Hotels in Bangkok

Hotels in Bangkok The Regency Grand Hotel is one of the most prestigious and luxurious hotels in Bangkok, Thailand. Since its inception, it has earned a brand name in the industry owing to the exceptional salaries and benefits offered. The hotel staff and managers felt privileged being a member of the hotel, and perceived that they were being taken well care of under the leadership of the then General Manager. The following case study illuminates the dilemma of the employees undergoing the management changeover following its acquisition by an international group. In the earlier set-up, the employees were expected to follow the orders of their managers without questioning them. Initiatives to solve problems at personal level were discouraged and it led to lack of innovation and risk-averse behavior. Eventually, the hotel staff got accustomed to the style of management over the past fifteen years, and it made the work go smoothly with minimal number of conflicts. However, the recent sale of the hotel to a new American group introduced an altogether new style of administration to the employees. The management style of the new GM was entirely opposite to what the staff was familiar to, and it caused problems bringing the hotels performance and reputation down the drain. Problem symptoms and indications The former style of management gave limited authority to the front line employees and did not permit them to take any action on the spot without referring to their superiors. On the contrary, the new General Manager (John Becker) encouraged them to perform beyond their routine duties to provide customized services and thus make them feel special. This is directly related to empowerment, which is a key aspect in the service industry especially the hotels (Hubrecht Teare, 1993). Beckers motive in employee empowerment was linked with his intention to achieve competitive advantage through upgrading the staff competencies. As stated by Wall, et.al (2002, p.147) employee empowerment results in motivation, inventiveness, implied knowledge, participation, and enthusiasm necessary to survive in todays cutthroat competition. Although, Becker saw empowerment as a means to enthuse employees and delight the customers (Barbee Bott, 1991, p. 27) the hotels current managers expressed their disappointment. They were discontented with the idea of giving bottom line employees more authority and decision powers. The disparity in management approach is attributed to the cultural differences in these countries, for instance power distance, and uncertainty avoidance (Hofstede, 1980, p.45-55). Thailand and USA fall in the extreme ends of the cultural continuum presented by Hofstede (1980). Efforts are generally focused towards equal distribution of power in USA, while only a few people are given authority in Thailand given the larger power distance in the latter. Also, there is strong uncertainty avoidance in Thailand, calling for more written rules regulations, whereas uncertainty is easily accepted in USA and emphasis is laid on minimal formal rules (Hofstede, 1980, p.51). Becker failed to recognize these cultural differences while implementing his theories into practice. Joining a new organization and country demands awareness about the various social and cultural issues involved before transforming the existing practices (Lane Beamish, 1990, p.88). What worsened the situation further was his previous experience in places with poor performance and low employee morale. It is noticeable that his new assignment was doing sound business; therefore, his approach ought to be different in this case. Becker spent a great deal of time with the employees in an effort to elucidate his expectations from them. The role theory (Bush and Busch, 1981; Teas et al., 1979) mentions that the frontline employees have a greater need for role precision to carry out their duties efficiently. Role clarity perceived by the customer-contact employees is not only advantageous for customer satisfaction, but is also associated with employees job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and performance (de Ruyter et al., 2001). Yet, he did not succeed in putting a clear demarcation between complex and small issues. This kind of uncertainty was a continuous threat and led to higher anxiety and stress among the employees since strong uncertainty avoidance prevails in Thailand (McShane and Travaglione, 2007, p.47). The employees did not have a clear role perception due to role ambiguity. In this regard, Saks (1996, p.301-23) states that role perception is a result of role ambiguity, and with time this may result in stress specially when working under a new management. In addition to that, the employees were not able to distinguish between a major and a minor problem because of the lack of training (assumption). They had never been assigned a decision-making role before, and unfortunately did not receive a proper guidance from their seniors in such difficult situations. A further study into the Regency Grand Hotel shows that in quest of employee empowerment, power was transferred from the middle-line managers to the lower rank staff. Daft (1995) suggested that the recent trend of flatter organization structures have considerably altered the traditional role of