Compare a modern (post mechanistic) management accounting technique Essay

Compare a modern (post mechanistic) management accounting technique with a traditional technique which has the same (or similar) objectives - Essay Example Management accounting deals with presentation of accounting information which assists the management of a business to come up with policies and also to facilitate the management in it normal activities (Bhattacharyya, 2011, p. 1). It is a process that involves identification, measurement, accumulation analysis, interpretation and communication of financial information that helps to facilitate planning, evaluating and controlling the activities and accountability of resources (Thukaram Rao, 2003, p. 1). For a long time, strategic management accounting was considered as a possible area of development that would boost the future contribution of management accounting. In the 1980, the United Kingdom Chartered Institute of Management Accountants ordered an inquiry that was to review the current state of the development of management accounting. The findings were consequently published in a report entitled Management Accounting: Evolution and Revolution which drew attention to strategic management accounting as an area for future development (Drury, 2008, p. 570). There are a number of new techniques that have been introduced that are aimed at making management accounting more relevant to the production methods that are used in the modern world. This management accounting methods include; strategy management accounting, life cycle costing, target costing and Kaizen among others (Collier and Agyei-Ampomah, 2008, p. 50). The traditional focus of management accounting was on the period after the product had passed the design and development stage and has gone into production so that it can be taken to the market for the consumers to buy (Collier and Agyei-Ampomah, 2008, p. 51). In traditional management accounting, the control procedures focused mainly on the manufacturing stage of the whole life associated with a product. Cost that were realized

Organizational Theory Design and Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 6

Organizational Theory Design and Change - Essay Example This will improve the quality of the decision making as the interests of all stakeholders are considered and hence all aspects of business have been taken into account during decision making. But if there is power imbalance among the stakeholders then the decision making may be influenced by stakeholders with greater power and the interests of the other stakeholders will be jeopardized. The quality of the decision making and in turn the overall interest of the organization is compromised when there is an imbalance of power among the various groups of organizational stakeholders. Organizational politics can have positive as well as negative impact on an organization. Therefore to manage and gain benefits from organizational politics, it is essential to ensure that there is balance of power among the various stakeholder groups in an organization. Balance of power will lead to alternate views and solutions to various organizational problems form various quarters of the organization. The refore balance of power among various organizational stakeholder groups is vital for the overall success of the organization (Jones, 2009). Works Cited Jones, G. (2009). Organizational Theory Design and Change. NJ: Prentice Hall. Print

Foundation Degree in Accounting and Finance Essay Example for Free

Foundation Degree in Accounting and Finance Essay Introduction There is a radical change after the privatisation of Atlantic Water. The change not only affects the organisations objectives and strategic planning, but also its structure and culture. B Burnes (1996: 115) cited writers such as Handy (1986), Allaire and Firsirotu (1984) argued the issue as follow: to operate effectively and efficiently, an organisations culture need to match or be appropriate to its structure. Given that an organisations environment can change rapidly, as can its structure, situations will arise in the environment, structure and practices of the organisation. Observing organisational behaviour is not enough, we need to understand the meaning of the behaviour, and therefore, it is important to identify the culture and structure of an organisation, to enable management to react quickly for any external or internal change. 1. Defining Culture It is difficult to define culture, usually it is defined as how things are done around here or this is how we are. Culture within an organisation is influence by the personality of an individual, pattern of communication, work performance, behaviour of management and subordinate as a role. Schein (1983) defines organisational culture as: the pattern of basic assumptions that a given group has invented, discovered or developed in learning to cope with its problems of external adaption and internal integration and that have work well enough to be considered valid, and, therefore , to be taught to new member as the correct way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems. Schein views culture as not being over behaviour or values, but the assumptions that underlie them. Here are the views based on three level of culture: * Level 1: The visible artefacts and creations, which are easy to observe, but do not explain why a group behaves the way it does. * Level 2: The values which can be inferred from interview, but which manifest the espoused reason for behaviour, not the underlying unconscious reason. * Level 3: The underlying assumptions which are typically unconscious, but which actually determine hoe people perceive, think and feel. The meaning of Organisational Culture was also defined in Oxford Dictionary of Business (2003) as follow: Organizational Culture: The values, customs, rituals, and norms shared by all the members of an organization, which have to be learnt and accepted by new members of the organization. Culture impacts most aspect of organisational life, such as how decision are made, who makes them, how rewards are distributed, who is promoted, how people are treated, how the organisation responds to its environment etc. This particular set of values, beliefs, customs and systems are unique to the organisation. 