Introduction to Counselling Essay

   Definition of a Counsellor Counselling is about to give help rather than advice, advice frequently means telling people what they should or ought to do, and this has no place in counselling. Counsellors look at what is possible, but do not tell clients what they should do. That would be the counsellor taking control rather than the client gaining control. The primary difference between counselling and other forms of helping is the way in which the counsellor listens. A counsellor should always be factual within their notes, you should always take notes after a session while fresh on your mind, taking notes in a session can cause clients to maybe feel worried or nervous on what you’re putting down and also keep you interested and proven to be listening. The difference between advice, guidance and counselling Advice: Mainly a one-way exchange, giving an opinion, making a judgement, making a recommendation =Persuasive. Guidance: Mainly a one-way exchange, showing the way, educating, influencing, instructing =Encouraging. Skills of a counsellor Every person who uses counselling skills is designated a counsellor. We can distinguish two broad groups of people who use counselling skills, people who are called counsellors who engage in counselling as a distinct occupation and others who use counselling skills as part of their other skills. They would be temporarily in the role, for example we go to our doctor for something medical or a psychiatrist for something spiritually wrong these establish a helping relationship. What they offer is not counselling however they use counselling skills, they may also be trained counsellors so the dividing line is not clear cut. The difference is that the person knows when counselling is taking place and has agreed to it. Other skills you pick up on when counselling are: * Respecting personal space * keeping legs uncrossed and sitting relaxed * Being open with body language, * Bringing your body in to talk is being interested and sitting back shows you’re interested and engaged. * Memory is the key. * Try not to talk with hands or sit on them. * Clothing can be casual but formal depending on where you work * Setting a good first impression is important * Keep facial expressions to a minimum show expression but limit to how much. * Eye contact should be minimal keep eyes moving around the face * Think about distractions before your client arrives * Keep your client informed on what we’re going to do and not do. * Being agreeable and willing to be there, and most importantly helping your client to get back on track. Values of counselling and psychotherapy Values inform principals. They represent the important way of expressing a general ethical commitment that becomes more precisely defined and action-orientated when expressed as a principal. At all times counsellors must show a commitment to: Respecting human rights and dignity Protecting the safety of clients Insuring the integrity of practitioner/client relationships Enhancing the quality of professional knowledge and its application Alleviating personal distress and suffering Fostering a sense of self that is meaningful to the person(s) concerned Increasing personal effectiveness Enhancing the quality of relationships between people Appreciating the variety of human experience between people Striving for the fair and adequate provision of counselling and psychotherapy services Ethical principles of counselling and psychotherapy Principles direct attention to important ethical responsibilities, there are six ethical principles that are used which also help on making decisions when looking over them, they are as follows: * Being trustworthy – honouring the trust placed in the practitioner, he’s to building good understanding and helps your client being able to open up if the trust is there. * Autonomy – respect for the clients to be self-governing, this is important to allow and help our client to gain their ability to be self-directing. * Beneficence – a commitment to promoting the clients well-being, always acting in the best interests of the client based on professional assessment. * Non-maleficence – a commitment to avoiding harm to the client, do not take advantage of the client at their most vulnerable part in their life i.e. sexual, financial, emotional or any other form of client exploitation. * Justice – the fair and impartial treatment of all clients and the provision of adequate services, a commitment to fairness requires the ability to appreciate differences between people and to be committed to equality of opportunity, and avoiding discrimination against people or groups contrary to their legitimate personal or social characteristics. * Self-respect – fostering the practitioner’s self-knowledge and care for self, seeking counselling or therapy and other opportunities for personal development as required. The practitioner’s personal moral qualities are of the utmost importance to clients. Personal moral qualities The practitioner’s personal moral qualities are of the utmost importance to clients. Many of the personal qualities considered important in the provision of services have an ethical or moral component and therefore considered as virtues or good personal qualities. It is inappropriate to prescribe that all practitioners possess these qualities, since it is fundamental that these personal qualities are deeply rooted in the person concerned and developed out of personal commitment rather than the requirement of an external authority. Personal qualities to which counsellors and psychotherapists are strongly encouraged to aspire include: Empathy: The ability to communicate understanding of another person’s experience from that person’s perspective. Understand and letting them know that you understand Sincerity: a personal commitment to consistency between what is professed and what is done. Being honest, saying something and meaning it. Being able to be sincere and li sten to your client rather than talking. Integrity: commitment to being moral in dealings with others,  personal straightforwardness, honesty and coherence. Trust is very important. Resilience: the capacity to work with the client’s concerns without being personally diminished. Being able to hear what your client is saying to you and being able to stay there and not feeling the need to leave or cry with your client because of their story you are hearing, being able to hold your own. Respect: showing appropriate esteem to others and their understanding of themselves. Appropriate esteem and understanding themselves, respect that the person respects themselves. Not judging why they got to that point and help them understand why they got to this point. Humility: the ability to assess accurately and acknowledge one’s own strengths and weaknesses. Believing your good at something, work towards not feeling that you’re put down and low. Competence: the effective deployment of the skills and knowledge needed to do what is required. Keep improving skills, knowing you know what you are doing but you can build on it. Fairness: t he consistent application of appropriate criteria to inform decisions and actions. Knowing your able to meet your clients’ needs and if not discuss you could refer them to someone else, also about being fair to self, make sure your always being fair to your clients in the decisions you make. Wisdom: possession of sound judgement that informs practice. Sound judgement, understanding boundaries. Courage: the capacity to act in spite of known fears, risks and uncertainty. To be able to sit and listen to your client’s story, having the courage to be honest to your client. Non-verbal communication Awareness of non-verbal communication between the listener and the talker; we try to be aware of how we use our own bodies and how the talker uses their body to communicate. * Eye contact – keep eye contact minimal and moving around the face. * Facial expression – show expression but be limiting to how much you show. * Body posture – keep legs uncrossed and body straight, keep body language open. * Body movement – bring your body out to show you’re interested and bring body in when you’re really taking in what your client is saying. * Head nodding – is a strong thing to do shows your listening. * Proximity/position of chairs – positioning of the chairs is important as not to be directed in front of each other. Why we use this skill? * To show talker that the listener is paying attention. * To try to communicate that the listener is present. * To create a warm environment. * To encourage the talker to open up. * To begin to build a trusting relationship. Minimal encouragers Minimal encouragers are a form of verbal communication. They are brief sentences or a single word. Examples include: * ‘Go on’ * ‘Tell me more’ * ‘And’ * ‘Because’ * ‘Mmm†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.’ * ‘Ah ha’ * ‘Oh’ Using some of your minimal encouragers will help to keep your client talking and prompt them to continue in there story. * To show the talker that the listener is paying attention. * To communicate that the listener is present. * To encourage the talker to continue their story. Reflecting A reflection is offering back what the talker has said but it includes the feeling that the listener thinks was communicated. Feelings might be contained in the words the talker is using or feelings might also show themselves in how the talker presents i.e. looking sad or showing that they are angry. Why we use this skill? * To check or show that the listener has understood. Gives client confidence that the listener is actually paying attention in what the client is saying * To help the talker become aware of their feelings. Gives the client the option of discovering what they are actually feeling for themselves. * To work closer in the relationship. Gaining your clients trust to build a relationship. * To create a sense of intimacy. As your allowing your client to hear what they are saying and showing that the feeling you may be providing them with helps them to know you are truly listening to them. Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is to offer back in a few words what the talker has said in order to check understanding and communicate your attention. Paraphrasing can be good to help your client to hear what they have said and they know you have heard what they have said. Helps to show you are trying to understand what your client is saying. Why we use this skill? †¢To give the talker an opportunity to hear back what they are saying. As it can be very helpful for your client to hear back what they have said. †¢To check or show that the listener has understood. It also gives your client confidence that you have listened and heard what they have to say. †¢To invite further exploration of the talker’s story. It helps your client maybe feel more confident and open to talk more freely. Example: Talker: It’s been a rough week. I’ve done nothing but argue with my partner, the house has been burgled, there’s bad news from the hospital†¦at least I got a win on the scratch-card. Listener 1: You got a win on the scratch-card Listener 2: It’s been a rough week. Listener 3: You’ve been arguing with your partner †¢What do you think of the different listener’s responses? I think listener 2 is a much better response to what the client has said as leaves the story open for the client to decide where they want to go next. †¢What do the responses say about the listener’s points of view? Listener 1) is very in appropriate as quite a few bad things gone on for your client. Listener 2) leaves it open for your client to choose what to talk about Listener 3) is also a good thing to say but doesn’t give the client a chance really to decide what they would prefer to talk about. * What other responses can you think of? Maybe number 2) but also ask client to describe maybe the worst part about the week? Summarising A summary is an overview of what the talker has been talking about during the session. A summary can be used during the session as well as to end the session. Think about the main points of a session and say it back to your client. Summarising really helps letting your client know you are really listening and heard what they have said. Knowing if a silence is that your client is thinking, or gone quiet as maybe a bit lost so you could recap what your client has told you. Re capping can help to start your client talking again. Near the end of a session say to your client you have a few minutes left so let’s summarise and the pick out points, once relayed back ask your client if they would like to add anything else. Why we use this skill? * To communicate that the listener has heard and understood the content of the session. * To gather important points together. * To help the talker decide which points they want to talk about in more detail. * To help the talker if they are stuck, going round in circles, confused or if the session needs moving forward. Counselling Contract †¢Place, time, dates †¢Number of sessions †¢Confidentiality and limitations †¢Supervision and note taking †¢Model of counselling used †¢Fees and cancellation arrangements †¢Out of session contact Having a contract helps your client to know what’s expected of them, also what is going to happen. Confidentiality and limitations Offering confidentiality is part of a counsellor’s contract with their clients but there are limits to this at which point further action will be needed. What are the limits? †¢At risk – a person, who is deemed to be at risk to self or others, so could be talking about harming his self or others. †¢Children – any child at risk of abuse, maybe a partner hurting or abusing the child. †¢Vulnerable persons – vulnerable people at risk of abuse, by client or there partner. †¢Terrorism Act – there is a terrorism hotline number, for instance if someone said they were taking a bomb to the mall ECT. †¢If working for an agency you would follow their guidelines around confidentiality. If at any time you hear you client talk about any of the limits you have discussed, you need to make your client aware that you have to break the confidentiality. Other limits include: †¢Supervision – client material discussed with a supervisor, although this could be discussed with clients permission about their case but not mention there name. †¢Note-keeping – brief and factual notes made after each session, as a client has the rights to ask for their notes to see.

