Computers Essay

Books will never be completely replaced by computers. Computers can crash, and all information will be lost. If the power goes out in your house, you can’t read on your computer, but you can pick up a book. What you read on a comp. is just light or something on a screen. A book is is a permentent physical printing. If computers replaced books, we’d all have serious eye problems. The joy of reading would be lost. I’d hate to have to depend on a machine for my relaxing reading time. Books are forever, computers are until it breaks down, and everything will be lost. Books can be taken care of, as can computers, but there are books that are a hundred years old, I haven’t heard of anyone with the same computer for even 10 yrs. see more:essay on computer I guess comps are getting new and better, but books are still better to read. However, on the up side for comps, 1 comp, can store probebly over a hundred books, sort of like an i pod. But if the 1 comp breaks, that a hundred books too. Computers are good, and should store that kind of stuff, but I don’t think it should completly replace the book. That would really suck. You can’t haul your computer everywhere you go, like the bus, waiting rooms, the lunchroom, bed, etc. Too large, awkward and unwieldy. Even laptops. You can’t just throw a laptop in your purse. I take books with me everywhere I go so I have something to kill the time with when I’m waiting. I read everyday on my lunch hour. I read before I go to bed. Sitting in front of a coputer to read makes my eyes, butt and back hurt, because you have to sit up to do it and the computer screen is too bright. Plus, books don’t need batteries. I think it’s okay for kids in school, and I’m sure that there are other instances, but I highly doubt that books will ever become obsolete.f a book – from reading an actual book instead of a screen. . Finding good novels or non-fiction would be more difficult because of the volume of all kinds and qualities of same. A computer, even a notebook, will never replace a pocket-sized paperback you can stick in a purse and read anywhere. Books don’t need batteries, service, defragging or any of those things. Like many aspiring authors, I’m excited by the possibilities posed by on-line publishing, but I have some serious reservations about what could happen if there is an unchecked volume of materials placed â€Å"out there.† Also, collecting royalties could make writing for profit even more of a challenge than it is today. Intro Science has made4 mch developments during the recent decades. It has developed many gadgets for our comfort but in my opinion they cn never replace the traditional things and ways. One of the greatest invention of technology and sciences is computer

Interpersonal Roles

Lamond, D. (2003). Henry Mintzberg vs. Henri Fayol: Of Lighthouses, Cubists and the Emperor's New Clothes. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 8(4), 5-23. This article talks about Mintzberg’s and Fayol’s theories regarding managerial work. It is mentioned that Fayol’s managerial function and Mintzberg’s managerial roles can be connected with one another. (Tsoukas 1994, as cited by Lamond, 2003) â€Å"the logical links between Fayol’s functions and Mintzberg’s roles are demonstrated†. This article explains the interrelation between managerial functions and managerial roles in particular group so that the management in organisation can run effectively. This article is useful for the author’s research as it gives explanation about the importance of interpersonal roles in relations with managerial functions while Robbins et al. (2003) book only provides the basic theoretical managerial roles without further relate with any other managerial components. Mintzberg, H. (1975). The manager's job: folklore and fact, Harvard Business Review, 53(4) 49-61. Mintzberg’s (1975) article shows how interpersonal roles play important part for managers to make decisions and strategies; it also describes the importance of how interpersonal roles are integrated with other roles to achieve effectiveness of managerial work. Mintzberg (1975) suggested that â€Å"Three of manager’s roles arise directly from his formal authority and involve basic interpersonal relationship. † (p. 54). This article is useful for the author’s research as it gives an insight towards the importance of interpersonal roles for manager to avoid misunderstanding between the modern and traditional managerial works. This article is better compared to Pavett and Lau (1983) about managerial work’s article because it provides several examples that support the importance of international roles by providing evidence in reality such as the modern and traditional managerial works that have been misunderstood by society. Pavett, C. M. , & Lau, A. W. (1983). Managerial work: The Influence of hierarchical level and functional speciality. Academy of Management Journal , 26(1), 170 – 177. Through this article, Pavett and Lau (1983) show the influence of hierarchical level and functional speciality on managerial roles. (Mintzberg, 1975, as cited in Pavett & Lau, 1983) â€Å"differences in managerial work involve the relative’s importance of the roles across hierarchical level and functional speciality†. The research focuses on the integration between hierarchical level and functional speciality with managerial roles. This article is useful to the author’s research topics as Pavett and Lau (1983) give a relevant statistics about how hierarchical level, functional speciality and managerial roles are integrated, especially when the interpersonal roles are dominantly seen in hierarchical level and functional speciality as an essential part compared to the book written by Robbins et al. (2003) which only mentioned about the theory without justified examples to support it. Robbins, S. P. , Bergman, R. , Stagg, I. , & Coutler, M. 2012). Management 6 (6th edition). French Forest NSW, Australia: Pearson Australia. Robbins et al. (2012) contains a brief explanation about Mintzberg’s interpersonal roles with its duties and responsibilities. Robbins et al. (2012) suggested that â€Å"All managers are required to perform duties that involve people (subordinates and persons outside the organisation) and other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature†. The study explains that inter personal roles are more likely involve outsiders. This book is beneficial for the author’s research topic, as Robbins et al. (2012) gives plenty explanations about the benefit of interpersonal roles and how each roles are linked well together. The main limitation of the article is that the authors do not put sufficient details and examples about each roles compared to the article of Mintzberg (1975) which mentioned the clear evidence regarding interpersonal roles in everyday life by providing explanation about the modern and traditional way in defining managerial works.

Night owl Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Night owl - Essay Example This however does not negate the fact that good sleeping patterns should not be advocated for. It is not only vital but also health for persons to get the right amount of sleep each day. Much praises has not been languished towards the night owls as the early birds. However, Jacques (Para 3) explains that there are reasons the owl persons to be proud of who they are. She argues that one of the reasons to be proud if an individual is an evening person is that they might be having an IQ that is relatively higher. At the London School of Economics and Political Science, an evolutionary scientist called Satoshi Kanazawa found out the possibility of a connection or relationship between evolutionary adaptive behaviors and intelligence. It is a deviation from what ancestors did. Jacques (Para 4) activities that are routinely nocturnal are evolutionarily novel and were most likely seldom in the ancestral environment. The conclusion of the study revealed that intelligent children have the highest probability of growing up and becoming nocturnal in adulthood by going to bed both on weekends and weekdays late and waking up late. However, despite the fact that their IQ may be higher, the early birds tend to in a slightly better position for success. According to Jacque (Para 5), the second reason for the evening persons to be proud is that they usually benefit from the having strength at night. They have an advantage in terms of physicality in comparison to the morning people. The tests from researchers of the University of Alberta on the strength of legs of both morning and evening persons reveals that while the early birds exhibit consistent strength throughout the day, the night owls strength peaks at night to higher levels. This is attributed to the fact that nocturnal persons shows increase in excitability in the spinal cord and motor cortex. Jacque (Para 6) claims that individuals who tend to work more at night are to be a little more

Remembered person in yr life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Remembered person in yr life - Essay Example He has the gift of the gab and people can listen to his talk all day long. Indeed he is one of the brightest and smart kids within the whole family. It was not easy growing up with my brother as we never got along and would often end up fighting for petty issues. My parents had to intervene and break up the fights between us. There was always a competition between us and in the end it was I who had to sacrifice and my brother mostly won the laurels. I was different from my brother and was more of an extrovert and liked to mingle with friends and relatives. In short I preferred being myself and that was how I wanted to be known. I always had the intention that I knew it all while my brother always tried to talk to me about how I should behave, but I would simply roll my eyes and would never take his advice though I would know internally that what he said made sense. As time passed and as I moved to the United States to further my studies and my brother moved to India to study dentistr y, I began to realize how much I actually missed him. The realization that we were both getting older and that life is too short to be wasted dawned upon me during this time of separation. He was doing well academically and that inspired me to work hard in my studies and shine well. We also began to talk with each other and realized that we actually vibe well.