1.1 Organisation culture R Harrison suggested that there are four main types of organisation culture. They are the following: Power Culture is where the authority and control within the organisation are centralised. The control is passing from the central to key individuals. The power of members is based on control over resources and personal influence with the centre. Role Culture is where work within and between departments is controlled by procedures, role descriptions and authority definitions. Job position is central to this, not necessarily the job holder as a person. People are appointed to a role based on their ability to carry out the functions and to satisfy performance of the role. R Harrison (1972: 119-128) cited Role Culture as follow: Role culture often referred to as a bureaucracy, it works by logic and rationality. Task Culture is job or project oriented and the main purpose is to complete the task or project. This might involve getting the right people to work as a team, giving them decision making power to complete the task. Person Culture is when the individual is focus on. This includes their personality and personal feeling etc. For example if a group of people decided to do their own thing and other members of staff help, this is a person culture. It only existed for the people concerned. Many organisations have a mixture of the above culture, it is important to understand the concept of each of the above culture and to establish an appropriate structure. 1.2 Culture of the old Water Authority The old Water Authority had a complex grading framework, narrow spans of control and more level of authority, this resulted in a high hierarchical structure, and this indicated that the organisation had a strong power culture. It was mentioned in the case study that the old Water Authority called their managers officers and administered the organisation and ran almost along a military line, where the authority and control were centralised. The employees were job oriented where they can only carry out the job they were originally employed for, there was no need to re-organise their position, where they just followed the day to day procedures. Management saw their jobs as minimising external interference rather then seeking for some change to improve the performance of the employees. Employees in the old Water Authority had a certain level of job security where they could work extra hours where needed, which would give them an extra income. Due to the high hierarchical structure of the organisation, there would be a difficulty for employees career progression, this affected those who are seeking for career improvement and lower their motivation and morale within the organisation. Management did not offer new training skills nor did subordinates look for self improvement. From these evidents the old Water Authority had a mixture of the all the culture which R Harrison suggested. 1.3 Culture of new Atlantic Water Plc In the new Atlantic Water Plc, they re-structured their grading framework, the spans of control reduced the level of hierarchical structure and the result of this, employees had more opportunities to progress within the organisation. The organisation also decided to empower their managers to take more responsibility, the decentralization enabled decisions to be made closer to the operation level of work. In the result of job cuts after privatisation, Atlantic Water offers their employees a chance to gain qualifications and ensured they are cross-skilled. Not only the employees offered to gain new skill, managers are also sent on a training course, where they will have a clearer focus on the organisations objective and to create a new relationship within the organisation. Since Atlantic Water had a large number of jobs cuts, employees suffered from the job insecurity after the privatisation. Although the organisation encouraged them to gain new skills, the main reason will probably be for them to keep their job rather than looking for self improvement. On the other hand, the organisation introduced a new salary structure leaving many employees worse off financially. Since the employees are not gaining any benefits financially and suffering from job insecurity, this impacts the employees morale and their commitment to the organisation. 1.4 Comparison of the old Water Authority and Atlantic Water The old culture of Water Authority was inappropriate to their competitive needs. Atlantic Water changed the culture by shaping the value, beliefs and attitudes of their employees. They started by changing the recruitment, selection and redundancy policies. Managers were recruited from private sector, this effected the composition of the workforce so that promotion and employment prospects are dependent on those concerned possessing or displaying the beliefs and value the organisation wishes to promote. The introduction of the flatter hierarchical structure and decentralisation is an advantage of a private company. The managers can work closely with the working operational level and it will reduce the time it takes to make decision. This also demands a greater involvement of the staff and creates opportunities for employees developing their career. The encouragement of staff training is vitally important to the change of an organisation, this will not only benefit the organisations productivity, but will also improve the level of employees morality and to make them understand their value to the organisation. 