Motivational Interviewing: How It Works With Native Americans Essay

The Motivational Interviewing and Stages of Change approach is complementary to the cultural values of Native American people and emphasizes listening, learning, and respect. Addictions in this day and time can be contributed to many factors and effect every ethnicity of people. Substance addiction has even affected the smallest ethnicity of people, Native Americans since their encounter with white people. Motivational Interviewing (MI) has even helped Native Americans through counselors learning and implementing the techniques. Even though clients are naturally resistant to change, utilizing the three pillars are very effective in helping even Native American people because expressing empathy shows that you care and developing discrepancy between client’s present behaviors and values & beliefs. Counselors today need to be trained in MI and cross culturally trained also to better serve individuals. I would through MI be empathic and express it through reflective listening, paraphrase what I hear from the client, ask them let me see if I am hearing you correctly, You are saying†¦.., I would communicate respectfully with the client, be supportive and establish a non-judgmental therapeutic relationship with the client. There are some great CBT techniques alone with homework assignments to help deal with the shame and embarrassment that a client is feeling about their substance use or other problems that are going on. CBT can be self talk with positive statements to themselves, daily mood and thought record and etc. There are so many techniques that can be utilized with MI to help a client even through shame. As a counselor, I will utilize the following principles known also as pillars with MI to help motivate my clients: expressing empathy through reflective listening, developing discrepancy between client’s present behavior and values & beliefs, rolling with resistance by avoiding arguments & confrontation also adjust to the resistance, and last support self-efficacy by affirming clients strengths and allowing freedom and choice. First pillar that would be utilized is expressing empathy. Expressing empathy means to understand my client, know and respect where they are in the stage of change, and using reflective listening by using reflection, paraphrasing, or summarizing what has been stated by the client. For example, so let me get this right you said †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. , Did I get that right? Okay, let me see if I understand what you are feeling right now. In other words walk a mile in their moccasins and know where they are coming from. Second, pillar that would be used is developing discrepancy by getting the client to see that their behaviors that they are exhibiting does not reflect what they have stated that is their values, beliefs, and morals. I would listen to my clients, reflecting, and ask open ended-question. According to Capuzzi & Stauffer (2012), â€Å"When a client is able to experience an internal discrepancy between his or her current behaviors and his or her values, beliefs, and goals, the change process can begin. This is due in large part to the underlying principle of cognitive dissonance (p.131). Third pillar is rolling with resistance which is where a client is resistant to change than as a counselor I would not argue with the client, I will ask the client to tell me more about their view point so that I can understand where they are coming from more. Most important avoid labeling a client. I would ask open-ended questions to invite them in to talk more about what they believe is their reason for not wanting to change, engage in problem solving, or maybe reflecting back their values, beliefs, and goals (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2012). Last pillar is support self-efficacy which is fostering the client’s belief that they can make the necessary changes successfully, making sure the client knows that they are responsible for deciding to change and carrying out the change, let the client know my belief that they can change, and guide client to explore alternative problem solving solutions or approaches to change (Capuzzi & Stauffer, 2012). In conclusion, I learned that if a counselor is trained in MI and understands how to deliver the techniques with clients that it would be an effective technique with clients to motivate the stage of changes. For instance, â€Å"data from the current survey collected in a Native American community suggest that MI may be well suited as an intervention to prevent underage drinking and that a MI research program to reduce underage drinking would be generally well tolerated in this reservation community (Tonigan, Miller, & Villanueva, 2007). References Capuzzi, D., & Stauffer, M. (Eds.). (2012). Foundations of addiction counseling (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson. Tonigan, J. S., Miller, W. R., & Villanueva, M. (2007). Response of native american clients to three treatment methods for alcohol dependence Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.library.gcu.edu:2048/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,url,cookie,uid&an=28650827&db=ehh&scope=site&site=ehost; http://xs6th8dt4r.search.serialssolutions.com.library.gcu.edu:2048?sid=CentralSearch:EDJ&genre=article&atitle=Response+of+Native+American+Clients+to+Three+Treatment+Methods+for+Alcohol+Dependence.&volume=6&issue=2&title=Journal+of+Ethnicity+in+Substance+Abuse&issn=1533-2640&date=2007-06-01&spage=41&aulast=Tonigan&aufirst=J

