My Views on Teaching Essay examples - 933 Words

Education is a simple word, but analyzing this word is more profound because it can last forever in their lives of the students. There will be different philosophies of education in this paper that will be discuss. Every philosophy perspectives that teachers have chosen for the students it is important because it can depends on their teaching strengths and effectiveness. The goal of any philosophy could be that every student would be able to succeed in their lives. The students are not alike, but most of them have similarities. For a teacher she/he needs to find a philosophy that works for the majority of the class. It is great to have a variety of the philosophies in the classroom since every philosophy could help to every student.†¦show more content†¦The teacher can have activities where they need to view the information visually, where they can hear the information, or even better the teacher can try to combine these two and it will be more beneficial to the students. O r even sometimes the teacher should repeat the assignment process, to make sure that the students knows what to do. This will prevent students to not completing the assignment as the teacher have told them for misunderstanding. The students who has a disability or are learning English as their second language is more difficult for them to understand what do you want them to do. Even worse when they have been in this country for short time. It is important to let the student to ask questions since if they have questions that means whether the students didn’t understand or they want to learn more about it. Link (2008) stated that Perennialism teaches concepts and focuses on knowledge and the meaning of knowledge. A classroom constructed from this format typically espouses a traditional philosophy where a teacher answers questions and inquires from the students in order for them to gain an understanding. The technology has been advancing rapidly and it helps to the students to h ave a better options to create and finish their assignments quickly. The technology also helps to the teachers to search and have better options of their activities. Ornstein, Levine. (2008) saidShow MoreRelatedMy Views On Teaching And Teaching903 Words   |  4 Pagesmore valuable when shared and teaching is significant as it imparts knowledge to others. My teaching experiences in college as a private tutor and in graduate school as a lab instructor have not only helped me to improve my teaching skills, but also have encouraged me to pursue a life-long career in teaching and research. Now that I am equipped with the knowledge of fundamental Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology as well as research experience, I am eager for a teaching opportunity to share what IRead MoreMy Views On Teaching Fourth Grade Teacher1758 Words   |  8 PagesThis past semesters has been an eye opening experience that has changed my views on teacher. Ever since I was little, I have always wanted to be a f ourth grade teacher. However after being placed in a second grade classroom my views have changed. I liked the idea of teaching fourth grade because my fourth grade teacher was my inspiration in life. When I was in Ms. Petro’s class I enjoyed being able to watch the students progress over time. Being able to see the drastic improvements in little childrenRead MoreTaking a Look at Hegemonic Assumptions1237 Words   |  5 Pagesour own best interests but actually work against us in the long run (Brookfield, 1998). A few common examples of this in teaching are the perfect 10 that we should strive for perfect evaluations in everything we do and that a good teacher always gets a perfect evaluation, that teaching is a vocation it is a calling in life and if you do not give all your time over to teaching then you are not a good teacher, that the answer must be out there somewhere that someone somewhere has previously solvedRead MoreKincheloe on Critical Pedagogy1283 Words   |  5 Pagespolitics† (1). Kincheloe’s goal in this reading is to characterize teacher thinking by examining social and historical forces that have shaped teaching, and to understand who benefits and who is punished when it is defined in specific ways. Kincheloe also discussed in the reading that the separation of mind and matter has profound and unfortunate consequences. This view led to a conception of the world as a divided system into two distinct realms: an internal world of sensation and an objective world c omposedRead More My Philosophy of Teaching Essay506 Words   |  3 PagesMy Philosophy of Teaching When thinking of a philosophy of teaching, four major issues need to be considered. Those issues are one’s views on education, the role of the teacher, teaching and learning, and on the children. This is something that someone entering the teaching profession needs to give serious thought to and realize the importance that this will hold in the future. The following essay will express my philosophy of teaching. One very important factor in every life isRead MoreThe Importance Of Critical Reflection On Teaching1270 Words   |  6 PagesImportance of reflection: Reflection on practice has different meanings, in my view it means constructive criticism: being honest with myself, becoming aware of and understanding my own strengths, and being able to review activities and constantly test assumptions related to our work. These have been my approach to critical reflection throughout the year. This is supported by Brookfield, he says that Critically reflective teaching happens when we identify and scrutinise the assumptions that undergirdRead MoreUnderstanding The Current Epistemological Understanding1627 Words   |  7 Pagesin now. b. With what degree of certainty can we describe or explain content within our teaching area? What are the implications of that for teaching? When describing or explaining content within an elementary classroom, I can be confident in what I am teaching my students. I have this confidence because the information I will teach will have been researched and proven to be true. For example, when teaching science or math (or really any subject), I will use methods, formulas, equations, etc. thatRead More Professional Essay example1116 Words   |  5 Pageswhen my sister and I would play school with our friends. It was one of the best experiences that I had. It was this experience that helped me make up my mind about being a teacher. Now as I move through the different stages in the educational program, I have determined that I have developed certain beliefs. By teaching and working with children, people can see my beliefs. My philosophy towards education is progressivism. Progressivism can be found in my views about public schools, my teachingRead MorePersonal Philosophy Of Educational Essay Essay1240 Words   |  5 Pag esKofi Annan, of Ghana said, â€Å"Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family† (nobelprize.org). My ambition to become an educator stems from a desire to help children grow into productive and successful adults. I am a mother of six children. As I have guided my individual children through the different stages of their childhood, adventures, adversities, and educational experiences, I have come to realize that all children haveRead MoreEssay about Professional Goals and Philosophy899 Words   |  4 Pagesthat child’s teacher. To influence the student in a positive manner, one must assess one’s personal views and approaches to education. The views associated with personal views include the nature of a student; the nature of knowledge; the purpose of education; the method of teaching; and the curriculum being taught. The way a teacher feels toward these issues may affect the whole of their teaching career and greatly influences the student as well. The nature of students, I believe, is one of

