Thursday, October 31, 2019

Issues involving the implementation of mobile learning technologies Essay

Issues involving the implementation of mobile learning technologies - Essay Example Considering the wide span and quick progress of technology over the last decade, it goes without saying that there are multiple forms where technology can be used to foster student learning, be it distant or in-campus education. This far-reaching potential of technology constitutes synchronous and asynchronous learning (Piskurich, 2003). The first term is similar to what’s conventionally the class-room learning, where the students or participants are present and real-time lecture delivery takes place. The use of technology here is in various forms, such as e-meeting, e-conference (video/tele-conference), virtual classrooms, radio technology and live streaming etc. Asynchronous is a kind of passive form of distant learning, which allows the student or participant to access lecture notes and study material at their own convenience. The schedule here is more flexible for the student, who may take notes whenever possible for them. The means used here are email, audio or video reco rdings, print materials, message board forums etc. (Belanger & Jordan, 2000). Challenges and Obstacles The basic challenge in the use of technology to foster student learning is the adaptability factor. It is a major responsibility on the part of the organization or institution to extend access as well update and enrich the resources available to a medium online or at the form of technology being used. Although the phenomenon of distant learning might be a very attractive one for institutions, and may come with positive factors like an increased enrollment, greater creativity for the faculty in their teaching techniques, supporting â€Å"education for all† slogans, cost and time saving etc., yet it possesses a plethora of challenges and obstacles which have to be covered before the long-term benefits are realized. Before a thing such as distant learning is popularized, it has to be advertised enough to the people to understand the need of it. Lack of such an understanding mig ht give a severe blow to the initiative taken and the institution could incur high losses. This involves a collective change in the perception of learning and teaching, as opposed to the traditional classroom practice. It calls for almost a revolution in this field and a major change in the administrative planning, organization and day-to-day management. More important is technology adaption, which not only involves agreeing to adapt the said phenomenon, but also calls for a huge investment and development of related infrastructure in the form of state-of-the-art technologies with consistent technological updates. Unless it is very worthwhile and/or its long term benefits are kept in view with knowledge of short term loss period, most institutions or organizations would not prefer to revert to distance learning phenomenon. This investment is not only on the part of the institution, but also the people to whom the services are intended to be delivered to. Not the same, but a fair amo unt of technological availability will be mandatory for the receptors of distant learning, which would come from their willingness to invest in it. Hence this way, it is not just an institutional

Tuesday, October 29, 2019

The Continuing Evolution of Reconstruction History by Eric Foner Essay Example for Free

The Continuing Evolution of Reconstruction History by Eric Foner Essay In this article, Foner states in his thesis that â€Å"since the early 1960s, a profound alteration of the place of blacks within American society, newly uncovered evidence, and changing definitions of history itself, have combined to transform our understanding of race relations, politics, and economic change during Reconstruction.† The article essentially encompasses the meaning of three different views of reconstruction: traditional, revisionist, and post-revisionist. After Foner defines these and explains his thesis, the article becomes somewhat of an advertisement for his own articles on the topic. Foner defines the traditionalist view as the interpretation that when then civil had finally come to an end, the white population of the south more or less accepted their military defeat and wanted to preserve their supremacy while simultaneously reuniting with the North. The first problem with this view is if the south were to continue on the path of white supremacy and never really grant African Americans any civil rights to enjoy the same freedoms as white people, then reuniting with the north would be pointless. The entire idea of the civil war and reconstruction was to abolish slavery and to also grant the freedmen some, if not most or all, of their civil rights. While discussing the traditional view, Foner also identifies two separate eras of reconstruction. The first of the two eras was Presidential Reconstruction, in which Johnson attempted to continue Lincoln’s policies. The second would be Congressional or Radical Reconstruction. In this era, the southern white community joined together in the fight against the efforts to overthrow the new governments that promoted reconstruction ideals and also to carry out Home Rule. This would essentially become the enforcement of the Black Codes, which restored the plantation lifestyle that had existed before the civil war and in turn kept the freedmen in the position of slavery. The description of the traditionalist viewpoint almost seems to be valiant in nature, almost holding the southerners to a sort of esteemed position in keeping with their traditional way of white supremacy. This raises the question, were the traditionalists either mainly southerners or racists who wanted to preserve the idea that the south was betrayed by the north and had the right to enforce the black codes? This question will go unanswered, for the article does not investigate each viewpoint to this  degree. The second viewpoint described by Foner is revisionism. Revisionists consisted of mainly African American and supporters of the freedmen who wanted to refute the ideas of the traditionalist group. This group also applies the idea of some sort of valiant effort being made, but this time by the African Americans of the era. This group defines reconstruction as â€Å"an idealistic effort to construct a democratic, interracial political order from the ashes of slavery, as well as a phase in prolonged struggle between capital and labor for control of the South’s economic resources.† In fact the entire explanation of the motives for the revisionist group makes them seem terribly offended. Revisionists believe that most traditionalists cannot view a black man as a man. Simply put, the freedman is still considered a slave. A statement like this leads to questioning of the relevance of the traditionalist viewpoint. If the south never stopped seeing the freedmen as slaves, and went out of their way to try and preserve the aspects of slavery, then how can traditionalists even support that they have a view on Reconstruction? What exactly was reconstructed? As time had progressed, the revisionist view eventually stamped out traditionalists, it was all inevitable once everyone caught on that African Americans were equal and started to look into the history of slavery and Reconstruction. The revisionists also portrayed Johnson as the racist that he really was and praised the Radicals for being so committed to the rights of the freedmen. In the most recent view of reconstruction known as post-revision, Reconstruction is seen as a time of radical change. They argued that â€Å"persistent racism had negated efforts to extend justice to blacks, and the failure to distribute land prevented the freedmen from achieving true autonomy and made their civil and political rights all but meaningless.† This raises the question of who can there be any radical change during reconstruction if the freedmen were prevented in achieving true autonomy? And if this wasn’t achieved, then what was achieved as a result of reconstruction? to answer this question, Foner explains that the post-revisionists see reconstruction as not merely a specific time period, but an extended historical process. America was readjusting after the war  and it was not a â€Å"tragic era†. Schools were established and there was social and political process for freedmen. Overall, this is by far the most optimistic viewpoint. Foner ends his explanation of post-revision rather abruptly in order to what comes off as marketing his books. He even appears to be a tad arrogant when he more or less describes his collection as the most definitive grouping of historical information and personal opinion of the entire topic. He never actually states which viewpoint he associates himself with, but it can be inferred that he is a combination of revisionist and post-revisionist. The reason for this is that holds that blacks were active agents in the making of reconstruction and reconstruction produced a variety of economic, political, and social change for the freedmen. Foner does an impeccable job at explaining each view of reconstruction as well as providing the evidence to support his reasoning. He ends on a collective note, pressing to the reader that when viewing Reconstruction, one should keep in mind different points of view and it is best to take and comparative approach to emancipation to broaden one’s perspective and to bring about questions and new conceptual ideas.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Management theories applied to a UK Restaurant

