The Current U.S. Economic Crisis and Potential Fixes Essay

The Current U.S. Economic Crisis and Potential Fixes - Essay Example The outbreak of the recent sub-prime crises came after warning signals of write-downs in the value of mortgages late last year6. House prices in the U.S witnessed an unusual growth between 1997 and 2005. For example, prices increased by approximately 85% during this period. The period 2001 and 2005 witnessed the highest rates of appreciation7. Sub-prime delinquencies and foreclosures were therefore mitigated by house price appreciations during these years. This is so because borrowers facing difficulties to make regular mortgage payments could depend on the appreciation of the value of their property to solve their financial problems by refinancing the mortgage and withdrawing cash from the increased equity in the house thereby sustaining the new mortgage for a while. Borrowers could repay the principal by selling off the property8. Appreciation in property prices therefore significantly improved the performance of sub-prime loans9. However, Ellis (2007) argues that house prices began to decline in 2006, and as at October 2007, prices were down by approximately 3.2% of their peak in the second quarter of 2006. Banks and financial institutions were expected to face an uphill earnings battle early this year. "certainly, we will not be at the levels of profits we saw within the last 12 months". This is a quote by Mark Batty, a financial services analyst at PNC wealth Management Philadelphia, which manages about $77billion of assets10. According Ellis (2007) investment banks and brokerages in the S&P 500 such as Goladman Sach a member of the Fortune 500 and Merrill Lynch a fortune 500 member as well were expecting to experience a 10% decrease in earnings growth in the fourth quarter of 2006. Diversified Financial firms like Citigroup... From the report it is clear that  sub-prime delinquencies and foreclosures were therefore mitigated by house price appreciations during these years. This is so because borrowers facing difficulties to make regular mortgage payments could depend on the appreciation of the value of their property to solve their financial problems by refinancing the mortgage and withdrawing cash from the increased equity in the house thereby sustaining the new mortgage for a while. Borrowers could repay the principal by selling off the property.This essay stresses that  banks are currently facing declining demand for mortgages and home equity loans as well as rising illiquidity and foreclosures among home owners. Bank of America recently announced its intention to get out of the wholesale mortgage market and it is planning to retrench 700 workers following a huge drop in earnings. The demand for asset-backed loans such as commercial paper has witnessed a drop. Financial services firms depended a lot on real estates as a means of backing their loans to debtors. Companies and financial institutions rely on these loans to raise short-term loans and a fall in demand implies that earnings to financial institutions will remain under pressure.  The evidence suggests a significant relationship between â€Å"policy-induced† driving up of U.S silver and Chinese exchange rate appreciation and price deflation. The reversal of the silver flow into Shangai led to a credit crunch in the city.

Global communication Essay Example for Free

Global communication Essay The explosion of the internet has improved global communication and created a significant impact in our lives. With the advent of broadband wireless internet access in Singapore, our adolescents are spending intensive hours in cyberspace everyday and everywhere to meet their educational, entertainment, social and emotional needs. While they are going through this transitional stage of their life in seeking the ‘Who am I’ answers, this article reviews and seeks to understand what they do on the internet. It was discovered that both U. S. and Singapore adolescents enjoy interactive cyber communication with their peers and sharing common interest such as on-line games and audio/video downloading. An action research on a group of 35 adolescents in Singapore has revealed some interesting patterns in their internet engagement. This emerging engagement cannot be ignored by parents and teachers as we discuss our roles in protecting and nurturing our adolescents. Literature Review Introduction The Singapore Government is systematically and strongly promoting the use of information technology. One of its strategies is to make it compulsory that 30% of the school curriculum to have an information technology component and to be computer-based by 2002 (Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, 2000). Naturally, the advocacy of Internet use is part of this omnipresent attempt. Young Singaporeans are placed right in the midst of all these changes and soon Internet use will be commonplace given the Governments ubiquitous promotion. As an academic staff in the Polytechnic, my objective is to study what our adolescent students do on the internet. By having a better understanding of their engagement on the internet, it would help us as facilitators to identify their interests, needs and to understand what motivates them. This literature review covers some surveys on adolescents conducted in the United States, studies on the impact of the internet on adolescents’ behaviour and a regional governmental conference on cyber endangerment. United States Adolescents’ Engagement on the Internet As the U.S. adolescent internet usage grew exponentially in the last decade, a number of correspondent expectations have emerged (Gross, 2000). Gross performed a research to identify the activities that adolescents in suburban California engaged in on the internet and why they perform them. She discovered the following: (1) that gender predicts usage, i.e., boys spend more time online, surfing the web and playing violent games, while girls chat or shop online; (2) that internet use causes social isolation and depression, especially for teens; and (3) that adolescents use the internet for anonymous identity experimentation. By means of highly detailed daily reports of adolescents’ home internet usage and peer-related adjustment, the present research sought to compare these expectations with the actual experiences of early and mid-adolescents in 2000 and 2001. For the most part, adolescent boys’ and girls’ online activities have become more similar than different. On average, boys and girls alike described their online social interaction as (1) occurring in private settings such as e-mail and instant messages, (2) with friends who are also part of their daily, offline lives, and (3) devoted to fairly ordinary yet intimate topics such as gossiping with friends (Gross, 2000). This is an interesting article that relates the conflicts faced by adolescents. According to Erikson, adolescents are experiencing a transitional stage of their life between childhood and adulthood where they need to deal with the conflict between identity attainment and identity diffusion (Berk, 2002). Gross(2000) discovered that adolescents need to explore their identity through identity play and role experimentation. Apparently, the internet serves as an ideal platform for them to play an anonymous role in their email and instant messaging (IM) communications. They tend to take on a role of an older character in attempt to explore their future self and identity (Gross, 2000). Another of their interest at this stage is to relate to their peers more than their parents or teachers. They could engage in intimate and private relationship with their peers on the internet interactively and instantly. Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel and Thickstun (2005) attempted to study the effects of the internet on adolescent sexual behaviours. It was triggered by the fact that adolescents in the United States were engaging in sexual activity at early ages and with multiple partners. The mass media have been shown to affect a broad range of adolescent health-related attitudes and behaviours including violence, eating disorders, and tobacco and alcohol use. The authors wanted to explore the factors that contribute to adolescents sexual activity. It was found that the mass media plays a very influential role in shaping adolescents’ attitudes and behaviour towards violence, eating disorders, tobacco, alcohol and sex. Based on their survey, the internet is a significant media that the U.S. adolescents engage in (Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel Thickstun, 2005). In 2003, 60.8% of the U.S. household have at least one desktop computer at home. The adolescents spend 2 hours online each time for 4 days per week. Of the contact time on the internet, 61% of it is spent on surfing the internet. It is interesting to note that the adolescents consider 14% of what they do in the internet as activities they would not want their parents to know. The authors have summarised some pre-studies of the effects of media on adolescents. They have collected some useful statistics that describe the breakdown of adolescents’ exposure to the media, from radio, television, internet to magazines. The statistics in adolescents’ sexual behaviours have supported their linkages to adolescents’ exposure to sexuality in the media. Regardless of the measure of the correlation, one thing that is apparent is that the media does pose a significant impact on adolescents’ attitude and behaviour in various areas, including violence, eating disorder, tobacco, alcohol and sex (Escober-Chaves, Tortolero, Markham, Low, Eitel Thickstun, 2005). How the adolescents were influenced by the media were also analysed in this article. Adolescents learn their behaviour through imitating a character they aspire to be (Bandura’s social learning theory). Other supporting theories include arousal, motivation and super-peer theory. In the latter, adolescents have a tendency to model people older than themselves. This resonates with the earlier findings by Gross (2000) that adolescents like to explore their self and future identity. Singapore Adolescents’ Engagement on the Internet The above studies have surfaced couple of gaps that I could address in my research. Firstly, we need to do a study in Singapore’s context. Secondly, I can learn from the challenges that the authors have shared. It would be an upstream task to measure the specific effects of the media on adolescents. Hence, the key objective of my research would be focusing on finding out and understanding adolescents’ usage of the internet. Moving closer to this region, Singapore’s Senior Minister of State and chairman of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Youth Crime, Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee talked about the internet and its impact on Asia (Ho, 2005). He suggested that as nations and governments become increasingly wired, its youths naturally become more in tune with the cyber world and its hosts of activities. Our youths surf the Internet for information and resources for their schoolwork. They play online games with faceless opponents for their leisure; or to enhance their social life, they may enter chat rooms and journal their thoughts in blogs and make new friends in cyberspace. These are creative and healthy online activities if done with the right motivations and values, and in moderation. But, as our youths become increasingly cyber-savvy, they are also becoming increasingly cyber-endangered. Hence we need to be cautious of the dark side of internet (Ho, 2005). Besides cyber addiction, we need to be aware that exposure to unhealthy materials on the internet such as violence imageries may lead to increasing violence and anti-social behaviour amongst youths. Apart from preparing our youths to be cyber-savvy and protecting them from becoming victims, we should also be mindful that they are susceptible to the temptations of cyber vices and may end up committing cyber crimes themselves. Once online, a whole new cyber world greets them. Therefore, proper education and programmes need to be in place in society in order to help our youths cope with making informed online decisions, and learning to surf the internet safely and moderately. Professor Ho has started a discussion on the double-edged impact of the internet on our youths. While the internet is a valuable resource basin for their learning and development, it could also pose a threat to their safety, social, emotional and moral developments. There is a need to protect and educate our youth on how they could use the internet safely and responsibly. He shared an important statistic in our youths’ usage of internet. 