Early Childhood Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Early Childhood Education - Essay Example The development of the senses of the child in its formative years, which is between three and six years of age, precedes that of the higher intellectual powers.   Montessori believes that their sensorial curriculum can aid the development of the senses of the child in its early years.   The aim is not to sharpen the senses but rather to refine the child’s senses so that he can differentiate even the slightest differences in order to truly observe and appreciate the world around him.   The training will help him understand what he sees, hears touches, tastes and smells.    Montessori further breaks down the five basic senses into nine isolated senses namely: visual/seeing, auditory/hearing, olfactory/smelling, tactile/touch, and gustatory/taste, chromatic/color, baric/weight, thermic/temperature, and stereognostic/tactile-muscular.   Several sensorial materials and activities are used in the Montessori method.   One of them is the Color Boxes which is directed towar d the visual and chromatic sense.   Children learn about the colors of the earth and their visual sense is refined.   Color Box 1 teaches the three primary colors: red, blue and yellow. The initial lesson is merely matching the three sets of col s, to demonstrate an ability to distinguish between the three.   Color Box 2 is similar to Color Box 1, except that it includes eleven colors: gray, black, white, pink, brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Role and Functions of Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Role and Functions of Law - Essay Example These interests could be domestic, societal, cultural, economic and political. However, if this pursuance of interests is not governed by agreed upon conventions, precedents, rules and regulations, the society will unexceptionally end up being subject to anarchy and disorder. Hence, it is the institution of law that ushers in decorum into the personal or collective pursuance of interests, thereby ushering in a sense of order that nourishes society and extends to it a chance to get organized and fair. Besides, for any society to work in an ordered manner, it is essential that its affiliates uphold the social norms in all the spheres of their life. Though most of the people living in a society are conversant with the social norms cherished by it, still there will always be a substantial proportion of people who will evince a predilection to negate social norms and understanding in the pursuance of personal satisfaction. So, law is one viable social instrument that could be relied upon to make people stick to relevant social norms (Tamanaha, 1999, p. 250). In that context law stands to be an upholder and protector of social norms and expectations. Codified law makes it amply clear to the people as to which acts pursued by them stand to be acceptable and which ones are illegal and reprehensible. It is also a known fact that disputes tend to be an integral aspect of social, cultural, political and economic interactions. Again it is the law that facilitates methodical procedures for the resolution of disputes. Law also brings in a sense of certainty and stability into any society’s social, cultural, economic and political life, thereby allowing for a scope for growth and development. However, it does not mean that law stands to be a static and vegetative institution. Law does allow for change and also assures that the requisite change is accomplished in an organized and stable manner. It is only law that assures just and fair societies which not only serve a p rivileged few, but rather look after the interests of the aggrieved, weaker and sidelined sections of the society. Law also helps the societies to arrive at and maintain a delicate balance between the powers of the state and the rights of the individuals and groups (Commerce Powers, 2012). Law also makes way for the establishment and execution of the requisite penalties in the instances of the breach of law. Hence, it would not be wrong to say that law is one salient and essential social pillar. In the free market economies, the rules and regulations sanctified by the business law do play an important part in ensuring the right business environment. Again, as already mentioned, in the sphere of business also, law helps in a pragmatic resolution of disputes between two or more business entities (Strier, 1994, p. 193). In business, it is again the law that sets the standards of acceptable behavior for the businesses and firms. It also needs to be mentioned that law protects the nation al and global business environment from being manipulated by a powerful few, by being a protector of ethics and morals (Commerce Powers, 2012). Personally speaking, my role as a professional field service technician is subject to many legal norms and regulations. While serving my customers, it is imperative for me to assure that the services rendered by me happen to be as per the standards, criteria, and safety features set by the related federal and state rules and regula

None Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

None - Research Paper Example This paper will present several principles of the Food Ethics, possible criticism for this approach as well as refutation of it. First of all, it would be highly important to provide a general perspective on the issue. Thus, one would not make a mistake pointing out that among the food that people consume there are certain groups of products that are different from others. For example, if pigs have been domesticated from numerous centuries and the production of their meat has been developed in great detail, there are some animals which are also consumed, but their meat or other parts of the body have been introduced to the people relatively recently. In addition to that, some meat might come from the animals the population of which is far less than the one of pigs or cows. Finally, the development of the science has brought up a new category of food which consists of Genetically Modified Organisms. So, the primary question focuses on the idea whether people have a moral duty to support certain food. Since the above mentioned question lies in the realm of Ethics, it would be logical to use several Ethical Theories than are relevant in this case. The first approach that is able to provide an answer to this problem is the Kantian Ethics. Thus, according to it, people should be considered to be responsible for the preserving of the wildlife as well as fragile ecosystems around the world and, therefore, they should never consume flesh of the animals that are endangered. In addition to that, since food that is made of Genetically Modified Organisms might be harmful to the bodies of the people, it should not be introduced to the market in any form. However, a completely different approach is presented by the Utilitarian Ethics. Indeed, it argues that there is no problem in eating meat of the endangered animals or the meat that was produced in a cruel way as long as it pleases the people and they are able to cope with the consequences of it.

Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 3

Rhetorical Analysis - Essay Example In her article backed up by frequent rhetoric, Laura Tyson points out how the assumptions made by pro-profit advocates fail to account for the environmental context and their stakeholders, including customers, society, and shareholders. As such greater social responsibility and concern is beneficial for organizations, if anything, because social well-being correlates to empowered consumers, ethical employees, effective governments, and sound social infrastructure. The article highlights many organizations such as Apple that have made efforts in order to enhance workplace conditions for their global employees in an effort to put their image in a positive light and thus increase sales by maintaining goodwill (Tyson, 2013). Therefore, the article mainly aims to point out that social responsibility is not reducing the competitiveness of organizations but is actually doing the opposite by providing them with a competitive advantage. The article by Laura Tyson (2013) is an argument against profit maximization as opposed to social responsibility. Laura Tyson has therefore adopted rhetorical strategies in order to communicate her point persuasively. These specifically include the usage of ethos and logos frequently as compared to emotional rhetoric characterized by pathos. The argument is geared towards proving the point that profit maximization is not the sole purpose of capitalistic organizations but organizations also have obligations towards their stakeholders, including customers, shareholders, and society. Laura Tyson first highlighted the stance held by Milton Friedman and Robert Simons before proceeding to present an argument against their case. Laura Tyson has regularly backed up her claims by citing empirical studies that support her claims. Hence the usage of rhetorical strategies is evident in Tyson’s argument as she has tried to make a case against profit maximization by organizations. Laura Tyson

Entrepreneurship Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Entrepreneurship - Essay Example Certain personality characteristics can also be very helpful in starting a new business. A study conducted by Southern Methodist University’s Cox School of Business lists several shared characteristics of more than 200 successful entrepreneurs (those who have been in business more than 5 years and have gross revenues of at least $1 million), including good health, an ability to control, strong self-confidence, high energy and sense of urgency, comprehensive awareness of a situation, a realistic outlook, conceptual ability, a low need for societal status, an objective approach, emotional stability, an attraction to challenges and an ability to describe situations with numbers (Glick-Smith, 1999). Strategic planning is important to any small company that wishes to grow or expand product lines or services. Different from a business plan in which something is started, strategic planning maps out the various practices a company will use to obtain a desired goal, such as increased sales, employee growth or adjusting to new competition (Kautz, 2005). Like running a race, if you don’t know where the course is, you have little chance of arriving at the finish line prior to the competition. A strategic plan should include a business purpose that makes the mission and philosophy of the company clear to employees and others in a concise statement, organizational goals that define the endpoints toward which the plan is striving, mapped out strategies for meeting each of these goals, action plans to implement the various strategies and the implementation of a monitoring plan to ensure the company is on the right path toward meeting these goals (Kautz, 2005). The plan should remain flexible to meet the growth needs of the company as well as the changes within the marketplace. According to Alex Goumakos, there are 5 major factors that should be considered when deciding on the format of ownership: liability protection, taxes, management, ownership transition and

Production, Costs and Profits Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Production, Costs and Profits - Essay Example However, after a certain level of output the marginal revenue product of labor starts diminishing with each additional unit of labor/worker. This means with each additional worker, although the output is increasing, but at a decreasing rate, i.e., negative marginal returns. If this continues, there might come a point at which output actually starts falling with addition of variable factor labor. Under such, if the capital has reached its limit/full capacity, the manager of the restaurant should consider adding a new grill and French fry machine as adding workers will only add to the costs and will not solve the problem (Rittenberg & Tregarthen, 2009, Chapter 8). Q: 2: Marginal Decision Rule: The marginal decision rule says that the optimal point is the one in which the marginal utility of the next unit is equal to its marginal cost. This rule was applied in this case when deciding how much labor and capital to use. Initially, the industries operating in the maquiladoras were very lab or incentive and only about 9% skilled labor was required to operate the existing setup. But then as the industry became more capital intensive, then more skilled labor were required and the percentage increased to 12% (Lucinda, 2001). Benefits: Although the capital and skilled labor were increasing in the Maquiladoras, but proper training was being given to them so that they can do the work properly and the marginal product rises instead of declining. Maquiladoras have benefitted US a lot. It has increased the business in the border areas. Moreover, it has created jobs for the people. Many manufacturers have also relocated in these areas. Due to this, the areas which were facing double digit unemployment have now generated enough jobs to reduce this unemployment. Moreover, the infrastructure has also developed in the areas where Maquiladoras are located in the US (Lucinda, 2001). Q.3 A generic drug company is one that produces drugs that are identical in essence (not literally) to branded drugs in dosage, strength, quality, intended use and performance characteristics. The chemical formulation is also similar and the name is often kept after the chemical name for marketing without much advertising. The generic drug industry, though still highly regulated, was given some relaxations under the Drug Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 after which the industry boomed. The fact that the generic drug companies do not have to invest much on the research and development as compared to branded drug companies is the single most important factor for the success of these companies. For any drug company, R & D is a huge investment that it makes in order to keep coming up with new and better drugs for the healthcare industry and forms a significant part of the overall manufacturing and marketing of a particular drug. Thus, the companies that simply take the chemical formula of branded drugs without investing on R & D themselves save on their costs and are a ble to sell the drug at a significant discount from the price of an identical branded drug. Thus, a cheaper drug with similar properties will obviously sell more. Secondly, with generic drug companies allowed to make identical drugs, the patents are unable to protect branded drug comp

