Human Resource Management Discussions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Human Resource Management Discussions - Essay Example The ability to resolve conflicts effectively is an important attribute of successful business leaders and human resource functions (Fleishman, 2009). In all conflict resolution approaches, dialogue has often been described as the best approach to reconcile warring parties, just as in the case of the writers guild of the United States and media owners. During discussions between the WGA and the producers, the former were said not to be bargaining in good faith, this meant that they were not being open in their communication. In addition, failing to bargain in good faith meant that they were not being reasonable and serious on meeting reasonable grounds. In support of this claim, the producers pointed to a time when the WGA members had left the negotiating room after only an hour of its commencement. In addition, they had failed to honor dialogue meetings that had been set to discuss major issues. The claims made by the producers were enough to support their claim since the directors of WGA finally solved the stalemate after further interventions. After failing to reach viable solution, the WGA did eventually strike, in fighting back, the producers would have decided to make away with the work of the WGA and did their business independently or other willing business partners. This would have been a good retaliatory step; however, the results would not have been in the best business interests for both parties. In the approach, the WGA decided to remain silent in the negotiating forums; to this effect, the producers claimed that the WGA had decided to play silence. This is the reason why in all the six meetings that were held, the producers had failed to reach any meaningful agreements. This conflict, like that of the Autoworkers or Teamsters unions against auto and trucking companies is different, this is because, the producers and the WGA are people depending on each other directly. The failure of one party to reach a meaningful agreement is

In the practicalities of arranging a syndicated loan a lead bank has Essay

In the practicalities of arranging a syndicated loan a lead bank has clear functions but its legal position and responsibilities are both potentially very ambiguous Discuss - Essay Example It follows from this that the legal responsibilities of the lead bank is very important as it represents an important link between the syndicate and their individual relationships with the borrower.2 Even so, the lead bank’s legal position is ambiguous since it coordinates what can amount to conflicting obligations between the syndicate and the borrower. This paper examines the legal position and the responsibilities of the lead bank in arranging a syndicated loan and explains how both can be ambiguous. A syndicated loan is a multi-bank financing mechanism where a number of banks conjoin to advance a loan to a borrower based on a â€Å"single loan agreement.3 The legal complexity of this arrangement is explained by Mugasha as follows: â€Å"...the agreement is executed by more than one bank and there is privity of contract between the borrower and each of the banks. Legally, each of the banks has a separate contract with the borrower, even though for convenience, the separate contracts are printed in one document.†4 In a typical case, a borrower requires a loan which a single bank is either unwilling or unable to advance. It could be that the loan required is large and the bank approached is not prepared to accept the risk for the entire amount.5 In any case, the reluctance of a single bank to advance a loan often gives way to a syndicated loan or a â€Å"multi-bank loan arrangement† in which at least two banks advance loans to a single borrower â€Å"on common terms based on a single document.†6 Despite the single document, each bank has a separate agreement with the borrower.7 The result is, the obligation of the individual banks involved in the syndicate loan is several rather than joint.8 The lead bank’s legal position and responsibilities with respect to the syndicated loan arrangements is divided into two intricately connected participatory roles. First and foremost, the lead bank, which is usually the bank

