Self Determination Theory | Analyis

Self Determination Theory | Analyis Quality effective coaching is about interdisciplinary knowledge. As well as the ability to recognise implicit and explicit decision making. Coaching is essentially about problem solving, a good coach uses a procedural and declarative knowledge compilation to help towards problem solving. A good example of this would be the Kolbs Experimental Cycle (1984). It shows a continuous flow of development, including; reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation, active experimentation and concrete experience. This implies that learning is a process where knowledge is created through the transformation of experience. Within this essay I will be discussing an understanding of two different coaching science theories and how they can be applied to real coaching experiences. I will be critiquing both theories, showing how I can improve in aspects of the theory in my coaching and how they both incorporate reflective practice. Self determination theory (SDT) represents a broad framework for the study of human motivation and personality. The theory is based on the premise that individuals pursue self determined goals to satisfy their basic psychological needs to independently solve problems, interact socially, and overcome tasks. According to SDT, a concept that could explain the relationship between participants motivation and their experiences in exercise is due to the level to which their behaviours are autonomous. Autonomous is when a task is; fully volitional, freely pursued, and wholly endorsed by the person. When participants exercise experiences are controlled, i.e. pursued and directed by external or internal forces, it leaves participants feeling like they have very little or no choice. Research clearly supports the idea that individuals have different types of motivation, ranging from high (autonomous) to low (controlled) levels of self determination. Participants can be intrinsically motivated, when they engage in learning activities for their own benefit, and extrinsically motivated when they engage in activities for influential reasons. Intrinsic motivation represents the model of self determination, because a person is motivated to act for the fun or challenge entailed in the behaviour rather than because of external factors, such as pressures or rewards. In contrast extrinsic motivation embraces a variety of behavioural factors that vary in their level of self determination. Intrinsic and indentified regulations are self determined, whereas external and introjected regulations are non self determined forms of motivation (Tessier et al, 2010). Motivational characteristics are influential in shaping participants desire to persist in sport or to discontinue their sport participation. Self determination theory suggests adolescents are more likely to follow peer leaders who afford them autonomy to choose, an avenue for relatedness with the leader and other members of their group, and a sense of competence for the task they are doing (Ward et al, 2010). Although psychological and physical benefits can be obtained from participation in competitive sport (Mandigo and Holt, 2000), it can also lead to damaged self esteem and mood disturbances, particularly when youths experience performance pressure from close adults (Reeve and Deci, 1996). For these reasons, the influence of coaches and parents on youth participants sporting experiences is an issue of high importance in sport psychology. There is considerable research on the interaction of parents and coaches with sport participants. For example, parental pressure predicted decreased enjoyment in basketball (Brustad, 1988), and parental and coach positive emotional involvement predicted the enjoyment in football (Ommun dsen and Vaglum, 1991). Also, having an autocratic coach who provided little feedback decreased involvement and intrinsic motivation. Self determination theory proposes that humans have three fundamental needs that must be satisfied in the social context. The first need is to feel autonomous in performing an activity. Autonomy involves being volitional and acting in such a way as to represent your integrated sense of self (Deci and Ryan, 2000). Autonomy support can be enhanced by allowing participants within an environment to choose the things that they enjoy and really want to do. The second need is to perceive relatedness with others in the community of involvement. By working hard as or within a group, participants can achieve a sense of team bonding, which can in turn lead to strong friendships. A third fundamental need is to perceive competence in relation to the activity. Competence is widely regarded as fundamental to the expression of motivation in the sport context (Reinboth and Duda, 2006). Youth sport literature suggests that experiencing competence in sports is strongly related to being accepted by a pe er group and having positive peer relationships within a group (Weiss and Duncan, 1992). Results from Vazou, et al (2005) even suggested that youths perception of their own competence was related to the level of support and acceptance by peers in the group. This developmental process is about gaining a sense of accomplishment and believing in yourself to complete a task to the best of your ability. This can lead to motivational outcomes in self determination theory. However, this does not account for learning acquisition of new skills, like contextual interference theory. One challenge that many coaches encounter is how to best structure practice schedules that will facilitate the development of skilful movements (Porter, Landin, Hebert, Baum, 2007). Contextual interference (CI) is a functional interference in a practice environment which affects the structure of the session to improve learning effectiveness. The stage of learner development will directly affect the structure of the practice session. It is well established that interference during practice has substantial influence on skill learning (Guadagnoli and Lee, 2004). The