The success of the Singapore Education System Research Paper

The success of the Singapore Education System - Research Paper Example The lack of other natural resources left human resource as the only asset available for Singapore to achieve modern economy ambitions. These, therefore, left education as the only option for building both the economy and the nation through the delivery of human capital engine and in the creation of a sense of Singaporean identity. Nation building and the exploitation of the human resource was faced with a challenge of racial integration that sprouted as a result of the British colonial policies on education, language, and citizenship. In order to meet the needs, Singapore put a lot of focus in the education sector. According to the prime minister, the purpose of education at early days was to â€Å"provide a good man and a useful citizen†.This made the first phase of education which was dubbed â€Å"survival-driven† created in an attempt to expand the primary education and support the development of a literate and technically trained workforce. Schools that existed were merged into a single Singaporean education system, and a bilingual policy introduced so that children could learn their language as well as English. The expansion became so rampant that by early 1970, ’s universal primary and secondary education was attained, and a national system of public education established although the quality was not high. After the success of the first phase, the second phase of education based on shifting from the labor-intensive economy to capital and the skill-intensive economic country was formed.

Australian-Indian Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Australian-Indian Relations - Essay Example n this very arc of instability. As a result, Australia may be out of touch with the majority of issues in Southeast Asia, and because it has intervened but failed to cultivate these island nations toward a lasting peace, may have no bridge into the politics of South Asia or even the wonted East Asia region. From this perspective it may appear that Australia's relations with India and Pakistan are limited to the maximum. For decades, the reality has been just that, as the Cold War and Australia's association with the US have kept it at a distance from India. When India began testing nuclear weapons, it seems that Australia became even more opposed to deepening its relations with India due to India's failure to sign the non-proliferation treaty. However, India's relations with India at the present time due run much deeper than may be expected. For a brief period, the Australian government had agreed to supply India with uranium, which was an excellent deal for India considering Austral ia's vast holdings of uranium. Beyond simply cricket and uranium, the nations also shared a naval presence in the Indian Ocean as well as a shared diplomatic, economic, and political interest in the bulk of the Asian continent that lies to the east of India and to the northwest of Australia? region that neither country had given much attention to in decades past. Today, India's relationship with Australia falls into several areas. The first and foremost is a history of association with the British Empire, which in many ways paved the way for other aspects of the relationship. The English language is spoken in Australia, and probably spoken by even more people in India than the entire population of Australia combined. Furthermore, the two countries are the two largest democracies in the region surrounding East Asia, and particularly China as well as the Indian Ocean. Both have had growing ties with the United States during the years of the Bush administration and the War on Terror, a nd thus share many common military and defense goals? precursor for Australians brief increase of uranium supply for India. India and Australia are also economic partners, as both have strong and quickly developing economies. India, with its especially fast development, relies on Australia for the supply of raw materials, while Australia profits from such a supply and thus finds that its economy is strengthened by trade with India more than it is by other countries in South and Southeast Asia. Finally, India offers a democratic and secure alternative to trading with China, which has been known for nuclear proliferation. India and Australia also share an educational exchange, as many Indians look to Australia for English-speaking institutions of study, while Australians have sought to expand the existence of South Asian studies programs that focus on India. Indeed, the evidence exists to show that the relationship between India and Australia is one of note and great potential. The tw o countries recognize many common interests, and while they do not directly benefit one another's top agendas, they do have a mutually beneficial existence in regards to regional security, trade, immigration, education, and politics. Although these may be many aspects of an overall largely

William A. Shea and His Impact on New York Research Paper

