The Continuum: A Blog by PHI Learning

PHI Learning, a trusted name in academic publishing with 62 years of excellence, offers affordable, NEP 2020-aligned textbooks, expert-authored content, and global reach, driving academic progress in higher education.

Year: 2023

  • The Significance of Business Communication

    In the globalised, contemporary world Business Communication has risen to a position of extreme value. It is required by each and every working professional in order to do any business. Engineers require business communication skills when making plans for projects, scientist require it while writing their research papers and delivering their thesis presentations, office workers employ it when drafting letter and presenting ideas or showcasing their work, while managers need it to manage their staff effectively, while conveying their points with minimum misunderstanding and diplomats require business communications to ensure friendly ties and negotiations with other officials. All of these professionals in different fields rely so heavily on business communication, showing its importance in not only in sharing your ideas in a professional environment, but also just talking to your peers, and even listening to your colleagues in order to extract meaningful information from it.

    Business communication also plays an integral part in the corporate world, in not only business deals and talks with other companies, but also within itself in order to ensure the harmony of the employees to increase efficiency and output. At the same time, externally as well, advertising is based heavily on business communication.

    Business communication allows an individual to convey their thoughts in a concise manner, while present their views in a way which stays with the listeners, driving their points across. This sort of communication is especially useful during group discussions, job interviews and delivering presentations. Yet, business communication is not merely oral. It also comprises of writing reports, research papers, sending business letters and even writing resumes. One also needs to know that communication is a process involving both speaking and listening. Being able to focus on conversations, infer them well enough and develop on what one hears is a major part of their ability to prosper in a professional environment.

    Clearly, business communication is an indispensable tool that every person should possess in order to be a respected member of any community, while also move up the chain for better professional opportunities.

    Author: Ishan Pershad, Physics Student, Ashoka University

    Browse through our books and find out which ones suit your requirement on Business Communication

     

     

  • About PHI Learning’s Academic E-Books

    We at PHI Learning believe e-textbooks are extremely useful for students. We believe e-books are easily transportable, customizable, easy to store, and convenient to make notes on. These features are particularly useful for young students who usually prefer technology and like to study on their digital devices. At PHI Learning, we publish eBook versions of all our print books. Accessible on various e-reading platforms, our e-books are created with the intent to enhance the convenience and reading experience of students and teachers. Our e-textbooks enable students to customize how they study, transport their textbooks conveniently, and access their books no matter where on campus they are.

    PHI Learning is your go-to destination for exceptional e-books that cater to the curious minds of students, researchers, and academics alike. We’re proud to present a vast collection of digital resources designed to revolutionize the way you learn and explore the realms of knowledge.

    🔍 Unrivaled Content: Our e-books cover a wide array of subjects, spanning from science and technology to humanities and social sciences. Immerse yourself in meticulously crafted content authored by esteemed scholars and experts in their respective fields. Dive deep into the latest research, gain profound insights, and stay ahead in your academic pursuits.

    💡 Interactive Experience: We believe that learning should be a dynamic and engaging process. That’s why our e-books go beyond mere static text. Experience the future of education with interactive features such as embedded multimedia, simulations, quizzes, and hyperlinks, enhancing your understanding and fostering an immersive learning environment.

    đŸ“± Anytime, Anywhere Access: With our user-friendly e-book platform, you can access your entire library with just a few clicks. Whether you’re on your laptop, tablet, or smartphone, our e-books adapt seamlessly to any device, ensuring a hassle-free reading experience at your convenience. Study on the go, from the comfort of your home, or even during your daily commute.

    đŸ’» Advanced Tools: Unlock the full potential of our e-books with advanced tools designed to enhance your research and study sessions. Highlight important sections, make personal annotations, and easily search for specific topics. Say goodbye to flipping through countless pages—our intuitive search feature allows you to find information in an instant.

