World Music Industry †A Background Essay Example for Free

World Music Industry – A Background Essay There are three major segments in the world music industry; the industry that deals in the recorded music, the industry that is involved in the broadcasting of the already recorded music and the industry that attends to live performances. There are other less significant segments which are concerned with the broadcast rights for live performances and so on. Revenue is generated at each of these stages of the value chain. The earning of the revenue starts with a composer and lyricist with a song written and composed. In some cases the lyricist will sell the music on his own or he may decide to sell the rights may be transferred to another party. Then the song is played by the performers and at this point the revenues start flowing from two different directions – one from the performance recorded in a studio and the other from the live performances. In this process there are certain costs incurred which makes the presence of the companies specialized in the recording business as a prerequisite for channelizing the music performed. These costs include: Cost of rent for studio time and recording equipments Professional service charges payable for the sound engineers, technicians and operators Cost of transferring the recordings to tapes or compact discs and Cost of distributing the music as saleable commodities Since these costs are very high it is not possible to complete the value chain without the participation of these high profile companies. Usually these recording companies sign a contract with the performers. Under the contract the performer agrees to produce a certain number of recordings. The performer also agrees to take part in the promotion of the music product and is also under an obligation not to take part in recordings with other companies during the contract period. The record company undertakes to incur the cost of â€Å"producing, duplicating, packaging, distributing and marketing† of the products. The record companies distribute the products to the retailers who further sells to the consumers. In this value chain the authorized listeners who purchase the music product by paying the specified charges as remuneration to the copyright holders share their copy of the product with other listeners who do not make any payment for listening to the music. Traditionally the occasions on which the copying of the music was done were less which was in an informal way by making illegal tapes to share with friends and relatives. In this case there will be no earnings for any party in the value chain including for the â€Å"publishers, performers, recording companies and retailers†. There may not be any revenue arising for the person who has purchased the product legally and this depends on whether he charges for the copies he makes for the use of his friends. With the rapid changed in technology, the traditional market for the music was changing its dependence from cassettes, LPs, singles, compact discs, mini discs, MP3 and DVDs. These changes in the selling media have acted as strong barriers to the new entrants in to the market due to the reasons like: The international distribution network had proved very capital intensive involving huge investments. Despite the large investments, there was always the risk that the network must suit to the sudden changes in the customers’ demand. This often necessitated the trading off of international rights to music to international distribution as a measure to avoid the risk of change in preferences. (Kretschmer et al. , 1999). There were large costs associated with the marketing of the music worldwide. Firms had to incur marketing expenditure running in to millions of dollars in this respect. This is evident from the fact that releasing chart-bound albums have resulted in huge marketing costs in the national markets of UK and Germany. The composition of the products is so vulnerable that sometimes as low as 10 percent of the music products would account for almost 90 percent of the turnover and nobody could really assess the reasons for the success of certain products. (Caves, 2000) The competition from large players from other industries like consumer electronics, television and other media, entertainment and telecommunication industries using latest technologies of digital and networking also act as a barrier for new firms entering the music products market in the traditional set up. Examples of such organizations include the Time Warner, Disney, and Sony etc.

Critical Management Studies (CMS) Debate on Power

Critical Management Studies (CMS) Debate on Power The rate of change within contemporary business environment has intensified over the last few decades, which in turn have resulted in significant strategic implications for organisations of all types. According to Ford et al (2010), critical management studies (CMS) has been an important radically different development to mainstream management theory that offers alternative thinking to the management of contemporary organisations. Drawing upon Wickert Schaefer (2015), it is noted that CMS is based on critically appraising and sceptically analysing the contemporary management practices that are based on profit maximisation rather than social and ecological sustainability. The proponents of CMS have argued that although there has been improvement within management literature away from the explicit organisational characteristics towards implicit factors, however the underlying factor that dictates allocation of resources within organisation remains creation of value for the firm (King Learmonth, 2014). It is argued that due to this underlying managerial power in shaping the organisational behaviour therefore the contemporary management studies should be critically appraised for their links with social injustice and environmental degradation (Bergstrom et al, 2009). The review of CMS as an alternative to the mainstream management theories and practices has pointed out the importance of power and its distribution across the different actors related with the organisations (Alvesson, 2010). According to Ford et al (2010), CMS highlights the prevailing power structures that dominate contemporary organisations and their management, which in turn results in systemic decline in moral obligations concerning people and ecology that should be justified from the lens of profitability. The aim of this report is to critically explore the critical management studies (CMS) debate concerning power. In order to achieve this aim, the report has used multiple schools of thoughts from proponents and critics of CMS to provide a balanced review of literature. The report has used inverted funnel approach in critically appraising the literature concerning role of power within CMS. Power has been defined in a number of ways within the management literature due to the degree of influence from its origins in a number of other disciplines. According to Ailon (2006), due to the diversity of definitions, it can be suggested that power suffers from tautological issue within management literature. However, the review of the popular definitions have noted that there is a high degree of overlap within them and therefore understanding the underlying basics can result in better development of the topic (Bachrach Baratz, 1962). The very basic definition of power has been developed by Dahl in 1957, which encapsulates that A has power on B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do. Although it is a very basic definition that focuses on the negativity of power, however it provides the basis understanding of the concept. This is the reason that Brown et al (2010) has pointed out that this definition has become the basis of more elaborated c onceptualisation of the topic of power within the context of management studies. The review of the literature has pointed out that traditionally power was seen to be arising from explicit organisational factors within managerial theories, however