Management theories applied to a UK Restaurant There are a lot of foreign restaurants have opened in UK in this years and these restaurants are growing popular both with UK nationals and foreign visitors to the UK. I am working as an assistant manager restaurant called Smith. This business is the family business and they are thinking about extending and developing a chain of restaurants across the UK like other foreign companies. The owner and manager, Mr Smith is himself a foreigner who has lived in the UK for many years. His family in Africa operates a chain of restaurants business across the African countries and therefore he is very familiar with this kind of business. Introduction Smiths restaurant is located in central London and close to many attractions and easily accessible by public transport. The restaurant has seen a big increase in sale due to the popularity of European and International cuisines. According to these factors Mr Smith want to open the similar restaurants across the UK. Gather Information The restaurant is currently using the typical hierarchical structure. Mr Smith is the owner and also the managing director. He had two assistants and three supervisors but he direct control over management and operational issues such as the hiring of staff, marketing and sales promotion. . Mr Smith Managing Director Staff Staff Staff Assistant Manager Assistant Manager Staff Supervisor Supervisor There are small accounting and finance department headed by Mr Smiths son Peter. He is currently studying for a degree in accounting and only works part time. Mr Smith himself takes some of the duties in this department too. Centralization and Decentralization Mr Smith restaurant is now in centralization structure an it have several layers of management that control the company by maintaining a high level of authority, which is the power to make decisions concerning business activities. With a centralized structure, line-and-staff employees have limited authority to carry something out without prior approval. The top management telling middle management and then tells supervisors. Then the supervisors tell the staffs what to do and how to do it. In this case Mr Smith has to think about the decentralization policy to change in business extension plan. Decentralization seeks to eliminate the unnecessary levels of management and to place authority in the hands of assistant managers and supervisor. Although that policy helps Mr Smith some part of the duties, its increasing the span of control, with more employees reporting to one manager. Because more employees are reporting to a single manager than before, the managers are forced to delegate more work and to hold the employees more accountable. Tall and Flat structure There is other structure to look at for the Mr Smith business plan. A tall structure is the structure which Mr Smith using it now. A tall structure is one with many levels from the top management level to the operating level. A tall structure usually implies a narrow span of control for supervisors and managers and a greater degree of devolved decision-making, but requires many more supervisory and managerial staff. It also leads to the long vertical communication, and possibly to weaker communication between top management and staffs. In a tall structure the hierarchy is generally problems of coordination are always present. Nowadays many large corporations have set about reducing their hierarchy in order to introduce a flatter structure. The flat structure contains fewer levels between the top and bottom of the organisation. The result for the using this structure is a few supervisor and management staff, and wider spans of control for those who remain. This structure leads to more centralised decision-making. However, to avoid this increasing centralization by encourage all the levels of staff carry greater personal responsibility for their role and duty. Organisational Culture Organisational culture affects behaviour through a deep-rooted system of values, attitudes and beliefs. Culture is specific to the organisation and is learned behaviour. Different organisations have a different feel or climate that reflects their culture. This may be reflected in the degree of formality and task or people orientation; the dress code; accepted behaviours and expected performance levels. Charles Handy (1985) looking at culture which used to link to organizational structure to organizational culture. He describes four types of culture; A Power Culture which concentrates power among a few. Control radiates from the center like a web. Power Cultures have few rules and little bureaucracy; swift decisions can ensue. In a Role Culture, people have clearly delegated authorities within a highly defined structure. Typically, these organizations form hierarchical bureaucracies. Power derives from a persons position and little scope exists for expert power. By contrast, in a Task Culture, teams are formed to solve particular problems. Power derives from expertise as long as a team requires expertise. These cultures often feature the multiple reporting lines of a matrix structure. A Person Culture exists where all individuals believe themselves superior to the organization. Survival can become difficult for such organizations, since the concept of an organization suggests that a group of like-minded individuals pursue the organizational goals. Some professional partnerships can operate as person cultures, because each partner brings a particular expertise and clientele to the firm. (P1, P2) Organisational behaviour and management theories Organisational behaviour is a term applied to the systematic study of the behaviour of individual within work groups, including an analysis of the nature of groups, the development of structure between and within group, and the process of implementing change. The rationale of organisational behaviour is to predict or control individual and group behaviour in the pursuit of management goals, which may or may not be shared throughout the organisation. Organisational behaviour also includes in many areas what might be called management theory. Management theory is especially concerned with issues of goal-setting, resource-deployment, employee motivation, team-work, leadership, control, coordination, and performance measurement. Management theory has been approached form a number of different perspective, each identifying problematic issues and usually, proposing a range of possible solutions. These are some of the management groupings as follows; Human Relations Theorists Perspective Typical Issues Exponents Dates social, ie attention to peoples social needs at work Group identity Workers as members of a group Importance of informal groups Elton Mayo Roethlisbeger Dickson 1927-36 Social Psychological School Perspective Typical issues Exponents Dates Individual needs and motivation Acknowledgement of individual contribution Individual needs Personal motivators Self-actualisation Achievement Individual independence Supportive relationships Abraham Maslow Douglas McGregor F.Herzberg R.Likert C.Argyris D.McClelland 1950s 1960s Leadership theorists Perspective Typical issues Exponents Dates Leadership qualities and style Nature of the qualities Leadership styles Situational/ functional aspects of leadership Contingency approach D. McGregor Tannenbaum/Schmidt C.Argyris Blake/Mouton F.E Fiedler Victor Vroom John Adair W.Reddin 1950s 1960s 1960s 1970s Improvements in work performance and effectiveness are depending how excellence in management processes. It is important for managers to understand behaviour in a number of areas. Attitudes: dynamic change in the environment demands rapidly change form organisations and this means their behaviour must change. Employee attitudes to change are often resistant since people feel more secure with the familiar and habitual. They are naturally apprehensive and fear they may be disadvantaged by change and worry they may not be able to learn new skills. For this problem manager must understand the attitudes and perceptions of their employees and respond proactively to reduce resistance for change. This might involve open communication action, participation in the change process and attention to a new wage work bargain. Motivation: is the most importance in the organisation achieving the goals. Managers must not only understand the needs that drive employee behaviour, they must appreciate the processes involved in making motivation effective in improving performance. Needs may vary with the individuals level in the organisational hierarchy and what might be effective with one individual might not be with another. Having the right equipment, people skills and organisational framework is not a guarantee of excellent performance. Employees and managers must be motivated to achieve organisational goals. Communication: organisations depend on receiving and transmitting information to achieve the co-ordination necessary to achieve their goals. Managers must understand this behaviour if they are to ensure a communication process that allows a clear, understandable and fast transmission of information to support decision making without unnecessary distortion or