Muscular and Fitness Project Essay Example for Free

Muscular and Fitness Project Essay My class participants have a good overall health. Many of them have strong upper body strength and a moderate strength on the legs. They lack a core body and abdominal strength and have very low levels of flexibility. They need the most amount of work in flexibility. Weekly Routine for Flexibility Workout Day Flex Exercises Muscle Stretched Reps Time Reps Time Reps Time Mon Lying Quad Stretch Quads 4 20 4 20 4 25 Mon Modified Hurdlers Stretch Hamstrings 4 20 4 20 4 25 Wed Upper Back/Torso Stretch Traps 2 20 2 20 2 25 Mon Calf Stretch Gastrocnemius 4 20 4 20 4 25 Wed Lower Back Stretch Latisimus Dorsi 2 20 2 20 2 25 Fri Chest/Bicep Stretch Pecs/Biceps 2 20 2 20 2 25 Fri Shoulder/Tricep Stretch Triceps/Deltoids 4 20 4 20 4 25 Wed Lying Abdominal Stretch Abdominal 1 60 1 60 1 70 Weekly Routine for Muscle Workout Day Muscle Exercises Muscle Stretched Sets Reps Resistance Sets Reps Resistance Mon Lunges Quads 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Wed Push Ups Pecs 3 10 None 1 15 None Mon Hamstring Curl Hamstrings 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Wed Dead Rows Latisimus Dorsi 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Mon Calf Rises Gastrocnemius 3 10 None 1 15 None Fri Tricep Dips Triceps 3 10 None 1 15 None Fri Shoulder Shrugs Traps 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Fri Bicep Curl Biceps 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Fri Lateral Rises Deltoids 3 10 10 lbs 1 15 10 lbs Wed Leg Lifts Abdominal 3 10 None 1 15 None *You need to vary your workouts and want to give time for your body to recover from the workout. * Safety Guidelines Never continue if you feel any pain Never exercise a certain muscle group every day, make sure you give your muscles time to rest Never lift more than you can safely Never wear clothes that restrict your movement Never overstretch or over lift, it will do more harm than help Always warm up with a light cardiovascular activity beforehand Always use proper lifting technique Always breathe correctly Always train to have muscle balance Always control the weight when lifting Research how to correctly do each exercise from a reliable source before starting and make sure you have proper body alignment at all times SPORT/FITT principles Specificity Training should be designed to meet a specific need. Increase Flexibility Example: You want to increase the range of motion in your shoulder muscles. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You want to improve your muscular endurance in your shoulder muscles. Progression Training should start slowly and gradually. Increase Flexibility Example: Your shoulder stretches will be performed slowly and gradually become more challenging. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You will perform shoulder shrugs as part of your muscular fitness routine and gradually increase the challenge of this activity. Overload Training should require you to do more than you normally do. Apply the principle of Overload by changing the Frequency, Intensity, Time and/or Type (FITT) of activity you perform: Frequency: How often you perform the activity. Increase Flexibility Example: In week one, you will stretch three times per week and gradually work up to stretching five days per week. Increase Muscular Condition Example: In week one, you do shoulder shrugs two times per week and gradually work up to three times per week over a four week period. Intensity: How intensely you perform the activity. Increase Flexibility Example: As your flexibility increases you will gently extend how far you hold your shoulder stretches. Increase Muscular Condition Example: In week one you will use three pound weights and gradually work up to eight pound weights over a four week period. Time: The duration of your activity. Increase Flexibility Example: You will start by holding your shoulder stretch for 20 seconds and gradually work your way up to 40 second holds over a four week period. Increase Muscular Condition Example: In week one, you will attempt to do eight repetitions and gradually work up to 12 to 18 repetitions over a four week period. Type: The type of activity you perform. Increase Flexibility Example: You will also perform some chest and back stretches to further enhance the flexibility in these related and connected  muscle groups. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You will also incorporate some push-ups into your routine. Reversibility Training should continue or you will reverse your improvement. Increase Flexibility Example: You must continue to stretch or your improvements will reverse. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You must continue to perform muscular training exercises or your improvements will reverse. Tedium Training should include a variety of activities to avoid boredom. Increase Flexibility Example: You will try some yoga poses that incorporate shoulder stretches. Increase Muscular Condition Example: You will also swim laps in the pool and use the water as resistance. Equipment Dumbbells: Dumbbells are good for a variety of exercise. They offer a great range of motion and have a compact size. Dumbbells are not expensive. The ones pictured are $7 each for a total of $14.They offer a resistance of 10 lbs. total. Leg Weights: They are mainly used to exercise leg muscles. They can add a small bit of resistance to an exercise (3 lbs. each). They would cost about $25 for a pair. Steps: Steps are used for calf exercises and for balancing while doing other exercises. They are compact and easy to use. The one pictured is way out of budget, $40, so it is not recommended to buy them. Rather you can use your own stairs if you have them.