Cost Accounting Essay

Questions arise as to why ABC implementation is successful in certain companies and fails in others. Based on the contingency theory, researchers have argued that the reasons for different degrees of ABC success could be due to the different contextual factors faced by each firm. These have led researchers to recognize assessing factors that influence ABC success implementation as an important research area. The following are among the research that have been carried out to examine factors that influence ABC success: Anderson [18]; Shield [3]; McGowan and Klammer [19]; Krumwiede [20]; and Anderson and Young [21] This article has two main objectives; the first objective is to identify research gaps based on the revision of previous research and the second objective is to propose theoretical research framework for current research. This article is organized as follows: Section II presents a discussion of selected articles related to factors influencing ABC implementation and gaps or limitations of previous studies and suggestions for current research are stated in the section III and IV. The framework for current research is provided in section V, Section VI defines each research variable and the final section presents the conclusion. II. PREVIOUS RESEARCH In this section, selected ABC implementation empirical 144 Abstract—In today’s advanced manufacturing and competitive environment, accurate costing information is crucial for all the kinds of businesses, such as manufacturing firms, merchandizing firms, and service firms. Argued to be superior to the traditional volume-based costing system, Activity-Based Costing system (ABC) has increasingly attracted the attention of practitioners and researchers alike as one of the strategic tools to aid managers for better decision making. The benefits of ABC system and its impacts on companies’ performance have motivated numerous empirical studies on ABC system and it is considered as one of the most-researched management accounting areas in developed countries. Previous research on ABC have examined pertinent issues related to ABC implementation such as the levels of ABC adoption in various countries, the reasons for implementing ABC, the problems related to ABC and the critical success factors influencing ABC. This paper reviews the research on ABC carried out within the last decade, from 1995-2008, and from the review research gaps are identified. Specifically, this paper examines the selection of factors influencing successful ABC implementation, variables used by previous research and the definitions and operationalization of the variables. The review reveals that past research concentrated mainly on behavioral, organizational, and technical variables as the main determinants of ABC success but very little research have been done to examine the roles of organizational culture and structure. Based on the research gaps identified, a research framework for future research is provided. Index Terms—Advanced Manufacturing Activity-Based Costing, ABC Success Environment, I. INTRODUCTION In today’s competitive and continually changing business environment, firms need to be vigilant of the impacts of the changes in the business environment and devise appropriate strategies to survive and prosper. Advancements in manufacturing and communication technologies have drastically changed the ways businesses conduct their activities. Adoption of advanced manufacturing technologies such as robotics and computerized manufacturing have resulted in significant changes in the manufacturing cost structure which have led academics and practitioners to argue that the traditional costing methods are no longer sufficient within this new manufacturing environment [1] (Johnson and Kaplan, 1987). This had resulted in the change from the traditional volume-based cost model to new costing methods such as Activity Based Costing (ABC) [2]. Due to its ability in providing more accurate costing information and enhancing firms’ performance, ABC is International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 2010 2010-023X studies, which spanned 1995-2008 periods, were collected from four prominent refereed accounting research journals, in management accounting field: Journal of Management Accounting Research, Accounting, Organizations and Society, Management Accounting Research and British Accounting Review. Factors used by previous research to investigate the effect on ABC success implementation are summarized, and stage of ABC implementation also is outlined. A. Technical Variables Early studies of ABC adoption and implementation undertaken by previous researchers concentrated on technical factors, such as identification of main activities, selection of cost drivers, problem in accumulating cost data. Example of these research are Cooper [9], Morrow and Connelly [22]. However, technical factors alone may not be adequate to explain the factors influencing ABC success implementation. Cooper et al. [23] argued that the key problem during ABC implementation stage is that companies only focus on technical factors. They suggested that to make ABC implementation more effective, non-technical factors such as involvement of non-accounting in ABC implementation process, top management championship, adequate training program to employees about the objectives and benefits of ABC should be emphasized as well. Similar opinions were expressed by Shield [3] and Shields and McEwen [14]. Shield (1995) found no significant relationship between technical factors and ABC success. Shields and McEwen [14] also highlighted that sole emphasis on the architectural and software design of ABC systems leads to the failure of ABC implementation. Therefore many researchers have suggested that new variables should be considered to investigate factors influencing ABC success. B. Contextual, Behavioral and Organizational Variables Recognizing the research gaps in identifying factors that may affect ABC success, academicians shifted their focuses from technical factors to other variables, such as contextual, behavioral and organizational, culture, as well as organizational structure. Anderson [18] conducted a longitudinal investigation of ABC process in General Motor (GM) from a period of 1986 to 1993. In his research, he examined the effects of organizational variables and contextual variables, and segmented ABC implementation into four major stages, initiation, adoption, adaptation and acceptance. He found that organizational factors, such as top management support and training for the ABC system affected various stages of ABC significantly, while contextual variables, such as competition, relevance to managers’ decisions and compatibility with existing systems produced different degree of impact on different stages of ABC. Shield [3] examined the relationships between diversity of behavioral, organizational and technical factors and the success of ABC implementation. She employed Shield and Young’s [24] framework and summarized behavioral and organizational variables as top management support, adequate resources, training, link ABC system to performance evaluation and compensation, non-accounting ownership, link ABC to competitive strategies as well as clarity of ABC objectives. She found that top management support, linkage to quality initiatives and to personal performance measure (pay/appraisal), implementation of training and resource adequacy were the significant predictors in explaining ABC success. She also found that technical variables were not associated with ABC success. Shield’s findings are supported by other researchers, such as Shield and McEwen [14], who argued that a significant cause for unsuccessful implementations of ABC of several companies could be due to the emphasis of architectural and software design of the ABC system and less attention given to behavioral and organizational issues, which were identified by Shield [3]. Krumwiede and Roth [25] also stated that barriers of ABC implementation can be overcome if firms could give importance to behavioral and rganizational