Edward and Adam role play Essay

The piece did not have a title. As it was an assignment we didn’t name our play. It is called Edward and Adam role play, because in this scenes we show when Edward has just been captured and he meets Adam for the first time. Edward is really confused, and when Adam try to calm him down, he thinks that Adam is an Arab who’s there to beat him up again.  AIM OF THE PIECE: I think that the main aim of the piece is to show how two men kept in captivity would react when they meet for the first time. Adam is an American doctor, while Edward is an Irish journalist. Edward, is steady and thoughtful. A hard-living, hard-driven man, he is tormented by the regret that he has pushed away his wife and not taken the time to know his children, and now never may. He is a complex, charismatic, charming and irritating man, whose best weapons against despair and self-pity are quick jokes, biting humor and a healthy awareness of his failings. When Edward is being taking into the cell he tries to fight back, by spitting at the Arabs. The reaction of the Arabs is shown with violence, and Edward get beaten up. When Adam sees what is happening he tries to help the new arrived, but he gets beaten up as well. When Edward wakes up, he ears the voice of a stranger, that stranger is Adam, who is trying to reassure him that everything is fine. Edward first response is trying to get away from the chains, and trying to find a way out of the jail. When he finally realises that he’s locked up with a stranger, he starts screaming that he’s Irish, and that he’s country is neutral. In all this time Adam is trying to interrupt him, but Edward completely ignores him, until then he starts asking questions. What he hears, he’s not what he expected. In fact he has been told that he would stay in the cell for an indeterminate time. In the scene there isn’t much movement as they are both suppose to be chained up. The only movement we get in the scene is when Adam starts exercising, and tell Edward that he should do something as well, to keep his mind full. Edward is still really confuse and want to know more about his new â€Å"friend†. He keeps on asking questions, and they start to know each other better. The scene finish up when Adam tells Edward that he’s not alone as he has got him to watch over him. We of course choose this ending by the title of the play. PRESENTATION: The piece has been presented well, and my partner and I have done a good job as the piece was understood by everyone in the audience. As we weren’t able to use the stage once more, we used another space in the room. We planned the scene carefully, and we decided to have Adam sitting down lining against the wall, reading the Koran. When Edward is coming in we have both of the characters trying to fight back the Arabs but as both get beaten up they faint. When Edward wakes up, he’s very scared as he founds out that he is chained. For a moment he thinks he’s dreaming, but when he realizes that that is reality, we can feel the stress and the fear coming out of his voice. Adam is tries his best to welcome him in the cell. But how can you make someone welcome when you are kept in chain? Edward is really stressed and keeps on asking more questions as he wants to know more about what it’s happening. After a while Adam start getting exercising, but this only makes Edward more confuse and makes him ask more questions. When the two men get to know each other more, Edward start to relax, and they start to talk normally and calmly, about everyday things, such as family, sports, jobs and so on.  For most of the scene the two men are sitting down lining on the wall, talking.  In this scene we had a big contrast between two different men, such as Adam and Edward.. Adam, is very calm, kind, and tries to reassure Edward. While Edward is very aggressive, as he’s just been captured, and in first place he thinks that Adam is an Arab, and he doesn’t trust him. STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES: The piece strength as weaknesses as well. Once again I think that my partner and I have done a good job, because we have done a original piece, which I think has impressed the audience, as we have explored the inner side two men who meets for the first time in a situation of hostages. We wrote a script of the piece so that we would have been able to remember the piece. I think that the main strength of this piece is that I had the opportunity to work with the same partner, and we put very good ideas together. Some of the weaknesses of this piece were that we couldn’t act the piece on the stage, I think that it would have been more effective as we would have had more space, and we could have used the lights as well.  PROBLEMS I HAVE EXPERIENCED: The major problem in acting this piece was that I was suppose to calm down a man who has just been captured and thrown into a cell. I had to be very patient into the play as Edward kept on interrupting, and kept on asking questions.  Looking back at the play I think that I have done a good job into acting Adam, and I also enjoyed it.

