Identifying and defining problems Essay

Leaders are at the forefront of every organization. They are looked upon by their subordinates in initiating the plans and goals of the organization. In essence, leaders are the guiding light of every organization whenever the latter is experiencing financial and economic woes, turmoil within the organization or disruption in the organization’s work processes. A leader has the power to lift an organization out from the ashes of ruins and into the world of success. But with great power comes great responsibility, hence a leader should have, within him, the element of skill in identifying and defining problems. Whenever an organization, say a company or a corporation, loses its edge in competing in the market wherein it is situated, there is a need for it to innovate and change. Therefore, it is the leader’s duty to instill discipline among the employees, so as to push the whole organization into motion. Although â€Å"it’s difficult to put together a group with enough power to guide the effort or to convince key individuals to spend the time necessary to create and communicate a change vision†, (Kotter, p.36) a leader should have a sense of empathy with the organization’s employees, so as to let him be aware of what the whole organization is feeling about the whole effort of innovating and changing the organization. For problems to be identified and defined there is a need for the cooperation of both the managerial leaders and the rank and file employees. In undertaking a change within an organization, people often â€Å"underestimate the enormity of the task; the work requires great cooperation, initiative, and willingness to make sacrifices from many people. † (Kotter, p. 35) Empathy comes into play here. When the people within the organization know that there leader is to be trusted, they would not hesitate to cooperate in the leader’s efforts. Innovation and change will come eventually. The absence of a major visible crisis, low overall performance standards or a lack of sufficient performance feedback contribute to complacency which, in turn, contributes to laxity in doing the work processes below quality standards. Leaders should be adept at noticing or recognizing these sources of complacency so as to remove any hindrance to an organization’s effort to innovate and change. Add to this, as requirement for a leader, the skill of good listening; for through this, misinformation within the organization would be greatly decreased. It is said that opportunity is problem turned inside out; hence organizational problems often open many windows for innovation and change. The first step in managerial problem solving is problem and opportunity identification. Tushman and O’Reilly (2002, p. 40) said that just as physicians first focus on their patients presenting symptoms, managers must identify their organization’s critical problems. This done, they can then diagnose the causes of these problems and, in turn, take action to address them—while avoiding unexpected side effects. Similarly, once opportunities are identified, managers can analyze those aspects of the current organization that will get in the way of achieving the unit’s aspirations. With the authors’ idea in mind, a leader should know the actual assessment of the organization so that he can properly implement the right strategy to a particular unit in an organization. In doing this, a leader or â€Å"manager (and his or her team) needs to be clear about the strategy, objectives and vision of the unit. Such clarity is the bedrock of managing innovation and change. Only when strategy, objectives, and vision are defined can managers move on to an honest appraisal of the current performance of their organization. † (Tushman & O’Reilly, p. 41) After the mission and goals have been set and are clear in the minds of the unit members within the organization, efforts should be made in determining how the proposed strategies will fare considering the current performance of the organization. This will provide a situation wherein the management can gauge whether the mission and goals of the organization are realistic or not. As Tushman and O’Reilly have stated, organizational performance gaps are the differences between desired and real performance. These performance gaps can be termed as opportunity gaps. When we arrive at knowing these gaps, we would really be able to clearly formulate a clear and definite strategy to use in a particular situation. But strategies won’t materialize on their own; it needs painstaking efforts to be able to arrive at these strategies. What can a leader do about this? A good leader knows that he cannot steer the whole organization, especially if it is a big one, towards its goals on his own. He needs the help of all his subordinates. It is needed for the leader to encourage the management and the rank and file employees to join him in formulating and implementing these strategies for innovation and change to be realized. It is a fact that â€Å"creative thinkers tap into their imaginations by combining and recombining ideas or concepts to make new connections. Creative thinking is really about discovering new connections through the use of the imagination, diverse stimuli, and ‘creative-connections power tools’. † (Dundon, p. 42) In addition to these approaches for identifying and defining problems and opportunities for innovation and change in an organization, Dundon stated (2002, p. 64) that a preferred method for idea generation is having an â€Å"Innovation Group† which, because of its comprehensiveness and rigorous design, goes beyond the more common brainstorming method. This allows discussing and formulating ideas at a higher level within the group. Once these approaches have been taken, what a leader should do now is to carefully evaluate how the organization reacts to these implemented strategies so as for him to make necessary corrections when the need arises. ABSTRACT There are many approaches to identify and define problems that confront a particular organization. These problems would not be addressed and be made visible without the guidance or skill of a good leader. Hence, it is needed that a leader is knowledgeable of the processes of an organization, empathic and, best of all, a great innovator himself who believes in positive results that innovation and change bring to an organization. Sources: 1) Dundon, Elaine (2002). The Seeds of Innovation. New York, American Management Association 2) Kotter, John P. (1996). Leading Change. Massachusetts, Harvard Business School Press 3) Tushman, Michael L. , & O’Reilly, Charles A. (2002). Winning Through Innovation. Massachusetts, Harvard Business School Press.

