Case Study: Capay Valley Naturals
This company specializes in processing and distributing fruits around North Carolina, Florida, and Georgia. The company has a fleet of 45 trucks that distribute the products to different destinations the farthest of which is 14 hours away from the central hub. It outsources the services of transportation companies to ensure its products reach their intended destinations when they are in the right state of ripeness. Meryl Roberts has been its Chief Risk Officer for over a decade and has vast experience in this field. The company agrees that the trucking expenses are high owing to the increase in the price of gasoline and other logistical challenges. However, it is necessary to rely on these transportation companies to support Capay’s core business. The acquisition of Salem Logistics was seen as a major stride towards the company’s efficiency and cost reduction. However, trouble started when Todd Fulton, the Chief Financial Officer proposed that Salem be made a nonunion company. This thought was supported by Alberto Giannetti even though Meryl Roberts and Jenna Watkins, the Vice President of the Human Resources department opposed this suggestion. The employees of both Salem Trucking and Capay Valley Naturals raised serious issues that impacted the performance of the company.
Lessons Learned from the Simulation Exercise
The simulation exercise is an eye-opener that shows the costs and benefits that an organization (CVN) will experience in case it decides to take an action. Managers should understand that the process of expanding organizations is not usually smooth regardless of their experience or financial and human resources. The structural and cultural differences of these companies made it difficult for their employees and practices to match. Moreover, the different perceptions presented by senior employees of CVN exposed serious challenges that were about to explode within the organization. Other lessons learned from the simulation include the following. First, due diligence is important when organizations expand and acquire the resources of other companies. Secondly, managers should not assume that employees of an acquired company will fit and continue their work within the mother company easily. Lastly, CVN failed to implement successfully the transition stage because it ignored the rights of Salem’s employees and wanted to force its practices without giving them time to adjust. The transitional challenges were not addressed before CVN acquired Salem trucking. The management’s approach to solving the crisis in CVN did not perform its expected roles and seemed to take a backseat at the appropriate time when its intervention was required. The simulation exercise shows the impact of various decisions that organizations make when confronted with crises. Managers should evaluate the costs and benefits of their actions to ensure simple crises do not escalate and cause serious losses. CVN failed to take precautionary measures yet there was enough evidence to prompt the management to act in good time.
Response and Thinking
The incidence of violence between the employees of Salem and CVN was uncalled for and the management should have done much better than just sitting and waiting for the brewing problem to explode. Organizations should have structures where employees can present their grievances without being victimized (Drennan & McConnell, 2014). In addition, the voice of all employees should be given proper attention regardless of the position of an employee. The employees of an organization may sometimes understand it better than some managers.
Moreover, they are the ones on the ground and interact with customers regularly. Therefore, their cries should not be ignored if an organization wishes to enjoy uninterrupted success. I believe that it was wrong for CVN to assume that the practices of these two companies were compatible. The company should restructure its compensation policies to ensure fairness and equity in employee remuneration. The failure to address this issue in time may have contributed to the violence between the employees of these companies because some thought they were being overworked yet paid less than what they deserved.
I will advise CVN to equip its human resource department with adequate resources to take care of the personal issues affecting the performance of employees. There are no social activities to allow employees to relax and forget the monotony of work. Moreover, some employees have family issues that have negative impacts on their performance yet the company thinks that it should not meddle in their affairs. The company has to take care of the social and economic welfare of its employees if it wants to ensure their productivity is improved and sustained.
Moreover, the issue about doing away with unionizing Salem employees should not be a cause of alarm if CVN addresses their needs properly. Workers’ unions attract employees whose employers do not take good care of them. CVN can abolish the membership of its employees if it is sure to provide for all their needs without being forced to do so. I would advise the management not to rush to abolish the membership but offer attractive treatment that would persuade them to deregister from the workers’ union. This process should take not less than six months because it involves restricting employee welfare approaches to ensure they are given proper attention.
