Substance Abuse Treatment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Substance Abuse Treatment - Essay Example Many of the counselors at GCASA revealed that they actually prefer to work with mandated clients because, even if they initially resent having to come to treatment, they eventually are more motivated to continue with treatment and get something positive from it. Dr. John Kelly, the lead investigator on the study mentioned above is quoted as saying, "Once in a therapeutic environment, mandated patients seem to reflect on their situation and accept the need for treatment. The findings suggest that people can learn from the 'teachable moment' offered by a judicial mandate, even though the initial motivation for treatment is external." Employees are a vital part of any business. It is better to offer assistance to employees with personal problemsthan to discipline or fire them. Recovering employees become productive and effective members of your Kelly, J.F.; Finney, J.W.; and Moos, R. Substance use disorder patients who are mandated to treatment: Characteristics, treatment process, and 1- and 5-year outcomes. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment 28(3):213-223, 2005.

A World of Freedom With Chains Attached :: essays research papers fc

Everyone has heard of the Internet and how it is going to help set the world free. The Internet is the fastest growing form of communication and is becoming more and more commonplace in the average American home. Companies these days do big business over the Internet, and online shopping has grown tremendously in the last few years. For instance, the online auction site eBay sells millions of items every year online. Many companies are making even more plans to expand their business to the Internet. Wireless, borderless communication and the uninterrupted flow of information have been promised to bring democracy, education, and culture to every corner of the world with a phone line. Unfortunately, there have been numerous attempts lately to censor the Internet in the name of â€Å"decency.† If the Net is controlled, regulated, restricted, or censored in order to keep it â€Å"clean,† it will have severe effects on its capabilities and potential. In recent years, America and other leading countries’ economies have become increasingly dependent on the need to instantly move large amounts of information across long distances. Computerization has changed everyone’s life in ways that were never before imagined. The global network of interconnected computers allows people to send electronic mail messages across the world in the blink of an eye and stay updated on world events as they happen; the world has become a much smaller place as a result of this global communication and exchange of ideas. There have also become thousands of online â€Å"communities† of people who share common interests through message boards, chat rooms, and electronic mailing lists (Wilmott 106). At present, the Internet is the ultimate demonstration of the first amendment: free speech. Here is a place where people can speak their mind without being punished for what they say or how they choose to say it. The Internet owes its incredible worldwide success to its protection of free speech, not only in America, but also in countries where freedom of speech is not guaranteed. For some, it is the only place where they can speak their mind without fear of political or religious persecution (â€Å"Cyberchaos†). The Net is also one of America's most valuable types of technology; scientists use email for quick and easy communication. They post their current scientific discoveries on online newsgroups so other scientists in the same field of study all over the world can know in minutes.

What Is Strategy?

