Strategic human resource in the hospitality industry; A case of United States of America hotels

Introduction The report is a critical evaluation of the United States of America hotel industry. To accomplish this, there will be need to critically evaluate the extent to which strategic HRM can help organisations face the challenges of the future; under this section both external and internal environment of the industry will be evaluated. The associated challenges anticipated in future by the industry and how best strategic human resource management can help the industry address these challenges are also of interest in this report.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Strategic human resource in the hospitality industry; A case of United States of America hotels specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The second section entails application of SHRM to such activities such as human resource planning and flexibility of labour, strategic recruitment and retention strategies, employee development, knowledge management and suc cession planning, performance management, employment relationships and employee involvement, motivation and reward strategies all aimed at linking the concept of SHRM to support U.S.A hotels attain their plans and objectives. The third section revolves around the issue relating to change. It is worth noting that change in any industry is inevitable and for that matter this report will not only define change but also give an overview of the same and more importantly develop justified strategies to managing change as well as coming up with recommendation on the same. Industry overview It is no doubt that hotel industry in the United States generates billions of revenue as well as providing millions of job opportunities both directly and indirectly. Records show that the industry is third behind automotive and food sores respectively (Becker Huselid, 2001). The revenue generated by full service hotels of which are the largest section of lodging industry is about $80 billion annually. Interestingly in the year 2005 only there was selling of hotel with approximately $22 billion. It will be rational for the paper to bring out clearly examples of hotels that provide full service and include; Marriot, Hilton, Hyatt as well as Starwood. All these except Hyatt are owners of majority of the hotel brands in the country. In terms of employment, the hotel industry in the U.S has provided job opportunities to about 1.3 million people. Out of the total, a half works in full service hotels (Johnson Scholes, 2002). A closer examination of the workforce will definitely leave on with the impression that indeed it is diverse in terms of age, cultural background, sex, gender among others. It is worth noting that hotels located in the city centres offer employment to the urban populace. Approximately, the industry provides 8.0% employment opportunity nationally. The major issues facing the industry include the following; image and outreach, recruitment and retention as well as tra ining and skills need. For instance, the industry faces higher risks regarding employees’ turnover attributed to the fact that the industry is growing very first and the need for highly skilled employees is so high.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Nonetheless, the industry has a lot of opportunities particularly due to the fact that technological advancement has ensured that people can connect and travel with ease. Additionally the growing need of people to experience services offered in the industry coupled with a stable political and economic environment offers the industry an opportunity to grow further. All these can be attained if the most important asset is well managed and led. Strategic human resource management and future challenges There is no doubt that employees are one of the significant resources that ensures organizations attain their desired goals and objectives successfully (Dubinsky Skinner, 2004). For that matter, there is need to ensure that the resource is always at par in all sectors with regards to their capabilities to carry out tasks, duties and responsibilities in the most efficient manner. In the hospitality industry human capital is what differentiates between good service and bad ones characterized with poor quality. It has been noted with concern that there are certain persistent challenges that will continue to face the service industry and especially the hotel industry in the United States of America (Dubinsky Skinner, 2004). To understand the challenges the industry is facing, it will be rational for both the internal and external environment of the industry to be critically evaluated. On the same line of thinking, it is worth noting that internal factors are those attributes or challenges the organization can have direct influence while the external factors or challenges refers to set of attributes that the o rganization in question can do very little to address the situation. Among the serious external factors that affect the industry include; global political as well as economic instability, volatility of the business, availability of hospitality alternative supply, security issues as well as issues relating to travelling (Haidment, 2007). On the other hand, internal factors mainly comprise of the following; increasing and changing consumer needs and expectation, intensive competition, higher operations costs, shortages of skilled workers, technological advancement, and higher rates of employees’ turnover, training and a diverse workforce. For the purpose of this assignment only those internal and external factors that are linked to human resource management will be evaluated. Shortages of skilled and talented manpower It has been noted with concern that just likes other industries; the hotel industry is faced with challenge of acquiring skilled and talented workforce. Statistic s show that about 35% of the business entities in hotel are facing shortage of qualified workers (Haidment, 2007). Making things worse regards the estimate brought forth that in the next 10 years, the shortage of such workforce will go up by almost 15.0%.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Strategic human resource in the hospitality industry; A case of United States of America hotels specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For this reason it will be a challenge for the HR department to retain and attract employees. The individuals in short supply include cooks, pastry cooks, barmen, waiters, receptionists as well as chambermaids (Becker Huselid, 2001). One cannot ascribe one cause to the current and the anticipated problem since a multiple of factors seem to result to the problem. One such factor is the attractive pay from other related service industry such as cabin crew, tourism among others has resulted to competitio n on the scare resource. Additionally, despite the efforts being made by institution of learning to encourage student take up hotel related courses, many of the targeted student are having other options such as business, nursing, engineering hence leaving very few individuals joining the course hence fewer graduates. Another factor that results to shortages of talented and skilled employees is with regards to the rapid growth of the hotel industry. This coupled with higher pay in other countries especially in the Middle East particularly Dubai has seen to it that potential employees migrate to these countries since the pay is good. Higher rates of employee turnover Despite the fact that an organization might have at its disposal a diverse, skilled and talented workforce, ensuring that they remain and provide their services to the organization has been a challenge especially to the hoteliers. It has been shown that the amount of work as well as time for an average hotel employee exce ed the 8 hours per day limit (Thornhill, 2000). This coupled with lower pay the employees receive and the fact that there are other service industries willing to provide competitive wages and salaries definitely has seen to it that hotels continue and will continue to loss their workforce. Similarly, it is a fact that most hotel in the United States of America have employed younger individual who are between 20 and 30 years. This group of individuals have more to achieve in their lives (Sparrow Cooper, 2003). For instance, they might be looking for more cash so that they can be able to finance their further studies. For this reason, they will definitely leave the hotel industry to go and study. Considering the issue of lower salaries, once they graduate they will look for better paying jobs particularly in other service industries other than hotels. Additionally, due to the fact that the industry is characterized by higher risks of volatility and fluctuations, workers once they lea rn of an opportunity elsewhere will not think twice on taking the new assignment (Desseler, 2005).