Teenage pregnancy in Croydon – literature review and research outline

Research studies have suggested that teenage pregnancy is a major global issue and it needs to be addressed accurately due to the health, social and economic risks associated with this issue (Baker, 2007; Roth et al., 2009; Kamberg, 2012). Decline in the number of teenage pregnancies have been reported as a result of the strategies undertaken by governing bodies across Europe to reduce the number of unplanned teenage conceptions. However, England still has the highest rate of teenage pregnancies which are mostly unplanned (Teenage Pregnancy Associates, 2011). Teenage pregnancies are a major cause of poor health conditions in teen mothers and their babies, it have an adverse economic impact and play a crucial role in increasing child poverty (WHO, 2012). According to a recent press release, London Borough of Croydon recorded 50% reduction in the teenage conceptions; however, the borough is still amongst the regions with highest teenage pregnancy rate (Croydon, 2012). In order to further reduce the rate of teenage pregnancies in Borough of Croydon it is crucial to identify the factors causing the increase in teenage conceptions. Therefore, the aim of this research study is to effectively recognize the factors causing increase in teenage pregnancies in the London Borough of Croydon and the chosen organisation is Croydon Health Services NHS Trust. The research objectives are: * To identify the factors causing increase in teenage pregnancies through literature. * To identify the factors causing increase in teenage pregnancies in the London Borough of Croydon. * To identify the strategies that could be adopted by the governing bodies in London Borough of Croydon to address the issues of increasing teenage pregnancies. 1. LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Individual Factors Research studies have suggested that individual factors play an important role in teenage conceptions (Imamura et al., 2007). Children of teenage lone mothers are more vulnerable to become teenage parents (Botting et al. 1998). Members of some certain ethnic groups such as Caribbean and Asian are more likely to become teenage parents in comparison to white teenagers (Botting et al., 1998; Berthoud, 2001). Underperforming children at school who show little or no interest in learning and eventually drops out at early ages are also at a risk of becoming teenage parents (Kiernan, 1995). Research evidences have suggested that increased number of teenage pregnancies have also been observed in young children living in care or those who leave care (Imamura et al., 2007). According to Haldre et al. (2009) alcohol abuse in the family and lower levels of sexual knowledge also lead to higher number of teenage pregnancies. 1. Socio- Economic Factors According to Baker (2007), socio-economic disadvantages are one of the major causes of teenage pregnancies. Teenagers who are detached or detach themselves from the society as a result of discrimination or lack of support from the society are highly vulnerable to early pregnancies. Social disadvantages as identified by England’s Social Exclusion Unit includes unemployment, poor quality of health, living in deprived areas, having lower levels of skills, poor housing facilities, family fall outs and low income (SEU, 2001). Gruber (2009) argued that individuals become socially disadvantaged when they are denied their basic rights and the opportunities to become an active part of the society which leas to involvements in crimes and other illegal activities. Research studies have suggested that children of socially disadvantaged young parents live in poverty (Baker, 2007). However, not many evidences are present in the literature about the contribution of poverty to teenage pregnancies and this area needs more exploration. According to a research study by Arai (2009), poverty is common in households where the head of the household is a teenager. MacPhail and Campbell (2001) identified that poverty pose an influential impact on the decisions of teenagers to buy contraceptives leading to unintended teenage pregnancies which further leads to lack of finance and support. Trapani (1999) found out that in most cases of teenage pregnancies boyfriends of teenage pregnant girls hesitate from taking the responsibility of the child due to its impact on their educational and employment opportunities. This rejection from partners can cause depression in teenage mothers and their children could significantly suffer in many ways as a result of this depression. It is clear from the preliminary literature review that individual, social and economic factors play an important role in increased number of teenage conceptions. Recent reports published by NHS suggest that government has taken a number of steps to reduce teenage pregnancies; however, despite of these measures the success rate is low. This leads to the formulation of the research question for this study which is to understand why is teenage pregnancy increasing and what more factors are contributing to this problem in addition to the ones identified by previous research studies 1. METHODOLOGY 1. Research Philosophy and Approach Positivist research philosophy has been adopted for this research study. Positivist research philosophy will allow gathering quality data, having high validity in a natural setting (Belk, 2008). Research approach can be inductive or deductive depending upon the type of the research study and for this qualitative research study inductive research approach has been adopted. The advantages of inductive research approach include its flexibility and its supportive framework that effectively allows the formulation of new models (Monsen and Horn, 2007). 1. Research Strategy An exploratory case study research strategy has been undertaken for the accomplishment of the aim of this research study because of its effectiveness in exploring the problem understudy and because of its proficiency in unveiling new issues (Walsh and Wigens, 2003). This research strategy is extremely time consuming and provides no control over the information provided by the participants; however, according to Kumar (2008) the researcher can effectively overcome these problems through his/her competent research skills. 1. Data Collection and Analysis Primary as well as secondary data will be collected for this research study. Secondary data will be collected from the reports published by NHS, books, journals and news articles. Both the qualitative and quantitative sources of information will be explored. The advantages of include time effectiveness, cost effectiveness and the ease of access to the information. Invalid or incomplete pieces of information and possible confusion due to the availability of huge amount of information are few limitations of this data collection method (Kumar, 2011). Primary data will be collected by conducting semi- structured interviews because of its efficacy in establishing an informal two way conversation between the researcher and the participant (Carter and Thomas, 1997). Data will be analysed in a step wise manner (Maykut and Morehouse, 1994). Firstly all the responses will be carefully examined followed by the unitization and categorisation of different pieces of information. Finally the responses will be interpreted. 1. Target Population and Access The target population for this research study are the pregnant teenagers attending antenatal clinics in Croydon and the sample size would be 15. Initially contact over the phone was established with a supervisor of midwives to arrange a meeting in order to explain the benefits of this research study. It was decided in the meeting that the invitation for participating in the research study will be given to the pregnant teenagers by the midwives attending antenatal clinics in local medical practices. Pregnant teenagers willing to participate will be given a date and time for the interviews after consulting the researcher and all the interviews will take place in a room within the medical practices so that an assuring environment could be provided to the participants. 1. Ethical Considerations Participation will be voluntary, anonymity will be maintained, information about the study will be provided to the participants and written consents will be taken prior to the interviews. Information collected will only be used by the researcher. 1. Validity, Reliability and Generalisability To maintain the reliability and validity of the data all the measures will be taken to avoid the chances of errors during face-to-face interviews and when analysing the data. Generalisability is the potential limitation of the research study as the results might not completely reflect the condition in other Boroughs of England. 1. CONCLUSION In conclusion, despite of the limitation this research study will effectively contribute towards the information present in the literature about the factors causing the increase in the number of teenage conceptions.