    🌐 Stay Updated: The academic landscape is constantly evolving, and we’re committed to keeping you at the forefront of knowledge. Our e-books are regularly updated to include the latest research, theories, and discoveries. You can trust that you’ll always have access to the most relevant and up-to-date content in your field of interest.

    🌍 Join the Digital Revolution: Embrace the future of academic resources and join our ever-growing community of learners. With our e-books, you’ll have the world of knowledge at your fingertips, enabling you to excel in your studies, broaden your intellectual horizons, and embark on a journey of lifelong learning.

    🔖 Visit our website https://www.phindia.com/PHI/AboutEbooks today and unlock the boundless potential of our e-books. Empower your mind, fuel your intellectual curiosity, and embrace a new era of learning.

     

  • Hashtag Strategy Tips For #DigitalMarketing

    Hashtags are best described as a way for social media platforms to categorize posts. This helps the platform’s algorithm to ensure your post appears on the feeds of users who would be interested in your content. Strategically using hashtags is amongst the most effective ways to grow your reach. Hashtags will help your social media content become prioritized on pages which are most relevant to your brand.

    An effective hashtag strategy will help you reach an audience of people who are genuinely interested in your product. It involves building clusters of content around a hashtag to make it easy for your target audience to find a whole cluster of the kind of content they want to see when they interact with your brand. Most hashtag strategies aim to include both popular and niche hashtags in order to have a broad as well as targetted reach.

    This post provides tips for creating a brand hashtag strategy  to help you effectively target the right audience for your brand and also extend your reach amongst the right categories of people. Read on for our top 7 tips:

    1.  Research your audience

    The most essential part of any social media strategy is knowing who your target audience is. Social media is great for digital marketers due to its ability to be more targeted. Experts can analyze data easily available on all platforms and then target a specific audience which is most likely to be interested in their content.

    Defining the correct audience to target can be as easy as going on your preferred social media platforms and exploring conversations and topics related to your brand or niche. Listening to conversations relevant to your brand will help you find out what your audience cares about and utilize this information to create a targetted strategy.

    2.  Find popular hashtags related to your brand

    Hahstags which are relevant to your brand can help you reach new users who may be interested in your products. Hashtags allow platforms to group together similar content according to a specific interest or keyword. Users who then search for a hashtag will be able to see all content tagged with this specific keyword – including yours! This way, hashtags help you reach audiences who are specifically looking for the kind of content you have to offer.

    Take note of the hashtags which brands in your industry are using. You can also try typing in various keywords related to your product into your preferred platforms search engine until you have a list of the most popular hashtags This way, you will ensure your content reaches those who have interests aligned with your brand.

    Be careful! Don’t forget to check the hashtags you have found. Before you use a hashtag on Instagram, do some research to see who else is using it and what content others are generating around that hashtag. By looking at other posts containing the hashtags you have picked you will ensure you are using hashtags which are truly relevant to your content. Sometimes, even keywords which are related to your brand might not be the best hashtags for you.

    3.  Use the right number of hashtags

    Hashtag marketing strategy is amongst the best ways to increase organic reach so do your research on which hashtags are performing well in your industry. You should form a strategy for what content you will create and how you will drive engagement. Pick your hashtags based on this strategy.

    It’s important to use hashtags strategically instead of adding random keywords to get a large number of hashtags into a single post. Using the correct hashtags which align with your content and your target audience’s interests helps you inform the platform’s algorithm where to place you – no matter the number of hashtags. Using content specific hashtags helps you target a specific goup of people and give you a highly engaged audience.

    4.  Social Monitoring and Social Listening

    Analysing your competitors’ profiles is also a great way to find topics and keywords for which you can use hashtags. Try to include hashtags which others in your industry are also using to make your content more relevant. Investing in social listening and monitoring tools is also a good way to determine which hashtags would be best for your brand and for each of your platforms.

    5.  Analyze Past Posts

    A good hashtag marketing strategy comes from trial and error. Experiment and refine your selection of hashtags until you can find the ones which are producing the best results.

