Top down and control style management

Top down and control style management In the present economic world management Style can be defined as the style adapted to control or lead a business efficiently for the attainment of objectives set by the business. So the effective management style helps in maintaining the motivation of the employees and as a result enhances productivity. It is very important to look at the prominent management styles and how they function in the real world before we draw in to change process. A top-down/command and control style management can be defined as a style where the leader or small number of people takes all the decisions on their own and employees are told what to do and are closely controlled. The top management does not consult his subordinates or takes their opinion in consideration for decision making and dominates and controls the entire task. The person or persons who possess these personal qualities would be task oriented. In other way this can be described as a centralised way of governance. When the changes needed to be taken place involve high risks and the circumstances request quick and immediate decision making, this kind of management style proves to be the most effective. But it involves the use of power and fair amount of politics than the other management styles. As a result this causes demotivation as it implies the skills and ideas of others being ignored and it can also lead to the alienation of the staff. Typical characteristics of a centralised structure of decision making, or governance within an organisation would be an autocratic structure, because everyone is answerable to the leader or the top management. This brings advantages to the organisation in terms of focus and clarity of purpose; everyone is likely to know the companys goals and what is expected from them. Consistency is often a beneficial by-product, possibly because of lack of variety or maybe the attention to detail that becomes viable. The speed at which decisions can be made and passed down to the relevant persons is an obvious advantage. A high degree of flexibility is also associated with centralisation; the ability to change direction with the market is a valuable characteristic. However, it becomes clear that too much responsibility can be placed upon one person, usually the owner or manager. An autocratic nature usually has very little opinion, points of view or other valuable information passed up the hierarc hy; wholly undemocratic, emphasised by the lack of accountability and scrutiny. Centralised models of decision making tend to only work effectively in small organisations, most of the associated advantages are lost in large organisations, for example, it becomes much more difficult for employees to share one uniting aim or goal, speed of decision and information flow would undoubtedly be adversely affected in larger hierarchies etc, as would flexibility. Implementation of change in the organization will require the leader to weigh resistance to change at both the individual and organizational levels. Because change invariably threatens the status quo, it inherently implies political activity. The following chapter looks at different kinds of leadership qualities and how they managing the change process with in an organization. Leadership is cautiously defined as the process of influencing people and providing an environment for them to achieve team or organization objectives. (McShane, 2002). Effective leaders can help individuals or teams define their goals and identify ways to achieve them. Effective leaders also create conditions that enable others to realize their potential in the workplace. Leadership styles will influence the effectiveness of the change management process by recognizing and varying the style with the specific situation. The identification of when to give directions, times to empathize, times to use stretch goals, and times to involve subordinates in decision making will influence the effectiveness of the change management process under the guidance of specific leader. The Directive leadership style or task-oriented leadership is effective when clarification of performance goals, the means to reach the goals, and identification of the standards used to judge reaching the goals is need ed by the organization undergoing the change. The Supportive leadership style is effective when the need is for a leader that is understanding, approachable, friendly, and is able to guide the employees involved in organizational change through stressful situations while treating them with equal respect and showing concerns for their needs and well-being. The Participative leadership style is effective when employees undergoing change are motivated by involvement with the decisions beyond their normal work activities. The Achievement-oriented leadership style is effective when employees are motivated by encouragement to reach their peak performance and the leader shows a high degree of confidence in their ability to set and achieve change goals. Task structure, team dynamics, employee skill and experience, and locus of control are contingencies that will impact the effectiveness of the leaders impact on the change management process. (McShane, 2002). Over the following paragraphs I will be discussing two examples of participative change processes namely Appreciative Inquiry and Public Conversations Project and how they differ from the command-and-control styles of managing change. 1. Appreciative Inquiry In this process there will be ongoing discussion among the organization members at different levels and they will be actively participated on decision making. This type of process normally follows a problem solving method and involves identification of problem, analysis of causes, analysis of possible solutions and possible treatment. Appreciative inquiry takes off on this idea that how we think about, and talk about, our organizations influences how we work in them. Appreciative inquiry is based on the belief that if we conceive of organizations as problems to be solved, we end up in an endless cycle of problem definition and problem solution. This in turn saps energy for productive change since people end up feeling criticized or accused of having done something wrong. Appreciative inquiry removes organizational habits of distrust, animosity and blame, and replaces them with a willingness to learn, mutual respect, and cooperation. Appreciative inquiry sees organizations as miracles to be appreciated. If we see organizations in this way, we begin to understand what is working well and how this is coming about, and we can intentionally amplify those positive factors. This will create forward motion, positive energy and the possibility for lasting change. There are usually four steps of appreciative inquiry. a.  