Cultural Sensitivity

Cultural sensitivity in the design and development of prevention and intervention strategies in the health industry concerns the consideration of the significance of unique cultural features in strategy formulations, coupled with efforts to assure the suitability of strategy outcomes to particular cultural contexts. Cultural competence involves efforts to guarantee the efficiency and effectiveness of strategy designs, outcomes, and decisions in influencing the desired prevention and intervention effects and results, through ensuring that the strategies align with and observe unique cultural provisions and requirements effectively.

It affords the ability and capacity of applied strategies to operate and achieve effective productivity within the particular and unique context of a culture. The reason for cultural sensitivity and competence in designs and developments of prevention and intervention strategies is that they are crucial factors if the strategies are to achieve and succeed in their objectives. Cultural sensitivity and competence offer an effective and productive capacity for the effectiveness of designed and applied strategies in community settings, through availing and promoting the opportunity and probability of the strategies’ acceptance within the community (Tseng & Streltzer, 2008, p. 128-129). They offer an avenue for assuring the availability of useful assets and resources in the application, operation, and success of the strategies – the absence of negative feelings such as resentment and reservations about the strategies, the offer of unreserved support and facilitative skills by community members, and the community’s total, active, and effective participation in the designed strategy and intervention programs (Starr, 2008, p. 26-35).

Cultural sensitivity and competence set about and aim at securing these vital advantages and resources in the community for the success of any designed and intended strategies. Through the advantages of cultural sensitivity and competence, the freeing, availability, and assurance of adequate and correct varieties and intensities of resources and assets are possible for the success of designed intervention and prevention strategies.

This need assumes a more pronounced and significant intensity in the contexts of minority populations. Minority populations suffer the typical and inherent disadvantage of a tendency towards eclipsing and shadowing by majority populations in social contexts. This promotes a sense of injustice and alienation among the minority population members in their participation and experience of the broad society, a factor and tendency that may discourage effective participation of the minority population’s members in the intervention and prevention strategy programs and sponsor the designed programs’ failure. Without the sensitivity and competence of applied strategies to unique cultural contexts, the threat of insufficient or absent support for applied strategies may prevail and hinder their success.

The target of cultural sensitivity and competence is to address these potential dangers and promote the success of programs or strategies through alleviating the sense of alienation and enhancing minority population’s effective participation in the programs. It concerns the modeling of intervention and prevention strategies in a way that they fit and consider the principal and unique features and requirements of a minority population’s culture, such that the culture’s members find the strategies worthwhile and deserving of their support. This is possible through the portrayal of the strategies as friendly, complementary, and supportive of the minority culture, rather than as a threat (Lum, 2010, p. 18-25). The value of cultural competence and sensitivity advantages, thus, is to avail the capacities and resources that are necessary for the productivity and success of designed and intended intervention and prevention strategies in society contexts.

References
Lum, D. (2010). Culturally Competent Practice: a Framework for Understanding Diverse Groups and Justice Issues. Stamford, USA: Cengage Learning
Starr, S. (2008). Dimensions of Cultural Competence: Nurse-client Perspectives. Ann Arbor, USA: ProQuest
Tseng, W., & Streltzer, J. (2008). Cultural Competence in Health Care. New York, USA: Springer Publishing

Cultural Sensitivity 4

Love

Introduction
Love is a strong emotion for personal attachment and affection. It is also an essential virtue, which stands for all of human compassion, affection, and kindness as well as the benevolent concern and unselfish loyalty towards the well being and goodness of the others. It could also be depicted as the actions towards oneself or others founded on compassion or even as actions towards the others on affection basis (Welch et al 15). Love is thus an enchanted and mysterious word, which sparks hearts of human beings since the commencement of time. Love has different facets and scholars, musicians, writers, and poets have tried to capture its different aspects through their arts. The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of “love” in the context of Rumi and Sappho’s poem by comparing and contrasting their approaches to this concept.

Love in the Poem by Rumi and Sappho
According to some people, love is the only reason underlying human existence since God created human beings by his love. Love is also the most potent tool of creating masterpiece by artists, though some, on the contrary, use it as a reactant for pain, suffering, and war or destruction.
Comparison:
Both Rumi and Sappho are great poets from ancient times. Their hearts have been sparked by love and thus use their creativity to put down their poem. They both understand love as purely emotional. Rumi says that there is no need of concentrating so much at the surface actions and thus there is need of discovering the ‘lion’, which is the rose of love’s real nature. He compares love as a pass into the invisible things. Sappho on her part compares love with a reptile-like strike since it is invisible but rather imaginary or rather emotional. She even goes to the extent of personalizing it and cries out to it not to leave her, though she is all by herself in bed.

Thus, love causes some feelings of contentment on human beings. According to Fromm, love creates and understanding in the minds and hearts of people concerning isolation and separation from the other human beings as well as from the world. Thus, humans understand their past but also understand that love holds a lot for them in the future, including their own destiny (6). However, the poets have clarified that love is not just a “simple to take” thing as it calls for sacrifices and devotion. Rumi compares it to a lion showing how strong it is while Sappho meditates about it into late night as shown by her claim that she has watched both the moon and Pleiades going down but she still remains alone in her bed.