The Consumer Buying Decision Marketing Essay

The Consumer Buying Decision Marketing Essay Introduction In this assignment I have employed as a business marketing advisor for the Sheffield Business Support Council where John Ryan from Window World has made contact with. He has been in replacement window industry for fifteen years. Early years of business was doing successfully. Window World had been a focused on upon replacing old windows and doors and constructing and installing new conservatories for customers. First he had resisted and purposely declined approaches from local business. Then he realised move into seeking and accepting orders from business. But overall business over past fourteen months had declined by 25%. The reason why he is seeking advise from us is there is something wrong with their approach in business marketing and sales. So I have allocated to visit the company and offer advise and assistance to them. Task 1. Making money is one part of selling product or service in most businesses. However, it can be much more complicated than that simple model; some businesses serve as the middle man from manufacturer to customer; others sell to other businesses, and some organizations do not follow a financial model that generates a profit for them. All of these business models lead to different types of business transactions. There are three buying decisions consumer goes through. These are limited problem solving, habitual decision making, and extended problem solving. Limited problem solving happens during a purchase decision that calls for, at most, a moderate amount of time. Limited problem solving usually based on past experience more than an external information. Habitual decision making describes a purchase decision process in which consumers engage little effort. Marketers strive to attract and maintain habitual purchasers by creating strong brands and store loyalty. Extended problem solving is a common when the customer thinks that purchase decision causes a massive risk. To reduce risk, customer does lots of information. Also there are factors that affects consumer decision process which are psychological factor, marketing mix, social factor, situational factor. Psychological factors Although marketers themselves can influence purchase decisions, psychological factors affect the way people receive marketers message. There are motives, attitudes, perception, and learning Social factors The decision process is also influenced by the external, social environment , which consists of customers family, reference groups, and culture. Family Many purchase decisions are made about products or services that the entire family will consume. So, firms must consider how families can do the purchase decisions. Reference group One or more person whom an individual uses as a basis for comparison regarding beliefs, feelings, and behaviour. Culture Defined as the shared meanings, beliefs, morals, values and customs of group people. Business Purchase The process of selling products or services to buying organisation. Therefore, Business to Business marketing involves manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. Some firms find it more productive to focus on their efforts and resource on key business customers rather than on ultimate customer. Manufacturers or Producers One of the biggest business-to-business buyers are manufactures and producers. They buy raw material s, components and parts to supply for the product. Resellers They are marketing intermediaries that resell manufactured products without significantly altering their form. Institutions Institutions, such as school and hospitals purchase all kinds of goods and services. Government In most countries, the central government tends to be the one of the largest purchasers of goods and services. The distinction between a B2B and a B2C transaction is not the product or service itself; rather, it is ultimate user of that product or service. Task 2. A  buying center  (also known as a  decision making unit  or  DMU), in  marketing,  procurement, and  organisational studies, is a group of employees or members of any type of organization responsible for finalising major decisions, whether to purchase. These DMU participants can range from employees who have a formal role in purchasing decisions to members are specifying the highly technical purchases, such as information systems or production equipment, also require the expertise of technical specialists. All these employees are likely to play different roles in the buying process, which vendors must understand and adapt to in their marketing and sales efforts. These roles compromised of 6 different roles: -Initiator the person who first suggests buying the particular product or service, often associated with the user -Influencer anyone outside of DMU with influence on its members, has knowledge about potential suppliers -Decider the person with the authority to make the decision to buy-whether to buy, what to buy, how to buy, or where to buy -Buyer the person who is tasked to make actual purchase for doing paperwork etc. (handle the paperwork) -User the person who is consumes or uses the product or service -Gatekeeper the person who controls information or access, or both, to decision makers and influencers All these roles tend to be more formal and by job title. Degree of influence may still be affected by a strength of personality. Also these specialised buying centres typically receive information about the product or service from commercial sources, peers, publications and the experience. The number of individuals involved in purchasing will relies on the complexity of the need, the value of the purchase and the level of risk held to be connected to the decision.  The people taking on the different roles of the DMU vary with each purchasing occasion, but it is important for suppliers to identify the members of the DMU and recognize their particular needs so that communication efforts can be customized in each single case. According to Morris et al (2001), the mechanism of the DMU is of critical importance to the B2B marketer. Morris (1992) states that  one approach to clarify what takes place among  the participants in the purchasing decision process is to focus on the structure of the DMU. Since the DMU is normally not a formal group, its structure is not formally established by the organisation. Task 3. Buying process begin when consumer recognize that they need unsatisfied need. Research suggests that customers go through a five-stage decision-making process through before, during, and after making purchases. This five-stage decision-making process summarised in the diagram below. The Consumer Buying Decision This model is important for anyone making marketing decisions. It forces the marketer to consider the whole buying process rather than just the purchase decision (when it may be too late for a business to influence the choice!) The model implies that customers pass through all stages in every purchase. However, in more routine purchases, customers often skip or reverse some of the stages. Need Recognition The buying process starts with need recognition. At this stage, the buyer has an unsatisfied need and want to go form their actual, needy to state to a different, desired state. Information Search The second step, after a consumer recognises a need, is to search for information about the various options that exist to satisfy the need. Customer can get information from internal and external research for information. Internal research is customer uses own memory and knowledge about the product or service, gathered through the past experiences. For the external research, buyers seek to information outside of own personal knowledge base to help make the buying decisions. These are can be personal source -friends, family; commercial source- advertising, salespeople; public source- newspapers, radio etc. Alternative Evaluation Research has shown that a consumers mind organises and categorise the alternatives to a support their decision process. When consumer begin to evaluate different alternatives, they often base their evaluations on a set of important attributes or evaluative criteria. Purchase Value is a strong driver of consumers purchase decisions. Customers seek out and purchase the products and services that they believe provide them with the best value. Then, after consumers have access to the product or service, they usually consume it. Post Purchase The final step of the consumer decision process is post purchase behaviour. It is common for customers to experience concerns after making a purchase decision. For the business decision process occurs to include six different stages. Though it differs many ways from consumer decision process, both started with need recognition. Information search and evaluation of alternatives steps are more formal and structured in B2B process. Typically, B2B buyers specify their needs in writing and task potential suppliers to submit formal proposals, whereas B2C buying decisions usually made by individuals or families. The diagram below has shown business decision process. Business-to-Business Decision Process Need Recognition In the first step of the B2B buying process, the buying organisation recognises through either internal or external sources, that has a drained need. Product Specifications After recognising the need, the organisation considers alternative solutions and come up with potential specifications that suppliers might use to develop their proposals to supply the product. RFP Proposals The request proposals (RFP) is a common process through which buying organisation invite alternative suppliers to bid on supplying their required components. The purchasing company may simply post its RFP needs on its Web site, work through various B2B linkages. Proposal Analysis and Supplier Selection The buying organisation, in conjunction with its critical decision maker, evaluates all the proposals it receive in response to its RFP. Firms are likely to narrow the process to a few suppliers, often those with which they have existing relationships, and discuss key terms of the sale, such as price, quality, delivery, and financing. Order Specification In the fifth stage, the firm place its order with its preferred supplier. The order will include detailed description of goods, prices, and delivery dates. Vendor analysis An organization that supplies specific goods or services to the business markets. Before that firm analyse their vendors performance, strengths and weakness of current and prospective suppliers in terms of their capacity, sales revenue, reputation, stocks, service etc. The Business DMP and the Consumer DMP looks similar but its really quite different because of its formality. The table below shows differences between Business DMP and Consumer DMP. Business DMP Consumer DMP High priority problem solving mode Low priority solving mode Interested in features Interested in advantages of product Risk factor is greater Risk is not high Not spending their own money Spending own money Sales cycle is longer Sale is instant Narrow segment for the product Entire sales market of customers Task 4. The type of buying situation also affects the business to business decision process. Most B2B buying situations can be categorised into three types: A new task buying  situation appears when the company has no earlier experience of the product or service and is buying it for the first time (Smith Taylor, 2002). In this kind of situation, the greater the cost or risk, the larger will be the number of decision contributors and the greater will be their efforts to collect information (Kotler et al., 2002). A modified rebuy  situation emerges when the buyer has some previous experience of the product or service(Smith Taylor, 2002), but wants to modify product specifications, prices, terms or sup-pliers  (Kotler et  al., 2002).   Finally, a straight rebury  situation appears when the company  buys on a regular basis (Smith Taylor, 2002). In this situation, the buyer reorders something without any modifications. It is generally handled on a routine basis by the purchasing department (Kotler et al., 2002).   These varied types of buying situations call for very different marketing and selling strategies. The most complex and difficult is the new task buying because it requires the buying organisation to make changes in current practices and purchases. In new buying situations, the buying center members spend more time at each stage of B2B buying process. Modified buying is probably using existing criteria. Straight re-buys often happens when the buyer recognise the firms need and skipping all the buying process and go directly buy. So new task buying is more intense than modified buying and straight re-buying situations. What we missing at Window World are: Window World need to engage the business, marketers need persuasive content that appeals to both logic and emotion. The communication strategy should serve prospective buyers as well as their current customers with lifetime value. What they need is make customers to open Window Worlds web site and take their phone and calls. Strategic approach to build long-term relationship with buyer, it is mutually beneficial. Answering why and how would be start of new buying situation, telling them why they need their product and how it solves their business problems. Also doing the re-enforcing value and purchase satisfaction with exiting customers . One of important thing is that their product can be easy to purchase. More importantly, key account management (KAM) changes in selling  . KAM is a completely different organizational process used by business-to-business suppliers to manage their relationships with strategically-important customers, and it produces measurable business benefits. Role of sales people in KAM Customer Partner Buyer Behaviour Expert Buyer-seller Team Coordinator Customer Service Provider Information Gatherer Service Provider Market Analyser and Planner Market Cost Analyser Technologist Task 5. Window world has been delivering excellent returns with consumers. Marketers are particularly interested in post purchase behaviour because it causes actual rather than the potential customers. Satisfied customers, whom marketers hope to create, become loyal, and spread word of mouth, so they are quite important. There are three positive post purchase outcomes as illustrated in table 1; increased customer satisfaction, decreased post purchase dissonance, and increased customer loyalty. Customer satisfaction is the state of mind that customers have about a company when their expectations have been met or exceeded over the lifetime of the product or service. The achievement of customer satisfaction leads to company loyalty and product repurchase. Setting unrealistically high consumer expectations of the product through the advertising, personal selling, or other types of promotion may lead to higher initial sales, but it eventually will result in dissatisfaction when the product fails to achieve the high performance expectations. This failure could lead to dissatisfied customers and the potential for negative word of mouth. On the other hand, setting customer expectations too low is equally dangerous strategy. So marketers can take several steps to ensure post purchase satisfaction, such as these: -Build realistic expectations, not too high and not too low. -Demonstrate correct product use-improper usage can cause dissatisfaction. -Stand behind the product or service by providing money-back guaranties and warranties. -Encourage customer feedback, which cuts down on negative word of mouth. -Periodically make contact with customers and thank them for their support. Because customers appreciate human contact, even it is expensive than e-mail or mail contacts. Also it gives you opportunity to correct mistakes. Post purchase dissonance Post purchase dissonance is basically an after purchase cognitive  behaviour. While evaluating the  benefits after a purchase it is common for customers to be concerned about their purchase decision. It is caused by  cognitive dissonance. Here the customer thinks that if customer had purchased some other item it would have been better than the one customer bought. Simply customer is not  completely  satisfied with the purchase and is most likely to switch brands. Marketers can avoid post purchase dissonance the below: Under promise and over deliver. You dont need to under promise, but just make sure you deliver on the promises you make. The sale doesnt end with the sale.  As in, the sale is the start, not the end of the relationship so make sure that you behave in that way.   Follow up on the sale, ask for feedback (and act on it).   Do the nice little unexpected things that you didnt promise this could be a message a week into the sale with a voucher for money off a complementary product or even just a little card to say, thanks for your purchase, we really appreciate it., although I might then think, If you appreciate it show me the money! so an offer or freebie would be appreciated more. Anticipate what might go wrong.  Think through the customer journey and try to remove any of the pain-points they might hit.  Take that approach to every stage of the user experience and youll continue not to disappoint your customer. If something does go wrong, act accordingly.  Sometimes things go wrong. Say sorry and then fix the problem.   Sometimes the best relationships start this way. Loyalty In the post purchase decision making process, marketers attempt to solidity in relationship with their customers. They want customers to be satisfied with their purchase and buy from same company again. Loyal customers only will buy certain brands and shop at certain stores. Firm build loyalty by keeping touch with customers using e-mail marketing, thank you cards and more. treating own team well so they treat your customers well. showing that you care and remembering what they like and dont like. Firm build it by rewarding them for choosing you over your competitors. Firm build it by truly giving a damn about them and figuring out how to make them more success, happy and joyful.

Tragedy at Texas A&M University :: essays research papers

Tragedy at Texas A&M University Texas A&M University and the University of Texas have been rivals for over 90 years. Every year Texas A&M held an annual bonfire tradition which attracts thousands of people. It is a tradition for Texas A& M to build a huge bonfire right before the game against rivals with University of Texas. Students would spend several weeks building the bonfire. On November 18, 1999 the stack of logs collapsed over and killed 12 A&M students. The aggie bonfire tradition would never again be the same. In US News, the article â€Å"A Tragedy at Texas A& M†, tells how the logs broke in half killing 12 students. On Thursday of November 18, 1999, early that morning the students started working on stacks of logs from the previous days. Students at A & M were very proud of this historical event. The students would gather one week and start to create the bonfire together. But little did they know this would turn into a tragedy. Early morning around 2:30am the logs were thrown everywhere including the students that were working on it that night. About 70 students were at the top of the logs when it suddenly gave way. At least nine killed in collapse of A&M towering, 40-feet pyramid of logs trembled and then came roaring down early Thursday, crushing at least nice students to death and injuring 28 others. At least four of the injured were in critical condition and two people could be seen trapped in the rubble late Thursday afternoon. Rescuers couldn’t tell if they were died or alive. Rescuers had to use sound-detection equipment to listen for moaning, tapping and heard scratching noises that led them to believe there were victims trapped. In Time magazine, the article â€Å"A Good Time Goes Bad†, explains, how a junior at Texas A& M University, embarked this fall on a rite of passages that began in 1909. Fernando Shaun was an eye- witness to this tragedy late that night. The week before the accident Fernando would help cut the wood and load the trucks. He worked hard around the clock to build the wooden tower. At 2:28am is when he saw the 44-ft tall tower fall to the ground. After 24 hours the rescue workers had found 12 dead bodies and 28 were injured. The people began to question, why did the tower fall?