2. Defining Structure P Drucker (1974: 52) defined structure as follow: Structure is a means for attaining the objectives and goals of an organization. An organisation existent is to achieve its goal and objectives, the work within an organisation has to be divided among its members. It provides the framework of an organisation and makes all process and application possible. The effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation will be influenced by the structural design and the behaviour of the people who work within the structure. 2.1 Organisational Structure An organisations structure is designed to ensure that rules and procedures are used and followed, it contains four frameworks of relationships within an organisation: the individuals job description, job specialisation, its lines of communication and its hierarchy. Organisational structure can be layered into three hierarchical structures: the technical level, the managerial level and the community level. It is important to have clear objectives within the organisation, good communications both horizontally and vertically can enable an organisation to perform effectively and efficiently. The correct grouping of individuals and work is also important to maintain a high level of performance. 2.2 The old Water Authoritys structure The old Water Authority was a public service organisation, its main objective was to provide a service to local communities. Job description was clarified to individuals and the working pattern was not flexible. The division of work was based on the employees skills, i.e. operation of clean water side and the dirty water side. It had a narrow span of control and more level of authority, this result in a tall hierarchical structure and there are a few problems with this structure. It restricts the decision making process and information is difficult to pass on from either level to another. It is not cost effective since there are more middle managers within the organisation and there could be a conflict between management if the objective was not clarified between departments. The old Water Authority was a centralised organisation where the decision making retained in the top level of management. There are advantages of centralisation, some of which applied to the old Water Authority. The decisions are fitted to broad organisations objectives and it is easier to coordinate the activities within the organisation. But the problem occurred when the decisions were not made close enough with the operational level, it might not be appropriated to the lower level of hierarchical structure. Line and staff management: A system of management used in large organizations in which there are two separate hierarchies; the line management side consists of line managers with responsibility for deciding the policy of and running the organizations main activities, while the staff management, and its separate staff managers, are responsible for providing such supporting service. Oxford Dictionary of Business (2003: 300) This explanation suited the structure of the old Water Authority, each operational department running parallelised and having advisory department across them (See Diagram 1). The mechanistic organisation theory applied to the old Water Authority, where employees had specified roles and definitions of the authority within the hierarchical structure. Communication and interaction are vertical, the structure of the old Water Authority was appropriate as the external environment was stable. 2.3 Atlantic Waters Structure The privatisation changed the Water Authority from a public service organisation to an economic organisation. The objective is no longer just to provide service, but to make a profit and to survive in the competitive market. Atlantic Water re-structured their grading framework, it reduced the level of management, the wider span of control resulted in a flatter hierarchical structure. It reduced the bureaucratic costs, i.e. less middle managers, less coordination problem and reduced the chance of information distortion. Decentralisation is another result of down-sizing the hierarchical structure, this allows decisions to be made closer to the operational level and reduces information overload on upper managers. Managers have more free time to do something else, i.e. provide personal care for its subordinates. The line and staff organisational structure also changed, it became a matrix structure, where there is more than one critical orientation to the operations of the organisation, such as they introduced the pay negotiations in house and fixed-term contractors. Atlantic Water encouraged their employee to gain qualification to enable them to be cross-skilled, so they can be deployed by their manager where and when they are needed, the flexibility of the working pattern is essential. The mechanistic organisation is no longer applicable in the lower level, it combined both the mechanistic organisation at the top of the hierarchy and the organic organisation at the bottom of the level. Organic organisation has a flexible system and structure which is characterised by the adjustment and continual redefinition of tasks. Communication and authority does not necessarily coincide with positional authority. 