Representations of Love in Much Ado About Nothing

Explore representations of love in Much Ado About Nothing In Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare uses literary structures such as doubles and opposites in order to emphasise the plays main themes and ideas. McEachern claims â€Å"It is undoubtedly the most socially and psychologically realistic of his comedies, in it’s portrait of the foibles generosities of communal life. † (McEachern, 2006, 1) One main theme I want to explore is love and how Shakespeare represents this in Much Ado About Nothing. The two main genres in Shakespeare’s dramas are tragedy and comedy. Tragedy always ends in death and comedy always ends in a marriage. Although Much Ado inevitably ends in marriage, it differs from some of Shakespeare’s other romantic comedies as his other comedies usually portray love in a much more unrealistic way. â€Å"Much Ado About Nothing is best known for the ‘merry war’ between one of it’s two couples, and an oxymoron could also describe this comedy’s identity as a whole. Shakespeare offers a play of light and dark, of romantic union wrested from fear and malice and of social harmony soothing the savagery of psychic violence† (McEachern, 2006, 1) In Act 1 Scene 1, Don Pedro, prince of Arragon arrives with his bastard brother Don John, and his two friends Claudio and Benedick. It is in this Act that Beatrice and Benedick first meet and the war of wits begin. Leonato states â€Å"There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick and her [Beatrice]; they never meet but there is a skirmish of wit between them. † (Much Ado, Act 1 Scene 1, 520) Although their words seem quite hateful to one another, at the same time it may also come across as flirtatious. Before Beatrice even meets Benedick, she expresses her distaste for him, however, she talks about him in such great depth it is almost more like an obsession than hatred. Benedick teases Beatrice by saying â€Å"I am loved of all ladies, only you excepted: and I would I could find it in my heart that I had not a hard heart; for, truly, I love none. † (Act 1 scene 1, 521) to which Beatrice replies â€Å"A dear happiness to women: they would else have been troubled with a pernicious suitor. I thank God and my cold blood, I am of your humour for that: I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me† (Act 1 Scene 1, 521) By using the characters of Beatrice and Benedick, Shakespeare mocks the conventional type of love, romantic love, which is expressed by Hero and Claudio. This is also an example of how Shakespeare uses doubles in his play, as he uses the two couples to express two types of love. One being more realistic, that of Beatrice and Benedick, and the other being the more unrealistic, over the top romantic love expressed by Hero and Claudio. Even though the plot is largely based on Hero and Claudio’s relationship, the witty banter and seemingly unromantic relationship between Beatrice and Benedick seems much more interesting to the reader and we are more interested in how their relationship will develop. It is this relationship that seems much more believable compared to Claudio and Hero’s fairytale love at first sight. It is through contrasting these two different types of love and through the different use of language that Shakespeare can mock the conventional romantic love. Claudio uses a totally different style of language to Benedick when they both speak of love. Benedick is highly cynical and negative about love where as Claudio is more pretentious and elaborate when he speaks about Hero, for example when he says â€Å"Can the world buy such a Jewel? † (Act 1 scene 1, 522). This language is completely different to the way that benedick speaks to Beatrice as the first thing he says to her is â€Å"My dear Lady disdain! Are you yet living? † (Act 1 scene 1, 521) Benedick also speaks of his frustration of Claudio’s eloquent language when speaking of love as he states â€Å"He was wont speak plain and to the purpose, like an honest man and a soldier†¦his words are a very fantastical banquet, just so many strange dishes. (Act 1 Scene 3, 529) This however is quite hypocritical of him as in Act 4 Scene 1, Benedick confesses his love for Beatrice and states â€Å"I do love nothing in the world so well as you: is that not strange? † (Act 4, Scene 1, 541) to which Beatrice responds â€Å"I love you with so much of my heart, that none is left to protest† (Act 4, scene 1, 541) This shows how dramatically their relationship has changed as the witty banter and insults have turned into confessions of love for one another. It is often difficult to understand and accept the love between Hero and Claudio as it is so unrealistic. They fall in love with each other before they even truly get to know one-another, which therefore makes their love and marriage seem quite false and shallow. The fact that Claudio does not question Don John when he professes that Hero has been unfaithful, yet instead believes his word to be true, questions whether the love he has for Hero is sincere. Surely Claudio would confront his future wife before coming to any sort of conclusion, however, even her own father believes this to be true and states â€Å"why she, oh she is fallen/ into a pit of ink, that the wide sea/ hath drops too few to wash her clean again,/ and salt too little, which may season give/ to her foul tainted flash† (Act 4 Scene 1, 540) Another aspect of the play that makes Hero and Claudio’s love very unrealistic is hero’s willingness to forgive Claudio after his bold accusations of her infidelity. If his love for her was as strong and powerful as he made out, he would be more trusting of Hero in the first place. However, she seems to disregard this and does not question his behaviour, but instead is willing to carry on with the marriage. Bibliography McEachern,  Claire. Much Ado About Nothing. 2006. the Arden Shakespeare Shakespeare, W. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. 1996. Wordsworth Editions Limited

Putting an End to Poverty

A young boy walks through the mud bare-footed towards his one room shack. He opens the waterlogged door to find his young mother feeding his eighteen month old sister cold beans. He walks towards the kitchen, which is really just a three-legged table, a lawn chair and a stove, and scoops the remaining beans from the stove onto a plate for himself. He gives his mother a kiss on the cheek and walks towards his corner of the room. His mother wipes a tear from her eye. Tonight she did not eat dinner with her children; she did not eat at all just as she had not eaten the night before. This scene did not happen in a third world country like one might have believed. It happens everyday here in America. With the Presidential Elections quickly approaching, the candidates should focus on certain issues such as poverty and welfare. To help put a stop to poverty, the candidates must focus on the children living in the destitution, the education of the families, and the monetary wages of the families that are often making less than $15,000 a year. Politicians believe these things to be true in order to cut down on the poverty level. Putting an end to poverty starts with the children of the families. Vice President Al Gore feels very strongly about this. If the government provides nutritional support programs and food stamps, the likelihood that the children will become mature and flourish increases. Galbraith feels the same was as Gore. â€Å"If the children, though badly fed at home, are well nourished at school†¦ then there is a chance that the children of the very poor will come to maturity without inhibiting disadvantage. † (Galbraith, 246) If the physical well being of the children is watched very closely, then this would decrease the probability of poverty when the children are adults. Programs that could help the poverty level include Gore†s idea to expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). By doing this, the EITC would reduce poverty and child poverty rates. The EITC has already lifted 4. 3 million people out of the poverty level, 2. 3 of which were children. â€Å"(If the) physical well-being of the children is vigilantly watched†¦ then there is a chance that the children†¦ will come to maturity†¦ (246). † Secondly, the Governor of Texas, and Republican candidate for the 2000 Presidential Election feels that education is an important way to end poverty. George W. Bush feels that giving federal funds towards school districts in poverty-stricken areas will help expand the number of children and families that will rise above the poverty level. â€Å"We will give schools new freedom to excel in exchange for proven results. When a school district receives federal funds to teach poor children, we expect those children to learn. And if they don†t, parents should get the money to make a different choice. † (George W. Bush www. vote-smart. org/speeches/mtv. phtml? func=speech=m00) Bush also feels that money should be given to those children that are pursuing secondary education. Providing a $1,000 grant to students who took Advanced Placement and college classes in high school is just one example to encourage students of all social classes to try their hardest. Bush also provided the idea that better and safer schools should be built in the impoverished areas. Like Bush, Galbraith feels that education is a very important issue in the fight to end poverty. â€Å"The effect of education and related investment in individuals is to help them overcome the restraints that are imposed by their environment. (246) If the government helps to make the schools more effective in teaching, then the schools will make the poverty level more effective in decreasing. Lastly, the government must help families learn how to manage their finances. The two major candidates for the Presidential Election did not cover this topic. Obviously Mr. Gore and Mr. Bush did not feel that this would have been a successful idea. Galbraith on the other hand, feels that this is very important to help rid the country of poverty. The only way to solve the problem of poverty is to help people help themselves. † (245) One might, however, realize that society would not want the government so closely involved in their lives. This issue would not be of concern towards the Presidential Candidates, but of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). So in that sense, the government is involved with the finances of the people of America, whether they like it or not. The hopes of a nation are to get rid of all poverty. They want to feed and cloth and educate the little boy that lives in the one-roomed shack. They want to teach the parents of that little boy so that way, they can be hired at better paying jobs; they want to help the people with their finances. The man that wins this presidential election is going to have to understand that there is poverty out there, and that there are things that he can do about it. William Pitt once said â€Å"Poverty is no disgrace but it is damned annoying. † Galbraith answered that with â€Å"In the contemporary United States, it is not annoying but it is a disgrace† (247). The leaders of today should help diminish the poverty level from a disgrace to non-existent.