Abstract Art Development Free Essays

If you take a look at the paintings, you will see that they are abstract. In fact, they are painted in a style that is sometimes referred to as â€Å"Abstract Expressionism†. Many people have trouble understanding and appreciating this type of art. We will write a custom essay sample on Abstract Art Development or any similar topic only for you Order Now The purpose of this essay is to explain how, over time, art has evolved to become more and more abstract, and why this is important. My intention is to explain the goals of abstract art, and to help you learn how to enjoy it. To begin, I’d like to introduce you to the idea that, broadly speaking, there are two types of paintings: representational and abstract. We call a painting â€Å"representational† if it portrays specific, recognizable physical objects. In some cases, the representational paintings look true to life, almost like a photograph. For example, consider the following painting by Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606-1669). This painting is called â€Å"The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp†, and was painted in 1632. â€Å"The Anatomy Lecture of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp† [1632] by Rembrandt van Rijn. Display a larger picture of this painting. When you look at this painting, it is easy to recognize what you are looking at. There are eight men wearing funny-looking clothing (actually, the style of clothing worn in 17th century Holland), and on a table in front of the men lies a dead man, whose arm is being dissected. It is easy to identify all the objects in the painting, as well as the overall meaning of the painting. (You are looking at an anatomy demonstration. ) Not all representational paintings are so realistic. For example, Paul Cezanne (French, 1839-1906) created some beautiful paintings of fruit. Take a look at this one, â€Å"Apples, Peaches, Pears, and Grapes†, which Cezanne painted from 1879-1880 Apples, Peaches, Pears and Grapes† [1879-1880] by Paul Cezanne. Display a larger picture of this painting. Obviously, this painting is more abstract than the previous one. Still, what you are looking at is representational. The objects in the Cezanne painting may not be as realistic as the ones in the Rembrandt — there is no way you would mistake the Cezanne painting for a photog raph — but it is easy to recognize that you are looking at various types of fruit in a bowl. When you look at a representational painting, you get an immediate feeling as to whether or not you like the painting. For example, take another look at the previous two paintings and compare what you feel when you look at the anatomy lesson with what you feel when you look at the bowl of fruit. Abstract paintings are different. They have designs, shapes or colors that do not look like specific physical objects. As such, abstract paintings are a lot harder to understand than representational paintings. Indeed, when you look at an abstract painting, you often have no idea what it is you are actually seeing. Let’s see if we can make sense out of this. In general, there are two types of abstract paintings. The first type of abstract painting portrays objects that have been â€Å"abstracted† (taken) from nature. Although what you see may not look realistic, it is close enough that you can, at least, get an idea of what you are looking at. If you have ever seen any of the paintings of Claude Monet (French, 1840-1926), you will know what I mean. In 1899, Monet began to paint a series of paintings called â€Å"Water Lilies†. These paintings depict the garden at his house in Giverny, Normandy (in France). Although the objects in the paintings don’t really look like lilies, or water, or clouds, they are close enough that you can get a feeling for what you are seeing. To see what I mean, take a look at this painting, â€Å"Water Lilies (The Clouds)†, which Monet painted in 1903. â€Å"Water Lilies (The Clouds)† [1903] by Claude Monet. Display a larger picture of this painting. A second type of abstract painting, sometimes referred to as â€Å"pure† abstract art, is even more obtuse. Such paintings do not reflect any form of conventional reality: all you see are shapes, colors, lines, patterns, and so on. Here, for example, is one of my paintings, entitled â€Å"Blue #1†, which I painted in 2000. â€Å"Blue #1† [2000] by Harley Hahn. Display a larger picture of this painting. As you can see, nothing in this painting is recognizable. There are no people, fruit or even water lilies. When you look at such art, it is natural to wonder why anyone would bother to create such paintings in the first place. What could the artist possibly have in mind? In some cases, the design itself might be pleasing to the eye, and we might look upon the painting as nothing more than a decoration. Most of the time, however, this is not the case. Indeed, a great deal of abstract art is not particularly pleasing to the eye. Moreover, why would an artist spend so much time creating a mere decoration? There must be something more to it. The truth is, yes, there is a lot more to abstract art than what meets the eye, and to see why, we have to consider the basic purpose of art. To truly appreciate a work of art, you need to see it as more than a single, isolated creation: there must be context. This is because art is not timeless. Every painting is created within a particular environment, and if you do not understand that environment, you will never be able to appreciate what the artist has to offer you. This is why, when you study the work of a particular artist, it makes sense to learn something about his life and the culture in which he lived. Although the qualities of a painting depend on the skill and desires of the artist, a great deal of what you see on the canvas reflects the environment in which the art was created. As an example, take a look at the following two paintings. The painting on the right, the well-known Mona Lisa, was painted from 1503-1506 by Leonardo da Vinci (Italian, 1452-1519). The painting on the left, a picture of Princess Diana, was painted in 1982 by Andy Warhol (American, 1928-1987). Both are portraits of a woman, and both were produced by highly skilled artists who used similar poses — but notice the striking differences in style. â€Å"Princess Diana† [1982] by Andy Warhol. Display a larger picture of this painting. â€Å"Mona Lisa† [1503-1506] by Leonardo da Vinci. Display a larger picture of this painting. If you study the lives of da Vinci and Warhol, you will find that there were — as you might well imagine — significant personal differences between the two men. These differences, however, do not account for the vast dissimilarity in painting styles. When you compare these two paintings, what you are seeing, more than anything else, are cultural differences. When an artist creates, he is strongly influenced by the times in which he lives and, no matter how innovative he might be as a person, he cannot completely escape the boundaries of his culture. As you study the history of art, you see that, at any particular place and time, there is always a dominant â€Å"school† of art that defines the prevailing artistic culture. Most artists of the time work within the norms of that culture. A few artists, however — the visionaries and the experimenters — break new ground and, as they do, they encounter tremendous resistance from people who don’t understand the â€Å"new† style of art. However, it is from the work of these innovators that art evolves. So how does this pertain to abstract art? Until the end of the 19th century, virtually all painting was representational. Artists painted pictures that were straightforward, and people looked at those paintings for one reason: to see the particular images that were depicted. At first, this idea sounds so obvious as to hardly be worth stating. Why else would you look at paintings, if not to see the images? However, as I will explain, there are other, more compelling reasons to look at a painting. Indeed, it is possible to experience a painting in such a way that you go beyond what you see, in order to find out what you might feel. In the early 1870s, a movement arose in France that began to introduce abstraction into serious art. This movement, called Impressionism, produced works of art that, for the first time, did not consist wholly of realistic images. The original goal of the Impressionists was conceptually simple: they wanted to depict nature as it really existed. In particular, they labored to capture the ever-changing effects of light, as it changed throughout the day and from season to season. For example, the French painter Monet, whom I mentioned above, spent a lot of time creating series of paintings in which he painted the same subject at different times of the day. His goal was to show how the color and form of the subject changed from one hour to the next. Take a look at this painting of haystacks, created by Monet in 1890-1891. His goal was not to paint a simple image of a stack of hay, but rather to show the color and form of the haystacks at a particular time of day at the end of the summer. From Monet’s point of view (I imagine), the painting was more of an exercise than a work of art. â€Å"Wheatstacks (End of Summer)† [1890-1891] by Claude Monet. Display a larger picture of this painting. Around the same time, another school of art, Neo-Impressionism, arose from the influence of Impressionism. The Neo-Impressionists used many small side-by-side dots to build up various shapes and colors. You can see this technique — which is known as â€Å"pointillism† — in the following painting, â€Å"A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte†, created in 1884-1886 by Georges Seurat (French, 1859-1891). â€Å"A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte† [1884-1886] by Georges Seurat. Display a larger picture of this painting. Finally, in the 1880s and 1890s, a disparate group of artists sought to move beyond Impressionism and its obsession with the changing effects of light. These artists, collectively known as the Post-Impressionists, created a wide range of striking and innovative paintings. Among the most important Post-Impressionists were Paul Cezanne (French, 1839-1906), whom I mentioned earlier, Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903) and Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853-1890). When you look at Impressionist paintings, you will notice that, although they are generally soothing to the eye and calming to the spirit, they are, as a whole, quite boring. This is not the case with the Post-Impressionsts, as you can see by looking at the following two paintings. First, here is â€Å"Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? â€Å", painted in 1897 by Gauguin. â€Å"Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going? † [1897] by Paul Gauguin. Display a larger picture of this painting. Next, take a look at â€Å"Irises†, painted in 1889 by van Gogh. â€Å"Irises† [1889] by Vincent van Gogh. Display a larger picture of this painting. The last three decades of the 19th century were a time of two important — and distinct — transitions. First, as I have mentioned, there was a gradual change from representational art to abstract art. You can see this in the work of the Impressionists and Neo-Impressionists. The second change was more subtle, but far more important. With the work of the Post- Impressionists, the purpose of art itself had begun to change. For most of history, the primary purpose of painting had been to portray images, rather than to evoke feelings and emotions. Starting with the Post-Impressionists, however, the emphasis began to shift. For the first time, unconscious feelings began to find their way into mainstream art. What allowed this to happen was that the Impressionists had loosened the bonds, giving permission for painters to stray from their representational roots and become more abstract. To be sure, the Post-Impressionists were still quite literal in their work: when you look at the work of Cezanne or Gauguin or van Gogh, you do know what you are looking at. Indeed, at the beginning of this essay, I used one of Cezanne’s paintings (â€Å"Apples, Peaches, Pears, and Grapes†) as an example of representational work. Still, the gradual shift to abstraction and the capturing of deep-seated emotion was real and far-reaching. The reason that this is so important is that most of human life exists unconsciously, below the surface of perception and beyond the reach of voluntary, purposeful thinking. Within this netherworld, lies the strong, untamed and irrational forces that give life to our being and definition to what it means to be human. Until the 20th century, artists had to be content with merely grazing the surface of consciousness. Try as they might, their ability to penetrate to the heart of what it means to be human was limited by their tools. When the brain processes a recognizable image, a mental barrier is erected that prevents significant entry into the processes of the unconscious. Thus, representational art, by its very nature, imposes limits on how deeply an artist is able to insinuate him- or herself into the unconscious processes of the observer. However, with the coming of abstraction, artists had, for the first time, a powerful tool that would allow them to bypass literal perception and reach into this otherwise impenetrable world of unconscious emotion. This was possible because, the more abstract a work of art, the less preconceptions it evokes in the mind of the beholder. In the hands of a skillful practitioner, abstract art can be an extremely powerful tool. However, as I will explain in a moment, such tools require more than the skill of the artist, they require the cooperation of the observer. Before I get to this point, however, I’d like to continue with a bit of history. By the beginning of the 20th century, the move towards abstraction had generated enormous possibility. Previously, painters — restricted by the conventions of representational art — had confined themselves to either imitating nature or telling stories. Now, for the first time, artists were able to enter a realm in which unbounded imagination was, not only possible, but desirable. Between 1910 and 1920, a new movement towards abstract art, both in painting and sculpture, arose in Europe and in North America. The first important abstract artist was Wassily Kandinsky (Russian, 1866-1944). During the years 1910 to 1914, Kandinsky created a series of paintings which he called â€Å"Improvisations and Compositions†. Even today, almost a century later, Kandinsky’s work is striking in its ability to bypass our consciousness and stir our inner feelings. Take a look, for example, at one of my favorites, â€Å"Improvisation 7†, which Kandinsky painted in 1910. â€Å"Improvisation 7† [1910] by Wassily Kandinsky. Display a larger picture of this painting. The work of Kandinsky was extremely influential, and helped to usher in an age in which a number of abstract movements were established, one after another: Cubism, Futurism, Vorticism, Neoplasticism, Dadaism, Surrealism, and so on. Rather than describe each of these movements in detail, I’d like to jump to what I consider to be the defining point of 20th century art: Abstract Expressionism. What we now call Abstract Expressionism emerged in New York in the early 1940s. It was not so much a well-defined school of art, as a way of thinking. The Abstract Expressionists made the final break from the rigid conventions of the past, by redefining what it meant to be an artist. In essence, they rebelled against what the rest of the art world judged to be acceptable. Although the idea of abstraction had been around for some time, the Abstract Expressionists went a lot further. They began to emphasize, not only the finished product, but the actual process of painting. They experimented in how they interacted with the paint, the canvas, and their tools; and they paid attention to the physical qualities of the paint itself, its texture, color and shape. I realize this sounds vague and pretentious, so I will explain to you what it all means. Before I do, though, let’s take a look at an Abstract Expressionist painting, so you can at least get a feeling for what I am talking about. The following painting was created in 1950 by Jackson Pollock (American, 1912-1956), a pioneer of what came to be called â€Å"action painting†. The painting was originally called â€Å"Number 1, 1950†, but at the suggestion of an art critic named Clement Greenberg, the painting was renamed â€Å"Lavender Mist† (although, there is actually no lavender in it). Lavender Mist† [1950] by Jackson Pollock. Display a larger picture of this painting. The name â€Å"action painting† was coined to describe the techniques used by Pollock. He would fasten large canvases to the floor of his studio, and then drip, fling, and spill paint on them. He often used regular house paint, because he preferred the way it flowed. Now, I under stand that the first time you look at a picture like â€Å"Lavender Mist† you may see nothing more than a confusing array of disorganized lines and spots. â€Å"What,† I hear you say, â€Å"is this supposed to mean? How could anything so primitive and crude be considered to be great art? It looks like something a bored kid would do if he was left alone in an art studio with no supervision. † Before I explain why â€Å"Lavender Mist† is, indeed, great art, let me tell you a quick story. A few years ago, I decided to visit Washington, D. C. by myself. It was the middle of winter, and the city had been hit by a huge snowstorm. I was all alone, so I decided to walk to the National Gallery of Art. The streets were virtually empty, and as I entered the museum, I could see that it too was empty. I asked the information person if they had anything by Jackson Pollock. She said yes, and gave me directions to the room in which his paintings and drawings were hung. I had heard of Pollock and seen photographs of his work, but I had never seen any of the paintings in person. I still remember the feeling I had when I descended the stairs, turned the corner, and looked at the wall. I was alone in a large room and, there on the far wall, was â€Å"Lavender Mist†. The effect it had on me was completely unexpected. It was the only time in my life when I can remember a painting, literally, taking my breath away. I know this will sound a bit sappy, but seeing that painting changed me forever. Looking at a Jackson Pollock painting for the first time. How could this be the case? You just looked at a picture of the same painting, and I doubt you felt as if you had been changed forever. First, I should explain that the actual canvas is large, nearly 10 feet (3 meters) long. It is quite imposing when you see it in person, especially in a large empty room, where the painting seems to reach out, grab you and pull you towards it. Second, what you see in the picture above is nothing like the real thing. Not only is the picture on your screen much smaller than the actual painting, but the colors you see on a computer monitor are muted and inexact. Moreover, on a computer screen, you do not get a sense of the texture of the paint and the canvas. All of this you understand, I am sure. Everyone knows that viewing a real painting is a lot different from looking at a picture of the painting on a computer monitor (or on a projection screen in an art history class, for that matter). However, there is another reason why I was so moved by â€Å"Lavender Mist†, and it has to do with the very purpose of art. To discuss this, we have to consider the question, Why do we create art? There are a number of straightforward reasons why human beings create art: to make a decoration, to tell a story, to capture or preserve an image, or to illustrate an idea. However, there is another, more subtle, but far more important reason why art is important to us. The need to reach inside ourselves and manipulate our unconscious feelings is universal. We all do it to some degree, although most of the time we are blind to what we are doing. That is where art comes in. As I explained earlier, one of the purposes of art is to allow us indirect access to our inner psyche. Great art affords a way to get in touch with the unconscious part of our existence, even if we don’t realize what we are doing. In this sense, the role of the artist is to create something that, when viewed by an observer, evokes unconscious feelings and emotions. The reason abstract art has the potential to be so powerful is that it keeps the conscious distractions to a minimum. When you look at, say, the apples and pears of Cezanne, your mental energy mostly goes to processing the images: the fruit, the plate, the table, and the background. However, when you look at â€Å"Lavender Mist†, you are not distracted by meaningful images, so virtually all of your brain power is devoted to feeling. You can open yourself, let in the energy and spirit of the painting, and allow it to dance with your psyche. Of course, this only works if you cooperate with the artist. His job is to create a painting that is rendered so skillfully that, when you look at it, what you see actually changes what you feel at an unconscious level. Your job is to clear your conscious mind of thoughts and preconceptions in order to allow yourself to be influenced by what you are seeing. This means that, if you are to truly appreciate a work of art, you must be willing to let yourself go, to put yourself in the hands of the artist, so to speak, and let him take you wherever he wants. Much of the time, this partnership fails, sometimes because the artist is simply not skillful enough; often because the person looking at the painting does not know how to truly appreciate it. Now you can see why the advent of Abstract Expressionism was so important. For the first time in history, artists were creating abstract art so skillfully that it was able to penetrate quickly and powerfully into people’s subconscious (at least some people, some of the time). Thus, it is possible to view the history of painting as a long evolutionary process, starting with the slow, labored development of tools and techniques. Eventually, after centuries of representationalism, the Impressionists began to shake off the long- standing restrictions, which led to the development of various schools of abstract art, culminating, in the 1940s, with Abstract Expressionism, the beginning of a new age of creation and human achievement. I’d like to introduce to you a few of the Abstract Expressionists, painters whose work was important to the evolutionary process that redefined what it meant to be an artist. One thing that you will see is that work of these painters varies greatly. This is because, as I have mentioned, Abstract Expressionism is not so much a school of painting as a way of approaching and experiencing the act of creation. I have already shown you â€Å"Lavender Mist† (1950) by Jackson Pollock. Here is one of Pollack’s earlier paintings, â€Å"The Key†, which he created in 1946. â€Å"The Key† [1946] by Jackson Pollock. Display a larger picture of this painting. Next, I’d like to show you a painting by Arshile Gorky (Armenian-American, 1904-1948), whose work had significant influence at the time that Abstract Expressionism was emerging. This painting, called â€Å"One Year the Milkweed†, was created in 1944. â€Å"One Year the Milkweed† [1944] by Arshile Gorky. Display a larger picture of this painting. When you are just getting used to abstract art, you might wonder, just how good are these artists anyway? It doesn’t look all that hard to fill a canvas with lines, and smears, and splotches. I can assure you that the best abstract painters are all highly skilled artists in their own right. For example, here is a charcoal sketch done by Gorky in 1938, called â€Å"The Artist’s Mother†. It is actually an idealization of his mother, inspired by an old photograph. ) â€Å"The Artist’s Mother† [1938] by Arshile Gorky. The next painting is by Franz Kline (American, 1910-1962). It is called â€Å"Painting Number 2†, and was created in 1954. â€Å"Painting Number 2† [1954] by Franz Kline. Display a larger picture of this painting. Finally, here is a painting by Mark Rothko (Russian-American, 1903-1970), entitled â€Å"White Center† and created in 1950. This painting is an example of what is called â€Å"Color Field† painting: an abstract image with large areas of undiluted color. â€Å"White Center† [1950] by Mark Rothko. How to cite Abstract Art Development, Papers