Appreciating what gives life (appreciating the best of what is) This phase is a quest to identify positive stories and spread them throughout the organization. The discovery phase shifts the attention from what isnt working to what is working and may possibly work in the future. In order to find out what is working, an appreciative interview is generally performed. This involves exploring a persons beginnings with an organization, what they value most about themselves, their work and the organization, and their hopes and dreams for the organizations future. b.  Imagining what might be (envisioning what might be) This phase is a time for groups of people to engage in thinking big, thinking outside the box, and thinking out of the boundaries of what has been in the past. It is a time for people to describe their wishes and dreams for their work, their working relationships, and their organization. This phase takes place in a large group meeting during which data and stories collected in the previous phase are shared. Wishes and dreams for the future of the organization are often acted out to dramatize the positive possibilities envisioned for the organization. c. Determining what will be (dialoguing what should be ) This phase provides an opportunity for large numbers of employees and stakeholders to come together to co-create their organization. This phase allow members to make important decisions on what steps or actions are required to make the dreams come true. d. Creating what will be (innovating what will be) This phase focuses on action planning at both the personal and organizational levels. During this phase, commitments are made to ensure that their dream will be realized. This takes huge commitment from individuals to comply with the action plans, small groups to work on collaboration efforts, and new teams that have been established for new projects. Since all these phases involve large number of employees and stakeholders, the likelihood that these action plans for changes will be accepted and implemented will be high. Appreciative inquiry engages the whole organization in discovering the best of what has been and dreaming about the best of what might be. Appreciative inquiry focuses on what is right and do more of it rather than the traditional approach that focus on what is wrong and do less of it. It focuses on what works and determining how to do more of what works. Positive learning and innovation comes from studying, adapting, and replicating what works. Also, appreciative inquiry is based on the past of all the employees and aims to involve all the employee and stakeholder for the future of the organization. This can only lead to positive attitudes about the organizations future and brings unity among all the members of the organization. Comparing to control command style of management this process takes much longer time to give the result and it is quite obvious as a successful participative change process. 2. Public Conversations Project This is another example of participative change process where the management can work with groups in conflict with in the organization. The main task is to facilitate and create dialogue sessions among the conflict groups or participants and allow addressing their own issues regarding the problematic relationship. Questions like, How did you get involved?, Whats the key issue?, Whats your grey area? Will be asked from both parties. The main objectives are to discuss the popular misconceptions of stereotypes, how to promote better relationships among people and the importance of diversity among people living/working together. The facilitators meet with participants prior to each dialogue, in a pre-meeting designed to exchange their hopes, concerns and experiences. A draft of ground rules being given to the participants intended to prepare them to deal with issues in a way that results in a dialogue rather than debate. Group discussions will be carried out with a facilitator guiding the whole process under his observation, to be start with a series of questions will put forward that each person must answer. The outcome of the dialogue generally will be participants sharing their reflections on the process and exploring implications and next steps. As a main feature of this participation change process members who participated are also asked to fill out evaluation forms and will be requested by the facilitator to participate in follow-up conversations. There will be minimal degree of control, power and command will be involved just to progress with the process. Every participant contributes them selves for the conversation and during the progress a pattern will be identified which will guide them to disclose the information more freely among the members. The facilitator must take action to make sure that every member of the group will be pace with the ongoing conversation so they will be heard. To facilitate change of the information or knowledge they can be asked to interrupt the pattern of conversation or conventions of the group and contribute them selves. Contributions are linked together to conversation will be continued as a joint action. Narrative therapy is another way of participative change process where it views problems as separate from people and assumes people have many values, skills, beliefs, competencies, commitments and abilities that will assist them to change their relationship with problems in their lives. This is a kind of a non-blaming, respectful approach to counselling and community work, which centres people as the experts in their own lives. The client plays an important roll to decide which direction they should take during the consultation, making it more similar to a person centred counselling session. Always maintaining a curiosity stance and willingness to ask questions to which we dont know the answers genuinely are the main features of this process.

