Just in Time Concept

Financial AccountingS. Das Income Measurement and Accrual Accounting Recognition and Measurement in Financial Statements DEFINITIONS Revenues:inflows of assets or reductions in liabilities from selling goods and services Expenses:outflows of assets or increases in liabilities used up in generating revenues. Recognitionformal recording of an item in financial statements, in words and numbers Measurementquantify the effects of economic events numbers unit is money – dollars historical cost – recorded for simplicity, verifiability, reliability Current cost-relevant but less reliableOnly an estimate until item is sold Net income= Revenues-Expenses. Incomeamount of resources available for consumption at the end of a period and yet be as well off as it was at the beginning of the period. CASH BASIS Versus ACCRUAL ACCOUNTING So if we DEFINE PERIOD to be lifetime of a firm (which can only be defined for a firm with a finite life) then we are only interested in the earnings of a firm over its lifetime. In that case: a. just wait until the firm dissolves. b. Add up all the cash inflows over its lifetime other than those for sale of own stock. c.Add up the cash outflows over its lifetime other those for stock repurchase or dividends. d. Find the difference between cash inflows and outflows and YOU HAVE NET INCOME. e. THE ABOVE IS ALWAYS TRUE. However, if you DEFINE PERIOD TO BE ANY INTERVAL SMALLER THAN THE LIFE TIME when you wish to get information on earnings as intermediate feedback, then there is the following problem: -transactions may not be complete on a cash to cash basis – because the earnings process is continuous – Period1buy inventory for $5 Period2pay for inventory Period3sell and deliver inventory for $15Period4receive payment from customer. KEY QuestionWhen should revenues and expenses be recognized? One possibility is the cash basis recognize revenues at time of receiving cash and recognize expenses at the time of paying cash. E xample: A toy retailer starts business on January 1, 2000. The retailer Mr. XYZ pays two months rent in advance on his store for $2000. He also purchases and pays for toys worth $35,000. However, during the month of January, he sold no toys. During February, he sells all the toys he has for $45,000 but collects only $5000 of that in cash.He expects the neighborhood children to pay the remaining $40000 in March. JanFebruary Revenues—————– Less: Expenses Cost of toys—————– Rent—————- Total Expense—————- Income—————– Limitations of Cash basis 1. expenses are not aligned in time with the revenue that they produce. 2. recognition of revenue is unduly postponed. A Second possibility is the use of Accrual basis – depends upon when some critical event occurs. What happens to income (accrual basis) using same example? JanFebruary Revenues—————– Less: Expenses Cost of toys—————–Rent—————- Total Expense—————- Income—————– Comparing the Cash And Accrual Bases of Accounting -Basic difference one of timing Recognize Revenue whenRecognize Expense when Cash Basis cash is received cash is paid Accrual Basisrevenue is earned it is incurred Exhibit 4-2 transparency Accrualmatching of expenses with the corresponding revenues OR match resources used (expired assets- expenses)to generate revenue. The accrual concept forces accountants and managers to focus on changes in owner’s equity rather than merely reporting changes to the cash or other assets.The realization concept underlies the decision rules that accountants use in determining when revenues should be recognized and expenses matched to them. The Revenue Recognition Principle Revenue:Increase in Asset Or Decrease in Liability from Delivery of Goods Or Services Realized:Goods Or Services Exchanged for Cash Or Promise of Cash . Earned:Revenue earned when realization is complete or no significant obligations left How are Revenues recorded? †¢At the same time as cash is collected. †¢Before the time cash is collected. †¢After the time cash is collected. Possible Interpretations of Recognition Principle:Percentage of Completion:For long term projects, revenue recognized as stages are completed, based upon proportion of total cost incurred, Franchises: Initial fee recognized as revenue only FAS 45 â€Å"substantial performance† of its obligations B&J 32 Production MethodCommodities – Traded at established price; so revenue recognized when they are produced. Installment Method:opposite of production method: no reasonable basis to estimate collectability, so revenue on sale recognized as cash is collected Continuously:such as rent and interestThe criteria used in accounting to decide the recognition of revenues is : †¢A firms has performed all, or a substantial portion, of the services it expects to provide. †¢The firm has received cash, a receivable, or some other asset whose cash equivalent it can objectively measure. Expense Recognition and the Matching Principle The matching concept relates revenues and expenses so that owner’s equity is neither overstated nor understated at any points in the steam of events that constitutes operations. Expensewhen an Asset Has No Future Benefit i. e. It Is Used Up [Or] a Liability Is Incurred.Matching:Associate Revenues with Costs (expenses) Necessary to Generate them UnexpiredSometimes not done with specific items of product sold, but with period in Assets which they were sold eg. sales clerks' salaries are expensed in the period in which employees worked. Expired Some things never go through asset stage, since benefit is seen to expire as soon Assets as costs expended (purchased) = Period Costs; eg. utilities costs, telephone, fuel for vehicles (not asset) Two examples: 1. Expired asset versus 2. Expensing of benefits/ resources that never went through asset stage.A. Depreciation Expense estimated useful life and eventual salvage or resale value Manipulation to increase or decrease income Salvage deducted before calculating periodic expense because it is expected to be recovered and will remain an asset. B. Research ; DevelopmentDell Computer in its 1995 Annual Report list â€Å"Research, development and engineering† of $65,361,00 as operating expense on Income Statement. – an expense is an asset whose usefulness to the company is complete – it is deemed that R;D has no future benefit left hence out right expense without going through asset stage.For an accrual based company, Statement of Cash Flows provides information on Sources and Uses of Cash. Accrual basis necessary because we divide the earning of income, a process that takes place over a period of time, into artificial segments (reporting periods). Example: In the 1995, Income Statement Maytag Corporation had a net loss of $20,476,000. Their Statement of Cash Flows showed an increase in cash equivalents of $30,811,000. Cash provided by operating activities was $319,979,000. How can a company with a net loss have a gain in cash?This is possible if expenses exceeded revenues since Income statement is on accrual basis. It contains revenue amounts that may not have been realized in cash (still in accounts receivable) and expenses that may not have been paid for such as depreciation, and unpaid purchases. Also look for income from continuing operations versus loss due to extraordinary items and disposal of existing business. (As was the case in Maytag 1995) Accrual Accounting and Adjusting Entries: at end of period – Four Types: 1. Deferred Expense: Cash Paid before Expense Is In curredAsset created; as asset expires it becomes an expense, via adjusting entry Entry DuringAsset End of Expense period Cash period Asset eg. * prepaid rent becomes rent expense, a month at a time * Depreciation allocates cost of asset over its useful life – does not measure decline in value ? Based on estimates of salvage value and life of asset ?Periodic expense= [actual cost – est. salvage value]/estimated life ? debit is depreciation expense ?credit is not to asset account, which will always reflect cost, ? but to accumulated depreciation- contra account that is, an asset account with a credit balance 2. Deferred RevenueCash Received before Revenue Is Earned Liability Created Because Goods Or Services Still Owed EntryDuringCashEnd of Liability period Liability period Revenue ?Eg. unearned â€Å"the other company† from deferred expense entries ? for example, The landlord who received the prepaid rent has a deferred revenue ? liability is reduced, revenue inc reased, as time passes ?magazine subscriptions received in advance, earned as magazines mailed 3. Accrued LiabilityExpense incurred before Cash Is PaidOpposite of deferred expense EntryDuring-End of Expense period- period Liability Eg. taxes, payroll, utilities; interest for short term loan paid at maturity with principal 4. Accrued AssetRevenue Earned before Cash Is Received Opposite of deferred revenue EntryDuring-End of Asset period-periodRevenue ?both rent and interest are earned as time goes by, regardless of when cash received ? need adjusting entry if payment is not received. Exhibit 4-5 (text pp. 165) Example: P4-2 REVISITING THE ACCOUNTING CYCLE Steps taken to collect the necessary information to prepare financial statements (Exhibit 4-8) . Collect and Analyze 2. Journalize Events 3. Post to Ledger Accounts(Results in Unadjusted Trial Balance) 4. Journalize and Post adjustments(Results in Adjusted Trial Balance) 5. Prepare Financial Statements 6. Journalize and Post Closing Entries(Results in Post-Closing Trial Balance) 7. Post Closing Trial Balance 8. Optional: Reversing Entries The Closing Process: Two types of accounts:Balance Sheet= real accounts = permanent Income Statement= nominal accounts = temporary (Includes Dividend account) Purpose of closing entries:-Close temporary accounts -transfer net income (loss) to retained earningsProcess of closing: Debit Each Revenue Account: Sum Up a Single Credit to Income Summary. Credit Each Expense Account, Sum Up a Single Debit to Income Summary. Debit Income Summary If It Has a Credit Balance (Company Had Net Income) ORCredit Income Summary If It Has a Debit Balance (Company Had Net Loss) Credit Dividend Account, Debit Retained Earnings Exhibit 4-9 (text pp. 171) Example 1:E4-23. Ben ; Jerry’s Example 2:Let us look at McDonald’s Corporation’s 1998 Statement of Income shown on Page 139 of your text. Notea. Retained Earnings at the beginning and end of 1998 were $12,569 and $13,879. mil lion respectively. b. Total dividends paid to common and preferred shareholders were $239. 5 Use the numbers from the Income Statement to Reconstruct the relevant account balances. Then Close them to Income Summary and from there to Retained Earnings. EXAMPLE P4-10 Post-closing Trial Balance will only contain Balance Sheet accounts.When is a sale a sale? In an article concerning troubled MiniScribe Corporation (The Wall Street Journal September 12, 1989 – MiniScribe’s Investigators Determine That â€Å"Massive Fraud Was Perpetrated†. ) it was stated that â€Å" †¦ he company dramatically increased shipments to three warehouses, booking $56. 4 in sales and gross profit of $5. 4 million. † (Note that the warehouses being shipped to belonged to MiniScribe) The volume of shipments only called attention to the problem – it was not the problem. Problem is it is not Customer’s warehouse but MiniScribe’s – shipping goods to ones? own warehouse is not a sale – but a relocation of inventory – must be an arm’s length transaction.This was one among many violations – MiniScribe was also shipping bricks to an fictitious company, and recording them as sales revenue. 1. Claiming Tomorrow’s Profits Today, Forbes, October 17, 1988, p 78. Case 4-1:Ben ; Jerry’s Revenue Recognition – Initial Franchise Fee Footnote on 147 of text. FASB SFAS 45 allows franchisor to recognize initial franchise fee as revenue only when â€Å"substantial performance† of its obligations and when collection of the fee is reasonably assured. Revenue Recognition: The Company recognizes franchise fee as †¦.. when services required by the franchise agreement have been substantially performed†¦. 1. Consistent with SFAS 45.The footnote refers to certain mandatory services that the company promises to perform for the new stores. Performance of these services is the basis for recognizin g the fee as revenue. Note that the footnote specifically uses the wording substantially performed. 2. The company recognizes the franchise fees as revenue in proportion to the stores for which the required services have been substantially performed. 3. Franchise fees are not large relative to net sales in any of the years. Franchise fees are less than 0. 4% of net sales in each of the three years. Unearned Revenue: Realizability Vs.Earned criteria – realized BUT has it been earned?. 1. Case 4-2:Gateway- Revenue Recognition Refer to page 30 of Gateway’s Annual Report, under â€Å"Summary of Significant Accounting Policies† 1. Gateway recognizes revenue from product sales when products are shipped. Revenue from separately priced extended warranty programs is deferred and recognized over the extended warranty period. 2. â€Å"Extended warranty programs† are contracts to service products for a period beyond the original warranty. These contracts are purchase d for an additional amount above the product purchase price. . The revenue from the extended warranties is recognized over the warranty period because it is earned over the entire period, as coverage is provided. 2. Case 4-3: Sears, Roebuck, ; Company – Revenue from Service Contracts. 1. Under the accrual basis, revenue should be recognized when it is earned, rather than when cash is received. Since the retailer incurs costs to repair damages over the life of the service contract, the revenue from the contract is also earned over the life of the contract. 2. Revenue to be recognized each year: Year 1 Year 2Year 3Sales Revenue Service Contract Total revenue Typically, for service contract you receive cash or payment, for future services, that creates a liability. Thus one has an unearned revenue account. In this particular example, the liability account would contain XXX at the end of year 1 and XX at the end of year 2 reported under current liability as unearned revenue on th e balance sheet. Sears, Roebuck, ; Company 1998 Annual Report Footnotes to Revenue Recognition The Company sells extended service contracts with terms of coverage between 12 and 36 months.Revenue and incremental direct acquisition costs from the sale of these contracts are deferred and amortized over the lives of the contracts. Costs related to servicing the contracts are expensed as incurred. 3. American Airlines: 1996 total revenues of $17,753 million. Balance sheet reported ? Air traffic Liability? of $1,889 million. – unearned revenue (~~11%) from ticket sales. -when retired – Retired when ticket holders are provided transportation. -Refundability a factor -What if carrier cannot provide service due to strike or storm. -When is revenue earned ? – when ticket is bought when passenger boards – when plane takes off – when the round trip is complete. AMERICAN AIRLINES 1998 Annual Report (Summary of Significant Accounting Policies) (Note 1) PASSENGE R REVENUES Passenger ticket sales are initially recorded as a component of air traffic liability. Revenue derived from ticket sales is recognized at the time transportation is provided. However, due to various factors, including the complex pricing structure and interline agreements throughout the industry, certain amounts are recognized in revenue using estimates regarding both the timing and the amount of revenue to be ecognized. Actual results could differ from those estimates.In 1998, American showed revenues of $17,449 million and recorded â€Å"Air traffic liability† of $2,163 million on its Balance Sheet. Time Warner Inc. According to Annual Report they publish 26 different magazines. At end of 19985 unearned subscription revenue was $741 million. -included in their is your paid subscription to Time for issues that you have yet to receive. -magazines are sold at different rates depending on how you subscribed and for how long. – how to keep track of when earned. when does the earnings process complete When subscription received – if main source of revenue is advertising. When production is complete and delivery is made. A combination of these two. Note that Time does not have difficulty to keep track since subscription price variations and customer records are all kept by computers – closely monitor the process from payment to through unearned revenue to delivery and revenue earned. Time Warner Inc. 1998 Annual Report (Note 1) The unearned portion of paid subscriptions is deferred until magazines are delivered to subscribers.Upon each delivery, a proportionate share of the gross subscription is included in revenues. E 4-81. AugustCash Subscriptions Received in advance (Unearned Revenue) To record collection of 900 subscriptions Assets =Liabilities+ Owner’s Equity 2. August 31. Unearned revenue Subscription revenue To record subscriptions earned during August. Assets=Liabilities+Owner’s Equity 3. Net income for t he month of August would be under stated / overstated by XXX if the accountant forgot to make the entry to recognize revenue earned. (Self Note: Also see Magazine Subscription case) E 4 -9