Payroll Framework Implementation

Payroll Framework Implementation The following report marks the use of the organisation and gets proper use of the organizational support for the understanding of the situation that marks the development and the operation of the organization. The concerned project consists of three prime tasks which are marked as section 1, 2 and 3. Section 1 describes the implementation of two preliminary frameworks-COBIT and COSO in the payroll failure of the Queensland healthcare system. Section 2 of the report deals with describing various frameworks required to sustain the failure, which had been implemented by the health department, IBM and other parties. Section 3 develops an understanding of 2 stages concerning System Development Life Cycle and its working in the project. Importance of payroll framework in any organisation lies in marking and demanding proper as well as smooth development of the organisational management. The management of the organization and the play of the management in terms of dealing with the organisational workers mark the smooth operation of the organisation. It can be so detected that the organization along with the workers are bound with the relation of employer and employee common thread of paying and receiving of salary and wages respectively. The opportunity in the following will be based on the understanding of the consequences if the framework of COBIT and COSO were implemented by the organization. COBIT: As supported by De Haes et al. (2013, p.320), COBIT is one of the latest version of ISACAs globally accepted framework for the proper end to end governance of enterprises and organization related to IT. The central management of the framework helps in the creating of the values in the enterprises. The prime use of the organizational support and the use of the framework is the smooth management of the leadership, guidance and practice with the use of the analytical tool that is managed by COBIT. As supported by Rubino and Vitolla (2014, p.770), the framework helps in the better management of the enterprises IT sector and makes the most of it with the smooth development of the organisation. COBIT stands for Control Objectives for Information and related Technology. This frame work helps in the better bridging of the central breach in the field of the IT department of the organisation. Cobit framework allows implementation of the success factors that could essentially guide the f ailure of the payroll system in the health department of Queensland (Chang et al. (2014, p.200). Proper and appropriate level of governance is being provided if Cobit framework had been followed in the concerned project. It helps to maintain collaboration among the employees and support the financial base of the system so that any collapse would be sufficiently handled by the Ministry of health as well as the government of the nation. COSO: As supported by Rubino et al. (2017, p.99), the framework of COSO is used by the managers of the organization for the development of the organization in terms of gaining proper view of the organizations internal control and thus makes the managers of the organization smooth and better operating ground for the operation of the organization. This framework helps in the well management of the organization operation for the better development of the organisations internal process for for development. As mentioned by Seyal et al. (2016, p.240), the COSO framework helps in well understanding of the internal environment of the organization and marks the risk of the environment in order to gain risk assessment benefits. The COSO framework also helps in the proper management of the information also helps in the management of the communication gathered from external and inter source of the organization. The policies and the procedure help in better management of the organization provided by the COSO. As supported by Gantman and Fedorowicz (2016, p.80), the use of the managerial ground of COSO helps in proper formation of strategic planning for development of organization and maintaining of the development ground in the society. Lattice: As mentioned by Rubino et al. (2017, p.200), the LATTICE framework is an obsolete one ion the proper managing of the development of the organization. The smooth operation of the organization is based on the framework of the organization in the opportunity of the organization. The framework is literally based on the smooth operation of the organization with the help of the scaffold in the organisation. The guidelines of the organization help in the marking of the organisational procedures. The system of the organization is better managed by the organizational development and organizational use of the similar guidelines for the overall development of the organization. The overall development of the organization is based on the guidelines of the organization. The overall development as based on the guidelines does not allow the managers to go out of the space and think. Rather leads in the operation of the orgnisation with fixed and close ended opportunity. As supported by Gil- Pechuà ¡n et al. (2014, p.190), the development of the organization is not well supported by the LATTICE frame because of the close ended operation. The key strategies implemented by the health department of Queensland have been to identify the end users of the proposed system, train the management and staff along with defining requirements of the business (Goosen, 2016, p.70). The objectives of the framework as provided by the health department of Queensland focused on imparting adequate training and education to the staff and enlighten them about relevant information. The payroll system being disparate, two basic systems or support frameworks have been adopted- LATTICE and Environment for Scheduling Personnel (ESP). ESP as well as LATTICE has been progressively utilized since 1996 till 2002. The solution of LATTICE was gradually becoming obsolete with the passing years since it needed a minimum amount of interventions manually for accommodating complex award along with incentive structures to be paid to the employees. Opportunities in the organisation have been developed through the implementation of the framework now approved as one of the obsolete one. The situation of the organisation was into a greater alarming position because of the use in the framework of LATTICE,  that mark the closed Indian guidelines of the organisation in the development of the organisational manager skill and knowledge on the work performed by workers of organisation.  As mentioned by Pandeya et al. (2016, p.263),  the achievement of the success in an organisation can be only possible with the help of the development in organisational use and proper management of skill the managers have. The use of the LATTICE went down because of the minimum effect on the mitigation of problems that arise in the organisation. Due to the traditional framework of LATTICE as there was no has effective mitigation procedures that the managers could have a well for the development of the organisation out of the critical situation. As mentioned by IBM is one of the control process that help in managing organisational and managerial work in a smooth and development.  The queen Queensland State Government for shared service initiative (SSI) was implemented by IBM for preparation of the organisation.  at the IBM was not the only form for information that they used for the development of the organisation but logical and SAP were also out of the,  operation of Organisation in an organisation development situation.  In 2005 the IBM was contracted by FSI for transformation of the organisation formed.  The process and procedure of IBM was of performance award interpretation in the society. The implementation of the Operation of the organisation Was bitter supported by IBM because of the eradication of the old system used by the organisation and  implementation of the system that highest tax act in SAP finance, SAP HR, for the restoring system of the organisation worker. The implementation of the word with t he help of IBM was better in chance of making proper work to bring solution will gather the employee of the organisation and maintain a proper authority in operation of the organisation which also included management and implementation on new projects of the organisation with special care and effective efficiency. Development of the study and operation of the organisation have also mention the developed organisation of structure which grows to be IBMs one of the most important factor in the development of organisation society. According to the observation of Houghton et al. (2016, p.365), among the other parties or contractors who were involved in the payroll system of Queensland health department, Corptech was much well-known and reputed one. The main objectives of Corptech have been to oversee entire implementation of health payroll strategies across all the Department of Queensland Government, commencing strategy of SAP as a Human Resource (HR) practice as well as Work brain solution and managing of prime contractor. Payroll tests have been successful by implementing the solutions of SAP HR along with Work brain solutions unlike LATTICE solution. Since there was no specific methodology of project management had been followed, hence, these solutions tended to be appropriate and the ownership, responsibilities and roles had been crystal clear to the employees as well as managers for avoiding the collapse of the system. Supported by Fair, (2016, p.52),  the first stage of the system development life cycle manages to be the System study which mark sweep elementary stage of system development life cycle.  the investigation of the system development life  cycle system study can be traced back to actually and physical system of the organisation.  This is Temple along with System study health in and listing the study referring to the problem objective terms of reference constraint aspects and effect of the benefits and impacts of the demerits of the organisation.  The use of the system study in the society and in the organisation is for the better identification of the problem and for the initiation of the project. As inferred by Ling-Chin et al. (2016, p.377), the background analysis also is done by the help of system study.  Smooth operation of an organisation is maintained and accepted by the proposal of the cycle procedures from the next step.  The study helps in better identification o f the issues and the mitigation of such issues related to the inference and findings of the work done for the development of the organisational procedure and structure. As inferred by Ioppolo et al. (2016, p.180), the feasibility studies is determined by the option and development of the organisation through which study is accepted and used for the better management of the society.  The prime and the most important objective of a study thing feasible is not to solve the problems but to identify the scope of the object to that will help an organisation to add that precede into better developmental situation and opportunities. The economic feasibility is identified for the Solving problems of an organisation we use of better economic and cost effective methods. The use of the cost effective method and proper benefit analysis of the situation smart the feasibility of the study in terms of economic condition. The organisational feasibility is 5 determination of proposed system is consistent and helps an organisation in strategic objective development. Development of the organisation depends on the understanding of system that works for the operation of an object in an organisation As inferred by Houghton et al. (2016, p.363), Social feasibility marks the situation where the objective of the organisation is accepted and enjoyed by every community of the society without causing any social issues on cultural problems. It is essential to understand the impact of the society in an organisation for detecting the development of the operation and cultural views of the organisation.  It is evident that an organisation should maintain the technical feasibility also for coping with the problems of technical issues that arises in daily operation of an organisational work. Referring to the case study, it could be concluded that the health payroll system of Queensland in Australia has failed consistently and doctors along with other health professionals were not paid or wrongly paid. This resulted in imbalanced health institutional structure of Queensland. Even political unrest erupted due to this failure in the payroll system. The governance and the project management engaged in this project of payroll failure have been hardly successful in implementing appropriate framework for overcoming the system failure. However, these frameworks have been sincerely implemented and brought about few yet relevant changes in the payroll system in Queensland. References   Chang, S.I., Yen, D.C., Chang, I.C. and Jan, D., (2014). Internal control framework for a compliant ERP system. Information Management, 51(2), pp.187-205. De Haes, S., Van Grembergen, W. and Debreceny, R.S., (2013). COBIT 5 and enterprise governance of information technology: Building blocks and research opportunities. Journal of Information Systems, 27(1), pp.307-324. Fair, M., (2016). Generalized record linkage system-Statistics Canadas record linkage software. Austrian Journal of Statistics, 33(12), pp.37-53 Gantman, S. and Fedorowicz, J., (2016). Communication and control in outsourced IS development projects: mapping to COBIT domains. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, 21, pp.63-83. Gil-Pechuà ¡n, I., Pullicino, P. and Garcà ­a, M.P.C., (2014). Implementation Methodology of Effective Governance to Ensure the Quality of IT Service. In Action-Based Quality Management (pp. 175-192). Springer International Publishing. Goosen, R., (2016). The development of an integrated IT risk assessment questionnaire for internal auditors use. Southern African Journal of Accountability and Auditing Research, 18(1), pp.63-71. Houghton, R.J., White, C., Golightly, D. and Wilson, J.R., (2016). Span of control in supervision of rail track work. Cognition, Technology Work, 18(2), pp.361-378 Ioppolo, G., Cucurachi, S., Salomone, R., Saija, G. and Shi, L., (2016). Sustainable local development and environmental governance: A strategic planning experience. Sustainability, 8(2), p.180 Ling-Chin, J., Heidrich, O. and Roskilly, A.P., (2016). Life cycle assessment (LCA)-from analysing methodology development to introducing an LCA framework for marine photovoltaic (PV) systems. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 59, pp.352-378 Pandeya, N., McLeod, D.S., Balasubramaniam, K., Baade, P.D., Youl, P.H., Bain, C.J., Allison, R. and Jordan, S.J., (2016). Increasing thyroid cancer incidence in Queensland, Australia 1982-2008-true increase or overdiagnosis?. Clinical endocrinology, 84(2), pp.257-264 Rubino, M. and Vitolla, F., (2014). Internal control over financial reporting: opportunities using the COBIT framework. Managerial Auditing Journal, 29(8), pp.736-771. Rubino, M., Vitolla, F. and Garzoni, A., (2017). The impact of an IT governance framework on the internal control environment. Records Management Journal, 27(1), pp.81-101. Rubino, M., Vitolla, F. and Garzoni, A., (2017). How IT controls improve the control environment. Management Research Review, 40(2), pp.155-205. Sanyanunthana, K., 2016. Education Quality Development for Excellence Performance with Higher Education by Using COBIT 5. Education, 1, p.524 Seyal, A.H., Poon, S.H. and Tajuddin, S., (2016), November. A Preliminary Evaluation of ICT Centers Performance Using COBIT Framework: Evidence from Institutions of Higher Learning in Brunei Darussalam. In International Conference on Computational Intelligence in Information System (pp. 235-244). Springer International Publishing.