William A. Shea and His Impact on New York - Research Paper Example He was honored by naming the stadium after him, and the team New York Mets played in the stadium for approximately 45 years (Wade 150). Shea had immense political connections as well as money in New York City, he weathered the pressure from the major league owners to come up with the third league after the Giants and Dodgers moved on. William Shea made significant contributions on the New York through making the Continental league a reality in the City. Moreover, Shea was revered for introducing a junior league that promoted the growth of talent in Baseball. Besides his career as a lawyer and huge interests in Baseball. Shea was involved in philanthropic activities. This paper discusses William A. Shea and his contributions toward New York. Discussion William A. Shea was born in Washington Heights in Manhattan on June 21, 1907. Shea attended various public schools after which he studied at New York University on a sports scholarship for basketball. Later, he transferred on another sp orts scholarship to Georgetown University. In 1931, Shea was admitted to the bar at District of Columbia after which he joined the New York bar (Margolick). While in New York University, Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, Shea had a huge interest in Basketball and was a team member in these institutions. Shea graduated from the Harvard law school and worked for insurance bureaucracies after which he entered into private practice. As a lawyer, Shea garnered political influence by working voluntarily on influential boards in Brooklyn. In his legal career, Shea was a lawyer who was trusted by powerful men due to his efficiency (Margolick). Career as a Lawyer Shea held close ties with political bigwigs although he never held an elective office (Margolick). Moreover, Shea was on numerous occasions cited bragging that he had never practiced his profession in a conventional sense. Nevertheless, his career, which spanned for a period of five decades, was a period when Shea became a confidant of mayors, governors and corporate chieftains. These ties enabled him to build Shea & Gould, which is New York’s most influential and largest law firm. Shea and Gould clients included the Apple, The Mets and The Yankees among others. For a large part of his career, Shea maneuvered around banquet halls and boardrooms and was only brought to a public role when the New York Mayor enlisted his help to return the league to its glory (Margolick). Shea obtained New York’s baseball franchise via a combination of street smarts, threats, bluffs and charm that he was particularly suited in given his career as a lawyer, and not as a zealous sports fan. Moreover, his credentials may have been ridden with official appointments, encomiums, affiliations and awards but they omitted his important attribute of bringing people’s interests together (Margolick). Caliendo(2010, 18) highlights that Shea was a power broker with huge experience and spent 40 years turning sit uations facing bankers, realtors, underwriters corporate heads, cement barons, sports impresarios and politicians into profitable cases. Moreover, Shea was labeled as the unofficial chairperson of the unofficial government, who had spent a significant part of his career laboring quietly in political twilight between the public good and private interest. Shea had survived many regimes at the Shea Stadium from the reign of Casey Stengel to the reign of Bud Harrelson and during the opening days of the leagues, he presented a flowery horseshoe to the manager as Mets. Similarly, he survived many political vicissitudes during his career at the City Hall. He became a close confidant of Mayors John Lindsay, Abraham Beame

BUSINESS ETHIC POSITION PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

BUSINESS ETHIC POSITION PAPER - Essay Example Ethics are not related to feelings of right and wrong nor are they related to a particular religion. They are not defined by law and they are not based upon the norms of a given culture group. Finally, ethics are not based upon scientific evidence of what constitutes ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. In order to try to determine what constitutes the concept of ‘ethics’, there are five general ethical standards by which one can compare personal and group ethics in prioritizing responsibilities. While corporation leaders have a responsibility to the shareholders who have entrusted them with their company, they also have a responsibility to their stakeholders, the common good of the people within the communities in which they work. From the viewpoint of three ethical standards, it is clear that the corporation must maintain a level of responsibility toward both their shareholders and their stakeholders if they wish to conduct business ethically. In general, most people understand corporate social responsibility as referring to the practice of corporate investment in community related projects, often projects that will bring no direct, quantifiable benefit to the corporation itself. In respect to these types of practices, it is often argued that the corporation is acting irresponsibly toward its shareholders when it elects to invest corporate funds into charities that do not directly benefit the shareholders themselves. â€Å"The company’s owners – its shareholders – can certainly donate their own assets to charities that promote causes they believe in †¦ But it would be irresponsible for the management and directors of a company, whose stock these investors purchased, to deploy corporate assets for social causes† (Atkins, 2006). Because shareholders don’t have direct control over how these funds are spent, which charities they contribute to or how much they wish to invest,