supervisors. Consequently, the managers found their job meaningless and reversed employees decisions by terming them complex issues. They insisted that upper managements approval is required to address such problems and thus, tried to regain their supremacy. The managers reactions are associated to their control needs, achievement needs, and recognition needs () that forced them to maintain their grip on routine decisions. Furthermore, the employees did not receive any kind of support, feedback or appraisal for taking initiatives and going out of their way to enrich customers experience. As per Herzberg (1959) theory, motivation techniques such as superiors support and a positive and timely feedback have enduring productive influence on the employee behavior and resulting performance. In this context, experts have referred to the ABCs of behavior modification theory (McShane and Travaglione, 2007, p. 85-86) which states that employee behavior can be modified by managing its antecedents (for example encouraging staff to take initiative) and its consequences (for instance approving their decisions and constructive feedback). The theory further states that people have a propensity to repeat behaviors and actions that are followed by pleasant consequences, and extinction occurs when no consequences follow at all. Since the managers did not provide any support to the employees engaged in the desired work behavior, their self-driven decision-making process disappeared. The absence of motivation from the superiors eroded the employees self-confidence and they started to totally rely on their superiors to make decisions on their behalf. This is because of the high collectivism in Thailand (Hofstede, 1980, p. 45) where there is a strong need for consensus. The overall problem with the Grand Regency Hotel is directly linked to the MARS model, which identifies four key factors that have a direct effect on employee behavior, viz. motivation, ability, role perception, and situational factors. The employee performance levels drop if any of these factors is absent from the organizational context (McShane and Travaglione, 2007, p. 36). It is apparent from the study that the employees were not motivated to continue the new task behaviors, and they lacked the ability to define the complexity of the decisions, which again led to ambiguous role perceptions. Moreover, the dissatisfaction of the hotels staff affected their work behavior as evident by the increase in the number of turnovers and absenteeism. These are undoubtedly identifiable with the EVLN model of employee responses to dissatisfaction at work. It is found that exit is the most frequently used response of the four reactions in a notion that no better alternatives exist. (Withey Cooper, 1989, p.533). As indicated by (Lau et al., 2003, p.77) role conflict and a low degree of job involvement leads to a higher absence rate. Low levels of supervisory support and immediate social control resulted in increased absenteeism. (Price, 1998, p.227-246). The number of employees mistakes reported to upper management increased; this is because of the lack of training, feedback and motivation. With passage of time, an organization wide culture emerged in the hotel where lower level employees throw their work over the wall to upper level employees indulging in counterproductive act (Lau, et al., 2003, p.75). As a result, the performance of the employees dragged the overall hotel performance down leading to an increase in the number of guest complaints.(Heskett, et al., in Koys, 2001, p.113) This was demonstrated in the heightened criticism in the newspaper and magazine reviews where the hotel was named as one of the Asias nightmare hotels. The hotel General Manager and the employees experienced high levels of stress. Beckers stress was clear from his statement unless the hotel is on fire dont let anyone disturb me. He was annoyed by the increasing number of consultations from managers regarding minor issues, which otherwise were supposed to be sorted out by themselves. This reflects lack of training on the managers front as well. The role ambiguity was the main reason behind the employees stress as they misunderstood their roles. Role conflict and role ambiguity have been found to be the major causes of role stress (Boles Babin in Siegall, 2000, p.427). The ever-increasing stress levels experienced by the employees weakened all the good relationships that were existent under the older management. The employees were no longer united, and because of that, counterproductive behaviors surfaced in the form of backstabbing and employees not taking responsibility for their actions. In brief, even though Becker introduced empowerment with kind intentions, his plan failed because of poor implementation. He acted too fast that the spontaneous empowerment in fact snatched power from everyone involved. He did not give sufficient time to the newly empowered to be trained or get mentally prepared for their new roles. The next blunder Becker made was of believing that the managers would readily pass on their powers to their subordinates the minute he declared empowerment program. In his zeal to initiate empowerment, he ignored all other factors to support his decision. RECOMMENDATION The recommendations for improving