Leadership and Management in Banks | Case Study

Leadership and Management in Banks | Case Study Introduction Soneri Bank was incorporated on September 28, 1991 the first Branch of Soneri Bank Limited formally opened doors for operations in Lahore on April 16, 1992 followed by Karachi Branch on May 09, 1992. The bank now operates with 145 branches spread all over Pakistan including the Northern Areas of the country where no other private bank has ventured so far. Expansion of branches is based on a policy of maintaining a balance between the urban and rural areas with a view to offering services even in the remote areas of Pakistan. Pleasant and sophisticated atmosphere has been provided in the branches which are all fully air-conditioned and computerized. The essence Soneri Bank business philosophy is to cater to the banking requirements of small medium sized entrepreneurs, providing them qualitative competitive services with emphasis on encouraging exports. Nearly forty percent of our credit portfolio is related to export financing and credit decisions are taken within 48 hours Mission Statement: To develop Soneri Bank Ltd into an aggressive and dynamics financial institution having the capabilities to provide personalized service to customer with cutting edge technology and a wide range of products and during the process to ensure maximum return on assets with the ultimate goal of serving the Economy and society. Slogan: We have more time for you Progress to Date: Soneri Bank Ltd was incorporated in 1991 as a public ltd company with paid up capital of Rs: 300 M. Over the last 16 years it has achieved a sustained growth with a network of 90 branches across country. The equity stand at PKR 7.6bn and total asset stand at PKR 88bn at the first quarter of year 2009. Top level management and their Names Boards of Directors: Chairman Legal Advisor Mr. Alauddin Feerasta Manan Associates, Advocates Chief Executive Officer Mr. Safarali K. Lakhani Directors Registered Office Mr. Nooruddin Feerasta Rupali House Mr. Inam Elahi Upper Mall Scheme Mr. S. Ali Zafar Anand Road, Lahore 54000 Mr. Abdul Hayee Registrar and Share Mr. Shahid Anwar (NIT Nominee) Transfer Agent Mr. Manzoor Ahmad (NIT Nominee) THK Associates (Private) Ltd. Company Secretary Ground Floor Mr. Abdul Hayee State Life Building No. 3 Audit Committee Dr. Ziauddin Ahmed Road, Mr. Nooruddin Feerasta (Chairman) Karachi 75530 Mr. S. Ali Zafar (Member) UAN: +9221-111-000-322 Mr. Shahid Anwar (Member) Fax: +9221-5655595 Mr. Abdul Hayee (Member Secretary) Auditors: KPMG Taseer Hadi Co.Chartered Accountants PLANNING Definition Planning defines organization goals and objectives establishing overall strategies for achieving those goals. Developing a comprehensive set of plan to integrate coordinate organization work. Type of plan Soneri bank use both formal and informal type of planning Informal In informal planning, their planning is not written down, short term focus and specific to an organization unit Formal In formal planning their planning is not written down, specific long term focus involves shared goals for an organization. Goal/objectives: Financial strength and profitability by making profitable advances Customer satisfaction by providing higher quality of service at an affordable cost. Growth by expanding branch network deposit base Short term objective Profitability Long term objective Profitability MISSION To develop and deliver the most innovative products, manage customers experience, deliver quality service that contributes to brand strength, establishes a competitive advantage and enhances profitability, thus providing value to the stakeholders of the bank. STRATGY Strategy of Soneri Bank are giving loans and accepting deposit. PLAN Plan of Soneri Bank are short term advance and deposit. PROGRAMME Program of Soneri Bank are up to one year or more then one year advance, fixed account, current account, etc POLICIES Policies of Soneri Bank are profitability by making profitability advance and customer satisfaction by providing best services at on affordable cost. RULES Their rules are depending upon by upper level of management according situation. BUDGET Soneri Bank allocates its budget for the following area 1. Diversify products services Anticipating customer needs, Soneri is increasing its focus on new products and services through leveraging its extensive branch network. The Bank is introducing various types of financing structures tailored to the capital investment requirements of its corporate clients as well as small medium sized enterprises. 2. Focus on consumer banking Making use of its computerized network of branches, the Bank plans to enhance its market share and profitability via focusing on consumer banking products and services as well as integrating e-banking into its delivery channels. 3. Increase employee productivity though training new techniques The Bank seeks to increase employee productivity through a combination of training and implementation of modern human resource techniques. Frequent in-house and external training programs are expected to help the Bank in maintaining and developing an efficient work force. 4. Improve credit assessment, loan monitoring debt recovery The management intends to improve asset quality by implementing strategies for identification, measurement and mitigation of risk, which will result in reducing the quantum of non-performing loans. ORGANIZING Manage work in organization but while is an organization? An organization is a deliberate arrangement of people to accomplish some specific purpose. Your banks, Universities is an organization, college, Govt. department all organization because they have three common characteristic. First Each organization has a distinct purpose this purpose is typically expressed in term of goal or set of goals that the organization hopes to accomplish. Second Each organization composed of people. One person working alone is not an organization and it takes people to perform the work thats necessary for the organization to achieve its goals. Third All organization develops some deliberate structure so that their member can do their work. Purpose of organization Work to be done into specific jobs and department in Soneri Bank Co-ordinate diverse organization task in Soneri Bank. Establishes former line of authority in Soneri Bank. Allocates and deploys organization resources in Soneri Bank. Organizational Deign: It means developing or changing an organization structure. A process that involves six elements: Work Specialization, departmentalization, Span of Control, Chain Of Command, Centralization and Decentralization, and Formulization. Work Specialization: The degree to which tasks in an organization are divided into separate jobs, also known as division of labor. Work Specialization in Soneri Bank: At Soneri Bank high work specialization exists. The whole is divided into number of repetitive task. There is division of labor according to the task specification. They perceive that work specialization is an unending tool to do work efficiently and effectively. Secondly they assume that work specialization is helpful in maintaining effective internal control, because if there is fraudulent move by any person regarding particular task, manager can counter that person on the spot. Work specialization is also helpful to maintain organization mechanism. For Example: In case of credit issuance if one person is responsible for checking Security Documents of pledged property and he recommend incorrect document manger of credit issuance can spot him out. Departmentalization: The basis by which jobs are grouped together is called departmentalization. It means the extent to which we need to divide jobs into different department. Departmentalization at Soneri Bank: Departments at Soneri Bank are minimal. Only few departments exist which are listed below IT department Credit Department International Banking Department Domestic Banking Department Accounts and Audit Department IT department facilitate all other department regarding IT services and fixing out problems of IT. Credit department is one which provide loan to businessmen, general public and for agriculture development as well. This department provides a full range of Corporate and retail banking services with special emphasis to provide qualitative and competitive services to small and medium entrepreneurs. The department scrutinizes the whole process of issuing loan and in case of borrower default this very department is responsible to take legal action against defaulter party. A complete range of products for trade finance, is one of core banking activities of Soneri Bank International banking department deals in import, export, foreign exchange and issue Letter of Credit. Domestic Banking department serves in cash, government bonds and securities, deposits, and provide locker facility .A wide range of attractive saving scheme to suit all segments of investors, consumer finance scheme, and Islamic banking products catering to the needs of variety of customers. Accounts and Audit department maintain the books of all discussed department. Marketing activities: There is no separate department for marketing activities rather these are presided by Executive Vice President (EVP). HR Activities: All affairs relating to HR are controlled by Inam Qazi. There is no separate department of Human Resource Management. Financing Activities Financing activities are handled at Central office Karachi. Span of Control: The number of employees a manager can manage efficiently and effectively. Span of control is important to a large degree because it determine the number of levels/layers and managers in an organization. All things being equal the wider the span of control is more efficient the organization is. Span of Control at Soneri Bank: The span of control at Soneri Bank is usually kept short. Bank has vertical and tall span of control. According to bank correspondent sometime span of control is also dependent upon workload in the bank. More work load may lead to wide span of control. Chain of Command: It means the line of authority extending from upper organizational level to the lowest level which clarifies who reports to whom. Chain of Command at Soneri Bank: Chain of command at Soneri Bank is tall or vertical. Flow of information from top to bottom or from bottom to top is slow because information is supposed to pass from each channel. There is no direct interaction between top level managers and front line managers neither through E-mail nor through telephone regarding the exchange of information. For Example if a branch manger wants to communicate information to BODs then 1st he will interact with Controller of Branches (COB), then COB will contact with Divisional General Manager of concerned division, then divisional GM will report to Central office and central office will send information to the Head Office or BODs. In the same way if BODs want to contact branch manager the whole above discussed process will be followed in reverse order. Centralization and Decentralization: Centralization means the degree to which decision making authority lies in the hands of upper level of organizations individuals or managers. It also means decision making with no/low input from lower employees. Decentralization means to what extent the decisions making authority is delegated to lower level employee. Centralization and decentralization at soneri bank: The decision making authority is delegated to employee up to some extent. They can make their decision by using that delegated authority For example If a credit manager of branch has authority to sanction loan up to Rs 4 million when borrower demand is more than Rs 4 million than credit manager of that branch contact COB (controller of branch) who has authority to sanction loan above Rs 4 million, if COB recommend then credit manager will issue loan and so forth. Formalization: Formalization means to what extent organization jobs are standardized and the extent to which behaviors of employees are guided by the rules and procedures. Formalization at Soneri Bank: Formalization at Soneri Bank is high. All the rules and procedures are clearly defined covering work processes which employees are supposed to follow, And employees have less discretion over what is to be done when it is to be done and how it is to be done. Employees are expected to handle the same input in exactly the same way resulting and uniform output. Types of Organization Design: There are two types of organization design Mechanistic design: Mechanistic is a machine like structure, it is rigid and human involvement is minimums. Organic design: Organic structure is highly flexible, humanistic activity is maximum. Elements of Organizational design Mechanistic Structure Organic Structure Work Specialization High Low Departmentalization High Low Span of control Short Wide Chain of command Long Short Centralization High Low Formulization High Low LEADING Leadership The process of influencing a group of people toward achievement of preselected goals is called leadership. Leader The person who makes this purpose is who can influence other / groups of people and who has managerial authority is called leader. The Soneri Bank has formal way of leadership style Traits of leader The leader of Soneri Bank has the following Traits Skills in themselves. Decision making Risk taking Risk bearing Stress taking Stress bearing Communication Power Honesty Strong vision Inter personal skill Step forward Discipline Believe of on equality Type of Leader Democratic leader