Speed and accuracy of service Essay Example

Speed and accuracy of service Essay Example Speed and accuracy of service Essay Speed and accuracy of service Essay To test how speedy (taking into account of the slowness of the computer) and accurate their levels of service are, I put in my booking information and was delighted to find that exactly what I wanted came up, I then entered a few specific needs and they were able to cater for me.  Teamwork  Virgin Atlantic has a procedure of a one day training course which will enable staff to provide exceptional customer service. Mission Statement  The mission statement of virgin Atlantic itself; separate from Virgin as a whole is;  To grow a profitable airline, that people love to fly and where people love to work.  This shows that they want both their costumers and workers to have an enjoyable experience with them, which is good that they take into account the feelings of the both groups of people who make organisations growth possible.  Methods used to monitor and evaluate service standards  There are three main methods that can be used to monitor the levels of service and Best western use all three. Mystery Shoppers  Magherabuoy House hotel do use mystery shoppers to evaluate their levels of customer service, they have began using these methods due to complaints. After using mystery shoppers in the bar, reception area and generally throughout the entire customer facing roles of staff, Trevor Clarke told us this in our questions and answers session with him. He said that they were able to improve with a lot more ease and were able to pin point the flaws so the company could then improve. The hotel does not use mystery shoppers on a regular basis, more so only when there could be a problem which cannot be seen by managers or fellow colleges. Questionnaires  Quantitative these are quite simply yes/no questions for example the Magherabuoy use these sorts of questions to try and understand the needs of the customers.  Qualitative are more open questions which can be used to describe how something felt, Magherabuoy use these in their restaurant to find out how people enjoyed the food and what could be better.  Observation  The managers at Best Western regularly observe the state of their properties, from the use of the questionnaires; the Magherabuoy restaurant staff were able to observe the responses and came to understand that the majority of the negative reports were coming from the breakfast menu. Once the observation had taken place, the restaurant changed their menu and then soon found goof feedback coming back to them about it. Part Two  P2 describe the benefits of good quality customer service, and the consequences of poor service, in two different travel and tourism organisations.  Benefits of good service to the employee  Magherabuoy promote working as part of a team for collective goals to help boost staff motivation; this is one of their staff incentives. With clear standards in place staff will be customer focused therefore the level of customer complaints should be reduced.  The employee will look forward to the financial rewards; the Magherabuoy give pay rises to the employees after a period of time, once the employee has worked there for the first three months their salary will rise slightly and so on. The employee will look forward to the monthly rewards such as staff bonuses and employee of the month; obviously these are only given when and were disserved so this will incentivise the staff.  There are opportunities for further promotion through training- once the staff are in higher training they will soon feel proud to work for the organisation.  When the employee is working well and looks well; they will feel well. This means that if the employees are providing a good service, the customers then will have nothing to complain about and perhaps may say thank you for the service- this will result in job satisfaction. Benefits of good service to the employer  The employer will achieve business success if customer expectations are satisfied and exceeded.  For the employer; increased sales and profits and profits mean customers may buy more products or services and will want to repeat business when they enjoy themselves but this will only happen when a good service is provided to the customer.  The employer himself will gain a good PR (reputation) as a strong share of market continues to grow.  As an organisation the Magherabuoy can compete more strongly by reducing complaints and complaints can only be reduce through providing a good service.

Alliteration

Alliteration Alliteration Alliteration By Simon Kewin A couple of previous Daily Writing Tips posts looked at when to use rhyme in poetry and also at the various types of rhyme available to the poet. Rhyme, however, is only one of the techniques employed in poetry to make its language special. Another basic one is alliteration. Alliteration is defined by the Compact Oxford Dictionary as : The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected words. For example, these lines are from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner : Water, water, everywhere, And all the boards did shrink; Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink. Here, the w sounds in the first and third lines alliterate, as do the d sounds of â€Å"drop† and â€Å"drink† in the fourth. Alliteration is just one technique employed by poets, who combine it as needed with rhyme, rhythm, imagery and so forth. It’s another way to give a poem structure, to mark out its language as special and musical. The ear will tend to pay special attention to alliterated syllables, and to hear a connection between them. It’s worth noting that in Old English or Anglo Saxon poetry, alliteration was the principal structural technique. There was no regular rhyme or rhythm – instead, poetry was (generally) written so that lines contained four stresses, the first three of which alliterated. There was no attempt to create end-rhymes or even to have lines of the same length. The following lines, for example, are from Beowulf (as translated by Seamus Heaney) : There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes, A wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes. In the first line, three sh and s sounds are stressed and (loosely) alliterate (Shield/Sheafson/scourge). In the second line, it’s the m sounds (mead/rampaging/among). Two other related techniques to be aware of in relation to alliteration are assonance and consonance. Assonance is similar to alliteration except that it refers to repeated vowel-sounds rather than repeated consonant-sounds. For example, there is the repeated ur sound in this line from Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven : And the silken sad uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Consonance, finally, is very similar to alliteration. Strictly speaking, repeated consonant-sounds at the start of words are alliteration, and repeated consonant-sounds in the middle of words are consonance. Thus in the line â€Å"Water, water, everywhere†, Coleridge has used both alliteration and consonance. The next in this series of poetry-related posts, meanwhile, will look at metre. Stay tuned. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Freelance Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Dialogue Dos and Don'ts"Certified" and "Certificated"1,462 Basic Plot Types