Analysis of the political change the United States underwent in Research Paper

Analysis of the political change the United States underwent in 2008-2011 - Research Paper Example Political Philosophy The political situation of the United States from 2008 to the present day has been shaped by the President Obama’s political philosophy. President Barrack Obama political philosophy tends towards the leftist ideology. His focus on majority of the things is based on socialism. Socialism is an ideology that consists of redistribution of wealth through taxation and government programs. His presidential campaigns were dominated by Yes We Can mantra thus, making himself the personification of hope for the American future. He was of the ideology that the grassroots movements could change United States. However, after two years of his leadership, the ingrained â€Å"national pessimism about the economy has taken a toll, and it is Republicans, seemingly poised to seize the House of Representatives† (Breitbart, 2011) and they are posing as agents of change. Republicans criticize President Obama for not delivering the changes he promised in 2008 and they asse rt that the Americans have not experienced it (Breitbart, 2011). As a presidential candidate in 2008, Obama appeared less ideological and more moderate and he vowed to unite the Republicans and Democrats under one nation. His tactics to embrace his foes in his presidency was obstructed by the staunch Republicans and thus, his appearance to the voters as a post-partisan president was largely damaged. He was forced to expose the largest government intervention to save the sinking economy; he took big chunks of the auto sectors and finance and framed stimulus package worth 800 billion dollars. President Obama implemented a social agenda with the Wall Street and health care reform; this made it easy for the Republicans to assert that Obama was eyeing a major government conquest in a country where there is deep-rooted government suspicions. Republicans argue that Obama lacks a defining political tag; he was not at ease, for example, with the politics of the New Democrat (Breitbart, 2011) . Conservatives seem him as a radical person but his followers on the left are not happy with the change because it was not as expected. Some of the liberals are not happy with Obama because he failed to endorse promises to permit gays to serve directly in the military or near the Guantanamo Bay. Others want investigations into the alleged abuses (in his war against terror) by the Bush Administration. Liberals are very disappointed with Obama and the independent voters who supported him in 2008 are joining the Republicans in large numbers (Breitbart, 2011). Thus, the popularity of Obama is diminishing on a daily basis due to his political philosophy and the failure to fulfill most of the promises he made in 2008. Economic Issues Like the other nations, United States is an exceptional to the problems associated with the economic disasters facing these nations. Majority of the people cannot see the obvious signs of the economic crisis facing the United States. The United States is no longer capable of producing what it needs in order to sustain itself. The nation imports more than it exports and it is selling off majority of its assets. To sustain its standard of living, the nation is taking huge debts; the standard of living the nation is attempting to sustain is beyond the abilities of the nation. United States is almost becoming entirely

Henry Peach Robinson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Henry Peach Robinson - Essay Example The best-known nineteenth-century popularizer of fine-art principles among photographers was Henry Peach Robinson, an English commercial photographer who published a series of popular studio manuals introducing design concepts such as balance (of lines and mass), composition (of figures and lines), and chiaroscuro to both American and European photographers." (Brown, 187-8) Through his single most famous text, Pictorial Effect in Photography (1869), Robinson celebrated pictorialistic style which helped the development of photography in general. Therefore, Henry Peach Robinson is the most important photographer and theoretician of the nineteenth century and he is celebrated as the pioneer of pictorialist photography. An analysis of the major works by this eminent photographer and the photographic tools and processes used by him helps one in comprehending the elements of pictorialism and the pictorialistic style in detail. ... "The term pictorialism was used generally by photographers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to describe an artistic approach to the making of photographs as well as to define a number of specific groups organized to promote art photographers and their work... In 1869, Henry Peach Robinson published his Pictorial Effect in Photography, giving weight to the notion of photography as a self-conscious art form and popularizing the critical concept of pictorialism." (Peres, 103) It is essential to comprehend the definition of pictorialism exactly as the modern usage of the term has been found misleading and pictorialism original referred to any photograph that put the completed picture first and the subject second. Therefore, pictorialism also incorporated the more modern trends the photographs of this category emphasized atmosphere or viewpoint more importantly than the subject. The historical significance of the movement also helps one to realize the various aspects of pictorial ism. "Pictorialism served historically as a reaction against the flood of unexceptional and easy photographs enabled by the technical advances of the 1880s. Convenient innovations such as the dry plate hand-held camera, and flexible roll film, as well as improved camera design and optical sharpness, made camera work available to a larger group of amateurs whose primary concern was the graphic recording of information." (Peres, 103) The photographers of pictorialistic movement were disapproving of the literal representation of subjects and the scientific and commercial applications of the medium. Therefore, the formation of a group under the banner of pictorialism needs to be realized as a natural and spontaneous attempt to promote

Assisting Teachers to choose the appropriate e-learning tool PART 2 Assignment

Assisting Teachers to choose the appropriate e-learning tool PART 2 - Assignment Example A goal of Blooms nomenclature is to motivate teachers to focus on all three areas, creating a more rounded form of teaching. Blooms nomenclature is considered to be an introductory and essential component within the teaching community. A tradition has developed around the nomenclature, possibly due to countless people learning about the nomenclature over second hand data. Bloom himself reflected the Handbook "one of the highly cited yet least read in American teaching". ISTE Values (formerly the NETS)Â  for Instructors (ISTE Standards) are the principles for estimating the skills and information educators need to instill, work and study in a progressively connected universal and numerical society. As technology incorporation continues to surge in our society, it is vital that teachers retain the skills and comportments of digital age specialists. Moving onward, teachers need to become contented being co-learners with their apprentices and coworkers worldwide. An algorithm is an involved way to clarify your philosophies using step-by-step directions. A clear procedure basically means that not only you can comprehend it, but persons who are relying on your procedure in order to comprehend your notion can do as well. A procedure that is perfect however, is not fundamentally correct. The good thing about a language is that there exists numerous ways to extant one idea. A correct procedure means that it will essentially perform as anticipated. Efficacy can be termed as working fast and accurately. Would you quite have a game that opened in 10 or 5 minutes? That can be exacted by your algorithm’s efficacy. Having an effectual algorithm means it operates as smoothly as probable and in the least amount of time. A clear system consists of proper classification. For instance while writing a package; you might have variables whose information is dog, pink and

English Business law Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

English Business law - Case Study Example een caused by communication breakdown whereby we could not directly get in touch with our members since we are still using the traditional form of communication which is the use of mail. It is our intention that we would harness the new information technology in the form of internet use so as to avoid inconveniences in the future with regards to books that end up failing to be collected by the supposed owners due to technical problems. We would also like to bring to your attention that our members are ladies in their fifties and we would like to put them in a category of old people who are no longer able bodied hence the inconvenience to respond accordingly. In some cases they would fail to get to us on time which would make us unaware of what may be taking place since it is a requirement that they should communicate with us directly should they require any changes to be made to their orders. It should also be brought to your attention that this has not been the usual way we conduct business hence accept our statement of apology. Indeed, we are currently in a financial crisis which has taken a toll on almost all facets of the economy across the board. Our organisation as well as our members have also not been spared by the tough financial crisis, the reason why some of the books may lie unclaimed at your premises. We would try to follow up on the issue since we assumed that if we do not get response from our membe rs they would have accepted their orders. We would also like to inform you that we will take appropriate action that is not in contravention with the law. It is our own knowledge that no one can operate above the law of the land and we would wish to inform you that we would take necessary measures that would ensure that we are not found at the wrong side of the law. Initially, we require our members to pay a membership fee which makes them legitimate and we would try to put measures that ensure effective communication among our members so as to avoid

Trends that Influence Effective Learning Assignment

Trends that Influence Effective Learning - Assignment Example According to Morrison et al (2010), ADDIE process was established at the University of Florida and was meant for military training servicemen, who needed curriculum development processes. Its present version was developed, and revised in mid-1980’s. ADDIE process involves the five treads founded in this model. They include; analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluation.Analyze; this involves an instructor collecting information concerning the learners, identifying the topics, and the content that should be covered. It is in this step that the instructors give a layout of the objectives of the project that need to be achieved. This enhances and gives meaning to the content since it makes learning to be relevant and achievable. Objectives serve as pointers of goal setting in education. When an instructor is developing a pedagogical way of delivering information, one must ensure that he comes up with objectives that need to be addressed. In cases, where these goals are not met, then learning may not have taken place. Therefore, for useful learning and teaching to be identified proper tools and materials should be applied to improve instruction. Design; this is the second step that enables instructional designers to develop their projects using the information received from the analysis stage. It is at this point that the instructor shows how he plans to ensure that learning has been achieved. The content is broken down into basic units that can be easily understood by learners.

