Forensic Nursing Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Forensic Nursing - Research Paper Example The students learned while on job, mostly in healthcare facilities through observation and knowledge acquisition from experienced nurses (Burgess, Berger & Boersma, 2004). The fundamental nursing program of study focuses on firm psychological and physical science base. This essential base comprises human anatomy and physiology, behavioral sciences, biology, nursing arts, theory and general humanities. In the late 20hcentury, nursing ac a course became integral in a majority of universities. This immense advancement is attributable to demands of consumers as well as the more expansive roles for nursing. Nursing practice has undergone metamorphosis with the objective of meeting the needs of the society and the shifting clients’ needs. Conventionally, nurses have been trained as generalists and nurses with immense experience in clinical settings in specific areas are considered to be specialists. A specialty or occupation involving specialty calls for a body of practical applicat ion and theoretical knowledge. These undertakings have to be of highly specialized nature. Furthermore, a specialty area is often depicted to have a legally approved certification course which assesses the achievement of set standards. Additionally, specialty can be defined as a particular area of functional and clinical nursing with a fine, comprehensive focus for safe delivery of wide range of services in that specific nursing area. Early 1980s were a hallmark of a wide range of informal and formal nursing specialty programmes in nursing. Among pioneer specialties in nursing included areas of perinatal care, oncology and gerontology. The acknowledgment of a specialist field of practice is significantly increased with the training tracks which enhance the specialization (Lynch, 2007). Towards the end of the 20th century, it was a testament that a pioneering shift towards forensic nursing education was occurring globally at the levels of diploma, undergraduate and post-graduate. Dev elopment in this nursing specialty area was however slow compared to the already well established areas like gerontology and critical nurse care. Consequently, the educational advancement of forensic nursing was probably hampered by the need to first of all have a specialty accreditation. Forensic nursing is comprised of numerous subspecialties. In all these subcategories, the principal nursing practice is to offer care for offenders and victims both living and deceased. Such clinical care is interfaced with a legal perspective. Nurses who practice forensic application in their delivery of services are entangled to other disciplines hence it can be termed as a multidisciplinary specialty area. Such an interface allows forensic nurses to navigate systems such as child welfare system and criminal justice. Additionally, forensic nurses are linked to systems of medical examiner or coroner as well as the mental healthcare system all of which depend on provision of nursing services. Each subspecialty of forensic nursing has its own unique history and role in clinical practice development. Such factors have been influenced by societal needs reforms within healthcare settings and prisons as well as public sensitivity (Sekula, Colbert, Zoucha, Amar & Williams, 2012). An elaborate literature review in the field of forensic nursing identifies the following subspecialties in the nursing field; Forensic correctional or psychiatric nursing, sex

Justification for qualitative research in organisations

Justification for qualitative research in organisations Qualitative research is a field of inquiry in its own right. It crosscuts disciplines, fields and subject matters. A complex, interconnected family of terms, concepts, and assumptions surround the term qualitative research. These include the traditions associated with foundationalism, positivism, postfoundationalism, postpositivism, poststructuralism, and the many qualitative research perspectives, and/or methods connected to cultural and interpretive studies. qualitative researchers can access fascinating data by observing mundane settings or by finding everyday features in extraordinary settings. This essay provides a justification for the use of qualitative research methods in organisations. In the past, qualitative research methods have always been sidelined and quantitative research methods have been preferred for undertaking organisational research. One of the reasons for this is that qualitative research is always influenced by the researchers personal disposition. According to Creswell, Qualitative Research is a form of interpretive inquiry in which researchers make an interpretation of what they see, hear, and understand. Their interpretations cannot be separated from their own backgrounds, history, contexts, and prior understandings. (Creswell, 2009:176) Another reason for this is given by Silverman when he says that Policy makers and managers have been pushed away from ethnographic research because it takes a relatively long time to complete and appears to use unrepresentative samples. Even though some ethnographers are able to produce powerful arguments about what c an be read from a single, well researched, case, others muddy the waters by political posturing and by suggesting that they want no truck with conventional scientific standards. (Silverman, 2007:86) The pull of quantitative research for organisations is that it tends to define its research problems in a way that makes immediate sense to practitioners and administrators. (Silverman, 2007:86) More recently many organisations have started recognising the merits of using qualitative research methods to undertake research in the organisation. Qualitative research methods enable a thorough scrutiny of the researched topic which is not possible in quantitative research. Even within qualitative research, the researcher is provided with a vast range of options and opportunities for exploring diverse issues within the area of organisational research. What are the different methods used to adopt qualitative research? The most commonly known and most used method of qualitative research is ethnography which had its origins in social anthropology, with particular reference to the study of the culture of social groups and societies. The culture of a social group is made up of these complex networks of meaning and the key task of ethnography is to develop an interpretation and understanding of culture. