Nursing Philosophy Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Nursing Philosophy Paper - Essay Example In othÐ µr words, it is thÐ µ nursÐ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s rÐ µsponsibility to havÐ µ thÐ µ ability to do things for thÐ µmsÐ µlvÐ µs, in a lifÐ µlong lÐ µarning procÐ µss that Ð µnrichÐ µs thÐ µm. ThÐ µ currÐ µnt invÐ µstigation looks at my own nursing philosophy, and how thÐ µ subjÐ µct of transitions is addrÐ µssÐ µd in thÐ µ CCSU modÐ µl, as wÐ µll as othÐ µr subjÐ µcts rÐ µlÐ µvant to my philosophy. Transitions and CCSU ModÐ µl ThÐ µ CCSU modÐ µl statÐ µs thrÐ µÃ µ main goals: prÐ µparing lÐ µadÐ µrs, Ð µncouraging activÐ µ lÐ µarnÐ µrs, and producing collaborativÐ µ practitionÐ µrs. Еach of thÐ µsÐ µ goals is complÐ µmÐ µntary with thÐ µ thrÐ µÃ µ main typÐ µs of transition that arÐ µ idÐ µntifiÐ µd: dÐ µvÐ µlopmÐ µntal, situational, and organizational. DÐ µaling with thÐ µsÐ µ transitions and intÐ µrsticÐ µs, mÐ µans also dÐ µaling with lÐ µgal issuÐ µs of rÐ µsponsibility. Having an Ð µxtÐ µnsivÐ µ nursing backgro und in transitional issuÐ µs is vÐ µry important and it should bÐ µ basÐ µd on sÐ µrving cliÐ µnt or patiÐ µnt nÐ µÃ µds. ThÐ µrÐ µ arÐ µ many Ð µxamplÐ µs of patiÐ µnt nÐ µÃ µds and what thÐ µy want for a good quality of carÐ µ from thÐ µ nursÐ µ, basÐ µd on what kind of illnÐ µss thÐ µy may havÐ µ morÐ µ risk factors for. All patiÐ µnts arÐ µ ablÐ µ to idÐ µntify challÐ µngÐ µs to mÐ µÃ µting thÐ µir nÐ µÃ µds. ... ?quÐ µntly givÐ µn in tÐ µrms of Ð µxamplÐ µs to thÐ µ trainÐ µÃ µ about how thÐ µy would rÐ µspond Ð µthically to common complaints of misconduct through situational analysis. NursÐ µs havÐ µ always usÐ µd a problÐ µm solving approach to providÐ µ carÐ µ to cliÐ µnts. In thÐ µ samÐ µ way a problÐ µm solving approach can bÐ µ usÐ µd for transitional dilÐ µmmas and will incorporatÐ µ thÐ µ transitional thÐ µoriÐ µs (Murphy, 1990, 1). DÐ µscription of own philosophy ChangÐ µ is dÐ µfinÐ µd gÐ µnÐ µrally in rÐ µlation to CCSU goals as wÐ µll as spÐ µcifically to thÐ µ hÐ µalthcarÐ µ fiÐ µld, which is a fiÐ µld that has gonÐ µ through a lot of changÐ µ rÐ µcÐ µntly with MÐ µdicarÐ µ and MÐ µdicaid, HMOs, cost containmÐ µnt, rÐ µform undÐ µr Obama, Ð µtc. ThÐ µ hÐ µalthcarÐ µ organization of today is attÐ µmpting to undÐ µrscorÐ µ its position as a consumÐ µr drivÐ µn organization by strÐ µssing both individual and group insura ncÐ µ options in intÐ µrnal litÐ µraturÐ µ. But at thÐ µ samÐ µ timÐ µ it is a systÐ µm that has changÐ µd and is gÐ µarÐ µd towards cutting costs, so RNs must lÐ µarn to rÐ µact to this changÐ µ in a cliÐ µnt cÐ µntÐ µrÐ µd way to dÐ µlivÐ µr a bÐ µttÐ µr hÐ µalth carÐ µ Ð µxpÐ µriÐ µncÐ µ. My philosophy goÐ µs back to thÐ µmÐ µs mÐ µntionÐ µd abovÐ µ, of adult lÐ µarning and lifÐ µtimÐ µ lÐ µarning for thÐ µ RN. In tÐ µrms of how I fÐ µÃ µl about lifÐ µlong lÐ µarning in rÐ µaction to transition thÐ µory and CCSU objÐ µctivÐ µs, I am a big supportÐ µr of this thÐ µory of lÐ µarning. I think that thÐ µrÐ µ is a clÐ µar Ð µxprÐ µssion of how important lifÐ µlong lÐ µarning is today, whÐ µn comparÐ µd to thÐ µ past, by looking at how many adult studÐ µnts thÐ µrÐ µ arÐ µ in RN training programs. TwÐ µnty or thirty yÐ µars ago this would havÐ µ bÐ µÃ µn a rarity, but today thÐ µrÐ µ arÐ µ rising amounts of nontra ditional adult studÐ µnts and falling amounts of traditional youngÐ µr