the performance of Regency Grand Hotel are presented for all the three hierarchal levels mentioned in the case study. General Manager The current managers of the hotel backlashed on the new General Managers decision of giving more decision powers to the front line employees. Those dissatisfactions were the consequences of cultural differences (low power distance in America, while high power distance in Thailand). Obviously, dealing with cultural clashes is difficult since cultural patterns change very slowly (Hofstede, 1980, p.53). Therefore, Becker should consider these issues and address them beforehand. We would recommend higher degree of compatibility in his leadership style. In this situation, he should conduct meetings with the managers in order to clarify their doubts, and communicate the same down the hierarchal levels. It would be logical to check on their performance on regular intervals of time. Next, he should try to lessen the power distance between the managers and the front office staff by means of social events and gatherings. It would definitely ease out the managers egos and identify the hidden potential of their subordinates. In the end, this would help them to act like mentors to facilitate change rather than being directive in their approach. As said by Quang William (1998, p.361) influence of multicultural leadership on flexibility, empathy, understanding problem solving, and communication leads to a successful organizational change. Moreover, emphasizing on trust, communication and mutual objectives should be taken into account. Becker should train the managers in their new roles as coaches to assist the employees in taking independent decisions. Goal sharing for improving customer service and hotels overall performance should be implemented to bring them together as a team. In order to have a successful implementation of empowerment we must have strong self-determination, meaning, competence and impact. If any of those four dimensions is weak then it reflects directly on the empowerment process. (Forrester, 2000) Though Beckers idea of empowerment was positive in itself, yet his plan proved disastrous. One way to make the process more effective is selective empowerment, which limits delegating power to employees who display the appropriate competencies. Invest in enhancing their knowledge and skills through formal training, mentoring, and self-learning because rightful application of power depends on ones capabilities. Employees should be given a chance to demonstrate expertise by employing simulations, case studies, mentors, and supervised trials. They should be assigned low-risk decisions first, and progressively work up to challenging judgments since achievement at the safer levels would boost confidence through expectancy of success. The employee pe rformance could be improved due to the self fulfilling prophecy of the managers. (McShane and Travaglione, 2007, p.80) Becker should influence the managers perceptions that better results are obtained through empowerment than not. This may be done by following a sequential approach. First, focus on empowerment that does not steal complete authority from the mid level managers. Instead, enhance employees power by widening their knowledge set and providing them with more training and development opportunities. Second, begin the process from the top levels of management and trail down the changes to the subsequent lower ranks. This would allow the seniors exercise greater power and, going through a successful empowerment experience would raise their expectations from the change. Finally, concentrate on specific materialistic results, for instance initiating a performance appraisal and reward system based on the level of power demonstrated by a managers subordinate and reward more generously to team work as compared to individual performance. For successful implementation of empowerment, managers need to believe that they are in control of their outcomes. Middle Managers The employees were confused in differentiating major and minor problems, which originated from their lack of role clarification. Role clarity implies the required information that is provided for employees in order to do their jobs efficiently (Kelly and Hise, 1980 cited in Mukherjee and Malhotra, 2006, p.446). In the given case study, it could be prevented by following the three key essentails of role clarity, i.e. feedback, participation and finally team support. The effectiveness of employees depends on their perception about wielded power by superiors. (Yukl, 1981). Managers should focus on providing their employees with feedback, paying more attention to normative feedback as it positively affects the individuals performance by improving either perceived competence, competence valuation (Sansone 1989) performance pressure (Butler . Nisan, 1986; Ryan, 1982) or a combination these factors. The effect of positive normative feedback on the performance would not be relevant unless employees were well trained in a way that their skills would match the tasks they were entailed to handle. This would enhance their perceived competence (Sansone 1988), which is handling customers minor problems without referring back to their supervisors. The employees were uncomfortable in their newly assigned role