Spiritual Growth through Various Spiritual Disciplines

From time immemorial, spiritual growth has strengthened the faith of believers and has helped them become closer and made them believe more in their religious dogma. This is also evident in Christianity. From the time of Jerusalem’s height, discipline has always found a part in Christian beliefs and in strengthening the faith of the congregation. Over the years, people have learned that particular kinds of disciplines when practiced help them keep the connection between God and themselves open and help keep alive their passion towards God.It is worth noting early on that these spiritual disciplines are not the surest way to heaven and that there is no concrete account that they can even make you a holy person. On the other hand, being able to practice spiritual discipline can heighten your desire, awareness, and love of God by stripping down the barriers that you put up within yourself and other barriers that others have created for you that hinder you from being closer to God (Benner, 2002). A practice or activity can be considered a spiritual discipline when it takes a specific part of your way of life and turns it toward God.A spiritual discipline is, when practiced faithfully and regularly, a habit or regular pattern in your life that repeatedly provides you the opportunity to become closer to God, opens the practitioner’s heart to God and makes one malleable and open to spiritual guidance and opinion. Christian devotional practice is centered primarily on the holy trinity – Jesus Christ, God the Father and the Holy Spirit (Foster, 1998). In this study, we put special attention on a comprehensive analysis of spiritual growth through the practice of six kinds of discipline and how these are able to contribute to spiritual growth.In the succeeding parts of the paper, we will focus our study on spiritual disciplines such as meditation, prayer, fasting, study, service and simplicity. We will also provide a discussion of these particular dis ciplines and how they are able to make people grow closer to a perfection of relationship with Christ. The first part of the study is dedicated to a discussion of spiritual growth thru meditation. Essentially, meditation is subdivided into three parts: Concentration, Meditation and Contemplation. The first part of meditation is concentration.Concentration is being able to take special attention on a certain point, topic or area. It entails 100% of taking special attention on a single thought, in our case 100% focus to God. Meditation can be achieved by being able to clear one’s mind of unnecessary opinions and distractions as this can make it easier for people to be more connected to God. Concentration brings people to another level of consciousness that promotes for clearer thought and a heightened sense of feelings. This precursor must be achieved in order for people to become in a meditative state. The second stage of meditation is actually meditation itself.The uninterrup ted flow of one’s Attention, then, is Meditation. By being fixated in a single object, a person’s thought is totally focused on that object. This is the clearest and most important aspect of meditation. With this, the purest opinions and feelings are released between the person and God. Through meditation, God has a true and clear connection with the person that helps provide a clear and uninterrupted line of communication. Spiritual meditation creates for a very clear communication between God and the person, which promotes for better understanding of God and a first hand experience of God’s presence.This is also evident in order religious orders such as Buddhism that takes special attention on intense meditation to cleanse the mind and body of evil and wrongdoing. Through continuous Meditation, one becomes one with the object of one’s Concentration. The third level is contemplation. By means of meditation one is able to acquire a lot of pure experiences that has to reflect on and analyzed. Contemplation is a method that helps people clearly explain and analyze the events that had transpired during meditation.Contemplation often takes more time than the meditation itself, as it is important to clearly understand what the Lord has communicated to the person (Keating n. d. ). This can be in form of a group with a facilitator or contemplating alone. At any case, what is important is the resulting decision made that is important, regardless of contemplative medium. One can meditate by means of study. In studying, one is in a meditative state that is focused on the holy scriptures of God. With study, we are encapsulated within the scriptures of God’s word.In studying the word of God, we are led to deeper meditative state and we can gain more knowledge and be closer to God through his word (Beers, 2006). It has been said that pure existence can only be experienced when the mind becomes purely at ease with the environment he/she is in. In order for us to be truly one with God, we have to imbibe into our daily routine a portion of meditation in order to experience, even a little at the very least, pure existence and a unbroken line of communication with God in order to further develop our spirituality and relationship with God.With pure meditation, it is really hard to understand the words of God. Our opinions and speculations are like a veil covering our true Nature. In addition to this, a most serious problem is when we identify with a certain mind-structure, the personality or ego, and the body. But even with so much of this demystifying our meditative state, meditation is used to unveil our true Nature and relationship with the Lord, we might still continue to cling to this false personality and fear its dissolution (Foster, 1978).Since we cannot simply order the mind to be still, we give it something to hang on to. This is to facilitate effective meditation that would help us greatly in opening a pure lin e of communication with the Lord. Words designed for that purpose are called mantras. In Christianity’s case, a mantra can be of the form of a prayer or Christian ritual. The application of mantras during meditation is called transcendental meditation. Mantras are repeated mentally for the sole purpose to calm the mind, remove inhibitions and clear out any unnecessary opinions (Beers, 2006).By continually driving out unnecessary thought can the mind be completely â€Å"silent† and only when the mind comes to a complete standstill are we enabled to identify with the silent observer. Spiritual meditation is essentially a mental exercise that drives the mind to take special attention on the Lord in order to remove all opinions not relevant to the Lord and create a connection between him for effective communication and to further our relationship with the Lord. The next kind of spiritual discipline that is closely linked to meditation is prayer. The second discipline is pr ayer.Spiritual discipline is not spiritual discipline if there is no prayer, of course, is much more than a spiritual discipline; it is a way of life. However it should be noted that prayer, as with all spiritual disciplines, should never be taken only as a discipline and nothing more. It would be a rather low-voltage spiritual life in which prayer was chiefly undertaken as a discipline. On one hand, prayer is a very potent practice for opening our lives to God (Catechism of the Catholic Church n. d. ). In present times, it is very important to practice prayer as a discipline.In our culture today, a considerable margin of Christians’ attention span is severely impaired. In prayer we attend our minds to God, and all too often that attention lasts for a few seconds. We may be starting off with professing our faith by means of saying the Lord’s Prayer but it is not long before our minds tend to wander off and we start to forget who we had addressed in the first place (Tho mpson 2005). It is for this reason that we must undertake prayer as a spiritual discipline in order to enable ourselves to attain the single-mindedness necessary to attend to the God-who-is-present.It is also vital for us to understand that prayer, just as every other discipline, is a learning process. We will find ourselves distracted. We will notice our minds wandering among the countless concerns of the day. However, as we continue in the paths of prayer, our meanders will be shorter and less frequent. Prayer is conversation or communication with God. It involves both speaking and listening. So often we pray as if it were a monologue. But prayer is so much more than a one-way communication towards God.As a matter of fact, the most diligent person that practices the discipline of prayer knows that prayer is more about just listening towards God rather than talking to him. In addition, prayer is also about being open to God for change. Prayer is recognition that God is God and we a re not, and so in prayer we yield our desires to God's. As much as people might say it is, prayer is not at all complicated. Prayer is not just about saying the right combination of words and thought but it is the right orientation of our outlook towards God.In addition, prayers do not need to be flowery. Those kinds of prayers are either said in order to impress others or just to manipulate God. A prayer is not something that is done during mealtime, in times of church service or in times of distress. It is not just about bowing our heads, clasping our hands together, and closing our eyes. If we really consider the definition of prayer as something that is really paying attention to God, we really can conduct the discipline of prayer without actually stopping.What is important is that in whatever thing we do, we do it with the awareness that God is always there beside us (Thompson 2005). With that in mind, we can take special attention all of what we do and offer it to him. To pray without ceasing means that wherever we go and in whatever we are doing, we go and do with the awareness that God is always watching whatever we do. We listen through prayer and meditation for his opinion on everything that we do in our lives. We look at others and ourselves through His eyes.We ask God to show us the right path and the right decision for whatever we do. In prayer God invites us to join him in his community and wants us to lead our lives in his ways. The third part of the spiritual discipline is fasting. Biblically, fasting is abstaining from food, drink, sleep or sex to take special attention on a period of spiritual growth. Specifically, we humbly deny something of the flesh to glorify God, enhance our spirit, and go deeper in our prayer life. Christian fasting isn't some kind of a â€Å"work† that's commanded by Christ or required by Scripture.On the other hand, it doesn’t imply that fasting isn't suggested to be part of our spiritual growth. Fasting is often linked to prayer and meditation as well. Too often, the focus of fasting is on the lack of food. On the other hand, the purpose of fasting is to take our eyes off the things of this world and instead take special attention on God. Fasting is a way to demonstrate to God and to ourselves that we are serious about our relationship with Him. Although fasting in Scripture is almost always a fasting from food, there are other ways to fast.It can actually be as easy as giving up something temporarily so that you can better focus on God can actually be considered fasting. It is recommended that fasting be limited to a given period of time, more so when food is part of the fasting. It is important to note that fasting is never intended to punish the flesh but to let we take special attention on God (Catechism of the Catholic Church n. d. ). In addition, fasting according to scripture is not a prerequisite. However it is highly recommended. The only reason indicated within Holy Scri pture to fast is to develop a deeper relationship with God.Christian fasting is more than just not letting ourselves eat or deny ourselves of some kind of passion or thing that we crave for but it is a sacrifice of something that we hold dear in order to offer it to the Lord. Fasting imbibes humility and loosens us from the chains of worldly materials and needs. This concept of fasting is not a one-day thing – it is a lifestyle of servant living for God and others. The next kind of spiritual discipline that is the focus of our study is simplicity. Simplicity, as many people would have it, is not merely having less stress in life and having more fun and recreation.But, simplicity is a spiritual discipline that when practiced moves us closer to God and removes us from the chains of worldly possessions. Some people turn to God in order to simplify their lives. In some cases, this can happen but this would entirely depend on what God’s plans for you (Boa, 2001). But all to o often, God makes our lives more complicated. God continually tests us in order to determine our faith and love in him. As we are continually tested, God’s love then calls us to act. Part of what makes a Christian spirituality ‘simple' is that is has a single attention: Christ.All else radiates from there or is to be set aside. Spiritual discipline trains us to stay on course when our lives are rocked out of normality. But if we do not stay steady and stay the course, we lose our connection and ourselves to God. Christian spirituality helps make life simpler and happy to live. When we chase a wealthy life style, we thread a very difficult and often unholy affair: the standards keep on changing day in and day out, and our anxiety never ceases. That is why Christian contemplatives and mystics speak so often of detachment.By taking away the direction on acquiring and amassing wealth, we have more of ourselves made free in order to direct ourselves to take special attentio n on learning to love correctly, to meditate towards God, to provide the necessary aid to those that need it, to learn more about our Lord through scripture or learning how to depend on the Spirit. Simplicity guides to so many other spiritual disciplines such as giving time to others – service. By means of simplicity, you are actually attuned more to the needs of others and can actually help them, as you are not preoccupied with other material things in life.Service can also be a form of simplicity as you provide help to others. With service, you are closer to God as you fulfill one of the very tenets of Christianity, and that is not to just be closer to God but more importantly be closer and be in a communal relationship with the people around you (Ortberg 2004). In life, you cannot have everything. You always have to choose between something. You can't follow Christ and chase wealth. Most of the time these two paths go in extremely opposite directions. The simple life, the contented life, means that we have learned to trust God rather than worldly possessions.People currently worry so much about money that they forget the essential things in life. We think that money will take away all our worries but in reality money will only produce more and more worries. Take for instance the people that win the lottery and just go bankrupt. Riches and abundance are like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. They come in reeling in the bait, they are clad as sheep’s clothing pretending to be security against anxieties and they then become the object of anxiety that in the first place they try to remove.Worldly possessions not only take away our concentration towards God but also make us closer to evil (Mcknight 2004). In conclusion, prayer, meditation, study of the holy scripture, service to one’s fellow men, simplicity and fasting all guide people who do these spiritual disciplines closer to God. Each on its own can contribute to making this person clo ser to God. It is also evident that each spiritual discipline leads to the other; moreover, everything is intertwined and every part of each spiritual discipline is founded on another kind of discipline.This is strongly apparent in existing studies and prescriptions that it is important to practice not just only one but many of these spiritual disciplines if one were to aspire to become closer to God. As a concluding remark, these disciplines are not made in order to be just followed and it will logically guide to being saved from eternal damnation. Instead, these are carried out in order to be a guide for us to be ever closer to God. We use these disciplines as tools to make us closer to God but inevitably, it will all redound to the choice we make whether or not we would want to authentically accept God in our lives.

