speech disorders Communication Research Paper

There are many times in everyday life that there is miscommunication in delivering a message to others; at one point or another, miscommunication will happen to everyone. Often the miscommunication is out of one’s control there is simply a misunderstanding of the intended message. Speech disorders are a type of communication disorders where 'normal' speech is disrupted. A problem within society is the belief that speech disorders have a simple explanation as to why it exists. While it is difficult to accurately pinpoint the explanation of why speech disorders exists, this paper will shed some light onto what is considered to be a speech disorders, how they are developed, and some of the symptoms associated. Because there is a certain level of complexity in the development, it is impossible to attribute any particular characteristics to speech disorders. However, I will be using two communication theories as possible tools for grasping the social dimensions associated with speech disorders.
What is considered to be a speech disorder is somewhat hard to define. Speech disorder is an umbrella term for any one of the following: articulation disorder, phonological disorder, apraxia of speech, fluency disorder, or voice disorder (Bleile, 2004). Persons who have articulation disorder can be known to do one or more of the following: delete sounds (bu/ instead of /bus/), substitute sounds (sree/ instead of /three/), add sounds (spagbetti/ instead of /spaghetti)

or distort sounds (thpoon/ instead of /spoon). Phonological disorder occurs when a child does not develop the ability to produce some or all sounds necessary for speech that are normally used at his or her age. The difference between the two: Articulation is the correct movement of the speech producers to make intelligible speech. Phonology deals with the rules (patterns) of the sound system of language.
These disorders can be caused/characterized by a multitude of things: an individual using the repetition of sounds, cancer of the throat, making words longer, eye blinking while talking, having tooth problems, shape of the muscles and bones, damage to parts of the brain, and sounds being substituted, left off, added, or changed among a multitude of other things that are used to describe some of the symptoms and causes of speech disorders. Using these examples, it is obvious that this is a very common problem.  
Speech disorders can define almost anyone in current society; it is not exclusive to any group in particular. In fact, it is said that only 5% to 10% of the population has a completely normal manner of speaking (with respect to all parameters) and healthy voice; all others suffer from one disorder or another. Roughly five percent of all youth, aged from birth to twenty-one years old, has speech or language impairments (Turnbull, 2004).  This particular study showed that speech disorders are not exclusive to any one culture or nationality in particular; rather that it is a global problem containing

many catalysts.
Speech disorders in America are more common than we may think. By the time children enter the first grade, five percent are diagnosed with speech disorders. Statistically, between six and eight million Americans have some kind of language impairment (Turnbull, 2004). Communication disorders affect one out of every ten people in the Unites States and more than one million students had a speech or language impairment for the 2000-2001 school years ("Speech Sound Disorders: Causes and Number," 2009). This means that language impairment to Americans is statistically as common as being under the care of a chiropractor. These numbers show there are a high percentage of speech disorders, but how they are caused is still somewhat unknown.
What exactly causes speech disorders has remained somewhat anonymous. Speech and language disorders can be related to other disorders, or can stand-alone.  Hearing, health and medical problems can also cause the disorder to occur. Some of the disorders it is related to are cleft palate or lip, hearing loss, auditory processing disorder, autism, and cerebral palsy. Many authors have shown that an early language delay can be related to later speech difficulties.  (Broomfield & Dodd, 2004).Young adults who experience frequent ear infections when they were young are at risk for speech sound disorders if the ear infections were accompanied by hearing loss. Ear infections may explain in part some of the medical reasons this speech disorder occurs, but there

may be an assortment of causes that leads someone to have a speech disorder.
Many speech sound disorders occur without a known cause. A child may not learn how to produce sounds correctly or may not learn the rules of speech sounds on his or her own. These children may have a problem with speech development, which does not always mean that they will simply outgrow it by themselves. Many children do develop speech sounds over time but those who do not often need help to learn correct speech sounds.("Speech Sound Disorders: Causes and Number," 2009) Both children and adults can have speech disorders. According to Huaqing Qi, this can be due to the fact that children with speech and language disorders may have trouble communicating with their peers while playing or solving problem. Adults can also have speech sound disorders. Some adults continue to have problems from childhood, while others may develop speech problems after a stroke or injury.
Apraxia of speech is a motor speech disorder; it is caused by damage to the parts of the brain related to speaking. People with apraxia of speech have trouble sequencing the sounds in syllables and words. The severity depends on the nature of the brain damage. Damage to the left side of the brain causes aphasia for most right-handers and about half of left-handers. Dysarthria is a motor speech disorder. The muscles of the mouth, face, and respiratory system may become weak, move slowly, or not move at all after a stroke or other brain injury. The type and severity

of dysarthria depend on which area of the nervous system is affected. Some causes of dysarthria include stroke, head injury, cerebral palsy, and muscular dystrophy. Both children and adults can have dysarthria and both are affected by speech disorders, whether they are developed early in life and lasted into adulthood, or they are developed as an adult. A more complex way of understanding what causes a “speech disorder” may be in the way we acquire them.
The theory of Symbolic Interactionism is the individual meaning one puts onto objects, places, or people based on personal experience and understanding. An individual’s social and cultural interactions affect the way they may interpret another with a speech disorder. Cultural interactions refer to the cultural aspects that may influence one’s thinking, views, and understandings. Symbolic interactionism may help explain why people misinterpret one another based on individual differences. The use of symbols in the symbolic interaction perspective help identity cognitive tags that initiate memories and experiences that have happened in the past. So, an individual’s social and cultural interactions affect the way they believe speech disorders have simple explanations, whether they are positive or negative. When a speech disorder has been identified, it may trigger a cognitive tag associated with personal experiences. Because of this, there may be an unwarranted feeling of knowledge as to how the speech disorder developed. For example, if someone has a slow