Attila the Hun - Short Story Essay Example for Free

Attila the Hun Short Story Essay Why were the military campaigns of Attila the Hun successful? Attila’s military success will be explained through his ability to lure the Romans into war on a pretext whenever the Romans were vulnerable. His motives behind each war was to abstract as much money from the Romans as possible. Also to be explored will be his ability to assert psychological domination over the Eastern Emperor at a time when the two Empires were at peace. Furthermore to be examined will be his ability to portray himself as diplomatic through treaties and embassy consultations between the Romans and the Huns. Also to be looked at will be how successful was Attila’s at creating and seizing opportunities This will be done by looking at Attila’s campaigns in the east and west Roman Empires. After the death of their Uncle Rua 435/6, Attila and his brother Bleda took control of the Hunnic Empire. The two brothers decided to renegotiate the relationship that existed between their Uncle Rua and the Eastern Roman Empire based in Constantinople. The Treaty set up by Rua, stipulated that, the Romans paid him an annual subsidy of 350 lbs of gold. He also demanded fugitives who had fled to the Romans and threatened war if they were not returned. The negotiations took place near the city of Margus in 438. According to Priscus the meeting took place according to both parties’ customs. The Huns would hear what the Romans had to say while mounted on horseback while the Romans discussed the meeting on foot. The Huns dictated the new terms of the treaty, referred to as the Peace of Margus. The Huns decided the annual subsidy was to be raised to the sum of 700lbs. The treaty also fixed that for every Roman captive who had escaped from the barbarians, the Romans must pay eight pieces of gold. The treaty also predetermined that all fugitives must be returned to the Huns. Furthermore the emperor Theodosius was to relinquish any ongoing treaties with enemies of the Huns. Moreover the Huns were to conduct the way the free markets on the northern side of the Danube were controlled. Attila used the markets as a pretext to wage war on the east. The free markets were attacked by Hunnic traders in 441/2 killing Roman merchants during the raid. Theodosius complained that the Huns had violated the â€Å"Peace of Margus†. The Huns reported to the Romans that the Bishop of Margus had crossed over to their territory and robbed their royal tombs. They complained that the Romans had not honoured the Peace of Margus by refusing to return fugitives to them. Additionally, they demanded the Bishop be handed over as well. The significance of these allegations was central to the Huns plan for an attack during the campaigning season. The Romans refused both claims and war was declared. Having successfully provoked the Eastern Romans into a war had been a strategic move by the Hunnic leader. Attila knew the eastern Roman field forces were based in Sicily on a joint expedition with the Western Empire to recapture Carthage from the Vandals led by king Geseric. The North African campaign was partially why Theodosius readily agreed to the treaty of Margus. He thought it would give the east breathing space. Moreover Carthage was crucial to the Western Empire as it provided Rome with grain. Knowing that the east was vulnerable, the Huns would cause carnage throughout the Balkans. Margus was a key city that opened up the Balkans for the Hunnic invasion of the east. The Bishop of Margus defected to the Huns. In return for clemency he handed over the Episcopal city. The Huns swept through the Balkans raising cities to the ground. The key fortified city of Naissus was besieged and taken. Priscus gives an account of the siege. He states â€Å"a large number of [Hunnic siege] engines had been brought up to the wallthe so called rams were brought up alsoA beam is suspended by slack chains†. However, Professor E.A Thompson disputes that the siege occurred and that Priscus borrows heavily on Thucydides’ account of the Battle at Plataea. Professor Thompson states four reasons to argue his point, among them the Huns inept ability to construct such machines and also it is unlikely that the Hunnic archers, who rarely dismounted, would on this occasion have left their horses for a totally alien form of warfare. On the other hand, they may have been quite capable of such construction for it is well documented they had enslaved many tradesmen. As for example in the bath which was made for the Hunnic noble Onegesius by a craftsman who was captured at Sirmium. Nevertheless the Huns ransacked and pillaged the Balkans taking fortified cities along the way such as Viminacium, Illyricum and defeated the Roman army at Chersonese. According to Brian Croke, In 441 the Huns invaded Illyricum only and in 442 broke into northern Thrace . The Romans sued for peace and the Treaty of Anatolius was agreed. Attila terms demanded that the annual tribute be tripled to 2,100 pounds of gold. He also compelled the Romans to surrender all Hun deserters and to ransom their own deserters at a rate of twelve solidi each. The treaty, however, contained one provision that had no precedent. Attila forced the Romans to make an immediate payment of 6,000 pounds of gold. Attila’s plan to force a war to bring about higher subsidies had worked. He would devastate the Balkans for a second time in 447 when he came looking for subsidies that were in arrears. When Atillas second campaign of the Balkans began in 447 he was sole leader of the Huns after having his brother Bleda killed in 445/6. A year later an embassy was sent by Attila to the Imperial court to address the issue of arrears and fugitives. The Romans were now feeling in a stronger position. They had introduced a new law in 443 which insured Military readiness for the Eastern Field forces. They had been strengthened by a recruitment of a large number of Isaurians – traditionally bandits- from the highlands of Cilicia in south-west Asia Minor. Moreover the Eastern army had been forced to return from Sicily after Attila’s first campaign. Attila turned as far south to Thermopylae and then west, ransacking Marcianople, Arcadiopolis, and Callipolis. An earthquake at Constantinople had occurred, Attila decided to turn back. The Imperial City was heavily fortified with triple walls that had been repaired hastily after the earthquake. The legislated Military Readiness law was of little use to the Romans as Attila wreaked havoc on an unprecedented scale. The results were the same as the first campaign, the Romans sued for peace and the second treaty of Anatolius was agreed. More subsides was agreed and a large track of land to act as a buffer zone between the Huns and the Romans was approved. Attila had succeeded at luring the Eastern Empire into war on a pretext to extort more subsidies. He was also adept at asserting his psychological domination, by humiliating the Eastern Emperor Theodosius at Constantinople. Theodosius was humiliated in 449 when his Eunuch Chrysaphius hatched a plot to assassinate Attila. The Plot was unbeknown to the Roman ambassador Maximinus, and his escort Priscus. They were sent to Attila’s camp to discuss issues in the treaty such as the ongoing fugitives case and the issue of the land used as a buffer zone. To give a picture of the devastation Attila caused in the Balkans. Prisucus relates how when travelling to Attila’s court in 449 they stopped at Naissus to pitch tent, he states how the pl ace was littered with bones from Attila’s first campaign. Attila’s refusal to meet the missionaries irritated Maximinus and Priscus. He ordered them to leave then ordered them to stay. Maximinus and Priscus were at a loss to Attila’s behaviour. Maximinus was frustrated and urged Priscus to arrange a meeting with Attila. Priscus succeeded by offering gifts to Onegesius’ brother Scottas to secure them a meeting with Attila. The two missionaries were shocked when it was revealed to them by Attila’s men the purpose of their mission. After nothing left to stay for they departed home despaired. They met their interpreter Bigilas travelling back to Attila’s court whom he had dismissed earlier. When they had initially left Constantinople, Chrysaphius had persuaded Edeco to kill Attila. Edeco had arrived in Constantinople the previous spring as a Hunnic ambassador and was now returning to Attila’s camp along with Maximinus and Priscus. Edeco a faithful and trustful servant to Attila had revealed the details at once. When Bigilas arrived he was immediately set upon by Attila’s men a nd a bag with 50lbs of gold was found in his possession. It was the reward money to Edeco if he had succeeded in killing Attila. Bigilas’ son was threatened with death if he did not come back with another 50lbs of gold. Attila sent his Roman secretary Orestes as a Hunnic ambassador to Constantinople with the empty bag around his neck. His instructions were to ask Theodosius if he recognised the bag. Priscus gives a clear account of the humiliation when he states â€Å"Eslas was to say directly that Theodosius was the son of a nobly born father, and Attila too was off noble descentwhereas Attila had preserved his noble linage, Theodosius had fallen from his and was Attila’s slave bound to the payment of tribute†. Attila had succeeded at psychologically humiliating Theodosius. Furthermore, as the interpreter returned with the 50lb of gold to free his son, Attila had gained more subsidies in the form of 100lbs gold even though the two sides were at peace. Priscus observed an interesting point at Attila’s court. He noticed Attila was asking western ambassadors to hand over a silver plate dealer who resided in Rome, named Silvanus. Attila claimed Silvanus had stolen gold vessels from him. Silvanus maintained he had bought the vessels from Attila’s secretary Constantius. Attila had Constantius crucified and called for the surrender of the Silvanus. The Roman General Aetius refused Attila’s demand. Aetius declared that Silvanus was Constantius’ creditor, despite the fact that he did offer to pay for the price of the vessels he would not hand over the innocent Silvanus. Attila had got his pretext to wage war in the west. Moreover in c.450 a Frankish succession crisis brought about a situation where one claimant appealed to the Huns and the other to the Vatican. In 451 Attila left the Hungarian plains and turned westwards to Gaul. The Hunnic invasion of Gaul was accompanied by allies such as the Rugian, Gepid, Burgundian, Scirian, Thuringian and Franks. They initially swept away defenceless cities such as Metz and Constantine’s’ old Imperial city at Trier. At the city of Orleans they met heavy resistance from the Alans who were in the service of the Romans. Aetius and Theodoric along with several other mercenary tribes manage to lure Attila away from Orleans. The following month was the Battle of Chalons on the Catalaunian fields. The battle of Catulaunian Fields is regarded as one of the decisive battles of the western world. Attila’s army was defeated by Aetius who represented the incapable Western Emperor Valentinian. Both sides suffered heavy losses, the Gothic king Theodoric had been killed in the battle. Aetius advised Theodoric’s’ son Thorismud to return home to defend his claim to the throne, as a result disabling Aetius’ pursuit of the battle against the Hunnic alliance. Attila retreated back to the Hungarian plains to plan his next move. Within a year the Huns were on the move again. The Western Emperor Valentinian’ sister Honoria had been caught having an affair and was bethrothed to another man named Herculanus. She sent her eunuch Hyacinthus to Attila before he entered Gaul offering herself as his wife and half the western Empire as her dowry. She had sent her ring as proof of her commitment. Attila waged war on Italy in 452 on the pretext he was entitled to half the Western Empire. Attila pillaged the wealthiest cities in northern Italy most notably Aquileia and Milan. When he was marching towards Rome papal legend claims Pope Leo persuaded him to abandon his plan and not to attack Rome. More practical issues would be his incompetence in preparing a supply line of food for his huge army. It could also be said the army was suffering from breakouts of various diseases. Furthermore an Eastern Roman General also named Aetius had invaded Attila’s kingdom. Nonetheless, Attila decided to return home to his vast Empire north of the Danube where he died the following year on his wedding night. The Huns had been inadvertently responsible for creating the instability the Western Empire now faced. Attila’s predecessors had forced, Germanic, Alans, Suevi and other tribes into the Empire for sanctuary. In 376 the Romans were beseeched by Goths north of the Danube to be admitted into the Empire who had been retreating under Hunnic Pressure. They had been driven from their lands by the Huns and were now crossing the Danube to reach the Empire. When the Goths were admitted into the Empire during the late fourth century, the authorities gave them food and land to cultivate. The Eastern Emperor Valens viewed them as foedearti and more taxes; this would benefit the army and treasury alike. Moreover the rich landowners would benefit from their labourer. Too many refugees came across for the Romans to count, but it may possibly have been in the tens or hundreds of thousands. Many were dispersed to whether they were needed to stop them becoming a threat to the Empire. The displacement of the Goths by the Huns and acceptance by Emperor Valens is often viewed as the beginning of the end for the Western Roman Empire. The invitation quickly turned to attempted invasion when the Romans in the east suffered their worst defeat in 600 years at the battle of Adrianople in 378. The Goths led by king Fritergen killed the emperor Valens; not until the ninth century would another emperor die in battle. They slaughtered two thirds of the Eastern Roman army. It was a self inflicted wound, near crippling the east. If the Goths had been treated better in the east, they may have helped the Romans face the Hunnic hordes already closing in from the Steppes. Furthermore slightly more than three decades later the Visigoths led by Alaric would sack Rome in 410. These two conquests in the east and west is evident the once mighty Roman Empires glory days were almost at an end. By the time the Huns had turned west from the Hungarian plains into Gaul, the west was already a weakened Empire through lose of land, taxes and military power. By the time of Attila’s arrival the Western Empire was dominated by barbarian tribes. Germanic forces had fought and weakened the empire in northern Gaul. Consequently it seems to have become a patchwork of territories ruled by unrecognised chiefs, leaders whose authority was based upon Roman titles, and barbarian warlords. The tribes were dominant enough to conduct their own foreign policy and more importantly, alliances, without Roman approval. For example Theodoric married his one of his daughters to the heir of the Vandal throne and another to the Suevic king. In Gaul 406, 408, and 411, the Romans had fought among themselves and suffered heavy losses. Supported by the Huns in 425 they suffered further losses at the hands of the Vandals. In 439 Aetius was fighting the Goths in Gaul in and restoring order against local rebels named by Romans as Bagaudae at Aremorica. Geseric took advantage and took Carthage by surprise. Due to the manpower crisis the Empire could not afford to fight on two fronts. To protect Carthage, Aetius had to make peace with the Gothic king Theodoric to free himself in order to fight the Vandals. Aetius had increasingly become heavily depended upon recruiting barbarian allies outside the Empire.. Attila made unsuccessful attempts to extract wealth from the west. Attila’s campaigns can be measured as successful through his tactics, his ability to lure the Romans into war on a pretext. He tended to act diplomatic by negotiating treaties then he would dishonour his own treaty and blame the Romans, Attila repeatedly used the issue â€Å"fugitives† as a case to wage war. Attila’s success can be measured on his achievements through the raising of subsides with each treaty. Attila achieved what he had set out to do from the start and that was to get as much money from the Romans as possible. Attila never wanted to conquer Constantinople or Rome. He wanted to extract as much subsides as he could. The Eastern Empire collected taxes from Egypt to Asia Minor and the Huns had no navy to uphold this lucrative adventure. It was easier for them to collect of the Romans. His successful campaigns were planned strategically. His campaigns can be measured by breaking up an important joint East-West enterprise to save Carthage. This is also the case in the west. He knew it was in a factional position and politically unstable. It was an opportunity Attila Seized upon. Attila campaigns were thought out in advance and sometimes long before the enemy realised. Attila could also be tactful; evident to this was shown hen Attila humiliated Theodosius. [ 1 ]. W. Bayless, The Treaty with the Huns of 443. in The American Journal of Philology, Vol. XCV11, No. 2 (1976), p.178 [ 2 ]. W. Bayless, The Treaty with the Huns of 443., p.177 [ 3 ]. P. Heather, The fall of the Roman Empire: A new history of Rome and the barbarians (USA, 2006), p.301 [ 4 ]. E. Gibbon, (2012-05-12). History of the Decline and fall of the Roman Empire Volume 3 (Kindle Locations 3917-3922). . Kindle Edition. [ 5 ]. P. Heather, The fall of the Roman Empire, p.301 [ 6 ]. W. Bayless, The Treaty with the Huns of 443., p.177 [ 7 ]. E. Gibbon, (2012-05-12). History of the Decline and fall of the Roman Empire Volume 3 (Kindle Locations 3998-4001). . Kindle Edition. [ 8 ]. W. Bayless, The Treaty with the Huns of 443, p.178 [ 9 ]. P. Heather, The fall of the Roman Empire, p.302 [ 10 ]. R. Blockley, â€Å"Dexippus and Priscus and the Thucydidean account of the siege of Plataea†. in Phoenix, Vol. XXV1, No. 1 (1972), p.25 [ 11 ]. R. Blockley, â€Å"Dexippus and Priscus and the Thucydidean account of the siege of Plataea†, p.25 [ 12 ]. W. Bayless, The Treaty with the Huns of 443., pp. 176-179 [ 13 ]. B.Croke, The Context and Date of Priscus Fragment 6. Classical Philology, Vol. 78, No. 4 (Oct., 1983), pp. 297-308 [ 14 ]. W. Bayless, The Treaty with the Huns of 443., pp. 176-179 [ 15 ]. P. Heather, The fall of the Roman Empire, p.302 [ 16 ]. P. Heather, The fall of the Roman Empire, p.302 [ 17 ]. Medieval Sourcebook, â€Å"Priscus at the court of Attila† (http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/priscus1.asp) (30 Nov. 2012) [ 18 ]. Medieval Sourcebook, â€Å"Priscus at the court of Attila† (http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/priscus1.asp) (30 Nov. 2012) [ 19 ]. P. Heather, The fall of the Roman Empire, p.324 [ 20 ]. Medieval Sourcebook, â€Å"Priscus at the court of Attila† (http://www.fordham.edu/Halsall/source/priscus1.asp) (30 Nov. 2012) [ 21 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West 376-568 (UK, 2007), p.250 [ 22 ]. P. Heather, The fall of the Roman Empire, p.324 [ 23 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West, p.253 [ 24 ]. E.A. Thompson, Romans and Barbarians, p.16 [ 25 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West, p.252 [ 26 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West, p.252 [ 27 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West 376-568, p.254 [ 28 ]. P. Heather. The Huns and the End of the Roman Empire in The English Historical Review, Vol. 110, No. 435 (Feb., 1995), p.11 [ 29 ]. J. Moorhead, The Roman Empire divided 400-700 (UK, 2001), p12 [ 30 ]. E.A. Thompson, Romans and Barbarians: The decline of the Western Empire (USA, 1982), p.16 [ 31 ]. J. Moorhead, The Roman Empire divided, p.12 [ 32 ]. J. Moorhead, The Roman Empire divided, p.62 [ 33 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West, p.243 [ 34 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West, p.247 [ 35 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West, p.245 [ 36 ]. G. Halsall, Barbarians Migrations and the Roman West, p.254 [ 37 ]. J. Moorhead, The Roman Empire divided, p.53

What are groups? Essay -- Communication Skills, Team Work

Groups are collections of people with similar qualities and shared aims coming together to share knowledge and to learn from each other through discussion (Jaques and Salmon, 2007). Through group work (GW) students acquire effective collaborative, problem-solving, teamwork and communication skills. These are key skills required in employment where graduates will often need to work in teams to discuss solutions to problems / tasks. According to Race (2007) the above transferable skills can only be learnt from, and with, other people. Humans are social beings, thus individual learning is seen as a cultural process of participation as a group member interacting and socialising with each other (Maiden and Perry, 2011). Learners were tasked to design a module in groups of five or six in LTM113. Tuckman’s Model (TM) of group development will be used to discuss how GW is employed as a means to achieve the development of a module. TM is used by behaviourist scientist to analyse individual and group behaviour in the workplace, but the realm for Higher Education is that by recognising where a group is in the process, teachers can help steer the group to the desired stage. A brief synopsis of each stage is outlined below, reflecting on my experience in GW. The first stage of TM is Forming where members comes together to form a group, which involves testing limits to identify boundaries of both interpersonal and task behaviours (Tuckman, 1965). My group consists of a heterogenous mix of five lecturers from different faculty, providing mixed academic ability and experience to benefit GW. Participating in self-selection into groups promotes a sense of ownership, but self-selected groups can be subjective to discrimination by... ...eeping a focus on the task enabled the group to effectively reallocate roles, and collective effort helps towards the building of the module. A criticism of TM is that it is linear and observations are qualitative, subjective to bias. Findings cannot be generalised as there is a lack of control of independent variables and inequality in representation (Tuckman, 1965). An argument is that development of groups is not straightforward because human processes are complex. There may be overlap between different stages in TM as when group conflict is fading, feelings of cohesion may be rising. These changes do not occur in a discontinuous, staged-like sequence. Furthermore, groups are constantly forming and changing and they can move to a different stage. For example, when the group was performing, unexpected problems could force the group back to storming.