Love is thus portrayed in the poem as a catalyst to isolation and loneliness, especially when one loves but is not loved back or when a lover is miles away. Experiencing and understanding this isolation leads to painful and deep feelings. Whether human are conscious of love or not, they always crave for relief from such feelings in the heart of their beings. This drives people to spending their entire lives looking for something, which can solve their root problems of having the essential separation from the other people. Human beings in the present world do not differ from those in ancient generations who tried all modes of prospective solutions for their love problems. They also applied their energies towards humanitarian, profane, creative, and religious solutions as the modern day humans do (Stallworthy 278).

Contrast:
Both poets explore and describe love from different dimensions. Sappho is interested in her love to her lover whereas Rumi describes it as a whole. In essence, Rumi depicts the love, which connects himself to the nature and god. However, regardless of their differing descriptions of love in terms of dimension and method, both Sappho and Rumi interpret it as an inner feeling that calls for many sacrifices. Sappho believes so strongly in the supremacy of love and believes that it is so powerful and nothing can control it. She even claims that love can strike her anytime without giving a warning just like a whirlwind pounce upon an oak tree.

Furthermore, Sappho believes love is virtue and expresses her feeling in her poem by stating that her lover has his own share in the brilliance of the sun and virtue. As such, Sappho is prepared and ready to do anything meant to please her love without expecting anything in return. She puts it simply in her claim that she will put out some new pillows for her lover to rest on in case he comes. This agrees with the compelling argument presented by Fromm in his infamous statement that the mode of love people have can solve their existential troubles by describing love through what it entails, or does not (11).

Conclusion
Conclusively, it is simple to suppose that love is a practice or verb as opposed to being an object or noun. The ways in which people practice it with those around them relies on their approach or comprehension of their lives’ existential problems and decide on the wholeness achieved by human beings. Thus, the works of Sappho and Rumi try to approach and understand love from their lives’ existential problems and thus the variations in their description of love.

Works Cited

Fromm, Erich. The Art of Loving.  New York, N.Y.: Harper Perennial, 1956.
Stallworthy, Jon. A Book of Love Poetry. New York: Oxford University Press, 1986. Print.
Welch, Carol, J S. Welch, and Jesse Means. Pathway to Intimacy: A Six Week Devotional Study for Married Couples. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2008. Print.

Insert Surname Here 4

HR Performance Issues and Motivation

Employees are the most important part of any organization. They are directly involved in the attainment of the overall goal of any organization. Depending upon many factors that make any organization productive, employees performance is of great importance. The performance of any establishment depends upon several factors which include; employees motivation, skills and knowledge of the job assigned and the job environment (Mitchell, 1982, pp-82-83). As much as any one may look knowledgeable to handle a certain task he or she must have something that pushes him to attend to the task with enthusiasm.

Motivation is the driving force that pushes one to do something that he or she desires. In achieving a certain objective, motivation gives one the power to propel him forward towards taking action to achieve the objective. Motivation is driven by the desire of wanting something initially in one’s mind done. When the ambition and the desire to do something lack you will not be motivated to do that thing. When one is motivated he will not stop at anything else other than the already predetermined objective or goal. Motivation awakens our inner we and gives it the energy to make things happen. Most of the time, the job of motivating employees is left to the human resource manager. He or she must have set out guidelines on the different ways of motivating his or her team. If this is not done employees may fail to give commendable results. Acts that are hard to accomplish become easy to achieve if one feels motivated. A manager may be required to find out what moves his or her employees to action (Bruce, and James 1998).

Failure by employees to perform as required may be as a result of lack of motivation. Many human resource performance issues result from underlying motivational problems external to the work environment. These issues include the need to climb the ladder in one’s career, wealth, career satisfaction, health problems and prosperity. When an employee fails to feel motivated to attend to search issues he may fail to perform his job. As much as they are external factors they contribute in a big way to the attainment of the overall goals of an organization. Each one of them is discussed below and the remedies that should be taken.

According to Maslow life involves making a lot of choices. The need to satisfy our needs is one of the choices each one makes. Maslow indicates that basic needs have to be satisfied before other needs. If there are no mechanisms to help employees to satisfy their basic needs e.g. by assisting them grow career wise they lack the morale to attend to their duties. The reluctance of a single employee means that he or she set the whole organization back. According to Maslow the physiological needs, belongingness, self-esteem, safety, love and self actualization needs to be satisfied. When all this are satisfied one will feel motivated to pursue even greater goals.

Frederick Herzberg following the footsteps of Maslow developed what is commonly called the two-factor theory. In this theory he indicates that there are two basic types of needs as compared to Maslow who believed there are five types of needs. Herzberg has categorized his theories into two i.e. motivator factors and the hygiene factors. He believes that motivation bring about job satisfaction as well as motivation (Bowey, 2005).