68% of Singapore youths have frequent access to the internet; that is 18% higher than the regional average of 50% (Ho, 2005). Hence it is critical that we take the leadership role in understanding our youths’ engagement in the internet and taking proactive measures to promote cyber wellness. Research Question The Research Question: What do Singapore adolescents do on the internet? Purpose Why do I want to understand adolescent usage on the internet? Firstly, it is the desire of adults including parents, teachers and mentors, to improve our communication with adolescents. By understanding what they do on the internet, we would be able to identify their interest and needs. According to Ho (2005), it is important that we understand the potential threat based on the activities they engage on the internet. Besides promoting their cyber wellness, it is also our desire as adults to determine effective channels to influence them positively and to support their development. Benefits The results of this survey would be useful for me as an academic staff whose primary role is to facilitate their learning and development in the polytechnic. By understanding their interest and internet activities, it would help me to improve my communications with them and strengthen facilitator-student bonding. I believe that this would in turn increase my effectiveness in preparing them for the industry as they graduate from the polytechnic. The second group of adults that would benefit much from this research are their parents. In the same way, by understanding the paradigm that their children live in, parents could better connect with them and improve family bond. Methodology Research Paradigm Our nation has arrived at this era where youths are playing a more critical role in leading our country. That is why our Ministry of Community Development has added in Youth as an additional portfolio that deserves increased focus and attention. In the recent general election in 2006, the incumbent People’s Action Party has recruited significant number of young leaders who were born after our independence in 1965 (Balakrishnan, 2004). The key reason is to equip the party with leaders who are closer to our youths and adolescents in communication and understanding of their needs and ideology. This group of citizens plays a pivotal role in shaping our future nation as they would be exercising their voting power in future elections, getting involved in national policies and ultimately replacing our current aging population in the long term. With the emergence of information technology and the internet, the learning curve of our adolescents has risen exponentially. As far as communication and information exchange is concerned, the size of our globe has shrunk and distances between countries have become irrelevant with the click of the computer mouse. The internet has emerged to be a major channel of media, especially among the adolescents. The researches done in the U.S. as discussed above have shown that internet pose a significant impact on adolescents. Considering the higher internet penetration in Singapore compared to the U.S. per household, we would not expect the impact of the internet on our adolescent to be any lower. Scope As discussed in the review of Article, it is important that I set a realistic scope of study considering the limited time and resources. As this is the first research, I would be focusing on finding out the activities that adolescents engage in on the internet. I have designed a survey that captures what adolescents use the internet for, the activities they engage in, how much time they spend on them. There were some qualitative question to understand their preferences, interest and reasons for engaging in the internet activities. Subjects and Materials The stakeholders were adolescents. I managed to survey 35 adolescents in my network, of which most of them are polytechnic students between 18 to 19 years old. The materials required for this survey were basically printed copies of the survey questionnaires. They spent about ten minutes each to complete the survey forms. Procedures As this is my first research on the adolescents, it would be practical for me capture a broad span of their activities as a foundation for future or follow-up focused activities. The model of action research used must support continuous improvement and leverage on past findings with an interpretive approach. Hence, the model which I choose to adopt is the Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model. The steps of Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model are: (1) develop a plan of critically informed action to improve current practice. The plan must be flexible to allow adaptation for unforeseen effects or constraints; (2) the group members act to implement the plan which must be deliberate and controlled; (3) this action is observed to collect evidence which allows thorough evaluation. The observation must be planned and the action process and its effects within the context of the situation should be observed individually or collectively; (4) reflection of the action recorded during observation is usually aided by collaborative discussion among the group members. Group reflection can lead to a reconstruction of the meaning of the social situation and provides a basis for further planning of critically informed action, thereby continuing the cycle. I designed a survey questionnaire and printed out multiple copies to the adolescents. Participation was purely based on voluntary basis and their identities were all anonymous. I explained the objectives of my survey clearly to them through both direct verbal communication and highlighting them on the survey form in print. Results and Discussions The Survey forms were given to adolescents in my network as planned. They responded positively and completed the survey with ease. The feedback was that the questions were clear. There were total 35 adolescents who participated in the survey. The gender groups were well represented with 16 males and 19 females. There were some triangulations of the reflection stage of this research as I spent some time after the survey to talk to some of the adolescents to clarify certain information pertaining to some websites or online games which I was not familiar with. It was a meaningful session as they were very open to share with me their interest such as why the males like to play challenging online games like Dota and Warcraft. I then compiled that information gathered into a spreadsheet and studied the pattern of their engagement in the internet. Activities on the Internet It is interesting to note that the adolescents spend more than one-third (an average of 9 hours per day) of their time on the internet. This is supported by the fact that internet access is highly available both at school and at home. First of all, the Polytechnic provides the infrastructure to support the use of Information Technology (IT) in learning. Every student is required to own a notebook computer for administration, curriculum-related communication, research, performing on-line tutorials and submissions of assignments. The entire campus is enabled to provide wireless broadband access. In line with the national adoption of internet access, all the students here have internet access at home. Internet access and cost of IT equipment have become so affordable that most of them (26 out of 35) have wireless broadband access in their homes. [pic] Note: IM : Internet Messaging Games: On-line games on the internet Blog : blogging on the internet Surf : Internet search for information Music : Downloading of audio files Video : Downloading of video files and watching video on-line Chart 1 : Adolescent Internet Usage It is apparent that the adolescents spend most of their time on the internet messaging and chatting. Comparing with the adolescents in the U.S. (Gross, 2000) who spend about 40 minutes in IM per day, Singapore adolescents spend 4.75 hours per day. That is an astounding seven times more. Next in line would be surfing the internet, followed by entertainment such as video and music downloads. Why do they spend almost 5 hours per day internet messaging? Based on the survey, the adolescent revealed that IM is the most convenient and fastest way for them to communicate with their classmates and friends. Besides, it is interactive and free. This is in line with Gross’s analyses of the rationale for adolescents’ affinity to IM (Gross, 2002). Adolescents like to move fast and do not have much patience to wait for response especially when they want to relate to their peers. IM is real-time. They could instantly chat with their peers online and express their emotions immediately. Similar to adolescents in the U.S. as studied by Gross (2000), I also discovered that the adolescent here do not use their real names in their IM image. They like to use emotive roles such as â€Å"I am so scared†¦test is coming†. This also reflects Erikson’s theory on adolescent anonymous identity which teenagers enjoy relating their emotions to their peers in role exper imentation (Suler, 2005). The second most common activity the adolescents engage in is in surfing the internet for information. This is not surprising as they are required to research for information as part of the requirement in projects and assignment in class. [pic] Chart 2 : Favourite Website With reference to Chart 2, it is not difficult to explain the frequent usage of Google and Yahoo as search engines for their studies. However, it is unanimous that Friendster is the most popular website that the adolescent visit. The reasons quoted for visiting this website are to connect with their friends and to update each other of their latest profile. This is in line with Suler’s findings on peer intimacy (Suler, 2005). During adolescence, humans experiment intensely with new intimate relationships, especially opposite sex relationships. They look for comrades and new groups where they can feel a sense of belonging. All these relationships become a big part of exploring ones own identity. Through communication website like Friendster and Livejournal, there is an almost limitless array of people and groups to interact with all kinds of people and groups with all kinds of personalities, backgrounds, values, and interests. The adolescents here are curious in discovering both their identity and that of their peers. To reinforce adolescents’ interest, Blogspot and Blogger take up 13.4% of the total favourite websites count. Of the 35 adolescents surveyed, 7 of them have their own blog site and 10 of them are active blogger. They enjoy expressing their emotions and sharing their social life with their peers. One popular site they like to visit, especially among the females is that of a flamboyant 21-year old female XiaXue. The girls like to her blog because it is funny and she shares her social life openly. This confirms that adolescents prefer to interact with people they can identify with (Berk, 2002). Another interest that is significant is that of video watching on the Youtube website. The adolescents’ favourite videos are humorous and entertaining like those of XiaXue and Mr. Brown who is famous for his local political jokes. Gender Comparison [pic] Chart 3: Gender Comparison of Internet Usage Chart 3 above is essentially a breakdown of Chart 1 by gender. It is interesting to note that males spend more time than females in IM. This is also related to their indulgence in on-line games and video downloading. Because of these common interests among their peers, the males derive a sense of achievement as they share information of the latest on-line games and videos using IM. In fact, the more knowledgeable