Fun, Family and Flashbacks Essay

The beauty of photographs is that they can frame one single split-second moment of your life to help you remember good times. The rest of the story on how you got to the picture or what happened after becomes history and remains a flitting memory that may or may not be triggered to resurface once the photograph is again seen. One such precious instant happened when I was eight years old†¦ an age where I used to find so much delight in simple things such as a photography session with my brothers. My eyes in the picture are sparkling with laughter at all the trouble my mom had to go through for this snapshot. It was nearly father’s day and my mom thought a great secret gift would be a professionally shot picture of all three of us children. As soon as lunch was over, she quickly packed all of us up and we went to this posh photo studio. While waiting for our turn, she excitedly dressed us all up in such fine and neatly pressed clothes (as if the wrinkles would be noticeable on film). My hair was combed probably more than one hundred times over just to make sure no single strand would go astray out of her plan. As we were passing the time till our photo opportunity, mom would keep our energy up by making us practice different kinds of poses and smiles. A few more minutes passed and my mom was already getting impatient with all the excitement. Alas! The photographer came up to my mom just to tell her that there seemed to be something wrong with the camera and that he could not take our pictures at that moment. Horrified and panicky due to the unexpected long time of having to wait for a useless chance to get some shots professionally done, my mom swiftly packed all of us up at once and went home. We wanted to laugh at mom’s dismay over the problems of this great idea of hers but we knew better than to irk her even more. As soon as we got home, she quickly brushed us up and with quick thinking, got our own camera to make her own snapshots instead. It was not hard for us to smile as we knew the pains she was going through just to keep her hand still on the camera button. We all knew that our father was about to arrive in just a few minutes and her panic was with cause. After some quick clicks, she quickly made us dress up into our play clothes again and had us do some wrestling matches just to erase the more than 100 times brushed up look she gave our hair. This was one of the most enjoyable memories of my life yet the camera was only able to show three children with smiles on their faces†¦everything else precious was left for us to relive in our own imaginations.

Ethical issues Essay

Similarly Newman used a correlation to interpret the findings from his study and found a relationship between undefended space and levels of crime. Correlations cannot show cause and effect, therefore other causes of these findings cannot be ruled out. One other possible explanation may have been that the different estates compared by Newman were simply in high or low crime areas, or that policing tactics of the areas was different. However in contrast Brower et al (1981) used interviews to try and establish how people felt about areas of defensible space. Interviews are a good way of obtaining rich and detailed data, however unlike Newman’s data which was factual (recorded crime figures) interview data is qualitative and needs to be interpreted by the researcher. Inevitably the way this is done may be influenced by the researchers views and therefore biased. In addition to this, as in the research by Mercer, there are issues relating to the honesty of people interviewed and providing socially acceptable responses to be considered. The research by Ley was an observation and therefore, as in Smith’s observation, this research could be argued to have greater ecological validity than research using laboratory methods, however there are problems again of observer bias affecting what is recorded. Also this study used institutionalised delinquents as participants and therefore it is difficult to generalise the results to any other situations, although the findings do have implications for institutions. Ethical issues may be particularly relevant in this study as carrying out observations of institutionalised participants may be a breach of their right to withdraw from the study. It could also be argued that if the observations were carried out by a researcher their presence may have affected the behaviour, on the other hand if video cameras were used covertly there may be a problem in ensuring that all behaviour was observed, in addition to the ethical issues mentioned. Designers and architects could use the research mentioned to ensure that working areas meant for males and females have varied sizes in order to take account of different gender needs for space. When designing housing estates architects need to ensure that the semi public areas are defensible in that they are overlooked and have markers to suggest ownership. They should also include barriers and fenced areas around homes and use plants and foliage as markers. In institutional design it would seem important to use design to clearly mark out areas in order to try and create established boundaries and reduce aggression caused by disorderly space use. It may be possible to include specific time slots for prisoners to use semi public areas to help reduce any aggression caused by dominance of most desirable areas.

history of middle america essays

history of middle america essays Central America is a land bridge that connects North America to South America. Today, this area of the world is under major reconstruction. Its recent history is filled with civil wars, military dictatorships, and native uprisings. Though the recent economy has turned toward the better, the history of the economy in Central America has not been a fortunate. Poverty, disease, and discontent were common among the people living in this region. Many of the problems faced by these nations date back to the Spanish Colonization of the area. Before the Spanish arrived, this region contained a civilization with a rich written history, sophisticated agricultural systems, and amazing cities. Civilized society in Central America can be traced back thousands of years to around 2,000 B.C. It is believed that around this time the native people began to plant crops instead of hunting animals. Pottery, which was discovered in the Parita Bay region of Panama, is believed to made around 2,130 B.C. and it reflects some South American cultural influences. After 1,000B.C. organized, sedentary farming communities began to sprout, and communication and commerce developed among them. After 500 B.C. an advanced civilization, the Mayas, emerged in the present-day lands of Guatemala and El Salvador. Kaminaljuyà º was on of the earlier Mayan cities, and was located in the highlands near present-day Guatemala City. Other Mayan cities arose southeastward, towards Nicaragua (a map of Mayan cities is located at the back of the paper). It is clear that the early Mayan people inhabited the higher terrain in Central America because of the suitable climate, but as the civilization grew, the lowland cities became centers for a higher civilization. In the Mayan cities they developed an advanced system of writing, and with their hieroglyphs on stone monuments, they were able to record their history. Many achievements by the Mayan people exceeded those of the same era European...

Presley essays

Presley essays At the time, no one realized that The world of music and entertainment would forever change. It was noon, on January 8, 1935, when Gladys Smith Presley, a poor Mississippi God-fearing sewing machine operator and wife of farm hand Vernon Elvis Presley, gave birth to twin sons Elvis Aron and Jesse Garon Presley. Buried in an unmarked Priceville, Mississippi grave, Jesse Garon died within six hours of birth. Jesses twin, Elvis Aron, was to become the most influential force in the history of popular music and a melding force between cultures. As the worlds most endearing and successful entertainer of his age, Elvis sold over three hundred million records, and created Today, Elvis is known world wide as The King of Rock n Roll. The dirt-poor with his polite and well-mannered ways, patterned his famous wiggle and early singing style form the gospel revival preachers he grew up with at the familys First Assembly of God Church. We were broke, man, broke, and we left Tupelo overnight, Elvis said, a quote which typifies his early life, following his parents from job to job. In 1939 the total combined Presley salary was $35 a week, when young Elvis was enrolled in L.C. Humes High School in Memphis, Tennessee. After graduation from Humes High School in 1953, while driving a truck for an electric company, Elvis passed a sign that would lead him to fame. The sign read, Memphis Recording Service-Make your own records...Four dollars for two songs. This is where Sam Phillips of Sun Records found his man. In August 1954, WHBQ radio in Memphis released the birth of a Rock n Roll legend with, Thats All Right, Mama. After an unsuccessful Grand Ol Opry stint, 1955 brought Good Rockin Tonite and Milk Cow Blues Boogie. The flamboyant personal manage ...

Word Choice Immigration, Emigration and Migration

Word Choice Immigration, Emigration and Migration Word Choice: Immigration, Emigration and Migration Although closely related, immigration, emigration and migration have distinct meanings that you need to understand. This will ensure you can use them effectively in your writing. All three words describe the movement of people (and sometimes animals) from one place to another. However, the correct word to use depends on the situation. Learn more about their usage below. Immigration (Arriving) Immigration is the act of entering or arriving in a new country of residence. It would be used in a sentence like this: Jesse’s family originally immigrated to America in 1621. Emigration (Leaving) The word emigration refers to leaving one country and moving somewhere else. Emigration, like immigration, is usually a permanent, rather than a temporary, move. We would use emigration in a sentence like this: Jesse’s ancestors emigrated from England aboard the Mayflower. Don’t forget that immigration is spelled with a double m, while emigration only has one! Migration (Movement) Migration is the movement of people or animals from one location to another. This covers movement in general, whether leaving or arriving. When migration describes the movement of animals, it is usually from a cold location to a warmer one during winter. We would use it in a sentence like this: American buffalo migrate large distances to find fresh pasture. The same journey can be described using all three words, dependent upon the point of view. To continue the example above, we could say that Jesse’s ancestors migrated when they emigrated from England and immigrated to America. If you would like further advice about word choice or academic writing, the professionals at Proofed can help you today!

Term project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Term project - Assignment Example Kansas was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue. When it was officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine if Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists eventually prevailed and on January 29, 1861, Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly, when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland. Today, Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, sorghum, and sunflowers. Kansas is the 15th most extensive and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States. Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma on the south; and Colorado on the west. The state is divided into 105 counties with 628 cities, and is located equidistant from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located in Smith County near Lebanon. The geodetic center of North America was located in Meades Ranch, Kansas, Osborne County until 1983. This spot was used until that date as the central reference point for all maps of North America produced by the U.S. government. The geographic center of Kansas is located in Barton County. Kansas is underlain by a sequence of horizontal to gently westward dipping sedimentary rocks. A sequence of Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks outcrop in the eastern and southern part of the state. The western half of the state has exposures of Cretaceous through Tertiary sediments, the latter

Death, Life and Emily Dickinson Annotated Bibliography

Death, Life and Emily Dickinson - Annotated Bibliography Example While it was something that is feared, Dickinson made it seem appealing. Baker makes it known that the carriage ride taken by the protagonist, the one from the living world to the protagonist’s final resting place, is a comfortable ride since it is done in a carriage rather than in a hearse. Emily Dickinson’s poems are kept together in this anthology. Originally a three-volume set, this book contains all of the poems ever written by Dickinson. Unlike Dickinson and Vendler’s book, which contains commentaries and insights on the poems that were made by Vendler, this book by Dickinson only contains the poems themselves, allowing the reader to comprehend each poem, find their own insights, and come to their own conclusions. This book was a vital source to the research paper as it offered easy access to the poems that were to be analyzed in my paper. â€Å"I Felt a Funeral in My Brain (97)† was the poem taken from this book; while it is one of Dickinson’s more famous poems, it was difficult to find in any other source besides the Internet. I was able to use the source to locate this poem and implement it into my essay about life and death themes in Dickinson’s works. Helen Vendler comments on selected poems of Emily Dickinson, the poems of whom are also included in this book. Vendler has made a career for herself by critically reading and analyzing the poems of many writers, including Dickinson, paying special attention to the style and imaginative elements of each poem. Vendler selected the poems that she did based on how they related to Dickinson’s life, focusing a great amount on what inspired the poet to write what she did. Unlike Dickinson’s anthology of poems, this book provides insight into the selected poems, pointing out facts and characteristics that readers should be aware of. Dickinson and Vendler’s book was useful in two ways for my research paper. The first was to provide me with a copy of

