Organization And Management Essay

INTRODUCTION Control is the process of assuring the efficient accomplishment of enterprise objectives. In the turbulent environment faced by management, power and control is necessary to anticipate problems, measure performance against standards, take corrective actions for deviations from plans and if necessary, modify plans. The term control may have some negative connotations for some. In the management process, it is a facilitating function aiding the organization to accomplish the set objectives. The primary responsibility for exercising control rests with management at HQ division with the execution of plans. In an organization, control consists in verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with the plans adopted, the instructions issued and principles established. Its object is to point out weaknesses and errors in order to rectify them and prevent recurrence. It operates on everything, things, people, and actions. It is wrong to assume that only top management has the responsibility for power and control and that there is little need for control at lower levels of management. While the scope for control may vary to some extent depending upon the position of an employee in the hierarchy, all those who have responsibility for the execution of plans need to exercise control too. M/s Engineering Products is an engineering company, based in UK, manufacturing mechanical tools for various industrial manufactures .Due to the marketing trend and policy change, the company sometime in 1980 did some major deviations by closing and selling some units and presently in the trade of defense, industrial services and auto parts. The company is in the line of exporting components to different countries. It has processed for expansion, 50% of the employees are stationed in Western Europe and North America. Bulk of the sales is taken care by Western Europe and America and a very small portion by UK. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The major prerequisites of control are two: a plan and a structure. a) Plan: controls must be based on plan. The more clear and complete the plans are the more effective controls can be; plans become the standards by which the actions are measured. b) Structure: There is need for a structure to know where the responsibility rests for deviations and corrective action, if any needed. As in the case of plans, the more clear and complete the organization structure is, the more effective control can be. Controls, to be effective, should share the following basic characteristics: Appropriate: Controls should correspond to an organization’s plans. Controls designed for a Management Executive are inappropriate for a supervisor Strategic: Control should serve a strategic purpose and provide spotlight on positive and negative exceptions at critical points. Acceptable: Controls will not work unless people want them to. They should be acceptable to those to whom they apply. Reliable and objective: Controls should be accurate and unbiased. If they are unreliable and subjective, people will resent them. THE POWER AND CONTROL PROCESS In the Engineering Products the control process used  Ã‚     involves three steps: (a) establishing standards. (b) measuring performance against these standards, and (c) reinforcing success/correcting deviations. a) Establishing Standards: Standards mean criteria of performance. Standards may be of many kinds and include verifiable goals set in qualitative or quantitative terms. Engineering Products has established standards in areas such as: (a) Profitability (b) Productivity (c) Market Share (d) Worker Performance (e) Innovation (f) Social Responsibility Standards are based on past performance, managerial judgment or scientific analysis. Standards are used to measure performance and judge success or failure. b) Measuring of Performance: Essentially, it is a comparison between â€Å"what is† and â€Å"what should be† the performance. Ideally, measurement should be done on a forward-looking basis to predict probable deviations from standards rather than merely be used as a post mortem exercise. c) Reinforcing Success/Correcting Deviations: When plans and organization structures are clear, it is easy to reinforce success and avoid failures. When deviations are noticed or apprehended based on warning signs, the reasons can be analyzed and appropriate corrective actions taken promptly. LITERATURE REVIEW POLICIES AND DESIGN CHOICES IN CONTROL Engineering Products are following three options in exercising control: centralization or delegation formal or informal direct or indirect preferences for one or a mix of all options are matters of judgment. Each option has relevance in a particular situation Centralization or Delegation Centralization is an approach where control is exercised by the HQ or the top management group.   Thus, functional autonomy will be lacking at operating levels. Delegation, on the contrary, manifests transfer of decision-making authority downward and outward within the formal structure. Sometimes, decision-making power is transferred downwards in a hierarchy prescribing limits on the scope and type of decisions. Centralized Control: makes it easier to coordinate the activities of various subunits/departments in an organization. seeks to achieve balance among various functions because the top management can be expected to have a broad organization-wide perspective. proves more useful because control will be in the hands of senior, experienced top executives. is necessary to meet extraordinary situations. is economical since duplication in activities and resource use can be avoided. Delegation and decentralization too have positive features: they relieve the top management from overload. motivate individuals to give better performance due to opportunities for individual freedom, discretion and control. contribute to the personal and professional development of managers.