contextual interference effect acknowledges that learning is enhanced when interference during practice is high, such as when participants practice multiple tasks in a random order. Results from studies investigating the effects of practice order on motor learning typically show that a random practice order enhances motor learning more when compared with that of a blocked practice order (Wright, Magnuson and Black, 2005). One way to control interference during practice of multiple tasks is to change the order in which the tasks are practiced. For example, a random practice order in which tasks are practiced in a quasi random order (i.e., 3-1-2, 1-2-3, 2-3-1), where each number represents a skill, is thought to introduce more interference than a blocked practice order in which each skill is practiced repeatedly prior to switching to the next skill (i.e., 1-1-1, 2-2-2, 3-3-3). Football, basketball, and volleyball are activities which require general strategies to be formed to cope with the unlimited variations of situations which arise within the game. These open skilled games require variety in training for cognitive generalization to occur, so that the participants can adapt to various unique competitive task demands. It is still important for athletes to experience a significant number of successful practices, whether for variable or specific skills, to achieve an eventual state of over learning (Chr istina, 1996). In a study by Porter and Saemi (2010), they showed that practicing with systematic increases in contextual interference for multiple days would perform better than equally skilled participants who practiced with traditional blocked and random scheduling. The participants practiced three different basketball related passes using either a blocked, random, or increasing contextual interference practice schedule. All participants practiced trials every day for five consecutive days. Participants completed an immediate retention test, and a 48 hr delayed retention test. The results of the immediate and delayed retention test showed that practicing with gradual increases in contextual interference resulted in superior performance compared to traditional blocked and random scheduling. These results were important because the 48 hr delay more accurately reflected a real world athletic environment. It is common for athletes to practice for multiple days in training, and then receive a one to two day break before a game. Therefore it is important to measure the learning of sport skills after one or two days without practice. The findings presented in this experiment suggest that coaches working with moderately skilled athletes can create effective learning environments by progressing from a blocked to a more random schedule during practice. The results further suggest that the benefits of an increasing contextual interference practice schedule can be observed when practice sessions are spaced over multiple days. One reason why a practice schedule that offers gradual increases in contextual interference may be beneficial is because it challenges learners at the appropriate level by creating an environment that becomes progressively more difficult as the athletes skill level improves (Porter and Saemi, 2010). The evidence for contextual interference is strong, when the skills practiced are dissimilar. However, when contextual interference is used, the performer actually spends less time working on any specific skill than if they were to use blocked practice (McMorris and Hale, 2006). The coach must determine how long to spend on any individual skill, this is completely reliant on the level and ability of the performer. Blocked practice may be more beneficial to an athlete wishing to fine tune a specific technique, which will require a lot more time spent practicing that skill technique, for example, a golf swing. On the other hand, for a beginner, the range of skill practices acquired during a contextual interference session may be more beneficial to them. This will allow them to practice a large variety of skills over a short space of time, possibly giving a better rate of retention long term. Both of these theories can be applied in a coaching setting to help participants learning and motivational needs. For a coach, the use of pedagogy and theory based practices are essential in developing a coaching session that is sufficient for the requirements of the participants. Each theory gives the coach a set of structure to the session, and allows the participants to get the most out of it. From personal experience of using both theories in real life practice, I can see that both have their advantages, although dependant on participants ability level and understanding of a specific sport. With regards to self determination theory, the coach can integrate forms of structure, autonomy support and involvement into a session using a variety of methods. Structure can be enhanced by using clear organisation and clearly stated procedures of participant expectation. Sessions should be challenging with maximum participation, allowing coaches to provide informative and timely feedback. F or example, positive and constructive feedback given throughout session to group and individuals encouraging work towards clear session goals, as long the feedback is given in an autonomy supportive manner. Autonomy support is given to the participants through explanation and provided rationale for the practice session, as well as encouragement of expression, choice and creativity for athletes. An example of this could be, avoiding controlling behaviours while coaching and acknowledging the participants feelings and perspectives on the session. The athletes should be allowed opportunities for independent work where they can use their initiative. Autonomy support can be enhanced by the use of student led activities, for example, student signalled starts; this encourages the participants to control how and when the session will progress. Involvement is provided by the relationship between coach and participants