Critical Thinking Exercise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Critical Thinking Exercise - Essay Example The brand collectively has over 33,000 restaurants, franchises and outlets serving on a daily basis over 68 million people in almost 120 countries. (About McDolands) The business model of franchising helps McDonald’s to convey reliable, quality oriented and locally-relevant eating experiences to its customers. The total assets of the company amount to $32,990 million including a $22.8 billion of fixed assets. The current assets of the company amount to $4.4 billion and a goodwill of $2.6 billion. The proportion of the current assets over the total assets is 13% and the net identifiable and tangible assets of the company have a proportion of 69.2% which indicates a healthy backing of tangible assets. The major portion of the company’s liabilities is the long-term debt of the company which amounts to $12.1 billion and takes 65.24% of $18.6 billion of the total liabilities. The current liabilities of the company, which majorly include payroll and trade payables, has a low standing as compared to the current assets as the current liabilities amount to $3.5 billion as at December 31, 2011. The company has generated total revenue of $27 billion for the year 2011 and $18.3 billion of that revenue has been generated through company operated restaurants while the remaining from franchised restaurants generating an operating profit of $8.4 billion whereby the operating expenses majorly include food, payroll and other operational expenses such as the ambiance and maintenance related costs of the company. These expenses make up a total of $14.8 billion out of the total $18.5 billion operating expenses. The net income of the company after tax is $5.5 billion for the year which is quite attractive for such a company operating in such a competitive environment. The company also declared a dividend of $2.6 billion for its common shareholders. The company was able to maintain the same level of cash as last year as the company’s total cash was $2.34

Personal statment to get accepted into LIU. topic can be on anything Statement

Statment to get accepted into LIU. topic can be on anything perferabbly about their nursing program - Personal Statement Example As a nurse I believe I will be able to work with and help people from different walks of life. Having done a thorough research, now I am convinced that LIU is the place to fulfil my academic aspirations from. LIU’s mission of opening world gates for men and women from all the different ethnic, social and economic backgrounds wishing to render themselves to the service of humanity particularly captures my interest. The goal of awakening, enlightening and expanding the mental faculties of its graduates says just everything. The institutionalization and appreciation of diversity as a strength just matches my personal value of interacting with different world cultures. I personally have always wished to be part of an educational system that permits intellectual freedom, independent scholarship and application of knowledge to the service of community. I will be honoured greatly to be selected as a student in the LIU nursing program. My interest in nursing is largely the result of a passion for serving in the medical field and be in a career that allows me to positively change lives. I am very passionate about helping others, it is most fulfilling & valuable thing for me and I believe as a nurse I will be better placed to do what I like every day. LIU’s nursing program aims at preparing graduates who will combine science, compassion and care to serve. The college’s goal of churning out graduate nurses who are competent, effective in leading change through compassionate care, management and nurse education responds to the requirements of the changing role played by nurses in the entire medical continuum. By studying for my nursing program at the university therefore, I will come our as an effective leader, well prepared and ready for the challenges of today’s society. Apart from academics, I am one very outgoing individual who actively takes part in games & sports, club activities and academic forums. I

Tobacco's Scandalous Past Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Tobacco's Scandalous Past - Essay Example In 1901, "Edward VII, the tobacco-hating queen's son and successor, gathers friends together in a large drawing room at Buckingham Palace...and announces, "Gentlemen, you may smoke" (Borio). Smoking jackets became popular and advertisements glorified the attractiveness of smoking. This was the age when it was fashionable to enjoy a glass of port wine with an elegant after dinner cigar ("History of Smoking"). This sensation swept Great Britain and began the conflict between good health and fashion for the tobacco industry. Soldiers during World War I were treated to cigarettes in their rations and as they brought the habit home, it gained even greater popularity. According to Borio, one-third of the returning soldiers were addicted to cigarettes. By 1935 the reported cases of lung cancer among cigarette smokers were skyrocketing and in 1938 the first medical report on the ill health effects of tobacco was released by John Hopkins University (Borio, "George Seldes on Tobacco"). By 1948, lung cancer was growing at 5 times the rate of any other cancer and had become the most common form of disease (Borio). Many of the victims of smoking were veterans who had gained the habit during World War I. The last half of the 20th century witnessed a string of monumental events concerning tobacco.

Value-Neutrality Paper Associated with Counseling Essay Example for Free

Value-Neutrality Paper Associated with Counseling Essay When working in the counseling field, one must remain neutral about issues that a client is suffering from. A counselor should not criticize a client for what he or she may believe in and should make ethical decisions when dealing with his or her clients. Within this paper, one will locate personal beliefs on ethical decisions, factors that might lead a counselor to referring a client to another counselor and, what would a counselor do if a referral is not an option. As a counselor, remaining value-neutral to a client’s situation should always be practiced with ethical decision-making. A counselor should remain neutral to all issues that a client is in session for to give the client the necessary help that is needed. If a counselor expresses moral judgment to a client in regards to his or her issue, the client can become resistant to the therapy session and the counselor. A client comes to the counselor because they are looking for help not to be judged or looked at negatively (Module 3 Lecture). With the issues stated above, I would be able to have a therapy session with a client, even though I am against all of the issues. Personally, I would stay away from my own values and beliefs so that no problems will arise within our counseling relationship. An example is that if I were to use my own values in a therapeutic session with a client, it would be only to allow the client to see that I was not successful with a similar issue they are facing. Out of nine ethical-decision making models that were created for counselors, no two models were alike but had similarities. Most of the models stated for one to identify the problem, consult the ethic codes, think about the consequences of the decision, and choose what is best for the client (Remley Herlihy, 2010). With ethical-decision making, as a counselor one must integrate a model that fits them personally to help the client because no one model works for everyone. If a counselor is faced with a client who suffers from any of these issues, the counselor has to work with the client to help them with his or her situation. Be mindful to the issue that the client is facing and if you are not experienced and do not fully understand, get help from another counselor who is more experienced in that area. A factor that may lead a counselor to refer a client to another counselor is handled case by case for the best outcome for the client. Reasons would be, if the client has come to a counselor that is not trained to treat the condition the client needs help with, dual relationships, insurance reasons, financial abilities of an agency, or if the client and counselor is having difficulties relating. If referring a client was not an option, I would work with another counselor to gain the necessary knowledge that is needed to treat my client and make the situation professional (Module 3 Lecture).