3. Organisational Change L Mullins (2002: 798) suggested organisation development is a key to organisational change. Organisation development is concerned with the diagnosis of organisational health and performance, and the ability of the organisation to adapt to change. In order to change the organisation effectively, organisation development is essential to have the correct strategies: survey research and feedback, T-group and team building. Survey and feedback involves using questionnaires to help identifying the attitudes of individuals within the organisation. Top management can analysis the feedback and discuss the problems, and the action to be taken to help to improve performance. T-group is also known as sensitivity training, it involve informal groupings to discuss the individuals feeling toward the organisation and to understand their abilities in themselves. Team building is identifying the task procedures and the pattern of interaction within the work group. The aim of this function is to improve overall performance of the organisation through the effectiveness of the team. Organisational development is not only about improving the organisation effectiveness and efficiency, but also improve the morality and commitment of individuals. 3.1 Strategies for Change and Innovation There are different strategies approaches to changes in the organisation, however it has to be carefully design and apply. From the strategic management point of view, organisational change has four main facets which need constant re-appraisal and planned action: * Human resource implications This involve training, personal skill development, the culture needed to be accepted. The organisation needs to encourage and motivate their employees by providing opportunity for improvement. * Functional implications Communication need to be improved between departments, the understanding of how the department works is also important, different area of organisation has their own way of working method. Decentralise the authority and appraisal system should be introduced. * Technological implications Increase use of technology can improve the productivity and administration of an organisation. Although there is a cost of the installation and operational cost, but it actually reduce overhead cost in long term, i.e. less manual labour and improve accuracy. * Organisational implications This involve change of relationship, work groups, routines and practices. There will be a new requirement of communications between departments and the management skills need to be improved to compromise within the organisation. 3.2 Atlantic Waters Approaches After the privatisation, Atlantic Water applied the organisation development techniques. They are role analysis, life and career planning, quality of work life and counselling. Role analysis Employees are trained to be cross-skilled so they can be deployed by their manager where and when they are needed, so their tasks are more flexible than before. Life and career planning The organisation encourages their employees to gain qualifications, this will not only benefit the individual, but also the performance of the organisation. The organisation also invested heavily in management development so the managers have a clearer commercial focus and a new relationship with its workforce. Quality of work life The new grading framework of the organisation creates opportunity for many employees who wish to develop their career. The organisation introduced a new salary structure, but it leaves many employees worse off financially, Atlantic Water failed to provide a better quality of work life. Counselling There is a programme to help individual to deal with stress which are caused from job insecurity. This will help and assist individual to attain their goal and to re-build their confidence. Atlantic Water has improved their performance in general by investing in training programmes for both the management and their staff, but they did not consider their employees feeling. The morality and commitment level had dropped significantly due to the amount of work load and insecurity of their job. Although they offered a counselling programme, their employees are not being awarded for the extra efforts they put into the organisation. The low level of morality and commitment has major influence on the level of work performance. Atlantic Water should try to re-build the relationship with their employees by re-viewing their salary structure. The employees should be informed at a reasonable level of the activity within the organisation, sharing the success of the organisation will also boost the level of confidence for the individual. The management training should not be limited to the knowledge within the industry, it should includes counselling, coaching and leadership skills. Managers have a major influence on the motivation and behaviour of employees. 4. Conclusion The change has a massive impact upon Atlantic Water, the structure, culture and organisational climate had changed significantly. They have taken a certain level of approach but the results are not all positive, they need to carefully re-build relationships with its employees. The organisational climate is an indication of the employees feeling and beliefs, obviously Water Atlantics climate needs to be improved. It must develop new ways to increase the loyalty and commitment of employees. This includes attention to reward strategies based on recognition of contribution rather than status or position. The management of organisational climate is an important means of improving productivity and standard of work performance. Diagram 1 Bibliography Burnes B. (1996) 2nd Edition, Pitman Publishing, London Drucker P. (1974), New templates for todays organizations, Harvard Business Review, London Huczynski A. Buchanan D. (1991), Organizational Behaviour, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, London Mullins L. (2002), Management and Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall, Essex Schein E. (1997), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey Bass Wiley, London Schneider S. Barsoux J. (2003), Managing Across Culture, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, London Reference Burnes B. (1996), Managing Change, 2nd Edition, London, Pitman Publishing, Drucker P. (1974), New templates for todays organizations, Harvard Business Review, London Mullins L. (2002), Management and Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall, Essex Schein E. (1997), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey Bass Wiley, London Oxford University Press (2003), Oxford Dictionary of Business, 3rd Edition, Market House Book Ltd, London

