Monday, September 30, 2019

Felix Mendelssohn Essay

Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg, Germany on February 3, 1809. He was one of four children, Fanny, Rebekah, and Paul were his siblings. He showed off his talent at a young age by playing the piano, violin, painting and gifted in many languages. When he moved to Berlin, Felix studied piano and composition under Ludwig Berger and Karl F. Zelter. Zelter took his 12 year old student to visit Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German poet. Goethe was very fascinated by the young man and later heard his B minor pianoforte quartet and showed such appreciation that Mendelssohn dedicated the piece to Goethe. Not only did Mendelssohn find inspiration in the works of Goethe, but he also was inspired byt the works of William Shakespeare. At the age of 17, he composed the overture to â€Å"A Midsummer Night’s Dream Opus 21†. Mendelssohn then went on to study at Berlin University where he decided that music was his passion and chosen profession. After his college years, Mendelssohn t raveled and performed all around Europe. In 1812 he visited London, a city where he quite enjoyed performing, and he performed his â€Å"Hebrides Overture†. â€Å"In 1833, he took on the post of conductor at Dà ¼sseldorf, giving concert performances of Handel’s â€Å"Messiah† among others. That same year, he composed many of his own vocal works, including â€Å"Lord, Have Mercy Upon Us,†, and the Opera, â€Å"Trala. A frischer Bua bin i†, as well as the â€Å"Italian Symphony†Ã¢â‚¬  (Todd). At the age of 26, Mendelssohn moved to Leipzig and became conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He performed works by Bach and Beethoven but at the time was not really interested in Bach’s music. Early in 1829, Mendelssohn had made his debut as a Maestro. He was the first to conduct Bach’s â€Å"St. Matthew Passion† since the composer’s death in 1750. In 1832, Mendelssohn married Cà ©cile Jeanrenaud, the daughter o f a Protestant clergyman. They had five children, Carl, Marie, Paul, Felix and Lilli. Over the years that followed, he gave many successful performances of his work, and those of other great composers as well. Mendelssohn composed numerous works for the piano, which was pretty popular at the time. In 1843, Mendelssohn founded and directed the Leipzig Conservatory, where he also taught if his busy schedule allowed it. â€Å"In addition to his post at the Conservatory, Mendelssohn was named director of the Music Section of the Academy of Arts in Berlin by King Frederick of Prussia, but this appointment wasn’t entirely pleasing for Mendelssohn, who was often asked to compose on demand. He was left with little time for his own work, but he still managed to compose such masterpieces as the Ruy Blas overture, stage music for Shakespeare’s † A Midsummer Night’s Dream†, of which the now world-famous â€Å"Wedding March† was a part of, and â€Å"The Scottish Symphony†, the third of the five symphonies he composed during his lifetime† (Lewis). Felix Mendelssohn was very close to his family. From his sister Fanny to his father, to his own wife and children, and he cherished the moments spent with them. When his father died in 1835, Me ndelssohn felt like he had lost his best friend. Seven years later, his mother died, adding to the tragedy. His sister Fanny suffered a stroke while rehearsing for a Sunday concert. She died on May 14th, 1847. He himself suffered two strokes, the last of which killed him on November 4th, 1847. He was 38 years old. He was buried alongside his sister in the cemetery of Holy Cross Church in Berlin. Some critics may argue that he would have been another Bach or Mozart if he had suffered more in life, as the â€Å"tortured artist† clichà © dictates. Schuman agreed with Mendelssohn on one thing: criticism. â€Å"To a certain extent the German nation has recovered from one mistake in judgment; the tendency to evaluate Schuman above Mendelssohn was a very long time mistakable† (Grove). â€Å"Nearly a hundred years after his death, the Nazis tried to discredit him, taking down his statue in Leipzig, and even going as far as forbidding the study and performance of his musicâ⠂¬  (Lewis). Of course, none of their efforts to silence the voice of genius had any success, and Mendelssohn is now considered the 19th century equivalent of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mendelssohn will remain the most successful composer of his time, surely deserving a place alongside greats such as Mozart, Bach, and Beethoven. He was most known for Violin Concerto in E Minor, incidental music for A Midsummer Night’s Dream, five symphonies, including no. 3 â€Å"Italian† and no. 4 â€Å"Scottish† and the oratorios Elijah and St. Paul. Works Cited Grove, George, and Stanley Sadie. Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians. London: MacMillan Publishers, 1980. Print. Lewis, Ronald. â€Å"Felix Mendelssohn Biography.† Felix Mendelsohn.com. 2002. Web. 15 March 2012. http://www.felixmendelssohn.com/felix_mendelssohn_bio_001.htm Todd, R. Larry. Mendelssohn: A Life in Music. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Print.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Environmental Science Essay

Gagandeep Rai Period 3/4 Criteria air pollutants assignment​ Multiple Choice 1. A pungent reddish ­brown gas often associated with photochemical smog. (C) NO2 2. A corrosive gas from burning coal often associated with industrial smog. (d) SO2 3. A dangerous indoor air pollutant. (A) CO 4. Emitted from diesel and burning fuel. (E) PM10 5. All of the following are examples of primary air pollutants except. (c) tropospheric ozone 6. The greatest emission of sulfur dioxide comes from (C) Industrial processes 7. The least amount of nitrogen oxide emissions comes from (A) on ­ road vehicles 8. The accumulation of tropospheric ozone at night depends mainly upon the atmospheric concentrations of (B) volatile organics 1. What are they? The six criteria air pollutants are sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon oxides,lead,particulate matter and tropospheric ozone. These six pollutants significantly threaten human health, ecosystems and/or structures. 2. How is each produced? Sulfur dioxide is mostly produced from the burning of fossil fuels like coal and oil. It can also be released during volcanic eruptions. Nitrogen oxides are produced from vehicles as well as stationary fossil fuel combustion. Some is also released through lightning and forest fires.Carbon monoxide is formed by incomplete combustion of most matter. Vehicle exhaust and many other combustion process produce Carbon monoxide. It is also a indoor pollutant when exhaust systems on natural gas heaters misfunction. Carbon dioxide is produced from complete combustion of most matter such as biomass and fossil fuels. Particulate matter is released when fossil fuels and bio fuel is burned. Also it is released with activities that involve movement of dust or sand. Lead is released from old paint, gasoline additive and combustion of fossil fuels.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Binge Eating Disorder Essay Example for Free (#2)

Binge Eating Disorder Essay For centuries, many psychological disorders had plagued mankind. Humanity has suffered from many psychological disorders such as anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder and many more. One kind of disorder that rose in numbers in the twenty-first century are eating disorders. Eating disorders can be categorized into three types. Theses are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Of the three types of eating disorder, binge eating disorder is more complex when it comes to its symptoms and manifestations. To further understand binge eating disorder, we must first understand what are eating disorders and what factors can affect people who manifest these kinds of disorder. Eating disorders are disorders of eating habits of individuals. According to social-cultural theorist, most eating disorders usually are common in cultures where the thinness of the body is considered attractive and more acceptable (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). The factors that affect eating disorders can range from a person’s culture, environment, his/her family background, genealogy and biological factors. In the three kinds of eating disorder, anorexia nervosa is a disorder where one refuses to eat to become fat. A common practice of anorexic patients is to purge their food when they felt that they had taken a lot of it (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). The disorder is deadly and can kill almost 15 percent of its victims (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). If anorexia nervosa is self-starvation, bulimia nervosa is binging or eating excessively then purging it through various methods. Now, we focus on binge eating disorder. If the two other eating disorder’s goal is to keep their body thin and slim. Binge eating disorder is making the body fatter and overweight. The common practice of people with binge eating disorder is eating excessively when they feel anxious about something. They will eat out and eat as much food as they can even if they are not hungry. It sort of becoming their initial reaction to a stressor and becomes a habit (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). The big difference in binge eating disorder than bulimia is that binge eating disorder victims don’t purge (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). They don’t engage in behaviors that will cause them to vomit. Binge sessions of victims are usually habitual and episodic. This means they engage in binging in a particular time. Studies have shown that people who are obese and over weight are common people with binge eating disorder (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006).. A study showed that 30 percent of people who undergo weight loss programs are actually having binge eating disorder. The peculiarity of this disorder is that even though this disorder is making the people unhealthy and obese, psychologist and health professionals think that having a binge eating disorder is better than having anorexia or bulimia. Usually African Americans are more affected by this disorder than European Americans (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). Similar to anorexia and bulimia, binge eating disorder is more common to females (Bierma, 1999). The disorder is associated with many disorders namely depression and anxiety (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). People who have binge eating disorder have low self-esteem and want to eliminate their binging. They feel sickened by the thought of being fat and usually tries to undergo weight-loss programs and frequent tries in dieting. The problem is they can’t stop binging until they sought help from the professional. Binge eating disorder as of today is still not counted as a formal eating disorder in DSM-IV by psychologists (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). This is due to the fact that psychologists think more studies should be done to support and sanction the diagnostic of this disorder. The binge eating disorder can be found on the appendix of the DSM-IV for further study (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). There are many causes why people get binge eating disorder. Many psychologists can attribute that the rise in eating disorders in our time is mainly due to our social norms (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). To further explain binge eating disorder, the factors that triggers this kind of behavior is needed to be understood. The most important fact we must know is that our society today has social pressures and norms. Many cultures put pressure to women to be slim and thin. There are cultural differences throughout the world. In places and time where wealthy people value heavier weight as more beautiful, eating disorder become less likely in the population. People in less developed countries view people with heaviness as beautiful because it shows that the person can afford to buy food and is wealthy (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). In America, the rise of fashion magazines that embraces beauty as something slim and skinny in the 90’s made many American teens more prone to become anorexic. The icons of beauty in a specific era also can predict the trends in eating behaviors in women. The cultural norms of attractiveness also affect people who can get eating disorder like binge eating (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). If a person sees that becoming fat and gaining weight can help him achieve his desired level of attractiveness, he will try to eat more in order to gain weight. Another deadly cause of binge eating disorder is that people who suffer from it view food as a way of coping to their negative emotions. In some cases, sexual abuse in the past can also trigger binge eating disorder because it raises the anxiety level of the person (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). The cognitive reasoning of an individual also affects the development of binge eating disorder. As we discussed, binge eating disorder is an impulsive behavior. The victims usally act before thinking. This kind of impulse is hard to control and is hard to regulate on its own. Biologically, people who suffer from binge eating disorder might have predisposition to depression (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). Depression usually triggers the binge eating session and makes victims more susceptible to binge just to feel good again. Findings also show that irregularity in the hypothalamus in the brain could be a cause of binge eating disorder and other types of eating disorder (Lyness, 2006). Hypothalamus regulates our eating habit and feeling of hunger (Lyness, 2006). This part of the brain is where our body sends a signal if a certain nutrient is insufficient or excessive. Another part of the brain which acts as relay centers of the message our body gives to the brain are neurotransmitters. Serotonin which is an important in cases of depression and anxiety plays a big role in eating disorders. Patterns of binging behaviors can stem from irregularities in serotonin (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). Lastly, obesity which is found in most binge eaters is found in the genes (Nolen-Hoeksema, 2006). This means that people are sometimes predisposed to be obese thus making them eat more. Binge eating disorder has many health consequences like gallbladder disorder, high blood pressure, diabetes etc (Unknown, 2005). Binge Eating Disorder. (2016, Aug 07).