proponents of CMS have pointed out that there are implicit organisational factors that can be the source of such power. According to Ailon (2006), power is seen as the influence of any set of individuals inside or outside of the organisation that can have implications on the people within the organisation. Therefore, it is argued that individuals within organisations have a number of actionable options when faced with any particular decision, however due to the explicit and implicit power structures within the organisation, they tend to conform to undertaking certain actions in comparison with others. Drawing upon Brown Lewis (2011), power is the concept that would influence the actions of individuals that they would not have undertaken in the absence of such power. Power has remained explicitly or implicitly at the heart of a number of management theories and practices that have been developed and reported within the popular management literature. According to Ford et al (2010), management literature has evolved over the decades in the light of the changing macro and micro business environment, where the focus has remained on the development and sustainability of the competitive advantage of the businesses. It is suggested that as management has emerged as a value within contemporary businesses, there has been significant private and public power attached to it that has attracted attention from CMS (Ahonen et al, 2014). It is suggested that as management has been elevated to a powerful position, the overall criticism and scepticism with the current system has become concentrated on the topic. The research has pointed out that traditional management literature has focused on the creation of value for the shareholders of the businesses. According to King Learmonth (2014), this highlights the fact that shareholders have the explicit power to shape the overall long term organisational strategy and organisational behaviour within any given situation. However, it is suggested that such a view of the business has received sharp criticism from a number of areas, where conserving human rights and ecological destruction took centre stage. Drawing upon Erkama (2010), in order to overcome these criticisms, the management literature evolved into arguing that organisations should focus on the value creation for the stakeholders of the firm. Although, stakeholder focus apparently highlights that the demands for a variety of actors that have interest or are influenced by the business are included within managerial decision making (Tadajewski et al, 2011). However, it is noted that there is a high degree of diversity and multiplicity of demands from the stakeholders of the business and therefore their prioritisation is undertaken. The prioritisation of the stakeholders and their demands are undertaken within the context of their ability to achieve profitability for the business. The proponents of CMS have argued that even with the evolution within management literature, the overall managerial decisions are the function of power of shareholders and profitability of the firms. CMS have pointed out that although there is an emergence within management literature regarding importance of human resources, environmental management and corporate citizenship; however all of these aspects are driven out of their links with the profitability and shareholder wealth creation (Mccabe, 2000). It is argued that although there is the perception of increased independence of decision making of the individual human resources, however the power of shareholders dictate the overall acceptable set of decisions while eliminating decisions that would be undertaken by managers in the absence of such an influencing power. Similarly, it is suggested that corporate social responsibility has gained importance in contemporary management literature, however only the areas that can be linked with profitability and creation of positive perception of the business are focused (King Learmonth, 2014). According to Contu Willmott (2003), the companies would self-report the positive community and environmental behaviour to gain a positive perception from the customers and other influencing stakeholders. Despite the fact that large multinational corporations have developed detailed corporate social responsibility plans, there remains disjointed implementation of these plans across the national boundaries based on their impact on the profitability of the businesses (Wickert Schaefer, 2015). Therefore, the countries with stricter legislation and higher understanding of the issues by the customers have a better implementation of CSR policies by the firm in comparison with developed economies. This is the reason, it can be argued that both explicit and implicit power within contemporary organisations dictate the organisational behaviour. There is a great deal of management literature that has focused on the use of organisational structure to achieve the strategic goals of the organisation. According to Alvesson Willmott (2012), traditional management literature has pointed out the use of hierarchal structures, where the power of strategic decision making is concentrated at the top, which is then distributed and diffused through the rest of the organisational structure. The proponents of CMS have argued that such use of structure essentially focuses on the use of autocratic leadership to keep the employees aligned towards achieving the long term goals of the firm. It is suggested that the overall long term goal is divided into isolated goals for different value adding functions of the business, which are then further divided for each individual. As the individual employees are allocated their particular tasks within the hierarchal structure, therefore they are unable to exercise power that can influence the overall o utcome of the organisation. The managerial literature has however evolved over the decades towards the recommendation of flatter and team based organisational structures. According to Ford et al (2010), with the increased competition and industries moving into the mature stages of their lifecycles, it is important for businesses to rely on the human resources for the differentiation of their products and services. The use of team based structures is expected to bring higher level of innovation and creativity within the products and services of the business. The proponents of CMS have argued that even though there is a degree of freedom allowed to the employees in a team based organisational structure, however there is implicit power influencing their decisions so that the outcome can maximise the value creation for the organisation (King Learmonth, 2014). It is suggested that business use this type of power to control the outcome from the organisational teams. The process and culture or monitoring and motivati ng the employees is geared towards limiting overall options available to the employees of the organisation. The concept of personal identity and organisational culture in influencing the behaviour of individuals, groups and organisations has been discussed within CMS. According to Erkama (2010), identity is a set of reflexive narratives that are derived from participation in competing discourses and related experiences. The concept of work identity has been highlighted as the individual or group representation towards being productive for the organisation. According to Tadajewski et al (2011), it can be argued that the overall identity of individuals at work can be determined from their ability and motivation to achieve the organisational objectives. The contemporary management literature has played a pivotal role in developing the work identity as achieving the overall long term goals of the business, which are in turn dictated by profitability. This has been exemplified by the analysis of identity of lawyers. According to Mccabe (2000), lawyers have self-identification of guardians of societal ethics and as trustees of the ethical profession, where they would defend the