Hygiene factors on the other hand bring about job dissatisfaction. He has it that in a bid to avoid pain from the surrounding, people will seek job security to avoid the consequences that come about with job loss. In this regard human beings will try to avoid anything that may be detrimental to their health both in their work areas and outside their work areas. If one discovers that nobody cares whether they are well health wise or not one loses his morale. This precisely is to mean one is demotivated to attend to his or her duties. Human resource professionals should make sure that there is a plan in place that caters for the health problems of employees. This plan should not just be implemented in the work place but also outside the work place. This will make an employee feel valued. It makes him feel that if he or she gets ill he will be responded to appropriately. Where mechanisms fail to protect employees in terms of their health, they feel demotivated. They lack the motivation to move them to action. Employers should understand that people with unsatisfactory health may not have the energy to do their jobs. They pose a poor performance in the human resource department (Goldthorpe, et al 1968).

Every human being needs to be recognized in one way or another. According to David Mclelland authority or power and feeling affiliated are the things that any employee looks forward to. According to him everyone wants to accomplish something great hence the need for achievement. Mclelland says that achievement is as a result of the complex tasks people deal with. Mclelland in describing the need for power, he indicates that one feels satisfied when he commands something to a certain direction. One feels happy because one realizes it is because of his involvement that things move in that direction. Unless employers assist those who work for them to achieve power in dictating their issues, they fail to be motivated in doing tasks assigned to them. Employers can incorporate employees in need to love and be loved back. One requires to feel affiliated or loved and mostly in difficult situations.

The presence of people around helps in relieving stressful situations. If one does not get the affiliation he deserves he feels demotivated. Human resource managers should allow their employees time with their families. Career advancement can be a demotivator in cases where human resource managers have no mechanism in place to assist their employees to advance in their career. Human resource professionals should give workers adequate time to get knowledge and skills. This could be done in different ways e.g. by giving them chance to attend educational conferences as well as join new courses in colleges and universities. This could be through training. Managers should hold meetings with employees so that they can table their needs and objectives. Employers can hold meetings with workers to discuss and advice workers on career opportunities that arise (Bowey, 2005).

Work-life balance is also one of the things that really demotivate workers if not carefully handled. In situations where an employee finds it hard to balance life and work he gets himself into stress. Managers should give an ear to the issues of their employees. They should provide a remedy for the problems that affect employees. This could be through encouragement or counseling. Managers while making policies, they should incorporate ways in which employees can balance work and their personal life.

In conclusion motivation is a vital component in achieving any goal or objective. Unless one has the will to drive him or her into taking action he may to accomplish what he desires. Human resource professionals should have this painful truth so that they come up with concrete strategies of motivating employees.

References
Bowey, A., (2005). Motivation: The Art of Putting Theory into Practice. European
Business Forum, Issue 20, Winter 2005, pp.17-20.
Bruce, A. and James S. (1998). Motivating employees, A briefcase book,
McGraw-Hill Professional..
Steinmetz, L. (1983). Nice Guys Finish Last: Management Myths and Reality. Boulder,
Colorado: Horizon Publications Inc.
Goldthorpe, J. et al (1968). The Affluent Worker: Attitudes and Behavior.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Running head: HR PERFORMANCE ISSUES AND MOTIVATION

4

Folk dance

Folk dance is a term normally used to describe any form of dance that is tied into a specific cultural group or a specific nationality. Folk dance is commonly of European origin and it was originally danced earlier 19th century (Nielsen 2011, p. xi).

Characteristics of folk dance
The performance of the folk dance is totally dominated by a tradition that has been inherited. Common people predominantly dance the folk dance, folk dance has developed spontaneously. Traditionally folk dances are performed during social events by people who have very little or no professional training at all. People who want to be folk dancers learn informally by watching those that are performing and most of the time they get help from them. For majority of the people folk dance is a social activity rather than a competitive one but professional dance groups and folk dance competition exists. Folk dance differs from one place to another, passes down from one generation to another, and gives the audience and the dancers some pleasure. Folk dance reflects on the cultures of conquerors and invaders, performed on specific occasions, festivals and social gatherings. Some groups of folk dance have repertory of dances (Nielsen 2011, p. xx).

Significance of folk dance to its participants

Folk dance gives its participants pleasure as well as allowing them to understand and appreciate their culture. The participants through the folk dance will have the opportunity to appreciate consistency in religious expressions. Folk dance also gives the participants the chance to express their beliefs and values. While dancing the folk dance, the participants express their emotions. Since folk dance is a mind driven physicality it is very ideal for mind, form and body of the participants thus acting like a healthy checker (McCutchen 2006, p. 227).

References
McCutchen, B P 2006, Teaching dance as art in education, Champaign, IL, Human Kinetics.
Nielsen, E, M 2011, Folk dancing, Santa Barbara, Calif, ABC-CLIO.

Folk dance 3

Effective Communication

Communication is defined as the art and process of creating as well as sharing ideas. The communication process is composed of a number of stages. The source of the message has to know why the communication is essential and what outcome is desired. The message is the information that we would like to communicate. Without the message, there is no need to communicate. Encoding is taking messages into a set-up that can be shared with another party. When communicating, feedback determines the success of the message delivery. Choosing good communication style is paramount to effective communication. Communication style is the choice we make while communicating to others.