noise. Human nature also leads to extensive informal communications that do not follow the chain of command. Conflict: when negative, this can inhibit the achievement of organisational goals and adversely affect morale and performance. Managers have to understanding of organisational behaviour will appreciate that conflict can be positively correlated with goal achievement where it releases tensions, stimulates ideas or challenges the status quo. Manager also needs to recognise the behaviour signs of negative conflict and understand the mean by which this type of conflict may be resolved. (P4) Motivational theories There are a lot of motivation theories for Mr Smith business plan. These are some theories which are suitable for Mr Smith business plan. A motive is a need or a driving force within a person. The process of motivation involves choosing between alternative forms of action in order to achieve some desired end or goal. Mr Smith is now using the Theory X and Y style (stick and carrot) form Mc Gregor scientific management. Theory X makes the assumption that the average human being has an: Inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if possible, Is lazy Wishes to avoid responsibility, Has relatively little ambition Wants security above all This is the person should use the stick. They have to controlled, directed and threatened with punishment to get them to put forth adequate effort towards the achievement of organisational goals. Theory Y makes the following general assumptions: Work can be as natural as play and rest. People will be self-directed to meet their work objectives if they are committed to them. People will be committed to their objectives if rewards are in place that address higher needs such as self-fulfilment Under these conditions, people will seek responsibility. Most people can handle responsibility because creativity and ingenuity are common in the population. This is the person should use the carrot. They have their personal goals and the motivator has to fulfill their quest with organisational goals together. Victor Vroom Expectancy theory The best known contribution to the process theory of motivation is the work on expectancy models of motivation developed by Victor Vroom. Vroom believes that people will be motivated to do things to reach a goal if they believe in the worth of that goal and if they can see that what they do will help them in achieving it. Peoples motivation toward doing anything is the product of the anticipated worth that an individual places on a goal and the chances of achieving that goal. It may be stated as: From the Vroom theory, Mr Smith has to motivate the employees by the individual goal and chances of achieve the goal. Mr Smith has to show the employees the goal is clear and it is worth to reach that goal. He is trying to increased activity from reduce the staff lunch breaks from one hour to thirty minutes. He argues that he pays his employees very well and they will have to be happy with whatever decisions he made. Mr Smith is using the one of the motivation theory called Herzberg motivation Theory. Herzberg that monetary methods of motivation have little value; firms still use money as a major incentive. There are a variety of payment systems that a business could use to motivate the employees. Advantage Simple and easy to use for businesses Disadvantage Workers may resent being paid the same as a colleague who they feel is not so productive These are the some of the motivation theories for Mr Smith business extension plan to cover. Mr Smith has to look at the monetary methods is not the only solution in organisation, there are so many theories to motivate the employees and always aware of the individual goals of the staffs, then to get the organisational goals with fulfil their wish. (P7) Empowerment Empowerment is like delegation. It is when power or authority is given to employees so they can make their own decisions regarding their working life. Mr Smith should think about the empowerment in future business plan that will also improve in motivation of employees and help in chain organisation. Thats why Mr Smith must use the right management style and structure in his future business extension plan. Blake and Moultons managerial grid There are a lot of management theories using in business organisation these days. This is the one of the management theory which can help Mr Smith business plan. 1.1 Impoverished management- shows a minimum of concern for either people or production. This type of manager exerts just the minimum effort to get the work done and has little interest in his or her subordinates. 9.1 Task Oriented management- is concerned only with the work and has little interest in people. Efficiency in operations results from arranging conditions of work in such a way that human elements interfere to a minimum degree. 5.5 middle of the road- management- balances the necessity to produce with maintaining morale at a satisfactory level in order to achieve adequate organisational performance. 1.9 The country club style- management is all about the people and shows little concern for getting the work done. Thoughtful attention is paid to the needs of the staff for satisfying relationships, leading to a comfortable, friendly atmosphere and work tempo. This is sometimes called country club management. 9.9 Team management- is seen as the ideal. The manager gets the work accomplished by committed people. He or she tries to provide a situation where workers and the organisations goals are the same and this interdependence through a common stake in the organisation leads to relationships based on trust and respect. Blake and Moulton considered that all managers should strive to attain 9.9 on the grid, with training being directed to this end. (P8) Effective Teamwork in Organisation -Teams have been described as collections of people who must rely on group collaboration if each member is to experience the optimum of success. -A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Team success due to: Synergy: 2+2=5 Co-operation increases efficiency, quality, and commitment Atmosphere created by cohesive groups encourages participation Communication and good leadership help to maintain rapport Mr Smith has to look at in the area of teamwork in his future business plan. Teamwork is one of the most important facts in organisation. Without teamwork any organisation couldnt cope in critical situation. These are some effective team development process; Wilemon and Thamhain have developed a model, which they refer to as a multidimensional framework, to guide the project team-development process. This team-development model indicates that the team-development process is composed of the following tasks and goals: Recruiting of team members Climate setting for team development Goal setting Role clarification Procedure development Decision-making Control Using the effective team development in organisation Mr Smith can easily manage from head office to overseas of the chain of restaurants. (P10) Finding and Analysis Management Management is a structured process involving planning, organising, directing, co-ordinating and controlling a range of resources, to achieve pre-determined objectives. THE CLASSICAL SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT The classical school was effectively the first coherent set of theoretical perspectives about organisation and management. It arose at the end of the last century as the early writers sought to make sense of the newly emerging large-scale business organisations. They focused on: Purpose and Structure: The approach centres on understanding the purpose of an organisation and then examining its structure. Operations: The next level of focus is on the operations which have to be undertaken within an organisation to meet the objectives. Groupings of functions: This is followed by the logical groupings of functions to form individual jobs, sections, departments and so on. Span of control: Special care is taken over the span of control within management. Co-ordination is affected by clear hierarchies which identify authority, responsibility and accountability, and by duties being clearly specified for each post. Efficiency: A key emphasis in all of this is a belief in the efficiency of specialisation of labour individuals being responsible for one particular task to the exclusion of others, and thus being able to build up expertise in that task and contribute to the greater efficiency of the whole. F .W Taylor and the Scientific School In 1911, Frederick W Taylors book the Principles of Scientific Management was published and, with it, management as a separate field of study started. The main elements of this view of management are: The detailed and careful analysis of all processes and tasks within the organisation to identify each component part; The review of all routines and working methods, using (principally) time and motion studies now called work study to find the best way to do the job; The standardisation of all working methods, equipment and procedures, so that the precise way in which each task should be done can be laid down and monitored; The scientific selection and training of workers who would then become first-class at their particular jobs; The introduction of payment on a piecework basis, which would both be an incentive to maximise productivity and produce high wages for the