Job Satisfaction Of Insurance Agents In Malaysia Commerce Essay

Job Satisfaction Of Insurance Agents In Malaysia Commerce Essay This chapter is an introductory chapter. It intend to discuss on background of the study, highlight the problem statement, depict research objectives and questions and explain significance of the study, provide outline of the study and sum up a conclusion of this chapter. 1.1 Background of the Study Before year 1997, the insurance companies in Malaysia are operating as a private company complied by the Insurance Act 1963. Yet, followed by the enactment of Insurance Act 1996 which started into force on 1st January 1997, all the insurance companies are converted to public company which licensed by the Ministry of Finance under the Companies Act 1965 (Bank Negara Malaysia [BNM], 2005). The growth of the insurance industry is closely related to the domestic economy of Malaysia. Based on the financial performance, the revenue of insurance industry in Malaysia is increasing gradually year by year. It had shown that an increase of RM 1,110,806 or 7.87% in the income of insurance industry in Malaysia in year 2010 as compared to year 2009. Income of RM 14,114,618 and RM 15,225,424 are recorded respectively for year 2009 and 2010 (Malaysia Insurance Institute, 2010). Meanwhile, the number of registered agents is also growing up year by year. There was a growth from 116,008 agents in year 2009 to 122,399 agents in year 2010, which was increased by 6,391 agents (BNM, 2010). Motivation is the part of commitment and results in the achievement of the organizational objectives at the appropriate way. Job satisfaction of employees can motivate by different motivation factors (Balachandar, Panchanatham and Subramanian, 2010). According to Tripathi (2001) most of the companies usually motivate their employees by offer economic reward, recognition, promotion, job security, training and authority. When consumers want to buying insurance, they will not directly contact an insurance company. There are more rely on the insurance agents role to solicit and sell insurance policies or product to the general public. No doubt, the revenue of insurance industry is very much depending on the sales gained by the insurance agents. Hence, motivation plays a great role to encourage insurance agents to work professionally in delivering their services to customers. Insurance agents will satisfy with their job when companies apply the motivation factors correctly on them. Insurance companies motivate their insurance agents by giving rewards such as extra bonus or company trip to satisfy their effort in making sales to the insurance company. 1.3 Problem Statement Nowadays, more and more people want to become insurance agents, which led to the increased challenges between their competitors. The statistical report of Bank Negara Malaysia stated that the number of registered insurance agents had increased 5.51% from 2009 to 2010 (BNM, 2010). Normally, insurance agents do not have any basic salary but their pay is based on commission pay. Insurance agents try to retain and increase their target productivity in order to satisfy their jobs, save their jobs and increase their well-being because the wages of insurance agent depends on a commission basis (Christopher, 2007). According to Bakos (2008) insurance agents retain in the company is highly influenced by commission as remuneration. If the commission to the insurance agents is low, it will de-motivate them and leads to resignation. Past studies showed that motivation and job satisfaction have direct relationship to influence employee retention and performance among various types of organization (Goleman, 1998). According to Cravens, Ingram, LaForge and Young (2010) giving a right tool of training and development can motivate insurance agents more successful at selling life insurance products. Training and development can improve the job skills and knowledge of insurance agents at each level. Therefore, employees should be given more opportunities for advancement to motivate them in order to enhance their job satisfaction level (Feinstein, 2000). Besides, Tripathi (2001) stated that employees can be motivated by job security, recognition, promotion and training to enhance job satisfaction. There are several past researchers Hassan (2010), Salleh, Dzulkifli, Abdullah and Ariffin (2011), Golshan, Kaswuri, Aghashahi, Amin and Ismail (2011) studies on the relationship between motivation factors and job satisfaction among nurses, state Government employees and Gen-Y administrative and diplomatic officers in Malaysia but lack of studies on insurance agents in Malaysia. The objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between motivation factors and job satisfaction among insurance agents in Malaysia. 1.4 Research Questions and Objectives 1.4.1 General Objective The main objective of this research is to identify and determine the motivation factors that influence job satisfaction of insurance agents in Malaysia. 1.4.2 General Question What are the motivation factors that influence job satisfaction of insurance agents in Malaysia? 