Research Topics

Why Enron Run Out of Gas

Why Enron Run Out of Gas       Abstract               Five years had already passed since Enron Corporation filed for bankruptcy protection on December 2, 2001, but the business world is still reeling from the unlikely event that shook the very foundations where great organizations are made. Enron’s application for bankruptcy protection was one of the most highly publicized business fiascos in history. The legal battle of settlements, criminal and civil charges and workouts will continue for years. But outside of the courts and the overly sensational press, what really happened? What caused the collapse of what at one time was the sixth largest company in the United States? The case explores the many stories of Enron in an attempt to find not only the answer to what happened, but what maybe learned from this failure.   The Enron Corporation and the Man behind             Enron was created in 1985 when InterNorth of Omaha acquired Houston Natural Gas. The merger/combination created the single largest operator of gas pipeline in the whole of the United States. Kenneth J. Lay was named the CEO of the merger/combination in February 1986. The combined company was then christened Enron. Kenneth Lay instantly became the fifth highest paid CEO in the United States. Working closely with his Chief Operating Officer (COO), Rich Kinder, Lay took in charge a rapid growth strategy for his newly created and named company. The Houston, Texas-based company, formed in 1985, grew into the nation’s seventh-biggest company in revenue by buying electricity from generators and selling it to consumers. It was admired on Wall Street as a technological innovator. In 1996, energy markets were changed so that the price of energy could now be decided by competition among energy companies instead of being regulated or fixed by the Government. With this change, Enron began to function more as a middleman than a traditional energy supplier, trading in energy contracts instead of buying and selling natural gas. Enron’s rapid growth created excitement among investors and drove the stock price up.               Although a cast of characters were involved in the Enron’s rise and fall, one person stands out as the thread which binds all others together throughout the brief yet intriguing history of Enron’s, Kenneth L. Lay. Lay earned his BA and Ma in economics at the University of Missouri. He found job with the Humble Oil in Houston after earning his degree. Oil industry, was the equivalent of the gold rush of the later century. It was a brief stint with the said company for he joined the US Navy and found his way to the pentagon corners and earned considerable connections. Lay returned to Houston where he earned his PhD in economics at the University of Houston. he then returned to government service, first at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), then the Department of Interior. Throughout his time in Washington, Lay focused on what he believed to be the inevitable movement towards deregulation of the U.S. energy sector. He believed boldly in its correctness. The U.S. energy sector was deregulated on 1996, Lay was already the CEO of Enron Corporation.             After only eighteen months in Washington, Lay joined Florida Gas in 1973 as Vice President for Corporate Planning, rising to President of the pipeline division in 1976, and finally to the Presidency itself in 1979. His career path was already clearly established with the energy sector.  He moved along this career path from Florida Gas to Transco Energy in Houston, and from there to Houston Natural Gas. On June 1984, at the age of 42 he became the Chief Executive Officer of Houston Natural Gas and he started executing which he would pursue above all others for the next 17 years, get big fast.             Enron Corporation, before meeting its final end in 2002 was a conglomerate of big business ventures ranging from coal energy to internet broadband. By the end of 2000, Enron break the 100 billion dollar revenue mark after only 15 years in operation. The highest revenue growth was reported from 1996 to 2000, from .3 billion of 1996 to 0.8 billion in 2000, a 57% increase in revenue unparalleled in any business ventures in history. Also by the end of 2000, Enron have more than 19, 000 employees which generates .9 million revenue per employee, peerless even with the monopolists people from Microsoft (2002).       Think Big, Look Big (the rise of Enron)             Grow big, fast. With Ken Lay’s corporate philosophy, he was headstrong of making Enron one the largest company in the US, not only in the energy sector but in the whole business sector. He engaged McKinsey Consulting immediately following Enron’s formation to evaluate the company’s strategy. The head of the McKinsey team was , a graduate of the  School of Engineering and Harvard Business School, where he finished his MBA on 1979. McKinsey consulting was widely considered the best and brightest of the time, and among many talents, Skilling stood out. Like Lay, Skilling also boldly voiced out what he considered the backwardness of the natural gas industry. One of his earliest proposals to Enron had been to apply the principles of market making, commonly applied in the financial sector to the natural gas industry. Although the Enron Board thought of the idea idiotic at that time, Skilling finally implemented this strategy in 1989 when he joined Enron. Skilling saw the company’s pipeline, which connected producers and buyers, as potential market maker. He created a gas bank, a natural gas trading business and envisioned Enron by being between the suppliers and demanders, the firm then was uniquely positioned to understand what gas was available from what sources at which points in time. Enron could then use that information for trading purposes in understanding the needs of buyers of natural gas. In a natural gas market suffering from a painful transition following deregulation as Ken Lay had foreseen, Enron quickly expanded sales and profits by offering both buyers and sellers longer-term fixed prices with little new investment in assets. This asset-light strategy became a centerpiece of Skilling’s approach to expanding the business. “To be a player in this business, you just need to understand the price of natural gas and the concept of risk. In the coming years, Wall Street firms piled into the business, but even Enron always had a huge advantage. Its immense network of physical assets, its ability to tie up all the moving pieces together and provide physical delivery of the gas itself, and its long history in the gas business gave it insights its Wall Street competitors could never match “( 2003). On Jeff Skilling’s insistence of to use an accounting system common to financial services, but unheard of in the energy industry, Enron applied the market-to-market accounting (MTM). MTM accounting allowed Enron to recognize its sales and earnings on deals today, although most of the actual sales and profits and cash flows would not actually occur until way into the future. Skilling successfully convinced both Ken Lay and Rich Kinder, then COO of Enron to use of MTM if they were to engage in trading business which Skilling envisioned by creating his gas bank.               Lay and Skilling began building a conglomerate little by little. Enron Finance was the brain child of Skilling, the unit was combined a year later with Enron Gas Marketing. It was a major development as it provided and established the much needed financing base to buoy Enron Finance, still a struggling unit. After another year, the business unit base was extended again, this time with the addition of the intrastate Houston pipeline business. The new combined unit was named Enron Capital and Trade Resources (ECT).             ECT occupied a whole floor of the Enron building and immediately became a subculture of its own. The majority of Enron’s traditional employees were from various engineering and science field related to natural gas and pipeline operation, ECT however recruited primarily MBA’s, who were selected on the basis of their intellect and ambition. Skilling encouraged out of the box thinking and behavior. With the culture of Enron before ECT as being rigid and strict to the rules as engineering and hard sciences fellows always seems to carry, the subculture of ECT was dubbed as “anti-Enron Enron”.             Skilling supported the development of a very loose culture in his own ECT. It was one which encouraged risk-taking and deal-making, but simultaneously did not expect loyalty, only performance. Ken Lay and Jeff Skillings, both become known as pushovers to prima donna traders or deal makers who demanded promotions, bonuses and perks.             From the very beginning, however, Enron only recruited the best and the brightest. Enron quickly gained a reputation of supporting and rewarding entrepreneurial thinking. In the words of a former employee, “If you could show that something new and different could make money, you could do it”. The company’s loose culture translated into a distaste for bureaucracy and a corporate belief in free markets.             Enron was growing rapidly, that it feels like the company needs a bigger space to market its business, and so in 1993 Enron International was created. Enron is now a multi-national company.             Although  is typically associated with Enron International, it was John Wing who was largely responsible for its early growth. Enron international originated from the Teeside gas-fired cogeneration power plant in United Kingdom which Wing developed. The Teesside project was the source of considerable profit in its early years, but eventually became one of the big sources for significant looses. Enron had entered into along term take-or-pay contract for NorthSea Gas from a newly developed “J-Block” in order to provide adequate feedstock’s for its cogen plant. Enron entered into the long term contract unfortunately when the prices of feedstock’s were at historical high. In the end they were able to negotiate a 0 million settlement payment to end its long term commitment to take or pay at astronomical rates the gas originating from J-Block.             Both Mark and Skillings were pursuing booked earnings (accounting earnings) because that was the criteria for success at Enron. With their criteria for success, both were pursuing a short term recognition of financial results on business lines which often required years of delivery and execution to actually create value. However, Enron kept its fast paced sprint to being bigger by making deals and investments as far as India, most of them turned failures.             