Ebay cultural analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Ebay cultural analysis - Essay Example These elements that define the culture of an organization are not constant, they change with time and it is the change of these elements that define culture change and hence the reputation and direction of the company. There are several cultural changes that have been initiated in EBay since its inception and these changes have resulted to a number of implications. The first cultural change initiated by the company was not localized to the company but to the whole world. The company changed the way the world does business. It initiated transitions from buying and selling physical commodities to a wide extension of commodities that include diverse services. The company also revolutionized the payments methods in business transactions y introducing paperless cash transfers such as PayPal (Griffin 2012, p 79). This is an online payment method that allows buyers and sellers to purchase and sell commodities online without handling cash. This has not only improved the efficiency of carryin g out business transactions, but it has also enhanced security in business. The company has also initiated a communication culture between its employees and its customers. In the early days of the inception of the company, there had been poor communication strategies and many customers filled the company’s website with messages filled with dissatisfaction. Therefore, the company introduced a strong culture of communication by creating several interfaces and platforms of communication between the company and its employees (Ashkanasy 2011, p 82). The company also included the use of social media and channels in its communication culture with its employees and this assertion is attributed to the rapid changes in the levels of technology in the world. The other culture change that has been observed in the company is its responsiveness to its shareholders. The company initiated a mechanism that will ensure that all the concerns of their shareholders are met within the shortest tim e possible (Bevan & Wengrow 2010, p 18). The company changed its buyer and seller cultures a great deal by adding the aspect of shareholders involvement so as to include them in its short term and long term development plans. All the above described cultural changes that took place in EBay had a number of implications that accompanied them and the business environment as a whole. These were both positive and negative implications as will be described below. Taking a look at some of the positive implications that impacted the organization was increase in the number of products. This in return led to increase in the number of sales and consequently, increase revenue collection (Halal 2005, p 59). This was extremely significant as it led to overall increase in overall business turnover. All these continued to provide more energy in terms of financial resource to stir up the organization in the quest of attaining their set goals and objectives. In addition to this, there was improvement of interpersonal relationship between the staff, both junior and senior managerial staff. The flow of information significantly improved as a result of these cultural changes and as a result business could be carried out in a well orderly fashion and thus led to increase in quality of service. The customer is always the determining factor in any business entity. Therefore, by the organization having the capability offer quality services and goods,

Olympic games Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Olympic games - Essay Example The aggregate tally of the individuals who watched London Olympics amounted to 219 million. Upon observation of this trend, the media house chose to maximize the hours of coverage. Therefore, NBC showed the London Olympics for a total of 5,535 hours (Moraes, 1). This exhibits the massive and rampant figure of persons watching the Olympics. The united Greeks were the historical perpetuators of the Olympics. Olympic Games had their foremost occurrence in Greece (Toohey, 11). Therefore, the Greece people were the custodians of this culture of games. From Greece, Olympic Games stretched to other parts of the globe. Therefore, Greece was the birthplace of the Olympic Games culture. Inhabitants of Greece cherished the Olympics immensely throughout the nation. Their Olympic events would register a very high number of attendance and attention from the public (Toohey, 12). Other nations therefore observed this culture and incepted it in their native calendars. Ancient Greece was therefore the initiator of the Olympic Games culture. Greece was the source of the Olympic culture from antiquity. In the ninth century BC, there was no other nation with the Olympics. Therefore, the ninth century BC marked the approximate era of Olympic Games culture initiation in Greece (Toohey, 11). These were the times of the Ancient Greece community. The Olympic Games were part of the Greece culture during these times. They were a portion of a sacred tradition called the ekecheiria. The sacred tradition was also called the truce (Toohey, 19). It would entail maximum observation of peace for the participants in the Olympic Games to enjoy a harmonious environment. The tradition also had an objective to allow foreigners into the nation and travel back safely. Due to this peaceful environment, foreigners would come to Ancient Greece; enjoy the Olympic Games and travel home safely (Toohey, 19). In 1896, the other nations realized the essence of the

A Critical Analysis of the Advantages Essay Example for Free

A Critical Analysis of the Advantages Essay It is argued that urbanization causes changes in the livings conditions under which people live and work. Some of these changes are positive (advantages) while others are negative (disadvantages). The positive effects include; improving housing conditions and provision of enhanced amenities. The negative effects include; stress on amenities, congestion and urbanization of poverty (Kawonga, 1999). Therefore, this essay will briefly explain these using real and valid examples from Malawi. To begin with, provision of better amenities as an advantage of urbanization. It is said that increasing urbanization provides communities with social and cultural benefits as well as access to education and health services (Hammond, 1985). This is evident at Nkhorongo in Mzuzu near Luwinga Township. With the development of the area many services are now being located there. For example, Mzuzu Academy, Trust Academy, Good Samaritan Internet Cafe and some Tobacco grading Companies that provides jobs to the masses. Improving housing conditions is another advantage of urbanization. It is noted that urbanizations brings with it innovations in technology and modern ideas and ambitions in the people engulfed by what are said to be urban areas (UN Habitat report, 2010). To meet the demand for shelter by the ever increasing urban population, Habitat for Humanity and Malawi housing Corporation dedicates itself to building low cost but high standard houses for the less privileged urban population. For example, the Habitat for humanity houses in Luwinga Township and the Malawi Housing corporations houses in Katoto and Mchengautuba in Mzuzu. Lastly, the disadvantages of urbanization; stress on amenities is one of the disadvantages of urbanization. It is argued that in most areas the authority designs everything to serve the population of that time but due to increase in population as areas develop leads to people scramble over the few available facilities/services (UN Habitat report, 2010). The example is on power cuts and availability of tap water for few hours per day in the city of Lilongwe. The presence of large consumers of water and electricity at Kanengo put pressure on these two facilities as the providers try to regulate their quantity so as to sustain the production force of the manufacturing industries. This leaves areas around Kanengo with no electricity or water for many hours per day. Congestion of traffic and pedestrians is another disadvantage of urbanization. With the availability of valuable amenities in urban areas, people flock there to have access and benefit from them. This results in an increase in urban population which leads to congestion (Cohen, 2006). This is usually manifested during rush-hour commuting. There is an intense concentration of people in the center of urban areas during working hours. This strains transportation systems, because a large number of people and traffic must reach a small area at the same time in the morning and disperse at the same time at noon and in the evening (Rubenstein, 2005). This is more evident at Lilongwe old town, hyper junction near the game stores and Shoprite. There are longer queues of traffic and large number of pedestrians struggling to find their way out. Urbanization of poverty is another disadvantage of urbanization. It is argued that in Malawi, rapid urbanization is not associated with the commensurate of economic growth and effective redistributive measures required to alleviate poverty, but the result is increasing urban poverty whose manifestation is the slums which develop in and around the acclaimed urban areas (Kawonga, 1999). It is further argued that urbanization of poverty in Malawian urban areas is enhanced by the change in locus of poverty from rural to urban spheres. This means that as people run away from the hardships of rural areas to urban areas, they carry with them their economically challenged life and continue it in the urban areas. As a result they lead to an increase in the number of the poor living in urban areas (Gonndwe, Fang Ayenagbo, 2011). This is more evident in Lilongwe at a place known as â€Å"N’gona†. It is located in the midst of well developed areas but it is not developed itself and it harbors one of the less previliged population of Lilongwe. In conclusion, this paper has critically pointed out and briefly explained the advantages and disadvantages of urbanization in Malawi.