    6.  Look for hashtags relevant to your industry

    It is agreed upon by almost all strategists out there that using only popular or trending hashtags is not the best way to increase your reach and engagement on social media. Brands should use a mix of both popular and niche hashtags. The goal is to ensure you feature on the most popular pages so as to reach as many people as possible but also on less competitive pages where your content is will remain visible around the top of the page for longer.

    This method helps helps you reach all types of audiences ranging from broader groups to specific groups. Further, its easier to rank high on more niche hashtags where there is less competition than on highly popular ones.

    7.  Look for the following types of hashtags: brand and campaign specific, trending, content hashtags, and seasonal hashtags

    There are 3 types of hashtags:

    Branded hashtags are created to market your brand and organize your content around a specific tag.

    Trending hashtags are those which are currently attracting high levels of traffic and can help you reach a massive audience. You can even use online tools like — to find out which hashtags are trending.

    Content hashtags align with the subject matter of your content to catch the interest of people who are interested in topics similar to what your content deals with Time-sensitive content like those created for a calendar holiday tend to get more likes since they are highly relevant to most people at the time they are posted. Include hashtags related to holidays and events in your industry as well as for the current season, month, week, or year so as to make your content appear more relevant to people.

    You may be interested in our book on Digital Marketing. Click https://www.phindia.com/Books/BookDetail/9788194800279/digital-marketing-arora-mathur

     

     

  • Books Reviews: 7 Titles In PHI Learning’s Shakespeare Series

    Are you an English Literature student studying Shakespeare and love making innovative arguments in your coursework / graded papers and essays? If yes, you should check out PHI Learning’s Shakespeare Series. Our Shakespeare Plays textbooks set themselves apart from others in the market with footnotes and critical essays which provide knowledge-based points of discussion.

    This means that the books not only focus on helping students understand the plays in a way that will increase their knowledge.

    Each of the titles in our Shakespeare series features complete annotations, explanatory footnotes, comprehensive introductions, illustrative summaries, & critical essays. A summary is given at the end of every Act and Scene.

    The texts have been created in a way to help the teacher to teach and the student to learn. Our books are priced to keep them affordable for the students and available in both e-book and print format. They are easily available on our website www.phindia.com and other such portals such as Amazon, Flipkart etc. for swift access.

    Key features of our plays include:

    • Meticulously edited full text of the plays with annotations and commentary
    • Well-designed and laid out pages for easy readability
    • Act and Scene summaries
    • Plot Summary
    • Critical Essays

    Interested in knowing more? In our latest YouTube video, our Digital Marketing Executive gives a detailed explanation of what to expect from our Shakespeare Series. Watch it here – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2TjktHL9fU

    The Tragedy of Macbeth

    Editor ​​Dr. Gautam Sengupta, former Professor and Head, Department of English,

    Gurudas College, Kolkata outlines the various themes related to treachery and moral order which emerge throughout the play. Two critical essays which discuss the themes within the play are provided and will certainly be a valuable and unique resource to those studying the play.

    This poetic tragedy deals with moral order. Macbeth gets politically instigated and, taken over by greed, murders King Duncan and becomes the King of Scotland.

    The Merchant of Venice

    Editor Dr Lovelina Singh, a professor at the Department of English and Cultural Studies, Panjab University has captured the dramatic elements of the work in her introduction to the play. The text also features two critical essays to help students gain an analytical perspective.

    Often considered to be one of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays, The Merchant of Venice is a story of love, romance, revenge, and religious fascism set in the backdrop of 16th Century Venice.

    The Tempest

    In this text, editor Dr. Bibhash Choudhury, Professor, Department of English, Gauhati University, focuses on political allegory. The introduction includes an analysis of the post-colonial themes within the play. Two critical essays provided in the book further build upon post-colonial themes and political allegory.

    This play is regarded as one of Shakespeare’s most poetic plays; and one that presents various allegorical interpretations.

    Our recent blog post will help readers understand what’s in store for them through a chapter review.