As human being, we have to maintain relationships with others so that we get what we consider as our needs, express friendship and affection, give information, and take part in normal conversations. Effectiveness in communication usually means three things. First, it means we got what we sought after and it can be a positive arousing connection or a substantial end result. Secondly, it means that we have been gotten well from the way we express ourselves. Finally, it means that the other parties are contented with the exchange, and therefore there was no indication of indecision, frustration, horror, or anger in the communication process. Effective communication involves active listening, reflects the responsibility of speaker and listener, and makes use of feedback. Effective communication calls for communication protocols. A communication protocol is a code of conduct that can help an individual to deliver his or her information smoothly. Effective communication depends mainly on the desire to communicate, and body language. Body language key to effective communication are eye contact, facial expression management, gestures and movements, personality, and body language.

Strong desire. Strong and unrelenting desire to communicate with the audience is the most important building block of successful communication. The preparation and carefulness of the subject may improve the confidence and desire to communicate with the audience.
Personality. Personality is the most powerful visual aid in effective communication. Monotonous speech with no efficient personality may easily disrupt the process of setting up an emotional chord with the audience. To become a good speaker, one have to present him or herself as the audience like to see him or her instead of what one really is. It is necessary to ascertain emotional contact with the listeners and feel their pulse.

Gestures and movements. Natural and unprompted movements with particular purpose could be used to strengthen or authenticate what is being said. Moving towards the stage or in the middle of the audience are instances of movement. Whilst a motivated movement increases attention, unmotivated movement similar to moving without direction or fidgeting can decrease attention. Effective communication with people requires motivated movement.

Facial expressions. Facial expression puts across the measure of intensity of emotions such as likability or repulsiveness of the presenter. To put across a high degree of emotions, speakers must use face and whole body cues. Reasonably unadulterated and a solo facial expressions reminiscent of surprise, anger, happiness, sadness, fear, contempt, disgust, and interest affect displays. For an effective communication with people, we must use facial expression properly.

Eye contact. Effective communication depends on eye contact. This is because how animated a discussion or presentation could become is influenced by eye contact. The duration, direction, and quality of eye contact express significant roles such as feedback or domination. Evading eye contact can serve to show lack of interest or block repulsiveness.

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 1

Mona Lisa, the mother of modern art

In the world today, art has continued to receive outstanding attention from every quota of human society. Its evolution has been witnessed over the years with remarkable improvement experienced day by day. The Italian art is one of the most celebrated forms of art in the modern world. Its history is vast and deep. Moreover, its development contributed in many ways to the evolution of modern art. Italian art is quite unique, and it ranges from architectural designs to drawings and paintings. These forms of art are well represented to depict the Italian culture as well as the artists’ deep mastery of art that they have acquired over the years.

There are several pieces of art acknowledged all over the world that come from Italy. The most famous art work associated with this country is the Mona Lisa portrait. Since it was painted by the famous Leonardo Da Vinci between the year 1503 and 1506, this piece of art has been the most written and sung about, the most visited and the best work of art in the world (Mohen et al. 18). Leonardo’s inspiration to prepare this painting was drawn from his undying urge to understand nature and how everything worked. In this piece of art, which is a significant symbol of the Renaissance art, he attempted to depict his understanding of geometry, color combination and depth that the Renaissance art had brought.

In many ways, this piece of art succeeded in showing how art had evolved at that time. It depicted the ambiguity of expression, magnificent expression, subtle modeling and the atmospheric illusionism that the Renaissance age had brought to the world of art. Today, the piece sits in the Louvre museum in Paris on permanent display (Mohen et al. 21). This piece of work together with other works of Leonardo such as the painting of the last supper, brought about remarkable developments in art that have continued to influence many artists in subsequent years.

This piece of art has drawn attention of many art writers. One of them is Ernst Gombrich. In his book, the story of art (301), he makes a very candid analysis of the Mona Lisa painting and its impact in the art world. He has dedicated a considerable amount of time and effort to study Renaissance art which this outstanding painting originated. Using this painting as an example, Gombrich cites how different themes of art have been developed since the Renaissance age. These themes include proportion, depth and color illusions. This piece of art has depicted these themes in an outstanding manner that has rendered it the best piece of visual art in the world. Gombrich has also compared this piece of art with other works done by Leonardo Da Vinci to show its superiority. For instance, he compares this portrait with that of the last supper, and others that were done by artists who prevailed in this era (303). This helps other scholars in understanding the contribution that this piece of art contributed in shaping the trends in modern world of art.

This work of art also draws similar reactions from critics and other artists. Upon properly observing this piece, it is evident that it has the status of a masterpiece that portrays how Leonardo had superior mastery of art. The use of pyramid design to center the portrait was a clear manifestation of expertise. The landscape effect that is found on this piece, which appears to be in harmony with Mona shows how Leonardo had succeeded in bringing a new form of art into existence (Mohen et al. 42). This piece of art scores high in every angle of analysis, hence making it a success story as far as Renaissance art is concerned.