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Diverse workforce As noted in the internal environment of the industry, it is evident that the workforce in the industry is made up of purely people from different backgrounds in terms of culture, age, race, education level, religion, sex orientation to mention but a few. The human resource in this sector are also compelled just like in the other sectors to strictly adhere to the law of the land pertaining issues related to equal employment opportunities. At no time should any hotelier through his or her human resource department unfairly treat an individual or group of individual based on the various factors such as sex, age, and education level among others to later disadvantage (Leopold Harris Watson, 2005). Literature has it that due to the fact that globalization is a reality and it is a concept that will stay with mankind for the rest of his existence, sectors such as the service industries and particularly hotels will continue to have a much more diverse workforce. Consideri ng the advantages brought forth by having a diverse workforce, it will be irrational for the HR not to have strategies in place that will aim at capitalizing on such advantages as improved organization outlook among others. It is worth mentioning that the consequences of not properly managing a diverse workforce are unimaginable and can lead to such issues as legal battle, poor public image, economic loss to mention but a few. Some of these reasons are largely contribute to high rate of employee turnover as well as attrition rates (Sparrow Cooper, 2003). Technological advancement The pace at which mankind has experienced changes in technology since the inception of computers back in 1960s has been tremendous. From such innovations, various sectors in the world of business have embraced the technology with the desire that without such an initiative, their future will be doomed. However, it has been seen that although some organizations or sectors have successfully used technology to create competitive advantage, other have terribly failed in adopting this innovations. In the hotel industry, using technology can range from such simple tasks as keeping visitors record in a computer to such complex initiative as placing visitor’s orders online among others (Desseler, 2005). Considering the fact that it is human who will command these computers for service delivery, it is imperative that the human resource department strategically places it self in ensuring that the workforce are capable of doing this successfully. On the same note, a serious concern comes to light and this is with regards to knowledge management, skills and knowledge transfer as well as training and education. There are various issues that hinder the human resource department from successfully executing sustainable and fruitful education and training programs and this will even be seen in the future. Strategic human resource management and business strategy According to Reddington, William son Withers, 2005 strategic human resource management has been thought of as a concept which is proactive in nature aimed at helping organizations to be in a better position in meeting the needs as well as aspirations of workers while at the same time promoting the goals and objectives of the company. Generally speaking the concept of SHRM in the hospitality industry is aimed at ensuring that the human capital department is always a head of time in trying to help the business entity meet its objectives and goals. Having already defined SHRM, it is no doubt that if it is well thought-out during its application, ideally all sectors in the hotel industry will be positively impacted. For instance, during the process of brining in new employees, better strategies will be used during recruitment and hiring process (Leopold, Harris Watson, 1999). On the same note education programs as well as training programs will be developed. Similarly, SHRM will play a major role in ensuring that wor kers are motivated and highly satisfied with their jobs. All these will translate to lower levels of employee turnover as well as availability of skilled and talented workforce very vital for an organization to meet the needs, demands and aspirations of its customers. There are two components of strategic management; strategy formulation and strategy implementation. The former entails mechanisms of arriving at a decision on the direction to be taken by the organization in terms of mission, goals, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Rosen, 1995). The later refers to the processes of coming up with structures as well as allocation of resources in order to achieve the best chosen strategy. Last but not least, SHRM has the potential of ensuring that a workplace environment in which diverse workforce is appreciated, employees are motivated and satisfied leading to increased productivity of the industry in terms of provision of high quality services (Reddington, Williamson Withers, 2005). Benefits of using strategic HRM to support business plans With regards to the challenges that are facing and might face the hotel industry in the near future, human resource department is in a better position to help hotel industry regain confidence in terms of having competent workers. Since the whole idea of strategic human resource management entails being one foot a head; there are a number of benefits that can be derived when the business utilizes SHRM to support its business plans. It is no doubt that if nothing is done in a timely manner the industry will suffer serious setbacks that will seriously injure not only the industry but also other sectors that relies heavily on it (Tanke, 2001). SHRM although a new concept in theory of business is seen as a macro-oriented approach of human resource management and for that matter a blue print of human resource allocation in order to meet needs of an organization. SHRM mainly centres on the nature of human resource an d management practices that impact on an organization workforce (Storey, 2007). Managing diverse workforce As held by Storey, 2007 one benefit that will be brought about by the industry when incorporating SHRM in its strategy entails the successful management of a diverse workforce. Policies that are in line with the government laws, guidelines as well as procedures will be core. This will ensure that the issue with regards to discrimination is fully addressed. Having in mind that a diverse workforce in itself is advantageous for instance, there will be various and indeed suitable alternatives to solve problem and more so transfer on knowledge. Tanke, 2001 suggested that when workers are treated equally, there is no doubt that there will be no resentments and for that matter the entire workforce will work in unity hence being productive. Attracting and retaining skilled and knowledgeable workers As noted previously one serious challenge facing the industry regards the issue of retai ning as well as attracting talented and skilled workforce. Having the human capital management department think strategically, various mechanisms can be used to address the problem. For instance, job description when clearly defined, competitive salaries offered, the period for interviews, recruitment and selections shortened to at most 2 weeks and a conducive environment in which workers can engage in a flexible working environment might contribute to employees staying longer in the industry. For instance a flexible working arrangement will ensure that a mother who is breast feeding will report to work at a time she feels is convenient to her thereby allowing her to spend time with the child. Additionally SHRM is also capable of ensuring that better and workable programs to enhance education and training are in place (Tanke, 2001). Additionally, there is room for the industry through its HR department to sign a memorandum of understanding with institutions of learning so that the f ormer can benefit from access to talent while the later might benefit in financial gains among others. Other strategies that the HR can use to motivate its workforce is rewarding those who are performers and support those who do not seem to perform as expected so that they can gain confidence and engage their efforts in serving the industry. Promoting staff members can be a morale booster only if it is done purely based on performance and merit. It is worth mentioning that majority of the employees in this sector are very young. A well thought plan by the HR may decide