The ascension of Skilling to the COO  position, Skilling’s ECT subculture moved to the driver’s seat within Enron’s complex web of business units and corporate culture. There had always been a number of obvious differences in the subcultures across business units. And although both trading and international had increasingly shared accounting practices, there were still fundamental differences in how business was done and the personality characteristics of those doing it. In fact the battle with in the traders and the deal makers were so much aggravated by cultural differences. The deal makers cultivated personal relationships with customers and hammered out deals over many months. The traders on the other hand do business by phone and computer in a matter of seconds. The dealers viewed the traders in the company as bloodless mercenaries who would do everything to get the business done. The traders viewed the dealers in same not too flattering manner for they were associated with dinosaurs, destined for extinction. By Jeff Skilling’s words, he characterized Enron’s culture as loose-tight. The loose was the no holds barred approached to creativity in business development. The tight, as Skilling described it, was the organizational processes within Enron to manage the risk they often take. Skilling’s moved to put Enron into power trading in a bigger way resulted in a significant repositioning of much of the company’s core returns. The energy trading business, primarily in the North America boomed in 1996 to 2000 period. By Ken Lay’s vision, Enron had indeed gotten big fast. In 2000, it broke the 0 billion in revenues mark for the first time. Its market capitalization, the value of the total outstanding shares of the company, was now worth roughly billion. By this time Enron’s perception of its own core competence was changing. It was not any more confined to building and operating natural gas pipelines and power plants, or even to the trading of natural gas and electrical power. Trading is now its own self defined competence. The evolving strategy was to create markets where markets had never existed, exploit them for all they were worth, and when profits decline by competitor entry, move on to the next cutting edge market creation. Between 1996 and 2001, Enron tried, sometimes failed and sometimes succeeded, in trading water, weather derivatives, bandwidth and coal to name but a few…   Feeding the Giant             Enron grew so big and so fast, that feeding itself was becoming increasingly a problem. A particularly troublesome feature of Enron’s emerging business model was that revenues were growing much faster than earnings. The cost of undertaking all new trading ventures at panic face was catching up with the firm. The salaries, bonuses, start-up costs and general lack of control over all operating costs drowned whatever profits gained from the ventures. Even the more successful trading lines, its natural gas operation did not generate margins the business world had come to expect from Enron and all its older portfolio of business. Enron needed additional external capital, perhaps a new debt and new equity. Both Lay and Skillings however are reluctant to issue large amounts of new equity because it would dilute earnings and holdings of existing shareholders. The debt option was also limited given the already high debt levels Enron was carrying and left it in precarious position of being rated BBB, just barely investment grade by credit agency standards. After this, the downward dizzying spiral fall of one of the coolest and biggest company of the world began.                         What happened at Enron? This question was been troubling many business analyst for some time now. The financial analyst thinks they have the answer, the organizational behavior theorists also thinks they have the answer. The business community needs the answer to these to avoid another company from going the same route of pitfall like Enron took. The fall of Enron could be viewed in many different perspectives, each leading to different complex questions. Was it the ethical and business judgment failures of select people at the top, or did it go deeper to the thousands of employees Enron have. Was Enron’s leadership responsible for the creation and growth of a corporate culture which was inherently flawed? Or was it a good business burdened with bad leadership, or a bad business with a bad leadership? Or was Enron a company, a victim itself of the market that has grown cynical as a result of the dotcom bubble collapse of the 1990s. Or did this culture just grow from specific instances of individual flaws and leadership malfeasance?   Organizational Analysis: ENRON The explanations as to why the nation’s seventh largest corporation succumbed to dead end are as diverse as the baffling questions of how could such a thing happen. Enron as an organization was big and complex yet without a powerful HR department that would manage the company’s most important asset, the people. But before we talk about the flaws in the organization (Enron) we must remember that Enron did enjoyed success as a company. It was so successful that it was the seventh largest corporation in the United States with businesses in Asia, Europe and South America. It reached that status primarily because Enron’s primary concern, as to the words of Ken Lay, is to grow big and fast. Lay must have installed it in the heart of every employee through either his charisma, motivation factors (salary, incentives, bonuses…etc) or just finding the right people for Enron (brightest and smartest). Enron was lucky to have both intelligence and charisma that is in Ken Lay, that must have lead his people to rally behind his “grow big, fast slogan”. Leadership as defined by  (1950) may be considered as the process of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts toward goal setting and goal achievement. Enron’s employees could have been one of the most motivated workforce in the entire business industry. Enron selected only the brightest and smartest individuals, their only criteria, to work with in the company. As long as they deliver what the company expects them to be then they are rewarded with bonuses, perks and promotions. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, we also need to fulfill our “need to boost our self esteem”. The esteem category lists some of the desires that should be fulfilled, the desire for the feeling of strength, adequacy, achievement, confidence, independence and freedom (1954).  The Enron organization seemed so perfect that every people within the organization deliver, and job satisfaction and efficiency was evident in the 2000 report that the 19,000 workers in Enron generates .9 million revenue per employee. Job satisfaction is viewed as an outgrowth of achievement, recognition (verbal), the work itself (challenging), responsibility, and advancement (promotion) (1994). All of these requirements were to be found in Enron, where employees are given the responsibility and challenged to think out of the box, to create new ideas where they can make money out of it. Management will make full use of the potential capacities of its human resources only when each person in an organization is a member of one or more effectively functioning work groups that have a high degree of group loyalty, effective skills of interaction, and high performance goals. … An organization will function best when its personnel function not as individuals but as members of highly effective work groups with high performance goals. Consequently, management should deliberately endeavor to build these effective groups, linking them into an overall organization by means of people who hold overlapping group membership. The superior in one group is a subordinate- in the next group and so on through the organization. (1961)  X and Y theory also explains why the Enron’s employees was motivated to work best, because the only criteria in Enron to get promoted was to perform at best, central principle of theory Y states that individuals “achieve their own goals best by directing their efforts toward the success of the enterprise”. Ultimately  came to associate theory Y directly with participative management: “The principle of integration requires active and responsible participation of the individual in decisions affecting his own career” (1960).             Theorists such as  (1978) advocated an open-system perspective. That perspective recognized that organizations are interdependent with other organizations and groups in their environment. It also recognized that these other systems influence both what goals organizations choose and the extent to which they can meet those goals (1978), for example, defined success in meeting internal goals as efficiency. They defined effectiveness as “. . . an external standard of how well an organization is meeting the demands of various groups and organizations that are concerned with its activities”   What has also been lacking with Enron was it compromised the importance of planning before taking a leap forward. An organization doesn’t just have to grow bigger, but better. The importance of planning and consultation must never be downplayed. Both strategy and planning are vital for innovation, but neither lessens uncertainty. Enron basically disdained planning. Its strategic intent pushed it into a number of different markets where it thought it could be successful, not by being better than other competitors, but by reinventing the market place. This was certainly innovative, but even if you can redefine the terms of competition, you still have to have a business plan, highly reliable core processes, and a sustainable ability to execute. The business media makes much of Enron’s strategic intent overreaching its capabilities of its efforts to innovate overwhelming its ability to deliver. Innovation is about the people, not the organization (1996). While most of the people stories about Enron have been about employees losing their life savings, their jobs, and having their professional reputations tainted, what’s missing is the quality of ideas. As growth was essential to the company’s business model and survival: to ensure new investments and global reach, the availability of the right personnel was crucial. Yet resource planning was somehow the most difficult part of the entire HR process (1995). Planning semantically refers to organization and structure. The traditional approach to resource planning: factoring in business and environmental needs, performing a gap analysis and job (re)design, and moving on to recruitment, proved impossible, as business plans could change, literally overnight. So recruitment had to be highly proactive and, paradoxically, well-planned. All the more so because qualified and experienced staff were almost unavailable: the Internet market’s rapid evolvement and yet immaturity had not created a large enough pool of competencies and experience. Those with even the most rudimentary know-how were being chased by a legion of job offers. Recruitment process of Enron was very loose and less standardized. The preceding factors combined called for the recruitment of potential, of versatility and flexibility. The main profile for recruitment was a young, bright graduate with international exposure, highly result-driven, a go-getter, willing to shift positions as soon as business models required adjustment in skills, and hence requiring minimum supervision (self-motivated) and the ability to be autodidactic. Ideally they would also be adventurous, risk takers, and “dreamers.” Though Enron offered a very good environmental workplace and a fast career growth, it also did not require employee loyalty, which is a very important factor in organizational stability. It is in loyalty that trust is built with in the organization. The last lesson of Enron is simply that the ideas people have, the changes they put into action, and the lessons learned in terms of success or failure are what innovation is all about. The tragedy of Enron is that the worth of those ideas and the workforce that produced them has been swallowed whole by management self-deception at best, or corporate corruption at worst. It should always have been about the individuals and the power of their ideas.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Why Enron Run Out of Gas

Why Enron Run Out of Gas Abstract Five years had already passed since Enron Corporation filed for bankruptcy pr...