On a personal point of view, this piece changed the history of art in a big way. The way it managed to bring about the use of color contrast to depict depth on flat surfaces is magnificent. In the context to which it was prepared, this painting demonstrates how art had taken big steps in advancement in Italy. It tells much about the artists and architects who existed in Italy in the age it was made. Anyone who visits Italy can bear witness that the structures and artwork that is found in this country is magnificent. Cities like Rome and Venice have phenomenon landmarks that have been preserved over the years, and they depict the success of those artists that existed at the time they were made. The Mona Lisa is just one of the many outstanding pieces that ancient Italian artists managed to come up with during their time, and their legacy has persisted in the modern Italian artists and architects. This work of art managed to change how artist approach their work in a big way.\

From the discussion of the Mona Lisa, important lessons have been learnt concerning the evolution of art. As one of the most famous pieces of art of all times, this painting offer important lessons to the modern artists. As much as it can be seen as if new ideas in art have been exhausted, it is never too late for any of the modern artists to bring new ideas that can change how people will view art in the future. The Mona Lisa was a success story for Leonardo during his time, but this does not mean he exhausted any meaningful discoveries. The world is changing, and so is art.

Work Cited
Gombrich, Ernst Hans. The Story of Art. London: Phaidon Press, 1995. Print
Mohen, Jean-Pierre , Michel Menu and Bruno Mottin. Mona Lisa: Inside the Painting. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2006. Print

Surname 3

Zhuang Zi and Literati Painting/calligraphy in Traditional Chinese Culture

Introduction
Chinese calligraphy is as old as the china republic itself. Calligraphy is a challenging form of Chinese art that is hardly recognized and appreciated by foreigners. Chinese calligraphy is closely related to the country’s cultural development. Literature indicates that calligraphy is a form of expression to the artist and characters portray the ideology of the person who writes them. It expresses the inner beauty of words, rhythms, emotions, character, accomplishments, moral integrity and approach to life, educational level and intellectual tastes (Zhou 56). Calligraphy is used to convey different ideas from different aspects of life, and this has been termed as the most sublime form of art. Zhuang Zi is one of the founders of Chinese literati. His paintings and poet have inspired artists and people interested in Chinese art. Chinese painting derives its principles from calligraphy. Literati painters believed that painting brought together humanity, nature and individual creativity. In Chinese art, calligraphy precedes all other forms and designs of art and it is considered superior because of aesthetic value in society.

Literature review
Chinese literati are made up of calligraphy, painting, stringed musical instruments and board games (Harrist and Wen 56). To understand Chinese calligraphy, an individual must have a grasp of Chinese characters, which are found on bone inscriptions, bronze ware and tortoise shells that belonged to the Shang dynasty (16th -11th BC). According to schools of fine art, Chinese calligraphy has changed and is divided into: seal script, which is the earliest form of inscriptions, official script are a bit simplified for understanding by the ancient officials, regular script was square and architectural in style. Cursive script fastened the writing process. It is characterized by joining of words with strokes on the extreme ends and running script (Zhu 120).

Literature indicates that Chinese calligraphy is a practical form of art because its inscriptions can be made on paper, stone tablets and wooden plaques as decorations that implicate maturity and passion of the artist. Moreover, it incorporates the main aspects of Chinese arts and is considered superior to painting. It inspired different forms of art like painting, seal cutting, traditional music and dance, poetry, handicrafts and architecture. According to Zhu (120), Scholars indicate that calligraphy requires close coordination between the body and mind. It is a relaxing and disciplined exercise that promotes both physical and spiritual health. For example, in the traditional Chinese society, most calligraphic artists lived to their old age, and this is projected to be the effect of the therapeutic form of art. Calligraphy was originally a Chinese society’s art before spreading to Japan, Korea and Singapore.

Discussion
Zhuang Zi had great influence on Chinese literati and culture. He came up with the idea of eremitism, an aspect that entails a variation of religious social factors involved in monasticism sacrificing. He was interested in exploring and enhancing the understanding the aspect of eremitism in society. According to scholars, Zhuang Zi believed in seclusion of individuals in society and advocated the idea that seclusion is part and parcel of society. According to Zhuang Zi exclusiveness, being unknown and free is a state of mind (Harrist and Wen 56).

The principles of Chinese painting are from Daoism. Daoism brings together humanity, nature and individual creativity. It bore the principle of stressing on empty space and its interpretation to give meaning to paintings from various perspectives. Chinese painting was interfered with and attained western ideologies from the political and cultural changes of the twentieth century. In 1919, Chinese painting started the process of mixing the East and West ideologies. During the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, traditional forms and subjects in painting suffered because of western influence and erosion of traditions (Zhu 120). After the traditional artists were persecuted and denied the right to create artworks and literati painting was replaced with revolutionary realism, an aspect of the western culture. The Open Door Policy was enacted in 1978 and artists regained their rights and the painting tradition was revived. Literature indicates that the unique Chinese artistry has survived the forces of change.

Empty space is emphasized in Chinese paintings. Zhuang Zi perceives empty space as fasting of the heart and a phenomenon that has therapeutic effect to the audience. Moreover, it is considered as the basis of Daoism philosophy and the origin of myriad things. The school of Buddhism has influenced the development and preservation of Chinese painting (Barnhart 240). Empty space is an important aspect conveyed by Chinese paintings, and it is a sign of maturity in artistry for Chinese artists. In Chinese painting, empty space is treated like solid space. White is used to indicate emptiness while black indicates solidity. In calligraphy, empty space is referred as designing the white. In literature, the catchy part is where there are no words while in music, soundlessness is more intriguing.