    Read our recent blog to know more about this text and what it has to offer! https://www.phindia.com/blogs/2022/03/29/the-other-in-the-tempest-chapter-review/

    Julius Caesar

    Shakespeare portrays the murder of King Caesar and how it was avenged by Mark Antony, a soldier in Caesar’s second triumvirate. Editor Dr. Zinia Mitra, Head, Department of English, Nakshalbari College, Darjeeling, provides a comprehensive introduction to the play and also provides act-wise summaries. Critical essays analysing the play are provided which include ‘Role of Women in Julius Caesar’ and ‘Important Themes in Question’.

    This play portrays flaws that are present in everyone. The characters harbor natural human flaws such as greed, jealousy, and suspicion. As the story unfolds, it becomes clear how these tendencies can create political unrest.

    Interested in knowing about these literary interpretations of one of Shakespeare’s most famous works? Read on in our latest Blog Post! https://www.phindia.com/blogs/2022/08/08/shakespeares-julius-caesar-portrays-the-instinctual-human-tendency-towards-political-unrest-heres-how/

    Hamlet

    Ranked among the most influential tragedies in English Literature. Editor Dr Gautum Sengupta, former Professor and Head, the Department of English, Gurudas College, Kolkata, provides ample annotation and commentary to the text for easy comprehension. Critical essays discussing the themes and perspectives of criticism make the book a valuable resource for those studying the play.

    This play portrays the themes of vengeance, instability, and insanity. One view is that Hamlet hallucinates a ghost as he descends into insanity. Another reading is a pneumatological interpretation.

    Read our recent Blog Post about the play! https://www.phindia.com/blogs/2022/08/01/symbolism-of-the-ghost-of-king-hamlet-in-hamlet-by-pallavi-ghosh/

    A Midsummer Night’s Dream

    Editor, Ishita Singh, Assistant Professor at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University provides comprehensive act-wise summaries to encompass the complexities of the play. The critical essays included in the text discuss “Gender and Power” and “Rank and Rebellion”.

    This play finds a fine balance between order and chaos as it takes place over four interwoven plots. The centrality of labouring class characters makes this comedy different from his others.

     As You Like It

    Editor Kashish Dua, Assistant Professor at the Department of English, Jesus and Mary College encourages readers to critically examine the background and the various aspects of the play. The two critical essays provided dead will ‘pastoralism and comedy’ and gendering in the play.

    Set in the Forest of Arden, this play deals with Rosalind and Celia’s experiences with disguises and desires. The play also portrays issues of exile and tension between two brothers.

    Interested in purchasing one of these books? Buy them from our website https://www.phindia.com/SearchBooks/SearchphiBooks/?searchbooks=shakespeare

    Also available on Amazon and Flipkart.

    Just email marketing@phindia.com if you have any queries or to enquire about textbook adoptions, library orders, or e-book samples of our textbooks.

     

  • The Relevance Of Counselling In Business

    The corporate organization is a place where we spend approximately one-third of our lives, thus it plays a very significant role in shaping our behaviours and personalities. Some of the basic human issues at work place, if not checked properly can destroy the system. Hence, we as a manager owe a great deal of responsibility to manage it more effectively. A little bit of inner drive, motivation and knowledge about the ways to handle human behaviour will make this process smooth.

    Unfortunately the concept of counselling is greatly misunderstood and is quite unacceptable to the business world. Some of us either assume that we are born counsellors, and therefore, do not require any guidance with respect to counselling skills or are simply not ready to accept this concept as an intervening variable in determining the effectiveness of an organization. This is hardly surprising, given that many people in business have not been exposed to a counselling style of operating. The techniques used by professional counsellors can be used by managers but only if he or she understands the concept of counselling, recognizing the implication of the skills that he or she is applying and knows when it is appropriate to use these skills.

    One has to remember that key to success in any organization today lies in its ability to harness the potential of employees—which comes if managers begin to understand and utilize the skills of counselling. Use of counselling skills in business organization is still a relatively new concept and one that has tremendous potential for increasing individuals and their organizational effectiveness.