The leaders, Soneri Bank have, are the types of Democratic. Because the major portion of bank is De-centralized thats why the each leader have the complete power of decision making, but the are working Collaboratively in whole organization with each other. All leaders of bank are involved in decision making, delighting their authority to their higher qualified employees, encouraged the participation of their employees in work and gives them opportunities coaching in well manner. Task Structure Every leader is giving the formal/ formalizes job or task to his employees, for getting the best result. Thats why the task structure also strong in the Soneri Bank. CONTROLING Controlling is the process of monitoring activities to ensure that they are being accomplished as planned and of correcting and significant deviation. Importance of control: Control is very much important because it is the final link in the management function. It is the only way manager know whether organizational goals are being met or not and the reason why? In Soneri Bank the importance of control can not be neglected because its a services base organization and deals with finance. Every employee in this organization has direct and indirect interaction with financial activities and finance playing the key role in the progress of the bank. Types of Control: Following are two main types of control. Feed forward control: In feed forward control problem is identified and resolved before accruing. Concurrent control: In contemporaneous control problem is identified and resolved while that is accruing. Division in Soneri Bank for Controlling: Following are two divisions in Soneri Bank for controlling purpose. Credit Monitoring Division: Credit monitoring division monitor all the activities related to following areas Credit card Debit card Auto loans Homes Loans RTC Money Gram Audit and Inspection Division; this division in Soneri Bank conduct the internal audit at the inspections of all the activities in the Soneri Bank to insure the accuracy of work and the performance of the bank. Control at Supervisor and Managerial Level: At lower level in the Bank supervisor and manager ensure the proper handling of the activities and they assign the targets to their subordinates to achieves in a given time and at those bases, they asses the performance of the employee. PROCESS OF CONTROL Measuring actual performance There are two ways to measuring performance in the Soneri Bank. Qualitative Quantities In measurement of performance employees of the organization are being measure qualitatively 40% and quantities 60%. Comparing actual performance with standards The comparing performance of the degree of variation between actual and standards performance Standards In Soneri Bank following standards are set to compare actual performance. General standards Compliance with law Reasonable assurance and safeguards Integrity, competence, and positive attitude SPECIFIC STANDARDS: TEAM LEADER In the Soneri Bank mostly every executive is working together with employer under him/her, and every manager is also working together with employer under him/her and they all are working collaboratively with each other in all the department of whole organization. TRANSFORMATIONAL and TRANSACTIONAL LEADER The leader of Soneri Bank is giving guide line and direction of established goals of these followers by clarifying the rate and task requirements for the best possible unit. Thats why these leaders of bank are TRANSACTIONAL LEADERS but not TRANSFORMATIONAL leader. GOALS OBJECTIVES Goals and objectives are factors through which the companys devotion and commitment to the job can be seen. If the goals are realistic and achievable, than surely that organization is doing its job. Soneri Bank also has certain goals and objectives which it is trying to achieve, through its various strategies and operations. The goals and objectives are mentioned below: To create a sound base, and through efficient systems achieve modern banking through out Pakistan. By the end of every accounting year there is an increase in deposits. As the deposit rate of during 2008 was approximately 72 Million and the same has been increased in 2009 by 97 Million. To create unit banking network in all the branches of Soneri Bank, the end of the year. This means that all the operations of the bank, i.e. deposits to advances, imports, exports, L/C Opening, foreign currency and many more aspects under one roof, so that the customer can be facilitate in one visit. Islamic Banking is one of the goals of Soneri Bank though it has been initiated in the last fiscal year and it is very acceptable for general public. However, there is a lot of work to do for successful implementation of the Islamic Banking Plan. In this regard the Bank is opening specific Islamic Banking Branch under the supervision of its Islamic Banking Division. STRATEGIES Soneri Bank has formulated certain sets of strategies to enable it to achieve its goals and objectives. These strategies are mentioned below: In order to achieve its goals of creating a sound base and presence of efficient modern banking system, Soneri Bank has started operation of Automated Teller Machines (ATM) in all the major areas like Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and other cities of Pakistan. Soneri Bank is committed to building long-lasting relationships through an assertion to service excellence and providing innovative products to meet the changing needs of our valued customers. Although still in its infancy, compared to the exalted banking standards, Soneri Bank inspired by the vision of its Board and Management, has built up a strong customer base. The Bank provides a full range of banking services to corporate clients, while applying leading technologies. Today the Bank is well-positioned to provide appropriate banking services to customers. The main focus is building relationships and being known by the way they do business. Management recognizes that a banking relationship requires compatibility, communication, and cooperation and that each customer deserves nothing less than full attention and available resources to meet their financial objectives. Core value and corporate culture is based on the belief that superior personalized service is the most important product. Bank is in the process of getting to know customers by name and understand their business and personal financial needs. This one-on-one, personalized service quality has served as Soneri Bank unique signature since inception and continues to separate it from other financial institutions. The Soneri Bank team comprises of some of the most highly skilled and professional financial experts in banking industry. Managers, lenders and trust advisors offer the unique perspective of knowing and understanding in the local economy. The Management focuses its attention on making informed and feasible economic decisions, bringing better returns and more profitability for investors and customers. To acquire the reputation and status of bank which operates on international standard, Soneri Bank was to get the credit rating of Pakistan Credit Rating Agency, which gave it the AA- and A1+ in the long term and short term respectively. SWOT Analysis of Soneri bank (S)trengths Strengths are the core competencies of any organization as far as SONERI is concerned the core competencies of this organization are: Target Achievement Policies Procedures Controlling Standards Priorities Rewards Benefits Job Security for the Employees Favorable, friendly Healthy Working Environment Documentation System is so much accurate Accounting Banking System is Accurate Reliable One (W)eaknesses Weaknesses are the lacking points which every organization must avoid in order to make its operational effectiveness. Hectic Working Environment Work load Lack of Self Marketing Department Low Training Coaching Low incentives like bonuses overtime pay etc. Human Resource Department is not so much effective Appraisal is not done frequently Low salary packages as compared to other banks (O)pportunities In fact, when we study all our weaknesses critically deeply than we come to know that we can convert our weaknesses into strengths. So basically these are our opportunities. The opportunities for SONERI bank are: On the job training coaching sessions can be conducted. Work sharing activities should be started so that a person who is working continuously for 9 hours can get relax. Marketing department should be started in order to promote the name of SONERI. Appraisal should be conducted frequently so that employees get motivated do their work as a loyal employee. Attractive salary packages should be awarded. (T)hreats Though Soneri bank has a strong footing and maintain a good number of loyal customer, still bank has threats in various sectors. The threats are prevailing such as: The conventional banks those having high growth rate and high market share are always being a threat. There is an average not low turnover rate, mainly because of low incentives as compared to the other banks. Absenteeism: Definitions and Categories Absenteeism: Definitions and Categories The purpose of the literature review is to justify absences in order to determine its fundamental causes. The amount of research which exists on school absenteeism witnesses both the existence and consequences of the problem. This issue is without doubt a very critical problem whose consequences is not restricted to students only but extends to the progress of the entire community and stands as a threat to the national economic growth. As a result, not only is the identification of the factors important but the proposed strategies for the improvement and gradual elimination of the problem are equally vital. The first part of this section shall reveal a representative discussion on some of the various categories of definitions on students absenteeism published during the last few years from a variety of perspectives. The second part discusses on previous research on students absenteeism and the causal factors that are considered as sources of such issues. DEFINITIONS AND CATEGORIES OF ABSENCES Absenteeism is the continual interruption of attendance (Gove: 6). It can be simply defined as a failure to appear, especially for work or any other duty. Therefore, based on my research the term student absenteeism refers as a situation where a learner is not at school for an entire day. But this definition is certainly too unclear to give a complete view of the problem. In order to avoid confusion regarding definitional issues the present study has categorized it into specific terms. Excused absences are justified absences from school for any reason recognized as legitimate, for example, attendance at religious ceremonies, illness of the pupil or a member of the pupils family, or death in the home (Good:3). On the other hand, unexcused absences refer to absences from school for reasons that are not recognized as legitimate, for example, absence because of play, truancy, illegal work, etc. (Good:3). However, one of the most common forms of unexcused absences is truancy (Brandibas, 2005; Broadwin, 1932; Johnson et al., 1941; Phelps et al., 1992; Warren, 1948) which is a vague term. Gabb (1994) argues that a child is said to play truant who is absent from school without leave. Truancy refers to the persistent, habitual and unexplained absence from school of a child of compulsory school age that occurs without parental knowledge or consent. Also, unauthorized absences may include truancy, occasional absenteeism, school refusal, school withdrawal and dropping out. Suspensions and expulsions may also be accounted as unauthorized absences. On the other hand, the term fractional truancy has been used to refer to unauthorized absences from school due to lateness, leave early or skip of specific lesson or groups of lessons which seems to be uncontrollable. Researchers like Stickney and Miltenberger (1998) and Malcolm et al (2003) have also used the term school refusal synonymously with a bsenteeism. School refusal refers to absence by children who refuse to attend school in the face of persuasion and punishment by parents, and possible school discipline. This form of absenteeism is widely recognized as a disorder involving persistent non attendance at school, excessive anxiety and physical complaints. Thus, the review of the various categories of definitions of absenteeism is not enough, as the main focus of this study is on the different factors that contribute to this problem. Consequently, not only is the identification of the causal factors significant but the plan of strategies for the improvement and eventual eradication of the issue are equally important. With the abundance of academic literature on the causes and solutions of the phenomenon, this will surely help to clarify my study with a better guidance and proper use of energies and resources in the right direction. This is so, as different researchers have taken different possibilities in investigating the problem from the psychological, social, economical and management perspectives. Hence, the subsequent sections that will follow shall demonstrate various literatures on these perspectives. CAUSAL FACTORS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERCEPTION From past research, it has been noted that psychologists have taken a great interest in the causes of, and solutions to, absenteeism. Accordingly, this has led to a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Within the context of this particular perception, a number of causal factors