Secondly, the company did not manage the heatwave and drought crisis properly. Some situations do not require complicated approaches to solve them, especially if they are caused by forces beyond an organization’s control (Drennan & McConnell, 2014). The drought did not only affect the operations of CVN but also those of other companies that rely directly on the environment to provide raw materials. However, this should not be a problem for CVN because it should have had proper mechanisms of mitigating water shortage. A company that relies on natural water should have other alternatives like dams and tanks to store it to be used when drought strikes. Moreover, it is a wise investment to buy water trucks that will be used to collect water from other regions when drought strikes its processing hub.
Aspects of a Response Plan Not Included in the Simulation
Crisis management is a complicated issue that should involve all the stakeholders (Roche & Mericskay, 2013). However, the simulation presented as a way of managing the crises at CVN does not give room to employees to participate in managing the problems arising from their incompatibility. CVN managers believe that they can solve the crisis without involving employees yet this becomes a difficult task to accomplish. Secondly, the company does not consult the former owners of Salem Trucking to know how it managed previous cases of employees unrest. The problems about employees’ fights, dissatisfaction in treatment, and diverse salaries could have been managed more easily if CVN involved key stakeholders in managing them. Moreover, the heatwave and drought problems were beyond the control of this company. The company should have sought the government’s intervention in mitigating the impacts of this crisis but instead chose to remain silent and solve it without external help. It is not easy to solve some problems without the collective efforts of all stakeholders involved.
Hazards and Vulnerability Analysis
The nature of the business of CVN makes it vulnerable to man-made and natural hazards. First, the company specializes in processing and distributing fruits. These products are highly perishable and this means that they must be handled with care. The high percentage of pollutants in the atmosphere makes the operations of this company risky because there are higher chances that they may be poisoned. For instance, the transportation of fruits from the central hub to various destinations is done based on their desired quality when they arrive at their destinations. Cases of pest and disease outbreaks are common during droughts and floods even though governments have invested heavily in trying to control them. CVN should have proper and efficient mechanisms for combating disease and pest outbreaks since they are the most dangerous risks posed to the operations of this company. Secondly, the company risks facing more fights and unrest if it does not address the imbalances that exist between CVN and Salem employees. Lastly, scarcity of agricultural land is a looming crisis owing to the high population increase and the demand for land for settlement, and the establishment of infrastructure (Roche & Mericskay, 2013). The temptation to use genetic engineering to boost production and sales is a serious issue that may discourage the existing and potential clients from buying its products.
Steps To Mitigate the Threat of a Significant Event
CVN employees believe that there are glaring mistreatment and discrimination perpetuated by the highly structured managerial chain. There are serious concerns over the compatibility of Salem and CVN employees and the previous fight was just an indicator that this situation may erupt if it is not managed properly. Fights may erupt between these groups and the company will be the greatest loser. CVN should introduce or implement the existing codes of conduct to ensure all employees abide by the rules that guide their behavior. Secondly, those involved in fights should be suspended but paid to warn others who may be tempted to engage in mischief. However, this suspension may attract resistance and go slow from other employees who may perceive it as victimization. The company should integrate the roles of these employees to ensure they are in contact with each other and learn to work together peacefully. This practice may lower productivity in the short term but become beneficial when employees understand the need to work together. Lastly, the company should not rush to force Salem employees to fit into CVN’s system overnight. They should be given time to acclimatize with CVN’s practices even though this may cause delays and losses.
Recommendations
CVN failed from the outset by acquiring Salem without the proper transfer of employees. The managers forgot that employees are important resources in an organization and thus they must be treated with respect. Secondly, all organizations have different cultures and this means that CVN should have given Salem employees time to adjust ad fit in their new system. Orientation programs should have been conducted to familiarize the employees of these two companies and ensure they understand and are ready to work together. Moreover, cases of drought and heatwaves should be expected since the company’s products are derived from nature. Pest and disease outbreaks, floods, landslides, pollution, droughts, and competition on the available land are bound to happen and thus the management should be.