America And Ethnicity Of The Races Essay

Racial discrimination and social inequality is a worldwide social illness. This especially happens in highly developed countries that have capabilities of granting the needs of numerous immigrants from other countries. However, the provision of being highly developed is also a way by which countries become highly diverse in population and culture. Mainly, this is also the reason why there exists too much discrimination in the said type of societies. In this regard, the American society is among the focus of the discussion of such issues. To be able to understand the impact of the said issue towards the society, two major public policies shall be examined in support of the said issue. The policies to be tackled in this paper would be pertaining to the Criminal Justice Policy and Immigration Naturalization Policy. Using the events that govern the said policies, this paper shall introduce the issues that govern the race and ethnicity issues of the American government and politics. Leon E. Wynter’s â€Å"Transracial America Sells† shows how the black-Americans already lead the entertainment industry. As he usually talks about the â€Å"browning of mainstream commercial culture† in most of his compositions, Wynter points out how the radical shift in the place of race and ethnicity in American commercial culture since the late 1970’s really affects the preferences of people in the marketplace. He also adds on his essay how nonwhite Americans are giving so much profit to the entertainment industry. He says â€Å"color has been weaving through music, sports, television, news media and literature in a bold band that had never been seen before†. True, even the different expressions such as â€Å"Wassup† which came from the black-American culture is already widely accepted. Meanwhile, Langston Hughes’ â€Å"Let America be America again† talks about the long-lost dream of the American race. A unified country giving everyone a chance to live in a rather easy life through laboring everyone especially those who are in dire need of employment. In his poem, he points out how much the land of America really belongs to those who plow it such as the farmers, to those who cultivates its culture and resources, to those who really serve their country to the hardest yet best way they could. Contrary to Wynter’s composition, Hughes sees the marketplace to be a place of greed widely using people for its own profit and gains. To Hughes, this kind of false equality is rather a hindrance to the true essence of the American dream. As obviously seen, both of the writers likes to show how possible it really is to attain the American aim of being unified as one country. One believes in what is obviously seen in the society specially on the marketplace where both white and nonwhite Americans gain the fame and thus influence the greater crowd of a mixed culture and depict a unified America, while the other strongly suggests on putting the lesser fortunate into employment and letting them gain from what they have earned since the land belongs to them. Consequently, Wynter’s vision of the dream of equality is far more obvious than that of Hughes’. Wynter’s idea is more practical and thus more appealing to almost everyone in the entire globe. Even other countries actually see the reality of what Wynter says â€Å"transracial sells†. Surely, many will agree that the mixed culture of the white and non-white Americans is widely spreading in the whole world through media and entertainment. Since technology has already evolved so much, the unification of different races is easier attained through the use of the entertainment industry and commerce. As a fact, a bigger percentage of the world population is highly influenced with what they see on TV or n the Internet which commerce usually uses as a medium of selling it’s products. Hughes’ poem on the other hand is also acceptable although it’s a bit of the less truth that is actually happening right now. We are actually leaving in a world where oppression is really rampant and the fact that it happens to those who are less fortunate, his vision of the American dream is somewhat hard to fulfill. Sad but true, we are actually living in a society where the fittest in the group survives. It is also convincing when Hughes pointed out how greed affects the marketplace so much, that sometimes the equality that the entertainment industry shows is rather false since its only driven by profit-oriented goals of commerce and yet it doesn’t care so much on the needs and interests of the greater number of the lower members of its community who give it the chance of existing. After all, there would be no such kind of commercial success without the existence of those who patronage its product, the people who have lesser opportunity in the marketplace. But even though he had such a good view on how the American dream could be fulfilled, he still lacked the practical way on looking on what has already been done to meet that certain American goal. As clearly mentioned in the evidences above, at some point, racism and ethnic discrimination may still be a main problem that the American Government should face. However, with the policies created by the political parties of the country especially regarding the immigration and criminal justice systems of the country, it could be seen how the community has been faring on the said issue so far. As mentioned by Patterson in â€Å"The Ordeal of Integration†, â€Å"the large and continuous growing number of ethnic groups having a middle class life in America proves that the social policies of the country concerning ethnic groups are applied strongly and are re3ceiving fine results†. Hence, the statement, which was made by Higham earlier, has been proven true and shown as a resolvable matter in the American society. Yes, the political balance of the country towards its views of the social minorities would continuously be improved and regulated.