A Reaction Paper On A Country Doctor English Literature Essay

A Reaction Paper On A Country Doctor English Literature Essay Franz Kafkas A country doctor is a story about a doctor who is called upon in the middle of the night to attend to a seriously ill young man .Hampered by lack of transport means and extreme weather conditions, the doctor is at pains to come up with solutions to his problems. This essay paper will attempt to systematically examine the challenges and frustrations that the doctor encounters as the story unfolds. This essay will also answer the questions as to why the story may be referred to as a nightmare as well as explore the major themes brought out in this artistic tale that is indeed a replica of Franz Kafkas generation and the current modern society. Challenges and Frustrations The doctor is in a dilemma He is challenged by the fact that he has no means of transport to take him to the home of the gravely ill young man, ten miles away. The doctors horse had died due to the icy winter. My own horse had died the previous night as a result of overexertion in this icy winter. The doctor is frustrated at this point because no one in  Ã‚   the village was willing to assist him. My servant girl was at that very moment running around the village to see if she could borrow a horse but it was hopeless-I knew that. Out of frustration the doctor risks hurting himself by kicking the pigstys door. I kicked my foot against the cracked door of the pigsty which had not been used for years. The severe weather conditions pose a challenge to the doctor too. He has to endure the chilly snowstorm to go and attend to a patient. The doctor says, A severe snowstorm filled the space between him and me. The doctor does not hide his dilemma when he says, I stood there useless ,increasingly covered by snow , becoming all the time immobile. After treating the sick young man the doctor attempts to make his way home but the once strong and fat horses are old and tired, they move at a slow rate at which the doctor feels he will never reach home. Consider, We dragged slowly through the snowy desert like old men. The doctor is evidently frustrated when he says, Ill never come home at this rate. He becomes sad when he thinks of his home which was occupied by the Groom. In my house the disgusting groom is wreaking havoc, Rosa is his victim. The third challenge that the doctor encounters is the Groom. The doctor does not know how to deal with this stranger. First, when the groom brutally bites Rosa on her cheeks, the doctor only threatens the groom with words and calms down at once because he wanted to borrow a horse from the groom. At that moment, the doctor is almost the grooms slave. The groom eventually offers his horses to the doctor but decides to stay with Rosa instead of traveling with the doctor.   The doctor is therefore at crossroads. He does not know whether he should stay and protect Rosa from the brutal groom or go ahead and attend to the seriously ill Youngman. The doctor chose the later. However, as the story unfolds the frustrations of the doctor concerning this decision become apparent. Consider, I had to sacrifice Rosa as well, this beautiful girl, who lives in my house all year long and whom I scarcely notice-this sacrifice is too great. The doctor is challenged by poverty and too much work. He has dedicated his life to serving the district but is poorly paid. Consider, I am employed by the district and my duty do my duty to the full, right to the point where it is almost too much. Badly paid, but I am generous and ready to help the poor. The doctor has only one horse, when the horse dies the doctor lacks means of transport to enable him perform his duties efficiently. The doctor is evidently overworked. He is called at midnight to attend to patients. It seems he rarely sleeps since his night bell was always rung by villagers. When performing his duties the doctor is under pressure from the villagers. They want him to instantly cure their patients. The doctor is frustrated by this when he says. I am not a world improver. Themes The first theme that has been well brought out is the theme of suffering. At the beginning of the story, the doctor suffers psychologically because he has no means of transport to enable him reach the home of a seriously ill man. I was in great difficulty. An urgent