1.4.3 Specific Objectives To investigate whether commission pay influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia. To investigate whether job security influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia. To investigate whether opportunities for advancement and development influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia. To investigate whether work itself influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia. 1.4.4 Research Questions Will commission pay influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia? Will job security influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia? Will opportunities for advancement and development influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia? Will work itself influence insurance agents job satisfaction in Malaysia? 1.5 Significance of the Study This research is tending to contribute to the individual and companies. Through our research, the insurance companies will know the importance of the insurance agents job satisfaction and knowing the level of job satisfaction of insurance agents. Meanwhile, individual can also gain a better understanding on motivation factors that can lead them to job satisfaction. The second aim of this research is to narrow the gap with regards to understanding job satisfaction of insurance agents by studying the motivation factors that influence insurance agents job satisfaction. Insurance companies will get to know more about the motivation factors that influence the insurance agents job satisfaction by offer some rewards system to satisfy insurance agents. This enables them to build long-term profitability and retain continuous growth in their businesses to gain competitive advantages in the insurance industry. This research will also expose a new knowledge to the public who has interest on the job of an insurance agent. It assists the public on raising knowledge and awareness of motivation factors that influence the job satisfaction of the insurance agents. 1.6 Outline of the Study Chapter two shows the related literature review that provides the foundation for developing the theoretical framework to proceed with further investigation and hypotheses testing. Chapter three presents the research methodology used to test the research questions. It includes research design, population, sample and sampling procedures, data collection method, variables and measurement, and data analysis techniques. Chapter four is the description of the data analysis. It presents the overall result and findings from the data collection. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) is used to generate results in this research. Chapter five is summaries the research finding and also discusses the major finding. Besides, it also discusses the limitation of the study as well as provides the recommendation for future researchers. 1.7 Conclusion This chapter is about the overview of this study stated on the above. This study aims to determine the motivation factors affecting toward insurance agents job satisfaction so as to contribute for insurance companies and the public. In the following chapter two, it will provide the literature review of this study.

Free Euthanasia Essays: Assisted Suicide :: Free Euthanasia Essay

Assisted Suicide To sanction the taking of innocent human life is to contradict a primary purpose of law in an ordered society. A law or court decision allowing assisted suicide would demean the lives of vulnerable patients and expose them to exploitation by those who feel they are better off dead. Such a policy would corrupt the medical profession, whose ethical code calls on physicians to serve life and never to kill. The voiceless or marginalized in our society -- the poor, the frail elderly, racial minorities, millions of people who lack health insurance -- would be the first to feel pressure to die. What about competent, terminally ill people who say they really want assisted suicide? Suicidal wishes among the terminally ill are no less due to treatable depression than the same wishes among the able-bodied. When their pain, depression and other problems are addressed, there is generally no more talk of suicide. If we respond to a death wish in one group of people with counseling and suicide prevention, and respond to the same wish in another group by offering them lethal drugs, we have made our own tragic choice as a society that some people's lives are objectively not worth protecting. How does cost enter into this issue? In an era of cost control and managed care, patients with lingering illnesses may be branded an economic liability, and decisions to encourage death can be driven by cost. As Acting U.S. Solicitor General Walter Dellinger warned in urging the Supreme Court to uphold laws against assisted suicide: "The least costly treatment for any illness is lethal medication." Why are people with disabilities worried about assisted suicide? Â  Many people with disabilities have long experience with prejudicial attitudes on the part of able-bodied people, including physicians, who say they would "rather be dead than disabled." Such prejudices could easily lead families, physicians and society to encourage death for people who are depressed and emotionally vulnerable as they adjust to life with a serious illness or disability. To speak here of a "free choice" for suicide is a dangerously misguided abstraction. What is the view of the medical profession? The American Medical Association holds that "physician-assisted suicide is fundamentally incompatible with the physician's role as healer." The AMA, along with the American Nurses Association, American Psychiatric Association and dozens of other medical groups, has urged the Supreme Court to uphold laws against assisted suicide, arguing that the power to assist in taking patients' lives is "a power that most health care professionals do not want and could not control.