Characteristics of the Three Genres of Blues

I.                   Introduction The United States have contributed a lot in the modern world. Along with the principles and other values that influenced society, one of the possibly greatest contributions of the country in the last known history is seen in the realm of music. Specifically, blues music has been considered as one of the genuine contribution of the American heritage to the global psyche. The musical genre originated in the States and has been noted to emerge from chants and spiritual praises of the African-American laborers in the early parts of the 1900s. Studies have been considerably encountered problems in placing an actual definition of blues music as it is constantly being infused with the analysis of culture. According to Pincheon (2000, 22) studies on the musical genre could not discuss the blues without actually providing some insight on the context and the surrounding circumstances that blues music cleaves on. This will similarly be way that this study will treat the analysis of blues. Specifically, the study will look into the basic description of blues music, particularly its subgenres country blues, classic blues, and acoustic urban blues, as it is seen in literature. Moreover, the study will be focusing on the origins, lyrical content, and musical characteristics that these three subgenres possess. Thus, the observations and arguments that will be included in this paper will be based on articles and books relating to the American heritage, culture, and musical history of the country.   II.                Characteristics of the Three Genres of Blues The following discussions will be providing a set of description on the fundamental elements surrounding the three subgenres of blues music. Discussions on the origin, lyrical content, and musical style will be presented. In the same manner, a presentation of the views of the existing literature on these subgenres of blues will also be given. Subsequently, the researcher will offer a critical view after every literature presentation on the topic. A.               Origins of the Style In this part of the paper, specific characteristics on the origins and idiosyncrasies of the performances will be laid down in the following discussions.   1.                 Country Blues Country blues is a subgenre of blues music that focuses primarily on rural folk expression. (Tirro, 1993, 56) It is normally called to denote styles like Southern blues, folk blues, or Delta blues. With these names connected to the said genre it is safe to assume that, same as the other types of blues, it originated from the South. However, specific allusions to the Delta means that it may well come from the more rural parts of the south. Tirro (1993, 56) further noted that the actual origin of this genre is “lost in the past.” This is further noted as the perpetuation of the music is characterized as transferred through oral means. This means that the lyrical contents and possibly the performance of the songs may have been transferred from the original artist to another individual through word of mouth or through recollection of past performances. This indicates that this type of blues has emerged way before known audio recording is in existence. It also denotes that the country blues that are heard of today may have been an interpretation or adaptation of the actual original version eons past.   2.                 Classic blues A considerably exact definition of classic blues is seen in the work of Weissman (2004, 45) as he noted that it is a “marriage of the blues and vaudeville-theatrical musical styles, sung by women.” This means that the style involved in this subgenre comes from theatrical performances with particular influence of women’s emotional struggles. Thus, the performance factor appears to be the major element that distinguishes this subgenre with country and acoustic urban blues. In the work of Gioia (1999, 16) he pointed out that this subgenre of the blues tend to be an offshoot of jazz performances in the 1920s and 1930s. Particularly, his account indicated that origins of such performances tend to have been derived from traveling shows from the south. It is thus needless to say that lavish performances and elaborate infusion of musical instruments comprising a live band is present in every show. This reinforces the claim of Weissman (2004) as he pointed the vaudeville element of the performances of classic blues bands.      3.                 Acoustic Urban Blues Another subgenre of blues music is called acoustic urban blues, or plainly urban blues. Tirro (1993, 82) characterized this subgenre as a similar with classical blues, pertaining to big-band riffs, but with emphasis on the strings element of the band. Particularly, the saxophone has been placed in the limelight, as acoustic urban blues became one of the most sought after shows in the south.  This indicates that classical blues and urban blues tend to have some similarities. A particular reference on the performance element as well as the roots from jazz is explicated in the said works of Tirro (1993).   B.               Lyrical Content Normally, blues music is held in a standard structure, particularly in the context of lyrics. The following discussions will be looking into the basic differences in the lyrical content of the subgenres of blues.   1.                 Country Blues It has been described that country blues comes from the “functional aspect of the culture of the people,” which basically indicates that “it reflects their vision and their values.” (Tirro, 1993, 56) A basic instance of country blues is seen in the song Drunken Hearted Man performed by Robert Johnson. (Gioia, 1999, 13) In looking at the lyrical content of the song, it does show some conformity with the standard held in blues music particularly shown in the repetition of lines and eventually pursued with a different line in rhythmic match with the repeated lines. (Gioia, 1999, 13) In the said song, Gioia (1999) characterized the content as sincere grief and lyrical intricacy. It is a wonder how in a span of several repetitive lines and restricted lyric content, country blues singers could convey an emotional range worthy of praise. This shows that standard lyrical construction of country blues tends to manifest a rather short stock of written content but evidently seen to have an overflow of emotion as it is performed by the bluesman like Johnson. 2.                 Classic blues In comparison with the other subgenres of the blues, classical blues’ lyrical content tends to hold true to the standard as it tackles the ghetto struggles and attitudes of the 1920s and 1930s individual. (Tirro, 1993, 56) However, a particular difference in this subgenre is the use of the female perspective in advocating these social occurrences. For instance, it has been noted that Bessie Smith’s materials normally compose of general contempt to “no good cheating men.” (Weissman, 2004, 38) She shares these characteristics with other famous classical blues singers like Ma Rainey. Though seemingly ambivalent at times, the classical blues tend to show indications of feminism among the American minority as it emulate the condition of women in the south in its lyrics and powerful emotional expressions of female independence and strength.   3.                 Acoustic Urban Blues With regards to the lyrical content of urban blues, the absence of harmonica and the dominance of the saxophone manifest a shift to the a more sensual subjects. This is supported by the work of Tirro (1993, 113) as he noted that city or urban blues focused its subjects towards love and sex. Typical urban blues bands include the likes of BB King and T-Bone Walker. (Moore, 2002, 15)     C.               Musical Characteristics The musical characteristics that will be discussed in this part of the study will be focusing on the actual structure of the subgenres of blues. 1.                 Country Blues Essentially, country blues are the predecessors of the modern “rock’n’roll” music that play the mainstream today. (Moore, 2002, 40) Specifically, the said offshoot of country blues has similarly been described as a genre that infused electric instruments in the musical structure. It has done away with the conventional folk string instruments like the fiddle and the banjo. (Tirro, 1993, 56) Some distinctive characteristics of the country blues is emulated in the work of Gioia (1999, 13) as he pointed out that “instead the musician might often employ a “bent” note that would slide between these two tonal centers.” This means that unlike the normal structure in blues music, country blues does not rely heavily in the use of “blue notes.” In the context of the actual structure of the genre, it has been noted that renowned country blues artists, like Robert Johnson, employs “a blues stanza might take twelve bars, twelve and a half bars, thirteen bars, even fifteen bars or more.” (Gioia, 1999, 14) This means that in this subgenre, the vocalists/performer tends to take ample amount of liberties in his/her performances. Restrictions of the basic twelve-bar form are merely a suggestion, thus versatility and freedom is seen in the performances of country blues as compared to the restricted forms of the other subgenres of the blues.    2.                 Classic blues As indicated in the work of Gioia (1999, 16) classical blues tend to strictly adhere to the standards of blues music as described above. Basically, this may be caused by the element of performance infused in the nature of classical blues indicated in the earlier parts of the paper. Thus, the observations on the said subgenre tend to indicate that it was rather mechanical and restricted in a sense. This means that it has cleaved to a specific standard over the years and that it has considerably distinguished itself as a recognizable style in the context of the blues genre.   3.                 Acoustic Urban Blues The musicality of the urban blues subgenre has been rather popular with its followers in the 1930s and the 1920s. There are studies claiming that this type of blues is the predecessor of modern pop music. (Ya Salaam, 1995, 351) Being an amalgamation of the heartfelt lament of country blues and the regard for showmanship and performance of the classical blues, this genre being the grandfather of pop music is rather foreseeable as seen in the current trends in music today. As stated by Gioia (1999, 16), these still adhere to some standards of blues music indicated above. However, the performers are at leisure to make their own type of music. The structure could be altered as well as the lyrical measure held in every performance.    III.              Conclusion The emergence of blues music initially encountered persecution from early American society as it promotes poor behavior and seen as violent by established conservative institutions. This may primarily be rooted in the fact that it is a form of music considerably new and different as that compared of the standard archetypes of the period. The failure to understand the contexts and even the depth of the songs in the said genre may similarly have triggered this level of unrest against it. Thus, it is safe to say that blues music, as seen in the mainstream today, is an implication of the social institutions and structures of early 18th century America. Evidently, academics and scholars have realized this eventually as they equate the analysis of such genre to the culture of the African-American context. In due course, blues music has been accepted and even regarded as one of the primary heritage of American culture. It has veered away from being solely Black culture; it now represents the social settings and eventual revolutions that took place in American society. In the same regard, the subgenres discussed above specifically emulate the different archetypes of cultures in the American society. Based on the characteristics and lyrical content of the discussed subgenres, it shows the plight of poverty and hardships encountered by the common man in the 1900s (country blues). In the same time, the image of the modern woman is also taken into consideration in the context of classic blues, with particular reference to the emotional troubles they have encountered which is still considered universal up to this date. On the whole, blues music represents a cultural representation of the micro environment of the United States as it manifest the social struggles of the modern American.         Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Characteristics of the Three Genres of Blues