†¢ people at operating Direct or Indirect There are two ways of controlling. One way is to supervise subordinates’ activities closely, trace deviations to the persons responsible and get them to correct their practices. This is called indirect control The other way is to develop high quality managers who will properly understand and apply managerial principles, functions, techniques and philosophy, make few mistakes and initiate corrective actions, wherever necessary, themselves. This is called direct control. The higher the quality of managers and their subordinates, the less will be the need for indirect controls. Conflict and Negotiation Life is a never ending process of one conflict after another. Conflict has always been widespread in society but it is only recently that it has generated a lot of interest and has been the focus of research and study. Employees have become more vociferous in their demands for a better deal. Various departments in an organization face a situation full of conflicts due to a number of reasons like goal diversity, scarcity of resources or task interdependence etc. Negotiation is an attempt to find a solution that reconciles or integrates the needs of both parties who work together to define the problem and to identify mutually satisfactory solutions. In negotiation, there is open expression of feelings as well as exchange of task-related information. The most critical ingredients in successful negotiation are: 1 Definition of the problem should be a joint effort based on shared fact finding. 2 Problems should be stated in terms of specifics. 3 Discussions between the groups should consist of specific, non-evaluative comments and questions should be asked to elicit information. 4The groups should work together in developing alternative solutions. 5All agreements about separate issues should he considered tentative.   Without trust, each group will fear manipulation and may not reveal its true preferences. Secondly, integrative problem solving takes a lot of time and can succeed only in the absence of pressure for a quick settlement. Direct control hastens corrective actions, lightens the burden caused by indirect control and subordinates feel less concerned about superior’s subjectivity in rating their performance because in indirect control one would feel a close relationship between performance and measurement. METHODOLOGY The central HR function at Engineering Products had been placed on a different platform after the other units placed at different places are moving towards international integration. integration. A system is being formed for interaction of different managers of different units and how international postings to be managed HR department at HQ office desires to play a more forceful role rather than doing only doing routine administrative work. The Dynamics of Personnel/Human Resource Management (P/HRM) is a dynamic discipline as it mostly deals with ever-changing work settings, characterized by people having varied cultural, social and religious backgrounds, diverse goals, multifarious expectations and attitudes. The personnel scene itself has been changing quite dramatically over the years. State regulations, competitive pressures, unionization of employees, do exert a strong influence on the way the personnel function is carried out in various organizations. Over the years, employees have become more sophisticated in their demands for high quality work environments, adequate benefits, proper training and career growth opportunities. All these factors compel human resource professionals to look for ways to improve their interactions with employees, other managers and outside groups in order to maximize worker productivity and satisfaction. Changing Role of Human Resource in View of Social Factors: A number of environmental factors influence the work of HR office.They cannot perform  Ã‚   in a vacuum. These factors influence the organization through human resources. External factors separately or in combination can influence the HR function of any organization. The job of a HR manager is to balance the demands and expectations of the external groups with the internal requirements and achieve the assigned goals in an efficient and effective manner. The HR manager has to work closely with these constituent parts, understand the internal dynamics properly and devise ways and means to survive and progress. Local and State Factors State is the custodian of industrial and economic activities. The emergence of problems on the industrial front in the form of trade union movement, failure of many employers to deal fairly with workers, non-fulfillment of plan targets forced the states to intervene in human resource management and to enact various pieces of labor legislation.    Unions Unions have also gained strength. At present, these organizations constitute one of the power blocks in many countries. With the formation and recognition of these organizations, the issues relating to employee interests are no longer determined by the unilateral actions of management. These have to be discussed with union representatives invariably.   