Cadbury | Marketing Analysis

Cadbury | Marketing Analysis Cadbury, the global leader in the chocolate confectionery market, began in 1824 when a young Quaker named John Cadbury opened up a shop in Birmingham. He sold tea, coffee and drinking cocoa and chocolate and one of the main causes of poverty was alcohol, he hoped that his product would prove to be a suitable alternative for it and so he maintained high quality standards for all of his products. Quakers was not allowed to attend university at that time and his anti-military thoughts also kept him away from the military, so he devoted his time towards business related activities or to other social reforms. John was selling 11 different types of cocoa and 16 different kinds of drinking chocolate by 1842. His brother, Benjamin also joined the company and they formed Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham. They got the Royal Warranty from Queen Victoria in 1854 and opened their office in London. The partnership failed after six years when Johns wife died and due to his deteriorating health. The business was handed over to George and Richard, Johns sons and they operated the business later on. The two brothers continued to expand their business and were earning profit now. Cadburys Cocoa Essence, which was advertised as absolutely pure and therefore best, was an all-natural product made with pure cocoa butter and no starchy ingredients. Cocoa Essence was the beginning of chocolate as we know it today. They moved their business to South of Birmingham and the area became popularly known as, Bournville. Due to profitable business, the brothers also started selling tea in 1873. Master confectioner Frederic Kinchelman was appointed to share his recipe and production secrets with Cadbury workers. This resulted in Cadbury producing chocolate covered nougats, bonbons delices, pistache, caramels, avelines and more. In 1897, they manufactured their first milk chocolate and two years later, they were incorporated as a limited company and had hired 2600 people in their factory. Cadbury supported World War I and sent books, chocolates and clothes to the soldier. Around 2000 of their employees joined the armed forces. These people were allowed to work in the factory after taking educational courses once they were back from the war. During this period trade overseas increased, and Cadbury opened its first overseas factory near Hobart, Tasmania. The next year Cadbury merged with JS Fry Sons, a past market leader in chocolate. Cadbury also extended their support in the Second World War. Their factories were used for the manufacturing of arms and ammunitions. Their growing fields were used as runways for the airplanes used in wars. Cadbury St. Johns Ambulance unit helped people during air raids and chocolate were provided to soldiers through out the war. In 1969 Cadbury merged with Schweppes (a brand famous for manufacturing carbonated soft drinks and mineral water) to form Cadbury Schweppes. These two merged companies went on to acquire Sunkist, Canada Dry, Typhoo Tea and more. Schweppes Beverages was created, and the manufacture of Cadbury confectionery brands was licensed to Hershey. Today Cadbury Schweppes is the largest confectionery company in the world, employing more than 70,000 employees. In 2006 the company had over $15 billion in overall sales. Cadbury Product Timeline A history of Cadburys sweet success à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1824 John Cadbury, the son of Richard Cadbury, opened his shop in Birmingham and sold tea, coffee,hops, mustard, cocoa and drinking chocolate. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1866 The Cadbury brothers introduce a new cocoa process to produce a much more palatable Cocoa Essence the forerunner of the cocoa we know today. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1897 First milk chocolate manufactured by chocolate. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1904 George Cadbury Junior perfects a new recipe for milk chocolate. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1905 Cadbury launched Dairy Milk into the market contained more milk than any other chocolates. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1913 Dairy Milk became Cadburys best-selling line. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1915 Cadbury Milk Tray was introduced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1920 Cadbury Flake was introduced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1923 Cream filled eggs, the forerunner of Cadburys Creme Egg, were introduced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Mid-1920s Cadbury Dairy Milk gains its status as the brand leader in the UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1928 Fruit and Nut was introduced as a variation of Dairy Milk and Cadbury introduced the glass and a half advertising slogan. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1933 Cadbury added Whole Nut to the Dairy Milk family. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1938 Cadbury Roses were launched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1956 Cadbury supplied Roses for a Royal tour of East Africa. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1958 Picnic was launched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1960s Chocolate Éclairs were launched by London confectioner, James Pascall. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1971 Halls joined the Adams family and Cadbury Creme Egg was launched. Pascalls was bought by Cadbury, with Eclairs becoming the second largest brand in the company (at that time). à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1974 Cadbury Eclairs were launched only in the UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1976 Cadbury Caramel was launched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1979 New advertising idea of saying thank you with Cadbury Roses was introduced. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1980-96 Cadbury Eclairs became an international brand. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1985 Cadbury Creme Egg launched a new campaign called, How do you eat yours? . à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1987 Cadbury Twirl was launched and Cadbury Roses became the leading brand in the twist-wrap market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1998 Cadbury Dairy Milk was relaunched only in the UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 1999 Cadbury Eclairs were relaunched as Cadbury Choclairs in important markets. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 2000 Cadbury Snowflake was launched. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 2005 Cadbury Schweppes acquires Green Blacks, the UK premium chocolate brand. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ 2010 Company accepted takeover bid from US food giant Kraft. Interesting Facts about Cadbury Instead of printing texts on chocolate boxes, Cadbury became the first company to include pictures as well. George Cadbury emphasized on mother-children relationship and whenever any woman worker had a baby, she was asked to leave the job and take care of the baby. Cadbury became the first company offering kitchens with dining tables and food for sale in 1886. A miniature metal animal (elephant, penguin, owl, fox, duck, squirrel, rabbit or turtle) was given away with specially designed cocoa tins in 1934. In the same year, Cadburys tokens, which came with packs of cocoa, could be redeemed for lamps, kettles and saucepans. Many children joined Cadburys Cococub Club in 1936. Cadburys World Visitor Center opened in 1990, welcoming 400,000 visitors in its first year. A Get Active program was launched by Cadbury in 2003, helping 10,000 teachers get in shape. Cadbury a leader in the global confectionery market Cadbury is one of the worlds leading confectionary firms, selling chocolate, gum and candy under its own name in addition to other brands such as Halls and Green and Blacks. It also produces a range of beverages and functional and health foods. The organization now operates in more than 60 countries, with the United States, New Zealand, Turkey and Canada among the nations in which its various products are sold. It has approximately 45000 employees and works with around 35000 direct and indirect suppliers. The firm earned a 7 percent rise in their revenue recently. Key categories and brands Cadbury is operating in a number of markets at the same time, including the functional and health foods and beverages sectors. It also sells a wide range of confectionery throughout the world both under its own brand and a range of other names. Among these are Green and Blacks chocolate ( UKs leading premium chocolate product). Other confectionery products include Cadbury Roses boxes of individually wrapped assorted chocolates and the Cadburys Creme Egg. Flake, Eclairs and Dairy Milk are the chocolates that are sold under Cadburys brand name. Other products that are offered by the firm within the confectionery sector include Freddo, Caramilk, Old Gold and Wendel Mieszanka Wedlowska. Cadbury is also a major player in the gum market, with Bubblicious bubblegum among the range of such products. Bubblicious is the number one bubblegum in Canada and the second-most popular in the United States. It comes in a variety of flavours including Watermelon Wave and Strawberry Splash. Stride is also among the gums available on the US market, while First a sugar-free gum launched in Turkey in 1995 has a number of sub-brands such as Neogum Lava. Among this particular product range is First Duo which contains a number of herbal active ingredients such as parsley, sunflower and extract of green tea aimed at providing clean and fresh breath. The firm is also active within the beverages sector, with its leading brands here including Bournvita a cocoa-based drink that can be mixed with water and/or milk which is particularly popular in India and Nigeria Cadbury Bournville Cocoa and Cadbury Drinking Chocolate. Cadburys Halls brand has a major stake within the functional and health foods sector. The range of mentholated products which includes Halls Defense, Fruit Breezers and Maxair provide nose and throat relief for those suffering from colds, coughs and other ailments and has a 22 per cent share of the medicated confectionery market. It also accounts for more than half of all cough drop products sold throughout the world and has licensed medicated status in northern hemisphere countries including Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. In other parts of the world particularly in hot, dry countries Halls products tend to be purchased for the purposes of mouth refreshment. The confectionary market was booming as many multinational firms were entering. Till the mid 80s, chocolate market was small and almost dominated by Cadbury only. It made chocolate for a distinct category with an identity of its own. So chocolates carried a only for kids tag ad and kept the adults away. Cadbury had 80% of the market share by mid 80s. Other categories like Amul and Campco tried to break into the market and reduce Cadburys market share, but failed. By now chocolate were categorized as luxury and were reserved for special occasions and for rewarding and reinforcing the positive behavior. Later on Cadbury also dominated the market because it not only focused on children, but on adults also. While its competitors thought and made chocolates only for children, due to which Cadbury had an upper hand in the chocolate market. Trends in the Industry à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Changes are rapidly taking place these days, so everyone (including the young and the elderly) will change according to the new lifestyle and will adapt to chocolate eating. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Population and family incomes as well as urbanization are increasing in the industry. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Approximately 6 million people have upgraded to the middle class. On February 2, 2010, Cadbury became part of Kraft Foods as both of them merged. Some fast facts on the combined company of Cadbury and Kraft are: Our Global Reach  · Approximately $50 billion in revenues  · 25%+ of global revenue from emerging markets  · #1 in global confectionery  · #1 in global biscuits  · More than 50% of global revenue from snacks and confectionery Our Brand Portfolio  · 11 brands with more than $1 billion in revenue  · 70+ brands with more than $100 million in revenue  · 40+ brands over 100 years old  · 80% revenue from #1 share positions Explanation Cadbury is considered in the market structure of Monopolistic Competition. All the firms in the industry face a lot of competition from each other and Hersheys and Nestle are some of the major competitors of Hersheys, to name a few. There is no collusion between such firms and so each firm determines its own pricing policy without considering the possible reactions of rival firms. They all are producing products with slightly different physical characteristics, offer varying degrees of customer service, providing various amounts of locational convenience or proclaim special qualities, real or imagined, for their products. Product differentiation may also be created through the use of brand names and trademarks, packaging, and celebrity connections, for example, Cadbury included Amitabh Bachan in their advertisements. It shows that the demand for Cadbury products is highly elastic. Entry and exit of firms in monopolistic competition is relatively easy as economies of scale are few and capital requirements are low and nothing prevents an unprofitable monopolistic competitor from holding a going-out-of-business sale and shutting down. The expense and effort of the firms would be wasted if the consumers do not know about the product, so the firms often advertise heavily and the goal of product differentiation and advertising is nonprice competition, which is to make price less of a factor and make product differences a greater factor. If it becomes successful, the demand curve of the firm shifts towards the right and becomes less elastic. ADVERTISING SALES PROMOTION Advertising and Sales promotion are very essential for a business to prosper and to