Co-parenting in familes of divorce Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Co-parenting in familes of divorce - Essay Example While encouraged by the family courts and state laws, a detailed co-parenting agreement is not designed by the courts; it is designed between the parents through an arbitrator if necessary. This essay looks first at a brief history of laws regarding child custody, and then presents four sample parenting agreements. Finally, the essay notes particulars with the language used by lawmakers and in parenting agreements, showing how gender-neutral language lends strength to the father’s position after divorce. Co-parenting is far more than a legal concept. It is a new way to structure a family that could potentially be divided by divorce. Even though the parents are not husband and wife to each other, they remain parents of any children, and must be able to exercise their parenting without too much interference from the other parent, and with the support of the other parent. Children develop in healthy ways when they have consistent parenting, whether their parents are married or divorced. Maintaining consistency requires divorced mothers and fathers to develop new ways of interacting with each other that are just about the kids, not their own adult disagreements. This is the essence of co-parenting, and when mothers and fathers cannot agree during a divorce, a co-parenting agreement may need to be drawn up through an arbitrator that provides structure for the continued relationship. Custody agreements that arise from divorces have many legal terms associated with them which often overlap: sole custody, joint custody, sole physical/joint legal, visitation, and many other variations of legal terms. None of these terms speaks to co-parenting; in fact, co-parenting is avoided by the courts because it requires a complex interaction between divorced parents which the court cannot be expected to regulate. Because courts have avoided this regulation and left it entirely up to parents to figure it out, tension and

Causes and effects Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Causes and effects - Essay Example sses, or sometimes also spirits and ancestral beings, who became involved in the material world of human beings in ways that were fickle and unpredictable. People attributed things that happened to these unseen beings, or to evil magic, and tried to influence events by making offerings and sacrifices, thinking that this would change the future (Iles-Jones, 2004, p. 454). There was little understanding of natural events like thunder, or volcanoes, or disease processes and so these things took on personal attributes. This vague linkage between natural and supernatural events means that we cannot speak of a true understanding of cause and effect in the ancient world. With the rise of monotheism, a single God was perceived to be the first cause of all that exists, and everything that is seen in the world began to be interpreted in terms of this initial cause, in tension with the lesser causes of human actions. Anything which was not immediately understood could be seen as an act of God. This all changed, however, in the period known as the Enlightenment in European history. For the first time theoretical ideas began to be linked with practical applications. It was Francis Bacon (1561-1626), a famous British lawyer and statesman, who first proposed a style of exploration which we now know as â€Å"the scientific method† (Gower, 1997, p. 45). He worked out that the best way to explain the world was to do controlled experiments and watch carefully what happened. By changing individual aspects of the experiment it was possible to work out what was causing different effects to happen. When the causes and effects were found to be consistent and repeatable, firm laws could be deduced, and events predicted, and this was an extremely significant advance for humankind. This line of thinking did not necessarily replace religious thinking, since a divine being could still be responsible for starting off these linked events, or for stepping in at any point, but it started off a

The Impact of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the Sustainability Essay

The Impact of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the Sustainability of Competitiveness of the Petrochemical Industry in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example o establish the rules to harmonize the rule associate with the chemical industry in Saudi Arabia (Al-Alamy, 2003; Zuhd, 2005l; Al Zuhd, 2005; Al-Sadoun, 2008). According to the GATT says Yu, this â€Å"Harmonize System would ensure greater ability for countries to monitor and protect the values of tariff concession† (Yu, 2008, p. 8). It ensures that there is only One General Rules to be applied to all Members but these rules also cover the specific commitments made by all members. For example, in the part one of the agreement concession called the Most Favored Nation Tariffs, there is a clause known as â€Å"bonded tariff† or the maximum tariff the members should levy. If the tariff levied is higher than the maximum tariff stated, the country has to compensate other parties for the excess amount, but it is based on line-by-line according to national nomenclatures of the time when concession took place. How the tariff is calculated? It is based on the description of the product base rate duty before any tariff, rate of bonded tariff, implementation period, initial negotiation, and other duties and charges (Robinson, 2004; Al-S adoun, 2008). In his paper to the World Bank, Saudi Arabia and WTO in the light of Mena Experience, (http://worldbank.org/idf/ndf3/papers/global/Al-Sahlawi.pdf.) Professor Al-Sahlawi, indicates that compare to the growth of manufacturing industry in the global market, the growth of petrochemical industry in the Middle East and Arab Regions is considered slow. He suggests that it is important to follow Egypt and Morocco to improve petrochemical industry and make it to be more competitive than the manufacturing industry in the global market or to create petrochemical products as export merchandise. In terms of joint ventures in the petrochemical industry, Al-Salawi (ibid) claims that furthering the process of privatization eases the process of foreign direct investment such as in Egypt where the rate of foreign direct investment has increased

The Unconventional Depiction of Women in Japanese Films Essay

The Unconventional Depiction of Women in Japanese Films - Essay Example Women, as portrayed in Japanese films are meek and a follower of men. They are the guardians of the house and children and the helper of men, they are the ones that fall in the background but very much important nonetheless. Men are driven by pride; they would do things that are out of their league for the sake of containing and maintaining their pride, their ego, their dignity. Men are depicted as great thinkers and they invent something new every day and by nature they are competitive and easily driven by a desire for power and glory, whether it is for a higher rank or for the love of someone, even love becomes a game, even life or freedom will be put at stake just to prove that they are better than someone else, they like to gamble and they rarely think of the outcome before they do crazy stunts and acts recklessly. They like the thrills and the element of danger and adventure, a male figure will grow in his appearance and expand his understanding but in spirit, he remains a boy who likes challenges and unbelievable stunts and plot to make it better than it was before. They do not easily accept defeat and they do not easily give in and in fact, most of the time, not at all. Although women are devious in ways a man will never understand, they are the keepers of the house and will be as gentle as an angel even when angered or wronged but they unleash a fury greater than hell when forced to it. Most women think of not just of herself but the whole package, of the people around her and of what an action may cause to the generalized public.... Men are depicted as great thinkers and they invent something new everyday and by nature they are competitive and easily driven for a desire of power and glory, whether it is for a higher rank or for the love of someone, even love becomes a game, even life or freedom will be put at stake just to prove that they are better than someone else, they like to gamble and they rarely think of the outcome before they do crazy stunts and acts recklessly. They like the thrills and the element of danger and adventure, a male figure will grow in his appearance and expand his understanding but in spirit he remains a boy who likes challenges and unbelievable stunts and plot to make it better than it was before. They do not easily accept defeat and they do not easily give in and in fact, most of the time, not at all. Although women are devious in ways a man will never understand, they are the keepers of the house and will be as gentle as an angel even when angered or wronged but the unleash a fury greater than hell when forced to it. Most women think of not just of herself but the whole package, of the people around her and of what an action ma cause to the generalized public but women are just as human as a man and therefore are not an exception to crime and they also has faults and they also commit devious crimes but this population is at least just 20% of the total, unlike with men who are more exposed to the brutal reality of having power in the society. Women are more likely to be the victim of a crime than a man, women are not born weak but they are being dominated over by men and since women believes in love more than men does. Since women are the

The Impact of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the Sustainability Essay

The Impact of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) on the Sustainability of Competitiveness of the Petrochemical Industry in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example o establish the rules to harmonize the rule associate with the chemical industry in Saudi Arabia (Al-Alamy, 2003; Zuhd, 2005l; Al Zuhd, 2005; Al-Sadoun, 2008). According to the GATT says Yu, this â€Å"Harmonize System would ensure greater ability for countries to monitor and protect the values of tariff concession† (Yu, 2008, p. 8). It ensures that there is only One General Rules to be applied to all Members but these rules also cover the specific commitments made by all members. For example, in the part one of the agreement concession called the Most Favored Nation Tariffs, there is a clause known as â€Å"bonded tariff† or the maximum tariff the members should levy. If the tariff levied is higher than the maximum tariff stated, the country has to compensate other parties for the excess amount, but it is based on line-by-line according to national nomenclatures of the time when concession took place. How the tariff is calculated? It is based on the description of the product base rate duty before any tariff, rate of bonded tariff, implementation period, initial negotiation, and other duties and charges (Robinson, 2004; Al-S adoun, 2008). In his paper to the World Bank, Saudi Arabia and WTO in the light of Mena Experience, (http://worldbank.org/idf/ndf3/papers/global/Al-Sahlawi.pdf.) Professor Al-Sahlawi, indicates that compare to the growth of manufacturing industry in the global market, the growth of petrochemical industry in the Middle East and Arab Regions is considered slow. He suggests that it is important to follow Egypt and Morocco to improve petrochemical industry and make it to be more competitive than the manufacturing industry in the global market or to create petrochemical products as export merchandise. In terms of joint ventures in the petrochemical industry, Al-Salawi (ibid) claims that furthering the process of privatization eases the process of foreign direct investment such as in Egypt where the rate of foreign direct investment has increased

Mistakes in Business Start-Up Research Proposal

Mistakes in Business Start-Up - Research Proposal Example   In my case, I shunned the idea of daily record keeping, and at times I found myself having put no record of a day’s job. According to Pinson & Jinnet (2006), record keeping can be described as the backbone of the operation of any kind of business, no matter how minute the profits may seem. At one moment in my business, I found myself keeping substandard records that at times were recorded at the back of several exercise books in my office. In the long run, I could barely make out what records were of what date and which attendant did what. During the Christmas season when the sales were too high, it became exceedingly overwhelming for me to deal with the numerous clients getting into the store for new bicycles or even spare parts. It is almost obvious to indicate that my store incurred huge losses which took place as a result of double sales, and improper calculations whilst making sales. Pinson & Jinnet (2006) indicate that with proper record keeping, the entrepreneurs are able to develop a sense of accomplishment in their work, unlike entrepreneurs who do not keep records. With the feeling of having let things run on their own, has been recorded to be suicidal for businesses. In the case of businesses selling products of high demand like in the case of my business during the Christmas period, with many caregivers in need of presents for the festivity, I held the opinion that I did not manage the business right from the onset.

Secular Views on the Concept of Kindness Essay Example for Free

Secular Views on the Concept of Kindness Essay In our modern world, it is unfortunate that kindness seems to be one of the most neglected character traits people choose to cultivate in their everyday lives. Kindness is listed by Paul as one of the Fruits of the Holy Spirit the nine visual traits that distinguish authentic Christian living in Chapter 5 of Pauls letter to the Galatians. Confucius instructed his followers to recompense kindness with kindness. One of the Ten Perfections in Buddhism is Metta, or loving-kindness. According to the Talmud, deeds of kindness are equal in weight to all the commandments. On a secular note, Nietzsche proposed that kindness and love are the most curative herbs and agents in human intercourse. Aristotle pointed out that kindness is helpfulness towards some one in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped. Some even consider the majority of Shakespeares opus to be a study of human kindness. In my own humble opinion, kindness is an essential attribute for any person to possess. Kindness is refreshing to both receive and dish out to others worthy of it. Others tell me frequently that I am a very kind person. My mother and father both are very kind people. I dont consider kindness as something out of the ordinary, as many others seem to do. In an ideal world everyone would be brought up to show kindness to others; however we are not in an ideal world. I, on the other hand, I was raised to show respect, kindness and compassion to others. I believe that small, every day acts of kindness nourish the soul and body. For example, when I was younger I used to go visit an elderly, widowed woman named Rose in my neighborhood. She was very limited in the things she could do for herself because she had developed arthritis and had frequent back trouble. She could still do for herself, but she couldnt get around as well as she could in her youth. I did light housework, ran errands, and offered her conversation. I didnt expect anything material in return. I just welcomed the satisfaction of knowing I played a part in making this womans life easier and more satisfying. I enjoyed seeing her being able to sit on the porch and enjoy the sunshine. It warmed my heart to bring a smile to her face and to know that I made a positive difference in her day to day life. I did this without compensation for about a year. Miss Rose was such a sweet woman. It hurt me dearly when she suddenly moved away. To sum it up, I believe that it is acts of kindness such as these that would make life more fulfilling for the giver as well as the recipient. If everyone made made the decision to do one act of kindness for another everyday it would make the world an infinitely sweeter and more bearable place for all to live in. I believe that is kindness was emphasized and cultivated more by those in our society, then a host of problems in our society such as poverty, hunger and violence would be greatly reduced or eradicated.