PR Research Final Project Essay

CHAPTER 1 Introduction There is a widespread belief in the professional world that in today’s society the future of any one company depends critically on how it is viewed by key stakeholders such as shareholders and investors, customers and consumers, employees, and members of the community in which the company resides. Public activism, globalization and recent accounting scandals have further strengthened this belief; and have also brought the importance of strategic communications management into closer orbit. Not surprisingly, therefore, both the academic and professional worlds have been suggesting frameworks and models that prescribe steps towards the ‘strategic’ use of communications including such ideas as ‘integrated marketing communications’ (Kitchen and Schultz, 1999), ‘corporate identity management’ (Van Riel and Balmer, 1997), ‘reputation management’ (Fombrun, 1996), ‘stakeholder communications’ (Christensen and Cheney, 1994) and ‘excellent public relations’ (Grunig and Grunig, 1998). Much of this work has been prescriptive in suggesting frameworks for managing communications and for managing firm-stakeholder interactions, as opposed to a more grounded and detailed understanding of the practices of branding and communications professionals and how these may make a difference in the management of firm-stakeholder relationships. Such an understanding is, we suggest, particularly important given the rift between the importance placed by CEO’s and senior executives upon strategic corporate communications, that is, linking communications activities with the overall corporate strategy and objectives of the firm, and their views that there is a huge under-performance in the communications profession in the US, the UK and continental Europe because of a lack of qualified personnel and a limited understanding of what communication practices actually make a difference (Argenti et al. , 2005; Murray and White, 2004; Van der Jagt, 2005). Against this background, I conducted primary research into practices (responsibilities, roles and activities) of communications professionals in four corporations (Siemens, Nokia, Shell and Philips) that have had consistently strong and glowing reputations over the past years, despite market setbacks and negative coverage in the media. The overall aim here was to elicit and conceptualize in more detail the activities and issues that define CC as a public relation function in practice. This extended conceptualization is based upon a view of CC as a ‘practice’, which focuses upon how practitioners engage in the doing the ‘real work’ (Cook and Brown, 1999, p. 387) – a view that, I hope, will stimulate conceptual debate and empirical research and offer a more informed basis for practitioners to make sense of their professional realities and act upon it. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND CRITIQUE According to writers Ewen (1996) and Cutlip (1995) the professional discipline of public relations (PR) – communication activities undertaken by an organization to inform, persuade or otherwise relate to individuals and groups in its outside environment – developed itself, expanding in its scope and activities, because of public skepticism, political reform, turmoil and activism throughout the 20th century. In PR’s early days as a discipline, at the height of the Industrial Revolution, power was largely concentrated with big businesses, although the balance has since then shifted towards powerful groups in society including governments, trade unions, investors and stockholders (Broom et al. , 1991). In response to the increased saliency and power of such groups, new areas of expertise such as investor relations, public affairs, issues management and employee communications were added to the existing specialties of media relations and publicity, and PR gradually developed into a full-fledged ‘managerial discipline’ in the early 1970s (Olasky, 1987). The ‘managerial discipline’ of PR has since then, as writers Van Riel (1995) and Cornelissen (2004) have documented, evolved into the ‘managerial function’ of CC. The fundamental contrast being that under CC communications activities and specialties (eg media relations, government relations, employee communications, community relations, advertising, investor relations, corporate design and issues management) have been increasingly taken together and consolidated into one or a few units or departments and, importantly, these activities are increasingly given shape and coordinated from the strategi c interests of the organization as a whole. Van Riel (1995: 26) for example suggests in this regard that CC as a managerial function is ‘an instrument of management by means of which all consciously used forms of internal and external communication are harmonized as effectively and efficiently as possible’, with the overall objective of creating ‘a favorable basis for relationships with groups upon which the company is dependent’. The evolution of PR into CC and its recognition as a managerial function is furthermore documented in the relatively high position of communications managers and departments (e.g. ‘Corporate communications’, ‘Public Affairs’ or ‘Corporate affairs’) within organizations’ hierarchical structures (Cornelissen, 2004), the rise of a new ‘style’ more business savvy ‘corporate communications’ manager (Freeman, 1984; Harris and Bryant, 1986; Marion, 1998), and the widespread adoption of the CC vocabulary of ‘stakeholders’, ‘identity’ and ‘reputation’ (Argenti, 1996; Van Riel, 1997). For example, a recent survey of Fortune 500 companies found that rather than using PR terminology around publics (ie people who mobilize themselves against an organization on the basis of some common issue or concern to them), managing ‘reputations’ with stakeholders is nowadays considered the lead philosophy among communication departments (Hutton et al. , 2001). In reviewing these literatures that have dealt with the function and process of communications between firms and groups in their respective environments, we observed two key points about the current conceptualization of CC and its embodiment as a managerial function in firms around the globe. First, theories and theoretical frameworks in these literatures implicate the importance of communications in firm-stakeholder interactions – and in that sense are coming together (cf Schultz et al. , 2000: 3) – but only focus on the process of communicating between a firm and stakeholders in its environment. These theories have been particularly focused on stakeholder effects and outcomes (e.g. images, reputations, relationships) established, but have paid very little attention to the managerial activities, professional issues and organizational contexts that characterize CC as a managerial function (cf Vercic and Grunig, 2000). Some work to this effect has emerged in recent years (Cornelissen, 2004; Scholes and Clutterbuck, 1998, 1997), but is still a long way off from fully conceptualizing and describing CC as a management function and practice – at least in comparison with other management functions and practices as for instance strategy (Whittington, 2003) and accounting (Hopwood and Miller, 1994). Second, there has been little actual empirical research into CC as a management function, despite the recognized importance of the function and a proliferating stream of literatures that directly or indirectly refer to it. Thus, there is a gap between theoretical deliberations on the relevance and importance of CC, and descriptive accounts of its actual use and embodiment in practice. We argue that a practice-based conceptualization of CC accounts for these limitations and provides not only a framework for extended theorizing and empirical research but also a means for practitioners to attain a fuller and richer understanding of this critical management function. The Organization of Communication Work The way in which communication practitioners and functional areas are organized is important as it not only determines to a large extent whether the communications function is enabled to provide strategic input into decision-making at the corporate level, but also whether the communication activities that are carried out at various places within the organization are streamlined and coordinated. In other words, the way in which communications is organized carries important strategic and political dimensions and is also crucial for the effective support and integration of communication activities. Ever since the 1970s, academic and practitioner writings have emphasized that firms should consolidate rather than fragment their communications by bringing practitioners and functional areas together into central organizational departments, with the purpose of pooling and enhancing communication expertise and increasing the organizational autonomy and visibility of communications within the organization (e.g. Cook, 1973; Dozier and Grunig, 1992; Grunig and Grunig, 1998; Schultz et al. , 1993; Van Riel, 1995). Siemens, for example, has consolidated all of its communications staff and their responsibilities into a ‘corporate brand and design’ department responsible for the strategic development and policing of the Siemens umbrella brand values, brand design and brand portfolio management, a ‘corporate communications’ department which includes advertising, internal communications and media relations, and a central ‘corporate messages’ unit encompassing both senior communications professionals responsible for developing and guarding the overall corporate story of Siemens and copy writers for speeches of senior managers. Such consolidation is according to a number of research surveys (eg Cornelissen and Thorpe, 2001) now commonplace, with the exception of a few large corporations like General Motors which rather than bringing functional areas together into a few central communications departments have devolved them as stand-alone units (eg a governmental affairs unit) or subordinated to other functions such as human resources or finance. Generally, then, there app-ears to be a greater consolidation of communications into a few departments, yet still in separate ‘corporate communications’ and ‘marketing’ or ‘corporate branding’ departments. Within large firms, such as multidivisional firms and multinational corporations like Siemens, Nokia, Philips and Shell, the relationship between the corporate center or group headquarters and the various business-units is usually a major strategic issue. One key structural consideration here, is as Argenti (1998: 5) suggests, to have ‘all communications focused by centralizing the activity under one senior officer at a corporation’s headquarters or to decentralize activities and allow individual business units to decide how best to handle communications’. Most large multinationals like Siemens, Shell, Nokia and Philips have a combination of centralized ‘global’ departments at the corporate center and decentralized ‘local’ departments, teams and professionals in business-units around the world. Within both Philips and Siemens, the ‘corporate branding’ and ‘corporate communications’ departments have defined a brand charter and a number of work processes to assist professionals within the business with their specific communication programs. The obvious reasoning behind these examples is that although bringing communications specialists together vertically into one or a few departments may lead to enhanced efficiency, to the ability to develop specialized, distinctive capabilities, and to ease of management through the centralization and consolidation of communication activities, it may not lead to coordination between communication-related departments and with other functional areas (eg human resources) outside those departments, and it risks ‘turf wars’, functional myopia, and over specialization. A horizontal structure overlaying the vertical structure, therefore, is often seen as necessary for coordinating disparate communications tasks and activities, which also recognizes that communications with key stakeholders might emerge from various places within the organization and that the process of developing and executing communication programs is therefore essentially cross-functional or cross-disciplinary (Heath, 1994). Horizontal structure can take various forms including multidisciplinary task or project teams, formal lines of communication, standardized work processes (Philips), council meetings (Shell, Siemens), communication guidelines (Siemens, Philips) a corporative vision and communications strategy (Nokia) or the use of ‘czars’ (senior practitioners working as integrators between departments). Large organizations in both the private and public sectors generally need at least some of these horizontal structures. Particularly in multidivisional firms operating across geographical borders, horizontal structures do not appear to be a luxury but an absolute necessity. In recent years there has been a lot of discussion around the departmental arrangement of communications and the reporting relationship of the central corporate affairs department (see Cornelissen, 2004). Ultimately, the stakes of this discussion are about the professional status of corporate communications (vis-à  -vis other established functions as human resources and finance) and its strategic involvement in decision-making at the highest corporate level. Claims that have been made to this effect include the arguments that different communications disciplines should be consolidated in a single department, and that the head of this department should report directly to the CEO or the senior management team (or be a member of this team) to bolster and secure the functional expertise as well as the strategic involvement of corporate communications in decision-making. Broom and Dozier (1986) and Grunig and Grunig (1998) characterized this involvement in organizational decision-making as perhaps most important to the communications practitioner than any other measure of professional growth. The guiding idea in this regard is that a direct reporting relationship to the CEO may be seen as an indication that there is indeed a broad, growing recognition among corporate executives and corporate boards that the ability to succeed will depend upon the firm’s ability to effectively communicate with its stakeholders; and that therefore the communications function