Children should be required to help with household tasks Essay

?It is ture that only good students gain a higher education has its merits. They have the strong abilitiy to study new things and they have more passtive to explore something unsure. It is not only conductive to themselves, but also contributing a lot to society. However, no matter how outstanding they are, every citizens should be treated equally. Moreover, commonplace people also use their talent to make it better. Therefore, as far as I am concerned, a college or university education should be available to all students. For one thing, all people have their own right to deside whether attend to a college or university and all people also should be treat equally whatever they are good or common. That is a basic rules that everyone should respect for others. If a college or university only choose the people who are amazing, that will hurt others who also desire to attend this school. It will lead to a adverse impact on them, even they are never stimulated by studying due to their odinary gift. In addtion, it is not a truth that good people are always good. Some students might be not aware of their talent and they even do not know what field they want to engage or study before they go to a college or university. Once they attend there, they would find their own route, which fit them and they want to pursue. In this process, a host of people will gain their real dream, and in order to fulfill it, they will become diligent and ambitious. That is why many famous people have not high IQ or special capacity but still seccessful in the future. I think that they could be enlightened by higher education. Some people believe that a college or university education should be available to all students. Others think that higher education should be available only to good students. Maybe both parties have their weights, however, I agree that all students should have the opportunity to receive higher education. To begin with, everyone has the right to receive a better education. It is very important for all the students get higher education. College education improves the quality of people and is a necessary preparation for the later social life. People learn not only knowledge and skills but also interpersonal methods and experience. An higher education experience is of great help in finding a good job and living a good life. Moreover, it is not certain that good students in high school will be still â€Å"good† in further education. Many people claim that it is most effective to give Good students higher education. Nonetheless, there is not promise that every good student going to a college will graduate successfully. Jack, one of my university classmates is a good example. He rolled in the university with a very high score. However, he often was absent in class and indulged himself in drinking. Subsequently, failing to pass many exams, he had to drop out. In this case, a university education is not benefit to Jack. However, many students who were not that good in high school can do well in their college. Many of them have the ability and potentiality to study well, but they did not realize the importance of education when they were in high school. After entering a college, they learn by heart, and become good college students. If they are derived the right to higher education, it will be a big loss to them and the society. To conclude, higher education plays an important role in one’s life. All students have the right to study in a college or university, that is, higher education should be available to all the students, including both good students and bad students. People learn through their entire lives. They constantly improve their knowledge and gain new experience. I think that a college or university education should be available to all students because every person has the right to choose the way to self-perfection. Below I will give some reasons to support my position. First of all, every person should have the chance to get a higher degree, gain new knowledge and experience. However, some people believe that higher education should be available only to good students. I think it is silly. It is like to make unavailable travelling for one who does not have IQ high enough. Secondly, some young people do not do well at school but they have great personality and ability to learn. They are self-confident, persistent and patient. With these qualities they can get higher grades than their classmates who are talented but lazy. Imagine for example situation when a teenager gets high grades because his or her parents constantly make him or her study and help to do most of the homework. In this case a child is good at school but I think a college can show the opposite results. Finally, it is a discrimination against students to make available higher education only for good ones. So, if a student does poor and gets low grades he or she should be sent down. But if a person has never been given a chance to try himself or herself at college what one can do in this case? To sum up, I think that all young people should have the chance to get a higher education. To take or not this chance must be up to them.

Marketing and Market Research

Faculty of Academic StudiesSchool of Business and Professional BTEC Level 3 in Business – 90 Credit Diploma (QCF) Unit 3 Introduction to Marketing Assignment 1 Scenario You work for a professional organisation for marketers. One of the activities that the organisation undertakes is to evaluate the marketing activities of different companies and produce a list of ‘A’-classed marketers. You are asked to carry out research into two possible contenders for inclusion on the list. You need to complete the following tasks as part of your research project. Task 1 Describe how marketing techniques such as branding and relationshipmarketing are used to market products in two organisations. You need to choose one product or service from each organisation to undertake the task. (P1) 2Compare, discussing the similarities and differences, the marketing techniques described in Task 1 used for the product or service chosen in each organisation. (M1) 3Evaluate the effectiveness of the use of techniques in marketing products or services in one of your selected organisations. You need to judge the effectiveness by weighing up the pros and cons of the techniques used. D1) 4Describe the constraints and limitations under which marketers operate, making use of examples to explain your points. (P2) Task 2 Choose one of your selected organisations and investigate its use of market research. You need to complete the following tasks as part of the continuation of your research project. 1. Describe how your selected organisation or any other organisation uses market research to contribute to its development plans. (P3) 2. Explain the limitations of the market research used to contribute to the development of your selected organisation’s marketing plans. (M2) 3.Make three justified recommendations for improving the validity of the marketing research used to contribute to the development of your selected organisation’s marketing plans. (D2) 4. The results o f a questionnaire given to 200 customers of a local fresh sandwich bar to find out about the current range of sandwiches on offer and the standard of service included findings that: †¢ 75% want more children’s sandwiches †¢ 82% want the shop to open longer †¢ 65% said that the staff were unfriendly †¢ 50% said that the contents of the sandwiches should be fresher †¢ 80% said they would prefer more wraps.Use the results of this market research to produce part of the marketing plan in terms of objectives to be set. (P4) Task 3 Explain how and why groups of customers are targeted for selected products. Select six different groups for products or services of your choice for example, Saga holidays for the over 50s. At least two of your choices must be from the Business-to-business market; remainder can be from the consumer market. Describe the customer profile for each of the six target groups and then explain how and why these groups are targeted. (P5) Ta sk 4Choose one of your selected organisations and investigate its use of market research. You need to complete the following tasks as part of the continuation of your research project. 1. Develop a coherent marketing mix for a new product or service. (P6) 2. Develop a coherent marketing mix that is targeted at a defined group of potential customers. (M3) Grading tips: Pass Grade P1 – Make sure you understand the various techniques that are listed in the content section of the specification. Try to find out if the companies you choose use any of these techniques.P2 – Try to find examples of where these laws have been contravened (broken to any degree). Useful websites are those belonging to Trading Standards and the Advertising Standards Authority. P3 – Remember that market research covers a wide area and you can include everything the business does to collect information about its marketplace. P4 – You need to demonstrate that you can apply the results of market research to marketing plans. The statistics are telling certain information that could result in objectives being formulated.P5 -Make sure that you understand the main bases for segmentation. The better a business can describe its target market, the better chance there will be of success. P6 – Make sure you understand what the elements are of the marketing mix, and how these can be altered to service the targeted market. Merit Grade M1 – For this task you need to find out the similarities and differences that exist between these techniques and discuss these in relation to the two products. Try to stay focused on answering the question and do not end up writing all you know about the techniques.M2 -You need to understand that the various laws and codes of practice are there predominantly for the protection of the consumer. Try to imagine what it would be like if there were no laws to protect the consumer – this may make it easier for you to answer the tas k. M3 – Look at the marketing mixes of various products. You may like to research this on the Internet and see how some successful products are managed in terms of their marketing mixes. This research should help you in developing a marketing mix for a selected product. Distinction GradeD1 -Evaluation is about considering in detail the advantages and disadvantages of something, and coming to conclusions as a result of this analysis. All the techniques can be criticised concerning their usefulness. Find out what these are and then make judgements about the effectiveness of the techniques used. D2 -You need to know that it is important to try to make your market research as valid as possible. This could mean making the sample of sufficient size or making sure that questionnaire answers are not ambiguous, as that could lead to misleading results.

Summary on Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Landslides Assignment