generate revenue. As Cadbury has many substitutes as well like Hersheys and Nestle etc., so it is in a stage of great competition. It needs to focus a lot on advertising to capture the market share because all of the firms in the industry are selling differentiated products, due to which they are heavily focusing on advertising. Slogans of advertising are the tools of sales promotion are very important as they persuade the customer to purchase the product. Following are a few advertising slogans used by Cadbury for introducing the product to the customers:- THE REAL TASTE OF LIFE (DAIRY MILK ) THODI SI PET POOJA KABHI BHI KAHI BHI (PERK) WHEN EVER ON HUNGER STRIKE (PERK) TAN KI SHAKTI, MAN KI SHAKTI (BOURNVITA) KUCH ZADA HI SOLID (PICNIC) YEH CHOCOLATE KHAE AAP INHE KHAE (ECLAIRS) Along with great advertisements, these slogans are beautifully used by Cadbury so they can persuade the consumer to buy the product. PRICING POLICIES ADOPTED BY CADBURY Although there is intense competition among different chocolate firms for market share and new products, it has been seen that the prices of chocolates has risen since the last one year. Prices of important brands like Nestles Kitkat and Cadburys Dairy Milk have rose by 25 per cent each and prices of brands like Cadburys Eclairs have also rose. Cocoa is one of the most important inputs of Cadburys chocolate and accounts for 45% of the total cost of chocolate production. Since its domestic production (estimated at 4500 to 5000 tonnes for the current year) is not increasing in India, so they have to import it at a higher price. More than half of the cocoa used in production is being imported. This is one of the major reasons why a rise in prices of Cadburys chocolate can be seen. Along with it, the Indian rupee is also depreciating, so it makes the company worse off. Another reason is that internationally the prices of cocoa has risen, so the production cost of firm increases which compels the firm to rise its prices. The excise duties have imposed a heavier charge on imports by increasing the tax paid on excise duties from 8% to 18%.Maximum retail prices have been introduced in the budget which adds to the cost of production. All these factors have risen the cost of production of the firm and it is unlikely that the prices will recede in the near future. FACTORS INFLUENCING PRICING OF CADBURY Internal Factors Corporate and marketing objectives of the firm. The image sought by the firm through pricing. The characteristics of the product. Price elasticity of demand of the product. The stage of the product on the product life cycle. Use pattern and turn around rate of the product. Cost of manufacturing and marketing. Extent of distinctiveness of the product and extent of production differentiation practiced by the firm. Other elements of the marketing mix of the firm and their interaction with pricing. Composition of the product line of the firm. External Factors Market characteristics. Buyers behavior in respect of the given product. Bargaining power of major customers. Competitors pricing policy. Government controls regulations on pricing. Other relevant legal aspects. Societal (or social) considerations. Understanding, if any reached with price cartels. Cadbury objective of pricing Profit maximization in the short-term. Profit optimization in the long-term. A minimum return (or target return) on investment. A minimum return on sales turnover. Targets sales volume. Target market share. Deeper penetration of the market. Entering new markets. Target profit on the entire product line irrespective of profit level in individual products. Keeping competition out, or keeping it under check. Fast turn around and early cash recovery. Stabilizing prices and margins in the market. Cadbury vs Kraft Confectionery Market Value Share by Region 2008 The Kraft/Cadbury strategic fit It is the end of 3 years turnaround plan and its redeveloped growth strategy is strongly based on selected primary categories, such as chocolate, biscuits and coffee. It has secured a leading position after the attainment of DANONEs biscuit and cereals division in the global market with 18.4% value share, the company seems to follow the same policies in order to gain a leading position in confectionery market. The joint value share of Kraft and Cadbury in the global confectionery market will be 14.9%, it captures the top position from current leader Mars (14.5%). Krafts further expansion in confectionery market is dependent on its current reforms strategies and its aim is to become a global powerhouse in snacks, confectionery and quick meals. It is expanding its activities in confectionery which will fully complement the Danone biscuits and cereal product operations. Even though Krafts market share is higher in all region except for the smallest Middle East, Africa and Australia is comparatively higher than Cadburys, in confectionery Cadbury has a noteworthy lead over Kraft, except for Eastern Europe where Kraft was one of the first multinational movers to enter the market. With this attainment Kraft will gain a strong value share and leading position in many major developing markets in Latin America, the Middle East and Africa and Asia-Pacific, such as India As well as wider geographical reach, Kraft will also benefit from Cadburys brands meeting its own chocolate and sugar confectionery portfolio as well. Attaining Cadbury Kraft will get leading position in global confectionery and it helps it expand it geographical coverage in meeting regions. However, even confectionery is expected to perform below overall packaged food growth over the 2009-2014 period, with a 1.5% CAGR compared to a 1.7% CAGR, respectively. Asia Pacific and Latin America are most relevant set, gains of Kraft. As their confectionery market of 2009 and 2014 are expected to post CAGR of 2.3% and 2.6% respectively DANONEs biscuits and Cadbury are Krafts latest acquisitions and are revealing the companys strategic direction of establishing strong growth platforms in categories in which it can benefit from complementary operations and significant economies of scale. Revenue Performance by Category Throughout the year there was a good demand for chocolates and bagged candies the expected beneficiary of stay at home culture. At the same time, regardless to a softer start to the year, the more functional or activity related product, like medicated gums and candies delivered a positive growth from the end of second quarter. Chocolate (46% of revenue in 2009) delivered revenue growth of 7%, reflecting strong performances in the UK, India and South Africa. India and South Africa benefited from continued investment behind affordable products, supporting chocolate growth in emerging markets of 11%. Australia delivered progressively good growth, benefiting from the relaunch of the core Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) brand in the second quarter of the year. Similarly, our business in Poland benefited from the relaunch of Wedel in the second half, leveraging the experience of the UK relaunch of CDM in 2008. Gum (33%) revenue growth improved strongly in the second half (up 5%) more than compensating for the weak first quarter. As a result, Gum was up 2% for the year as a whole. Despite weak market conditions overall, our businesses improved market share in nearly all key markets, including the US where the launch of Trident Layers in the second half re-established strong growth momentum in the category. Candy (21%) revenues grew 5% for the year as a whole reflecting strong second half growth of 9% with significantly improved performances from Halls, Éclairs and other mainstream candy brands. Halls benefited from product innovation and a good start to the cold and flu season. Innovation drove strong growth in other focus brands, including Éclairs (up 29%) and The Natural Confectionery Co (up 24%). Revenue Performance by Market Our performance by market reflected some local market share performances, even though weak economic conditions in many developed markets, in addition to the different mix between chocolate, gum and candy. Generally, based on the markets for which we have recent share data available, that represent 90% of our revenue, market share, progress has been very good. Cadbury has generated over 70% of our revenue. In emerging markets (38% of revenue in 2009), revenue growth was again very strong for the year as a whole, up 9% (up 7% in the first half and up 10% in the second half), led by strong performances in India, the Middle East and Africa and South America. While trading in European emerging markets was challenging, Russia and Turkey improved toward the end of the period, and both countries delivered growth for the year. In developed markets (62%), revenue grew 2% with an improved second half (up 3%) offsetting the slow start to the year. The impact of weak market conditions in developed Europe was mitigated by strong growth in the UK and significantly improved performance in the US and Canada. V I S I O N The governing objective for Cadbury is to deliver: Superior Shareholder Value Cadbury in every pocket The company believes this requires: Broadening our consumer appeal and extending their reach to newer markets Sustained growth of their market share through aggressive product development Striving for international quality in their products and processes Focusing on cost competitiveness and productivity in their operations and innovative utilisation of their assets Investing to develop people. Developing a product which would gain a permanent place in the companys product portfolio is not an easy task. It take minimum 58 new product ideas in order to come up with on successful new product and some researchers estimate to a 100 ideas. Majority of the ideas fail even before they are made to the consumers, a rest major portion fails during the marketing test process and do not make it to national distribution. With the enormous investments needed to fund such projects it becomes essential that the entire project is carefully researched. Successful new product development is mainly team work research and development, marketing and sales, market research, production, engineering and finance. At Cadbury, the marketing role is fulfilled by the Product/Brand Manager , function is to coordinate and mastermind the project through from the initial brief to national launch, until the largest sales capacity has been achieved. The initial incentive for embarking on a New Product Develop ment project can be: Changes in consumer lifestyles Technology developments where new processing techniques have been devised The need for market extension abroad, particularly into Asia Pacific, and the demise of trade barriers. However, products cannot be simply transferred from one market to another without review and possible adaptation to suit differing expectations and cultures. Whether the product strategy is: Existing product improvement New product development within the current range of activity Production diversification. Situational factors when designing market planning and analysis of environment is serious as it would allow Dairy Milk to capitalize on organizational strengths, minimize any weaknesses, exploit market opportunities and avoid any threats. Strengths Cadbury would realize several possible advantages in going abroad. By penetrating a foreign market the company could: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Maintain a stable growth of a company by maximizing the use of its production capacity and thus increase economies of scale and scope. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ With its brand name, Cadbury could counterattack the competitors it faces in the domestic market by attacking their domestic market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Keep up with the financial strength by increasing its sales and profit, indeed the foreign market could present higher profit opportunities than the domestic products. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Acquisition rules in UK reduce its dependence on the UK market and therefore diversify its market specific risks. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Overall, Cadbury has been successful through the new products (development) it has to offer. Weaknesses Overall, Cadbury has a weak position in the US market; therefore, need to change its target to a different location. It lacks of distribution network, it also has a small total of market share altogether. Therefore in order to market the product in France successfully, Cadbury has to find out how it should improve, in order to have great performance. It should also find out, what are the situations they can avoid in order to be successful. In order to market products the following issues should be considered: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Total French production of chocolate bars and confectionary, which has increased by 24.5 % between 1988 and 1991, has slowed down in more recent years, partly due to the economic fall. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Intake of chocolate products, which has been growing since 1991, remained properly still in 1992, causing a fall in demand due to the gloomy economic situation. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Sales of milk chocolate bars, which account for 24% by volume of total sales of chocolate bars, came down by 3.7 %. Opportunities Through its confectionary product line, least to mention is to build feasible positions in focused markets through biological growth and acquirement. Besides what is mention above, Cadbury has opportunities to have developed market in Russia and China. The Timeout Candy Bar market is growing worldwide. This company is also at the same time distributing its products through the internet Develop Gourmet Line. Besides developing the Low Calorie variety of chocolates and sweets, they also offer the Sugar Free sweets variety. This has therefore completely opened a Cadbury world in US. In order to get the product into a new foreign market, France, Cadbury would have good opportunities in store for them. Opportunities are as follows: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ In terms of political issues, France has advanced parliamentary democracy and is highly stable politically. The political power is nationalized in the parliament, the Prime Minister and the President. The country specific risk is insignificant. France is a member of the European Community and has excellent relations with the UK. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Economically, France has the fourth largest GDP in the world. It has an advanced market based economy. Despite a recent recession, its economy is very strong and also highly relaxed in line with European Union policies. France represents a very large potential market with a high standard of living and purchasing power. The economy is highly open internationally and conducts a high percentage of trade within its European partners. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ With regards to its social situation, France has a broadly central/southern European culture which has many similarities with the UK. However cultural differences do exist and these must be considered when planning for the market. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ France has a high technological level and a lot of industries are based in the technological sector. This technological base constitutes one of Frances competitive advantages. Threats Due to its confectionary products, it is very important for Cadbury threat that is present or eminent. The company should take note of the changes in the consumers buying trend. It is perceived that consumers might shift from chocolates to Healthy snacks. If this were to happen, there might be a poor product development which would stain the Cadburys name. Useless to talk about price wars would occur between its competitors like Mars, Hershey and Nestle. Due to the abovementioned, there would be seasonal sales slumps all year round which will reflect to an increase in cost of the raw materials needed. Cadbury would then have to be prepared for growth of small local gourmet chocolates and regional candy manufacturers. However if Cadbury were to market its products in France, the company has to be aware of the risks it could meet. It might: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Not understand foreign customer preferences and fail to offer a competitively attractive product; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Not understand the foreign countrys business culture or know how to deal effectively with foreign nationals; à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Underestimate foreign regulations and incur unexpected costs. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¢ Threat of entry due to the competition growing through acquisition. Although the company has come up with a few current products, it is targeting to a new market. Despite the competition against the rest (Hersheys, MM Mars and Nestle), Cadbury needs to have a bargaining power of the buyers in order to be competitive in the market. The company even needs to know that substitutes are not a major concern. Finally, to conclude that Cadbury is in the Market Development, they would have to have the bargaining power of suppliers as they are not in power position due to commodity like nature. And also to be aware of the cost of packaging materials as it has increased over time. There are a few strategic recommendations that Cadbury could come up with in order to market its products not only in the region of France, but also to market it products successfully. After much discussion on the position of the product Urban Poverty in Canada: Political Analysis Urban Poverty in Canada: Political Analysis Submitted to: Professor. Nugent Submitted by: Nadia Haidar Introduction Urban poverty in Canada has become one of the major factors that require consideration in a political perspective to arrive at a solution. This problem took its foothold in the country between the year 1990 and 2000. According to a report by the urban poverty project, in the year 2012 about half of Canada’s population an amount totaling to 15.3 million people lived in just four of the urban areas among them Toronto. This makes the country of Canada one of the most urbanized countries with a population of 25 million people living in the urban areas. Among these people about one of every six people lived in Poverty. In the year 2000, about 3.3 million people who are poor Canadians had their residence in the Census Metropolitan areas. As the population of the people in the Metropolitan area grow, the rate of poor urban dwellers increases at a faster rate. Among the major city of Canada, the City of Toronto has the largest number of low earning people with a population of about 77 1530 and has a poverty rate of about 16.2%. (Katherine, 2007) Abstract With the upcoming elections of the Ontario provincial election, a city election, and a federal election, this paper tries to focus on the election in terms of the impact it would have on the geographical urban poverty. It also focuses on the platforms and candidates take on the various ideologies that they advocate for in their campaign in relation to the urban poverty. The paper also focuses on the debates and the effect of quality on the people as per the decision they make in voting for the leaders. One of the parties in with fighting for the poor urban people is the Communist party. The party which in the provincial elections due to happen on June the 12th, is running 11 Candidates has on its website encouraged people to vote for the program in which the working class were fighting for. According to the 1990 to 2000 report, about 45% of people living in the urban area contribute to the GDP of Canada. Yet among these people, the poor have quite a good percentage. According to one of their candidates Elizabeth Rowley she promises to put the needs of the people first before cooperate greed. The party intends to achieve this by offering good jobs to its people, affordable renting and housing controls among others. (Rowley, 2014 ) In the communist party campaign they are pointing out clear that, there is a gap between the rich and the poor, pointing out that the poverty level is on the rise and unemployment is quite as high as well. As the provincial leader of the communist party Ro wley points out that what they fear most is not the liberal party that has failed the people of Ontario, but the conservative party led by Tim Hudak. The conservative party is laying the facts clear that if elected they will lay down about 10000 people working in the public sector. According to the communist, this attempt would demolish the public sector. In attempt to slash the wages arguably, the conservative party would be contributing to the rise in the poverty level, greatly affecting the urban poverty negatively making it grow rather than decrease. Contrary to what the communist party is offering, with the likes of a quality public service with better health care and hospitals being one of their promises to the people. According to the NDP, they have an economic plan, which involves a raise in the minimum wage rate to $12 per hour and later tying it to the inflation. This move of increasing the current paltry by a dollar per hour as it is currently at $11 per hour will help the poor in the province to make more money to live off well. (Stockton, 2014) This comes from the leader of the NDP Andrea Horwath. Asking the employers to pay more however, would result to the workers losing their jobs. The Capitalists aim of cutting off operation costs and raising the price of the goods, acting in the disfavor of the poor. According to the campaign of the NDP party, their argument is that increasing the minimum wage gives the poor people a chance to have a hold of the money, which they spend, putting it in the circular flow of the economy thus experiencing growth. To dispute this however, looking at a place where it has been in application, in the United States of America, a study after comparing the geograph ical contiguous regions whose minimum wage was different found that a high minimum wage rate related to the unemployment rate in the region. (Debra Burke) Looking at the facts on the ground it is also important to identify the people who are working below the minimum age, only 4.6 % of the people of Ontario that works below the minimum wage rate. While this seems like quite a good idea, the minimum wage rate raise may not be the solution to most of the problems. The liberal party of Canada policy resolutions: Most of Toronto seems to ignore the local politics, with the current mayor Rob Ford still running for office. There are a number of other candidates among them Ashok Sajnani, Morgan Baskin, a dentists and a student who are considered as long shots for the job. Arguably, they should start the city hall politics serving as a councillor but not in their opinion. The Conservative’s party candidate however John Tory deemed as one of the most likely candidate to topple Rob Fords leadership idea as per his fiscal strategies include lowering taxes especially property taxes which to some extent is in the favor of the poor. (Powell, 2014) The debates of the parties in the Ontario representatives seem to carry weight on the people of Ontario based on their influence. The big parties do have a great say in the debates and the emphasis is majorly in them. The parties presented in the debates mostly are; the Liberal Party, the Progressive Conservative Party, and New Democratic party their leaders are Kathleen Wynne, Tim Hudak. The other parties, such as the communist party of Canada do not seem to get an equal platform with these two. The quality of the debates may be quite good since they are a great determinant of the polls; the politicians try their best to lay it out for the people the actions they are going to take once in their government. In a recent call from the doctors, they asked the four on the province political parties to engage in a debate involving health care. (CBC News, 2014) The poor people being among the great number of the 700000 Ontarians who do not have the primary access to such care needs clarifi cation. The Liberal leader take on this through their leader Kathleen Wynne promised of primary access to a health care provider by the year 2018. According to Kathleen, this would cost less than $20 million. In the opinion of the Progressive Conservative party through their leader Tim Hudak, he suggested demolishing the existing health service and focusing on the employees like nurses as the frontline. The New Democratic Party leader Andrea Howarth plans to reduce the time by half that ER wait times take. Adding another 250 nurse practitioners in the emergency rooms was a further suggestion as well as 50 new family clinics working on a 24-hour system. Despite this suggestion, the request to have a formal debate that involves the four leaders would help the citizens make an informed decision. The health care anticipated debate is a good example of showing the quality of the debates since they greatly affect the decision of the voter. In a study that was carried out by Ipsos, show th at the majority of the Ontarians whom were undecided about the leader they were going to support were going to make their decision based on the June 3rd debate. Thirty eight percent of the people make their decision on whom to vote for on the day after the debate. Thirteen percent of them wait until the last debate while fourteen percent will wait until the last week of the campaign, and eleven percent of the people make the decision on the day of the election. However, this is significant to the quality of the debate and how convincing they can be, the study also shows that sixty two percent of the Ontarians make the decision long before the elections begin with forty one percent of them not changing their decision throughout the campaign. Twenty-one percent of the Ontarians however might change their mind. (Ipsos, 2014) An issue reported with the debates is about the inaccessibility to the debate by candidates of the provincial election of Ontario. On May, 29th 2014, a debate was held in Cambridge Ontario and was inaccessible to the people with disability. The event organizers did not put into consideration that the disabled people too would want to attend the all candidates’ debate. In this event, the local advocator of the people with disabilities Lyn McGinnis was not able to access the all candidate debate. Having an accessible venue is important to have a barrier free debate that all willing to attend can do so. Conclusion Conclusively, the results of the election will greatly determine the state of the urban poverty since the policy that the party that will win by a majority will determine the future of the people. Different people hold different opinions in the parties’ and have a strategy to make their condition better. The liberal party may, to majority of these people, see that they have been failed by the party since in their rule, unemployment has not been solved, greater disparity of the poor and the rich, and the greedy capitalists have not made it better for the people. The political debates are of great significance to the election of the country. The quality of these debates is therefore required to be high to influence the voters to make their decision based on the policy that the different provincial parties make. Many families, including my own, have suffered through poverty decade after decade. It is up to us citizens to make this vote count, vote for the right party, and help end this vicious cycle of poverty so many Ontarians continue to suffer through. WORD COUNT: 1990 References CBC News. (2014, May 30). Ontario election 2014 :Doctors Want Parties to Debate . Debra Burke, S. M. (n.d.). Minimum Wage and Unemployment Rates :A study of Contiguous Counties . Ipsos. (2014, June 2). Whats Riding on the Ontario Election Leaders Debate. Retrieved from Ipsos News and Polls: www.ipsos-na.com Katherine, F. G. (2007). A Lost Decade: Urban Poverty in Canada 1990 to 2000. Ottawa: Canadian Council on Social Development. Powell, B. (2014, March 15). Toronto Mayoral election Profile: John Tory. Toronto Stars. Rowley, E. (2014 , May 19) Communist Party of Canada. Retrieved from www.communistpartycanada.ca Stockton, M. W. (2014, May 24).Minimum Wage in the Ontario Election and Canada. The True North Times.