Response to On Going Home Essay -- Personal Essays

According to Joan Didion's essay "On Going Home", continuing changes in life makes it almost impossible to remove memories of one's past. Especially when one has been away from a previous home, which that person was raised, then return to that same home a number of years later. In a home which family and friends shared memories of events, news, gossip and situations, whether it be bad or good. Old artifacts and various family heirlooms in the home that stimulates a memory of those old times when used. Surrounding areas of that old home are remembered just as well also. Being in a new home makes the old memories even more missed. These may be the strongest influences in why memories are kept and remembered. When someone is away from their original home, meaning a home that the certain person was raised and grew up at, there is no doubt that the home will be missed. It would be forgotten but only at a certain extent. An extent that things will be remembered about that home every time someone relates something to it. But when a person is returned to that old home, like Didian, the memories are even more apparent than while away from home. Didain was overloaded with memories that were once forgotten. These memories are forgotten, and then quickly aroused with a simple touch, sight, smell or sound. People have different relations with memories and how they conceive them, but Didian makes it very apparent that these memories about a home that is missed and forgotten exists inside of us all. Physical items such as family heirlooms, "teacups"(Didian 373), or the condition of a house are strong reminders of past memories. Instead of a thought trying to relate one thing to another, an object can have it's own history. ... ...missed. Too much remembrance will definitely impair judgment and living conditions of one's present life. It should be very private and for one's thoughts only. Remembering past places once lived at and how much different the weather, conditions and surroundings were. People that a person used to interact with now will never have even remotely the same conversations that the same person used to with old family and friends. A piece of clothing, an eating instrument or even a musical instrument that were remembered will somewhat relate to an event that happened in the past. Just a few examples of how memories will never be forgotten. Memories will always be remembered, sometimes forgotten but always revived as a person's life changes. Works Cited Tropp, Sandra Fehl and Ann Pierson D'Angelo, editors. Essays in Context. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.

Bronfenbrenner’s Analysis

This paper analyzes and evaluates how Bronfenbrenner’s levels influenced my decision to attend graduate school and how they may impact career goals within my area of specialization. Bronfenbrenner develops a multi-level hierarchy of influences from the closest and most personal to the most abstract and societal. The purpose of my paper is to discuss, analyze, and evaluate Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological System Theory in relation to human development In the early 1970s’ Urie Bronfenbrenner developed an ecological theory of human development. Bronfenbrenner’s book, â€Å"The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design† (Bronfenbrenner, 1997) discusses in depth the ecological systems levels as the micro-meso-exo-macro- and the fifth system, the chrono-system layer. Bronfenbrenner summarized his theory utilizing concentric spheres in where the child begins his or her development in the center of the spheres. Comparing each sphere â€Å"†¦as a set of nested structures, each inside the next, like a set of Russian dolls† (Bronfenbrenner,1979. p. 3). Researchers found that a key factor in parent’s effectiveness was engaging in the child’s activities and environment. Darling (2007), asserts that â€Å"parental monitoring† of their children’s activities decreased the levels of behavioral problems and lead to â€Å"higher levels of adult approved activities† (Darling, 2007). Therefore, competence among children will â€Å"†¦depend on the quality of their environment† (Bronfenbrenner, 1999). Children from negative, deprived, disorganized backgrounds display more frequent and severe dysfunctional behavior in order to gain parental attention. On the other hand, parents providing attentive, stable and positive environments provide gratifying and positive reinforcement in aid of the children’s growth. Bronfenbrenner, 1999). Bronfenbrenner posited that â€Å"†¦the greatest effect on positive outcomes in environments with the greatest resources and for an individual who had the greatest ability to take advantage of those resources† (Darling, 2007). Microsystem Bronfenbrenner described his models as the m icro-system layer originating in the center of the sphere, involving the child’s interactions and activities within the context of family, school, daycare, and school, peer groups and how these interactions shape his or her development in a particular setting. A setting is where the child engages in â€Å"†¦particular activities in particular roles for particular times† (Bronfenbrenner,1979). For example, Bronfenbrenner observed parents emphasizing the importance of socially acceptable behaviors, exposed their child to positive activities, became involved in their child’s