journey was facing me.A seriously ill man was waiting for me in a village ten miles distant. The doctors horse had died and he was worried because no villager would lend him a horse. Of course, who is now going to lend his horse for such a journey? The extreme icy winter made the doctor to suffer. First his horse dies in the winter leaving him without means of transport and secondly the doctor has to endure the chilly weather to attend to  Ã‚   the patient. I stood there useless, increasingly covered by snow, becoming all the time more immobile. Rosa suffers when the groom bites her on the cheeks. On the girls cheeks are red marks from two rows of teeth. Rosa further suffers when the doctor leaves her to stay with the evil groom against her will. No, screams Rosa and runs into the house with an accurate premonition of the inevitability of her fate. The sick young man suffers too. The young man suffers from a deadly wound that is infested with worms. Consider, On his right side, in the region of the hip, a wound the size of the palm of ones hand had opened up. The young man having lost hope of living tells the doctor, Doctor let me die. The second theme found in this story is blame. The doctor blames his failure to attend t o a seriously ill patient on his lack of a horse. Consider, But the horse was missing- the horse. The doctor further blames the villagers for unnecessarily summoning him to attend patients who according to the doctor were just feigning illness. He blames the villagers further for not assisting him in time of need. Consider, My servant girl was at that very moment running around the village to see if she could borrow a horse but it was hopeless. The country doctor as a narrative constantly places blame for his failure on others, on the lack of horses, on the groom, on the villagers, on the young man. His narrative attitude is one of; if I have failed it is not my fault, but rather the fault of others (Gray 2009) Exploitation is another theme found in this story. Exploitation is unfair treatment of someone or use of a situation in a way that is wrong in order to get some benefit (Wikipedia, 2009) the groom appears at a time when the doctor is need of transport means and takes advantage of the situation to take Rosa against her will. I see how in addition she chases down the room putting all the lights in order to make herself   impossible to find. The theme of betrayal is also evident in this short  Ã‚   story. The doctor betrays his house help when he leaves he in the hands of the brutal groom. I had to sacrifice Rosa as well ,this beautiful girl who lives in my house all year long and whom I scarcely notice-this sacrifice is too great. He witnesses the bachelor force himself upon the house maid but rather than stay to access and disarm the stranger, the doctor allows the steeds to carry him off as the screams of his housemaid echo through the winter night. (Hemphill 2009) This short story may be called a nightmare. The doctor concludes that the sick young man is feigning illness after a brief examination. The doctor only observed the heartbeat of the patient. In his reasoning the patient was only seeking attention that he was not sick. The doctor in this story does not operate the way doctors in real world operate. Alex Hemphill observed that Franz Kafkas A country doctor is written in a stream of consciousness and includes all the making of a nightmare (2009) When the doctor kicked the door of the pigsty there emerged the groom and the two horses mysteriously. This is absolute fantasy and cannot happen in a real world.. Two horses, powerful animals with strong flanks shoved their way one behind the other. A country doctor can be read as fulfillment fantasy motivated by self exculpation (Gray 2009) Conclusion The doctor in Franz Kafkas -A country doctor is a reflection of some people in the society who sacrifice their lives to serve everyone but their efforts are hardly noticed by anyone. They are the unseen heroes of national development who would rather die than fail duty. Though frustrated by environment and a society that does not appreciate them, such people do not fear to encounter the challenges that lie ahead of them. Perhaps the doctor sums everything in his story by asserting that, To write prescriptions is easy but to come to an understanding with people is hard.