I. Introduction The United States have contributed a lot in the modern world. Along with the principles and...

Thesis Chapter 2: Effectiveness of Music in Focusing the Special Children’s Attention

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE   This chapter shall be discussing the findings of related researches to this study. It shall provide a discussion on the significance of this study to the existing literature. The contents of this portion of the study is gathered and collated from its secondary data.   Attention in Classrooms Students’ cognitive performance and allocation of attention can depend on the degree of consistency between their past and present experiences in the classroom. Previous findings indicated that performance change due to evaluation and social comparison manipulations were simultaneously affected by students’ past personal academic experiences. With the growing diversity among children in today’s classrooms, teacher education programs are increasingly called on to prepare teachers who are able to respond competently to the demands of inclusive classrooms (Munby & Hutchinson, 1998). General education teachers are largely responsible for meeting the educational needs of all their students. However, many general educators do not perceive themselves as adequately prepared to provide a meaningful education to students with diverse needs (Hinders, 1995; Semmel, Abernathy, Butera, & Lesar, 1991), Existing preservice teacher education programs may be inadequate in terms of their abilities to prepare teachers to meet the needs of the diverse student population they will face in the 21st century (Maheady, Mallette, & Harper, 1996). Consequently, if teachers are to be successful in the classrooms of the future, teacher preparation programs must provide training in the knowledge and skills necessary for working with children with a wide range of ability levels in the same classroom. Although there is substantial evidence that contingent teacher praise, approval, and other forms of positive reinforcement have positive effects on student behavior and achievement (Alber & Heward, 2000; Maag, 2001), some researchers have argued against the use of praise and rewards for student performance (Ryan & Deci, 1996). Kohn, who has gained considerable notoriety and popularity by giving speeches and writing papers and books for educators and business managers, has claimed that the use of “extrinsic motivators” such as incentive plans, grades, and verbal praise damage the “intrinsic motivation” of students and employees to learn and work (Kohn, 1993). Kohn has argued passionately and articulately–but without sound empirical bases–that not only is praise ineffective, it is actually harmful to students. He has claimed that praise increases pressure to “live up to” the compliment, insinuates unrealistic expectations of future success, insidiously manipulates people, establishes a power imbalance, insults people if awarded for unchallenging behaviors, and undermines intrinsic motivation. Conventional wisdom holds that an extra measure of patience is required to be a good teacher of children with disabilities. This faulty notion does a great disservice to students with special needs and to the educators who teach them. Although patience is a positive and valued trait, in the classroom the idea that teachers must be patient with special education students often translates into slowed-down instruction, lowered expectations for performance, fewer opportunities to respond, and fewer in-class and homework assignments. A related piece of wisdom goes like this: Students with disabilities can learn, but they learn more slowly; therefore, they should be given extra time and instruction should be conducted at a slower pace. Although this reasoning possesses a degree of logic and common sense, research has found that slowing the pace of instruction makes things worse, not better, for students with learning problems. To illustrate, Carnine (1976) conducted an experiment in which instruction was presented to four first-grade remedial reading students at two paces: slow (intertrial interval of 5 seconds) and fast (intertrial interval of 1 second or less). Fast-paced instruction resulted in more learning trials presented by the teacher, more responses per lesson by the students, better accuracy of student responses, and better on-task behavior. Systematic replications of this study have yielded a similar pattern of results (Carnine & Fink, 1978; Darch & Gersten, 1985; Ernsbarger et al., 2001; Koegel, Dunlap, & Dyer, 1980; Williams, 1993). Just as teaching too slowly impedes learning, teaching with excessive sensitivity to and patience for students with disabilities may lead to lower expectations, fewer assignments, and students’ participation only when the students “feel like it.” Educational research is unequivocal in its support for the positive relationship between the amounts of time children spends actively responding to academic tasks and their subsequent achievement (Brophy & Good, 1986; Fisher & Berliner, 1985; Greenwood, Delquadri, & Hall, 1984; Heward, 1994). When other key variables are held constant, such as quality of curriculum materials, students’ prerequisite skills, and motivation, a lesson in which students emit many active responses will produce more learning than will a lesson of equal duration in which students make few responses (Gardner, Heward, & Grossi, 1994; Sterling, Barbetta, Heward, & Heron, 1997). Frequent opportunities to respond, high expectations, and fast-paced instruction are especially important for students with learning and behavioral problems, because for children who are behind to catch up, they simply must be taught more in less time. If the teacher doesn’t attempt to teach more in less time the gap in general knowledge between a normal and handicapped student becomes even greater. (Kame’enui & Simmons, 1990, p. 11)  Instead of patient teachers, students with disabilities need teachers who are impatient–impatient with instructional methods and materials that do not help their students acquire and subsequently use the knowledge and skills required for successful functioning in school, home, community, and workplace. Instead of waiting patiently for a student to learn, attributing lack of progress to some inherent attribute or faulty process within the child, a teacher should use direct and frequent measures of the student’s performance as the primary guide for modifying instructional methods and materials to improve effectiveness. Nevertheless, there is widespread belief in education that creativity is a key to effective teaching. Like patience, creativity is a desirable and positive characteristic in teachers. Many thousands of ineffective lessons have been turned into effective ones by teachers who have creatively adapted instructional materials; developed prosthetic devices; or changed the mode, form, timing, or other dimension of a stimulus prompt. The kind of creativity most often implied by this notion, however, has little to do with systematically monitoring and analyzing a student’s interaction with carefully planned materials and lesson plans to detect flaws in the instructional design that the teacher might then repair in some creative fashion (Heward & Dardig, 2001). It is one thing for a teacher to creatively design and adapt instructional materials, examples, and procedures to add an extra degree or two of effectiveness to an already effective set of teaching skills. It is quite another thing for a teacher to be “creative” in the absence of a sound curriculum and repertoire of critical instructional skills. Instead of being told that being creative is the key to good teaching, teachers should be trained to realize that the first and most important requisite to effective teaching is obtaining the knowledge and skills necessary to select and properly use research-based instructional tools (Lovitt, 1996). Furthermore, teachers often hear that their profession is an art, not a science, and that not only is it permissible to teach in different ways from time to time, but such change is good for students. Adding variety to instructional activities and materials in an attempt to make lessons more interesting and fun for students is one way in which teachers frequently try to be creative. A teacher being creative in this way, however, must be careful not to inadvertently reduce students’ opportunities to practice the target skill(s). Telling teachers they must be creative may work against the systematic adoption of research-based curriculum and instructional tools. Since frequently changing methods and materials is a primary way for teachers to demonstrate their creativity. Some teachers feel that teaching the same way becomes boring and it is their right to be creative in the classroom (Purnell & Claycomb, 2001). Teachers are not in the classroom for their own enjoyment, however, they are in the classroom as professionals to do a job; children are not in the schools to be pawns for educators who want to try one unproven method after another because of fad, fashion, or creative whim (Engelmann, 1992). We may think that unlimited creativity is a good thing for teachers, but imagine how you would feel if the pilot on your next flight announced that he wanted to be creative and was going to try a new idea that he had heard about for landing airplanes. Teacher creativity will always have an important place in the classroom, but the need and direction for that creativity should be guided and subsequently evaluated by students’ achievements, not the whims of teachers.   Action Research in the Classroom Action research is deliberate, solution-oriented investigation that is group or personally owned and conducted. Spiraling cycles of problem identification, systematic data collection, reflection, analysis, data-driven action taken, and, finally, problem redefinition characterize it. The linking of the terms “action” and “research” highlights the essential features of this method: trying out ideas in practice as a means of increasing knowledge about and/or improving curriculum, teaching, and learning (Kemmis & McTaggart, 1982). While the concept of action research can be traced back to the early works of John Dewey in the 1920s and Kurt Lewin in the 1940s, it is Stephen Corey and others at Teachers College of Columbia University who introduced the term action research to the educational community in 1949. Corey (1953) defined action research as the process through which practitioners study their own practice to solve their personal practical problems. Very often action research is a collaborative activity where practitioners work together to help one another design and carry out investigations in their classrooms. Teacher action research is, according to John Elliott, “concerned with the everyday practical problems experienced by teachers, rather than the ‘theoretical problems’ defined by pure researchers within a discipline of knowledge” (Elliott, cited in Nixon, 1989). Research is designed, conducted, and implemented by the teachers themselves to improve teaching in their own classrooms, sometimes becoming a staff development project in which teachers establish expertise in curriculum development and reflective teaching. The prevailing focus of teacher research is to expand the teacher’s role as inquirer about teaching and learning through systematic classroom research (Copper, 1990). The approach is naturalistic, using participant-observation techniques of ethnographic research, is generally collaborative, and includes characteristics of case study methodology (Belanger, 1992). Moreover, action research has been employed for various purposes: for school-based curriculum development, as a professional development strategy, in pre-service and graduate courses in education, and in systems planning and policy development. Some writers advocate an action research approach for school restructuring.  (Holly, 1990; Jacullo-Noto, 1992; Lieberman, 1988; Oja & Smulyan, 1989; Sagor, 1992) Action research can be used as an evaluative tool, which can assist in self-evaluation whether the “self” is an individual or an institution. There is a growing body of evidence of the positive personal and professional effects that engaging in action research has on the practitioner (Goswami & Stillman, 1987; Lieberman, 1988). Action research provides teachers with the opportunity to gain knowledge and skill in research methods and applications and to become more aware of the options and possibilities for change. Teachers participating in action research become more critical and reflective about their own practice (Oja & Pine, 1989; Street, 1986). Teachers engaging in action research attend more carefully to their methods, their perceptions and understandings, and their whole approach to the teaching process. Lawrence Stenhouse once said, “It is teachers who, in the end, will change the world of the school by understanding it” (cited in Rudduck, 1988). As teachers engage in action research they are increasing their understanding of the schooling process. What they are learning will have great impact on what happens in classrooms, schools, and districts in the future. The things teachers learn through the critical inquiry and rigorous examination of their own practice and their school programs that action research requires will impact the future directions of staff development programs, teacher preparation curricula, as well as school improvement initiatives. Furthermore, teachers’ action research questions emerge from areas they consider problematic, from discrepancies between what is intended and what actually occurs. As Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1990) suggest, the unique feature of teachers’ questions is that they emanate solely neither from theory nor from practice, but from “critical reflection on the intersection of the two” (p. 6). Teacher research will force the re-evaluation of current theories and will significantly influence what is known about teaching, learning, and schooling. It has been said that teachers often leave a mark on their students, but they seldom leave a mark on their profession. Through the process and products of action research teachers will do both. (p.7) The traditional action research approach described above has been extended into a form known as “participatory action research”. An important change is the realignment of the roles of researcher and subject into more collaborative and synergistic forms. Formerly, responsibility for theorizing rested primarily on the shoulders of the researcher. In participatory action research, this responsibility is shared with client participants. In other words, members of the organization we study are actively engaged in the quest for information and ideas to guide their future actions. (Whyte et al., 1991, p. 20) This increased client participation is a major change. The single most distinguishing characteristic that contrasts participatory action research from earlier forms is the “co-researcher status” that is accorded to the client participants (Elden and Chisholm, 1993). Researchers and clients bring their own distinctive sets of theoretical knowledge into the action research process. Action researchers bring their knowledge of action research and general information systems theories. Client participants bring situated, practical theory into the action research process. As a result, control over the social setting is realigned. The setting is free to self-reorganize rather than be artificially determined by the external researchers. In this way, participatory action research is based on assumptions that reality is situated (Berger and Luckmann, 1966) and social systems are self-referencing (von Foerster, 1984). Participatory action research can be seen as being founded on more recent organizational philosophy. In participatory action research, it is not necessary for researchers to extensively research theories surrounded the immediate problem setting in anticipation of action planning. It is assumed that the researcher cannot acquire the depth of understanding that client professionals will have already achieved through years of living within the social context under study. An indirect effect of the full collaboration of all participants is that participatory action research extends the social scope of action research. This extension has been noted both in studies beyond the level of a single production unit or plant, and in studies beyond the Anglo-American culture (Elden and Chisholm, 1993).     Music as Therapy Activities and techniques incorporating music stimuli play potentially rich and varied roles in therapy for persons with autism. Music therapy techniques can, for example, facilitate and support the desire to communicate (Thaut, 1984); break patterns of isolation and engage the individual in external experiences (Baker, 1982; Thaut, 1984); reduce echolalic responses impeding functional language use (Bruscia, 1982); decrease stereotyped motility patterns (Scoraci, Deckner, McDaniel, & Blanton, 1982); teach social skills (Reid, Hill, Rawers, & Montegar, 1975); and facilitate increased language comprehension (Litchman, 1976). Because of individual differences within the autistic population, no universal rules of therapy can be applied. While one individual may respond positively to a certain technique, another might easily be harmed. Characteristics of impaired socioemotional functioning can include lack of eye contact, lack of physical responsiveness, aloofness, lack of peer relations, often obsessive preoccupation with objects, and maintenance of environmental sameness. While these may change in intensity as the individual matures, social aloneness markedly remains (Thaut, 1984). Thaut (1984) further suggests that problems with social relations are also more amenable to initial therapy than are other underlying disorders. Autistic persons, especially in the early stages of relationship building, often physically reject or ignore social contact attempts by other persons. Music therapy can provide instead an initial object relation with an instrument. Instead of threatening, the shape, sound and feel of the instrument will often fascinate the individual. The instrument can thus serve as an intermediary between client and therapist, providing an initial point of contact (Thaut, 1984). At the same time, a trained music therapist can structure this experience from the outset in order to minimize motility rituals or sensory overload that may draw the individual back into himself or herself. Listening experiences can provide additional tactile and visual experience and help to raise awareness of sound and of another person creating that sound. Music and musical experiences can provide infinite kinds of relationships which can be the key to successful therapy with autistic persons. Alvin (1975), in working with autistic children, was able to draw them slowly outward by using music to develop a series of relationships between the client and the instrument, the client and the therapist’s instrument, the client and the music, the client and the therapist’s music, the client and therapist, the client and other clients, and so on. Once the barrier has been interrupted and contact established, the music therapist could pursue a variety of structured musical experiences that continue to engage these individuals and draw them further from their internal, ritualistic world. While the process can be slow and arduous, music therapy provides an unusual and pleasurable tool that can be easily adapted to meet the changing needs of the client.  As, the individual progresses, and relationships begin to form music therapy can provide an effective means of teaching social skins as well. Schmidt, Franklin, & Edwards (1976) found music to be highly effective in shaping and reinforcing appropriate, social behaviors. Reid, Hill, Rawer, & Montegar (1975) found music to be instrumental in teaching social skills which,, in turn, facilitated the normalization of a child who had previously been isolated from everyday events. Also significant in music therapy with autistic persons, is that all of the musical experiences can be structured for success. Although interactions may be limited by language problems, social relations can become warm and mutually satisfying if the autistic individual learns that he or she can succeed in the adapted, therapeutic environment. Nelson, Anderson, & Gonzales (1984) suggest that, in a sense, the social disability of autism may be the most treatable part of the disorder, especially in the context of music therapy, since it depends more on the quality of the experiences in their environment than on their underlying neuropsychological characteristics. Music therapy techniques in the area of communication attempt to address speech/vocalization production processes and to stimulate mental processes in respect to conceptualization, symbolization, and comprehension (Thaut, 1984). On the most basic level, the music therapist works to facilitate and support the desire or necessity for communication. Improvised accompaniment to the individual’s habitual expressions or behaviors can demonstrate a communicative relationship between a particular musical sound and the client’s behavior. Autistic persons might perceive such sounds more easily or readily than verbal approaches, and awareness of the music and of a relationship between the music and the individual’s own actions might serve to motivate communication (Thaut, 1984). As the autistic individual begins to display communicative (verbal or nonverbal) intentions and responses, music can be used to encourage speech and vocalizations. Alvin (1975) suggests that learning to play wind instruments is in some ways, equivalent to learning to make speech vocalizations. It can also strengthen awareness and functional use of lips, tongue, jaws, and teeth. The use of strong melodic/rhythmic patterns in. verbal instructions has been found to be beneficial in maintaining better attention to and comprehension of the spoken word (Thaut, 1984; Mahlberg, 1973). Nelson et al (1984), in a review of the literature, found reports, of music games being associated with a client’s first purposeful speech production. Litchman (1976) found significant increases in language comprehension when music was, used in the learning environment. Alvin (1975) also points out how music can serve as an important link between parent and child, providing a channel of communication and a model of how both parties can relate to each other. Music therapy has also proved useful in reducing instances of noncommunicative speech patterns, which can impede progress in learning functional language skills. Bruscia (1982) had dramatic results when using music therapy in the assessment and treatment of echolalia. The treatment procedures employed reduced the subjects’ echolalia from 95% of total utterances to fewer than 10% in any setting. Consistent throughout much of the literature is also the finding that skills and abilities acquired in the music therapy setting generalize widely across. In autistic persons one sees constant manifestations of pathological behavior in the perceptual-motor area. Perceptual and motor disturbances have been linked by a suggested relationship between motor behavior and the faulty processing of sensory input (Thaut, 1984; Nelson, et al., 1984). Characteristics of perceptual disturbances frequently encountered include tactile and kinesthetic receptor preference, hypo- and hypersensitivity to sensory input such as staring, visual and tactile detail scrutiny, covering ears etc.  preoccupation