History Of Oppressed Groups

History Of Oppressed Groups Discuss how oppression related to your chosen area can manifest itself in institutions and societies, and how it can impact on the lives of individuals and communities. Consider and make specific reference to the social policy response. The term oppression is not simple to define. It is complex and can take many different forms. Sometimes it is clearly visible and at other times more subtle and difficult to identify. The purpose of this research will be to explore oppression and how it can manifest itself in institutions and societies and how it can impact on the lives of individuals and communities. In order to explore oppression this research will use people with a learning disability at its focus. Firstly this research will look at what oppression is and how oppression of people with learning disabilities has come to manifest itself in institutions and societies. This research will then explore the oppression faced by people with a learning disability and the legislation that challenges oppression. Theory such as Thompsons (2006) PCS model will be explored in order to aid an understanding of how oppression and discrimination operate within society. Finally this research will explore vales and ethics necessary to promote anti-oppressive practice. Throughout the assignment a social policy response to oppression will be considered. Thompson (2006) describes oppression as the inhuman or degrading treatment of individuals or groups. It is the unjust and unfair treatment of these individuals or groups of people through the negative and degrading exercise of power, both individually and structurally (Thomas and Wood: 46). Power is used to implement unfair judgements, often widely, over specific people or groups within society (Thomas and Wood: 46). At a personal level oppression can lead to demoralisation and a lack of self-esteem, while at a structural level it can lead to the denial of rights and citizenship (Dalrymple ad Burke 2006: 121). Any factors which may perceive a person as being different from the majority increase the possibility of oppression. Discrimination and oppression are often found when considering people with learning disabilities. This could be due to the confusion between mental illness and learning disability and also the way people with a learning disability have been perceived over time (Thomas and Woods 2003: 49). Thompson suggests a four part models that can be used to inform institutional and societal views and provide an understanding of how people with learning disabilities are viewed (Thompson 1997: 151). The four models include the threat to society model, the medical model, the subnormality model and the special needs model. Thompson (1997) highlights that the first model illustrates the majority view of society at the beginning of the 20th century. Social and cultural constructs manifest themselves in a fear of abnormality in relation to disability (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 17). This societal view believed that people with physical or learning disabilities should be contained in special institu tions as they were a threat to society. This model led to the medical model which believed in using a scientific approach to manage people and control and contain what society saw as abnormal behaviour (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 14). The medical model became predominant in health and social care and conflicts between the medical model and social model are still apparent in social policy for vulnerable groups (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 14). The third model Thompson suggests which can be used to inform institutional and societal views which provide an understanding of how people with learning disabilities are viewed is the subnormality model. This model is the measurement of medical impairment and the ability to achieve academically (Thomas and Wood 2003: 49). An IQ test was invented to be used to diagnose a learning disability and to identify whether the IQ level was below normal (70), if it was below normal subnormality was diagnosed highlighting differences leading to o ppression (Thomas and Wood 2003: 49). The final model Thompson used in gaining an understanding of how people with a learning disability are viewed is the special needs model. This model considers integration into society but relies on the identification of the special needs of the individual (Thomas and Wood 2003: 49). By using this model, similar to the subnormality model, peoples differences are highlighted, making integration into society more difficult. Integration into society is difficult due to the fact that people are fitted into society and society does not adapt or change to accommodate them (Thomas and Wood 2003: 49). Thomson suggests that elements of each of these models may affect current societal attitudes. Each could play its part in explaining the reason for discrimination and oppression towards people with a learning disability. What all these models have in common is a tendency to marginalise and disempower, to a greater or lesser extent, people with a medical imp airment (Thomson 1997: 152). As mentioned earlier the medical model and social model for understanding people with learning disabilities is still in conflict. Historically perspectives on cure, research and treatment have heavily influenced how disabled people are viewed and treated within society (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 59). The focus on the medical model rather than the social model can be seen in language up until very recently. Terms such as spastic and retard can be seen in policy and medical procedures throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries implying lack of function and therefore lack of worth (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 259). The medical model seems to focus mainly on the impairment and ignore how society reinforces barriers for disabled people and so the social model of disability emerged (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 260). From the social model perspective it is society and structures that are the more significant problem rather than the illness or disability itself (Llewelly n, Agu and Mercer 2008: 261). The media is a powerful institution for shaping societal views and continues to portray people with learning disabilities negatively which majorly contributes to structural inequalities and oppression (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 262). The Marxist perspective on sociology saw the industrial revolution and the rise of capitalism as increasing widespread social oppression. With labour power at this time seen as such a huge commodity and as society is about the relationship between capital and labour, the disabled person is of no use or value (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 262). Learning disability made it difficult to work which led to institutionalisation and segregation. Statistics show that fewer than 5,000 disabled people in England were confined to asylums but by the 1900s this had increased to 74,000 (http://www.isj.org.uk/?id=702). Oppression from this perspective must be challenged by looking at key structural issues such as political or eco nomic organisations, the media and areas such as employment (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 261). It is these barriers to participation in society rather than the disability itself that leads to societal and institutional widespread oppression of individuals and communities (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 261). The social model of disability rejects the medical model stating that it is society that causes disability not impairment (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 262). Having explored how oppression of people with learning disabilities has sociologically developed over time and the types of oppression faced by people with learning disabilities, this research will now explore legislation which challenges oppression and attempts to promote anti-oppressive practice and empowerment. The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 was introduced to alleviate discrimination on the grounds of disability. Disability in this Act is defined as physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on ability to carry out normal day to day activities (Brayne and Martin 1997: 416). This Act creates legislation which deems discrimination on grounds of disability in employment unlawful except for certain circumstances such as the police or armed forces and highlights guidelines of how disabled people should be treated at work or in places of education (Thomas and Wood 2003: 52). The Human Rights Act 1998 was created to attempt to promote indiv idual rights. For people with learning disabilities this means that the Act may help them to live fully and freely, on equal terms with non-disabled people (Thomas and Wood 2003: 52). In terms of economics The Independent Living Fund and the Community Care Act 1996 aim to help disabled people to control and organise their own care and budgets (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 259). Disabled people have become more politicised and campaigned for change, an example being the Disability Rights Commission which advocates for a rights to independent living (Llewellyn, Agu and Mercer 2008: 264). The Adults with Incapacity Act 2000 introduces a new way of supporting adults who do not have the capacity to make decisions for themselves due to impairment (Thomas and Woods 2003: 53). This Act realises that although some complex decisions may not be able to be made other more simple and straightforward choices can be. The Act enables adults with incapacity to maximise their own ability, encourag e the development of new skills and ensure that whichever intervention is provided is the least intrusive possible (Thomas and Woods 2003: 54). There is much limitation within legislation through weaknesses of wording and restricted implementation which does not always reflect anti-oppressive practice towards people with a learning disability, however when used positively the law can be used to promote self-determination, equality and rights, key aspects of deconstructing a socially and culturally oppressive society. (Dalrymple and Burke 2006: 91). Thompson (2006) saw anti-discrimination and anti-oppressive practice as occurring on three levels: personal, cultural and societal and developed a PCS model to challenge oppression. He believed that in order to both understand and tackle oppression looking at the individual alone is not enough, a consideration of the individual, cultural and structural factors is necessary (Thompson 2006: 30). The personal level is the individual level of thought, feelings, attitudes and actions (Thomson 1997: 20). As individuals we have our own beliefs and values which are heavily influenced both by our past experiences and our current understanding of ourselves and the society in which we live (Parrott 2006: 13). Individual values and beliefs are learnt from a variety of sources including family, school, culture and religion as well as the society in which we live, political influence and the media (Thomas and Woods 2002: 55). Personal values are intrinsic to the culture in which we live and in eac h culture certain social and cultural values will be exercised (Thomas and Woods 2002: 55). These cultural values influence our individual ideas of what is acceptable behaviour and how to treat people who are different and so cultural values can underpin how we act towards people with a learning disabilities which may lead to discrimination and oppressive attitudes (Thomas and Woods 2002: 55). The structural level of oppression refers to the network of social divisions and relates to the ways in which oppression is institutionalised and sewn in to the fabric of society (Thomson 1997: 20). People with learning disabilities can be affected through social division and the power of society in deciding what is acceptable behaviour and which groups of society require and deserve support (Thomas and Woods 2002: 56). By showing how society influences cultural views, which may in turn impact upon personal values and beliefs Thomson highlights the importance of recognising all three levels at which discrimination and oppression operate (Thomas and Woods 2002: 56). In order to challenge and combat oppression it is essential to have an awareness of the types and ways oppression can occur. At a personal level it is important for social workers to critically reflect on the different values they may hold in order to facilitate a greater ability to challenge oppression and re-evaluate practice (Thomas and Woods 2002: 56). At a cultural level the ability to change attitudes becomes harder however it is essential for practitioners to attempt to promote anti-oppressive practice at this level as well as structurally. Thomson (1997) states that in order to promote anti-oppressive practice on all three levels individuals must collectively challenge the dominant discriminatory culture and ideology and, in doing so, playing at least a part in the undermining of the structures which support and are supported by that culture (Thomson 1997: 23). As mentioned previously, values are intrinsic to practitioners being able to practise and promote anti-oppressive practice. Guidelines for professional behaviour have been developed through professional values into a code of ethics which describe behaviours in the form of standards and multi-disciplinary reference points for social care practitioners. The values associated with social work are incorporated within the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) code of Ethics and Codes of Conduct for Social Care Workers and their Employers published by the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) in 2002 (Dalrymple and Burke 2006: 87). According to Brayne and Carr (2005) Practitioners have statutory duties, underpinned by professional codes and personal values to support the most vulnerable members of society (Brayne and Carr 2005 cited in Dalrymple and Burke 2006: 97). Through these various codes of ethics the promotion of rights, choice, positive education and awareness in soci ety are highlighted which challenge oppression with people with learning disabilities as well as many oppressed groups within society (Thomas and Woods 2002: 61).