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Magic Realism Essay -- One Hundred Yea

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Magic Realism One Hundred Years of Solitude   Magic realism is a literary form in which odd, eerie, and dreamlike tales are related as if the events were commonplace. Magic realism is the opposite of the "once-upon-a-time" style of story telling in which the author emphasizes the fantastic quality of imaginary events. In the world of magic realism, the narrator speaks of the surreal so naturally it becomes real. Magic realism can be traced back to Jorge Luis Borges, who wrote during the 1920s,according to noted critic Franco (309). In fact, Jean Franco notes that "the techniques utilized by Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez in One Hundred Years of Solitude are frequently compared to those of Jorge Luis Borges" Franco (309). However, it was not until the 1940s that Latin American writers began to experiment widely with new techniques and introduced stream of consciousness narration, unusual time sequences and other devices into the novel. In the 1940s, a group of Latin American writers published works which incorporated new techniques. ...

The Flaw in an Impersonal Relationship Essay -- Philosophy, Stoic

Much of the knowledge pertaining to virtue is the resulting work of Stoics, such as Plato, Aristotle, and Marcus Aurelius. Stoicism can be referred to as the foundation of Christianity however, the lack of a personal relationship with â€Å"The One† or God prevents Stoics' souls from reaching their great potential. Principally, Stoics fundamentally believed that â€Å"every event that occurs in the cosmos, from the most important to the most trivial, was fated to occur, and determined to occur† (Brennan, 235). They were fatalists. Furthermore, Stoics, as a whole, tended to view the physical and intellectual world in analytical and logical terms. In Stoicism and its Influence, R. M. Wenley makes the point that â€Å"the Stoics attempted to frame a theory of the physical universe, of the individual man as he finds himself under compulsion in this universe and, combining the two, to formulate a rule of life in conformity with Reason† (75). Consequently, Stoics wanted to achieve an other-worldly understanding of the physical and intellectual world they resided in. Moreover, the most important contribution to their central argument was that the highest good lies in virtue, and that the final purpose for man is to achieve happiness. To achieve said good, many Stoics, like Plato, believed a set, careful process primarily focused in education and meditation was necessary. Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor and Stoic, believed that through â€Å"following after the things produced according to nature†, one could begin to develop a virtuous soul, as shown in his Meditations (Book III: 2). Continuing his discourse of Platonic and Aristotelian principles, in Book II, line 7, Aurelius advises his reader to â€Å"give thyself time to learn something new and good, a... ... (Romans 16: 25-27). In addition to reading these sacred texts, Christians had to abandon logic and reason and simply rely on their faith in order to achieve this happiness. In conclusion, the wisdom achieved through Stoic principles is the foundation of the Christian religion. However, the impersonal relationship central to Stoic philosophy prevents its followers from obtaining the glorious after life known to Christians. The element of reason woven into the foundation of Stoicism greatly hindered the potential of its believers. Unlike the Stoics, Christians' personal relationship with their monotheistic God not only endows them with the instructions necessary to daily life, but also eliminates all mystery regarding the after life. Christians know without a single shred of doubt that their eternal life with their monotheistic God will be full of peace and bliss.