The Yellow Wallpaper -- essays research papers

In "The Yellow Wallpaper", by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, there is a dominant/submissive relationship that exists between an oppressive husband and his submissive wife. This oppressive husband leads his wife from a state of depression to a state of insanity and finally, to a state of isolation. Had the husband not been so oppressive upon his wife, he could have realized her problem and resolved it without tearing himself away from her. The woman does not become insane because of the wallpaper alone; rather, it is the strict guidelines her husband sets for her that prompt her eventual insanity and isolation. As the story begins, the woman -- whose name we never learn -- tells of her depression and how it is dismissed by her husband and brother. "You see, he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do? If a physician of high standing, and one's own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression -- a slight hysterical tendency -- what is one to do?" (Gilman 658). These two men, both doctors, are apparently unable to admit that there might be more to her condition than just stress and a slight nervous condition. Even when a summer in the country and weeks of bed-rest don't help, her husband refuses to accept that she may have a real problem. Throughout the story there are examples of the dominant/submissive relationship. She is virtually imprisoned in her bedroom, supposedly to allo...

Nonverbal: Woman and Victoria Essay

All types of communication interaction involve two major components in terms of how people are perceived: verbal, and nonverbal. These cues such as facial expressions, posture, verbal intonations, and other body gestures accompany our words in order to create a clear message. Every person is continuously communicating even when they are not saying a word, thus, it is possible to send an exclusively non verbal message but it is not possible to send an exclusively verbal message. Nonverbal cues in the interaction are always more powerful indicators of what a speaker means and what the speaker feels because non verbal cues have not been learned and therefore are not manipulated. In the movie Victor Victoria, nonverbal cues are used to emphasize the gender of characters. There are certain nonverbal cues that accentuates a woman. One example from the movie is Victoria’s long hair. Long hair in the 1930’s was how a woman was identified. Toddy cuts Victoria’s long hair to create the illusion that she is man. Along with a woman’s long hair, their breast were also a symbol of womanhood. Victoria is asked to wrap her breast as well as walk with her chest sticking out to emphasize that she is man, because walking with their chest out was a mans way of showing confidence. In a scene in the movie Victor is going to say cheers before drinking and he is laughed at because traditionally women are the one’s that cheer before drinking. Another gender based nonverbal cue is in the nightclub, during performances the women dance and the men are in the orchestra. It was normal for the women to be dancers in that era because a woman is built a lot more flexible so manipulating their bodies is easier although there are exceptions. A characteristic that separates men and women is pride. Although I am not saying women do not have pride, men are willing to go above and beyond to protect their pride; an example of this is when Toddy accepts the ride back to their hotel even though in reality they were not staying in a fancy hotel. Victoria tries to deny the ride in order for their lie not be discovered. Toddy accepts the ride to show off that they’re wealthy even if they are not. This scene in my eyes is one of the great barriers that distinguishes men and women. In addition to the things that accentuates a woman, there also exist the things that accentuates a man. For example the way men greet each other. I man greeting another man would simply shake hands, but a man greeting a woman would kiss her hand. There is also the nonverbal cues of what a gay man should look like. In this movie we have the bodyguard, and the boxer who are two gay men but King Marchand refuses to admit it due to the nonverbal cue that they are both strong men. Also, when the gangsters think that King Marchand they try to get rid of him by paying him off because gangsters can’t be seen as gay because they are usually strong feared men. Nonverbal cues are used in this movie to emphasize the socio-economic class of the characters. In the opening scene of the movie we see Victoria singing, we automatically know she is poor by the clothes she is wearing. She has a broken glove, and no fancy jewelry. This nonverbal cue was intended to demonstrate that she is a struggling singer. In a later scene we see Victoria walk by a restaurant and see a fat man enjoying a large variety of pastries. The size of the man is intentional and is what let’s the audience know that he is wealthy because he obviously eats a lot of pastries which only a rich man could afford in this time period. Overall I must say that nonverbal cues account for most of the perceptions of things that we have. In this movie the nonverbal cues play a large part in demonstrating to the audience who these characters are. Whether the nonverbal cue represents gender of economic level, it is safe to say that the nonverbal cues are all intentional created to create a clearer message throughout this movie.