school, friends, thus producing children that were secure in new learning experiences. Mesosystem The mesosystem layer relates to the people in a child’s microsystem. It consists of the interactions between two or more settings which involve the developing child. For example, child’s parents and teachers may be interacting in discussions about the child’s progress. Bronfenbrenner found when parents take an active interest in the child’s early academic progress, that child has a greater chance of success upon entering high school (Oswalt, 2008). Exosystem The exosystem is comprised of the involvement and progression that takes place between the dyad setting, but it â€Å"†¦does not contain the developing child† (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). They are occurrences â€Å"that indirectly influence processes within the immediate setting in which the developing child lives† (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). For example, the child’s parents’ moving to a different state will directly affect the child’s interconnections with neighborhood friends and teachers. As an example, the child ‘knows’ he has lost his best friend, and may never find another. Thus, the child may meet this change with fear or dissatisfaction (Bronfenbrenner, 1994). The exosystem level includes the positive and negative structures found in the national government, cultural values, the economy, other macro influences. For example, Anglo-Saxon societies stress individual accomplishments, whereas Asian societies stress consensus and conformity. Cronosystem The chronosystem is the outermost shell that Bronfenbrenner displays. This is a temporal continuum that encompasses a person’s life experiences throughout their lives. A major example of the operation of this continuum is the impact of a parental death and the resulting behavioral change in the developing individual. The micro, meso, exo, and macro levels all impacted my individual development and career goals in obtaining a master’s degree in Human Services with a specialization in Social and Community Services. In the micro level, my earliest experiences were affected by the negative parental influences. As a child, I can remember my brothers and I were mainly spoken to when we did something wrong. In turn, these negative experiences affected my academic performance in school as well as my behavior. In the mesosystem, the only times my parents became involved in school were when they were called by the school principal to discuss my inappropriate behavior and my inattentiveness in learning. In the first grade, I was held back from entering the second grade because I could not speak English well or even Spanish. Again, this was a result of not having positive learning experience during childhood. It was not until the sixth grade that my principal decided I might succeed if I skipped the seventh grade to the eighth grade. That’s when my negative experiences turn to be positive and enlightening. I flourished that year and received a small scholarship to attend a school for girls. There I also flourished and began to have teachers and friends that were positive role-models. An example in the exosystem, I had a young brother with Down’s syndrome who at the age of 3 left our home to live in a state mental hospital. I was 13 years when my mother received a phone call from the hospital stating my brother had died from choking on some food. From that day on, my mother became distant and suffered from alcoholism. This experience saddened me greatly, but I was fortunate to have the support of my older sister, and wonderful teachers and friends that kept me succeeding in school. This success continued through college. However, when I was 16 years old, my mother was diagnosed with depression. Though I appeared happy with my school experience on the outside, inside, I felt depressed and longed for my mother’s love. All during this time, my father was physically present, but emotional absent due to the traumatic experiences at home. In the macro system, I grew up in a Hispanic culture, though my parents emigrated from Mexico to the US, my mother’s alien status became problematic as she could not speak English and inevitably could not take the test to become an American citizen. As a result, my mother felt she was a failure to herself and to my father who became a citizen at age 18. At the age of 47 years, I was able to complete my education at a women’s college. It was finally there I was fortunate to pursue my love of art. Upon graduation, I also found a new love of being of service to other’s less fortunate. I found that I obtained jobs not completely fulfilling, and when thinking upon this, I realized I could improve the possibility of reaching that fulfillment through graduate school to obtain an advanced degree in order to better serve the people I will work with. In conclusion, I don’t regret my experiences during my childhood. I learned a great deal about how one can attribute their success to resiliency. No matter how dismal matters were, there was always someone or something over the rainbow. I had a wonderful caring and nurturing older sister who loved me unconditionally. I had teachers who believed I was a worthwhile, intelligent and loving human being. With this nurturing, I was finally able to climb over the wall; only to look back at my stumbling blocks as experiences one takes to traverse their journey.