Dykeman Article Essay

Imagine studying divorce and the effects it has upon children. These kids act out as a result of aggression for many reasons, which include guilt, attention from the parents, and the inability to maintain a long-term relationship. They have lifelong issues, and do require some form of counseling, whether it is in the school or with social services in their state. According to the article, these youngsters and parents were subjects in a study to help determine how to help them through this transition in their life, and to help them become high functioning both in the school and home. What was found in the article is quite significant. According to an article in Newsweek, Peg Tyre believed that children, â€Å"feel strongly and intensely that their parents are polar opposites, even if they don’t fight. They feel they must take care of their parents rather than be taken care of. They feel loss and anger. They also feel their spiritual life is damaged because God’s image as a parent is painful for them† (2005). Dykeman agreed by saying that divorce effects a child’s emotional well-being and self-esteem as well can give them anxiety, depression, guilt, and at times aggression (2003). However, Heubusch says in regards to Stewarts study, â€Å"But it’s particularly damaging for children under age 9, and for children who are drawn directly into the hostility. There is a very direct relationship between children’s psychological well-being and that of their parents. When separation and divorce enhance parents’ well-being in very straightforward and direct ways, it’s reasonable to expect that children will benefit from the improvement† (1998). In regards to the research finding presented in the article, they are worth noting as well. Here is what they found. One, pre-referral intervention reduces the quantity of students put into a special education class for aggressiveness. Two, the school counselor plays a vital role in helping these students and families with coping in regards to divorce. Three, conflict theory is important in handling out aggression in children, who are going through divorce because it can help with problem solving skills, few incidents of hostility, and home behavior effects school behavior (Dykeman, 2003). However during the study, the researchers found that the child had more reasoning during that time period, according to â€Å"t(14) = 4. 294, p < . 01† (Dykeman, 2003). Another is that the child learned is that a decrease in verbal aggression as seen with â€Å"t(14) = 3. 623, p < . 01† (Dykeman, 2003). The researcher did experience limitations and assumptions with the study as it relates to statistics. Some limitations include that the researchers were not able to follow up as frequently after six months, such as a monthly basis. However, a decrease was found amongst the six month treatment to follow up in regards to verbal aggression by 3. 87, whereas prior it was 4. 87 times (Dykeman, 2003). Another significant finding is that prior to treatment, the child used physical aggression 1. 73 times, but afterwards, during the follow up, it was 1. 33 times. Another, is that teachers and researchers are subjective in their viewpoint, which can show up in a study as well. All students were required to partipate in their first semester of the school year. Many of them completed intervention within two months, but by the end of the school time had much improvement, which was seen by a 5. 40, and indicates improvement by â€Å"p < . 05† (Dykeman, 2003). The researchers, then assumed, that an â€Å"increased use of reasoning and reduced use of verbal aggression corresponded to improved behaviors in the classroom† (Dykeman, 2003). Another investigator also agrees with this issue by saying, â€Å"Most felt that they should have been consulted about visitation and dual residence decisions during the divorce† (Siatis, 1997). This study showed that making assumptions about what has happened in a child’s life are at times beneficial because it helps them study in more depth ways to help them through their ordeal. The individuals can become subjective, but in their study, it showed a lot of objectivity, and what Dykeman did actually worked both for the children and school setting by teaching them the necessary skills possible to cope with their divorce situation in the home. Last, no evidence is shown of the parents involvement with their children because they too would have impacted the study on how they have coped, whether it was positive or negative. All the reader finds out is about mainly the researchers and the teachers. This too can hinder the results of a study by not including everyone that had a part in the family, who was