Effectively Communicating in an Interpersonal Relationship

Effectively Communicating in an Interpersonal Relationship To the newly wedded couple, It has occurred to me that our current generation seems to lack the ability to communicate effectively with in an interpersonal relationships and it is through cooperation, collaboration, and compromise that an effective flow of communication occurs. If we analyzing and studying the communication process of both sending and receiving information, we can improve our ability to communicate effectively between one another. To have a successful interpersonal relationship one must first interact with others, which is called interpersonal communication. † (Hybels, 2007) We spend most of our lives interacting with each other, with a dozen different reasons to talk to different people. We will tend to say things differently depending on who we are speaking too. So there is a lot more to communication that just putting words together and saying them out loud for the other person to hear. The ability t o communicate effectively takes real skill and learning this skill never ends, even in a marriage.Being able to communicate effectively is probably one of the most important skills a person can have in a marriage, as the main cause for divorce is the lack of communication between one another. You are the only person that can say what you want your spouse to hear, so if you don’t know how to express what you want to say or explain your intentions clearly, the other one could easily take what you say and turn your own words agains you. So the best way to avoid this situation is to be assertive in how you communicate.When I say you must be assertive, I mean you must express your feelings and ideas openly, honestly, and take responsibility for your actions. It is also being willing to listen to what the other one is saying and respect them no matter how different their opinions may be from yours. You also need to be able to recognizing the emotions in one another, as it is a very important first step to building a good relationship. If one cannot feel what the other one is feeling, then you simply cannot connect with them on a personal or emotional level and that can deeply hinder one’s relationship process.Interpersonal communication is important because of the functions it achieves. Whenever we engage in communication with another person, we seek to exchange information with them, we also communicate information through a wide variety of verbal and nonverbal cues. Spoken communication has huge effects on all aspects of our life, to including interpersonal relationships, just as speaking and telling our needs and wants verbally or non-verbally is a necessity for our daily lives.Within our daily lives of both work and home, when we exchange information with our spouse, our verbal communication is organized by our language, whereas nonverbal communication is not. We spend about 75 percent of our day communicating our knowledge, thoughts, experiences, and ideas to each other. (Allis, 2002) What we don’t realize is that a lot of our communication is not made up of the oral or written form but of the nonverbal form. In communications involving two or more people, our messages are sent on two levels simultaneously and if the verbal cues are not congruent with the nonverbal cues, then the flow of communication is hindered.Correct or not, if the receiver of the communication will base the intentions of the sender on the nonverbal cues that they recieved. Most couples believe that they will communicate better because of the fact that they are in a relationship with this person and the depth of their personal knowledge and connectivity. (Schoenberg, 2011) All of this is based on the assumption that your significant other understands your intent even though your verbal and nonverbal signals are not matching up. So you two have to be cognizant of the nonverbal signals that you send to each other.Nonverbal cues can be categorized in to two sections: vocal and visual. The vocal side of nonverbal communication involves timbre (quality and tone), pitch (inflection), intensity (volume), tempo (speed), rhythm, and pauses (silence). Whereas the visual side of nonverbal communication involves your eyes, face, body posture, and hand gestures. â€Å"Before a person makes an attempt to form an interpersonal relationship, they must decide what attracts them to that person. There are many factors that make up attractions to other: physical attractions, perceived gain, similarities, differences, and proximity are a few of them. (Hybels, 2007) As you too were attracted to each other from the start, it is common with most people to be attracted to each other by the way they look, some people might have certain distinct characteristics that they find more attractable then others. Tall or short, blonde or brunette hair, blue or green eyes, muscular or slender, or even freckles are many things that attract us to one another but if there is no attractions, you are going to be less likely to walk up to someone and strike up a conversation them.For example, I am covered from wrists to neck to waist with tattoos and I have found that they inhibit my ability to have a good first impression on many of the professors that I have had over the last several years of college. I didn’t notice it at first but over time I saw that I received a warmer reception and instruction from my teachers when I had long sleeves on but if I gave the instructor time to get to know me. I could slowly start to show tattoos and it would not affect how the instructor acted towards me.On the opposite side though, I have met very interesting and smart people that had just as many tattoos as I did because of the shared similarities that we had. The similarities and differences can be a major factor in determining if a relationship will be good for a person because at times we will find ourselves attracted to people that share the sa me culture basis that we do. It is not a hard reach though to see why people are often attracted to people who enjoy the same things as we do but people can also be attracted to the differences in personalities. For example, people who don’t like making decisions might be attracted to a stronger decision maker. Because these characteristics complement each other, they might help strengthen the relationship. † (Hybels, 2007) So keep this in mind when you two are communicating with each other and it seems that what you are trying to send in not being received properly, as your nonverbal cues or bodily language might be sending something entirely different. As important as sending the right signals both verbally and nonverbally, effective listening is just as important in any relationship.When one listens to another, it shows that you respect them and care about what the other person is trying to communicate. There are three important types of listening and they are active , critical, and empathic. (Sole, 2011) Active listening is assertive communication that develops a sense of trust, were the person talking gets the feeling that you know what they are trying to communicate is getting to you. In doing this, you two will build a stronger bond and trust each other more in what you say and do.Critical listening is an analytical and rational process of listening, in where you analysis what is being said, process the information, and make a judgement on what was meant. After one has been in a relationship for a while the critical listening will not be needed, as empathic listening will tend to take over. Empathic listening is listening to your spouse when they have an issue or problem that they just need to talk about and know that you are there to listen.So when you empathetically listen, you set aside your own feelings and concentrate on comforting you spouse in their time of emotional need. Once you can use empathic listening in your relationship, you will be able to reflect on what is being said and respond back on the same emotional level of the person communicating but empathic listening is something that takes time in a relationship and you cannot force emotions but you can just be there for your spouse.It is obvious that you too have already made the initial approach to each other but there can be times in you relationship that you will have to make the approach again because a new or different situation has developed. So it is good to know that once we have approached someone, the next steps of forming an interpersonal relationship would be our motives for communicating. Your motives for getting married can easily be seen if someone spends just a couple minutes with you two and you guys fit the text book definition of what motivates us for forming a relationship.As â€Å"we are motivated to form relationships for many different reasons such as, pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, control, and health. † (Hybels, 2007) If one is motivated by pleasure, he or she might want someone to watch the same movies, listen to music, or discuss things that they have in common. If one is motivated by affection, then finding someone who will give you the â€Å"affective affirmation† that you need.Regardless of what motivates us, if we have started to develop a relationship we have to decide how much of our selves that we want to share and at what point in the relationship do we share it. Another factor that would have been considered as well would be the proximity of each other, as â€Å"proximity is the close contact that occurs when people share an experience such as at work, school, or play. † (Hybels, 2007) But seeing as you to met in college and studied the same major, your proximity was really close and you too were able to hare a lot of really neat experiences together and still continue to do so. Speaking of sharing with one another, I would like to explain self-disclosure to both of you. As â€Å"self-disclosure is a process in which one person tells another person something he or she would not reveal to just anyone. † (Hybels, 2007) Self-disclosure in not just providing someone with information about yourself. Self-disclosure is about revealing a piece of yourself that others would not normally know or learn about you over time.It involves trusting a person with your vulnerabilities when your risk sharing this information but it is also a way of gaining more information from the person you are sharing it with and you want to be able to trust each other and predict the thoughts and actions of your spouse. When one shares information like this, we are able to judge the reactions of our significant other. So once we share this information, we can learn how they think and feel on certain situations or topics that