drawn out use of the letter “r” it might be interpreted as a speech disorder because of past experiences, yet it could simply mean they are employing a geographical accent.
Social penetration theory is the dynamics of relational closeness. Closeness through two people occurs through a gradual process of self-disclosure, and the more you disclose the more you know about that person. Using the theory of social penetration, some people may choose to limit their interactions with individuals that have lisp speech disorders. Kenneth Button and Fabio Rossera in “Barriers to Communication” state that Speech disorders can be a barrier of communication between two parties thus affecting the relationship. When someone with a speech disorder begins to communicate, there may be enough of a miscommunication that there’s no desire to want to know more about the individual. The idea might be that if they cannot deliver a message the same way that mainstream society does, there is a tendency to dismiss them.
Having a speech disorder can often be seen as detrimental to the communication process. Both of the theories listed above agree; there is ultimately a tendency for others in mainstream society to minimize communication with the individual because of the disorder. Speech disorders are not viewed as appropriate by mainstream cultures standards. “Communication studies are built in a world of meanings, not a physical one,” when it cannot be defined in terms of meanings, it is often found frustrating (West & Turner,

2010). When someone cannot properly code their messages of that given society, they will struggle in that society. There is an advantage to understand that communication is in constant flux adapting to any given situation. If society can understand that this is true, there may be fewer frameworks imposed on people that may not follow the same communication rules that the majority of society has. Understanding that there are multilayer’s of society and human behavior will help give us insight as to why there is equally a variety in speech impediments and intelligence. The ways communication problems are addressed are just as complex and evolving as the actual communication problem itself. A blended perspective of the two theories listed above is one that will work best in understanding why speech impediments in communication can create the potential for imposed frameworks in perceived intelligence.
The overview stated the definitions of a speech disorder and also gave insight as to what other disorders are related to it.  The statistics showed that speech disorders are not uncommon and that it affects mostly the male gender. This paper shows that there is without doubt no one specific explanation as to why it exists. Speech disorders are sometimes hard to notice, but are common in almost every day encounters. The miscommunication is almost done by anyone in current society; it is not exclusive to any group in particular. In America, the disorder is so common that it affects one in ten people. Delivering

the message is affected by both physical and sociological aspects, much like the way Speech is initially developed in a multitude of ways.
                                           
                                              References
Bleile, K. M. (2004). Manual of articulation and phonological disorders: infancy through adulthood. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson/Delmar Learning.
Broomfield, J., & Dodd, B. (2004). The nature of referred subtypes of primary speech disability. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 20(2), 135-151. doi: 10.1191/0265659004ct267oa
Button, K., & Rossera, F. (1990). Barriers to communication. The Annals of Regional Science, 24(4), 337-357. doi: 10.1007/BF01580478
Keller, W. D., Tillery, K. L., & McFadden, S. L. (2006). Auditory Processing Disorder in Children Diagnosed With Nonverbal Learning Disability. American Journal of Audiology, 15(2), 108-113. doi: 10.1044/1059-0889(2006/014)
Qi, C. H. (2004). Problem Behaviors of Low-Income Children With Language Delays: An Observation Study. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research, 47(3), 595-609. doi: 10.1044/1092-4388(2004/046)
Speech Sound Disorders: Causes and Number. (2009, September 15). American Speech-Language-Hearing Association | ASHA. Retrieved December 05, 2011, from http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/SSDcauses.htm
Turnbull, H. R. (2004). Exceptional lives: special education in today's schools. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.
West, R., & Turner, L. H. (2010). Introducing communication theory analysis and application. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Public Relations

Public relations is becoming a very popular profession, both nationally and around the world. More organizations are focusing on their reputation and relationships with the public. Although the organization faces cultural and language differences, as well as many others, the basic goal of public relations remains the same. This paper communicates the relationship that public relations has with the organization and other departments such as marketing and advertising. The similarities of proactive and reactive plans are also discussed with examples. This paper also distinguishes between advertising and publicity. Communication with internal and external publics is imperative, both in good times and times of crisis. However, crisis management is an important part of public relations, so discussion on that topic is also included. Finally, the paper concludes with discussion on the impact of technology and globalization on public relations.
Despite the increasing popularity and demand for public relations, the profession is still difficult to define. Many have composed excellent definitions, for example, the authors of Public Relations: The Profession and the Practice (Lattimore, et. al. 2007 p. 4)use this definition
Public Relations is a leadership and management function that helps achieve organizational objective, define philosophy, and facilitate organizational change. Public relations practitioners communicate with all relevant internal and external

publics to develop positive relations hips and to create consistency between organizational goals and societal expectations. Public relations practitioners develop, execute, and evaluate organizational programs that promote the exchange of influence and understanding among the organization’s constituent parts and publics.
The public relations practitioner must research the history of the company, build the reputation of the company with its present consumers, and ensure the safety of the company for the future. When the state of the company is healthy, the public relations practitioner still communicates with the public to gather their needs and wants, and then advises the organizational leaders in their choices. In his book The Practice of Public Relations, Fraser P. Seitel (2007, p. 4) states “Public relations is a planned process to influence public opinion, through sound character and proper performance, based on mutually satisfactory two-way communication”.   This definition touches upon three functions of the public relations practitioner. First, the planning process which defines the managerial portion of the professions. Second, the definition includes the honesty and integrity that must be present in order to be a successful public relations practitioner. Finally, Seitel includes the importance of two-way communication between internal and external publics.
Marketing is measured with the number of sales it produces. Advertisements and promotions are done to increase revenue. The relationship between the marketing