to bring on board older workforce who will be more loyal as well as being experienced (Reddington, Williamson Withers, 2005). This group of workers will help in a great deal when it comes to sharing their experiences thereby enhancing knowledge and skills transfer. In the quest of attracting skilled workers, SHRM will factor in the issue of the industry seasonality and try to have in place strategies that will attrac t part-time works. To accomplish this, there will be need to not only identify potential new employees but to always be in contact with them. Negotiating better deal for the workers It has been noted with concern that various sectors of the economy are faced with unionized workers. Although this has its own advantages, it brings with it serious consequences that when not foreseen and corrective measures taken timely things might go beyond hand. SHRM will defiantly fore see this and advice the management regarding workers pay, duration they are expected to work, over time payment, work environment where workers can freely air their views with victimization as well as provision of learning environment. Ultimately, issues such as strikes or go slow will be a thing of the past and service provision will be uninterrupted hence making loyal customers happier as well as attracting new ones. Successful adoption of technology With strategic human resource management in place, it will be atta inable to adopt change especially with regards to innovation in the most acceptable manner. Before adopting any innovation, the HR will have to develop the need requirement, come up with alternatives and the rest implementation and evaluation. While this is being done, HR will effectively communicate the same to the end users. In fact it would be rational if the entire process from the start incorporates the views and input of the employees. This approach will ensure that the employees will bring in issues that are of concern and even propose better ways on how to curb them. When the final decision is made and their inputs are reflected, there will be very limited room for resistance, hence the hotel industry will enjoy the benefits brought about by technological advancement. Competitive advantage Finally, SHRM is capable of ensuring that the workforce in the industry are well trained and educated hence highly skilled, are motivated and fully satisfied with their work. In return, th e employees will feel the urge to give back something to the industry and there will be nothing other than providing the best of their best in terms of service delivery to customers. The ability to provide customers with unmatched high quality service in it self is a competitive advantage that will go extra miles in ensuring that the industry is a live an kicking even in the work of situations in terms of economy and competition (Reddington, Williamson Withers, 2005). Constant reviews of the strategies It has been noted that where SHRM is applied reasonably in terms of evaluating and monitoring of the employees as well as proposed alternatives that have been implemented, emerging as well as burning issues can be identified and corrective measures taken to arrest an ugly outcome. Various ways can be applied by the HR in trying to evaluate and monitor any situation, for instance using interview or survey to establish the level of employees’ satisfaction with regards to a recen tly implemented education and training programs. On the same note SHRM will bring the advantage of succession planning usually attained through better programs that enhance knowledge and skills transfer (Kearns, 2003). Strategies for managing change As noted previously, change is inevitable and for that matter organizations including the hotel industry opt to be in a position to manage change. Change refers to bigger changes and not smaller one faced by an organization. The changes or transformation include changing mission statement, restructuring, re-engineering and merging among other. The concept has been heightened by globalization propelled by technological advancement. It would be rational if the drivers of change in the hotel industry are identified since this will play a major role in dictating the best strategies to apply when managing it (Golding, 2010). Major drivers of change in the industry As suggested by Lindgren Bandhold, 2002 the hotel industry is one of the most dynamic industries in the world. There are a number of factors that contribute to the industry to be seen as one that is prone to change. Changing needs and demands of customers The major driver of change in the industry is with regards to the changing needs and demands of customers. It has been noted that with technological advancement, consumers have been able to equip themselves with adequate knowledge which has eventually led to the tremendous changes on their preferences. For this reason, the hotel industry has to keep it self on toss so that it can managed to retain their customers by providing them with what they want. According to Golding, 2010, it is also important to remember that most of the customers who travel especially to the U.S have carried out substantial research and for that matter hotels have no option other than trying to maintain high standards that will meet the visitor expects. Technological advancement Since the development of computer, major changes have t aken place and more is expected in the near future. With the notion that those who do not adopt technology will ‘perish’ in the current world of business, the hotel industry is not left behind in their quest to remain one foot a head of their customers by adopting technology. With the need to integrate information with regards to customer, databases will be generated to enhance networking. Consequently having in mind that the Y generation is growing and they are technology hungry, the hotel industry will have no choice but to adopt the same so that they can tap the benefits from this group of customers (Phillips Connell, 2003). Globalization As suggested by Burnes, 2004 the concept of globalization characterized by free movement of people, capital, goods and services has tremendous impact on hotel industry not only in the U.S but also globally. Due to high level of interconnectedness among people of varied cultures thanks to advanced technology that has enabled effecti ve communication; the hotel industry has been changed to accommodate the varying needs as well as demands of their customers from across the globe. On the same note, globalization has brought with it the idea of merging and acquisition seen as the ultimate solution to curbing the issue brought about by stiff competition. When two or more organization join resources together to enjoy the benefit brought about by the synergy issue will always a rise and there is need to timely address them (Campbell et al., 2002) How best to manage change With the understanding that change is inevitable, the human resource management has no other option but to fully equip itself with strategies to manage change for hotel posterity. One best strategy is to bring everyone on board during the initial change process (Burnes 2004). At this point all the stakeholders will be allowed to air their view with regards to adopting change. For that matter, when the level of involvement is high, there will be very little room for resistance to change. Similarly, wide range of alternatives will be evaluated hence ensuring that better solutions are in place to curb any problem that will arise. It is worth noting that this can be attained by adopting communication style that will allow free flow of information regardless of the hierarchy (Boxall Purcell, 2003.). According to Boella Goss-Turner, 2005 another strategy to manage change in the industry is to adopt the culture of a learning organization. A learning organization has been thought of as a company which endeavour in facilitating the learning of its workers aimed at transforming the whole organization. This idea will help the hotel industry maintain higher levels of innovation and creativity hence being competitive. Similarly, a learning organization better places itself in responding to external factors hence maintaining competitive advantage. Similarly, learning organization when it comes to issue pertaining to changes is at an advant age as they can adopt change quickly and successfully (Lindgren Bandhold, 200). On the same note having in place effective style of leadership is another important strategy that will ensure change is well and successfully managed. If those individuals bestowed with the responsibility of influencing the thoughts of their followers are able to create an environment that is conducive and they can lead by example, then