature and the necessity of peace and was held as a part of religious ceremonies. The interesting fact is that for many centuries the philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism were mixed in the magic Chinese tea ceremony. Later Chinese people learned to value the pleasure they received from tea-drinking and its social meaning. Tea ce remony has turned from a religious ritual into the important part of social, cultural and traditional events (Baldwin et al, 2006). Chinese people has enjoyed tea-drinking for more than 4000 years. According to the legend, Yan Di, one of the three ancient rulers, tasted all the kinds of herbage to find methods of treatment. Once, when he was poisoned by some kind of herbage, the drop of water from manuka appeared in his mouth and saved him. Tea was applied as a medicine for long. During the rule of Chow dynasty it had religious status. In spring and in autumn people ate the leaves of manuka instead of vegetables (Wang, 2000). With the popularization of Buddhism in Northern and Southern dynasty, its dewy effect was used by monks for meditation. Tea as a drink was thriving during the rule of Tang dynasty and became a popular product in shops. The appearance of a book about tea became one of the most important events of this