throughout the session, showing emotional support and a level of interest. Involvement can be improved within a session by expressing affection towards participants, learning their names and remaining within a close proximity to the athletes during the session. For example, this could be during refereeing by the coach or when giving positive feedback during the session. Self determination theory is a key aspect when trying to improve athletes motivation levels during practice. It does not however, affect the learning process and retention of skill acquisition like contextual interference theory does. When using contextual interference theory in real coaching practice, the coach must know the needs of the participants; this can be done through a needs analysis. According to the athletes sporting level, ability and environment, the session can then be constructed to include varied or random practice of skills. The level of contextual interference used is also determined by the coachs procedural and declarative knowledge on the subject. Although practicing under conditions of contextual interference does not always lead to immediate good performance, research suggests that it leads to better long term skill learning. It is also suggested that learning skills through contextual interference can work better if the skills are not too closely related biomechanically, or in a similar generalised motor program. By using a different array of skills, different motor pathways are being processed, facilitating better learning with a high level of contextual interference. It is usually traditional for coaches to begin the instruction process with blocked, constant practice of a single skill before progressing through drill practices towards random, variable practice conditions. A potential criticism of this approach is that coaches move too slowly through the development stage. According to traditional cognitive models of motor skill learning, such as Schmidts (1975) schema theory, variability in movement and context characteristics are essential to develop a more expansive and generalized motor program to cope with a variety of similar but different situations. The assumption is that when variability is introduced into the practice environment, the learner has to adapt the motor program differently from one trial to the next resulting in a more flexible and interchangeable movement schema (Schmidt and Lee, 1999). A low contextual interference practice schedule may involve practising one skill per session, or perhaps two separate skills, for example, shooting and passing in blocks of 20 30 minutes each (blocked practice). Higher levels of contextual interference would arise if a variety of skills, for example; shooting, passing and dribbling, were practised in a random manner throughout the session (random practice). In the most random practice schedule, a player never practises the same skill in consecutive tasks. The clear message is that to promote learning coaches should try to avoid repetitive, blocked practice by presenting a variety of skills within the same session. Both theories relate to the process of reflection, for coach and athlete. Reflection is a key aspect within learning development; it allows us to reflect on positive experiences to encourage constructive behaviour, as shown in the Gibbs reflective cycle (1988). Gibbs model is clear and precise allowing for description, analysis and evaluation of the experience helping the reflective practitioner to make sense of experiences and examine their practice. It also allows us to reflect on our negative experiences so that in future experiences we can control how to give ourselves the best opportunity for a positive outcome. Reflective thinking needs to be structured so that you can describe what happened to you in a given situation, come to some conclusions about the experiences and possibly decide how to act in dealing with future similar experiences.We learn from experience is a well known statement, but according to Dewey (1933) we dont learn from experience, instead we learn from reflec ting on experience. In order to increase my understanding of both of these theories, I intend to further use and improve in aspects of the theories during my coaching practice. From some of the research that I have done to complete this essay, I can already see areas of my coaching that can be improved upon. Some of these include, my ability to give positive, informative and timely feedback to participants, this will help autonomy support with the participants. I could also improve by knowing all of my athletes on a first name bases, this will help improve my relationship with the participants and increase my involvement with them, an area I feel I could improve on greatly. By increasing my declarative and procedural knowledge of each sport I feel as if I will be able to offer more in terms of opportunities for creativity and initiative within my sessions. All of these will help greatly improve motivational levels of my athletes which then in turn I hope will improve their performances. I have taken qui te a lot from STD theory, but I have also learned just as much from the contextual interference theory in relation to my coaching. This is especially true when I consider how I will be constructing all of my future practice sessions. By taking into account the sporting level and ability of my participants, as well as what skills I am considering introducing, my session will be structured appropriately with the correct level of contextual interference. I will be using a lot more varied and random practice within my sessions, especially for beginners and younger athletes, to help increases their long term retention of new skills. As a coach and a constant problem solver, I am continuously looking for ways in which I can improve my ability to coach at a high level. These scientific theories have helped improve my declarative knowledge of coaching in general, but I will be looking for further ways I can improve my overall performance as a coach.

