Using teaching styles to make positive contributions in physical education

Using teaching styles to make positive contributions in physical education The use of appropriate teaching styles makes an important contribution to childrens learning in physical education. Different teaching styles affect many aspects of teaching and learning, including the learning environment and the teachers ability to meet individual needs. As physical education has a wide spectrum of objectives according to Macfayden Bailey (2002) teachers should use a wide variety of teaching styles to ensure that pupils achieve the wide variety of techniques and skills that physical education has to offer. This study will consider the various definitions associated with the topic and pay specific attention to the spectrum of teaching styles proposed by Mosston Ashworth (1986). The study will then specifically focus on use of the productive and reproductive styles by analysing my own experience against findings from literature. The framework for teaching styles and behaviours came from work by Mosston (1966). The ideas that Mosston proposed have changed and adapted since the first publication of the framework. The interaction between teacher and student has been developed since his initial publication (Mosston Ashworth, 1986) and have provided a framework where the decisions are the main element and the relationship between the teacher and the learner has in making those decisions. So influential was it that the work by Nixon Locke (1973) described it as the most significant advance in the theory of physical education pedagogy in recent history. A teaching style is concerned with how an activity is delivered, rather than what is delivered, (Macfadyen Bailey, 2002). Research conducted by Siendentop (1991) has also suggested that a teaching style is typified by the instructional and managerial climate that exists during the lesson which can be observed in the main that the teacher interacts with the pupils and in some cases if there is an interaction at all. The Spectrum incorporates ten landmark styles based on the degree to which the teacher or the student assumes responsibility for what happens in a lesson. This describes a continuum, where at one extreme is the direct, teacher-led approach and at the other lies a much more open-ended and student-centred style where the teacher acts only in a facilitator role. Reproductive Teaching Styles: The reproductive or direct cluster includes the command, practice, reciprocal, self check and inclusion teaching styles (Mosston Ashworth, 2002). Direct styles of teaching require the learner to reproduce known material or knowledge by replicating a specific model. This often involves subject matter relating to concrete facts, rules or specific skills/movements (Rink, 2002). In order for pupils to recreate specific skills Derri Pachta (2007) identified that learners must first be provided with a correct technical model to emulate, sufficient time to practice the model and effective feedback related to the original model, with the correct technical model often being shown by the teacher. Research conducted by Pieron (1998) supports the use of the command teaching style as the author argues that copying the most efficient style (that of the teachers demonstration) is highly profitable. It is seen as more profitable because it saves time as the teacher has the overall responsibility f or correcting faults and it ensures that pupils receive accurate feedback. The research conducted by Salvara et al (2006) highlighted that the direct teaching styles specifically the command style has been shown to have a positive impact on class control and motor performance. Within my teaching I have found that using this style of teaching to be the most effective for class control especially when the class has a large number of pupils and when the class requires a lot of behaviour management strategies used to control to the class. However Pellett Blakemore (1997) conducted a study of task presentation and content performance of four teachers who all had difference levels of experience and found that students taught by an experienced teacher were more effective at performing the skills when compared to being taught by a teacher of little experience. My experience whilst on teacher training has also supported these findings as I was able to present the tasks more clearly to pupils when I had more experience in that particular activity. I was also able to differentiate the task to a higher level with activities that I was familiar with as I had more ideas and experience to draw upon, whereas with activities I had little experience of I found it more challenging to be creative and progress the pupils. This has resulted in me taking actions towards trying to improve subject knowledge in areas of the curriculum where my experience is lacking or insufficient. Research conducted by Griffey (1983) has found that when practicing skills students of lower ability benefited more from the command style of teaching as they had little previous experience to draw from. This is something that I have also noticed, when teaching lower ability groups it is more beneficial to give the instruction or demonstration of task to save time and when working with higher ability pupils allowing the more able pupils to demonstrate the skill to increase pupil motivation. These findings have not been supported by Goldberger Gerney (1990) who found that under circuit training conditions the lower ability pupils seemed to benefit more from the opportunity to make decisions about time spent practicing at each station. However within this study the practice style of teaching has also been examined. According to Byra (2000) in the practice style of teaching the learners work at their own pace and complete teacher designed tasks in the order they choose, the class is organised around stations and the teacher provides individual feedback to the learners. The most effective type of practice style of teaching I have used whilst on teaching experience was the use of circuit training as I chose the activities/skills/tasks to be practiced at each