Summary on Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Landslides - Assignment Example It covers the sea beds and is the foundation of land masses. Tectonic plate shifting along fault lines is the primary cause of major earthquakes. However this is not just the sole reason for earthquakes. Localised low intensity and low impact earthquakes also occur frequently everyday at different parts of the world. They are due to the shifting of underlying layer of soil, and are confined only to small localities in cities, town or rural area. Lisbon, 1755: The Lisbon Earthquake: The Lisbon earthquake in the country of Portugal back in the 1st of November 1755 was one of the most ghastly natural calamities in the memory of mankind. Nothing every of such gigantic destructive scale had ever occurred in the near recallable future, swallowing everything from a huge civilisation, to thousands of people, human constructions etc. The Lisbon earthquake due to its sheer magnitude of destruction is till date studied by geologists, seismologists, construction firms and earthquake experts. The natural disaster on the 1st of November 1755 in Lisbon was a combination of two natural disasters: A series of high and medium intensity earthquakes followed by an equally devastating Tsunami, due to the aftershock of the earthquake. The date was November 1st 1755 at 9:30 am, one of the most scared days in the Roman calendar (All Saints’ Day), thousands of devotees and followers had gathered in the innumerable streets and lanes of Lisbon crowding near Cathedrals or flocking towards the smaller churches. The day was crisp and clear and the priest had just begun chanting â€Å"Gaudeamus omnes in Domino, diem festum†¦Ã¢â‚¬  when the cathedrals and churches started to sway and lurch from side to side. The bronze bells began to ring madly and candles toppled from their stands and fell over. Within seconds from the initial ushering of the tremor, it gathered intensity and magnitude, tossing buildings down like match boxes and dislodging large chunks of masonry that fell on fearful worshippers crushing them to their death. The second larger shock came a few seconds later and caused even more damage compared to the first one, razing damaged construction and building to dust, killing thousands. After 90 minutes from the last major shock, three devastating Tsunamis struck the coast of Lisbon one after the other wiping out human settlement along the coast line and leaving nothing but indistinguishable ruins and mangled remains of construction debris and human bodies washed up on the shores. The extensive damage caused by the earthquake triggered a massive fire outbreak in the entire city, initiated by toppled candles and broken hearths, that set flame to the highly combustible wooden buildings. Soon the entire city was engulfed in the violent lashings of flame, charring to death thousands of people and leaving nothing but roasted remains of human property and burnt dead bodies. This was the horrific natural calamity in Lisbon two and a half centuries ago t hat killed tens of thousands of people and scarred the entire city mercilessly with irreversible damage that took centuries to rebuild. San Francisco, 1906: The San Francisco Earthquake: San Francisco was no stranger to destructive earthquakes and fires. It had burnt down 6 times during the years of gold rush in the years 1849 – 1851. This was because most of the building were made of flimsy

Explain and justify the ventures potential success Essay

Explain and justify the ventures potential success - Essay Example Since financial risk is connected with inclusion of debt capital, this implies that if there are no debt funds hence there will virtually be no financial risk. This also implies that activities which are totally financed by equity convey no financial risk. Subsequently, equity capital has the long-term potential for generating superior returns for the investors and is thus considered as appropriate source of finance especially for new business ventures. The investment appraisal techniques reveal that the net present value of investment is  £19,538.43 with an IRR of 29 percent. As the return on investment is more than cost of capital, it is apparent that project is viable and investors may accept this project. It is also apparent that budgeting will contribute towards the success of the business venture. Below is an outline of the anticipated budget as well as pricing structure for the business venture. The average per unit cost of delivering pizza is expected to be  £20 for sale of 8,825 units (in first year) and considering the demand of product and current competition in market, the management could expect sales turnover of around  £176,500. This means that average revenue per unit of pizza delivered will be  £31.14 (shown in price chart above) making a profit of  £11.14 per unit. The pricing structure is viable since it will enable the business venture to raise enough revenue to sustain its operations as well as to generate profits. Essentially, the aim of business is to make profit and this is achievable since our products are likely to attract more

Fire risk assessment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5000 words

Fire risk assessment - Essay Example Fires can be avoided, or minimized, through careful risk management. Risk management involves listing down the risks involved in the premises and dealing with these risks. Human error – and fire – can be dealt with effectively with careful planning and an equal amount of study on the possible causes of fire. This paper is a risk management report on a furniture factory which manufactures dining room furniture and directly sells them to the public. Covered in this report are the application of methods of fire risk assessment and the necessary laws and regulations regarding safety in the workplace. We are concerned of the safety of people occupying buildings and premises. Qualitative and quantitative researches on fire safety are included in the discussion. The report will cover several aspects on fire prevention such as the materials used in furnishings and structures and their susceptibility to different types of fires, disposal and handling of dangerous substances that can cause fire in the premises, and many other aspects of fire safety. It is important to note that fire safety is a broad concept that carries many subtopics which are interrelated but relevant to this report. Fire safety is everyone’s concern but puts a lot of pressure and responsibility on the part of the owner and employer of business. The key legal requirements we would like to discuss in addition to risk management issues are the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) and the Explosives Atmosphere Directives 99/92 EC (ATEX 137), which are closely related to our case study of a furniture factory. The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 encompasses fire safety methods and prevention which are applicable only for England and Wales. This law covers many aspects of fire prevention and places a lot of responsibility on the shoulder of the employers and owners of business. It is also an ex tension of the first law, the 1997 Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations, which was not fully followed to the letter by employers and owners of business. (Grice, 2009, p. 23) Under the 2005 Order, the owner or employer acts as the ‘responsible person’ who is entrusted to prevent the risks of fire in his/her business premises, the area of responsibility, and must do everything in his/her power to conduct the necessary risk assessment. The provisions of the 2005 Order are clear about the different circumstances when the fire can occur. Risks of fire can be minimized by following the law. The responsible person must ensure that structures are constructed and maintained within guidelines prescribed by law. Fire prevention is safety itself, and this may correlate or link with the use of the right materials prescribed by the 2005 Order to ensure the safety of the persons in the premises. RISK MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVES â€Å"Risk management starts and ends with quality.† (Kent, 2004, p. 31) Risk management means early identification of the threat of risks in the premises and finding out the proper solution to the identified risks. This is known as risk management process. It is one of the most important tasks for any company, business, or organization. Without the implementation of an effective risk management plan, the chances of failure of business are increased. Risk management planning is not only important for the success and stability of the business operation but also is

Contingency Perspectives of Leadership are Better at Motivating Annotated Bibliography

Contingency Perspectives of Leadership are Better at Motivating Employees - Annotated Bibliography Example The study was carried out in a financial service company with 153 participants, all of whom were clerical workers. A questionnaire was circulated around the organization and then immediately collected by the researcher. The questionnaire contained scales that ranged from 1 to 5. Participants had to indicate how strongly they agreed or disagreed with certain statements. Followers’ personalities were broken down into four categories: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, and agreeableness. The scales ranged from â€Å"not at all true† (1) to â€Å"completely true† (5). The four categories for followers’ personalities were each given a Cronbach’s alpha. In order to test for transformational leadership, an adapted version of the MLQ 5 X Short was administered. Because of this, four transformational dimensions were defined: idealized influence, individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, and inspirational motivation. The scales for these dimen sions ranged from â€Å"never† (1) to â€Å"almost always† 5). As in the previous test, Cronbach’s alpha was used. Commitment was assessed using two scales—an affective commitment scale and a continuance scale. Once again, Cronbach’s alpha was used. It was discovered that followers’ extraversion and agreeableness were positively correlated to the perception of overall transformational leadership and to affective commitment to the supervisor. Also, followers high in extraversion and agreeableness recognize transformational leadership more than those who are low in these areas. ... Once again, Cronbach’s alpha was used. If literature review/ meta-analysis or critique: Focus of content Key debates Position , if clear - If research article: Findings of research It was discovered that followers’ extraversion and agreeableness were positively correlated to the perception of overall transformational leadership and to affective commitment to the supervisor. Also, followers high in extraversion and agreeableness recognize transformational leadership more than those who are low in these areas. Hypotheses 1.1 and 1.2 were largely supported, whereas Hypotheses 1.3 and 1.4 were only partially supported. In terms of Hypotheses 2.1, the perception of transformational leadership was positively linked with perceived leaders’ extraversion. If literature review/ meta-analysis or critique: Conclusions - Significance of article in relation to: other articles, your topic generally or prior research. There is an increase of research that focuses solely on follo wers and shows they value a better understanding of the role of followers in the leadership process. The results of this research will be helpful to business organizations in the future because it will allow them to set up constructive communication channels for followers to speak to their leaders. Limitations of article Eg location, industry, focus etc Because the data are cross-sectional, it cannot prove that the directions of the arrows in the model presented in Figure 1 are correct. Also, the influence of personality characteristics examined in this study is limited. Other factors influence the perception and acceptance of leadership other than followers’ personalities. Strength/s of article A definite link is found between extraverted followers and transformational leaders. This shows