rights of individuals and other legal institutions. However, at the same time, their work dictates them to develop the identity to be distinctive in offering solutions to their customers that would minimise their liability and minimising the rights of others to achieve competitive positioning for their businesses. Drawing upon Contu Willmott (2003), at individual level lawyers have the identity crisis to offer competitive solutions that would solely benefit their customers while ignoring the implications of their advises on other economic actors. At firm level, lawyers are operating as competitive businesses that are intrinsically motivated through profitability and growth in business. Therefore, these aspects suggest that the contemporary management litera ture promotes the development of identities within professionals that would inhibit their natural decision making towards profitability and creation of value for shareholders. Similarly, it is noted that organisational culture has been promoted as an important managerial tool available for effective and efficient management outcomes. Organisational culture is defined as shared values, beliefs and assumptions that are shared across the organisation that have implications on the combined behaviour of the individuals (King Learmonth, 2014). The proponents of CMS have argued that management literature uses organisational culture to ensure that all the employees of the business would behave in a very similar manner. The organisations with a strong organisational culture would ensure that the employees would undertake their decisions that would result in the short and long term profitability of the business. The focus on organisational culture would also suggest that human resources become dispensable as the new recruits are likely to continue making decisions required to achieve corporate success. The review of CMS literature has noted that the contemporary organisations use routine activities to use disciplinary power to achieve high degree of conformance from their employees. According to Wickert Schaefer (2015), disciplinary power uses processes of comparison and standardisation of individual performance, which determines their compensation and other motivational factors. The individuals that create higher value for the shareholders of the businesses are likely to receive a higher overall cooperative compensation and other motivational factors than their peers. On the other hand, the actions and behaviours of individuals that are not focused on creation of wealth for the shareholders receive lower overall compensation and motivation. This critical gap developed through the processes used within an organisation is therefore used to induce disciplinary power among the individuals. It is suggested that management literature apparently allows for the individuals to have high degree of independence in undertaking decisions that they seem fit for the situation, however due to the disciplinary power they are likely to make similar types of decisions. According to Ailon (2006), the use of organisational processes to shift the burden to decision making from the top management towards individual employees of the business are likely to be the source of disciplinary power. The discipline is enforced through the consistent use of monitoring and surveillance of the individual actions, behaviour and attitude, which are judged as their performance. The research within management literature has pointed out that power within contemporary organisations is embedded in the overall authoritative structure, culture and process of the organisation. According to the proponents of CMS, traditionally organisations had a hierarchal structure where the power was explicitly concentrated at the top (Brown et al, 2010). It is however noted that contemporary management literature has led to the development of team based matrix style structure, where different levels of management are jointly present in strategic and tactical decisions. However, drawing upon Ailon (2006), despite the apparent devaluation of power, there remains a strict guideline within tasks allocated to these teams regarding the overall long and short term objectives of the organisation. Therefore, although there is increased overall degree of decision making among the individuals within organisations, there remains overall pressure to conform among the managers to develop ide as that can become the source of sustainable competitive advantage. This is the reason that CMS literature has pointed out that organisations are structured based on processes and systems that are likely to use the power of shareholders to direct the decision making of the managers and the employees of the organisation. The use of explicit and implicit power within contemporary management literature has been accepted as the source of achieving the long term goals of the organisations. According to Brown et al (2010), the long term organisational goals can be perceived as adding value to the shareholders of the organisation, which can be seen as profitability for commercial organisation. It is suggested that the power in extrinsic or intrinsic forms should be present within the organisation so that it can direct the energies, motivations, skills and competencies of the employees and other resources of the firm to achieve the long term aim and objectives of the organisations. CMS has argued that mainstream management literature present a number of reasons for the use of power within the context of the organisations. There is a group of managerial theories that argue that in the absence of the power, the individuals of the organisation will do negative things. According to Ailon (2006), CMS has pointed out that mainstream literature has suggested that negative employee and individual behaviour can be seen from its normative or moral meanings. In the normative meaning, the individual would conduct actions that would negatively impact profitability of the business. On the other hand, moral meanings suggest that the individual would conduct actions that would be deemed immoral within the society, which in turn would also deteriorate organisational perception. Therefore, both of these cases justify the development of structures, processes and systems that would minimise such individual actions. There are two types of theories within contemporary management that have used this perspective, which include: (a) economically based management theories; and (b) psychological and social based management theo ries. The economically based management theories have argued that individuals are inherently focused on maximising their personal outcomes from any action. This is the reason, according to Theory X and Y, there is a group of individuals that are lazy and lack the motivation to work till their full potential (Bachrach Baratz, 1962). Taylorism has therefore suggested that businesses should develop profit maximisation routines and systems. It is further noted that Agency Theory and Transaction Cost Economics are important theories that have resulted in the use of power to direct employees of the organisations to achieve their desired outcomes (Alvesson, 2010). The psychological and social management theories have pointed out individuals are easily misguided and therefore can lead to immoral behaviour and actions if not directed by the management and organisation. According to Ford et al (2010), the theories that fall within this domain highlight that the organisational way is the only moral way for the individuals to conform. The review of the theories that fall within this domain, it is suggested that individuals can have diverse set of moral understanding of the issues and therefore if they are allowed to make judgements based on their understanding then the overall response of the organisation is likely to be very weak. This is the reason that it is argued that development of systematic organisational mechanism to inhibit personal judgement of morality has been undertaken within mainstream