division of the organization and the consumer is strictly a profit oriented relationship. The easiest way to distinguish the two areas of the organization is to look at goal orientation. The goal of the marketing manager is to increase revenue while the goal of the public relations manager is mutual understanding or positioning with the organizations publics.   The line between marketing and public relations is blurred in advertisements. Some commercials are marketing-oriented and sell the consumer an item while others build goodwill for the company. After the oil spill in the Gulf BP started strong public relations efforts using TV commercials and an internet website. Government and the media came down hard on the oil company. Environmentalists used the story to showcase their dislike for using oil at all. Once BP was able to plug the pipe and cleaning efforts started we began to see good-will building commercials. The company also created an informational website highlighting the company’s concern for the environment, steps they are taking to clean up, and videos of key people within the organization.
BP’s reaction to the oil spill in the gulf is an example of reactive public relations. Reactive and proactive public relations hold equal importance but are derived from different circumstances. A crisis such as the oil spill is one case in which the public relations department for BP had to react. To be reactive is to respond to a given situation. Proactive public relations, however, are the plans that public relations practitioners

put in place to position the company favorably and maintain the reputation. Proactive public relations also keep the company forward looking and allow them to minimize or eliminate future problems. For example, if BP was aware of the faulty pipeline a year before the leak they could have made the necessary changes to either replace the item or plan accordingly for the disaster to clean it up more quickly.
The media is integral in both proactive and reactive public relations. An organization must establish a media relations policy and a philosophy for dealing with the media. The most important rule of thumb for dealing with the media is to always be honest. Building a positive, long term relationship in any situation requires honesty. It is important to become a trusted source for the media and treat the journalist professionally. A well-built public relations plan has a policy for communicating with the media. This policy could include guidelines for inquiries from and interviews with the media and a pre-determined spokesperson. Written materials for media communication could be outlined in the policy guide as well (Seitel, 2007. p. 182-183). As seen in the case of BP, media can be your friend or it can be your worst enemy. A positive relationship with the media is imperative for every organization.
Publicity is a benefit of a positive relationship with the media. It can be used to announce a new product or service. This is seen frequently for new versions of the I-Phone; the public is always interested in upgrades

and new additions to the popular phone and the media creates hype months before the new product is on the market. So much hype is created that people are actually put on a waiting list to purchase the new phone. Publicity can also be used to reenergize an old product or explain a product if it is too complicated for advertising alone. While advertising is generally expensive, publicity is usually much cheaper; about ten percent of the cost of advertising (Seitel, 2007. p. 186).   Publicity can also be used to enhance an organizations reputation or respond to a crisis. Many organizations use publicity to enhance their reputation when giving to charities or aiding in a relief fund.
To explain the organizational and societal functions of public relations one can consult Bizcovering; a website that publishes stories about business, including finance, accounting, management, and public relations, to name a few. This is how one author, Easy, explains the functions of public relations:
An organization has a committed image and typically this image is dependent on the degree of the support received by the organizational missions, goals, and strategies. Therefore, the role of the public relations practitioner serves as a communicator between organizations and its internal and external publics. Public relations also provide the message and informs the publics about events which the organization requests to present. The function of public relations can be categorized as organizational and societal in nature. Dealing with the media is

an important function especially concerning the legitimate entities.
While this is a great explanation of organizational and societal functions of the public relations practitioner, the functions may be fewer or greater than what is described. The functions depend upon the culture of the organization and the desire of inclusion by top management. Some public relations practitioners serve strictly technical functions while others serve as consultants to top executives and have a hand in policy making (Wilcox and Cameron, 2009. p. 125).
Internal publics include management, shareholders, employees, and suppliers. The communication that exists within a company is very important to building positive internal public relations. The key to organizational success lies in the ability of the company to communicate effectively with internal publics. Employees, especially, require a considerable amount of communication. These important publics must be dealt with respectfully with honest feedback. Acknowledging and recognizing hard work makes employees feel successful. Communication internally is not just once sided; a good public relations practitioner builds strong communication both ways, giving the employees a voice. This two-sided communication builds encouragement and loyalty among internal publics and the organization. External publics include the public, employers, community organizations, local authorities, job centers, career offices, funding bodies, specialist agencies, and many others. The ability of the public relations practitioner

to communicate effectively defines his or her success.
A proactive plan helps the organization anticipate emerging issues and identify issues selectively. Such a plan allows the organization to see problems that may arise one to three years in the future, therefore making proactive planning a pre-crisis activity and helping to deflate the severity of the crisis (Seitel, 2007. p. 403).   This attention to future activities also allows the company to see future opportunities and vulnerabilities. For example, a security company, in looking toward the future, may have seen the opportunity to build an application for an I-Phone that turns off lights and alerts the homeowner immediately of intrusion, regardless of where they are in the world. Vulnerability could be potential software problems that fail to keep sensitive user information safe. It is also important to plan from the outside in; meaning that external publics drive the important factors in crisis management. The bottom line is to defend the organization and maintain reputation. To do this, the public relations practitioner must create policy and programs and diagram a time table for such a crisis. Top management must be on board with all crisis management plans, because without them, the proactive plan becomes a reactive plan when crisis hits.
The role of the public relations practitioner in a crisis starts with planning. Information must be gathered to understand the risk and steps taken to demonstrate a course of action. The public relations practitioner must

