Thursday, January 30, 2020

Working in groups at the work place Essay Example for Free

Working in groups at the work place Essay Organisations all around the world provide remarkable but extraordinary workplaces for millions of people. The majority of workplaces require employees to interact towards other fellow employees and the public. Working together with other employees generates a group. There are many ways to define a group, A group may be defined as a collection of individuals who are interdependent in some way (Johnson and Johnson, p15; 2003). According to this definition, working at the same organisation is the event, which affects them all, and it initiates the individuals to work together. The natures of groups produce a relationship between each individual, which expands from the interaction with one another. Not everyone will get along or have the same opinions, but this teaches everyone to appreciate the fact that all individuals are different and to identify the various cultures. In the workplace when the group gets along, it should improve the effectiveness of the relationships between the people identified. This will help the group to have a high morale and will improve the companys reputation. Lenards, is a well-known poultry shop, which serves a variety of fresh chicken. It is a multi-award winning company, considered to be one of Australias leading fresh food retailers and a pioneer in the kitchen ready market(Dias, 2002). I am currently working at Lenards located at Middle Park, and have been employed there for approximately six months. During these six months, I have particularly become close to two fellow employees, Donika and Nick. I have also formed a good relationship with my manager Ray. The objectives of this report will identify in individuals such as personality and attitudes, behaviors individuals demonstrate that leads a person to believe that they have those personalities and attitudes, the level of morale existing between people in the workplace and the indicators of morale that are present and any cultural and social differences that has an influence on the relationships of these people. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES Ray (Supervisor) Ray is of great importance to the team at Lenards as he is in charge of the businesss daily operations. Therefore his personality and attitudes reflect strongly upon the business. Managers need to be aware of their own attitudes, assumptions and beliefs, as well as being sensitive to their subordinates perceptions, needs and motivations. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.11). Rays duties reflect upon his personality, which makes his duties easier to perform. One important personality for managing is planning. Planning is where the decisions are made and are the essence of a managers job (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.174). The decision making process is a set of eight steps including identifying a problem, selecting an alternative, and evaluating the decisions effectiveness. Ray tries to be aware of the stores problems by making sure the employees are serving the customers the right way, and checking that all the procedures are carried out properly. When he identifies a problem within the team, he will usually inform the group about the problem so that no one else makes the same mistakes. Organising is another major behavior for managing. This helps the business to be more organised with team responsibilities and also individual responsibilities. At the beginning of the day Ray sets out what he wants to be done, how it will be best to do it and when it should be done by. The challenge for managers is to design an organisational structure that allows employees to effectively and efficiently do their work while accomplishing organisational goals and objectives. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.274) Leading, is concerned with the subject of behavior and the actions of people at work. It is important for managers to be good leaders so that they have good control over the employees and the business. These areas look towards attitudes, personality, perception, learning and motivation it also includes norms, roles, team building and conflict (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.384). Ray is an understanding person, who tries not to judge. For example, if we are late for work and have a good reason for it he will understand and wont go further into the situation by being nosey. He also gets along well with every customer and does not treat any customer differently no matter of their looks, or culture, etc. Job satisfaction refers to an individuals general attitude towards their job. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p. 389). Rays high involvement as the manager of Lenards has made him extremely motivated and displays positive attitudes. Organisational commitment is an individuals orientation towards to the organization in terms of loyalty identification and involvement. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p. 59). Ray participates in the workplace daily and he shows a considerably high commitment to the workplace. He understands the different cultures of all employees and does not treat anyone different. All managers are required to perform duties that involve people (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.11) Ray does his job very well by performing the duties that involve people at a great level, he interacts well with all the customers by starting conversation and offering bonus cards and cooking guides, he always tries his best to make every customer smile. Morale is basically the need for a manager or supervisor to give their employees direction, guidance, support, encouragement, praise and recognition for work. It is understood that Rays morale is the highest out of all the workers in the business. He shows a cheerful attitude towards employees and is always willing to perform certain tasks for the daily operations. Nick (High Employee) As one of the main employees that make up the staff of Lenards, Nick contributes greatly in the food preparations and daily operations. His personality seems to be much more conversant compared to the rest of the employees. Nick is more tranquil, meaning that he is calm, easy-going and open-minded at the same time. He is always cooperative towards the group and the customers. Human or interpersonal skills represent the ability to work well with and understand others, to build cooperative effort within a team, to motivate and to avoid conflict. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.11). Nick has developed many skills over the many years that he has been employed at Lenards for. This makes him more conversant meaning that he is much more experienced compared to the rest of the group. Nick is someone that the group members rely on if Ray is not around. The team is very reliant upon Nick because of his great knowledge towards the business and the skills that impact upon the business. A person, who is tranquil, is easy going and calm towards many situations. It is important for group members to portray tranquility so that they can keep there cool at times of frustration. Nick is an outgoing person but at the same time he stays calm and on task. Cooperation is important within a group and a businesss customers. Instead of an individual completing there own duties on there own, the group can work together as a team to complete all the tasks in an organised way. This means that each individual can get help from others where needed. The primary goal is to get along sufficiently well to achieve the goals and do the tasks. (Birchall Colwill, 1996, p70). Nick cooperates well with every team member by helping everyone complete tasks, and by identifying and informing us of something we are doing wrong. He also cooperates well with the customers by coming to a conclusion with a customer who has a problem. Nick, being a thinking and also a feeling person, tends to be logical but always considers others feelings, having both feeling and thinking dimensions giving strength. He is always organised and also understanding. Nick shows that he is a well-organised employee. He always asks questions like are you busy or do you need any help at all with that? He is careful with his words (as to not offend or dishearten other co-workers) and always likes to help other people if they are in need. Organisational commitment is how much a person contributes in doing task and the loyalty towards the business. Nick, having work there for over 5 years, shows that he is loyal towards the business and always contributes as much as he can, thus is highly committed. It is understood that Nick is very spirited within the business as he has considerably high morale. Morale is the mental or emotional condition of a person or group, as indicated by the level of enthusiasm, confidence, cheerfulness, or the like. Nick shows morale through his confidences and cheerfulness at work, where he loves to interact with others. He always shows that he wants to work and is very confident in doing daily tasks. Donika (Employee) Donika shows great deal of personality and is possibly the most complex employee at Lenards. She is an extremely outgoing person she loves interacting with others but is not always aware of people and/or things around her, this becomes one of her weaknesses, feeling. Other than this she is perceiving, but has equal strengths. A feeling person is a person who is more aware of people, problems and situations around them than being logical and objective. This means that the person places more value in people and their life. Donika does not show a lot care for much more than just the job she does, but she likes to know about other employees weekends, problems and loves interacting. At times she can be a bit judging towards people, for example, she may comment about customers after they have left, such as saying something like, That person had stinky breath. Perceiving is where an individual always thinks twice before acting or always want to know more about the task given or problem before making solutions for the problems or task. Perceivers like to take in new ideas and perspectives with others but tend to have a weakness in planning and organizing within the workplace. For example, Donika is a less organised employee by not putting her full effort into a task. For example, when it comes to the end of the day and we have just had a rush of customers leaving all our duties out the back unfinished, she will do a lazy job by not washing thing properly so that she is not late to leave work. Having equal strengths with intuition and sensing means that the person can see possibilities, likes new ideas, enjoys solving problems, can work in complicated situations, likes to establish facts and has minor errors. Having balanced strengths in this dimension could give a person great personality to work with. An example of this can been seen in the workplace at Lenards where Donika likes to invent and discuss new ideas and would like to question others opinions on whether or not the new ideas would be successful if implemented. One day Donika noticed that where the knifes are placed could become a hazard. The knifes are placed on a magnetized holder, Donika suggested that we purchase or create something which would be more safe which the knifes would not fall out of. When she came up with this idea, she informed the management after suggesting it to the rest of the employees. It is understood that Donika has a high morale towards the business organisation as a whole. Morale as said before is a state of individual psychological well being based upon a sense of confidence, usefulness and purpose. The confidence she shows is considerably high. She also likes to motivate and encourage others to work faster and effectively. Donika holds a cheerful attitude towards the job. Deema (Employee) During the six months which I have been employed at Lenards for, I have formed good relationships with the employees and the manager. Human or interpersonal skills represent the ability to work well with and understand others, to build cooperative effort within a team, to motivate and to avoid conflict. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p.11) This makes my job enjoyable and bearable to anticipate. I differ from the group at Lenards in many ways, but I can relate to the employees in many ways. My culture becomes some of the many differences that I have with the group. My family background is stable and has brought me up to be understanding, friendly, cheerful and easy to talk to. On the other side of my personality I can be impatient, unmotivated and unorganized at times. By understanding peoples situations, it helps them to feel comfortable to interact with one another. When there was a new employee, I understood his situation as I had been in the same place before, so I tried me best to help him and make him feel comfortable in his new work place. When others interact with me, I try to put my self in the same situation so that I can understand what they are talking about. By being understanding upon peoples situation is one of the aspects of friendliness. By being friendly towards the group I feel that I enjoy work much more by interacting with one another. By being friendly towards the customers I have realized that they become happy with the service and tend to come back. From being impatient, certain situations become irritating to handle. For example, when customers are picky with what they want, while there are many other customers waiting behind them. While being at work I have to try my hardest to be patient with customers, and try to ignore the irritation I get. Many of times I can become unorganized by coming late to work but other than that I tend to work hard and motivate myself by interacting with the employees and customers. Morale is the spirit of a persons mind where the person can be affected by confidence, cheerfulness and willingness as stated above. I always work with a cheerful attitude, but may sometimes have the will to conduct certain tasks; rather I may need to be instructed to do so. I do not have full confidence in all assigned task so I can sometimes be unsure of what to do in certain operations. The morale I have mainly comes from my enjoyment of interacting with the group and customers. CULTURAL AND SOCIAL DIFFERENCES Culture and society can single everyone out from each other. Culture, can be defined as A deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concept of universe and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people the course of generation through individuality and group striving. (Samovar Porter) The cultural differences within Lenards are of great importance to how people act and explain things. People are raised with different cultures and these changes the way we act, explain and differentiate between different cultures. Culture serves as a sense-making and control mechanism that guides and shapes the attitudes and behaviour of people. (Robbins, Bergman, Stagg, Coulter, 2003, p. 559) As we go through the workers it is understood that the manager and employees have certain cultural differences within the business. All the employees at Lenards have different backgrounds, I am from Iraq, Ray is Australian, Nick is from New Zealand and Donika is Italian. This proves that a group can work together regardless of each others backgrounds. Having a different social status between workers could really contribute in the way workers act within the organisation. Ray, being the manager of the business organisation uses his status to influence others in the workplace. He acts controlling at times to express that he is dominant but does care for employees opinions. As for Nick, he always respects all employees and customers. He listens well to what everyone has to say, when consulting the manager he always asks relevant questions and discusses any problems in a very formal way. Donika appears to talk naturally to anyone with any social differences within the business; she cares less of what status you are as she thinks that all people are equal in the workplace. Deema, being the least experienced in the organisation tends to respect all people and talks formally and respectfully towards every worker within the business. After going through and analyzing the social differences between the workers, it demonstrates that there is a considerably high difference between them. They all show different attitudes to different social statuses within the workplace. The group at Lenards is all different from one another. We all have our own beliefs, cultural and social differences, but it does not stop us from interacting with each other. There are times when we all agree on things and times when we dont. For example, Ray and Nick always leave the radio on Triple M, and myself and Donika always ask to change it to B105. It never causes a fight because we all understand that we like different types of music and we all share the radio stations. CONCLUSION All organisations require for employees to work in a group. For this to be effective, the members in the group should all get along, understanding each others differences which