or competent males would co-teach their peers on how they could excel in the on-line game. This phenomenon was highlighted by Suler(2005) in his study. He suggested that adolescents love the sense of mastery and accomplishment as they engage in peer teaching. While females prefer fantasy on-line games like Maple Story and Audition, males indulge in war, strategy and shooting games like Warcraft and Dota. The key reasons are that the males enjoy challenge and like to take risk. Besides, they are also intrigued in connecting with and challenging people in other parts of the world. Males spend substantial time in downloading video over the internet. Their favourites are comedy movies. For females, their favourite are MTVs of their idols. This resonates with the study done by Gross (2000) on adolescents’ tendency in pretending to be someone else. By idolising an older person such as a superstar, they are exploring their future identity (Gross, 2000). Recommendation First of all, as part of the Zuber-Skerritt’s spiral model in action research, I would recommend a follow-up to the above research. We have achieved our objective of gaining a general understanding of what adolescent do on the internet. Of the various activities they engage on the internet, the most significant is in IM. Hence, I would propose to do a further action research on why and how they use IM. In doing so, adults could understand them better and even use IM in improving adult-adolescent relationship. Secondly, I would recommend to adults including parents and teachers of our adolescents to be aware of the above findings and take proactive actions to build strong bonding with our adolescents and to protect them from the potential cyber danger. As is true of all adolescent activities, they need at least some supervision to stay on track and avoid trouble (Suler, 2005). Getting involved doesnt just mean supervising in order to avert trouble. The world of computers also can become an excellent way for parents and adolescents to have fun together, to get to know each other better. There will be a part of the adolescent maybe even a part that they try to hide that will love this. Suler suggested a few anecdotes which I think could be applied in Singapore. First, adults could get knowledgeable of the internet and join in with the adolescents. To be most effective in supervising the adolescents cyberspace activities, the parent needs to know something about the topic. Parents could talk to their kids about cyberspace and join them in some of their online activities. They could even communicate occasionally with their adolescents through IM to keep in touch with them. It is encouraging to note that our government is supporting the formation of cyber wellness centre such as the PlanetCRuSH which was launched by TOUCH Community Services in August 2006 (Seow, 2006). During the official launch of the centre by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, some parents and their adolescents were playing on-line games together in the E-sports Carnival competition to promote family ties (Seow, 2006). Secondly, adults need to acknowledge the merits and threats of the internet. We should not vilify cyberspace that will only alienate the adolescent. Instead, we could talk to them openly about both the pros and cons. We should show an acceptance of their cyber life, but discuss some of the dangers and what steps they should take if they encounter unsavoury situations or people. Thirdly, adults should advocate and encourage a balance in cyberspace time and other activities. If theres something they really enjoy on the Internet, find a way to expand that activity into their in-person life. The idea is to integrate cyberspace into the rest of their life, and encourage them to develop non-Internet activities too. Conclusion Through the above article review and action research, I see Erikson’s psychosocial theory of adolescents’ behaviour in action. What adolescents do on the internet are manifestation of their identity experimentation and exploration, peer intimacy and belongings, separation from parents and venting frustrations. The common activities that both U.S. and Singapore adolescents engage in are IM, emails, audio/video downloads and online games. However, in terms of the length of engagement, Singapore adolescents spend 7 times more than their counterparts, especially in IM. This could be due to the higher broadband internet access rate and availability in Singapore. A further study on how adolescent use the IM is recommended to understand this intense engagement of activity. As parents and teachers, we need to be aware of the intensity of adolescent engagement in the internet and take proactive measures to protect them from cyber danger and be jointly involved in some of their internet activities such as IM and on-line games. By expressing our interest in their lives and communicating with them via their preferred platform, not only could we create a positive impact in their internet experience, we could also foster strong adult-adolescent bonding. Reference List Balakrishnan, V. (2004). Youth Mentoring Convention: Speech by Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, Ag Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports. In MCYS [on-line]. Available WWW: http://app.mcys.gov.sg/web/corp_speech_story.asp?szMod=corpszSubMod=speechqid=863 [2006 November 15]. Berk, L. E. (2002). Infants, Children, and Adolescents (4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. Escobar-Chaves, S. L., Tortolero, S. R., Markham, C. M., Low, B. J., Eitel, P., Thickstun, P. (2005). Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors. In Pediatrics [on-line]. Available WWW: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/116/1/S1/303#F1 [2006 Sep 29]. Gross, E. F. (2000). Adolescent Internet use : what we expect, what teens report. In UCLA Digital Media Centre [on-line]. Available WWW: http://www.cdmc.ucla.edu/downloads/Adolescent%20Internet%20usepdf.pdf [2006 Sep 29]. Gross, E. F., Juvonen, J., Gable, S. L. (2002). Internet use and well-being in adolescence. Journal of Social Issues, 58, 75–90 Ho, P. K. (2005). The Youth.Net: Developing Cyber Wellness In Conjunction With Asean + 3 Seminar On Urban Youth Work III at Orchard Hotel Speech by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State (Law And Home Affairs) And Chairman of the Inter-Ministry Committee on Youth Crime (IMYC), 26 July 2005. In [emailprotected] [on-line]. Available WWW: http://www2.mha.gov.sg/mha/detailed.jsp?artid=1614type=4root=0parent=0cat=0 [2006 Sep 29]. Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (2000). Broad-based approach to make Singapore the location for infocomm manpower and savvy workforce. In IDA [on-line]. Available WWW:http://www.ida.gov.sg/Website/IDAContent.nsf/dd1521f1e79ecf3bc825682f0045a340/7f1eda7f3c633fd1c825689800580dc9?OpenDocument Seow, E. (2006, September 30). Safe Fun and Games at New Cyber Wellness Centre. Keeping in Touch, p. 5.

Examining leadership theories

Examining leadership theories 2.1.1 TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY Transformational leadership are those leaders that have vision and passion for great things and ensure that their followers are inspired by injecting enthusiasm and energy into them. According to Bertocci (2009), transformational leadership starts with the development of a vision, a view of the future that will excite potential followers. Transformational leaders are people oriented and they aim at making sure that the employees are highly committed to achieving the goals of the organisation. They encourage the employees to participate in contributing to the growth of the organisation by allowing them initiate ideas towards strategic directions. Transformational leaders motivate their followers to perform effectively in an organisation by encouraging, supporting and rewarding their performance. Furthermore, they also delegate task to their followers to enhance their performance and do a follow up to ensure that they are on the right direction of achieving the goals of the organisation. Transformational leadership focuses on achieving a vision and exceeding goals through intrinsic motivation and rewards, Bertocci (2009). The transformational leaders encourage the flow of communication in the organisation by clearly communicating the vision and goals of the organisation to the employees and they create a learning and development culture to make the employees to become competent. More importantly, they create an interesting workforce where the employees or followers are happy to deliver good services to the customers. 2.1.2 TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORY Transactional leadership are leaders that reward their employees according to their contributions in order to enhance their performance and make them effective in the organisation. Transactional leadership focuses on the goal to be accomplished and provides rewards that are tied to performance but does not intervene unless the goals are not being met, Bertocci (2009). Transactional leaders believe that employees must obey the instructions given by them and that any task delegated to them must be done on time in order for their efforts to be rewarded. It should be noted, that transactional leadership style is one of the most used styles in organisation to enable the leaders or managers enhance the performance of the employees and to increase productivity in the organisation. According to Bass, the best leadership is based on both transformational and transactional, Homrig (2001). 2.1.3 A CASE STUDY OF ASDA Asda store is the UKs second largest supermarket and was founded in 1949 in Leeds. For a short time in the 80s Asda stores ltd was a subsidiary of Asda MFI plc. The company went through financial issues in the early 90s, however, under the leadership of Archie Norman (CEO), Asdas long-term sustainability plan was developed. When Norman left the organisation to pursue his political career, he was replaced by Allan Leighton and in 2005 Tony de Nunzio replaced Leighton. At present the (CEO) of Asda is Andy Clark. 2.1.4 THE IMPACT OF TRANSFORMATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES IN THE OPERATIONS OF ASDA Asdas aim is to deliver the best services to its customers by providing affordable goods and services. In order to achieve these aim colleagues at Asda are highly committed at performing their duties effectively. The organisation decided to change the structure and culture of Asda during the period of Norman by adopting the transformational style of leadership. Archie Norman transformed Asda by creating new strategies to change the culture of the organisation; his strategies focused on lower prices in order to attract more customers and also developed a customer friendly culture and a flat hierarchy. Norman wanted to build a culture that valued listening, open communication, learning and speed of response. During an interview conducted with one of Asdas store manager who stated that at present Andy Clarke has continue the use of the same transformational theory of leadership in order to accomplish the vision and sustainability of Asda, and one of the reason was to develop a dedicated team for delivering goods to the customers and to make sure the customers are happy. In order to motivate their colleagues in achieving the goals of the organisation they encourage their performance through what they call huddles. The huddle is a way of keeping everyone informed about how the business is performing, Asda (2008). The store manager ensures that they communicate the activities for the day and help the colleagues stay focused in achieving the goals of the organisation. They also provide training and development programmes that is suitable for the employees in order to support them with everything they need for their job and to also enhance their performance. The programme is developed to also strengthen the employees in order for them to be able to achieve the goals of the organisation and most importantly for them to have knowledge about the job. They also make sure that new employees understand the nature of their job and the unique culture of the