In consequence, the scope of managerial discretion in personnel activities has been narrowed down. Changing Work Values   Organizations must now advance from general affirmation and enthusiasm for the career development of their personnel to greater precision. The concepts and goals development programmes must be more precise, more widely understood, reflected in formal policy statements and translated into institutional and personnel practice. Alienation from the job, increasing counter-productive behavior, rising expectations and changing ideas of employees are some of the other factors responsible for the changing values and roles of human force. Consequently it has become imperative for the management to include  Ã‚   benefits to improve morale, introduce a machinery to redress grievances, encourage employee participation in decision-making and the like to pave the way for industrial betterment and to meet the ever increasing demands of workforce. Culture In Organization Every organization has some characteristics which are common with any other organization. At the same time, each organization has its unique set of characteristics and properties. This psychological structure of organization and their sub-units is usually referred to as Organizational Culture. Organizational culture is a relatively enduring quality of the internal environment that is experienced by the members, influences their behavior, and can be described in terms of values of a particular set of characteristics of the organization. Organizational culture is the set of characteristics that describe an organization and that (a) distinguish one organization from other organizations; (b) are relatively enduring over time and (c) influence the behavior of the people in the organization. Organizational Culture is a relatively uniform perception held of the organization, it has common characteristics, it is descriptive, it can distinguish one organization from another and it integrates individual, group and organization system variables. ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE. Organization structure refers to the formal, established pattern of relationships amongst the various parts of a firm or any organization. The fact that these relationships are formal implies that they are deliberately specified and adopted and do not evolve on their own. Of course, it may sometimes happen that given an unusual situation, new working relationships may evolve and which may later be adopted as representing the formal structure.   Only when relationships are clearly spelled out and accepted by everyone, can they be considered as constituting a structure. This does not mean that once established, there can be no change in these relationships. Changes may be necessary with passage of time and change of circumstances, but frequent and erratic changes are to be avoided. References Peters, Thomas, J. and Waterman, Robert H., 1999. Management of Development Programmes, Harper and Row: New York. Elbing, A.1998. Behavioral Decisions in Organizations, Scott Foresman: Glenview. P.0.1991. A Stud .of Decision Making Job Choice. MIT Press: Cambridge. Vroom, V.1-I and Yetton, P.W.1997. Organisational Leadership and Decision Making. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh. Barnard, C.l.l997. The Functions of the Executive. Harvard University Press: Cambridge. Behling, 0, and Schriesheim, C. 1996. Organisational Behavior. Theory, Research and Application. Allyn and Bacon: Boston. Elbing, A.1988. Behavioral Decisions in Organizations, Scott Foresman: Glenview. Vroom, V.H. and Yetton, P.W.1983. Leadership and Decision Making. University of Pittsburgh Press: Pittsburgh. Stephin Robbins. et al. Action-research as applied to Development, in Organization Development and Research (Ed. Wendell L French et al) Business Publications Inc., Dallas (1998). Eager G., Change Agent Skills: Assessing and Designing Excellence, University Associates California (1998). Fohman, Mark.A. et al. Action-research as applied to Development, in Organization Development and Research (Ed. Wendell L French et al) Business Publications Inc., Dallas (1998). Chris Argyris, Management and Organization Development: The Path form X4 to YB, McGraw Hill, New York (1991). Beckhard, R. Harris, R. T Organization transitions: Managing Complex Changes, Addison Wesley (1997). Cascio, W.F., Fundamentals of Modern Organisations, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York,1992 Purecell J.,Boxall P., Organisational Management, Plagrave, Macmillan, New York,2003

Preparation For Early Christianity Essay

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  The name of Christ (from the Septuagint word â€Å"Anointed One† or â€Å"Messiah†) can not be treated like just a symbol, it’s the name of our soul.   Christianity, in its turn, has become not only the one of numerous crucial periods in the history of humanity but the most blessed period in our history.   But as any historical and ideological period Christianity and the main stages of its development has always been an object of great quantity of works and discussions. And it   could not   be in other way as speaking about Christianity we mean the historical phenomena of global importance, we mean the Faith whose followers are millions of people in the contemporary world.   Justo Gonzales is one of few who managed to present a very clear and detailed picture of the preparation for Early Christianity. In the â€Å"The Story of Christianity† by Gonzales the preparation for Early Christianity is not only highlighted in strict connection with the history of those times but is given without any personal judgments of the author. The first chapter of â€Å"The Story of Christianity† is called â€Å"The fullness of time† and that is a very suitable name. The birth of Christianity took place in the times when the ideological and geographical situation was really â€Å"full†.   Gonzalez does not judge any doctrines or events- he just gives a detailed analytical synthesis of Early Christianity development starting from the first years of existence of Christianity up to the end of Reformation area.