William A. Shea and His Impact on New York Research Paper

William A. Shea and His Impact on New York - Research Paper Example He was honored by naming the stadium after him, and the team New York Mets played in the stadium for approximately 45 years (Wade 150). Shea had immense political connections as well as money in New York City, he weathered the pressure from the major league owners to come up with the third league after the Giants and Dodgers moved on. William Shea made significant contributions on the New York through making the Continental league a reality in the City. Moreover, Shea was revered for introducing a junior league that promoted the growth of talent in Baseball. Besides his career as a lawyer and huge interests in Baseball. Shea was involved in philanthropic activities. This paper discusses William A. Shea and his contributions toward New York. Discussion William A. Shea was born in Washington Heights in Manhattan on June 21, 1907. Shea attended various public schools after which he studied at New York University on a sports scholarship for basketball. Later, he transferred on another sp orts scholarship to Georgetown University. In 1931, Shea was admitted to the bar at District of Columbia after which he joined the New York bar (Margolick). While in New York University, Georgetown University and Harvard Law School, Shea had a huge interest in Basketball and was a team member in these institutions. Shea graduated from the Harvard law school and worked for insurance bureaucracies after which he entered into private practice. As a lawyer, Shea garnered political influence by working voluntarily on influential boards in Brooklyn. In his legal career, Shea was a lawyer who was trusted by powerful men due to his efficiency (Margolick). Career as a Lawyer Shea held close ties with political bigwigs although he never held an elective office (Margolick). Moreover, Shea was on numerous occasions cited bragging that he had never practiced his profession in a conventional sense. Nevertheless, his career, which spanned for a period of five decades, was a period when Shea became a confidant of mayors, governors and corporate chieftains. These ties enabled him to build Shea & Gould, which is New York’s most influential and largest law firm. Shea and Gould clients included the Apple, The Mets and The Yankees among others. For a large part of his career, Shea maneuvered around banquet halls and boardrooms and was only brought to a public role when the New York Mayor enlisted his help to return the league to its glory (Margolick). Shea obtained New York’s baseball franchise via a combination of street smarts, threats, bluffs and charm that he was particularly suited in given his career as a lawyer, and not as a zealous sports fan. Moreover, his credentials may have been ridden with official appointments, encomiums, affiliations and awards but they omitted his important attribute of bringing people’s interests together (Margolick). Caliendo(2010, 18) highlights that Shea was a power broker with huge experience and spent 40 years turning sit uations facing bankers, realtors, underwriters corporate heads, cement barons, sports impresarios and politicians into profitable cases. Moreover, Shea was labeled as the unofficial chairperson of the unofficial government, who had spent a significant part of his career laboring quietly in political twilight between the public good and private interest. Shea had survived many regimes at the Shea Stadium from the reign of Casey Stengel to the reign of Bud Harrelson and during the opening days of the leagues, he presented a flowery horseshoe to the manager as Mets. Similarly, he survived many political vicissitudes during his career at the City Hall. He became a close confidant of Mayors John Lindsay, Abraham Beame

Explain the Sequence and Rate of Each Aspect of Development Essay Example for Free

Explain the Sequence and Rate of Each Aspect of Development Essay Holistic development: The first month Physical development The gross motor skills that the baby of 0-1 month old will develop is that the baby lies supine (on his or her back) and the fine motor skills will be the baby turns his or her head towards the light and stares at bright or shiny objects. Communication and language development Babies need to respond to sounds, especially familiar voices. And babies need to share language experiences and cooperate with others from birth onwards. From the start babies need other people. Intellectual development Babies explore through their senses and through their own activity and movement. Touch From the beginning babies feel pain. Sound Even a new born baby will turn to a sound. The baby might become still