is recognized as an absolute, integral part of the top management function. White and Mazur (1995) have added that such a direct reporting relationship is also important as it leads to excellent communications management as senior management is counseled on issues, and stakeholder and identity considerations may more easily get factored into the process of organizational decision-making. The results from a number of studies indicate that in the large majority of cases, there is indeed such a direct reporting relationship from the staff communications department to the CEO and/or executive team (e.g. Argenti and Forman, 2000; Cornelissen and Thorpe, 2001; Grunig and Grunig, 1998; Grunig et al. , 2002; Van Ruler and De Lange, 2003). In most large firms, such a direct reporting relationships consist of counseling and advising the CEO and senior executive team on stakeholder and reputation issues, rather than having a direct involvement (through a seat on the executive team) in corporate decision-making. In a recent study in the UK, Moss et al. (2000) found that within the sample of companies studied communications directors report directly to the CEO or chairperson of the senior management team, but were not formal members of the senior management team responsible for determining corporate strategy and strategic decision-making. In other words, all of the directors in the study indicated that ‘they were often consulted on important issues likely to affect their organizations, [but] their involvement in key operational decision-making was often limited to advising on how best to present policies to the outside world or to internal stakeholders’ (Moss et al. , 2000: 299). Similarly, within companies such as Shell, Siemens and Nokia, the senior vice-president in the area of CC sits on the second-tier management team (one level below the senior executive team), and in that capacity advises and counsels the CEO and senior executive team regarding corporate decision-making. Political and Cultural Issues This is not to say, of course, that the communications director should not have a seat on the executive board and should remain in this advisory capacity, but the UK study did show the current impediments to such a move. On the one hand, there is still a considerable lack of understanding and a lack of commitment to communications among senior managers. On the other hand, many senior communication practitioners often do not meet the needs of senior managers to provide communications advice and an input into corporate strategy in ways that contribute to the accomplishment of organizational objectives and that affect the bottom line. In other words, strategic corporate communications stands or falls with highly qualified input from the communication practitioner at the decision-making table; and only then will there be such a receptive environment for that contribution. The practitioner therefore needs to produce strategically focused recommendations for strategic corporate action; bringing to the attention of top managers a broad understanding of the strategic management process and of those issues that may affect and impact upon a company’s reputation (Cornelissen, 2004; Cropp and Pincus, 2001). Otherwise, communications will be seen as a largely tactical or ‘functionary’ activity; in which practitioners are considered ‘communications technicians’. Grunig et al. (2002) have argued that for many firms, the strategic potential of CC in its boundary-spanning role appears to go largely unrealized. This is the case, Grunig et al. (2002) argue, as senior management equally tends to treat communications largely as a tactical function, concerned primarily with the technical gathering of information and with carrying out publicity and promotion campaigns to external audiences. Contribution of Work and Activities The contribution and consumption of work and activities carried out by communication practitioners takes place at three levels within large firms: the corporate, market (or business-unit), and operational levels. Strategies and activities at the corporate level are concerned with the overall purpose (mission and vision) and scope of the firm to meet its various stakeholder expectations and needs. Strategies and activities at the market level are concerned with determining how the firm will compete successfully in particular markets. Strategies and activities at the operational level concern the way in which CC manages its own resources, processes and people to help deliver corporate and market-level strategic goals. Central to the question of what type of contribution CC makes and whether this is located at the corporate, business-unit or strictly operational level, is the definition and enactment of the function as either strategic or tactical. As a strategic function, there is likely to be strategic involvement of communications practitioners in managerial decision-making at the corporate and business-unit levels. Such a strategic view of communications, which in part has already been realized within the business world but in part is also still aspirational (Cornelissen, 2004), means that communications strategy is not just seen as a set of goals and tactics at the operational level – at the level of the CC function – but that its scope and involvement in fact stretches to corporate and business-unit-wide decisions and activities. At the corporate level, where strategy and activities are concerned with the corporate mission and vision as well as corporate positioning, communication practitioners can aid managers in developing strategies for interaction with the environment. In this sense, communication practitioners are directly involved or support strategic decision-making through their ‘environmental scanning’ activities which may assist corporate strategy-makers in analyzing the organization’s position and identifying emerging issues which may have significant implications for the firm and for future strategy development. Communication practitioners can at this corporate level also bring identity questions and a stakeholder perspective into the strategic management process, representing the likely reaction of stakeholders to alternative strategy options, and thereby giving senior management a more balanced consideration to the attractiveness and feasibility of the strategic options open to them. This happened in each of the four firms (Shell, Nokia, Philips, Siemens) in our case studies. In addition, communications practitioners in these four companies also implemented the corporate strategy by helping to communicate the firm’s strategic intentions to both internal and external stakeholders, which may help avoid misunderstandings that might otherwise get in the way of the smooth implementation of the firm’s strategy.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   METHODOLOGY This research uses a case study approach to assess to asses the improved internal corporate communications in four firms.   Gerald R. Adams and Jay D. Schvaneveldt (1997) define the case study approach as â€Å"an in-depth study of one or a limited number of cases in which each case is treated as a whole†. The authors further added, â€Å"The case study approach is particularly helpful when deeper understanding is needed and when there is little concern about generalizing to a large population† (Adams & Schvaneveldt, 1997). These case studies were conducted with four European corporations with strong reputations with their stakeholders and the marketplace: Nokia, Shell, Phillips and Siemens. These four corporations were selected chiefly for two reasons. Firstly, each of these four corporations is a multi-divisional firm operating under the same corporate umbrella. As such, they are typical of other large firms with a corporate communications (CC) presence – as opposed to small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), where communications responsibilities and activities may not have evolved into one or more full-fl edged functional areas, let alone into a managerial function (cf Kotler and Mindak, 1978 ). Secondly, each of the four corporations has an excellent reputation in the eyes of their stakeholders and the general public according to ToMAC (Top of Mind Awareness of Corporate Brands) scores and reputation rankings published in recent years. The inclusion of these corporations therefore allows us to examine not only the range and kind of activities carried out within CC, but also to what extent these make a difference (given the strong reputations enjoyed by these four corporations). An analytical case-study approach was chosen as most appropriate for our theory-building purposes (Yin, 2003). It allowed us to examine CC holistically and address each of the ‘practice’ dimensions mentioned above. Interviews were conducted with up to four senior managers of each organization, for example, president of corporate communication and marketing communication, communication managers within divisions, and if possible, a board member who is responsible for (corporate) brand communication. Here, a topic guide was used with topics that are relevant in the context of the practice of CC. However, the guide left enough room for the respondent to communicate his or her particular views on in what way activities and dimensions (structure, political and cultural issues, professionals) are linked and it prevented us from pre-structuring the concept of ‘ practice ’ in any way. The topic guide consisted of the following themes: communication organization (How are communications activities and the staff responsible for them departmentalized and structured within the corporation? What organizational processes and facilities exist to support communications? What is the professional ethos and culture of communications staff and of people in other departments of the corporation?), communications work (What is the general view of people within the corporation (ie the CEO and senior managers, marketing staff, communications staff, and others) of communications and its role and contribution to the corporation? How is decision-making concerning communications strategy organized? What does the process of communications strategy formation look like, in both corporate and market-led communications? What general activities does your job involve?) and communications professionals (What is the general profile of communications practitioners working in the corporation? How are communications staff recruited and selected? What training and development initiatives and trajectories exist for communications staff?). We analyzed the data by looking for common themes across the interviewees and four corporations and by identifying links between the dimensions of CC practice. MAIN ARGUMENT The practice of CC was conceptualized   by circumscribing in very broad terms four dimensions: (1) the roles, skills and activities of practitioners, (2) the organization of these practitioners and their work, (3) political and cultural issues that contextualize and mediate these activities, and (4) the communication and consumption of the process and products of activities performed. Throughout discussion, and in the course of the primary research with Shell, Phillips, Siemens and Nokia, I identified two central processes in the practice of CC that cut across these four dimensions, and appear to be central to the field. The first process labeled as strategic positioning describes the ongoing efforts of communication practitioners to position themselves as credible communications managers to senior executives within the executive team and in other functions by developing staff, by finding appropriate mechanisms for coordinating work, by developing value-added activities and by communicating the contribution of CC. Underlying this process is perhaps the realization that communication practitioners need to enact managerial roles through management activities like environmental scanning, counseling and strategic planning that demonstrably add value to the corporation, and that they need to vie for an organizational arrangement that gives them a central, recognizable place in the firm from where to counsel and support senior management as well as managers in other functional areas. To illustrate, within Siemens the emphasis on corporate branding and the development of a corporate brand architecture was presented as central to the corporate strategy of the firm: We have to influence decisions about what businesses do we invest in and brand as Siemens and what businesses we do not want to be in †¦ We have a clear business strategy ‘ go for profit and growth ’ , which sounds really general but behind this is an intensive and very detailed program, the Siemens management system, which our branding architecture and systems tie into. The overall corporate target is to attain worldwide leadership in each of the businesses that we are active in. Business success is the most important thing and that is driving the brand values and the brand strategy’ (Director of Brand Architecture). There is a constant concern with the strategic positioning of corporate branding and corporate communications, not just to increase and communicate the current performance but also to secure a receptive environment at the senior management table. The head of corporate communication worldwide is a close advisor of our CEO. In fact, the incoming CEO, Kleinfeld, has a doctorate on the topic of corporate identity, and has a deep understanding of branding and communications’ (Vice President Corporate Brand and Design). A second process that we identified involves what we term cultural accommodation which describes how CC, its practitioners, its organization and the general way in which it is practiced is embedded in the cultural context of the firm. Effectively, the choices made by Philips, Nokia, Shell and Siemens regarding staffing, training and development, structuring and the model of communication strategy development are all highly varied, yet linked to the core of their business, history and culture. Such variety and cultural adaptation may point to what Gratton and Ghoshal (2005) call signature practices; practices and processes that embody a company ’ s character and are therefore somewhat unique and idiosyncratic, rather than general and universal for the entire industry. Signature practices are linked with the core values of the organization and evolve from a company-specific history and are embedded in its culture and core values. Within Philips, as mentioned, corporate communications is seen as a part of an Organization-wide technocratic engineering culture where every function and the work processes involved are documented and standardized, so that these can be constantly monitored, updated and optimized. Work processes (e.g. media inquiries) within corporate communications have equally been documented and standardized in flow-charts and worksheets (following ISO quality specifications). This kind of signature process may not work in other companies in the consumer electronics industry (or indeed other industries) as it is tied to Philips ’ core cultural values and company history. Within Nokia, in contrast, the corporate vision of ‘connecting people’ together with the fact that members of the company have a strong bond between them ( ‘ having embarked on the technological journey together ’ ) has led to an ‘ informal ’ , ‘ innovative ’ and ‘ can-do ’ culture of knowledge sharing and of coordinating work processes. There are little formalized work patterns or lines of communication between communication professionals within Nokia; they rather liaise frequently and informally with one another. CONCLUSIONS The preceding section is the conclusion on the ‘practice’ perspective on CC and conceptualized the important dimensions of this perspective.   