Friday, September 27, 2019

Case study methods Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Case study methods - Essay Example Researchers form part of the primary audience for any kind of case study research.   Normally, case study research is formulated to respond to a particular question (Yin, 2012). It involves collection of relevant data, which is followed by analysis to validate any findings.   In business, a case study research might involve studying a particular phenomenon in a given place like a company, country or industry.   One of the most important aspects of case study research is that it emphasizes that a phenomenon must be studied in its natural setting.   A researcher takes time to visit the natural setting of phenomenon and study the different actors as they go about their normal duties. Case study research can be exploratory or explanatory depending on what the researcher seeks to understand. Exploratory research cases aim to discover a given phenomenon or concept. On the other hand, explanatory case study research explains, tests or compares different occurrences. Clarity is essen tial in all types of case research studies.  In most questions, case study research answers questions that start with words like why, how and who. It investigates an event as it occurs in its natural setting.   For example, a researcher can decide to undertake a research that answers the question: How does Unilever treat its employees? This means that the researcher will have to visit Unilever and study the treatment of employees in its contemporary setting. In business, case study research makes use of empirical evidence to study a given subject matter.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Liquid Level Detection by Using Optical Sensors in Riyadh Wastewater Dissertation

Liquid Level Detection by Using Optical Sensors in Riyadh Wastewater Treatment Station - Dissertation Example C Damping coefficient ODEs Second order linear r Root of equation Acknowledgment I would like to thank my supervisor Professor Gui Tian strongly for being supportive and an excellent guidance throughout the duration of this work. My thanks must also go to Professor Matthew Armstrong for his advice regarding the control part of this project on. I would like to thank yassir Ali Bouraee for helping me in the fluid system control. List of contents Abstract......................................................................................... 1 List of Symbols and Acronyms...................................................... 3 Acknowledgements.............................................................................. 4 List of contents..................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1:Background 7 1.1 Introduction 1.2.1 What are wastewater treatment stations ....................... 9 1,2.2 What are the wastewater sources 1.2.3 What are the wastewater release gases Chapter 2: literature review 10 2.1 Introduction 2.2 The principle of liquid level detection and importance 2.3 Point liquid level detections techniques................................. 13 2.3.1 Magnetic and Mechanical float level sensors 2.3.2 Pneumatic level sensors 2.3.3 Conductive level... The main aim of this project is to find the proper liquid level sensors between these two sensors for working in Riyadh wastewater treatment station. By the end of the project, one of the main reason which causes a problem to the ultrasonic level sensors at Riyadh station came up which is a high temperature or temperatures Variety. According to Monitoring weather center in Riyadh, the average temperature at the summer time between 40-55 degree in the day time and the moisture in Riyadh is very low. Therefore the ultrasonic sensor might get affected by the Variety of temperatures or high temperature. As result of low moisture and high temperatures, I think the proper sensor for Riyadh wastewater station is the optical infrared sensors. In part of characteristics consideration for both sensors to select the suitable one for wastewater environment, the accuracy of the optical sensor for detecting the distance between the sensor and the liquid level is noticed even though the variations of surrounding temperature and sunlight intensity. The sensor was affected by dirt and misroute. The ultrasonic sensor is able to detect the distance even though the variations in moisture content, dirt and surrounding sunlight intensity. And, the sensor was severely affected by the difference of the surrounding temperature. Finally, both sensors can be used as distance detection sensor in the wastewater treatment field,† if a careful consideration is given to the characteristics of both sensors with improvement on problems pointed out in this study†.

Low Income Housing Authority Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Low Income Housing Authority - Essay Example From this study it is clear that  like any other management style, planning is an essential tool. To achieve the best results, managers should make concrete plans to sustain their businesses. Low income housing authority makes planning strategies to accommodate the demands of the low income people. The stakeholders submit their plans to the public housing director providing detailed information of how they intend to serve the locals. â€Å"Planning helps the management to improve their services†.According to the paper  proper planning will ensure proper housing, equal allocation and provision of quality facilities. It helps the housing department to analyze the trends of housing and predict any challenge in future. Essentially, planning helps in creating affordable housing while safeguarding the already existing premises. Nevertheless, planning requires competent planners put in place. For instance, planning to safeguard the suppliers of cheap housing may aim at incrementa l processes of change that may result in reducing the availability of houses of a particular type. â€Å"Mechanisms aimed at protecting low cost stocks are to ensure that the planning tools contain the general objective so as to protect or retain the existing affordable housing sources†.  When the policy makers are involved in creating more affordable housing, more emphasis is given to the duration the affordable house will be retained and by whom. Essentially, â€Å"there is no sole technique of securing affordable housing.

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

The Catcher in the Rye Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Catcher in the Rye - Essay Example But if we look closer, we'll come to understand his negative outlook and bitterness toward life shows his fears and frustrations in life. At a young age, he had experienced the cruel side of life when his brother died and when he witnessed what he calls phoniness of the world. In one phony situation, Holden described his former headmaster, Mr.Haas as the phoniest bastard he ever met. "On Sundays, for instance, old Haas went around shaking hands with everybody's parents when they drove up to school. He'd be charming as hell and all. Except if some boy had a little old funny-looking parents" (Salinger, 14; ch. 2). Holden's experience of hypocrisy makes him view adults as superficial, insincere and guilty of a lot of things that's why he always quit school or gets expelled. His attitude is caused by his disappointment of the people surrounding him. In his encounter with the nuns, Holden displays his dismay of the irony of life but at the same time show his good heart. The line "I hate it if I'm eating bacon and eggs or something and somebody else is only eating toast and coffee. They let me give ten bucks as a contribution" (Salinger, 110; ch. 15).

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example The aim was to ascertain the level of understanding the men had of prostate cancer, of the treatment options available to them as well as knowledge of any potential side effects The researchers obtained their data and the resultant statistics used convenience sampling and questionnaires administered by general practitioners. Using these methods the researchers discovered that 80% of the group were unaware of the role of the prostate. Almost half did not realize that it was the commonest internal male cancer and roughly one third knew nothing about possible treatments. Just over half had no knowledge of treatment side effects. When it came to making a decision about possible treatment 70% answered that they would consult a doctor and then make their own decision. With these statistics in mind the researchers concluded that there was a definite deficit of appropriate knowledge among these men and that they preferred there to be some medical involvement in decision making. They also dis covered a number of misconceptions held by members of the research group.

Monday, September 23, 2019

Obama's Health Care Reform 2010 Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Obama's Health Care Reform 2010 - Research Paper Example Proposals to reform The US’ Health Care Legislation have severally failed until March 23, 2010 when President Obama and his Democratic party leaders were able to pass and sign the bill. This paper delves into the Obamas Health Care Reform 2010, the most expansive social legislation ratified in decades, and explains how will lead to a significant change/overhaul to the United States’ current health care system. On 23 March 2010; after one roller-coaster year of heated partisan combat, negotiations and hearings looking into health care details, and an almost-death political encounter after Obama together with other Congress Democratic leaders seemed to have reached the brink of success; President Obama signed the Health Care Reform legislation. Through a 220 – 215vote, the House had approved its bill during the month of November (7th) in the year 2009, while on December 24, the the Senate passed an 871 billion dollars bill. In a dramatic vote, the House endorsed the landmark health care bill 219 to 212 the house had to overhaul the United States’ health care system and warrant that millions of Americans get access to medical insurance. This is following decades of numerous Democratic presidents’ futile attempts, including Bill Clinton and Harry Truman, thereby making the moment very essential in the long legislative combat.   After two days, the Senate and the House c oncluded the passage of a set of fixes to the bills, concessions developed as a component of the intricate legislative manipulation that permitted the attainment of Democrats’ long-sought goal in spite of having missed out on their obstructionist-proof sixty-vote ‘supermajority’ two months earlier in the Senate in January. This bill is expected to offer coverage to approximately thirty million Americans who at present do not have access to it. The bill necessitates Americans to ensure that they have health insurance coverage and would subsidize private coverage for middle