Type 2 diabetes Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Type 2 diabetes - Essay Example If this process does not occur, then the blood sugar rises beyond the desired amount, which is 160 mg/dl on the upper limit (Macleod, 2007). Until recently, type II diabetes was considered to be a disease for the adults but current trends have shown that even children are at the risk of acquiring it thanks to poor lifestyles, which have culminated into numerous cases of childhood obesity. This paper will discuss type II diabetes, its causes and effects as well as its prevalence rate among other related issues. Type II Diabetes Type II diabetes is considered to be the most prevalent among the various types of diabetes that we have such as type 1 and gestational diabetes. This is due to the fact out of the approximated figure of 220 million people suffering from diabetes worldwide, 90% are said to be suffering from this type II diabetes (Zimmet, 2009). It is sad to note that a lot of people continue to lose their lives as a result of diabetes, which, according to health experts, is a d isease that is mostly reliant on our lifestyle and therefore is preventable. It is estimated that in the year 2004, 3.4 million patients lost their lives and to make matters worse, statistics indicate that the rate of deaths will have doubled in the period between 2005 and 2030. Currently, it is estimated that 285 million i.e. ... For example, India is believed to have the highest number of diabetic cases with approximately 51 million patients, followed by China with more than 43 million patients (Takrouri, 2007). This can be attributed to poverty, which makes it difficult for people to access medical services in terms of regular checkups so as to perform early diagnoses. Most people in these regions will find it necessary to visit a doctor when the condition has already become chronic and therefore more difficult to treat. This is made worse by the fact that type II diabetes is not easily detectable as it is considered as not having obvious symptoms in its early stages, which makes it almost impossible for someone to suspect that he or she is suffering from the disease. In fact, research indicates that a person can live with the disease for as long as 10 years or more without knowing (Chase, 2002). There are various symptoms which when observed, a person should take the step of consulting a doctor so as to co nfirm whether he or she is ill or not. These are for example frequent urination also known as polyuria, fatigue, increased hunger and thirst as well as unintended weight loss. Polyuria in this context results from high concentration of glucose in the blood, which triggers the flow of water from the cells through osmosis and into the bloodstream, in an effort to create a point of equilibrium (Elaine, 2007). Consequently, the water in the bloodstream increases and as a result, the kidney is forced to react by ejecting it out as urine and the cycle continues. By so doing, it means that a lot of water is discharged from the body unnecessarily and therefore, the patient becomes increasingly

List a phobia and explain the systematic desensitization of a phobia Essay

List a phobia and explain the systematic desensitization of a phobia - Essay Example ty disorders, and consists of teaching those who suffer from it coping strategies, establishing a hierarchy of stimuli that cause the phobic fear and then progressively and gradually exposing them to the thing they fear (Wikipedia, n.d; Rainey, 1997). When people suffer from irrational fear such as height, they tend to avoid the thing they fear. Since theyre avoiding it, their anxiety level reduces and the reduction of the fear is reinforced by negative reinforcements. Instead of this, the systematic desensitization first teaches how to reduce the levels of anxiety and fear by cognitive strategies that help control the fear rather than letting it build up inside until it becomes unbearable. These strategies can be meditation, thinking happy thoughts, concentrating on breathing and more. Having been taught how to relax and reduce their anxiety, the phobic person will be exposed to the object of his fear gradually, by first being able to talk about it, then seeing a picture illustrating the situation or thing he fear, then experiencing something similar, and finally by experiencing it. One common fear is the fear of flying. Many people think it is extremely dangerous to fly airplanes since it is high in the air and the plane can crash. These people view the experience of flying as terrifying and something which they can never do, seeing as how it completely paralyzes them. Accordingly with the systematic desensitization, the therapist will first teach the patient different ways to relax, like the ones previously mentioned. Relaxation is very important when discussing this fear, because unlike other fears from animals or other objects, flying a plane can last hours, and in this case, it is crucial to be able to fully relax. Then, having established the stimuli which cause the phobic episodes, the therapist will start with the least anxiety-provoking stimulus and gradually move on to the next one, until all of the items listed on the anxiety hierarchy have been

Journal paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Journal paper - Essay Example There is, therefore, need to find a viable and cheaper means to handle the illness. The implication of this research is that cinnamon could be used alongside other forms of treatments to regulate blood pressure and blood glucose in type 2 diabetes patients. This experiment was conducted according to proper scientific method. First, it has a hypothesis to be tested (Kumar, 2005). The experiment aims to prove that cinnamon may be used to lower blood pressure and glucose in type 2 diabetes patients. Secondly, the experiment uses scientific methods of collecting data. These are sampling, observation, description and the use of measurements (Kumar, 2005). It has a sample of 58 respondents on an intake 2g of cinnamon every day for 12 weeks. An observation is made at the end of the 12 weeks. However, additional research is needed to establish the efficacy of cinnamon in lowering blood pressure and blood glucose in type 2 diabetes patients. Further experiments are needed to establish the compatibility of cinnamon with other dietary options for managing diabetes. Therefore, further experiments need to administer cinnamon alongside other dietary options. Nevertheless, this research is useful in the management of type 2

Marketing plan for Al Fresco Show 2009 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Marketing plan for Al Fresco Show 2009 - Essay Example These initiatives will be aimed at attracting a variety of people including outdoor enthusiasts and gym members as well as families and the non active ones (Guiltinan et al, 1996). Outdoor enthusiasts include individuals across all age groups who like outdoor events and live actively. Gym members are mainly young professionals who attend gym regularly, especially those who live in cities. Families and non active individuals mainly comprise children and those who do not live an active life. The Al Fresco Show 2009 will be preceded by a number of trade shows such as The Tent Show, The Outdoor Trade Show, Outdoor Preview Show and The Outdoor Show. These shows will be done in collaboration with organizations such as Media Contact Services, Outdoor Industries Association and the European Outdoor Group. The Al Fresco Show 2009 will involve a number of its existing partners such as YHA, Duke of Edinburgh, Girl Guiding UK, Ramblers Association, British Orienteering Federation, Scouts, BMC, BCU. The show also expects to partner with a number of other organizations such as Badger Trust, Countryside Agency, English Nature, John Muir Trust, Association of Long Distance Walkers, Scottish Natural Heritage, AONBs, Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, Diabetes UK, Canoe Camping Club, VSO, RSPB, and National Trust. The 2009 ve Love the Outdoors Campaign Love the Outdoors Campaign, which was held in 2008, and which allowed up to three children to enter free of charge, will be done again in 2009. This is because the 2008 campaign was very successful. The 2009 version will feature a number of outdoor events. First, there will be an event known as World Theatre where great celebrities including Kate Humble, Bruce Parry and Grif Rhys Jones. Second, there will be an event dubbed Discover Ireland, which will feature Irish coffee, Irish dancing and St Patrick's Day celebrations. Third, there will be an event known as Explore Britain, which will be collaboration with the various tourist boards in United Kingdom. The Wilderness Camp will be aimed at enlightening participants on conservation and survival skills. The event will be held in collaboration with the United Kingdom Girl Guiding. The Regatta Perfect spot is another event that will combine photography and walking workshops. Cumber Arms is a country pub which will also be part of the show courtesy of Jennings Breweries. Another event dubbed Theatre will be aimed at teaching the participants about GPS, navigation and mapping skills. The Bike Arena will mainly involve mountain bike demonstrations. The event will also have a Canoe and Dive Pool that will both have go-activities as well as underwater photography activities. Other events will include the VW Beach Caf, Freespirit Beach Festival, Rock Caf, Climb Zone, BMC Summit Theatre, Craghoppers Adventure Travel, the Tent City, YHA Caving Feature and Water Sports Theatre. The campaign has a number of goals and objectives. First, it is aimed at attracting more families to its show. It is also aimed at bringing new audiences to this show and sparking their interest in outdoor events. It also hopes to get new partners such as the media and other like-minded associations.