station and the pupils chose the intensity to which they performed as each station. In a study by Beckett (1991) on college age students the practice style has proved to be very effective in promoting motor skill changes. From my experience of using this style I discovered that it was not particularly useful at promoting learning when there was limited time or large groups as different ability pupils will progress at different times and take longer with certain skills. However the ages of pupils should be taken into consideration as my experie nce is from working with pupils aged 11-16 who because they are more susceptible to development in motor skills than college aged students. This may explain why Beckett did not notice any changes in motor skills as the subject in his study may have already fully developed. My experience has also been identified and supported by Goldberger Gerney (1986) Goldberger et al (1982). However I did find this style of teaching useful during a health and fitness unit of work where the amount of skill learning was minimal and the main focus on the lesson was for pupils to be active using circuit training and the learning was aimed at pupils being introduced to new knowledge or gaining a further understanding of current knowledge on different types of exercises rather than developing skills. The reciprocal style has also been examined by Goldberger Gerney (1986) Goldberger et al (1982). These researchers identified that in this style the learners work in pairs to achieve the outcomes. The teachers ability to give effective instruction/information is important when using this style as when one learner performs the other observes and gives feedback to the performer specific to the instruction that the teacher gives at the start of the task and when the performer completes the task the learners switch roles. From my experience the most effective ways of giving instruction are in the form of a demonstration or a criteria sheet, I also found that demonstrations are very effective when demonstrating skills that I can show high levels of competence. In addition to improved skill performance Goldberger (1992) also found that learners in the reciprocal style provided more feedback, expressed more empathy, offered more praise and encouragement and requested more feedback from ea ch other when compared to a control group. However from my experience of this style the pairing of pupils is important as if you pair pupils of different levels the feedback would either be to complex or too simple thus affecting the amount of learning and skill performance. Also when working with pupils/groups where behaviour management is an issue it is more beneficial for the teacher to pair the pupils according to ability rather than letting pupils pick their partner as this tends to lead to the pupils picking friends and being distracted and going off task. I have also found that the way in which you give the instruction also can have an effect on the lesson as task sheets often dont work with groups where behaviour management is an issue as they do not respond well to the resource and see it as something to mess about with rather than an educational tool. Byra Marks (1993) conducted a study which focuses on the reciprocal style and the effects that different pairings had on pupils engagement. This study highlighted pupils who were identified as friends gave more effective and specific feedback due to their comfort levels being higher as they were working with a friend. The authors also found that grouping by ability had no effect on the amount of feedback given or the comfort level which is in agreement with my own personal experiences. This studies findings suggests that pupil working with friends is beneficial however this study does not take into account the behaviour of the group which I have experienced can be a major contributing fact when pairing pupils. I have experienced when allowing pupils to work in friendship pairs can sometimes be detrimental when they feel the task is not rewarding or beneficial as they distract each other and sometimes dont complete the task. I have found that to pair pupils with friends is beneficial only when you have built a rapport with the pupils and are aware of how they react working with friends. My experience of this style is that it is also beneficial to use when assessing pupils providing they are aware of the grading criteria they can receive more feedback thus improving performance when compared to othe r direct teaching styles. In support of this Cox (1986) found that when comparing the reciprocal style against the command and practice styles that the amount of skill movements was very similar which was surprising as the reciprocal style involves a lot more feedback. It was also found that three times the number of feedback statements were offered to performers using the reciprocal style resulting in higher skills and knowledge gains along with the development of social relationship skills. According to Byra Jenkins (1998) within the inclusion style of teaching learners choose the level of difficulty within a task and assess their own skill performance. With this in mind the benefits of the inclusion style are that it provides pupils with the opportunity to engage in activity that is to their appropriate skill/knowledge level potentially increasing inclusion and engagement. My experience of using this style of teaching is that I have attempted to include it in all of my lessons as ensuring all pupils are included is essential to any lesson. However when allowing pupils to decided which skill level they work at often resulted in pupils choosing a level that is not appropriate whether that be to simple or too complex. This goes against the spectrum theory which suggests that the condition provided by the inclusion style should promote success for all learners (Mosston Ashworth, 1994). The findings of Goldberger Gerney (1986) Goldberger et al (1982) has supported my experience and observed that the majority of learners made inappropriate and ineffective decisions for their skill level by choosing levels that were too complex for them to reach