may relate to culture or society. Just because people work together in the same work group does not mean the share common interests (Birchall Colwill, 1996, p4). All individuals may share many qualities with other people, but they still have their differences, the majority of these come from cultural and social beliefs. It is important for groups to accept each others beliefs so they can interact with each other. Good morale associates with group performances and makes the workplace a happy place. For employees to have good morale, they need to enjoy their job, and when employees enjoy their job they then demonstrate a great attitude towards customers, to influence the return of everyone who is served. I believe that the group at Lenards has a high morale. This is due to the fact that we all get along well; pressure is not put on to anyone, and no one ever seems to complain about working. The customer response is good and we have many regular customers, who very rarely complain. I think that a great influence for the groups high morale is from Ray. Most reasons why employees have low moral is if they dont like their employer. Ray is easy going and does not boss us around, and all of us get along well with him. Human relations is a process by which management brings workers into contact with the organization in such a way that the objectives of both groups are achieved. (Hodgetts, 1987, p6) Overall, it is vital for group associations to accept each others differences so they can interact together with good team work to produce a good morale to the society. BIBLIOGRAPHY * Richard M. Hodgetts, 1987, Modern Human Relations at Work third edition, Florida International University, New York. * Luft, J. (1970, 2nd Ed.) Group processes; an introduction to group dynamics. Palo Alto, CA: National Press Books * Georgia Birchall Jenni Colwill, 1996, Working Relationships, Alice Graphics, Melbourne. * David W. Johnson Frank P. Johnson, 2002, Joining Together Group theory and group skills, Pearson Education, Inc. USA * Stephen P. Robbins, Rolf Bergman, Ian Stagg, Mary Coulter, 2003, Management third edition, Pearson Education, NSW * L. Dias http://www.lenards.com.au/ 2002

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Essay --

Things fall a part is an outstanding African literature. The author of the novel is Chinua Achebe and presents the culture, society and history of Ibo community. The novel presents the Ibo community as a native African community and brings about the comparison between the community and Christianity. With the introduction of Christianity, the Ibo community was confused since the missionaries wanted them to adapt Christianity and abandon their cultural beliefs and practices (Rhoads 68). An analysis of cultural beliefs and practices of the community, the difference between Ibo and Christianity way of life as well as issues surrounding one of key characters can assist in understanding the content of the novel. The Ibo community practices polytheism; they belief and worship more than one god. The community believes that there is a supreme god known as Chukwu who created the universe and other gods. According to one of the members of the community, Okonkwo, they worship other small gods and when they do not respond accordingly, they turn to the supreme god. Ibo have curved wood which they use as a symbol to represent their gods (Achebe 72). This is because of the fact that they believe in physical god. They also worship the Oracle Hills and Caves as sacred places where their goods lived. The community allowed the practice of polygamy. In this case, men can marry as many wives as they can maintain. Those with many wives were respected and honored members of the community. Okonkwo who is a main character in the novel had many wives and this was as a symbol of strength. In such a family set-up, the man lived in a separate house from all his wives. Each wife had a house of her own where she lived with her children. This was aimed at enhan... ...e committed suicide. The act of committing suicide was not the best option for Okonkwo. This is because he was still energetic and his family was still in need of his support. I would have not committed suicide if I was him. He had done a lot to raise his wealth from scratch and should have waited to enjoy the fruits of the hard work. In conclusion, Things Fall a part is a representation of the differences between an African community and missionaries. The missionaries believed that Christianity and formal education were superior over traditions and hence the Ibo people were to be converted. The conflict which comes about due to the resistance from some members of the community demonstrates how incompatible the two cultural practices are. The title can be related by the situation where Okonkwo,  could not hold it more to see how things have fallen in the community.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Cold Case Investigation