Is Charter School an Answer for Inner City Students A Study of Dissertation

Is Charter School an Answer for Inner City Students A Study of Inclusion Among Disadvantaged Black Male Students with Disabili - Dissertation Example    Charter schools are public schools in nature and are intended to improve the education system of any nation. They possess a degree of independence in that most of the times they charge little or no tuition and are open to any student who wishes to enroll in them. They are also non sectarian and do not discriminate against any student on the basis of any affiliation be it sex, religion, race or color. They may be funded by the local authority in which it is situated, through the state or federal revenue like other public schools. These charter schools also adhere to state and federal academic standards as a benchmark in their day to day activities.  The basic concept of a charter school therefore, is the exercise of increased autonomy in exchange for accountability to the relevant stakeholders. Charter schools are free to improvise ways of improving the general student performance and achievement through numerous ways. They might do this through offering longer school days or o perating hours. This is what is at times known as remedial classes in some jurisdictions. Here, students spend more hours in class exploring ways of excelling in whatever discipline they are engaged in or are undertaking. This may occur during extended hours during week days, weekends or even during vacations or holidays. The schools may also adjust the curriculum contrary to what is set by the government to provide the learners with more time on the important or core subjects that they need most for their studies. Charter schools may also create a unique school culture whereby a specific school may adopt specific themes such as performing arts, career readiness, classical education, global awareness or meeting the needs of black or autistic students (Betts and Hill, 2010). Recent research has found that inner city kids or under-served students, who attended charter schools in New York City for nine consecutive years, from kindergarten to eighth grade, would close most of the  "Scarsdale-Harlem† achievement gap. The research also found that charter school students in this study won school admission lotteries as compared to other students in other public schools in the state (Reardon, 2009). This is further led credence by a similar study that found that students attending charter high schools in Chicago and Florida had higher ACT scores, graduation rates and college entrance rates than their peers in traditional public schools (Booker, Gill, Zimmer and Sass, 2009) It is therefore true that charter schools are high achiever as they produce positive results in both elementary and middle schools. This therefore means that there should be improved participation of all stakeholders involved in the research about the viability of charter schools. This will require strong and better policy formulation that would eventually lead to high-quality public charter schools. (Betts and Tang, 2008) Inclusion of black male students with disabilities into charter sch ools is understood to mean the integration of the education of male students with disabilities alongside those that are leading a normal life through regular classroom attendance. This is prompted by the urge by different stakeholders such as the

Economice Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economice - Assignment Example Along the European shores there are ten countries that will sign a pact to start working on an underwater electrical grid to link up disparate projects (The Economist, 2010). Norway has hydroelectric stations that can serve as giant batteries that store energy. Spain can take advantage of solar and wind renewable energies, while the Sahara desert has the potential to be a productive region for the implementation of solar technology. Europe would benefit tremendously if the producers of energy could trade energy over the grid in a single market. The estimated made by European officials established that energy savings of between 20%-25% could be possible. In Europe energy is being generated through multiple technologies including wind, sun, gas, and nuclear power. The European commission established that the government has to invest nearly $1.4 trillion over the next decade in its energy infrastructure. The fact that utilities are a public monopoly enables this industry to receive governmental assistance. Creating a single energy market in Europe will be difficult due to the fact that electricity and gas networks are treated as natural monopolies. Currently the only countries that are sharing their energy resources are Spain and Portugal. The fragmentation for the gas industry is even worse than the one for electricity in Europe. New regulations such as EU’s 20/20/20 which seeks a 20% greenhouse gas, a 20% reduction in energy, and a 20% increase in renewable energy should help increase cooperation. Another change in the industry that will help form a single market is the fact that companies must now either sell their distribution networks or run them as a separate business. A single energy market in Europe would represent the biggest utility monopoly market in the world. OIL and gas are being drained from under the North Sea. But its time as Europe’s energy reservoir is not over. Along its shores and on its waters, thousands of

Population of the country Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Population of the country - Research Paper Example This paper explores reasons for that. Before the start of the industrial revolution, the CBR and CDR in Canada were both high. The high rate of births can be attributed to the fact that more children went into the work of farming whereas families needed a greater number of children to be able to sustain because of the high rate of deaths. The high death rate can be attributed to the fact that the health and safety conditions of the society were not good. People suffered from different kinds of diseases and lacked hygiene. However, there was a stability in the high CBR and CDR which played a role in slow growth of the population. The CDR did increase dramatically with occasional epidemics for some years. The drop in the CDR in Canada around the mid-18th century is explained by improvement that occurred in the areas of medicine and sanitation. Despite the decline of the CDR, the CBR continued to remain high because of tradition as well as practice. As a result of the declined CDR but sustained CBR, population growth in Canada skyrocketed. Over the passage of time, children in the families became an extra cause of expenditure and were not in the position to help the family run the finances. As a result of that, the CBR in Canada started to decline in the 20th century with the use of advances in the birth control. By the 20th century, the condition of health and safety and the medical facilities for people in Canada were much better than what they were before the start of the industrial revolution. People used the newly found methods of birth control effective in reducing the rate of birth. Although there still occurred rapid growth of population in the 20th century in Canada yet the g rowth of population began to happen at a slower pace. The CBR and CDR both leveled off in the late 20th century at a low rate in Canada. Much of the growth in population

A Critical Analysis on William Blake Essay Example for Free

A Critical Analysis on William Blake Essay As romanticism flourished in Europe in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century in European culture one of the figures that stood foremost was William Blake. A poet, an engraver-putting it simply, an artist, many have raised an eyebrow with his lifestyle and works. Being a lyric poet, a visionary and even a mystic at times people have come to doubt his state of mind, whether or not he truly was an artist or simply insane. Wordsworth, for example, commented that there is no doubt that this poor man was mad, but there is something in his madness which interests me more than the sanity of Lord Byron and Walter Scott and John Ruskin similarly felt that Blakes work was diseased and wild, even if his mind was great and wise(Dover,1998). Looking into Blake’s background, we find that he lived an impoverished life in what we could say, was almost absolute seclusion. His interest in outside ideas rested on being able to refute them. Blake’s seclusion was not simply limited to isolation from other beings, it was also an isolation of the mind; which has lead to many great works which differ in style. Blake’s writings have ranged from lyrical such as his Auguries of Innocence (Erdman and Bloom, 1965) as seen: To see a world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour. through highly elaborate apocalyptic and visionary . He purposely wrote in the manner of the Hebrew prophets and apocalyptic writers. See more: how to write a critical analysis essay step by step He envisioned his works as expressions of prophecy, following in the footsteps (or, more precisely stepping into the shoes) of Elijah and Milton. In fact, he clearly believed himself to be the living embodiment of the spirit of Milton (Gastfield, 2007). On other occasions, Blake’s way of writing shifted to a highly speculative and paradoxical view which is very much evident in his The marriage of Heaven and Hell (Erdman and Bloom, 1965) where he writes: If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. This also particularly expressed his rebellion against the established values during this era. Blake accepted nothing and had a yearning so deep, for all that is intangible and unbounded to man under the dominion of God, matter, and reason (Kazin,1997). He was a man who had all the divergence of human existence in his hands, and he never forgot that it is the role of man to be able to find a solution for them. Although his contemporaries may have thought him as insane and having a diseased mind, William Blake was far ahead of his time being a visionary. A non conformist who embraced radical thinking, his works have influenced the lives of a great number of people, even being acclaimed by the underground movement. Having such great talent, and having so many ideas go through his mind, his works were merely an expression of the world that he lived in. A mind which privileged imagination over reason; and believed that ideal forms should be created not by which our eyes allow us to see but by that which our mind allows us to see. It is indeed only through the mind of a genius that such great works could be produced. REFERENCES Dover, Richard. â€Å"William Blake and English Poetry† Willaim Blake: A Helpfile 21October 1998 North East Wales Institute, K. 12 September 2007 http://www. newi. ac. uk/rdover/blake/index. htm Erdman, David and Bloom, Harold. The Complete Poetry and Prose of William Blake. Berkley: UC Press, 1965 Gastfield, Gail. â€Å"William Blake† The William Blake Page, 2007, The William Blake Page 12 September 2007 http://www. gailgastfield. com/Blake. html Kazin, Alfred. â€Å"AN INTRODUCTION TO WILLIAM BLAKE† 4 July 2007. Multi Media Library. 12 September 2007 http://www. multimedialibrary. com/Articles/kazin/alfredblake. asp