management literature. The organisational cultural theories were developed to develop and strengthen a group wide system of values, beliefs and assum ptions that can lead to conforming attitude from the individual employees (King Learmonth, 2014). There is another school of thought within the management literature that has suggested that if the power is absent to make employees conform to organisational values and goals, then it is likely that employees would make the business work for them. According to Bergstrom et al (2009), individuals are focused at maximising outcomes for themselves, therefore in the absence of any power, it is likely that the employees would misuse the organisational resources to maximise their personal outcomes. This has been exhibited through the examples of managerial greed that has resulted in the demise of large corporations like Enron. Therefore, it is argued that power in some form is likely to exist within organisations due to the resources that they have acquired or developed over time. Either the power can be from organisation acting on the employee or vice versa. CMS has pointed out that organisational power should not be perceived as something that would result in negative or selfish outcomes by the employees. According to Bergstrom et al (2009), power is everywhere within the organisation, however some actors have pervasive power and rest have subtle power. This is the reason that it is argued that power within organisations should be viewed from a critical standpoint, where all diverse areas of power and its origination should be analysed. It is suggested that the diverse stakeholders, actors and institutions surrounding the organisations have different types and levels of power, which should be balanced to achieve effective and efficient results for social and environmental sustainability along with profitability of the businesses. Drawing upon Tadajewski et al (2011), it is suggested that processes should be in place for the counter balance of power among the different groups of actors surrounding the contemporary organisation. In the light of above discussion of the debate regarding power within the context of critical management studies (CMS), it can be concluded that contemporary mainstream management literature is based on the use of explicit and implicit power structures to achieve long term strategic objectives of the organisations. The report has pointed out that traditionally management literature has shown a high degree of power concentration within shareholders of the business, however despite its apparent diffusion, there remain high degree of influence on individual behaviour due to implicit organisational power structures and cultures. The discussion has highlighted that power has been used within mainstream management literature through explicit and implicit means through organisational structure, identity, culture, discipline and conformance. It is suggested that the contemporary management literature fosters behaviour of the individuals that is shaped by the power of shareholders and profita bility. The review of the mainstream management literature has pointed out that the main reason that is highlighted for using organisational power is that without its presence, the individual employee would resort to negative actions both economically and morally.   It is noted within the report that CMS have argued the presence of power across the organisation and its diverse stakeholders, however has suggested that power should be balanced through the deployment of effective and efficient processes and systems. References   Alvesson, M. (Ed.). (2010). Classics in critical management studies. Edward Elgar. Alvesson, M., Willmott, H. (2012). Making sense of management: A critical introduction. Sage. AHONEN, P., TIENARI, J., MERILÄINEN, S. and PULLEN, A., (2014). Hidden contexts and invisible power relations: A Foucauldian reading of diversity research. Human Relations, 67(3), pp.263-286. AILON, G., (2006). What B Would Otherwise Do: A Critique of Conceptualizations of Power in Organizational Theory. Organization, 13(6), pp. 771-800. BROWN, A.D., KORNBERGER, M., CLEGG, S.R. and CARTER, C., (2010). Invisible walls and silent hierarchies: A case study of power relations in an architecture firm. Human Relations,63(4), pp. 525-549. BROWN, A.D. and LEWIS, M.A., 2011. Identities, Discipline and Routines. Organization Studies,32(7), pp. 871-895. BACHRACH, P. and BARATZ, M.S., (1962). The Two Faces of Power. American Political Science Review, 56, pp. 947-952. BERGSTRÃÆ'-M, O., HASSELBLADH, H. and KÄRREMAN, D., (2009). Organizing disciplinary power in a knowledge organization. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 25(2), pp. 178-190. CONTU, A. and WILLMOTT, H., (2003). Re-Embedding Situatedness: The Importance of Power Relations in Learning Theory. Organization Science, 14(3), pp. 283-296. ERKAMA, N., (2010). Power and resistance in a multinational organization: Discursive struggles over organizational restructuring. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 26(2), pp. 151-165. Ford, J., Harding, N., Learmonth, M. (2010). Who is it that would make business schools more critical? Critical reflections on critical management studies. British Journal of Management, 21(s1), s71-s81. King, D., Learmonth, M. (2014). Can critical management studies ever be practical? A case study in engaged scholarship. Human Relations MCCABE, D., (2000). Factory Innovations and Management Machinations: The Productive and Repressive Relations of Power. Journal of Management Studies, 37(7), pp. 931-953. Tadajewski, M., Maclaran, P., Parsons, E. (Eds.). (2011). Key concepts in critical management studies. Sage.# Wickert, C., Schaefer, S. M. (2015). Towards a progressive understanding of performativity in critical management studies. Human Relations, 68(1), 107-130.

Role of Edutaintment for Safe Motherhood Education

Role of Edutaintment for Safe Motherhood Education THE PRACTICE OF SAFE MOTHERHOOD: CAN EDUTAINMENT BE THE WAY FORWARD? INTRODUCTION The Safe Motherhood concept was delivered worldwide to bring about reduction in maternal mortality. This concept has been successful to some extent but it has been discovered that Nigeria is yet to meet its 75% target of curbing mortality by year 2015 to its lowest ebb. Despite the Safe Motherhood initiative in Nigeria, pregnant and Post-partum women especially those in the rural communities still do not have a favorable disposition to practicing safe motherhood. This could be as a result of poor knowledge of these women about the concept of safe motherhood (Igbokwe and Adama, 2011). However, Mass Media as channels of mass communication is to inform, educate and persuade its audience to accept new ideas and technologies to enhance their living conditions. Edutainment is a form of communication used for the purpose of entertaining and education to create social change. Edutainment uses popular entertainment such as dramas, folklores, documentaries, talk shows and discussions to tackle social issues for the purpose of inciting change and promote positive attitude. Soul City Institute (2013) further defines edutainment as: any communication project that sets out to use popular culture to educate and challenge people. Edutainment is not a theory but a strategy to bring about individual and social change. It uses popular entertainment formats to tackle serious social issues in an innovative and entertaining way Singhal and Rogers (1999) points out that â€Å"Entertainment-through television, radio and music is one of the most effective communication strategies for reaching the public to promote family planning and other public health issues†. Therefore, mass media can shape health beliefs of people while promoting knowledge and awareness of health messages. The Mass media play a major role in peoples everyday lives. This is evident in how routine it has become to watch television, listen to the radio, surf the internet, and read newspapers and magazines. Television as a major tool of information dissemination and entertainment programs is a veritable tool for mass education. Since it is a visual medium, women can see examples of the various family planning methods available and safe health practices can be demonstrated during edutainment programmes. Also, television has the capacity to reach larger groups of women simultaneously thus, helping to facilitate and create awareness amongs t women on prevention and ways to handle health issues they are plagued with. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM Reduction in maternal deaths has become the major preoccupation of stakeholders in maternal health today as evidenced by its frequent appearance in most developmental objectives in the world today. It is also the 5th goal in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). World Health Organization (WHO) citing Graham indicates that the women dying are in their prime of life: they are crucial to society and the economy; they sustain the next generation; they make up more than half the workforce†. The discussion paper of Tinker et al (2000) reported that â€Å"womens low socioeconomic status and reproductive role expose them to risks of poor health and premature death†. They assert, further, that Womens reproductive biology, combined with their lower socioeconomic status, results in women bearing the greater burden from unsafe sex which includes both infections and the complications of unwanted pregnancy. Over the years, women in Nigeria and Africa, at large, have been plagued with health issues such as high mortality in childbirth. To combat maternal morbidity/mortality and other health issues that women face, there is the need for quality reproductive health services, such as medical care which includes family planning, safe pregnancy, delivery care, treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV and AIDS. Kalyani (2007) notes that while health issues on women are rampant and on the increase, the attitude of women towards seeking information on their health is low with little done in research about how women seek information pertaining to their health. Studies have revealed further that not all women understand and are able to process the health messages they come across. An example is the Findings from the National Adult Literacy Survey which indicate that â€Å"almost half of the U.S. adult population has limited literacy skills, and one-quarter is functionally illiterate†. Flores, Weber, Kilker, Dang and Lindsey (2007) observe that this is so as Health information often includes â€Å"technical terms and concepts that are hard to understand, regardless of ones level of education or literacy†. However, reading, understanding, and using health information can be a difficult task for those with limited literacy skills. Thus, the need for media programmes on health, as media cut across literacy level. To reduce these health challenges to their lowest ebb, television as a medium of entertainment and information seek to keep the ‘woman’ educated and informed. There is the need for media education on health a s a result of the complexity and population of the Nigerian society which health workers cannot handle alone. Objectives of the study The general objective of this study is to examine the extent to which edutainment programmes on the broadcast media have helped in promoting the practice of safe motherhood. Other objectives are: To determine if pregnant and post-partum women through Health edutainment programmes on the broadcast media have the knowledge of Safe Motherhood. To find out if pregnant and post-partum women practice the health messages on Safe Motherhood they watch or listen to. Research Questions To what extent do pregnant and post-partum women have the knowledge of Safe Motherhood as a result of health edutainment programmes on the broadcast media? What is the attitude of pregnant and post-partum women to the practice of Safe Motherhood? Scope of the study This thrust of this study is to investigate the extent to which edutainment programmes on the broadcast media have helped in promoting the practice of safe motherhood. This study will cover pregnant and post-partum women in Ilisan Community within the ages 15 to 49 years of age. Ilisan community is a town located in Ikenne Local government area of Ogun state. It is a community that has a number of her female populations is either illiterate or semi-literate. It is also a community that has a high rate of teenage pregnancy. LITERATURE REVIEW Safe Motherhood Geefhuysen (2000) defines Safe Motherhood as is the â€Å"culmination of services for women from the beginning of life and the ability to choose when to become pregnant†. The concept of safe motherhood includes taking necessary steps when preparing to get pregnant such as adequate preparation for the well- being of the mother and the growing fetus before conception and taking appropriate measures to ensure successful delivery. The purpose of Safe Motherhood initiative is to decide when to get pregnant through the use of contraceptive to promote family planning, prevent maternal mortality by saving for possible maternal emergency while receiving healthcare delivery service from a trained provider. This is affirmed by Igbokwe and Adama (2011) who pointed out that â€Å"safe motherhood is aimed at preventing maternal and prenatal mortality and morbidity. It also enhances the quality and safety of womens live through the adaptation of combination of health and non- health strateg ies† Maternal mortality The issue of maternal mortality has been a growing concern to world leaders and stakeholders in this field. â€Å"Maternal mortality is a single most important health issue facing obstetricians, gynecologists and Nigerians† (Society of Obstetric and Gynecology of Nigeria- SOGON). This problem arises from unequal power between men and women in sexual relationships which expose women to involuntary sex, unwanted pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections including HIV and AIDS (Tinker, Finn and Epp, 2000). The world maternal ratio also necessitated the 5th Millennium Development Goals to have reduced maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by year 2015. The recent report by United Nations Fund for Population Activities UNFPA (2014) shows that: Globally, the maternal mortality ratio dropped by 45 per cent between 1990 and 2013, from 380 to 210 deaths per 100,000 live births. Worldwide, almost 300,000 women died in 2013 from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Maternal death is mostly preventable and much more needs to be done to provide care to pregnant women. Health Messages and Edutainment Programmes Yahaya, Fadairo and Ogunele (2009) explain that information, entertainment and education are very important to women. Therefore, health communicators should always include some elements of information, education and entertainment in their health and other development messages targeted at women in order to attract or gain their attention. They summarised from their study in Lagos that women experienced a serious improvement in knowledge and a positive change in their health behaviour as a result of watching and listening to various health programmes on Entertainment-Education channels. For instance, 61.2% indicated serious improvement in knowledge, while 59.8% had a positive change in their health behaviour due to programmes on family planning on television and radio respectively. Also Farhana Ahmed (2008), in their report, affirms that mass media techniques that combine entertainment with health education are particularly effective in producing behaviour changes. This they discovere d in their findings on a soap opera in Tanzania â€Å"Twende na Wakati† (Let’s Go with Times) â€Å"which has influenced about one- fourth of its listeners to adopt family planning methods and HIV/ AIDS prevention while 65.5% of the participants said they discussed pregnancy and maternal health issues after the campaign† Also, several studies, Singhal and Rogers, 