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) Ethnography can be described as a longitudinal research method that is often associated with participant observation, but can also draw on other research approaches such as contextual and historic analysis of secondary data published by or on the group being studied. The ethnographic approach to developing an in-depth understanding of peoples behaviour makes it well suited to studying organisations. (Marshan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) But It bends reality considerably to imply that ethnography is today the main method of qualitative research and that observational material is the main data source. This is hardly surprising given the plethora of materials that invite our attention. These extend beyond what we can observe with our own eyes to what we can hear and see on recordings, what we can read in paper documents and electronically download on the internet, to what we can derive by asking questions in interviews or by providing various stimuli to focus groups. (Silverman, 2007:37) Grounded theory research, discourse analysis, deconstruction, content analysis, narrative method, action research (Humphreys, 2006), participatory enquiry, participant observation (Denzin and Lincoln, 2000), autoethnography, interviewing are just a few of the current approaches to qualitative data collection and analysis. All these methods are appropriately used in different forms of organisational research. I will be looking at autoethnography, grounded theory research, critical discourse analysis and the narrative approach towards qualitative research and will study the use of these methods in conducting organisational research. Autoethnography Ethnographers have started undertaking the observation of participation where they reflect on and critically engage with their own participation within the ethnographic frame thus giving birth to autoethnography. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005:467) Karra and Philips have defined autoethnography as, the generation of theoretically relevant descriptions of a group to which one belongs based on a structured analysis of ones experiences and the experiences of others from ones groupIt is an attempt to produce sense from ones experience of a group that can be set down in a text and shared with interested others. It does not mean that the researcher studies only himself or herself, but that the researcher is an insider who can draw upon personal experience, cultural competence, and linguistic resources to frame and shape research in a way that an outsider cannot. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:547) Autoethnography has been very efficiently used by Karra and Phillips, in their article about internatio nal management researchers conducting studies in their own cultural context. They say that, autoethnography provides a methodological frame for understanding and managing their research. Even more importantly, it acts to sensitize the researcher to the importance of carefully managing the complex dynamics of this form of cross-cultural research including questions of authorial voice, role conflict, and power. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:543) Autoethnographic approaches have four important strengths- ease of access, reduced resource requirements, ease of establishing trust and rapport, and reduced problems with translation- but at the same time pose three important challenges- lack of critical distance, role conflict, and the limits of serendipity. (Karra and Phillips, 2008:541) The strengths of this mode of research are considerable and despite all the criticisms this method of qualitative research has acquired it can be used very successfully in organisational research where the need is to draw upon personal experiences. One of the uses of autoethnography is to allow another persons world of experience to inspire critical reflection on your own. (Ellis and Bochner, 1996:22) Experience is given a lot of importance in organisations and autoethnography enables the researcher and the organisation to use this experience in a positive manner and in a way which can be very beneficial to the organisation and its employees. Grounded Theory Grounded theory, developed by Glaser and Strauss, is a kind of theory generated from the data collected. The methodology refers to a style of conducting qualitative data analysis whose aim is to discover what kinds of concepts and hypotheses are relevant to the area one wishes to understand. Grounded theory, therefore, provides new insights into the understanding of social processes emerging from the context in which they occur, without forcing and adjusting the data to previous theoretical frameworks. (Cassell and Symon, 2004:242) Grounded theory is a method that is more appropriate for some questions than others. It is most suited to efforts to understand the process by which actors construct meaning out of intersubjective experience. Grounded theory should be used in a way that is logically consistent with key assumptions about social reality and how the reality is known. It is less appropriate to use grounded theory when you seek to make knowledge claims about an objective realit y, and more appropriate to do so when you want to make knowledge claims about how individuals interpret reality. (Suddaby, 2006:634) While the grounded theory approach appeared at a time when methods discourse was decidedly modernist, forty years of development reflect he paradigmatic plurality of current qualitative research. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) The application of grounded theory in organisational research has been gaining popularity in recent times. This is because organisational psychology has been marked by a trend of moving from an individualistic point of view towards a more collective view. Grounded theory has been applied in studies focusing on organisational culture, organisational growth, change and innovation, team work and company survival to name a few. Grounded theory produces descriptions of organisational reality which elicit positive discussions around important themes in the organisation among the employees and, thus, form a basis for positive organisational development trends. (Cassell and Symon, 2004) Critical Discourse Analysis According to Cunliffe, Discourse analysis is a term covering a number of approaches to research that analyze language use. These approaches range from a focus on language itself, to a broader examination of the relationship between language use, social action and social theory. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:81) Discourse analysis provides a theoretical and methodological framework for exploring the social production of organizational and interorganizational phenomena. (Phillips, Sewell and Jaynes, 2008:1) As a methodology, critical discourse analysis allows for the use of different kinds of methods in specific research projects. However, this kind of research in particular demands the ability to make sense of the linkages between specific textual characteristics and particular discourses on the one hand, and between the discourses and the relevant socio-cultural practices and historical developments on the other. This means that research of this type generally tends to favour in-depth scrut iny of and reflection on specific texts. (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) Discourse analysis has become an increasingly popular method for examining the linguistic elements in the construction of social phenomena. It has been increasingly adopted by organization and management scholars interested in the social construction of specific organizational ideas or practices. (Varra, Kleymann and Seristo, 2004:3) There are three important problems facing researchers wishing to adopt a critical discourse perspective in their work. First, like ethnography, discourse analysis results in quite lengthy analyses that are often a poor fit with the requirements of journal editors. Second, discourse analysis often involves major data-management issues because of the volume of data that is often available. Finally, as this is a fairly new are of activity, there are few standard models available to follow. Developing innovative data analysis techniques for each study thus remains a final challenge facing researchers. (Phillips, Sewell and Jaynes, 2008) Narrative Approach According to Oswick, Narratives are an inevitable and unavoidable aspect of social life and, as such, are integral to the processes of managing and organizing. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:141) Although the narrative approach is one with many merits which are being acknowledged by researchers, it is still a field in the making and is not very commonly used. Researchers new to this field will find a rich but diffuse tradition, multiple methodologies in various stages of development, and plenty of opportunities for exploring new ideas, methods and questions. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005:651) A recognition that discourse is the principle means by which organization members create a coherent social reality that frames their sense of who they are has led to an increased interest in narrative approaches in organization studies. A narrative approach explicitly recognizes that, in organizations, language is the primary medium of social control and power, and that the analysis of linguistic practices is key to an understanding of how existing social and power relations are reproduced or transformed. (Humphreys and Brown, 2007) In the article, An Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility at Credit Line: A Narrative Approach by Humphreys and Brown (2008), the authors adopted a narrative approach to the analysis of organizational processes in a bank, Credit Line, in order to explore how individuals in a financial institution dealt with relatively novel issues of corporate social responsibility. The authors used narratives to successfully draw attention to the plurivocity of orga nisational life. Use of qualitative research methods to undertake organisational research in a public sector organisation Public sector organisations are those organisations which are managed by the government. The main aim of these organisations is not to make a profit but to provide a service to the people under the government. Some example of public sector organisations are airports, public hospitals, railway stations, government run schools and colleges. Governments nowadays are looking to privatize most of the public sector organisations in order to increase their efficiency and effectiveness. Thus most of the above given examples have now been partially or completely privatised in most countries. Public sector organisations are common grounds for research amongst qualitative researchers. This could be due to the fact that public sector organisations are more easily accessible than the private sector organisations. Many public sector organisations have also started coming up with their own research and development department which undertakes the organisational research. In my opinion participant observation and interviewing together make an ideal combination to undertake organisational research within a public sector organisation or for that matter any organisation. The shortcomings of participant observations are covered by interviewing and vice versa. Thus, the two methods complement each other perfectly. Participant Observation The methodology of participant observation is appropriate for studies of almost every aspect of human existence. Through participant observation, it is possible to describe what goes on, who or what is involved, when and where things happen, how they occur, and why at least from the standpoint of participants things happen as they do in particular situations. (Jorgensen, 1989) Participant observation is one of the most popular ways of conducting fieldwork in an organisation. This is because through observation of the participants going through their daily routine researchers pick up information which they might not have access to in a more formal setting, an example of which is interviews. Participant observation can be of two types. In the first, the identity of the researcher is known to all and the researcher has a choice of forming relationships with the participants or to stand back and eavesdrop. This form of participant observation is ethically correct but the researchers pe rsonal disposition and identity may influence the participants behaviour and this may have an effect on the research material gathered. The second type of participant observation is covert participant observation where the identity of the researcher is hidden. This form of participant observation raises many ethical questions and is just another form of deception. Thus, covert participant observation should be avoided. The researchers ability to build relationships and develop rapport with subjects is crucial in participant observation. The danger here is that the researcher may feel so embedded and sympathetic to the group being studied that interpreting events objectively becomes difficult. Another demerit of participant observation is the time-consuming and open-ended nature of this kind of research which means it often doesnt get done. In a cost-conscious research climate in which specific and often short-term, definitive objectives are required to secure funding, sustained part icipation is a risky strategy. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008) Interviews The qualitative interview can be seen as a conversation with a purpose, where the interviewers aim is to obtain knowledge about the respondents world. (Thorpe and Holt, 2008:118) The goal of any qualitative research interview is to see the research topic from the perspective of the interviewee and to understand how and why they came to have this particular perspective. (Cassell and Symon, 2004) Interviewing is the most popular method of conducting organisational research. The method has three important advantages. Firstly, interviewers allow the researcher to discover new relationships or situations not previously conceived. Secondly, interview based research may be optimal when there is a small population of possible respondents as interviewers offer an opportunity to acquire a richness of information from each respondent. Finally, interviews may allow researchers to develop a deeper rapport with informants which is necessary to gain honest and accurate responses and to add insights that lay the groundwork for larger or follow-up studies. (Marschan-Piekkari and Welch, 2004) But the interviewing method also suffers from three disadvantages. Firstly, developing an interview guide, carrying out interviews and analysing their transcripts, are all highly time-consuming activities for the researchers. Secondly, qualitative interviews are also tiring to carry out as they involve considerable concentration from the interviewer. Thus, no more than three interviews, each of the duration of one hour, should be carried out in a day. Finally, interviews are also time-consuming for the interviewees and this may cause problems in recruiting participants in some organizations and occupations. The latest trends in interviewing have come some distance from structured questions; we have reached the point of the interview as negotiated text. Researchers are not invisible neutral entities; they are a part of the interaction we seek to study. Interviewers are increasingly seen as active participants in an interaction with respondents, and interviewers are seen as negotiated accomplishments of both interviewers and respondents that are shaped by the contexts and situations in which they take place. (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005) Depending on the type of organisational research which the public sector organisation needs to carry out and its goals and aims, either participant observation or interviewing or a combination of both the methods can be used appropriately in acquiring the required research material. Conclusion Thus, I conclude by saying that qualitative research methods have formed a niche for themselves in organisational research. The importance of organisational research is growing day by day and qualitative research methods are now an important part of organisational research. Although many forms of qualitative research make the use of figures and numbers to support a point of discussion, thus incorporating a characteristic of quantitative research methods, they also provide an in depth analysis on the topic of research and use one or more of the methodologies of qualitative research which include participant observation, interviewing, autoethnography, use of secondary data, grounded theory, ethnography, discourse analysis, narratives and rhetorical analysis. In this essay I introduced qualitative research and outlined its increasing importance in organisational research. I followed this up by describing approaches to qualitative research specifically concentrating on autoethnography, grounded theory, critical discourse analysis and the narrative approach, and critically analysing their use in organisational research. Finally, I concentrated on public sector organisations and why I think that participant observation and interviews are the best methods of qualitative research to undertake organisational research in public sector organisations. In doing this I feel that I have justified the use of qualitative research in organisations. Word Count: 2969 words

Comparison of Lao-tzu and Machiavelli Essays -- Political Philosophers

Comparison of Lao-tzu and Machiavelli Lao-tzu and Machiavelli are political philosophers writing in two different lands and two different times. Lao-tzu was an ancient Chinese philosopher from 6th century BC, the author of Tao-te Ching, and Machiavelli was an Italian philosopher who lived 2000 years after Lao-tzu’s time, author of Prince. They are both philosophers but have totally different perspective on how to be a good leader. While both philosopher’s writing is instructive. Lao-tzu’s advice issues from detached view of a universal ruler; Machiavelli’s advice is very personal perhaps demanding. Both philosophers’ idea will not work for today’s world, because that modern world is not as perfect as Lao-tzu described in Tao-te Ching, and not as chaotic as Machiavelli illustrated in Prince. Perhaps Lao-tzu and Machivelli’s political system will not work for today’s world, but some of their philosophies are still exist in some of modern issues. One of those issues is gun control, which has become a dividing line in America. Lao-tzu advised in Tao-te Ching â€Å"weapon are the tools of violence; all decent man detest them. Weapon are the tools of fear; a decent man will avoid them except in the direst necessity and, if compelled, will use them only with the utmost restraint.† On the other hand Machiavelli wrote in Prince, â€Å"Francesco Sforza became Duke of Milan from being a private citizen because he was armed; his sons, since they avoided the inconveniences of arms, bec...