get the media on their side as quickly as possible. This includes setting up media headquarters and establishing rules for engaging the media. Information must be honest and thorough; never speculative. A good public relations practitioner turns a crisis into an opportunity and communicates effectively with both internal and external publics.
Finally, a paper on public relations would not be complete without discussing the impact of technology and globalization. With the growth of international business the public relations profession is seeing both new opportunities and new challenges. Cultural, legal, and language barriers make international business a risky one, but for the well-rounded public relations practitioner international business could be very profitable. Information is sent around the world instantly with the invention of the internet. Publics, both internal and external, gather information instantly with this new tool. The public relations practitioner must be able to monitor all organizational information that is available. Corporations can use blogs and internal sites (intranets) to share information with internal publics. Web sites can be the first stop for any consumer to gather information about an organization, making it the face of the company. Users can research information on the page and ask questions that are immediately answered by one of the staff. The ability to build a relationship, whether nationally or globally, has multiplied substantially with the invention of the internet.
However, it’s not

all fun and games with this new technology. Anyone has the ability to post information or opinions online, which makes it important for a public relations team to control information. Disgruntled employees can create sites such as walmartsucks.com and create bad publicity for a company. While the company can take legal action against this, the damage has been done and the website has been seen by upwards of millions of people. With any organization, round-the-clock monitoring of online information is necessary and a large part of maintaining a good reputation.
The future of the public relations profession is bright; for the skilled ones, that is. Proper management of the organizations reputation and an ability to promote positive two-way communication is the key to being a successful organization. Company’s both big and small can benefit from the knowledge and people skills of the public relations practitioner. A plan that focuses on the goals and strategies of the organization and is open and honest will bring the public relations practitioners of the future much success.

                                                References
http://bizcovering.com/marketing-and-advertising/organizational-and-societal-functions-of-pr/
http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do?categoryId=9034442&contentId=7063846
Lattimore, D., Baskin, O., & Heiman, S. T. (2007). Public relations the profession and practice (2nd ed.). New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Seitel, F. P. (2007). The practice of public relations (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Nutrition and Fitness Paper

    In this I will discuss my current fitness and nutritional habits. In addition I will discuss health risks that are associated with obesity. Furthermore, I will discuss three fitness habits that can be incorporated in my life and how those habits will improve my health. Last, I will discuss how each new habit will promote healthy weight management and how new habit will benefit my health in general.
    When growing up I can remember eating most of my meals at Sonic and other fast food restaurant. I can say 80% of our meals were consumed from different fast foods, because my mom was a working mom, so it was convenient for her. However, after seeing my mom purchase most of our meals from fast foods, I thought it was right. Once I had my children, I started buying85% of their meals from fast food. However, in 2008 I started working for the Health department as a health educator. This job brought much knowledge to me about different foods. I decided to make a drastic change at my house; we did not purchase another food from a fast food. In addition we, started exercise four times a week. I started small cooking vegetable instead of rice and other starchy

foods. Instead of buying candy and cookies, I bought fruits such as apples, oranges, mango, and pears. We all had to be educated about the benefits of eating healthy and exercising, to make these drastic changes.
    However, after years of not eating right and not exercising, I became 30 pounds overweight. The pounds started packing on, because for many years I choose not to eat right. I can remember, my doctor telling me, you need to lose weight, because you are overweight. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2012) being obese is shown to increase diseases and cause other health issues. In researching all the health related issues that obesity can cause, I decided to lose weight. I have made the necessary step in my life to improve my health and fitness. I went out and bought the new Zumba fitness tapes. I try to incorporate the Zumba exercise in my daily plan every day to help me burn calories. The second thing I did was I bought me some five pound weights to help to build the muscles in my arm, so I would not have so much fat hanging from my arms. I try to incorporate lifting weight around three times a week.
    The third thing I did to improve my health, I got up and start moving. I started walking three

miles a day. The days that it rains, I try to walk in the house for thirty minutes so I would not lose track of rebuilding my health. In addition when I go to the shopping center, I park way out from the building to promote walking into my daily routine. However, incorporating these three fitness habits to improve my health was hard; however, it will be well worth the effort in the future.
    In addition, to adding new fitness habits to improve my health, I also added nutritional habits to improve my health. The first nutritional habit I did to improve my health was I decreased my sugar intake. I would eat sweet food every day. I decided to go sugar free and get items that was sugar free, and I would buy splenda, and sugar substitute to put in my foods. I also started eating more foods from the food pyramid.   According to Web MD (2012 p.1) ‘’eating starts with learning new way to eat’ ’the second nutritional habit I did to improve my health was I cut back on junk foods. Instead of eating all the junk foods, I increased my diet with fruits when I wanted a snack. I started eating apples oranges, mangos, bananas and other fruits to improve my health. The last nutritional habits I did to improve my health was I increased my water intake. Instead

of drinking tea, Kool-Aid, lemonade, and soda pop. I drank water; I tried to drink to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water a day. Every time I had a meal I would drink water, instead of sugary drinks.
    However, there are so many benefits I can gain, because I changed my fitness and nutritional habits. The first benefit is using the Zumba fitness workout DVD; I will burn unwanted calories, so I will not gain the extra pounds. In addition as I lose the weight I am lowering my chances of getting diabetes and being obese. The second benefit I gained was lifting weight will help me turn the fat in to muscles, so my body can get back into shape. Lifting weight will keep my arm from hanging and turn into pure muscle. Last I started walking, walking will help the poor muscle in my heart and help me strength my heart. In addition walking will build the muscle in my leg and thighs