and listen to a low sound, or quicken his or her movements when he or she hears a high sound. Taste The baby likes sweet tastes, e. g. breast milk. Smell The baby turns to the smell of the breast. Sight The baby can focus on objects 20cm away. Emotional and social development A baby’s first smile in definite response to carer is usually around 3-6 weeks. Also the baby often imitates certain facial expressions. This is showing that the baby is starting to develop being able to respond to different things. Holistic development: from one to four months Physical development Some of the gross motor skills that the babies develop from four to eight weeks are: the baby can now turn from side to back, and can also lift its head briefly from the prone position. Some of the fine motor skills that the babies develop from four to eight weeks are; the baby turns its head towards the light and stares at bright or shiny objects. Some of the gross motor skills the baby develops form eight to twelve weeks are; when lying supine, the baby’s head is in a central position and it can also lift its head and chest off a bed in prone position, supported on forearms. Some of the fine motor skills the baby develops from eight to twelve weeks are; the baby moves his or her head to follow adult movements and the baby watches his or her hands and plays with his or her fingers. Communication and language development From four to eight weeks the baby recognises the carer and familiar objects, makes non-crying noises such as cooing and gargling and then moves on to often sucking or licking its lips when he or she hears the sound of food in preparation. From eight to twelve weeks the baby is still distressed by sudden loud noises and often sucks or licks its lips when he or she hears the sound of food in preparation. Intellectual development The baby recognises differing speech sounds and by three months the baby can even imitate low or high pitched sounds. Emotional and social development The baby will smile in response to an adult and the baby enjoys sucking. Then the baby shows enjoyment at caring routines such as bath time. Holistic development from four to six months Physical development Some of the gross motor skills; the baby is beginning to use a palmar grasp and can transfer objects from hand to hand. It is very interested in all activity and everything is taken to the mouth. Some of the fine motor skills; the baby now has good head control and is beginning to sit with support. It can roll over from back to side and is beginning to reach for objects. And when supine the baby plays with his or her own feet. Communication and language development The baby becomes more aware of others so he or she communicates more and more. As the baby listens, he or she imitates sounds he or she can her and reacts to the tone of someone’s voice. For example, the baby might become upset by an angry tone, or cheered by a happy tone. Intellectual development By four months the baby reaches for objects, which suggest they recognise and judge the distance in relation to the size of the object. The baby prefers complicated things to look at from five to six months and enjoys bright colours. The baby also knows that he or she has one mother. The baby is disturbed if he or she is shown several images of his or her mother at the same time. The baby realises that people are permanent before they realise that objects are. Emotional and social development The baby shows trust and security and has recognisable sleep patterns. Holistic development from six to nine months Some of the gross motor skills; the baby can roll from front to back. He or she may attempt to crawl but will often end up sliding backwards. Also the baby may grasp their feet and place them in his or her mouth. Some of the fine motor skills; the baby is very alert to people and objects. The baby is beginning to use a pincer grasp with thumb and finger, and can transfer toys from one hand to the other and looks for fallen objects. Communication and language development Babble becomes tuneful, like the lilt of the language the baby can hear. They become to understand words like ‘up’ and ‘down’, raising their arms to be lifted up and using appropriate gestures. The baby may also be able to repeat sounds. Intellectual development The baby understands signs, e. g. the bib means that food is coming. From eight to nine months the baby shows that he or she knows objects exist when they have gone out of sight, even under test conditions. This is called the concept of object constancy, or the object permanence test (Piaget). The baby is also fascinated by the way objects move. Emotional and social development The baby can manage to feed him- or herself using his or her fingers. They are now more wary of strangers, sometimes showing stranger fear. For example if a stranger comes close to the baby and it moves away towards another person, this shows that the baby is fearful of strangers and gains security from the person it moves to. Also the baby might show distress when his or her mother leaves. For example if the mother leaves the room and the baby starts crying, then this shows that the baby feels insecure when the