Today's dynamic markets and technologies have called into question the sustainability of competitive advantage. Under pressure to improve productivity, quality, and speed, managers have embraced tools such as TQM, benchmarking, and reengineering. Dramatic operational improvements have resulted, but rarely have these gains translated into sustainable profitability. And gradually, the tools have taken the place of strategy. As managers push to improve on all fronts, they move further away from viable competitive positions. Michael Porter argues that operational effectiveness, although necessary to superior performance, is not sufficient, because its techniques are easy to imitate. In contrast, the essence of strategy is choosing a unique and valuable position rooted in systems of activities that are much more difficult to match. In answering the question ‘what is strategy? ’, some theorists focus more on the role of strategy in allowing a firm to ‘position’ itself in an industry, hence to make choices regarding ‘what game to play’. Others focus more on the role of strategy in determining how well a given game is played. Strategy is about both: choosing new games to play and playing existing games better. One of the biggest disagreements among strategy researcher concerns the process by which strategies emerge. Some describe stratgy as a rational and deliberate process, while others describer it as an evolutionary process which emerges from experimentation and trial and error. Some place more emphasis on external factors, like the structure of the industry to which he firm belongs (e. g. the industrial organization approach), while others place more emphasis on factors internal to the organization, like the way production is organized (e. g. Resource-Based approach). Furthermore, some describe a relatively static relationship between strategy and the environment where firms respond to external conditions, while others describe a dynamic picture of competition, where firms not only are influenced by the environment, but also actively seek to change it. (e. g. he Schumpetarian approach). This feedback relationship between firm strategy and the environment is the focus of industry ‘lifecycle’ studies which look at the sources and effectrs of changes in industry structure. Porter(1996) claims that not all business decisions are strategice. Decisions can only be defined as strategic if they involve consciously doing something ‘differently’ from competitors and if that difference results in a sustainable advantage. To be sustainable it must be difficult to imitate. Activities which simply increase productivity by making existing methods more efficient (‘operational efficiency’) are not strategic since they can be easily copied by others. Although a firm must engage in both types of activiteis, it is strategic activies that will allow it to develop a sustainable superior performance. One of the factors that renders strategies hard to imitate, hence unique, is that they are the result of a complex interaction between diffenrent activities, which is not reducible to the sum of the indicidual activities. It is this synergy between activities that produces value, not the activities in themselves. Whittingtton(2001) introduces us to four different perspectives on stragey: the classical perspective, the evolutionary persperctive, the processual perspective and the systemic perspective. The classical perspective assumes that the manger has near to complete control over how to allocate the internal and external resources of the firm, and can thus manipulate the internal organization of the firm to better suit these objectives. In this view, strategic behaviour is guided by rationality, opportunism and self-interest. The evolutionary perspective places emphasis on behacioural differences between firm (e. g. some firms base their descisons on rational caculations, others simply on imitaion) and on the market selection mechanisms that allow some firms to frow and survive and others to fail. This view causes the image of the heroic entrepreneur, centreal to the classical perspective, to fall apart: it is not one manager but the mix between the forces of market selection, random events, and processes of positive feedback that determine performance. The processual perspectiver holds that economic outcomes emerge from the interactions between individuals and between individuals and their environment. The result of this interacion is unpredictable because actions are often unintended. Humans are not perfectly rational but ‘bounded’ in their rationality. This, along with the fact that interaction between individuals is guided not only by self-interest but alsoby collective bargaining and compromis, causes economic dynamics to be fuzzy and unpredictable. The systemic perspective argues that each of the above approaches is characterized by a narrow view of the world: a Western, often Anglo-Saxon, view. The ‘rationality’ of a particular strategy depends on its specific historical, social and cultural context. Strategic behaviour is ‘embedded’ in a network of social relations that includes cultural norms, class and educational background, religion and so on. Hence what if labelled as ‘irraional’ behaviour in one context may be perfectly rational in another.

The Pros and Cons of Online High School Programs

Should you consider earning your high school diploma online? Moving from a traditional high school to an online high school can be a big transition for any student, whether they are a teenager or a returning adult. Take a look at a few of the pros and cons before making your decision. The Benefits of Earning a High School Diploma Online Work at your own pace: With online high school courses, you can work at your own pace. You can take extra time when you need it to understand the material or speed through courses that are easy.Flexible schedule: You have greater flexibility in your schedule and can arrange your classes around work and other responsibilities. If you work part-time or full-time or have child care responsibilities, you can arrange your coursework accordingly.Avoiding social distractions: It’s easier to avoid the distractions (peers, parties, cliques) of regular school and focus on getting work done. If youve had trouble focusing on your studies instead of the social life at school, this is a benefit of taking courses online.Be yourself: Many students see taking courses online as a way to develop their own identity, apart from the social pressures of traditional schools.Avoid a negative environment: You won’t have to put up with the â€Å"bad influences,† cliques, gangs, or bullies found at a traditional high school.Specialization: You may be able to specialize in learning subjects that are interesting to you. The different options available online may be wider than those offered at your local high school.Get a diploma faster: Some students are able to earn their diploma early (a few even finish twice as fast as traditional students). The Disadvantages of Earning a High School Diploma Online Lack of social events: Most online programs don’t have the fun elements of traditional high schools such as prom, senior day, graduation, weird hair day, etc.No immediate teacher access: Some subjects (such as writing and math) may be hard to master without a teacher present. A student doesnt have immediate access to the instructor to get additional help and clarification of principles. It becomes easier to fall behind.Less motivation to complete work: Many people find it challenging to focus on completing work when there isn’t an actual teacher there to encourage them on a daily basis. They need human interaction to overcome procrastination.Social isolation: Some students become isolated or anti-social. While you may prefer to work solo online, you are missing out on the important lessons of learning to work with others. In a traditional school, they would have to step out of their comfort zone and learn how to interact with others.Non-accredited schools: If your onlin e school is not accredited, your transcripts probably won’t be accepted by businesses and universities.Cost: Unless you find an accredited charter school or use a free online program, you can expect to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars on tuition, the curriculum, and computer equipment.