would not normally come up in normal day discussions.It is also implied that once he or she begins self-disclosure, the other will fol low suit. Thus causing a mutual disclosure and deepening the trust between two people in a relationship, knowing that they except you for who you are. While self-disclosure can strengthen a relationship it can also damage it as well but it is not called the intensifying stage for nothing because a relationship can be damaged if he or she is pouring out their soul to you and you don’t like what they are hearing or if the self-disclosure comes to early in the relationship, it can be just as damaging.There are five stages that we go through when developing and strengthening a relationship, these are the â€Å"coming together† stages. The first stage is the initiating stage, which is characterized by nervousness, caution, hesitation, and a very high risk of rejection. The next stage is the experimental stage, where we seek out any common interests, experiences, and life goals. It is in this stage that you might of talked about both of your education and career goals, when you might want to start a family, and what part of the city you wanted to settle down in.The third stage is the intensity stage in which the couple begins self-disclosure in an attempt to strengthen their relationship but also make it more vulnerable to each other. If you didn’t notice, when you two first started dating, your conversations were usually on positive topics in both of your lives but as time when on and you began to trust each other and build bonds. So when both of you felt comfortable in expressing your needs, fears, and desires; your relationship was strengthened and the two of you grew closer together as a couple.I don’t really think you two had an issues with this though, as you guys seemed to attach yourselves to each other after only a month had passed bye and the beginning and continued use of your pet names for each other made all of us sick but we were extremely grateful (kidding) when both of you got that summer intern job together. You two did c ome back a stronger couple though, so that summer really did bring you two together more, which led you into the fourth stage.The fourth stage is the integrating stage, in which the couple begins to communicate and respond easily to each others feelings. This is the point where your personalities began merging into one and we always saw you two together. I don’t think there was a single party or gathering that both of you were there for but you two made a cute couple and it was just expected after a time. The final stage would be the bonding stage. At this point, the couple will make some sort of commitment that announces their relationship to those around them,† (Hybels, 2007) involving a lot of commitment and dedication to the relationship and to each other. Whereas you two decided to get married and finally move into that small house you both were drooling over but you do know that once you two decide to have a baby, you will have to find a bigger house. In all of th e stages discussed we all have decision to make, we can either continue to move forward to the next stage, stay in the same stage we are in, or terminate the relationship all together.No matter what we as individuals choose to do with our lives, we need to know how to communicate effectively to that next stage and we need to know how to handle and resolve conflict in any relationship we place ourselves in. â€Å"We can do this by conflict resolution, which is negotiating to find a solution to the conflict. † (Hybels, 2007) Depending on how a conflict is resolved it can produce a positive or negative result but it also helps to take a positive approach to any conflict resolution, where discussion is considerate and on-confrontational, and the heart of the matter is on the issues and not on the individuals. If this can be completed, then, as long as people are willingly listening to each other and explore facts, issues, and possible solutions properly, conflict can often be res olved effectively. Making interpersonal communication just like any other work of life, meaning that it must be practiced and utilized regularly to be successful and we must continually analyze and study it in order to improve our ability to communicate effectively in relationships.So if you relationship is to last a long time and be a healthy and happy one, it is important to maintain a constant and consistent flow of communication with your partner (Sole, 2011). I wish the best of luck to both of you and hope your future endeavors bring you as much happiness as the last ones did. Sincerely, Aaron Stamper Reference Allis, R. (2002). Non-verbal Communication. Zeromillion. com. Retrieved from http://www. zeromillion. com/business/management/non-verbal-communication. html Hybels, S. & Weaver, R. (2007).Communicating Effectively. New York: McGraw-Hill Company Inc. Preston, P. (2005). Nonverbal communication: Do you really say what you mean? Journal of Healthcare Management. Retrieved f rom http://proquest. umi. com. Schoenberg, N. (2011). Can we talk? researcher talks about the role of communication in marriages. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com. Sole, K. (2011). Making Connections: Understanding Interpersonal Communication. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content. ashford. ed. Effectively Communicating in an Interpersonal Relationship Effectively Communicating in an Interpersonal Relationship To the newly wedded couple, It has occurred to me that our current generation seems to lack the ability to communicate effectively with in an interpersonal relationships and it is through cooperation, collaboration, and compromise that an effective flow of communication occurs. If we analyzing and studying the communication process of both sending and receiving information, we can improve our ability to communicate effectively between one another. To have a successful interpersonal relationship one must first interact with others, which is called interpersonal communication. † (Hybels, 2007) We spend most of our lives interacting with each other, with a dozen different reasons to talk to different people. We will tend to say things differently depending on who we are speaking too. So there is a lot more to communication that just putting words together and saying them out loud for the other person to hear. The ability t o communicate effectively takes real skill and learning this skill never ends, even in a marriage.Being able to communicate effectively is probably one of the most important skills a person can have in a marriage, as the main cause for divorce is the lack of communication between one another. You are the only person that can say what you want your spouse to hear, so if you don’t know how to express what you want to say or explain your intentions clearly, the other one could easily take what you say and turn your own words agains you. So the best way to avoid this situation is to be assertive in how you communicate.When I say you must be assertive, I mean you must express your feelings and ideas openly, honestly, and take responsibility for your actions. It is also being willing to listen to what the other one is saying and respect them no matter how different their opinions may be from yours. You also need to be able to recognizing the emotions in one another, as it is a very important first step to building a good relationship. If one cannot feel what the other one is feeling, then you simply cannot connect with them on a personal or emotional level and that can deeply hinder one’s relationship process.Interpersonal communication is important because of the functions it achieves. Whenever we engage in communication with another person, we seek to exchange information with them, we also communicate information through a wide variety of verbal and nonverbal cues. Spoken communication has huge effects on all aspects of our life, to including interpersonal relationships, just as speaking and telling our needs and wants verbally or non-verbally is a necessity for our daily lives.Within our daily lives of both work and home, when we exchange information with our spouse, our verbal communication is organized by our language, whereas nonverbal communication is not. We spend about 75 percent of our day communicating our knowledge, thoughts, experiences, and ideas to each other. (Allis, 2002) What we don’t realize is that a lot of our communication is not made up of the oral or written form but of the nonverbal form. In communications involving two or more people, our messages are sent on two levels simultaneously and if the verbal cues are not congruent with the nonverbal cues, then the flow of communication is hindered.Correct or not, if the receiver of the communication will base the intentions of the sender on the nonverbal cues that they recieved. Most couples believe that they will communicate better because of the fact that they are in a relationship with this person and the depth of their personal knowledge and connectivity. (Schoenberg, 2011) All of this is based on the assumption that your significant other understands your intent even though your verbal and nonverbal signals are not matching up. So you two have to be cognizant of the nonverbal signals that you send to each other.Nonverbal cues can be categorized in to two sections: vocal and visual. The vocal side of nonverbal communication involves timbre (quality and tone), pitch (inflection), intensity (volume), tempo (speed), rhythm, and pauses (silence). Whereas the visual side of nonverbal communication involves your eyes, face, body posture, and hand gestures. â€Å"Before a person makes an attempt to form an interpersonal relationship, they must decide what attracts them to that person. There are many factors that make up attractions to other: physical attractions, perceived gain, similarities, differences, and proximity are a few of them. (Hybels, 2007) As you too were attracted to each other from the start, it is common with most people to be attracted to each other by the way they look, some people might have certain distinct characteristics that they find more attractable then others. Tall or short, blonde or brunette hair, blue or green eyes, muscular or slender, or even freckles are many things that attract us to one another but if there is no attractions, you are going to be less likely to walk up to someone and strike up a conversation them.For example, I am covered from wrists to neck to waist with tattoos and I have found that they inhibit my ability to have a good first impression on many of the professors that I have had over the last several years of college. I didn’t notice it at first but over time I