success or the objectives even when encouraged or prompted by the teacher. From this I have learned to set boundaries for those pupils that make the task to difficult so for example when throwing and catching setting a maximum or minimum distance they can throw the ball. My experience has also taught me that this style is most effective when used with older pupils as they have a better self concept of their own ability and are less susceptible to peer pressure this was also observed by Beckett (1991). In study of college aged students Beckett (1991) found that the inclusion style to be as effective as the practice style for learner skill performance when learning motor skills. These finding do not support the conclusions of Goldberger Gerney (1986) Goldberger et al (1982) and it was suggested that the difference in students ages as a contributing factor which supports my experience. My experience of the Inclusion style has also highlighted the importance of planning and assessment for the lesson as I have already identified that pupils sometimes dont make the correct decisions. Therefore as a result of this I found it beneficial to assess the pupils who set boundaries and goals that may be above or below their level and pupils who do not work well together and then plan a strategy into the next lesson to ensure that those pupils remain focused and on task. Productive Teaching Styles: When compared to the reproductive teaching style the productive cluster of Mosston Ashworth (1994) spectrum of teaching styles has little background research. The productive cluster requires the learner to produce new knowledge, from my experience the teacher needs a high level of understanding and creativity to create or design scenarios. According to Byra (2000) within the productive styles of teaching pupils should engage in cognitive operations like problem solving, creative thinking, inventing and critical thinking to discover new movements. It is the responsibility of the teacher to provide time for cognitive processing therefore there needs to be a class climate focused on searching and examining and feedback for producing different solutions rather than the same generic response (Mosston Ashworth, 2002). According to Mosston Ashworth (1986) six teaching styles have been identified in the productive cluster they are guided discovery and convergent discovery which both require convergent thinking from the learners and divergent production, individual program learner design, learner initiated and self teaching which require divergent thinking from learners. The majority of the research in this area has studied the effects of the divergent discovery, convergent discovery and guided discovery. In a study by Cleland Gallahue (1993) divergent movement patterns were observed to establish baseline information and to examine the different factors that contribute to a childs production of divergent movement. The findings highlighted that learners could modify, adopt and combine fundamental movement patterns to produce divergent movement. In a further study Cleland (1994) compared the divergent discovery style against the command style and a no instruction control group to examine the learners ability to produce divergent movement. The findings of this study were that students generated a greater number of divergent movements under the divergent discovery condition. The researcher concluded that employing critical thinking in the form of the divergent discovery style positively effects learners ability to generate a higher quantity of divergent movement patterns. My experience of using this teaching style is that the pupils age/maturity and experience levels are major contributing factors as learners with low levels of experience have limited subject knowledge to draw from thus affecting their ability to modify current skills/movement my experience has also been supported by the findings of Cleland Gallahue (1993). As the previous research suggests a pupils ability to think critically is important within the productive cluster of teaching styles, wish this in mind Cleland Pearse (1995) conducted a study which examined the methods that physical education teachers use to ensure that pupils use critical thinking. Critical thinking has been defined by McBride (1992) as reflective thinking is used to make reasonable decisions about movement tasks or challenges (page 115). This studies conclusion match with my experience which was that this style was most effective when employing the practice style of teaching to give instruction/deliver the subject knowledge then adopting guided discovery and convergent discovery to allow the pupils to think critically. The study also highlighted that the more experienced teachers were able to create a more effective environment for the pupils to use creative thinking skills McBride (1992). From my experience I have also been able to agree with these findings as I felt more comfortable creating an environment that was conducive to creative thinking when teaching a subject I had more experience in as I was able to give more effective feedback. The research presented to this point has seemed to favour the use of the productive teaching styles especially when creating cognitive learning however there is conflicting research presented by Salter Graham (1985). Salter Graham (1985) examined the effects of the command style, guided discovery style and no instruction on learners skill learning, cognitive learning and skill attempts. The results showed that although their was evidence that learning occurred using all three styles the pupils in the guided discovery and command style recorded significantly better cognitive learning compared to no instruction. For skill attempts however learners in the no instruction style made significantly more attempts at the task than learners in the other styles. The researchers went onto recommend that a longer practice time than 20 minutes may have resulted in the guided discovery having more skill learning, cognitive learning and skill attempts as this style requires longer practice time fo r the full benefits to be witnessed. From my own experience