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology Essay Example for Free

Advantages and Disadvantages of Technology Essay The advantages of stun guns and patrol car video surveillance are a critical tool in law enforcement. Officers are given the option of Tasers, which are extremely effective when pursuing an offender that might have had the upper hand to fight for a long time, resulting in the officer gaining injuries. Currently, patrol car video is a necessity as video records will enhance an officers credibility, corroborate identities, and statement issues, and can be used as evidence in court. However, critical to law enforcement; stun guns should be used as a last resort. Let us examine some of the issues that contain some validity to arguments for the continue use of these tools within law enforcement. One may argue that a Taser (stun gun) causes muscle contractions and renders a person helpless while being temporarily paralyzed. Lee (2007) addressed this to be true, but law enforcement has maximized training programs so that suspects and officers lives are not in jeopardy. In addition, when a stun gun is used there is a permanent record and the video surveillance is automatically recorded when an officer takes the safety off the weapon (Lee, 2007). Consequently, the stun gun is used by law enforcement specifically for self-defense, and as a result, Lee (2007) mentions there have been hundreds of arrests that would have been involved in most serious outcomes, such as a suspect or officers demise. Read more:  Essay About Technology Advantages and Disadvantages As much as of 1,500 lives a year are taken by accidents with firearms in the United States (Tennenbaum, A. N., Moore, A. M. (1993). However, guns have been converted into less-lethal weapons such as Tasers. In fact, the Taser gun also known as a stun gun has the capacity of 50,000 volts that are connected to electrodes, and this nonlethal weapon resembles a gun in its composition and has varying degrees of power. Tennenbaum, A. N., Moore, A. M. (1993) noted that there are available nonlethal weapon technologies, which give citizens options and no deadly force of traditional guns. The stun gun is an alternative weapon that can be operated by an officer with proper training and is a nonlethal weapon. One must be capable of using a stun gun to subdue or neutralize a suspect so that no harm will occur to ones body. After all, not every person has the same body structure, so  therefore the stun gun can be more dangerous depending on the individual. Example, someone with a heart defibrillator can die from a stun gun (Lee, 2007). However, with the proper training, an officer has the knowledge of reducing or increasing power on the stun gun, and the main idea here is that the Taser will immediately stop an individual in his tracks by setting the Taser to a specific level for the offender. One may argue that stun guns may promptly fall into the hands of criminals who will use them for criminal acts. Although, there is no arguing over this point, nevertheless with these weapons such as stun guns, the consequences will not be deadly for either the officer or the offender. Suppose some others may say that nonlethal weapons are unrealistic but interesting. After all, one knows an advance of technological knowledge is essential in law enforcement. For example, when Tasers are used in the muscular areas, the offenders nervous system is shut down for up to 30 seconds. As a result, the officer is safe from harm. Finally, an officer now has efficient time to confine or restrain the suspect. Hence, no one gets hurt. Law enforcement wants to prevent any misuse. An individuals background is nationally run through to verify his credit card information, age, and identification. Finally, there is a check for any felony convictions, not to mention terrorist watch lists. If any information pertaining to felonies show up, the individual will be turned away. When one uses a patrol car and it is equipped with video surveillance, he is being protected in many ways because video does not lie. Whether the officer is acting inappropriately or the suspect is acting hostile the video will prove to be the most critical evidence. Tennenbaum, A. N., Moore, A. M. (1993) assures surveillance systems are great additions to police cars. They protect both sides, and if one thinks about it, he would rather be stunned than shot. The most distinct video surveillance brings the highest quality to agencies. They are easy to use and they have the technology to transfer, gather, and retrieve evidence. In fact, the video is shared with court officials and the prosecution while maintaining the integrity of the original video. There are no negative factors in having patrol car video surveillance. This tool is capable of functional requirements and meeting legislative mandates. Typically, patrol car surveillance systems tend to use analog tape technologies, which can be copied and transferred. However, overall performance in these surveillance systems is limited. In conclusion, the overall success with law enforcement and the violence out there today are critical tools for an officers self-defense. In addition, Taser and video surveillance are the most chosen tools in law enforcement. Furthermore, when the Taser is used properly and efficiently, it will deter the most hostile offenders, whereas most nonlethal weapons will not having the necessary means. Meanwhile video surveillance can help an officers defense or a suspects guilt in court as it is a permanent video record of an incident. Moreover, video surveillance is never bias, the truth is right in front of you. References Lee, Harry. (2007, February 19). JPSO Tasers Have Proven To Be A Near-Perfect Non-Lethal Weapon That Stuns. Sheriffs Weekly Journal, 27(31), 36, 1/3. Retrieved May 28, 2008, fromhttp://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=truedb=f5hAN=24245269site=ehost-liveTennenbaum, A. N., Moore, A. M. (1993). Non-Lethal Weapons: Alternatives To Deadly Force. The Futurist, 27(5), 20. Retrieved May 28, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database. (Document ID: 479634).