going through the divorce. Children learn best when taught ways to cope with divorce. The Dyekman study proves that it can occur, especially with pre-treatment and follow up. These individuals were taught ways to reason, which was probably changing their negative thinking to positive at the time too. The students’ teachers were also involved by giving observations in the classroom in regards to improvement or not, which also made a difference in how he or she completed their school work, and acted in the home, which is an excellent positive result. This gave the study a third party involved in monitoring the behavior of the kids, which made an optimistic outcome for everyone involved. References Dykeman, B. F. (March 2003). The Effects of Family Conflict Resolution on Children’s Classroom Behavior. Journal of Instructional Psychology . Heubusch, K. (1998, January). Divorced From Reality. Retrieved February 2009, 23, from Gale: Siatis, P. C. (1997, Augusst). Divorce Has Lasting Effects on Children, Study Says. Retrieved February 2009, 23, from Gale Group: . Tyre, P. (2005, October 24). Fast Chat: The Secret Pain of Divorce. Retrieved February 23, 2009, from Gale: http://find. galegroup. com/ips/start. do? prodId=IPS

A Short History and Summary of the Current Conditions in Chile and Its Geographical Situation Essay

Chile is a country situated on the west coast of South America. It is also known as The Republic of Chile. The size of Chile is 289,112 square miles with a width of less than 100 miles. It is basically a little larger than Texas. Chile is divided into three main parts, mainland and two territorial islands named Isla Sala y Gomez and Easter. Chile has an interesting history and it has seen many ups and downs in its economic development (Hudson, 1994). A description of the history of the 20th century of Chile and its current economic and political situation is presented below. The history of the 20th century of Chile is mainly focused on its entrance to the parliamentary system and thus it saw the changes in its political situation. In the beginning of the 20th century, Chile was stable despite of having lesser power in the hands of presidents. During this time, congress selected the president for the country. The presidents of this century mainly includes: German Riesco Errazuriz, Pedro Montt, Ramon Barros Luco, and Juan Luis Sanfuentes. During the 1920’s, there was an increasing gap between the middle class and lower class of society (Bizzarro, 1987). Due to this gap, the masses were dissatisfied and they called a new leader, Arturo Alessandri Palma, who brought the system of election for the selection of president. He brought other changes as well such as compulsory primary education and separation between the church and state. After a few months’ service of Alessandri, Carlos Ibanez came into power and promoted public works and industry; however, he is known as a military dictator. Electoral Democracy was there during the years of 1931 to 1971 in Chile. After a period of uncertainty in Chile, Alessandri came into power again. Alessandri ruled Chile almost like a dictator and restored the power of Constitution of 1925. Considering the presidency elections of 1958, it is found that there were three candidates and all were from different types of people. They were conservative, Christian Democrat, and Socialist (Zanartu, & Kennedy, 1969). Jorge Alessandri Rodriguez won the election of 1858 and maintained a stable situation in Chile. Alessandri was sensible and with his ability to maintain the economic and political situation, he put a halt to the inflation in Chile; thus, contributed in the economic development of the nation. In 1964, Frei defeated Allende again. Frei was a Christian Democrat and took control over the copper industry of Chile. In the next elections, Allende came into power with his socialist view. Allende was the first elected Marxist in Chile. Allende brought new policies and changed the existing policies; such as, he finished the nationalization of the copper firms of the United States, nationalized banks, and sped up land distribution in the country. Some leaders in Chile were against the socialists programs of Allende. In 1973, with the help of the U.  