                                                            References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). Defining overweight and Obesity. Retrieved
      June13, 2012 from; http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/adult/defining.html
Web MD. (2012). Health Eating Overview. How do you get started on eating healthy? Retrieved
          June 14,2012 from;     http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/tc/healthy-eating-overview

Small Business Examination Paper

TNT Securities is a small company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. TNT Securities sells, installs, and monitors security systems for homes and businesses in Tulsa, and the surrounding areas. The company prides itself on quality products and optimal customer service.
Organizational Structure
    TNT Securities small business organizational structure is a partnership. A partnership is simply a business owned by two or more people (Find Law, para. 7). Two owners operate TNT as a partnership and must report their profit shares on their personal income taxes. Each owner is also personally liable for debts and liabilities of the business.
    Both partners of the organization are accountable for their actions and must provide proper financial accounting (Find Law, para. 12). Financial accountability is important in a partnership and the partners at TNT have certain responsibilities to bear including:
            - Duty of loyalty
            - Equal profit sharing
            - Equal control
    The partnership at TNT is a success because the partners work together in each aspect of the company. One owner operates the office and financials and the other partner manages the sales employees and the installers. Working together to manage, motivate, and

inspire the employees helps the business run smoothly and successfully.
    Management and Leadership
    At TNT management and leadership complement each other because both owners manage and lead the employees. Because the company is a small business the owners are managers and leaders who must motivate, direct, handles conflicts, dependable, knowledgeable of the industry, and create new ideas to increase revenue. The owners of TNT inspire and motivate employees by providing feedback regularly and working one-on-one with each employee. When an employee is hired at TNT, the owners work closely with the employee to offer the best training possible. The partners of the company believe managing and leading employees is not just about completing work but inspiring new ideas to promote growth within the organization. Employees are encouraged to ask any questions and offer ideas on products, services, and improvements to existing products, services, and strategies.
    Organizational Behavior Theories
    TNT Securities has a couple of different organizational behavior theories that are the decision-making approach and the systems approach. The decision-making approach focuses on the importance of decision-making, which is defined as a compromise between goal-oriented behavior and behavior that does not optimize goal achievement (Smith,

para. 4). Decision-making is a crucial part of any organization. At TNT management focuses on analyzing information and asking expert advice in certain areas to make strategic, tactical, and operational decisions. The owners also want employees to make good decisions so the implementation of quality training and enlightened management helps employees make sound decisions.
    The systems approach helps management solve problems by recognizing the problem, developing an alternative solution, selecting the best solution that meets the company requirements, designing the system solution, and implementing the success of the solution system (MBA Knowledge Base, para. 2).   TNT Securities uses the systems approach because this approach is an organized solution to problems. For example, sales are declining because the sales employees are giving products to customers for very low prices. The system approach helps management show the sales employees the situation and why the organization needs to sell products and services for a certain price. The poor sales are the output and the inadequate selling effort in the input. These factors provide feedback to the owners that something is wrong in the sales department that must be fixed. Both the decision-making approach and the systems approach help TNT Securities operate smoothly.
    Conclusion
 

The TNT Securities Company is a small partnership organization with owners that use a combination of management and leadership skills to operate the company. The partners work together in every aspect of the organization to train employees effectively, motivate employees, handle financials, offer quality products, offer quality services, and solve problems efficiently. These factors are implemented through two approaches: the decision-making approach and the systems approach where the company’s management and employees make good decisions and solve problems easily.

                                                          References
Find Law (2011). The Small Business Partnership: General and Limited Partnership. Retrieved August 23, 2011 from http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/business-structures/partnership/partnerships-basics.html
Find Law (2011). Types of Business Structures. Retrieved August 23, 2011 from
      http://smallbusiness.findlaw.com/business-structures/business-structures-overview/business-structures-overview-types.html
Smith, Wayne (2011). Behavioral Organizational Theories. Retrieved August 23, 2011 from
      http://smallbusiness.chron.com/behavioral-organizational-theories-4963.html
MBA Knowledge Base (2011). Systems Approach to Problem Solving. Retreived August 23, 2011 from http://www.mbaknol.com/management-information-systems/systems-approach-to-problem-solving/

Measures of Central Tendency

1. What Do You Mean by Mean?
a) The mean of the salaries is calculated by adding up each individual salary and dividing it by the seven employees. The mean of the seven salaries is $43,814.29.   The mean compares to the individual salaries because it shows the average of all the salaries together.   The employees would use the average to negotiate with Dick for a higher salary, because by looking at the average you can see that Dick’s salary is an outlier compared to the mean.
b) The median of these seven salaries is $23,500. I got the median by first putting the numbers in order. Since it is an odd amount of numbers, I just find the center of the data after they were in order. This value does not really compare to all of the individual salaries; it has no relation other then it is just in the center. Dick’s salary does not compare to the median because it is the outlier, but mostly everyone else’s does because it is around the same amount.
c) The mean gives a fairer sense of the “average” salary because since