managing change will be a walk in the park (Paton McCalman, 2000). More importantly, if the industry will have a committee to oversee issues relating to change such as monitoring and evaluating the same will help a great deal. With such a committee various issues arising during the process of adopting change can be timely addressed (Boella Goss-Turner, 2005). Conclusion and recommendation Among the recommendation about change; the hotel industry opt to understand that change is inevitable and there is need to carryout soul-searching before adopting change, it is not al ways guaranteed that adopting change will enhance success and finally strategies to successfully manage change is called for. From the review of strategic human resource management in the hospitality industry, it is apparent that various challenges such as lack of skilled and knowledgeable workers, higher rates of employee turnover among others can be successfully addressed. Similarly, the major drivers of change in the industry include advances in technology, changing demands and aspirations of customers, globalization as well s the desire to form mergers and acquisitions. It is paramount from the analysis herein that having in place strategies to manage change such as allowing everybody to be on board, effective leadership and having a committee bestowed with the task of monitoring and evaluating change will help the industry to successfully adopts change. References Becker, B. Huselid, M., 2001. The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy and Performance, Harvard Business School Press; Harvard. Boella, M. Goss-Turner, S., 2005. Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry, Elsevier: London Boxall, P. Purcell, J., 2003. Strategy and Human Resource Management, Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke. Burnes, B., 2004. Managing Change: A Strategic Approach to Organisational Dynamics, Pearson Education: Harlow. Campbell, D., Stonehouse, G. Houston, B., 2002. Business Strategy: An Introduction, Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford. Desseler, G., 2005. Human Resources Management, Pearson Prentice Hall: New Jersey. Dubinsky, A. Skinner, A., 2004. High Performers: Recruiting Retaining Top Employees. Thomson/South-Western, Mason, OH. Golding, N., 2010. â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management† in Beardwell, J. Claydon, T., 2010. Human Resource Management: A Contemporary Approach, Prentice Hall: New York Haidment, F., 2007. Human Resources 2006-2007 – Annual Editions, McGraw -Hill Companies: London. Johnson, G. Scholes, K., 2002. Exploring Corporate Strategy, Prentice Hall: Harlow: FT. Kahnweiler, W. Burlington, J., 2005. Shaping your HR Role: Succeeding in Today’s Organizations, Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford. Kearns, P., 2003. HR Strategy: Business Focused Individually Centred, Butterworth Heinemann: Oxford. Leopold, J., Harris, L. Watson, T., 2005. The Strategic Managing of Human Resources, FT Prentice Hall: Harlow. Leopold, J., Harris, L., Watson, T., 1999. Strategic Human Resourcing: Principles, Perspectives and Practices, Sage Publication: London Lindgren, M. Bandhold, H., 2002. Scenario Planning, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Paton, R. McCalman, J., 2000. Change Management, Sage Publications: London. Phillips, J. Connell, A., 2003. Managing Employee Retention: A Strategic Accountability Approach Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford. Reddington, M., Williamson, M. Withers, M., 2005. Transforming HR: Creating Value Through People, Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford Rosen, R., 1995. Strategic Management : An Introduction, Pitman Publishing: London. Sparrow, P. Cooper, C., 2003. The Employment Relationship: Key Challenges for HR, Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann: Boston. Storey, J., 2007. â€Å"What is strategic HRM?† in Storey, J., 2007. Human Resource Management: A Critical Text, New York: MacMillan Tanke, M., 2001. Human Resources Management for the Hospitality Industry, Delmar: London Thornhill, A., Lewis, P., Millmore, M. Saunders, M., 2000. Managing Change: A Human Resource Strategy Approach Prentice Hall: Harlow: FT. 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World War 1 - A Short Timeline of 1915

World War 1 - A Short Timeline of 1915 Germany now plotted a change of tactic, fighting defensively in the West and trying to defeat Russia in the east quickly by attacking, while the Allies aimed to break through on their respective fronts. Meanwhile, Serbia came under increased pressure and Britain planned to attack Turkey. January 8: Germany forms a southern army to support the faltering Austrians. Germany would have to send ever more troops to prop up what became a puppet regime. January 19: First German Zeppelin raid on British mainland. January 31: The first use of poison gas in WW1, by Germany at Bolimow in Poland. This ushers in a terrible new era in warfare, and soon the allied nations join in with their own gas. February 4: Germany declares submarine blockade of Britain, with all approaching ships considered targets. This is the start of Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. When this is restarted later in the war it causes Germany to lose. February 7 - 21: Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes, no gains. (EF) March 11: The Reprisals Order, in which Britain banned all neutral parties from trading with Germany. As Germany was suffering a naval blockade by Britain this became a serious issue. The US was supposedly neutral, but couldnt get supplies to Germany if it had wanted to. (It didnt.) March 11 - 13 : Battle of Neuve-Chapelle. (WF) March 18: Allied ships attempt to bombard areas of the Dardanelles, but their failure causes the development of an invasion plan. April 22 - May 25: Second Battle of Ypres (WF); BEF casualties are triple those of Germans. April 25: The Allied ground assault begins in Gallipoli. (SF) The plan has been rushed, the equipment is poor, commanders who would later prove themselves act badly. It is a colossal mistake. April 26: The Treaty of London is signed, in which Italy joins the Entente. They have a secret agreement which gives them land in a victory. April 22: Poison Gas is first used on the Western Front, in a German attack on Canadian troops at Ypres. May 2-13: Battle of Gorlice-Tarnow, in which the Germans push Russia back. May 7: The Lusitania is sunk by a German submarine; casualties include 124 Americans passengers. This inflames US opinion against Germany and submarine warfare. June 23 - July 8: First Battle of Isonzo, an Italian offensive against fortified Austrian positi ons along a 50-mile front. Italy makes ten more attacks between 1915 and 1917 in the same place (The Second - Eleventh Battles of Isonzo) for no real gains. (IF) July 13-15: The German Triple Offensive begins, aiming to destroy the Russian army. July 22: The Great Retreat (2) is ordered - Russian forces pull back out of Poland (currently part of Russia), taking machinery and equipment with them. September 1: After American outrage, Germany officially stops sinking passenger vessels without warning. September 5: Tsar Nicholas II makes himself Russian Commander-in-Chief. This directly leads to him being blamed for failure and the collapse of the Russian monarchy. September 12: After the failure of the Austrian Black Yellow offensive (EF), Germany takes over ultimate control of Austro-Hungarian forces. September 21 - November 6: Allied offensive leads to Battles of Champagne, Second Artois and Loos; no gains. (WF) November 23: German, Austro-Hungarian and Bulgarian forces push the Serbian army into exile; Serbia falls. December 10: The Allies begin slowly withdrawing from Gallipoli; they complete by January 9 1916. The landing has been a total failure, costing a huge number of lives. December 18: Douglas Haig appointed British Commander-in-Chief; he replaces John French. December 20th: In The Falkenhayn Memorandum, the Central Powers propose to bleed the French White through a war of attrition. The key is using Verdun Fortress as a French meat grinder. Despite attacking on the Western Front, Britain and France make few gains; they also incur hundreds of thousands more casualties than their enemy. The Gallipoli landings also fail, causing the resignation of a certain Winston Churchill from British government. Meanwhile, the Central Powers achieve what looks like success in the East, pushing the Russians back into Belorussia...but this had happened before - against Napoleon - and would happen again, against Hitler. Russias manpower, manufacturing and army remained strong, but casualties had been huge. Next page 1916 Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Persian Battle at Thermopylae in 300 Movie