S. , a military coup ousted Allende (after which he committed suicide). After Allende, Pinochet ruled untill 1990. He was mainly focused on privatization and returned the banks, factories and lands to the private owners, and put strict economic and social condition on the people of Chile (Weil, 1969). Overall, it can be said that Chile saw many different leaders in the history of the 20th century and developed in many directions. Current economic and political situation of Chile is described below in the paper. The Economic Situation During the 1970’s Chile saw the economic growth, but in the next decade it experienced recession. Pinochet was the president of Chile and he put some strict economic conditions on Chileans. Looking at the current economic condition of Chile, it can be said that it is a growing and prosperous economy. The government of Chile has a played an important role in the economic development of Chile. Peso is the official currency of the country. The government has intervened many times in the financial market of Chile to control the economic situation of the nation and promoted the social spending (Loveman, 1988). According to the current economic condition, the total GDP of Chile is U. S. $ 268. 3 billion and its GDP growth is 5%. Inflation in the country is 4 to 5% and its main industries include copper, iron, lithium, fish processing, foodstuffs, wood and woods products, cement, textile, etc. (Thomas White International, 2013). It is already discussed above that culture and history of Chile has affected the economic development of the country many times and its reflection can be seen in the economic system of Chile. Chile has seen both growth and recession (with the different economic treatments of its presidents) It is currently able to manage a decrease in the foreign debt and open for the foreign investment. The Current Political Situation The current political system of Chile is also stable. It is nation with multiparty. The country has three branches of executive, legislative, and judiciary. The cxecutive branch selects the president for the country and the legislative branch has two houses named Chamber of Deputies and Senate. The Supreme Court and other lower courts come under the judiciary system. There are many political parties involved in the Chilean Government and they are trying to maintain the social and economic condition of the country (Kelleher & Klein, 2011). Analysis and Conclusions Concluding the paper it can be said that Chile has now become an important part of the global economy with its growing industries. Due to many changes in its political atmosphere in the 20th century, Chile faced many challenges in its economic development as it saw growth as well as recession. In 1990, the democratic government was again brought into Chile. A Christian democrat Eduardo Frei won the election in 1993. Currently, the condition of Chile is stable. Chile is facing some challenges in its development of having some problems between the military and the government. Also, there is a belief in the people of Chile that the income inequality is getting worse. Apart from the economic problems, the people of Chile are facing the problems of natural disaster. A devastating earthquake has affected the economic condition of Chilean. The newly elected president of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, is trying to control the challenges that the country is facing (Cynthia & Crabtree, 2010).

Financial Ratio Analysis: Daimler Group and Bmw Group Essay

Abstract In this report, we calculate and compare the financial performance between Daimler Group and BMW Group in two financial years 2010-2011. The objective is to analyse the financial performance of both groups and identify our company’s position, thus suggesting the potential areas for improvement for our company. I) Introduction In this report, we analyse and compare the financial performance between BMW Group and Daimler Group in 2010 and 2011 using financial ratios analysis. The BMW Group and Daimler Group are two of Germany’s largest industrial companies and are among the most successful car and motorcycle manufacturers in the world. By doing comparisons, we will be able to identify the financial position and the potential areas of improvement for our firm. All the figures were taken from the firms’ annual reports. II) Financial Ratio Analysis Financial ratios for BMW Group and Daimler Group are provided below. 1) Profitability The ROCE ratio measures how well the business has used the capital invested to generate profits while the ROE indicates the business’s ability to generate profits using shareholders’ funds. The GPM indicates how much a company earns taking into consideration the cost of sales. The NPM shows the amount of each sales dollar left over after all expenses have been paid. Both groups have achieved significant increase in revenues in 2011 leading to improvements in all profitability ratios comparing to 2010. Both firms have been more efficient in using its resources to generate returns, where both ROCE and ROE ratios have showed significant increases in 2011. It is also worth noticing that despite having higher GPM for both years, Daimler’s NPM figures were lower than that of BMW, indicating that Daimler has higher operating expenses than BMW. Overall, BMW has performed better than Daimler in terms of profitability. 