These are (1) the roles, skills and activities of practitioners, (2) the organization of these practitioners and their work, (3) political and cultural issues that contextualize and mediate these activities, and (4) the communication and consumption of the process and products of activities performed. Together, these dimensions (see Table 1) provide a framework for considering the practice of CC in its entirety and in a much more comprehensive manner than previous work has done. Table 1 : Summary of the practice conceptualization of corporate communications Dimension   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Themes Roles and activities of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   — Manager vs technician practitioners   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   — Generalist vs specialist — Professional development, status and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   contribution Organization of   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   — Departmental arrangement communication work   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   — Reporting relationship and/or seat on executive   Ã‚     Ã‚  team — Centralization vs decentralization Political and cultural issues Status of communication practitioners and their   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   work — Added value of communication activities — Cultural accommodation Contribution of work and activities   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   — Strategic or tactical contribution Input into corporate strategy and decision-   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   making Interface between communication and other Functional areas (e.g. Finance, Human Resources, etc)   I also articulated two processes (strategic positioning and cultural accommodation) that appear to be central to the practice of CC. In all, the practice-based conceptualization of CC makes the following contributions. First, it has started to open up the ‘black box’ of the organization in which CC activities take place. CC is conceptualized as an organizational phenomenon rather than a macro strategy problem detached from the internal dynamics of the organization. Internal politics, structure and cultural issues are introduced into the field of managing CC, not as inevitable failings or difficulties within firms, but as significant for communications strategy outcomes, perhaps even as attributes to be exploited positively for the status and contribution of CC. Second, the ‘practice’ conceptualization of CC has started to ‘humanize’ the field (cf Pettigrew et al., 2002: 12). Unlike much prior work that has focused on the strategic outcomes of CC activities (e.g. strong reputations and relationships with stakeholders), a ‘practice’ perspective populates the field of CC with human beings. In effect, all forces and activities are seen to emerge from human action – from the actions and contributions of communications practitioners, as well as the reactions by senior managers and managers in other functional areas (human resources, finance, etc.) of the firm. Third, and related to the previous points, the view of CC as ‘practice’ has started to explore the agency of communications practitioners to bring about changes in corporate strategy and in the interaction between the firm and its environment, amidst general professional as well as situational constraints (Whittington, 1988 ). Practitioners can be captured in wider professional belief systems about their roles and work – that is, the aforementioned distinction between ‘manager’ and ‘technician’ roles (Pieczka and L’ Etang, 2000) – that effect and constrain their possibilities for action. Similarly, the political and structural aspects of the work situation in their firms – that is, whether there is a receptive environment among senior managers for an input from CC, and whether communications practitioners are located in departments with access (through a reporting relationship or seat on the management team) to senior management at the corporate level of the firm – effects the micro activities and agency of communication practitioners. Fourth, a practice perspective and our case studies suggest that there are clear interrelations between the roles and backgrounds of practitioners, their activities, the political and cultural situation surrounding their work, the way in which they are organized, and their input and contribution to the firm at the corporate and market levels of the firm. As such, it connects macro phenomena with micro explanations. It does not deny the importance of research that has raised the awareness of key macro issues and challenges; the challenge of achieving and sustaining strong corporate reputations with stakeholders, of identifying and building on unique organizational assets or the ‘ corporate identity ’ of the firm, of managing international communications for multinational firms. Instead, it extends such macro level accounts with descriptions and explanations of the practices and activities that underpin and constitute such phenomena. In addition, as our case studies demonstrated, the practice of CC consists of interrelated dimensions, and as such we extend prior perspectives that have narrowly focused on either dimension or only on the strategic outcomes of CC activities. Any change in strategic outcomes (i.e. stronger corporate reputations with stakeholders) is not simply a case of a creative campaign or of improving one dimension (e.g. reputation measurement to demonstrate accountability) but ultimately depends on a whole range of factors, including the professional roles and competencies of practitioners and the way in which they are organized. Table 2 summarizes the main differences between a ‘practice’ perspective on CC and the more traditional perspectives on CC that have primarily focused on macro strategic outcomes. Table 2: A practice perspective versus traditional perspectives on corporate communications Traditional perspectives on CC   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   A practice perspective on CC Primary focus   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macro: strategic outcomes   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Micro: practitioners, processes and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   (reputations and reputation   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  structures within the organization measurement) Explanations of  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Deductive: infer best practices from  Ã‚     Ã‚   Inductive: grounded in the actual Performance  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   reputation scores across firms  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚   activities of professionals and how   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   these add value and make a   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   contribution to a firm Key strategic  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   ‘Alignment’ between the reputation     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Strategic positioning and cultural processes  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  and the identity or positioning  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   accommodation within the firm   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   communicated A fifth contribution concerns its practical implications. A practice perspective on CC extends macro level explanations of CC as outcomes of what goes on in organizations to the activities that constitute them. This perspective is concerned with the same strategic issues of importance to senior managers and communication practitioners (i.e. how to build and maintain strong corporate reputations with stakeholders of the firm?), but in terms of the organizational activities and practices, which are their fabric. As such, it provides a more comprehensive and detailed picture of how communications is and indeed can be managed. The relationships between the practice dimensions (i.e. the backgrounds of practitioners, their activities, the political and cultural situation surrounding their work, the way in which they are organized, and their input and contribution to the firm at the corporate and market levels of the firm) in particular provide managers and communication practitioners with concrete factors or attributes that can be understood and, if needed, challenged or manipulated. To communications practitioners, the profound implication is not only a greater understanding of their work but also suggestions and prescriptions for how their work can be changed or improved. More specifically, if practitioners aspire a developmental shift from a ‘tactical’ or ‘craft ’orientation to communications, characterized by technician role enactment and communications service departments or units carrying out low-level communication mechanics, to a strategic management function, they know that they need to enact managerial roles through management activities like environmental scanning, counseling and strategic planning that demonstrably add value to the corporation, and that they need to vie for an organizational arrangement that gives them a central, recognizable place in the firm from where to counsel and support senior management as well as managers in other functional areas. The two processes of ‘ strategic positioning ’ and ‘ cultural accommodation ’ that we observed in our four case studies may also be taken to hand by practitioners to bring about changes in their firms in such a way that these changes are in line with their firms ’ culture and improve the performance and standing of CC. Recommendations for Research In sum, the practice conceptualization of CC suggests a need to put the micro into macro in order to both uncover plausible linkages to performance (with stakeholder groups) and to offer tangible guides to managerial action. Some important insights, albeit preliminary and illustrative, on micro issues in CC are offered through our four case studies. However, beyond these preliminary case studies, we make two main recommendations in line with this research agenda. First, we recommend further small sample in-depth studies of CC within firms, to develop the contextual and holistic understanding of the practice dimensions of CC that is essential to unpacking the complex driving forces of the management of CC and its strategic outcomes with stakeholders of the firm. In-depth studies, particularly at this early stage of theoretical development on CC, are a necessary feature of furthering the conceptualization and understanding of CC as an area of practice. Second, we recommend process research as a methodology for capturing and explaining how the practice of CC evolves within fi rms. Process research is concerned with understanding how things evolve over time and why they evolve in this way (see Langley, 1999; Van de Ven and Huber, 1990), and process data therefore consist largely of stories about what happened and who did what when – that is, events, activities, and choices ordered over time. In his classic work on organization theory, Mohr (1982) makes a distinction between what he calls ‘variance theory’ and   Ã¢â‚¬Ëœprocess theory’. Whereas variance theories provide explanations for phenomena in terms of relationships among dependent and independent variables (eg more of X and more of Y produce more of Z ), process theories provide explanations in terms of the sequence of events leading to an outcome (eg do A and then B to get C). Temporal ordering and probabilistic interaction between entities are important here (Mohr, 1982). Within the context of CC, the emphasis is with process research on understanding patterns in events (eg the link between activities and tools of communication practitioners and changes in stakeholder reputations), either as a narrative pattern or analytical sequence of events. Such process research then consists of longitudinal case studies or event-history methods, often with the researcher immersing him / herself in the firm and collecting fine-grained qualitative data through interviews, (participative) observations and analyses of company reports and documents. The thick empirical descriptions produced by process research may then in time, we suggest, be systematically compared across cases and extended with survey-based research of general issues and themes within the practice of CC. BIBLIOGRAPHY Argenti, P. A. (1996) ‘Corporate communication as a discipline: Toward a definition’, Management Communications Quarterly, 10, 73 – 97. Argenti, P. A. (1998) Corporate Communication, (2nd edition) McGraw-Hill, Boston. Argenti, P. A., Howell, R. A. and Beck, K. A. (2005) ‘The strategic communication imperative’, MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring , 46(3) , 83 – 89 . . Broom, G. M., Lauzen, M. M. and Tucker, K. 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What ethical challenges to the social order could arise from Essay