References
Drennan, L. T. & McConnell, A. (2014). Risk and Crisis Management in the Public Sector. London: Routledge.
Roche, S. & Mericskay, B. (2013). GeoWeb and crisis management: Issues and perspectives of volunteered geographic information. GeoJournal, 78(1), 21-40.
“Assisting Preservice Teachers Towards Becoming Culturally Responsive” Article Analysis
Overall Comments
Assisting Preservice Teachers Towards Becoming Culturally Responsive is a must-read article by Starker and Fitchett whose aim is to assist pre-service teachers towards becoming culturally responsive so that they can teach in societies that are diverse in terms of culture such as urban centers. The researchers chose the topic based on the challenges that teachers encounter when they are fresh from college. During this time, such teachers have no prior experience in the classroom. The authors have gone ahead to point out the difference between astute culturally responsive teachers and those that are not culturally receptive (Starker & Fitchett, 2013, p. 29).
The choice of the topic of the article can be described as reflective of the classroom situation in schools within the community. Such schools continuously strive to deliver knowledge to young people while at the same time trying to make knowledge relevant. The researchers have clearly brought out the points they wanted to base their study by setting out the standards that define the article’s arguments. The research paper has employed qualitative techniques as a way of analyzing the situation of teachers. The choice of a research technique comes in handy in terms of bringing out the right findings that can be used to provide answers to the research problem.
More so, the finding can be employed to point out where the problem lies. The research topic as stated by the researchers is based on cultural responsiveness. The researchers have gone further to define cultural responsiveness by showing how it is applicable in teaching. This strategy is a good way of approaching the dilemma because it goes to the bottom of the problem to bring it out and making it understandable in a simple way.
By comparing the various aspects of pre-service teaching about cultural responsiveness with one that is not culturally responsive, the researchers provide a baseline that will be used for proper evaluation (Starker & Fitchett, 2013, p. 30). Giving one side only does not make users of the research understand the research problem. The researchers have quoted heavily from previous researchers on the same topic together with other related topics.
From this information, the researchers have been able to reveal the challenges that are involved in the implementation of the program. Education has been standardized in society. It becomes complicated for a teacher who has a standard education to change his or her way of teaching to accommodate cultural diversity. Although cultural diversity is the main area that forms the researchers’ concerns, the authors fail to provide a connection point to education and/or how relevant culturally responsive teaching is to the process of imparting knowledge. When one talks about culture, it is good for him or her to have a bigger picture of the world’s diversity because it (the world) is now a cultural melting pot where technology has made it easy for cultures to meet and integrate.
Based on the findings of the writer based on how it takes time for a teacher to achieve cultural responsiveness, the researchers contradict the purpose of research because it aims at comparing teachers who have culturally responsive contents with their colleagues based on lesson plans. The researchers should have however followed the path of how heuristics work for the individual teachers by showing how they can work for all other teachers who lack cultural responsive teaching skills. The research however can be termed as exhaustive because the researchers have incorporated findings of other researchers who have written extensively on the field, thus giving the work a strong viewpoint. The research topic has been adequately framed in accordance with the issues raised in the article.
The paper points at areas where pre-service teachers need to enhance for them to be effective in delivering the content of their work (Starker & Fitchett, 2013, p. 31). The conclusion that can be drawn in this paper is that all teachers need to undergo social studies so that they can easily integrate their social study skills seamlessly with their teaching to achieve a culturally responsive teaching method.
Methodology
The participants used by the researcher achieve the minimum threshold that one requires to attain saturation in data collection. Saturation in research is achieved at a threshold of nine participants especially in a qualitative research. However, the collection of participants is not mixed enough to test the cultural responsive components that the researchers are testing. Out of the twenty participants, only two are black in a white group. This represents a mere 10% of the group. This case therefore does not give the best cultural mix that can reflect the situation of the problem because a very small number in such an instance tends to be assimilated rather than creating identity.