Compare and contrast the distinguishing features of episode 2 of the mini series Changi and The Shoehorn Sonata

Gordon's Will is the 2nd episode of a six part series called Changi. The story is of one mans struggle to overcome and survive life in a POW camp. Gordon uses flash backs to reconstruct the past for the audience. Gordon (in the present time) has suffered a stroke and is having major medical and family troubles. Most of the show is shot in the POW camp where the secret nine live, a group of Gordon's friends that are also being held captive and that have formed an unbreakable and special bond. Midway through the show Gordon is asked to salute lieutenant Aso. When Gordon refuses, Aso commands Gordon to stand on a box until he is ready to salute, Gordon still refuses and stands on the box for three days, this is an example of Gordon's will to survive Changi with respect. There are many influential characters in Changi. ‘The Secret nine' are a ‘band of brothers' who without each other could not have emotionally survived the Changi POW camp. Gordon is the most influential character in the show, being that this episode is based on his time in the camp and life after it. Changi needed to use alot of dialogue because it is a television program. Australian slang such as ‘G, day', ‘bloody hell', ‘Japs' and ‘stick ya bib in' is used regularly throughout the show. Japanese is used throughout Changi wich gives the show a sence of urgency and helps to establish the setting. In the opening title you hear soothing/melodic music with a sudden burst of screaming, crying and wailing, this is symbolic of the pain and suffering Gordon (and other POW captives) had top survive. Changi is set around Gordon (an old man in the present and a young man in flashbacks). In the present Gordon is a lonely, old and sick man. In the Flashbacks Gordon was strong, stubborn, and willing to do anything in order to survive. The literal setting is a Japanese POW camp and a hospital, both places are symbolic of death. Many different camera techniques are used to develop the theme in Changi. Extreme close ups are used mainly in Changi to show fear and desperation on a characters face. In the second half of the show an extreme close up is used, it focuses on sweat that is dropping from Gordon's head when he is standing on the box, this was to show Gordon's determination to survive. On the Road to Gundagai is used as a theme song for the ‘secret 9'. Music was a coping mechanism for Gordon and his fellow prisoners so as to survive imprisonment with a stable mind. On the road to Gundagai was used because a lot of Australian people know and recognise that song. Both Changi and the Shoehorn Sonata have many similarities and many differences. In regards to the plot the Shoehorn Sonata and Changi are both about WW2 and being captured in a POW but are from two different perspective's (women's and men's). In regards to the characters in the texts both texts showed the main characters in the past and the present. In regards to the dialogue both texts use Japanese to give the show or play a sence of urgency and to define the setting clearly. IN regards to the setting both texts are very different; one is set in a hospital and the POW camp and the other is set in a television studio and a hotel. In regards to photography both texts use images to provoke the audience into feeling for the characters. Being a television series Changi has used photography every second of the show but being a play photography was used sparingly, but was still present. In regards to music/songs The Shoehorn Sonata used songs with lyrics that were symbolic of survival and Changi used a popular Australian song to symbolise ‘the secret 9's'will to survive. This essay has shown the distinguishing features of episode 2 of the mini series Changi and The Shoehorn Sonata, it then compared and contrasted them. Both texts dealt with a common theme of survival.

Reformation and Counter-Reformation and examples

Reformation and Counter-Reformation and examples Within the Church, decisive action had to be undertaken to meet the challenge of the Reformation and other difficulties that had arisen. The rise of Protestant power in northern Europe set off a defensive and totalitarian response in Catholic Italy. The Counter-Reformation put Italian culture on a war footing with the Catholic Church claiming, in effect, total control of Italians' minds and bodies. The Council of Trent, which met intermittently from 1545 to 1563, was called by the pope to deliberate these matters and to undertake reform of the Church from within. As a result of the Council's recommendations, humanistic thinking was replaced by violent reaction, with coercion and persuasion being used as twin prongs to ensure conformity to the teachings of the Church. Promises of liberal religious attitudes were broken by a return to strict Church doctrines. New access to literature and knowledge through the printing press and scientific discoveries was suppressed through the Inquisit ion; the Inquisition was a vast repressive machine that worked through informants and secret courts to meet ideological deviance with humiliation, prison, torture and burning alive.Matthias Church and Calvinist Church, Danube, Buda...God appeared not as the Loving Father but as a terrifying Judge, Christ not as the Good Shepherd but as the Great Avenger.Art was enlisted to serve the purposes of the church militant, but that art was rigorously policed according to a system of decorum in painting which dictated what was and what wasn't acceptable in art. It was all set out by Cardinal Paleotti in 1584 and reinforced by Carlo Borromeo, the young, energetic archbishop of Milan who spent time in Rome. Borromeo gave voice to the new Church doctrines in the manuals he wrote for architects and artists, as well as for students and teachers in the many seminaries he founded. Nudity and eroticism were out,

AntiSocial Paper

AntiSocial Paper AntiSocial Paper The History of Antisocial Personality Disorder Individuals with a diagnosis of Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) are most notorious for a blatant disregard for the rights of others and the rules of society. They are usually manipulative, impulsive, deceitful, and lack any remorse. These personality traits are socially maladaptive and harmful (Torry however, individuals with psychopathy are also characterized by an arrogant and deceitful interpersonal style, callousness, and lack of emotionality (Zeier, Sommers, Newman, & Racer, 2011). In the past, anyone who participated in criminal acts would be looked down on and were often times persecuted. However, not everyone believed that these people should be punished for their actions. James Cowles Prichard felt that not all criminals should be condemned so he came up with the term â€Å"moral insanity†. Moral insanity was the word used to describe the body as being effected with a disease that causes a person to partake in criminal acts. In his book, A Treatise on Insani ty and Other Disorders Affecting the Mind, he stated â€Å"I have described a form of mental derangement, under the title of moral insanity, consisting in disorder of the moral affections and propensities, without any symptom of illusion or error impressed on the understanding† (Prichard, 1837). Throughout the book Prichard is trying to convince people that insane individuals acted out not because they wanted to but because they were forced to do so. Ceasare Lombroso is another pioneer in the development of the phrase antisocial personality disorder. Lombrosso thought that the bodies of criminals were different than the bodies of law abiding citizens. He believed that criminals shared anatomical, similar, structures with our Neanderthal ancestors. The more a person looked like a beast, the more crime they would commit. Today people who has antisocial personality disorder are viewed as having a mental disability. However, a lot of people with this disorder are currently in jail instead of receiving the