Friday, September 20, 2019

Gender Differences in Speech

Gender Differences in Speech A striking contrast between ‘the taciturn man and the ‘cackling hen Abstract: Are men really more casual and women more sophisticated while speaking? Despite both genders being part of the same human species, they do have a salient difference in the manner they interact, speak, react and even the topics they choose to talk about. While men are more at ease in their social contexts, women appear to be conscious about their status and thus tend to use higher standard language in terms of talking. In addition, both men and women have different purposes when talking: for men it has more to do about imparting information and demonstrating expertise compared to women who aim to maintain and develop relationships. However, like in a lot of other things, exceptions are a part of this issue too; some men are just ‘too feminine and some women are just ‘too boyish. Ever noticed how differently girls and boys talk? What words they use? What topics do they speak on? If you havent yet; next time make sure to do so because linguists have â€Å"claimed to establish a rather intriguing difference between the language used by women and men† (Talbot, 1998, p. 20). Language and gender is a vast topic that attracts a lot of discussion from linguists around the world who aim to extract the variations and distinctions between a males language and a females. Up until today several such distinctions have been discovered, studied and noted. These differences are essential in characterizing the ‘masculine style of talking and the ‘feminine style. The paramount objective of this paper will be to look deep into these specific differences and also to find possible reasons as to why they exist. The ‘he dominance Historically, English was considered as a sexist language with gender bias in its use (Yule, 2006; Jule, 2008). An example of this gender bias is the use of â€Å"pronouns, particularly the generic use of ‘he or ‘him or ‘his to refer to something relating to both men and women† (Jule, 2008, p. 13). For instance, the tendency to say â€Å"each student is required to buy his own dictionary† indicates the sexism in the use of ‘his (Yule, 2006, p. 225). Nevertheless, now it is becoming much less common and there is now strong use of the forms ‘she/he and ‘his/her so that both genders can be included in all contexts where both the genders are being referred to. Variation and Exception Language use not only varies between cultures and religions but also â€Å"varies according to the social context, in terms of level of formality required by the relationship between speaker and hearer and what they are talking about, as well as other aspects† (Talbot, 1998, p. 19). It also varies based on geographical locations, both within and across national boundaries; there are forms like Nigerian English, South African English, Australian English etc However, apart from social dialects and contexts, sociolinguists have asserted that there is a striking divergence between the language used between men and women in general. Several studies have been conducted by sociolinguists to prove that these distinctions in a mens speech and womens speech do exist and are not just for say. In addition, differences not only exist in matters of speech but also in terms of interaction. This gendered language is the reason that not only reflects these social differences between men and women but it also creates and maintains them (Talbot, 1998). However, what is worth remembering is that it is not always the same; not all women have a stereotypical style as outlined by the linguists and not all men have the exact identical way described by linguists. You must have occasionally heard someone say ‘hes too feminine or ‘shes totally boyish. This does indicate that exceptions, as in everything else, exist in gendered language too. All women and men cannot be placed in the category set out by linguists. Nonetheless, a general framework that has been created by linguists clearly defines that differences amongst la nguage used by men and women are present. There are vocal differences, differences in forms, in politeness, in compliments and what is interesting is that these differences exist since childhood. Boy talk vs. girl talk Even as young girls and boys, there is a great amount of difference in the way each one speaks, interacts and responds. There is a difference in interests as well. While girls are busy dressing up Barbie dolls or playing teacher-teacher, boys are fighting for dominance in wrestling games or killing each other in robotics. Linguists have pointed out that girls, since school age, have a more interactive style with â€Å"socializing in small groups, more often in co-operative activities, establishing reciprocal relationships and exchanging roles† (Yule, 2006, p. 224). Boys, on the other hand, tend to exclude girls from their activities and make fun of those who do include them. Comparatively, they tend to â€Å"socialize in much larger groups, often in competitive activities, establishing and maintaining hierarchical relationships† (Yule, 2006, p. 224). Also what is noticed is when conflicts arise between girls and boys, both use different strategies for tackling them. Amy Sheldon undertook an interesting set of analysis of ‘conflict talk and studied the discourse of 3-5 year olds in day care centers. â€Å"Boys she observed handled conflict in a more heavy-handed fashion, expressing more self-assertive statements and dominance, whereas the girls used more collaborative discourse negotiationto mitigate conflict† (Clark, Eschholz, Rosa Simon, 2008, p. 519). In addition to conflict strategies, there is also a difference in forms and pitch ranges between young boys and girls. Fern L. Johnson goes on to state that â€Å"since childhood, girls tend to speak in softer, polite, higher-pitched voices† compared to boys who have more â€Å"forceful, straight forward, lower pitched voices† (Clark, Eschholz, Rosa Simon, 2008, p. 504). However, the differences in pitch and voice range is accounted for by the differences in vocal characteristics of males and females. Males have longer vocal tracts, larger larynxes and thicker vocal chords compared to females and this is the reason why there is a difference in pitch ranges. The result is that men typically speak in a lower pitch range- typically between 80 200 Hertz whereas women speak in a much higher version- between 120 400 Hertz. The term pitch refers to the vibration in the vocal chords, â€Å"with slower vibration making voices sound lower and rapid vibration making voices sound higher† (Yule, 2006, p. 224). What you might also notice is that at an early age parents are often heard telling their kids different things to sons and to their daughters. Sons are always told to ‘toughen- up and ‘stand-up for themselves and if they dont act like it, they are advised ‘dont be a sissy. In contrast, girls are always commanded to ‘act ladylike, ‘sit and speak properly and to ‘dress decently. These reasons are also responsible for the differences in a womans speaking style and a mans. ‘Chatty women and ‘Men of few words Women have always been addressed with typical phrases like ‘cackling hens, ‘chatty women and ‘the gossip whereas men have been tagged with ‘the taciturn man and ‘man of few words (Clark, Eschholz, Rosa Simon, 2008, p. 523-524). Women, undoubtedly, have been believed to talk more than men. Jule mentions a study statistic done by Mark Peters (2007) on the number of words used by women and those used by men in a single day. â€Å"Peter indicates that women use about 7000 words a day compared to only 2000 for men† (Jule, 2008, p. 27). Apart from the fact that females talk more, what is interesting is that the ‘speech they use varies considerably than that used by men. Womens speech has been associated with the use of tag questions, super polite forms, affective adjectives, hedges, rising intonations and hypercorrect grammar. Tag questions are questions at the end of a sentence, like an utterance, often asking for an opinion, approval or confirm ation, like ‘this dress is pretty, isnt it? or similarly ‘dont you? ‘havent we? are all questions tagged at the end of a sentence. Super polite forms refer to the â€Å"avoidance of swear-words and extensive use of euphemism. Euphemism is the use of veiled, indirect expression (for instance, saying passed away instead of died)† (Talbot, 1998, p. 39). These tend to make womens language more standard and often higher in prestige compared to men. Hedges are filler items or an utterance like ‘you know, ‘well, ‘kind of or sounds like ‘hmm and ‘yeah. These hedges are often a reason of misinterpretation amongst men and women. Since hedges are in a womens use, men consider it to be a sign of agreement whereas when women do not see men using such hedges, they take it as if the men are not paying attention to what the speaker is saying (Yule, 2006). Affective adjectives are used in expressing approval, or admiration, many of which are use d by women, words such as ‘divine, ‘adorable and ‘charming. Hypercorrect grammar, as stated by Lackoff, is simply to state that women tend to use more standardized forms, which implies that â€Å"they are more correct than they ought to be† (Talbot, 1998, p. 40). All these above mentioned characteristics are rarely heard from a man and are usually not a part of their speech. These characteristics also point to something else: interaction between and amongst the two genders. The casual man and the sophisticated woman   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Women have a completely differing style of interaction than men. Also, topic choices vary between men and women. Each gender speaks more about the topic that they are comfortable with. The general view of linguists is that men speak more casually than women. This is perhaps because women are more conscious about their social status and how others around them perceive them to be. In a study mentioned by Jule, the conclusion drawn was that â€Å"men are more at ease in their social settingsand that women are more anxiousin social situations because of their need to achieve or maintain social status† (Jule, 2008, p. 20). Deborah Tannen also asserts that men and women â€Å"have different goals in conversation and that the conversational strategies men use, such as interruptions, help to establish their own status and authority† (Clark, Eschholz, Rosa Simon, 2008, p. 506). Jennifer Coates mentions a study conducted by Zimmerman and West (1975) which cle arly suggests that the number of interruptions is very high in mixed- sex conversations, with men interrupting more than women. Also, there is a fact that men rarely interrupt each other while speaking amongst themselves, â€Å"it is when they are talking to women that they use interruptions† (Coates, 1993, p. 109). Conversely, women do not use overlaps in conversation with men (while they do use amongst themselves) suggesting that they are â€Å"concerned not to violate the mans turn but wait until hes finished† (Coates, 1993, p. 110). There is also a difference in communication and interaction of men and women within social contexts and private contexts. According to a study mentioned by Janet Holmes â€Å"males tend to talk more than women in public contexts where talk is highly valued and attracts positive attention† (Holmes, 1995, p. 37). Therefore, each gender provides more contribution in the situation they are most contented in. In private contexts â€Å"women tend to regard talk as means of maintaining and developing relationships† (Holmes, 1993, p. 38). Mary M. Talbot also puts forward that â€Å"men tend to use conversation as arenas for negotiating and maintaining status.Conversations are about imparting information, talking for a purpose, demonstrating expertise† (1998, p. 99). This then explains why men are more aware about their status in public perspectives than in casual conditions. Tannen mentions a personal experience where at a party she noticed that when men dont know much a bout a particular topic, they tend to â€Å"change the subject to something they know more about† (Clark, Eschholz, Rosa Simon, 2008, p. 533). Whos more polite? With regards to politeness, there are two things that are of great significance in indicating the level of politeness: compliments and apologies. In both the aspects of compliments and apologies, women definitely hold their flag much high than men. In a study conducted by Janet Holmes (1995) on the levels of politeness amongst men and women, what was found was that â€Å"women give 70% of compliments and receive about 75% of them; compliments between men are rare- less than 10%† (Jule, 2008, p. 83). She further presents a study conducted between New Zealand men and women in regards to who apologizes most and what Holmess data relates is that â€Å"apologies were more frequent between and amongst women† typically around 58% compared to only 8% amongst men (1995, p. 157). However, â€Å"the number of apologies between women and men is remarkably evenly distributed† close to the 20% mark (1995, p. 159). As an explanation to this, Holmes offers that women might consi der explicit apologies for offences as more important in maintaining relationships than men do which may also be why women tend to be more polite, aware of their surroundings and status than men. In conclusion, as Holmes points out; it is not always this way, not all women speak in the way describes above i.e. using hedges, super polite forms, tag questions, standard language, hypercorrect grammar etc. This is the general view of linguists that has been established after a wide range of studies and this is what outlines such patterns in the styles of gendered language. However, this does not mean that women do not have an abrasive, challenging and antagonistic speech style, some of them do but then they are considered to have adopted a ‘masculine style of talking and thus, they are placed under the category of exceptions. Nonetheless, these exceptions exist as a minority and the general pattern in womens and mens speech is the one described above and the one that is observed and accepted by several linguists of this field. A brief word about the cited authors: Janet Holmes is a professor of linguists at the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. She is a teacher of sociolinguistic courses, New Zealand English, and language and gender issues. Her publications consist of ‘An introduction to sociolinguistics, ‘New Zealand ways of speaking English, ‘Gendered talk at work, ‘Women, men and politeness and several others. Jennifer Coates is a professor of English language and linguistics at Roehampton University, UK. Her works comprise of ‘Women, men and language, ‘Women in their speech communities, ‘Women talk, ‘Conversations between women friends along with many others. Recently, she has completed a book on men, masculinity and narrative entitled ‘Men talk. Most of her research interests address the issue of language and sexuality and the conversational patterns in gendered talk. She is also the editor of the Blackwell sociolinguistic series ‘Language and Social change and the senior editor of the Longman ‘Real Language series. Allyson Jule, a PhD from Roehampton University, London, has particular research interests in the field of gender and language. She is an associate professor of education at the Trinity Western University along with being on the Advisory committee of the International Gender and Language Association (IGALA). Her famous works are composed of ‘Sh-shushing the Girls, ‘A beginners guide to language and gender, along with several other journal articles and co-edited books on the same issue. She is also part of the British Association of Applied linguists (BAAL) and is the reviewer of the Gender and Education journal. References Clark, V., Eschholz, P., Rosa, A., Simon, B. L. (Ed.). (2008). Language: Introductory readings (7th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St.Martins. Coates, J. (1993). Women, men, and language: A sociolinguistic account of gender differences in language (2nd ed.). New York: Longman. Holmes, J. (1995). Women, men, and politeness. New York: Longman. Jule, A. (2008). A beginners guide to language and gender. Toronto: Cromwell Press. Talbot, M. M. (1998). Language and gender: An introduction. Malden: Blackwell Publishers. Yule, G. (2006). The study of language (3rd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