2) Efficiency Efficiency ratios are typically used to analyse how well a company uses its assets and liabilities internally. The sales revenue to capital employed ratio indicates how well the organization used the capital invested in the business to generate revenue for the company as whole. Both companies have experienced an increase in the revenues over the past two years but both companies haven’t experienced an increase in the asset turnover ratio. It has increased with BMW probably as a result of the reduction in the non-current liabilities. The opposite has occurred with Daimler Group most likely as a result of the massive increase in the non-current liabilities. This ratio can be further explained using the sales revenue to non-current assets and sales revenue to working capital ratio. The sales revenue to non-current assets ratio measures how well the managers invested the non-current assets of the company to generate revenue for the growth of the business. This ratio has most definitely been affected by the investment in new non-current assets by both groups but Daimler has managed to use these assets to generate more revenue than BMW but still has used its new non-current assets efficiently to generate a sales revenue which would in turn lead to a ratio higher than the previous year’s ratio figure. The sales revenue to working capital explains how well the company is using its working capital to generate sales revenue. It is one of the best ways to watch the changes in cash overtime, this is important because the company needs cash to operate. Daimler has experienced a significant decrease in this ratio and BMW, the opposite occurred. This could be as result of fluctuations in the current assets and liabilities of both companies. The inventory turnover period ratio measures the length of time stock is held within the business. Both companies are now holding stock for longer than they did in 2010. It takes Daimler 77 days to sell its products while it takes BMW 65days. Both results are quite high but BMW has an advantage. This means that BMW has fewer inventories in store than Daimler at the end of the year, which means lower holding costs for BMW. The trade receivables period ratio calculates how long it takes the company to collect payments from its customers. A business will naturally be concerned with the amount of funds tied up in trade receivables and try to keep this at a minimum as it can have a significant impact on the cash flow of the business. This has not changed much for both companies over the past two years but has increased slightly for BMW in 2011. Daimler has more funds tied up in trade receivables. The trade payables period indicates how long it takes the company to pay its suppliers. Most companies would prefer this to be as long as possible but this can be taken to far and result in the loss of goodwill of suppliers. Both groups have managed to increase the period it takes them to pay their creditors. Both companies take a longer period to pay their suppliers than it takes for their debtors to pay what they owe. This shows a good cash flow movement for both companies. The operating cycle is expressed as an indicator of management efficiency. It has three components of inventory turnover period, trade receivables period and trade payables period. These come together to form the complete measurement of operating cycle days. This hasn’t changed for Daimler over the past two years and has increased slightly for BMW. It takes BMW a shorter period to generate revenue from its purchase of inventory than it takes Daimler. 3) Liquidity Liquidity ratios attempt to measure a company’s ability to pay off its short-term debt obligations. In general, the greater the coverage of liquid assets to short-term liabilities the better it is, because it gives a clear signal to whether a company can pay its debts that are due in the near future and still be able to fund its ongoing operations. The current ratio measures a company’s ability to pay back its short-term debts in short notice. The acid test ratio is similar to the current ratio except does not include inventory and prepaid expenses as assets but only those that can be turned into cash easily. Therefore, it measures the firm’s ability to pay its current obligations immediately. Comparing the two companies, those figures are quite similar. As for manufacturing companies like Daimler and BMW, current ratio of/more than 1 is desirable. Both companies