workers, although there would be penalties for falling below the prescribed standard a fair days pay for a fair days work in Taylors words. HUMAN RELATIONS SCHOOL This began through the work of G Elton Mayo (1880-1949) who, with others, conducted a series of experiments at the Hawthorne plant of the General Electric Company in Chicago during the years 1927-32. Mayo sought to evaluate the effects of the changes in physical working conditions, which, according to scientific management, should cause significant variations in productivity. Thus lighting, noise levels, etc. were adjusted and resulting output changes noted. The researchers concluded that group relationships and management worker communication were far more important in determining employee behaviour than were physical conditions and the working practices imposed by management. Also, wage levels were not the dominant motivating factor for most workers. Further research established the following propositions of the human relations school. Employee behaviour depends primarily on the social and organisational circumstances of work. Leadership style, group cohesion and job satisfaction are major determinants of the outputs of the working group. Employees work better if they are given a wide range of tasks to complete. Standards set internally by a working group influence employee attitudes and perspectives more than standards set by management. Starbucks coffee company: believes that their employees are one of their important assets in that their only sustainable advantage is the quality of their workforce. They have accomplished building a national retail company by creating pride in the labour produced through an empowering corporate culture, exceptional employee benefits, and employee stock ownership programs. The culture towards employees is laid back and supportive. Employees are empowered by management to make decisions without management referral and are encouraged to think of themselves as a part of the business. Management stands behind these decisions. Starbucks has avoided a hierarchical organizational structure and has no formal organizational chart. Starbucks Company basically use the Human Relationship management by Elton Mayo to become success retail company in the world wide. KFCs Fried Chicken Restaurant: strategy of KFC is currently working with is to improve operating efficiencies. This in turn can directly impact the operating profit of the firm. In 1989, KFC centered on elimination of overhead costs and increased efficiency. This reorganization was in the U.S. operations and included a revision of KFCs crew training programs and operating standards. They emphasized customer service, cleaner restaurants, faster and friendlier service, and continued high-quality products. In 1992, KFC continued with reorganization in its middle management ranks. KFCs is using the middle management style form Blake and Moultons managerial grid. It is also help the KFCs company to one of the famous restaurant around the world. Mr Smith himself has to choose the right management style and practice in his future business to become a successful organisation around the world. Above information will give Mr Smith to right decision to choose management style for his future business plan. (P5) An individual at work is seemed by other in three principal ways: As a physical person having gender, age, race and size characteristics; As a person with a range of abilities (intellectual, physical and social); As a personality (ie; someone is having a particular kind of temperament). In these three of factors personality of individual must have to look at in every organisation. Personality types are great effective in organisation when we look at in leadership, group and teamwork etc; in such areas. Personality those relatively stable and enduring aspects of an individual that distinguish him/her from other people and at the same time form the basis for our predictions concerning his/her behaviour (Wright et al., 1970) These are the factors impact on the Personality of individuals; Genetic factors there is significant evidence to suggest that our genetic inheritance plays a role in developing our personality. Children, especially twins, are observed to inherit common family traits. Also our physical attributes, which are all genetically determined, may influence how others treat us and may in turn affect how we view ourselves. Social factors these are the factors that could influence personality as a result of interacting with other people. Socialisation is the process of being taught how to behave and how to feel by family, friends and other significant people within a social setting. Humans are social animals and so it is to be expected that social interaction will affect our personality and behaviour.. Cultural factors these are wider social beliefs and values that are absorbed by an individual, and guide behaviour towards that which is acceptable within a social context. This varies across cultures with Americans exhibiting a strong need to achieve whereas in Japan there is an equally strong need to support the team. Situational factors these reflect the effects of specific experiences or situations on a persons feelings and behaviour. There will have been certain events in your life that have had a significant effect on you. Bereavement may literally change the whole personality of an affected person. A persons personality might also change if his or her role changes, e.g. being sent to prison. Because people have different personalities, managers must consider the following work behaviour in organisation: The compatibility of an individuals personality with his task different personality types fit different types of work and this most be taken into consideration when allocating work The compatibility of an individuals personality with the systems and management culture of the organisation some people hate to be controlled whiles others seek active supervision and control. Managers must be aware of these when adopting a particular style of management. The compatibility of an individuals personality with that of others in the team personality clashes are often the major cause of conflict at work and this must be considered when forming teams. (P3) Leadership in Organisation Leadership is a process by which individuals are influenced so that they will be prepared to participate in the achievement of organisational or group goals. It is the role of the leader to obtain the commitment of individuals to achieving these goals. Formal leaders are those appointed to positions within a hierarchy in the organisational structure. The informal leader may exercise appreciable influence within a workgroup. Although not necessarily in a post with any formal authority, and thus unable to issue formal instructions and directives, such a person may initiate action through friends or colleagues, or block action, in conflict with the formal leaders wishes. There are number of different approaches to leadership. Mullins provides a framework within which to analyse and understand the complexities of the subject. It embraces the following approaches: Traits- views leaders as born and not made due to inherited characteristics personality focus. Functions- focus on what leaders do (roles and responsibilities) assumes they can be learnt. Behaviour- concentrates on how leaders behave and influence subordinates and is linked to style. Style- combines functions and behaviour to produce alternative effects on subordinates; Contingency- Situational theories propose that leaders choose the best course of action based upon situational variable. Different styles of leadership may be more appropriate for certain types of decision-making. Situational- based on the recognition that different styles are required in different situations. All these leadership approaches are using in the today business organisation. Mr Smith has to look at the most effective and suitable for his future business plan. For leaders to be effective, they must be able to perform the following functions or roles: An executive co-ordinating group activities and developing norms and policies; A planner deciding the means by which goals will be achieved; An expert source of key information and specialised skills; A figurehead representative of the group, and communications link; An exemplar setting standards and expectations and providing a unified front; An arbitrator resolving conflicts; A father figure a focus for group feelings; An ideologist setting standards of behaviour. According to Mr Smith business plan, he must look at the Professor Adairs action-centred leadership. The model is where task, group and individual needs are interconnected in the context of total leadership. According to him an effective leader is a leader who is able to: Satisfy task needs the leader ensures that the purpose, i.e. completion of the task, is fulfilled. The leadership function includes setting objectives, planning and allocation of resources, setting standards and control to ensure achievement. Satisfy group needs until the task is completed the group has to be held together; the leader must maintain team spirit and build morale, be a spokesperson, motivation communicate and maintain discipline Satisfy individual needs each member of a group or team has individual needs and the leader should try to ascertain these needs and work towards