Brazil Essay Research Paper Brazil is the

Brazil Essay, Research Paper Brazil is the largest state in South America. It stretches about 2700 stat mis from the underside of the Andes Mountains eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. It borders on every state of the continent except for Chile and Ecuador. Brazils functionary name is the Federative Republic of Brazil. Brazil occupies about half of South America and is the universe s fifth-largest state in country. Although its country is merely a little less than that of the United States, Brazil s population is merely approximately 60 % that of the United States. The capital of Brazil is Brasilia. It was built in the Highlandss get downing in 1957 to promote development of the inside. The population in Brasilia is estimated to be about 1,576,657. The largest metropolis is Sao Paulo and it is estimated that the population there is near10, 099,086. Brazil s entire population is estimated to be approximately 150,400,000. History Brazil is the lone Latin American state that takes its linguistic communication and civilization from Portugal. The native dwellers largely consisted of the mobile Tup -Guaran Indians. Adm. Pedro Alvares Cabral claimed the district for Portugal in 1500. The early adventurers brought back a wood that produced a ruddy dye, pau-brasil, this is where the land received its name. Portugal began colonisation in 1532 and made the country a royal settlement in 1549. During the Napoleonic Wars, King Jo o VI, fearing the progressing Gallic ground forcess, ran the state in 1808 and set up his tribunal in Rio de Janeiro. Jo O was brought place in 1820 by a revolution, go forthing his boy as trustee. When Portugal wanted to cut down Brazil once more to colonial position, the prince declared Brazil # 8217 ; s independency on Sept. 7, 1822, and became Pedro I, emperor of Brazil. Harassed by his Parliament, Pedro I abdicated in 1831 in favour of his five-year-old boy, who became emperor in 1840 ( Pedro II ) . The boy was a popular sovereign, but discontent built up and, in 1889, following a military rebellion, he had to renounce. Although a democracy was proclaimed, Brazil was ruled by military absolutisms until a rebellion permitted a gradual return to stableness under civilian presidents. In the last of a long series of military putschs, Gen. Jo o Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo became president in 1979 and pledged a return to democracy in 1985. The election of Tancredo Neves on Jan. 15, 1985, the first civilian president since 1964, brought a countrywide moving ridge of optimism, but when Neves died on April 21, Vice President Sarney became president. Sarney was widely distrusted because he had antecedently been a member of the military government # 8217 ; s political party. Collor de Mello won the election of late 1989, plighting to take down the chronic hyperinflation by following the way of free-market economic sciences. When Collor faced impeachment by Congress because of a corruptness dirt in Dec. 1992 and resigned, Vice President Itamar Franco assumed the presidential term. A former finance curate, Fernando Cardoso won the presidential term in the Oct. 1994 election with 54 % of the ballot. Cardoso has engineered the disposal of bad government-owned monopolies in the telecommunication, electrical power, port, excavation, railroad, and banking industries. In his short clip in office Cardoso # 8217 ; s economic acumen has made a mensurable dent in Brazil # 8217 ; s poverty degree. Culture The cultural diverseness that today characterizes the Brazilian population and the graduated tables of values of the different groups have promoted a civilization, which, far from representing a compact unit, consists of a grouping of different traditions and cultural m Langes. Within the society unmetabolised residues of crude civilizations, that still feed racial bias and favoritism, coexist alongside other universe positions, in peculiar the so called # 8220 ; American manner of life # 8221 ; based on the theoretical account of the industrialised West. The consequence of this is a societal thaw pot, which, similar to the North American 1, supports Braz il’s domination in the continent. The history of Brazilian art may be divided into three periods: The clip prior to the reaching of the Europeans ( up to 1500 A.D. ) , the period between the landing of the Portuguese and independency ( 1822 ) and the period that brings us up to today. As respects the prehistoric period ( from 8000 to 1000 B.C. ) , there are three distinguishable groupings of artistic discoveries: carvings and pictures on stone, which have been discovered in legion vicinities, instruments and comparatively rare sculptures in rock, and ceramics which constitute the most conspicuous grouping. At the beginning of the first millenary new groups, likely of Andean beginning and who had mastered agribusiness and the industry of ceramics, gave rise to a last stage in the development of local art that lasted up until the reaching of the Portuguese. The art of the Brazilian Indians continues to be today. However, it can merely be appreciated in portion since the groups that still pattern the traditional manner of life have been driven to remote internal parts of the state and their merchandises may be seen above all in museums and private aggregations. The 17th and 18th centuries are considered the aureate age for architecture, ornament and ornamentation of edifices. The alleged # 8220 ; Colonial Baroque # 8221 ; is particularly noticeable in domestic architecture, testimony to the traditions and manner of life imported from the fatherland. The drive force behind cultural development during this period were the missional orders. Of similar importance in the architectural field were military installings constructed by European designers. A particular topographic point is reserved, in the Brazilian figurative humanistic disciplines, for the retabulos, communion table pieces that constitute a cosmetic component conceived as a mark of the exultant Church of the Counter-reformation. Sculpture and picture are both basically connected to spiritual life. Neo-classicism arrived late in Brazil and characterized the whole of the nineteenth century. During the twentieth century Brazilian architecture has developed in connexion with the growing of the metropoliss. The most of import undertaking of this century has been the planning and building of the new capital, Brasilia, commissioned by president Kubztschek and designed by the designers Lucio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. Of these two the latter has left his grade in a manner which, in a atavist to the traditions of the Baroque, creates constructions that have aesthetic every bit good as functional purposes. Government Executive subdivision: head of province: President Fernando Henrique CARDOSO ( since 1 January 1995 ) ; Vice President Marco MACIEL note the president is both the head of province and caput of authorities caput of authorities: President Fernando Henrique CARDOSO ; Vice President Marco MACIEL note the president is both the head of province and caput of authorities cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president elections: president and frailty president elected on the same ticket by popular ballot for four-year footings ; election last held 4 October 1998 election consequences: Fernando Henrique CARDOSO reelected president ; per centum of ballot 53 % Legislative subdivision: bicameral National Congress or Congresso Nacional consists of the Federal Senate or Senado Federal and the Chamber of Deputies or Camara dos Deputados Elections: Federal Senate last held 4 October 1998 for tierce of Senate ; Chamber of Deputies last held 4 October 1998 election consequences: Federal Senate per centum of ballot by party NA % ; seats by party PMDB 27, PFL 20, PSDB 16, PT 7, PPB 5 ; Chamber of Deputies per centum of ballot by party NA % ; seats by party PFL 106, PSDB 99, PMDB 82, PPB 60, PT 58 Judicial subdivision: Supreme Federal Tribunal, 11 Judgess are appointed for life by the president and confirmed by the Senate

Wild moneyless hero Chery1 Strayed and Joseph Campbell Essay

Wild moneyless hero Chery1 Strayed and Joseph Campbell - Essay Example Joseph Campbell explains ‘the call to adventure’ as â€Å"a blunter wild moneyless hero Chery1 Strayed and Joseph Campbell merest chance-reveals to an unsuspected world, and the individual is drawn into a relationship with forces that are not rightly understood† (56). In addition, Freud states that blunders do not represent the mere chances, but they result from suppressed conflicts and desire. He further states that, blunders are ripples on one’s life surface resulting from unsuspected springs. Cheryl Strayed clearly depicts this in her story when she loses her mother due to lung cancer. The life of Cheryl Strayed gets into a downward spiral those results to her family’s destination, heroin addiction, and compulsive adultery. In order to survey, the wreckage of her family and her life at 26 years of age and newly divorced, Cheryl Strayed decides to 1,770 kilometers alone along the Pacific Crest Trail (from California to Oregon). The reason of this hiking is that, Strayed thinks that through hiking she will think about her entire life and family and find her strength once more, far from all that made her life ridiculous. Unfortunately, Strayed candidly admits that her journey does not succeed as she had planned. This is also evident in Joseph Campbell’s theory of the hero in the second phase of initiation (Campbell 23). Joseph Campbell shows that for one to become a hero he or she must pass through many trials. This is evident in the subcategories of meeting with the goddess, the apotheosis, the ultimate boon, woman as the temptress, and atonement. According to Joseph Campbell, â€Å"this is a favorite phase of the myth adventure†¦ it has produced a world literature of miraculous tests and ordeals† (81). Joseph Campbell in his theory of the hero asserts that for one to become a hero he or she must admit to some trials and challenges (Campbell 21). Cheryl Strayed highly supports and portrays this argument in her story. Even before the