this is something which I have also observed as pupils respond better when they have longer periods of time to experiment different skill movements. My experience has also taught me that to increase the practice time requires effective instruction delivery which has also been identified by Cleland Pearse (1995). Conclusion: In conclusion several research questions have been answered about the reproductive styles of teaching; what the effects of the reproductive styles have on learning, how learners of different ability level are influenced by different styles, what effect pairings have on pupils ability to give effective feedback, what factors influence learners decision making and what effect the different styles have on learners ability to learn new knowledge. The findings from the productive style are; can learners employ critical thinking, what is the effect of productive styles on learners ability to produce divergent movement and how can teachers promote critical thinking. The amount of research that is available for the productive styles of teaching in limited when compared to the breadth of research studies on the reproductive teaching styles. However, a study by Cothran et al. (2000) has identify that teachers reported using a variety of style in their lessons yet only one productive style was in the top five styles used. Although it is encouraging that teachers report using a variety these results must be interpreted as it suggests that teachers over estimate the variety of teaching styles used thus affecting the amount of research there is available in relation to the productive styles of teaching. Research conducted by Goldberger (1992) has identified that the reason that may remain unconvinced or unsure of the styles use is because of the lack of confirmatory research on those styles. Therefore further research is needed into the productive styles of teaching to provide teachers with a knowledge base on how these styles can be effective at promoting learning. Recommendations: These findings have provided an initial insight into the use of teaching styles across a theoretically linked spectrum. One noticeable exception was that there is conflict within the research findings and not all researchers reported the same findings which identifies that there are a significant amount of variables related to spectrum research and that the variable that is being focused on should be properly investigated by using the correct research method. Spectrum research needs to continue as not all findings regarding assumptions associated to the spectrum have not been supported. However, some assumptions have been confirmed within this study for example the reciprocal style does in fact facilitate the provision of feedback, more so than any another style and having learners chose their partners based on friendships helps improve social skills (Byra Marks, 1993). Other assumptions like, the self check and inclusion styles are the most effective at promoting cognitive developm ent and the inclusion style is most effective at improving participation of low, medium and high ability learners still needs to be examined. Replication studies also need to be conducted in different environments as the research findings and my experience would suggest that the reciprocal style is an effective style at promoting feedback. However, would it be as effective at facilitating learning with different aged pupils in different schools where behaviour management has a far greater emphasis in lessons. After reviewing the appropriate relevant literature and reflecting on my own personal experiences I feel that the use of appropriate teaching styles makes an important contribution to pupils learning in Physical Education and should not be left to chance. Physical Education can provide pupils with the opportunity to think critically, problem solve and to improve own learning. Pupils will be able to think about what they are doing and make decisions independently and know when to use principles such as choreography, games strategies and problem solving. If pupils are to access the full National Curriculum for Physical Education (NCPE) (DfEE/QCA, 1999) and to achieve the outcomes of high quality Physical Education (QCA/DfES, 2005), teachers must employ a variety of appropriate teaching styles to facilitate the opportunities that Physical Education offers. It is because of this that both reproductive and productive teaching styles should be used to enhance learning and motivation.

Changing patterns in marriage Essay

Using information from the items and elsewhere, examine the reasons for changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation and childbearing in the last 40 years (24 marks) According to the Office for National Statistics, the highest number of couples in 1972 was 480,000 and was due to the baby boom generation of the 1950’s reaching marriageable age and the fact that people chose to marry at a younger age compared to pervious generations. However the annual number of marriages in England and Wales then went into decline and reached an all-time low in 2005 when only 244,710 couples got married. This decline in the total number of marriages has been paralleled by a decline in marriage rates. In 1994, the marriage rate was 11.4 but has decline to 10.3 by 2004. The male rate declined from 36.3 in 1994 to 27.8 in 2004 whilst the female rate declined from 30.6 to 24.6. Fears about what marriage statistics reveal are exaggerated for four reasons: People are delaying marriage rather than reje cting it. Most people will marry at some point in their lives, but people are now marrying later in life, probably after a period of cohabitation. Women may delay marriage because they want to develop their careers and enjoy a period of independence. The BSAS indicates that most people, whether single, divorced or cohabiting, still see marriage as a desirable life-goal. People also generally believe that having children is best done in the context of marriage and few people believe that the freedom associate with living alone is better than being married to someone. Two fifths of all marriages are remarriages. Evidently