Gay Adoption :: Gay and Lesbian Adoptions

Homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted and integrated into today’s society, however, when it comes to homosexuals establishing families, a problem is posed. In most states, homosexuals can adopt children like any other married or single adult. There are many arguments to this controversial topic; some people believe that it should be legal nationally, while others would prefer that is was banned everywhere, or at least in their individual states. There are logical reasons to allow gays to adopt children, but for some, these reasons are not enough. The main issue really is, what is in the best interest of the child? This type of problem isn’t really one with causes, effects, and solutions, but one with pros and cons. Like any other adoption situation, a parent prove themselves to be responsible and capable enough to raise a child on their own, or with a spouse. This problem or issue is one that is proving to be a bigger one than many people most likely expected. In Today’s more liberal society, homosexuality seeing more acceptance than ever before. Homosexuals and heterosexuals alike have parental instincts and are as interested in beginning families and raising children. A family should be based on love and trust, if these two elements are present in a relationship, homosexual or heterosexual, there would be no reason that the environment the couple creates for a child would be bad. Some say the homosexual lifestyle revolves only around sex, which of course is the most inappropriate subject for a child. (White) For the most part, parents and adults keep what happens behind closed doors, private, therefore, there would be no reason for a homosexual person to flaunt their sex life, especially in front of a child. Pros of Adoption by Gay Parents Adoption is a very important part of the American lifestyle. The welfare of children needs to be put in front of homophobia. There are an estimated 500,000 children in foster care nation wide, and 100,000 of these children are awaiting adoption. In 2013, only one child of every six available for adoption was actually adopted. (Sanchez, 13) Statistics like these show the true importance of adoption. People seem to prefer to have their own children biologically, but adoption should be taken into consideration, even if natural conception is possible.

Compare and Contrast Lamb to the Slaughter And The Speckled Band :: English Literature

Compare and Contrast Lamb to the Slaughter And The Speckled Band As Murder Mysteries When many people think of a murder mystery, they think of a dark and stormy night, a large forbidding house, a gunshot heard by everyone yet seen by no one, and the phrases "you're probably wondering why I called you all here", "The butler did it", and of course not forgetting "elementary, my dear Watson". In the end, the intelligent and very observant detective solves the case, and justice, sometimes through the courts and sometimes poetic is served. 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and 'The Speckled Band' are both stories based around a suspicious death. Roald Dahl wrote 'Lamb to the Slaughter' in 1954. Roald Dahl is famous for writing children's stories, like George's Marvellous Medicine and James and the Giant Peach. Roald Dalh also writes stories for adults. They are usually about ordinary people doing strange things. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 'The Speckled Band' in 1892. His stories are about the famous detective Sherlock Holmes. Before readings this story I knew that Sherlock Holmes was a famous detective working with fellow college Doctor Watson and Scotland Yard. Because of the times when they were written, the language is different also. Conan Doyle uses the Victorian style of language. His writing is more complex. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's language is more descriptive. It takes him about half a page just to describe the setting of the story. Conan Doyle sometimes uses phrases, which can now be quite tricky to understand such as 'knock you up'. This is archaic language, which is not regularly used nowadays. Roald Dahl uses short but sharp sentences, and writes as if he is talking to a friend. The two stories are both classed as murder mysteries, however when comparing these two stories the styles of writing and the way in which the stories are presented is completely different. An example of this would be the chronological order of each of the stories. What I mean by this is the traditional order of murder mysteries would be body, a motive, a weapon, a death, a suspect, an alibi and detectives. Both 'Lamb to the Slaughter' and 'The Speckled Band' have all of these and so are no exception to these 'guidelines'. However, 'The Speckled Band' follows this order and is a very traditional murder mystery. 'Lamb to the Slaughter' on the other hand does not follow the conventional style of murder mysteries and follows its own order. This order is; a motive, a weapon, a death, a killer, an alibi and detectives. In changing the traditional order of murder mysteries I

Charge of the Light Brigade Analysis Essay

Charge of the Light Brigade Mini-analysis The poem, Charge of the Light Brigade, has quite a complex rhyming scheme which can make the poem difficult to understand at first. I think that he may have designed it this way to instil a feeling of victory and valour at the end of the poem. I would argue that this, along with other literary techniques, shows that Tennyson was successful in glorifying the Charge of the Light Brigade in his poem. As I mentioned before, the rhyming scheme is an integral part of the poem. The rhyming varies for each stanza, which at first seems like a large fault of the poem. The length of each stanza lengthens as the poem goes on, perhaps trying to simulate how the battle escalated. This pattern continues on until the last stanza where the number of lines is significantly reduced. This indicates the resolution of the poem. For the first verse, Tennyson utilizes an ABA pattern for the first half. â€Å"Half a league, half a league, half a league onward. †A large part of the poem is the repetition. This repetition of certain phrases creates a rhythm not unlike the galloping of horse’s hooves on the ground. This creates a feeling of verisimilitude and provides an authentic experience for the reader. The repeated phrase, â€Å"Cannon to the right of them/Cannon to the left of them/Cannon in front of them. † suggests that they were surrounded by enemies on all sides. The sentence also suggests the large imbalance of numbers on the British side compared to the Russians. This emphasises the victory at the end of the poem. While Tennyson tried hard to glorify the Charge of the Light Brigade, he also attempted to express the large amount of casualties as well. Tennyson utilized metaphor and allusion to acknowledge the amount of death on the field without being overly graphic in his description. He used the phrase, â€Å"Into the jaws of Death/Into the mouth of Hell† repeatedly to further his point. In my opinion, Tennyson accurately portrayed and glorified the Charge of the Light Brigade in his poem, using a variety of literary techniques.

Ethics in Contemporary Society

Presently, Americans are comfortable relating ethics to individuality. Often times, American citizens expresses their right of freedoms to enhance their own sense of ethics or relativity. In defining relativism, moral principles are a matter of personal feelings and individual preference. As for individual moral relativism, figuring out what is moral and immoral in specific circumstances differs according to the person. On another note, moral relativists have a disbelief in universal truths or common law. This essay will examine and highlight major details about problems surrounding individual moral relativism and cultural moral relativism.It will reflect post-modern and modern methods of belief in order to exhibit its valuableness in ethical decision-making in overcoming problems (Owen, 2011). In particular, it argues that abstract theories of either individual or subjective moral relativism are fruitless for understanding humans. What's more, it tends to limit humans to egocentric people or hamper the development of distinctiveness through division and relativism. It is disputed that innovativeness excludes other styles of understanding. It utters reverence and celebrates the variance; it has rendered the pursuit for any kind of meaning inaudible (Reno, 2012).To bypass these restrictions and to extend the resistance of ethical relativism this article draws substantially from the research of Lawrence Kohlberg. He is a well-known psychologist that is recognized for the moral stages of development. Moreover, his research theory moves closer by claiming cultural relativists are individuals trapped in the conventional stage of ethical development (Garz, 2010).This ethical development model greets and enriches narrative understanding. As this essay continues to explore the world of  ethical/moral relativism, it will summarize topics like cultural moral relativism, individual and subjective relativism. In addition, it will review Kohlberg’s moral stages of development and why he believes that many cultural relativists are trapped in a particular stage. As a final touch, this essay will discuss personal beliefs and experiences in relation to each topic, and why I agree or disagree with these reasoning. What is more moral relativism? Previously moral relativism was defined as being right or wrong, and the second deals with the difference between an objective and a subjective truth.Thinking that ethical truth is biased, moral relativists often react to moral conclusions about homosexual behavior (Klikauer, 2011). To these individuals, the term homosexual is rubbish because everyone's morality is equivalent. In short, nobody has a right to a morality that is incumbent on others. Being objective (individual) honest is recognized as the best choice; however, it is not the easiest decision (Owen, 2011). For example, parents or educators do not chastise students merely for getting their answer wrong in Math problems. For many students, their mistakes would be coherent, not moral.Another example would be a husband beats his wife is simply indecent; therefore, he' is considered as being immoral. Based on Quintelier & Fessler (2012) findings, cultural relativism is considered as an interpretation that all views, customs, and ethics are comparative to the individual within his or her own societal environment. Therefore, individuals put their cultural beliefs at the front of comparative ethical decision-making. Basically, right and wrong are culture-specific; however, what is right in one culture may be considered as corrupt in another culture (Owen, 2011).Being there is no universal code of morality, individuals does not have the right to judge another societal traditions. At the conventional stage of ethical development, each person respects the beliefs of his or her group, family, or nation, as important, despite of the abrupt and apparent concerns (Klikauer, 2011). This stance is not just conformity to subjective expecta tions and social order, but also one of loyalty. According to Kohlberg, cultural relativist is often stuck in this stage due to their beliefs and cultural upbringing. Furthermore, I support this stance for different reasons.For example, I was raised to believe in Christianity is the right path to follow because my parents instill that religion into me as a child. In conclusion, many philosophers have both defended and opposed moral relativism. Recent research argues that normative moral theories should be controlled and explore by psychologists to grasp a more in-depth understanding (Quintelier & Fessler, 2012). Researchers questioned the thought that individuals are or can be moral relativists. If so, can being a moral relativist affect can an individual's moral functioning.This research is underutilized in theorists' normative philosophies of relativism; all together, the pragmatic work is abstractly incoherent (Quintelier & Fessler, 2012). The main objective of this assignment is to assimilate ethical and practical work on limitations about normative relativism. From my perspective, I support the individual and cultural relativity. As an African female, customs, traditions and religions played an essential role in my childhood as well as my growth. Biblical teachings were molded into my mind, heart, body and soul. My grandparents are the root to my development and ethical beliefs.