Retail Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3750 words

Retail Marketing - Case Study Example "We want to be the best clothing retailer in the United Kingdom. We strive to exceed our customers' expectations, for our customer is our king. Our stores are well situated and easy to reach. The environment is to be treated with care. We sell fashionable clothes of excellent quality and price. Our employees are our treasure. Our goals are double-digit sales growth and satisfaction of our shareholders in the long run." Next Retail Limited has 383 stores in the UK and Ireland and also 1 in Denmark as in January 2006. Apart from these Retail Stores Next also has 80 franchise stores overseas, operated by eight franchise partners. Next franchise stores are spread across 14 countries namely: Bahrain, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Iceland, Indonesia, Japan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Malta, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Slovak Republic and United Arab Emirates. Next products can also be ordered online by the help of Next Directory which is their mail order and internet shopping service. Orders can be delivered to customers' homes or to a store of their choice for collection. Next Directory has approximately 1,905,000 active customers showing an increase of 14.8% from the previous year. NEXT operates through five divisions: NEXT Retail operates the high street shops through more than 330 stores covering the UK and Ireland; NEXT Directory is the mail order division which also contain the e-commerce platform; NEXT Overseas operates retail outlets in the United States, Asia, Continental Europe, and the Middle East through franchise agreements; Ventura runs the financial services division. Other activities include telecommunications software services and property management. Other Departments of NEXT include: Next Distribution Limited is Next's warehousing and distribution service. It is responsible for maintaining the appropriate inventory levels in its warehouses and provide distribution services their designated stores on as and when needed basis. Next First Retail Finance Limited - operates a funded credit business for a limited number of stores and mail order customers. Next Financial Service Limited - provides support services to the business operations of Next Retail Limited. It does not offer any consumer credit. Next Sourcing Limited (NSL) - a sourcing company working exclusively to design, source, buy and merchandise Next branded products. It employs over 1,000 people in China, Hong Kong, India, Romania, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Turkey. NSL also owns and operates a garment factory in Sri Lanka which manufactures exclusively for Next Retail Limited and employs a further 2,000 people. NEXT Retail accounted for

Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anthropology - Essay Example ma’s speech during the Democratic National Convention coupled with specific examples that relate to respective discursive Strategies as seen in the speech. Indeed, in his speech, Obama clearly applies at least two of this Discursive Strategies. In his speech, Obama uses the â€Å"narratives of belonging† strategy to construct â€Å"existential coherence.† Duranti presents this strategy as part of personal experiences that the political speaker possesses. Duranti establishes the fact that these experiences connect the speaker emotionally and morally to the present place and audience. This strategy shows that the political speaker is an ordinary citizen and will thus represent the audience ideally once elected. In his speech, Obama used the â€Å"narratives of belonging† strategy in various occasions. ... I have shared the pain of families who've lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who have lost their jobs.† (Fox News Web). As such, the use of this strategy clearly helps Obama to identify with the Americans, denotes his experience in handling national issues, and thereby convinces the audience that he will ideally represent them once reelected as the US President. Duranti consequently defines â€Å"the [use of] the present as a ‘natural extension’ of the past† strategy to construct â€Å"existential coherence† as a relation between present decision and experience. In various occasions during his speech, Obama demonstrated the use of this strategy. Indeed, he quotes that, â€Å"You know, in a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. We did.† He equally reminds the audience that, â€Å"I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. And we have.† This experience gives him an edge over his political competitor. It clearly proves that he can deliver and out of his past successes, he is convinced to vie for the second time. He notes that he was able to kill Osama Bin Laden and thus presently focusses on defeating Al Qaeda and ending the Afghanistan war by 2014 once reelected (Fox News Web). As such, his experience drives his present decision to seek reelection with a goal of completing his mission. This generates a lot of conviction from the audience as it applauds Obama’s experience. In addition, he quotes that, â€Å"Now, I've cut taxes for those who need it, middle-class families, small businesses.† It

Living Wage Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Living Wage - Research Paper Example Some people would state that employees who live below the poverty level should increase their skills that are set to increase their value to the organization. In the American magazine, the article â€Å"is a living wage just a wage† on the 19th February 2001, addresses the issues revolving around the wage bill. The article states that legislation on the living wage requires businesses, agencies and some organizations, which offer acceptance to government contracts to make payments to their full time employees as a living wage (Melden, 1967). The most vulnerable ethics theory that applies to the above incidence is the deontology theory. This theory states that people should keep their roles obligations and responsibilities when analysing an ethical dilemma. However, this theory lacks the issue of employees’ rights, which is much important. The choice of decision creates a state of dictatorship since no one is entitled to provide his/her views, but only entitled to his/her duties. Ethics provides equity among people who are given a living wage. Employees feel that they at times discriminated against when they apply for jobs. If an employee is denied a position, which he is qualified for, he/she tends to think that it has to do with his social class. A call for employers to follow the â€Å"uniform guidelines on employee selection procedures† should be availed to take into consideration the protected classes on the basis of race, sex, disability, age or religion. In response to the utilitarianism theory, which is found on the basis of predicting the impacts of a given decision or action. The article â€Å"What You Should Look for When Selecting among Employer Health Coverage† published on 16th November 2008 is related to this theory. If an employer selects an employee on racial, religion, age, nationality, sex and disability bases, he is practicing unethical activities, which are discouraged by the utilitarianism theory (The Washington Post

Development and Economic Sustenance in the Third World Context Essay

Development and Economic Sustenance in the Third World Context - Essay Example The "Third World" is seen as being a victim to the class struggle imposed from the top. There were strong roots in dependency theory which implies that developed regions continue to exploit developing regions for sustained growth. WAD theory adopts a rather mechanistic outlook on the role of women in development. It thus states that women are and have always been part of the process of development. The participation of women in the process of development is said to be in the form of both paid and unpaid labour considered an essential part of development. (Ramji: 1997). There is also a generalized inequity in role distribution in the WAD approach which assumes that women will contribute more in their traditional roles of home and hearth with supplemental roles being added through the forces of modernization. There is an implied inferiority-superiority dyad by which the determining role for development is not accorded to women. A detailed analysis of the other approaches to development will enable clarification of this concept. The â€Å"Women in Development† approach arose from the liberal trend in feminism. It recognizes the importance of roles and status of women in the process of development. Thus women are provided with a special role and status when development assistance is provided. Active involvement of women in the implementation of assistance is also underlined by aid-giving countries as Japan. The enhancement of opportunities for participation of women is said to lead to the improvement of the status of women in society in general.

Anthropology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Anthropology - Essay Example ma’s speech during the Democratic National Convention coupled with specific examples that relate to respective discursive Strategies as seen in the speech. Indeed, in his speech, Obama clearly applies at least two of this Discursive Strategies. In his speech, Obama uses the â€Å"narratives of belonging† strategy to construct â€Å"existential coherence.† Duranti presents this strategy as part of personal experiences that the political speaker possesses. Duranti establishes the fact that these experiences connect the speaker emotionally and morally to the present place and audience. This strategy shows that the political speaker is an ordinary citizen and will thus represent the audience ideally once elected. In his speech, Obama used the â€Å"narratives of belonging† strategy in various occasions. ... I have shared the pain of families who've lost their homes, and the frustration of workers who have lost their jobs.† (Fox News Web). As such, the use of this strategy clearly helps Obama to identify with the Americans, denotes his experience in handling national issues, and thereby convinces the audience that he will ideally represent them once reelected as the US President. Duranti consequently defines â€Å"the [use of] the present as a ‘natural extension’ of the past† strategy to construct â€Å"existential coherence† as a relation between present decision and experience. In various occasions during his speech, Obama demonstrated the use of this strategy. Indeed, he quotes that, â€Å"You know, in a world of new threats and new challenges, you can choose leadership that has been tested and proven. Four years ago, I promised to end the war in Iraq. We did.† He equally reminds the audience that, â€Å"I promised to refocus on the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11. And we have.† This experience gives him an edge over his political competitor. It clearly proves that he can deliver and out of his past successes, he is convinced to vie for the second time. He notes that he was able to kill Osama Bin Laden and thus presently focusses on defeating Al Qaeda and ending the Afghanistan war by 2014 once reelected (Fox News Web). As such, his experience drives his present decision to seek reelection with a goal of completing his mission. This generates a lot of conviction from the audience as it applauds Obama’s experience. In addition, he quotes that, â€Å"Now, I've cut taxes for those who need it, middle-class families, small businesses.† It

Development and Economic Sustenance in the Third World Context Essay

Development and Economic Sustenance in the Third World Context - Essay Example The "Third World" is seen as being a victim to the class struggle imposed from the top. There were strong roots in dependency theory which implies that developed regions continue to exploit developing regions for sustained growth. WAD theory adopts a rather mechanistic outlook on the role of women in development. It thus states that women are and have always been part of the process of development. The participation of women in the process of development is said to be in the form of both paid and unpaid labour considered an essential part of development. (Ramji: 1997). There is also a generalized inequity in role distribution in the WAD approach which assumes that women will contribute more in their traditional roles of home and hearth with supplemental roles being added through the forces of modernization. There is an implied inferiority-superiority dyad by which the determining role for development is not accorded to women. A detailed analysis of the other approaches to development will enable clarification of this concept. The â€Å"Women in Development† approach arose from the liberal trend in feminism. It recognizes the importance of roles and status of women in the process of development. Thus women are provided with a special role and status when development assistance is provided. Active involvement of women in the implementation of assistance is also underlined by aid-giving countries as Japan. The enhancement of opportunities for participation of women is said to lead to the improvement of the status of women in society in general.