On Passion and Self-Growth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

On Passion and Self-Growth - Essay Example The American novelist, literary-critic, and story-teller Elizabeth Hardwick highlights that "The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination." I strongly believe in her statement as my journey in life has been filled with notable experiences derived from reading various books. Before my passion for reading is developed, I must admit that I was first obsessed in the stories my mom untiringly tells me before retiring to bed. Then, the exciting part of deciphering the meaning of the simple words on my earliest books came. Before I know it, I have become a voracious reader whose interests range from culture, sociology, and literature. Reading has sparked my curiosity and invites me to seek the mysteries of life. My passion for reading has hugely enhanced my intellect. Whenever I open a book, I often see myself unlocking a treasure box which will brings me into other places, provides me a glimpse of other culture, and conveys me a wealth of knowledge. It is amazing to know that every book shares its unique story. No matter how simple, each book offers and adds new ideas. Reading has enriched my intellect by bringing me to the world of Shakespeare, Milton, Julius Cesar and even as far as Aristotle's and Homer's. Reading introduced me to the radical ideas of Karl Marx, the different worlds explored by Gulliver, and the persistence of Helen Keller. Books broaden my horizons by adding new words to my vocabulary, polishing my grammar, and enabling me to find ways to communicate my ideas. My passion for reading enlightens me with knowledge and ushers me from the darkness of ignorance. Reading a book the second or third time does not diminish the knowledge that it offers. Being a passionate reader, I have discovered that it is not the writer which conveys and creates meaning in his or her compositions but in fact, the reader constructs his own comprehension on the material being strongly influenced by his background and experiences. Thus, I never really get tired of reading a single book over and over again as the knowledge it imparts vary each time. Aside from shaping me intellectually, reading also further my emotional development. As a thinking and feeling being, a story moves me and fills me with different kinds of emotion. I believe that the most important thing that my passion for reading brought me is the capability to understand the emotions of other people. Reading often requires empathy and putting one's self in the character's shoes. With this, I have developed the ability to accept, understand, and share the joys and sorrows of the people around me. I credit to my passion to reading the rapport I maintain with my social circles. I can say that my passion for reading is the largest contributor to my personal development. Books enrich and stimulate my mind while keeping me in touch with my emotional side. Reading has taught me the greatest lessons in life. I must stress that Denis Diderot identifies only great passions which can elevate the soul to great things. Considering all the things that my passion for reading accomplished in me, then, I can say that it must be the greatest passion a human can be blessed

Psychosocial Interventions With Psychosis Essay

Psychosocial Interventions With Psychosis - Essay Example A wide array of nervous system stressors can result in a psychotic reaction both at organic as well as functional level. However, the first line treatment for psychosis is generally associated with the administration of antipsychotic drugs and in some cases hospitalization, but there is increasing research evidence that suggests cognitive therapy; family therapy can be effective in the management of psychotic symptoms. This paper critically reviews on psychological intervention with patients affected by serious and prolonged mental disorders and the strengths and weaknesses associated with such types of therapeutic interventions. Psychosis is a mental state defining a group of mental disorders come into one singe head in psychiatry and it is characterized by certain common fundamental factors such as hallucinations or sensation of non-existent objects or phenomenon; delusions or possessing beliefs not based on reality; thought insertion, withdrawal, thought blocking, thought broadcasting lack of insight or being unable to understand the wrongs in the thinking or activity patterns. However, there are number of controversies associated with the psychiatric classification of psychosis, but usually the most common disorders come under the general title of psychoses are as follows: - Schizophrenia - Schizoaffective disorder - Maniac Depression (Bipolar Disorder) - Mania - Delusion (Paranoid) Disorder - Psychotic Depression Although these disorders differ in their symptoms but they consist of a common parameter that the individual suffering from any of the disease does not experience reality as most of the other people in general. Sample Case Study The patient is a female of 18 years doing graduation in a co-education college. She was brought to the clinic by her mother and sister for lack of sleep, verbal and physical aggressiveness, suspicion that the male faculty members in her college are writing love letters to her and making obscene gestures during the lecture and the fear of becoming a male. She had the habit of peeping into the bathroom when her mother takes bath. Sometimes she blamed her mother of appearing nude before her. Her elder sister and elder brother had innocuous relationship. She did not have any intimate relationship with the member of the same sex. The family disapproved of her friendship with boys of questionable character. Therapeutic Strategies Suggested The patient mentioned in the case study is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. In the initial phase of the treatment, she was suggested to undergo neuroleptic pharmacotherapy especially antipsychotic drugs. The medication has been found to be effectual in treating the 'positive symptoms' of the disease, the treatment of 'negative symptoms' has not very yet found to be very successful. Later on she was suggested to undergo psychotherapeutic interventions like reality-oriented individual therapy so that she could be able to cope up with stressful thoughts and events encountered which eventually reduce the risk for relapse, cognitive-behavioural approach helps in monitoring and changing the negative patterns of thoughts and behaviours in ways to make her able to regulate irrational thoughts