What ethical challenges to the social order could arise from technological advances - Essay Example Technology issues are contemporary business issues in the context of their outcome on society, particularly the biotechnology companies that are confronted with issues related to the use of embryonic stem cells, genetic engineering, and cloning. All of these dilemmas have life-long societal and ethical significances. Recurrent technological advancement is likely to heighten the role of businesses in ethical fields all-of-a-sudden (Barnett, 2011). The Sarbanes-Oxley Act has outlined the significance of ethics in the field of Information Systems, as is visible from its straight-forward effect on the functions of IS professionals. There is sufficient literature on ethical issues covering computing and information technology in the concurrent context but not all of the work has been made available for discussion in the leading IS literature. There is need to recognise the contribution of Hagerman’s discourse ethics, which can be an instance of normative ethics as it offers process es for figuring out moral norms. The three routine kinds of ethical approaches are: consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics and communitarianism. Each kind of ethic has a range of its own although other ethical approaches such as the ethics of care exist but consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethics and communitarianism are the leading approaches, attending to all fields of business ethics (Mingers & Walsham, 2010). Discourse ethics is distinct from other approaches to ethics as it is based on actual debates between those impressed by decisions and propositions. Considering that the theory could be abstract, the need to find practicality of the discourse ethics for the IS area by employing current techniques like soft systems methodology is important. Application of the theory carries practical potential via analysing its application to particular IS topic areas including Web 2.0, open source software, the digital divide and the UK biometric identity card scheme (Minger s & Walsham, 2010). An interdisciplinary area named bioethics came into existence in the early 1970s, integrating various professions such as clinicians, lawyers, philosophers, theologians, and other humanists amid technological advances in medicine and increasing regard for people in society. This was the time when haemodialysis and mechanical ventilation, abortion reform and the first human heart transplant was done. Technological innovations cut across individuals values. In brief, bioethics was the outcome of dispute (Parker and Gettig, 2000). Dispute arose over individuals' rights of self-determination confronting with some social values and with the medical profession's past non-confronting paternalistic regard for patient welfare, as the medical profession and individual professionals decided on their own, irrespective of the viewpoints of patients. Such medical cases where the patients challenged the medical fraternity for not fully informing the consequences of an operation or such legal issues started raging such as Karen Quinlan's parents' right to remove her from her respirator. Bioethics developed to offer a legal and ethical mechanism under which issues could be settled between the physician and patient and between social