Constitution of the United States and Crime

Constitution of the United States and Crime Introduction In the United States, there are many correctional systems whereby while some houses the most dangerous criminals globally, others house the criminals who do not require a lot of security. The purpose of the correctional systems is using them in the detention of the criminals who have been convicted of the crimes that are against the outlined rules in the society. The main goal of the correctional facilities in thus to punish the wrongdoers as well as rehabilitate them so that they can be in a position to live a law-abiding life once they are released back to the society (McElreath, 2012). The professionals in these correctional facilities such as the parole officers, probation officers, jailers and the guards in the correctional facilities are supposed to be careful to avoid violating the rights of any individual in the facilities while still ensuring that they uphold the punishment. The professionals are expected to uphold the ethical standards in their execution of justice. In this paper, the parts of the constitution which are closely related to the ethics in the correction professionals will be discussed and use of social justice principles by the professionals to build a just society. In addition to this, the paper will also address how the criminal theory is practically used by the correctional officers and three issues that are faced by correctional professionals regularly and the way to respond to them. Corrections professionals must execute justice by upholding the law in an ethical and constitutional manner. Identify and explain which parts of the Constitution of the United States are most relevant to the ethical standards of corrections professionals. In the United States, various outlined rules are supposed to be followed in the field of criminal justice, and they give the criminals their rights. One of the parts of the Constitution of the United States which is most relevant to the ethical standards of corrections professionals is the one which gives the criminals their rights. This outlines that the criminals should not be harmed in anyway irrespective of the crimes that they have committed. The countries criminal system do not cause harm to them because they can be released from the prosecution and their case acquainted if the prosecution is done in their favor and no act of immorality is found. The officers in charge of the law enforcement in the country must always ensure that they execute justice in a way that the law is upheld in a constitutional and an ethical manner. The Department of Justice in the United States aims at the prevention and the resolving of the conflicts and the tensions that arise between communities as a result of discriminatory policies, actions, and practices by color, nationality, and race. All the law enforcement officers are thus expected to follow as well as obey the outlined rules and regulations at all times. How corrections professionals ensure that they uphold the Constitution One of the ways in which the correction professionals ensure that they uphold the Constitution is through ensuring that they do not inflict any injury to the inmates irrespective of the crimes that they have committed. In case the inmates are assaulted, they are supposed to report on the issue through writing for investigations to be carried out to punish the individual who assaulted them. The other way in which the correctional professionals should ensure that they uphold the Constitution is by ensuring equality among all the inmates irrespective of their race, color, the origin or the crime committed (Pollock, 2014).   All the inmates should be treated similarly irrespective of whether they committed murder, petty crimes or even kidnapping. They should, however, avoid putting together the inmates who committed murder and the ones convicted for shoplifting since it is dangerous for the two individuals involved. The other way in which the correctional professionals should ensure th at they uphold the Constitution is by avoiding solidarity among them. This is illegal, and the correctional professionals should avoid this to avoid doing illegal thinks when together on the clock. Analyze the ways in which corrections professionals use the social justice principles of equality, solidarity, and human rights to build a more just society. One of the ways in which the correctional professionals use the social justice principles of equality, human rights, and solidarity is by reporting anything that is illegal that is being done by other correctional professionals to each other or the inmates. Although the inmates are locked in, they should still be treated as human beings, and they deserve it. Since the inmates are in the custody of the state, they should be provided with food and shelter for protection purposes at the time they are incarcerated. The inmates should thus be taken care of, and their human rights should not be violated. The other way in which the correctional professionals use the social justice principles of equality, human rights and solidarity are through exercising their duties and responsibilities. These professionals are faced with ethical dilemmas on a daily basis, they are involved in the community corrections, and they also carry out the evaluations on the restorative justice. In addition to this , many programs are offered at the correctional institutions which include; the rehabilitation programs for alcohol, management of anger and drugs and these are usually created to help the people who need these resources, but they cant   access them while they are out of the jail. Why people commit crimes and how corrections professionals use criminal theory in their practice There are many theories which describe the reasons why people commit crimes. These theories are used by the practitioners in the correctional facilities in their day to day practices. One of the theories which explain why people commit crimes is the social learning theory. This theory depicts that people usually develop the motivation to commit a crime and the skills that they require in the crime process as a result of the people that they interact with. The social learning theories speculate that young people learn the ways in which they are supposed to behave depending on the ways in which their elders responds to their violation or the compliance on the rules (Banks, 2013). The appropriate behavior is indicated in the society through rewarding the morally acceptable behavior and punishing or imposing penalties on the transgressions. With time, the transgression is usually associated with the sanction thereby producing the sanction even at times when there is no one available to c heck on the sanctions. It is as a result of this process that the young people can learn how to control themselves by the legal and the moral codes. The other theory which explains why people commit the crime is the strain theory. According to this theory, many people in the society have aspirations that are similar, but the truth is that they have differing opportunities or the abilities to meet their aspirations. Whenever the people are not able to meet the expectations that the society have on them through the means that are approved such as the delayed gratification and hard work, they may end up trying to achieve their desired success through engaging in criminal activities. The third theory which explains why people commit the crime is the social disorganization theory. This theory speculates that the social, as well as the physical environment of an individual, are primarily conscientious of the behavioral choices that the individuals make. For instance, in the neighborhoods that have social structures that are fraying, the chances of having crimes are very high. Such a neighborhood is likely to have poor schools, high lev el of unemployment, buildings that are vandalized and vacant and also the mixture of residential and commercial properties. It is thus as a result of the physical and the social environment that the people are brought up that can contribute to the behavioral practices that individuals adopt as they grow such as committing the crime. The correctional professionals use the criminal theories in their practice to come up with the best solutions that will assist in reducing the types as well as the levels of crime in the society (Akers, 2013). Three main issues that face corrections professionals on a regular basis and address the best responses to these issues. One of the main issues that the correctional professionals are faced with on a regular basis is the inmates behavior. This is one of the challenges that the correction professionals experience in their day to day tasks, and in some ways, they have the least control over the issue while in others, they have a high level of control. It is clear that most of the inmates are more willing to take instructions, combative and also to a great extent willing to argue. The cases of the verbal confrontations between the correctional officers and the professionals are very high, and in the current days, they usually develop into physical incidences, and it has become a norm. The best way in which the corrections professional can respond to this issue is by learning on how to deal with the inmates both verbally and physically than before. In this, the officers should learn the ways of deflecting, refocusing and getting back on the right track after an argument without necessarily getting angry an d losing their control. They should learn to know when the use of words fails so that they can take the necessary action to ensure control of the inmates without affecting their rights. They should thus get to realize that they have an objective standard on how they take care of the inmates. The second main issue that the correctional professionals are faced with on a regular basis is the negative media attention. Commonly, the members of the public i.e. readers complain that the media only covers negative news about the corrections. The readers are right because the media always concentrates on the negative stories on the corrections without generating any of the positive stories (Siegel, 2017). The best response to address this issue is focusing on the positive which can be achieved through an administrative decision focusing on pushing out the positive content. Every facility should have public relations which aim at getting the positive stories out such as officers protecting the inmates from harm, food drive, and collections made by officers as presents to the kids during Christmas among others. The third issue that the correctional professionals are faced with on a regular basis is inadequate training among the midlevel supervisors. This is a challenge because most of the frontline supervisors who are required to evaluate the incidents where force should be used do not have the required knowledge and skills to do it in the right manner. This results in the situation whereby the officers can get away with their improper behaviors and thus ineffectiveness of the correctional system. In addition to this, the reports are not written in the right way, and the reviews are merely done, and when done they are poor. The best response to address this issue is ensuring that the correctional professionals are well trained such that they are well all rounded on all the roles and responsibilities that they are supposed to play in the organization. In addition to this, the state should secure enough funds for the training of the supervisors and other staff working in the correctional faci lities. In conclusion, the correction professionals should ensure that they uphold and achieve the goal of the correctional facilities which is the punishing of the wrongdoers and rehabilitating them. They should be careful to avoid violation of the rights of the inmates and still uphold the punishment required. In addition to this, they should ensure that they uphold social justice, equality, humanity and also ethicality in their process of executing justice. References Akers, R. (2013). Criminological Theories : Introduction and Evaluation. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. Banks, C. (2013). Criminal justice ethics : theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications. McElreath, D. (2012). Introduction to corrections. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Pollock, J. (2014). Ethical dilemmas and decisions in criminal justice. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Siegel, L. (2017). Corrections today. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Cengage Learning

The Causes of Gallbladder Attacks Essay -- essays research papers fc

The Causes of Gallbladder Attacks Outline I. Introduction: It is estimated that approxiamately 10 to 20 percent of the population in the United States and Western Europe are currently being affected by Gallbladder attacks. Thesis statement: These attacks are mainly caused by the development of gallstones in the gallbladder. II. Definition. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gallbladder B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Gallstones III. Causes. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Obesity B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Estrogen C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ethnicity D.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Age and gender IV. Symptoms. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Chronic indigestion B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Sudden, steady and moderate-to- intense pain in your upper abdomen C.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nausea and vomiting V. Diagnosis. A.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ultrasound B.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Cholecystogram Conclusion It might sound interesting to explore the reason why so many people are currently being affected by these attacks. According to statistics, 1 out of 8 men and 1 out of 4 women will have gallstones or gallbladder problems before they reach the age of 60. What then is the Gallbladder? The gallbladder according to Dorland’s Medical Dictionary is ‘the pear shaped reservoir for the bile on the posteroinferior surface of the liver, between the right and the left quadrate lobe, from its neck the cystic duct projects to join the common bile duct’. The function of the gallbladder in the human body is to solve and concentrate bile, which is produced by the liver and is necessary for proper digestion of fats. What are Gallstones? Gallstones form when the liquid stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. The liquid, called bile is used to help the body digest fats. Bile is made in the liver, and then stored in the gallbladder until the body needs to digest fat. At that time, the gallbladder contracts and pushes the bile into a tube—called the common bile duct—that carries it to the small intestine, where it help with digestion. Bile contains water, cholesterol, fats, bile salts, proteins, and bilirubin. Bile salts breaks up fats, and bilirubin gives bile and stool a yellowish color. If the liquid bile contains too much cholesterol, bile salts, or bilirubin, under certain conditions it can harden into stones. They may occur as a simple, large stone or many small ones. Gallstones are mixtures of compound, but are mostly cholesterol. According to studies many people have gallstones and never know it. Matter of fact, gallstones often cause no symptoms ... ...h a type of surgery called Cholecystectomy. The Non-Surgical approaches are used only in specific situations such as when a patient’s condition prevents using an anesthetic. In such cases, Oral dissolution therapy is used. In conclusion, 1 out of 10 people are at risk for gallbladder attacks. Gallstones are the main reason for these attacks. If you’re older, a female or overweight and have a sedentary lifestyle, a diet high in fat and sugar, you pose to be a potential candidate for these painful attacks. Bibliography Dorland’s Medical Dictionary http://www.lap-associates.com/SurgicalServices/biliary.html http://www.marysherbs.com/heal-gal.html Mayo Clinic Health Information. â€Å"What are Gallstones?† 11 Nov 2000< http://aolsvc.illness.aol.com/DS000165/main.html> http://www.med.upenn.edu/~surgery/clin/gallblad.html http://wwwmedocs.ucdavis.edu/IMD/420B/esylabus/biliary.html http://www.moreton.com.au/ana/handbook/gall.html National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. â€Å"Gallstones.†< http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/pubs/galstn/gallstns.html> http://www.wellweb.com/nutri/dieting_and_gallstones.html http:// www.yourhealth.com/ahl/1608.html