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  The birth of Christianity has become the most out standing period in the history of this religious current of millions.   The ancient science of Rome gave to the first roots of Christianity which got powerful development after coming of Christ.   The genius minds of Roman Empire had already proclaimed partially   what Christ brought with him then, just in their pagan interpretation it was not well finished and explained.   Socrates and Plato already had spoken in their works about the life after death and Socrates proved in his believe in life after death by accepting death voluntarily. â€Å"Plato’s teacher, Socrates, had been condemned to death as an incredulous corruptor of youth. †¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gonzalez 1984, 16) – that was his punishment for declaring philosophy which was claimed as destructive. The further development was unavoidable. The borders of Roman Empire have not become an insuperable obstacle for Christianity. And that is quite reasonable:  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"†¦ Since trade flourished, travel was constant; thus Christianity often reached a new region, not through the work of missionaries or preachers, but rather through traveling traders, slaves†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Gonzalez 1984, 14). With the development of empires new and news areas got under influence of Christianity.   Nevertheless, we must point out the one of the main sources which helped Christianity to overcome the field of the Roman Empire – Judaism has become a cradle of Christianity, it has become a launching platform for its early period: â€Å"The Early Church Diaspora Judaism For centuries before the birth of Jesus, the number of Jews living away from Palestine had been increasing† (Gonzalez 1984, 12). In his book Gonzalez pays special attention to Judaism. There were many different establishments among Judaism (the Zealots, the Essenes, etc.), some of these currents of Judaism being the synthesis of ancient pagan faith and Hellenistic culture. But precisely these initial roots were awaiting for the Holy Word of Christ to grow up and overcome the boards of long-suffering Palestine.      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‚  Bibliography Gonzalez, Justo. The Story of Christianity: Volume One: The Early Church to the Reformation. New York: HarperOne, 1984.

Literature review Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Literature review - Essay Example cture itself that is involved in the process of learning to be able to update and to continuously improve the totality of the organization (Malhotra, 1996). On the basis of the different defining concepts of learning organization, views presented by different authors can be considered to have contributed to the foundation and improvement of the thought. One of the most influential authors is Peter Senge who viewed that learning organizations is aimed for continuous improvement of the people. This is goal is achieved through the creative and constructive inputs of the people within the organization which is considered essential since efficiency and favorable results can be equated to improvement of the capability of the people and the success of the organization. In the works of Senge, he stressed the important disciples that are related to learning organization which include personal mastery, mental models, building shared vision, team learning and system thinking (Senge, 1990). Another view on the processes involved in the learning organization is presented in the same period. The main focus of the concept presented is the holistic approach and looking at things in a larger and more comprehensive view. Pedler and colleagues said that the learning process of the whole organization is the most essential manner of gaining success as compared to individually training the people. This can be attributed to the fact that the dynamics of the whole organization can be taken into consideration unlike the process wherein each personnel is trained and then the incorporation of each role is undertaken after achieving the required skills. As compared to the specific view, organizational perspective can be considered as more pragmatic prior to application and feasibility study (Pedler, Burgoyne and Boydell, 1991). The third view on learning organization is achieved through the cumulative assessment of the capabilities of each individual in the achievement of set

NHS Should Cover Lifestyle Diseases Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

NHS Should Cover Lifestyle Diseases - Essay Example The National Health Service (NHS) is a UK government entity that provides health care to patients regardless of their ailments, social, political or religious inclinations as long as one is a UK citizen or has lived in the country for more than 12 months among other conditions. Funds to facilitate healthcare through this scheme are generated mainly from taxes collected from the public. It is estimated that every individual in the country contributes close to ?1000 every financial year totalling the collections to approximately ?100 billion as per 2008/9 budget (Hanson, 2010). This paper is a critical evaluation on whether the NHS should take care of illnesses that are as a result of dangerous habits such as smoking, alcohol abuse, poor dieting among others. Primary Healthcare Trusts (PCTs) in the UK are reportedly refusing to offer certain kinds of treatment to patients, who are considered as living unhealthy life thus barring them from benefiting from the NHS scheme. These patients are for example smokers, abusers of alcohol, and those who have body mass indexes (BMI) exceeding 30 or who are generally overweight and obese. According to Rojas (2012), â€Å"The NHS has been accused of blocking access to surgery for smokers and obese patients.