Persian Battle at Thermopylae in 300 Movie Thermopylae (lit. hot gates) was a pass the Greeks tried to defend in a battle against the Persian forces led by Xerxes, in 480 B.C. The Greeks (Spartans and allies) knew they were outnumbered and hadnt a prayer, so it was no surprise that the Persians won the Battle of Thermopylae. The Spartans who led the defense were all killed, and they may have known in advance that they would be, but their courage provided inspiration to the Greeks. Had the Spartans and allies avoided what was, in essence, a suicide mission, many Greeks might have willingly medized* (become Persian sympathizers). At least that is what the Spartans feared. Although Greece lost at Thermopylae, the following year they won battles fought against the Persians. Persians Attack the Greeks at Thermopylae Xerxes fleet of Persian ships had sailed along the coastline from northern Greece into the Gulf of Malia on the eastern Aegean Sea towards the mountains at Thermopylae. The Greeks faced the Persian army at a narrow pass there that controlled the only road between Thessaly and Central Greece. Spartan King Leonidas was general in charge of the Greek forces that tried to restrain the vast Persian army, to delay them, and keep them from attacking the rear of the Greek navy, which was under Athenian control. Leonidas may have hoped to block them long enough that Xerxes would have to sail away for food and water. Ephialtes and Anopaia Spartan historian Kennell says no one expected the battle to be as short as it was. After the Carnea festival, more Spartan soldiers were to arrive and help defend Thermopylae against the Persians. Unfortunately for Leonidas, after a couple of days, a medizing traitor named Ephialtes led the Persians around the pass running behind the Greek army, thereby squashing the remote chance of Greek victory. The name of Ephialtes path is Anopaea (or Anopaia). Its exact location is debated. Leonidas sent away most of the amassed troops. Greeks Fight the Immortals On the third day, Leonidas led his 300 Spartan hoplite elite troops (selected because they had living sons back home), plus their Boeotian allies from Thespiae and Thebes, against Xerxes and his army, including the 10,000 Immortals. The Spartan-led forces fought this unstoppable Persian force to their deaths, blocking the pass long enough to keep Xerxes and his army occupied while the rest of the Greek army escaped. The Aristeia of Dieneces Aristeia relates to both virtue and the reward given the most honored soldier. In the Battle at Thermopylae, Dieneces was the most honored Spartan. According to Spartan scholar Paul Cartledge, Dieneces was so virtuous that when told there were so many Persian archers that the sky would grow dark with the flying missiles, he replied laconically: So much the better we shall fight them in the shade. Spartan boys were trained in night raids, so although this was a show of bravery in the face of countless enemy weapons, there was more to it. Themistocles Themistocles was the Athenian in charge of the Athenian naval fleet that was nominally under the command of the Spartan Eurybiades. Themistocles had persuaded the Greeks to use the bounty from a newly discovered vein of silver at its mines at Laurium to build a naval fleet of 200 triremes. When some of the Greek leaders wanted to leave Artemisium before the battle with the Persians, Themistocles bribed and bullied them into staying. His behavior had consequences: Some years later, his fellow Athenians ostracized the heavy-handed Themistocles. The Corpse of Leonidas There is a story that after Leonidas died, the Greeks tried to retrieve the corpse by means of a gesture worthy of the Myrmidons trying to rescue Patroclus in the Iliad XVII. It failed. The Thebans surrendered; the Spartans and Thespians retreated and were shot by Persian archers. The body of Leonidas may have been crucified or beheaded on Xerxes orders. It was retrieved about 40 years later. Aftermath The Persians, whose naval fleet had already suffered seriously from storm damage, then (or simultaneously) attacked the Greek fleet at Artemisium, with both sides suffering heavy losses. According to the Greek historian Peter Green, the Spartan Demaratus (on Xerxes staff) recommended splitting the navy and sending part to Sparta, but the Persian navy had been too heavily damaged to do so fortunately for the Greeks. In September of 480, aided by northern Greeks, the Persians marched on Athens and burned it to the ground, but it had been evacuated.

The Red Scare and The Second Red Scare Research Paper

The Red Scare and The Second Red Scare - Research Paper Example The first Red Scare The first main manifestation of strong anti-communism in the US occurred in 1919 and 1920 following the 1917 Bolshevick Revolution in Russia. It also came as a result of strong patriotic years of the First World War in which social agitation and left-wing political violence worsened the national political and social tensions. According to Murray (1971), the Red Scare can be described as a nation-wide anti-radical hysterical which was triggered by increasing anxiety and fear that the Bolshevick revolution was going to occur in America. This revolution was to change home, marriage, Church, civility and the American way of life1. During this time, newspapers increased the existing political fears into xenophobia because different radical anarchism was seen as the answers to poverty. At the same time the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) had supported many labor strikes in the period of 1916-1917. The press portrayed this as a radical threat which was inspired by the left-wing to work against the American society. However, this was a misinterpretation of the legitimate labor strikes by the press as plots to establish communism, crimes against society and crimes against the society2. In 1919, a plan to mail 36 bombs to popular members of the US economic and political establishment and immigration officers was discovered by the authorities. On 2nd June 1919, eight bombs exploded simultaneously in eight cities and the house of the Alexander Mitchell Palmer, the US Attorney General in Washington DC was one of the targets. Twelve famous lawyers and Felix Frankfurter, a Justice in the Supreme Court, criticized Palmer raids as unconstitutionally illegal3. Felix Frankfurter published a report concerning the US Department of Justice and the illegal practices in it. The report documented the violation of the 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th Amendments to the US constitution through the wanton violence and illegal acts which he states as Palmer-authorized. Palmer responded defensively by warning that left-wing revolution that was government-deposing would begin on 1st May, 1920. However, it failed to take place denoting that there was a shift in public opinion concerning communism. There were legal criticisms against Palmer’s claims for example that less than 600 deportations out of the thousands of resident foreigners were substantiated with evidence. The resident foreigners had been illegally arrested and deported back to their home countries. As a result to the shift in public opinion during first the Red Scare, left-wing and communist organizations for example the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and the IWW lost many members. During the first Red Scare period, the ‘criminal syndicalism’ laws were enacted by many US states4. These laws outlawed the campaign for violence in as a tool for affecting and achieving social change. The passage of the ‘criminal syndicalism’ laws triggered aggressive police investigat ions of individuals accused of advocating for such type of violence, their arrest and deportation. The individuals were being arrested and deported because they were suspected to be either communist or left-wing members. The wave of arrests, trials and deportation by the government became the characteristic events of the first Red Scare. The second Red Scare

Your Change Story Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Your Change Story - Assignment Example As a competitor, IBM marketed its products through the slogan â€Å"Think†. To position themselves above IBM, Steve Jobs created the slogan â€Å"Think Different† and removed the word â€Å"computer† from the company name. His vision in doing this was that it would remove the notion that Apple’s only specialty was computers, which brought in innovative products in other fields such as iPods, iPhones and iPads. The reason behind the success of such diversity was the creation of a new platform for mobile applications through the App store as well as music through iTunes. In particular, the iPad successfully captured the tablet market. This was a bold move away from traditions, where it would be expected that a company would identify a market segment and strive to meet that segment’s needs. Instead, Apple sought to serve a wide range of consumers in an approach that can be perceived as â€Å"something for everyone†. They have high-end computers for serious business people, fancy mobile phones for the youth, iPods for portable music for teenagers and iPads for travelling business