saw that I received a warmer reception and instruction from my teachers when I had long sleeves on but if I gave the instructor time to get to know me. I could slowly start to show tattoos and it would not affect how the instructor acted towards me.On the opposite side though, I have met very interesting and smart people that had just as many tattoos as I did because of the shared similarities that we had. The similarities and differences can be a major factor in determining if a relationship will be good for a person because at times we will find ourselves attracted to people that share the sa me culture basis that we do. It is not a hard reach though to see why people are often attracted to people who enjoy the same things as we do but people can also be attracted to the differences in personalities. For example, people who don’t like making decisions might be attracted to a stronger decision maker. Because these characteristics complement each other, they might help strengthen the relationship. † (Hybels, 2007) So keep this in mind when you two are communicating with each other and it seems that what you are trying to send in not being received properly, as your nonverbal cues or bodily language might be sending something entirely different. As important as sending the right signals both verbally and nonverbally, effective listening is just as important in any relationship.When one listens to another, it shows that you respect them and care about what the other person is trying to communicate. There are three important types of listening and they are active , critical, and empathic. (Sole, 2011) Active listening is assertive communication that develops a sense of trust, were the person talking gets the feeling that you know what they are trying to communicate is getting to you. In doing this, you two will build a stronger bond and trust each other more in what you say and do.Critical listening is an analytical and rational process of listening, in where you analysis what is being said, process the information, and make a judgement on what was meant. After one has been in a relationship for a while the critical listening will not be needed, as empathic listening will tend to take over. Empathic listening is listening to your spouse when they have an issue or problem that they just need to talk about and know that you are there to listen.So when you empathetically listen, you set aside your own feelings and concentrate on comforting you spouse in their time of emotional need. Once you can use empathic listening in your relationship, you will be able to reflect on what is being said and respond back on the same emotional level of the person communicating but empathic listening is something that takes time in a relationship and you cannot force emotions but you can just be there for your spouse.It is obvious that you too have already made the initial approach to each other but there can be times in you relationship that you will have to make the approach again because a new or different situation has developed. So it is good to know that once we have approached someone, the next steps of forming an interpersonal relationship would be our motives for communicating. Your motives for getting married can easily be seen if someone spends just a couple minutes with you two and you guys fit the text book definition of what motivates us for forming a relationship.As â€Å"we are motivated to form relationships for many different reasons such as, pleasure, affection, inclusion, escape, relaxation, control, and health. † (Hybels, 2007) If one is motivated by pleasure, he or she might want someone to watch the same movies, listen to music, or discuss things that they have in common. If one is motivated by affection, then finding someone who will give you the â€Å"affective affirmation† that you need.Regardless of what motivates us, if we have started to develop a relationship we have to decide how much of our selves that we want to share and at what point in the relationship do we share it. Another factor that would have been considered as well would be the proximity of each other, as â€Å"proximity is the close contact that occurs when people share an experience such as at work, school, or play. † (Hybels, 2007) But seeing as you to met in college and studied the same major, your proximity was really close and you too were able to hare a lot of really neat experiences together and still continue to do so. Speaking of sharing with one another, I would like to explain self-disclosure to both of you. As â€Å"self-disclosure is a process in which one person tells another person something he or she would not reveal to just anyone. † (Hybels, 2007) Self-disclosure in not just providing someone with information about yourself. Self-disclosure is about revealing a piece of yourself that others would not normally know or learn about you over time.It involves trusting a person with your vulnerabilities when your risk sharing this information but it is also a way of gaining more information from the person you are sharing it with and you want to be able to trust each other and predict the thoughts and actions of your spouse. When one shares information like this, we are able to judge the reactions of our significant other. So once we share this information, we can learn how they think and feel on certain situations or topics that would not normally come up in normal day discussions.It is also implied that once he or she begins self-disclosure, the other will fol low suit. Thus causing a mutual disclosure and deepening the trust between two people in a relationship, knowing that they except you for who you are. While self-disclosure can strengthen a relationship it can also damage it as well but it is not called the intensifying stage for nothing because a relationship can be damaged if he or she is pouring out their soul to you and you don’t like what they are hearing or if the self-disclosure comes to early in the relationship, it can be just as damaging.There are five stages that we go through when developing and strengthening a relationship, these are the â€Å"coming together† stages. The first stage is the initiating stage, which is characterized by nervousness, caution, hesitation, and a very high risk of rejection. The next stage is the experimental stage, where we seek out any common interests, experiences, and life goals. It is in this stage that you might of talked about both of your education and career goals, when you might want to start a family, and what part of the city you wanted to settle down in.The third stage is the intensity stage in which the couple begins self-disclosure in an attempt to strengthen their relationship but also make it more vulnerable to each other. If you didn’t notice, when you two first started dating, your conversations were usually on positive topics in both of your lives but as time when on and you began to trust each other and build bonds. So when both of you felt comfortable in expressing your needs, fears, and desires; your relationship was strengthened and the two of you grew closer together as a couple.I don’t really think you two had an issues with this though, as you guys seemed to attach yourselves to each other after only a month had passed bye and the beginning and continued use of your pet names for each other made all of us sick but we were extremely grateful (kidding) when both of you got that summer intern job together. You two did c ome back a stronger couple though, so that summer really did bring you two together more, which led you into the fourth stage.The fourth stage is the integrating stage, in which the couple begins to communicate and respond easily to each others feelings. This is the point where your personalities began merging into one and we always saw you two together. I don’t think there was a single party or gathering that both of you were there for but you two made a cute couple and it was just expected after a time. The final stage would be the bonding stage. At this point, the couple will make some sort of commitment that announces their relationship to those around them,† (Hybels, 2007) involving a lot of commitment and dedication to the relationship and to each other. Whereas you two decided to get married and finally move into that small house you both were drooling over but you do know that once you two decide to have a baby, you will have to find a bigger house. In all of th e stages discussed we all have decision to make, we can either continue to move forward to the next stage, stay in the same stage we are in, or terminate the relationship all together.No matter what we as individuals choose to do with our lives, we need to know how to communicate effectively to that next stage and we need to know how to handle and resolve conflict in any relationship we place ourselves in. â€Å"We can do this by conflict resolution, which is negotiating to find a solution to the conflict. † (Hybels, 2007) Depending on how a conflict is resolved it can produce a positive or negative result but it also helps to take a positive approach to any conflict resolution, where discussion is considerate and on-confrontational, and the heart of the matter is on the issues and not on the individuals. If this can be completed, then, as long as people are willingly listening to each other and explore facts, issues, and possible solutions properly, conflict can often be res olved effectively. Making interpersonal communication just like any other work of life, meaning that it must be practiced and utilized regularly to be successful and we must continually analyze and study it in order to improve our ability to communicate effectively in relationships.So if you relationship is to last a long time and be a healthy and happy one, it is important to maintain a constant and consistent flow of communication with your partner (Sole, 2011). I wish the best of luck to both of you and hope your future endeavors bring you as much happiness as the last ones did. Sincerely, Aaron Stamper Reference Allis, R. (2002). Non-verbal Communication. Zeromillion. com. Retrieved from http://www. zeromillion. com/business/management/non-verbal-communication. html Hybels, S. & Weaver, R. (2007).Communicating Effectively. New York: McGraw-Hill Company Inc. Preston, P. (2005). Nonverbal communication: Do you really say what you mean? Journal of Healthcare Management. Retrieved f rom http://proquest. umi. com. Schoenberg, N. (2011). Can we talk? researcher talks about the role of communication in marriages. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com. Sole, K. (2011). Making Connections: Understanding Interpersonal Communication. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content. ashford. ed.