Focus Marketing Strategy

Question: Discuss about the Focus Marketing Strategy. Answer: Introduction A marketing strategy is the coming with a plan or process of channeling an organizations goals and objectives towards the success of its products in the market. An effective marketing strategy helps an organization to define its specific goals and objectives towards its market success (Kotler et al, 2014). It has to know about its customers location, type and population, competitors status, product position, market share and segment to name a few. Having this kind of information, the organization has to come up with ways and methods of defeating their customers and reaching their goals (Kotler et al, 2010). By using the market information and research, the organization has the ability to choose the right marketing strategy for it to be able to reach target market, maximum profit and sustain its business operations for a longer period. For the purpose of completing this report, I chose the Coca Cola Company specifically one situated in Australia. Coca Cola Company is currently the largest consumer beverage producing companies in the whole word. Currently, Coca Cola is also the largest producer and seller of the best health related products like the Coke Zero, Diet Coke, vitamin water, Sprite and Fanta drinks which are also its leading brands of products. These are some of the products from the company that bring a lot of profits more than other products. Coca Cola Amatil Pty Limited situated in Australia is the authorized producer and distributor of Coca Cola products in Australia. To help it with the marketing and technical or the quality services, it has authorized its branch in Australia called Coca Cola South Pacific Pty Limited to take charge of these responsibilities. By doing this the company is able to take care of its products, markets and its consumers. For this report, the discussion will entail informat ion about the non-alcoholic drinks only. Marketing Mix concepts Product A product is anything that is as a result of manufacturing or processing for it to be able to satisfy a human want and need. A product can either be a service (intangible) or a good (tangible) as long as it has the ability to satisfy the human wants or needs (McDonald et al, 2011). Every business organization has to make sure that it has the right product that is in demand in its market. This means that it must have thebest product design, best brand, best label, best packaging, reasonable life cycle and development. Additionally, the organization has to ensure that it brings profits and returns when sold and that it offers unique selling points in its current market with current demand. This is certainly the case for Coca Cola Company which ensures that its non-alcoholic products have very high demand and popular among its consumers in most parts of the world. The company makes sure that the product is well branded, packaged and that it has its unique position in the market compared to its competitors. It is simple to say that the non-alcoholic products (especially their lead products like diet coke, vitamin water, coke zero, sprite among others) from the company are of very good quality and that is why they are able to maintain their market position and bring large amounts of profits. Price This is the cost of a product or service that is incurred by a customer. This is the main aspect of marketing mix that determines a businesss revenue and sustainment. Also, price can also determine how a customer will perceive the product or service. When the price is very low, the customers see it like an unsatisfying product and so make thorough comparisons with your competitors. On the other hand, when the price is very high they may start to weigh its benefits to see whether it is worth that much (Cravens et al, 2006). Therefore, it is important for an organization to consider the perceive value of the product or service by the customers. For instance, they have to make the best pricing strategies, favorable market pricing levels, offer discounts to customers, introduce favorable and modern payment terms among other things. For the case of Coca Cola Amatil, their non-alcoholic drinks certainly have some of the best prices in the markets. Apparently, when comparison is done between the Coca Cola non-alcoholic drinks and its competitors products, the Coca Cola products rank the best in pricing. In addition to that, even when the prices for Coca Cola products increase, they only do so with very small changes which means that the effects are not so severe or serious for the consumers. Therefore, this is able to increase their market demand because the consumers will certainly go for the products that are cheap but with good quality. When the demand increases the profit received from the sales will simply increase as well and therefore the company is able to maintain its market position. Place This means the placement or positioning of the product or service where the current customers or potential customers are able to reach or access it.This means that the business organization has to have the right information about its target market, composition of its current consumers among other things. Therefore, the organization must be able to come up with the best distribution strategies like selective, intensive and exclusive distribution, franchising, be able to point out the best customer location, offering efficient and effective transportation and warehousing services to name a few (Rivera-Camino, 2007). By doing all of the above, any business organization will be sure of making the best product positioning and therefore be able to maintain its customers and market position. For the case of Coca Cola Amatil, apart from it being the lead manufacturing and distributing point it has a branch that help it take care of its technical and marketing issues whenever they arise. In addition to that, in it has many other product outlets (depots) in many corners of Australia.It is clear that the company also has located its depots in the places where they are sure of high product demand and sales. This means that they have already conducted its market research and are sure of what strategies they are using in marketing and selling their products. Promotion Is very important because its aim is to boost a products recognition as well as the sales. It refers to marketing communication which may consist of activities like advertising, sales promotion, public relations and sales organization (Walker et al, 2005). Therefore, the organization has to find out the best way to ensure that its current customers and potential customers know the benefits of their products. In this concept, the organization has to decide on the type of message to be conveying, the best way or method to use when conveying it, how it will reach the targets among other things. Therefore, this means that the organization has be very precise and direct to the point. This will certainly increase the knowledge of the consumers about the product and encourage potential consumers to purchase it as well. Coca Cola Company in Australia has done so much concerning promotion of its non-alcoholic drinks. The company has invested so much in advertisement and in sales promotion. Currently, the company advertises the benefits of its products in the televisions, internet, social media and other places in more than five times per day. Also the company has come up with ways of increasing its sales by having a the public relations advertisements like exhibitions, press releases and sponsorship deals which lead to more recognition of their product worldwide. Generally, the company has invested so much in promoting its products to its customers and the general public. People Just like the product itself is important for marketing to succeed, people are also very important to make the process possible. These mostly include the customers and the employees of the organization. Therefore, their level of interaction with each other will determine the success of their service delivering. It is important for an organization to employ well skilled and experienced people to work in their businesses. These kind of employees are likely to offer the best services and have better customer relations as well as make sure that their ideas and expertise is taken into consideration (Venkatesan et al, 2004). For the case of Coca Cola Company, they have some of the best sales people, marketing agents, managers and other types of employees who ensure that their products and customers are well attended to. The company offers trainings to their employees to make sure that they are up to date when it comes to sales, leadership and customer relations techniques. Process These are the mechanisms, techniques and systems entailing the activities that lead to service or product delivery. Every organization should ensure that its entire system is effective, efficient and functional to keep the company operations running (Fraj-Andrs et al, 2009). Therefore, these processes should be well structured to minimize production costs and therefore increase profits. When it comes to Coca Cola Company, there are very simple and easy processes that lead to product delivery. The products have direct and effective manufacturing process as well as the delivery and distribution process. Therefore the company is able to maintain their market share for their products. Physical Evidence This relates to the physical evidence that the company exists, products or services were produce and delivered. If a companys products are well perceived in the market, it means that the company exists and it is functional and well known. It simply involves the tangible things that show a companys existence like, having a place where customers and employees relate, a product or service that is known by people among other things. In relation to this, Coca Cola Company has warehouses. Depots, effective delivery systems even when it comes to online purchases to name a few. There is also the presence of so many different products that are sold in most parts of the world especially their lead non-alcoholic drinks. Performance This refers to the measure or standards of the service delivery quality or product quality. Every organization should ensure that their products are delivered in the best way possible by their employees (Pujari et al, 2003). Also it should ensure that its products are of the best quality and are performing better in the market compared its competitors products or services. However, if the products lag behind in the market, it must develop ways to improve them and make them better. Therefore for a company rank the as the best in the market it must have the best performing products and services in the market compared to other companies. In the case of Coca Cola Company, its products are currently the best non-alcoholic drinks that are preferred by most people. This simply shows that the company has the best performing products and services in general. Issues facing Marketers Corporate Social Responsibilities It entails the provision of sustainable development to the surrounding society, its employees as well as the stakeholders of the company. This is an issue that affects the marketers because they have to consider even these other parties. This therefore enacts a lot of pressure on them and may end up not doing their marketing as well as expected. For the case of Coca Cola they have to ensure that their environment and shareholders are well taken care of. Social media interactions These are issues that are related to advertising of any product or service. They may affect Coca Cola Company by costing more than they should have or not impacting the consumers as expected. Therefore these causes more costs than the profits which is wrong. Technology Advances The Coca Cola Company can be affected by this whereby the technology development may change their systems and processes of manufacturing their products and therefore cause an increase in production costs. Additionally, the technology may be very vital and good for production but it does not have employees with skills, expertise or experience and therefore leading to loss. Ethical Concerns This related to the moral code of conduct that governs an organization. Therefore, the effect of this issue to Coca Cola can be in a way that some of the employees may not be ready to adhere to certain rules that are put in place. This may be caused by the fact that there are many employees from different culture, ethnic groups, religions, race group to name a few differences. Globalization This relates to the environment. Therefore, this can affect the company where by its production process has high chances of causing globalization. In other words, the emissions and wastes from the manufacturing processes may damage the environment and so they have to change them for better environmental treatment. Recommendations I would recommend that the Coca Cola Company to increase the quantity of their non-alcoholic drinks since their demand goes on increasing with time. Also they should come up with better ways of promoting the products which are not famous to their customers. They should reduce the prices of their products in general to encourage more buying. They should come up with more depots and especially the most populated areas of Australia to enhance distribution. They should ensure that every town in Australia has a warehouse, depot and offices to help manage the marketing and selling process. They should ensure there are enough employees to work and especially in the sales department. Also their manufacturing processes must be effective, efficient and always functional to facilitate production. Conclusion I conclude by saying that, every organization need to ensure that its marketing mix strategies and concepts are all in place and operating in the right manner. Also, Coca Cola Company should take heed of the above recommendations to be able maintain their market share in the long run. References Cravens, D. W., Piercy, N. (2006).Strategic marketing(Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill. Rust, R. T., Lemon, K. N., Zeithaml, V. A. (2004). Return on marketing: Using customer equity to focus marketing strategy.Journal of marketing,68(1), 109-127. Rivera-Camino, J. (2007). Re-evaluating green marketing strategy: a stakeholder perspective.European Journal of Marketing,41(11/12), 1328-1358. Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Ancarani, F., Costabile, M. (2014).Marketing management 14/e. Pearson. Jain, S. C., Haley, G. T. (2009).Marketing planning and strategy. Cincinnati South-Western Publishing Company 1985. Walker, O. C., Mullins, J. W., Boyd, H. W., Larreche, J. L. (2005).Marketing strategy. McGraw-Hill Education. Kotler, P., Armstrong, G. (2010).Principles of marketing. Pearson education. Porter, M. E. (2011).Competitive advantage of nations: creating and sustaining superior performance. Simon and Schuster. McDonald, M., Wilson, H. (2011).Marketing plans: How to prepare them, how to use them. John Wiley Sons. Venkatesan, R., Kumar, V. (2004). A customer lifetime value framework for customer selection and resource allocation strategy.Journal of marketing,68(4), 106-125. Gupta, S., Lehmann, D. R., Stuart, J. A. (2004). Valuing customers.Journal of marketing research,41(1), 7-18. Reinartz, W., Thomas, J. S., Kumar, V. (2005). Balancing acquisition and retention resources to maximize customer profitability.Journal of Marketing,69(1), 63-79. Reinartz, W. J., Kumar, V. (2003). The impact of customer relationship characteristics on profitable lifetime duration.Journal of marketing,67(1), 77-99. Zeithaml, V. A., Lemon, K. N., Rust, R. T. (2001).Driving customer equity: How customer lifetime value is reshaping corporate strategy. Simon and Schuster. Blattberg, R. C., Getz, G., Thomas, J. S. (2001).Customer equity: Building and managing relationships as valuable assets. Harvard Business Press. Polonsky, M. J., Rosenberger, P. J. (2001). Reevaluating green marketing: a strategic approach.Business horizons,44(5), 21-30. Crane, A. (2000). Facing the backlash: green marketing and strategic reorientation in the 1990s.Journal of Strategic Marketing,8(3), 277-296. Pujari, D., Wright, G., Peattie, K. (2003). Green and competitive: influences on environmental new product development performance.Journal of business Research,56(8), 657-671. Fraj-Andrs, E., Martinez-Salinas, E., Matute-Vallejo, J. (2009). A multidimensional approach to the influence of environmental marketing and orientation on the firms organizational performance.Journal of Business Ethics,88(2), 263-286. Krn, J., Hansen, E., Juslin, H. (2003). Social responsibility in environmental marketing planning.European Journal of Marketing,37(5/6), 848-871.