In painting, there is no need to use the brush and other solid tools if the person can figure it out mentally. Empty space is difficult to interpret and understand as compared to solids (Zhu 120). This is because it communicates through lack of an image. The size of the space is relative to a living creature, and the absence of content is interpreted to create rhythm and consonance. Lack of space in paintings denies the viewer an opportunity to interpret the content according to his or her own understanding. Empty space is also referred to as Qi, cosmology that is formless, but gives life to Chinese painting. Qi is a cosmic power that is considered to the most essential principle in painting.

This principle is internalized by the artist and is born out of an interaction between the painter and the object (Zhou 56). In addition, Qi can be expressed as either still or moving. When it is still, the resulting painting appears serene. On the other hand, if it is moving, the painting appears lively and motivated.
In his works, Zhiang Zi uses xiaoyao to mean spontaneous and free. He believed that people who were not actively involved in hustle in their daily lives were living leisurely in the town outskirts. According to Zhiang Zi, distance in Chinese images should be understood metaphorically. According to Zhu (120), Distance in images allows individuals to explore their opportunities through moving out of their comfort zones. Human beings confine themselves to defined social roles, values and expectations as per their daily understanding of the universe.

However, Zhiang Zi states that appreciation and successful interaction with nature requires new perceptions and approaches to daily issues. People should learn to keep on restructuring their ideologies and take their imaginations beyond the normal realm. Painting expression should be traced back to “Laozi”, a negation that relates things in a new way. It allows things to manifest and acknowledges the significance of space in bringing life to paintings and emptiness enhances functionality.

Chinese calligraphy entails writing scripts with a brush. Calligraphy is more than 400 years old and has profound content. Calligraphers have to master ink concentration, paper adsorptivity and brush flexibility for effectiveness in their artistry. Chinese calligraphy is considered as natural impromptu expression. To the artists, calligraphy requires coordination of the body and the mind so that the artist can adapt the best styling in expressing his or her ideas. Just like painting, calligraphy expresses emotion through form and design. It is a written language that depicts artistic and rhythmic flow of ideas. It represents spoken language and the characters are divided into hsiang hsing that entails pictorial representation. The second category is chih shih that entails expression of abstract ideas through symbolism. Hui yi combines both hsiang hsing and chih shih. The fourth category is hsing sheng which combines phonetic and pictorial elements. Homophones are indicated through chia chieh and chuan chu is a character whose meaning has been altered.

Both Chinese calligraphy and painting are an indication of China’s history. Calligraphy collections are found everywhere in Chinese society (Zhou 56). For instance in they can be found in homes, offices, government parastatals and museums. Both in the modern and traditional society, calligraphy have a supreme artistic value as compared to other forms of art (Hearn 34). In world’s art, calligraphy is a unique form of art that originated and flourished in China’s traditional society. Chinese calligraphy was listed in the world’s intangible cultural heritage in Kunqu Opera and Guqin Musical Performance in 2009 (Zhou 56). Calligraphy is simple and readily acceptable to people who appreciate art. It is derived from long-term human spirituality and creativity that has its roots inn moral and cultural education. Painting was done by academic and literati painters with an intention on conveying specific ideas to the public.

In the traditional Chinese art, calligraphy is independent but forms the foundation of the culture’s art. It is the basis on which the Chinese elite culture has been developed over the years. In the traditional society, calligraphers were not specialized in the field (Barnhart 241). They were experts in other fields of art like painting, sealing among others. They were glorified and considered talented, and their heritage was passed-on from one generation to another. The basic structure of calligraphy was formed during the Wei and Jin dynasties. To emphasize on its superiority, painting derives its principles from calligraphy. For example, the ink thickness and free lines derive from cursive hand and free script rules and regulations. In addition, decorations are made in close consideration of seal principles. In traditional architecture, layout and major girders are done in accordance to symmetry and proportion. Scenery borrowing, indication of hollowness and motion are also aspects of calligraphy which are used painting.

Summary
Calligraphy has a long history in the Chinese culture. It changes with time, is influenced by social forces and is altered by people’s appreciation and judgment and continually perfects itself as part of the Chinese culture. In the Chinese traditional society, painting was done by academic and literati painters. Academic painters were skilled artists whose objective was to achieve splendid effects through the use of color. They were employed by the imperial court and others worked by themselves and sold their paintings to wealthy customers (Hearn 35). On the other hand, literati painters were amateurs who used painting to express their ideas just like poets. In the traditional Chinese society, the noble person was able to express his or her ethical personality through literati painting. Their paintings had minimal decorations and used plain ink in most cases. Literature indicates that the painter’s prowess in control of the brush was interpreted to indicate his or her inner character.

In conclusion, calligraphy is a passionate, integrative form of art that expresses an individual’s spirit and feeling. It is the most superior form of art in the Chinese society. This is because all the other forms of art derive from its principles and its basis on which cultural values are formulated. Calligraphers achieve the objectives of their artistry through developing their ideas within the guidelines of the given Chinese characters. Calligraphy is the supreme form of Chinese art and takes precedence over other globally recognized forms like painting (Zhou 56). It is closely connected to the development of literati painting. Calligraphy is a meaningful and poetic structure that uses ink and paper to create agile marks that have a specific message to the audience. Artists communicate their experiences and inspirations through the traditional elegant and decent artistry. Chinese art emphasize on use of brush and ink thickness to judge an artist’s piece of work.