“London” by William Blake with “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” by William Wordsworth Essay

Compare and contrast â€Å"London† by William Blake with â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge† by William Wordsworth and show how each used his poetry to express his views about his life and times. Blake and Wordsworth both display different views and attitudes about the city of London in their poems. They both lived in the same era, Blake lived during the 18th and then on into the 19th century (1757- 1827) and Wordsworth also lived during the 18th and then on into the 19th century (1770- 1850). As the poems were alive in the same era of life they were both alive during the industrial revolution. This was a time when children of a very age were sent up chimneys and were made to sweep them clean. They were used because of their very small size. This turned Wordsworth and indeed Blake against London. They also didn’t like other major cities in the country like Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool. The main reason why they hated major cities, with London being the largest one was because they hated pollution. They both preferred the countryside and nature to the hustle and the bustle of England’s city environment. Both poets didn’t really like what they saw around them. They were also both romantic poets. In the poem â€Å"Composed upon Westminster Bridge†, by William Wordsworth, the poet is expressing views towards London that are positive. This is unusual for Wordsworth as he normally was against the industrialisation of London. In the poem, Wordsworth is describing the early morning sight of London and in particular Westminster Bridge. He makes out that London looks as beautiful as the countryside without anyone awake and the major; air-polluting factories are empty and quiet. â€Å"The beauty of the morning; silent, bare, Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie†. A main reason, which turned both of the poets against London, was because of the factories and tall buildings, which were caused by industrialisation. They felt that it ruined the natural beauty that the country has. There is also use of different parts of speech, in particular personification. † This city now doth, like a garment† Also in the poem, which is a sonnet, Wordsworth tries to get the point across to the readers that anyone who doesn’t see the beauty of London at this time in the day would have to be a very insensitive and not appreciate anything that was naturally beautiful in the world. â€Å"Earth has not anything to show more fair: Dull would he be of soul who could pass by, a sight so touching in its majesty†. Wordsworth, who was poet laureate, along with William Blake both believed in Pantheism. This meant that they both saw god in nature. In the poem â€Å"London†, by William Blake, the poet is expressing his real thoughts about London as a whole. That it wasn’t really a nice place to be. Like William Wordsworth he didn’t like London due to the fact that it had become so polluted due to industrialisation. The poem itself, contain four verses, each containing four lines in each verse. The poem is also written in doggerel style, because it is written in a crude and inartistic style. In the poem, Blake is expressing the bad details of London. His thoughts are dark and moody. He compares London to that of a battle site. â€Å"And the hapless soldier’s sigh. Runs in blood down palace walls.† This for me sums up the exact thought of the poet, William Blake about London in general. When Blake was writing this poem, it was mid-night in London. The time of night is important in the poem as it reflects the dark and sombre mood of Blake. Right from the offset in the poem there is criticism of London, as Blake describes how the river has nowhere to go. â€Å"As I wander each chartered street, near where the chartered Thames does flow.† It is like the river is mapped out and has to flow exactly where it is shown on the map. This is because London has lost its natural beauty and is now so unnatural. The people who live in London are always having something to moan about, according to the Poet. This is because they are all so trapped in the City, many want to get out of London because it has become so industrialised and they want it so everything is naturally beautiful. â€Å"And mark in every face I meet, Marks of weakness, marks of woe.† Blake also feels trapped in London with nowhere to turn but to more factories. â€Å"In every cry of every man. In every infants cry of fear, in every voice, in every ban, the mind forged manacles I hear.† Blake uses different parts of speech throughout the poem. â€Å"And blights with plagues the marriage hearse.† An oxymoron is used here because people don’t usually associate marriage with a hearse. The poets William Blake and William Wordsworth both express their own views towards London in their poetry, Blake with the dull view of London and Wordsworth with his unusual praise for London. Many different parts of speech are exercised in each poem for different reasons. But the poets give us their personal view towards London, each in a descriptive way.