and hesitated to accept the responsibilities. In addition, lack of motivation from the seniors wore down their confidence. Instead, the performances should be followed by adequate rewards to ensure staff that they are on the right track (Locke and Latham, 1990, p.241). Providing on the job training to employees should be one of the middle managers priorities, as it has been proven a good way to learn (Wood, 1994). Also, well-trained employees will be better prepared to face the organizational change (Lange, 2006) occurring at the Regency Grand Hotel, which will in return help them overcome the challenges involved with the process of empowerment. Employees Apart from General Manager and the managers, the front line employees should also share responsibilities for making the empowerment program successful. McShane Tavaglione (2007, p.186-89) identifies four core necessities in employees behavior, namely competencies, self-monitoring and designing natural rewards. To participate in the empowerment process, employees should possess adequate capabilities to deal with the additional decision making roles. Another suggestion for the employees proposes practicing self-leadership. Certainly, it was the managers duty to provide the employees with proper training and feedback, but we should not overlook the part of employees themselves. They should try to set goals for themselves to create self-direction and self-motivation required to execute the new tasks. Self-leadership incorporates five key elements that is personal goal setting, constructive thought pattern, designing natural rewards, self-monitoring, and self-reinforcement. Employees who indulge in all the above-mentioned practices would perform jobs better than the ones being supervised by others, and as Larkin asserts, high self-monitor generates more confident individuals to adapt to the empowerment approach. In addition, speaking up of the employees should be regarded as an important solution (Premeaux Bedeian, 2003, p.1537). They should express their point of views about work related issues, recommendations, or requirement of changes and alternative approaches. The problem rose in Grand Regency Hotel because employees were hesitant to speak out their positions due to the fear of punishment. McShane Travaglione (2007) argue that the voice of employees should be established as a way to communicate dissatisfaction and to propose ideas to the manager to improve situations. Finally, employees who possess self-awareness, as one of the four dimensions of emotional intelligence, would have better emotional responses. Higher level of working emotions and attitudes would help employees attain better performances and prevent the tensions among the hotel employees. REFERRENCES Barbee, C. Bott, V. (1991). Customer treatment as a mirror of employee treatment, Advanced Management Journal, Vol. 5, p.27. Boles, J.S., Babin, B.J. (1994). in Siegall,M., 2000, Putting the stress back into role stress: Improving the measurement of role conflict and role ambiguity, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 15 (5), p.427. Retrieved from www.emerald-library.com on 25 September 2009. Butler, R., Nisan, M. (1986). Effects of no feedback, task-related comments, and grades on intrinsic motivation and performance, Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. l, p. 210-216. Cohen, J., Ryan, R. (1982). Control and information in the intrapersonal sphere: An extension of Cognitive evaluation theory, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 43, p.450- 461. Daft, R. (1995). Organization theory and design, 5th Edition, West Publishing Co., St Paul, MN. Forrester, R. (2000). Empowerment: rejuvenating a potent idea, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 14 (3), p.67-80. Herzberg, F., Mausner, B., Snyderman, B. B. (1959).The motivation to work(2nd Edition) New York: John Wiley Sons, p.134. Heskett, J.L., Sasser, W.E., Schlesinger, L.A. (1997) in Koys, D.J., 2001, The effects of employee satisfaction, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover on organizational effectiveness, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 54(1), p. 113. Hofstede, G. (1980). Motivation, Leadership and Organization: Do American Theories apply Abroad? American Management Association, p.45-55. Hubrecht, J. Teare, R. (1993). A strategy for partnership in total quality service, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 5 No. 3. Lange, T. (2006). Knowledge and Innovation for New Zealand: Dynamic Benefits of a Two-Stage Wage Strategy an Its Unlikely Application, Policy Studies, Vol. 27(1), p.71-85. Mukherjee, A., Malhotra, N. (2006) Does role clarity explain employee-perceived service quality? A study of antecedents and consequences in call centres, International Journal of Service Industry Management, Vol. 17 (5) p.446. Price, J. L. (1998). Estimation of Causal Model of Absenteeism, Indian Journal of Labour Economics, 41(2), p.227-246. Lau, V.C.S., Au, W.T., Ho, M.C.J. (2003). A Qualitative and Quantitative Review of Antecedents of Counterproductive Behaviour in Organizations, Journal of Business and Psychology, Vol. 18(1), p.75-77. Saks, A.M., Ashforth, B.E. (1996). Proactive Socialization and Behavioural Self- management, Journal of Vocational Behaviour, Vol 