with isolated sensory impressions, and avoidance of new sensory experience. Motor disturbances are often manifested in delayed gross and fine motor development, poor body awareness/image, self-injury, and motility disturbances such spinning of self or object, toe walking, rocking, and/or hand flapping. Music therapy techniques are initially aimed at decreasing these behaviors, or breaking these stereotyped motility patterns. Rhythmic activities and movement to music at tempi other than that of body rocking, for instance, can be helpful in this regard (Thaut, 1984). Soraci, Deckner, McDaniel, & Blanton (1982) found that music possessing particular rhythmic characteristics was effective in reducing stereotypic behaviors. When engaged in stereotypes the individual is effectively “tuned out” from attending to events in the environment, but, when stereotypes were reduced or suppressed, the individual could be induced to, engage in productive learning activities. The music therapist can also structure the musical experience to ensure that movement responses to music are adaptive and nonrepetitive in nature (Nelson, et al., 1984). The autistic individual can begin to exercise perceptual processes, and learn to relate tactile, visual, and auditory stimulation through manual exploration of instruments. Movement to music can also aid in the integration of tactile/kinesthetic and auditory perception and the differentiation of self/nonself (Thaut, 1984). Action songs may be beneficial in helping develop auditory-motor coordination and more refined body awareness/image (Alvin, 1975). Playing with mallets or on a keyboard can practice functional use of fingers and hands. On a more complex level, perceptual learning sequences can first isolate, and then combine, concepts of pitch, loudness, and tempo, by having the client respond in kind on percussion instruments. From the most basic level to the most complex, music therapy techniques can meet the individual at his or her developmental level, breaking stereotyped behavior patterns and working toward the integration of different sensory experiences and appropriate motor responses.   References: Alber, S. R., & Heward, W. L. (2000). Teaching students to recruit positive attention: A literature review with recommendations for practice and future research. Journal of Behavioral Education, 10, 177-204.   Alvin, J. (1975). Music Therapy for the Autistic Child. London: Oxford University Press.   Baker, B. (1982). The use of music with autistic children. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 20(4), 31-34.   Belanger, J. (1992). Teacher as researcher: Roles and expectations. An annotated bibliography.   Berger, P. and T. Luckmann. (1966) The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge., New York: Anchor Press.   Brophy, J. (1986). Teacher influences on student achievement. American Psychologist, 41, 1069-1077.   Bruscia, K.E. (1982). Music in the assessment of echolalia. Music Therapy, 2(l), 25-41.   Carnine, D. (1976). Effects of two teacher presentation rates on off-task behavior, answering correctly, and participation. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 9, 199-206.   Carnine, D., & Fink, W. T. (1978). Increasing the rate of presentation and use of signals in elementary classroom teachers. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 11, 35-46.   Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (1990). Research on teaching and teacher research: The issues that divide. Educational Researcher, 19(2), 2-10.   Copper, L. R. (1990, April). Teachers as researchers: Attitudes, opinions and perceptions. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Boston, MA.   Corey, S. (1953). Action research to improve school practice. New York: Teachers College, Columbia University.   Darch, C., & Gersten, R. (1985). The effects of teacher presentation rate and praise on LD students’ oral reading performance. British Journal of Psychology, 55, 295-303.   Elden, M. and R. F. Chisholm. (1993) “Emerging Varieties of Action Research: Introduction to the Special Issue,” Human Relations, (46) 2, pp. 121-142.   Engelmann, S. (1992). War against the schools’ academic children abuse. Portland, OR: Halcyon House.   Ernsbarger, S. C., Tincani, M. J., Harrison, T. J., Frazier-Trotman, S., Simmons-Reed, E., & Heward, W. L. (2001, May). Slow teacher/fast teacher: Effects on participation rate, accuracy, and off-task behavior by pre-K students during small-group language lessons. Paper presented at the 27th Annual Convention of the Association for Behavior Analysis, New Orleans, LA.   Fisher, C. W., & Berliner, D. C. (Eds.). (1985). Perspectives on instructional time. New York: Longman.   Gardner III, R., Heward, W. L., & Grossi, T. A. (1994). Effects of response cards on student participation and academic achievement: A systematic replication with inner-city students during whole-class science instruction. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 27, 63-71.   Goswami, D., & Stillman, P. R. (Eds.). (1987). Reclaiming the classroom: Teacher research as an agency for change. Upper Montclair, NJ: Boynton/Cook.   Greenwood, C. R., Delquadri, J. C., & Hall, R. V. (1984). Opportunity to respond and student academic achievement. In W. L. Heward, T. E. Heron, D. S. Hill, & J. Trap-Porter (Eds.), Focus on behavior analysis in education (pp. 58-88). Columbus, OH: Merrill.   Heward, W. L. (1994). Three “low-tech” strategies for increasing the frequency of active student response during group instruction. In R. Gardner III, D. M. Sainato, J. O. Cooper, T. E. Heron, W. L. Heward, J. Eshleman, & T. A. Grossi (Eds.), Behavior analysis in education: Focus on measurably superior instruction (pp. 283-320). Monterey, CA: Brooks/ Cole.   Heward, W. L., & Dardig, J. C. (2001, Spring). What matters most in special education. Education Connection, 41-44.   Hinders, K. (1995). Dual certification and the regular education initiative. Journal of Teacher Education, 46, 200-208.   Holly, P., & Southworth, G. (1990). The developing school. London: The Falmer Press.   Jacullo-Noto, J. (1992, April). Action research and school restructuring: The lessons learned. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.   Kame’enui, E. J., Carnine, D. W., Dixon, R. C., Simmons, D. C., & Coyne, M. D. (Eds.). (2002). Effective teaching strategies that accommodate diverse learners (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.   Kemmis, S., & McTaggart, R. (1982). The action research planner. Victoria, Australia: Deakin University Press.   Koegel, R. L., Dunlap, G., & Dyer, K. (1980). Intertrial interval duration and learning in autistic children. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 13, 91-99.   Kohn, A. (1993). Why incentive plans cannot work. Harvard Business Review, 71(5), 54-63.   Lieberman, A. (Ed.). (1988). Building a professional culture in schools. New York: Teachers College Press.   Litchman, M.D. (1977). The use of music in establishing a learning environment for language instruction with autistic children (Doctoral dissertation, State University of New York at Buffalo, 1976). University Microfilms International, No. 773557.   Lovitt, T. C. (1996). What special educators need to know. In W. L. Heward (Ed.), Exceptional children: An introduction to special education (5th ed., pp. 84-86). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall.   Maag, J. W. (2001). Rewarded by punishment: Reflections on the disuse of positive reinforcement in education. Exceptional Children, 67, 173-186.   Maheady, L., Mallette, B., & Harper, G. F. (1996). The pair-tutoring program: An early field-based experience to prepare preservice general educators to work with students with special learning needs. Teacher Education and Special Education, 19, 277-297.   Mahlberg, M. (1973). Music therapy in the treatment of an autistic child. Journal of Music Therapy, 10(4),189-193.   Munby, H., & Hutchinson, N. (1998). Using experience to prepare teachers for inclusive classrooms: Teacher education and the epistemology of practice. Teacher Education and Special Education, 21, 75-82.   Nelson, D., Anderson, V., & Gonzales, A. (1984). Music activities as therapy for children with autism and other pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of Music Therapy, 21.(3),100-116.   Nixon, J. (1989, Winter). The teacher as researcher: Contradictions and continuities. Peabody Journal of Education, 64(2), 20-32.   Oja, S. N., & Pine, G. J. (1989). Collaborative action research: Teachers’ stages of development and school contexts. Peabody Journal of Education, 64(2), 96-115.   Oja, S. N., & Smulyan, L. (1989). Collaborative action research: A developmental approach. Philadelphia: The Falmer Press.   Purnell, S., & Claycomb, C. (2001). Implementing reform: What Success for All teaches us about including students with disabilities in comprehensive school restructuring. Alexandria, VA: National Association of State School Boards of Education.   Reid, D.H., Hill, B.K., Rawers, R.J. & Montegar, C.A. (1975). The use of contingent music in teaching social skills to a nonverbal hyperactive boy. Journal of Music Therapy, 12(l), 2-18.   Rudduck, J. (1988). Changing the world of the classroom by understanding it: A review of some aspects of the work of Lawrence Stenhouse. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 4(1), 30-42.   Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (1996). When paradigms clash: Comments on Cameron and Pierce’s claim that rewards do not undermine intrinsic motivation. Review of Educational Research, 66, 33-38.   Sagor, R. D. (1992, April). Collaborative action research: A cultural mechanism for school development and professional restructuring. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco.   Schmidt, D.C., Franklin, R. & Edwards, J.S. (1976). Reinforcement of autistic children’s responses to music. Psychological Reports, 39(2), 571-577.   Semmel, M. I., Abemathy, T. V., Butera, G., & Lesar, S. (1991). Teacher perceptions of the Regular Education Initiative. Exceptional Children, 58(1), 9-24.   Soraci, S., Deckner, C.W., McDaniel, C. & Blanton, R.L. (1982). The relationship between rate of rhythmicity and the stereotypic behaviours of abnormal children. Journal of Music Therapy, 19(l),46-54.   Sterling, R., Barbetta, P. M., Heward, W. L., & Heron, T. E. (1997). A comparison of active student response and on-task instruction on the acquisition and maintenance of health facts by fourth grade special education students. Journal of Behavioral Education, 7, 151-165.   Street, L. (1986). Mathematics, teachers, and an action research course. In D. Hustler., T. Cassidy, & T. Cuff (Eds.). Action research in classroom and schools. London: Allen and Unwin.   Thaut, M.H. (1984). A music therapy treatment model for autistic children. Music Therapy Perspectives, 1(4), 7-13.   von Foerster, H. (1984) “Principles of Self-Organization — In a Socio-Managerial Context.” in H. Ulrich and G. J. B. Probst, (eds.) Self-Organization and Management of Social Systems: Insights, Promises, Doubts and Questions, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, pp. 2-24.   Whyte, W. F., D. J. Greenwood and P. Lazes. (1991) “Participatory Action Research: Through Practice to Science in Social Research.” in W. F. Whyte, (ed.) Participatory Action Research, Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 19-55.   Williams, V. (1993). Effects of two teacher presentation rates during smallgroup social studies instruction on active student response, on-task behavior, and academic achievement by elementary students with severe behavior disorders. Unpublished master’s thesis, The Ohio State University, Columbus.         Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Thesis Chapter 2: Effectiveness of Music in Focusing the Special Children’s Attention