variables identified by Shield [3]. Similarly, Norris [26] agreed with Shield’s [3] findings that the association between ABC success and behavioral and organizational variables is stronger than with technical variables. She further highlighted that the impact of behavioral, organizational and technical should be focused at individual level. McGowan and Klammer [19] conducted a survey of 53 employees from 4 targeted sites in the U. S. o examine whether employees’ satisfaction levels are associated with ABC implementation by They also measured their perceptions of the factors associated with the degree of satisfaction, such as top management support; the degree of involvement in the implementation process; objectives clearly stated; objectives shared; training; linkage to performance evaluation system; adequate resources; information quality and preparer over user. Their results indicated that employees’ satisfaction with ABC implementation was positively related with clarity of objectives and quality of ABC information. Gosselin [15] carried out a survey of 161 Canadian manufacturing companies to examine the effects of strategic posture and organizational structure on adoption and implementation of general forms of Activity-based costing. He segmented the ABC implementation stage into adoption and implementation. The research findings showed that a prospector strategy was associated with manager decision to adopt ABC, while centralization and formalization were significantly associated with ABC success implementation. Krumwiede [20] surveyed U. S manufacturing firms to study how contextual factors, such as the potential for cost distortion or size of firms; organizational factors, such as top management support, training or non-accounting ownership, affect each stage of ABC implementation process. His findings showed that the different factors affected the various stages of implementation of ABC and the degree of importance of each factor varies according to the stage of implementation. Contextual factors, such as usefulness of cost information, IT existence, less task uncertainty and large organizations were related to ABC adoption. Moreover, organizational factors, such as top management support, non-accounting ownership, and implementation training affect ABC success implementation. 145 International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 1, No. 2, August, 2010 2010-023X In another study by Anderson and Young [21], the relationship between organizational and contextual variables, such as organizational structures, task characteristics, management support, information technology and ABC success was examined. The result confirmed the importance of organizational factors (top management support and adequacy resources) during the ABC implementation stage. In South Africa, Sartorius et al. [27] carried out a mail survey to investigate the effect of organizational factors such as top management, adequate resources, coherence with organizational goals and strategy on ABC success. They found top management support and resources were the crucial factors in explaining ABC success. In the UK, Innes and Mitchell [4] and [12] surveyed the extent of ABC adoption among largest firms. The study aimed to find out factors influencing ABC success by using behavioral and organizational variables, and it was found that top management influenced ABC success significantly. In another study conducted by Khalid [28] using a questionnaire survey among the largest 100 firms in Saudi Arabia, ABC adoption was found to be positively related to diversity of products. In Malaysia, Ruhanita et al. [29] conducted a mail survey and a case study to examine that factors influencing ABC success, especially at adoption stage. They found the significant factors were cost distortion, decision usefulness, information technology and organizational factors. In addition, the findings showed that decision usefulness, top management support, link ABC to performance measure and compensation influenced the ABC success adoption significantly. A case study of one Chinese manufacturing firm was carried by Lana and Fei [30] in China. Their research aimed to examine some key success factors pertinent to ABC implementation within Chinese organizational and cultural setting. The research findings showed that top management support, hierarchical and communication structure and high proportion of dedicated professionals were the significant factors in determining ABC success implementation. Majid et al. [7] used a case study approach to describe the process of ABC implementation in a Malaysian service company and a Malaysian manufacturing company. In this research, they categorized ABC implementation into initiation and adoption, design, implementation and use of information. The purpose of the research was to find out the problems faced during ABC implementation, He found that the factors determining ABC success were top management support, suitable ABC software, and finally, ensuring that all affected employees understand and participate in the ABC implementation stage. And they also found that at different stages of ABC, the dominant factors influencing ABC success were also different. Colin et al. [31] adopted behavioral and organizational factors summarized by Shield (1995) to examine factors influencing the adoption and degree of success of ABC systems and determinants of that success. In their research, the targeted research population was manufacturing and service firms in the UK. They found that top management support, non-accounting ownership, adequate training provided to ABC determined the ABC success. Besides behavioral, organizational and technical variable, some researchers also indicated that the dimensions of national cultures could affect the level of ABC success [32, 33]. Brewer [32] used Hofstede’s taxonomy of work-related cultural values to examine the relationship between national culture and Activity-Based Costing system. In the study, Hofstede [34]’s work was applied to the case of Harris Semiconductor (HS), which has implemented ABC at plants in Malaysia and the USA. The results showed that the level of ABC success in Malaysia was higher than that of U. S due to high-power-distance and collectivist cultures in Malaysia. In addition, Supitcha and Frederick [33] also included national culture’s dimension into framework in a case study of one Thai state-owned enterprise’s budgeting system. They found that due to cultural differences, modifications were required when the organizations in Thailand tried to implement ABC system in Thai environment. Apart from national culture, corporate culture factors were also tested by prior research. Baird, Harrison and Reeve [17] conducted a study to investigate the relationship between the extent of ABC adoption and the organizational variables of size and decision usefulness of cost information and business unit culture. In their research, data were collected by a mail survey questionnaire and samples were randomly selected from business units in Australia. The research finding showed significant relationships between ABC adoption and decision usefulness, cultural dimensions of outcome orientation and tight verse loose control. Baird, Harrison and Reeve [16] examined the relationship between success of activity management practices and organizational factors (top management support, training, link to performance evaluation and compensation, and link to quality initiatives), and organizational culture (outcome orientation, team orientation, attention to detail, as well as innovation). They adopted a survey questionnaire method on randomly chosen business units in Australia. The findings showed that two organizational factors (top management support, link to quality initiatives) explained the variations in success of activity management practices, such as ABC, and outcome orientation and attention to detail of organizational culture were associated with ABC success. They also stressed that compared with organizational culture, organizational factors had stronger associations with the ABC.