Mcdonalds †Operations Mgt Essay

1. What characteristics of McDonald’s production system have been most important in building its record of success and growth in the industry? McDonald’s unique production system has been central to their corporate strategy. Ray Kroc immediately saw value in the McDonald brothers’ production methodology. The McDonald brothers controlled the preparation of each menu item, regulating exactly how much of each topping would go on each burger, in order to maintain consistency and uniformity. Going forward, the company would base their business model on three key tenets: limited menu, low prices, and fast service. Kroc obsessed over perfecting the operating system with these three tenets in mind. He believed that consistency and uniformity, with respect to products, should be the overarching goals of this operation strategy. It began with the â€Å"Speedee Service System† in 1948 and continued to evolve from that point. McDonald’s operating system focused on four key areas: improving the product, improving equipment, developing excellent supplier relations, and developing and monitoring franchisees. McDonald’s had created a unique relationship with its franchisees and suppliers. McDonald’s believed that franchise growth was where they should make their profits, not primarily from the franchise fees, which had been the industry standard. This relationship fostered growth and innovation as franchisees made recommendations and provided feedback on what was working and what wasn’t. McDonald’s broke another industry standard by developed very close relationships with supplier. McDonald’s worked closely with suppliers to ensure consistently high quality food products made to McDonald’s’ exact specifications. By working with the suppliers to control the quality of their products, McDonald’s’ was helping to ensure that a burger served at any one of their locations would look the same, taste the same, and reinforce McDonald’s’ reputation for quality and consistency. The suppliers knew that if they met the very s pecific standards set forth by McDonald’s, they would be rewarded with the loyalty of a very lucrative customer. This relationship was mutually beneficial as the consistent demand from McDonald’s helped suppliers grow alongside the chain, turning small farming operations into major institutional vendors. 2. What are the primary new challenges McDonald’s faces in the 1990s? In the early ‘90s, McDonald’s legendary growth rate began to slow. Consumer preferences were changing and McDonald’s worried that the limited menu that had served them so well over the previous decades might not be enough to carry them into the future. Going into the 1990s McDonald’s faced many challenges, including increased competition in the domestic quick-service market, consumer pressure to provide healthier options, and increased environmental criticism. The major challenges outlined in the case include the following: Casual dining restaurants, such as Chili’s and Olive Garden, were becoming increasingly popular. These restaurants offered a wide selection of menu items, with prices that could compete with McDonald’s. Drive-thru only chains, such as Sonic and Rally’s, were out-performing McDonald’s on speed of service. These chains were now seeing b ig growth, where McDonald’s’ expansion was slowing down. Taco Bell had become another big competitor. Taco Bell focused on providing an extensive offering of inexpensive Mexican food. Taco Bell had 26 menu items under one dollar. They were able to keep their prices low by shifting food preparation to offsite suppliers, requiring less kitchen space on-site. ïÆ'ËœNutrition was a growing concern among many American consumers, and McDonald’s had become synonymous with high-fat, high-calorie â€Å"fast food†. There was extreme pressure for McDonald’s to augment their menu with healthier options, lower in fat and sodium than the traditional burgers and fries. ïÆ'ËœIncluding a wider variety of items on their menu was likely necessary to meet the changing needs and preferences of their consumers, however McDonald’s core competencies were built around an operating system that was designed for speedy delivery of a limited number of menu items. ïÆ'ËœMcDonald’s had become the target of environmental activists who criticized the agricultural practices of McDonald’s’ suppliers and the company’s extensive use of disposable packaging. 3. What are the key types of flexibility which McDonald’s operations strategy needs to support? Which does it support and how? Which does it not support well and why? Product/service flexibility is the ability of the organization to develop new products and services which customers may find attractive. McDonald’s achieved great success with the introduction of its breakfast menu in the 1970’s, proving that product flexibility is an important mechanism for growth in their industry. That said, the long term success of McDonald’s operating model is largely due to their commitment to maintaining a limited menu. While McDonald’s should continue to develop and test new products, they need to be cautious about expanding their menu too much. Volume and delivery flexibility allows the operation to adjust its output levels and its delivery procedures in order to cope with unexpected changes in how many products and services customers want, when they want them , and/or where they want them. McDonald’s equipment and work flows were designed for maximum efficiency. Speedy service was critical to increase volume of sales per unit time. With respect to delivery models, McDonald’s had also developed a number of different building designs, such as drive-thru only facilities and cafà ©s suitable for small towns. They also placed McDonald’s in new venues, such as schools, hospitals and airports. Mix flexibility allows an organization to produce a wide variety of products and services for its customers to choose from. The operating system at McDonald’s had been constructed to ensure uniformity, quality and speed in all of their restaurants. If they introduce a wide variety of foods it would disrupt an operation strategy built around a limited menu. McDonald’s may have wanted to offer a wide variety of products but it would be a real challenge to maintain their standards with respect to quality, speed, and pricing. 4. How would you adapt the system to accommodate these changes in the US? McDonald’s could adapt their system in several ways to accommodate the changing trends in the US market. They could develop more drive-thru only locations. Off-premise consumption had risen from just 23% in 1982 to 62% in 1990 and overhead costs would be lower under this model. In keeping with this theme, McDonald’s should continue to develop smaller outlets in venues like schools, airports, and sporting arenas. They should continue to work on product development, but should focus on potential offerings that could be produced quickly and easily with their existing equipment. Products that will likely require additional time and aren’t aligned with the restaurant’s traditional offerings (e.g. lasagna) should be avoided. They should consider healthier options that still fit with the traditional concept of what McDonald’s offers, such as veggie burgers, or low fat chicken sandwiches. They should take steps to improve their environmental image, by encouraging suppliers to adopt environmentally responsible practices, and by looking for opportunities to reduce unnecessary packaging. This will provide dual benefits by improving their image and reducing costs at the same time. 5. How can McDonald’s lay the basis for future growth? The Ansoff product-market matrix outlines four possible strategic directions a firm can take, in order to grow. Existing Products New Products MARKET PENETRATION †¢Focus on promotion of existing product lineup †¢Focus on increasing number of restaurants in US †¢Focus on increasing sales in existing restaurantsPRODUCT DEVELOPMENT †¢Focus on developing new menu items to add to current lineup †¢Explore ways to modify operating system to allow speedy delivery of new items †¢Build relationships with new suppliers to source inputs for new menu items at low cost MARKET DEVELOPMENT †¢Focus on delivering core menu items in international locations †¢Focus on increasing number of restaurants in countries where the chain has had most success †¢Focus on increasing sales in existing overseas restaurants DIVERSIFICATION †¢Try out new menu items in international locations †¢Focus on developing new menu items that appeal to customers in specific geographies (e.g. curries in India) †¢Build relationships with new suppliers in host countries Existing Markets New Markets McDonald’s should adopt a growth strategy that focuses on Market Development, with limited Product Development. McDonald’s needs to recognize and accept that a firm cannot grow indefinitely in a restricted territory. They cannot expect their historical 25% annual domestic growth to continue forever. Their slowing growth rates in the US suggest they are likely approaching market saturation in the United States. They should stick to the operating model that has been so successful for them, and look outside US borders for growth opportunities. McDonald’s should not try to be all things to all people. McDonald’s needs to recognize who their customers are, and what they expect when they go to McDonald’s. The company should not deviate too far away from their original business model (limited menu, low prices, fast service). McDonald’s should focus on delivering their core products to an ever expanding geographic territory, instead of complicating their operating model, increasing service time, and decreasing margins, by offering an ever-expanding array of menu items. New menu items should be easy to deliver with existing equipment and established workflows (e.g. veggie burgers, lamb burgers, lean patties, chicken burgers). With respect to US sales, the case cited that only 20% of McDonald’s sales came from dinner. This may be a possible frontier for growth, but an entirely new menu should not be required to bring people in for dinner. This seems to be more of a marketing issue. McDonald’s needs to position themselves as â€Å"top of mind† when people are driving home from work, with nothing prepared for supper. Perhaps repackaging their existing products into a family package, similar to those offered by KFC, would help in this regard.

Philosophy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 2

Philosophy - Essay Example affected by an action are to be taken into account and given the same weight as the like interests of any other being.†3 As a result, no distinction is to be made between the rights of human beings and the right of animals, and according preferential treatment to human beings as opposed to animals would be morally and ethically a wrong principle. However, the question that arises in this context is, can animals be ascribed a moral status that is equal to human beings? They are sentient beings just like us and they also feel pain, therefore it would be morally and ethically wrong to kill them or cause them pain. Should they then be accorded equal consideration as human beings in terms of the rights that are accorded to them? Singer has defined specicism as â€Å"a prejudice or attitude of bias towards the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species.†4 As a result, human beings apply a double standard, whereby human beings are accorded a privileged moral status while non humans are not. According to Wise, human rights are a function of human autonomy, which implies a high level of moral reasoning, and such autonomy cannot exist independently of human dignity.5 Since animals do not possess this power to reason and make moral choice, this implies that they are on a plane that is inferior to human beings. Cohen argues that a person who is entitled to a right should be in a position to recognise â€Å"possible conflicts between what is in their own interest and what is just. Only in a community of beings capable of self restricting moral judgments can the concept of a right be correctly invoked.† On this basis, he also rejects Singer’s argument which argues for animals to have equal rights, on the basis that mentally regressive human beings are incapable of moral judgments and yet are accorded rights. Cohen states instead that the test for moral judgment cannot be one that is â€Å"administered to humans one by one.†6

Cultural competence Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Cultural competence - Essay Example We the World Hunger Eradication Grants Organization (WHEGO) of the United States strive hard to eradicate hunger and make people in the world to live a healthy life. Our motto is to exterminate hunger and poverty by funding deserving and innovative projects that address world hunger and so we are about to look at proposals from countries and its organizations. I am a member of the grant awarding committee and I would explain in this report what are the eligibility criteria that a country must demonstrate in order to be considered for the grant, to what kind of organizations we would award the grant, and what are the required elements of the progress report/proposal that needs to be submitted in order to successfully avail the grants issued by our organization. Every year we allot US $50,000 to $500,000 for various poor and developing countries and their organizations that come forward with sustainable solutions to eradicate hunger through innovative food projects. In spite of the civil society’s efforts to provide food for the people suffering from hunger through food pantries, food banks, and other direct servicing programs, the numbers of starving people continue to swell in countries like Africa particularly in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern, South-eastern and Southern Asia (â€Å"2015 World hunger and,† 2015). So, this time we are looking for conceptualized projects from the African country of , that are yet to be implemented and those which are having high potential for accomplishment and replication. The first and foremost eligibility criterion for a country to receive our grant is to be a current dues-paying member of WHEGO. As the African country of Burundi is a current member of our organization, it duly satisfies this criterion. The country which has received our granting award in the last two years can neither apply

Internet research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Internet research - Essay Example He has also treated many victims of abuse at the hands of the clergy. He tells us that it appears that 2 to 5% of priest have had sexual experience with minors which mounts up to about 1,000to 3,000 perpetrators(www.psywww.com). Other studies show that it is about the same number of priests that abuse minors as there are in the general population of males (Saradjian & Nobus, 2003.). We also know that 80% to 90% of priests abuse adolescent boys not young children. Therefore it can be assumed that the adolescent is at greatest risk of abuse not young children This means these individuals are not pedophiles. They are ephebophiles. That is not valuable information to the general public but it does change how these individuals would be treated professionally(www.psywww.com) Research also shows that these priests generally start abusing in the first year after they are ordained. This leaves us with 2 facts, a lot of children have been abused in all the years these men have been in the cler gy and it is likely that these individuals could be identified while in the seminary. Richardson (2000) stated that there are definite risk factors that should be looked at when evaluating applicants for the priesthood. They should be asked if they have been sexually abused. They should be observed for poor social skills and low impulse control. Any abuse of drugs and alcohol is a risk factor and any diagnoses of a personality disorder is also of great concern. Taking all this information Richardson (2000) came to two conclusions. Since the offenders were interested in adolescent males, allowing priests to marry would not fix the problem. He found the there was a high percentage of priests that claimed to be homosexual in orientation, however, sexual orientation does not predict illegal sexual abuse of children. There is no research connecting the two. The Catholic Church has been

Buyer behaviour Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words - 1

Buyer behaviour - Essay Example iour can be individualized or associated with a group in which friends or even families possess the power to influence the buying and consumption patterns of an individual. A brand is an important aspect of marketing and promotion for any good or service produced. Companies and organizations develop brands that they present to the potential customers and clients around the globe. A brand is a symbol, sign, name or a combination of all of the above used to identify a good or service in the market. Branding enables the customer identifies the product as the only available solution to their problems as compared to other products in the market (Wang, et al. 2014). Understanding consumer behaviours has a number of psychological relevance to marketers or even advertising firms who take upon themselves to design a product advert for a company. Knowledge of consumer behaviour is important in making marketing strategies and decisions such branding, which can enhance the performance of a company within the market (Williams, 2014). Branding is done for particular objectives chief among them helping in the delivery of the message to the potential clients with clarity and precision. A great brand also confirms the viability of a product and the company that presents the brand and connects the target market with the product emotionally. A good brand also motivates buyers and gives them more reasons to identify with the product has made specifically for them. Wanting cannot be done in isolation without understanding the needs and desires of the customers. A brand should therefore integrate the emotions and desires of potential clients with the identity of the product to increase the magnitude of the product (Schiffman et al. 2011). Consumer behavior is defined as a set of human characteristics that can be identified in a product, good or service that is available in the market. Brand personality is a feature that customers and potential clients can easily relate with due to