satisfying them as far as is possible within the groups needs. If Mr Smith can use this leadership style in organisation, it will be beneficial to all level in his future business organisation. (P6) The nature of groups and group behaviour within organisation A group comprises two or more individuals who interact in the collective pursuit of a common goal. They share values and goals, are involved in regular activities together, and identify themselves as members of the group and are identified as such by others. In the view of group development process the most accepted is that advanced by Tuckman (1965), which comprises four main stages: Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjoining/Mourning Forming: The group comes together and gets to initially know one other and form as a group. Storming:Â  A chaotic vying for leadership and trialling of group processes Norming: Eventually agreement is reached on how the group operates (norming) Performing: The group practices its craft and becomes effective in meeting its objectives. Tuckman added a 5th stage 10 years later: 5. Adjourning: The process of unforming the group, that is, letting go of the group structure and moving on. In 1996 Cole identified the factors that influence group behaviour in organisation. These are the following factors; Size Leadership and management style Cohesiveness Motivation of group members Norms of groups Group/team roles The environment The group task Learning the nature group and behaviour in organisation, we should also

Friday, October 25, 2019

Themes Discussed in Joyce Oates Where Are You Going , Where Have You B

Where Are You Going , Where Have You Been by Joyce Oates It is well known that the most awkward and difficult time in one’s life is adolescence. One is faced with the challenges of discovering who one is and what one wants out of life. One finds themselves frustrated and confused in this particular stage. They are mid way between a bridge. They have left childhood but have not yet reached adulthood. They struggle to find some sense of being and individuality in the world. They are on a quest to find themselves, and in search of a path that will lead them to future happiness. â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,† is a short story written by Joyce Oates .In her short story Oates shows how easily susceptible one is in this stage of life. Oates shows in her story how the quest of finding one’s self, gives one a false sense of knowledge. It is this false sense of knowledge and the search for self and identity that produces the tragic outcome of the character within Oates’ story. The setting of â€Å"Where Are You Going, Where have You Been,† takes place in the late 60’s early 70’s. This is evident by the reference to Bobby King and the XYZ Sunday programming station which was mentioned within the story (p.122). The 1960s and early 1970s marked the era of the women's movement. Economic shifts meant that more women worked outside the home, and Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment, resulting in many political battles during the long ratification process. In 1973 the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade that a woman's right to privacy allowed for legal abortion. Woman know began to have voices. The world was drastically changing and it is within this drastically changing world that Oates introduces four main characters... ...ave You Been,† As nothing more then a dream. However others view it as, â€Å"feminist allegory which suggests that young women of today, like the generations that have come before them, are headed into sexual bondage†. (Korb). There is no evidence to suggest that Connie is experiencing a dream. However there is evidence that suggest that Connie had an untimely death. â€Å"watching this body and this head of long hair moving out into the sunlight where Arnold Friend waited.†(p.135) Oates depicts in her story the important of self identity. Arnold Friend is not a symbolic representation of the â€Å"devil† as some critics believe him to be. Arnold Friend character is an representation of the challenges and test one faces in ones every day life. It is conquering these challenges and test , that instills in us knowledge, knowledge which brings us one step closer to finding ourselves.

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Hero’s Journey Essay Essay

The hero’s journey is an aspect that’s found in many books and even movies. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is a very famous book read by many English classes based on a hero’s journey. The characters in this book struggle to find out what their journey is, especially the main character Amir. Refusal of the call means the hero attempts to refuse the adventure because he is afraid. Amir holds back from doing a lot in the book because he is afraid of the outcome that comes along with it. Even though Amir refuses the call he later accepts and winds up doing good deeds; however, I still don’t believe he’s the hero because he doesn’t protect Hassan; he frames Hassan because he feels guilty about not protecting him when he should have, and he lets class and race get in the way of their friendship. Refusal of the call plays a big role in The Kite Runner because most of the characters refuse to do something. Baba refuses to get treatment for his c ancer; Amir at first refuses to go back to Kabul; and Hassan refuses to stay in Kabul. In hero’s journey tales, the hero feels unsure and afraid of the adventure ahead of them, which is why they refuse the call. Rahim Kahn is the one who tries to get Amir to accept the biggest call of his life by telling him â€Å"there’s a way to be good again†(192) if he goe back to Kabul. After awhile, Amir finally put his fear aside and heads back to Kabul. Even though Amir eventually accepts the call and has done some good deeds throughout the book, he is not a full on hero. The good deed that Amir has done was go back to Kabul to adopt Hassan’s son Sohrab because Hassan and his wife have been murdered. Amir goes to the Taliban who has Sohrab and tries to get them to give him Sohrab. The Taliban in the room was giving Amir a really hard time about getting to Sohrab and kept asking Amir questions. Amir finally figured out who the Taliban really was. Assef wouldn’t let Amir take Sohrab due to do â€Å"unfinished business†. Assef then turns the music up really loud and starts beating up Amir while Sohrab just stood and watched. Sohrab told Assef to stop hurting Amir but he didn’t. Sohrab then shot Assef in the eye with his slingshot and when Assef fell to the floor, Amir and Sohrab escaped to freedom (286-292). This is an example of a good deed because at first, Amir refused to go back to Kabul to save Sohrab but then finally realizes that Hassan would of done it for him, so he ended up leaving his family in America to save Sohrab for Hassan. The first  time Amir refuses the call is when Amir wins The Kite Runner tournament for the first time with Hassan’s help. After Amir cuts the other persons kite, Hassan goes to chase the blue kite down for Amir. Amir exclaims that Hassan doesn’t need to do that for him and as Hassan is running for the kite, he shouts â€Å"for you a thousand times over† and proceeds to get the kite (67). Amir goes to look for Hassan and finds Hassan talking to the bully Assef and his friends but what Amir didn’t know was the worst was about to happen. Since Hassan refused to give Assef the blue kite because it was Amir’s, Assef said, â€Å"I’ve changed my mind, I’m letting you keep the kite, Hazara. I’ll let you keep it so it will always remind you of what I’m about to do†(73). Assef and his friends quickly raped Hassan and then run off. Amir had to watch the whole thing. This is an example of refusing the call because Amir refused to stand up for Hassan and say something because he was scared they’d do the same thing to him and that doesn’t make Amir a hero. The second time Amir refuses the call is when Amir did nothing to protect Hassan as he watched Assef and his friend’s rape him. Amir’s cowardliness also gets in the way, so he ends up framing Hassan. Amir feels so guilty and can’t take the guilt anymore to where he waits for Hassan and his dad Ali to leave the house and he frames Hassan by putting the watch that Baba gave him and the money he got for his birthday under Hassan mattress that way Baba would ask them to leave so Amir didn’t have to deal with the guilt anymore. What Amir was least expecting happened; Baba confronted Hassan and Ali about stealing the watch and money. Baba came right out and said, â€Å"Did you steal that money? Did you steal Amir’s watch, Hassan?