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE This chapter shall be discussing the findings of related researches to this study. It shall prov...

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AMONG SELECTED HOTELS IN DAVAO CITY

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AMONG SELECTED HOTELS IN DAVAO CITY         Davao City is one of the finest destinations in the Philippine archipelago, this is the home of the sweetest mango the world have known and the fruits of Davao shine even brighter like they used to. This City is rich in mixed culture and tradition, they also posses the cleanest water and spring is internationally acclaimed against major bottled water that claims to have the purer.       Davao City provide an abundant natural resources and a breath of fresh air all year round since this city is a typhoon free zone they enjoy good weather condition all year round. They can say that this is one of the world’s safest destinations since the crime rate broke down to almost zero, through this Davao City truly is experiencing a natural healthy lifestyle. Everyone is welcome to visit this wonderful truly amazing city including local and international tourist will surely admire the warm hospitality of the people in this location.         Try visiting the Promenade Park to see the diversity of great Artwork, wide playground for children and the beautiful water features within the metropolis. Davao city is also the home of health and wellness. Try visiting Magsaysay Avenue to experience the fitness center for yoga, belly dancing, relaxation center full body massage and spa. Visit also the little China for a shopping spree and you will sure enjoy a wonderful day and much more.       Most of these Hotels represents each and individual features and innovation that you will surely love. If you are planning a vacation spree please consider the Davao City destinations. Book your schedule and enjoy your travel today because Davao City is also offering a wonderful place to stay including their finest innovative hotels and restaurants that you can choose from and here are some of the following.   ·         Waterfront Insular Hotel in Davao is definitely one of the most popular Hotels because of its luxurious features and innovative fully air conditioned room including the most sought after Wi-Fi internet access in every room that is open anytime, a cable television connection, individual temperature control system, complete bathroom innovation system with telephone extension, coffee and tea making equipment, very innovative function room for meeting, seminars and any other corporate training. Absolutely great for personal occasion and relaxation with a beautiful view over the Gulf landmarks and open air walkways corridors in a landscaped garden featuring luxurious amenities such as swimming pool, and many others. Not to mention the superior quality service that is open 24 hours.    ·         Marco Polo Hotel Davao is another very sought after 5 Hotel that has become a flagship carrier in their hotels branch. The amenities is definitely a grandeur and luxurious in every ways that includes a highly technologically advance large and spacious hotel rooms with internet access, Satellite featured cable access television, their bathroom has an overhead shower that guest will surely love. Beside the hotel is the shopping arcade, farmed eagle restaurants that has becoming more and more popular while dining and the hotel is just about 20 minutes from the airport that is why it is very accessible among tourist. Guests voted the ratings with great accommodation and services of staffs. ·          The Pearl Farm Resort and Hotel in Davao is another Davao’s pride because of its known luxurious amenities and hospitality of staff. Guest would need to take a 20 to 30 minute boat ride to get there in Samal Island to see the 11 hectares white sand beach and its crystal clear water. Locally inspired with indigenous cultural approach this hotel includes many activity features of your chose like jet skiing, sailing, scuba diving, tennis, water sports and fishing. The most popular is sailing on a banca to see the corals and other colorful marine species. Features fully air condition rooms, safety deposit boxes, hair dryer, and cable television. According to the guest their favorite room features is the standby speed boat that leads to the restaurants and other pearl farm amenities.         There are also many equally popular hotels in Davao that are also competitively innovative and luxurious that you may want to visit to see the Davao’s finest places and enjoy a ones in a lifetime tropical experience in the Philippine Island. You may also want to check them out.       Crown Regency Hotel, Microtel Inn Davao, The Apo view Hotel, Grand Meng Sen Hotel, My Hotel Davao, Grand Regal Hotel, The Ritz Hotel, Home Crest Residence, Sunflower Hotel, Chateau Del Mar, LinMarr Davao Hotel, Big Apple Hotel, Blue Velvet Hotel, Hotel Tropica, Tinhat Boutique Hotel and Restaurant, Eden Nature Park Hotel and Restaurant, Red Knights Garden Hotel, Oroderm Beauty Hotel, Regency Inn, Sequoia, The Manor Hotel, Villa Margarita, Domicillo Lorenzo Apartelle and Red Knights Gardens Hotel.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AMONG SELECTED HOTELS IN DAVAO CITY

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION AMONG SELECTED HOTELS IN DAVAO CITY Davao City is one of the finest destinations in the Philippine arch...