PEMEX Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

PEMEX - Coursework Example The company comprises of four subsidiary entities that practices production, exploration, commercialization and transformation activities for natural gas and oil in the local and international markets (Blowfield, 2013; p. 67). The company also conducts refinery of crude oil and supplies petrochemicals on top of conducting business overseas via PMI Comercio Internacional. This paper explores the sustainability of the company in the global business with major focus on environmental sustenance and economic stability. The country has positioned to provide assurance of the distribution of primary energy products and has therefore input to considerable change and growth in Mexico. In order to guarantee that the company would proceed to contribute significantly to the development of the nation, the company created a business plan in 2010 where the strategies were approved. The government aims to transform and recognize the company as an efficient, safe, modern, profitable, sustainable, transparent and modern firm is set forward. Through the organization the government has established a business plan which is the result of an attempt to focus on the fundamental plans that deal with the major aspects integral to describe the course and objectives of the organization. The business plan can be summarized by the diagram below. In satisfying the company’s and government’s objectives the company has recognized four routes of actions with various specific strategies. These include the growth, corporate responsibility, efficiency and management modernization (Lourdes, 2012; p. 3). The society has so much expectations and attitudes towards the organization and its contribution to sustainability. As a major element of achievement, the society expects that the government through the company to transparently comprehend the effect of their activities at the economic, social and ecological

Marketing plan for any hospitality product Essay

Marketing plan for any hospitality product - Essay Example This kind of business proves to be promising due to several reasons, first of which is that we have no direct competitors found within the city. As such, The ZEN Home Salon and Spa is the only business of its kind that would cater to the demands of local residents. In addition to this, with Bellevue’s current profile as a major regional economic and employment center (Demographic and Economic Trends, 2009), we will surely be able to identify a captured market among those employed on a full time basis and do not have the luxury of time to go out during their free days to pamper themselves with a much needed massage or with salon services. The ZEN will surely provide these customers with an opportunity to relax in their homes while enjoying our service. Our home-service strategy would further allow them to save on travel time. The ZEN targets to expand its menu of services in the next six months, depending on the perceived needs of the captured market. We are also looking at selling beauty and treatment products within six months of operation. And with our target to offer unparalleled products and services to our client base, we will make it difficult for a competitor to match our service level standards. Moreover, our pricing would be competitive as compared to other Days Spas in Bellevue and in neighboring cities. The strength of The Zen lies on its being the only home-service business of its kind in Bellevue. The next competition that offers exactly the same service is located at Seattle. With this, we are confident that we could easily penetrate the local market and have good competition with other establishments. Following these conditions, The ZEN is optimistic that we will be able to create a need among the target market within three months after our launch. Further, we aim to create a solid and returning client base of 60 households within Bellevue, and another 60 from neighboring cities in six