Dick’s salary is an outlier so the median is automatically not appropriate to describe all the salaries. The mean sort of equally describes all the salaries because it is in the middle of each. The median describes the majority of the salaries, but not Dick’s because it is an outlier.
2. Better than Average
Each measure of central tendency has strengths and weaknesses. Not every measure of central tendency can equally describe a problem; usually one of the measures gives a better description of the list of data. All in all, it is best to know the three measures strengths and weaknesses so you can properly use each one for a problem given.
The mean equally describes all the numbers.   It is “the most widely used and most generally understood way of describing the central tendency or central location of a set of data” (Hamburg 47).   The mean is used with dealing with a set amount over a period.   In statistics, the population mean is used to describe the average of all the information in a population.   The population mean is typically

not used to calculate the mean of the number because the population of the numbers is too great.   For example if comparing the population of Blackwood, New Jersey to the population of New York City, New York the mean would not properly describe the data because of the big gap between the numbers.
The median is the center of a given list of data. When the list of data is odd, it is just the center number, but when it is even the median is the mean of the two center numbers. The median is best used when dealing with, “the center (or middle) of a distribution” (Wine 37). The median will always be greater than half of the data and less than half of the data. On the other hand, the median does have a down side. When there is an outlier or any extreme values it is not shown in the median’s answer. For example, the median of {1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 235} is 5. When using the median of that list of data, no one will know the outlier of that data because the number given is 5 and that is no one close to 235. So the median is used when you need to

find the center of a distribution, but not used when dealing with extreme values or outliers.
“The mode as a statistical average is the observation that occurs with the greatest frequency and thus is the most “fashionable” value” (Hamburg 55).   “The mode is typically not used to determine ungrouped data” (Hamburg 55).   To determine the mode you look at the numbers that appear the most within the set of data, but when you are looking at ungrouped data, the upper and lower numbers make it hard to represent the data.   A positive of using the mode is when looking at a set of data that deals with the population of the vote.   For example, if a professor wanted to see the average age of the students in his class he could collect the data to determine which age appears the most.
3. Are You Functioning?
                                                  Work Cited
Hamburg, Morris. Basic Statistics: A Modern Approach. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974. Print.
Wine, R. Lowell. "Chapter 3: Statistical Measures." Beginning Statistics. Cambridge, MA: Winthrop, 1976. 37-38. Print.

Human Resource Management Appraisals and Reward Systems

This essay will discuss the structure of organisational appraisals and the reward schemes that companies may adopt to manage the performance of their employees.

Performance appraisals provide a formal, recorded, regular review of an individual's performance, and a plan for future development.
Performance appraisals are essential for the effective management and evaluation of staff. Appraisals help develop individuals, improve organizational performance, and feed into business planning. Formal performance appraisals are generally conducted annually for all staff in the organization.   Each staff members is appraised by their line manager. Directors are appraised by the CEO, who is appraised by the chairman or company owners, depending on the size and structure of the organization. Performance appraisals are important for staff motivation, attitude and behavior, communicating and creating individual and organizational aims, and making positive relationships between management and staff.

Appraisals allow an employee to have a discussion about their individual performance and receive feedback. They provide clarity of what is expected from the organization to help them understand their role and how their work gives a direct impact on the performance of the company. Also it’s a chance for the employee to discuss any wants or anything they are not happy with. The appraisal must be an honest

conversation that is kept confidential.


When it comes to in the final annual discussion nothing should come as a surprise. If a staff member has been receiving weekly or monthly performance reviews then they should already know what would be discussed. An appraisal includes; overall performance, results against objectives, customer feedback, areas of agreement, extra personal development, goals, areas for improvement, training if identified as necessary and provision of specific examples of performance good or bad.

The appraisal provides the means through which the five key elements of performance management can be achieved. These are:

  1. Measurement- assessing results against targets and standards.
  2. Feedback – giving people information on how they are doing.
  3.   Positive reinforcement- emphasizing what has been done well so that it will be done even better in the future; only making constructive criticisms, i.e. those that point the way to improvement.
  4.   Exchange of views- ensuring that the discussion involves a full, free and frank exchange of views about what has been achieved, what needs to be done to achieve more and what individuals think about work, the way they are guided and managed and their aspirations. Performance and development reviews provide those involved with the opportunity to reflect on past.
  5.   A discussion and agreement on the actions to be taken to ensure that the performance and developmental

objectives are achieved, this will include the formulation of a personal development plan.
(A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice 9th edition- Michael Armstrong)

Diagram (Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice By John Bratton, Jeffrey Gold)

The early Human Resource Management model developed by Fombrun et al. (1984) emphasizes the interrelatedness and the coherence of human resource management activities. This consists of 4 key components: selection, appraisal, development and rewards. These human resource activities aim to increase organizational performance. The weakness of this model is the focus on 4 key components, it ignores different stakeholder interest, situational factors and the notion of management’s strategic choice.

Performance appraisal schemes almost always included an overall rating of the individual’s performance. Early performance management systems normally incorporated rating, especially when they were associated with performance-related pay, as was frequently the case. It is interesting, however that the research conducted by Armstrong and Baron (1998) for the IPD found that 43% of all the organizations with performance management did not require an overall rating.