these people are committed to the institution of marriage despite their previous negative experience of it. Despite the decrease in the overall number of people marrying, married couples are still the main types of partnership for men and women in the UK. Wilkinson notes that female attitudes towards marriage and family life have undergone a radical change or ‘genderquake’. She argues that young females no longer prioritize marriage and children. Educational opportunities and the feminization of the economy have resulted in young women weighing up the costs of marriage and having children against the benefits of a career and economic independence. Therefore the result of this is that many females, particularly middle-class, are postponing marriage and family life until their careers are established. Other feminist sociologists are sceptical about the value of marriage. Smith argues that marriage creates unrealistic expectation  about monogamy and faithfulness in a world characterized by sexual freedom. She argues that at different points in people’s life cycles, people need different things that often can only be gained from a new partner. Campbell, however, suggests that marriage benefits men more than it does women. A constant source of concern to the New Right has been the significant rise in the number of couples cohabiting. The proportion of non-married people cohabiting has risen sharply in the last 20 years from 11% of men and 13% of women in 1986 to 24% and 25% respectively. In 2007, the ONS suggested that cohabiting couples are the fastest growing family type in the UK. Around 2.2 million families are cohabiting couples with or without children. This family type has grown by 65% since 1997. However, New Right commentators claim that cohabitation is less stable than marriage. A report by the Institute for the Study of Civil Society claimed that cohabiting couples were less happy and less fulfilled than married couples, and more likely to be abusive, unfaithful, stressed and depressed. Although surveys indicate that few people see cohabitation as an alternative to marriage, the fact that cohabiting couples are much younger than married couples suggests cohabitation is seen my many participants as a test of compatibility and an introduction to marriage. Other research suggests that cohabitation is a temporary phase lasting on average for about 5 years. Approximately 60% of cohabiting couples eventually marry. Although cohabitation marks a dramatic change in adult living arrangements – as recently as the 1960’s, it was regarded immoral – cohabiting couples with and without children only accounted for 10% of households in 2006. Reasons for increase in divorce rates: Thornes and Collard: women value friendship and emotional gratification more than men do. If the husband fails to live up to these expectations, women may feel the need to look elsewhere. Hart: divorce may be reaction to the frustration that many working wives may feel if they are responsible for the bulk of housework and childcare. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim (1995): rising divorce rates are the product of a rapidly changing world in which traditional rules, rituals and traditions of love, romance and relationships no longer apply. In 1938, 6,000 divorces were granted in the UK. This figure had increased tenfold by 1970, and in 1993, numbers packed at 180,000. By  2000, this figure had fallen to 154,600 although the years 2001-2004 have seen a gradual rise to 167,100. Flouri and Buchanan’s (2002) study of 17,000 children from families that had experienced separation and divorce found that in families, their fathers were still involved in their children so the children were more successful in gaining educational qualifications and continued to seek out educational opportunities in adult life. In conclusion, the reasons for changing patterns of marriage, cohabitation and childbearing in the last 40 years are due to the fact that conjugal roles within marriages have differed and the ability to change marriage beliefs in an instant. Men and women, especially the middle-class, may fear the need to put their careers before starting a family, which therefore causes problems within marriage.

Nike Supply Chain Essay

Nike has been able to become a global player in the industry of sports apparel and athlete endorsements because of many different factors that are outlined in the way they manage their company. By analyzing the business plan of Nike we can see how their supply chain is set up as is illustrated above. The supply chain is very important for the transfer of their goods from the supplier of raw materials to a manufacturer, then to a distributer, then to a retailer, to then be available for the customer. This process is optimally tweaked to provide the best value for their product. One factor that Nike has strived to make as a standard for their company is the idea of reverse logistics. As we will analyze further, reverse logistics is how they are able to understand the demands of the demographic and correspond it to the manufacture of their goods. This is seen as a vital tool for product research and development at Nike. As we explore the different parts of the chain, it is important to keep your mind on the big picture and how this process comes together. 1. Contract Suppliers What Nike has implemented into their system with outsourcing the production of raw materials, has been done by many large apparel companies and is seen as something that can be highly profitable rather than producing the materials within the company. So what Nike has done, is brought in contract suppliers from all over the world like Vietnam for instance. To help visualize this part of the process, we must understand that the supplier has its own supply chain and it ends with exporting the products to Nike, which is where Nike’s supply chain begins. In the 90’s there were serious allegations of unethical practices carried out by Nike in terms of their Asian suppliers and how services were being carried out. In an effort to get away from this image that was painted of them, Nike has taken strides to implement disclosure to how the supply chain is run. Over the years, they had been using a â€Å"push† system to measure sustainability based on compliance from overseas suppliers. As of recently however, Nike has turned to a â€Å"pull system† which is focused around incentives for a well carried out process from their contract suppliers. With this system in place, Nike is closely watching the performance of their  suppliers and rating them in colors with the best being gold and descending from silver, bronze, yellow and red. Colors from bronze to gold are seen as successful and are given benefits and opportunities that would not be accessible to suppliers given a rating of yellow or red. These benefits and opportunities are seen as incentives for these suppliers and form the system they have created for managing sustainability. 