mother is out of sight. Holistic development from nine to twelve months Physical development Gross motor skills; the baby will now be mobile- may be crawling, bear-walking, bottom shuffling or even walking. The baby can sit up on his or her own and lean forward to pick things up. Also the baby may crawl upstairs and onto low items of furniture and may even bounce in rhythm to music. Fine motor skills; the baby’s pincer grasp is now well developed and he or she can pick things up and pull them towards him or her. The baby can poke with one finger and will point to desired objects. They can also clasp hands and imitate adults’ actions. Communication and language development The baby can follow simple instructions e. g. kiss teddy. Word approximations appear e. g. ‘hee haw’ to indicate a donkey, or more typically ‘mumma’, ‘dadda’ and ‘bye-bye’ in English speaking contexts. Also the tuneful babble develops into ‘jargon’ and the baby makes his or her voice go up and down just as people do when they talk to each other. Intellectual development The baby is beginning to develop images. Memory develops and the baby and remember the past. The baby can anticipate the future. This give it some understanding of routine daily sequences, e. g. after a feed, changing, and a sleep with teddy. Also the baby imitates actions, sounds, gestures and moods after an event is finished, e. g. imitate a temper tantrum he or she saw a friend have the previous day, wave bye-bye remembering Grandma has gone to the shops. Emotional and social development The baby enjoys songs and action rhymes, still likes to be near to a familiar adult but will also play alone for long periods of time. Spiritual aspects of a baby’s development Even a tiny baby experiences a sense of self, and values people who are loved by them. Spiritually is about the developing sense of relationship with self, relating to others ethically, morally and humanly and a relationship with the universe. The baby can drink from a cup with help, and shows definite likes and dislikes at mealtimes and bedtimes. Also the baby will start to cooperate when being dressed and likes to look at him- or herself in a mirror (plastic safety mirror). Holistic development from one to two years Physical development Gross motor skills (15 months); the baby probably walks alone now, with feet wide apart and arms raised to maintain balance. He or she is likely to fall over and often sit down suddenly. The baby can also probably manage stairs and steps, but will need supervision. Gross motor skills (18 months); the child walks confidently and is able to stop without falling. The child can also kneel, squat, climb and carry things around with him or her. Fine motor skills (15months); the baby can build with a few bricks and arrange toys on the floor, can hold a crayon in palmar grasp and turns several pages of a book at once, and can also point to a desired object. Fine motor skills (18 months); the child can thread large beads, build a tower of several cubes and uses a pincer grasp to pick up small objects. Communication and language development The child begins to talk with words or sign language, and by 18 months, the child enjoys trying to sing as well as to listen to songs and rhymes. Action songs (e. g. ‘pat-a-cake’) are much loved. Intellectual development The child understands the names of objects and can follow simple instructions, the child also learns about other things through trial and error. Emotional and social development The child begins to have a longer memory and develops a sense of identity (I am me). Also the child expresses his or her needs in words and gestures and enjoys being able to walk, and is eager to try to get dressed – ‘Me do it! ’ Holistic development from two to three years Physical development Gross motor skills; the child is very mobile, can run safely and can climb up onto furniture. The child can walk up and downstairs, usually two feet to a step. The child then moves on to being able to jump from a low step, walk backwards and sideways and can stand and walk on his or her tiptoes and stand on one foot. In my workplace all of the children this age are able to do all of these things. But the girls are all more developed than the boys. For example, with have a boy that is three years of age, and a girl that’s the same. The girl is able to write her name, speak fluently, help other children who aren’t as well developed as her and she even tells me when someone is doing something wrong. Whereas the boy can hardly speak yet, and when he does no one can understand what he’s saying. Michael Gurian, a noted educator and author, has shown through research that â€Å"hard-wiring and socialized gender differences affect how boys and girls learn. † Simply put, male and female brains are equal but different. â€Å"Boys use the right hemisphere more, and girls the left,† (Gurian, M. 2007) Fine motor skills; the child can draw circles, lines and dots using preferred hand. The child can pick up tiny objects using a fine pincer grasp. The child then moves on to being able to build tall towers of bricks or blocks and can control a pencil using thumb and first two fingers (a dynamic tripod grasp).