Should women be allowed in combat Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Should women be allowed in combat - Essay Example Others suggest that women are not fit for combat service and are a detriment to the effectiveness of any fighting force. The truth is that women should not be permitted to serve in the armed forces in combat roles even should they wish to do so. Another argument, which is not currently relevant but which may occur at any time, is whether or not women should be drafted into the armed forced should a draft be reinstated. This raises interesting issues. In the course of this paper I will examine some of the objections to the idea of women serving in the armed forces and I will conclude by discussing the potential issues around a draft. The preponderance of evidence suggests that women are ill-suited for combat missions. Gender roles have changed a great deal in the decades since the 1960s when women began to enter the workforce in droves. The rise of human rights law required companies and the government to find ways to accommodate women, who were often unable to display the same streng th as men. Firefighting units altered their training regimes, for example, in order to accommodate women. All of these things are impressive achievements. We should celebrate the continued integration of our wives, sister, daughters, and mothers into society at large and into the workplace. Women need to play a more substantial and significant role in the world. But where can that line be drawn? Critics of deploying women in combat roles point to the various accommodations made to women in different sectors of society. They suggest that there is no room for accommodations in wartime. It would be nice to have more physically disabled people on the battlefield in order to encourage diversity, but they would compromise the mission. Only the most physically and mentally fit individuals should form the tip of the spear, the combat units that make up the military. This is the crux of the opposition to women in the military. In the American military today, women are not involved in combat roles. They make up only around 14 percent of the active Army (Army.mil). Catherine Ross served in Iraq as a civil affairs sergeant attached to a combat brigade and argued recently that women should be allowed to serve in combat roles. While in Iraq, I was directly attached to an infantry battalion. I went everywhere they did, lived as they did and faced the same dangers they did every time I went â€Å"outside the wire† to conduct infrastructure assessments, which was nearly every day. There is nothing special or unique about what I experienced. Many female soldiers have been or currently are in the same situation — going outside the wire and facing the possibility of I.E.D.’s, small arms fire and more. The fact is that as â€Å"support† we end up attached to infantry, artillery and other combat arms units, and make enemy contact. Despite this, I was blind to the big picture. I suppose I had just guzzled down the Kool-Aid and drove on. It took getting ou t of the Army for me to see how women in the military are truly viewed and treated (Ross). With due respect to Ms. Ross, her observations do not make an especially strong case for allowing to fight in the military. She may have returned in one piece from Iraq, but despite the fact that she was in a combat zone she did not have to survive the stress and difficulty of engaging the enemy in a combat sense. There are a number of powerful arguments which she overlooks when

How Colinization affected the history of American Indians Research Paper

How Colinization affected the history of American Indians - Research Paper Example When the European colonizers came in, they grabbed land from the American Indians mercilessly thinking that they have more than enough land for themselves. There are too many instances of land grabbing by European Colonizers but we can cite two of the most blatant case of land grabbing. The first case is John Winthrop’s land grabbing whereby it also intersected with religion which also changed the American Indian’s way of life. John Winthrop was the leader of the Puritans that settled in Massachusetts Bay Colony whereby they settled and took the lands of the Indians. John Winthrop was very blatant in his quest to take lands from the Indians because he thought that it was the Will of God for them to have lands in the New World because they, the Puritans were the chosen people of God and that they were entitled to take Indian lands. Thus when the Puritans sail to the New World on their ship Arbelia, he thought that taking the lands of the Indian is like entering a covenan t with God whereby they â€Å"shall be a city upon a hill. The eies of all people are upon us (Winthrop 68). Winthrop believed that the Puritans had a duty to fulfill their covenant with God by serving as an example of an ideal Christian community to the world in erecting a community on Indian lands (Gleason). Another is the case of land grabbing is California Foragers case. The California Foragers may not have religious undertone in their quest to take lands from Indians but their method was brutal. This happened after the Gold Rush of 1849 whereby the American Indians were the first settlers in the gold mines. When the Europeans came into California in 1542, they took the lands of the American Indians by force and thousands were needlessly massacred (www.funsocialstudies.com). The extent of the massacre was so massive that much of the cultural identities of

Computers in Society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Computers in Society - Essay Example These fives ways include; 1. Social networking -- many people belong to at least one social networking group like LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter and they are actively talking to their friends and business associates about this election; you can even find this information on MySpace. 2. YouTube -- because YouTube has the ability to replay in video anything you want to replay, a viewer can find any speech that was given from the beginning of the 2008 campaign by any candidate necessary. 3. Network Journalism Sites -- any of the networks have full coverage of the debates and places like MSNBC will have a replay of all the debates, commentary and other information about the candidates as they happen. You can replay any of this information at any time. 5. Text messaging -- Mozes is one of many text messaging websites where an individual can go and create their own list of keywords. People who sign up to receive information from them can receive broadcasts about many different things. Some people are predicting that this is one way that candidates can set up broadcasts that allow people to know their schedules or to send out specific messages. Since both the Democratic and the Republican party already send out specific messages via phone, this will be another technology that can allow more information to get through to voters. According to Guy Kawasaki (2008) the Internet will have the most impact on the presidential election because it allows everyone to educate themselves about the candidates and what they are saying. They can read news, listen to the various debates and make up their own minds about how to vote. This also allows many different people to voice their opinions and opinions influence others. According to Kawasaki, "Much like radio for Roosevelt and TV for JFK, the 2008 race for the White House will be determined by candidates’ abilities to connect with and galvanize supporters online" (p. 25). Some people will