The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle :: Snatcher Stevenson Speckled Doyle Essays

The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle In the two stories tension and suspense is created through many different methods. Weather and time of day are very popular scene settings to make the perfect moment in a tension story. Thunderous skies and pelting rain on a dark night has more of a chilling feel to it than a sweet summers day with sunflowers and butterflies flapping around. Of course there are times and places for such story writing, but it would not fit the mood for a Sherlock Holmes story. In "The Adventure of the Speckled Band" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle the drama and suspense begins immediately, and the reader is given almost a description of what he or she is in store for. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle makes it known directly that Sherlock Holmes only accepts cases to solve that seem out of the ordinary, and he is about to be prompted into quite an unordinary situation. This places the reader in a quizzing state of mind, so already the reader's attention has been grasped, and throughout the story like a detective the reader will pick at each detail of the story. The obviousness of a strong, suspenseful story unravels when Holmes disturbs Watson from his slumber at a very unsuitable time in the morning, according to Watson. It brings tension to the story once again so early on, for we realize that to be up at such a time in the morning, would only be for a special case for the two to attempt to solve. When the detectives interview the woman at their office, we are told of her state, she is shivering, and is said to have pre-maturely gray hair. This itself does not bring spine tingling suspension to the reader, but when we are told that she shivers not from the cold, but from her fear, it begins to become a lot clearer. We also find out that the woman is quite young, but has gray hairs, the only reason I thought of for a woman to have gray hairs prematurely, was because of Stress or trauma of some kind. This creates tension by making us want to find out what was so disturbing or so stressful to cause her premature grayness, and we suspect the most probable cause to be her fear. Shortly afterwards we lean that Helen's cause for the distress she has been put through is her step father, who is described to have quite a nefarious attitude at times. We learn from Helen that he has before