Data Analysis
The researcher used thematic analysis as a way of testing the responsiveness of the participants. Themes can be described as relative not only to a group but also to an individual. Therefore, the choice of themes as a mode of analysis can be viewed as narrow and restrictive in that such themes will end up representing an individual’s view instead of the whole problem.
The Findings
The findings of the researchers are not conclusive because they refer the question back to the research table because of the challenges posed by the dynamic nature of the research issue. The challenges encountered while implementing the culturally responsive components over the short and long term make the problem difficult to solve because it gives it a very dynamic approach.
Gauging the Research Paper
- Relevance of the paper: The paper achieves its relevance in the education sector because it finds the best ways that can be used to impart knowledge in community settings.
- The theoretical framework: The theoretical framework in this case is very clear since the researchers have laid it out in a very simple way that anyone going through the work can piece together the goal that the work is trying to achieve.
- Readability of the paper: The paper has been written in a very simple and direct language, which can be consumed by anyone reading it. The problem with many research reports is that they come with very many technical terms that make it difficult for nonprofessionals who are supposed to read and/or understand it.
- Originality: The paper has achieved a great length of originality. Where necessary, credit has been given to all references that have been quoted. However, it is not easy to ascertain a paper’s originality unless one has read extensively in the particular field. Therefore, the work of these researchers can be described as original from the way the thoughts and data results and analysis have been done.
- The length of the paper is satisfactory because it is not too long to dilute the point. The writer has consolidated the paper in such a way that all the main points of the research have been addressed. The paper has delivered in terms of substance.
Reference
Starker, T., & Fitchett, P. (2013). Assisting Preservice Teachers Towards Becoming Culturally Responsive. MLT, 8(1), 27-46.
Video Games’ Negative Impact On Children
Video games have become very popular among children. There are different points of view concerning its influence on children. Some parents consider some games to be intellectual and useful for their children as far as such games develop their skills. Nevertheless, there are more disadvantages than advantages in modern video games. Parents should think over the influence of video games on their children. This research will be helpful for parents as well as for children.
The video game industry has been developed over 30 years. Firstly, computers games were used only with educational aims in order to develop children’s academic skills. These games were primarily used in education and controlled by teachers during the educational process. When computers have become available for everyone and it has become an integral thing of every house the popularity of video games has increased. Children began playing video games at home without any control of the teachers or parents.
The use of new technologies and special effects has made computer games more popular among children. They have become more interesting and captivating. It is more interesting for children to play a computer game than to watch a movie as far as they want to feel themselves like the heroes. More and more children become the addicted players captivated with the unreal world of the game. The games are projected in such a way that they resemble the reality and children are often confused to identify where a real world and where the world of their favorite game is. They begin to imitate their favorite characters and do all the things in a real world done by these characters in the game. The impact of video games has been questioned by researchers, parents, educators and physicians nowadays (Gentile, 2004).
Negative Influence of Video Games on Children. The Popularity of Violent Video Games
Children spend great amount of time playing video games. According to the Wall Street Journal the preschoolers from two to five years old spend nearly 28 minutes a day (Gentile, 2004). It should be noted that boys spend more time playing computer games than girls. As for the representatives of elementary and middle-school populations, boys spend nearly 13 hours per week while girls only 5.5 hours per week (Gentile, 2004). The amount of time devoted to video games is increasing but not at the expense of TV. The time devoted to watching TV among children has become stable and is nearly 24 hours per week (Gentile, 2004). As a result, much time is devoted to electronic resources than to physical activities. Children have a lot of energy that should be burnt out. Sitting in front of the screens their energy is saved and it results in many health problems. Video games have a negative influence on children’s health. It is one of the main reasons of obesity, muscular, postural and skeletal disorders (Gentile, 2004). All these health problems are connected to the amount of time devoted to playing video games. There is no balance between sitting in front of the screens and physical activities. Heart problems are also caused with sedentary life-style. These problems are worsened with junk food. All these conditions make children vulnerable to many diseases.