Abstract for Choices, Values, and Frame Essay Example for Free

Abstract for Choices, Values, and Frame Essay Reading 2.2 Kahneman,D and Tvesky, A. (1984), ‘ Choices, values, and frames’. Ameriacn Psychologist, 39 (4) Abstract This article discuss when consumers feel a certain price which is bringing the loss rather than the income, they are more sensitive to price. Consumers are feeling a certain price more cost-effective manner and the other a less cost-effective. They will accord the cognitive psychological evaluation to exhibit a completely different personal attitude and decision making. Economic decision making theory has always been that people are fundamentally rational animal. However, human beings have irrational features in many aspects. One of the most attract somebodys attention example is calling the â€Å"framing effect In this effect, the positive or negative way to make a decision has had a dramatic effect on subsequent choice. The researchers found that integration from the decision system of emotional preference were potential causes of framing effect. With the potential risk benefit choices need to pay the cognitive effort than defined benefit choice; however, determining the damaged choice and risk selection potential damage to pay cognitive effort is the same. There are two fundamental analyze principles for rational choice theory: dominance and invariance. Dominance can be defined that project A in the worst case is better than project B, project A should be accept. Invariance requires that human describe selectivity problem for the same thing that will draw the common preference. Framing effect can be divide two types: positive and negative. The positive frame shows risk-averse preference for gains. On the other hand, the negative frame shows risk- seeking preference for losses. In addition, in mental accounting, money can be attributed to the different types of account which cannot replace each other. People are always divide outcomes into different mental accountings and use decision value and experience value, in order to evaluate the results whether can be accepted. EXAMPLE To discuss the cognitive psychology effects our daily life, I will give a  example of rent or buy a house in Sydney. If we want rent a house or apartment in Sydney which have two bedrooms, a living room and 2 bathrooms, according to my experience, we need to pay 600-800 dollar each week. Most of us may not feel pressure to rent an apartment for one or two years. If we spend 20000 or 30000 as down payment which is use for purchase an apartment. I think we could be hesitating. We analyze that purchase a apartment is better than rent in order to live one or two years in some place. We are willing spend less to live although we make sure loss 600-800 each week. However, it leads to a value of experience, and this experience value effect our decision. Finally, we would rather to rent an apartment although we know it not a rational investment. Reading 8.3 Abstract This article point out that the exercise of power in the process of development and implementation of organizational information systems are very expensive and time consuming. Accordingly, the theory of ‘sociology of translation’ provides corresponding solutions for the organization. According to the theory, there are two important features in the problemastisation. Firstly, actor or group should more specific in a general problem to find a mental to solving. Secondly, actors should be defined identities in a plan that will use their skill and experience precisely. The author point out an example that senior manager enjoy the IT program and analyze it to use reducing cost as a new tool. In addition, most of the consultants believe that organizations should make clear position, future goals and behavior before implement IT strategy. Meanwhile, consultants also believed that IT system is great significance strategy for organizations lead to successful. For another example, IT consultants try them best to make sure problematisation steady. The successive problematisations build an exercise of power and prevent other alternative problematisations from getting onto the agenda of the project team. In conclusion, the author solves the problems in the information technology process in the theory of concepts. Consultants adopted the theory of  Ã¢â‚¬Ëœsociology of translation’ to solve organizations’ problem. Discuss the nature of the relationship between external management consultants and customer or user groups. The author considers the other resource management role and differential access to its knowledge and skills, such as an important exercise of power relations. Example ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning): Enterprise resource planning system is basing on information technology. The use of information technology implementation of enterprise supply chain management, in order to realize scientific management of each link in the supply chain. ERP integrates information technology and advanced management ideas become the modern enterprise mode which reflecting the era of enterprise reasonable allocation of resources. It maximizes the creation of social wealth and become the cornerstone of corporate survival. In the company, the general management mainly includes three aspects: production control (planning, manufacturing, logistics (distribution), procurement, inventory management) and financial management (accounting, financial management); three systems are integrating and the importance of human resources constitutes the primary module of ERP system. The ERP system of business each module refinement, split, forming a relatively independent software syst em and the seamless connection, so that the enterprises of different scales can be freely combined according to need and make enterprise resource optimization configuration. Reading 1.3 Abstract The author claims a general make a strategic relate to several aspects. This article points out that your teammates or colleagues making decision will affect on yourself. Namely, the title of this article: â€Å"looking up and looking around†. Firstly, â€Å"looking up† is a basic human nature in any situation. In other words, when you meet a more experience and knowledge person (such as your manager and your boss) make a strategic, and then making decision follow how he/she would act. Secondly, ‘looking around’ is one of your opinions. When you work with your teammates or colleagues, you will find out how they deal with problems and what they make decisions. Then  you will follow their opinions to deal with yourself problems. The author also points out that â€Å"decision- making paralysis† always effect on everyone no matter you are middle manage or even the top manager and CEO. When face with a problem, human minds always goes blank. They want to find a solution to solve the problem. If not, they will look for someone to take the burden. On the other hand, they will afraid to make decision in any situation because they don’t want the decision bring fail. Most of managers suffer from anxiety that colleagues will find out their incapability. There is important problem that makes a rational strategic not only managers’ duty, it also relate to company’s structure and the project. Manager always are demanded to make a decision quickly which based on information transmits from primary levels. However, the information not particularly correct that leads to some wrong decisions in that situation. Obviously, the manager who makes the wrong decision in a organization should take the bl ame and be fired. This situation always happens in many companies. The author claims that a outstanding managers should have a rational analyze and quick thinking abilities. Example In my experience, when I worked at an international land sales company, my manager receives a project to help a China company find an office. Our team receive the order which needs a 300㎠¡ work place in shanghai CBD. Firstly, we should make a research to find out whether a suitable square. Our manager makes a decision to ask some building manager which is located in shanghai CBD. Finally, we find a suitable place for the China Company. However, when we check require with the company, our assistant told us we get wrong squares that is 400 ㎠¡. So our manager has to afresh contact to the building list. Fortunately, we found a 90 ㎠¡ near the former one. Our manager decides to connect the two work place to reach 400㎠¡. We successfully completed out task on time.