organisation through a proper induction programme. After which they provide the employees with all the necessary tools to deliver their jobs effectively. Asda provides training programmes such as tailored training, colleague to manager, new retail managers etc. The duty managers at Asda also empower their colleagues by giving them the opportunity to put ideas that will add more value to the organisation Andy Clark uses his suggestion scheme to encourage colleagues to present ideas to make the business even more successful, Asda (2010).The tell Andy gives the colleagues opportunities to contribute ideas during meetings which eventually encourages the colleagues at Asda to be part of the organisation. At Asda, the leaders encourage the performance of their colleagues by recognising their contributions towards the success of the organisation. They offer those employees that have contributed in a unique way a competitive package to show their appreciations. At Asda, the leaders also reward their employees according to the contributions they bring forward. The bonus scheme is designed to recognise and reward colleagues for their valued contributions. It should also be noted that the managers allocates and communicates what is to be done to their colleagues and also make them aware of the rewards and benefits they get according to how effective they are in carrying out their various task. 2.2 LEADERSHIP STRATEGY THAT SUPPORTS ORGANISATIONAL DIRECTION Leadership strategy makes explicit how many leaders you need, what kind, where, with what skills and behaving in what fashion individually and collectively to achieve the total success you seek, Pasmore (2010). In order for a leader to become effective in an organisation, the leader needs to understand the vision, mission, values and goals to be able to formulate strategies to really fit with the objectives of the organisation and how to achieve the strategies to accomplish the goals of the organisation. A leader cannot move an organisation forward without the people, therefore people with potentials are needed to support the growth of the organisation. Andy Clarke created strategies to support the growth of Asda by using a concept which he called tell Andy concept and the suggestion scheme to encourage colleagues to come together to meet the goals of the organisation. The idea of the strategies is to make the colleagues be a part of the organisation by presenting their ideas to make the business even more successful. Furthermore, if the ideas of the colleagues are accepted the duty managers ensure that the contributions are recognised and rewarded. 2.3 CONCLUSION In my analysis, I was able to understand that the impact of transformational and transactional leadership theories in Asda makes the organisation very effective in providing the best services for their customers. However, I would like to also suggest the path goal theory of leadership in the organisation which will also contribute to making sure that the task given to employees at Asda will be carried out within the given period of time. The path goal theory proposes that effective leaders motivate their followers by rewarding performance and the accomplishment of goals within time frames set by the task, Bretocci (2009). The use of the theory in the organisation will further encourage employees more and make them even more effective in delivering good customer service in Asda. BIBLIOGRAPHY Asda 2008: www.asda.jobs/all-about/index.html assessed on 30/12/2010 Asda 2010: www.asda.jobs/hourly/training-and-benefits/recognition assessed on 30/12/2010 David I. Bertocci 2009, leadership in organizations: there is a difference between leaders and managers (published by university press of America inc.) pgs. 52, 56, 59 Colonel Mark A. Homrig 2001(http://www.leadership.au.af.mil/documents/homrig.htm) assessed on 21/12/2010 TASK 3: PLANNING FOR LEADERSHIP 3.1 INTRODUCTION In this task I will be presenting the leadership requirements and planning for the development of leadership skills to support the growth of an organisation. 3.1.1 APPROPRIATE METHODS TO REVIEW CURRENT LEADERSHIP REQUIREMENTS In order for an organisation to be successful in their business the management needs skilful and talented leaders that will support the employees in effectively driving the workforce of the organisation to attain its goals. To be an effective and good leader entails looking into the future of the organisation for continuous growth therefore it is important for every organisation that is working towards success to have leaders that will initiate and bring ideas forward in the interest of the organisation and a highly skilled labour force that will also help the organisation to become highly competitive. Therefore, to be a competent leader, effective communication skills, effective time management, effective decision making, effective innovative skills, effective planning, effective listening skills, effective coaching skills, effective people management skills, effective motivating skills etc. are needed to develop plans to meet the requirements of the organisation. More importantly, the performance of the employees to meet the objectives of the organisation depends on the culture and structure of the organisation and it should be noted that a bad culture can be an obstacle to the progress of the organisation. However, as a good leader with good qualities of leadership Im required to restructure the organisation by initiating ideas to move the organisation from a bad culture and structure to a better one. Also bearing in mind that the most difficult part of restructuring is telling employees not to do what they are used to doing which might lead to the employees resisting to changes in the organisation, therefore a drastic leadership qualities will then be needed to change the behaviour of the employees by communicating with them to let them know the reasons for a strategic change and how the change will have an impact on them as well as the organisation. It is however, also important to adopt different styles of leadership to enable me adapt to different situations or difficulties that might arise in the organisation. Furthermore, the purpose of adopting the different styles of leadership is to be able to deal with challenges like managing people in the organisation during the strategic change by supporting them in carrying out an effective task in the new structure. The purpose of change is to move an organisation from its present point to a different one which is more desirable in meeting its objectives, Hannagan (2002). 3.2 PLANNING FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUTURE SITUATIONS Planning helps to ensure that the future is taken into account, which may help the organisation to control the situation it finds itself in as far as possible and to prepare for unexpected eventualities, Hannagan (2002). There are new approaches and technological advancements coming up every day and in order to keep up with the changes in technology, training and development is important. Therefore, coaching skills is required to coach and support the employees with the ever changing developments to enable them come together to achieve a goal. To follow up on the employees is my responsibility as an effective leader to make sure everything is going well with them during the training and if additional coaching is needed to make them carry out their task effectively it should be provided without any hesitates. 4.1 PLANNING FOR THE DEVELOPMENTS OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR A SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT Having identified the leadership skills required above (see fig 3.1.1) to become a competent leader in taking up a role in management, it is important to carry out a proper plan on developing the skills. It should be noted that, i already have some leadership skills used in supporting my personal business but it is important to improve the skills and develop new ones to enable me meet professional requirements. To attain the role of a human resource manager in the family business in two years it is necessary to get a degree in the MBA programme by 2012 to set me on a journey of achieving my training goals. Furthermore, the learning objectives is to make me exhibit required skills in managing people because the human resource department is all about looking after the welfare of the people in the organisation, to exhibit communication skills to be able to express and analyse clearly the vision, mission and goals of the organisation. However, it should be noted that there are different ways of communicating with people; therefore, it is important to develop interpersonal communication skills like listening skills, writing skills to be able to interact with the employees. It will also help to exhibit skills in team-working because the human resource manager is all about working with other members and departments to come together to achieve the goals of the organisation. In achieving the learning objectives it is important to practise and develop myself by addressing major issues that include managing people during a strategic change, problem solving and all the other necessary skills required of a human resource manager in an organisation. In order to boost the leadership skills, it should be noted, that practising these skills will help to improve my performance on how to effectively lead employees in the organisation. More importantly, to be a professional leader, continuous learning and self-development is also necessary so after my MBA programme I would like to further gain more experience in human resource management by enrolling in a three months professional course back home in my country to enable me boost my profile and to be well qualified to take over the role of the human resource manager in the family business. On successful completion of the MBA programme and the three months professional course in human resource management, I am sure to have improved on my skills and be ready to effectively carry out my responsibilities as the new human resource manager in the family business in the nearest future. 4.2 REPORT ON USEFULNESS OF METHODS USED IN PLANNING THE DEVELOPMENTS OF LEADERSHIP SKILLS The purpose of the learning method is to enhance my knowledge and performance on the new and existing skills that I have. The learning is useful because it gives the knowledge of how a good leader should behave and set good examples for the followers. It further gives me a better understanding of strategic leadership and management. The use of the self-development method in planning for the leadership skills needed is to help me develop myself through practising the skills of a leader. 4.3 CONCLUSION Finally,

To Build A Fire: Theme Essay -- essays research papers

In the story "To Build a Fire" by Jack London, there are three principal themes. They are respecting nature, and considering results of actions. The main theme, or universal truth, is heeding warnings. The themes are shown through the character and his actions. The main character in the story had an attitude that prevented him from heeding internal and external warnings. He did not respect nature's power, and therefore he paid with his life.His attitude was arrogant and careless. The man had no imagination and only understood facts. He knew it was very cold and his body was numb, but he failed to realize the danger. A newcomer with no experience, he thought he was invincible. Neither the "absence of sun from the sky," nor "the tremendous cold" made any effect on him. For example, the temperature was less than -50 degrees. He did not care about how much colder it was. To him, it was just a number. He did not think of his "frailty as a creature of temperature." When the "old-timer at Sulphur Creek" warned him not to travel alone in such cold, the man laughed at him. The old-timer had experience and knowledge, yet the man called him "womanish." Even when the man knew he was about to die, he thought, "freezing was not so bad as people thought," and "When he got back to the States he could tell folks what real cold was." These quotes show that the man did not take his situation seriously. Instea...