The main negative influence on children is the encouragement of violence that is so popular in video games. The majority of children prefer violent games (Gentile, 2004). Children devoting much time to video games are more aggressive than those who are not very captivated with them. Violent games are the reason of psychological arousal.
There have been made different studies to demonstrate the influence of violent video games on a child’s psychic. Experimental studies demonstrate the increase of aggression among children playing violent video games. Correlational studies demonstrate the interconnection between the world of game and the aggression demonstrated by children in a real life. Longitudinal studies present the influence of violent video games on children’s behavior (Gentile, 2004).
All these studies present the consequences of the influence of violent video games including the tendency to aggressive behavior, the different kinds of protest against parents and teachers, engagement in fights with the peers, the degradation of intellectual skills and the worsening of school progress (Norcia). According to Gentile & Anderson (2003) these violent video games have such effects as far as the method of repetition which is so successfully used in pedagogy is practiced in violent computer games. “Violent acts are continually repeated” in the games and they are remembered well by the children. Subconsciously children begin to practice this violence in a real life in order to feel themselves like real heroes (Gentile & Anderson, 2003). The majority of violent video games are first person. They allow children to control the hero and associate themselves with the main character. As a result, children begin to think like their heroes. These games elevate violent behavior, aggressive thoughts and feelings. Such influence of violent video games is long-term and it is not a simple task to get rid of all negative effects influenced children.
The effect of violent video games on children depends on the amount of time devoted to these games, healthy state, family conditions and upbringing. Children playing violent video games think that such kind of behavior is accepted in the society. They connect the notion of “hero” with violence. Many boys want to be a hero in their life and they associate this notion with violence and abuse. Such view of the hero is formed with the help of violent video games.
Viewing violence may cause “emotional desensitization” in a real life (Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children, 2000). Children devoted much time playing violent video games have become indifferent to human grief and violence in the society. These games form children’s understanding of the surrounding world. As a result, they consider the world to be violent and mean. They think that it is necessary to be violent too in order to survive in this world. Children do not trust others as far as they do not want to be the victims of violence and they develop protective behavior. The boundaries between the world of the game and reality have become vague for children. They are not mature to identify what is good and what is bad. As a result, children do not understand why they are punished when they commit violence. The development of violent video games increases the child crime rate in the society.
There are a lot of games with the elements of violence and abuse. The most regrettable thing is that violent video games are more popular among children than intellectual ones. Killing people has become interesting for children. It has become a kind of entertainment for them. When a child plays these games and observes how the main character commits different kinds of violence the child wants to imitate him in a real life. According to Walsh’s researches parents are usually not aware of the content of computer games played by their children and it results in irreparable consequences (Walsh, 2000).
More than that, the women are usually presented in these games in quite a humiliating way. The main characters that are so popular among children are usually men. Women are not presented in these games. When they are presented they have another role which is usually sex appeal (Smith, 2006). As far as the ardent gamers are primarily boys their attitude to women is fostered with the help of these games and as a result, these boys having become men treat women in quite a disdainful way.
Video games capture children’s time. As a result, the children ignore their grades and learning and prefer their friends to games. They spend a lot of time playing these games being socially isolated. Their understanding of a real world is misrepresented with violent video games. The gamers are usually so captivated with the game that they “want to stay as far from the real world as possible” (Smith, 2006). As we may observe, violent video games do not foster peaceful citizens of our society. Children playing violent video games think that they live in violent world where violence is not punished.