The Middle Ages Analysis Essay Example For Students

The Middle Ages Analysis Essay The Roman Empire geographically established the original concept of a European boundary. With all of its great achievements likeecivil law, politics and literature, the collective willpower of the Roman Empire would eventually degrade over time and give way to new ideas anddinfluences. The empire of Rome did not fall- it fizzled. The Western Roman Empire gave way to the Middle Ages around 476, when the Barbarian,,Odoacer, overthrew the emperor Romulus Augustulus. Other historians give the year 410, when Alaric, king of the Visigoths, sacked Rome. Still,,others say about 500 or even later. In any event this early medieval period is often referred to as the Dark Ages because of the apparent collapse offGreco Roman culture. During this time their was no effective government and no sense of state, just small autonomous tribes and peasanttcommunities. Local life was isolated, fragmented, dreary, illiterate and superstitious.. We will write a custom essay on The Middle Ages Analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now For various reasons, Germanic people to the North had long desired to expand into Roman territories perhaps because of pressures from overpopulation, wars, or food shortages.These Barbarians were semi-nomadic tribes led by warrior chiefs. They advanced forcefully against the Empire in the fourth century as the strength and determination of the Roman Empire was being degraded by political decay, civil war, economic problems and social decadence. Various Barbarians such as the Ostrogoth, Vandals, Lombards, Franks, Angles, Saxons and other tribes overcame a disintegrating Roman Empire. The advanced systems of Roman law, culture and government gave way to crude forms of Barbarians. These invaders lacked the ability to continue the achievements in art, literature, and engineering. However, these invaders also brought with them new ideas and traditions that changed Roman culture to a more diverse and defused culture which altered the course and development for later Europe. The Germanic pe ople brought with them their customs and traditions, but the idea that most influenced later Europe was the belief in the rights of the individual. To the Romans the state was more important than the individual. It is from this merging of cultures that the idea of personal rights, the concept of government by the people, and crude but representative law courts emerged. These ideas paved the way for the acceptance of new ideas. This individual thinking allowed for the broad acceptance of Christianity, the most important ingredient that went into the making of Europe. The cultural legacy of Greece and Rome, combined with the new ideas and traditions of the Germanic people was glued together with Christianity. As Germanic minorities mingled with what was left of the Roman population, they created new hybrid societies that would differ in ways that would have great consequences for centuries. How did these various Germanic people assimilate and what kind of governmental and social struc tures developed in these early Middle Ages that would later influence the making of Europe? The answers are numerous and complex, but here are a few underlying basic reasons: Germanic tribes were originally ruled by individuals who were chosen because of their dominance and success in battle. Germanic warriors were modified by their increased exposure to Roman civilization. Barbarian war bands acquired the concept of stratified ranks from the Roman armies they encountered which assisted in the evolution of a class structure. As the most elite acquired land and wealth, social inequalities emerged that would define nobles from peasants in later Europe. German tribes developed regulations or laws that applied to the Romans as well as their own people. For example, the Franks developed the Wergeld Value System where a certain value was placed on every person. Fines were charged for a violation on that person and varied depending on their status. These Barbarian law codes would later evo lve into the Feudal System in Medieval government was a disorganized affair that grew out of Germanic tribal ties of kinship and personal loyalty. Their greatest gains in this transitional period were made for them by their kings. Most kings tried to rule according to Roman law. But, gradually, by a painful process of political pioneering, the kings learned to rule in their own names without the benefit of imperial restrictions. By the end of the sixth century, this Germanic style had totally replaced the Roman administrative system.

History and Purpose of the Commonwealth of Nations

History and Purpose of the Commonwealth of Nations As the British Empire began its process of decolonization and the creation of independent states from former British colonies, there arose a need for an organization of countries formerly part of the Empire. In 1884, Lord Rosebery, a British politician, described the changing British Empire as a Commonwealth of Nations. Thus, in 1931, the British Commonwealth of Nations was founded under the Statute of Westminster with five initial members - the United Kingdom, Canada, the Irish Free State, Newfoundland, and the Union of South Africa. (Ireland permanently left the Commonwealth in 1949, Newfoundland became part of Canada in 1949, and South Africa left in 1961 due to apartheid but rejoined in 1994 as the Republic of South Africa). Commonwealth of Nations Rebrand In 1946, the word British was dropped and the organization became known as simply the Commonwealth of Nations. Australia and New Zealand adopted the Statute in 1942 and 1947, respectively. With Indias independence in 1947, the new country desired to become a Republic and to not utilize the monarchy as their head of state. The London Declaration of 1949 modified the requirement that members must view the monarchy as their head of state to require that countries recognize the monarchy as simply the leader of the Commonwealth. With this adjustment, additional countries joined the Commonwealth as they gained independence from the United Kingdom so today there are fifty-four member countries. Of the fifty-four, thirty-three are republics (such as India), five have their own monarchies (such as Brunei Darussalam), and sixteen are a constitutional monarchy with the sovereign of the United Kingdom as their head of state (such as Canada and Australia). Although membership requires having been a former dependency of the United Kingdom or a dependency of a dependency, former Portuguese colony Mozambique became a member 1995 under special circumstances due to Mozambiques willingness to support the Commonwealths fight against apartheid in South Africa. Policies The Secretary-General is elected by the Heads of Government of the membership and can serve two four-year terms. The position of Secretary-General was established in 1965. The Commonwealth Secretariat has its headquarters in London and is composed of 320 staff members from the member countries. The Commonwealth maintains its own flag. The purpose of the voluntary Commonwealth is for international cooperation and to advance economics, social development, and human rights in member countries. Decisions of the various Commonwealth councils are non-binding. The Commonwealth of Nations supports the Commonwealth Games, which is a sporting event held every four years for member countries. A Commonwealth Day is celebrated on the second Monday in March. Each year carries a different theme but each country can celebrate the day as they choose. The population of the 54 member states exceeds two billion, about 30% of the world population (India is responsible for a majority of the Commonwealths population).