Works cited

Barnhart, Richard M. “Chinese Calligraphy: The Inner World of the Brush.” Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin 30 (April–May 1972), pp. 230–41.
Harrist, Robert and Wen Fong, The Embodied Image: Chinese Calligraphy from the John B. Elliott Collection. Princeton: Art Museum, Princeton University, 1999.
Hearn, Maxwell K. How to Read Chinese Paintings. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008
Zhou Xinglian (Qin), Lin Chi Guan Jian from Liuheng, History of Chinese Calligraphy (Nanjing: Jiangsu Educational Press, 1999), p. 56.
Zhu Guangtian, History of Chinese Calligraphy (Nanjing: Jiangsu Educational Press), p.120.

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Competency Modeling

Competency modeling involves the events of identifying particular competencies with trait of elevated performance and accomplishment. It encompasses the course scrutinizing and describing kinds and variety of aptitudes, expertise, and knowledge that is fundamental in acquiring competitive advantages. Competencies entails conducts that cover the expertise, knowledge, and characteristics necessary for thriving performance (LaRocca , M. n.d). This modeling can be employed in a number of human resource operations. Competency enables workers to obtain results and create value. Competency model that have been aligned with the objectives of an organization will advance the achievement of the organization.

Many organizations apply competency modeling for various reasons such as; to close the gap between the present and the future states; to upgrade any human resource component of operation such as career planning, operational management, selection, and aptitude designing; to identify the competencies connected with performance success; and to define the operation obligations of the newly established positions. Once an organization has applied competency modeling to describe the ability requirements for departments, groups, or the entire company, it becomes probable to build up training techniques aimed to close key gaps in managerial competencies and to concentrate training plans on the organization targets and tactical focus for the organization.

Individual gaps in aptitude requirement can be merged into group accounts, and debates can be made on the best approaches in competency modeling to close the organization gaps in the most economically cautious and lucrative way. Having identified the competencies and behaviors needed for achievement in a specific task, it becomes feasible to approach the blueprint of improvement, and curriculum plans to concentrate on these obligations. Furthermore, curriculum could be implemented in a module approach by proficiency, enabling the organization to bring together series of training that will be purposely modified to deal with organizational gaps.

Reference
LaRocca, M., (n.d). Career and Competency Pathing: The Competency Modeling Approach. Retrieved on May 6, 2013 from http://edweb.sdsu.edu/people/arossett/pie/interventions/career_1.htm

COMPETENCY MODELING 4

Running Head: COMPETENCY MODELING

Malia Mills Swimwear

Question one- Malia’s product
The products are swimsuits. They are customized to suit individual customer. Malia ensures her products are of high quality. The designs are fresh and the colors are unique. In addition, the swimsuits are sized differently to fit all body sizes and shapes. The swimsuits are also locally made by people who know the market.

Question two- product pricing
The customers have understood Malia’s empowerment mission. Every woman wants to believe that she is beautiful regardless of how she looks and Malia have restored this confidence in women. Her customers no longer have to compare themselves with models. Therefore, the customers are willing to look beyond the price tag. The swimsuits are also high quality and everybody can find a product that fit in their body shape and size. This has given Malia’s products a competitive advantage. Most women are willing to pay for a product that they feel comfortable and confident in regardless of price.

Question three-paid media advertising
After the first media advertising contract, i would administer a question to those visiting the stores to find out how they first heard of us. Then, I would carry out an analysis of sales during the advertising period. I would then compare this with the money spent on advertising. In addition, I would analyze the sales during the advertising period to check whether there is any change. This will determine whether media advertising is adding any value to the business.

Question four- environment in Malia mill’s store swimwear
Malia creates an environment that women are comfortable trying out the swimsuit. The stores ensure customers privacy while trying out the swimsuits. The goal is to ensure that the customers feel like they are trying the swimsuits in their own bedroom. The customer service is also excellent to ensure that they keep coming back. They are also provided with water as an incentive to make them comfortable.

Question five-distribution channels
Malia can consider organizing exhibitions to sell and market the products. She can also agree with owners of swimming pool to display her products near the swimming pools. She can also attend fashion show where she can display her products under the bikini category.
Question six- Polaroid project
The project was able to create a connection between the mission of the business and the customer. When normal customers are put on display in swimsuit, other normal customers gain confidence to try out the same. For instance, when skinny model are used to advertise bikini, the plus size women identify with that.

Question seven
Cause-advertising
Malia can start of a program that can help girls and women build their self-esteem. Many women do not like how they look because they compare themselves with models. Malia can start a program that will help these women love their bodies such that they can wear bikini and be comfortable. She can use the slogan “love thy differences” to start a cause that will help women appreciate their bodies. She can then use this to advertise her swimsuits
Strategy to obtain media coverage
First, she can organize a walk where women of all sizes can walk through the streets carrying placards written, “Love thy differences’. This will definitely attract media coverage. Secondly, they can create a program to air on TV, which shows women who have overcome their self-esteem issues. In addition, they can give bikinis to models during fashion shows that will be aired live.