Knowledge Management in Education

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all who gave their support throughout the process of writing this Seminar paper. I would also like to thank my beloved lovely wife Edith Lisalitsa and my son Macdonald Lisalitsa for giving me humble time to concentrate in preparing this Seminar paper. I would also wish to thank my classmates and session mates for their support. Special thanks, goes to my supervisor Mr. Abanti Cyrus Makori for his underlying support, patience, intellectual support and guidance.Most of all I thank the Almighty God for sustaining me through this process and giving me good health, sound mind and strength to carry on. INTEGRATING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS IN IMPROVING QUALITY OF EDUCATION IN TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS By:Lisalitsa Fred Ambutsi E-mail: [email  protected] com or [email  protected] com Abstract. The new trends of use of knowledge management system in business organization have incr eased the need to integrate the knowledge management system in higher education sector.The current means used in technical institution in knowledge management is based on the experts in various fields. The creation and transmitting is through face to face interactions, mentoring, organization, and policies, routes and procedures, reports and staff development. This method does not conserve knowledge, does not allow standardization, neither does it allow uniform and maximum sharing of knowledge. Knowledge management system can be integrated in technical education in order to improve management and its utilization.Knowledge management system provides tools for capturing, organization, delivery, tracking and assessment of various types of learning and training. The knowledge management allows improved service capability of lecturers and students improve sharing of internal and external information and improved effectiveness and efficiency. The objectives of the seminar paper are: 1. To apply knowledge management system in teaching at technical institution level. 2. To examine the ways of capturing and sorting knowledge for utilization in technical institution. 3.To investigate IT support of knowledge management system and how it can be used in technical Education. 4. To investigate challenges technical institution are facing Key words Knowledge, Integrating, Systems, learning. TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATIONI DECLARATIONII ACKNOWLEDGMENTIII 1. 1 IMPORTANT DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE2 2. CAPTURING AND SORTING KNOWLEDGE2 2. 1 STEPS IN KNOWLEDGE GATHERING3 3. SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES6 4. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE WORKS6 5. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS7 6. KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS8 7. BENEFITS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS9 CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS12 9. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE13 10. INTERNET AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT14 11. CONCLUSION17 REFERENCES18 1. .INTRODUCTION Oz et al (2006) defines knowledge management as the combination of activities involved in gathering, organizing, sharing, analyzing and disseminating knowledge to improve an organization performance. Information that can be gleaned from stored data is knowledge, much knowledge is accumulated through experience is in peoples minds, on paper notes, on discussion transcripts.Knowledge management is the attempt by organizations to put procedures and technologies in place to do the following: a) Transfer individual knowledge into databases b) Filter and separate the most relevant knowledge. c) Organize that knowledge in databases that allow employees easy access to it. Barnes(2002) made the following interesting comparison about knowledge , information and data he says that knowledge as a justified personal belief that increases an individual’s capacity to take effective action.Information is data interpreted in to a meaningful frame, whereas knowledge is information that has been authenticated and thought to be true. Data is raw numbers and facts, information is pr ocessed data and knowledge is information made achievable. According to Rainer et al(2007) The goal of knowledge management is to help organization to make most effective use of knowledge. it has the following benefits are: ? Makes the best practices, which are most effectives and efficient ways of doing things rapidly available to a wide range of employees ?Enhance access to best practices knowledge improves overall organization performance. ? Improved customer service. ? Most efficient product development. ? Improved employee morale and retention. Barnes(2002) says traditionally, knowledge creation and transfer has occurred through various means such as face-to-face interactions (planned or adhoc), mentoring, job rotation and staff development. Barnes(2002) observes that the concept of coding and transmitting knowledge in organization is not new: training and employee development programmes, organization policies routines, procedures, reports and manuals have served this function for years.These traditional means may prove to be too slow, less effective and need of being supplemented by by more efficient electronics methods. 1. 1 IMPORTANT DIMENSION OF KNOWLEDGE Data: is a flow of events or transactions captured by organization’s systems that by itself is useful for transacting but little else. To turn data into information a firm must expend resources to organize data into categories of understanding, such as monthly, daily, regional or stored based reports of the total sales.To transform information ito knowledge the firm must expend additional resources to discover patterns, rules and context where the knowledge works. Finally wisdom is thought to be the collective and individual experiences of applying knowledge to the solutions of problems. Wisdom involves where, when, and how to apply knowledge. Knowledge is both individual attribute and collective attribute of the firm. Knowledge is stored in libraries, and records, shared in lectures and store d by firms in the form of business process and employee know how Laudon and Laudon (2006). . CAPTURING AND SORTING KNOWLEDGE (a) Online questionnaires: According to Oz et al (2006)[3] knowledge can be captured through the use of online questionnaires. Some of the questionnaires provide multiple choice answers, which make the input structured and easy to sort and analyze, but some of the most valuable input is in the form of free text. Knowledge can also be done by use of software such as polygamist to analyze data form (Megaputer intelligence). . A good example is Watson an application created by intellect.It is installed in a PC and embedded in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Outlook. It analyses and employees’ document as it is being written, creates an automatic query about the subject, reaches out onto the knowledge management program and pulls information that might be applicable to the task at hand. (b) Software Tools: Oz et al(2006) also describes that Knowledge can als o be captured by use of software tools that search for such information and derive valuable business knowledge form it. For example Online Audience Analysis software that was developed by Accenture Technology Labs.Such tools help organization add to their knowledge base especially in terms of what others say about their product and services. The tools take into account factors such as its industry, context in which an enquiry works to select and deliver the proper information. (c) Knowledge network systems: Laudon and Laudon (2006) say that knowledge network systems also known as expertise location and management systems, provides an online directory of corporate experts in well defined knowledge domains and use communication to find the appropriate expert in the company.Some knowledge network systems go further by systematizing the solutions being developed by experts and then storing the solutions in a knowledge database as best practices or frequently asked questions (FAQ), repos itory e. g. AskMe, inc offers a widely adopted enterprise knowledge net system. (d) Employee Knowledge networks: facilitates knowledge sharing through intranets. Tacit systems activates tool continuously process email, documents and other business communication and automatically ‘discover’ each employee work focus, expertise and business relation ship.This tool ‘mines’ this unstructured data to build a profile of each employee in terms of topics and interests. The goal is to ensure that two people who might benefit from creating a connection in a work place do so, so that one can learn form the expertise of another about issues. According to Oz(2006)some companies have developed software tools that search for such information and derive valuable business knowledge form it. E. g. Accenture Technology labs developed audience analysis such tools helps organization add to their knowledge base especially in terms of what others say about their product and servic es.The tool takes into account factors such as the industry and context in which an enquirer works to select and deliver the proper information. (f) A web portal: also known as a links page, presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. Apart from the standard search engine feature, web portals offer other services such as e-mail, news, stock prices, information, databases and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether.Examples of public web portals are MSN, Yahoo! , AOL, iGoogle and Netvibes. 2. 1 STEPS IN KNOWLEDGE GATHERING The first challenge in the knowledge-gathering process is simply deciding what knowledge to gather. For example, while identifying the most frequently asked questions is critical for a self-service web site implementation, call centers will also need to know the m ost frequently escalated questions. Moreover, while management goals may center around ROI issues, the system must be designed with users in mind, or it will not be successful.According to paper published by eGain Communications Corporation [2004] that appeared in the internet and internetworking here is a step-by-step review of the knowledge-gathering process. Step 1: Building the team There are four roles in the knowledge management team:  ¦ Lead expert: The individual (or individuals) who decides how the knowledge base will be organized, which topics will be covered, and to what extent.  ¦ Users: Call center agents who have good performance records and can provide suggestions. Knowledge authors: Individuals who are technically trained in using authoring tools.  ¦ Project manager. The individual who keeps the project on track. Depending on the scope of the project, one person may play several roles. Step 2: Assessing the value of knowledge The best way to determine what know ledge should be gathered is to estimate what the value to your enterprise would be if every agent managed service interactions by effectively using that knowledge Step 3: Setting content boundariesWhen defining the scope of the knowledge base, the most common mistake is to try to include too much. Overly ambitious deployments almost always result in what’s called â€Å"the Swiss cheese problem†Ã¢â‚¬â€a knowledge base that is solid in places, but full of holes. This is a recipe for failure, because if users can’t find the answers they want most of the time, or get the wrong answers, they will quickly stop using the system. It is better to be thorough with a limited area than to cover a broad area superficially.For instance, for an enterprise that sells printers, scanners, fax machines, and copiers, the best approach would be to cover one product line thoroughly, rather than all products at once. Step 4: Prioritizing objectives Establishing the value of knowledge enables prioritization, but this process may involve trade-offs. For example, in a technology subscription environment like cable TV, Internet service provision, or mobile telephony, there are typically three competing goals:  ¦ Speed of problem resolution (the â€Å"right answer† focus): The shorter the average duration of a call, the ower the cost to the enterprise.  ¦ Customer retention: Educating customers about unused features can result in greater customer acceptance and lower churn.  ¦ Up-selling and cross-selling: It may be that the best solution to a customer’s problem is selling that customer a higher tier of service or an add-on product. Enterprises must match their knowledge systems and processes to the service priorities. Step 5: Setting time boundaries In our experience with many deployments, a time-boxed approach to knowledge gathering works best.If the deployment appears to be falling behind schedule, narrowing the scope of the knowledge base (to avoid the Swiss cheese problem) and finishing on schedule is the way to go. The reason has to do with ROI—the main reason for the deployment to begin with. The longer it takes to get the system up and running, the longer it takes to achieve the ROI. If the knowledge scope has been correctly identified and prioritized, the most important questions will be covered. Furthermore, it is always possible to expand the scope later.As a rough guide, a typical enterprise deployment should not take longer than three months (after planning is done), with three or four full-time people engaged. This period includes software installation, knowledge gathering, and testing both the quality of the knowledge base as well as the performance of the system. Step 6: Selecting and managing experts Obviously, the people who contribute to the knowledge base must be technically competent, but it is equally important that they not be too far removed from day-to-day customer contact.Successful knowledg e management depends as much on the questions as the answers, and it is sometimes difficult for subject matter experts to â€Å"stoop† to the level of ordinary customers who may not know complex details like the baud rate of their modem or whether their mutual fund is front-loaded or back-loaded. There is another very important issue with experts: the reluctance to share knowledge and the fear of being â€Å"replaced by a machine. † It is important, therefore, that enterprises plan and communicate how the role of the experts will change once knowledge management has been implemented.Moreover, enterprises should create incentives for domain experts to share their knowledge with the rest of the organization. Step 7: Controlling content Once the knowledge gathering process has been completed, results must be reviewed in light of strategic objectives. It is critical for organizations to set up a review process for approving the final content of the knowledge base. This inc ludes determining who (beyond the experts) should review the content, and who has the authority to make final decisions. There are good reasons for not leaving these decisions to content experts alone.For example, any material an enterprise presents to the public can have legal or safety implications. One good approach to quality control is the use of workflow authoring software where agents (or customers and partners, in the case of self-service) can suggest additions or changes, but only authorized individuals can approve them. 3. SUPPORTING TECHNOLOGIES According Laudon and Laudon (2006) major commercial knowledge management systems vendors has integrated their content and document management capabilities with powerful portal and collaboration technologies.Enterprise knowledge portals can provide access to external sources of information such as news feeds and research as well as to internal knowledge recourses along with capabilities for e-mail, chat, instant, messaging, discuss ion groups and video conferencing . Laudon and Laudon (2006) further states that companies are now staring to use consumer web technologies such as blogs, wikies and social booking marking for internal use to facilitate the exchange of information between individuals and teams. E. g. Intel COE Paul; Otellini has a Blog for conveying his thoughts.Learning management systems provides tools for the management, delivery, tracking, and assessment of various types of employee learning and training. Contemporary leanaing management system support multiple modes including CD-ROM, downloadable video, web based classes live instruction in cases or online and group learning. In online forums and chat sessions. Learning management systems consolidate mixed media training, automatic the selection and administration of courses, assemble and deliver learning content and measure learing effectiveness. (Laudon and Laudon 2006). 4. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE WORKSOslon(2000) describes the following as types of knowledge works. a) Diagnosis and problem finding These are knowledge work because they depend heavily on knowledge and expertise of the analyst or diagnostician. The work of diagnosis tends to be semi structured and unstructured b) Planning and decision making Many people who engage in knowledge work may contribute to the decision making process. Staff professions such as financials analyst or market researchers are responsible for collecting and analyzing data before results are presented to the person responsible for decision making.Planning and decision making are knowledge work because they depend on expertise of the decision maker and manipulation of data using decision model. Highly structured programmed decision making has less knowledge work content than unstructured decision making. c) Monitoring and control Many monitoring and control activities can be structured and made fairly routine. Analysis of the meaning and of monitoring reports and analysis of variances often require expertise and judgment on the part of the reviewer, these monitoring and control activities are knowledge. ) Organizing and scheduling Organizing is critical component of knowledge work productivityand scheduling is a structuring activity which establishes a time sequence to other activities including personal activities and meetings. e) Authoring and presentation The objective of this class of knowledge to to progress from an idead through multiple media transformation to a final presentation form, whether document, diagram, or a set of visual aids for a presentation. 5. TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS a) Structured knowledge systems: Some knowledge exists already somewhere in the form of structures text documents and reports or presentation, and the central problems organizing this existing structured knowledge into a library and making it accessible throughout the firm. (b) Semi structured knowledge systems: Managers may also need information that exists somewhere i nside the firm in the form of less structured documents, such as e-mail, voice mail, chat room exchangers , video, digital pictures, brochures, bulletins boards.This knowledge can be stored in knowledge repository. Knowledge repository is collection of internal and external knowledge in single location for more efficient management and utilization by the organization. 6. KNOWLEDGE BASED SYSTEMS McLeod Jr(1998) describes artificial Intelligence, Expert systems as knowledge based system. He further expounds as follows (a) Artificial Intelligence: Is the activity of providing such machines as computers with the ability to display behaviour that would be regarded as intelligent if it were observed in humans.A. I represent the most sophisticated form of human reasoning. According to O’Brien(2004) Artificial Intelligence offers the following advantages of knowledge systems. †¢ Reducing training time †¢ Reducing training costs. †¢ Replication valuable expertise †¢ Reducing operation response time. †¢ Presenting valuable knowledge (b) Expert system: Is a computer program that attempts to represent knowledge of human experts in the form of heuristics. Expert system is expected to: †¢ Better performance for the firm:As the managers extend their problem solving abilities through the use of the expert systems the firms control mechanism is improved. The firm is better able to meet its objectives. †¢ To maintain control over the firms: Knowledge expert systems afford the opportunity to make the experiences employees knowledge more available to new, less experiences employees and to keep that knowledge in the firm long even after the employee have left the firm The expert system outputs through: †¢ Explanation of questions: The manager may desire explanation while the expert systems perform its reasoning.Theses is done through questions as the expert system provides the explanation †¢ Explanation of the problem solution af ter the expert systems provides a problem solution, the manager can ask for an explanation of how it ws reached. The expert system will display, each of the reasoning steps leading to the solution (c) Decision Support System: Decision support system provides information and models in aform to facilitate tactical and strategies decision making. They are information system that support management decision making by integrating: †¢ Company performance data Business rules based on decisions tables. †¢ Analytical tools and models for forecast and planning †¢ Easy to use graphical interface Decision support system tends to be used for adhoc queries rather than regular reporting. The technology varies particularly rapidly in this area and the newest development such as data warehouse attests to this Bocij (2009) (d) Executive Support Systems: provides senior management with system to assist them in taking strategic and tactical decision.The purpose is to analyze compare and highlight trends to help govern the strategic direction of accompany. They are commonly integrated with operational systems giving managers the falilitioan â€Å"drill† to find out further information or a problem Bocij(2006) (e) Hypermedia system: Provides computer based storage of documents composed of text, graphs, diagrams, sound, schematics, pictures motion, video and the link. Hyper documents include not only document but also indexes for cross references its materials Kroenke and Hatch(1989). f) Interactive Video: Is atype of knowledge system, video segments integrated via a menu processing application. Interactive video application overcome on of the biggest disadvantages of video media. The requirements of sequential access instead users are presented with video segments that they can control through a menu Kroenke and Hatch(1989). 7. BENEFITS KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS a) Improves service for students b) Improves services capability of faculty and staff c) Improve d effectiveness and efficiency of advising efforts. ) Improved ability to identify improvement efforts. e) Improved sharing of internal and external information to minimize redundant efforts and lessen the reporting burden f) Reduce turn around time for research. g) Facilitation of inter-disciplinary research h) Increased competitive and responsiveness for research grants, contracts and commercial opportunities. According to by Jillinda J. etl (2000) the benefit of Knowledge management in the area of research which is the key to learning especially in higher education is as outlined in table 1 below.Table 1: Application and Benefits of KM for the Research Process |Knowledge Management Application |Benefits | |A repository of: |Increased competitiveness and responsiveness for | |Research interests within an institution or at affiliated institutions (potential |research grants, contracts, and commercial | |Subcontractors). |opportunities. |Research results (where possible) and funding organizations (federal agencies, foundations, |Reduced turnaround time for research. | |and corporations) with easy search capabilities to facilitate interdisciplinary |Minimized devotion of research resources to | |opportunities. |administrative tasks. | |Commercial opportunities for research results. |Facilitation of interdisciplinary research. | |A portal for research administration procedures and best practices related to: |Leveraging of previous research and proposal | |Funding opportunities. efforts. | |Pre-populated proposals, budgets, and protocols. |Improved internal and external services and | |Proposal-routing policies and procedures. |effectiveness. | |Award notification, account setup, and negotiation policies and procedures. |Reduced administrative costs. | |Contract and grant management policies and procedures. | | |Technical and financial report templates and policies and procedures. | | |Overview of internal services, resources, and staff. | Jillinda J. etl (2000) also derived the following application and benefits of management as stated in table 2 below. Table 2: Application and Benefits of KM for the Curriculum Development Process |Knowledge Management Application |Benefits | |Repository of curriculum revision efforts that includes research conducted, effectiveness | Enhanced quality of curriculum and programs by | |measures, best practices, lessons learned, and so forth. identifying and leveraging best practices and | |Repository of content modularized and arranged to facilitate interdisciplinary curriculum |monitoring outcomes. | |design and development. |Improved speed of curriculum revision and | |Portal of information related to teaching and learning with technology, including faculty |updating. | |development opportunities, outcomes tracking, lessons learned, best practices, technology |Enhanced faculty development efforts, especially | |overviews, and so forth. for new faculty. | |â€Å"Hubs† of information in each disciplina ry area, including updated materials, recent |Improved administrative services related to | |publications, applicable research, and so forth. |teaching and learning with technology. | |Repository of pedagogy and assessment techniques, including best practices, outcomes |Improved responsiveness by monitoring and | |tracking, faculty development opportunities, and research. incorporating lessons learned from the | |Repository of analyzed student evaluations updated each semester for lessons learned and |experiences of colleagues, student evaluations, | |best practices for all faculty. |and corporate or other constituent input. | |Portal for new faculty with guides for developing curriculum, working with senior faculty, |Interdisciplinary curriculum design and | |establishing effective teaching styles, advising do’s and don’ts, supervising PhD students, |development facilitated by navigating across | |and so forth. |departmental boundaries. |Repository of corporate relati onships to identify curriculum design advisory task forces, | | |guest speakers, adjuncts, case study sites, and so forth. | | 8 CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS According to a document posted on internet by Kristy Annely (2006) Most of the challenges in knowledge management primarily stem from the types of knowledge reuse situations and purposes. Knowledge workers may produce knowledge that they themselves reuse while working.However, each knowledge re-use situation is unique in terms of requirements and context. Whenever these differences between the knowledge re-use situations are ignored, the organization faces various challenges in implementing its knowledge management practices. Some of the common challenges resulting due to this and other factors are listed below. (a) Willingness to share Knowledge: The employees may not be willing to share their personal tacit knowledge:. This call for a scheme to reward employees who add expertise to the knowledgebase . Knowledge base must be continually maintained and updated.New knowledge must be added and old, outdated knowledge must be deleted. (b) Data Accuracy: Valuable raw data generated by a particular group within an organization may need to be validated before being transformed into normalized or consistent content. (c) Data Interpretation: Information derived by one group may need to be mapped to a standard context in order to be meaningful to someone else in the organization. Data Relevancy: The quality and value of knowledge depend on relevance. Knowledge that lacks relevance simply adds complexity, cost, and risk to an organization without any compensating benefits.If the data does not support or truly answer the question being asked by the user, it requires the appropriate meta-data (data about data) to be held in the knowledge management solution. (d) Ability of the data to support/deny hypotheses: Does the information truly support decision-making? Does the knowledge management s olution include a statistical or rule-based model for the workflow within which the question is being asked? Adoption of knowledge management solutions: Do organizational cultures foster and support voluntary usage of knowledge management solutions? e) Knowledge bases tend to be very complex and large: When knowledge databases become very large and complex, it puts the organization in a fix. The organization could cleanse the system of very old files, thus diluting its own knowledge management initiative. Alternatively, it could set up another team to cleanse the database of redundant files, thus increasing its costs substantially. Apart from these, the real challenge for an organization could be to monitor various departments and ensure that they take responsibility for keeping their repositories clean of redundant files. . TYPES OF KNOWLEDGE (i) Tacit and Explicit Knowledge The distinction between tacit and explicit knowledge is critical in appreciating the scope of knowledge mana gement and how it differs from information and data management. Nonaka8 refers to the spiral of knowledge where new knowledge always begins with the personal. For example, a researcher has insights that lead to a new patent. Explicit knowledge deals with more objectives, rational and technical knowledge. Consist of policies, procedures, guides, reports, products strategies, goals, core competencies and it infrastructure.Is the knowledge that has been codified (documented) in a form that can be distributed to others or transformed into a process strategy? Tacit knowledge is a cumulative store of subjective or experimental learning. In organization Tacit knowledge consists of experiences, insights, expertise, know-how, trade secrets, skills sets, understanding and learning. It also includes the organization culture, which reflects the past ans present experiences of the organization peoples and processes as well as prevailing and costly to transfer.It is also highly primal because is unstructured, it is difficult to formalize or codify Rainer etl (2009). Nonaka(1991) identifies four basic patterns for creating knowledge in any organization: (a) From Tacit to Tacit. When one individual shares tacit knowledge with another in face-to-face contact. (b) From Explicit to Explicit. When an individual combines discrete pieces of explicit knowledge into a new whole, such as a finance manager collecting and synthesizing information and opinions from different parts of the organization then putting this into a financial report.. c)From Tacit to Explicit. This extends the organization's knowledge base by codifying experience, insight, or judgment into a form which can be reused by others. (d) From Explicit to Tacit. When staff begin to internalize new or shared explicit knowledge and then use it to broaden, extend, and rethink their own tacit knowledge. 10. INTERNET AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT Blogging Himanshu (2009) says blogging is a greatest source to share things on Inter net. Slowly blogging taking place of online media; in fact Blogging is now an example of online media.Many news agencies buy news from blogging companies time to time. There are enormous advantages of Blogging. Some of the advantages of blogging which enhances performance of any blogger are: Blogging brings lots of knowledge. From Word press to blogger, server to host, blogging to make money online, resources to online tutorials, bloggers get aware of all the small to big things present on the internet. Also blogging teach people to use internet resources effectively. Why Blogging is so popular Duermyer (2008) explains that Blogging is very popular today because it llows people to interact with each other. Blogging has also become a popular search engine optimization (SEO) tool because search engines like Google and Yahoo know that a blog is frequently updated with content or visitor comments, so their spiders visit blogs frequently looking for new content to include in their index. Additionally, blog content can be delivered automatically via electronic RSS (Really Simple Syndication) data feeds. Visitors subscribe to a blog's feeds in order to stay up to date with content that's being posted on subjects that interest them.Cassanova(2007) say that blog templates are coded in a way that they're well viewed by the Google's search engines. So we can consider this as an advantage since your blog will get much traffic from google if you're using his templates. He further explains that a blogger is flexible with all kind of entries like the bookmarking tools in footers and RSS subscription like FeedBurner. Blogger also allows for easy comments moderation and posts edition. However they have some Drawbacks e. g The dot blogspot subdomain can affect the image of your blog when it comes to advertisers to choose where to advertise for their products.Actually, it's not only about Blogger but it's the drawback of having a free domain name and Unlike other Blogging templa tes themes, blogspot's aren't really beautiful. You can do a better presentation with WordPress. Moreover, the columns are difficult to manipulate; you can hardly get three columns with blogspot while it's easy with wordpress.. (a) Word Press: Site ground knowledge base defines Word Press as an open source blog publishing application and can be used for basic content management: According to an article presented in the internet it is the most popular web blogging software because it provides   Ã¢â‚¬â€œ Ease of use.WordPress is suitable for just about anybody – from the absolute novice to the advanced programmer. – Feature-rich interface. WordPress has a rich text editor with advanced multimedia support; – Expandable. WordPress's community distributes a large number of modules for almost any popular website feature; – It is Open Source. This means it is free to install, use and distribute WordPress on your site. (b) Face book: According to the web site p age on http://www. vfw. org Face book is a social networking service that lets you connect with friends, o-workers, and others who share similar interests or who have common backgrounds. Facebook enables users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school, and region. The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students get to know each other better. Agnes(2008)says Clients or users can make groups and conversation or discussion topics. This assemblage or group can cultivate, or be gone alone to pass away, depending on the clients or users and their involvement..Facebook is a one-stop shop or supermarket for imparting blogging, media, calendaring, communicating, sharing ideas or information and others. Facebook can provide â€Å"Cooperative Extension† abilities or capabilities to work together and construct our networks in a single place by giving one pl ace without difficulty, imparting ideas or information and discuss subject or topics of interest. Face book brings jointly more than a few online apparatus. Furthermore to being capable to impart ideas or information and pictures, you can append applications few examples are: Flickr ,   del. cio. us, Twitter, your blog, news feeds to your Facebook home. (c) Youtobe: Geller(2008) defines YouTube as an online public communications site. The site allows for registered users to upload and have available for the public their videos for viewing. Anyone who goes to the site can view the videos that are posted on this site. The videos are anything from beginner videos to more professional videos. McGrath (2008) suggest using the technology (video) to capture knowledge dumps that can be prepared and stored for distribution.Face it, a video capture of someone's thoughts and actions delivered with their passion or emotion of the situation is far better (and a lot quicker) than trying to capt ure the same knowledge in writing. More specifically, he had several great ideas †¢ Use video to capture knowledge and a YouTube-type repository for storage and distribution. †¢ Use Blogs for day-to-day capture of activities and what is being worked on. †¢ Use a Wiki for collaborative projects. †¢ Use a  delicious-style tagging system for classification.McGrath's suggesting the utilization of today's most popular technologies for knowledge management purposes is strong and useful advice. (d) Wiki: According to Tech Terms Computer Dictionary (http://www. techterms. com/ ) A wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site visitors. A great example of a large wiki is the Wikipedia, a free encyclopedia in many languages that anyone can edit.Wikis can be used for a number o f purposes: †¢ On public Web sites to enable end users to easily contribute information. †¢ In teaching. Wikis can provide an opportunity to learn about team working, trust, etc. A good example is provided by Queen’s University Belfast . †¢ By researchers. Wikis are by Web researchers to make it easier to develop collaborative documents e. g. the FOAF Wiki . †¢ On Intranets, where departmental administrators with minimal HTML experience may be able to manage departmental content. †¢ Wikis can be used at events for note-taking e. g. in discussion groups . ) Flickr : Hendricks (2009) explains that An easy way to share videos and pictures of the people you love has brought about a social media networking site called Flickr. In a society of overwhelming social media networking sites, it is refreshing to find a website like Flickr with a specific purpose. Flickr was designed in February 2004 and has been growing since. It is in more ways than one a media s ite for the people. Members are able to upload their favorite pictures and videos to share. Some of the key features of Flickr not initially present but soon added are the abilities to separate your pictures.You can mark some as favorites, or separate them into groups. Tagging provides to be a helpful addition as well in order to keep the pictures organized and document people and dates. It is also possible to share your pictures with friends only or publicly. 