48, p.301-23. Sansone, C. (1989). Competence feedback, Task feedback, and Intrinsic interest: An examination of process and context, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol.25, p. 343-361. Wall, T.D., Cordery, J.L., Clegg, C.W. (2002). Empowerment, Performance, and Operational Uncertainty: A Theoretical Integration, Applied Psychology: An International Review, Vol 51 (1), p.146-169. Withey, M.J., Cooper, W.H. (1989). Predicting Exit, Voice, Loyalty, and Neglect, Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 34 (4), p. 533. Wood S. (2004). Fully on-the-job training: Experiences and steps ahead, National Centre for Vocational Education Research. LARKIN, The implicit theories approach to the self-monitoring controversy, European Journal of Personality, Volume5, Issue1, Date:March 1991, Pages:15-34 Premeaux and Bedeian, Breaking the Silence: The Moderating Effects of self-Monitoring in Predicting Speaking Up in the Workplace, Journal of Management Studies 40:6 September 2003 p1537-1562

Psychology of Child Development Essay

Behaviorist theory: The teacher can utilize the ideals of Operant conditioning. Frequently referred to as instrumental conditioning, it is a method of learning that operates through giving rewards or punishments for a specific behavior. Operant conditioning associates or establishes a connection between a behavior and a consequence regarding that behavior so that children will gain an insight of what is right and what is wrong. Susie should know that even if she is bullied by other children, it is not right to do the same thing onto them. In this scenario all of them should be given punishment and the teacher should not take sides. Moral theory: Kohlberg asserted instrumental exchange with the golden rule as a precise example. The teacher should tell Susie that she should not do things that please her alone. A feeling of satisfaction about a certain deed does not mean it is a right thing for everyone. It is a matter of satisfying needs without necessarily doing revenge to others. Situation2: Behaviorist theory: Operant conditioning is appropriate for this situation. Joe should be given punishment for this act to make him understand that it is not a right thing to do. Punishment is a consequence of physical retaliation and it clearly differentiates good acts from bad, as what was discussed on situation one. Environmentalist theory: According to environmentalists, kindergarten readiness is the stage when young children can either respond appropriately or inappropriately to the school or classroom environment including rules and regulations, policies, activities and directions or instructions from teachers and superiors. When young children are unable to respond appropriately to the classroom and school environment, there is a possibility that they are having some learning disabilities in terms of learning school curriculum or learning to display appropriate behaviors at all times. The teacher should also emphasize that academic learning and establishing healthy relationships with other people particularly fellow students are equally important. Situation3: Moral development theory: Individualism and Exchange. According to Heinz, children or young adolescents account for their individual perspective and judge actions based on how they satisfy individual needs. For this group age, adults should make them know that reciprocity is very important. Reciprocity is not made to serve an individuals own interest, it serves to establish a mutual and peaceful relationship within people and that not anything can be just done according to one’s wills and wants. These adolescents should be guided about moral or societal conducts because if misguidance occurs, it can result to other somewhat antisocial behaviors. Personality theory: Ethnocentrism and egocentrism are the issues here. Since they are adolescents and grew up in modern times. They should be guided about practicing the more conservative norms and make them understand that not anyone can stand what they are up to or what they are used to do. About the ego, everyone is unique and these peculiarities should serve as eye openers the two adolescents. If they will be asking why some find them disturbing, parents or guardians should explain we were born with different interests and point of views and that what they do is usual for them but is perceived unusual by others. Situation4: Personality theory: Openness: This trait features characteristics such as imagination and insight, and those high in this trait also tend to have a broad range of interests. At this stage, the child grows to become very inquisitive and vivid in imagination. They should be given reading materials or pictures to satisfy their need to learn more complex things. Cognitive development theory: Based on theorist Jean Piaget’s theory, children think differently than adults and because children play an active and important role in gaining knowledge of the world, accepting or entertaining their thoughts and views about things are a must. Situation 5: Attachment theory: Attachment is a special emotional relationship that involves an exchange of comfort, care, and pleasure. When a securely attached child is left by his parents, ambivalence is the outcome. Diversion of attention can be done