Rim Managing Explosive Growth Essay Example for Free

Rim Managing Explosive Growth Essay In RIM’s earlier days they also were leaders in the development of wireless point of sale (POS) systems, wireless modems, software, and firmware for radios and computers. RIM was a steadily growing company until 2005, when the company took amazing strides in launching carriers around the globe and creating strategic partnerships with several major companies (BlackBerry, 2006, p. 10). From 2005 to 2008, RIM grew from 1. 3 billion in revenues to over 6 billion, and grew from 3 billion to 6 billion in 2007 alone. RIM’s explosive growth was a result of their famous product line BlackBerry. BlackBerry was one of the first corporate phones that integrated a secure process for checking and sending emails. â€Å"Document Push is said to be a unique feature not found in any other document management solution on the market† (Document, 2005, p. 11). BlackBerry dominated in business and military sales of phones, and then became competitive in 2007 with consumers as well. Summary of Culture The most essential characteristic of RIM’s culture is their ability to innovate and work in an environment that allows for creativity to cultivate. The location of headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada has been a major focal point of RIM culture since the start of the company. RIM is comprised of a wide arrange of employees by age which allows them to remain cutting edge and knowledgeable of the wireless industry. RIM’s culture can be seen as a direct link to their low employee turnover rates and high employee satisfaction. SWOT Analysis of RIM Strengths RIM has numerous strengths that have helped them to create a competitive advantage. RIM’s main strength is their ability to innovate. RIM has been a leading innovator in wireless products since the late 80’s, and continues to grow Ramp;D alongside sales. RIM has the advantage of being located in Waterloo, Canada where the local talent pool for engineers and computer science graduates is abundant because of the University of Waterloo. Due to innovation, most of their strengths have been derived from a combination of patents, copyrights, and contractual agreements that all surround their cryptographic and software source code. The cryptographic and software source code allowed RIM to obtain a first mover advantage in B2B sales of mobile devices to businesses and military by integrating email into their mobile phones. This also allowed them to obtain significant brand recognition for creating a secure voice and data transmission solution. Once RIM was established in the business and military segments, it began to make head way in consumer markets with their new products, BlackBerry Pearl and BlackBerry Curve. RIM’s copyrights also gave them an advantage of creating strategic alliances and partnerships with major companies such as Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Yahoo, and HTC (BlackBerry, 2006, p. 11). Weaknesses Some of the very strengths of RIM can also be seen as some of their greatest weaknesses. RIM holds an internal pride for locating the heart of its Ramp;D in Waterloo. While this has been a great source of talent and company culture, it has also put a clamp on their opportunity for growth geographically and for expansion into other market segments. RIM’s employees are only so focused on maintaining control of Ramp;D in Waterloo they reject any change in location; therefore stunting their growth overall. RIM’s primary reason behind keeping Ramp;D centered in Waterloo is for the sake of their patents, copyrights, and contractual agreements, and so they are held captive by the very thing that makes them strong. Also, due to the notion of keeping Ramp;D located at Waterloo, RIM is having difficulty finding new talent in the already bogged down area of Waterloo. RIM did try to implement an online application process, but is unable to utilize it properly. Applicants are only able to apply to one job; creating a loss in potential employees. RIM engineers and computer scientists are becoming overworked due to the lack of employees. Not only is the stress running high from pressures to maintain innovations level of innovation held by their competitor, but space has also become an issue. RIM’s offices have become overcrowded and unmanageable, and are quickly losing efficiency. Opportunities Most of RIM’s opportunities lie where their weaknesses are great. RIM has been neglecting their opportunity to expand their core Ramp;D outside of Waterloo. By expanding outside of Waterloo, RIM will be able to expand Ramp;D without overcrowding their current facilities. They will also be able to compete more effectively worldwide. While RIM shipped 42% of mobile devices in North America in 2007, they only shipped 12% of the market worldwide. Opportunities for expansion in subscribers is limited in North America seeing as the market has a penetration rate of 87%. However, outside of North America are much larger opportunities, such as China, India, and other developing countries. In 2007, China’s market was growing at 18. 3% per year with only a penetration of 39%, and India’s market was growing 60% per year and only 21% penetration (White, amp; Beamish, 2008, p. 75). By expanding Ramp;D globally they will not only open doors to new markets, but also new talent. Threats RIM’s major threat is competition such as Apple, Microsoft, and Google in the North American market. These competitors are starting to increase their mobile phones capabilities so that they can compete more effectively in the B2B segments that RIM once dominated. Apple recently announced that they would be incorporating the ActiveSync direct Push, into their iPhones in order to capture the business professionals. Competitors are not only are making their phones better for the business professional, but also integrating more products into the mobile device for consumers. For instance, Apple introduced the iPhone which has greater breadth in technology, and has set a new standard for usability. Zeichick reports â€Å"since the release of the iPhone 3G on July 11, Apple holds the market for high-speed consumer-friendly smartphones entirely to itself† (2008, p. 6). Another threat competition possess is their ability to attract, hire and develop their Ramp;D facilities more resourcefully than RIM. Competitors have implemented hiring strategies that are far more efficient than RIM’s â€Å"ear to the ground† policy (White, amp; Beamish, 2008, p. 80). All of RIM’s major global competitors such as Microsoft, Motorola, and Apple all are spending far greater amounts on Ramp;D, and have an advantage over them in innovation. Competitors are expanding globally at a much higher rate than RIM, and are in better positioning for market share outside of North America; where RIM is still greatly lacking. Prevalent Issues and Solutions Provided by the Case RIM prides themselves on their ability to compete by means of innovation, and thus they have always tried to maintain a high level of Ramp;D within the firm. RIM bases their Ramp;D levels as a percent of sales, targeting around 10-12% of revenue to be spent on Ramp;D. They have managed to keep these levels by growing organically until 2005 when sales began to increase by over a billion dollars a year. According to their annual report from December 31, 2007, RIM’s Ramp;D was projected to increase by $100 million from the previous year; however as a percentage of sales they projected to drop to 5. 99% down from 7. 77% the previous year (White, amp; Beamish, 2008, p. 77). RIM, who was once a leader in innovation, was starting to fall behind in the competitive field of mobile phones. RIM needs to take measures immediately to ensure proper Ramp;D levels. As competition heats up in the smart phone market, the competition in acquiring new talent is as well; only making the task of acquiring new talent extremely difficult. RIM management is considering the following four options for growing Ramp;D: do what we do now at greater levels, expand existing geographies, increase acquisitions, and go global. Do What We Do Now At Greater Levels Currently RIM’s approach to finding new talent for Ramp;D is based on networking through personal and professionals relationships alongside their co-op program they hold with the University of Waterloo. The co-op program currently brings on 300 grad students each semester to work alongside the engineers and computer science professionals as interns, and then RIM extends job offerings to qualified candidates. RIM can improve their co-op program by offering it to multiple universities rather than only to Waterloo. Over the last 7 years RIM has created Ramp;D facilities located in Ottawa, Mississauga, Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Palo Alto, and England. All of these facilities could potentially implement a co-op program with nearby universities, or summer internship programs to increase recruitment of talented young grad students. RIM is also considering adding benefits to these programs like competitor Microsoft offers. Benefits such as housing, transportation, and paid travel could entice individuals to choose RIM as their intern destination over opponents. RIM has also taken recruitment and job advertisements to the internet; however there is great room for improvement. RIM’s online application process only allows an individual to apply for one job at a time, and sufferers a great deal of qualified candidates due to the systematic flaw. Companies, such as Apple, Motorola, and Sony Ericsson, have a more advanced system that allows applicants to create an online profile that can be stored and applied to several jobs. If RIM changes their current model to mimic some of its competitors they are likely to obtain more suitable applicants for each position, and be able to reach a more global talent pool. Another option for hiring new grad students is to implement a semi-yearly or yearly hiring wave rather than posting individual jobs. Several other major corporations have these systems in place, including competitor Symbian. Companies that are growing continually implement this strategy so that they can maintain levels of efficiency. Typically, companies will receive online applications year round, and once or twice a year they will sift through the resumes selecting the best applicants. The chosen applicants then will participate in multiple events to see if they will be a good fit with a company. This process normally includes several interviews, testing, group assignments, and case studies. Once passing the recruitment day, candidates will go through an onboarding process to help adapt them to company policy and culture. Then they are assigned as needed to different sections of the company. Grow and Expand Existing Geographies RIM started to expand product development centers outside Waterloo in 2000 opening several locations, as previously mentioned, in the United States, two more locations in Canada, and one in England. RIM could continue to push forth with this initiation of expanding within the North American region, and also expanding the scope of the locations already existing. Before a new location can be chosen it must first pass a set of stringent equirements that RIM has emplaced. The requirements for potential areas are they must already have an abundant amount of software developers with experience, the cost of living and salary for employees is reasonable, and be near universities to promote their co-op program. RIM is unlike their competition in this sense, because most competitors still rely on one major campus for all Ramp;D. Apple, Google, and Microsoft have only expanded with minor locations