†(105). Hassan replies saying, â€Å"yes†(105). Amir was not expecting Hassan to actually say yes so he was very shocked when Hassan said yes. Since Baba said the only sin was theft, Amir thought that Baba would surely dismiss them. Baba’s response shocks everyone. Baba says, â€Å"I forgive you†(105). Amir was so shocked because Baba said the worst sin to do was theft. Ali then said that him and Hassan are leaving and couldn’t stay here any longer because of what happened. Baba was crying hysterically begging them not to go. Amir refused the call of not stepping up and protecting Hassan and felt so guilty he framed him to get them to leave. In the end everything worked out in Amir’s favor and they left Kabul, which doesn’t make Amir a hero, it makes him a coward. Amir is not a full on hero because he refuses to call Hassan his  friend due to race, class issues and because Hassan was Amir’s servant. Amir at first didn’t even consider him and Hassan as â€Å"friends†. â€Å"I never thought of Hassan and me as friends either†(25). Later throughout the book Amir starts to realize that Hassan is more than just his servant. Hassan has always called Amir his friend and brother but Amir could never come out and say it back. Once Amir finally realized that Hassan was actually his best friend and even brother, Amir regrets everything once Hassan died because he couldn’t go back and change it. Amir was considered high class and Hassan was a Hazara, which was name for a lower class afghan, so their class differences made it hard for Amir to call Hassan his friend because he was scared of what others would think of him. Because others new Hassan as Amir’s servant, it also made it hard for Amir to tell people that Hassan and him were actually friends. This is an example of refusing the call because Amir had always wanted to call Hassan his friend, but was always scared of what others would think because Hassan was a Hazara and Amir’s servant. Because Amir was so scared of what others thought, that doesn’t make him a hero. In conclusion, I would like to say that through the hero’s journey aspect of refusal of the call, even though Amir has done some good deeds, like go back to Kabul to save and adopt Sohrab, he still wasn’t a true hero because he doesn’t protect Hassan from getting raped and after watching it happen, he frames Hassan because he feels so guilty about not doing anything to protect him when he should have, and he lets class and race issues get in the way of their friendship. Hosseini portrays Amir in The Kite Runner by making him go through a lot of tough obstacles throughout the book especially when he was younger and having to make life-changing decisions. Amir refused to face most of the obstacles he was given in the book, but as he grew up, he accepted the fact that he needed to overcome his fear and complete those obstacles. When we’re younger we get scared to do certain things, but as we get older we realize that we need to do the things that scare us in order to become the hero. Though one might refuse the call because of fear, as you grow older you end up accepting the fact that you need to face the call and go through with whatever obstacle is put in your pathway just like Amir did when he had to face going to save Sohrab. Whether you face your obstacles or not, that is what makes you a true hero. Citations Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead, 2003. Print.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

New Media Convergence and Audience Fragmentation and Programme Content in International Broadcasting

New Media Convergence and Audience Fragmentation and Programme Content in International Broadcasting The new media technologies have been referred to as the communication revolution due to the immense changes they have brought to mass communication and social lifestyles in past decade or so. The expression ‘new media’ has been in use since the 1960s and has had to encompass an expanding and diversifying set of applied communication technologies such the it is somehow impracticable to tell just what the ‘new media’ comprise. As far as the essential features of new media are concerned, however, the main ones seem to be: their interconnectedness; their accessibility to individual users as senders or receivers; their interactivity; their multiplicity of use and open-ended character; and their ubiquity and almost limitless extended located-ness. The new media could be said to have brought a communications revolution because it seems to have brought a revolt against mass communication and all that it used to stand for. The two main driving force of this communications revolution are satellite communication and computer technologies. The key to the immense power of the computer as a communication device lies in the process of digitalization that allows information of all kinds in all formats to be carried with the same efficiency and also in a multiplex. New means of transmission by cable, satellite and radio have immensely increased the capacity to transmit. New means of storage and retrieval including the personal video recorder, the mobile phone, CD-ROM, compact disc, DVD, etc, have also expanded the range of possibilities, and even the remote control device has played a part. The many possibilities of ‘media-making’ (camcorders, PCs, printers, cameras, etc, especially in digital form) have changed immensely the practice of journalism whether print or broadcast, such that the amateur or the professional are being bridged. There are also new kinds of ‘quasi-media’ such as computer games and virtual reality devices which seem to be overlapping with the mass media in their culture and in the satisfaction of use. The communications revolution has being of benefit to traditional media and the audience due mainly to the interactivity that has become possible. What is the nature of convergence? Convergence is the coming together of different technologies, the fusion of two or more technologies to form something new and different, something that has attributes of each but is altogether unique. The new technologies and products that result from convergence are greater than the sum of the original parts, and the two most powerful and pervasive technologies – information and media are converging. The result of convergence has been called ‘techno-fusion’. What are the differences between the old and the new? Today the differences between the old and new are difficult to distinguish partly because some media forms are now distributed across different types of transmission channels, reducing the original uniqueness of form and experience in use. Also, the increasing convergence of technology, based on digitalization, can only reinforce this tendency. Thirdly, globalization has reduced the distinctiveness of domestic content and institutions and as such content and practices are becoming global or universal though some are domesticated variants of the global. Nevertheless, there are some clear differences in terms of physical and psychosocial characteristics, in terms of perceived trust and credibility for example. Differences are obvious concerning freedom and control where the new seems to be freer and less controlled especially by government. Secondly, differences are clear concerning what each is good for and the perceived uses by individual audience members. What is New Media? New media rely on digital technologies, allowing for previously separate media to converge. Media convergence is defined as a phenomenon of new media and this can be explained as digital media. The idea of new media captures both the development of unique forms of digital media, and the remaking of more traditional media forms to adopt and adapt to the new media technologies. Convergence captures the development futures of old media and merges it with new media. Blogs, and Podcasts are all part of new media. MySpace and Facebook are part of social media (also known as viral marketing), which is a branch of new media. What is new about the new media? It is pertinent at this point to understand that a medium is not just an applied technology for transmission of certain symbolic content or of linkage among people but that it also embodies a set of social relations that interact with features of the new technology. There are some evidences that mass media have changed from the past two or three decades from the days of one-way, one-directional and undifferentiated flow to an undifferentiated mass audience due to certain features of new technology. What is new is basically due to the fact of digitalization and convergence. Digitalization is the process by which texts can be reduced to binary form and used in production, distribution and storage. Convergence is the digital linkage and symbiosis between media forms in terms of organization, distribution, reception and regulation. Mcquail (2006) has defined convergence as the process of coming together or becoming more alike of media technologies due to digitalization. The new media transcends the limit of traditional print and broadcast in the following ways: ? It enables many-to-many conversations ?It enables the simultaneous reception, alteration and redistribution of cultural products ? It dislocates communicative action beyond national boundaries bringing in the ‘death of the distance’ across the world More succinctly, what is new about the new media may be the combination of interactivity with innovative features such as, the unlimited range of content and content format, the scope of audience reach, and the global nature of communication. Other features include, that the new media are as much private and public communication and that their operation is not typically professional or bureaucratically organized to the same degree as the mass media. Another feature of the new media is that the boundaries between publisher, producer, distributor, consumer and reviewer of content are blurring, leading to a general meltdown of roles that may result in the emergence of separate, more specialized institutional complexes of media skills and activities. So, what is new? ?Digitalization ?Convergence Divergence from mass communication ?Adaptation of media roles ?Interactivity and fragmentation of audience ?Fragmentation of media organization and institution ?Reduced control Categories of new media While new media technological forms continue to multiply and diversify, there are as at now four main categories. ?Interpersonal communication media ?Interactive play media ?Information search media ?Collective participatory media Key ch aracteristics of new media The following are the key characteristics unique to the new media across the four categories. Interactivity ?Sociability ?Media richness ?Audience autonomy ?Entertainment ?User privacy ?User personalization Audience Fragmentation and Programme Content in International Broadcasting Countries and cultures have long been in communication across borders; however, in the 20th century, first radio, then television and the internet accelerated that process dramatically. National leaders are often unnerved when broadcasts or other information comes straight across borders without any chance to stop, control, or mediate it. In the 1930s and 1940s, around World War II and the cold war, radio seemed menacingly effective in propaganda across borders. Radio competitions and clashes, even some miniature cold wars of their own, erupted among a number of countries in the Asia, Middle East, Latin America, Eastern Europe and the West and USA. By contrast, broadcast television seemed comfortingly short range as it took preeminence from the late 1940s on. Satellite television was the next big technological development in international broadcasting. As early as the 1960s controversies started concerning the use of this type of transmission for fear of the propaganda and intrusion into national borders. The debate culminated in a schism between the developed and the developing regions of the world concerning cultural imperialism, media imperialism and the imbalance in news flow across the globe. The global spread of satellite and cable TV channels in the 1990s has seemed to increase the outflow of American and European television programming and films to other countries. The internet has become the latest major t technology to deliver radio, television, music downloads, video downloads, films, news stories, newspapers, and new forms of content, like weblogs, across national and cultural borders. The growth of the internet in the late 1990s and 2000s has also threatened the ability of national governments to control cross-border flow of information and entertainment. The internet continues to bring a great deal of content from the USA and the West into other parts of the world. However, it also much cheaper to produce either information or entertainment for the internet, so many governments, cultures, religion, and ideologies now produce for and distribute over the internet. Governments dominated activity in international radio, despite early developments and precedents from commercial international shortwave broadcasting prior to World War II. However, it seems private actors instead of governments now dominate global television news and entertainment. What are the implications for the audience of the shift from government international radio broadcasting to private international satellite television? What of the further shift on the internet to supplement or replace the dominance of major international radio and international commercial TV? What of the implications of the fact that most radio audiences today tend to be quite localized, given a choice, particularly with the spread of higher fidelity stereo FM broadcasts, which deliver the best available radio sound quality but seldom cover more than a limited urban area? What are the motivations for broadcasting internationally? Four major reasons have been adduced for both state-run and private organizations transmitting directly across borders: to enhance national or organizational prestige; to promote national or organizational interests; to attempt religious, ideological or political indoctrination; and to foster cultural ties. When governments are the primary actors as it is here, the goal is often summed up as public diplomacy. That is the deliberate effort by governments to affect foreign public opinion in a manner that is positive to their goals. Public diplomacy may be defined as the influencing in a positive way the perceptions of individuals and organizations across the world. Another perspective on this sees motivations in terms of: being an instrument of foreign policy, as a mirror of society, as symbolic presence, as a converter and sustainer, as a coercer and intimidator, as an educator, as an entertainer, and as a seller of goods and services. Evidence of the importance that governments attach to international broadcasting can be found in their total commitment to funding and support using diverse models as may be found in BBC, VOA, Radio Moscow, RFI, etc. Similarly, as the internet now permits a greater variety of players to broadcasting, many more have entered to pursue all or some of similar goals. Why audiences listen or view across borders? According to the categories of listening motivations listed by Boyd (1996) as cited by Straubhaar and Boyd (2003), audiences tune in to hear news and information, to be entertained, to learn, to hear religious or political broadcast, to enhance their status, to protest, or to pursue a hobby. Concerning the question of media effects on audience in international broadcasting, the available studies show that the effects of international radio broadcasting are relatively limited. Nevertheless, there are at least some historical cases in which international radio as part of public diplomacy had considerable impact. Radio Free Europe clearly had a role in fomenting the Hungarian uprising of 1956. The USA conducted ‘radio wars’ against Cuba and Nicaragua fomenting refugee flight if nothing else. The use of radio in international broadcasting is changing decisively; however, as most of the services are moving away from transmitting on shortwave radio and moving towards re-broadcasting or re-transmitting on leased local FM facilities and also supplementing these efforts by web casting. Today, international radio broadcasters tend to put their signals out as streaming audio feeds on the internet. International radio is also sometimes sought by those who do not trust the local or national media readily available to then. This and other factors may be affecting the international audience in the direction of fragmentation. Few international broadcasters today have anything resembling a mass audience, instead they have fragments of core listeners of viewers who are attracted by tradition or habit or interests in specific programming such as news, music, documentaries, sports and so on. Audience Fragmentation in International Broadcasting The rise of new media has brought the question of audience fragmentation and selective exposure to the front burner of concerns by the broadcast media. This is because audience fragmentation has emerged as the inevitable consequence of audience diversity based on diversity of participation and reception that have been enhanced immensely by the convergence of media technologies. Audience fragmentation may also be due to diversity of media content and the loyalty or otherwise of the audience to these various programmes. In the same way there are many broadcast channels and stations even at the external broadcasting level such that loyalties may have become fragmented over the multitude of international stations available to the audience. The array of broadcast options available to the audience may have thus created a remarkable degree of audience fragmentation. There has been created a new multi-platform world due to the convergence of new media. For example, the number of listeners or viewers who now use their PCs or mobile phones for monitoring the newscast instead of waiting for specific time periods of broadcast from their station of choice usually on traditional media may be increasing as more and more people adopt several new media options available to them. Such fragments of listeners or viewers may actually replace their traditional media channels with the ones they now have in multimedia. Some viewers now choose to watch news highlights on the web at their convenience rather than the scheduled news cast they used to frequent. Traditional broadcasters cannot afford to ignore cable and satellite operators as well as the web, mobile and other alternative distribution channels who may have contributed to the fragmentation of their traditional audience. Today media scholars and practitioners have continued to debate whether the mass audience really exists any more or whether mass audience has not become a myth. This issue or question persists because they challenge them to re-think presumed givens of the past while also providing a framework within which to examine the undeniable evidence of fragmentation of the broadcast audience today. As information and communication technologies increasingly become available and affordable to people and are more widely adopted news and current affairs media may have to strategize on ow to move away from being mass media to media targeting and specific niche programming and distribution. The external channel may have to do some audience research to find out what type of audience are disengaging form their traditional media and for what