Ticket Booking Indian Railways

Ticket Booking Indian Railways South Central Railway was formed on 2nd October, 1966 as the 9th zone of the Indian Railways. In its forty two years of committed service and path breaking progress, South Central Railway has grown to a modern system of mass transportation fulfilling the aspirations of the passengers/customers and carved a niche for itself in Indian Railways system. Strategically positioned in the southern peninsula, this dynamic organization with its headquarters at Secunderabad serves the economically vibrant state of Andhra Pradesh, Parts of Maharashtra, Madya Pradesh and Tamilnadu. From the days of steam hauled locomotives and wooden plank seats, South Central Railway has come a long way modernizing its system with the state of the art high powered Diesel and Electric Locomotives, high speed telescopic Passenger Coaches, and higher axle load wagons, higher capacity track in all important routes, multiple aspect color light signaling with solid state inter locking, and micro wave digital communication system etc. Over the years, South Central Railway has attained sufficient transportation output with adequate infrastructure development and technological upgrading to serve the regions in its jurisdiction. Safe operation of trains, expansion of net work, modern Passenger amenities, Punctuality of trains, courteous service and cleanliness in stations and trains remain always the thrust areas of this Railway. Being a service oriented organization, South Central Railway provided Computerized Passenger Reservation System at 85 Stations/locations covering 96% of the berths available. In the a rena of information dissemination to the rail customers, it has provided Inter-active Voice Response System (IVRS) for Reservation and train enquiry, National Train Enquiry System (NTES) for real time information on movement of trains, Passenger Operated Enquiry Terminals (POET) with information on availability of accommodation and confirmation and Close Circuit Television (CCTV) for real time reservation avail ability status at all important stations in its system. For mass movement of freight, S.C.Railway has introduced high horse powered Diesel and Electric Locomotives and high speed, higher Axle load Box-N-Wagons. Today, South Central Railway plays a pivotal role as a catalyst for agricultural and industrial development in the Southern peninsula apart from fostering the growth of trade and commerce including import/export through ports by connecting sea ports with their hinder land and inland containerdepots. Its reliable and comfortable Passenger Services for long and short distance travel by way introducing many super fast and intercity trains helps transform the society by catering their personal, business, educational and tourism purposes. Milestones South Central Railway was formed on 2nd October, 1966 by grouping Vijayawada and Hubli Divisions of Southern Railway and Secuderabad and Solapur Division of Central Railway. Jurisdictional adjustments were made in October, 1977 by merging Guntakal Division of the Southern Railway with South Central Railway and transferring Solapur Division back to Central Railway. Secunderabad Division was bifurcated in February, 1978 into two Divisions Secunderabad and Hyderabad to facilitate effective operational and administrative control. On 1st April, 2003, the newly formed Guntur and Nanded Divisions of South Central Railway became operational and Hubli Division was transferred to the newly formed South Western Railway. Presently, South Central Railway has six Divisions Viz., Secunderabad, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Guntur, Guntakal and Nanded with 5752 Route KMs of which 1604 RKms are electrified. After its inception, SC.Railway laid 342.805 RKMs of new lines, converted 2676.19 RKMs from MG to BG and carried out doubling of track on 1272.453 RKms, constructed many major river bridges including the engineering marvels Viz., II Godavari Bridge and III Godavari Bridges at Rajahmundry. Towards customer Satisfaction, it had established the Computerized Passenger Reservation Systems at 85 Stations/locations and offer reservation by any train from any station in the Country. For gaining efficiency in freight operations, SCR established Freight Operations Information System (FOIS) in its jurisdiction and has already introduced Rack Management Systems at 23 Stations and Terminal Management System at 31 Stations. Its Passenger and Freight performance has met with stupendous leaps forward. The freight loading which was only 9.00 million tons in the year of its inception, i.e., 1966 has seen a quantum jump and touched 44.79 Million tons in the financial year 2003-2004. Passenger transport too has met with tremendous growth touching 195.65 millions in the year 2003-2004 as against 50 millions in the year of inception and the gross earnings from Rs. 58.00 Cr. to 3683.00 Cr in the year 2003-2004. Purposes: Alvesson (1996) claims that a situational approach enables leadership to be viewed and studied as a practical accomplishment (p. 476) rather than starting with a conceptualization of leadership as whatever the appointed leader does. This approach seems particularly well suited to networking professionals in which technical knowledge needs to be shared. In this project, I will explore how the booking system is made via wireless network without facing the hassles unlike standing in queue and tickets can be booked from any places or stations. In particular, I will focus on how online booking from the