The History Of Baggage Handling Systems

The History Of Baggage Handling Systems What was to be the worlds largest automated airport baggage handling system, became a classic story in how technology projects can go wrong. Faced with the need for greater airport capacity, the city of Denver elected to construct a new state of the art airport that would cement Denvers position as an air transportation hub. Denvers new international airport was to be the pride of the Rockies, a wonder of modern engineering  [1]  . It was almost twice the size of Manhattan and about 10 times the breadth of Heathrow. The airport can handle the landing of three jet planes simultaneously even in bad weather. The airports baggage-handling system was even more impressive than its girth. The coal-mine like cars ran along 21 miles of steel track. 4,000 tele-cars routed and delivered luggage between the counters, gates and claim areas of 20 different airlines  [2]  . A CNS of some 100 computers connected to one another and to 5,000 surveillance cameras, 400 wireless receivers and 56 bar-code scanners coordinated the safe and timely arrival of every baggage. At least that was the plan. The airports baggage handling system was a critical component in the plan. By automating the baggage handling, aircraft turnaround time was to be reduced to as little as 30 minutes. Faster turnaround meant more efficient operations and was a cornerstone of the airports competitive advantage. Despite such noble intentions the plan promptly thawed as inefficient estimation of the complexity of the project resulted in swelling problems and public mortification for everyone involved. The inauguration of the airport got delayed by 16 months because of the problem. Expenditure to maintain the empty airport and interest charges on construction loans cost the city of Denver $1.1M per day throughout the delay. Of the numerous awkward gaffes along the way one was an unplanned demonstration of the whole system to the media. It elucidated how the system crushed bags, expelled content and how two carts moving at high speed retorted when they bumped into each other. When opening day finally arrived, the system was just a silhouette of the actual plan. Rather than computerizing all 3 concourses into one stand-alone system, it was used only in one concourse, by a one airline and only for flights which were outbound. Rest of the baggage handling was implemented using standard conveyor belts and a tug and trolley system that was entirely manually operated. This was hurriedly built when it became absolutely clear that the automated baggage handling system was never going to achieve its purpose. Although the offcuts of the system survived for 10 years, the system never worked properly and in August 2005, United Airlines announced that they would forsake the system completely. The maintenance costs of $1 million per month considerably exceeded the monthly cost of a manual tug and trolley system. BASIC MODE OF FAILURE Like all other failures the problems can be observed from numerous vantage points. In its humblest form, the Denver International Airport (DIA) project botched because the key decision makers could not analyze the complexity of the project with perfection. As intended, the system was one of the most complex baggage system ever endeavored. There was an exponential growth in the complexity of the project as it was almost ten times larger than any other baggage system. The heart of the complexity was a problem related to what is known as line balancing in project management terms. To adjust system performance, empty carts had to be circulated around the airport ready to carry fresh baggage. With more than 100 pickup points, the algorithms necessary to anticipate where the empty carts should wait for new bags epitomized a hideous dream in the mathematical aspect queuing theory. This failure in anticipating the number of empty carts required led to a delay in the picking up of baggage an as a result of which the system performance slide downhill. One of the main reasons of delayed initiation of the project was failure to recognize the complexity and the risk involved. Based on the original project schedule, this delay left a little over two years for the service agreements to be signed and for the system to be designed, developed, tested and implemented. The closest analogous projects although much smaller and simpler, took two years to implement. Given the dramatic increase in terms of size and complexity, implementation the Denver system in two years was an unmanageable task. As a result of the erroneous estimation of the complexity of the baggage system, the efforts required were also underestimated. That meant that without comprehending it, the Project Management team had calculated the baggage system as the critical path of the whole airport project. To meet the airports scheduled opening date, the project needed to be accomplished in just two years. This obviously was inadequate time and that miscalculation resulted in the project being exposed to gigantic levels of schedule stress. The other succeeding problems were most likely a result of (or aggravated by) shortcuts opted by the team and the mistakes committed by them as they desperately tried to meet the schedule. KEY DECISIONS THAT LED TO DISASTER Till now what has been discussed has made the basic mode of failure pretty clear. But to reach the heart of the problem and what could have been done to differently, we need to understand how the important decisions were made which eventually hampered the whole project. Project failures typically involve a number of faulty decisions, but within those many mistakes, some specific key decisions are the generators of the sequence of proceedings that eventually lead to catastrophe. Key Decision 1 An alteration in tactics At the beginning of a project strategic decisions are made that set the projects track. In the case of DIA, a tactical blunder was made that caused flip-flop to be made part way through the project. Before requesting for bids for an integrated system in the middle of 1991, the DIAs Project Management team had expected that individual airlines would take care of their own baggage handling activities. In 1991, the DIAs Project Management team altered their strategy and realized that an integrated baggage handling system needed to be built. This forced them to take back the responsibility from the individual airlines and carry out the whole project themselves. This alteration of strategy arrived only about two years prior to the airports scheduled inauguration date. This timing of the decision played a major part behind the unnecessary schedule stress that the project was exposed to. Although the decision made sense in the way that only one integrated system would be there with the entire responsibility on the DIA authorities, the timing of the decision was not proper. This led to a delay in start of the integration project. They got two years less time to finish it. The significant point that the airports Project Management team failed to see was that the change in technology required an analogous change in the organizational accountabilities. The failure to identify that change signifies a planning failure that happened during the start of the project. Overall, the mistake made was a failure to associate the airports overall business strategy (the aim of having one of the worlds most competent airports) with the sub-strategy of building the baggage system. Key Decision 2 The decision to continue What is even more surprising is that in spite of knowing that there was insufficient time, both DIAs Project Management team and BAE wanted to go ahead with the full-scale project. Before entering into the BAE contract, there were at least three clear suggestions that the project was not feasible in two years time: Breier Neidle Patrone Associates report clearly showed that the complexity was too much for the system to be built efficaciously. The three bids received pointed out that none of the vendors could have developed the system in time before the opening date. Munich Airport warned that a much simpler version made for them took about two years to be