Parental involvement in children's early reading Literature review

Parental involvement in children's early reading - Literature review Example Reading adds numerous dimensions to an individual’s personality; hence parents want their children to get used to reading from a yong age itself. Invariably parents are found discussing the means and modalities to be adopted to make reading feel and look interesting, enjoyable and fun to their children. Parents look for reasons to convince their children about the fact that reading is a skill that is like a key to master their life. Quite often elders purposely pick up a magazine, newspaper or a book and start reading in front of their children sending positive signals to the children about the importance of reading. In fact it is noted that children who lag behind in their reading skills receive less reading practice (Allington, 1984), miss opportunities to develop reading comprehension techniques (Brown, 1986) and may acquire a negative notion about reading if they are presented with reading material that is advanced to their skills. However, the psychologists have researche d extensively on the development of reading habits of children, and found it evident that early reading habits developed in the child’s formative years (initial five years) have a lasting impact on his or her behavior (Beth M. Phillips, 2009). Research indicates that the concept of literacy as a skill set and knowledge base begins to develop during infancy and is continuously enriched during the early childhood phase by exposure to language, printed materials, and opportunities for experimental and instructional counters with literacy materials such as books, magazines, alphabet toys etc (Lonigan C. J., 2006), (naeyc, 2009), (Wagner, 1994). Particularly, literature shows that oral language, phonological responsiveness, and print knowledge are key components of a strong emergent literacy foundation (Whitehurst, 1998). A longitudinal study spanning 10 years conducted by Cunnigham and Stanovich reveals that reading habits developed in 1st grade by a child have considerable impac t in reading engagement when the he or she is in 11th grade (Anne E. Cunningham, 1997) hence noticing that early success at reading acquisition is the key to unlock a lifetime of reading habits. The role played by parental involvement and other experimental factors such as book surrounds, audio-visual aids of learning, socio-economical circumstances and culture in early development years of a child has been at the heart of much theorizing and research in development psychology and form an important part in cultivating reading habits in children from early years. (Cunningham, 1994); (Burgess S, 2002); (Daniel J. Weigel, 2006). This literature review studies the varied research available on a number of aspects related to infants/young children’s early reading fondness. The queries around which the literature review was conducted are: (i) The importance of parental involvement in children’s early reading and its affect on children’s reading attainment at school (ii ) Encouraging parents to read to their children at home (iii) The importance of bedtime stories and (iv) The importance of discussing vocabulary and illustrations with young children. The Importance of parental involvement in children’s early reading and its affect on children’s reading attainment at school The experiences, mindsets and resources related to literacy that a child encounters and interrelates with at home compose a child’

Three information technology topics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Three information technology topics - Essay Example Three information technology topics When we remind ourselves that it is we who decide how to keep technology busy, we shall be better (Turkle, 2011, p.296).† The Turkle comments criticize the current situation where people cannot survive without technology. Children prefer staying indoors. While inside, the children prefer playing computer games, surfing the internet and online relationships. The children have discarded the prior setup where children prefer face to face games with their neighbors, classmates, and relatives. Turkle insists that people should use computers and other technology devices as tools for increasing face to face communication, relationships, and other physical activities like basketball, volleyball, baseball, chess, and the like. Its difference from her findings in the past. Comparing her findings in the past, Turkle preferred that man cannot survive without technology, especially robots. Sherry Turkle emphasized that her 1984 position was for authenticity. Thus, a person is a better analy st, calculator, decision maker, and creator, when compared to a computer. The computer only follows what its software instructs it to do. On the other hand, the human being can insert other alternative procedures to one question, predicament, or activity. Authenticity is, â€Å"what sex was to the Victorians – threat and obsession, taboo and fascination. I have lived with this idea for many years (Wilks, 2010; p.9†¦)†. Turkle was initially obsessed to come up with new technology that will reduce the individual’s physical exertion. ... During the good old days, people would go the nearest store to buy a pen, paper, and envelope. The person would scribble messages on the paper. Next, the person would seal the letter inside the mailing envelope. Consequently, the person would ride the bus or train to the nearest post office. Upon arriving, the person will line up a long queue of people mailing their envelopes. After the post office clerk receives the person’s envelope, the person returns home. The entire process may take two to four hours, depending upon the traffic situation and the distance between the person’s home and the post office. In addition, Turkle prefers that all persons email their messages. Emails reach their intended receiver with a split second. The entire encoding and emailing process may take less than ten minutes. During the entire email process, the person is hiding behind the closed doors. Similarly, the person can order goods and services online. The person can click the McDonaldâ €™s website, and the McDonald’s crew ill deliver the hamburgers to the person’s home. Consequently, the person reduces face to face encounters. This is the essence of Turkle’s prior stand. 2. WHO DID IT? (Isaacson) Steve Jobs, more than anyone else, is responsible for today's digitech culture. Steve jobs created Apple computers. Before his untimely death, Steve Jobs orchestrated the user friendly computer environment. Steve Jobs was the visionary of product perfection, paving the bright and widening path of computer world conquering. Steve jobs would burn the midnight oil crafting new computer technologies. With infighting brewing up, Steve Jobs left the company that he had founded, Apple. After several years, Apple was on the brink of financial destruction. Consequently, Steve

Second Vatican and the Roman Council Essay Example for Free

Second Vatican and the Roman Council Essay What changes did the Second Vatican Council made to the Roman Catholic? The Second Vatican Council that is also referred to as the Vatican II took place in 1962-1965. It is also called the 21st Roman Catholic’s ecumenical. The council was initiated by John XXIII the pope of the Roman Catholic Church and continued up to the times of Paul IV. It was specifically concerned with renewing spiritually the Roman Catholic and to address the position of the church in the whole world. This council made a number of significant changes to the Roman church especially on liturgy, church constitution, on ecumenism etc. The purpose of this research paper is to discuss in details the reforms that were made in the Roman Catholic Church. The first announced purpose of this council was to make some reforms on liturgy. This was a change that was proposed such that if implemented the laymen would be encouraged to come closer to the church and increase their participation in the church matters. This was also intended to bring as many laymen as possible to the church so that there would be diversity in terms of the languages as well as in practice. This was based on understanding that various groups in the world have different cultures thus incorporating different groups in the church was the most viable means of bringing diversity. Much emphasis was also directed on the bishops’ pastoral duties so as to differentiate their role from other administrative duties. By the time this council adjourned, the council had discussed these issues and came up with four terms and definitions of these proposed changes that were based on mutual agreement. (Flannery, A 1996) When the council convened again in September to December 1963 the sacred liturgy constitution was passed. This constitution allowed the use of local languages and increased participation of the laymen in the church rituals. (Greeley A. 2004) The second Vatican unlike the past councils was particularly concerned with the renewal of the church and to make citizens to be committed to the church matters. The past council mainly addressed the punishment issues so as to combat heresies. The council came up with what was referred as the constitutions on divine revelations, on the church on 11th November 1964 and the pastoral constitution. The liturgy constitution was after mass participation in the church matters. In this constitution, Latin language, which was being used in the past, was replaced with other vernacular dialects. This constitution also provided the common ground of dealing with Protestants, orthodox and those that were considered as non-Christians. Here the Roman Catholic departed from making harsh policies against the above mentioned groups and instead condemned all acts that were viewed as anti Semitic. The council also deployed the persecution and hatred ness against the Protestants. Generally the council reformed the past constitution something that led to increase church freedom. (Daniel-Rops H. 1962) The church constitution was concerned with the biblical understanding of the juridical model, which was in use for many years. The Roman Catholics came to be regarded as the people of God thereby asking the servant nature of follower the prime concern His touched offices like the bishop and for the priests. The constitution made a provision that would allow bishops to have collegial responsibility in church affairs. The ordinary church members were also not left out as the constitution came upon these members to be sanctified so that they would help the church in spreading the gospel to the Christians in every part of the world. The tone of the constitution on pastoral matters was clearly expressed in the opening words in the council, â€Å"Joy and hope the grief and anguish of contemporary humanity particularly of poor and afflicted. † The debate stated with theological matters affecting humanity and then shifted to other areas that affected humanity such as cultural family, economic and well as family and marriage. (McGrory, B. 2004) This church constitution had eight chapters that were referred as the Lumen Gentium and this particularly completed the work of the first Vatican. This constitution in chapter three addressed the pope’s infallibility but no big change was made except the fact that pope’s infallibility was also extended to the Roman Catholic bishops especially when they are pursuing the church doctrines. The roman primacy was also reemphasized on this constitution but of paramount concern was the bishop’s centrality, which was strongly affirmed. This was in line with the collegiality principle or sharing responsibilities. (Flannery, A 1996) This is in other words affirmed that bishops were just like the body of apostle that Peter headed. By incorporating the Episcopal collegiality, papal primacy and infallibility solved the long continued tension between the council and the. The chapter 4 of this church constitution changed the tenaciously held believe that the clergy only formed church and nobody else mattered. This belief changed so that the church came to be seen as the ‘people of God. ’ With these changes, the church phased out the old traditions and switched to the modern world church. The transition was marked by use of people from all walks of life to promulgate the gospel of Christ. They were the church’s representatives just as it was the case in the times of the Christ. This changed the long-standing belief that only nuns, monks and clergies that possessed the Christian calling. This was changed so that the Roman Catholic would spread its gospel to all areas that in the past were inaccessible. The second Vatican council while forming the second dogmatic constitution touched on the sacred traditions and the church’s functions. They were aware that though the appropriate approach in spreading the gospel was to be used, the content and the harmonization of the scripture was of prime importance. The scripture was to be interpreted depending on the sacred tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. The emphasy was placed on the biblical decree and specifically on its centrality. This council resolved that it was to be ensured that everybody had an access to the sacred scripture. (Bokenkotter T. 1979) This sacred was quickly implemented and the results were evident within a very short time and there was particularly because of the legislation of using vernacular languages in spreading the gospel unlike in the past where Latin was the only recognized language. Another reason why it spread very fast is because unlike in the past where the Roman Catholic only relied on the clergies, monks and nuns to spread the gospel, this time through the constitutional reform, laymen were also entrusted with the work of spreading the same. About the mass sacrifice there were notable changes that were made for example the celebrant was not supposed to say privately those verses that were sung by the choir or by the deacon however they were allowed to sing along with the members in reciting the ordinary of the mass such as the Gloria and the Credo. Also there was supposed to a ‘secret’ prayer to be sung either loudly or secretly prior to preface. (Ker 2002) On ecumenism, the traditional method of teaching was maintained but was dramatically adapted. It was emphasized that only through the Roman Catholic Church of the Christians that salvation would be achieved. There were notable changes especially in the way Protestants and Anglicans were viewed. In the past they were viewed as enemies and were strongly condemned but this time they started seen as Christians while the eastern orthodox was deemed as the descendants of the apostles. The Roman church stopped believed that the solution to the church division was the return of all these churches to Rome but the believed that the solution was to let all participate and fulfill what their God wanted. (Gilbert A 1968) In conclusion, we can say that the second Vatican council made some significant reforms in the Roman Catholic. This is what could be referred to as the turning point between its dark past and the modern Roman Catholic Church. The changes that were brought by this council of the 1962 up to 1965 had some positive results for example viewing Christians as people of God, primacy and infallibility of the papal and the extension of this to the bishops, the inclusion of laymen in the spread of gospel and the condemnation of the persecution against the Protestants and the Jews. Work Cited. Bokenkotter T. A Concise History of the Catholic Church. Garden City, New York: Image. 1979: 36 Daniel-Rops H. The Second Vatican Council. D. C. Pawley.1962: 78-87. Flannery, A. , ed. Vatican Council II: Constitutions, Decrees, and Declarations. Costello Pub Co. 1996: 98 Gilbert A. : The Vatican Council and the Jews. Cleveland, World Publishing Co. , 1968: 112 Greeley A. The Catholic Revolution: New Wine, Old Wineskins, and the Second Vatican Council. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2004: 122-125. Ker I. What did the Second Vatican Council do for us? 2002. Accessed at http://www. christendom-awake. org/pages/ianker/vatican2. html on March 29 2008 McGrory, B. The Parish Council Empowers People: Church, Second Vatican. Catholic New Times. 20th June, 2004: 23-27