Army Cadets at Newcastle Under Lyme School often use their .22 ranges :: Computer Science

Army Cadets at Newcastle Under Lyme School often use their .22 ranges and find it extremely hard to see what their shoot total is mid-way through the shoot. Problem Army Cadets at Newcastle Under Lyme School often use their .22 ranges and find it extremely hard to see what their shoot total is mid-way through the shoot. They cannot view the target through the sights on the rifles, as the sights are iron sights. A solution is required whereby this problem can be cured, and the individual shooters can view their statistics with minimal movement required. Brief I am to design a system whereby shooters will be able to view their score for that particular shoot session and also view their statistics upon the same piece of machinery. Continued... The primary output of this product is to be 2 seven-segment displays, which show you the overall score of the shooter after each shot. The secondary output of this product is to be more seven-segment displays, which display relevant pieces of information regarding the shooters statistics, in accordance with their score. The seven segment displays which are to be used will be of varied sizes as the primary seven segment displays are to be larger than the secondary seven segment displays as to let the user view his or her score with great ease. The approximate cost of the product is to be something around the region of about  £25 as to cover the cost of manufacture, components, storage and the battery. The exact cost at this time remains oblivious to me but this is a rough estimate of what the final cost may be. The ease of use is inevitable as this product is to be used primarily by cadets from the Newcastle Under Lyme School CCF; therefore complex manual operations conducted by the user are not required within the product. It is unclear at this time to determine what the customers will be prepared to pay as no primary research has been conducted into the matter. In the coarse of this coursework primary research will be conducted and questions such as "How much will the customers be prepared to pay?" will be answered. This product will be designed to be primarily used on a 30m range therefore I will incorporate 3.5mm jacks within the casing which will lead to the pressure pads which are to be approximately 30m away, but this is also dependant on where the product is placed on the range. The pressure pads will be placed behind the target in a manner by which they can still sense the impact of the .2 rounds and at the same

How Does the “Cha Chaan Teng” Essay

Hong Kong identity is a complicated issue and many different perspectives have to be taken into consideration in order to study this issue. This paper mainly focuses on the cultural perspective of the Hong Kong identity. Hall.S (2000) â€Å"identities are never unified and, in late modern times, increasingly fragmented and fractured; never singular but multiply constructed across different, often intersecting and antagonistic, discourses, practices, and positions.† This implies identity is regarded as a shared culture in Hong Kong. Most Hong Kong people think that †Cha Chaan Teng† is an important feature of Hong Kong’s lifestyle. In other words, it is an important part of Hong Kong culture. This paper will be divided into two sections. The first section discusses the important role â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† plays as a part of Hong Kong’s lifestyle and how it reflects and contributes to the Hong Kong identity. In the second section 3 major characteristics of â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng†; their affordable prices, high efficiency in serving food and varieties of dishes offered will be discussed. â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† is a significant icon of Hong Kong lifestyle. Lots of Hong Kong people grew up with â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng†.It is a great place to hang out with friends and discuss current events. Furthermore, it is a good place to see the vicissitudes of life. It is true that â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† has an important cultural value in Hong Kong people’s mind. A survey has been conducted by Radio Television Hong Kong (2004) on the internet, 10 most representative elements of Hong Kong among 50 local characteristics. â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† received 1,930 votes, beating the old tram by 106 votes and gaining its place in top 10. This shows that â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† plays an important role in the cultural heritage of Hong Kong. At the same time, it contributes and reflects to local identity. The food provided by †Cha Chaan Teng† are economical. This is strongly related to its important role in early industrialization. It also reflects the characteristics of Hong Kong’s economic development. During early industrialization, most Hong Kong people were not rich and needed to work for a long period of time every day. They need to eat a large amount of food to gain energy for work. In order to attract more customers,†Cha Chaan Teng† started to lower the food price and increase the food portion. These alterations made†Cha Chaan Teng† become popular. Today, during lunch time, construction workers, truck drivers, as well as office staff also eat there because they find the prices are more affordable. According to the article by Crouch, O (2011) â€Å"there are thousands of these diner-style restaurants in Hong Kong and they are a unifying aspect of the island society, popular with all socio-economic backgrounds†. It means that different background of Hong Kong people like to go to this kind of Hong Kong style restaurant. It does not come from no reason. First of all, it is very convenient to the customer because it is easy to find