One flew over the cuckoos nest Essay -- essays research papers

There are three major conflicts in the novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey. Both internal and external in nature their causes, effects, and resolutions are explored in great detail.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The cause of the conflict between Mac and Ratched begins immediately. As soon as McMurphy enters the ward he shows his individuality. He’s loud, brassy and the chief says, â€Å"He sounds big.† McMurphy publicly introduces himself and stands out from the rest of the men. He shows that he wont be controlled. Ratched wants and expects complete control. She refers to Mac as a, â€Å"Manipulator,† who will, â€Å"†¦use everyone and everything to his own end. Ironically Ratched is also a Manipulator. Miss Ratched chooses the orderlies to control them, she wants them to hate so they take their anger out on the patients.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ratched’s first win against McMurphy is when he challenges the ward policies on the music. He demands for the music to be shut off or at least turned down. Knowing that all the men are watching she completely humiliates Mac by telling him that she wont turn the music down further more she treats him like a child when she tells him to take his hands off her glass because he was staining them. â€Å"†¦don’t be so selfish,† says Miss Ratched when Mac asks for the music to be turned down.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ratched’s second major win against McMurphy on the ward is when she forces the men to ignore him and not to play cards with him. Using the threat of rationed cigarettes the patients are still much too afraid of Miss Ratched to go against her orders. McMurphy is completely left alone by the men and Ratched shows that she maintains control.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although McMurphy does not get the votes of the men because the fear they hve of Ratched McMurphy still comes out victorious when in the end the men eventually do vote to watch the world series. When the men do vote Ratched looses complete control over her ward and it’s the first time the men defy her as a group. â€Å"And we’re sitting there head up in front of that blanked out television set†¦and she’s screaming behind us.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  McMurphy mocks and taunts Miss Ratched when he runs around with his towel on. He wasn’t assigned a uniform and when Miss Ratched tells him to stop running around in the towel Mac stops and... ...g because after this Mac has lost three time in a row to Ratched or the combine. Chief sees the trouble Mac has to lift the control panel and finally gives up, the control panel, to chief, is a symbol of the combine and the fact that Mac cant lift it destroys Chief.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of Chief major wins against the fog is when the men all come together to back up Mac for the world series and the comments that everyone makes to her. Chief say, â€Å"†¦I quit worrying about the BIG NURSE and the combine behind her.† For the first time in his life he saw people clearly and not just the black outline around them.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another great win for Chief is when he enters the pool with all the other men. This is a big win because the Chief is so afraid of even the ground that to enter a pool is a great progress for him. Also Chief begins to see the ward as â€Å"clean and silent† and not humming of machinery. Chief even takes a big step when he stands up and looks out the window of the ward.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The resolution to Chief’s conflict is after he kills Mac and escapes the institution at the end of the novel.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Thursday, September 19, 2019

NSAID’s In Competition Equines Essay -- horses, law

Presently in the United States there is a law against consumption of NSAID’s (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) in horses during competition. The Federation Equstre International (FEI) wants to propose a new law allowing the consumption of these NSAID’s in competition horses. Therefore, with every new law passed some are for and some are against it. Each side has a knowledgeable reason behind their choice to be for or against the change. The FEI wants to look at all sides equally and make their educated assessment for the new rule inclined. Inflammation is a normal response to tissue damage. There are five signs of inflammation called cardinal signs. Theses signs include: heat, pain, swelling, redness, and loss of function. Inflammation can be considered one of the leading origins of discomfort in an injured or ill equine animal. When an NSAID is given to horses the cardinal signs are controlled, and damage to the inflamed tissue is reduced (Crabbe). NSAID’s in equine’s can be useful, but they can also cause negative side effects that, in a long-term use, can cause more negative effects on the horse and possibly decimate them. Barb Crabbe, veterinarian, says; â€Å"When NSAID’s block the damaging effects of prostaglandin, they also block these protective mechanisms, putting your horse at risk for ulcers throughout his GI tract† (Crabbe). Although Crabbe feels there are several negative side effects Davis feels there are only two negative side effects cox 1 and cox 2. These two negative influences cause the bad side effects in NSAID’s. Cox 1 gets in the way of the body’s natural reaction to inflammation. Cox 2 controls the pain and helps to control the remaining inflammation (Davis). Nevertheless this does not mean NSAID’s ar... ...ecture. Cuckson Pippa, â€Å"FEI NSAID Congress Addresses Science and Ethics of Drug Use†, www.chronofhorse.com, The Chronicle Of The Horse, August 24, 2010. Pierre Louis, â€Å"How To Use Irrelevant Plasma and Urine Drug Concentrations in Doping Control in the FEI† , FEI NSAID Congress , Switzerland, 2010, address lecture. Princess Haya, â€Å"Opening Address†, FEI NSAID Congress, Switzerland, 2010, address lecture. Roly Owers, â€Å"What Are The Ethical and Welfare Implications of Permitting the Use of NSAIDs During Competitions?† FEI NSAID Congress, Switzerland, 2010, address lecture. Willis Grania, â€Å"FEI president welcomes long overdue congress on NSAID’s†, www.Dressagensw.com, Equestrian Australia, n.d, February 6, 2014. Tim Ober, â€Å"The Pros and Cons of Reintroducing NSAIDs to FEI Sport†, FEI NSAID congress, Switzerland, 2010, address lecture

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

Effective Communication Inside the Courtroom Essay -- Court Communicat

Effective Communication Inside the Courtroom Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God? This is a statement that is often heard inside the courtroom, one that all must swear to as they attempt to testify in a court of law. The constitution of the United States allows accused to be judged by a jury of their peers to determine their guilt or innocence (Abadinsky, 1995). In order for that to take place a trial must be conducted to allow the evidence to be presented. In order for that to happen the state must have its attorneys present the facts that have been discovered. It is the responsibility of the state attorney or prosecutor to convince the members of the jury that the events being presenting are true and that as members of society they should find the accused guilty and thus assess some type of penalty. At the same time it is the job of the defense attorneys to persuade the jury to find their client not guilty based on their story. In order for this to happen both the prosecution and the defiance must effectively communicate with the members of the jury and with other members of the court in an attempt to prevail. The proper communication techniques are very important in presenting ones case. Communication must take place between attorneys and clients, between opposite counsel and with the judge, but most importantly with the jury. Statement of the Problem Thus, the research question for this study is: How do attorneys effectively communicate inside the courtroom? Attorneys are defined as officers of the court authorized to appear before it as a representative of a party in a legal controversy. Communicate is defined as to impart knowledge, to make known, to d... ...s paper article: Lewis, N.A. (2001, September 9). Plans for web monitoring in courts dropped.The New York Times, 51,871, 34-35. 9. An Article in a scholarly journal with continuous pagination: Beitz, C. (2000). Rawls’s law of peoples. Ethics, 110, 669-696. 10. An article in a scholarly journal that paginates each issue separately: Durrell, D.D (2000). Durrell as a teacher. Journal of education, 182, 135- 158. 11. A film or video tape: Bureau of Justice (Producer) & Richardson, J.G. (Writer/Director). (1997). Bias in the courtroom. [microfilm]. United States National Center for State Courts. 12. An article off of the internet: Ramsey, G. (March 1999). Communication theories on trial: can the scales of justice be swayed by the application of communication theories? Communication & the law. Retrieved (September 17, 2001) from http:// ehostgvw9.epnet.com

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Role and Functions of Hr Managers