have been identified. A considerable part of the literature on the psychological dimensions of absenteeism has argued that the problem comes from different aspects. Corville et al. (1998); Lotz Lee (1999) find that students that are frequently absent from school have low self-esteem, are less competent in their social relations, perceive less cohesion in their families, less parental acceptance and inconsistent discipline, and indicate less satisfaction regarding school characteristics and personnel. Within the school system, it may be the result of labeling and tracking that create this low self-esteem and negative self-image and hence this becomes a cause for absenteeism for the students. While students with low self-esteem have an ability to feel part of the school culture, they may become frustrated and bored with school, and dislike the teachers, and any form of authority (Bell et al, 1994; Scott Dinham, 2005). Skues, Cunningham, and Pokharel (2005) note that students bullied by peers tend to exhib it less self-esteem and are less motivated to perform well at school. Low motivation, expressed as lack of interest and lack of engagement is linked with the notion of self-esteem and the intrinsic sense of belonging and self-worth. Thompson and Perry (2005) suggested that students who experience low motivation often perform poorly in academic situations. Further, Johnson (1941) and Daleiden Chorpita (1999) believe that school phobia is also an important factor that contributes to absenteeism. The term school phobia is termed as a separation anxiety: that is, intense distress following anticipated or actual separation from others, especially the mother. The child develops a feeling of acute anxiety and begins to feel guilty about leaving the mother to attend school. Moreover, Lauchlan (2003), Egger, Costello, and Angold (2003) examined the association between anxious school refusal, truancy and psychiatric disorders in middle school students and found that the majority of the sample had a psychiatric disorder. Also, some physical factors including physical health and psychological well-being may contribute to the phenomenon. Closs (2000) contends that the major cause of absence, namely, health reasons may be addressed both to support the education of students whose absence is inevitable and to improve the school attendance of students whose health may not otherwise permit it. As it can be noticed from the above declaration, psychological variables are key determinants of absenteeism. Within the context of this finding, one of the solutions to absenteeism appears to lie in the reinforcement of students sense of belonging both through the enhancement of teachers levels of professional commitment and the design of school cultures which will bring about a sense of attachment and reliability among the students. THE SOCIAL PERCEPTION The literature on psychological factors influencing absenteeism is hardly restricted to an analysis. Thus, an investigation of the sociological variables is of great importance. This is so as not only the students themselves contribute to the problem but their school as well as their family backgrounds plays an important role. Nowadays, with the process of rapid development that is taking place, we have more and more working parents. As a result, students receive less supervision at home than in the past (Lotz Lee, 1999). Not only absence of parental supervision but also parents condoning absences by ignoring or supplying excuses when no valid reason is apparent, explains high rates of absenteeism (Kilpatrick, 1996). Reid (1999) found that families are becoming increasingly ill-equipped to provide a home environment that is conducive to academic achievement. Stability at home is one of the major factors that affect absenteeism. He further suggests that parents should be educated to understand the value of their role in reinforcing practices which includes providing incentives for students who attend school regularly, while providing disincentives for non-attendance. Parenting style may therefore have an impact on a childs school behavior and motivation to attend school. It is found that the authoritative parenting style is the most conducive to academic success and high motivation levels. Fragmented and reconstituted family structures and family size are also considered variables in the discussion on absenteeism (Wheatly Spillane, 2001). Research conducted by Butler (2003) found that adolescents experiencing absenteeism revealed a tendency to have single, separated, divorced or remarried families. Statistics also indicate that the greater majority of school children either come from single parent or two-parent-working homes, with the implication in either case being that the primary caregiver is often absent from the house and therefore, not in a position to supervise education and attendance. Of greater significance is the fact that the absence of the adult primary caregiver generally means that the children in question have to perform a number of chores around the home, including, in the case of older siblings, the responsibility of the younger children in the house. In such instances, the children in question are often left too stressed out or tired to wake up in the morning and attend school on time (Pope, 2003). The sociological interpretation of absenteeism tends towards the identification of class and familial conditions as the root causes of the phenomenon. Thus, to gain a fuller picture of the problem, it is imperative to review the literature on the economic factors influencing absenteeism among school children. THE ECONOMIC PERCEPTION The literature on the economic causes of absenteeism compliments the literature on both its psychological and sociological causes. As Mcewan (2000) suggests, the economic causes rarely operate in isolation but tend to give rise to already existent sociological or psychological factors. Zierold, Garman and Anderson (2005) admit that familial and communal culture influence absenteeism but suggest that economic factors are at the roots of the stated. There is the predominant belief that students would benefit more from employment than they would from education. The implication here is that economic circumstances often force school students to seek part-time employment and as a result they have to shoulder other responsibilities other than their school work. Parcel and Dufur (2001) maintain that students who come from lower socio-economic class than the majority of their classmates are generally subjected to verbal taunts which, besides undermining their self-esteem and affecting their academic performance, influence them towards deliberate absences. Further, DeKalb (1999) suggests that this phenomenon is also due to the socio economic reasons such as the traditional marginalization of the poor and minority students. Thus, there is a lack of effort to attach these students to school as well as a lack of communication with the parents. In this case, the students develop no sense of belonging for their school and tend to be absent for long periods of time. THE ENVIRONMENTAL PERCEPTION According to Osterman (2000), if students do not feel at home in their school environment, they take it upon themselves to reduce the number of hours they spend in that environment per week, either by being tardy or absent. In line with that, Kirkpatrick, Crosnoe and Elder (2001), arrived at the same conclusion. They suggest that school attendance is significantly impacted by the extent to which students sense of belonging. Usually, students who feel comfortable and at ease in their school environment tend to have relatively lower rates of absenteeism compared to those who do not. Also, Crosnoe (2000) reported that lack of sense of belonging at school is also partly dependent on peer influence. Those with high attendance reported that they had many friends at school and felt a sense of social belonging there and those with low attendance reported the opposite. As we are aware for proper motivation of students, there is a need for professional commitment. Hung and Liu (1999) argue a correlation between student engagement with learning and teachers professional commitment. Teachers who exhibit a strong sense of professional commitment usually influence their students towards higher levels of engagement in their learning process and, more significantly, tend to have much higher classroom on-time attendance rates. Also, the punctuality of the teacher, his teaching style, his degree of verbal admiration and warning are all factors associated with pupils finding class interesting (DeKalb, 1999). Moreover, school factors often relate to students experiences of the school environment, and the body of literature consistently identifies several common experiences, including boredom with schoolwork, inadequate student-teacher relationships, being bullied, under threats or involved in fights (Wheatley and Spillane, 2001). Further, Wheatley and Spillane (2001) make the important point that the same characteristics, as outlined in various sources and linked to non-attendance, are similarly linked in a range of research reports as factors contributing to underage school leaving. Furthermore, with the new era of rapid development and competition, there has been a drastic innovation regarding the acquisition of knowledge. Various ways and means are available nowadays for fulfilling the demand for education. Besides, with such alternatives available this has created a downfall significance regarding school and its environment especially regarding regular attendance of students. According to Petroski (2008),ÂÂ  this independent approach to learning has become increasingly viable and accessible for all students through distance learning initiatives such as video conferencing, web casts, pod casts, blogs, Wikis, Twitter and privatized online learning programs such as Nova Net and Plato. These innovations allow students the freedom to access and respond to the information within a flexible timeframe and without the necessity for face-to-face synchronous experiences. Petroski (2008) also states that there are existing colleges whose students never attend a cour se on a physical campus. However, some have serious concerns about the pedagogical implications of introducing or casting audio or visual files of classroom content. Most of the concerns center on the potential drop in classroom attendance or in-class participation (Meng, 2005; OConnor, 2005). Another overarching fear is that educators overprotect immature learners to become ever more passive in their learning and thus retard their development as self-learners. Regarding other typical aspect of acquiring knowledge nowadays is through private tuitions commonly used in almost every country of the global world. According to Hai-Anh Dang and F. Halsey Rogers (2008), private tutoring is now a major component of the education sector in many developing countries, yet education policy too, rarely admits or makes use of it. Also, Hai-Anh Dang and F. Halsey Rogers asked themselves whether private tuitions increase parental choice and improve student achievement, or does it worsen social inequalities and impose heavy costs on households, possibly without improving student outcomes. This survey of the literature examines the extent of private tutoring, identifies the factors that explain its growth, and analyzes its cost-effectiveness in improving student academic performance. In the same direction regarding academic performance, Trevor Cobbold (2009) states that many other factors outside the control of schools also influence a schools results. These include student absenteeism and mobility between schools, the extent of parent involvement in learning at home, and the extent to which students are engaged in after hours tutoring. For example, if a higher proportion of families are engaged in private tutoring in any one year a school will receive a boost to its measured performance. However, private tutoring unfortunately has been institutionalized and has become a threatening feature. It is the source of lack of interest for class work, uncontrollable conduct at school, outright truancy and induced absenteeism because of frustrations and tiredness (Ministry of Education, Mauritius, 1997). In line with this, Sylvain E. Dessyy, Pascal St-Amour and Desire Vencatachellum (1999) carried out a research about the reasons behind private tuitions and the various measures that will effectively reduce private tuitions. The result shows that private tutoring arises mainly because of the expected rewards obtained by skilled workers, and the use of human capital as a selection device for these positions. Also, pupils use private tutoring to complement the education they receive in public schools, and to increase the likelihood of winning the best-paid position in future. The proposed solutions of the research was finally about raising public teachers wages and changing their selection mechanism to limit private tutoring. FINDINGS From the above, even though in brief, the review of this literature has tried to establish useful inquiries about how researchers have, with near-unanimity, defined absences as one of the most severe problem currently confronting the nations schools and its children, the demand of designing and implementing corrective strategies for the reduction and elimination of absences are indisputable and widely accepted. Prior to that, however, it is important to acquire a complete understanding of the causes of absences and the factors which affect it. Thus, the above mentioned literature reviews have not only analysed the theoretical and definitional issues but have also provided a sound theoretical support. With this for the present research, it will be possible to build further knowledge and understanding about the phenomenon. Academic literature and studies on absences have established a huge number of causal factors, divisible into three broad categories: (1) psychological (2) social and economical, (3) environmental. The causal influence of each of these factors, not to mention how they may be struggled or eradicated , shall be explored within the context of this dissertation using both primary and secondary data sources. In the next section, the researchers strategy for the collection and analysis of this data will be outlined. Effect of Age on Friendships and Family Patterns | Proposal Effect of Age on Friendships and Family Patterns | Proposal 1) The Title of the Project Family and Friendship: an investigation of the relationship between age and patterns of friendship within and outside the family: a discourse analysis. 