Abstract Cold case investigation is a growing concern due to increased numbers of unsolved cases and pop culture appeal. This paper will walk you through what a cold case investigation is, how one begins, and factors such as the use of volunteers can effect the outcome of a cold case investigation. Each year the number of unsolved cases in the U. S. goes up, but with limiting funding and lack of manning something has to be done to keep the numbers down. A dedicated cold case unit is the best answer to this problem. Cold Case InvestigationApproximately one-third of all homicides in the United States are not cleared within the first year of being committed. These cases are dubbed cold cases after active investigation has been terminated for any of several reasons. If investigators lose the trail or cannot come up with enough evidence, witnesses, or a suspect the case may be closed. More important or high publicity cases may become a priority and with lack of a trail a case is closed. T hese cases can be placed on a back burner until time and manning is available to conduct a more thorough investigation and continue where previous investigation left off.The low clearance rate has also been attributed to the number of experienced detectives, changes in resources, deterioration of quality of investigation, and escalation of other related crimes. The means of conducting a cold case investigation vary greatly from that of an ongoing investigation and may even be conducted by people not employed by the original agency handling the case. Resurrecting a Cold Case Investigation After a case has been dubbed a cold case, it may take several months to even years before it is re-opened for investigation.Some times the original investigator may feel a desire to re-open the case or new evidence or witnesses may come to light offering up a direction for investigators to follow. Other times it requires others not involved in the initial investigation to take initiative to gather c losure for victims or other reasons. If the primary investigator in the initial case is not involved in the cold case investigation, the current investigators need to be brought up to speed on the background and prior evidence or facts of the case.Investigators may then contact any prior witnesses and re-entertain questions previously asked or expand on the subject. Some witnesses may provide further information. If there were no witnesses or suspects, current technology that was not available during the initial investigation could provide evidence not previously available such as DNA. Personnel previously interviewed may also be feeling guilt by the time a cold case is re-opened and need an opportunity to vent or even confess their guilt.If little or no further information is found for investigators to go off of the case may become frustrating and be given up on again. Re-opening a cold case also creates some turmoil such as opening old wounds with the victims of these crimes due t o the suspect not being caught initially, and because the victims are forced to relive the past. Cold Case Investigation Units Cold case investigation investigations units have been formed to combat the growing trend of unsolved cases. They usually consist of one or more dedicated homicide investigators with the sole purpose of solving the cases.The structure and management of these units are not clearly defined at this time and there is little evidence to prove that they are effective at reducing the numbers of unsolved cases. Cold case units have gained popular appeal in the last couple of years through various television shows related to that of solving cold cases. There are two perspectives as to why certain cases remain unsolved. The first is based on conflict theory and behavior of law theory. This theory shows that the police’s discretion leads to differences in investigative effort and shows bias.The biggest thing to note on this theory is that a case will have more t ime and effort put into it if the victim is from a more favorable social position. The second theory is the opposite. It states that everyone receives maximum effort regardless of victim characteristics and cases remain unsolved due to a lack of situational characteristics such as evidence, witnesses, and use of a weapon that can be found and fingerprinted. (Napolean, 2009, pg n/a) The cold case unit concept was created by the Miami police department in the 80’s to handle approximately 1,400 unsolved cases.This unit had much success and cold case investigation units became popular nationwide. To date there are still some concerns on how a cold case unit should operate, but prioritizing cases is the biggest concern. As a standard the highest priority cases are those, which the victim or a second victim has been identified, the death was ruled a homicide, suspects were previously named by forensic means, an arrest warrant was previously issued, significant physical evidence can be further processed, or new leads have arisen where critical witnesses are willing to cooperate.Cold cases are generally broken into three categories, high, moderate or low. By any means, a staffed and supported cold case investigation unit is more advantageous than a temporary unit. Volunteers are Essential Cold case investigation is an extremely labor intensive process. There has been a growing desire for cold cases to be solved due to its pop culture appeal. Many police departments are feeling the pressure to get their unsolved case numbers down, but due to the economy and budgets on a downward trend staffing and resources are at a premium.Agencies are now turning to a more non-traditional alternative to fill staff voids left by budget cuts. Volunteers can play an essential role in the assistance to detectives who solve cold cases. Retired detectives provide an allure to some agencies. These retirees do not require additional training because they were previously employed in th e same line of business. They are also most likely to enjoy doing the work because they retired doing it. A great attractor for retirees is that they benefit from getting a chance to do what they love without being forced into the long hours that comes along with it.Other volunteers can come from just about anywhere as long as they have a willingness and drive to solve the cases. Ex-law enforcement and civilians are vital. Having a mixed background of volunteers provides a variety of experience to draw from and a fresh set of eyes on the cases. Investigators that previously worked on the cases may feel refreshed having another opinion on the