through giving toys and some other materials they can play with. Play theory: Play theory is one of the best ways to free children of stress. It is also fundamental in a child’s development. In this case, aside from the picture book, the caregiver can also give the baby non-choking, appropriate toys for his age. This theory supports the first theory mentioned. Situation6: Psychoanalytic theory: Ego is underdeveloped in young children. This ego identity is constantly changing due to new experiences and activities of daily living. Erikson believed that this character motivates a sense of competence in behaviors and actions. This argument is an early sign of competency. The parent should teach the child that it is unlikely to think that there seems to be favoritism. If the child handles this situation very well, his ego strength or ego quality will be mastered in a sense that he will handle every competent situations smoothly. Cognitive development theory: Piaget emphasized the reasoning processes of children at various ages. Children tend to have different understanding of things and adults should learn to recognize these differences. Various levels of understanding can either makes sense or nothing at all that is why it is a must to explain to them if something non-significant to their eyes is somewhat significant in reality. Situation7: Sociocultural theory: Sometimes, children utter or speak words without knowing what they really mean. In this situation, it is obvious that self-directed speech is used by the children to acquire learning. At this point, minimal guidance is done by parents or teachers so that they will not interfere the children’s independent thinking. Environmentalist theory: Environmental interaction motivates an individual’s behavior, learning and thought processes. Different cultures and different people probably have different perspectives and views. These children should be thought of different contextual views and be opened to new doors of learning if and only if, independent thinking is difficult to achieve. References http://nwscc. cc. al. us/childdevelopment/CHD201Theories. htm

Research on Dribbling and Passing

Research on Dribbling and Passing Submitted By: Andro Joseph Dela Cruz Basketball dribbling skills Basketball dribbling skills are something that you have to work at to obtain, maintain and improve. Most everyone knows how to dribble a basketball, but not everyone can dribble like a pro. When you first begin to learn dribbling techniques you will learn that you don’t dribble with the palm of your hand, dribbling a basketball is done with the tips of your fingers. You will use your forearm and wrist to balance the ball as you learn to dribble with using the tips of your fingers.Your coach will usually put together a different basketball practice plan for the team each practice. This will assist each player individually and as a unit to improve both their individual and team skills. Don’t just stop with scheduled practices if you truly want to improve your skills and control on the court. On your own you can start by running dribbling drills. Remember to keep your weight on the balls of your feet and in the ready position. As you continue to learn and improve your foot and dribbling control on the court as an individual player, you will begin to show your improved skills as a team player.Your team members may also want to run drills with you after practice, or just play for fun. These are other ways for you to learn potential opposing team types of moves and learn different offensive techniques. A team works together toward the goal of winning, but they also work together offensively to help prepare each other for what the opposing team may be bringing to the court. Protect the Ball When dribbling against a defender, ALWAYS protect the ball with your body. You can do this by dribbling with your left hand when you are going left and your right hand when you are going right.This will force the defender to reach across your body to attempt a steal. Developing your â€Å"off† hand It is important to work right from the start at developing both ha nd equally well. When practicing your ball handling, make sure that you practice at least as much with your weak hand as you do your strong hand, eventually increasing to twice as much with your weak hand. Coaches like†¦ Coaches like a person who: 1) can dribble with both hands 2) doesn? t try to show off for no reason 3) isn? t afraid to make the extra pass to get a teammate more open than you are.And if coaches like you, then they tell other coaches. Word spreads very quickly and just by doing the little things you can have a name for yourself in no time. Keep Your Head Up When doing all drills involving dribbling, it is extremely important that you keep your head up. You must be able to see where you are going and where your teammates are so you can pass them the ball when they are open. Speed Dribble The speed dribble is used to advance the ball quickly up the floor, against little or no defensive pressure.The dribblers hand should be behind the ball pushing it in front, th en running to catch up. This prevents a â€Å"palming† or â€Å"carrying over† violation. The speed dribble in the open floor can be a little higher than other dribbles. Control dribble moves