The eNotes Blog eNotes Book Club February(Folklore)

Book Club February(Folklore) In this month’s installment of our book club series, we gave ourselves the theme of â€Å"folklore.† If you’re looking for fantastical stories, creation myths, and tales of magic, read on! â€Å"The Man in the Woods† by Shirley Jackson To kick off our folklore book club, I chose The Man in the Woods by legendary prose-stylist Shirley Jackson. Published in 2014 as part of a new release of her unpublished works, this short story draws on European folklore and a little Greek mythology to craft a haunting, ambiguous tale of a young mans date with destiny: Christopher delves deep into the forest, past looming branches and overpowering pines, and arrives at a mysterious cottage at the end of the road. There he meets Phyllis, Aunt Cissy, and Mr. Oakes, who invite Christopher to dinner. Little does he know that many travelers have come this way before, and that the true nature of the man in the woods has yet to reveal itself. I guess I was a little frightened, Christopher said with a small embarrassed laugh. All those trees. Indeed, yes, Mr. Oakes said placidly. All those trees. Beautifully written, full of tension, and ripe for discussion, The Man in the Woods is an excellent example of Jacksons craft. Who is he dares enter these my woods? Read and see. - Wes â€Å"Advent† and â€Å"The Tooth† by Heather Christle After a discouragingly long hunt for the perfect piece of folklore, I stumbled upon these poems by Heather Christle. â€Å"Advent† reads as a personal meditation on the ending of a year or season, but I felt the language used created a lot of folklore-inspired imagery. A few of the lines felt like call-outs to typical folklore tropes and themes: for instance, a line about stars and books about stars felt like an allusion to creation myths while another line about animals reminded me of traditional fables. It’s hopeless, the stars, the books / about stars I want this world / to remain with me, this holy tumult Where â€Å"Advent† falls short in actually telling a folklore-inspired tale, â€Å"The Tooth† prevails. The stilted, choppy language tells the tale of an abstracted creation myth wherein one tooth has the power to create- or erase- all of existence. The simplistic style of â€Å"The Tooth† acts as a call-out to oral tellings of folklore and fairy tales. The group had a lot of fun dissecting the puzzle of this particular poem- I definitely recommend Christle’s work to anyone who wants to grapple with a good literary puzzle. Two men share / one tooth. From / one tooth the men / predict the world. - Kate â€Å"The Mirror, the Bucket, and the Old Thigh Bone† by Kristen Roupenian Youve probably heard of Kristen Roupenian from her viral short story sensation, â€Å"Cat Person,† when it was published in the New Yorker in 2017. I happened to be reading Roupenians brand new collection of short stories, You Know You Want This (which includes â€Å"Cat Person†) when we picked this theme. I went with the story â€Å"The Mirror, the Bucket, and the Old Thigh Bone† because it has magic, a princess, and a little bit of trickery, and because I figured itd be fun to add to the mix something that had just been released. Also, what a great title! This piece received varied reviews from our readers- meaning it’s probably a solid book club selection! Many of the female-identifying members resonated with the sense of female-role restriction, of feeling trapped by circumstance, which you can gather from the opening lines: Once there was a princess who needed to get married. No one expected this would present a problem. Another one of our members had a touching take of the story through the lens of a queer-adolescent experience. This is what I really enjoyed about this pick, and what made the discussion lasting and impressionable: that each reader had such a personal experience with this tale. And while it wasnt the strongest story, literarily-speaking, that we read this round (and Savannah really nailed her overall review on this entire collection in our February Reads blog), I think there are plenty of interesting- and personal- discussion threads to pull on with this (super) contemporary work. - Samantha Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino For our round of folklore readings, I chose Italo Calvino’s 1972 book, Invisible Cities, which reimagines the legendary tà ªtetà ªte between Venetian explorer Marco Polo and Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan. The book consists of fifty-five prose poems in which Polo describes the far-flung cities of the Khan’s vast empire. As a storyteller, Polo is equal parts wise and mischievous, and the cities he evokes are fantastical dreamscapes, insoluble puzzles, and meditations on desire and memory. Although Polo’s cities are fictitious, you may find, as I did, that you have visited them before. Calvino’s writing offers a feast for the imagination and- thanks to William Weaver’s gorgeous translation- music for the ear. - Zack â€Å"The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi† translated by Sioned Davies In contrast to more recent or interpretive works, the medieval Welsh â€Å"The Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi† (elsewhere translated from â€Å"Math fab Mathonwy† as â€Å"Math the Son of Mathonwy†) branches out from itself, seeming more like an aggregate of shorter tales than a narrative in its own right. It follows the exploits of Gwydion, nephew to the lord Math, as he orchestrates a war with the southern lord Pryderi as a distraction so that his brother Gilfaethwy can rape Math’s virgin footrest. The brothers are punished (in one of the weirdest revenges any of us had ever read), and the resulting search for a new footrest leads to the birth of a hero, a quest for a name, and a couple of transformations into birds. The story’s origin in an oral tradition was engaging in some ways and alienating in others. Drastic understatement and a blunt tone- a favorite sentence for many involved the reduction of a giant battle to, â€Å"And then there was immeasurable slaughter†- brought out strangeness in specific moments, and an unhinged dream-logic was either compelling or confusing, depending on the reader. The overall â€Å"grandpa-rambly† style of the narrative and a lack of interiority to characters made this selection difficult to emotionally access, but it stands as a great example of folklore’s ability to record a culture’s values and is well worth discussing. - Caitlin â€Å"The Boy Who Wanted More Cheese† by William Elliot Griffis While my selection strayed a bit from folklore, I found it still worthy of sharing due to Klass van Bommel’s unmatched affinity for cheese. The title of this Dutch fairytale pretty much sums up the entire narrative- boy loves cheese, boy wants more cheese, boy almost dies from cheese. One night, after a scolding from his mother for taking his sister’s cheese, Klass is lured by fairies with the promise of more cheese: â€Å"Plenty of cheese here. Plenty of cheese here. Come, come!† As fairies force feed Klass an uncanny amount of cheese, he realizes the negative consequences of his gluttony and greed. No more than a ten-minute read, I suggest pairing this tale with an aged Gouda and a toast to Klass van Bommel for his unwavering commitment to yellow gold. - Savannah