built and around another 6 months to get rid of the bugs. BAE initially did not choose to bid for the project, but the Chief Engineer of DIA directly talked with them and managed to convince them by stating the amount of prestige that was involved with such a large scale project. Many from inside the BAE raised their concern regarding the complexity of the system to be developed and the lack of time. But all the expert advice was ignored and they went ahead with the project with a development time of 2 years. Many factors may have led them into that trap and likely issues that may have influenced the decision making. Other than the Chief Engineers perspective and BAEs interests there were other factors or beliefs which made the whole project start. Both sides would have acknowledged that they were working within a constricted timeframe and the pressure to move rapidly might have caused them to put due-diligence to one side. The inherent belief that such a large airport would not function effectively without an automated system. As a matter of fact, the airport is functioning effectively with a manual system in place. Key Decision 3 The timeline, budget and scope Deciding on the timeline, budget and scope of the project is a critical issue and even more critical is committing on them to your customer. BAE did exactly that to the DIAs project management team. The decision to give a firm promise to scope, schedule and budget transmitted substantial risk onto BAEs shoulders. This clearly shows that the top management of BAE was not at all aware of the amount of risk that they were handling. BAE and the DIAs Project Management team made an additional mistake during the consultations. They excluded the airlines (who were key stakeholders) from the negotiations. Excluding stakeholders from discussions of key project decisions is always a trailing strategy. Key Decision 4 Acknowledgement of the alteration requests BAE and DIAs Project management team could not escape from the stakeholders pressures. Although they decided during negotiations that no change requests would be entertained, they had to accept them as the pressure was on them to meet the stakeholder needs. The stakeholders in this case being the airlines, which they ignored during the original negotiations. Some of these requests forced them to make significant changes in portions where they thought work was already completed. Incorporating these changes had other troubling repercussions. They failed to realize the effect these changes might have and how they would increase the complexity of the whole system. Although some people thought about the effects, their voices did not seem to have reached the higher decision making authorities. There was big communication disarray. Key Decision 5 Treading an alternate path A public demonstration of the project was given to the press sometime in 1994 and it was a major embarrassment. It exposed all the flaws of the project and the Mayor immediately ordered for an external consultant to be hired. Mattias Franz of Logplan Consulting of Germany was asked to look into the matter  [3]  . Based on his report, the Mayor scraped the project and ordered for the building of a manual trolley system at an additional expenditure of about $50M USD  [4]  . Although the Mayor took a very intelligent decision, it revealed another major flaw with the project. By the time the Mayor took action, the project was already 6 months behind schedule and had missed a number of opening dates. The missed opening dates and the tragic demo indicate that those at the top echelon actually had almost no clue about the true status of the project. A project of such size and complexity should always have an external consultant or expert looking after it throughout the whole developmental and implementation phase. Some other failure facts While the inefficient estimation of complexity, absence of planning, fruitless communications and lowly management oversight drove the catastrophe, the project underwent many other difficulties that multiplied the problems. Some of those issues were inevitable, but others were most probably a consequence of the time crunch the project was facing. Among the additional issues that impacted the project; Failure of Risk Management Throughout its developmental and implementation phases the project faced a number of technical problems for which they had not accounted for. These things aggravated their already haphazard situation. Such problems were likely foreseeable had the team a little bit more attentive on risk management activities. Again possibly as a result of the time crunch under which they were working, suitable risk management tactics seem not to have been developed. Change in Leadership In 1992 The Chief Engineer died. He was the systems de facto guarantor and his death left the project deprived of much required leadership. According to reports, his interim replacement lacked the in-depth engineering knowledge essential to understand the system. The replacement manager also had to take care of his previous duties and it stretched him to the limits. Issues with Architecture and Design A number of reports specify that the there was an inherent problem with the design that was chosen. It was unnecessarily complicated and prone to bugs. Some of the issues were: There were more than 100 individual PCs in the system. They were all networked together. If any one of the PC failed, there could have been an outage, as there was no automatic backup taken of the data. As the nature of the design recommended a distributed structure, (with PCs scattered around the different areas), it added to the trouble of solving problems when they came up, The worst thing about the system was its inability to detect jams. So, whenever a jam occurred, it kept piling on more and more baggage and thereby worsening it. Again time crunch could have been a reason for the design problems. In such a situation people settle for the first design or solution they can think of. That is exactly what would likely have happened. In addition time crunch often forces teams to concentrate on the happy path design without spending time on devising strategies to counter the problem or make the system fault tolerant. Conclusion The DIA catastrophe is a prototype for failure a lot of other IT implementation projects have followed. As with so many other failures, DIA suffered from; The inefficient estimation of complexity An absence of proper planning resulting in consequent alterations in strategy Extreme schedule pressure Absence of due diligence Committing to public and customer in the face of enormous risks and uncertainty Inefficient management of stakeholders Communication gaps and collapses Design not failsafe Inefficient risk management Failure to understand the repercussions of change requests Absence of management oversight While the above facts denote contributors to the letdown, there is one single problem that existed in the center of it all. For a project to be successful people need to make effective decisions and that requires a number of elements. The main two elements are expertise and knowledge. None of the teams involved in developing the DIAs baggage handling system had prior experience of a developing and implementing system of this magnitude. That lack of knowledge, along with the fact that advice from experts was habitually ignored, is the epicenter of the fiasco. The original planning decisions i.e. to go ahead with a single airport wide integrated system (in spite of being too late to do so) and the firms votive commitments to scope, timeline and budget all represented decisions that were made by people who did not possess the required knowledge. The miscalculations resulting from those choices were the sparks that kindled the fire. Often we have to face situations which we have never faced before and do not know how to proceed without risks. The success or failure of such a situation depends on the way we react to it. The step should ideally be recognizing the situation and its nitty-gritties, but the whole DIA project management team and BAE managers failed to do so. Had they acknowledged their absence of knowledge and the ambiguity they were facing, measures could have been taken to reduce the uncertainty. One of them could have been taking suggestions from experts who had some kind of previous experience in that kind of projects. The cheerful side of the story is that in Feb 1995 DIA did ultimately open and in spite of using a large manual trolley based system, proved to be a great success  [5]  . The apprehensions of a manual system being too slow for and airport like DIA and would result in increase in the turnaround time of the aircrafts, was never proved.