Why cloning and selling meat without FDA approval is unethical Research Paper

Why cloning and selling meat without FDA approval is unethical - Research Paper Example Society is struggling with the issues of how much is really known about cloning, how much society really wants to know about cloning and what is there to know about cloning if there was full disclosure (Brizek et al, p.1) Cloning is a highly controversial topic in the world at present. Many people are of the view that cloning should not be conducted among living things including animals since it is against the principles of nature. They are of the view that the natural principles which sustain life on earth would be changed if cloning is accepted as an option for the betterment of life. Most of the religions are also against cloning citing ethical reasons. At the same time, there are many people who support cloning because of their belief that cloning may enhance human life further. In any case, cloning on animals is going on at present and cloned food items are available large in number in stores at present. Cloned food items such as meat, milk etc are entering the American market m ore rapidly at present. Lots of food products are produced out of cloned meat and milk which are used by the public unknowingly. Since the society still reserves severe concerns about the ethics and morality of conducting cloning, many people are of the view that cloned foods should not be allowed to enter the market. Consumers have still many illusions and opinions about the safety of using cloned food items because of the misleading information they received from different Medias about cloned foods. This paper analyses the morality of using selling cloned food items without the approval of FDA. One of the study conducted by FDA pointed towards the increased practices of cloning by food companies, as well as the limited public knowledge and information of the practice (Brizek et al, p.4). In other words, people are getting cloned foods from stores at present without their knowledge. No food manufacturers are putting any labels on cloned food items in order to differentiate it from other normal food items. Consumers have the right to know about the origin of the food they are purchasing. By selling cloned foods, food companies are cheating the public which is unethical. If all the consumers have no problem in using cloned foods, then there is no necessity to put labels on cloned food items. However, majority of the public have many concerns about using cloned foods and under such circumstances selling of cloned food without labels is unethical. â€Å"In January of 2008, after results of numerous studies proving the scientific safety of food and food products from cloned animals or genetically modified food crops, the FDA declared that it would not require any special labeling on such foods† (Brizek et al, p.6). Even though many of the tests conducted by FDA and other authorities with respect to the safety and security of using cloned foods revealed positive results, it should be noted that these tests cannot be 100% reliable. Most of these tests analyse s the fat or acidity levels of the cloned and normal foods. Even though, some studies found slight differences in the acidity levels, all the other parameters of cloned foods and normal foods remained almost same. However, it should be note that these tests cannot predict anything about the possibility of genetic contamination among cloned foods. Cloning is a process which relies heavily on genetic engineering. The defects of genes used to make cloned foods cannot be identified easily. In other words, it is difficult to test the genetic components involved in cloned food items. According to one FDA official, although others disagree, cloned animals are more likely to have birth defects and health problems when they are young, but after 50

Roller coaster accidents Essay Example for Free

Roller coaster accidents Essay Abstract Now that summer vacationers are filling up amusement parks on a daily basis how safe are you on the towering roller coasters? Am I the only one who wonders what if something happens? What if something goes wrong will I have enough time to react? With the recent death at Six Flags over Texas, these things cross my mind. Who checks these roller coasters for safety and how often are they checked? Though it seems like there are very few fatalities on rollers coasters it seems to me one is one to many. These questions always enter my mind as I wait for an hour or so in line to ride on one of these metal giants. According to Steph Solis (2013) from USA TODAY, â€Å"out of the 300 million amusement park visitors 37,154 people were injured and 35,977 were release and only 1,177 were admitted to the hospital or died†. So where is the exact number of deaths and why are they not recorded separately? Does anyone care just how many die at amusement park roller coasters or do we as consumers not want to know? According to Harris (2007) the odds of getting seriously injured from being in the amusement park is one in 25 million which odds in your favor are. Harris (2007) goes on to compare this to the odds of getting seriously injured in a car accident which is 15 in 10,000 which is much higher. According to the article, (What are the odd of dying on a roller coaster, 2013) â€Å"The odds of dying on a roller coaster are one in 300 million†. Ok so that makes me feel slightly safer but it doesn’t answer my question on the number of deaths alone that occur in amusement parks. So far the first two of my resources seem to try to make light of the odds of getting injured by comparing them to something more dangerous. In my mind more people own and drive automobiles so this is like comparing apples to oranges. I am still searching for my answer but so far all I am getting is the surrounding questions that try to make me forget about the deaths so I feel safer at the amusement park. My third source of information concentrates on the G-forces of the roller coasters and how this causes head injuries that could possibly lead to death but according to researchers at the U. of Pennsylvania that there isn’t enough G-forces to cause bleeding or swelling of the brain that would result in death (Puskar, 2002). I realize that there are signs in the park that you must be in good health to ride the roller coasters but there isn’t a doctor standing at the end of the line before you get on to give you a check-up so unless you know you have a health risk those signs are meaningless. Are going to be required to have a note from our doctor to ride roller coasters? Is this what it’s coming to? So this source concentrates on one type of injury and there is some concern that the roller coasters should be limited to how much G-force they are allowed but my question still goes unanswered so on to the next source. According to Dessauer (2008), â€Å"That with even years of research and safety precautions these rides can still be very dangerous and even deadly†. He goes on to give tidbits on the history of the roller coaster, but he has his own doubts about how safe are roller coasters really. So I’m not alone out there wondering where we draw the line. How safe should roller coasters be and what is a realistic number of deaths a year that we would consider allowable? To me one death is one to many and I think that all could have been avoidable. Weisenberger (2012), talks about the ASTM F-24 committee and how they develop the minimum safety standards for everything that goes into building and operating a roller coaster. Do they know how many deaths occur every year on roller coasters? If anyone would know I sure they do, but I haven’t been able to find anything by researching that committee. So even though I was unable to find the answer to my question I feel as if I am not alone as to wanting the real number of deaths that occur at our amusement parks on these giant coasters and why aren’t they being prevented. These questions will probably enter my mind every time I enter an amusement park. References â€Å"A Short History of Roller Coasters†. (1996) Themed Attraction. com. Retrieved on 7/22/2013 from http://www. themedattraction. com/coaster. htm Dessauer, Brain. (2008). Roller Coaster Deaths and Dismemberments. Purple Slinky. Retrieved on 7/22/13 from http://purpleslinky. com/offbeat/roller-coaster-deaths-and-dismemberments/ Harris, Tom. (2007). How Roller Coasters Work. HowStuffWorks. com. Retrieved on 7/22/13 from http://science. howstuffworks. com/engineering/structural/roller-coaster9. htm Puskar, Gene J. (2002). ROLLER COASTERS’ SAFETY SUPPORTED BY UNIVERSITY STUDY RESEARCHERS SAY RIDES DON’T RAISE RISK OF BRAIN INJURIES. The Free Library. Retrieved on 7/22/13 from http://www. thefreelibrary. com/ROLLER+COASTERS+SAFETY+SUPPORTED+BY+UNIVERSITY+STUDY+RESEARCHERS+SAY -a092986518 â€Å"Six Flags roller coaster death: Safety bar worried victim, witnesses say†. (2013). MercuryNews. com. Retrieved on 7/22/13 from http://www. mercurynews. com/nation-world/ci_23707295/six-flags-roller-coaster-death-safety-bar-worried Solis, Steph. (2013). How safe is a roller coaster? USA TODAY. Retrieved on 7/22/13 from http://www. usatoday. com/story/news/nation/2013/07/22/roller-coaster-death/2574425/ â€Å"What are the odds of dying on a roller coaster†? (2013). Retrieved on 7/22/13 from http://www. asktheodds. com/death/roller-coaster-odds/ Weisenberger, Nick. (2012). Coasters 101: An Engineer’s Guide to Roller Coaster Design. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Pg. 34.