Robertson Davis Fifth Business Essay -- Robertson Davies Fifth Busine

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Guilt can only be suppressed for a limited time before it comes out in unwanted ways. In the novel Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, Boy Staunton -a successful businessman with a polished appearance but a tortured soul- took the ultimate plunge to his death. His decision was not merely his own, but was influenced by a team of hands that helped push him to his destiny. First Leola, who was his first love and his wife. Then Mary Dempster, a neighbor from his old town Deptford, whom he mistakenly made into a 'simple' woman. Next his life long-friend and enemy, Dunstan Ramsey, who was a constant reminder of the virtuous life boy longed to live. Then Paul Dempster, the product of Boy's immature childhood behavior. Finally himself, because he suppressed his guilt and refused to accept the shadow that lurked within him. The five people that killed Boy Staunton (as stated) were: Mary- ?the woman he did not know?, Leola- ? the woman he knew?, Dunstan- ?the keeper of his conscience and the stone?, Paul- whom granted his inner most wish, and lastly, Boy Staunton himself.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  It can be observed that childhood experiences play a very important role in the stableness of ones soul. One mishap in childhood can create a devastating blow to ones true happiness in later life. This was exactly the case in Boy Staunton's life. Once, when he was little, he got in an argument with Dunny which led to snowballs being launched at Dunny from an aggravated Boy Staunton. The last snowball concealed a rock, and hit Dunny's neighbor Mary Dempster in the head. As a result, she gave birth prematurely (to Paul Dempster), and then afterwards became ?simple minded?. This particular incident acted as a foundation for Boy's growing shadow, and contributed to the demise of his soul. It is ironic that the person who had such a significant influence on Boy Staunton's shadow, was a woman he did not know. When Boy was asked if he had any recognition of Mrs. Dempster, he replied: ? None at all. Why Should I(page 261). Although Boy only met her once, the guilt remained suppressed inside him for the rest of his life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Boy's guilt grew as the years went by, fed by incidents that occurred from different people. Leola, Boy's first wife was one of these people. Leola was born in Deptford as was Boy. They grew up together going to the same school, and fanci... ...his own life. When Boy was found the morning after, a strange stone was found in his mouth. That stone was the same stone which hit Mary Dempster in the head so many years before. Boy considered the stone to represent his guilt and in the end tried to swallow the stone (he tried to swallow his guilty conscience). Suicide was the only way out for Boy, because his shadow was much to big to confront. Boy's biggest mistake in his life, was that he did not face his conscience when it was small. Instead he let it grow inside him, a mistake which ultimately led to his death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Indeed Boy's death was influenced by different people throughout his life. Leola who was the woman he knew. Mary - the woman he did not know. Paul - who granted his inmost wish. And of course Dunny -the inevitable fifth. But Boy Staunton was the only one who could be accountable for his guilt. For he, and he alone, ignored his shadow and left it to grow. In the end his shadow was to big to defeat, and so, pushed by the darkness within him, Boy entered finally into the shadow of death. Works Cited: Davies, Robertson. FIFTH BUSINESS. Canada: The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, 1970.

The Masque of the Red Death Essay -- essays research papers

To begin I would like to state that this is the first time I have had the experience of reading Poe and as such the reading process was greatly intriguing. The short story I chose was the Masque of the Red Death, which I found to be very dark and vile. From the beginning of the story to the end I found great concentration on the issues of life and death, among other things, which made the story very dynamic for its size. Another point of interest I found in the story was Poe’s concentration on historical accuracy as he successfully attempts to illustrate the feudal system at its best. However, two aspects of Poe’s writing that I did not exactly enjoy was the use of obscure words and seemingly long sentence which can some times take away from the flow of the story but overall it was enjoyable. In this short story Poe successfully illustrates matters of life and death specifically through imagery and projection of morals through diction and mood. This is important to make note of because Poe provides very vivid and precise images pertaining to the message he is trying to convey. The concentration on colour is the most prominent element throughout the story. The use of the colored chambers was greatly effective in delivering its massage of night and day. However, while the implicit theme of the coloured chambers are in fact night and day it again relates back to the more larger theme life and death and the rooms symbolize that progression through life, starting with birth (the...

Effect of racism from a functionalist’s point of view Essay

One of the most identifiable effects of racial discrimination in education and training is the negative impact it has on the performance of children at school. The failure to address the needs of minority children and those of migrant workers through, for example, combating racial stereotyping or through formulating school curricula that include modules on minority languages and cultures, can lead to school curricula which lack relevance for those children. As a result, children may lose interest and become bored at school which in turn increases the risk that children will drop out early or even fail to attend school at all. The failure to provide curricula adapted to the specific needs of the children of minorities and migrant workers can also lead to low literacy rates amongst these groups. Similarly, where a child does not have an adequate grasp of the official language, the failure to provide additional language classes in the official language and to provide classes in minority or migrant languages could have the effect of retarding the progress of those children through school. Another long-term effect of racial discrimination is that children learn to accept acts of racial discrimination as the norm. Such learnt behaviour can lead to the consolidation of racial discrimination within society as the norm, with children of minorities or migrants growing up and discriminating against the newest influx of migrants. Thus, a vicious cycle of discriminatory behaviour is produced which reinforces racially discriminatory behaviour. The forced segregation of children of minorities and migrant workers from other children can have serious negative effects on the capacity of these children to integrate with other children and into the society in general. In particular, segregation of children into schools for mentally handicapped children can severely retard the child’s progress through school and can affect his or her self-image. Education is arguably the basis of a functionalist’s beliefs, where children learn social skills and behaviours, these skills help build towards unity in society. Therefore racism is abhored in their beliefs.