I have worked in retail at Homebase in the same job for 3 years as the role of showroom supervisor, so I have experienced several appraisals.   This involved my line manager giving me a performance form to fill in a few weeks

before the actual discussion. I had to write down how I thought I had been performing and if I thought that my managers would think the same. I also needed to include examples of my work. My line manager then would sit down with me and go through the form.
In my first year of my job the store was still fairly new and the managers were not on top of their performance reviews for staff, so I didn’t have one. In the appraisal we spoke about my performance in the last year and how I have met my targets. We discussed the ways in which I dealt with customers to achieve those goals and how I could improve them to do even better. My line manager asked me if I was happy with my role and if I wanted to aspire further.
For 2 years in this job I was a cashier and had some responsibilities working at the customer service desk but I wanted more experience in showrooms, which was an area that I wasn’t very familiar with. My line manager recognized that I could potentially achieve more so he asked me if I wanted to go on a couple of showroom training courses. Before this discussion the store manager didn’t want to waste training on me because he assumed that I would leave the store once I had started university and moved away. Once they knew that I was loyal and devoted to the company then he was willing to give me the training to succeed.
This created a plan of action and I could see clearly that my new aims were to continue with the level of excellence

I had achieved and continue hitting my weekly and period targets and to use the opportunity of the course to excel myself and pass them in order to work in showroom.

The end of an appraisal can have several different outcomes. Some of these are: Performance related increased salary, performance related bonus pay, maximum cash reward, profit share, share options, recognition for ready for promotion, identification of areas for further training or personal acknowledgement from appraiser.

A leader is someone who is to direct a group towards a group goal. The style of leadership and the reactions of the group will be determined by the situation concerned. For example. Tasks or environment. It’s dependant upon the values and personality of the leader and on the needs of the organization. It is important that the style of leader is appointed appropriately. It will ensure managerial effectiveness in the pursuit of the organization aims and objectives.
The main types of leaders are: charismatic- personal charisma, problem of succession. Traditional- birthrights, available to few. Situational- right place at the right time, temporary. Appointed- relies on positions and legitimate power. Functional- based on what he does, adapts behavior to different situations. The types of leadership will vary from person to person and organization to organization.

Rewards link to performance individually or in a team. Reward schemes are very important to keep

people motivated. Usually in a sales company the employee is rewarded with commission, this gives the employee drive and motivation to try harder. It is key to reward the right things to convey the right message about what is important in terms of expected behaviors and outcomes. Working towards a team goal can be difficult, some members might work really hard and others might not do enough but the team will still achieve their overall aim. This means that team bonuses need strong management to make sure that everyone is working at the same rate. If the team reward is a performance related bonus then management can’t reward someone over achieving more unless someone is underachieving, as the organization usually has a budget to split equally.  

Align reward practices with both business goals and employee values, as Duncan Brown emphasizes, ‘the alignment of your reward practices with employee values and needs is every bit as important as alignment with business goals, and critical to the realization of the latter’.
(Reward Management - A Handbook of Remuneration Strategy and Practice By Michael Armstrong, Helen Murlis, Hay Group)

Membership based rewards include the common benefits that all employees receive when they are employed. People always expect rewards to be fair, so if one member of staff is rewarded more than others then this needs to be justified with performance ect. Performance based rewards are linked to individual, group

or organizational performance. Some performance base rewards like bonus pay are varied which means the level is at risk. Variable rewards are not incorporated into the basic rates of pay. Job design is important in determining the level of intrinsic motivation provided. Intrinsic motivation is inherent in the job itself, this suggests that people will seek work that gives the personal satisfaction.
Extrinsic rewards are artificially applied to the job and pay is the classic example.

Modern company benefits include: pension schemes, share options, insurance schemes (life, medical), company cars, fuel, work related issues, crèches, careers advice and holiday schemes.
Some rewards are not classed as benefits. These include: recognition- employee of the month, trophy, and special parking place. Service awards- small cash or jewelry. Time off- one afternoon, can be based on performance and attendance. Educational- tuition fees, travel expenses for seminars. Discount- discount on offered products or services. Food, meals and clothing- luncheon voucher, meal allowances. Special awards- safety, customer nominations.

“Hard work pays” is the simple philosophy behind wage-incentive programmes. (Human Resource Management By Durai)
Employees usually get wage incentives in addition to their base salary in the organization. Wage incentives enable and organization to present challenges and rewards alike to its workforce in order to make the employees

enjoy their jobs more. The primary purpose of providing wage incentives is to enhance the organizational performance and employee productivity. Understandably, incentives constitute an important Human Resource tool to achieve the desired performance goals within a reasonable cost. Performance-based incentive programmes enable an organization to keep its employees satisfied without producing any permanent rise in pay and/or benefits. Wage incentive schemes help an organization establish a formal relationship between individual performance and remuneration. Wage incentives also motivate the employees to work harder in their jobs in order to get recognition in monetary and non-monetary terms.

An effective incentive scheme includes several aspects to be successful. Measure must play a key role in determining reward. You need to design the plan to avoid judgment and interference from management. Establish clear links between rewards and efficiency. Ensure that the incentives are paid on time and that the scheme has a scheduled date of completion.
An incentive scheme can be broken down into: focus attention upon particular aspects of work, increase productivity, can be made more selective via entry requirements, encourages suggestions for improvements, a way of communicating company objectives and can lead to high- performance expectations.