Winners of Essay Writing Contest 2014

Winners of Essay Writing Contest 2014 Essay Writing Contest 2014 is over and we are excited to announce the winners. To be honest, that was a tough choice as we received a lot of inspiring essays from talented people. We are grateful to everyone who accepted the challenge and took part on our contest. Unfortunately, the number of winners is limited. All works were judged by our essay writers by several criteria, such as creativity, ability to get the message across, logical essay structure and correct grammar. So, without further ado, lets congratulate the winners! Ashadeep Kaur (Education and Its Horizon) Carol Scott (Social Media: A Friend Indeed) Rajat Tandon (Studying abroad is a beneficial experience that offers a world of new opportunities) Thank you for your thought-provoking essays, original style, surprising ideas and for sharing your personal experience with us! Remember that true writers are not those who can write, but those who cant but write! So, get inspired and keep on writing!

Finite Element Analysis of a Stainless Steel Research Paper

Finite Element Analysis of a Stainless Steel - Research Paper Example Therefore, this report describes the numerical analysis, conducted using the commercially available finite element solver, ANSYS, and then recommendations are provided as to whether testing or redesign should be the next step. The finite element method (FEM) is a numerical procedure used for finding approximate solutions of partial differential equations (PDE). A partial differential equation is a differential equation containing derivatives involving two or more independent variables. In engineering science, many phenomena are described by partial differential equations, such as displacement or temperature as a function of time and space. Problems involving PDEs are usually too complicated to be solved by classical analytical methods. Solving PDEs with the method of finite elements is possible today due to rapid solving capabilities of computers. Finite element analysis (FEA), originally used to solve stress analysis problems, is an approach which is used today in many branches of engineering including heat transfer and fluid flow. The material of the part is 2.5 mm stainless steel plate with a Young's modulus of elasticity of 206 GN/m2, a Poison's ratio of 0.3, and a yield strength of 580 MN/m2. It is assumed that the material has linear elastic properties and is both homogeneous and isotropic (although in reality this is not exactly true for cold-rolled sheets where grain orientation may vary). In addition, it was assumed that no discontinuities or residual stresses are originally present in the material due to manufacturing processes such as forging, rolling and welding. The thickness of the part is assumed constant and is believed to be small enough compared to its width such that shell elements can be used for adequate accuracy in modelling. Figure 1 shows the buckle modelled in ANSYS. The part is symmetric in two directions and has been separated in the model for simplification. Figure 2 shows the original drawing of the buckle and its symmetry. It is assumed that the geometry of the part is adequately represented by the finite element model developed. Displacements are expected to be relatively small such that a linear approximation will be valid. Figure 1 Figure 2 The solution of a finite element analysis is only so good as the quality of the mesh. The smaller the element size, the better the mesh should represent the geometry of the part. For this analysis, two mesh sizes were used: a smaller one where the highest stress concentrations were expected, and a larger one throughout the remainder of the model. The curved sections of the two slots were expected to receive the greatest stresses and were thus meshed with a value of 0.25, while the remained of the buckle was modelled with a 0.51 mesh size. The element type used was the PLANE82, which is a 2D structural solid element with eight nodes. Eight-noded elements are more accurate for modelling curved boundaries. The PLANE 82 shell element type also allowed for a thickness value in its input properties thus facilitating a 2D problem. In terms of boundary conditions, it was assumed t