should be around the knee, but a speed dribble can be waist high. Power dribbling-Dirt dribbling This drill actually requires you to leave the basketball court and find a patch of dirt. Do a Power dribble on the dirt for 1 or 2 minutes. You will need to power dribble the ball even harder than usual in order to get the ball to bounce on the dirt.This drill is an extremely good arm workout with power dribbling. Dribbling to avoid pressure By dribbling the ball over half court on the sideline, you are giving the defense an advantage. They can set up their help side defense or trap you. Change directions and it helps relieve some pressure. As often as possible, bring the ball up the middle of the court and NEVER pick up your dribble in the corners. Passing 1)  Two-Handed Chest Pass Overview This is the most effective and efficient pass you can use. It can be used successfully from anywhere on the court.Use this pass whenever possible because it's the fastest way to advance the ball to teammates. Fundamentals Place each hand on either side of the ball and spread the fingers evenly. Fully extend your arms as you push the ball out from your chest and snap your wrists outward so that the back of your hands are now facing each other. You'll get a good rotation on the ball when you snap your wrists. This makes the ball easier to handle for the receiver. Be sure the pass is thrown crisply with the ball remaining parallel with the floor.You want the pass to arrive at your receiver above the waist and below the shoulders. 2)  Two-Handed Bounce Pass Overview This type of pass is good on the fast break, to a teammate in the post, under a defender, to a teammate making a back-door cut, on out-of-bounds plays, etc. A lot of times, players will make a shot or high-pass fa ke before making the bounce pass. The bounce pass is the slowest pass available. Fundamentals Use the same grip and motion with this basketball pass as you did with the chest pass. The ball should hit the floor about two-thirds of the way to the receiver.To be more accurate, step toward that spot. You want to hit your teammate between the knees and waist. A backspin is good to use to give the receiver a longer lead. Push the thumbs throught the ball to achieve the backspin. A forward spin can be used to get the ball through a narrow opening and to produce a quicker pass. You'll need to be more accurate when using a forward spin but if you can perfect it, it will add more to your game. 3)  Two-Handed Overhead Pass Overview This is an effective basketball passing option for every player on the court.Players often use it to start a fast break, forwards will use it to hit post players or guards cutting off the post, guards use it to hit the post, centers and players receiving high pas ses use it to make a quick return pass or pass off. This type of pass is easy to control and helps you keep the ball away from your defender. Fundamentals Position your hands on the sides of the ball with your fingers pointed up. Your thumbs should be on the back of the ball and pointing in toward one another. Bring the ball up above your head (be sure your hands go straight up, not up and back over your head).Release the ball with a quick snap of your wrists and fingers like on a chest pass. It's usually good to make a slight step forward with the foot of your strong arm side. 4)  Push Pass Overview This pass is used most often to advance the ball down the floor in order to set up the offense or to get the ball through or past a close-guarding defender (usually to a cutter). The bounce pass version is good for passes to a cutter on fast breaks or reverses, many out-of-bounds plays, to a post player or to pass under a defender. Fundamentals Hold ball chest high.Spread your fingers on each side with thumbs directly behind, but a bit toward the top of the ball and pointing toward one another. Keep elbows close in. The force of the ball is provided with a quick snap of your wrist, fingers and elbows. You should move forward with your body crouched a bit. Step forward with your passing-hand-side foot and push off with your non-passing-hand-side foot. You can use a direct or bounce pass. Direct pass should reach receiver between the waist and shoulders and bounce pass should hit the floor about two thirds of the way to receiver and arrive between the knees and waist. )  Off-the-Dribble Pass One of the quickest basketball passing options because there's really no set-up with it. As you're dribbling, instead of bouncing the ball back to the floor for another dribble, move your hand behind the ball and push it towards a teammate as a pass. It's hard for defenders to steal this one because they're expecting a dribble instead of the pass. 6)  Baseball Pass Effecti ve for long passes to a cutter or to inbound the ball quickly after allowing a score. Place the ball high above the side of your head with the passing hand behind the ball while the other hand is in front of and slightly under the ball.Be sure the fingers of each hand are pointed upward and your thumbs are pointing inward over your head. Plant your rear foot and step toward the receiver with your front foot. Try to keep both hands on the ball as long as possible and throw the ball with a quick wrist snap and arm thrust. As you follow through, snap your wrist straight down so the ball doesn't curve on you. 7)  Behind-the-Back Pass A basketball passing technique that can work wonders when done well or end up terrible if done wrong or carelessly.So make sure you practice this one to perfection and only use it when the situation warrants it. This pass can be used off the dribble, standing still or while moving toward the basket and is used often with two-on-one fast breaks. If you can deliver this pass correctly, it will be very difficult for your opponent to defend. Cup the ball in your hand. Swing your arm behind your back with the elbow bent, fingers pointed down and your thumb pointed toward your back. Release the ball with a whip of your arm and a quick wrist and finger snap