Role and functions of HR Managers Introduction The Human Resource Department deals with management of people within the organisation. There are a number of responsibilities that come with this title. First of all, the Department is responsible for hiring members of staff; this will involve attracting employees, keeping them in their positions and ensuring that they perform to expectation. Besides, the Human Resource Department also clarifies and sets day to day goals for the organisation. It is responsible for organisation of people in the entire Company and plans for future ventures and objectives involving people in the Company. Handy, 1999) Research has shown that the human aspect of resources within an organisation contributes approximately eighty percent of the organisation’s value. This implies that if people are not managed properly, the organisation faces a serious chance of falling apart. The Human Resource Department’s main objective is to bring out the best i n their employees and thus contribute to the success of the Company. These roles come with certain positive and negative aspects. However, the negative aspects can be minimised by improvements to their roles and functions. These issues shall be examined in detail in the subsequent sections of the essay with reference to case examples of businesses in current operation. Positive aspects of Roles and Functions of the Human Resource Department Recruitment of Employees This is one of the most fundamental roles of the HR department. This is because this function ensures that the Company under consideration selects the most skilful and competent person from a sea of applicants at that time. This function involves evaluation of ability and competency of potential employees in relation to what the Company needs. This role falls under the Staffing role of management. If this function is performed well, then the organisation will increase value consequently being on the right pathway to achieve its organisational and departmental goals and objectives. (Hyde, 2004) Effective recruitment can be done through a number of ways. First of all the Company can conduct educational and psychological measurements. This task will involve assessment of abilities, skills and character evaluation of applicants. Through psychometric evaluation, the Company can ensure that employees have the right attitude necessary to fit into the organisation. Another method Companies use to recruit members of staff is through interviews. Here, the Human Resource Department can ask applicants questions that evaluate their decision making abilities and how they would deal with certain situations if presented with them. The Department can also employ the use of written interviews where applicants answer questions addressing key issues in the organisation. Through these channels, the Department contributes towards organisational performance. An example of a Company that performs this role well is Tesco Ireland. The Company notifies the public about vacancies. It then posts a questionnaire online and interested parties fill it at that time. This is then evaluated and those who fall within their minimum requirements are invited for an interview. In the interview, applicants are asked a number of questions and those who did extremely well are further analysed and retained. Those who did moderately well are not immediately eliminated; instead, their interview questions are kept on file then these are reviewed after six months. By so doing, the Tesco Ireland makes sure that its employees are highly capable and that they will enrich the organisation. (Hyde, 2004) Improvement of Compensation Packages One of the major functions of the HR department is to motivate employees. This can be done through rewards especially for those who have done well. The HR department needs to evaluate performance of employees and those who have exceeded expectations should be compensated for their actions. Research has shown that rewarding employees for good performance is the number one incentive for keeping up this trend. These compensation packages can come in the following ways; – Holiday Offers – End of Year Bonuses – Equities – Awards – Salary Increments – Provision of Flexible Working Hours – Straight forward Promotion Schemes and Career Developments If the HR department includes these incentives, then it will ensure that employees are satisfied with the Company. It will also contribute towards good staff retention rates. This is especially crucial in increasing stability within the organisation. It also makes employees identify with the firm and instils a sense of loyalty. Handy, 1999) Planning in the Organisation The Human Resource Department is placed with the responsibility of ensuring that it plans adequately for all the organisation’s future engagements that will involve people. One important aspect of this is planning for employees in the organisation. It is important that the organisation ensures that all the employees under its wing are just enough to increase value to the organisation. The Department must ensure that staff members are not too many because if they exceed this amount, then the organisation stands too lose. It must plan adequately to ensure that staff members are not too few either, otherwise they will be overworking those who are already in place. Consequently, there will be poor motivation resulting from fatigue. The HR department is also bestowed with the responsibility of planning future organisational goal in relation to people or clarifying these same goals to staff members. This function of the department ensures that people in the organisation have a general direction which they are working towards. Organisations that have a clear direction are always more effective; those members of staff will be more result oriented rather than just working for the sake of it. The Department is also responsible for setting day to day objectives necessary for streamlining activities within the organisation and thus ensuring that work is not just done haphazardly. (Hyde, 2004) Negative Aspects of Functions and Roles of the Human Resource Department There are a number of problems that arise as the department goes about its activities Problems in Recruitment The department may sometimes be unable to adequately coordinate and incorporate all the employees needed in the Company’s operations. One such example is the NHS. In the year 2004, the organisation was found to be wanting in its human resource department’s functions. The Company was recruiting a large proportion of its employees; 40% from Asian and African countries. This means that the organisation was draining medical personnel from those needy countries and using them for themselves. (Katherine, 2002) Such a practice showed that the HR department had exercised bad judgement in ts staffing function. Instead, it could have used these foreign nurses as temporary measure and put in place a strategy to train local nurses such that it could stop depending on those poor countries for supply of nurses. Problems in Remuneration In the process of trying to motivate members of staff to perform better, the Human Resource may make deals that eventually cause problems. A case in p oint is the Home Depot. This Company has an employee Compensation policy that requires that one should be rewarded for the time they have served the Company. The Home Depot Company offers an end of year bonus, basic salary and grant on stock shares as an incentive for some of its employees The CEO of the Company Robert Nardelli lost his job in the year 2007. This was because the company has experienced a lot of losses under his leadership; its shares fell by eight percent in the stock exchange and he deserved to leave the Company. However, because the Human Resource Department had put in place a policy that requires all members of staff to be given the incentive mentioned above, he left with a lot of money. It was reported that he had with him about two hundred and ten million dollars. The Company had no way out of this payment because HR had already passed that policy and they were bound by the law. This goes to show that sometimes policies made by the HR department do not benefit the Company especially if the parties involved are considered as losses to the Company. (Michael, 2007) Problems in Planning Sometimes the HR Department can employ people who may not contribute towards organisational principles. A classic example is the Arthur Andersen Company that fell apart in the year 2002. This was an American Company that dealt with audits. It was initially very successful in its operations prior to that fateful year. But in the latter years of its operations, the Company was involved in two accounting scandals that tarnished its name and subsequently caused failure. The Company failed to plan well for the kind of employees it recruited. This was witnessed when one of its employees in the Legal Department called Nancy Temple was fined in the Court of law for non adherence to accounting laws. This problem could have been prevented if the HR department had evaluated this employee before hiring her and also evaluation should have been done during her performance. If HR had been extremely critical, then they would have realised that the employee did not adhere to Company principles and would therefore have terminated her employment. Beside this, the Arthur Andersen Human Resource department also failed in its communication function to employees. The department should have ensured that they constantly communicate to members of staff about the goals and objectives of the Company on a day to day basis. This would have made them very clear in the minds of employees and would have prevented the downfall of the Company. Strategies to Improve Human Resource Department’s  Ã‚   Value to the Organisation Training and Internships It is not necessarily a guarantee that a candidate who did well in the recruitment exercise is the best in performing an organisation’s functions. New employees need orientation into the Company’s functions and can also improve some inefficiency that these new employees may have in relation to their skills. This is the purpose of placing them on internships. (Norbert, 1967) Training is also essential for members of staff who have been working for the organisation for a long time. This is especially so in the wake of technological advancements, legal changes and changes in service delivery. It is important for an Organisation to keep up with industry trends otherwise it faces the danger of becoming obsolete; especially in the background of increasing competition. Training need not be restricted to improvement of skills; it can also involve improvement of attitudes. This is normally characterised by attendance of workshops and other forms of talks. Training also increases motivation of employees and gives them that extra boost of energy needed to get them through tough times in their jobs. All the above tasks are placed under the Department of Human Resource because it is the one that will asses when training is needed, who needs the training, where and by whom. This aspect is a sure to improve value of the HR Department in the organisation. An example of a company that adheres to this principle is Marks and Spencer retail chain outlet. The Company offers training for twelve moths. Here new employees are taught all that is necessary to meet organisational goals and objectives then they can start work when they are ready to do so. (Norbert, 1967) Making Better Use of Time The Human Resource is conferred with the responsibility of ensuring that all members of staff perform to their best ability. It could improve this area by facilitating better use of time in all departments within the organisation. Time is one of the most crucial yet intangible assets of the Company. The proper use of this resource could maximise production and achievement of organisational goals. (Harold, 2003) The Department can do this by planning activities to be carried out in the organisation. It can make schedules for the various activities that have to be done in the organisation and thus facilitate better flow of information. In addition to this, the Company can also ensure that all members of staff are held accountable for not performing a certain task. This is especially in regard to maintenance of the schedules. In so doing, human the Human Resource Department will be ensuring that employees do not simply report to work and that the time spent at work is directly proportional to output. Improving Organisational Culture The Human Resource Department can try to improve organisational culture through a three step procedure. The first step of the process is observation. In this step HR finds out what makes ups or what the company’s culture is like. HR should also be very intense on the organisational needs. Here, HR should realise that personal fulfilment works better and therefore should try to ensure that the change is relevant to every staff member. In this stage, HR should try to explain to all staff members or stakeholder the advantage of transforming the culture in the organisation. This should be made clear so that all can see the advantages at the individual level and not simply at the organizational level. Erica, 2006) Then HR should try to eliminate all inhibitions in staff member’s minds. It is possible that some may claim that they tried one or two strategies before and it did not succeed. This are what are called ‘cries of despair’ and HR should try its best to explain to staff members the need of changing the culture of the organisation. The next step is the analysis of various aspects. Here, there is collect ion of data needed in making certain that culture changes. This stage involves checking out the success features or the factors that can facilitate its success. There should be calibration of data collected. Staff members should be made to understand that there are no perfect situations for implementation of changes. The analysis should involve assessing whether the information is sensible or not. Whether data gathered will be helpful or not and if it is too little or too much. Staff members should be requested for data that will help change the culture. Of course when trying to bring in change HR Department should have perceived benefits, a deadline for execution and also the realised gains in relation to the change in culture. In this step, there should be reality checks which should be done often. There should also be continuous integration. Through this scheme HR Department should be able to change the culture in the organisation and add value to it. (Harold, 2003) Conclusion The Human Resource Management team’s main function is to manage people. There are positive and negative aspects of this function; first of all, the HR department enriches the organisation through recruitment procedures and an example an effective HR team in this area is Tesco Ireland. HR department also ensures that members of staff follow a general direction by frequently clarifying and reminding them of the organisation’s goals. Besides this, they are also responsible for organising incentives or compensation packages to motivate employees. All these functions contribute towards organisational effectiveness. However, there are some negative aspects of HR; it has to bear the burden of blame if an employee performs poorly like the Arthur Andersen Company. Besides this, some policies made by the department may be detrimental to the Company like in the Home Depot Company’s case. Improvements to their role can be done by arranging training for staff members, organising activities for the organisation and changing organisational culture. (Erica, 2006)

Monday, September 16, 2019

Overpopulation Issue

On July 11th, 1987, a baby girl born in Beijing hospital at midnight was what the government of China called â€Å"baby five billion†. Whether or not the infant actually brought the total world population to five billion at that time, no on is certain. What is certain however, is that statistics continue to indicate that the number of people on this earth is increasing at phenomenal speeds. A quarter of a million a day to be exact! The issue of overpopulation is one that is not new to the ears of environmentalist. The dangers, caused by our over indulgence of earth finite resources to satisfy our exponential population growth, are indeed very real. Experts have postulated that at the present rate of growth, the amount of food needed to feed the world†s population will soon outstrip production, resulting to global starvation. Tied closely to overpopulation is the phenomenon of species degeneration. The most successful members of the race are the ones having fewest children. The vast majority of the species population growth is in areas where newly arrive children have a fairly poor chance of having a successful life. ( ‘successful† denoting safety, food, comfort and education) In view of this dilemma the pragmatic Chinese have adopted what is known as the ‘one child policy†, permitting no more than one child per couple. Their intentions were economics and political: to reduce population, raise the average standard of living and thus achieve political stability. The policy has meant 300 million less mouths to feed and has enable China to open up both economically and socially. China is an excellent example of the benefits which are possible in the implementation of the one child policy. Although many pro-life and pro-choice activists may hastily rise to the occasion to argue that the one child policy is a violation of human rights, their arguments are dwarfed by the great advantages the policy can bring to its upholders and their country. Our shamefully blase attitudes towards reproduction dominates our society. This policy however will promote safer sex reducing incidents of, unwanted or teenage pregnancies and cases of sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. What will the policy mean for people who desire a son due to ethical background though? Revolutionary genetic technology has enable these couples to choose the sex of their baby making sure it is born free of any detrimental diseases. One healthy child per family, who is extremely loved and wanted and who receives the best food and education will mean that our species can continue to evolve stronger and live on. Time though, is fast running out for our civilisation. Our fragile institutions of hard won freedoms, our legacy from all those who in the past have fought for progress, our freedom of speech, of movement, our systems of welfare and education, our right to form unions and so on, won't survive once the food supply is outstripped by population growth. Hungry billions will be tempted to take drastic action in order to survive, anything may happen in such an unstable future. If any policy can help prevent such a catastrophe it is one policy certainly worth implementing.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Rhetoric and Life