work they did and find something that was previously missed. Often times investigators are drawn into the way they were instructed to solve a case and miss alternative approaches to problem solving.Volunteers can provide this alternate because they may not have any training in solving cases. Even if volunteers do not work specifically on solving the case, there are other just as important opportunities. Law enforcement comes with a lot of paperwork and filing. Volunteers are perfect for this because by them doing the paperwork aspect of the investigation it frees up the time of the actual detectives to do the foot pounding. References Leonard, G. J. , Gerard, F. D. , & Camille, D. B. (2005) Resurrecting cold case serial homicide investigations.FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 74(8), 1-7. Retrieved from https://search. proquest. com/docview/204129494? accountid=8289 Napolean, C. R. (2009) Cold case investigation units. TELEMASP Bulletin, 16(1), 1-10. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/198013843? accountid=8289 Regensburger, D. (2011). Law enforcement volunteers: An essential tool in the investigation of cold case homicides. Sheriff, 63(3), 22-24. Retrieved from http://search. proquest. com/docview/869520529? accountid=8289

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The Article Is Titled “Communication Modality Sampling

The article is titled â€Å"Communication Modality Sampling for a Toddler with Angelman Syndrome† by Jolene Hyppa Martin, Joe Reichle, Adele Dimian, and Mo Chen. The authors explored three modes of communication, vocal, gestural, and graphic, with a young child with Angelman syndrome. The researchers investigated which mode of communication would be the most effective and efficient for the child. Angelman syndrome can cause cognitive, communication, and physical disabilities. It is a disorder that affects around 1 in 10,000 births and for the majority of the cases, the cause is genetic. Angelman syndrome can be caused by an abnormality in chromosome 15. Previous research on Angelman syndrome and the different communication modes is lacking.†¦show more content†¦This symbol is taught in gestural, graphic, and vocal mode. The modality sampling has many advantages, one of the most important being that it provides important intervention resources. The main purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of graphic and gestural modes of communication with a toddler with Angelman syndrome (Martin, Reichle, Dimian, Chen, 2013). The participant was Adam, a 21-month-old male with Angelman syndrome. Before the study started, Adam was assessed in communication, cognition, and fine and gross motor skills. Adam did not engage in vocal imitation or turn taking. His mother reported that Adam would sometimes vocalize to get her attention, he would also protest, request, and express excitement. Adam’s fine motor skills were delayed, but he had adequate movements to produce gestures for the study. Before the sessions started, the three researchers went through a role-play training. This was done to increase reliability and interobserver agreement between the researchers. The 44 sessions occurred at the participant’s house or at his day care center. The first session was a baseline probe and the rest of the sessions were divided into five phases. The sessions were held two times per week for five months. The materials for the study included three objects or activities that Adam liked orShow MoreRelatedThe Marketing Research of Brainquiry33782 Words   |  136 Pagesfor personal selling or promotion. The folder titled New York on the CD contains all information needed to conduct any of the things mentioned above. There is also an ample sports breakdown for the golf professionals. This is not a sample but all the private golf clubs and the golf associations that could be used for promotional needs as well as selling. All the information needed for this is found in the excel file in the New York folder titled New York Research. All promotional informationRead MoreWorkers Playtime?: Boundaries and Cynicism in a Culture of Fun Program10325 Words   |  42 PagesBehavioral Science http://jab.sagepub.com/ Workers Playtime? : Boundaries and Cynicism in a Culture of Fun Program Peter Fleming Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 2005 41: 285 DOI: 10.1177/0021886305277033 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jab.sagepub.com/content/41/3/285 Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: NTL Institute Additional services and information for The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science can be found at: EmailRead MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 PagesMBA−10 General Management California College for Health Sciences MBA Program McGraw-Hill/Irwin abc McGraw−Hill Primis ISBN: 0−390−58539−4 Text: Effective Behavior in Organizations, Seventh Edition Cohen Harvard Business Review Finance Articles The Power of Management Capital Feigenbaum−Feigenbaum International Management, Sixth Edition Hodgetts−Luthans−Doh Contemporary Management, Fourth Edition Jones−George Driving Shareholder Value Morin−Jarrell Leadership, Fifth Edition Hughes−Ginnett−CurphyRead MoreBhopal Gas Disaster84210 Words   |  337 Pagestaken that are consistent with these statements.’’ Liveris says in the letter to the ambassador: ‘‘I appreciate your continued support regarding these proposals, and would value an opportunity to discuss next steps with you.’’ Ratan Tata in his communication to Ahluwalia enclosed a copy of Liveris’s letter and says: ‘‘It (withdrawal of fertiliser ministry’s order to Dow to deposit money) is a key aspect and I wanted your assessment as to whether this is possible. ’’ Times of India/ Delhi/ 10/04/07