did manage well to achieve the target figures in both years. Changes in the ratios between two years are not significant, but it is worth pointing out that Mercedes showed a small improvement in liquidity (from 1.07 to 1.22), whereas BMW got a minor decline (from 1.08 to 1.04). Although the acid test ratios falls below 1 in both years for both firms, thus both firms are unable to pay back its short term debts immediately, it does not necessarily mean that it will go bankrupt – as there are many ways to access financing – but it is definitely not a good sign. In general, Daimler’s current and quick ratios showed a slightly better liquidity position, comparing to BMW’s. In fact, liquidity ratios are remarkably affected by the company’s working capital management. That is why we should examine some working capital figures to fully analyze two companies’ liquidity circumstances. The Cash Conversion Cycle (CCC) is similar to the Operating Cycle. While the parts are the same – receivables, inventory and payables – in the CCC, they are analysed from the perspective of how well the company manages its cash, as opposed to their impact on operational capital assets. The CCC measures the number of days a company’s cash is tied up in the production and sales process of its operations and the benefit it gets from payment terms from its creditors. The shorter this cycle, the more liquid the company’s working capital position is. In general, both firms have taken longer to shift their stocks, receive payments and pay out their creditors in 2011 comparing to 2010. This trend could mean the demand for the firms’ products has been decreasing. Moreover, BMW performed better than Daimler with all of its figures being noticeably lower in both years. Therefore, the CCC of BMW is considerably lower than that of Daimler. Apparently, we can see that both companies had reasonable figures and good working capital management. Yet, overall, BMW seemed to have performed better than Daimler, as the processes were faster. 4) Solvency Gearing measures the proportion of a company’s finance which is provided from external sources. In theory, the higher level of gearing, the riskier the business, since interest and repayment of debts must be paid regardless of the situations. However, gearing can be a financially sound part of a business’s capital structure, especially if the business has strong, predictable cash flows. Both companies have had a consistent gearing ratio of about 65% (for BMW) and about 55% (for Damlier Group) over the course of 2 years (2010 and 2011) which states that the companies are highly geared. Debt Equity Ratio is the ratio of the debt that a company has to the its shareholders’ equity. A higher the percentage means that a company is using more leverage and has a weaker equity position. Optimally the debt equity ratio of a company should be 1. For most companies, the ratio is usually between 1.5-2. The debt equity ratio of BMW shows a slight fall this year and a slight increase in the case of Daimler Group. BMW’s gearing ratio and debt to equity ratio indicate that BMW is more leveraged than Daimler. Interest cover ratio is used to determine how easily a company can pay interest on outstanding debt. There has been a good amount of increase in this ratio in BMW as well as in Daimler Group as it can be seen above. It can be said that the profit of BMW was 8.5 times and 6.94 times (for Daimler) greater than the amount of interest that it incurred on its respective outstanding debts. A higher interest cover ratio indicates that the business is easily able to meet its interest obligations. Usually any interest coverage ratio higher than 1.6 is considered safe which leaves us to the conclusion that BMW and Daimler Group both are safe companies in matters of Interest payable on outstanding debt. III) Conclusion The 2011 financial year was an excellent one for the Daimler where sales volume, revenue and earnings figures all significantly improved. Daimler Group should control its operating costs and continue to invest in R&D to maintain and improve its profitability levels. It could also further improve its efficiency by better managing the Operating Cycle. In this paper, we have illustrated relationships between different aspects of the firms’ operations and provided relative measures of the firms’ conditions and performance. By comparing two similar firms in the same industry in two years, we have found that BMW has performed slightly better than our firm (Daimler) despite being more leveraged. However, the financial ratios are pure mathematics and do not take into account other aspects of the business, therefore, users should approach them with caution.