aboard keeping the core Ramp;D at their home facilities. Increase Acquisitions Increase by means of acquisitions is by no means a new concept to RIM, or any other software firm. In the software and mobile phone industry acquiring smaller companies has become one of the fastest ways to not only gain an experienced set of talent, but also intellectual property and location. RIM acquired high-tech startup out of Israel, for their intellectual capabilities of the display and input of Chinese characters. This acquisition allowed them to become more suitable for the Chinese market, and provided Waterloo with 11 more highly qualified engineers. Another factor for RIM to consider is the economic down turn in the United States, and the abundant amount of small firms struggling to survive the recession. RIM could purchase these firms for reasonable cost; gaining experienced talent and intellectual properties. Increased acquisitions also can allow a company to penetrate certain areas that could otherwise be hard or impossible to gain access to. For instance, Google acquired a small wireless software company in Waterloo simply for the talent, recognizing Waterloo was a place with a great talent pool. RIM could use acquisitions to gain access to several countries, which they do not yet compete effectively in. In some countries consumers prefer to buy and do business with companies from their own countries rather than foreigners. Europe is a prime example, in which RIM could acquire a business and gain access to their market. Go Global Another way for RIM to increase Ramp;D is to go global. While, RIM has expanded into different countries with Ramp;D, the core of their product development still remains at Waterloo. The different areas that RIM has expanded their Ramp;D too, are areas where laws have been put in place and are protected for patent and intellectual rights. RIM has taken measures to expand other functions of the business to globally that do not directly relate to their source code; such as customer service in Singapore, and sales and marketing staff in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, China, Australia, Hong Kong, and Japan. Going global has been attempted by most of the software/mobile phone industry. Some have been able to achieve great things, but the cost of businesses can sometimes be seen as too much. Nokia, for example has expanded Ramp;D to China, and was able to gain significant market share in the region. However, in China â€Å"the rate of infringement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China is among the highest in the world† (Pangattaro, 2007, p. 632). The constant threat of employees walking out the door with strategic information, and taking it to competitors is very high due to insufficient IP protection laws and regulation. Despite Nokia’s effort to develop a relationship with China, through joint research programs with Tsinghua University had to file suit against two Beijing firms for ripping off their mobile phones. However, recent studies show that â€Å" Ramp;D units that have developed adequate measures to manage their Chinese Ramp;D staff have succeeded in making Chinese employees loyal to the Ramp;D unit†(Marcus, amp; Gassmann ,2011, p. 73). Analysis of Options and Recommendation Analysis of Do What We Do Now At Greater Levels RIM is projecting they will need to hire over 1,400 new software developers to reinstate the status quo for Ramp;D. One option RIM is considering is to continue their current hiring strategies, but at a higher level. Currently, they hire by personal and business networking, through co-op programs with the school, and more recently went to the web with job postings. . It will be quite a difficult task to complete with only increasing their current model. RIM’s method of personal and business relationships to find new employees will no longer be able to produce a substantial amount. RIM has saturated the market in Waterloo, and finding new employees has become extremely difficult. Also, competition has moved into the area making it harder and more costly to find to obtain the best talent. It is unlikely they will be able to find a great deal of experienced help within the area. As previously mentioned, RIM would extend their co-op programs to other universities in hope to allocate more talent. Unfortunately, the co-op program will only bring in inexperienced help, and would cost RIM time and money to develop the new employees. Another option regarding new grads is to hire in waves, yearly or biyearly, to help with continuing growth. While this is a great strategy for growing companies to maintain their pipeline, it will not provide RIM with the help it currently needs to dig them out of the hole in terms of Ramp;D. RIM will need most of their new hires to have an experienced skill set so that they can be implemented instantly, and relieve the staff in Waterloo. Analysis of Grow and Expand Existing Geographies RIM has been extremely careful when expanding Ramp;D to new areas, only setting up shop where their source code can be protected. One option for RIM is to continue with the process of selecting new cities and countries where IP laws are in full force, and gain a pool of talent from these areas. RIM can also focus on escalating the Ramp;D centers already implemented to take more of a central role in Ramp;D instead of keeping the core at Waterloo. A factor to consider is the cost of hiring and the standard of living in other areas. RIM follows a set of rules for choosing where to establish an Ramp;D center, which is not uncommon for competition as well. This leads to RIM in competitive locations making it harder to gain a talent pool at a reasonable price. For instance, the employees in Palo Alto require a much higher pay scale than Waterloo because of competition, and turnover rates are high. One adverse effect that can take place when expanding abroad is loss of company culture. RIM has a very strong culture, which they believe to be a product of environment of their Waterloo office. RIM would have to approach each new Ramp;D office with an abundant amount of training to ensure a shared understanding of company values, and culture. Analysis of Increase Acquisitions One route RIM could take to reach Ramp;D levels is to increase acquisitions. RIM has already been successful with this strategy, and it would be a strategy that would allow them to hire multiple engineers and software designers at once. Not only would RIM gain an experienced talent pool, but also intellectual property rights, and new locations. Acquisitions have a few setbacks though that must be considered. By acquiring different firms RIM would be able to obtain an experienced set of talent, which is essential at this point. However, acquisitions must be preceded with caution because employees of the acquired firm can sometimes react unfavorably to such situations. Another concern is whether acquired employees would be able to adapt to company policy, culture, and values of RIM. â€Å"Culture matters it can make or break a merger† (Growth, 1996, p. 29), and so RIM must be particularly careful to only acquire firms that are a perfect fit for the company to avoid major losses. Gantumur and Stephan state â€Å"the post-merger innovation performance, in turn, is driven by both the prior success of in-house Ramp;D commitment and the deterioration of internal technological capabilities at acquiring firms† (2012, p. 77). Acquisitions are also very costly and can waste time and money. In the past when RIM acquired a firm for talent and intellectual property they would send the new employees to Waterloo, striping what was left of the firm. This can be a very costly approach to finding new employees because they take on a great deal of debt to purchase the firm. It can take a profuse amount of time to liquidate a firm to receive funds expe nded back, and sometimes the process of liquating can strip away the value resulting in further losses. Analysis of Go Global RIM was well aware that over half of the new employees they would hire to reach Ramp;D levels would have to come outside of Canada due to lack of potential candidate and space in Canada. The question RIM was pondering is how far away from Canada should they go when considering their source code they must protect. While, RIM has already expanded some product development to the US and England, it had also expanded functions other than Ramp;D to other countries outside of the North American region. RIM fears of Ramp;D in developing countries are justified, but there still remain untapped markets in these regions that could be beneficial for long term growth. RIM must start to consider possibilities outside of their source code if they wish to continue to be competitive and enter into new markets. RIM could use acquisitions as more than just a tool for hiring, but also as a means to enter new markets that are otherwise hard to reach. Europe is a prime example of where acquisition could allow them to gain an excellent talent pool, but also access to the European markets where consumers are highly nationalistic. RIM could also enter China and India by the same channels; which have exceptionally enormous markets that would allow them to grow immensely. China presents â€Å"an impasse with regard to RIMs use of encryption technology and the Chinese authorities desire to monitor e-mail traffic and content† (Ensign, et al. , 2008, p. 129). However, things are starting to shift overseas â€Å"both China and India have been experiencing a historical take-off in the use of intellectual property rights (IPR)† (Godinho, amp; Ferreira, 2012, p. 99). If RIM should find it too risky they could chose not to disclose or use their source code or cryptographic software to Ramp;D facilities in areas of wariness, but use those Ramp;D facilities to explore other technologies that obtain to less confidential information. RIM also could become either a multinational or transnational company by focusing on developing products for the each market; seeing as the needs in those countries are different from the North American region. Recommendations RIM has a daunting task of hiring 1,400 new employees this year, and not one option alone will adequately give them the right mix of new employees. In order for RIM to grow to the size of competitors it must start taking actions from all angles. According to the McNielly, it is important to become an industry leader because a â€Å"powerful position allows them to set the industry’s standards and define the playing field† (2012, p. 13). RIM can employ a few tactics to hit the ground running; however most of their growth will take time to take effect. The first step RIM should take, seeing as they are a software company, is to develop a better website and job application process. This will allow them hire experienced help globally in a rather quick fashion. The second step is to begin executing co-op programs with the technological university surrounding all of their facilities to guarantee there are gaining the best and brightest young talent. By expanding the co-op program to all of the facilities it will help to expand the non-Waterloo facilities as well. Moving forward Waterloo should transfer some of their activities to other development centers and allow them to grow more. This will allow Waterloo to focus more on big picture task, and be less bogged down with minor details. They should also start hiring in waves for grad student positions; which that will allow them to be able to grow continually as a flow rather than constantly trying to play catch up when they are shorthanded. As for long term goals, RIM should transform their company from a global model to a transnational model.