Female Education And A Nations Development Education Essay

Female Education And A Nations Development Education Essay Female education is essential for the development of a nation. This is mainly because women are involved in all sorts of activities both at a regional level and at the community level such as child bearing and household chores etc. Hence it is very important to provide quality education to women to help them contribute to the development of the nation in a meaningful way. Various studies show that womens education is very important in order to improve the socio-economic position of their families. It is the inequality in access to education for female students that prevents them from obtaining the essential education necessary for their well being and their familys development. The traditional thinking of many societies that women are just supposed to do the household work has contributed largely to the low levels of female education around the globe. It is seen however that the societies that have focused on providing better education to women have better indicators of social welfar e. These societies for example have lower infant mortality rate apart from that the issue of lower fertility rates, also increased life expectancy, improved nutrition and most importantly better opportunities for their children. Other factors such as residential status and parents concern and attitude towards female students also plays an important role in improving the educational status of female students in any society. Parents level of education also has a direct impact on their daughters education. The link between the mother and daughter is the strongest. Poverty, parents professional status, lack of skilled teachers and lack of incentives such as scholarships for women, deprivation of parental care and proper educational policies affect the standard of female education. (I.A. Adetunde, 2008) Thus Womens education is a very important issue. Women who are educated can make profound choices in the matter of health, nutrition and basic upbringing of a child. There is great impact on infant mortality health, fertility, productivity and a childs academic performance if women are educated. On 8th March 2004 Laura Bush (the first lady at that time) said on the womens day that when a women is denied education youve denied half of the population the chance to succeed and the chance to contribute to a society and to a culture. she also said that Women are more likely to be able to make informed choice so that their children dont suffer from malnutrition or other diseases and ensure that their children can receive best health care. In Every culture, the responsibility of the upbringing and nourishing of a child lies in the hands of the mother. Due to this responsibility the womens education has gained quite an importance globally. Studies reveal that womens education has strong implications on every aspect of a childs upbringing and one of them is the childs academic performance. Children of educated mothers are seen to have better academic performance as compared to children of less or uneducated mothers. (Tahir Andrabi, Jishnu Das, Asim Ijaz Khwaja: March 2009) Educated mothers can help their children throughout their life, but most importantly they can help their children in their early days of education. They try to indulge their children in more productive educational activities apart from what they study at school. This enhances the childs educational capabilities and helps them achieve success. According to a study an additional year of post compulsory schooling of a mother has a positive impact on their childs academic performance i.e. mothers who stay in full time education beyond the minimum school leaving age are more likely to demonstrate positive educational attitudes and behaviours such as reading to their children. (Leon Feinstein and Ricardo Sabates: January 2008) Higher education is consistently associated with a higher likelihood of marriage, whereas less education is associated with a higher likelihood of divorce (Jennifer March Augustine, 2010). Thus educated mothers tend to have more stable relationships and family status. This in turn affects their childrens academic performance. Children have a healthy environment to live in and thus can concentrate more on their studies and perform well. The flow of resources such as time, money and socio-emotional support etc from the mother to children is affected by this relationship status. (Jennifer March Augustine, 2010). Marital and fertility patterns have been seen to change over the last few decades. Women who are more educated (college graduates) have been the least likely to get married and have children historically. Today however, the situation is changing and this marriage gap is eroding The returns to marriage have changed. College educated women marry later, do not view marriage as a financial security, have fewer children and declining divorce rates since 1970s as compared to women without college degrees. These factors help women to have a better and a healthier family life which in turn helps them in their Childs upbringing. The children of more educated women thus can focus more on their studies as they have a healthier environment to study in and so they perform well (Adam Isen Feb. 2010). A Mothers education influences a child mostly during the childs early years of education (primary education). Educated mothers make their children spend more time in outdoor activities, reading etc and are concerned about their childs progress at school and have expectations of the childs future educational achievements .This encourages the child to focus more on his studies and enhances his capabilities. (Leon Feinstein and Ricardo Sabates: January 2008). Moreover there are substantial intergenerational returns to education. An additional year of a mothers schooling makes a positive contribution to the Childs academic performance. It increases the Childs performance on a standardized math test by almost 0.1 of a standard deviation and reduces the incidence of behavioural problems especially for children aged 7-8.There are various channels that transmit the effect of maternal education to the child, including parental investments throughout different stages of a Childs life and family environment. Educated women tend to have a healthier home environment with better and more stable family lives which then contribute to their Childs educational excellence. Maternal education also reduces grade repetition and the incidence of behavioural problems. Educated mothers basically avoid early childbearing, are more likely to be married to educated men and tend to have higher incomes. Thus they can contribute in several ways to their Childs educa tion for example through books, involving them in extracurricular activities or buying them a computer. This additional investment pays off in the form of improved child performance in all academic aspects of his life. Even if educated mothers work more they do not neglect their children as they are aware of the negative consequences of doing so (Pedro Carneiro, Sep 2007). Also educated mothers tend to spend more time with their children and their children tend to spend more time studying outside school thus there is a strong impact of maternal education on their childs test scores.( Tahir Andrabi, Jishnu Das and Asim Ijaz Khwaja, March 2009). Educated mothers bring in more encouragement and ability for their children to succeed in life. Children of educated mothers are usually more confident, free from anxieties, ambitious, self reliant and more focused. It is seen that an increase in mothers education leads to an increase in the students achievement at school .Those mothers who stayed on in education rather than just having the basic primary education can help their children in a better way. A direct relationship is seen between a mothers education level and their childs academic performance. (Azra Parveen Muhammad Tayyab Alam 2008). Traditionally it has been thought that an increase in investment in womens schooling pays off in the form of increased schooling of the next generation. Some authors have a different view however. According to them the positive relationship between mother-child schooling can not entirely be considered true as it is somewhat biased upward due to the correlations between schooling and assortative mating and heritable ability. The other studies, they argue have not considered these factors and thus conclude showing a positive relationship between mother-child schooling and education. An increase in the schooling of women does not have beneficial effects in terms of the schooling of children (Jere R. Behrman and Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2002). Increases maternal schooling and education instead makes the mothers concentrate less on their homes, family and specifically their children. It is emphasized that the time of the women is an essential factor in childbearing and thus women should concen trate more on their families and not on education. This, they argue will lead to a better academic future for their child. Better schooling of the mother however can improve a Childs health in certain situations. Basically the result of investing in womens schooling requires attention to the role played by schooling in the labor and marriage market for women. (Jere R. Behrman and Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2002) Literacy status of mothers also strongly affects the health and nutritional state of their children thus literate mothers can take better care of their childs health and protect them against several diseases. With illiterate mothers however there are chances of children developing malnutrition especially children less than three years of age who are underweight. Malnutrition negatively affects the childs academic performance. An educated mother takes better care of their Childs health and thus their child is more successful throughout his life. Although there is a positive correlation between a mothers education and their Childs health some studies reveal that there is hardly any significant effect of a mothers education on Childs health if mothers have got only primary education. Further it has been found that the first three years of mothers education has no impact on the Childs health. The impact is seen after the first three years and the result is not linear in education. After 4 to 6 years of education, the magnitude of this effect becomes small but then again picks up after 1 years of education. (Meherun Ahmed May 2009). Nonetheless, some scholars do not completely support the correlation that there is a strong causal relationship between maternal education and child health. According to them this link has hardly been analyzed properly using the most appropriate statistical models. They are using the community-level fixed-effects models and thus argue maternal education may be a proxy for the socioeconomic status of the household as well as for characteristics of the community of residence. Therefore according to them there is a possibility that the positive relationship between maternal education and child health may be untrue. By controlling for a few socioeconomic variables the maternal education/child health link is seen to be weak. Three markers of child health namely infant mortality, immunization status and childrens height-for-age have been examined. Maternal education has a significant impact on height-for-age and infant mortality in only a few countries around the world. However on the othe r hand maternal education has a strong positive effect on childrens immunization status in about half of the countries of the world even after implementing the community and individual level controls. (SONALDE DESAI AND SOUMYA ALVA, 1998) According to another study, educated parents tend to have educated children. The author focused on studying whether the intergenerational transmission of human capital is more behavioural (nurture) or innate (nature). The data collected helped in separating genetic from environmental parental influences. Results of the analysis emphasised that the nurture component is more important for both parents (mother and father).The education of the most educated female adult in a household has a strong positive effect on the schooling of the children in that household. This holds true for a Childs biological parents and for the parents of an adopted child. It can be said that the more the mother is educated, the better the Childs academic performance. When boys and girls are analysed separately it is seen that if the nurture component is isolated, the fathers education matters more for boys whereas a mothers education matters more for girls. The positive effects of the education of the adopti ve parents are only seen for children related to the head of their new households (Damien de Walque, 2005). Research Project Literature Review By Asna Shahid Section G 07U0469 Submitted to Anam Tahir Lahore School of Economics

Economic-consumer Self vs Moral-political Self Essay -- Economics Econ

I think Sagoff is right in his perception and feeling of a distinct departure between one's economic-consumer self and one's moral-political self. As his examples show (p.501), and I think we can all relate to at least some of them as much as we may not want to, not all preferences are actually expressed through the market (I know I am always sure to go to the gas station with the lowest gas prices and my college-student wallet is happy when prices are low, but I am much happier when they're higher because then the resource is being more appropriately priced). Given a conventional view of economists, one could imagine an economist stating that the most important/serious moral choices are those which one expresses monetarily (through consumer choice), even if they are inconvenient or personally non-/less- beneficial. The saying "put your money where your mouth is" comes to mind, as using one's money in our society is the ultimate proof of one's seriousness and commitment to a topic or issue. However, that viewpoint only strengthens Sagoff's interpretation of modern versus ancient society. He states that the liberties focused on in the modern ago are those surrounding privacy and property, whereas formerly, foci were on community and participation (p. 508). When accepting only individual spending and consumption as the true measure of one's preferences, it is only possible to evaluate decisions on an individual (privacy and property) level. I think that Krisitin Shrader Frechette's analysis of risk-cost-benefit-analysis (RCBA) demonstrates t his explicitly (though this is obviously NOT her intention). As she attempts to show, through her essay, that environmental issues and values can be incorporated into traditional cost-be... ...ype of discussion that Sagoff and Goodland/Ledec can have about the shortfalls in traditional economic evaluations because without it, nothing within the framework of RCBA will change. Shrader-Frechette states in defense of RCBA, that "one could always assign the value of negative infinity to consequences alleged to be the result of an action that violated some deontological principle"(p.511). However, I think that if RCBA in its current form is going to prove useful in the long-term, options like this need to be employed, not just talked about as a potential when trying to defend a questionable theory. I do not know the answer to today's million-dollar question about what alternatives should be employed, but I do know that settling for something that is very sub-optimal is ridiculous when what is required is less defense and more brainstorming and active debate.

Geoffrey Chaucer :: Biographies Poet Poetry Essays

Geoffrey Chaucer Before William Shakespeare, Geoffrey Chaucer was the preeminent English poet, and still retains the position as the most significant poet to write in Middle English. Chaucer was born in the early 1340s to a middle-class family. His father, John Chaucer, was a vintner and deputy to the king's butler. His family's financial success came from work in the wine and leather businesses. Little information exists about Chaucer's education, but his writings demonstrate a close familiarity with a number of important books of his contemporaries and of earlier times. Chaucer was likely fluent in several languages, including French, Italian and Latin. Chaucer first appears in public records in 1357 as a member of the house of Elizabeth, Countess of Ulster. This was a conventional arrangement in which sons of middle-class households were placed in royal service so that they may obtain a courtly education. Two years later Chaucer served in the army under Edward III and was captured during an unsuccessful offensive at Reims, although he was later ransomed. Chaucer served under a number of diplomatic missions. By 1366 Chaucer had married Philippa Pan, who had been in service with the Countess of Ulster. Chaucer married well for his position, for Philippa Chaucer received an annuity from the queen consort of Edward III. Chaucer himself secured an annuity as yeoman of the king and was listed as one of the king's esquires. Chaucer's first published work was The Book of the Duchess, a poem of over 1,300 lines that is an elegy for the Duchess of Lancaster. For this first of his important poems, which was published in 1370, Chaucer used the dream-vision form, a genre made popular by the highly influential 13th-century French poem of courtly love, the Roman de la Rose, which Chaucer translated into English. Throughout the following decade, Chaucer continued with his diplomatic career, traveling to Italy for negotiations to open a Genoa port to Britain as well as military negotiations with Milan. During his missions to Italy, Chaucer encountered the work of Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, which were later to have profound influence upon his own writing. In 1374 Chaucer was appointed comptroller of the customs and subsidy of wool, skins, and tanned hides for the Port of London, his first position away from the British court.