1999; Brown and Singhal, 1999 and Tufte, 2002 point out that Entertainment-through television is one of the most effective communication strategies for reaching out to the public to promote social change. Singhal and Rogers (1999) also notes that television soap operas, popular music, street theatre and comic books have all been used to educate the public about such health issues as family planning, HIV and AIDS prevention, environmental health, female equality, improved sanitation, female genital mutilation (Singhal, Rogers, 1999). Findings from their study showed that entertainment-education in developing countries confirm that the strategy changes behavior. Methodology Design: The structured questionnaire for the survey was designed in English but the data collectors were trained to interpret the questions in the local dialect. The design is considered appropriate because the study will essentially focus on people. Setting: The study was carried out in Ilisan Remo, Ogun State. Ilisan is a community located in Ikenne local government area of the state. It has a primary health care center, a teaching hospital owned by Babcock University and a few other privately owned hospitals that provide medical care. Ilisan also have a couple of Traditional Birth Centers which a great number of pregnant women visit. Procedure: a total of 110 copies of the questionnaire were distributed. The copies of the questionnaire were administered at homes, shops, the market place, private offices, hospitals, institutions, churches and mosques. 100 were returned and analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency tables and percentages. Brown, W. and singhal, A. (1999) Entertainment-Education Media Strategies for Social Change Promises and Problems. In Demen, D. and VIIInnmath, K. (ed.), Mass Media Social Control and SocIal-Amea. Iowa: Iowa State Univenity Press. Retrieved from http://utminers.utep.edu/asinghal/Articles%20and%20Chapters/singhal_usdin_scheepers_goldstein_japhet.pdf Farhana, S. Ahmed, J. (2008).Entertainment-Education to Promote Safe Motherhood: In the Context of Bangladesh. Canadian Social Science 4(4). Canadian Research Development Center of Sciences and Cultures. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/read/1P3-1584808581/entertainment-education-to-promote-safe motherhood Flores, L., Weber, K, Kilker, P., Dang, P. Lindsey, L. (2007). Health Education Efforts in Uncertain Times: Helping to Ensure Healthy Pregnancies in a Time of Crisis. American Journal of Health Education. Vol 38(4). Gale Group Geefhuysen, C. (2000) Safe Motherhood in Indonesia: A Task for the Next Century. In: Berer, M. and Ravindran, S. (ed.) Safe Motherhood Initiatives: Critical Issues. Retrieved rom http://www.rhmjournal.org.uk/publications/SafeMotherhood.pdf Igbokwe, C. and Adama, G. (2011) knowledge and practice of Safe Motherhood among childbearing mothers Attending maternal and child health (mch) Clinics in nsukka health district. Journal of Research in Education and Society Vol.2(1). Retrieved from http://www.icidr.org/jres_v2nos1_april2011/Knowledge and Practice of Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI) among Childbearing Mothers attending Maternal and Child Health (Mch) Clinics in Nsukka Health District.pdf Kalyani, A. (2007). Information-Seeking Behavior of Women in Their Path to an Innovative Alternate Treatment for Symptomatic Uterine Fibroids. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 95(2): 164-172. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1852624/ Soul City Institute (2013) Edutainment: Using stories media for social action and behaviour change. Retrieved from http://www.google.com.ng/url?sa=trct=jq=esrc=ssource=webcd=2ved=0CCIQFjABurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soulcity.org.za%2Fresearch%2Fpublished-articles%2Fedutainment-using-stories-and-media-for-social-action-and-behaviour-change%2Fdownloadei=VnP9VNuaI8vfapqSgYAOusg=AFQjCNFzf-ESEywiAXHtnk-_U6bJe_jkAAsig2=QdJ7fbpcrFiNaSEMB4mSNQbvm=bv.87611401,d.d2s Singhal, A. Rogers, E. (1999). Entertainment-Education: A Communication Strategy for Social Change. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved from http://www.questia.com/read/57758858/entertainment-education-a-communication strategy SOGON, (N/A).Fact Sheet on Reproductive Health in Nigeria: Facts and Figures. Tinker, A., Finn, K. Epp, J., (2000). Improving Women’s Health Issues and Interventions. Health, Nutrition, and Population Family (HNP). The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. Washington, DC 20433 Tufte, T. (2002) Edutainment in HIV/AIDS Prevention. Building on the Soul City Experience in South Africa. In: Servaes, J. (ed.), Approaches to Development Communication, Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.kz/publications/ci/hq/Approaches%20Development%20Communication/CHP13.PDF UNFPA (2014). The Millennium Development Goals Report. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/2014%20MDG%20report/MDG%202014%20English%20web.pdf WHO (World Health Organization) (2013, February 6-7). Meeting to Develop a Global Consensus on Preconception Care to Reduce Maternal and Childhood Mortality and Morbidity. A Meeting Report presented at the World Health Organization Headquarters, Geneva. Retrieved from http://www.who.int Yahaya, M., Fadairo, S and Ogunele, A. (2009). Attitude and the Effect of Health-based Entertainment-Education Strategies on the Knowledge and Behaviour of Women in Lagos State. International Journal of Agricultural Economics Rural Development 2 (1): 2009. Retrieved from http://www.ijaerd.lautechaee-edu.com

Essay on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide - Can You Define Murder? :: Free Euthanasia Essay

Can You Define Murder? "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." (Genesis 4:8) Back in those days, murder was pretty clear cut. If you killed someone, it was called murder. Of course, if you had a reason, then it was justifiable. Back then, it was an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Or a life for a life. But in these fast paced and politically correct times, is there justifiable murder? Webster's Dictionary says that murder is "the unlawful killing of another human being, especially with premeditated malice." Unlawful killing of another human being. And most people would tend to agree, that there are circumstances in which killing someone else is just fine, and even desirable. But what are those circumstances? What exactly is justifiable killing? Is abortion OK? How about war? Euthanasia? These are topics that are in hot controversy these days, as civil rights groups battle political standings that have been around for dozens of years. Capital punishment is among those instances of justified killing that has been debated for years, and continues to be an extremely indecisive and complicated issue. Adversaries of capital punishment point to the Marshalls and the Millgards, while proponents point to the Dahmers and Gacys. Society must be kept safe from the monstrous barbaric acts of these individuals and other killers by taking their ability to function and perform in our society away from them. At the same time, we must insure that innocent people such as Marshall and Millgard are never convicted or sentenced to death for a crime that they did not commit. In February 1963, Gary McCorkell, a 19 year old sex offender, was scheduled to hang. But just days before his execution, the then Liberal cabinet of Lester Person commuted McCorkell to life in prison. His actual term was only a percentage of that. Less than 20 years later, McCorkell was arrested, tried, and convicted for the kidnapping and rape of a 10-year old Tennessee boy. He was sentenced to 63 years in prison. Once again, his term was reduced, and he moved

International Politics Essay -- International Politics