Total Rewards

The first advantage of a total rewards approach is self fulfillment so that people are recognized for what they do and encouraged to reach their potential through effective learning and development processes and given feedback on their performance. The second advantage is an organization culture where roles are clear and organizational and personal values are in alignment so that employees engage and enjoy work.Another way to consider the necessary components of rewarding people is to view them as individuals, within their team, in the organization and generally in the workplace. The fourth advantage is recognition, you must make sure that the employees are being appreciated, and not taken for granted. The last one is Organizational culture which is being able to engage and fit with the organization in terms of its values and how things are done. Describe five (5) common ways a total rewards strategy can go astray.The five common ways a total rewards strategy can go astray is simply copying another organization’s reward practices can lead to disaster, It would be harmful for either firm to adopt the reward practices of the other, Not implanting an effective award strategy, No considering the employees communication strategy, and Not following the strategy the way is was implemented. Describe the six (6) steps in designing a total rewards program. Developing a total rewards strategy specific to your institution’s needs requires some initial homework to establish a baseline of what you already offer and to develop a more strategic approach to rewards.The first step is Inventory rewards, it will conduct a full, detailed, and accurate inventory of the rewards currently offered by your institution. This inventory should include both formal programs and informal practices. Some of this information is readily available but some of it will require investigation, particularly in large, decentralized institutions. To be effective, a total rewards strategy s hould reflect your institution’s strategy and goals for attracting, retaining, and engaging qualified talent.The second step is Measure investment, this is where you calculate the current level of investment in each element to establish a baseline and to track changes. The third step is Increase information because through clear communication, it helps employees understand the full suite of rewards available to them. The fourth step is Implement improvements, this implementation and execution is essential to a fully realized total rewards strategy. Vague practices, inconsistent implementation, and unclear communication will contribute to a less-than-effective strategy.Setting priorities for developing or enhancing rewards and communicating these improvements will demonstrate an institutional commitment to employees. The fifth step is Measure impact, which is a total rewards strategy that constitutes a vibrant plan. Maintaining the plan’s relevance requires regular revi ew of your institution’s initiatives and external influences. Lastly the sixth step is Involve the community. Involve leadership, faculty, and staff in understanding the total rewards strategy and how it supports the institution’s overall strategic direction. Describe the eight (8) steps in the communication process.Communication plans can be prepared for a variety of activities – internal and external. Interestingly, though, many companies overlook the value of creating formal communication plans to outline their overall internal communication objectives – and to provide a framework for activities, with measures to help determine whether the tactics used are really making a difference. The eight steps in the communication process is Situation analysis/background, Quantifiable objectives/goals, Target audience, Key messages, Strategies and tactics to meet objectives/goals, Responsibility/accountability for completing tactics, Budget, and Measurement.The s ituation analysis or background section of your communication plan should provide a high level overview of the situation or communication need with sufficient detail that someone not directly involved would understand the issue driving the need for communication and the desired outcome. The next step in developing your communication plan is to identify objective/goal statements that indicate the â€Å"end state† you hope to achieve. It’s critical that each of your objectives/goals has a specific, targeted â€Å"end point† or outcome.This both helps you determine the amount of resources that must be allocated to achieve the goal and also provides an indicator of success. The next step is to target your audience because you will need to remember that your challenge will be finding a balance between exerting more effort than is required to communicate to various audiences and not exerting enough effort to impact the appropriate audiences. A good starting point in i dentifying target audiences is to consider the various stakeholders that the message impacts. Each identified target audience has different communication needs.The content, order and number of key messages are likely to vary by group. The fewer and more specific your key messages can be, the better. Three key messages are a good number to aim for more than that will broaden your focus and minimize the impact of your communication. Objectives/goals identify the end points you hope to achieve. You will have to go beyond these broad objectives to identify specifically how you will achieve those end points. This involves developing strategies and tactics. Strategies are broad statements of activity.Tactics are more specific statements of activity that are actionable. When identifying strategies and tactics, it’s important to be realistic. Assigning accountability for the accomplishment of that plan is critical. Unless specific areas of the organization – and individuals wi thin those areas recognize that they are being held responsible and accountable for completing specific tactics that drive your ability to achieve your strategies and objectives. You have to achieve your communication plan objectives, you may also need to address the budget resources needed.While some communication plans will require no additional budget and can be accomplished with existing staff within standard work hours, other plans will require additional staff or the development of communication materials. To be effective, communication needs to be part of a carefully considered process, focused on achieving clearly identified, measurable results. It is not difficult to communicate effectively, but it does take some thought, a clear focus on objectives, an understanding of the tools available to communicate your messages and a strong partnership between you and your internal customer.