    In the Indian context, we have an old age tradition and culture of counselling as an acceptable mode of human relationship, but we are yet to acquire the modern scientific tradition of professionally trained counsellors, especially for business organizations. It is, therefore, necessary to have a book that talks about approaches of counselling specially designed for business.

    With these forethoughts in mind, Dr. Kavita Singh in her book on ‘Counselling Skills for Managers’ has made an attempt to help the managers in business organizations and budding professionals to develop their counselling skills, and be able to apply them appropriately in the right situations with the desired outcomes.

    Her book, published by PHI Learning, provides some insight into handling behavioural issues at work place by developing counselling skills.

    Want to be a successful manager or a corporate leader? Grab your copy now!!!

     

  • The Role of NEP 2020 in Creating an Inclusive School

    Inclusive education is the most effective way to give all children a fair chance to go to school, learn and develop the skills they need to thrive. It means all children in the same classroom and in the same school with equal learning opportunities despite their disabilities or languages they speak. Inclusive education system values the unique contributions students of all backgrounds bring to the classroom and allow diverse groups to grow side by side, to the benefit of all—children, parents, society, and country at large.

    Inclusive education is about ensuring access to quality education for all students by effectively meeting their diverse needs in a way that is responsive, receptive, respectful and supportive. Students participate in the education program in a common learning environment with support to diminish and remove barriers and obstacles that may lead to exclusion.

    The latest provision in the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020, approved by India’s Union Cabinet in July 2020, encourages, and promotes “Barrier-free access to Education for all Children with Disabilities.” India’s first Education Policy was initially established in 1986 and last revised in 1992. Since then, India needed a change in its entire Education Policy. The New Education Policy describes the much-awaited new reforms that India was looking for. These adaptations are designed with special consideration for children with impairments and those from low-income families. The focus of this new rule’s implementation is on two things– Imparting knowledge and training faculties on how to teach children with specific disabilities. These norms are made keeping in mind the Right of Persons with Disability Act-2016 to provide barrier-free education to children with disability. According to the NEP, children with disabilities will be able to participate equally in all aspects of the educational system.

    The major challenge this system faces is the progress of children at a slow pace. All students are different and therefore have different individual needs. Similarly, children with different disabilities have differing needs. Hence, it is important to choose the right type of inclusive education for the students based on their individual needs, and to get appropriate outcomes, the inclusive education system requires amendments at all levels of society, especially at the level of school and teaching instructors. The first and foremost requirement is the teachers’ training. The instructors or teachers dealing with special children must be well trained as per the needs of the children. Thus, under the New Education Policy, a provision has been made that all teacher education programmes must include instruction on how to teach children with specific impairments. Ensuring the inclusion and equal participation of children with disabilities, the students will be enabled to fully participate in the regular schooling process from the foundational stage to higher education.

    The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act 2016 defines inclusive education as a ‘system of education wherein students with and without disabilities learn together and the system of teaching and learning is suitably adapted to meet the learning needs of different types of students with disabilities’. This Policy is in complete consonance with the provisions of the RPWD Act 2016 and endorses all its recommendations with regard to school education. Barrier free access for all children with disabilities will be enabled as per the RPWD Act.

    School buildings must be refurbished and schools will be supported for providing all children with disabilities accommodations and support mechanisms tailored to suit their needs and to ensure their full participation and inclusion in the classroom. In particular, assistive devices and appropriate technology-based tools, as well as adequate and language-appropriate teaching-learning materials (e.g., textbooks in accessible formats such as large print and Braille) will be made available to help children with disabilities integrate more easily into classrooms and engage with teachers and their peers.

    The Latest book on CREATING AN INCLUSIVE SCHOOL, published by PHI Learning, addresses all the above issues and meets the demand of the NEP 2020 to make learning successful. So, if you are a student of education or a teacher at any school in any capacity, Get your copy now and avail our discount offer 
!