Electronic Company Sales and Recruitment

Electronic Company Sales and Recruitment Elec company is specialized in importing and distributing electronic and electrical products in Sri Lanka market. Their product range consist of television, home theater systems, digital cameras, kitchen appliances, refrigerators, gas burners and ovens, washing machines and personal computers. The organization wants to make use of their promotional effort to the maximum so that they are planning to come up with an integrated marketing promotions to support the selling activities. Company is going to develop the sales structure and required to add few more people there to support the expansion. They wont to set sales targets for representatives, come up with a plan to recruit new positions to the sales function, develop a benefit package for them, introduce sales package for them, introduce techniques to co ordinate and control sales procedures for the company. In this report there is a sales plan to the company and there are some suggestions to expand sales. First explained about the personal selling to support the personal mix and analysis the role of the sales team within the marketing strategy. Then revised their sales strategies in line with the cooperate objectives. Then explained the appropriate recruitment strategies and selection procedure. The role of motivation for field sales representatives, remuneration package and training in sales management. Explained the sales structure, territorial design, sales recordings and methods to control sales activities. After that explained how sales representative could make use of database in setting effective sales management programmed. Then developed a sales plan to promote electronic and electrical items. Finally investigate the opportunities for using exhibitions or trade fairs to promote the electronic and electrical items to the target customers. Introduction Elec Company is specialized in importing and distributing Electronic and Electrical products in Sri Lankan market. Their Products range consist of Televisions, Home theater systems, Digital cameras, Kitchen appliances, Refrigerators, Gas burners and ovens, Washing machines and Personal computers. Currently it is covering the main cities in the country with ten sales representatives. They all report to one sales manager who is located in the head office. They go on filed visits and make sales to B2B shops which are operating all over Sri Lanka. Some times their sales trips spring to two or three days in filed, before they make the next sales visit. But, their selling tasks within the company are not properly organized. In many occasions, they met together, since there is no proper field visit scheduling done. Sales records are poorly maintained. The company wants to restructure their business operations and align the sales operations to match with the organizational objective. The company wants to streamline the sales channel and expand the business operations to achieve the organizations corporate objective. The company is willing to implement a proper planning and monitoring system to have a better quality sales operation and to increase the profitability. Personal selling Personal selling is where businesses use the sales force to sell the product after meeting face-to-face with the customer. The sellers promote the product through their attitude, appearance and specialist product knowledge.  They aim to inform and encourage the customer to buy, or at least trial the product. A good example of personal selling is found in department stores on the perfume and cosmetic counters.   A customer can get advice on how to apply the product and can try different products.   Products with relatively high prices, or with complex features, are often sold using personal selling.   Great examples include cars, office equipment and many products that are sold by businesses to other industrial customers. Point-of-sale merchandising can be said to be a specialist form of personal selling.   POS merchandising involves face-to-face contact between sales representatives of producers and the retail trade.   A merchandiser will vis it a range of suitable retail premises in his/her area and encourage the retailer to stock products from a range.   The visit also provides the opportunity for the merchandiser to check on stock levels and to check whether the product is being displayed optimally. Advantages of personal selling are high customer attention; message is customized, interactivity, persuasive impact, potential for development of relationship, adaptable and opportunity to close the sale. Organization sell and customer buyer behavior in relation to purchase decisions Digital crameras and the washing machines products that selling at the Elec company. People buying Digital crameras and the washing machines for different purposes. First we have to identify the purposes of the customers before selling products. Digital crameras are mostly needed for the younger generation and photographers. But when we come to the washing machines, mostly it is important for women. Then the company have to use different ways to advertise their products. When the company is going to advertise for the washing machines, it is better to put those advertisements in a womens news paper rather than putting that advertisement in other newspapers. When selling digital crameras it is little bit different. When the company selling digital crameras it is better to advertise in commercial magazines than womens magazines. Washing Machine Buyers Digital crameras Washing machines are house hold items . It is already use in houses. When people wants to get a washine mechines they mainly focused about the price and the facilities in that. Consumers are individuals, households or businesses who use the products. Consumer characteristics vary from country to country. Therefore it has become challenging task for marketer to understand the need, buying behaviour of consumer before developing product and marketing program. It has been found that the consumers decision making process is influenced by Usability aspect. Here the peer group pressure, Promises, Digital Processing, Flash, Location services, Cost of service Spare parts cost combined together affect the consumer to decide while purchasing a digital camera. The feature of the product is next important factor that heavenly influences the buying decision of the consumer. Here the consumer pays a great attention towards features like Picture quality, Zoom facility memory of the camera. The accessories have become an important factor in purchasing a digital camera. Apart from the features, the customer is very much interested in other add-on  like colour, carriage bag, weight trendiness of the camera. Other factors that are crucial in decision making while purchasing digital camera are service, value for money promotional schemes. Price has not emerged out as a very crucial factor for the consumers. The consumers give more weight age to usability features of the product in comparison with price. Promotional schemes like discounts emerged out as the least important factor for the consumers. Role of the sales team The sales team is responsible for researching and analyzing the business and the market. Using the information gathered, the marketing plan, budget and key performance indicators are developed. Action plans are devised and the marketing strategy is implemented. The marketing department measures and reports on the results of the marketing strategy. Staff in the marketing department train staff in other departments so they are conscious of current campaigns. The purpose of their activity is to manage the four Ps of marketing. The aim is to stimulate demand for the business goods and services and to generate leads. Leads are customers who are likely to make a purchase. Leads are identified by collecting the details of people who contact the business to ask about products or services, or by gathering details of prospective customers from online surveys, competition entries or newsletter subscriptions. Lists of potential customers can be purchased and classified into ranges of income, loc ation and purchasing preferences. The marketing department can analyze their customer database to highlight customers and their preferences, those who make regular purchases or those who are due for upgrades or replacements. After raising interest and demand for the products and services, the leads that are generated are passed on to the sales department. Leads are people who may make a purchase. It is up to sales staff to contact people, identify their needs and help them make a purchasing decision. Sales staff deal directly with customers and they must build a good relationship. Sales staff also deal with people who walk in off the street or contact the business through their website. The role of sales staff is to make sure the business gets a return from its investment in marketing and to turn demand into sales. Corporate Sales Planning Elec is having multiple ranges of electrical and electronic home appliances to meet with different needs of the families. Company management is more focused on building a business which is sustainable and more profitable for the stake holders. Further they want to have the brand presence as well. The company vision is more focused on creating better values for their end users, sellers and other stakeholders. Further the company is looking for the growing opportunities with business expansion and new sales force recruitment. Moreover the company should develop and competitive environment for the target market to choose Elec products over the competitor brands. Elec management should understand the corporate objectives of their organization clearly and should develop the sales planning accordingly. The sales force management in the Elec Company seems to be very weak and the company is not having and efficient tracking system on the employee customer visit plans. The company is in a position where they have to make strong call on how they are going to manage their sales planning and client management. Elec as a importer and supplier of house hold electronics and electrical thorough out the country, the company should understand the need for designing a sales plan with clear reporting and account management guidelines. As the company is managing a considerable amount of resellers its will be better to change the sales representatives roles to Key Account Managers. Key account managers will be assigned with different shop owners who could be taken care by the respective account managers. Each shop will be considered as separate accounts. The account manager will be responsible to handle any queries related to the accounts under his observations. When the company is designing the account managers reporting lines it can have a 2 layer or 3 layer reporting line. The overall sales and distribution operation would be handled by the country head for sales. And he can have three Senior Sales managers reporting to him, who will be responsible to handle the account managers. The account management can be differentiated into two main criteria. The first criteria would be the large resellers who by more than certain quantity every year. The company can check their past sales records and list the top 25 B2B buyers as the Key Accounts of the company. And the Key accounts can be handled by the Key account managers while the other B2B customers can be handled by the other customer account managers. Among the 3 senior sales managers one manager should handle the Key account Managers who will be handling the main customer accounts of the company while the other 2 senior managers could handle the other customer account operations. When assigning the account managers to the resellers other than the key account managers, the company may practice a territorial approach. This will help the company to plan their sales operations effectively. Same way the company can divide their key accounts into 3 or 4 territories which will make the client management and customer visits more convenient. Company can figure out the compatible staff from the current sales force and promote them as key account managers. If they give the internal staff, the opportunity to handle the key accounts, it will be much convenient for the company to have the rapport with the existing customer hence they already have some kind of relationship among them. Proposed Hierarchy of the Sales Department at Elec Company Country Head Country head for sales should be responsible for overall sales planning and budgeting of the department. The country head will be a member of the senior management team and will have the sales planning with the corporate objectives. He will play a major role in communicating the overall organizational expectations with the sales unit staff. He should have the capacity to develop a sales design and make rapid decisions based on the customer and corporate demands. Senior Manager Key Accounts Senior Key accounts Manager will be handling a team of Key account managers who will be responsible for delivering the set profit targets and achieving the organizational goals. Further the managers will be responsible to manage the account managers reporting to him and to provide them better guidance in delivering satisfactory performance. Further the senior account manager will also have occasional liaisons with the key clients. Senior Manager Customer Accounts Management Senior Manager will be responsible for handling the staff directly reporting to him and growing the unit performance. Also increasing the profitability of the sales team will be a major goal of the manager. Managers will also handle the customer grievances and provide professional guidance to the team members in personality development and business development. Key Accounts Manager Key account managers will have the direct liaison with the key customers assign to them and increase the companys profitability and developing the brand presence in the assigned region. Also they will be responsible to retain the customers and grow the portfolio size. Customer Account Managers The customer account managers will be responsible to handle the customer accounts of the company from the assigned territorial limits. The Account will be handled in terms of increasing sales and convincing the accounts to promote the Elec products over the competitor products. Also the Account managers will be responsible to have sustainable account management and relationships with the customers. Restructuring the sales department should be planned properly as the changes take place in the company to avoid the staff getting the wrong message. The company should give the existing staff more priority for the appropriate positions. And the company should have a clear change management strategy in the role changes and planning. Human Resources Management Human resources management functions related to the sales department will include staff retention, employees welfare management and motivation, recruitment and selection, training and development and Employees Evaluations and other activities related to the staff management. Human Resources Planning for the Sales Unit Human resources planning process involves identifying the need for human capital against the organisational goals and current human capital strengths. Any company in the market should do a human resources planning in order to have a competitive human resources and enjoy the economies of scale. Any decision on recruitment should be made only if the necessity is found through a human resources planning activity, if not the recruitment may be a burden for the organisations future. At Elec, as the company is planning on expansions and growth, the company is in need for more staff to match the need of the sales expansions and adoption of new customer accounts. Human resources planning will have several sensitive steps which need to be carried out with strategic thoughts and information. Evaluating the organisational goals and objectives This should be found from the top management decisions and needs. Identifying the need of human resources (Human resources Demand) The company HR should negotiate with the line managers and middle managers on the need of employees for the achievement of set objectives. The need can be identified by the average productivity assumptions. Identifying the currently human resources availability (Human resources Supply) Gather information from the HRIS or from departmental managers and payroll system on the availability of staff power. And the skills of the employees should be also identified. Evaluating the gap between supply and demand. The management should evaluate the gap existing with the demand and supply of human resources and the skills. Planning the strategies to meet the required human resources level. If the supply and demand is matching the company could focus on training and developing the employees to achieve the goals. If the company has staff surplus, it should implement strategies to downsize the human capital, if not they can reduce the working hours of the employees or prepare rosters for working. But the company may focus on new account adoption and increase the targets of the staff that are with little portfolios. If the company has a staff shortage the company can increase the working hours of the staff and pay overtime or if the need is a long term oriented, they can recruit new employees. Also they can outsource few functions which are not core activities of the business. Implementation of the plan and monitoring the process as a continuous cycle. The activities planned should be implemented and monitored to assure the execution aligns with the planning. And the planning process is a recurrent process which needs to be carried out frequently to assure the human capital is utilised effectively. The above HR planning process should be carried out on a frequent manner to understand the companys sales departments position based on the human resources need. This will help the managers to understand the over heads and shortfalls in the unit. Recruitment and Selection Process The need for recruitment would be identified through an effective HR planning process. ELEC should make their recruitment decisions by carrying out HR Planning activity. If the recruitment is done just for the request of the department managers the company may have to suffer unnecessary financial losses. The recruitment and selection process of the company should be strategically designed to match with the company culture and the industry they operate in. Recruitment and selection process may have the following steps in general. Analysing the vacancy identifying the job role and specialities need for the job role. Analysing the skills and qualifications expected to meet the vacancy. Identify the personality needed from the individual for the position vacancy. Identifying the recruitment method whether the company is planning to fill the vacancy from the internal staff or looking from outside. The company can call applications though education and professional bodies, via referrals and public advertising, etc. Selection process Screening the applications received to identify the qualified candidates. Preliminary interviews for the shortlisted candidates Exams/tests related to the job for the successful candidates Next level of interviews Reference checking and background analysis Offer of employment Acceptance by the employee and employment contract. Induction Evaluation of the Selection process The above procedures could be followed by the ELEC to recruit a suitable candidate for the vacancies. Elec can recruit staff with experience in the same industry and can attract staff members from their competitors by giving better benefits for their staff members. Selecting and recruiting the most suitable candidates will help the company to have a committed staff force who will help the company in achieving the competitive advantage over the competitors. Employees Motivation Elec Company should implement a better employee motivation system as the current system in the company is not very competitive to have a satisfied and motivated sales force. In order to have a motivated sales team the company should focus to develop a satisfied sales force and then motivating the sales team. If the company invests on employee motivations without achieving the employee satisfaction the company many suffer unnecessary losses. The company should make the employees to feel that they are being taken cared by the company and if they perform more the company will reward for their additional contribution. Company should take initiatives to hear the employee grievances and provide proper solutions to match their needs. The company can include employee protection schemes with insurance benefits and health protection for the staff and immediate family members. Also the company should introduce a competitive rewarding scheme based on the account management profits generated by each account manager. This will give them the motivation to focus on increasing the sales and build a strong business portfolio for their benefits and organizations benefit. In addition Elec can introduce a sales tracking mechanism which will provide the staff real time updates on their portfolio position and how their monthly incentives are going to be. Also if the company can introduce Tabs or laptops for the sales staff to have communication medium with the head office and to see the stock in demand and orders to the stores based on the clients needs. This will reduce the companys operational cost on communication medium though the initial investment may look higher. Further the company should have employee get together, family outings and special value adding rewards such as MDs awards to recognize the employees for their extraordinary contribution to the company growth. In addition to the above the company should invest more on the employees training and development. This will help the employees to have a trust on the company. Also they will be happy to see themselves growing within the company. Marketing Mix and Business Development Company should develop a marketing mix based on the corporate strategy of the company. The marketing mix will focus on the competitive advantage over the competitors. The Elec products are tangible and the consumers always want to have key benefits and values to be matched for the money they pay. Elec should evaluate the cost benefits before designing the marketing mix of the company. The marketing mix will be more focused of reaching the shop owners than the end users as the shop owners will be focused on sales growth to end users. Elec should build good rapport with the shop owners and identify the product movement style and analyze the best markets places for the range of products they have. They should provide the right products and the right quantity to the right shop to avoid returns of the goods which will cost extra on transport. Further the company should fix a price which will give better yield for itself, shop owners and cost advantage for the end users. Also they should match their prices with the main competitors to win in the price competition. The Company will have their main stores based on the head office and distribute the goods every fortnight based on the orders received. This system will help them to enjoy the cost advantage again without having many distribution centers. The market placing will be done through the account managers to the shops they manage. And the end users can buy the products from the shops hence the company doesnt need to meet the end user directly. Further the company could train the shop technical staff on the repairs and damage complain handling which will help Elec to have a professionalism in the shop level as well in treating the customers fairly. Also this will help the shops to be satisfied with the support given by Elec. Promotional activities related to the product range will be handled by the Elec corporate office. The promotional activities of the company will have 2 phases where one phase will be focused on the shops and the other phase will be focused on the end users. The public media advertising will have more focus on the general public and end users. But the advertisements done for the end users may have considerable influence on the decision making of the shop owners as well; hence the message received from the media will create a stereo typing on the shop owners mind. The company will carry out personal marketing to the shop owners with the support of the technical sales team and the account manager. Also the senior managers will be getting involved in negotiating the wholesales pricing and the profit margins with the shop owners. International movement of the company is pretty competitive. As the company is still focusing on establishing the brand in Sri Lanka they should do a feasibility study on the competitiveness and profit advantage of entering a new international market. Participating in Trade fairs will help the company to meet the end users in the selected area and identify the real needs and demands of the end users than they learning from an intermediary. Also they can learn about the influences of the other brand in the customer decision making process. Conclusions In summary Elec should develop a sales plan focused on account management concept and differentiate the account based on the profitability and turnover. The high profitable accounts will be managed by the key account managers and the other accounts should be managed by the customer account managers. The company may have to invest more on developing a professional account management team. Further the company has to invest in recruiting the best candidates and training them. The marketing mix of the company should be restructured to match the organizational overall expectation and the company can have products distribution strategies to match the regional demands. Also the whole sale pricing should be negotiated with the key customers and the senior managements involvement is much appreciated on this. Also the company moving international is not recommendable at this point of time hence the company is in need of more cash to stabilize themselves in the local market.