2. Logistics This part describes the movement of the raw materials from the contract supplier to the manufacturer. This is usually done by either boat or plane and this step varies due to the fact that Nike’s manufacturing plants are located all over the world along with the suppliers. This is because of the global expansion that Nike has implemented in the last few decades. The parties responsible for this transportation are also measured on this new system of incentives. Nike closely records each transaction and is in touch with the supplier and manufacturer to get the best idea of how the transportation was carried out. These third party transporters are rated in the same way as the suppliers and are given rewards for timely deliveries of material. 3. Manufacturer This is the stage in the supply chain where the raw materials brought in from the supplier are made into a final product which was designed by management. This is an important step in the cycle because this is where the ideas set by the research and development team, which are influenced by the target demographic, are made into reality and are kept until further movement of the product. Most Nike manufacturing plants aren’t designed to hold a large amount of products as once which brings us to the following step. Nike has also been known to use manufacturing plant from a third party. Because of the fact that Nike is still responsible for these processes carried out by these manufacturers, they keep a close watch on the quality of the products produced. This is a very important part of the supply chain because it is where the product is built that will eventually be sold to the customer so it is important for Nike to know that these manufacturers are  worth using. For measuring this, they have also been rating these manufacturers in the same ways they rate their other third party contracts for the different parts of their supply chain. 4. Logistics The second time that logistics comes into play is when the final product has to be moved to a distributing warehouse. This step also depends on the location of points A and B for each situation due to how global the Nike Company has become. This transport of products is a crucial part in the flow of the chain to move the manufactured product to a place where it can be stored. Again, we are able to see the rating system built around incentives at work when we analyze the logistics between the manufacturer and the distributor. It is highly possible that both the distributor and manufacturer was third party companies used in Nike’s supply chain and so they have to be closely in tune with the two stages of the supply chain as well as the transportation in between. For this reason they record timely deliveries of products and of course look for damage and inconsistencies that the transportation company may be responsible for. 5. Distributor This stage in the chain is composed of either Nike warehouses set up to store their finished goods until it is demanded by a retail store or other vendor or a third party distributor which would serve the same function. Oftentimes, a third party is used for this step but this all depends on the most cost effective and logical method of distributing the products at hand. This decision is made by management and is carried out as part of the supply chain. The warehouse would hold the product for as long as it is needed but due to how well measured out the manufacture of each product is carried out compared to their well estimated demand for the product, it is usually moved fairly quickly to continue the flow of the chain. Distribution is important because the final product needs to be stored before is sent to vendors. For this reason, Nike also works in monitoring the companies that work with them for warehousing purposes. To do this they closely analyze the inventory of their products being held at these  distributors and make sure everything is kept by the books and reported back to Nike. The rating system is also in place for distributors to better measure this stage of the supply chain to make future decisions regarding what third party distributors they should use. 6. Logistics For the third time in the supply chain, Nike has to move their goods to another part of the process. This time, the product has been stored in a distributing warehouse and is now ready to move to a place where it would be available to the customer. Nike is available all over the world and uses many different systems of transportation for bringing the product to the vendor. We have noted that the â€Å"pull† system in place for rewarding third party companies on merit which serves as incentives are very much used by Nike to handle their logistics. This is no exception with the transportation of the finished goods from the distributor warehouse to the vendors. They are graded on the condition of the products when they arrive to the vendor and how efficiently and timely the delivery was just like in the other parts of the supply chain where transportation of either materials or the finished product were needed. 