International Politics Paper On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center in New York City was destroyed by terrorists. They flew two hijacked planes into the towers and in to the Pentagon. To counter this serious threat, the United States led a NATO raid against Afghanistan. This was called the "Global War on Terror". NATO forces began to pick apart the area to find Osama Bin Laden and the terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda. Former President George W. Bush had a realist approach in dealing with the â€Å"War on Terror†. This political idea means that the government is taking the nation’s interest as priority instead of trying to maintain an ideal. A realist believes that human nature is bad and their core concerns are war and security. Realists also think about how vulnerable, self-interested states survive in an environment where they are uncertain about the intentions and capabilities of others. This ideal believes that States are the only key actors in the international system. Anarchy, self-help, national interests, relative gains, and balance of power are the central concepts of realism. A realists approach to peace is to protect sovereign autonomy and deter rivals through military preparedness and alliances. Their global outlook is pessimistic because the great powers are locked in a relentless security competition. In using this type of approach, President Bush was striving to illustrate America’s dominance. This straight forward, war-hungry idea would show the world that the Un ited States is a force to be reckoned with. â€Å"A determining factor or an element that determines the nature of something† is how Dictionary.com defines determinant. The determinants of foreign policy depend on a state’s leadership, power, and obj... ...l organizations, and transnational networks. Liberalist’s central concepts are ideas, images, shared knowledge, identities, discourses, and persuasion leading to new understandings and normative change. They approach peace by using activists who promote progressive ideas and encourage states to adhere to norms for appropriate behavior. Liberalists hold an agnostic global outlook. Their global prospect hinges on the content of prevailing ideas and values. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/geopolitics http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/29061.html http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6660QF20100707 http://www.wider.unu.edu/publications/working-papers/previous/en_GB/wp-11/_files/82530817520633193/default/WP11.pdf http://0-library.cqpress.com.trexler.desales.edu/cme/document.php?id=contme-981-40696-1950816&type=toc&num=1&PHPSESSID=p66tmjalbnairdar4r9l8ffou6

McEthics in Europe and Asia

McEthics in Europe and Asia: should McDonald's extend its response to ethical criticism in Europe? Introduction The â€Å"McEthics† case describes how Mc Donald's, the fast food industrys market leader, faces charges concerning growing health problems in Europe and Asia. 1) Set out the main criticisms that have been leveled at Mc Donald's in Europe. To what extent are these criticisms likely to be replicated in Asia? What differences can be predicted? There are four main areas of critique that have been leveled at Mc Donald's in Europe.First, the products are said to be fat and unhealthy, which fosters health problems, especially obesity and diabetes. Secondly, the labor conditions are heavily criticized. Mc Donald's has been accused of paying too little wages and being ‘strongly antipathetic' to unions. Harsh criticism also arose concerning the companies advertising. These accusations are based on the belief that Mc Donald's ‘exploits children' and uses false adve rtisement of its food as nutritious'. The last point of criticism is the firms ‘culpable responsibility for animal cruelty.Additionally, in France a whole wave of an anti-American sentiment aggravates the negative image of Mc Donald's. In Asia the main point of criticism that is replicated is health issues. The fat foods and emerging fast food culture is especially dangerous to children's health. In Europe traditions of protests and rebellions may help people change and the treedom ot speech. Moreover, governments nave a great interest in a healthy population because offering an expensive welfare and health care system.From our point of view these factors have led to a strong resistance against Mc Donald's which would never emerge in Asia in such an extent. ) Describe and evaluate the tactics used by McDonald's in responding to their critics in Europe? Will these work to the same degree in Asia? According to the case, Mc Donald's quickly reacted to criticism in Europe and star ted various campaigns in order to improve its image. For instance, they developed a healthier menu, introducing salads and fruit packages or launched sport initiatives and awareness campaigns.By contrast, in Asia Mc Donald's is reacting very slowly, not answering to the peoples concern. One possible explanation for Mc Donald's actions in Europe could be that European governments started taxing the fast food industry. In the meantime, Asian governments seem to show now interest in such measures. This observation is also a strong indicator that Mc Donald's campaigns in Europe are not truly altruistic. It rather seems that Mc Donald's is merely after profit and stakeholders satisfaction rather than providing healthy food. ) Should Mc Donald's offer healthy alternatives to the same extent in all the countries in which it operates, or Just those where it has been criticized in the past, or is it expecting further regulation? What if customers overseas do not want healthy options? Mc Dona ld's should offer healthy alternatives in every country as ong as customers accept and buy them. If customers do not want healthy options, Mc Donald's should offer other alternatives such like sport programs or simple information packages. Scientific research clearly proofs that fast food, consumed on a regular basis, is extremely unhealthy.Mc Donald's could be said to have an ethical responsibility to educate its customers about fast food and healthy alternatives. 4) How could Mc Donald's seek to avoid further criticism in the future? Can the company realistically present itself as an ethical corporation? Only if Mc Donald's operated as truly altruistic company, benefitting the community, could they avoid further criticism. As of now, Mc Donald's is only known to be vastly successful in the economic perspective of the triple bottom line. Mc Donald's is also committed to social and environmental perspectives.The Ronald McDonald House Charities for example provide healthcare etc. to children in need. Furthermore Mc Donald's 2009 Corporate Responsibility Report clearly states how Mc Donald's tackles the environmental issues and provides examples of Mc Donald's sustainable supply chain. However this is not what comes to mind when we think about this fast food chain. The solution to Mc Donald's problem is already in place. The catch is however that no one knows about the corporations' environmental and social efforts.Through proper marketing strategies Mc Donald's could earn a much better reputation with very little effort. 5) How sustainable is the fast food industry from the point of the triple bottom line? The triple bottom line combines the three factors of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The economic sustainability in the fast food sector has been proven in the past by Mc Donald's balance sheets. Concerning the environmental angle, one can argue that there is room for mprovement. For instance in Austria Mc Donald's is starting to use local products and has sorted rubbish for several years.There are programs in place to aid Farmers become more sustainable, bringing Mc Donald's supply chain to a high standard of environmental responsibili Concerning social sustainability, the tast t industry is lacking vision. They are providing healthcare to people in need but why not tackle the cause of these children's health problems? If the fast food industry could find a successful shift to truly healthy fast food, social sustainability could prove to be a contributing factor to the fast food industries profits.