technical perspective members influence the direction of the team as well as the relationships and identities of individual members and the identity of the team as a unit, and how their interaction is enabled and constrained by social and cultural influences (e.g., organizational culture, national/ethnic culture, and gender). Such a study should give insights into the working standards of the Indian Railways, an organizational form that is rapidly gaining in popularity and acceptance. Also, the study will test the usefulness of a perspective (the situational approach) that is underdeveloped in the leadership literature. Background: I will conduct my study in a team that is restricted within a particular Division within the City Council. IRCTC has several online reservation counters, each of which is responsible for online ticket booking within one geographical section of the city. This particular team includes four men and a woman. Three of the men are in their thirties and one in his early 50s; the woman is in her thirties. They are assigned to an area around City. They start each day with a brief (15-45 minute meeting) on an agreed upon site, often just gathering around the back of a truck for their meeting. I will attend these three mornings a week for four weeks, and will stay on to observe their work for approximately 20 hours during the four week period. My primary focus will be on their interaction in meetings, although I will also observe (and perhaps enquires about) interactions during their other work. Scope: I will engage in participant-observation over a six-week period, for approximately four hours per week. I will typically observe the morning meetings and stay for an hour or so to observe their other work. On some days I may come at other times of the day for comparison. I will not schedule structured interviews, but will interview member staff at the reservation counters informally, as needed to clarify and provide insight into specific conversations. Theoretical framework: I will be guided most generally by the interpretive perspective, and more specifically by Indian Railways staff based situational approach. The interpretive perspective places the focus on interpreting the meanings and perspectives of cultural members, and how these meanings are negotiated (Trujillo, 1992). I am exploring the meanings the sales staff and customers have for themselves as individuals and for their relationships, as well as the meanings sales staff have for the organization, group, and profession of which they are working 247. The situational approach directs me to choose one or a few specific interactions to explore in depth. Thus, an appropriate means of investigating the topic from this perspective is observation of conversation, plus interviewing the interact ants to understand the meanings they have for their symbolic interactions. Method: 1. Conduct a literature review on leadership and communication in SMTs. 2. Observe the group four hours per week for six weeks, focusing mostly on conversations at team meetings, especially those conversations in which the group addresses changes to their work processes and issues of team relationships and identity (ies). 3. Interview team members to clarify and provide insight into conversations. I will attempt to conduct these interviews shortly after conversations of interest. While the interviews will not be formal or structured, the kinds of questions I will ask include the following. The general strategy for the interviews is to start off with broad questions and follow up on the interviewees responses, to capture her or his meanings and to avoid imposing my meanings on the interviewee. a. Tell me about the conversation you just had with X. b. What were you thinking during the conversation? c. What do you think she/he was thinking? d. What do you think she/he was trying to do (or accomplish) in the conversation? e. What did you mean when you said, ? f. What were you thinking when you said that? g. What do you think she meant when she said ? h. When you think about what you did and said in that conversation, how would you describe yourself? 4. Undertake a situational analysis of the field notes and interview notes, guided. 5. Write a research report that combines my understanding of the relevant theory and previous research with the results of my empirical research. Timetable: Prepare proposal by 15 October Complete literature review by 30 October Complete fieldwork by 10 November Complete analysis by 20 November Give presentation on 4 January Complete final report by 12 January Limitations: Time constraints of the semester require less time than may be ideal for an ethnographic study. By being in the organization for only four hours a week for five weeks, there are bound to be aspects of leadership practice, organizational culture and team communication that will not be revealed during my observations. Being an outsider may also limit what is revealed to me. The team members may be guarded in their conversations around me, especially in my initial observations. Delimitations: I am choosing not to observe multiple teams, even though such comparisons might be valuable, in order to allow more depth of understanding regarding the group on which I will focus. Additionally, I will not use structured interviews in order to minimize my obtrusiveness and my influence on the team members. Literature Review: Indias Railway network being one of the second largest all over the globe and anybody can travel at anywhere places through the train services. However