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Development of Foot ware Designs

Design of Adidas and Nikes footwear takes a definite pattern and is inherent of marketing features. In this article, Footwear for Adidas and Nike take consideration of the prevailing market conditions. Design and formulations of these elements are intended to generate new vigor into the market. Development of marketing techniques considers establishment of brand name and brand features. Brand name defines the product’s trade name to its clients. Identification of a given product takes place alongside its brand name.

The footwear product under evaluation has a brand name referred to as. “Jet Foot ware”. Jet footwear is the trading name for adidas and Nike shoes that they are commonly recognized with in the market. In addition, the brand name given above generates a unique identity of this product from its rivals in the market. One essential aspect regarding creation of good brans attributes to desire of catching customers’ confidence about the existence of a given product. The brand name is an incentive that adds more quality to the product specification. Marketing techniques requires clear and precise definition of brand name alongside other features as outlined. The implication of having such brand name is aimed at boosting customer’s identity with the item, which may be unique to it. Good brand name is a competitive advantage at ensuring that the product captures its intended market. Brand name significantly helps in meeting the product’s specifications.

The brand promise for this organization includes; “Quality wear for Generations”. Brand promise signifies the commitment of the company to its consumers. This brand promise sounds sweet and in normal cases bears a very complete and precise message. Brand promise comprise of value proposition, which simply implies companies efforts in value addition and quality processing. The interpretation behind this promise outlines how this product will have value to clients beyond its competitors. Stating brand promise to this product ensures that this quality features inherent in the product is implied in its marketing strategy. Other than value proposition, brand promise realizes competitive advantage over its market rivals. The precision behind this marketing aspect is to ensure that it is fully understood by customers at first sight.

The implied impression created alongside brand promise is aimed at creating good rapport with the consumers, who are normally the target market. Other interpretations behind this term include; Footwear products are durable, and associating with them is like taking a generational commitment in footwear. The products manufactured by this company are of high quality and prone to last longer than others. Jet footwear as a brand name to this product is closely associated with quality as its promise. Brand promise clarifies what the brand stands for and it forms the basis for stakeholders to choose a product over another. Marketing strategies anchors for effective communication through brand promise and name respectively.

The organization must prove its success through brand promise. Brand promise must feature be made strong, credible, relevant and distinctive. Such features must be incorporated alongside brand name, which is derived from the purpose of the product. Design of brand name and promise must uphold organization’s goals and mission. The type of brand name and promise must be accompanied with an appropriate color, which takes identity of the organization’s aspirations. The commitment to offer quality services in foot wear is well anchored in the brand promise.

Development of brand name to this product is accompanied by exclusive design of logos. Product logo refers to a recognizable graphic design elements. According to this goal of Jet Footwear Company, the logo must be symbolic of what merchandize the organization engages in. For instance, sales of adidas shoes are accompanied by appropriate graphics that signifies the nature of activities that the company undertakes. In line with Jet Footwear, appropriate graphic design may include clear graphics of adidas shoes. Design of a business logo must be complemented by appropriate colors that are symbolic of the Product’s utility.

In addition, logo should give a clear description of the organizational goals and aspirations. In designing the logo for jet footwear products, it is important to incorporate desirable design qualities that uphold the organizational manifesto and sales objectives. The logos must be attractive and be able to meet the intended goals of the company. Design features equally require the company to develop its slogan. The slogan for jet Footwear Company must be descriptive enough to give details of what company sales. Development of the company slogan must be done in true spirits and inspirations of the market demands, notwithstanding that it has to be appropriate. When developing the slogan, the company considers factors inherent in it so as to achieve the desired speed and comfort in the overall sales. The platform to be adopted requires definitive aspects of the product features. The slogan features must be strong enough to catch the attention of consumers, who feel attracted to the product’s logo among other physical features. For instance, the likely slogan for this company May be; “Quality Products at Your Comfort.”

Speed and comfort is another significant objective in the product design. According to the fundamentals of design, speed refers to associating the product with an object that is fast is motion. The company must convince its customers that the product meets speed in its sales and supply. Supply and speed are all elements that must accompany product descriptions. In addition, the required speed articulates for more efficiency in sales and distribution. The psychological influence is generated on how well the product is able to meets its desired objectives.

The most desirable object to accompany the sales of this product may be; a cheetah on the product covers. The image of cheetah is significant in describing the potential being wearing jet footwear. The product speed has potential impact in determining how fast the item is likely to sale beyond its competitors. This aspect is what amounts to the competitive advantage in sales. Adoption of speed object is a striking experience in giving personal promotion to the product. The implication is that, the product speed generates more opportunities to the entire marketing matrix. The picture of a cheetah on the product label signifies fast comfort behind product’s consumption.

The last aspect of the product marketing involves creating an image, signifying comfort behind its consumption. In designing these shoes, aspects of comfort must accompany product’s label. Customers are inclined to much comfort and reacts positively upon clear description of the comforts associated with the product. The likely comfort message would be, “feel cool in our Products.” This message alongside product logo and brand name, have effective impacts in promoting its sales to the clients.

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