How to Make Managing Multiple Marketing Clients Easy - CoSchedule

How to Make Managing Multiple Marketing Clients Easy Managing multiple clients  is no easy task for any agency marketer. You might have two clients at once ask for last-minute requests. Or, you could have the opposite problem, where clients completely fail to communicate. An account manager might overpromise your capabilities, leaving you to  work some miracles (and a few all-nighters). No matter what your situation looks like, though, youre under pressure to deliver quality work.  If you’re not on your A-game at all times, a lot of things can go wrong. Fast. When they do, its easy to make excuses. Sometimes, it might be tempting to say, If we had more budget, wed have fewer problems. Or, If this client would just see things our way, we could actually start getting sh* done. Heres an insider secret, though: Excuses are for losers. So, what should busy agency teams struggling with client management do instead? Start by putting the right workflows and tools in place to help you (and your clients) work happily and successfully together. If you feel like you’re struggling to keep your head above water with all you need to do, this post is for you. Youll learn: How to establish positive routines and workflows to more done, faster. Better work in less time? Its not only possible, but realistically achievable. How to keep all your content and deadlines organized.  Theres an old saying that goes, Hell hath no fury like that of a client whose agency blew their deadline. So, maybe thats not exactly how that quote goes. Well show you how to hold yourself accountable to deadlines, is what were saying. How to get things done right the first time and keep clients happy. The fewer revisions work needs to go through, the faster you can get it all done (while burning less budget). Sound good?  Lets roll up our sleeves and un-suck your client management woes. How to Make Managing Multiple Marketing Clients EasyFirst Things First: Manage Multiple Clients Easily With Have you been looking for a way to ditch those endless email threads hit every deadline (for real) and maybe even keep some of that hair youve been pulling out? for Agencies is our newest Growth + Agency Pack plan- built exclusively for agencies. ^^^ And its gonna give you all of those benefits plus some. Manage All Your Clients In One Place Eliminate the need for spreadsheets, email threads, and multiple platforms! Get all your clients under one roof. Make it easy for you, your clients, and your team to collaborate, manage projects, and get err done. Simplify Your Team’s Workflows Collaboration Easily facilitate real-time collaboration with your clients, stay on track with client tasks, and execute on projects faster. Get Organized With An All-In-One Client Dashboard: Get a snapshot of all your client projects in one place. Stay on top of project timelines, see upcoming deadlines, follow up with specific teams. Reuse Workflows Without Rebuilding Everything From Scratch: Create the perfect template for your client workflows! Eliminate mistakes and move projects forward with task specific templates. Recycle your task template for future clients and iterate on them as you continue to improve the process! Get Social Media Approvals Without The Endless Back-And-Forth: Collaborate in real time with ’s social approval workflows. Keep the entire conversation in one place, stay on track with client promotion, and execute on campaigns faster. Customize To Fit Your Clients Needs is designed for flexibility. And as your clientele grows, so should your tool. With the Agency pack, youll get s Multiple Calendars feature; allowing you to create unique calendars analytic reports for every client. Improve Client Retention With Data Driven Results No more warm fuzzies! Prove the value of all your hard work with real data! Utilize ’s Social Engagement Report to measure your success and improve client retention. Ok, now: Lets teach you how to manage multiple clients with some step-by-step guidance, shall we? Next: Download Your Free Client Management Template Bundle Manage multiple clients more easily with these five free templates: Daily Task Planning Template to keep all your work organized day-to-day. Content Marketing Project Checklist to prioritize tasks for every client assignment. Content Calendar Template to plan and manage project deadlines. Marketing Project Management Template to document outlines and requirements for every client project. Content Writing Template to create and share content for client review prior to publishing.Getting Organized: Start With Yourself You can’t always control your clients. You can, however, control yourself. So, that’s where we’ll start. Plan Out Your Morning Routine A good morning routine can set your pace and mindset for the whole rest of the day. So, spend your first few minutes at the office productively. Make a short checklist of things to get done. Here are some ideas: Get your coffee (of course). Catch up on emails you may have gotten overnight. Write out your task checklist for the day. Establishing an easily repeatable routine helps build positive habits that drive more productivity. For a deeper dive into the psychology of how habits work (and how to harness them for the power of good), we highly recommend reading Charles Duhigg's The Power of Habit. If you need a TL;DR version, this short video with the author (an esteemed New York Times writer) is fantastic: Build Yourself a Clear File Structure Store all your client documents in clearly labeled folders. Create one for each client. Then, add in subfolders for each campaign, project, or type of work you do for them. A hypothetical folder structure might look like this: This way, you'll waste less time hunting down files and client projects. Establish a Consistent File Naming Convention Trying to decipher someone else's file names can be difficult. Worse than that, if  all the moving parts of your campaign use multiple file-naming structures, people can quickly get confused. Is the right file "cool-content-project-sally.V2.doc" or "v.2-project-design-sally"? Avoid miscommunication by using an agreed-upon file naming convention. If your team needs help in this area, follow this detailed guide from Stanford. This doesn't need to be overly complicated, as long as everyone on your team (and your clients) can quickly identify the correct documents they need without having to open them up first. Stay on Top of Your Email For a lot of folks, â€Å"inbox zero† is a mythical state of being that seems unattainable. While messaging tools like Slack and HipChat have helped alleviate some of that pain, it’s important to keep your email organized whether or not you’re using those services. To keep emails from clients clearly separated, consider color-coding messages that come from certain email address. That way, you can quickly glance at your inbox, and know what came from whom. If you use Gmail, you might also consider using multiple inboxes to keep client communication organized. This guide from PC World will show you how. #Email tip: Use multiple inboxes in @gmail to manage communication from multiple clients:Pick Your Tools Wisely Marketers have never had more selection for tools than they do now. With so many options out there, however, it can be easy to feel paralyzed. The need to use tools that are multi-client friendly just adds more complexity. With any set of tools you use, keep these things in mind: Do any of our current tools duplicate functionality? If you can get something done with one tool instead of two, consider cutting the one you don’t absolutely need. Are any of our current tools more of a hindrance than an asset? If a tool is frustrating to use, don’t stick with it just because it’s what you’ve always had available. Shop around and get something that works for you, or make the case to your boss that it’s time for a change. Are the tools you’ve chosen likely to be ones your clients will want to use, too? Sometimes, there are advantages to choosing tools that are considered industry-standard options versus competitors. Use the tools that work best (and are within your budget), but keep flexibility in mind. Next, let’s break down the types of tools you’re likely to need. Project Management Tools This is a big one. Effective project management is essential for client success. It’s also essential for not wanting to tear your own hair out. Having the right tools here can make or break this process. Although there are a lot of tools available, we're biased toward . What's your favorite productivity tool for managing multiple marketing clients?Communication Tools You'll likely need two different types of communication tools: those for communicating internally, and for communicating with your clients.  For internal messaging, we recommend chat apps like Slack or HipChat (which we use here at ). The advantage to these kinds of messaging tools is they cut down on email. While we recommend using email when necessary, chat apps are great for quick questions and informal communication. For client communication, you might choose to use a chat app. However, it's much more likely you'll need to use email or some sort of shared project management solution. Fortunately, also makes it easy to talk to team members and clients within your content calendar: Execution Tools The tools you use to execute projects may vary depending on what you do. Here are some common options most will need: Word processors. Cloud-based options like Office 365 or Google Docs work well for collaboration. Design tools. Photoshop and Illustrator are considered industry standards. Social media management platforms. There are tons of tools that can help you manage your social media networks. We’re biased toward , but if you’re doing social marketing, use something. Content management platforms. These include WordPress, Joomla, Expression Engine, and other popular options. SEO monitoring tools. These include Moz, Raven Tools, Positionly, and tons more. Reporting Tools Clients will expect you to prove the value of your work. Here are some tools you might consider: Google Analytics. This one is a no-brainer. It's free, powerful, and should be on every site and blog you manage. Cyfe. This is a useful all-in-one data dashboard app. Klipfolio is another popular alternative to consider. And plenty of others. For more options, check out this list from HubSpot. Recommended Reading: How to Use Social Media Analytics to Create the Best Content Should You Be Flexible With Which Tools You Use? Different clients may have different processes or tools they prefer to use. Being mindful of this can definitely help your working relationship. However, unless you have limitless patience and money to spend, there may be times where you need to tell your client up front which tools you’ll be using. Otherwise, you can easily end up with five project management tools, four social media platforms, six content management systems, and so on down the line. This can make it difficult for your staff to learn how they all work, and it adds unnecessary cost and complexity. Clients are paying you for your expertise. If you think a tool works better than what a client is currently using, make a case for why they should switch. Above all, try to keep it simple. Should clients dictate which #content #marketing tools you use?Establish Consistent Workflows People are creatures of habit. If you fall into an unproductive rut, it can be difficult to dig your way out. Establishing processes that encourage productivity from the get-go can help you get more done, more consistently, with less stress (and late nights at the office). And if you’re juggling the needs of multiple clients, this is essential for being able to pace yourself over the long term without burning out. In the aforementioned  The Power of Habit, Duhigg says, When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard, or diverts focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit- unless you find new routines- the pattern will unfold automatically. So, build your workflows in ways that encourage habits that are productive. That way, efficiency becomes automatic. Here’s how to plan out a simple workflow for a given task: Determine How Flexible Workflows Can Be Having a consistent process for receiving and delivering work to and from clients makes life a lot easier. At an agency, this work is typically handled by a project or account manager (and so it’s likely you’ll never need to worry about it). If you’re working on your own, however, you’ll need to determine how you’ll handle this. While different clients may have different preferences, you may want to be careful not to let them dictate how you work too much. If you get push back, explain why you do things the way you do. When you have multiple clients to manage, the more streamlined your processes can be, the better. When you have multiple clients to manage, the more streamlined your processes can be, the better.How Will You Work With Clients With Varying Budgets? Typically, the more a client can spend, the more you can do. If you’re able to staff a full team of writers, coders, designers, and project managers, then the scope of work you can complete isn’t limited by much. If, however, you’re working solo (or if the client can’t afford to spend much), you may need to learn to stretch your available resources. Recommended Reading: How to Do the Best Content Marketing on a Limited Budget Consider building out service packages new clients can choose from. You can allow for some flexibility, but laying out what you can do at which price points can help set accurate expectations up front. Your internal plan should include: Which services each package includes. Which tools you can use at each level. Some room for clients to grow into a higher-priced plan as they grow with you. Getting to Know Each Client Every client is going to be different. Their needs, personalities, and working styles are all likely to be unique. Plus, they’re also likely to have different customer bases, which will have different needs and expectations from the work you’ll produce. Develop Clear Personas for Each Client’s Industry If you don’t know a client’s industry inside and out, user personas can be immensely useful. They’re essentially character sketches of your client’s average customer or audience member. Recommended Reading: Spark Your Persona to Life With These Nine Tools Establish Style Standards for Each Client Switching between work for different clients can be a mental challenge. If you’re writing content about, say, power tools one minute, and then a clothing brand later that same day, it can be tricky to switch from one mindset to the other. In addition to user personas, documented style standards can help. You don’t necessarily need to refer to them consistently when doing client work, but they can helpful to lean on. MailChimp's content style guide is an excellent example to consider following: Set Up Introductory Meetings With New Clients When onboarding new clients, bring everyone who will be working on the account into a meeting with your stakeholders. This gives everyone a chance to talk through ideas and learn what each side expects from one another. It can also give your team members insight into how your client prefers to work and what their needs are. Managing Your Work for Multiple Clients Alright, so now you have all your preparation in place. Now, how do you manage your actual day-to-day work for multiple clients? How do you manage your actual day-to-day work for multiple clients?Be Realistic When Estimating How Long Your Work Will Take Delivering your work on time and at budget is important for building client trust. Estimating how long creative work will take to complete is tough. Regardless, you have to figure it out. If this is something you struggle with, get a timer, create a productivity spreadsheet, and track how long tasks and projects take to complete. Simply create sections for days, with rows and columns for time and tasks: To save you some time, we’ve included an Excel version of this template within this post. You can use this in two ways: To plan how long you’ll spend on tasks each day ahead of time. To keep track of what you accomplish each day retroactively. This is kind of like keeping a personal record of your timesheets so you can calculate an average of how long different types of work typically take. If you’re using this sheet to plan ahead, start by blocking out time for each task you’ll complete. Prioritize them based on when they’re due (we’ll get into deadlines in a bit). Do your most pressing work first, then move on. Setting priorities this way can help you know what to work on when multiple projects are competing for your time. Multiple projects competing for your time? Set priorities and stick to them.Over time, you’ll be better able to provide clients and project managers with accurate time estimates. That can make it much easier to negotiate project timelines that allow you to produce great work while balancing multiple clients (and without losing your mind). Establish Clear Project Deadlines Whoever’s responsibility this is, make sure deadlines are always clear between your organization and your client. For your own team, make sure internal deadlines for smaller pieces of bigger projects are laid out too (if necessary). And make sure those deadlines are on your content calendar! Which leads us to our next point. Recommended Reading: How to Meet Deadlines When You're Sick and Tired of Missing Them Set Up Your Clients With Content and Social Media Calendars Doing content marketing without content calendars is like driving a car without a steering wheel. Like a plane without wings. Like a boat without a rudder. Insert your own favorite vehicle-based analogy here. Managing multiple calendars for clients isn’t necessarily easy. You might also need a calendar for promoting your own business to prospective clients, too. So, do you put everything on one? Or, do you set up multiple calendars? We’d make the case for multiple calendars here. Give your client a shared calendar you can both use and update. That way, you’ll remove all ambiguity around deadlines and when things are due. This helps keep both sides accountable and avoids frustration over unmet expectations. Managing multiple #content #marketing clients? Use multiple #calendars:Setting up your editorial calendars in Google Sheets is an easy way to do this for free (and you can use the free template we’ve included in this post). If you’re using , the multiple calendar functionality available in the Growth + Agency Pack plan makes this easy. All your clients can have their own calendar. Plus, with built-in project management and team communication features, you can keep all your correspondence straight (no more â€Å"sorry I missed your email† nonsense). Plus, automation features save tons of time (which is extremely important for maximizing efficiency with multiple clients). For a real-world example of how works, The Barbell CEO was generous enough to create this demo video: Make Client Management Easy With for Agencies! Let's say you choose to set up a calendar for each client. Awesome! With for Agencies, we've made doing just that super easy. Here's a quick rundown of what our multi-calendar agency plans can help you do: Manage every client in one place. No more messy spreadsheets. No more insane email threads. No juggling multiple platforms. Use to organize everything. Manage workflows that actually... flow. Delegate, approve, communicate, and take over the world. Prove your work generates results. Use ’s most advanced analytics to measure your success and improve client retention†¦.(without all the tedious data collection). Which means you can stop jumping from screen to screen, manage all your clients on one platform, and get your agency super organized in the process. Determine How to Provide Deliverables Content docs. Proposals. Reports. Whatever kinds of deliverables you provide clients, templates are key to saving time. Use one set of templates for every client so you can spend less time preparing deliverables and more time getting your work done. We’ve even included a few in this post to help you out (they’re in the downloadable bundle you should see as a circular pop-up to the left). Set up a clear process too so nothing gets delivered late. Whether you’ll deliver work by email, Dropbox, or some other method, make it consistent and let clients know exactly when and how they can expect to get what they’ve paid you for. Recommended Reading: How to Quickly Build Social Media Proposals That Win Clients (Free Template) What Are Your Top Client Management Tips? If you’ve found success juggling multiple clients (either in an agency or as a consultant), are there any tips you’d add? Leave a comment below and help get the conversation started!