Barilla Spa Case

Barilla SpA Case Table of Contents Executive Summary2 Issues Identification3 Environmental and Root Cause Analysis3 Alternatives or Options4 Recommendation and Implementation5 Monitor and Control6 Conclusion6 Executive Summary Barilla’s high stock out rates along with large average inventory numbers are the main reasons why Maggiali is looking to continue on with Vitali’s dream of implementing the Just In Time Distribution system. However, faced with great external resistance to its introduction, Magialli must look to top management to hop on board and facilitate its acceptance among all partners in the supply chain. Using internal distributors as experiments will allow Barilla to showcase better stock out and inventory results. By doing so, Barilla can gain the acceptance and approval of other distributors. With everyone participating in the JITD, Barilla will be better able to forecast demand and not over react to movements at the consumer level. Issues Identification Giorgio Maggiali, the current director of logistics for Barilla SpA, faces much resistance when he tries to implement a new manufacturing concept called Just-in-Time Distribution (JITD). Initially, this idea was proposed by the prior director, Brando Vitali, but is heavily supported by Maggiali as well. Because of the existing structure in the organization, fluctuations in demand at the end-user/customer level cause the whole system to react adversely. The result is an excess â€Å"safety stock† at all levels of the supply chain, leading to extra costs. This is commonly referred to as the â€Å"bullwhip effect. † Due to the resistance Maggiali faces, he must make a decision on whether or not the JITD is feasible for Barilla SpA and how to implement it with the unsupportive partners in the supply chain. Environmental and Root Cause Analysis The first concept we must understand is how significant pasta is in Italy. â€Å"Per capita pasta consumption in Italy averaged nearly 18 kilos per year, greatly exceeding that of other western European contries. † (pg. 2, Barilla SpA case study) Due to its dominance in the food market, consumers are very aware of price fluctuations and which pastas are â€Å"on sale. † Because of this, forecasting consumer demands is a vital component of the JITD. Without it, the traditional way of order-filling leads to common stock outs and excess inventory throughout the year. Because of the process pasta is made, Barilla cannot simply change its production on a whim. Its production plant must keep the kiln’s humidity and temperature at precise specifications for different types of pasta. As a result, sequential production is optimal to keep downtime and costs low for pasta manufacturing. The JITD was developed to address issues such as stock outs and to make inventory levels more manageable due to better forecasting. It will also allow Barilla to make the production and inventory decisions from a top down perspective rather than bottom to top reactionary chain (bullwhip effect). As shown in the Sales and Stock outs Chart at the Cortese Northease Distribution Centre (Exhibit 13, Barilla SpA Case study), stock outs are a regular occurrence due to the fluctuations in sales throughout the year. The main resistance from Barilla comes from sales and advertising. â€Å"Barilla’s sales strategy relied on the use of trade promotions to push product into the grocery distribution network. (pg. 6, Barilla SpA case study) It is with these sales that enable sales representatives to meet their target goals. If Barilla decides to implement the JITD, the need to push sales for the Distributors would cease to exist. Essentially, Barilla will be replacing sales by deciding how much inventory to stock each distribution centre with. It is quite clear that the sales department fears this system due to job secu rity issues. The external resistance plays a large factor in why Maggiali is unable to introduce the JITD. There are many unconvinced distributors that are unwilling to share their warehouse data. Also, they perceive that Barilla is trying to take power away from them (DC purchasers), and since they do not know too much about the JITD, they have a lack of faith in Barilla’s inventory management. Alternatives or Options Barilla can choose to forgo implementing the JITD and avert any risk in inter-department conflicts. By doing so, they save on any related costs to introduce the system. However, as Barilla expands, so does their manufacturing and distribution. The problem will continue to escalate as more inventory is pushed through the supply chain. Barilla’s other option is to continue pursuing the JITD which can benefit both the manufacturing and distribution process by reducing stock out rates and lowering inventory levels for the DCs. By lowering inventory levels, the DCs will be able to focus on obtaining more retailers so that they can increase the amount of inventory to be stored in the extra warehouse space. Barilla Pro and Con Comparison Table |Pro |Con | |Forgo JITD |Maintain relationships |Previous costs to develop JITD are lost | | |Save initial setup costs |Inventory problem is not fixed | | |Stick with what Barilla knows |Inventory costs continue to rise | |Implement JITD |Better forecasting |Major resistance/lack of cooperation | | |Lower stock outs | | | |Increased inventory space for DCs | | Recommendation and Implementation It is recommended that Maggiali continue pursuing the JITD due to the fact that the inventory management problem will only worsen as the company’s sales increases as well. However, Maggiali must find other ways of implementing the system rather than force distributors to adhere. Firstly, Maggiali must demonstrate that JITD benefits the distributors. Running an experiment of the system at one or more of the distributor’s sites gives other distributors an example to compare to. Once other distributors see what the system can do for them, they may be more willing to participate. A proposed idea would be to run this experiment through an internal distributor. Doing so will prompt less or no resistance and can be monitored closely. Secondly, Maggiali needs to involve top management so that JITD is not just a logistics issue. Having a company wide effort allows all members to participate and as a resuly, less resistance will be observed. Thirdly, since the distributors may think that Maggiali is trying to obtain power over them, Barilla can bring in a third party consultant trusted by both groups to perform an analysis to determine if in fact, the JITD is beneficial for all participants. Monitor and Control In order to determine if the JITD is advantageous over the old system, Barilla will be monitoring stock out rates and average inventory levels hroughout the year. If the results show positive results over previous data, a move should be made to communicate the benefits of the JITD to more distributors. Stock out rates and inventory levels for those distributors should also be collected to increase and confirm the effectiveness of the system. Conclusion By using an internal distributor to as an example, involv ing top level management, and recruiting a third party consultant, Barilla will be able to introduce the JITD system with very little resistance. The top down approach for Barilla’s supply chain will benefit all levels due to increased efficiency in inventory management. As a result, savings will be realized and passed down from manufacturer to consumers. In order to monitor success and build upon it, stock out rates and inventory levels will continue to be observed to determine optimal production and distribution of Barilla’s products. With this system in place, the bull-whip effect that is currently experienced, will be countered by the JITD’s ability to forecast consumer demand.