Essay about American Feminism in Toni Morrisons Sula

American Feminism in Toni Morrisons Sula Toni Morrisons Sula is a novel that tells the story of the complex situations of two very different, yet quite similar, women who represent the society of African-American females in the middle twentieth century. It allows the reader to see how people in the situation of these characters react to obstacles and events, showing a vision of American womanhood that might not be evident to people of other ethnic backgrounds and experiences. In my opinion, this novel also portrays the changing role of women in the twentieth century, and the struggle between the old ideals versus the newfound independence of women. Throughout this work, Sula and Nel, along with their respective families,†¦show more content†¦Nel, however, is exposed to outside elements that allow her to have a glimpse of feminine independence. She is introduced to her prostitute grandmother, and she also becomes a good friend to Sula. When she spends time in Sulas home, she sees the looser lifestyle of Sulas family. Although she is interested, and wants to change to a more independent lifestyle, she does not. She marries young, following in the footsteps of her mother. Sula, however, comes from a different background. Her grandfather leaves her grandmother with three small children. Her father dies early and her mother chooses to have sex with any man she wanted. Like Nel, Sula is exposed to the more conservative lifestyle by visiting Nels home and seeing Nels mother. While the idea of the more conservative lifestyle appeals to her, she chooses the more independent lifestyle. She leaves and goes to college, to come back years later and cause chaos in the bottoms. The perception of men by the two types of women reflects the type of woman that they are. Nel, her family, and the rest of the community treat their men as if they could do no wrong. When these men have adulterous relationships, the women are not angry with the men. They are angry with the women who have had relations with their husbands. When these husbands would have affairs with Hannah, Sulas mother, the womenShow MoreRelatedWell-known American Author Toni Morrison1182 Words   |  5 PagesToni Morrison (named Chloe Anthony Wofford at birth) was born in Lorain, Ohio, on February 18, in 1931, to Ramah (nà ©e Willis) and George Wofford. She is the second child of four in a middle-class family. As a child, Morrison read frequently; her favorite authors were Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy. Morrisons father told her many folktales of the black community (something that would later be apart of Morrisons works). Morrison is a well known American author, editor, and professor who won the NobelRead MoreToni Morrison s Beloved : Dehumanization Of Slavery And Its Effects On African Americans And Their Basic Forms Of1268 Words   |  6 PagesToni Morrison’s Beloved shows the dehumanization of slavery and its effects on African-Americans and their basic forms of existence—specifically motherhood. Morrison depicts the strong maternal bond between Sethe and her children. Most importantly, her use of Sethe’s controversial act of infanticide shows the lengths that Sethe will take to protect her children from slavery. Morrison’s depiction of Sethe’s motherhood shows how slavery has deconstructed the Eurocentric expectations and traditionsRead MoreEssay on Themes in Song Of Solomon2113 Words   |  9 PagesToni Morrison is one of the most talented and successful African-American authors of our time. Famous for works such as The Bluest Eye, Sula, and Beloved, Morriso n has cultivated large audiences of all ethnicities and social classes with her creative style of writing. It is not Morrison’s talent of creating new stories that attracts her fans. In contrast, it is her talent of revising and modernizing traditional Biblical and mythological stories that have been present in literature for centuries.Read Morestudy on toni morrison Essay2402 Words   |  10 Pagesï » ¿A Study On Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye Ying-Hua,Liao Introduction Toni Morrison was the winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize for Literature. She is a prominent contemporary American writer devoted to the black literary and cultural movement. Her achievements and dedication to the promotion of black culture have established her distinguished status in American literature. Many critics applaud Toni Morrison’s artistic talent and contribution to American literature. Darwin T. Turner, for example