Dylan Macknight Mrs. Womack Per. 6 14, September 2009. Value of Life Essay Different authors use different techniques to persuade. The three main ways of persuading are through: pathos, which uses emotions, ethos, which proves their credibility, and logos, which implies the general message. Shakespeare, Lance Armstrong, and Amanda Ripley have all written articles arguing their opinion on the value of life. Of the three articles Lance Armstrong best persuades the audience with his argument that life is very valuable and that you could better your life from something negative, through his exceptional use of both logos and pathos.Armstrong applies the use of ethos very clearly in his article. For example, â€Å"I still don’t completely understand it; all I can do is tell you what happened†. This shows that he is writing credible work and that his ideas are non-bias. He is telling the story as is and he is not trying to lead you on. Lance also uses pathos to persuade his au dience as well. An example of this would be when stated â€Å"I have cancer†. Cancer is a serious disease and the thought of having it draws on someone’s emotions quite strongly.This quote made the reader feel sympathy for him. Overall, Armstrong did the best job at persuading. In Hamlet’s Soliloquy, Shakespeare uses ethos, pathos, and logos as an attempt to persuade his audience, but is not as effective as Armstrong. Shakespeare uses logos the most in his work. When he states â€Å"To be or not to be, that is the question†, he is portraying the message of how much his own life is worth, personally, not how valuable life is a whole. That is one downfall in Shakespeare’s work compared to Armstrongs.Another reason Hamlet’s Soliloquy is not as successful at persuading is because in his writing there is no one else to compare and contrast their life with. Hamlet is written as somebody who is contemplating suicide. It is very hard to understand s omeone’s thoughts and interpret them as they were intended to be. This is what makes the soliloquy quite faulty in persuading the reader. Amanda Ripley voices her belief on what a life is worth in the article that she wrote for Time Magazine.She argued how much money one can assign to another’s life, and if different people should be worth more or less then others. Time Magazine and CNN took a poll last month stating, â€Å"86% of the people should have received the same amount†. Who is to say that the majority of humans are worth the same dollar amount and a select few should receive more money. Many people do not agree with the way Ripley argues her opinion in â€Å"What a Life is Worth†. She states, â€Å"I am proud of what my country tried to do, I think the intention is noble†.This shows that she had a previous opinion on the subject prior to the article that she had written. That adds a possibility that the article is prone to being bias towa rds her opinion. That is how Ripley failed to persuade her readers. Ultimately, of the three articles, Lance Armstrong best persuades his audience with his argument that life is very valuable and that you can better your life from something negative, through his exceptional use of logos and pathos. Many of his readers are left feeling completely persuaded by his value on life.

Saturday, September 14, 2019

Marriott Corporation Essay

While management was correct in some aspects of measuring debt capacity for Marriott Corporation, the method used to obtain the ratio of 6.64 did not include the debt from the previous repurchase, grossly overstating the ratio and leading to believe that Marriott Corporation had a large unsused portion of debt capacity. This is shown in Exhibit 5. After thorough analysis and a different approach to finding the debt capacity, it is concluded that the actual debt capacity for Marriott Corporation is 3.94 EBIT-adjusted/net interest. To come up with the actual debt capacity for Marriott Corporation, the EBIT-adjusted/net interest ratio was still used, but the numbers supporting the ratio were altered. From Exhibit 5, we get the total debt of Marriott at the end of 1979. Total debt is defined as the sum of short-term loan, current portion of long-term debt, senior debt and capital leases. The average market price of Marriott in 1979 was $14.9/share, and the interest rate for Baa corporate debt was 12%. It was assumed that Marriott repurchased stock at the price of $15/share using 12% debt financing. Using the net interest before the repurchase, which was $27.8 million, it is concluded that adjusted EBIT was $184.59 million. In 1979, additional debt from the repurchase of stock $159 million, adding this to the debt of the original figures, the new debt is totaled at $583.83 million. Using a 12% interest rate from the new debt and finding the new numbers for the ratio, the new adjusted EBIT-adjusted/net interest ratio is 3.94. This figure hits below Marriott Corporations benchmark of 5. Returning Shareholders’ Capitol A. New Debt Capacity And Repurchasing Shares If the firms stock is in a position to be affected by dilution, repurchasing shares may be a solution. This would allow Marriott Corporation to maintain its ability to make decisions utilizing all the available resources. This was previously one by Marriott in 1979 with the repurchase of 5 million shares. With the new debt capacity ratio at 3.94, a repurchase share alternative is not recommended as Marriott Corporation does not have the excess debt capacity previously thought to carry out this alternative. Performing a secondary scenario analysis, suppose Marriott had just enough debt capacity, which means new adjusted EBIT/Net interest ratio equals 5. Using this number, the repurchase price should be $7.17 so that Marriott Corporation could utilize its debt capacity fully. Using this number, only 10.6 million shares could be purchased resulting in the repurchase of stock alternative not taking place as expected. This would result in investors to believe that Marriott Corporation has hit its growth limit, as the repurchase strategy would not have enough depth to persuade investors through EPS and ROE that Marriott Corporation is still a growing company. It is concluded that repurchasing shares is not the correct alternative, even with a benchmark debt capacity of 5. B. Increasing Dividends While increasing dividends would be a good alternative to satisfy investors, it is not without its repercussions as well. If dividends were to be paid out, a gradual steady increase over many years would be the best alternative, as one lump sum payment does not resolve the debt capacity issue, as well as signify to investors negative signs if Marriot Corporation were to one year pay a high divided and the next decrease that same dividend. Typically, when a firm increases dividends, that level of dividends must be maintained to satisfy shareholders, as well as institutional investors and prospect investors. Another factor to consider when analyzing this alternative, is that although Marriott Corporation has had high growth is recent years, compared to competitors, the stock price, return on equity, as well as earnings per share are low, as seen in Exhibit 11 and Exhibit 12. Although paying dividends in conjunction with a more value creating alternative could be used, solely paying out dividends is not recommended. Promote Growth A. Diversify Through Acquisition Marriott also has the alternative to invest in a new firm. Marriott  Corporation has a competitive advantage that could be passed along if they were to acquire existing companies. This competitive advantage is obtained through their competitive expertise of the industry, as well as proven higher occupancy rate than their competition. The company’s assets are mainly real-estate based which means that they should put a premium on the land that they can get by acquiring a new firm. There is relatively little risk in acquiring another firm as well, because their sales can be seen and analyzed before Marriott Corporation makes an offer. According to Exhibit 10 there is a very high price to be paid for a new hotel. Prices paid for hotels, however, did not rise at all from 1975-1978 and number of offers stayed relatively reasonable. From 1977-1978 acquiring another hotel chain actually became a better deal at several data points. Market price/book value dropped considerably meaning that hotels became a much better value for the amount of assets they had. Market price/cash flow is lower as well, with average return on equity rising as well. One caveat is that buying hotel chains in the market value of $25-$250 million had a much higher tender offer/ market value in 1978 up from 39.64% to 60.05%, while hotel chains over 250 million dropped by almost as much. Although there is a risk involved with buying any company or hotel, hotels which are thoroughly analyzed beforehand could be excellent ways to promote growth in the Marriott Corporation. Hotels that would be purchased would be proven to succeed in their respective locations. B. Accerlerate Expansion of Existing Business Marriot has two options about the operation of hotel chains. First, it can own the hotel and enjoy the profit margin. Second, it can sell the hotel but retain management contracts so it controls the operation of such units. Following is the detailed decomposition of costs associated with two options. According to Exhibit 9, in 1978 the typical cost for a hotel room consists of improvement cost, furniture, fixtures and equipment cost, land cost, pre-opening cost and operating cost. For an owned hotel, Marriot had to pay the total cost for running the property, but if it is managed, Marriot only had operating cost because the buyer was responsible for the maintenance. In an attempt to emphasize more on return on invested capital rather than margins, Marriot sold some of their existing hotels and retained  management contract to free up capital. Managed hotels had operating margin of 8%-10%, while owned had 15%. We assume 10% margin for managed hotels and 15% for owned hotels. To deci de when to sell the property, we analyze the remaining present value of future cash flow of a hotel at different point of time in its life cycle. We further assume that when the hotel is sold, the selling price is set so that present value of future cash flow equals the 10% margin. We assume $50 revenue per room night of a typical 150-room hotel, and one year has 360 days. Sales level for each year in the life cycle connects to the occupancy rate. From the graph in Exhibit 9, we get different occupancy rate for the whole life cycle. It reaches the peak 100% at year 8, and after year 10, it declines almost linearly to 10% in year 30. We can see that if Marriot sells the hotel before opening, the selling price would be $1.63 million at time 0. After the peak, assuming year 9, the selling price would be $ 1.55 million. The max value of PV is at year 4, which has $2.85 million in PV at 15% margin. Marriot Corporation would free up more capital if it sells the hotel before opening, but instead it would lose more operating profit. If Marriot is short of capital, it could sell the hotel up-front so that the freed up capital can be invested in other profitable projects. Selling after the peak is a good choice if Marriot wants to enjoy the increasing operating profit before the peak. Shareholder value can be added if the return on freed-up capital exceeds the profit loss from selling the property. Recommendation After the analysis of the different alternatives, and correctly measuring debt capacity, it is concluded that Marriott Corporation does not return shareholder capital but instead promotes growth of the existing company. This provides benefits in a couple of ways. By promoting growth, Marriott Corporation can signal to investors that the firm is still growing, providing incentives for institutional investors as well as individual investors, resulting in a positive market outlook for Marriott Corporation. Also, with the actual debt capacity measured, it is shown that Marriott Corporation does not have the additional capacity to undertake those alternatives, resulting in even more negatives in the future. By promoting the existing business, Marriott Corporation has more control over their financial prospects, through the possibilities of merging or opening or  building more hotels. This would provide positive NPV for Marriott Corporation, and perhaps in the future when cash flows continue to be positive as well as debt continues to shrink, Marriott Corporation can look into returning shareholders’ capital.