them. Although â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† has developed almost for 70 years, the uniqueness of the Western and Eastern food style cannot be replaced by other restaurant. As we know, Hong Kong is called â€Å"Gourmet Paradise† as the food quality is really high and â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† also contributed to it. Meanwhile, the food prices are reasonably cheap. Therefore, many poverty people love to go there. The â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† continues to play an important role in the development of Hong Kong. It reflects and contributes to a Hong Kong identity. One of the reasons for the popularity of â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† is its efficiency. During the 1950s and 1960s, â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† became popular with Hong Kong’s booming industry and factory lifestyle, which led to changes in Hong Kong people’s lifestyle and needs. Since Hong Kong needed a large amount of labour force to boost the economy. Many women started to work in factories and the number of housewives decreased a lot. This meant that lots of women were too busy to cook and fewer families ate at home. To satisfy the needs of the general public, â€Å"Cha chaan Teng† started to focus on efficiency. Fast paced life-style is one of Hong Kong’s features, Workers often had only one hour lunch time, therefore the efficiency of restaurants is the main concern of workers rather than the taste of the food. So â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† created a perfect system which could improve the efficiency of food preparation. First, it adopts a high deg ree of division of labor. Also, the ingredients are well prepared before the restaurants open. â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† generally does not take tips, waiters write on the bill after customer order the food and then leaves the bill on the table. Customers only need to wait ten to fifteen minutes for the food and when they are finished, they will take their own bill to the cashier and pay. The whole process is very efficient. Meanwhile, most â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† provides a choice called â€Å"fast set†, which usually changes every single day. The features of these sets are that they are served quicker and at lower price when compared with other sets. This can help customers to save time on thinking what they want to order, ultimately reducing the time spent on waiting for food. Indeed, â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† was strongly influenced by early industrialization of Hong Kong and panders to it. Also, it creates a perfect system which can improve efficiency. In order to attract more customers and survive in the industry market, it continues to improve and prospers as a part of Hong Kong life-style. The wide variety of food that a â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† offers often shocks its customers. Not only does it provide Western and Chinese food but also fusion of Western and Eastern food. Hong Kong was a colony of Britain. The food culture of Chinese people and Western people are totally different. After World War II, Hong Kong was strongly influenced by Western lifestyle. However, Western food was only served in upper-class restaurants and was very expensive at that time. Only a small amount of Hong Kong people can afford it. Some Hong Kong people came up with an idea to combine the food culture of the East and West. At that time, â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† appeared. It preserved the food culture of Hong Kong and offered a variety of dishes to customers. The food provided by â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† is diversified; many of them were tailor-made to fit Hong Kong’s unique diet. These food features, in fact, were developed by different curious customers because â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† always adopt customers’ ideas and create these unique diets. Customers can also mix and match to choose the food they want. This allows more flexibility for the customers. That is why â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† can integrate different people’s need. In the past, the foods offered on the â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† menu were only some western or eastern dishes. As it became more popular, it started to develop a unique menu. The most typical example is milk tea, or in Cantonese naai cha. McLane, D(2008) said â€Å"If Hong Kong had an â€Å"official† drink, Milk Tea would be it: the thick, intense and creamy brew of black tea and evaporated milk, boiled and then strained through cloth†. It is for sure that many Hong Kong people love it so much. Another contribution to Hong Kong identity is that â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† helps promote tourism all over the world. Since there are some western dishes and unique food provided in â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng†, it manages to attract many tourists. Indeed, it becomes a characteristic of Hong Kong and helps to promote Hong Kong’s image as â€Å"Food paradise†. Indirectly, the economy of Hong Kong has been improved because of â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng†. The general public visit Hong Kong style restaurants frequently. Indeed, things will change as time passes, and â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† makes no exception. It kept improving to meet modern market demands. The most surprising thing is that it added some new elements while retaining its original flavor. In order to establish the â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† position in the international arena, Hong Kong political party China Democratic National Construction Association (2007) suggested