There are some disadvantages of a performance related pay schemes these include: you could be rewarding

someone for a behavior you expect them to do anyway, individual performance related pay could be harmful for a team as people tend to have individual targets as well as team goals, poor performers punished which leads to reduced levels of motivation, self esteem and commitment to work. Performance related pay can lead to conflict between trade unions and individuals wanting pay negotiations and there for hinder the progress of collecting bargaining.

In conclusion it is vital for an organization to have a working Human Resource Management structure in place in order to analyze the on going performance of employees, which may result in a reward. Reward schemes are important to keep motivation within a company towards the goals they are trying to achieve. Without this the organization may lose its understanding of the roles of the employees and the direction in which they need to take to proceed and improve their development.

Word count: 2,328

References
A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice 9th edition- Michael Armstrong
A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice 11th edition- Armstrong
Diagram - Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice By John Bratton, Jeffrey Gold
Reward Management - A Handbook of Remuneration Strategy and Practice By Michael Armstrong, Helen Murlis, Hay Group
Human Resource Management By Durai
Human Resource Management
Appraisals and Reward schemes
Level 5
Amy Stirzaker

Blood Disorder

          Lily, a 4-year-old Caucasian female, has she been complaining of being tired all the time. She is pale and is a picky eater. Her mother is a single mom with a small budget to feed a large family. Lily eats only pasta, breads, and hot dogs, and she drinks only artificial fruit punch. Lily has iron deficiency anemia.

      Lily is an anemia this is a condition that develop when your blood lacks healthy red blood cells. Theses red blood cells are the main transporters for the organs to have oxygen. The red blood cells are also deficient in hemoglobin this will cause your body not to get enough of oxygen. The symptoms of anemia are fatigue this occurs because your body and organs are not getting enough of oxygen. (Medicine net; 2012)The most common known form of nutritional disorder in the world, iron deficiency results in anemia because iron is necessary to make hemoglobin. Children are the most risk factor Iron Deficiency also the most common form of anemia. Iron deficient is a component of the hemoglobin, the oxygen in your body carries protein in the blood for iron. Iron can be obtained in the diet that you chose the iron is recycle from old red blood cells.

      Every baby that is born has about

500mg of iron in their body, and by the time they reach adult life they should have 5000mg of iron in their body. Every child need to absorb at least 1mg of iron per a day to keep up with the need of their body growth. Some children along take about 10% of the iron that comes from the food that they eat some of the children need to ingest at least 8-10mg of iron per day. The babies that are breast feed need less iron because the iron in the breast milk is 3 times better. When children drink too much cow milk it can cause iron deficiency because cow milk does not contain iron.

      The common age for iron deficiency is 9 and 24 months of age. I think that all babies should have a screen test to see if they have iron deficiency at this age. Babies that are born prematurely should be tested earlier than normal babies. Babies and young children should be treated depend on the severity of the condition. Treatment includes change in their diet and medication and surgery. Children with severe iron deficiency anemia may have to be hospitalized and require a blood transfusion they can also be giving iron injection. The goal that has to be done in treating iron deficiency anemia is to treat the cause of it and restore the normal red blood cells.

        Davon is a 5-year-old African American male who has just moved to Chicago, and he is visiting his new pediatrician for a kindergarten physical. His mother tells the nurse that she carries the sickle cell trait

and wants Davon screened for it. Davon may have the sickle cell trait

      Sickle cell trait is an inherited blood disorder disease that means that there is no cure for it. Children that have sickle cell traits inherit the sickle cell genes, one from each parent. This disease affects about 72000 people most of the people that are affects come from Africa. There are about 2 million American that carry this disease and about 1 in 12 African America has the trait. Screening for the sickle cells trait need to be done at birth most states has the screening done on newborns this screen will show if the newborns or infant have the sickle cells or carry the sickle cell traits. The symptoms of the sickle cell are very different depend on the person some people have severe symptoms and some people has mild symptom and some or often hospitalized for treatment. The major problem that you will have if you have sickle cells is trying to fight off infection. The most cause of death of children that has sickle cells is pneumonia.

      The goal of treatment for sickle cell is to prevent infection and relieve of pain. Is to take the medication that is prescribed or have a blood transfusion this disease is most cause of death in newborn and infants.

        Spencer has noted over the past several weeks that he is having more bruises, or ecchymosis, all over his body. After coughing this morning, he noticed tiny red marks all around his eyes. Spencer has thrombocytopenia.

      Thrombocytopenia (mayo clinic; 2012) often occurs as a result of a separate disorder, such as leukemia or an immune system problem, or as a medication side effect. This disease may cause few symptom and signs. You have to complete a blood test to determine the number of blood cells. Your doctor will look for different signs like bleeding excessive of bruising or petchiae. Your platelets can be so low that it can cause internal bleeding the normal blood platelet that a person should have is between 150,000 to 450,000 platelets per micro liter of circulating blood because the platelets only about 10 days that when your body continually to renew your platelets in your bone marrow. If you have an enlarger spleen it may harbor too many platelets that will cause the decrease in the number of platelets to circulation. There many reason and condition that could reduce the number of new platelets to produced. Infection, HIV infection, this can also reduce your bone marrow ability to reproduce platelets the other reason for low palates   is heavy alcohol consumption can also reduce platelet production.

                                               Refences
Medicine Net (2012) retrieved September 9, 2012 from http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=4047
Blood Disorders (2012) retrieved September 9, 2012 from http://www.patientlinx.com/blooddisorders/scasummary.cfm
Mayo Clinic (2012) retrieved September 8, 2012 from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/thrombocytopenia/DS00691