Fed Ex vs UPS Case Analysis Essay example -- essays research papers

Executive Summery The parcel service industry is made up of four main competitors. These competitors are UPS, FedEx, Airborne Express, and the U.S. Postal Service. Since 2000, American consumers have spent more than $50 billion to ship parcels, packages, and overnight letters. New parcel distribution patterns developed due to the way U.S. manufacturing companies are operating. The Internet has expanded the reach of direct marketing, particularly with retail transactions requiring home delivery. Globalization has also created the need for parcel carriers to expand worldwide. UPS and FedEx are the leading parcel carriers in the U.S. FedEx has significantly expanded their capability to compete with UPS’s dominant ground delivery service. UPS has continued its strong marketing efforts in overnight and deferred air services. Both of these carriers have introduced information systems, which include user-friendly Internet interfaces. The carriers have also expanded logistical services and improved integration with customer supply chains. State of the Environment State of the General Environment More and more people are using computers and the Internet. Dual income families have increased spending; therefore more people are ordering products over the internet at a high rate. The Internet offers customers a one stop source for global shipping. Due to this, there has been an increase in using information technology and the Internet for businesses. This has created an increase in trade and investment along with global shipping logistics and supply chain solutions. With the increase in globalization, companies have had to adapt to the diverse work force and the culture of the countries in which they are conducting business. The parcel service industry is controlled by strict regulations and federal law. For example, September 11 brought stricter laws and regulations in the parcel service industry. Operations must maintain federal approval to operate in the United States. State of the Industry Environment   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The parcel service industry is dominated by four carriers that make up 95 percent of the industries domestic revenue. Over the years, the industry has had an increase growth rate over time and an increased role in the economy. This is due to the way manufacturing companies are now operating. With the growth of the parcel service ... ...hich means that a business can get paid quicker, lower its capital requirements, minimize management headaches, manage change and gain competitive advantage. UPS focus is to help their customers consistently achieve these results. The core of UPS is the distribution of goods and the information that accompanies them. UPS has branched out to focus on services. The company’s expertise in shipping and tracking positioned it to become an enabler of global commerce and also a facilitator of commerce, which includes goods, information, and capital. To fulfill the vision of offering new services, UPS strategically acquired existing companies and created new kinds of companies that did not previously exist. Through these acquisitions and creations, UPS serves its customers by providing unique supply-chain solutions. UPS allowed its customers to better serve their own customers, and focus on core competencies. UPS has a Logistics Group to provide global supply chain management solutions and consulting services based on customers ´ individual needs. UPS has a mission to provide a list of options of integrated financial products and services that enable companies to grow their business.