reasons. So also the world-view of such audience may have to be ascertained and embedded in programme content so as to attract the audience. Other forms of distrib ution that may compliment the traditional may have to be considered and appropriated. How to view and review the audience against the backdrop of fragmentation? Any evaluation of audience should start with a disturbing doubt about the continuing validity of the term. On the threshold of an era in which pressing a button summons any song, stock number or movie episode on display anywhere in the house and ‘grazing’ and ‘on demand’ viewing or listening replace the regular traditional listening or viewing habits. The notion of audience as a community or solidarity group, or as a form of involvement in a text which one has not summoned or invented oneself, a text that can surprise, becomes problematic. The danger to audiences posed by their disembodiment into individual dreams bubbles, or their disappearance into time-shift recorders who never find time to listen or view, is not as close as the technologies that allow it. The conditions underlying identity, sociality and community are slower to change than technologies. We know that the world cup or the English league or the Olympic Games find us attending as faithful audience members, be it within the community, the nation or even the globe. These examples however suggest that the term ‘audiences’ is too general. Fans may be more fitting in the case of football, and ‘public’ in the case of an al-Qaida attack. But, whether listening or viewing as we used to know it is seriously threatened, the acutely destabilizing transformations of communication technologies suggest that the concept of ‘audience’ should be studied in tandem with its counterpart: the dominant media and genre it faces. Those changing technologies also suggest that the way in which audiences are situated – is everyone listening or viewing at the same content, are they listening or viewing alone or together, are they talking or silent, is the transmission live or recorded – is inseparable from characteristics of the media they interact with, marked by their technological and institutional characteristics, and the ways in which they perceive their consumers. The larger picture suggests that the contemporary media environment holds two types of threats to audiences. One is the abundance of what is offered, chasing viewers or listeners to an endless choice of niche channels or stations and time-shift options which may operate as a boomerang pushing us to turn on good old broadcast radio or TV and find out what is on. The second threat is the internet. It has been contended that internet user are not really ‘audiences’ as it can not be seen as an electronic mass medium but rather as an umbrella, multi-purpose technology, loaded with a broad range of disparate communication functions, such as shortcutting mediators in the management of daily life. In reality the internet fosters audiences but goes beyond that to provide a myriad of services that may not be in the mode of mass communication especially as it does not fulfill the need of listening or viewing texts over which audiences have no direct control and /or texts that enable the suspending of unbelief. Assuming that in spite of the dramatic transformation in the media environment, audiences are still alive, so do the technologies that nurture them , what follows is a review of the changes undergone by mass media audiences and the ways in which these changes were defined. A very useful scheme to define audiences categorizes them into three: citizens, consumers and jugglers. The audience is categorized thus based on the historical progression of broadcasting through three eras, moving from ‘scarcity’ to ‘availability’ to ‘plenty’. Each phase carries an image of the audience. Scarce broadcasting addresses audiences as a unified mass of ‘citizens’ while available broadcasting addresses them as individual ‘consumers’. Today’s broadcasting of plenty seems to be addressing lonely ‘jugglers’ somewhat paralyzed by endless choice, offering listeners or viewers to either commute between isolated niches or listen or view broadcast as ‘impotent witnesses’. Ellis (2000) as cited by Straubhaar and Boyd (2003), implied that in the first era of scarcity of broadcast, radio and then TV address ‘citizens’ who in the period of availability turn into ‘consumers’ and in the phase of plenty become ‘jugglers’. The ‘citizen’ is a passive audience’ often comprising a lonely crowd subjected to broadcast directed at the mass audience as such broadcast reaches all groups uniformly, but this is soon changed to the ‘consumer’ who is an active audience who has choices and multiple interpretations and plurality of ways of getting involved and varying tastes that can be addressed. The age of plenty provides endless options for activity for the ‘juggler’ audience, but raises the issue of how such activities should be defined. Here, near endless choices weakens commitment and makes the audience to resort to juggling between competing programmes, stations or channels, or media. The monstrous dimensions of choice in this present phase may be leading in two directions. As indicated by Ellis, jugglers can choose between retreating to any obscure, esoteric, isolating niche of broadcasting or joining the citizens and /or consumers by turning to broadcast of traditional radio or TV. What is the implication of audience fragmentation for programme content? Following the identification of today’s audience as a ‘juggler’ audience due to fragmentation the main programme content strategy should border on how to retain the core listeners and viewers and provide niche programmes at the same time. This requires audience research on a more or less continuous basis. International broadcast channels may have to imitate the local FM channels that have mastered the art of creating programme formats that make them unique even where there is a proliferation. The BBC and VOA do a lot of audience research but hardly make them public but they have started utilizing re-distribution and re-transmission on local FM in some regions of world and also making their presence available on the internet and on satellite and cable. What are the prospects of new media? The new media have been widely hailed as a potential way of escape from the oppressive top-down politics of mass democracies in which tightly organized political parties make policy unilaterally and mobilize support behind them with minimal negotiation and grass-roots input. They provide the means for the provision of information and ideas, almost unlimited access for all voices and much feedback and negotiation between sender and receiver in the mass media. They promise new forums for the development of interest groups and formation of opinion, and allow social dialogue without the inevitable intervention of governmental institutions or state machineries. They promise true forms of freedom of expression that may be difficult to control by government. There is the prospect of a reduced role for professional journalist to mediate between citizen and government and to mediate in the public sphere generally. There is also the promise of absence of boundaries, greater speed of transmission and low cost of operations compared to traditional media. The biggest prospect is the ready access for all who want to speak, unmediated by the powerful interests that control the content of print and broadcast. What are the challenges? The new media are no different from the old in terms of social stratification of ownership and access. It is the better-offs that can access and upgrade the new technologies and they are always ahead of the working class or the poor. They are differentially empowered and if anything move further ahead of majority of the people. The new media require new skills and new attitudes to learning and working. There must be the attitude of life-long learning to catch up with new skills demanded by the pace of technological changes. There is also the issue of multi-tasking and its burden or otherwise on the users of new media technologies. Finally, there is overriding challenge of control and diminishing of the freedom of new media. References Anokwa, K. Lin, A. C. , Salwen, B. M. (2003). International Communication: Concepts and Cases. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/ Thomson. Axford, B. and Huggins, R. (eds). (2001). New Media and Politics. London: Sage. Curran, J. and Gurevitch, M. (2005). Mass Media and Society, 4th ed. London: Hodder Arnold. Jones, S. G. (2003). Encyclopedia of New Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Kamalipour, R. Y. (2007). Global Communication, 2nd ed. Belmont, CA: Thomson. Koelsch, F. (1995). The Infomedia Rev olution: How it is changing our world and your life. Montreal: Mcgraw-Hill Ryerson. Liebes, T. (2005). Viewing and Reviewing the Audience: Fashions in Communication Research, in Curran, J. and Gurevitch, M. (2005). Mass Media and Society, 4th ed. London: Hodder Arnold. Mcquail, D. (2006). Mcquail’s Mass Communication Theory. London: Sage. Slevin, J. (2000). The Internet and Society. Cambridge: Polity. Straubhaar, D. J. and Boyd, D. A. (2003). International Broadcasting, in Anokwa, K. , Lin, A. C. , Salwen, B. M. International Communication: Concepts and Cases. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/ Thomson.