Report investigating the London Olympic Stadium 2012 programme Essay

Report investigating the London Olympic Stadium 2012 programme - Essay Example The stadium provides a seating arrangement for 80,000 viewers and has been made to scale the seating arena to a smaller 25,000 seated stadium. This requires an in-built flexibility and it maximises the potential of the stadium to meet needs of the community and arrange smaller national sports events in the stadium. The designer, Rod Sheard, and his team introduced ingenious designs and used 3D computer graphics, time-lapse photography and conducted persuasive interviews with the key personnel of this programme so as, to receive advices and feedback on the work done. The roof of the stadium is one amazing piece of art and scientific architecture; it is a cable-net roof of more than half kilometre circumference, and is erected as one enormous piece of roofing. The lighting arrangement is equally amazing (Channel5, 2012, Megastructures: London's Olympic Stadium). Lighting pads are attached to each individual seat which when lighted produces a magnificent effect. Also the administration team has taken care of the environmental issues. The entire structure has been created to minimize waste generation right from the structure of the building to the transportation and food facilities, procurement of raw materials and checks on carbon emission. All these have helped the building to achieve a successful seat in modern architectural development. Program management Programme management refers to an approach that is integrated into the approach of project management and streamlines the effect of project management principles implemented for the proper delivery of different projects (Gray, 1997). Programme is a group many portfolios of separate projects (Shehua and Akintoye, 2009; Ferns, 1991; Reiss, 2003). These projects are managed in a synchronized manner which creates certain benefits that would not have been earned had the projects been administered independently. When the cost benefit analysis is made while planning a mega event, nalysts must calculate long term cost s and benefits. These affect the economy of the host destination and also influence the performance of the programme in the long run (Jago, et al., 2010). In this paper the business objective of the London Olympic Stadium built for the 2012 games would be evaluated according to the academic theory of risk management and PRINCE2 methodology. The architectural design would be studied to assess the long term performance of the programme. Risk management Mega-events as the World Cup in football or cricket or the Olympic Games are special events that require rigorous practice for risk management. Although mega-events take place for a limited time span, they cast long-term impacts on the host cities. Hosting of such mega events require the creation of large infrastructure that often entail long-term debts and necessitate long-term programming (Roche, 1994). It requires efficient analysis of the probable security risks and their proper management of security risks. It involves substantial interdependencies among the different projects within the large programme and provides a wide scale of resource commitments. Apart from the consequences on the host nation, these events are of

Radiography Diagnostic Imagery Program Scholarship Essay

Radiography Diagnostic Imagery Program - Scholarship Essay Example When a person gets an illness there is no greater relief than knowing what disease you are suffering from. This way the medical community can immediately put a treatment plan into action. obtaining the bursary award would greatly help in my aspiration to graduate from the Radiography Diagnostic Imagery program. This program is a tremendous opportunity for me. I know that upon completion of the program I will have all the necessary skills and abilities to succeed in the real world. This career will enable me to become financially independent. The median salary of a radiographer in the United Kingdom is over 38,440 pounds per year. I would like to gain experience to eventually open up my own clinic. One of my aspirations upon graduating from this program is to go back to my homeland of Africa and give back to the community.In the current global medical environment, there is a shortage of talented professionals across the world. The shortage of manpower is evident in both develop and un derdeveloped countries. In the underdeveloped parts of the world such as Africa, the need for healthcare professionals is greater than any other part of the world. One of the problems in the African region is that there are very few educational institutions, thus the country is not graduating enough professionals to keep up with the demand for these services. Due to the fact that the salaries in Africa are very low in comparison with the United Kingdom or other parts of the world, it is hard for Africa to recruit talent. This is one of the reasons why supporting my educational goals can benefit society. I want to go back to Africa upon graduation in order to help out the community. I am a very giving person that believes in the value of helping others. Before the industrialized world took over our lives our ancestors lived in a society in which everyone depended on the efforts of each other. In order for the world to become a better place, more professionals have to dedicate themsel ves to social causes. I want to help others as much as possible. In the past, I have been involved in various volunteer and community service initiatives including scorekeeping at junior basketball games. Now that I’m about to become a resident of the United Kingdom I plan on reaching out to the local churches, non-profit organizations, and governmental institutions in order to find volunteering opportunities. The bursary award would be a blessing for me because I am in need of financial assistance in order to finance my graduate studies. I am not a native resident of the United Kingdom since I was born in South Africa. This fact implies that I am not eligible for the financial assistance scholarship and loan programs United Kingdom residents are entitled too. This places me at a competitive disadvantage in comparison with British residents. The tuition expenses to enroll in the university are very high and for me, the costs are much higher because I’m an international student. When I save money for tuition the economic laws hurt my position because the currency of South Africa is extremely devalued in comparison with the British pound. The conversion rate between the British pound and the South African rand is currently valued at one pound to 11.15 rand.