in terms of tourists who want to visit places do not have any special mode or medium whereby tickets could be booked easily. In most of the trains special seats are reserved for the tourists. Which simplifies that if all the seats are completely booked things are assured that this tourists get to seat till others havent booked up the seats (Bruyn, Venkatraman and Bain, 2006). This is one of the main information that needs consideration as any agent would not be able to book seats on anybodys behalf or can booked from the everyday booking window. The main challenge that lies in the reservation system is supporting a huge range of database for holding information. Indian Railways over years has been the most considered user of IT in India. When it was first introduced into the market computerized passenger traffic and accounting of rail ways, operating statistics, and payroll and inventory management was started through using computers paled at all regional zones (Kamel, 2006). The Computer based Passenger Reservation System (PRS) was introduced by Central for Railway Information System (CRIS) whereby passengers had the privilege of booking tickets through PRS which were found in all major terminals who have their own local database. In this kind of circumstances reservations only covered trains that departed from local terminals. But in the later phase when CRIS introduced Country Wide Enhanced Reservation and Ticketing System (CONCERT) that was developed with the intention to connect five passenger reservation centers from any station or terminal of the Indian Railways so that reserved tickets could be provided from any reservation counter (Kamel, 2006). Later all the PRS were attached together where by the system would have the capability of handling a higher volume of reservation every day. It was one of the mo st aspiring initiatives by the Indian Railways that reduced the passengers time in terms of being held up at the queue for a long period of time. But situations have shown that till now passengers need to move to the station to book their railway tickets. In India since train is considered as one of the most convenient mode of communication so information regarding bookings, train availability, journey fares, accommodation availability and reservation of tickets is the crucial factor for the general mass. Earlier methods like enquiry at the help desk counter, information gathering through TV or through radio were the methods used earlier. In due later phase when internet booking and ticketing services through the e-commerce channel it gathered sufficient interest to the general public. In this regard IRTC in collaboration to CRIS launched its wholly owned website (www.irctc.co.in). This venture changed the whole image of Indian Railways ticket booking system. This helped passengers to get hold of their tickets from the departure station to the destination station without facing the hassles standing in long queue at the railway booking counters. Any passenger at this point of time can visit the website at get their desired information regarding train timings and ticket availability. Later on getting the train details and the suitability in terms of travelling tickets they just needed to fill in the online application form which contained about the details of the journey. During the payment stage the user was transferred to a suitable payment gateway where they need to furnish the details of their debit/credit card at it was certified by the VeriSign. When the transaction was completed the passenger would receive an e-mail that contained the Passenger Name Record (PNR). In this new technological world Indian Railways are considerably looking to get started with the new technological phase of wireless technology. In the discussion as embarked that mobile services has been picking up on a massive scale for the last couple of years. In todays date around 7 million text messages are sent by Indian counterparts everyday life and nearly 80% of Indians use the facility of SMS in major counterparts (Dutta and Shridhar, 2004). Most of the service providers in India have upgraded their mobile technology from 2G to 3G service which has processing speed of high data connection mechanism. Nowadays mobile handsets have the facility of GPRS and WAP that are flooded in Indian markets. With respect to matching and catching up with this technological advancement IRCTC introduced the option of ticket booking via mobile handsets. In present scenario tickets can be booked via mobile phone through voice recognition system. This proved flexibility in terms of passengers w ho could get hold of the tickets of any places sitting in any corner of the world. The project implementation of online ticket booking through internet and telephone prompted other service providers like telecom industries and broadband service providers to enable the payment process through their own systems. Through this project it has shown that if consumers are provided the much needed comfort and flexibility depending on the indented products or service that would sell, consumers are always likely to adapt the technology in other horizons. The Electronic Ticket system (ETS) is specifically designed software through which passengers would have the flexibility through which railway tickets could be purchased through usage of smartcard. In this the payment is made via wireless network with the connecting computer system at the Railway Company which is itself connected through clearing house and a trust centre (Wieringa, 2003).