7. Nike stores/ Retail stores/ Online stores This is the first and only time in the cycle where the finished product becomes accessible for the public. In today’s world, there are many people whom shop online for most of their needs so it is important to mention the distribution of the products to online vendors such as Amazon whom keep the product in their own facility until it is ordered. Retail stores are still a big part of this step because many purchases are still made in stores around the world that are licensed to sell Nike products. Finally, there are specific Nike outlet stores which get direct shipments from the distributor and exclusively sell Nike products. From here, the products are purchased by the customer, but the cycle does not end there. 8. Reverse logistics/ Customer feedback An important part of Nike’s supply chain and business plan is being in tune with the demands of their customers. This helps them to design new products  that they hope will sell efficiently because of the feedback they received from their target demographic. This process is known as reverse logistics and can be implemented through blogs, ratings, customer support, and other services set up by Nike for this purpose. 9. Product Development/ Management Even though this is the last step which I am describing, it is right in the beginning of the process where it comes into play and is where the cycle of reverse logistics and the supply chain meet. This is because the information collected from the customer feedback is researched by management and in turn is used to form a new design or designs. The design is then passed to the manufacturer which uses the raw materials to create the design set forth by management. This way, the cycle is continuous and efficient. This is the part of the cycle where innovations come into play. Ideas like switching to a â€Å"pull† system of managing sustainability are a prime example of what management is tasked with. Nike is constantly looking at ways to improve their processes. An example of this is how they’ve worked on a shoe made to be lighter for athletes but also optimized to produce the least amount of waste as possible. By utilizing a single thread to basically make the entire shoe. By doing this they were able to not only cut waste but also cut costs and therefore became optimal in multiple ways. Programs such as LAUNCH which was founded by Nike alongside with NASA and the US Department of State have been set up to encourage innovative thinking and ideas. These are just a few examples of the work being done by the people in charge of product development and supply and Nike says that their ultimate goal is â€Å"a fully sustainable supply chain†. Nike also hopes that their new rat ing system for parts of their supply chain will help them to soon have all the companies working with them to be rated a bronze level or above. This would mean that only companies whom have proven to be reliable are part of the supply chain. Reference Nike, Inc. 2011. Sustainable Business Performance Summary. Available at http://www.nikeresponsibility.com/report/files/report/NIKE_SUSTAINABLE_BUSINESS_REPORT__ FY10-11_FINAL.pdf Paine, L. S., Hsieh, N., Adamsons, L. 2013. Governance and Sustainability at Nike. Harvard Business School Teaching Case. Porteous, A.H., Cohen, S. A., Lee, H. L., Rammohan, S., V. 2012. Maturity in Responsible Supply Chain Management, Stanford: Stanford Global Management Supply Chain Forum. Available at: http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/scforum/sisscr Schifrin, D., Carroll, G., Brady, D. 2013. Nike: Sustainability and Labor Practices 1998-2013. Stanford Graduate School of Business Teaching Case.

A Sociological Theory Of Health And Illness - 1668 Words

A sociological theory is defined as a set of ideas that provide explanations about society and its structures. Functionalism and weberianism are most influential sociological theories about health and illness. With some similarities these theories have different ways to explain health and wellness. The essay will compare and contrast the two theories in terms of health and illness and shed light on the way these theories enhance the knowledge of health professionals. Functionalism is a macro theory that focuses upon different aspect of the sociological life. It recognises society as a single unit in which different interrelated parts combine together. A well known functionalist Parson believe that medical profession is fundamental part of this unit and plays the most important role in the development of the society. Functionalist believes that medical profession possess the highest status in the society. It is because of their strenuous and long period of study, deferred gratification and vital role they play in the society by dealing with sick people, and treating them equally, professionally and ethically. Functionalists emphasized on the recognition of medical professionals through role allocation. However, Functionalism has been criticised for the importance they have given to the physicians. According to the health studies patients receive health services from various different medical professions, but only importance of physicians is overpl ayed(Covington, 2008).Show MoreRelatedThe Sociological Perspective On Medical Conditions1687 Words   |  7 Pagespathogens to explain poor health. On a different note, the sociological perspective takes on a different approach to explain medical conditions. The sociological perspective focuses on the external influences, rather than then internal influences, such as the social environment, institutions, and relationships to assess and explain illness. The sociological perspective contains the following theories to support its assessment of illness and they are: stigma, labeling theory, and medicalization. TheseRead MoreThe Sociological Perceptions Of Health And Illness1552 Words   |  7 Pagesis to describe the term health and to outline the sociological perceptions of health and illness. This essay also discusses about the various patterns of health inequality within society, and to evaluate the different perspective and views of health within our society. It will also provide a brief analysis of two different starts to the study of health and illness. This essay will then move on to examine different health pattern which are gender, ethnicity and class. 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