Personal Conflict Essay

It was on January 2006 when I first set my feet in USA, a day I will live to remember. I was eighteen years old then and had just graduated from high school. I was the best student in my previous school so I got a scholarship to further my studies. Since childhood ,I was fascinated by people especially their cultures, religions and other aspects of their lives but what really amazed me was the way they communicated and the different languages that they used. My life had revolved around one language that was Arabic and therefore when this chance came I was very excited and without second thoughts took the opportunity to study English as my second language. I chose English because it was an international language and I knew it would help me communicate with many people from different parts of the World. More so, it was to be of great assistance to me especially in my stay in the USA. When this day came, I was amidst mixtures of feelings. Even though I was very excited, terror and confusion took the better part of me. The thought of leaving my parents and my younger siblings really terrified me and all of a sudden, I felt lonely. Earlier on after waking up, prayers had been arranged for me and all people wished me a safe journey to America. I was escorted by my friends and family members to the airport where they bid me farewell. This was my first time to travel from my home country and the first to travel in an airplane. While in the plane many thoughts crossed my mind. I thought about the people I would meet and wondered how they would receive me. I also thought about the college I would be enrolled to and my classmates to be . I wondered if there were people from my home place, how many will they be and above all how I would communicate since I was not familiar with English by then. I was in this state when suddenly an air hostess brought me some snacks . Tasty as they looked, I never took a bite. What I could not understand about the air hostess was that she appeared composed and friendly and completely unaware of my predicament. She was young, energetic and cheerful and nothing seemed to trouble her. Contrary, I was deep in confusion and uncertainty . I lost my appetite something which seldom happens to me. In fact , I rarely choose food and anything edible is good to me provided it is not harmful . More so, being the first time to travel by plane I was really uncomfortable and the experience was horrifying. At one time a thought of the aeroplane crushing crossed my mind and it really got me scared. Sleep never crossed my eyes during the whole journey and it took exactly fourteen hours to reach my destination. I arrived at the JFK airport in New York at around 10 pm . The night was chilly and many people wore heavy clothing to keep their bodies warm . I had carried a light jacket which I wore to protect myself from the cold . The environment was new and everything about this place seemed new to me. I was really getting more and more confused and thought it was even better when I was in the plane. My light jacket did not seem to be of much help to me because the cold weather was getting the better of me. Though out of place, a thought crossed my mind. I wondered of how it used to be unusually hot at home and how I had adapted to that kind of climate. I wondered how long would it take for me to get used to this new environment. I do not know exactly how long I had been standing there but what I recall is that I found myself all alone, confused, scared and lost and attracting some policemen. I felt out of place and the way they were looking at me was scaring. Did they see me as a terrorist or something? I never got to answer that question because one of them came directly to where I was and asked whether I was Mr. Mohammed. Though at first I could not understand what he was driving at, the mention of my name made me realize he was out to find me. Upon receiving my answer, he took my passport and asked me to follow him. They took me to one isolated room where they begun interrogating me. Little did they know that I could not understand whatever they were talking about. From their faces I could tell they were suspicious of something. One police officer who was taller than the rest and had a pointed nose with glaring eyes called the others and got outside of the room. I heard them whispering but could not tell what they were discussing. I do not know exactly what transpired but the moment they came in I sensed danger. I was forced to take off my clothes which apart from being humiliating experience it really made me nervous. They might have thought that I had some atomic bomb with me. What made me extremely terrified was the way they were pointing guns at me. For a moment I thought I was going to die. Here I was, people back at home hoping the best for me but not having a clue of the deadly situation I was in at that particular time. The thought of my mum losing me, made me collapse and when I came back to my senses, I was bed ridded in a hospital. At the hospital I got acquinted to the nurse who was taking care of me . She was a very caring and pleasant lady. She did not like it when I told her (she understood me inspite the language barrier) how the policemen had treated me . She failed to understand how people sometimes could be so inhumane. It was from her that I learnt of how I ended up in an hospital and she also told me that our embassy had been contacted. All this she claimed was through the concerted effort of the management of the hospital . Through her kindness and assurance that all will be well, I was beginning to have hope that things would be better for me. I failed to understand how things could contradict themselves. It was simply not easy to relate the caring and treatment I received from the hospital with the ‘reception’ I received from the policemen. I had been at the hospital overnight and I got discharged at around 10 am in the morning. This happened when the Saudi Arabian embassy sent one of its agents to intervene . All was set right and I could not believe it when one policeman was sent to apologize on the behalf of the others and he even offered us a ride to a hotel. The ride was short but I did not fail to notice how the roads were smooth and carefully constructed. If it were home the journey would have taken a little bit longer because most of them need to be tarmacked and they are dusty. When I arrived at the hotel, I took a bathe, had lunch and then slept after 28 good hours of unrest. I woke up at around 10 pm and realized I was all alone, the agent from the Saudi Arabian embassy had promised to drop by the following morning to pick me up. He had informed me that he would take me to his house and where I would be staying for awhile while we sort matters out. I could not get sleep that night. All my thoughts directed to the kind of life I was to lead in the USA. Foremost, being an Arab and a Muslim I wondered where mosques could be found and whether I would learn to communicate in English. Also I thought about the encounter with the policemen and realized the matter had been made complex due to ineffective communications. All these and other thoughts ran across my mind through out the night. In spite uncertainty facing me, I kept on hoping believing and having faith that everything will turn out right for me and I would enjoy my stay in the USA and eventually make it my home. It has been three years now since I arrived in the USA. A lot of things have changed mostly with me trying to catch up with the American way of life. I have made new friends from different backgrounds and we assist each other in times of troubles. Even though I am different in my culture, religion and way of thinking, I get along with others through their support and understanding.