2) Rationale, Aims and Objectives Friends and family are clearly important components of everyones lives. They can increase self-esteem, well-being and provide opportunities for socialising. Evidence from the psychological literature suggests that friendships are beneficial, if they are of the right type (Hartup Stevens, 1997). This study will examine the attitudes that two different age-groups have towards friendships and their families. There has been increasing discussion in the sociological literature by some authors (Weeks, Heaphy Donovan, 2001) that friendships are taking over the traditional place of the family in peoples social networks. This study aims to examine this idea in two age-groups, one 18-28 years old and the second, 50-60 years old. It will also aim to look at an aspect of the detraditionalization hypothesis and judge whether the evidence supports it. The objectives in order to reach this aim are to carry out a series of interviews with people in those two age-groups and then carry out a discourse analysis of that data. This will pinpoint the different ways in which people think about their families and friends in two different age-groups. 3) Research Questions The research question will be to examine whether there is a clear difference between the types of friendships formed at different ages. Do younger people rely more on their friends for support in times of crisis than older people? Do older people include more of their kin as their closest friends? How do both groups view their families generally in terms of who they rely on? Alternatively, is there little evidence for a difference in the way people separate and view their friends and their families? 4) Literature Review Individualization is a sweeping social change that has been seen to affect many societies around the world. Beck Beck Gernsheim (2001) point to two different meanings of individualization. The first refers to the weakening of traditional social forms used in the analysis of societies; these include class, gender and the family. Beck Beck Gernsheim (2001) identify this change as occurring as a result of the weakening of tradition, religion and state. The second aspect of individualization is the way in which modern societies are placing new demands on their citizens. This can be seen in the huge numbers of regulations that attempt to control every aspect of our lives. Levels of mobility, argue Beck Beck Gernsheim (2001), are higher than ever in many societies and, as a result, people move freely for economic reasons as there is greater emphasis on individual fulfilment. A natural corollary of this movement is that family ties are frequently left behind in the search for economic opportunity. And so, in the struggle for individual human relatedness, if the family is left behind, to where does the modern member of society turn? Weeks, Heaphy Donovan (2001) point to so-called families of choice, which are essentially groups of friends. Weeks et al. (2001) see society as being at a transition point, from more traditional ideas of family to this notion of the family that has been chosen from a group of friends. People are specifically choosing their family of friends to fit in with their own personal beliefs and attitudes and sometimes choosing to get away from their biological families who do not represent their attitudes and beliefs. This process of choosing friends is seen by Weeks at al. (2001) as a process by which people are shaping their own identities. While Weeks et al.s (2001) research concentrates on non-heterosexuals, they argue that these families of choice are in fact taking over from families of fate throughout society in the UK and elsewhere. This has been similarly understood by Giddens (1992) in terms of transformations in the interpersonal domain. In particular, Giddens (1991) sees these kinds of changes arising from what he terms the emergence of pure relationships (Giddens 1991:58). A pure relationship occurs where the more traditional connections through obligation that are present in family relationships are replaced with relationships based on what each can get out of the other. These changes have been referred to by Giddens (1992) as democratising in nature such that these changes are also affecting the family. Pahl Spencer (2004) explain that this detraditionalization thesis normally draws upon a range of social statistics that appear to demonstrate widespread societal changes. These include higher levels of education, higher rates of divorce, greater mobility both socially and geographically and a larger participation by women in the workforce. These conclusions are, however, disputed by Pahl Spencer (2004) who argue that the use of other research sources can lead in a different direction. They quote research carried out by Park Roberts (2002) which found that the family appeared to be in good health. Their respondents tended to suggest the family represented the first port of call in an emergency for people. Indeed, Pahl Spencer (2004) carried out their own research into friendships which avoids a standard quantitative analysis, asking about length of time known and other such variables, and concentrating more on content. Pahl Spencer (2004), then, look at peoples personal communities. Personal communities, for Pahl Spencer (2004), relate specifically to two main aspects of the relationship: communication and belonging. Pahl Spencer (2004) carried out 60 interviews in different parts of the UK and, in order to access these concepts, they used a map of concentric circles on which people indicated where their friends lay. These friendships were then examined through interviews. As a result, Pahl Spencer (2004) found that it was actually very difficult to separate the notions of friendship from that of family and that one easily flowed into the other. From their detailed findings, Pahl Spencer (2004) assert that there is little evidence for the idea that people are moving away from their family group and towards their chosen friendship groups. There is also little evidence, in Pahl Spencers (2004) view, for the idea that people place more importance on their friendships than their family. Taking a more wide-angle quantitative viewpoint, Pahl Pevalin (2005) use data gathered from the British Household Panel Survey over ten years to analyse potential changes in family and friends. Here, instead of finding a shift to friends away from family, they find that the family still provides a large number of peoples friends. There is a change seen across age-groups, however, with older respondents more likely to nominate family as close friends than those in younger age-groups. The question is, does this represent a change that people go through as they age, or is this a social change that can be seen emerging? Pahl Pevalin (2005) suggest the longitudinal data shows that it is actually a change happening with age, therefore suggesting that this does not support a social change of increasing friendship choices outside kin-groupings. Gross (2005) argues, like Pahl Pevalin (2005) that the extent to which the detraditionalization hypothesis is true has been exaggerated. Its important to note that throughout the literature on families and friendships it is clear that there are certain overlaps in meanings. One clear example is that of partners. For those over the age of 30, Pahl Pevalin (2005) argue that a partner provides the most important relationship. Does this person count as their friend or a family member? Pahl Pevalin (2005) argue that partners form a kind of hybrid category. Partners sit on the cusp of the debate because if they count as members of the family then they add weight to the importance of the family. But, if they count as friends, then they add weight to the idea that people are moving towards greater reliance on friends. There is probably a good argument for each view but certainly excluding partners from the analysis is a mistaken approach. Pahl Pevalin (2005) also criticise Weeks et al.s (2001) findings because they focus on non-heterosexual respondents. It is hypothesised that non-heterosexual respondents will tend to have a greater degree of reliance on friends rather than family as, perhaps, the family will not have been accepting of their sexual orientation thus necessitating an appeal to a group outside their confines. This study should, therefore, take this into account in balancing up the sexual orientations of the respondents. 5) Methodology Carry out a series of semi-structured interviews with participants to ask them about their family and their friendships. This would be carried out with a small group of younger people who are 18-28, as well as with a small group of older people who are 50-60 years old. Interviews will be semi-structured and so will start with questions asking specifically about participants close social ties, who they tend to confide in, who they share attitudes and beliefs with. This will be achieved through the use of maps of personal networks on which people indicate where their friends and family lie. Also, questions will be asked about attitudes and feelings towards the family and how family members fit into this picture. Latter questions will be more open-ended, so that participants are able to speak more freely about their friendships and families. Participants interviews will be transcribed and then analysed using discourse analysis to extract meanings and relationships. 6) Ethical Considerations Ethical approval for carrying out this study will be obtained from the relevant authority. All respondents in the study will be told that taking part is optional and that they may withdraw at any time. Further, they will be assured that they will remain anonymous in the reporting of the results. Personal information relating to individual friendships will, of course, remain completely confidential. Respondents will be reminded that they are entitled to see any of the data that is held by the researcher which specifically relates to them. 7) Costings The project will require a voice recorder and the researchers time involved in carrying out the interviews, transcribing, analysing and writing up. It may also require the cost of travelling to respondents in order to carry out the interviews. Some stationery costs will also be incurred. 8) Communication plans Respondents for the research will be solicited through standard university notice boards. For the older age-group, if suitable respondents cannot be identified in the university, it may be necessary to call on the researchers personal networks of friends and family members. 9) Users and Beneficiaries The ways in which friendships and families operate is of perennial interest to the government. Examining the ways in which personal communities coalesce provides insight into important notions of social support and social capital. For those who work in professions with direct contact with younger age-groups, it would be useful for them to know who young people rely on in times of stress. Is it members of their family, or is there a shift towards relying on friends in hard times? For those who work in professions who care for the elderly it would be extremely useful to know how patterns of friendships change with advancing age (Pahl Pevalin, 2005). For example, do older people rely more on siblings as a result of their partners passing away or do they develop other networks of friends outside their kin relations? References Beck, U., Beck Gernsheim, E. (2001) Individualization. London: Sage Publications. Giddens, A. (1991) Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age. Cambridge, Polity Press. Giddens, A. (1992) The Transformation of Intimacy: Sexuality, Love and Eroticism in Modern Societies. Cambridge, Polity Press. Gross, N. (2005) The Detraditionalization of Intimacy Reconsidered. Sociological Theory 23(3), 286-311. Hartup, W., Stevens, N. (1997) Friendship and Adaptation in the Life Course. Psychological Bulletin, 121(3), 335–370. Pahl, R., Pevalin, D. J. (2005) Between family and friends: a longitudinal study of friendship choice. The British Journal of Sociology, 56(3), 433-450. Pahl, R., Spencer, L. (2004) Personal Communities: Not Simply Families of ‘Fate or ‘Choice’. Current Sociology 52(2), 199–221. Park, A., Roberts, C. (2002) The Ties that Bind. British Social Attitudes: The 19th Report. Aldershot: Ashgate. Weeks, J., Heaphy, B., Donovan, C. (2001) Same Sex Intimacies: Families of Choice and Other Life Experiments. London: Routledge.