Positive Influence of Video Games on Children
Nevertheless, there are some positive effects of video games. They are considered to improve “a player’s manual dexterity and computer literacy” (Walsh, 2000). These games develop kids’ imagination and creativity. For example, Pac Man has been among the most popular games enjoyed by children. The aim of this game is to put puzzles. It is necessary to use your brain to play this game. Such kinds of games are considered to be intellectual ones and are approved by parents and educators. Video games are very motivating and develop the kids’ interest in a particular field of knowledge. For example, the video game I Love Math fosters the kids’ interest to this science. There are a lot of other learning games produced by Leap Frog. Leap Frog is famous for development of learning games for children up to ten years old (Smith, 2006). Such learning games develop spatial, visual and iconic attention skills.
Parents’ Control May Decrease the Influence of Video Games
Parents should be very attentive to the choice of games. They may devote time to their children playing video games together. There are a lot of different video games nowadays but not all of them cater for children. Although, the majority of customers buying computer games are children there are games for adults which are strictly prohibited to play by children.
According to the last researches children who are controlled by parents have more success at school than those who spend so much time playing video games as they want. The American Academy of Pediatrics provides recommendations to parents. They consider two hours per day spending before any kind of electronic source to be the norm for an average child (Gentile, 2004). It amounts to fourteen hours per work totally in front of TV or computers. It has been concluded that despite all these warnings children spend nearly 37 hours and even more per week in front of electronic sources.
Parents may prevent their children from the consequences that have been described before in our research. There are a lot of useful tips that may be used by parents to protect their children. The parents should be aware of the content of the video games played by their children and their ratings according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) (Norcia). The best decision is to choose the games for children themselves. Children are not mature to make their own decisions in such cases. The computers should not be situated in children’s bedrooms as far as it will be more difficult to control their actions. Even if parents may buy the video games for their children themselves the internet is one more threat for children as far as on-line video games have become very popular nowadays. Parents should set limits for playing computer games and if this limit is exceeded the children should be punished. Parents should devote time discussing the video games with their children and even playing with them to be sure that these games are not dangerous for their children (Norcia). It is impossible to forbidden to play video games nowadays as far as they are considered to be the most popular kind of entertainment among children. Nevertheless, parents may prevent the negative influence of computer games on their children.
The ESRB as the Main Indicator for the Choice of Computer Games
The ESRB is a special organization founded in 1994 by the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA) in order to control the content of video games and decide the groups for which these games cater. This special rating system assesses 1,000 games per year (Norcia). This system takes into account the amount of violence, abuse, sex and inappropriate language used in the game. As a result, the ESRB provides the content description and age limitations to these games. There is the list of particular symbols used in computer games industry nowadays that helps parents as well as children to choose a good video game (Norcia):
- Early Childhood (EC) – these games are for children who are 3 years and older;
- Everyone (E) – these games cater for children of 6 years and older;
- Teen (t) – the content of video games is suitable for children of 13 years and older;
- Mature (M) – the video games for person aged 17 and older:
- Adults Only (AO) – these video games are not suitable for children. This sign may be used as the warning for parents searching games for their children;
The influence of video games depends on a number of facts such as the time devoted to playing video games, the parents’ control, a child’s psychic and health, family conditions and others. From the above said we may conclude that violent video games have a negative influence on children and learning games are quite useful for them to develop their skills. Nevertheless, the abuse of playing computer games influences the health and psychic of children. That is why parents should control their children. This control concerns the time devoted to playing computer games and the choice of these games.
Works Cited
Gentile, David, and C. A. Anderson. Violent video games: The newest media violence hazard. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing, 2003. Print.
Gentile, Douglas 2004. The effects of video games on children: what parents need to know. Web.
Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children: Congressional Public Health Summit 2000. Web.
Norcia, Andrea n.d. The Impact of Video Games on Children. Web. 2012.
Smith, Blake 2006. How Do Video Games Affect Kids? Web. 2012.
Walsh, David 2000. “Interactive violence and children.” Testimony submitted to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, United States Senate 21.3 (2000). Print.