IKEA’s Global Sourcing Challenge: Indian Rugs and Child Labor (A) Essay

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Effects of Small Tour Operators in Tourism

Effects of Small Tour Operators in Tourism Introduction Tourism in Africa is one of the services they can offer. In the country, there is a significant continuity for the development of the tourism for they realized a bountiful return from the tourist visits and the travelers. The growth and diversification are the main focus of the continent. Kenya as one of the developing country is another focus of the policies and strategies to foster the tourism development. Background of the Study and Problem Statement Kenya, the country that nurtured the wildlife and captivating sceneries and the government aims to assist the Kenya and other neighboring countries to develop a more coherent framework for tourism (Christie and Crompton, 2001). Kenya viewed the tourism as a foreign exchange earner and therefore they valued the players within the industry. Consequently, there are effects coming from the small tour operators in fostering the tourism aim of the country. Research Objectives The study identified the two objectives in which related to each other. First is to determine the effects of the small tour operators in tourism which is popular in Kenya. And second is to open the possible additional strategies wherein the policy makers and leaders can apply to foster the continuous development of the tourism.    Research Questions There are several questions highlighted in the study which are all connected to the main topic of the paper. Through the use of the questions, the study can ensure that meeting the objectives is possible. 1.      What are the actions of the leaders to enhance the performance of Kenya in tourism? 2.      What are the roles being played by the small tour operators? 3.      What are the significant impacts that the leaders realized in the participation of the small tour operators?  Literature Review Kenya aims to promote the training and development among the people that involved in the tourism to support the overall development. The tourism services they offered in inclusion of the hotels, travel agencies, and tour operators (Sindiga, 1994). The participation of the tour operators is emphasized in the area of tourism. The small tour operators have certain feature in the area of their activity in tourism which commonly allows them to practice the environmentally responsibility that is a real benefit to the tourism and the preservation of the resources. The target of the tour operators is the tourists whom are aware of the environmental practices. Even if the operation is small, there is a relative higher volumes of revenues through their continue practices. Moreover, tours whether operated by the small or large operators, are efficient in delivering the services because of the holidays and other events in the country (Budeanu, 1999). Methodology The applied method used in the study is the comparative case study that allows the study to examine the details and presented examples. The study gathered the advantage in using the method for it presents the different situations in Africa and even in Kenya and other neighboring countries with their aim to foster the tourism and sustainability. The study will examine and compare the different information to generate the in-depth analysis. Analysis The government of Kenya has a role to create a policy framework that will encourage the investment and then combined it with the regulatory frameworks that in return will ensure the good economic returns and be benefited to the other related businesses. To be sustainable, the tourism clearly requires an open dialogue among the business leaders and the government. The decisions that formulated to their dialogue will be the strategies that they can apply in the next business phase. The generation of the economic benefits will affect the entire population. In addition, the leaders should include the country’s cultural and environmental heritage that can preserve the resources for the future of the tourism. Conclusion The aim of the country for sustainable economy is not impossible through the ecotourism among the small tour operators. The sustainable tourism and the preservation of the resources is the most ideal meaning of success in the industry. The sustainable tourism in Kenya is the most effective way to promote the continuous development not only in Kenya but all over the Africa. The small tour operators are vital in the tourism of the country to assist the ongoing development. References: Budeanu, A., 1999. A Tour to Sustainability? A Discussion on Tour Operators’ Possibilities for Promoting Sustainable Tourism, Communications [Online] Available at: http://www.iiiee.lu.se/Publication.nsf/0/9a8d48b140ebc5d7c1256c38004d2e78/$FILE/comm1999_6.pdf [Accessed 19 Feb 2010]. Christie, I., & Crompton, D., 2001. Tourism in Africa, African Region Working Paper, No. 12 [Online] Available at: http://www.worldbank.org/afr/wps/wp12.pdf [Accessed 19 Feb 2010]. Sindiga, I., 1994. Employment and Training in Tourism in Kenya. The Journal of Tourism Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2 [Online] Available at: http://www.jcu.edu.au/business/idc/groups/public/documents/journal_article/jcudev_012558.pdf [Accessed 19 Feb 2010].       Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Effects of Small Tour Operators in Tourism

Effects of Small Tour Operators in Tourism Introduction Tourism in Africa is one of the services they can offer. In the country, t...

An Investigation on Recruitment and Retention Policies that Affect the Profitability of an Organization: A Case Study on Leicester Marriott Hotel

An Investigation on Recruitment and Retention Policies that Affect the Profitability of an Organization:  A Case Study on Leicester Marriott Hotel Leicester Marriott Hotel is situated in the magnificent city of Leicester in United Kingdom.  It is a 5-storey hotel and has modern facilities, with 227 rooms.  It has been built for fourteen years.  It has already acquired total assets of more than 22 million euro in the Leicester City.  This 22 million euro hotel has been completely built in May 2006.  In that year, Marriot Group took over the operations of the entire hotel.  Eventually, Leicester Promotions began to merge to Marriot Group in March 2005.  During this early period of emergence, high ranked employees together with the promotion’s team had a meeting with the hotel’s senior management and marketing teams to discuss further the joint efforts, assistance and guidance of each other for the favorable and successful positioning of the hotel in its location.  Moreover, the Leicester Shire Promotions has been very helpful in promoting the tourism industry aspect of the hotel as well as its place.  (http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/Publication/LM/cms/pdf/CASE%20STUDY%20Leicester%20Marriott.pdf)    More than that, recruitment and retention policies are very important aspect in the growth and profitability of any hotel organization.  And, to be able to recruit more hotel guests as well as to retain the patronage of the existing clients and guests; it is  more effective to focus on lean thinking in order to determine and be focused on the right strategic tools needed to improve the existing service and hotel facilities for the satisfaction of the  clients and guests. Whatever strategic plan it is, it must be aligned with the goals and objectives of the organization and that is to    have recruitment and retention policies that would increase the income of the hotel business.  Remember, the success of one hotel largely depends on the kind of service and facilities that the entire hotel staff and employees provide for the hotel guests.  And, if the guests are truly satisfied with the facilities and services, there is an assurance that the clients and guests will be kept coming back in the hotel.  This is the reason that Marriott Operations Manager Heidi Lyman attended the Center’s Lean Experience seminar.  This is a five-day session that provides advanced transformation of ideas for the further growth and development of the hotel industry.  This program helps for the successful operations of the Leicester Marriott Hotel ; in fact, within a year, the hotel’s service score increases from 10 points  up to 87 points.  This improved service score from the guests is a very remarkable sign that the hotel is doing lean principles in manufacturing as well as surpassed the expectations of the clients and guests when it comes to providing excellent service to them.  And, Ms. Lyman being the Operations Manager of the hotel taught the lean thinking that she has learned from the program to her hotel staff such as having daily interaction with the guests is a very effective way of knowing what is the other needs and wants of the hotel guests. (http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/Publication/LM/cms/pdf/CASE%20STUDY%20Leicester%20Marriott.pdf) Correspondingly, this is the proper way also to know if they are satisfied to the service rendered by the hotel staff.  All these things will be worked out perfectly if the employees are well knowledgeable about the demands and needs of the hotel guests.  In addition, it is also significant that all employees in the hotel are always on the go and full of vigor to be able to “infect” that enthusiasm to the hotel guests.  Furthermore, the second lean concept is  all about the connections of the hotel employees and the guests.  The management should always think and understand the needs of his or her employees in order to provide effective service to the clients and to be able to perform their tasks efficiently.  Relatively, spending more time with her subordinates makes Ms.  Lyman realized that designing together for the key responsibilities and functions of the employees keep them more focused on their job and they are more able to provide great service value to the hotel guests.  The last but not the least concept  is;  the hotel designed a responsive system that enables  the hotel manager to listen and be sensitive enough  to the needs of her  subordinates.  According to Ms. Lyman, any hotel manager should treat their employees as their customers or clients.  Doing this, will make the employees feel their great importance in the organization.  They come to realize that their value as an employee is the primary asset of the hotel and most especially to their customers.  In the same fashion, helping out the employees to make the job done quickly is a primary important in any hotel business. Backing up employees with proper coaching and support system is very vital in order them to provide effective and continuous excellent service to each hotel guests.      (http://www.nextplc.co.uk/nextplc/newsevents/rns/rnsitem?id=4175050)     References: (http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/Publication/LM/cms/pdf/CASE%20STUDY%20Leicester%20Marriott.pdf) (http://mediafiles.thedms.co.uk/Publication/LM/cms/pdf/CASE%20STUDY%20Leicester%20Marriott.pdf)  (http://www.nextplc.co.uk/nextplc/newsevents/rns/rnsitem?id=4175050)             Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

An Investigation on Recruitment and Retention Policies that Affect the Profitability of an Organization: A Case Study on Leicester Marriott Hotel

An Investigation on Recruitment and Retention Policies that Affect the Profitability of an Organization: A Case Study on Leicester Marri...