Impact of Frailty on Depression

Impact of Frailty on Depression Background With increasing life expectancy, diseases associated with old age have increased in growing proportion in recent decades. (1) The integration of frailty measures in clinical practice is crucial for the development of interventions against age-related conditions (in particular, disability) in older persons. Multiple instruments have been developed over the last years in order to capture this geriatric multidimensional syndrome characterized by decreased reserve and diminished resistance to stressors and render it objectively measurable. (2) Frailty is not uncommon to the medical contemporary research nowadays. Several possible definitions were given by different researchers in the past to define frailty. One and commonly used definition of physical frailty was given by Fried et al, Frailty was defined as a clinical syndrome in which three or more of the following criteria were present; unintentional weight loss (10lbs in past year), self-reported exhaustion, weakness (grip strength), slow walking speed, and low physical activity. (3) Frailty in older people was again classified into prefrail those having one or two criteria given by Fried et al, and frail elderly having three or more criteria as per Fried et al definition. Medical Syndrome like frailty, keeps older adults at increased risk of adverse health outcomes when exposed to a stressor. (4)   Stressors lead to decline across multiple physiological systems incrementally and are associated with greater depressive symptoms and disability. (5) Depression is not a normal part of ageing process (6) and is a potentially life-threatening disorder that affects hundreds of millions of people across the world. (7) Depression is commonly seen in frail older people as they may face widowhood or loss of function or independence or bereavement. Depression, if left untreated, complicates other chronic conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, stroke, etc. It may also incur health care costs and often accompanies functional impairment and disability. (6) Various systematic reviews and journal articles has demonstrated association between depression and frailty. In this review, focus has made to highlight the role of stressors that leads pathways linking depression and frailty. Prevalence of frailty, depression and their co-occurrence in older individuals Several studies have been carried out to measure the prevalence of frailty in community-dwelling older people as well as those in hospital settings. Majority of the studies have used similar criteria to measure frailty among older adults. Systematic review of frailty prevalence worldwide concluded that 10.7% of community-dwelling adults aged à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ °Ã‚ ¥65 years were frail and 41.6% pre-frail. (8) It was noted that prevalence figures varied substantially between studies (ranging from 4% to 59%) using different criteria to measure frailty. (6) Data from Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) in 2004 covering more than 10 European countries, showed prevalence of frailty and pre-frailty in 65+ age group as 17.0% (15.3 18.7) were frail and 42.3% (40.5 44.1) were pre-frail. (9) The prevalence of frailty in community dwelling older people ranged from 17%-31% in Brazil, 15% in Mexico, 5%-31% in China, and 21%-44% in Russia. However, prevalence of frailty was again fou nd much higher in institutionalized older patients as 32% in India and 49% in Brazil. Findings of study in outpatient clinics reported prevalence of frailty was 55-71% in Brazil and 28% in Peru. (10) Above finding suggests that older people of low- and middle-income countries were found frail in significant proportions which imply policy and health care provisions for this ageing population. Depression varies in its prevalence in different studies and settings. Prevalence of depressive symptoms was found 14% in Brazilian adults (11), 9% in United States general population (12) and 23.6% (95% CI: 20.3-27.2%) in Chinese older adults. (13) Depressive symptoms were most commonly associated with women (11) (12) (13) and single adults (i.e. divorced, unmarried or widowed) than in married older adults. (13) Prevalence of depressive illness rises further in the event of associated co-morbid condition such as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension[N1]. Median prevalence of minor depression was 14.4% and 10.4%, in medical settings and community-based setting, respectively[N2]. (14) The median global prevalence of serious depression in the elderly population is around 1% 5%. (15) (16) (17) Depressed elders show many phenotypical expressions of frailty and vice versa. Coexistence of both depression and frailty among older people has been investigated in several studies. (18) (19) (20) (21) (22) (23) A recent systematic review examined the relationship between depression and frailty found serious depression in 4 16% of frail individuals who are aged 60 and over. (6) However, this percentage rises to 35% in older population with age 75 years or more. (6) (24) A study conducted within framework of prospective cohort study, the Netherlands Study of Depression in Older Persons (NESDO) found that the prevalence of physical frailty was significantly higher in the depressed group in comparison with non-depressed (27.2% vs 9.1%, p4) was present in as high as 46.5% of the frail subjects. Depressed patients often exhibit symptoms that interfere with their ability to function normally for longer duration which facilitates progression of frailty syndrome. (6) Therefore, in order to improve health and preventing frailty depression in elderly, it is essential for researchers and practitioners to understand the linking phenomena for further research and developing treatment options. Main pathways linking frailty and depression Several studies have identified the possible physiological pathways that link between frailty and depression in older adults. Of which, the main hypothetical pathways identified were vascular depression, chronic inflammation, Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation and accelerated cellular ageing. Vascular depression hypothesis Alexopoulos et al. (26) proposed that cerebrovascular disease may predispose, precipitate, or perpetuate some geriatric depressive syndromes. This statement was supported by another study of vascular depression based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) conducted by Krishnan KR et al. (27). Bivariate analyses and a fully adjusted logistic regression model in MRI study revealed that older age, late age at onset, and nonpsychotic subtype occurred more often in patients with vascular depression than in those with nonvascular depression. He also observed that anhedonia and functional disability were seen somewhat more often in patients with vascular depression. There are several clinical studies that examined vascular disease in depression. Some studies (28) found a highly significant increase in physical illness and vascular risk factors in the late onset group, after adjusting for age when they compared early and late onset late-life depression. (29) On the other hand, several others found no association of depression with cerebrovascular score (30) and vascular disease (31). Depression may occur as a result of vascular disease in a significant subpopulation of elderly persons. (32) Depression has a bidirectional association with vascular diseases and plausible mechanisms exist which explain how depression might increase these vascular diseases and vice versa. Thomas AJ et al summarized that coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke are all associated with high rates of depression and depression is an independent risk factor for the subsequent development of CAD and stroke. (29) Mechanism of vascular depression can be hypothesized as reduced cerebral blood flow (CBF) in response to given stressors. Normal CBF in adult humans is about 60ml/100 grams/min and regionally, about 70ml/100g/min in gray matter and 20ml/100g/min in white matter. Between the ages of 20 to 65, normal CBF generally declines about 15-20%. It is generally accepted that when CBF reaches 30ml/100g/min, neurologic symptoms can appear and when CBF falls to 15-20ml/100g/min, electrical failure or irreversible neuronal damage can occur even within minutes. (33) Blood flow to the brain is influenced by systemic hemodynamics and cerebro-vascular auto-regulation, with cerebral arteries contracting or dilating as arterial pressure changes. These processes interact to maintain stable perfusion. (33) However, these processes are impaired in the context of vascular disease: hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis lead to vascular wall hypertrophy, reduced arterial lumen diameter, reduced arterial distensibility, and endothelial cell dysfunction. This affects cerebral blood flow. Mild CBF reduction may impair cognitive and affective processes, while greater CBF reduction may cause ischemic injury. The subcortical white matter is particularly sensitive to these changes because it is supplied by terminal arterioles with limited collateral flow and so susceptible to infarction due to impaired autoregulation. Greater white matter hyperintensities (WMH) severity may be a marker of broader deficits in perfusion and autoregulation. Thus, risk factors for vascular disease can lead to subclinical cerebrovascular disease throughout the brain. Katz (2004) theorizes that cerebrovascular disease that causes prefrontal white-matter hyperintensities and vascular depression may also lead to posterior white matter hyperintensities, resulting in characteristics of frailty such as falls, slowness, and weakness. (34) He further stated that if the effects are anterior, the manifestations may include depression. However, if the effects are more posterior, the manifestations may be in the form of disturbances of gait and balance. Several other studies had compared depressed elderly with control group and demonstrated an increase in deep white matter hyperintensities (DWMH) in depression (35) (36) (37), but no or not significant association with peripheral vascular lesion (PVH) (36) (37). The cerebral WM contains fiber pathways that convey axons linking cerebral cortical areas with each other and with subcortical structures, facilitating the distributed neural circuits that subserve sensorimotor function, intellect, and emotion. The va scular depression hypothesis postulates that altered mood regulation and cognitive dysfunction in the elderly are due to subclinical cerebrovascular ischemia that disrupts frontostriatal neural circuits. (38) (39) This disruption of fronto-striatal neural circuits leads to disconnection syndrome that corresponds to the clinical and neuropsychological profile of LLD. (40) Prefrontal WMH also leads to executive dysfunction which affects planning, self-monitoring, attention, response inhibition, co-ordination of complex cognition (as in Trail making Test) and motor control. This leads to frailty. Chronic Inflammation hypothesis Aging- and disease-related processes promote proinflammatory states in older individuals. Administration of cytokines or induction of peripheral inflammation results in an inflammatory response, which in turn is correlated with fatigue, slowed reaction time, and mood reduction. Even without medical illness, depressed individuals exhibit increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines and reduced anti-inflammatory cytokine levels. Proinflammatory cytokines affect monoamine neurotransmitter pathways, including indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase upregulation and kynurenine pathway activation. This results in decreased tryptophan and serotonin and increased synthesis of detrimental tryptophan catabolites that promote hippocampal damage and apoptosis. Cytokines, including IL-1ÃŽÂ ², also reduce extracellular serotonin levels by activating the serotonin transporter. Effects of the CNS inflammatory cascade on neural plasticity Microglias are primary recipients of peripheral inflammatory signals that reach the brain. Activated microglia, in turn, initiate an inflammatory cascade whereby release of relevant cytokines, chemokines, inflammatory mediators, and reactive nitrogen and oxygen species (RNS and ROS, respectively) induces mutual activation of astroglia, thereby amplifying inflammatory signals within the CNS. Cytokines, including IL-1, IL-6, and TNF-alpha, as well as IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma (from T cells), induce the enzyme, IDO, which breaks down TRP, the primary precursor of 5-HT (serotonin), into QUIN (quinolinic acid), a potent NMDA (N-methyl-D-aspartate) agonist and stimulator of GLU (glutamate) release. Astrocytic functions are compromised due to excessive exposure to cytokines, QUIN, and RNS/ROS, ultimately leading to impaired glutamate reuptake, and increased glutamate release, as well as decreased production of neurotrophic factors. Of note, oligodendroglia are especially sensitive to the CNS inflammatory cascade and suffer damage due to overexposure to cytokines such as TNF-alpha, which has a direct toxic effect on these cells, potentially contributing to apoptosis and demyelination. The confluence of excessive astrocytic glutamate release, its inadequate reuptake by astrocytes and oligodendroglia, activation of NMDA receptors by QUIN, increased glutamate binding and activation of extrasynaptic NMDA receptors (accessible to glutamate released from glial elements and associated with inhibition of BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) expression), decline in neurotrophic support, and oxidative stress ultimately disrupt neural plasticity through excitotoxicity and apoptosis. 5-HT, serotonin; BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor; CNS, central nervous system; GLU, glutamate; IDO, indolamine 2,3 dioxygenase; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; NMDA, N-methyl-D-aspartate; QUIN, quinolinic acid; RNS, reactive nitrogen species; ROS, reactive oxygen species; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; TRP, tryptophan. Regarding LLD, the aging process disrupts immune function, increasing peripheral immune activity and shifting the CNS into a proinflammatory state. Elevated peripheral cytokine levels are associated with depressive symptoms in older adults, with the most consistent finding being for IL-6, but also implicating IL-1ÃŽÂ ², IL-8 and TNFÃŽÂ ±. Proinflammatory states in older adults are associated with cognitive deficits, including poorer executive function, poorer memory performance, worse global cognition, and steeper decline in cognition. Finally, greater IL-6 and C-reactive protein levels are associated with greater WMH burden. In LLD, ischemic lesions are also more likely to occur in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), Similarly, depressed elders exhibit increased expression of cellular adhesion molecules (CAMs) in the DLPFC. CAMs are inflammatory markers whose expression is increased by ischemia, supporting a role for ischemia in LLD and highlighting the relationship between vascular and inflammatory processes. HPA dysregulation When the HPA axis is activated by stressors, such as an immune response, high levels of glucocorticoids are released into the body and suppress immune response by inhibiting the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-1, TNF alpha, and IFN gamma) and increasing the levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-4, IL-10, and IL-13) in immune cells, such as monocytes and neutrophils. Excess stress also appears to play a role in the development of depression and can cause dysregulation of the HPA axis. Patients with major depression have been found to have elevated plasma and urinary cortisol levels as well as elevated corticotropin-releasing hormone and decreased levels of BDNF. Prolonged severe stress is thought to damage hippocampal neurons and to reduce the inhibitory control exerted by the HPA axis in regulating glucocorticoid levels. During an immune response, proinflammatory cytokines (e.g. IL-1) are released into peripheral circulatory system and can pass through the blood brain barrier where they can interact with the brain and activate HPA axis. Interactions between the proinflammatory cytokines and the brain can alter the metabolic activity of neurotransmitters and cause symptoms such as fatigue, depression, and mood changes. Increased levels of aldosterone in the circulation stimulate excessive production of collagen, which leads to fibrosis of tissue or organ whereas low levels of adrenal androgen dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate and insulin-like growth factor 1 are associated with frailty. Further, cortisol may mimic the effects of aldosterone. Elevated serum levels of cortisol and aldosterone are independent predictors of mortality in patients with heart failure. Accelerated Cellular Aging hypothesis Accelerated cellular aging, as measured by telomere length (TL) shortening, might also be linked to depression and frailty. At both ends of every DNA strand in a human cell is a telomere.Telomeres prevent chromosomes from becoming frayed, fusing into rings, or binding with other DNA. Telomeres are specialized nucleoprotein structures located at the end of eukaryotic chromosomes. They play a critical role in controlling cell proliferation and maintenance of chromosomal stability. As part of bodys normal aging process, each time a cell divides the telomeres in your DNA get shorter. Add oxidative stress to the mix and telomeres shorten even more rapidly. Oxidative stress is the effect of destructive reactions in your bodys cells caused by too many free radicals or atoms/molecules that have unpaired electrons. In their search for an electron to make them whole, they destroy other cells. Free radicals come from environmental toxins, such as pollution, chemicals, drugs and radiation, and even naturally occur in your own body when you exercise. Antioxidants fight free radicals and stem the causes of oxidative stress. Eventually, bodys cells are unable to divide (or reproduce) and simply die. Eventually, this instability leads to tissue breakdown potentially leading to premature aging. Any stressful condition or anxiety leads to feeling of depression which in turn initiates physiologic body response that includes, increase in stress-induced glucocorticoid release and oxidative stress. Unhealthy behaviour will also stimulate inflammatory response which lead to release of cytokine and can affect telomere length.