† This has been attributed to the intent of the health sector to save money. Such restrictions are being observed in PCTs in places such as North Essex, Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire among others, which are numerous. To begin with, such kinds of restrictions are discriminatory based on the fact that all UK citizens are human beings, who are created equally and with equal rights and privileges, which cannot be denied on the basis of trying to economise on financial resources. The NHS is a scheme, which is there to take care of all citizens’ health needs irrespective of their personal habits especially with the consideration that these people pay taxes, which fund the operations of the scheme (Ham, 2008). Personal habits such as smoking and drinking of alcohol are every person’s right to choose whether to indulge or not. Otherwise, the government could have banned their use long time ago thereby making it illegal to possess or consume. Every citizen has an inalienable right to pursue happiness and if such reward can be found in the use of these legal substances, then, no institution or individual should try and force people to abandon them. The decision to quit smoking, drinking or to minimize intake of junk food is personal but this does not mean that those who choose not to should be condemned to torture, discrimination or death. Denying people of treatment on the basis of their personal habits is a measure that the government should not even contemplate as this does not help them in any way. In deed, it only complicates their health and this may result to deaths that are otherwise preventable. Apart from paying taxes, these people, whether obese or otherwise, contri bute to the country’s economic growth through their different economic activities and services, which they provide to the nation. It therefore goes without saying that if they

Strategic Human Resource Management College Case Study

Strategic Human Resource Management College - Case Study Example It is possible to say that performance management is a central tool used by both companies to meet business objectives and goals. Performance management allows different companies to balance the need to embed processes with the need to be flexible and adaptive to changing circumstances. According to Greer (2000) management often supplements performance management by competency frameworks; appraisal is more frequently conducted through multiple perspectives; rewards decisions are more likely to be decentralized; and formal training is supplemented by coaching and self-development activities. In this case, it is possible to say that the application of performance management is influenced by the degree and experience of change, the involvement and commitment of line managers, and the transparency and perceived fairness of the process (Nkomo et al 2004). Training and self-development of employees are the key concepts identified in the case studies. All the companies placed great emphasis on training and development, with "most having a number of large-scale training initiatives either in place or being developed, sometimes as part of a broader cultural change program" (Nkomo et al 2004, p. 23). There is clear evidence that all the organizations are increasing their investment in training in order to compete on the market. Significant qualitative differences emerged between the types of training offered. Performance management is expected to regulate both motivation and ability to work. Performance management is usually conceptualized as consisting of three elements: (1) objective setting, (2) formal performance evaluation, and (3) linkage between evaluation outcomes and development and rewards, in order to reinforce desired behavior (Nkomo et al 2004).. Motivation is important because it influences commitment to work and productivity, morale and culture. Even if a company succeeds in constraining their behaviors in this way, the prescription might dampen the very motivation and creativity that the company seeks from them and depends upon for business performance. 'Business targets' also emerges as a significant source of motivation in all organizations. Motivation and rewards is an important part of change management helping companies to overcome resistance to change and inspire employees. One tempting interpretation of these results would be to argue that the personal motivation o f managers is of much greater importance in explaining the involvement of line managers than formal institutional incentives and pressures (Greer 2000). In any case, the personal motivation of managers is influenced by their organizational environment. B. The main similarity between Ford and Toyota management is the strategic approach to human resource management. Both companies had to change their working culture and improve professional skills of employees. Toyota created a positive environment where employees perceived that they easily acquired new skills and knowledge. Similar to Toyota, Ford introduced training programs for engineers and production workers. The main difference was that Ford emphasized on-job training and development while Toyota paid a special attention to motivation