Sports Among Women Spectators In India Media Essay

Sports Among Women Spectators In India Media Essay Watching sport represents a predominant form of leisure behavior in todays society. Large numbers of people attend sporting events and think of themselves as sport fans. Traditionally, participation in sports as a spectator has been a male dominated activity. Women differ from men on various parameters such as physicality, psychographics, behavioral parameters, consumer behavior and consumption experiences. The differences between men and women on these parameters make it difficult for marketers to target them together as a unified segment. But, irrespective of the differences between men and women on various parameters, sports goods manufacturers and sports events marketers have pursued traditional male-oriented marketing policies. But in recent times due to a radical change in social and financial status of women, there has been an increased participation in and consumption of sports by women. This has caused marketers to add a female- oriented focus to their strategies. The recent introduction of female commentators in cricket to strategies to attract women in the latest IPL edition with attractive offers shows a definite change in the marketing strategies of media and marketing professionals. Also more and more women are turning to sports for recreational purpose. With the sports industry turning more to women consumers, it has become necessary for marketers to research womens consumption behavior and consumption experiences to come up with gender specific strategies. Hence, this study would be to understand how the Indian woman consumes sports and the level of involvement or motivation achieved set in the context of the Indian society. Literature Review Sports as a genre is present in everybodys life, be it in terms of participation or watching. Sports has the power to inspire, build communities, to make people cry, laugh. In the hands of an ingenious marketer sports has an almost enigmatic pull towards the target consumer. Traditionally, sports participation and consumption was viewed to be masculine or a part of male dominion. However, with increasing number of women who have found economic and social independence the domain of sports is no longer completely a male bastion. Increasingly women are breaking the stereotypes of passivity and are actively consuming and participating in sports. Major strides have been made over the past few years in providing participation opportunities for girls and women in sports. Media visibility has increased for a number of women players both internationally and nationally like Venus Williams, Anna Kounikova or Sania Mirza. The consumption of sports and leisure by men and women is dependent on a lot of factors such as prevalent societal norms, beliefs and attitudes. In the context of sports and leisure, what is associated with men and masculinity is valued over what is associated with women and femininity. Hence, it is important to explore the underlying societal norms to understand the consumption patterns. A post modernistic approach In a postmodern society, the prevalent ideology is that what is considered masculine or feminine will break down as the boundaries between masculinity and femininity continue to blur and the different forms of gender multiply. Activities that conventionally convey clear meanings, such as combat conveying masculinity and gracefulness conveying femininity, will no longer be obvious. A postmodern vision of these categories blurring into one should be liberating because it lessens the likelihood of gender being used as a way to categorize. In the context of sports and leisure, this suggests that gender is less likely to influence participation or consumption of sports previously marked as masculine or feminine. Analysing literature would help us to understand historical trends of sports and leisure participation by gender in various scenarios. Home Vs Workplace Women have been historically been associated with activities conducted at home such as gardening, sewing and cooking, due to recent advancements in technology the efforts required for the chores have reduced immensely but the modern society still views it as a womans job. Unskilled tasks such as cleaning, eating, cooking, sleeping, leisure and child rearing were performed at home, Men were connected with activities in the workplace and less connected with the ones at home. Home for men essentially was a place to recoup from a hard days work. A similar separation exists in sports and leisure today. ( McGinnis, Chun, and McQuillan, 2003) According to Hendersons review (1990), leisure for women tends to consist of activities which is near or at home because it can be infused with household chores and because few opportunities for leisure exist outside the home. According to another research by Kane, It was argued that women tend to define themselves in terms of human relationships, hence, they consume within the context of home and family. The complexity increases for a career woman as then the leisure is dependent on family environments, especially children. Women use home as a primary place and means for leisure. And in case a leisure opportunity comes along which is out of home, then it is sort of offered in such a way as to not hamper household responsibilities. In this case, leisure itself can be seen as constraining, as it reinforces gender appropriateness (Shaw 1994). While it appears that leisure opportunities certainly exist for women outside the home, the literature suggests that leisure for women is still largely perceived as a secondary concern. Opportunities for leisure exist, but only when other duties and other concerns have been addressed first. Expectations of a women and her role in society appear to transcend the opportunities outside the home. Men face the same constraint, but can define what is expected of them more so than women. Spectatorship and Leisure time It is a common point of contention that men and women both enjoy watching sports on television, but their preferences differ, as men tend to prefer more competitive and aggressive sports as compared to women. We find evidences of media reinforcement of the gendered consumption patterns, for example NBC positioned the Olympics with storylines resembling soap operas. Men have generally dominated the consumption of organised sports. But the Spectator Gender Gap is reducing with more women watching conventionally male sports such as Golf, football. However, research suggests that attempts by women to increase their sports consumption in a way threatens the male dominion as sports is viewed as a masculine domain where men are allowed to bond with one another. Women entering this domain are seen as upsetting this setting (McGinnis, Chun, and McQuillan, 2003). Leisure is another area where the gender gap exists, women in general experience a lesser amount of free time as compared to men as their part of their free time is generally spent doing housework or taking care of children. Men can experience larger blocks of free time without worrying about other commitments. Role of the Indian Media Women are traditionally not encouraged to indulge in sports. Sports are men oriented, where men play and women watch. It is clearly visible in the Indian media too, be it films or advertisements. For instance, in an advertisement of Clinic Plus shampoo, a coach of a boys cricket team in school discourages a girl to play with the team by fearing, when he says, Baal kharab ho jayege (your hair will get damaged if you will play cricket in sun). Another advertisement of Tata sky featuring Gul Panag and Aamir Khan, she has been portrayed as a woman for whom sports is a nuisance. During the cricket matches and sports world cups, time and again, many news channels have shown how women have to sacrifice watching their saas-bahu dramas and newspapers also write about falling TRPs of TV serial and how these matches are a jeremiad for women. Because in the family, their husbands, brothers and father are glued tothe sports channel and the power of attorney for the remote control is transferred t o men for those few days when the matches are held. In addition, Some of the commonly held beliefs associated with female fans and women sports are explored below- Women are not interested in sports fact or fiction In terms of viewership, over 2.2 crore women watched the 2003 World Cup in India alone. Female viewership comprised an astounding 46% of the total World Cup viewing population and TRPS for female viewership for India matches climbed to a phenomenal 9.8, significantly higher than the 3.9 registered during the Nat West Trophy final played at Lords in June 2002(ESPNSTAR, Interesting history of womens cricket in India).The Twenty20 World Cup had a strong, growing female audience for the sport and its not restricted to cricket alone. There is an overall 54 per cent increase in ratings for the three tennis grand slams-especially with regard to womens viewership where the growth has been significant. To reach out to this diverse market, most channels are developing a strong programming line-up that is a healthy mix of acquired and original content. (The financial express, Cashing in on sports). For the first time, a non-cricketing glamorous female host Mandira Bedi was brought in as a studio anchor. The experience was something which shocked cricket purists. But with a mix of elements for the purist as well as the novice and the fence sitters, Extraaa Innings combined academic cricket with mainstream entertainment like never before. This resulted in a whopping 50% increase in average rating of Indian matches and 37% increase in the rating of non-India matches, reached out to a record 78% of the Indian audiences in CS homes. More interestingly the female gross reach grew by an unprecedented 261%. Mandira Bedi became a celebrity and was soon a part of life even for women in conservative Indian households. Purists like Wisden, which condemned the experiment with women anchors during the ICC Champions Trophy in Colombo in September 2002, were forced to retreat. Women joined betting circles and housewives in Delhi and Ahmedabad formed clubs to enjoy the sport (ESPNSTAR, Interesting history of womens cricket in India). In terms of playing the sport, there has been significant increase in the number of professional sportswomen in variety of sports including Badminton, tennis, hockey, golf and athletics. The increase in the number of tournaments is a testament to that fact, recently an international