Microsoft Case Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Microsoft Case - Essay Example The author states the second allegation as that Microsoft had various contractual agreements with computer manufacturers and Internet Service Providers that effectively allowed the company to retain a monopoly over the market. The third allegation is that the company attempted to monopolize the market for Internet browsers by including a default version of the Internet Explorer with their operating systems, and the last allegation being that the company bundled the said Internet browser with all its operating systems, an act that is illegal under the Sherman Antitrust Act (Economides, 2001). After an analysis of the allegations listed above, it is completely agreeable that Microsoft Corporation was trying to gain a monopoly over the market, because the acts that it performs can be deduced to be too competitive. This conclusion is arrived at after considering the fact that the company introduces barriers of entry to the market by making sure that all their products (operating systems) are bundled with their own Internet Explorer. This fact will ensure that new software producers have steep barriers of entry into the browser software market. Another fact that concludes that Microsoft Corporation tried to monopolize the software market is that the company is the main competitor in the market for operating systems, so, having contractual agreements with Internet Service Providers effectively means that the company controls the market for Internet browsers. However, monopoly market structures are not always bad, though they restrict the competitive effect of the market by increasing their market power and introducing barriers to entry. A Pure Monopoly has many characteristics, the main one being the lack of competition because the company operates alone in a market. In this case, the monopoly market structure is not bad because the pure monopolist controls the price structures in the market,

Postmodernism in European and American history Essay

Postmodernism in European and American history - Essay Example The essay "Postmodernism in European and American History" focuses on postmodernist features and how they are recognizable in the contemporary society. Modernism lasted till the World War II and was superseded by a new movement called Postmodernism. Postmodernism is a diverse set of ideas, concepts, models, that emerged â€Å"as a reaction against modernism or as a natural evolution of modernism† in the 1950s after the Second World War. Postmodernist concepts not only projected themselves in the fields of art and literature but also in other areas like architecture, sociology, technology, economics, religion, and communication, thereby on the whole of the society. This influence of postmodernism is continuing even now and so this paper will analyze how the postmodernist features are still recognizable in the contemporary society, from the perspectives of postmodernist thinkers. Jean Baudrillard, French sociologist and a leading postmodernist thinker, was well known for his med ia related theory of â€Å"hyperreality† and â€Å"Simulation†, and how it impacts the society. According to Baudrillard, because of hyperreality created by the media, people in the society are not able to tell what is reality? what is fiction or what is created? It is a â€Å"theory that modern man can no longer tell what reality is because he has become lost in a world of "simulacra", images and signs created and presented as "real" by the mass media†.Baudrillard further argues that mass media has taken the role of ‘God’.

Critical Appraisal of Qualitative Research Assignment

Critical Appraisal of Qualitative Research - Assignment Example To maintain data untainted in any way, researchers and interviewers need to create questions in ways that would not affect the outcome through preconception of answers from the interviewees (Smith, Flowers, & Larkin, 2009). Using methods least-likely to affect the interviewees by allowing them to be themselves without necessitating them to change their attitudes and collecting data as soon as possible, biases or inconsistencies in interviewee data can be minimized. An approach on qualitative interviewing called phenomenological analysis has been devised so as to prevent such biases, wherein there is a need to find out the phenomenon of a lived experience by allowing researchers to take part in another individual’s experience and interpret these experiences based on their own and within their consciousness (Letts, et al., 2007; Smith, et al., 2009). The phenomenological analysis is concerned with collecting human experiences using philosophical principles and rationale in study ing human experiences through various and vivid descriptions of each experience (Holloway, 2005). After the delivery of either a highly-specific or highly-generic question, collation of data is done through the assimilation of similarities and differences and tallying the results so as to find out any factors that might have any effects on the experiences of the interviewees. By using a minimalist approach, interviewees are allowed to give much more focus on the effects or the impact of their own experiences rather than analyzing the reasons on why they had these experiences in the first place (Wimpenny & Gass, 2000). Reduction or bracketing in conducting interviews using the phenomenological analysis is considered so as to prevent any misconceptions or presuppositions on behalf of both parties. However the use of such an analysis is not considered to be an ultimate method in itself since phenomenological analysis does not employ any exacting style or process, thus it is considered to be an approach in obtaining data (Wimpenny & Gass, 2000). With regards to specific methods, the Grounded theory can be considered because it utilizes methods of obtaining qualitative data via approaches such as phenomenological analysis in the identification of social processes in any given situation (Letts, et al., 2007; Mills, Bonner, & Francis, 2008; Wimpenny & Gass, 2000). However, similarities end here as grounded theory is not used in its entirety but instead is only employed as one of the methods used in order to obtain qualitative data, whereas phenomenological approach is seen as abstract and generalised concept in the process of theory formulation and analysis of qualitative information (Wimpenny & Gass, 2000). Thus, the grounded theory can be employed as only one of the few methods to systematically obtain qualitative data, and the phenomenological approach is the overall driving force.