Organisational cultures Essay

Introduction: defining culture The concept of culture has become increasingly significant in education during the 1990s and into the twenty-first century. This enhanced interest may be understood as an example of dissatisfaction with the limitations of those leadership and man- agement models which stress the structural and technical aspects of schools and colleges. The focus on the intangible world of values and attitudes is a useful counter to these bureaucratic assumptions and helps to produce a more balanced portrait of educational institutions. Culture relates to the informal aspects of organisations rather then their official elements. They focus on the values, beliefs and norms of individuals in the organi- sation and how these individual perceptions coalesce into shared meanings. Culture is manifested by symbols and rituals rather than through the formal structure of the organization: Beliefs, values and ideology are at the heart of organisations. Individuals hold certain ideas and value-preferences which influence how they behave and how they view the behaviour of other members. These norms become shared traditions which are communicated within the group and are rein- forced by symbols and ritual. (Bush 2003, p.156). The developing importance of culture arises partly from a wish to understand, and operate more effectively within, this informal domain of the values and beliefs of teachers, support staff and other stakeholders. Morgan (1997) and O’Neill (1994) both stress the increasing significance of cultural factors in leadership and manage- ment. The latter charts the appearance of cultural ‘labels’ and suggests why they have become more prevalent: The increased use of such cultural descriptors in the literature of educational management is significant because it reflects a need for educational organiza- tions to be able to articulate deeply held and shared  values in more tangible ways and therefore respond more effectively to new, uncertain and potentially  threatening demands on their capabilities. Organizations, therefore, articulate values in order to provide form and meaning for the activities of organiza- tional members in the absence of visible and certain organizational structures and relationships. In this sense the analysis and influence of organizational culture become essential management tools in the pursuit of increased orga- nizational growth and effectiveness. (O’Neill, 1994, p.116) The shift towards self-management in many countries reinforces the notion of schools and colleges as unique entities with their own distinctive features or ‘cul- ture’. It is inevitable that self-management will lead to greater diversity and, in Eng- land, this is one of the Government’s explicit aims. Caldwell and Spinks (1992) argue that there is ‘a culture of self- management’. The essential components of this culture are the empowerment of leaders and their acceptance of responsibility. Societal culture Most of the literature on culture in education relates to organisational culture and that is also the main focus of this chapter. However, there is also an emerging liter- ature on the broader theme of national or societal culture. Dimmock and Walker (2002a, p.3) claim that ‘the field of educational administration †¦ has largely ignored the influence of societal culture’ but their work has contributed to an increasing awareness of this concept. Given the globalisation of education, issues of societal culture are increasingly sig- nificant. Walker and Dimmock (2002) refer to issues of context and stress the need to avoid ‘decontextualized paradigms’ (p.1) in researching and analysing educa- tional systems and institutions: The field of educational leadership and management has developed along eth- nocentric lines, being heavily dominated by Anglo-American paradigms and theories †¦ Frequently, either a narrow ethnicity pervades research and policy, or an implicit assumption is made that findings in one part of the world will necessarily apply in others. It is clear that a key factor missing from many debates on educational administration and leadership is context †¦ context is represented by societal culture and its mediating influence on theory, policy and practice. (Walker and Dimmock 2002, p.2) Walker and Dimmock are by no means alone in advocating attention to issues of context. Crossley and Broadfoot (1992, p.100) say that ‘policies and practice cannot be translated intact from one culture to another since the mediation of different cultural contexts can quite transform the latter’s salience’ while Bush et al. (1998, p.137) stress that ‘all theories and interpretations of practice must be ‘grounded’ in the specific context †¦ before they can be regarded as useful’. LEADING AND MANAGING PEOPLE IN EDUCATION48 Dimmock and Walker (2002b, p.71) have given sustained attention to these issues and provide a helpful distinction between societal and organizational culture: Societal cultures differ mostly at the level of basic values, while organizational cultures differ mostly at the level of more superficial practices, as reflected in the recognition of particular symbols, heroes and rituals. This allows organiza- tional cultures to be deliberately managed and changed, whereas societal or national cultures are more enduring and change only gradually over longer time periods. School leaders influence, and in turn are influenced by, the orga- nizational culture. Societal culture, on the other hand, is a given, being out- side the sphere of influence of an individual school leader. (Our emphasis) Dimmock and Walker (2002b) identify seven ‘dimensions’ of societal culture,  each of which is expressed as a continuum: 1 Power-distributed/power concentrated: power is either distributed more equally among the various levels of a culture or is more concentrated. 2 Group-oriented/self-oriented: people in self-oriented cultures perceive themselves to be more independent and self-reliant. In group-oriented cultures, ties between people are tight, relationships are firmly structured and individual needs are sub- servient to the collective needs. 3 Consideration/aggression: in aggression cultures, achievement is stressed, competi- tion dominates and conflicts are resolved through the exercise of power and assertiveness. In contrast, consideration societies emphasise relationship, solidar- ity and resolution of conflicts by compromise and negotiation. 4 Proactivism/fatalism: this dimension reflects the proactive or ‘we can change things around here’ attitude in some cultures, and the willingness to accept things as they are in others – a fatalistic perspective. 5 Generative/replicative: some cultures appear more predisposed towards innovation, or the generation of new ideas and methods, whereas other cultures appear more inclined to replicate or to adopt ideas and approaches from elsewhere. 6 Limited relationship/holistic relationship: in limited relationship cultures, interac- tions and relationships tend to be determined by explicit rules which are applied to everyone. In holistic cultures, greater attention is given to relationship oblig- ations, for example kinship, patronage and friendship, than to impartially applied rules. 7 Male influence/female influence: in some societies, the male domination of deci- sion-making in political, economic and professional life is perpetuated. In others, women have come to play a significant role. (adapted from Dimmock and Walker 2002b, pp.74-6). This model can be applied to educational systems in different countries. Bush and Qiang (2000) show that most of these dimensions are relevant to Chinese education: 49ORGANISATIONAL CULTURES †¢ Power is concentrated in the hands of a limited number of leaders. ‘The principal has positional authority within an essentially bureaucratic system †¦ China might be regarded as the archetypal high power-distance (power-concentrated) society’ (p.60). †¢ Chinese culture is group oriented. ‘Collective benefits [are] seen as more important than individual needs’ (p.61). †¢ Chinese culture stresses consideration rather than aggression. ‘The Confucian scholars advocate modesty and encourage friendly co-operation, giving priority to people’s relationships. The purpose of education is to mould every individual into a harmonious member of society’ (p.62). †¢ Patriarchal leadership dominates in education, business, government and the Communist Party itself. There are no women principals in the 89 secondary schools in three counties of the Shaanxi province. Coleman et al. (1998, p.144) attribute such inequalities to the continuing dominance of patriarchy. Societal culture is one important aspect of the context within which school leaders must operate. Leaders and managers must also be aware of organisational culture which provides a more immediate framework for leadership action. Principals and others can help to shape culture but they are also influenced by it. Chapter 7, for example, refers to the need for educational leaders to be aware of the societal cul- ture underpinning schools and colleges so that appropriate equal opportunities policies and practices can be developed. Central features of organisational culture Organisational culture has the following major features (Bush 2003): 1 It focuses on the values and beliefs of members of organisations. These values underpin the behaviour and attitudes of individuals within schools and colleges but they may not always be explicit. These individual beliefs coalesce into shared values: ‘Shared values, shared beliefs, shared meaning, shared understanding, and shared sensemaking are all different ways of describing culture †¦ These pat- terns of understanding also provide a basis for making one’s own behaviour sen- sible and meaningful’ (Morgan, 1997, p.138). This does not necessarily mean that individual values are always in harmony with one another. Morgan (1997, p.137) suggests that ‘there may be different and competing value systems that create a mosaic of organizational realities rather than a uniform corporate culture’. Dissonance is more likely in large, multipur- pose organisations such as colleges and universities but Nias et al. (1989) note that they may also exist in primary education. Fullan and Hargreaves (1992, pp. 71-2) argue that some schools develop a ‘balkanized’ culture made up of separate and sometimes competing groups: LEADING AND MANAGING PEOPLE IN EDUCATION50 Teachers in balkanized cultures attach their loyalties and identities to particular groups of their colleagues. They are usually colleagues with whom they work most closely, spend most time, socialize most often in the staffroom. The existence of such groups in a school often reflects and reinforces very different group outlooks on learning, teaching styles, dis- cipline and curriculum. Staff working in sub-units, such as departments, may develop their own dis- tinctive ‘subculture’ and middle managers, or ‘middle level leaders’ as the NCSL prefers to call them, may wish to cultivate this as a way of developing and enhancing team effectiveness. However, as Fullan and Hargreaves (1992)  imply, such subcultures may not be consistent with the whole-school or college culture. 2 Organisational culture emphasises the development of shared norms and mean- ings. The assumption is that interaction between members of the organisation, or its subgroups, eventually leads to behavioural norms that gradually become cul- tural features of the school or college. Nias et al.’s (1989, pp.39-40) research shows how group norms were established in their case-study schools: As staff talked, worked and relaxed together, they began to negotiate shared meanings which enabled them to predict each others’ behaviour. Consequently each staff developed its own taken-for-granted norms. Because shared meanings and ways of behaving became so taken for granted, existing staff were largely unaware of them. But they were visi- ble to newcomers †¦ Researchers moving between schools were con- stantly reminded of the uniqueness of each school’s norms. These group norms sometimes allow the development of a monoculture in a school with meanings shared throughout the staff – ‘the way we do things around here’. We have already noted, however, that there may be several subcul- tures based on the professional and personal interests of different groups. These typically have internal coherence but experience difficulty in relationships with other groups whose behavioural norms are different. Wallace and Hall (1994, pp.28 and 127) identify senior management teams (SMTs) as one example of group culture with clear internal norms but often weak connections to other groups and individuals: SMTs in our research developed a ‘culture of teamwork’ †¦ A norm com- mon to the SMTs was that decisions must be reached by achieving a working consensus, entailing the acknowledgement of any dissenting views †¦ there was a clear distinction between interaction inside the team and contact with those outside †¦ [who] were excluded from the inner world of the team. 3 Culture is typically expressed through rituals and ceremonies which are  used to support and celebrate beliefs and norms. Schools, in particular, are rich in such symbols as assemblies, prize-givings and corporate worship. Hoyle (1986, pp.150  and 152) argues that ritual is at the heart of cultural models: ‘Symbols are a key component of the culture of all schools †¦ [they] have expressive tasks and sym- bols which are the only means whereby abstract values can be conveyed †¦ Sym- bols are central to the process of constructing meaning’. (Hoyle 1986, pp.150-2). School culture may be symbolized through three modes: (a) Conceptually or verbally, for example through use of language and the expres- sion of organisational aims. (b) Behaviourally, through rituals, ceremonies, rules, support mechanisms, and patterns of social interaction. (c) Visually or materially, through facilities, equipment, memorabilia, mottoes, crests and uniforms. (Beare et al. 1989, p.176). Schein (1997, p.248) argues that ‘rites and rituals [are] central to the deciphering as well as to the communicating of cultural assumptions’. 4 Organisational culture assumes the existence of heroes and heroines who embody the values and beliefs of the organisation. These honoured members typify the behaviours associated with the culture of the institution. Campbell-Evans (1993, p. 106) stresses that heroes or heroines are those whose achievements match the cul- ture: ‘Choice and recognition of heroes †¦ occurs within the cultural boundaries identified through the value filter †¦ The accomplishments of those individuals who come to be regarded as heroes are compatible with the cultural emphases.’ This feature is evident in South Africa, for example, where the huge interest in school sport means that sporting heroes are identified and celebrated. This was evident, for example, in a Durban school visited by one of the authors, where for- mer student Shaun Pollock, the South African fast bowler, had numerous pho- tographs on display and a room named after him. In celebrating the achievements of this cricketing ‘hero’, school managers are seeking to emphasise the centrality of sporting achievement to the ethos and culture of the school. Developing a culture of learning in South Africa As we noted earlier (p.000), societal or national culture underpins the organisa- tional culture of individual schools and colleges. Nowhere is this more apparent than in South African schools where the predominant culture reflects the wider social structure of the post-apartheid era. Decades of institutionalised racism and injustice have been replaced by an overt commitment to democracy in all aspects of life, including education. Ngcobo (2003) addresses issues of cultural diversity and, drawing on Irvine (1990), identifies nine dimensions of African culture: †¢ Spirituality: life is viewed as vitalistic rather than mechanistic. †¢ Harmony: humans and nature live interdependently and in harmony. LEADING AND MANAGING PEOPLE IN EDUCATION52 †¢ Movement: rhythm, music and dance. †¢ Verve: high levels of stimulation. †¢ Affect: emotions and feelings. †¢ Communalism: social connectedness and an awareness of responsibilities to the  group transcending individual privileges. †¢ Expressive individualism: genuine personal expression. †¢ Oral tradition: oral/aural metaphors and colourful forms. †¢ Social time perspective: time as social rather than material space (adapted from Ngcobo 2003, p.224). Ngcobo (2003) notes that these cultural features are very different from European cultures. Such cultural differences became particularly significant as schools began to change their racial composition in response to the South African Schools Act (1996), which made it illegal to deny admission to students on the basis of race. For- merly white schools, with a predominantly ‘European’ culture, began to assimilate learners, and to a lesser extent educators, from different cultural backgrounds. Ngcobo (2003) gives two contrasting examples of how school leaders responded to these cultural changes. Vryburg high school avoided cultural diversity by dividing the premises into two sections (white and black). This had several deleterious con- sequences, including conflict leading to charges of assault being laid against 14 black learners and seven parents of white students. Greenland secondary school in Durban adopted a different approach, aiming at cultural diversity and encouraging learners and staff to express and celebrate their own cultures. This school has been very successful academically which the principal attributes to ‘the strong integrative culture it promotes’ (Ngcobo 2003, p.230). The years of struggle against apartheid inevitably affected schools, particularly those in the townships. One of the ‘weapons’ of the black majority was for young- sters to ‘strike’ and demonstrate against the policies of the white government. Sim- ilarly, teacher unions were an important aspect of the liberation movement and teachers would frequently be absent from school to engage in protest activity. It is perhaps inevitable that a culture of learning was difficult to establish in such a hos- tile climate. Badat (1995, p.143) claims that ‘the crisis in black education, including what has come to be referred to as the â€Å"breakdown† in the â€Å"culture of learning† †¦ continued unabated’. This issue surfaced in Bush and Anderson’s (2003) survey of school principals in the KwaZulu/Natal province. In response to a question about the aims of the school, principals stated that: †¢ the school is striving to instill in the minds of learners that ‘education is their future’ †¢ to show the importance of education within and outside the school †¢ to provide a conducive educational environment †¢ to develop a culture of learning. 53ORGANISATIONAL CULTURES The absence of a culture of learning in many South African schools illustrates the long-term and uncertain nature of cultural change. The long years of resistance to apartheid education have to be replaced by a commitment to teaching and learn- ing if South Africa is to thrive in an increasingly competitive world economy. How- ever, educational values have to compete with the still prevalent discourse of struggle and also have to reconcile the diverse value systems of the different sub- cultures in South Africa’s integrated schools. It seems likely that the development of a genuine culture of learning will be slow and dependent on the quality of lead- ership in individual schools. Leadership and culture We noted earlier (p.000) that societal culture is beyond the control of educational leaders but heads and principals are able to influence organisational culture. Arguably, they have the main responsibility for generating and sustaining culture and communicating core values and beliefs both within the organization and to external stakeholders (Bush 1998, p.43). Heads and principals have their own val- ues and beliefs arising from many years of successful professional practice. They are also expected to embody the culture of the school or college. Hoyle (1986, pp.155-6) stresses the symbolic dimension of leadership and the central role of heads in defining school culture: Few heads will avoid constructing an image of the school. They will differ in the degree to which this is a deliberate and charismatic task. Some heads †¦Ã‚  will self- consciously seek to construct a great mission for the school. Others will convey their idea of the school less dramatically and construct a meaning from the basic materials of symbol-making: words, actions, artefacts and settings. Schein (1997, p.211) argues that cultures spring primarily from the beliefs, values and assumptions of founders of organisations. Nias et al. (1989, p. 103) suggest that heads are ‘founders’ of their school’s culture. They refer to two of their English case study schools where new heads dismantled the existing culture in order to create a new one based on their own values. The culture was rebuilt through example: ‘All the heads of the project schools were aware of the power of example. Each head expected to influence staff through his/her example. Yet their actions may also have been symbolic of the values they tried to represent.’ Nias et al. (1989) also mention the significance of co-leaders, such as deputy heads and curriculum co-ordinators, in disseminating school culture. Deal (1985, pp.615-18) suggests several strategies for leaders who wish to gener- ate culture: †¢ Document the school’s history to be codified and passed on. †¢ Anoint and celebrate heroes and heroines. LEADING AND MANAGING PEOPLE IN EDUCATION54 †¢ Review the school’s rituals to convey cultural values and beliefs. †¢ Exploit and develop ceremony. †¢ Identify priests, priestesses and gossips, and incorporate them into mainstream  activity. This provides access to the informal communications network. One of the ways in which leaders can shape or change culture is through the appointment of other staff who have the same values and beliefs, leading to cultural consonance. In this view, the staff selection process provides an opportunity to set out the values of the school, or its leaders, in the hope  that those who hold similar values will be attracted to the post while others will be deterred from making or pur- suing an application. Over time, the culture of the school will shift in the direction sought by the principal. The literature on collegiality (e.g. Bush 2003) shows that leaders are more likely to cede power to others when they are confident that their own educational values will not be compromised by doing so. Foskett and Lumby (2003) point out that staff selection processes are themselves subject to cultural variables. They draw on Akinnusi (1991) to distinguish between ‘universalistic’ and ‘particularistic’ approaches to selection. The universalistic approach, as discussed in Chapter 9 of this volume, for example, attempts to match applicants to objective criteria and is thought to be ‘more successful in identifying the best match to the vacant post’ (Foskett and Lumby 2003, p.71). These authors contrast this model with the particularistic approach adopted, for example, in Africa and in China. Here, ‘selection is shaped by the personal affiliation of the players, for example kinship, religion, ethnic or political similarities’ (p.70). This approach is likely to be successful in ensuring that the appointees have similar val- ues to the leaders. Using cultural criteria to appoint new staff may help to modify culture but the established staff, and inertia, may still ensure that change is highly problematic. Reynolds (1996) refers to one school where the prevailing culture was ‘posing severe difficulties for any purported change attempts’ (p.153). He point to ‘multiple barri- ers to change’ including: †¢ staff wanted ‘top down’ change and not ‘ownership’ †¢ ‘we’ve always done it this way’ †¢ individual reluctance to challenge the prevailing culture †¢ staff blaming children’s home background for examination failure †¢ numerous personality clashes, personal agendas and fractured interpersonal rela-tionships (Reynolds 1996, pp.153-4). This example illustrates the difficulty of attempting to impose cultural change. As one former college principal stresses, ‘[it is] dangerous †¦ for  managers to move too fast on cultural change’ (Bridge 1994, p.197). Turner (1990, p.11) acknowledges the pressures on leaders to ‘mould’ culture but rejects the belief that ‘something as pow- erful as culture can be much affected by the puny efforts of top managers’. 55ORGANISATIONAL CULTURES Hargreaves (1999, p.59) makes a similar point, claiming that ‘most people’s beliefs, attitudes and values are far more resistant to change than leaders typically allow’. He identifies three circumstances when culture may be subject to rapid change: †¢ The school faces an obvious crisis, for example a highly critical inspection report or falling pupil numbers, leading to the prospect of staff redundancies or school closure. †¢ The leader is very charismatic, commanding instant trust, loyalty and fellowship. This may enable cultural change to be more radical and be achieved more quickly. †¢ The leader succeeds a very poor principal. Staff will be looking for change to instil a new sense of direction (adapted from Hargreaves 1999, pp.59-60). These points may also apply to sub-units and subcultures. Hargreaves (1999, p.60) concludes that, ‘if none of these special conditions applies, assume that cultural change will be rather slow’. Leaders also have responsibility for sustaining culture, and cultural maintenance is often regarded as a central feature of effective leadership. Sergiovanni (1984, p.9) claims that the cultural aspect is the most important dimension of leadership. Within his ‘leadership forces hierarchy’, the cultural element is more significant than the technical, human and educational aspects of leadership: The net effect of the cultural force of leadership is to bond together  students, teachers, and others as believers in the work of the school †¦ As persons become members of this strong and binding culture, they are provided with opportunities for enjoying a special sense of personal importance and significance. Limitations of organisational culture The concept of organisational culture provides several useful elements to the lead- ership and management of people in schools and colleges. The focus on the infor- mal dimension is a valuable counter to the rigid and official components of the formal models. By stressing the values and beliefs of participants, culture reinforces the human aspects of management rather than their structural elements. However, this approach has three significant weaknesses (Bush 2003): 1 The notion of ‘organisational culture’ may simply be the imposition of the leaders’ values on other members of the organisation. The search for a monoculture may mean subordinating the values and beliefs of some participants to those of leaders or the dominant group. ‘Shared’ cultures may be simply the values of leaders imposed on less powerful people. Morgan (1997) refers to ‘a process of ideological  control’ and warns of the risk of ‘manipulation’: Ideological manipulation and control is being advocated as an essential managerial strategy †¦ such manipulation may well be accompanied by resistance, resentment and mistrust †¦ where the culture controls rather than expresses human character, the metaphor may thus prove quite manipulative and totalitarian in its influence. (pp.150-1) Prosser (1999, p.4) refers to the ‘dark underworld’ of school culture and links it to the concept of micropolitics: ‘The micro-political perspective recognized that formal powers, rules, regulations, traditions and rituals  were capable of being subverted by individuals, groups or affiliations in schools’. Hargreaves (1999, p.60) uses the term ‘resistance group’ to refer to sub-units seeking to subvert lead- ers and their intended cultural change. However, this may simply be a legitimate attempt to enunciate the specific values of, for example, departmental culture. 2 The portrayal of culture may be unduly mechanistic, assuming that leaders can determine the culture of the organisation (Morgan 1997). While they have influ- ence over the evolution of culture by espousing desired values, they cannot ensure the emergence of a monoculture. As we have seen, secondary schools and colleges may have several subcultures operating in departments and other sec- tions. This is not necessarily dysfunctional because successful sub-units are vital components of thriving institutions, and successful middle-level leadership and management are increasingly regarded as essential to school and college effec- tiveness (Harris 2002; Briggs 2003). In an era of self-managing schools and colleges in many countries, lay influ- ences on policy are increasingly significant. Governing bodies often have the for- mal responsibility for major decisions and they share in the creation of institutional culture. This does not mean simple acquiescence to the values of the head or principal. Rather, there may be negotiation leading to the possibility of conflict and the adoption of policies inconsistent with the leader’s own values. 3 Hoyle (1986) argues that symbols may misrepresent the reality of the school or college. He suggests that schools may go through the appearance of change but the reality continues as before: A symbol can represent something which is ‘real’ in the sense that it †¦ acts as a surrogate for reality †¦ there will be a mutual recognition by the parties concerned that the substance has not been evoked but they are nevertheless content to sustain the fiction that it has if there has been some symbolization of the substance †¦ in reality the system carries on as formerly. (p.166) Schein (1997, p.249) also warns against placing too much reliance on ritual. When the only salient data we have are the rites and rituals that have survived over a period of time, we must, of course, use them as best we  can †¦ however †¦ it is difficult to decipher just what assumptions lead- ers have held that have led to the creation of particular rites and rituals. Conclusion: people and culture The belief that schools and colleges are unique entities is gaining ground as people increasingly recognise the importance of the specific contexts, internal and exter- nal, which provide the frameworks within which leaders and managers must oper- ate. Despite the pressures of globalisation, understanding and managing the school context is a vital dimension of leadership in the twenty-first century. Values and beliefs are not universal and a ‘one size fits all’ model does not work for nations any more than it does for schools. The recognition that school and college development needs to be preceded by attitudinal change is also salutary, and is consistent with the view that teachers must feel ‘ownership’ of change if it is to be implemented effectively. Externally imposed innovation often fails because it is out of tune with the values of the teach- ers who have to implement it. ‘Since organization ultimately resides in the heads of the people involved, effective organizational change always implies cultural change’ (Morgan 1997, p.150). The emphasis on values and symbols may also help to balance the focus on struc- ture and process in many of the other models. The informal world of norms and rit- ual behaviour may be just as significant as the formal elements of schools and colleges. ‘Even the most concrete and rational  aspects of organization – whether structures, hierarchies, rules, or organizational routines – embody social construc- tions and meanings that are crucial for understanding how organization functions day to day’ (Morgan 1997, p.146). Culture also provides a focus for organisational action. Effective leaders often seek to influence values so that they become closer to, if not identical with, their own beliefs. In this way, they hope to achieve widespread support for, or ‘ownership’ of, new policies. By working through this informal domain, rather than imposing change through positional authority or political processes, heads, principals and other leaders, including middle managers, are more likely to gain support for inno- vation. 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