Friday, September 13, 2019

Discussion on Various Articles Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Discussion on Various Articles - Essay Example The article is about the comparison between two mythical characters named Adam and Adapa that came from near East culture. They were both part of stories about the origin of men. They both failed to gain immortality, but in different ways (Hess 1994, p. 35). Adam did not gain immortality because of his disobedience while Adapa lacked the access to immortality because of his faithfulness to the choice of his father named Ea, the God of Wisdom. Other parallels had been seen by Andreasen between the two as Adapa was shown to follow wisdom while Adam was more of self-follower. They were both challenged by the gods, failed the test, and gave serious consequence to humanity. Their names were also related based on the phonetics (Walton 1989, p. 64). They differ in terms of views on men as Mesopotamian view which is in the character that shows nobility and respect to the gods while Adam showed the opposite which is being sinful. Discussion 2 The Song of Songs is considered to be written by S olomon and a part of the Bible in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It has been studied by various scholars across centuries as the contents are subjected to various interpretations. The contents may be interpreted literally or they may convey deeper meanings in life. People may argue that the verses contain eroticism about the discovery of love and sexuality between a man and woman from adolescence to adulthood. It involves figures that may be considered taboo if people relate them to sexuality (Marieselvam 1987, p. 31). It may be found to be contradicting the teachings of the Christian Church if interpreted literally. For Christians, it is about the relationship between Jesus and the Church as the groom and bride. They talk about the so-called agape or selfless love. Some sexual involvement may be seen but it is part of the love within marriage which is actually a giving and receiving relationship (Hunt 2008, p. 21). Likewise, interpretation truly makes Song of Songs erotic and holy at the same time. It is considered holy in the lines â€Å"My beloved is all radiant and ruddy, distinguished among ten thousand,† (Songs 5:10) and â€Å"Look, it is the litter of Solomon! Around it are sixty mighty men of the mighty men of Israel,† (Songs 3:7). They talk about the coming of the Messiah in the person of Christ who is a descendant of David. In terms of eroticism, Song of Songs should be interpreted literally as â€Å"Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth,† (Songs 1:2a) and â€Å"for your lovemaking is better than wine,† (Songs 1:2b). The last two quoted lines showed the acts done by lovers and compared to the taste of wine. Discussion 3 The tale that the author read in Arabian Nights is Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. It is comparable to another famous Arabian Nights story entitled Aladdin. They are both famous tales from the Middle East which are mostly occupied by Muslims. Their common setting shows palace in the deserts as Arab c ountries are located in those hot dry areas. â€Å"Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves† follows the story of a son of a merchant and his brother being left behind after the death of their father. Cassim, the brother of Ali Baba, was so greedy that he took over the business of their father and married a rich woman. On the other hand, Ali Baba was married to a poor woman and they lived on woodcutting. One day, Ali Baba accidentally discovered the cave of the

Thursday, September 12, 2019

Aspirin Use and Pancreatic Cancer Mortality in a large United States Essay

Aspirin Use and Pancreatic Cancer Mortality in a large United States Cohort - Essay Example Jacobs et al. examined the association between these two through the Cancer Prevention Study II (CPS II), a large group of U. S. adults. In the past, aspirin use had been shown to decrease the risk of colon, stomach, and esophageal cancer in the same group. The group consisted of 1,184,588 people in all, with 508,318 males and 676,270 females who came from all U.S. states as well as the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico (Jacobs et al. 2004, p. 524). In 1982, the group completed a four page questionnaire that gave data regarding â€Å"demographics characteristics and various behavioral, environmental, occupational, and dietary factors† (Jacobs et al., 2004, p. 524-525). In 1982, 1984, 1986 and 2000 follow ups were conducted to see if the group members were alive or dead. It was found that 28.1% of them had died and 0.2% could not be traced, whereas 71.7% were alive. A few of the participants had been excluded from the study based on their cancer history, cigarette smoking, o r missing data on aspirin use. Resultantly, 987,590 participants were left, out of which 4577 died from pancreatic cancer (Jacobs et al., 2004, p. 525). Statistics were gathered using the information given by the participants in their 1982 questionnaires, and the Cox model of proportional hazards was used to analyze the ratio of deaths caused by pancreatic cancer, and other potential risk factors, for instance cigarette smoking, dietary habits and family history of pancreatic cancer, were adjusted in the findings (Jacobs et al., 2004, p. 525). The frequency of aspirin intake was also taken into account, and it was discovered that most of those who took aspirin regularly, i.e. more than 30 times a month, were older and white, just like the majority of participants, who were mostly middle aged or elderly and white (Jacobs et al., 2004, p. 526). The results showed that there was no relationship between aspirin use and pancreatic cancer mortality. The result was similar

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Document 20 Oral interview with robert Rasmus Essay

Document 20 Oral interview with robert Rasmus - Essay Example He says it felt like being in a dramatic movie, but with the added terror of it actually being real. It took a while for him to get used to this. Later in the interview he describes his six week tour of duty, and actual examples of the battles he was in and how they were. Throughout the rest of the interview though he returns to that same conflict he feels between the excitement of the war and the horrors of the reality of it, and how he doesn’t want to die. He says he was â€Å"pulled in two directions: Gee, I don’t wanna get killed. And, Boy, this is gorgeous country.† In the rest of his interview he talks about the experience of taking one German town and then another one, and how the first to die was a sergeant everybody hated and wanted to kill. But he is sure nobody in his platoon did fire the shot, and that it was a German. The immediate historical context of this document is the end of World War II. It is a war that many people thought had to be fought be cause of the evils of Hitler and the holocaust. Despite that, and despite the worthiness of the cause of the war, to the soldiers fighting in the war it was still terrifying. This accounts for the sense of â€Å"schizophrenia† that Robert Rasmus refers to several times in the interview. He felt simultaneously as if he was doing the right thing, and that it was great, and that he was going to die, and he did not want to die.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Globalization and International Relations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Globalization and International Relations - Essay Example As a result of globalization, nations could improve their political as well technological relations globally. This paper will analyze globalization and its impacts on international relations. The concept of global economy came into existence with the emergence of globalization. This process notably assisted different segments of the international market. Globalization has significantly contributed to the creation of a global market and a global system of production. Capital marketers also enjoy the benefits of globalization as it has contributed to the integration of financial systems. This concept aided financial organizations like International Monetary Fund to disseminate â€Å"a particular view of the state’s role within the international economy† (Robinson, 2006). In addition, globalization enhanced the development of telecommunications media which in turn fastened the spread of global mass culture. And the key production factors such as capital and labor became globally mobile. Globalization eliminated international trade barriers and thus promoted international relations once this concept weakened the ability of nations to control transnational operations and economic activities. Companies transplanted their production facilities to other countries where costs are comparatively lower. Before the emergence of globalization, developing and underdeveloped countries had little access to developed markets and improved technology. However, since globalization, the global economic environment has undergone tremendous changes. According to Devetak and Hughes (2008, p. 34), globalization connects nations through a global network, and it assists a nation to get access to foreign markets and customers. Since the nations got ranges of benefits from globalization, governments adopted a liberal approach towards international trade.

Monday, September 9, 2019

The effect of human resource management on an organisational Dissertation

The effect of human resource management on an organisational performance - Dissertation Example The research will employ the use of case study technique and the organisation that has been selected for this study is the Accenture Plc. Therefore, the researcher will focus on measuring the true effect of Accenture’s human resource management on improving the performance of the company. According to Mathis and Jackson, the roots of human resource management can be traced back to the industrial revolution whereby companies started engaging in mass production for commercial purposes. Therefore, there was an urgent need of hiring more employees to the extent that even children were introduced into the work environment without any consideration to their ages. During this particular, the human resources/ workers have proved to be a critical part of an organisation, but there was little known about effective human resource management and this contributed to widespread violation of employees’ rights. This because the labor sector had not been fully formalized and therefore, there was no formal regulatory framework for the sector. Stewart and Brown stated that the numerous industrial strikes that characterized this era were attributed to the widespread violation of employees’ rights that was going on in nearly all of the manufacturing companies. DeGraff further added that employees’ plight during this era was denoted by low wages and poor working conditions. In the present world, effective human resource management is a source for organisation’s competitiveness meaning that it directly affects the performance of organisations. ... he employees received more focus from the management of the companies in order to avoid future strikes, which had proved detrimental to the companies that were affected. Factors that marked the emergence of effective human resource management included the abolishment of child labour, development of labor unions, and strategic recruitment and selection of workers. DeGraff (2010) further added that the studies by Fredrick Taylor on lean manufacturing sparked an interest on the actual contribution of the workforce on an organisation’s productivity and this resulted to workers been acknowledged as a significant part in the productivity of an organisation. In the present world, effective human resource management is a source for organisation’s competitiveness meaning that it directly affects the performance of organisations. 1.3 Accenture Plc Accenture Plc is a multinational company that specializes in outsourcing, technological services, and management consulting. The consu ltancy services cover five operating groups that include resources, products, health and public services, financial services and communications and high-end technology. The company has employed over two hundred and sixty thousand employees who are based across at its wide branch network. In the United Kingdom, the company has ten office locations of which three are in London (Harmon, 2012). The Company boosts of unrivaled experience, unmatched capabilities wide across all business functions and industries. The business model of Accenture is to collaborate with their clients who include 94% of the fortune global 100 and even a big percentage of the fortune global 500 to ensure they become profitable as well as high performers (Harmon, 2012). Over the past years, the company has been keen on