Based on the appropriate texts (Corcyra, The Trojan Women, The Clouds, Essay

Based on the appropriate texts (Corcyra, The Trojan Women, The Clouds, The Republic, Gaugamela), define the three or so most important changes (or phenomena) in the Greek world in the period - Essay Example The philosophies that were a part of the changes of this time began with an understanding of the several gods that were a part of the culture. This began to alter with several philosophies and debates that were a part of the time period. One of the ways that this can be seen is through â€Å"The Republic† by Plato. The beginning part of this book shows the debate between several religious principles and morals, as well as how these contradicted ideas in society. Socrates, throughout this book, represents the new thought, which includes an understanding of justice, happiness and a questioning of morals and truth. This is opposed to other characters, such as Glaucon, who show the old ideas in society and how they no longer work with functioning in society. For instance, in an opening debate, Socrates and Glaucon begin to debate over the different concepts of wealth and how this can lead to justices or injustice. Glaucon states, â€Å"If, Socrates, we are to be guided at all ana logy of the preceding instances, than justice is the art which gives good to friends and evil to enemies† (Plato, 42). These types of debates would move through the religious concepts of justice as well as how they pertained to society, specifically to determine new types of morals that were being looked into during this time frame. While this particular concept was seen from one viewpoint, it could also be noted that the debates with morals and philosophies appeared to have more tensions in society. For instance, â€Å"The Clouds† by Aristophanes, is based on the works of Plato and specifically with the ideologies that Socrates represents. The play begins with the son Strepsiades, who is devoted to go to the school of Socrates, known as the Thinkery. This becomes a debate when Strepsiades sees goddesses and representations of clouds, which come to tell him truth outside of the Thinkery. This becomes the main conflict of the

Photographic Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Photographic Industry - Essay Example Photography begins with the actions of photojournalists. They produce images for publications using cameras. Moreover, photo documentarian and photojournalist both capture issues of current affairs around the world (International Center of Photography, 2009). However, photojournalists specifically do the work of publications. Besides, journalists are witnesses of specific events and translate events into visual images that are normally recognizable and emotive without any interpretation. Developments in landscape photograph advances than portrait photography. Photojournalists’ must be aware of the current issues around the world, research specific topics and accept the responsibility of current culture. Therefore, the history of photography has many developments that include the actions of photojournalists and photo documentaries. They help in developing photographic industry through the research and study of current cultures across the world (Vartanian, Crump, Blahnik & Olymp ia, 2011). In fashion photography, the photographer normally tells a story. The main fashion photographers are Tim Walker and Cecil Beaton. They develop photographs in professional ways that catch the attention of contemporary society in broad and diverse ways. The two fashion photographers give stories that enhance the experience of the viewer and client. Moreover, from the business point of view, storytelling with the use of images gives the opportunity of selling more client books, prints and making more of shoot experience.

Online Discussion 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Online Discussion 2 - Essay Example y part describes the expectation of linguistics learners to have simple languages so that they can easy apply their comprehension in literature (Shemshadsara, 2012). To that effect, the tutors compromise the standards of language proficiency in order to impress the learners. It shows teachers as being selective in developing their teaching programs instead of maintaining the prescribed schedule to develop critical and analytical skills in students (Cameron, 2001). The objective of the article is to first articulate the fact that linguistics is a challenging field of study. Secondly, it aims at developing constructive perception of teachers and students with regards to linguistics in order to develop skills that challenge the community beyond the classroom environment (Fairclough, 1995). This article demonstrates an understanding of the needs of sequential stages of learning, and suggests a low level proficiency requirement for elementary classes. The ultimate aim of the article is to trigger a paradigm shift for both the students and learners about languages by providing solution to the emerging challenges. The article addresses different categories of audience, with a variety of reasons. First, it exposes the attitude with which teachers discharge their duties. It focuses on pointing to teachers their real experiences in teaching with the hope that they can improve on their attitudes. The second target group is students. It focuses on developing a sense of proactive participation of students in the acquisition of linguistics and literature skills. The third target group is that of the authors of various literatures. It recommends the use of simplified languages for the low level literature and linguistics classes to develop relevant skills in a progressive manner. The strengths of the article is evident in its understanding of the linguistics and literature challenges. In the introductory section, Cots (2006) describes the tasks as problematic. Secondly, it