Promote communication in health and social care setting Essay

  Identify the different reasons why people communicate when working in a care setting communication is a key factor, you need to be able to communicate with a wide range of people such as service users, families and/or carers, other members or staff and management, you will also have to come into contact with other professional from time to time such as; doctors, nurses and social workers. Communication is the basis of all relationships, regardless of weather the relationships are personal or professional, and regardless of the nature of the communication. see more:explain how children and young people use communication methods in different ways Reasons why people communicate Explain how communication affects relationship within the work setting Communication affects relationships in many different ways in the work setting. Relationships are important and relationships are built of trust and understanding between people makes it easier to get things done. The benefits of effective communication in the workplace are that it is:- A happier, less-frustrating workplace experience. Frees up employees to focus on other more productive activities. An increase in satisfaction from workplace activities and workplace relationships. An increase in productivity can lead to an increase in pay, promotion, and prestige The key relationships are with the people that I support. The skills that I have learned as a care assistant will help me to build relationships and this will be important to ensure that the right outcomes are met, for example somebody may have identified that they would require support in their lives and they need to sure that the people they are working with are honest and trustworthy. Read more:  Describe the Different Ways That People Communicate Relationships with colleagues and other professionals are vital if people are to work together effectively. Showing respect for the work that other professionals undertake is an essential building block of a good professional relationship. It is important to take the time to find out what other people do and think about what you could learn from them, and remember that everybody makes a contribution. Demonstrate how to establish the communication and language needs, wishes and preferences of individuals. All relationships start through communication, when providing support for people you must ensure that you are a good communicator. You will have to gain an understanding of messages that are being communicated from others and be able to communicate back when you’re not always able to use words. When you first meet somebody and talk to them you would usually be using two language systems to enable communication and thy will be verbal and non-verbal communication. Verbal communication: is when we communicate our message verbally to whoever is receiving the message. Nonverbal communication: is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture, body language or posture, facial expression and eye contact. Body language is very important when you communicate as it affects the way people interoperated what you are trying to say. Effective communication requires you to have the ability to understand you’re own and other peoples non verbal behavior. Your body often sends messages to other people unintentially. Describe the factors to consider when promoting effective communication When people communicate they tend to take notice of somebody’s tone of voice and facial expressions first other than what is actually being said. As a care assistant being able to understand the factors that contributes to good communication is very important as this will allow me to gain an understanding of every service user and also be able to tell if anything is affecting them or causing them upset or pain. Demonstrate a range of communication methods and styles to meet individual needs. There are many different ways to communicate and ensuring that you are using the right level and type of language is very important to ensuring that you are being understood fully. Communicating with people may not always be about speaking or even non-verbal communication, you can communicate in a wide of different ways these are:- Email audio (speaking, singing) telephone conversation texting using a mobile (short messages) visual (seeing pictures, slides, artwork, written words) kinesthetic (teaching someone by showing them how to do something, hands-on instruction, texture) face-to-face vs. long distance   Interperators (if you are trying to communicate with somebody who’s language you do not speak) technological (some people prefer reading books, other prefer reading them via electronic screen) Demonstrate how to respond to an individual’s reaction when communicating A response during communication is important for the communication to take place. If someone is talking to you and you are not responding, it is difficult for communication to take place. When you respond to someone, it shows that you are listening to them, which then shows that you understand what they are saying and are interpreting it correctly. However, the response doesn’t need to be verbal. A simple nod can even be considered communicating, as long as both participants are aware of each other and understand what is being said. When communicating it is important to remember that when communicating you can often learn as much by observing as by what you hear. It is important to learn to listen with your eyes. An important part of responding appropriately to communication is recognizing when people are distressed and know how to deal with it. It is importing to have an understanding of the effects of emotions, as they can often be an indicator of a potentially highly charged or dangerous situation. There are some general indications that a person is becoming distressed and these can be obvious to see:- i. breathing patterns ii. excessive sweating iii. face and neck become red and flushed iv. body language v. eyes for example pupils dilate vi. change in facial expressions vii. change in tone of voice for example voice may become raised Explain how people from different backgrounds may used and /or interpreter communication methods in different ways When you are first communicating with somebody it is important to find out about communication issues the person you are communicating with. You can discover a great deal about possible communication issues by simply observing somebody’s behavior. Observation should be able to establish What language is being used If the person is experiencing any hearing or visual impairment If they have any physical illness or disability If they have any learning disabilities Any of these issues could have a huge affect on how well we communicate and can allow you to put steps in place to help communicating easier. Identify barriers to effective communication Hearing Impairment- A service user that has a hearing impairment in one or both ears. Visual sight- A service user that has no visual sight or poor vision or sight in one eye. Disability/learning difficulties- A service user that might have a condition that might stop them from communicating effectively and might need visual aids to help them communicate. Learning and speech impediment- A service user that finds it hard to communicate through speech and gets frustrated because they are not understood. 0ther languages (cultural backgrounds or English as an additional language)- you may need an interpreter or find other means of communicating with service user that do not speak English. Different family background personality. Demonstrate ways to overcome barriers to communicate Physical barriers Physical and environmental factors can cause problems when we communicate. When you are communicating it is important to consider the surrounding that you are in when you’re communicating, for example people find it difficult to talk in noise and crowded places. Understand what could be barriers to communication can allow myself to ensure that communicating id done effectively these could be:- Hearing loss Physical disability Visual impairment Learning disability Dementia Language differences Distress Demonstrate how to access extra support or services to enable individuals to communicate efficiently. If I am having any communication problems with a service user I would seek advice straight away as the longer I leave It the longer the problem will take to get resolved. Also the service user may become upset and frustrated and this can cause more barriers when communicating. The person I would go to first is my organiser and if they are unable to resolve the problem they will get in touch with people who can. These could be:- Translation services- can help with changing written txt from one language to another. Interpreter services – they convert spoken language from one to another. Speech and language services- support for people who have had a stroke or have problems with speech. Advocacy service- support people who are unable to speech for themselves. This service try’s to understand the needs and wishes of people and will argue on their behalf. Explain the meaning of the term confidentiality Within the care sector there are legal requirement under the data protection act 1998 to ensure that all records are confidential. This act gives people the right to see all the information recorded about them weather it’s their medical records or the social service file. Confidentiality means keeping all information with the work place safe and only be passed on where there is a clear right and need to do so if it could cause half to an individual. Confidentiality is an important right to everybody and it is very important as a care assistant to remember this as because service users might not trust a care assistant who can not keep things private additionally by breaking confidentiality you may be putting service users at risk if their personal details get out for example home address. All service users records will be kept in a locked office and they will also be kept on the computer which will be password protected and there will be policies on record keeping within the office place. Demonstrate ways to maintain confidentiality in day to day communication. The principle of confidentiality is about trust and confidence that people might have in care workers. Care workers need to ensure that they do not discuss one person who you support with another person that you also support. The most common way in which confidentially is breached is by people talking about work issues with family and friends. It is done very easy and very tempting to discuss the days events especially if you have had a stress full and it is often therapeutic. But by doing this if you don’t keep peoples details confidential and anonymous this could break confidentiality. Every organisation will have policies on confidentiality and the disclosure of information. As a care assistant it is important that I know where the policies can be found and what information is in the policies.