Longboarding

Cameron Campbell English 1010 October 25, 2012 â€Å"Longboarding† Grippy and maneuverable, longboards are safer for street surfin’ and they can give you the most bang for your skateboard buying buck. Many people in this country associate skateboarding with ollies, grinds, and other tricks made famous by icons of the sport such as Tony Hawk. However, there is an entirely different way to utilize a board with wheels attached to it which doesn’t involve any hopping or flipping, just riding it. Longboards are wonderful for those who enjoy being outside and schussing down a smoothly paved hill.Longboarding matches similar feelings and maneuvers associated with surfing and snowboarding. Instead of relying on the ocean or a snowy mountain, most people can find a decent patch of pavement for some exhilarating laid-back fun. Young people around the country purchase longboards for purposes that symmetrical skateboards struggle to perform, such as transportation over long distances and achieving sharper turns. The shape of these boards, their elevation from the ground, and their rubber wheels allow much smoother, faster riding than the characteristics of normal skateboards.Not only is the act of riding a longboard much different than that of a common skateboard, but there is also an entirely different culture for the sport. Instead of starting from scratch, trying to learn tricks that may intimidate new skateboarders, all a budding longboarder needs to succeed is balance and a little confidence. The popularity of longboarding is largely attributed to how fun it is. The rush of cruising at high velocities coupled with the friendly, carefree culture that boarders have established help make longboarding a timeless sport.