Poverty and Homelessness Essay Example for Free

Poverty and Homelessness Essay Over the years , we as a society have become insensitive to the major issues faced by the mankind and homelessness is one of those major issues. Millions of people, including children, families , babies ,veterans and elderly live day after day without food, water or a roof over their heads. People who are mentally ill also have it tough on the streets, which can be extremely confusing to them and dangerous to the rest of society. As the con side of this argument, it can be understood as a problem that must be solved soon and therefore should be addressed as major crises affecting the society. At the same time, I argue that it is not as big problem as it is made out to be. There are various reasons for why people are homeless and some of those reasons ,along with their effects as well as solutions are mentioned in this essay. The majority of homeless people are adult men. Many of these men choose to be homeless because that is the free lifestyle they want to live. Same is the case with many women and children. Homelessness life is not always as bad as it seems. Homelessness people have all the time in the world, they are free to do whatever they like without any restrictions. They can read books, take walks, go for hang outs and enjoy nature. There are the drawbacks of diminished health, alcohol and drugs and looks of disdain from other people, but any homeless people just live in their own world and enjoy it. According to my thought, homeless should just be allowed to live their lives. Second reason that can be considered as important for homelessness is that there are those people who do not make the choice of becoming homeless, but are forced of becoming homeless because of economic issues. For example, as the population is increasing at a very fast pace , it is getting difficult for everyone to find a job and as a result, unemployment prevails which directly leads to the issue of becoming homeless. There are the people that we need to help out financially. Thirdly, there are some people who make the choice of being homeless because they simply do not want to support themselves, these are the people that need to receive professional medical help. Our society can be seen as adversely affected by the problem of homelessness. Having no home can make it extremely hard for adults to get or keep work, being one of the causes of poverty which in addition to helping to maintain homelessness also helps turn households trying to be useful rospering citizens into victimized anti-social problem households breeding further poverty, drug addiction, alcoholism and crime. Homeless young people are much more likely to be not in education. In other words, the homeless people can not get access to a better education because they do not have the resources to fulfill their basic needs. Poor qualification, in turn, act as a barrier in finding job, as a result, future of the homeless people is spoiled. Poverty and desperation means some homeless people turn t o crime. This further decreases the chances of them finding work and escaping their situation. Homeless young people are more likely to be the victims of crime. Their situation puts them at risk of exploitation, particularly if they become homeless at a very young age. Homelessness has a huge effect on an individual’s both physical and emotional health. Homeless men and women suffer from cold that they can not get rid of because they have no access to medicine, food and warm housing. They also are more at risk for dependency on drugs and alcohol and contracting HIV. They suffer from vitamin deficiencies and often don’t get adequate sleep. Homeless people have no housing to protect themselves from physical violence and even rape. These can lead to emotional breakdowns that lead them to become institutionalized. In sum, homelessness is not a big issue for those who desires to be homeless, for instance , people who do not want to have social contacts with others , but , for the persons who are forced to become homeless ,it is a huge problem and needs to be solved. There seems to be two main elements in saving a homeless person. The government needs to help homeless people get back on their feet. They need to make sure also that homeless people do not abuse systems such as social security and housing. Also, homeless need to get up on their own two feet, for themselves. Finding jobs, such as selling â€Å"Homeless Newspapers† seems to be a common first step. To illustrate, a vendor gets the papers for free or low cost, sells them for something like a dollar and keeps 55 cents, or a little more than a half, for each sold. The homeless can then use this money to pay for food, shelter and other basic necessities. Many shelters exist whose primary goal is to provide homeless with a job and home. We help these people everyday without knowing as a proportion of our taxes go back to the community in many forms and one form is helping out the homeless. One can also help the homeless by volunteering at shelters. So if the government is willing to help get the homeless roused into the wanting of a better life, and they wish to follow through, then I suppose we could find a better, faster way to end the nation’s problem of homelessness.

Professional Athletes and Steriod Use Essay -- Professional Sports

Steroid is a name given to drugs that are manufactured from testosterone, a reproductive hormone found in men. Some athletes normally use anabolic steroids because these drugs improve one’s capacity to compete and train, yielding high results. Steroids work by reducing exhaustion during training, and also reduce the length of time an athlete needs to recover from exhaustion. In addition, steroids enable the growth of tissues and muscles in an athlete’s body by instructing the body to produce extra proteins. During the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, the first rumors of athletes using steroids emerged. The problem of athletes using steroids was again reported in 1954 during weight lifting championships. The Soviet athletes recorded a very impressive performance at all levels of weight lifting. Later on, the team’s physician admitted that the Soviet athletes were being injected with testosterone in order to increase their muscle mass and strength after being question ed about how they achieved their success. WHO (World Health Organization) in 1968 was the first party to complain about incidents of athletes using steroids, these sentiments were later backed by IOC (International Olympic Committee). This paper is going to give reasons why professional athletes should not be allowed to use steroids (Yesalis 25). Professional Athletes Should Not be allowed to Use Steroids Winstrol and Dianabol are the most frequently used anabolic steroids by professional athletes. The main disadvantage of using steroids in sports is that the use of these substances amounts to cheating. This is because steroids give unfair advantage to athletes that use them. Use of steroids has made some prominent athletes to rise and fall during their careers. In all ... ... Beamish, Rob. Steroids: A New Look At Performance-Enhancing Drugs. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger, 2011. Print. Canseco, Jose. Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits, And How Baseball Got Big. New York, NY: Harper, 2005. Print. Goldman, Bob, Patricia J. Bush, and Ronald Klatz. Death in the Locker Room: Steroids & Sports. South Bend, IN: Icarus Press, 2004. Print. Mohun, Janet and Aziz Khan. Drugs, Steroids, and Sports. New York, NY: F. Watts, 2008. Print. Lau, Doretta. Steroids. New York, NY: Rosen Central, 2008. Print. Sterngass, Jon. Steroids. New York, NY: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark, 2011. Print. Stevens, Sarah. Steroids. New York, NY: Crestwood House, 2001. Print. Yesalis, Charles E. Anabolic Steroids in Sport and Exercise. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2000. Print.