Articles of Confederation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Articles of Confederation - Essay Example Constitution was written in 1787, ratified the next year, and George Washington assumed its presidency one year after that. (Bush Defends Rate of Progress in Iraq, p. A03) However, it is also believed that the cause for the alterations was widespread mistrust of the fundamental authority and jealousy of some states involved in this issue. Unfortunately, these were some reasons which resulted the emasculation of the articles of confederation. When the 13 original American colonies met in 1774 to ratify the Articles of Confederation - the first draft of the US Constitution - smaller states were frightened of domination by larger states and every state was frightened of losing its independence. (United State of Confusion p. 8). Moreover, Strang also believes that "the Articles established a "confederacy" and "firm league of friendship" of "free [] and independent[t]" states. It purported to create a "perpetual Union" between the same". (Strang, P. 909) In fact, when ratified the articles of confederation the articles declared solemnly that each of thirteen states would enjoy freedom, independence and sovereignty. Soon after the ratification of articles of confederation each thirteen states enjoyed equal rights and privileges, freedom of movement, and most importantly the articles of confederation clearly outlined the trials of criminals accused. ... Nonetheless, in this regard, neither separate judicial branches nor executives were provided for. According to Golove D the articles of confederation, though in some few respects national, were mainly of a pure federative character and were treated as stipulations between states.( Golove, p.1697) As a matter of fact, congress was the only authority that had major obligations such as declaring war or peach, maintaining or rotating foreign relations with other nations, army and navy command, foreign disputes regarding boundaries, conducting and settling postal services and so forth. Nevertheless, some aforesaid obligations were shared among states and in one way or another in this respect congress was the alone authority who was dependent upon cooperation of the states for carrying out any of them. "Four visible weaknesses of the articles, apart from those of organization, made it impossible for Congress to execute its constitutional duties. These were analyzed in numbers 15-22 of The FEDERALIST, the political essays in which Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay argued the case for the U.S. CONSTITUTION of 1787". ( Golove, p.1697) In this regard, the very first weakness of the articles was that according to it the congress could not legislate for individual peoples; however, it could legislate only for state, consequently, congress could not enforce legislation. Secondly, congress under this article could evaluate its expenses and can distribute those among the states, and it was calculated on behalf of land's value, but congress had no right and power on taxes. In order to raise the money for these expenses and turn the proceeds over to congress, States had rights and powers to mark tax their

Reflection on professional development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Reflection on professional development - Essay Example Reflective practice has been recognised to be an important tool for professional development. It helps one to objectively assess if what he has learned and done in the recent past is enough to help him move on and move up to higher levels of learning and doing. Lipman (2003) defines reflective thinking as â€Å"thinking that is aware of its own assumptions and implications as well as being conscious of the reasons and evidence that support the conclusion† (p. 26). Reid (1993) presents a motivational definition of reflective thinking as â€Å"a process of reviewing an experience of practice in order to describe, analyse, evaluate and so inform learning about practice.† Van Manen defines reflection in terms of a means of mental action that distances the person from events in order that they may be viewed in a more objective manner (as cited in Moon, 1999). In all of these definitions, I learned that it takes much objectivity in assessing the efforts I have put into my stu dies and practice in the past year. I take on a dual role – one as a reporter and another as an assessor. Reflective practice has both advantages and disadvantages. ... The risk is in realizing that one may not be suited to the profession he has chosen to undertake. Reading about how such scholars regard reflective practice as an essential process in professional growth, I pressed myself to look back to my experiences from the time I began my NVQ-3 and objectively assess my growth and performance in practice in order to be able to look forward to the long road leading to my future success as a professional. I began Year 1 in September 2010. In less than I year, I have learned so much already, although I am aware that there is still so much to be learned in the coming years. I used to think nursing tasks were limited to washing and dressing patients, administering medicine prescribed by doctors and not much else. I was definitely wrong! I realized that it entails so much more especially after learning about the foundations of nursing practice. Learning about anatomy and physiology was difficult enough, not to mention being able to manage time properl y, complying with assignments and generally being a good student. It was particularly trying for me since I am already 40 years old and have five children of my own to care for. Nevertheless, I am fired up by the challenges I face every day. My reflective account will include my graduate skills, my computer literacy skills, feedback from my mentors and the internal and external factors that influence my development. 1. Graduate Skills Being on my first year, I am still in the adjustment phase of my graduate student life. Perhaps I have an easier time than my peers who are in the same year level because of my basic knowledge in nursing practices that I have gained from my work as a health care assistant. However, the