that â€Å"Hong Kong style tea restaurant culture† should be declared as a â€Å"non-material cultural heritage of mankind† in order to establish Hong Kong’s international brand image and promote tourism development in Hong Kong. To sum up, â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† contains the collective memories of Hong Kong people and has witnessed the development of Hong Kong. Meanwhile, in order to get higher profit, it keeps changing to fit Hong Kong people’s life style and needs, for example, the design of the restaurant, menus and ingredients. Today, â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† is getting famous all over the world and can be found in many countries. However, the most traditional and original one still stands in Hong Kong. The â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† has become one of the major visiting spots for tourists. In additional, they are featured in many movies and TV dramas. It is absolutely part of the local populace of the best place to eat and drink. In fact, these restaurant features precisely reflect the spirit of people-orientation and values ​​- faster, to match changes and affordable prices. These are the reasons why â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng† still occupy a strong position in Hong Kong after so many years. References: China Democratic National Construction Association (2007). The new theme of traditional â€Å"Cha Chaan Teng†. chinapress http://www.chinapress.com.my/node/228021 – accessed 19 January 2012 Crouch, O. (2011, July 22) Cha Chaan Teng: Hong Kong’s Favorite Diners. ezinearticle http://ezinearticles.com/?Cha-Chaan-Teng:-Hong-Kongs-Favorite-Diners&id=6469027 – accessed 26 January 2012 Hall, S. (2000). Who needs identity? London: Sage. In S. Hall & P. du Gay (Eds.) Mclane, D. (2008, January 30) Comfort Food in Hong Kong. nytimes http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/30/travel/30webcomfort.html – accessed 15 January 2012 RTHK (2004) Top 10 of the most represent design of Hong Kong. Radio Television Hong Kong http://www.rthk.org.hk/press/chi/20040927_66_120120.html – accessed 1 Febuary

Face-to-Face Communication Is a Better Way of Communication Essay

Imagine that your sweetheart keeps talking to you through telephone, the Internet or letters and refuses to meet you face to face even for a meal, what will you do? If I were you, I must be getting crazy! But things like this often happen in nowadays’ society. With the development of communication industry, people are getting used to various so-called fast ways of communication. Personally, however, no matter how fast and convenient those other communication modes can be, I think we should never abandon the most original way of communication—face-to-face communication, which is more vivid, interactive and easier for us to promote relationships with others. Face-to-face communication can make it more fun and vivid to talk to others, because it contains much more nonverbal languages than other ways of communication. When you talk to a person face to face, you make eye contacts with each other, by which both of you can exchange your inside emotions. Furthermore, by observing the person’s gestures, you can also dope out his personalities and decide what kind of person he is. And maybe the least important one is that, as the old saying goes,† all men search for beauty†, you can view the appearance of the person you are talking to, which might cause you rub out the birth of love if both of you are satisfied with each other’s appearance. All of these make it attachable for us to feel the person we are talking to is a real and touchable individual. There are times when you have to deliver exact information to other people, and at such times face-to-face communication will be your first choice, because it creates an interactive and efficient conversation. Firstly, when you are talking to a person face to face, both of you can raise questions about anything you can’t understand, so that the other person involved can explain it clearly in time, which contributes a lot to eliminate the misunderstandings and barriers of your communication. Secondly, a person’s tone and voice can suggest his present mood, which can make it easier for you to perceive his subtle changes of emotion. Finally, in face to face communication, you can tell whether the words the person spoke are authentic through observing his facial expression , which can also ensure that the person you are talking to is a faithful one. All of these can make your talking more successful and efficient especially when you are negotiating with someone. Maybe the biggest advantage of face-to-face communication s that it can deepen your relationship with others, because it can kill the distance among people. When communicating face to face, you can see the smile on the person’s face, which will make you feel warm and kind; you can hug each other when you’re getting excited; and even a handshake can make you feel the respect from the other person. All that can make you get closer to each other, which may be hardly made attachable by communicating through telephone or e-mail. For instance, we are far away from home as college students, even if we call our parents almost everyday, we still feel homesick and lonely. Why? Because telephone can never make us feel as close as meeting each other face to face. And so does it among friends, if we don’t meet each other face to face as often as possible, we will soon feel that our relationships are getting cold. In conclusion, with all factors taken into consideration, I totally agree that face to face communication is better than any other type of communication. Now, try to communicate with people face to face and you will find it more colorful and efficient than calling others through telephone or greeting each other just by sending an e-mail!