11. CONCLUSION Technical education institutions are in the knowledge business, since they are involved in knowledge creation and dissemination and learning. Knowledge Management can transform technical schools to new levels of effectiveness, efficiency, and scope of operation. Through advancements in technology, data and information are readily available.The technical institutions lecturers and students able to discover and learn new measures, new technologies, and new opportunities, but this requires the ability to gather inf ormation in usable formats and disseminate knowledge to achieve the organization’s objectives. Knowledge Management can continually help discovering what an organization knows—codifying tacit knowledge, Data Mining, and Intelligence; continually increasing what the organization knows—organizational learning and communities of practice, and continually organizing and disseminating knowledge for use by the students and for research. REFERENCES Effy Oz and Andy Jones [2008] . Management Information Systems. Course Technology, Division of language learning, inc ,London. James a. O’Brien (6th Ed). [2004]. Management information system. McGray-Hill New Delhi Kenneth C Laudon and Jane P. Laudon (10th Ed) [2006]. Management Information System Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey. Margrette H Olson(2nd Ed) [2005] Management information systems , Tata McGraw-Hills, New York.. Nonaka, I. [1991] â€Å"he Knowledge Creating Company, Harvard Business Review, Paul Bocij Dave(3rd Ed) [2006]. Business Information System .Prentice Hall, London Kroenke and Hatch. (3rd Ed) [1989]. Management Information System McGraw-Hill. Watsonville. Raymonf McLead, Jr,( 7th d) [1998], ] Management Information System, Prentice Hall Upper New Rainer R. et al [2007]. Introduction to information systems supporting and transforming business. John wileys and sons inc. New Delhi Stuart Barnes (2nd Ed) [2002] Knowledge Management Systems Theory And Practice. Thomson learning London. Delhi . Agnes December 2, 2008. Some Advantages of Facebook. http://www. socialmediawatch. net/index. php/social-media-watch/1356/ Seth McGrath's  January 10, 2008.YouTube for Knowledge Management http://ykm. typepad. com/yerfdogs_knowledge_manage/2008/01/youtube-for-kno. html Dr. E. Scott Geller. October 15, 2007 12:57 PM. YouTube: What Is It and Why Use It? http://www. surfnetkids. com/safety/youtube_what_is_it_and_why_use_it-19026. htm Himanshu on November 5, 2009 . Top 10 greatest advantage s of Blogging http://www. blogtechnika. com/top-10-greatest-advantages-of-blogging Randy Duermyer, What is the Meaning of  Blogging? http://homebusiness. about. com/od/homebusinessglossar1/g/blogging. htm Cassanova at Wednesday,October 10, 2007, 8:59 AM    . Blogspot .. dvantages and Drawbacks http://wddc. blogspot. com/2007/10/blogspot-advantages-and-drawbacks. html Kaylee Hendrick . Jun 29, 2009. Flickr Proves Itself and its Advantages http://www. prlog. org/10270123-flickr-proves-itself-and-its-advantages. html Kristy Annely . November 09, 2006. Knowledge Management Challenges http://ezinearticles. com/? Knowledge-Management-Challenges;id=352953 Jillinda J. Kidwell, Karen M. Vander Linde, and Sandra L. Johnson. Knowledge Management Practices Applying Corporate in Higher Education http://www. unlibrary-nairobi. org/PDFs/knowledge_management1. pdf

Original Writing: Rumours over Rumours

It happened on a usual Friday in the autumn. The weather was very terrible: masses of rain were falling down the sky as if the clouds were exploding. There was no sun visible in the sky. The school bell rang and David put his stuff away and walked out of the classroom. He stood outside the school with his mates, waiting for their mums and dads to pick them up. Having to stay under the rain without any umbrella or a place where they could protect themselves from the rain. After 15 minutes standing and waiting outside in the cold David's last friend was picked up by his mother. That was very unusual as normally David is the first one to be able to go home, but this day was completely different. David had to wait about half an hour until the red BMW with his dad sitting inside arrived, red-faced and in hurry. David sat down on the front passenger's seat next to a normally unknown image. The car immediately made its way home. There was an uncommon silence inside the car. David sensed that something was definitely wrong, as normally he asks his son about how the day was. After a few minutes his Dad broke the silence: â€Å"David, how can you explain me the rumour that is there around our neighbourhood?† David just stared at the face of his Dad, thinking ‘What is he talking about? What is wrong with him?' â€Å"Don't look at me as if nothing had happened! You know exactly what I'm talking about. The rumour about you.† â€Å"What rumour!? I don't know anything about it – seriously. What's the rumour?† â€Å"The rumour is that one of my friend saw you in a bar smoking and drinking lots of vodka. He also saw you with another half nude girl. I can't remember her name.† â€Å"What? Who started that damned rumour about me? David asked innocently. â€Å"David – Is it true or not?† asked his dad suspiciously. â€Å"No dad! Of course it isn't true! I have never smoked or drunk any type of alcohol! You have to believe me dad! And I don't even know that girl you are talking about and I haven't been in that bar.† â€Å"Don't tell me any excuses young boy. Your mum will deal with you when we arrive at home† David kept quiet for the rest of their journey. David's dad only deposed David at home and drove away somewhere. David got much panicked because he knew that if his dad just went away without even speaking to his mum, it meant that trouble was waiting for David at home. Usually his mum does not get that angry with him and believes his son. But this time it was looking very differently because when he went into the house his mum was waiting for him on the couch. â€Å"You owe me an explanation young man!† she said in an unusual tone. â€Å"W-what is there to explain mum?† â€Å"Don't try to take the piss out of me! You know what I mean. The rumour about you. Is it true?† David shook his head slowly, â€Å"No mum† His mum laughed doubtfully: â€Å"Oh, c'mon! You think I can really believe you? I know you very well and you know that as well as I do how your face looks like when you are telling a lie. Why are you not just telling me the truth?† Depressed David looked up from the floor and said it straight out to his mum: â€Å"Yes mum! Yes – You are damn right. I was there in that pub and drunk a lot of alcohol and smoked. But you have to believe me; I don't know anything about that girl dad was telling me about. The bar is a clean bar and not a brothel.† â€Å"David, we never had any types of problems with your brother!† â€Å"Why don't you just tell me that into my face? You hate me and only think about Robert! Robert here, Robert there, he did this and that good think†¦ I've got enough of your Robert!† â€Å"OK David. I see, you don't want to be compared with your elder brother? I know the reason: It is because he is a good person and you are exactly the opposite of him. That's why you don't like him and don't want to be compared to him!† David was crying and silently went to his room. He laid down on his bed and cried. After a while he fell asleep. The next day was a holiday and David woke up very early, at about 6 o'clock. He first washed his face, got dressed and got back into his bed. He didn't have any breakfast because his mum was there and he didn't want to see her again. David spent all his day in his room doing nothing else as sleeping or playing around with his mobile phone. His parents completely ignored him, and so did he to them. His parents and David did not communicate to each other properly for about 4 week. David never went into this bar again, drunk alcohol or smoked cigarettes during this time although he was very depressed and often wished to go there. He thought of the possible effect that could happen if he did that again and got caught. When he got back to school after the holidays his mum started speaking with him and David felt very happy about it because in this period of time he found out how important a mother is to a son, which he just experienced. Their relationship was built together again and it seemed to be nothing that could break them both apart. But one day when David was at school his mum got a text message from one of David's mates that simply destroyed everything. This SMS was telling his mum that David went to a brothel and walked around with inadequately dressed girls. It was Jack, but he was lying. When David came back from school that day, her mother welcomed him with a slap. David got startled from that. He looked at his mother despairingly and didn't know the reason for this slap. â€Å"What did I do now mum? I swear to God I didn't go to that bar again or drunk alcohol!† he asked frightened. â€Å"You are a good actor David! I know that style of yours† â€Å"What!?† David asked without knowing anything. â€Å"I've had enough of you! D'you think I am that stupid? I just got a message from one of your friends telling me about Eva.† â€Å"I don't know any Eva! Who are you talking about?† â€Å"Oh c'mon David! First flirting with her in a bar and then walking around with her while she was wearing nearly nothing!† â€Å"Mum I don't have any girlfriend and neither I know anybody called Eva† â€Å"Why don't you just admit that you know that girl and the past rumour was true? You can't hide it forever!† â€Å"What should I admit? What am I hiding?† â€Å"You know what David? I don't even believe a single word coming out of your mouth!† â€Å"Do you know why I love my dad more than you? It's because you hate me! You only love Robert and don't care about me at all! I hate you too!† After saying this David ran upstairs to his room crying. He again lied down on his bed and thought about what he said. He regretted what he just said to his mum, because it wasn't true. He loved his mum a lot. It was just that they sometimes couldn't agree and had different thoughts about things. After a while he again slept. In that night he had a dramatic nightmare: He was falling into a whole without any end with his brother. There was a pavement on a side with people holding their hands up in order to catch one of the persons from falling. He saw how his brother Robert was able to rescue himself and survived. David himself was falling further and further into the whole, having no end. Suddenly he then woke up. When he woke up David realised that he was sweating extremely. He got out of his bed and washed his face in the bathroom. In the bathroom he looked at himself in the mirror and thought â€Å"I am dead anyway inside†. He was feeling an uncertain pain that was killing him inside. He looked at the clock; it was 3 o'clock. After he went back to his room he decided to write a letter to his parents about that he is trying to suicide. Once he put the letter on his desk, he opened the window and went out to the balcony. From the ladder there he climbed down the wall. There was a lake he knew about 5 kilometres away from his house, where he wanted to go. After looking back to the bedroom window of his parents and said farewell to his parents inside. He started his way to this lake by running all the five kilometres. He ran as fast as he had never done before. At about 3.30 he arrived there on the lake. David's biggest fear was a lake or sea as he could not swim. There were boats, which could be rented on the lake. As David didn't have any money with him he just took one and paddled to the centre of the lake. 5 kilometres away from where David was, his mum woke up and had the funny feeling that something was wrong, having to do with David. She decided to go to David's room to ensure that everything was alright. But in fact it wasn't at all. When she opened his room, she saw the empty room with the window open and the farewell letter on David's desk. She screamed a very ear-piercing scream when she read about David's suicide. At the same time David was in the centre of the lake and about to suicide himself. David closed his eyes and though about his family, his brother, mum and dad. Then he jumped into the lake with ice cold water and allowed the lake to swallow him†¦