Formal and Informal Communication: an Organizational Approach

Formal and Informal Communication: An Organizational Approach By: Masayu Shahnaz Winarko Student Number: 43005860 Faculty of Economics, Business and Law University of Queensland Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2012 Abstract This paper concentrates on the discussion of formal and informal communication and its usage in organizational approach. Although both formal and informal communication support the well-Â ­being of organizations, studies suggest that informal communication has taken a big part in determining the productivity in organizations and it has derived many benefits and many challenges. Managers should know how to deal ith such thing and optimize the advantages that will create value added for the company and overcome the obstacles it might create. Many researches have studied and given results on this matter and its application in businesses worldwide. 1. Introduction Communication occurs in every single section in life, from personal to professional issues. It is inevit able that it supports the flow of social life and company’s workflow. It has been taking an important role in organizations; therefore, many studies concentrate in the discussion of organizational communication. It is believed that both formal and informal communication affect rganization’s productivity (Litterst & Eyo). However, unlike formal communication, informal communication is less controllable and unstructured. Informal communication plays a strong role in determining the result of scientific field by generating new ideas or improving the existed idea (Hagstrom). FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL 1 APPROACH Since informal communication has a strong impact on organizational performance, managers should be able to manage the flow of not only formal, but also informal communication. As business grows and the requirements needed in surviving within the competition keep adding on, xecutives should make the most effective use of every resource avai lable and by improving the flow of communication is one of the ways. This study will provide an analysis in dealing with managerial challenges regarding controlling the flow of informal communication and what managers should do to make the best of it. 2. Literature Review 2. 1 Communication Communication is the activity to convey messages through different channels, such as words, symbols and signs. Based on Duncan and Moriarty (1998), communication is a human activity that links people together and creates relationship. In order to create a successful communication, t requires three elements; they are the sender, the message and the receiver. Both the sender and the receiver have to share the same understanding so that the message can be fully transmitted. The success of communication is determined by how the message is understood by the receiver. As defined by Gamble and Gamble (2002), communication is the transfer of meaning and there are seven essentials of communication, which are people, message, channels, noise, context, feedback and effect. Although there are 126 different definitions on communication (Ruben & Stewart, 2006), but many scholars defined it as an exchange of information.Ruben & Stewart (2006) also stated that success in one’s career may well depend on communication. Not only in the individual performance, communication also determines organization’s performance. This present study will point out the importance of formal and informal communication and its applications within an organization. 2. 2 Formal Communication Formal communication is an organized and structured communication within an organization. The communication occurs in many flows. Upwards 2 FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH communication indicates the communication from employees to executives. Downward ommunication represents the flow of communication from executives to lower level employees. Horizontal communication shows the flow o f communication within the same level of company, for example the communication flow of brand manager and finance manager. The last one is diagonal communication, which represents the communication of the upper level of a particular division with the lower level employees in another division. The types of formal communication within an organization that are commonly used are meetings, conference, phone calls, company bulletin and interview. 2. 3 Informal Communication Informal communication is nevitable in every organizational entity. By communicating with other people, employees can find similarity in hobbies, opinions and experiences, which result in being friends. Informal communication is based on social relationship among people (Litterst & Eyo, 1982). Informal communication is relaxed, casual and spread through word-Â ­? of-Â ­? mouth. Informal networks are communication links between individuals and sections that bypass the formal structures in an organization (Smith, 2011) . There are four flows in communication networks; the first one is single strand in which one person tells another person, the second one is gossip hain in which one person tells the others, the third one is probability chain in which one person tells another person who pass the news to someone else and the fourth one is the cluster chain in which one person tells other two or three people who spread the news to other two or three people as well. There is another important term in informal communication, which is grapevine. Grapevine is best described as the way gossip travels through organizations. Robbins and colleagues (2008) indicate the characteristics of grapevine: it is not controlled by management, it is more believable and reliable for the employees and it serves he self-Â ­? interests of those in the group. 2. 4 Differences between Formal and Informal Communication FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL 3 APPROACH No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Elements Definition Fl exibility Degree of control Evidence Discipline Formal Communication Informal Communication Takes place through Passing formal channels Flexible by Cannot be controlled No documentary proof is not followed formal channels Not flexible Controlled management Has documentary proof Official discipline are highly maintained is Discipline Flow of information Flows upwards, Flows freely to all downwards, horizontal directions and iagonal 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 2. 5 Differentiation and Complimentary Studies have attempted to determine which one between formal and informal communication has the most impact in organizations. Research suggest that formal communication takes role in the authority in organizational hierarchy (Dow, 1988; Jablin, 1987), differentiation of labor and specialized tasks (Dow, 1988; Jablin, 1987) and mechanism for coordination of work (Dow, 1988). Meanwhile, business communicators strongly believe that informal 4 FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATION AL APPROACH Speed Secrecy Rumor Distortion Time MisunderstandingCost Mistakes Slow Can be maintained occur Not distorted Requires much time misunderstanding Expensive Very low Very fast Difficult to maintain Small chance of rumor to Rumor can occur Can be distorted Less time occur Less expensive Very high Not much chance of Misunderstanding may communication plays an important role in increasing innovations within organizations (Johnson, 1990). Johnson, Donohue, Atkin and Johnson (1994) conducted a study on the means of formal and informal communication within an organization through three main perspectives: salience, channel factors and channel usage. The research suggested that the employees erceive informal communication as more effective and better used in achieving company’s mission. However, in terms of cultural means, formal communication is perceived as a more appropriate way to communicate. 3. Case Study First and Tomic (2011) conducted a research regarding the role of informal communication in creating company brand image and preferences. In this research, the object was an international turnkey contractor specializing in oil and gas industry. This company employed more than 38,000 employees all over the world at the time this research was conducted. This company operates in business market, so not many eople acknowledge this company’s existence. However, this company concerns about its brand image. They use formal approach in spreading its existence to college graduates by coming to the university and do presentations on its company profile. Nevertheless, formal communication only does so much. They also rely heavily on informal communication role to spread the word-Â ­? of-Â ­? mouth on the culture of the company. For example, people know from their acquaintances that this company gives high salary to their employees and this news draws them to working for this company. The second example of case study comes from the research ofAndr ea, Arnaldo and Romano (2011). The case was about Italian leading mineral water and soft drink company. In 2008, the company held 16% of the segment mineral water in Italy, 12% in soft drink and 19% in tea-Â ­? based drink. Its ROE was 18. 1% while its competitor was only 13. 8%. Its inventory turnover was 12. 6 compared to its major competitor whose inventory turnover was only 6. 15. The study focuses on determining the role of formal and informal communication in making this FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL 5 APPROACH company a leader in its filed. The study was conducted in three steps. The first one is dentifying the units that engage in the process of purchasing, manufacturing and logistics. The second step is tracing the flow of formal and informal communication during those activities. The final step is to identify how both formal and informal communication improved over time that results in a synchronized workflow of the company. The study suggested that formal communication was highly important in achieving internal integration (Andrea, Arnaldo & Romano, 2011), while informal communication is important in problem solving because it occurs in real time (Pagell). 4. Conclusion Based on the present and former studies conducted y many scholars on various objects (focuses on organizations in this matter), it can be concluded that both formal and informal communication are important in the productivity of the company and its performance as a whole. Managers should identify in which field the communication should be optimized and which way to use. There are several differentiations in the work progress on which it is better to use either formal or informal communication and managers should be well aware of it so they would not imply the wrong method of communication. As in optimizing the informal communication, managers should use personal approach as it ravels fast and is more favorable by the employees. Moreover, informal communication can be used in building company brand and image, so managers should be really careful that only the good values of the company is transmitted through informal communication. 6 FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH References Andrea, F, Arnaldo, C & Romando, P 2011, ‘Case study: understanding how formal and informal communication affect purchasing, manufacturing and logistics integration’, Advances In Management, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 22-Â ­? 32. First, I, Tomic, M 2011, ‘Formal and informal communication channels in creating Formal and Informal Communication: an Organizational Approach Formal and Informal Communication: An Organizational Approach By: Masayu Shahnaz Winarko Student Number: 43005860 Faculty of Economics, Business and Law University of Queensland Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2012 Abstract This paper concentrates on the discussion of formal and informal communication and its usage in organizational approach. Although both formal and informal communication support the well-Â ­being of organizations, studies suggest that informal communication has taken a big part in determining the productivity in organizations and it has derived many benefits and many challenges. Managers should know how to deal ith such thing and optimize the advantages that will create value added for the company and overcome the obstacles it might create. Many researches have studied and given results on this matter and its application in businesses worldwide. 1. Introduction Communication occurs in every single section in life, from personal to professional issues. It is inevit able that it supports the flow of social life and company’s workflow. It has been taking an important role in organizations; therefore, many studies concentrate in the discussion of organizational communication. It is believed that both formal and informal communication affect rganization’s productivity (Litterst & Eyo). However, unlike formal communication, informal communication is less controllable and unstructured. Informal communication plays a strong role in determining the result of scientific field by generating new ideas or improving the existed idea (Hagstrom). FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL 1 APPROACH Since informal communication has a strong impact on organizational performance, managers should be able to manage the flow of not only formal, but also informal communication. As business grows and the requirements needed in surviving within the competition keep adding on, xecutives should make the most effective use of every resource avai lable and by improving the flow of communication is one of the ways. This study will provide an analysis in dealing with managerial challenges regarding controlling the flow of informal communication and what managers should do to make the best of it. 2. Literature Review 2. 1 Communication Communication is the activity to convey messages through different channels, such as words, symbols and signs. Based on Duncan and Moriarty (1998), communication is a human activity that links people together and creates relationship. In order to create a successful communication, t requires three elements; they are the sender, the message and the receiver. Both the sender and the receiver have to share the same understanding so that the message can be fully transmitted. The success of communication is determined by how the message is understood by the receiver. As defined by Gamble and Gamble (2002), communication is the transfer of meaning and there are seven essentials of communication, which are people, message, channels, noise, context, feedback and effect. Although there are 126 different definitions on communication (Ruben & Stewart, 2006), but many scholars defined it as an exchange of information.Ruben & Stewart (2006) also stated that success in one’s career may well depend on communication. Not only in the individual performance, communication also determines organization’s performance. This present study will point out the importance of formal and informal communication and its applications within an organization. 2. 2 Formal Communication Formal communication is an organized and structured communication within an organization. The communication occurs in many flows. Upwards 2 FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH communication indicates the communication from employees to executives. Downward ommunication represents the flow of communication from executives to lower level employees. Horizontal communication shows the flow o f communication within the same level of company, for example the communication flow of brand manager and finance manager. The last one is diagonal communication, which represents the communication of the upper level of a particular division with the lower level employees in another division. The types of formal communication within an organization that are commonly used are meetings, conference, phone calls, company bulletin and interview. 2. 3 Informal Communication Informal communication is nevitable in every organizational entity. By communicating with other people, employees can find similarity in hobbies, opinions and experiences, which result in being friends. Informal communication is based on social relationship among people (Litterst & Eyo, 1982). Informal communication is relaxed, casual and spread through word-Â ­? of-Â ­? mouth. Informal networks are communication links between individuals and sections that bypass the formal structures in an organization (Smith, 2011) . There are four flows in communication networks; the first one is single strand in which one person tells another person, the second one is gossip hain in which one person tells the others, the third one is probability chain in which one person tells another person who pass the news to someone else and the fourth one is the cluster chain in which one person tells other two or three people who spread the news to other two or three people as well. There is another important term in informal communication, which is grapevine. Grapevine is best described as the way gossip travels through organizations. Robbins and colleagues (2008) indicate the characteristics of grapevine: it is not controlled by management, it is more believable and reliable for the employees and it serves he self-Â ­? interests of those in the group. 2. 4 Differences between Formal and Informal Communication FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL 3 APPROACH No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Elements Definition Fl exibility Degree of control Evidence Discipline Formal Communication Informal Communication Takes place through Passing formal channels Flexible by Cannot be controlled No documentary proof is not followed formal channels Not flexible Controlled management Has documentary proof Official discipline are highly maintained is Discipline Flow of information Flows upwards, Flows freely to all downwards, horizontal directions and iagonal 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 2. 5 Differentiation and Complimentary Studies have attempted to determine which one between formal and informal communication has the most impact in organizations. Research suggest that formal communication takes role in the authority in organizational hierarchy (Dow, 1988; Jablin, 1987), differentiation of labor and specialized tasks (Dow, 1988; Jablin, 1987) and mechanism for coordination of work (Dow, 1988). Meanwhile, business communicators strongly believe that informal 4 FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATION AL APPROACH Speed Secrecy Rumor Distortion Time MisunderstandingCost Mistakes Slow Can be maintained occur Not distorted Requires much time misunderstanding Expensive Very low Very fast Difficult to maintain Small chance of rumor to Rumor can occur Can be distorted Less time occur Less expensive Very high Not much chance of Misunderstanding may communication plays an important role in increasing innovations within organizations (Johnson, 1990). Johnson, Donohue, Atkin and Johnson (1994) conducted a study on the means of formal and informal communication within an organization through three main perspectives: salience, channel factors and channel usage. The research suggested that the employees erceive informal communication as more effective and better used in achieving company’s mission. However, in terms of cultural means, formal communication is perceived as a more appropriate way to communicate. 3. Case Study First and Tomic (2011) conducted a research regarding the role of informal communication in creating company brand image and preferences. In this research, the object was an international turnkey contractor specializing in oil and gas industry. This company employed more than 38,000 employees all over the world at the time this research was conducted. This company operates in business market, so not many eople acknowledge this company’s existence. However, this company concerns about its brand image. They use formal approach in spreading its existence to college graduates by coming to the university and do presentations on its company profile. Nevertheless, formal communication only does so much. They also rely heavily on informal communication role to spread the word-Â ­? of-Â ­? mouth on the culture of the company. For example, people know from their acquaintances that this company gives high salary to their employees and this news draws them to working for this company. The second example of case study comes from the research ofAndr ea, Arnaldo and Romano (2011). The case was about Italian leading mineral water and soft drink company. In 2008, the company held 16% of the segment mineral water in Italy, 12% in soft drink and 19% in tea-Â ­? based drink. Its ROE was 18. 1% while its competitor was only 13. 8%. Its inventory turnover was 12. 6 compared to its major competitor whose inventory turnover was only 6. 15. The study focuses on determining the role of formal and informal communication in making this FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL 5 APPROACH company a leader in its filed. The study was conducted in three steps. The first one is dentifying the units that engage in the process of purchasing, manufacturing and logistics. The second step is tracing the flow of formal and informal communication during those activities. The final step is to identify how both formal and informal communication improved over time that results in a synchronized workflow of the company. The study suggested that formal communication was highly important in achieving internal integration (Andrea, Arnaldo & Romano, 2011), while informal communication is important in problem solving because it occurs in real time (Pagell). 4. Conclusion Based on the present and former studies conducted y many scholars on various objects (focuses on organizations in this matter), it can be concluded that both formal and informal communication are important in the productivity of the company and its performance as a whole. Managers should identify in which field the communication should be optimized and which way to use. There are several differentiations in the work progress on which it is better to use either formal or informal communication and managers should be well aware of it so they would not imply the wrong method of communication. As in optimizing the informal communication, managers should use personal approach as it ravels fast and is more favorable by the employees. Moreover, informal communication can be used in building company brand and image, so managers should be really careful that only the good values of the company is transmitted through informal communication. 6 FORMAL AND INFORMAL COMMUNICATION: AN ORGANIZATIONAL APPROACH References Andrea, F, Arnaldo, C & Romando, P 2011, ‘Case study: understanding how formal and informal communication affect purchasing, manufacturing and logistics integration’, Advances In Management, vol. 4, no. 7, pp. 22-Â ­? 32. First, I, Tomic, M 2011, ‘Formal and informal communication channels in creating