basketball tournament the FIBA Asia Womens Championship was hosted by Chennai, Featuring the best players and top teams from across the continent, the tournament was a success. (Deccan Chronicle, India Wakes up to alternative sports) Female sports fans are different from male sports fans -fact or fiction? According to a research by Sargent, Zillmann, and Weaver, men and women enjoy distinctly different types of sports. Their findings revealed that males preferred watching combative sports on television whereas females were partial to stylistic sports. Sport socialization research examines the impact that environmental forces have on children and individuals from two different perspectives: socialization into sport and socialization through sport. This line of inquiry indicates that people are attracted to sport due to formal channels (i.e., parents, peers, coaches, mass media, teachers) and informal channels (i.e., school, church, and community-based programs), as researched by Kenyon McPherson . Media plays a primary role for introducing new teams and sport leagues to adults. According to a study by Bruce, Institutional, social, and familial contexts also shape viewers interpretations of sports broadcasts. He also found that women did not display strong loyalties to specific womens sports teams that are common with men and their favorite mens teams. This was attributed to the extensive sports information and media attention given to mens sports. In a study on cognitive development and socialization by James, in the initial development of team loyalty, it was found that children form preferences for sports teams early in life. Results of this study revealed and that the gender stereotype associating sports with males was prevalent among children and that fathers were the most influential socializing agent in introducing children to sports teams. In a study on experiences and effects of viewing televised sports, Gantz and Wenner found differences based on gender for 9 of the 15 motivation items examined; however, these differences were not dramatic. Most notable among their findings, women were more likely to watch televised sports for companionship and sharing the experience with family and friends whereas men watched to unwind and become wrapped up in the excitement and drama of the game. Men invested more time in reading, listening, watching, and talking about sports and they were more likely to experience emotional fluctuations from watching sports. Men also tend to display a fan behavior and identify more strongly as a fan according to Dietz-Uhler. However, an equal number of male and female college students considered themselves to be sport fans. Females reported being fans because they attended and watched sporting events with family and friends while males were more likely to consider themselves fans because they played sports and wanted to acquire sports information. Measuring Spectator Motives Various methods to research on sport spectators have been developed which utilizes a number of scales to assess the psychological motives related to attendance, media usage and interest at live sporting events. 1) One of the first methods was developed by Wann. He designed a comprehensive scale to measure eight factors observed to influence behavior; eustress, self-esteem, escape, entertainment, economic (gambling), aesthetic, group affiliation, and family. 2) Second method developed by Trail and James was the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC) to examine ten aspects of spectator behavior: achievement, acquisition of knowledge, aesthetics, drama, escape, family, physical attraction, physical skills of players, and social interaction. 3) Thirdly, McDonald, Milne and Hong (2002) utilized a scale to measure spectator and sport participant motives related to: risk-taking, stress reduction, aggression, affiliation, social facilitation, self-esteem, competition, achievement, skill mastery, aesthetics, value development, and self-actualization. Research Methodology Conceptual Framework or Problem Definition Till now through an extensive analysis of literature we have seen that men and women both consume sports in their own way and one cannot generalize the consumption pattern of women. The motivations and the level of involvement for women depend on a lot of factors. Research Gap : There is no study done in the Indian context to understand the women sports consumers, their stages of involvement and motivations to participate. Hence, this study is a step towards achieving an understanding of the same. Research Objective: The objective of the research is to understand the Woman sports consumer in terms of her involvement level and motivation to consume a particular sport. The study of motivation for predicting consumer behavior is very difficult as to understand the interrelation between motives and specific behavior. Also, to develop a list of consumer motives comprehensive enough to capture the wide variety of motivating forces that stimulate and shape behavior is challenging. To do the above, a framework could be constructed in the form of a social continuum which broadens the sport consumer motivation notion by using involvement as a motivational construct to distinguish between various levels. Factors like womans role in the society would also be a part of this construct. Hence, a study of the immediate environment becomes imperative for studying the consumption pattern. The level of involvement of women consumer of sports should form the basis of the framework of social continuum where the stages vary from viewership to acceptance to fan base to taking part or actively playing to encouraging others to play or advocacy. As shown below, Identification of critical factors which defines each of the stages could be looked at and the motives of each stage should also be looked at. According to each stage a corresponding set of behavior would be associated. Understanding different spectator motivations and involvement levels can be of significant benefit to the sport marketer looking to boost team revenues and gate receipts. Of particular interest are both the marketing manager understanding the specific motivations that drive a spectator or fan to consume a sport and the subsequent development of marketing communications based on these motivations. These effective marketing communication plans can often help build groups of diehard fans, thus expanding the customer base for a team. Spectator and fan motivation can also be used as an effective psychographic segmentation method that can result in more effective marketing campaigns. Sub Research Objective: Involvement Involvement could be defined as a state of interest, stimulation or motivation towards an object, a product or even an activity. As put by a study done by Mitchell, Involvement represents an internal state variable that reflects the amount of arousal, interest, or drive evoked by a particular stimuli or situation that mediates consumer behavior. Application of the involvement construct to examine sport spectators and sport fans would provide a fuller understanding of motives and what stimuli and situations direct behavior (e.g., attendance, purchase of team merchandise, media consumption) and attitudinal formation (e.g., preferences, commitment, loyalty). Some parameters of study for involvement would be Importance of product as perceived by the consumer Pleasure or enjoyment provided by the product Risk of making the wrong purchase or participating in the non enjoyable activity Self expression it represents the identification of the person with the purchase or participation Centrality to lifestyle, encompasses socializing and interactions Motivation Theories and studies have been done by researchers on how to assess the motives for consuming sports. These motives can be generally classified into the broad categories of study as Entertainment Stress and stimulation seeking Social Interaction Achievement seeking Approach to Analysis According to the sample defined above, the research would be conducted two phases: Phase 1: This would be in the form of exploratory research which would be used to develop a conceptual model for examining involvement stages and their corresponding motives. The purpose of this is to identify any potential parameters related to spectator motives or involvement framework which were missed. In-depth interview of 5 respondents approximately would be taken in each market segment. Phase 2: This is the validation phase where the qualitative study would be validated by quantitative so that the result of the first phase could be extrapolated to a larger population if required. Sampling Universe: The sampling universe could be defined as young women who are primarily college goers or into the first 2-3 years of job, who follow at least one sport, belonging to SEC A or SEC B. Details of Phase I Sample Size: 15-20 (Qualitative study) The sample size setting is done with a non-statistical approach where the selection is done anticipating subgroup analysis. The anticipation is that 4 meaningful clusters (market segments) would emerge and each cluster will contain approximately 5 respondents in average. SEC A SEC B College Goers Urban Semi Urban Working Women Semi Urban Urban This is for the qualitative part of the research. Sampling Procedure: Convenience Sampling (Non- probability sampling) Care would be taken to ensure that heterogeneity of the entire population can be effectively covered in the sample. Details of Phase II The phase II methodology would depend on the data collected in the first phase. Scope The study would help marketers understand the woman spectator motivations and stages of involvement in consuming sports in India, in turn, help in predicting behavior This would help marketers tap into the growing woman spectator base. Expected Contribution There has been no study on understanding women spectators in the Indian context done till date. This research would help both the academia and industry to understand an upcoming segment. Understanding different spectator motivations and involvement levels is important for a sport marketer to tap the women consumer segment which is increasingly becoming independent economically and socially. Understanding the involvement and motivations that drive a woman spectator to consume a sport in India would help marketers target this segment with crisp and relevant marketing communications. The involvement stages and motivations can also be used as an effective psychographic segmentation method for forming effective campaigns.